Western Animation / The Lion Guard

All spoilers for The Lion King, The Lion King II: Simba's Pride and The Lion King 1 ½ are unmarked. You Have Been Warned!

"Till the Pride Lands end, Lion Guard defend!"

A Disney Junior animated series based on The Lion King franchise that came out January 15, 2016. It is the second television series to be based on the movie, following Timon & Pumbaa. Prior to release of the series itself, the Pilot Movie The Lion Guard: Return of the Roar aired on November 22, 2015. The series is set within the timeframe of The Lion King II: Simba's Pride.

The series stars Simba's son, Kion. The Lion Guard follows Kion as he assembles the members of the "Lion Guard". Throughout the movie and the series, the diverse team of young animals learns how to utilize each of their unique abilities to solve problems and accomplish tasks to maintain balance within the Circle of Life, while also introducing young viewers to the vast array of animals that populate the prodigious African landscape. As all this is going on, Kion deals with the responsibilities and burdens that come with being leader of the Lion Guard, seeking to take his own rightful place in the circle of life—that is, if he can confront the legacy of the Guard left behind by his predecessor, his late uncle Scar.

It was renewed for a third season in March 2017, which was announced as the final season in April 2019. Production ended on July 19 of said year. The final season takes place during the second act of Simba's Pride, which explains where Kion and the Guard were during the film's events. The series ended on November 3, 2019.

For episode recaps, go here.

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This movie and series provide examples of:

#-D

• Abusive Parents: Downplayed, as this is a kids show and Simba is not particularly cruel to his children. That being said, he is still thrusting a massive responsibility onto his youngest son when he is only a child, without properly preparing him beforehand. Said responsibility, leading the Lion Guard, also involves Kion having to be placed in many, many dangerous and often life-threatening situations that Kiara herself is otherwise kept away from. That being said, he is otherwise a decent parent to his children.
• Acquired Situational Narcissism: In Bunga the Wise, due to a couple of situations that Bunga is able to save mostly through improvisation, and due to an incompletely heard remark by Rafiki, the other animals start to believe that Bunga is the wisest animal in the Pride Lands. This of course goes completely to his head, and he starts to dispense terrible advice and act high-handed with the other members of the Guard. When a real crisis develops because one of his quick fixes fails spectacularly he is dumbstruck, and it falls to the rest of the Guard to save the day.
• A Day in the Limelight: The series finale can be seen as this for Vitani, who gets far more screen time and focus here than she did in the second movie, ending with her succeeding Kion as leader of the Lion Guard.
• Adaptational Modesty: Although Simba and Nala, Kiara and Kovu, and ultimately, Kion and Rani all become mates, never once do they use that term in the show, nor is there any type of licking, even between family members in platonic or familial ways, even if said family members have just been rescued, and even using the term love is avoided, with the show instead using the term "friend". Of course, given that this show really pushed Disney Junior's standards of preschool shows, this was likely to keep it in that age demographic.
• Adapted Out: Despite Simba's very heavily implied post traumatic stress disorder playing a major role in his characterization in the second half of the second film, it only remotely gets hinted at, and even then, very sparingly. Many people have noted that although Simba completely freaks out with Kovu whenever he is present in the second half of Film Two, yet when Scar himself returns, and Kion also receives an identical scar, he takes the former only with a calm disposition of rage, and Kion's injury nonchalantly, even dismissing it as merely a scar until he learns his son could go insane. Of course, a father heavily implied to be suffering from PTSD is not exactly preschool friendly.
• Adults Are Useless: Compared to the Lion Guard, a lot of the Pride Lands' older animals in this show are awfully incompetent. For instance, only the Lion Guard bothered to do anything about Makuu usurping the hippo pond in The Rise of Makuu and in Bunga the Wise, every animal eagerly takes Bunga's advice without even questioning it. Even Simba and other older cast members fall into this as they often aren't around when they'd be a huge help. Nala in particular is seen needing her son to save her from Janja's half dozen or so hyenas who have proven to be nowhere near the threat level of Scar's original army. Clearly this is neccesary to make sure the young Lion Guard is effective. Ironically, the most helpful adult on the show has arguably been Mufasa.
• All for Nothing: The Lion Guard preventing Makucha, Chullunn and Ora from killing the elderly Janna becomes moot when Janna dies of old age in her next appearance.
• Always Chaotic Evil:
  • If "Jackal Style" is anything to go by, all jackals are born to be thieves and swindlers.
  • Subverted with hyenas, crocodiles, and leopards. While more villainous ones have been seen, it's been established they are not evil as a species. "Never Judge a Hyena By Spots" is about Kion learning that not all hyenas are bad when he meets Jasiri.
• Amazing Technicolor Wildlife:
  • The skinks come in all colors of the rainbow (for the most part, not reflective of real life).
  • Done semi-realistically for Anga — martial eagles can indeed look purple, probably not as bright a purple as her artists use, but that can be chalked up to Rule of Perception given the medium.
  • There are two species of dolphin that can be colored pink. Since Lumba Lumba clearly doesn't live in the Amazon River, she must be an Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin (the other fauna in the episode, i.e. civets and Komodo dragons, suggest that the episode takes place in Indonesia, which is the correct range for this species).
• Animal Gender-Bender:
  • The female ostriches are all portrayed as having black and white feathers. Females are a dull brown in real life.
  • The female gazelles are all portrayed as having long horns. Females in real life have short horns.
  • Impalas are all portrayed having horns, but only males possess them.
  • Averted with the peacocks in "Friends to the End", which are clearly male.
  • Ajabu is a male okapi who lacks ossicones, the small horn like growths they and giraffes have. But males have ossicones while females don’t.
• Animals Respect Nature: Many animals are seen to have their own responsibilities to keep the ecosystem going; for example, in one of the first episodes, Pua's crocodile float passes by a watering hole Basi's bloat is currently resting in, asking if there's enough fish for them to eat. When Basi confirms there's not enough fish at the moment, Pua agrees to lead his float elsewhere to find food. Basi is also shown creating lanes in the mud after a rainstorm. This trope usually ends up being bungled, however, since frequently predator animals who are simply hunting their prey are treated as antagonists. Janja's hyena lackeys are only allowed to live in the Pride Lands if they commit to only eating carrion when hyenas are active hunters.
  • However, like in the orignal movie, it's also implied in many of their songs (where Janja's group frequently discuss wanting to eat every living thing in the Pridelands if they were allowed to return) that the hyenas aren't allowed in because they overhunted. It's stated that the lions, hyenas, and leopards of the past mutually agreed to keep to separate territories because too many apex predators in one area would overtax prey populations and cause the exact disaster seen in the film. The evil hyenas are also stated to be outliers; the rest are perfectly fine keeping to their own territory.
• Animation Bump: The effects of the Roar of the Elders become much more expressive in S2, specifically the lions in the clouds have a different model and Kion now fires spherical shockwaves from his mouth.
• Annoying Younger Sibling: Kiara certainly views Kion as one, especially early on in "Return of the Roar". She's mellowed out in that way of thinking towards the end, particularly after being saved by Bunga, of whom she had a low opinion as a potential protector beforehand.
• Anthropomorphic Shift: In stark contrast to the realistic crocodiles in The Lion King II: Simba's Pride, the crocodiles in The Lion Guard are cartoonish and can speak. This may have been a Call-Back to their portrayal in "I Just Can't Wait To Be King" from the original film.
• Arbitrary Skepticism: The Guard (sans Bunga) repeatedly dismiss the existence of ghosts in "Ghost of the Mountain", despite the previous story arc battling Scar's spirit.
• Arc Words: The characters constantly make reference to "The Circle Of Life," sometimes nonsensically, or at least not bothering to clarify what they mean.
• Art Evolution: When compared to the previous films. The giraffes, crocodiles, and some other animals are drawn in a different style than in the films. Fuli is very different than the cheetahs shown before, even considering that she's not fully grown. Simba is shorter and has more bushy eyebrows, and other character's sizes have been adjusted as well. Some of the hyenas have stripes in addition to spots. The art style and animation has a more modern and in some ways lower quality feel to it compared to the films, with the characters' awkward walk cycles a common complaint.
• Art Shift: The ending credits recaps the premiere in cave painting, similar to Simba revealing the origin of the Lion Guard and its initial fall.
• Artistic License – Biology: See here.
• Artistic License – Geography: The third season plays very fast and very loose with geography. While we are never shown the point at which the Guard actually leaves Africa, the setting for most episodes is clearly in various Asian locations, indicated by flora, fauna and landmarks. They go from the mountains of Japan to Mongolian bamboo forests to Indonesian islands (the first time the group encounters the ocean) to a (presumably African) desert in the southern hemisphere to the Dead Sea. No rhyme or reason is given for their jumping from location to location. It's all presented as if it were the same, unbroken road through Africa to the Tree of Life.
• Artistic License – Space: The Guard has to navigate by the stars to cross a desert from north to south, using the Southern Cross to mark their way. A jerboa helps guide them, telling them that the Southern Cross is circumpolar at their latitude, placing them no further north than 34° S—which is further south than Africa extends. Jerboas are also native to the northern deserts of Africa and Asia, and so far in season 3 the Guard seems to be spending most of their time in Asia, a continent contained wholly within the northern hemisphere. At no point in Asia is the Southern Cross circumpolar, and is actually not visible from most deserts in Asia.
• Ascended Extra: Nne and Tano had been background members of Janja's clan since Return of the Roar. They developed a prominent role in "Janja's New Crew."
• Asskicking Leads to Leadership: The crocodiles determine their leader by fighting. This causes problems for The Pride Lands, because the wise old leader gets booted out by a stronger crocodile that is not near as wise or considerate.
• Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever: In a large number of Villain Song’s, the Antagonist (Usually Janja) see themselves as Giants, as they sing?
• Audience Shift: Just like Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, this show shifts its target audience from all ages to seven and under. Unlike the former though, plenty of older viewers are attracted as well.
• Avengers Assemble: Simba charges Kion with assembling the Lion Guard, including the bravest (Bunga), the strongest (Besthe), the fastest (Fuli), and the keenest of sight (Ono), with Kion himself being the fiercest.
• Awesome Moment of Crowning: Jasiri's ascension as Queen of the Outlands is portrayed as this. Later on, Kion is coronated as King of the Tree of Life and becomes Rani's husband.
• Batman Gambit: In "The Scorpion's Sting", Sumu stinging Simba and the Guard heading to the volcano to get the ash to cure him were all planned by Scar to lure the Guard to him so the Army of Scar can attack, right down to attempting to use the Roar of the Elders which could make the volcano erupt which is what brought him back in the first place. The only thing Scar did not count on was Kion focusing the Roar directly on the army, which allows the Guard to escape.
• Bat Out of Hell: Averted with the Botswanan long-eared bats that appear throughout the series, which are friendly and harmless towards the Guard. That doesn't stop Ono from being afraid of them.
• Battle Cry:
  • The Lion Guard has one:
    "'Til the Pride Lands' end, Lion Guard, defend!"
  • The Night Pride as well:
    "With strength and respect, Night Pride, protect!”
  • Then, when the Guard unites the Pride Landers to defend their home:
    "We'll fight fot what's right, Pride Landers, unite!"
• Beary Friendly: Polar bears and giant pandas are among the inhabitants of the Tree of Life, all of them good guys.
• Beauty Equals Goodness: Jasiri is by far the nicest-looking hyena to appear in the series, and is naturally the nicest period. Her clan members are also pretty nice-looking.
• Beware the Superman: The Roar of the Elders was never meant to be used for evil. In the backstory, when Scar used it to destroy his Lion Guard for refusing to help him overthrow Mufasa, the Great Kings of the Past immediately stripped him of it.
• Big Bad: Janja, the leader of the rival hyena clan. Though by the end of "The Rise of Scar", Scar reclaims his position as the main villain, but since he's just a spirit, Janja and Ushari still have to do the heavy lifting. Later, Makucha becomes the main antagonist of Season 3.
• Big Damn Heroes:
  • The Lion Guard driving away the hyenas and saving Kiara from the gazelle stampede.
  • The Lion Guard saving Kiara (again) from the hyenas in "Can't Wait to be Queen".
• Big Good: Throughout Season 1, Rafiki takes the role, serving as a doctor when the Guard is injured and giving them lessons. But as Season 2 proceeds, the role increasingly goes to Simba, especially after Scar is confirmed to have returned. In Season 3, the role increasingly goes to Kion himself as he grapples with his love with Rani.
• Big Guy, Little Guy: Beshte and Bunga. They even refer to one another as Big B and Little B, respectively.
• The Big Guy: Besthe, the strongest of the group, and the largest due to being a hippopotamus.
• Big Sister Bully: Kiara is a mild case, mocking Kion about how he doesn't know where his life is going and constantly bragging about being the future queen. She mellows out a bit over the course of the pilot movie-special.
• Bilingual Bonus: Each member of the Lion Guard has a Swahili catchphrase:
  • Special mention goes to "hevi kabisa", Kion's catchphrase. It's a very informal, urban brand of Swahili — the kind that annoys grandparents.
  • Bunga also has his catchphrase, "Zuka Zama!"
  • Ono's also got one, "Hapana", which is in itself a pun because in Swahili it means "Oh no!". In season 3 he uses “Nawaza” which means “think”.
  • Beshti’s is “Twende kivoko!” (Let’s go hippo)
  • Anga: Anga lenga! (Aim for the sky)
  • Fuli: Huesa! (Can’t catch me!)
    • Otherwise, there's a large amount of Swahili phrases spoken throughout the series. Jasiri even sings a song about some of the phrases, such as "Sisi ni sawa", which means "We're the same", and "Kwetu ni Kwetu", "home is home". She later also uses "Asante" in a conversation, which in Swahili is "thank you."
  • In the third season, we're introduced to names and catchphrases in different Asiatic languages, including "songogdson khün" (Mongolian, "the chosen one") and "mibinamet" (Farsi, "see you later").
  • Vitani’s lion guard also have their own. Shahaba’s is “Bila hofu!(without fear!)” Imara’s is “musula!” (Muscles). Tazama’s is “ Hiyo Kali! (That’s terrific). Kasi has “ Haraka Haraka! (Hurry hurry!”)
• Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Reirei and her jackal family, who act friendly, and pass off stealing from the Pridelanders as them not understanding how things work in the Pride Lands.
• Bloodier and Gorier: Kion's eye wound is shown bleeding rather explicitly in the Season 3 opener, while Ora ejects a stream of blood from his mouth in The Lion Guard S 3 E 15 The Lake Of Reflection.
• Book Ends: The Pilot Movie is about how Kion recieved the Roar of the Elders and assembled his Lion Guard; the Grand Finale shows them retiring.
• By the Eyes of the Blind: Only Kion can see and interact with Mufasa's spirit in the sky other than Simba, as shown in "The Rise of Scar". When someone else comes upon them, all they see is a patch of clouds pulsing with a light breeze.
• Call-Back: In the Return of the Roar, Kion said his life would be happy, meaning running around and playing games with Bunga, before he is informed about the Lion Guard. Throughout Season 3, Kion begins to consider a much different version of happiness, his love for Rani, and begins to seriously consider staying at the Tree of Life so he can be with her. Later on, after he realizes the Pride Lands will be safe without him, he returns to the Tree of Life and marries her.
• Cats Are Mean: Besides all the evil lions previously established in the films, namely Scar and Zira, you can bet the Lion Guard will face off with some villainous felines.
  • Makucha, a ruthless and persistent leopard who is the first cat to go against the Lion Guard. He becomes the main villain of Season 3, following the Lion Guard to get revenge on them and feed on the animals at the Tree of Life.
  • Chuluun is a cunning snow leopard who scared the red pandas out of their homes simply because it amuses her. She joins Makucha in order to get payback on the Lion Guard for stopping her.
• Cheated Death, Died Anyway: The Lion Guard prevented Makucha, Chullunn and Ora from killing the elderly Janna. Unfortunately, Janna dies of old age in her next appearance.
• Chekhov's Gag: The snooty zebra's phrase of "Panic and run!" becomes a plot point in one episode called "Paintings And Predictions".
• Cerebus Syndrome: The first half of the show is pretty lighthearted, and although it has some dark and emotional moments, the Guard is always able to save the day, even after Scar gets resurrected for a while. The entire series takes a dramatic turn for the darker once Kion meets Scar in person, with the Guard increasingly being subject to the villains either winning or at a deep price. Season 3 completes this by having Scar and Ushari be defeated for good, but it comes at the cost of the Guard having to go to the Tree of Life, a journey that they do not return from, at least not before Kiara's first hunt.
• Chick Magnet: In "The Rise Of Makuu", Beshte gets some appreciative wolf whistles from a couple of lady hippos while washing himself at Big Springs.
• Chickification: When this show plays the Damsel in Distress card with Kiara, Zuri, and Fuli, there's at least an argument to be made that they're kids. When Nala needs to be rescued? By her own son? From five young hyenas? That's a little more egregious. Especially since Nala in the final battle was right in the thick of it, and was willing to fight in the second battle in Film Two, and also in Real Life, hyenas will only attack a lioness if she is alone (with male lions, that's a different story). With Makuu, it's more realistic, since crocodiles have killed lions when they enter water.
• Children Are Innocent: Kovu, as he is ecstatic to meet the Guard, and actually wants to live in the Pridelands, and unlike Zira, he is being fully genuine. He seems completely oblivious to the fact that Zira is a vengeful psychopath.
• Comically Missing the Point: Happens in "Eye of the Beholder" after Ono helps Kion dodge a charging wildebeest in Janja's dust storm:
  Kion: Good eyes, Ono! Keep 'em peeled for Janja and his clan!
  Ono: Peeled eyes? Ewww!
• Content Warnings: The episode "Long Live the Queen" starts with a warning that the episode deals with themes related to the circle of life, as Rani has to become the new queen of her pride after her grandmother passes away.
• Continuity Nod:
  • Kion is well aware of Scar and his role in his grandfather's death, and more than once hopes to not ever become like him.
  • In the opening of Return of the Roar, Simba gives Kiara the same speech Mufasa gave him as a cub.
  • Mufasa later promises Kion that he'll always be there to help him, with the same "and so will I" he used during his speech to Simba under the stars.
  • Kovu references his meeting with Kiara in Simba's Pride during "Lions of the Outlands".
• Cooldown Hug: Kion offers one to Rani after Queen Jhanna dies, and she weeps into his neck out of grief, with Kion also weeping during the scene. It is ultimately the moment that kicks off their romance.
• Convection, Schmonvection: In "Fuli's New Family" Bunga gets it into his head that he's immune to harm of any sort, so he decides to go play in a volcano. Despite being within inches of lava he experiences no discomfort. He even goes so far as to dip a toe into the lava with nothing more than a bit of singeing.
• The Corruption: Cobra venom can enter a person's mind and can remove their moral filters. Scar got his scar this way, and Kion receives an identical scar in an attempt to make him identical. However, said corruption is shown throughout Season 3 to be very gradual, and the worst it does is merely bring out the victim's more negative traits and desires more clearly, as they are still in control of their actions. Kion was already shown to have something of a temper, and he gets more emotional as a result of the venom. Scar's desires for the throne were always there, but the venom just made him more willing to do it.
• Curtain Call: Nearly every supporting/minor character appears at Kion's Wedding/Coronation in the series finale "Return To The Pride Lands".
• Damsel in Distress:
  • Near the tail-end of "Return of the Roar", Kiara gets caught in a stampede like her father once did.
  • A milder example from earlier on, but one of the lioness cubs, Zuri, gets her claw stuck in a log.
  • In "Can't Wait To Be Queen", Kiara gets tricked into an ambush by Janja and his clan.
  • In "The Search for Utamu", an exhausted Fuli is ganged up on by Mzingo and his flock of vultures.
• Darker and Edgier:
  • While Lighter and Softer compared to the film it's based on, when put next to every other Disney Junior show, or even the previous TV show based on the franchise, Timon & Pumbaa, it stands out as this. For example, it's not shy about outright mentioning death and addressing it as a thing that happens.
  • Season two begins dealing with a much more serialized Story Arc involving more in-depth looks at the complicated politics of the Pride Lands. It also features the return of Scar as a fiery demon from the depths of hell to serve as the Big Bad.
  • Given that Season 3 has Kion gaining a scar as well as being a teenager, the Guard is explicitly stated to be going outside the Pridelands, and that the Guard would be revealed as to why it is not in Simba's Pride, Season 3 will likely be much darker. The fact that a new trailer shows Kion getting his new scar along with him debating whether or not he is evil or not indicates that the show veers decisively into more darker and cynical territory. The opener has Kion getting a scar over his eye that is bleeding, and Ono loses much of his vision. It similarly does not hesitate to make overt insinuations of romance, as a major theme is Kion falling in love with Rani, and desiring, and ultimately choosing to stay with her for the rest of his life. This is also the first Disney Junior show to explicitly kill characters off, with one character burning to death, and another one dying of old age on screen, which is accompanied by everyone mourning over her death, something no Disney Junior show has done before.
  • This is lampshaded later in the season, as Kion finally has a talk with Mufasa (who was worried his grandson had forgotten about him) about what happened.
  • This is also the first Disney Junior show to have a clear romance arc, as Kion is left torn over his desire to go home and his love for Rani. It also, notably, has the first on-screen marraiage in a Disney Junior show.
• Dark Reprise: Sisi ni sawa is sung again in the Season 3 opener as Scar uses it as a form of ridicule for Kion's naivete, along with attempting to corrupt him. This instead causes Kion to remember Mufasa's advice to not fight fire with fire, allowing him to defeat Scar for good.
• Depending on the Artist: Mufasa appears in the clouds frequently, but he lacks that mystic "made of clouds" look and is less cryptic with his advice. Maybe they thought that if they kept the old design for his ghost it would scare kids? Though considering he wasn't "made of clouds" in Simba's Pride (and only his head was designed this way in 1 1/2), it might be to cut down on animation costs.
• Deus Exit Machina:
  • Often, neither Simba, Rafiki, or any of the older lions are around whenever trouble is brewing. Obviously this is necessary to keep the Lion Guard busy.
  • Averted in the Kupatana Celebration where Simba steps in and scares away the jackal family after the Lion Guard rounded them up.
• Deus ex Machina: Kion's roar is all too often used as this. Hopelessly outnumbered or outmuscled by your enemies in a fight? Use the roar. Trapped in a dead end canyon by flood water that's about to drown you and all your friends? Use the roar. Lured to the Big Bad's lair and about to be pushed off a precipice into lava by his evil minions? Use the roar.
• Dirty Coward:
  • Janja prefers to attack with sheer numbers. When he was faced with an even fight in "Can't Wait To Be Queen," he fled. In Janja's defence, the Lion Guard is packed with super-powers, so it's not exactly an even fight.
  • In "The Kupatana Celebration," Reirei chases after a little tree hyrax. When Kion intercedes, Rairai doesn't even try to fight him, instead fruitlessly trying to talk her way out of his wrath.
• Disney Acid Sequence: The show loves to do this with villain songs.
  • Mainly with the hyenas. They have a whopping five songs that count as this.
  • Ushari's "Big Bad Kenge". Justified as it's meant to show off how big the titular monitor lizard is.
  • Makucha's "The Tree of Life".
• Distaff Counterpart: Binga is essentially a female version of Bunga. Not only does she have a very similar name, but she's also a carefree, immature and loud-mouthed Big Eater.
• A Dog Named "Perro": Most of the background animals are named after whatever their Swahili species name happens to be. For example: Ma Tembo the elephant, Twiga the giraffe, and Mbuni the ostrich.
• Dramatic Irony: The Lion Guard assumes the worst when they hear Zira has returned to the Pride Lands. The audience (provided they've seen the second film) knows they have nothing to worry about.
• Easily Forgiven: Averted. No one is willing to let Janja get away with the fact that he has an enemy of the Pride Lands for years, and it is not until his information is correct that he actually gets trusted. Once that happens, everyone conveniently forgets he tried to kill them multiple times. The same goes with the rest of Scar's Legion of Doom.

E-G

• Early-Bird Cameo:
  • The young elephant Mtoto made brief appearances in "Bunga the Wise" and "Fuli's New Family" before his proper introduction in "Follow That Hippo!"
  • Ushari and Makuu appear in the pilot movie before being properly introduced in the series.
  • Kiburi also makes a quick cameo in "The Rise of Scar" before he's introduced in the following episode.
• Earn Your Happy Ending: After three seasons of self doubt and uncertainty, especially the current season that really saw him wrestle with his darker instincts overtly, Kion finally realizes that the Pride Lands will be safe without him, and he becomes king of the Tree of Life along with Rani.
• Edutainment Show: While not exactly a traditional example of an educational show about animals, and while the show perpetuates a lot of animal myths, the show does introduce kids (and adults) to a very wide array of African animals that they might not have know about otherwise, such as hyraxes and aardwolves, and it also teaches obscure but true facts about animals (elephants having funerals, cattle egrets having excellent vision, honey badgers and pangolins spraying musk, monitor lizards being venomous, etc.). Some episodes also introduce ideas relating to wilderness conservation, and the ways in which ecosystems function.
  • Episode 14, "The Imaginary Okapi," is partially about the danger of invasive species. When a leopard gets into the Pridelands, it worries the Guard because none of the Pridelands prey animals have an instinctual fear of leopards. Thus, they could potentially be overhunted by the leopard. Of course, this doesn't explain why the titular okapi — a jungle animal even less native to the Pridelands than a leopard — is allowed to stay.
  • "Too Many Termites" shows the important role predators play in maintaining ecosystems. If predators aren't around to eat prey, then prey can multiply out of control.
• Enemy Within: Ushari's venom threatens to bring all of Kion's darkest impulses out in full force if he is not cured in time, and several episodes show Kion really struggling with his darker instincts.
• Episode Title Card: A rather unique example. The show's logo pops up after the theme song and Mufasa reads the title, then the episode's name appears under the logo as Kion reads it.
• Escort Mission:
  • "The Wisdom of Kongwe" focuses on Makini being tasked in escorting the Pride Lands' oldest and wisest animal Kongwe to Pride Rock, as one of her duties as Royal Mjuzi, with Fuli accompanying her to get the job done fast since they need Kongwe's advice on how to defeat Scar. To Fuli's dismay, they find that Kongwe is a tortoise, which are anything but fast.
  • Season 3 becomes one long escort mission to take Kion to the Tree of Life as Ushari's venom begins to send him insane.
• Evil Brit: Mzingo the vulture has a British accent and helps coordinate the hyenas attack in the premiere. All the other vultures in his flock have British accents as well.
• Evil Egg Eater: There was an episode where Ono the egret had to protect a hamerkop's egg from a hungry African harrier-hawk.
• Evil Laugh: The hyenas do this of course. "Tonight We Strike" contains a rare musical version of this.
• Evil Is One Big, Happy Family: In the Second Season, Ghost Scar welcomes all who are as evil as he is, from Janja and his clan, to Kiburi and his float, to Reirei and her pack, to Mzingo and his flock. Though it's played with as, with all the in-fightings between them, it becomes pretty clear that Scar's influence is the only thing allowing them to work together.
• Expressive Ears: Though not common, these are occasionally seen on characters where it is appropriate from a real-life animal sense, such as Dhahabu the zebra in "The Golden Zebra."
• Extremely Short Timespan: Return of the Roar starts at sunrise and ends at sunset.
• Eye Cam: Mainly Ono, as he is the keenest of sight whenever he spots something the camera is viewed through Ono's eyes. We get an upside down view of Bunga's P.O.V in Paintings and Predictions. We see through Fuli's eyes in The Imaginary Okapi'' while she was playing hide and seek and checking if Kion doesn't see her.
• Eye Scream: Kion gets bitten in the eye in the Season 3 opener.
• Failure Is the Only Option: It's a kids' show and she's a good guy, so any time you see Fuli pursuing that gazelle, you can be sure something is going to prevent her from catching him.
• Family-Unfriendly Death: Ushari falls into the lava of Scar's volcano and burns to death. He deserved it, but that was a bit too much.
  • It's possibly because of this that several episodes later a scene of Rani's grandmother Jana visibly dying, albeit of old age and in peace was prefaced with a warning that younger viewers should watch this with their parents.
• Family-Unfriendly Violence: The series' fight scenes are pretty freaking painful and well above a preschool targeted show with the crocodile mashindano being the best example. Other instances include Jasiri throwing kicks to the mooks heads along with the fall that Ono takes being very painful. Although none of the fights are graphic, the violence is primarily at elementary levels. Still, the violence is Lighter and Softer than in the original movie.
• Fantastic Racism:
  • Simba frankly tells Kion that the team he's assembled (himself, a cheetah cub, a young hippo, a young honey badger and an egret) cannot act as his Lion Guard because "The Lion Guard has always been made of lions." To be fair, he was mostly upset because he thought Kion wasn't taking his new role seriously and was just picking his friends so he could hang out with them.
  • Kion only stops believing that all hyenas are evil in "Never Judge A Hyena By Its Spots" - you know, when Jasiri reveals she's a scavenger, not a predator, meaning she's not competition for his next dinner.
  • Zira in "Lions Of The Outlands" not only hates hyenas (she ignores that Scar had hyenas as henchmen) but also believes that lions are superior over all other animals.
• Fartillery: The plan to save Kiara from the stampede involves Bunga "farting" (in reality, firing off a cloud of musk) to cause the antelope to fan out away from Kiara, showing this show ain't on Disney Junior for nothing. This is Truth in Television, since honey badgers do have an anal gland similar to skunks', but it usually uses it to neutralize the bees when it attacks a hive.
• Feathered Fiend:
  • Mzingo, again.
  • "Ono and the Egg" introduces Mpishi.
• Find the Cure!: The story of Season 3 is curing Kion of Ushari's poison before the venom drives him insane. Several episodes of said season consist of finding Kion enough medicine to get through the day.
• Foreshadowing:
  • In the pilot episode, one shot of the paintings in the Guard's cave in particular stands out; Scar appears in the clouds, glaring down at the volcano where the hyenas hide out while ominous music plays. Come "The Rise of Scar", this now reflects what's actually happening.
  • In "Let Sleeping Crocs Lie", when asked if the Outlanders will rule the Pride Lands under his leadership, Scar sneers and rather insincerely agrees before disappearing into the flames. His Villain Song, "I Have A Plan", strongly implies that Scar simply intends to destroy the Pride Lands, not rule them.
  • Ono saving Bunga in "The Search for Utamu" and being blinded in "Eye of the Beholder" foreshadows the fact he loses most of his vision in the Season 3 opener.
  • In "Fire From The Sky", Anga is shown to be almost as keen of sight as Ono, with a similar shimmering effect in her eyes when she sees something from afar. She also states that she could get used to working with the Lion Guard. In season 3, Ono's vision is impaired, and Anga is chosen to take his place as the Keenest of Sight.
• Fisher King: Jasiri's ascension as the Queen of the Outlands has all of the former members of Scar's army wondering if it will get better, clearly implying this trope.
• For the Evulz: Why the hyenas are so keen on causing chaos in the Pridelands, at least in Return of the Roar. Here, their former motivation of being hungry and eager to hunt there no longer holds water, since they're apparently free to take as many animals as they need to feed themselves Janja mocks the Circle of Life (seen more as a creed than a fact of life) and wants to terrorize all of the savannah animals. It's not always as clear in the actual series — sometimes, they sincerely seem to be hunting when Kion and company drive them off. Jasiri makes a point to explicitly mention that, no, not all hyenas are like Janja and his clan.
• Foregone Conclusion:
  • Since this is a midquel to film two, anyone who has seen Film Two knows that Kiara will survive the stampede and Janja's kidnapping attempt. This doubles for the rest of the characters who appear in Film Two, so any time they appear in danger, you know they will survive. On the downside, it means Kion cannot defeat Zira, nor can Kiara meet Kovu and Zira again until she reaches adolescence.
  • Something has to happen to Kion and the Guard themselves to not be present in the second half of Film Two. Same goes with Makini. The season 3 opener suggests that their journey to find the Tree of Life will be the reason why, though given they stay the same age as shown in the trailer, and since Kiara is not at the age of said hunt in said season 3 opener, it is also very likely they don't come back from the journey. Rather, they don't make it in time for the battle against Zira.
  • No matter what Scar plots, Simba, Nala, Kiara, Timon, Pumbaa, Rafiki and Zazu cannot die and the Pride Lands have to remain intact, since they are all perfectly alive and well by the second half of Simba's Pride (particularly Kiara's first hunt).
  • There's a good reason why hyenas weren't in the sequel — the remaining bad hyenas reformed and joined Jasiri, ending their threat for good.
  • Anyone who's seen the second movie knows the Lion Guard will find all is well when they set out to return to the Pride Lands at the end of the series.
• Free-Range Children: Not just the Lion Guard but Kiara and her two friends wander throughout the Pride Lands with little to no adult supervision. This does lead to Kiara getting into trouble more than once, and the Lion Guard is usually the ones who have to bail her out of it.
• Freudian Excuse: The season 3 opener reveals that Scar got his scar from a cobra bite, and cobra venom can remove someone's morals, and Kion receives an identical scar from Ushari in an attempt to corrupt him. Subverted as, while it can remove their morals, the venom is shown throughout Season 3 that the bite victim is still in control of their actions and the worst it does is bring out their negative traits more viciously. This makes it clear that Scar's jealously for his brother and his desire for the throne and his abuse of the Roar was always there, and the venom just made him more willing to do it then he otherwise would have, especially given how much he relishes in his actions.
• Gale-Force Sound: The Roar of the Elders has the power to strip dozens of trees, blow back enemies, and, it's implied, even kill. Kion takes his newfound power very seriously.
• Gaslighting: In the Season 3 premiere, Scar does this in a way that it lasts long even after he's banished for good. Scar convinces Kion that evil was always in him, and he's destined to end up so no matter what. He has Ushari strike Kion in the eye, giving him a scar, and poisoning him. Scar paints this event as unlocking what's already in Kion. While the venom does have the effect of making it harder for Kion to think, Kion's incidents of losing his temper have him gradually believe evil is taking him over.
• Generation Xerox:
  • It's revealed that Scar led the Lion Guard under Mufasa's regime. Thus, Kion fears becoming like his murderous great-uncle by failing with the Lion Guard.
  • Kiara is eager to be ruler of The Pride Lands and gets caught in a stampede caused by hyenas. Like father, like daughter. It is highly possible that this could just be a cover and that she doesn't want to show her real self to Kion.
• Genial Giraffe:
  • Shingo is a friendly but naive young giraffe.
  • Twiga is a minor recurring giraffe character who Beshte describes as kind, and who is frequently seen among the other friendly animals.
• Genki Girl: Makini. In addition to displaying many habits typical of this archetype, she is constantly bursting into song only to be interrupted by another character who is trying to get a word in edgeways.
• Gentle Gorilla: Every gorilla in the show are friendly good guys. King Sokwe is a Reasonable Authority Figure whose idea of a peace treaty is to playfully dump snow on one's head, and his sons Majinuni and Hafifu are Kindhearted Simpletons. In Season 2, the Guard gain an ally in Shujaa, an immensely-strong gorilla who is normally a Gentle Giant, despite initially having trouble controlling his strength, and becomes good friends with Beshte.
• Glowing Eyes: Ono has these whenever he spots something from a distance. Anga does the same.
• Go Back to the Source: Scar is fought for the final time in the same volcano crater where he was first summoned.
• Goldfish Poop Gang: Janja and his group ceased being a real threat to Kion in the pilot. They've made several appearances since and are never any more successful than they've ever been. Well, they got tired of this and decided to summon Scar and put together a Legion of Doom.
• Good Animals, Evil Animals: Generally you can tell by the species who's going to be an antagonist. There are some exceptions, such as Jasiri and her family being good hyenas, the old crocodile leader Pua being wise and kind, and Makuu pulling a Heel–Face Turn in Season 2. But in general if the animal is stereotyped as evil in real life it will cause trouble for the Lion Guard, while animals that get stereotyped as good or either will be on the Guard's side.
• The Great Serpent: At one point in the "Zuka Zama" song sequence, Bunga slides along the coils of a gigantic rock python. The python, however, is not at all menacing.
• Greater-Scope Villain: The Strange Lion who told Scar that the strongest should rule, and later gives him his iconic scar. We only see him in Scar's flashback, but he is responsible for all of the events of the franchise.
• Green Gators: The crocodiles are all green. They are an even brighter green than the crocodiles in the 2002 special edition of the first film.

H-K

• Happily Married: Kion with Rani in the finale.
• Hair-Trigger Temper: Thanks to Ushari's venom sending him into a Sanity Slippage, Kion becomes incredibly irritable, and if he doesn't have enough medicine, pretty much anything can send him into a furious temper tantrum.
• Heart Is an Awesome Power: While his friends are in the Guard for reasons such as speed and strength, Ono is there because he has the keenest of eye sight. Of course, being a lookout on a team of protectors and essentially "first responders", and an aerial one at that, makes Ono a valuable asset to the Lion Guard. In-universe, thus far, Ono isn't shown feeling bad about his role on the team, nor anyone else. "Eye of the Beholder" is all about Ono and his value to the team.
• The Heavy: Janja is the main antagonist of the first season and remains prominent in Season 2... when Scar is resurrected to serve as his new master. Scar himself ends up being this for the series even though he's only an active threat in the second season. From the very first episode, Kion is aware of his evil and actively seeks to avoid becoming like his late great-uncle, and though Scar is defeated in the Season 3 premiere, he doesn't go down without leaving Kion with a scar and a condition that threatens Kion's morality for the remainder of the series.
• Heel–Face Turn:
  • Makuu in "The Savannah Summit", as he begins working to become a better leader for both his float and the Pride Lands.
  • Janja defects to the Pride Landers in the Season 3 opener and gives them advice on how to beat Scar.
• He Who Fights Monsters: Invoked; Kion's greatest fear is that he will become just like Scar, and always makes sure to regulate his use of the Roar of the Elders to avoid it. This is a major theme in Season 3, where Kion after gaining an identical scar, begins to struggle with whether he is evil or not.
• Herbivores Are Friendly: All the herbivores in the first two seasons have been good guys, though they are not always friendly. By Season 3, this trend gets broken; the first villainous herbivores are the porcupine henchmen of Mama Binturong.
• The Hero: Kion, who has the mystical roar power and first manifests the Lion Guard mark.
• Heroes Act, Villains Hinder: In contrast to the previous two seasons, the third season's plot is driven by the Lion Guard taking Kion and Ono to be healed at the Tree of Life, while Makucha and his new crew interfere because they want to eat the animals from the Tree of Life.
• Hero Antagonist: Kovu, as it quickly becomes obvious to the audience that he is pretty against the Outsiders actions and beliefs, and he is also the most pacifistic of them, actually apologizing to the Guard for Nuka's rashness, tries to stop Zira from attacking Kion, and when he realizes he won't win, he doesn't even argue with Kion.
• Hero's Evil Predecessor: In The Lion Guard, it's revealed that Scar was the leader of the Lion Guard and was blessed with the power of the Roar of the Elders. However, the power went to Scar's head and he vainly believed that with this power, he should be king instead of Mufasa. But when the rest of the Lion Guard said no, Scar furiously used the Roar to destroy them. Due to using his powers for evil, Scar lost his power completely and descended further into depression, becoming shriveled and horrible. Kion fears that he may end up becoming just like Scar, but regularly makes sure to regulate his use of the Roar of the Elders.
• Hero Looking for Group: Kion's first task as leader of the Lion Guard is to select his subordinates according to being outstanding in a particular trait—the Fiercest, the Keenest of Sight, the Bravest, the Strongest, and the Fastest. In an attempt to cleanse Scar's tainted legacy, Kion picks cubs from various animal species, not just lions. Their job is to be the Pride Lands' Praetorian Guard and preserve the balance of the Circle of Life. Later on, Kion passes on the torch to Vitani, who picks her companions among the Outsider lionesses.
• Heroes' Frontier Step: "The Hyena Resistance" is one for Jasiri; after forming her own heroic force in the Outlands to help the Lion Guard in their fight against Scar, she ultimately saves Janja's life because he's a hyena like her.
• Hero of Another Story: Simba.
• High-School Sweethearts: Unlike the other two central couples of this franchise, Kion and Rani first meet in their adolescence.
• Hijacked by Ganon: Scar ultimately becomes the Big Bad of the show, until he is defeated in the Season 3 opener.
• Honorable Elephant:
  • Ma Tembo, the matriarch of the elephant herd, is shown to be kind, wise, and understanding. Her father Amanifu was also this when he was alive.
  • Elephant calf Mtoto has plans to become one, due to having Beshte as a role model.
• Horrible Judge of Character: Downplayed. In the episode "Can't Wait to be Queen," Kiara is left in charge of the Pridelands while Simba and Nala are away on business. During the episode, she's approached by Janja's vulture minion Mizingo, who tells her that Janja wants to meet with her to discuss a peace treaty. Kiara is uncertain but decides to think about it. Kion tries to warn against it, but he fails to state it directly, and proceeds to berate and yell at her, which doesn't get Kiara in a good mood; as a result, Kiara mistakes the warning for jealousy, and decides to go to the peace offering, genuinely believing that Janja wants peace. As soon as she gets there, she runs into an ambush and finds out the hard way that Kion was right about trusting Janja.
• History Repeats: Scar attempts to invoke this in Season 3, where he gives Kion a scar, and attempts to turn Kion into a similar version of himself. Much of Season 3 is based around Kion wondering whether Scar is correct or not.
• Hypocrite:
  • In "The Rise of Makuu," Kion tries to talk Makuu into having his clan leave Big Springs. Makuu refuses, telling Kion that a real leader never backs down. Later, after Kion demonstrates the power of the Roar of the Elders, Makuu immediately gathers up his clan and leaves the Springs. Kion also spends the episode speaking out against Makuu's violent tactics, only to resort to the threat of violence in the end, so this goes both ways.
  • Zira and Nuka call Kion out for working with hyenas, completely ignoring that Scar used them as minions. Then again, they did kill him.
  • Kion and Fuli. Face it, stopping other predators from killing is pretty hypocritical when you're a carnivore who would in real life, actually be chasing them off from their meal to have it yourself. The show never draws the slightest attention to this, which is actually starting to annoy viewers. Although said other predators aren't particularly good guys, but still.
  • Simba and Nala protect their daughter and give her many lessons on how to be a ruler, and only let her become queen when she is an adult. Yet, paradoxically, they make their younger son act as leader of the Lion Guard more or less the second he shows the mark; forcing a massive responsibility on his shoulders that places him in all sorts of dangerous situations, with little to nothing in the way of training and all while he is only a child. Although, they do at least teach him some lessons throughout the show.
• "I Am" Song:
  • Kion and Jasiri's duet "Sisi ni Sawa (We Are The Same)" in the episode "Never Judge A Hyena By Its Spots".
  • Fuli sings about her love for independence in "Fuli's New Family".
  • Tamaa the drongo bird from "Call Of The Drongo" has "Bird Of A Thousand Voices".
  • Hadithi the eagle from "Ono's Idol" has "Hadithi the Hero".
• I Broke a Nail: Zuri, when Bunga accidentally screws up Timon and Pumbaa's attempt to gently free her claws from the log.
• I Got Bigger: By the third season, Kion has aged from a cub to a teenager. The end of the series has Kiara as an adult, indicating that Kion was away long enough for the events of Film Two to pass.
• Ink-Suit Actor: In “The Lost Gorillas”, the titular gorillas, Majinuni and Hafifu are voiced by and modelled after Dan and Phil, respectively.
• Insistent Terminology: Whenever the Lion Guard talk about their love interests, they always call them friends or really good friends, presumably because using more formal like love would be a bit too mature for Disney Junior. When Kion uses this term in front of Kiara, she immediately deduces what Kion is really talking about.
• Jerkass Ball: Both Tiifu and Zuri in "Can't Wait To Be Queen." After Kiara is made acting queen while her parents are away, they set themselves up as her advisors, demanding the Lion Guard bow to her, and even giving themselves titles like "dame" and "lady." They let Kiara go off to meet Janja alone, thinking that she can handle it just because she's the queen. They shrug off Kion rightfully calling them out for this, with Zuri saying that it doesn't matter what Kion says, because "he's not a queen."
• Jumping Off the Slippery Slope: A major theme in Season 3 will be Kion wondering if he is evil or not, and will spend a good focus of time debating who he really is.
• Karma Houdini: Despite having tried to kill the Lion Guard in gruesome ways multiple times, the second Janja defects, he is automatically portrayed as a good guy. This goes with the rest of Scar's Legion of Doom at the end of the season 3 opener as well except for Ushari who dies a Karmic Death.
• Kid Hero: The Lion Guard is completely comprised of juvenile animals. Not that it's made them any less effective.
• Kidnapping Bird of Prey: Mpishi in "Ono and the Egg". She does a literal kidnapping when she carries off Kulinda's chick, with Mwoga assisting her.
• Killed Off for Real: Ushari in "Battle For the Pride Lands".
• Knighting: Kion bestowing the mark of the Lion Guard on his friends while dubbing them the bravest/fastest/strongest/keenest of sight certainly comes across as this.
• Knight of Cerebus:
  • Nne and Tano are portrayed much more seriously than any of the other hyenas, and produce a plot that very nearly leads to the massacre of a herd of antelope. They're easily the most competent hyenas in the entire franchise.
  • Zira debuts in late Season 1 and is a menace unlike anything the Guard has encountered before. For one, she's a lion, and is the first lion antagonist the group has faced, causing Kion some serious introspection as he arrogantly assumed all lions besides Scar were good and reasonable. Zira also is revealed to be raising her pride in a manner similar to Neo-Nazis, based out of lion supremacism and carrying on the actions of the long dead Scar. Zira's arrival also introduces Kion to the bitter blood feud between the Pride Lands and the Outlands, and while her violence may have been toned down, she's just as depraved and dangerous as ever.
  • And in "The Rise of Scar", guess who returns to become the main villain of the show? And because of that, every antagonistic animal is joining together to become a serious threat.
  • "Let Sleeping Crocs Lie" gives us Kiburi and his followers, who are truly villainous crocodiles and even more antagonistic than Makuu (who already had a Heel–Face Turn by that point). As established when they attempted to have Simba himself assassinated in the most insidious way possible, something no previous antagonist in the show has done. The fact that Makuu himself was taken aback at this really says a lot.

L-O

• The Lancer: Bunga, representative of bravery and a long time friend of Kion.
• "Leave Your Quest" Test: Kion begins to develop romantic feelings for Rani, and actually really wants to live at the Tree of Life with her out of his love for her, to the point that he considers never returning to the Pride Lands. Ultimaetly, when he finds a worthy successor to become the Pride Lands new protector, he returns to Rani and marries her.
• Legion of Doom: The plot of Season 2 involves Scar's spirit resurrected through the volcano in Janja's lair, and with Ushari's help, to put together a legion of animal factions who have had conflict with the Lion Guard so that they can all take over the Pride Lands. In Season 3, Makucha the leopard begins recruiting new animals who have been humiliated by the Lion Guard and want revenge on them. First was a snow leopard and then a Komodo dragon.
• Lighter and Softer: Regardless of the Darker and Edgier entry, it is still this compared to the films it's based on.
• Loss of Inhibitions: It's revealed that snake venom can induce this, which contributed to Scar conspring against Mufasa. It also causes Kion to become more easily angered, and more willing to use his position as leader of the Guard to make the others do what he wants to.
• Loud Gulp:
  • In Eye of the Beholder Ono those this when he thinks his friends will make fun of his eyepatch when he injures his eye.
  • A visible gulp is seen on Cheezi in Call of the Drongo when he and the hyenas think that the Guard are in the canyon when its really Tamaa imitating their voices.
• Falling-in-Love Montage: It would not be a part of the Lion King franchise without this. "A Feeling of Belonging" where Kion and Rani confess they love each other.
• Love Redeems: Janja defects first out of the fact it is heavily implied he is in love with Jasiri.
• Lovable Lizard: Much of the show's edutainment value comes from teaching kids about different wild animals, so the heroes meet up with a few of these:
  • Kinyonga, a Badass Adorable veiled chameleon who helps out the Lion Guard by spying on Scar in the Outlands, thanks to her camouflage ability.
  • Hodari, a William's dwarf gecko who forms a Brains and Brawn duo with Makuu.
• Mêlée à Trois: In the Outlands, Jasiri’s clan is constantly at war with Janja’s clan, but Zira and her outsiders make no distinction and are hostile towards both hyena factions.
• Midquel: The series takes place inside the timeline of Simba's Pride, during Kiara's childhood. Season 3 however, catches up to the rest of the events of that film, explaining Kion’s absence with the last episode taking place a good amount of time after the end of the film.
• Might Makes Right: Makuu believes that a real leader uses force to solve any problem. Kion in turn forces him and his float from the river by threatening to use the Roar of the Elders. Make of this aesop what you will. Later on, Makuu realizes this is rather impractical when tackling the dry season.
• Mighty Roar: Kion and Rani let a joint one out towards the animals assembled at the Tree of Life during their wedding, symbolizing Kion is a king.
• Mirroring Factions: Jasiri's song, "Sisi ni Sawa (We Are The Same)" is about her telling Kion that lions and hyenas are this.
• Misplaced Wildlife:
  • The song "Duties of the King" showed a chimpanzee in the savannah. Chimps are forest-dwellers. Not surprising given the franchise already shown other forest-dwelling animals like gorillas and okapis living in the savannah (though in this show, okapis and gorillas are more realistically portrayed as non-natives).
  • Tamaa from "Call of the Drongo" appears to be a greater racket-tailed drongo, which only live in Asia. Africa does have drongos, but they don't look like Tamaa.
  • Lampshaded as a plot point in "The Imaginary Okapi". Okapis are jungle-dwelling animals, but Beshte tries to convince his new friend that the Pride Land savannah is the ideal place to make a home.
  • "Rafiki's New Neighbors" features Zanzibar red colobuses, which are not found in mainland Africa.
  • Kinyonga appears to be a veiled chameleon, which is only found in the Arabian Peninsula.
  • In Season 3, every single new animal that appears is native to Asia and Oceania (aside from the marsh mongooses from "Marsh of Mystery"). Although it's all but stated outright that the Guard are traveling far away to search for the Tree of Life, and both the geography and local languages change to reflect this, they are never actually shown leaving Africa.
  • Subverted in the season 3 episode "Race to Tuliza," in which an Asiatic cheetah appears. Asiatic cheetahs did indeed once range across much of the Middle East and India, but have since been restricted to scattered regions of Iran. Azaad reflects this by speaking Farsi. However, the Guard is shown enjoying the therapeutic waters of the Dead Sea, which is a significant distance from Iran. This raises the question of whether Azaad is misplaced, or the Dead Sea is.
  • In "Journey of Memories," a jerboa appears, but the Southern Cross is high in the sky, indicating they are in the southern hemisphere. Jerboas are only found in the northern hemisphere. This is not an artistic error, either, as the Southern Cross provides a brief yet prominent plot point, and the jerboa is the one who draws the Guard's attention to it.
  • Justified with the Tree of Life, because animals from all over the world come to heal there and seek safety, with a supernaturally diverse ecosystem capable of housing animals from all climates. This results in polar bears, penguins, Siberian tigers, Eurasian water shrews, giant pandas, lemurs, musk deer, Bactrian camels and South American pampas foxes hanging out together.
• Mood Whiplash: The show occasionally does do this, albeit only in certain situations. "Can't Wait to be Queen" goes from the botched kidnapping attempt, which was intense, to Simba's error in his Elephantese. "Bunga and the King" goes from Simba falling into the sinkhole to Bunga frustrating Simba hilariously. Season 2 does this less due to being more serious and Season 3 sets it up for much less comedy.
  • Season 3 has several scenes where something funny happens that the audience is supposed to find amusing, only for it to trigger Kion's Sanity Slippage induced Hair-Trigger Temper, forcing the rest of the Guard to try to calm him down or give him his medicine. The Accidental Avalanche and The Race To Tuliza are prime examples of this.
• More than Mind Control: While it is stated that cobra venom can send people insane, it is heavily implied that the venom merely brings out someone's darker impulses and desires, leaving the bite victim in complete control of their actions and still understanding the difference between right and wrong. Plenty of times, it is shown that Kion is completely capable of fighting back against the venom when it is attempting to push him into a darker action, while Scar was already shown to be power hungry and desired the throne before he was bitten. This heavily implies that the claim that cobra venom sends people insane is a misdiagnosis by the Pridelanders.
• Most Writers Are Adults: Kion is left in charge of a territorial protection unit which consists of animals near his age range. He is shown worrying about things no kid would bother stressing over, such as himself turning out like Scar. His enemies are at most equivalent to teenagers. Kiara is left in charge for one episode, and she can track gazelles despite being a cub — and despite the first hunt being previously shown as a rite of passage into adulthood. This was later clarified in Episode 7 as they were practicing for Kiara's first hunt instead of her hunting already.
• Mugging the Monster: In The Race to Tuliza, several flamingoes decide to needlessly poke Kion for no other reason than for their own amusement. Given that these flamingoes are insinuated to have never seen a lion before, the flamingoes have no idea they are annoying a cub who has a powerful supernatural roar and is going through a serious Sanity Slippage. Kion nearly kills them all when they don't believe his warning.
• Musical Number Annoyance: In "The Kilio Valley Fire", the leaders of the villainous animal clans argue in song over who gets to run the ruined Kilio Valley. They all turn to Kiburi, leader of his crocodile clan, expecting him to join in their musical number, but he flatly replies, "I don't sing."^note This is ironic since Kiburi's actor, Common, is the highest profile musician to voice a recurring character in the series, let alone Scar's army.
• My Hovercraft Is Full of Eels: In Can't Wait to be Queen Simba has to give a eulogy for an old elephant friend who died to his family in Elephantese, which Simba doesn't speak very well. He ends up saying "he had poop on him". (Luckily for him, the elephants don't take offense to this.)
• Mythology Gag: Numerous, especially in Return of the Roar, given that it's the first major story in the franchise for over a decade:
  • The opening scene features a mash-up of Mufasa's theme and the triumphant climax of "King of Pride Rock" (both musical cues feature on the track "This Land" as well).
  • "It is time"!
  • In "Tonight We Strike", Janja perches on a jagged rock pillar and laughs maniacally, surrounded by his hyena minions in the same manner as Scar in "Be Prepared".
  • Kion tells Jasiri "asante" after she leads him back to the Pridelands. While "asante" is Swahili for "thank you," it's also the name of a young hyena befriended by Kopa in a tie-in book for the first film.
  • Zazu and Simba's song in "Can't Wait To Be Queen" gives off many vibes of "To Be King", a bouncy song Zazu and Mufasa were once slated to sing to a young Simba in an early draft of the original song that was deemed out of character for Mufasa.
  • "Call Of The Drongo" has several shots of antelope running into the Outlands (with the hyenas tailing them) that call back to the infamous wildebeest stampede.
  • "Savannah Summit" features rhino crash leader Mbeya sitting on a hapless Zazu, much like in the original film at the end of "I Just Can't Wait To Be King".
  • "Bunga and the King" has Simba fall into a sinkhole, resulting in a perfect recreation of Mufasa's fall into the gorge.
  • Kion having non-lion friends is similar to an early idea for Simba in The Lion King, who were cut out of the film and replaced with Timon and Pumbaa whom he meets later.
  • The scene where Kion looks back at his home before heading to the Tree of Life is similar to Kovu looking back after Simba unfairly exiles him.
• Nature Is Not Nice: Zig-zagged. While The Lion Guard avoids showing characters getting killed or seriously injured, both protagonists and antagonists are portrayed as hunters. The show is rather bad about avoiding double-standards when it comes to this; Kion, Fuli, and other "good" predators hunting just enough to feed themselves is portrayed as fine, while "bad" predators doing the same is not. Moreover, anything unkind, deceptive, or even mildly disruptive is portrayed as harmful to the "circle of life." A stray comment by a zebra in "Follow That Hippo" implies that prey animals of the Pridelands live there under the belief/promise that it's safer than other areas of the world, possibly implying that the way things are done in the Pridelands isn't the natural order. The same also goes with the Tree of Life as well, as implied
• Never Say "Die":
  • Scar "destroyed" the other members of the Lion Guard when he was younger. The special plays this Trope straight and averts it as the scenes see fit. Notably averted towards the end, where Kion makes clear that Janja and his clan wouldn't stop until the entire gazelle herd was dead. Earlier, Janja also comments that the entire (previous) Lion Guard had "died out".
  • Mostly averted in the episode "Just Can't Wait to Be Queen". It's stated near the beginning that one of Simba and Nala's old elephant friends, Aminifu, had "passed away" and "completed his part of the Circle of Life". But their subplot in the episode is centered around going to his funeral. Literally. No euphemisms are used for the term, they straight-up state that it's a funeral they're attending. Not only that, but later in that same episode they actually show Aminifu's dead body, albeit slightly obscured with flowers from other mourning elephants. They don't fully state "die" or "death", but they sure show it. It's actually kind of a tear-jerker, which is pretty ballsey for a Disney Jr. show.
• Never Smile at a Crocodile: Episode 2's problems are caused by a arrogant young crocodile Makuu, but none of them are portrayed as evil, and the old leader crocodile Pua is even portrayed as being wise and kind. He politely asks the hippos if there is enough fish for the crocodiles to eat in their lake, and when told there isn't, they peaceably leave to find food elsewhere instead of raising a ruckus or even being rude. Makuu ends up playing this straight for most of Season 1, but he finally he has a Heel–Face Turn in the Season 2 episode "Savannah Summit", after which a new crocodile and his followers take his place as the crocodilian villains in "Let Sleeping Crocs Lie". Said new crocs are also shown to be outright evil as they attempted to murder Simba in the most heinous way as they could, an act that even Makuu is disturbed by.
• Never Trust a Trailer: One of the promos for "Return of the Roar" has the scene of Simba saying Kion is the new leader of the Lion Guard; this scene is actually him scolding Kion for believing he didn't assemble the team and went to play with his friends instead.
• Noble Bird of Prey:
  • Hadithi is seen as this by many birds, especially Ono, though it's later revealed that his legendary exploits are tall tales. Nonetheless he plays this straight when he helps the Guard defeat Janja and his clan, before rightfully declaring Ono as a true hero.
  • "Fire from the Sky" introduces another heroic eagle Anga, whom the Lion Guard enlist her help in stopping the vultures from setting fire to the Pride Lands. She's promoted to a main hero in Season 3, becoming the Guard's new Keenest of Sight while Ono is now the Smartest.
• No-Harm Requirement: In The Rise of Makuu Makuu takes over the hippo pond as his first order of business as the new crocodile leader. When Kion insists that they go back to their old territory, he refuses to budge, stating that Kion would have to make him. Kion's tempted to use The Roar but decides against it as he doesn't want risk abusing his power and becoming like Scar and resolves to figure out how to get Makuu out of the pond without resorting to violence. He ultimately gets Makuu to leave demonstrating The Roar's power on a nearby tree.
• No Time to Explain: Bunga has just enough time to hitch a ride on Fuli's back to where Kiara is trapped before he reveals his plan.
• Not a Game: Simba says this to Kion when it looks like the latter isn't taking the Lion Guard seriously.
• "Not So Different" Remark: Jasiri's song, "Sisi ni Sawa (We Are The Same)" is about her telling Kion that lions and hyenas are this.
• Not-So-Imaginary Friend: In "The Imaginary Okapi," Beshte makes a new friend, Ajabu, an Okapi who has come to the Pridelands from far away. Whenever he tries to introduce Ajabu to his friends, Ajabu either hides in fear. This, along with the colorful description Beshte provides, leads most of the Guard to believe Ajabu is an Imaginary Friend Beshte made up, to his annoyance. They finally learn Ajabu is real when he runs past them, being chased by Makucha the leopard.
• Obviously Evil: Ushari, a venomous and aggressive cobra.
• Oh, Crap!: Bunga, when he learns that he's about to be Janja's lunch. Then the hyenas get this when Kion uses the Roar for the first time.
• Once an Episode: There is at least one song per episode.
• Only Sane Woman: Kiara is portrayed as this whenever Tiifu and Zuri are involved in an episode. Kiara clearly sees them as friends, but is clearly annoyed with some of their antics, especially if they involve the Lion Guard.
• On Three: Timon and Pumbaa try to free Zuri's claw from a log this way, until Bunga screws things up.
• Origins Episode: While not the main plot of the episode, "The Search For Utamu" provides a flashback to how Bunga became Timon and Pumbaa's adoptive nephew, by fetching some hard-to-reach grubs for them.
• Ostrich Head Hiding: Deconstructed. In "Bunga The Wise," Bunga tells an ostrich who's scared of hyenas to hide her head in the ground to avoid seeing them. When the rest of the Lion Guard see her doing this, they point out that ostriches don't actually do such a thing. After they help the ostrich to pull her stuck head out, she complains about how hard it is to breathe down there.
• Our Demons Are Different: Scar's apparition is never outright called this, but it's obvious he went to Hell and became this.
• Overshadowed by Awesome: The rest of the guard when compared to Kion. Whereas each of them displays impressive yet realistic physical prowess, Kion is granted a supernatural magical roar allowing to blast enemies (and potentially even kill them), gain partial control of the nature's forces (specifically, he can roar at clouds to make them rain, change the curse of a flood, and even make a volcano to erupt), and communicate with the dead. He could be the whole Guard by himself, wouldn't it be for the necessary drawbacks by the script.

P-S

• Parental Bonus: Kion mentions that Simba has already had The Talk with him, pretty much confirming Simba and Nala "did it" during that scene in The Lion King and conceived Kiara in the process.
  Kion: We already had the talk! "Can you feel the love tonight," remember?
• Partially Civilized Animal: Just like in the movie, the Pride Lands seem to be about as close as an ecosystem can get to resembling a monarchy with law while still more or less being the ecosystem it's based on. The royal lion family is clearly in charge of everything. All animals have "jobs" they are supposed to perform to maintain the Circle of Life such as crocodiles keeping fish populations in check and hyenas eating what other predators leave behind. The animals have organized events like funerals and concerts and many can be seen playing together. On top of all that, the show even has a justice force in the Lion Guard who's job is to maintain peace, save animals from disasters, and deal with animals upsetting the Circle of Life. But when you look past all these human-like elements, you still more or less have an African savanna ecosystem. Predators hunt prey animals, herbivores migrate and graze, many animals steal from and fight with others, and visually the animals have very little anthropomorphism beyond their faces.
• Passing the Torch:
  • When Ono loses his sight, he gives his position as keenest of sight to Anga while he becomes the smartest.
  • Kion passes the leadership of defending the Pride Lands to Vitani's guard at the end of the series.
• Peaceful in Death: When Queen Janna dies, she is surrounded by her family and Kion, realizing the Tree of Life is in capable hands. Her death is ultimately a major reason Kion returns to marry Rani.
• Pep-Talk Song: "Power of the Roar" by Askari in "Triumph of the Roar", as he encourages Kion to control his roar and embrace its power.
• Plot Hole: When Kiara met Kovu in the second movie, he and the other Outsiders were already living at the termite mounds. However, when the Outsiders are banished to said mounds by the Roar of the Elders, none of them (or at least Nuka) recognize the place. Of course, it is highly plausible that Zira was trying to find a new home over the years, and the termite mounds were supposed to be temporary.
• Poison Is Evil: Venomous animals like scorpions and monitor lizards are all villainous. Early on the show seemed to avert this with Ushari the cobra, who was more of a Butt-Monkey, but by Season 2 he went through a Face–Heel Turn and played a crucial role in the resurrection of Scar. In an even more literal sense, Season 3 reveals that cobra venom has a corrupting effect on the victim's mind, which corrupted Scar, and Kion is doomed to have the same fate thanks to Ushari's bite unless he gets cured in time at the Tree of Life.
• Polar Bears and Penguins: Both of them are found at the tundra area of the Tree of Life.
• Predation Is Natural: The show takes the approach that hunting is acceptable, and only overhunting or otherwise disturbing the Circle of Life is wrong. Despite this, herbivore characters are heroic with very few exceptions, and only the villainous predators are shown hunting on-screen.
• Pride: "The Rise of Makuu" is about the problems that result when a arrogant young upstart takes over the crocodiles, though the episode's Aesop is more about not resorting to violence as the answer and not being afraid to back down than not being proud.
• Prophet Eyes: Ono gets these as a result of being blinded by volcano smoke, prompting him to pass his guard position to Anga.
• Protagonist-Centered Morality: The original movie made it clear that the Outlands aren't just a place where the hyenas happen to live — it's their land and they're technically free to do whatever they like there. While this still holds true, Kion and the guard trespass on a fairly regular basis. The hyenas are always shown to be in the wrong for acting accordingly. Plus, it's not helped by the fact that Kion once got in trouble with Pua for trespassing.
• Proud Warrior Race: The crocodiles. Fighting is said to be the crocodile way, and they determine their leader by fighting. When a leader is challenged and loses, he is exiled.
• Put on a Bus: All the pride's lionesses except for Nala and the female cubs have failed to appear without explanation. However, they finally make their first appearance on the show in "The Ukumbusho Tradition".
• The Queenpin: Mama Binturong is a binturong who terrorizes the jungle with her porcupine henchmen mafia-style, collecting all the tuliza flowers for herself. Since the tuliza is a flower which calms the mind when consumed, she's essentially running the G-rated version of a drug cartel.
• Recruitment by Rescue: Played straight when Kion and the rest of the fledgling Lion Guard rescue Fuli from a pack of pissed-off monkeys before making the recruitment pitch. Subverted in that Fuli already knew him and the others well, and just needed help in that moment.
• Remember the New Guy?: Due to this series being made ten years after the last canonical entry in the franchise (and twenty years after Simba's Pride, which takes place chronologically after this), this applies to characters introduced in this series who weren't mentioned and didn't appear in other media.
  • Kion's absence in Simba's Pride in particular is difficult to justify: despite being a part of the royal family AND the leader of a territorial protection unit, neither does he appear nor is he ever mentioned during the whole film. Kiara had always been presented as an only cub with no sign of any sibling around until now. The final season reveals why he was absent - he and the Guard left the Pride Lands to look for the Tree of Life.
  • Additionally, Tiifu and Zuri are close friends of Kiara, Bunga is Timon and Pumbaa's adopted nephew, and Makini is Rafiki's apprentice, all introduced here and not seen or heard from in Simba's Pride.
    • Tiifu and Zuri are probably a justified case, in that they are shown to be incredibly minor characters, and are all too often used in the background rather than real characters out front. Its entirely possible Kiara befriended them after meeting Kovu, and that they are among the lionesses in the second half of the film.
  • In Season 2, Reirei and Goigoi are shown to have a daughter named Kijana, and Kiburi and his 3 followers had been part of Makuu's float prior to their banishment. None of these characters were seen in Season 1.
• Reptiles Are Abhorrent:
  • In "The Rise of Scar", a group of skinks serve as spies for Ushari, with the lead skink Shupavu implying to have problems against the royal family as she states she gets uncomfortable being so close to Pride Rock. Cheezi and Chungu themselves find the skinks to be creepy.
  • "The Bite of Kenge" introduces the titular monitor lizard whom Ushari describes as "big and bad". And indeed, Kenge has a very nasty personality to the point of intimidating Janja into following him and is armed with a venomous bite which paralyzed all the Guard except for Bunga. And then there's his reaction to being called "little"...
  • "Dragon Island" features vicious Komodo dragons as the main antagonists, with the lead Komodo dragon Ora joining Makucha's gang of villains at the end.
  • Nonetheless, the show does avert this by including good reptile characters such as Pua, Hodari, Kongwe, and Kinyonga. As well as Makuu having a Heel–Face Turn. Not to mention the one reptile predator that are consistently portrayed as non-malicious are pythons (ironically). Pity they only make that effort for non-venomous reptiles.
• Resurrect the Villain: Ushari and the hyenas successfully bring Scar back as a fiery spirit early in Season 2, and he remains the series Big Bad until the Season 3 premiere.
• Retcon:
  • Kion is a younger brother of Kiara's that the series inserts in the ellipses and/or parallel events of Simba's Pride. Note that the Lion King sequel was already notorious for its convoluted canon. Kiara herself was a bit of a retcon since the tie-in materials for the first movie identified Simba and Nala's cub as male; whereas the rival pride of Scar's followers came out of nowhere to replace the hyenas.
  • Scar was part of the old Lion Guard and used the Roar of the Elders to kill the other members of the Guard. This creates a Plot Hole within the first film, since in that film Mufasa trusts Scar, which he would not do, had Scar already committed a quadruple murder. The exact history of this event is still not known as the story was never fully told. It's highly possible that Scar kept his killing of the Guard a secret and the truth only came out during his reign as king.
• The Reveal:
  • One episode clarifies that neither Mufasa or Scar are Nala's father (though Nala's actual father is not named), handily stepping around the old fan-theories that Simba and Nala were related or at worst, siblings.
  • "Lions of the Outlands" clarifies some details regarding the Outsiders' backstory. Zira already had Kovu (who is not her blood son) by the time Simba became king, and attacked Simba on the basis that he had no claim to Scar's throne. Simba defeated her and exiled her and her family from the Pride Lands. The part about Kovu at least could be wrong given he is still a cub here, not to mention Simba did not know him when they first met and it's been revealed that Zira adopted him.
• Rhino Rampage:
  • Mbeya averts this, being a friendly and conversational Cool Old Guy who is knowledgeable about the Pride Lands.
  • Subverted with Kifaru, who is usually well-meaning and only causes problems due to his poor eyesight. Although played straight if you mess with his friends.
• Rightful King Returns: More like the rightful queen is returning, but Jasiri's ascension as Queen of the Outlands is portrayed as this.
• Running Gag:
  • Whenever Kion lists off the other four Lion Guard personalities (Fastest, Strongest, Bravest, Keenest of Sight), either the camera shows the animal who represents it, or they strike poses to each respective one.
  • Makini's Bakora staff getting lost or destroyed. After a few incidents she starts to notice the pattern. "There goes another staff..."
  • The Mythology Gag of Rafiki hitting Simba in the head turns into a running gag in the show, as he does it to Simba in Return of the Roar, to Bunga in Paintings and Predictions, and to Simba again in Return to the Pride Lands.
• Sanity Slippage: One of Season 3's main themes is that Kion has to be healed before Ushari's venom drives him insane. Throughout the third season, the Guard has to look for Tuliza flowers more often to keep Kion's sickness from getting worse.
• Satanic Archetype: Scar's return as a demonic monster wreathed in fire in stark contrast with the way his brother appears normally in the sky, further emphasising this trait.
• Scary Stinging Swarm: In episode 4, most of the main cast is stung by bees. Bunga, however, is unaffected, and even eats a few.
• Scavengers Are Scum:
  • Zigzagged. Most of the characters are either carnivores or omnivores. The pilot however portrays scavengers as abhorrent, despite the fact real life lions will readily scavenge too if given the chance. Vultures and hyenas (who do apparently hunt in the series as well) are the villains in the pilot, and the latter are not even considered scavengers in real life anymore than lions are. It's true hyenas will scavenge, but they hunt most of what they eat. This fact is later somewhat shown in the series itself, where a hyena named Jasiri mentions that hyenas serve as scavengers in the Circle of Life and tells Kion that not all hyenas are bad (though she is still one of only "good hyenas" in the franchise).
  • There is an entire Villain Song about how jackals pretend to be nice and steal everything. This is presented as a character trait of the species.
    Our kind is born a bit smarter than other creatures you might know.
    And though we seem quite pleasant, our niceness is just a show.
    We've learned how to beat the system; everyone does our work for us.
    But before we can take advantage first we have to win their trust.
• Sequel Goes Foreign: After spending 2 seasons in the Pride Lands and the neighboring Outlands, the Lion Guard goes on a journey for Season 3 towards the Tree of Life. Notably, the Pride Lands were inhabited by African wildlife, whereas the lands leading to the Tree of Life have Asian (and other non-mainland African) fauna.
• Series Continuity Error: Many
  • There is no prior mention or hints to Simba and Nala ever having a son in Simba's Pride and yet this show, set between that films first and second act (which has an unspecified time skip of at least a few years ) and features one as the main charecter, Kion.
  • Kion appears to be close in age to Kiara but was never seen nor mentioned anywhere in the Simba's Pride.
  • Kovu is stated to have been alive during Scar's reign. He was never seen during the third act of the original film nor would he still be cub-sized like he is in the show since he was implied in Simba's Pride to be the same age as Kiara, who was born a long time after Scar had died.
• "Shaggy Dog" Story: The last two episodes are about the Lion Guard and allies frantically trying to get back to the Pride Lands as fast as they can to stop an enemy who's already been defeated.
• Ship Tease: The show starts doing this unambiguously in Season 3. After Fuli bonds with Azaad, they find it very hard to say good-bye and are thrilled when they get to see each other again, Bunga holds hands and shares a Spaghetti Kiss with his Distaff Counterpart Binga, and Janja and Jasiri share an interesting look at Kion's and Rani's wedding.
• Shoo Out the Clowns: Reirei's pups have not appeared with her ever since she joined Scar's army. Also, Reirei's more evil actions are committed when they are not present.
• Shout-Out:
  • In "Never Judge A Hyena By Its Spots", Kion orders Jasiri to get behind him for her own safety before unleashing the Roar. It mirrors a certain scene from Danny Phantom where Danny tells his cousin, Dani, to do the same, before unleashing his Ghostly Wail against Vlad.
  • The leopards in the show have patterns reminiscent to that of Tarzan's Sabor.
  • Anga quotes Lois Lane when Ono tries to rescue her in "Fire From the Sky".
  • The idea of a toxin that, left untreated, threatens to drive the hero insane, or at least, causes the hero's darker instincts to turn them to villainy, has something similar to Batman: Arkham Knight, where the Joker's contaminated blood threatens to turn Batman into Joker because the blood has gestated too long.
    • Season 3 in general seems to be set up as Disney Junior version of Batman: Arkham City, where the hero is poisoned with a serious toxin and is forced to go on a long journey to cure themselves of it that plays a major role in ending his career.
  • The concept of the Roar of the Elders is a pretty obvious shout-out to Avatar: The Last Airbender. For one thing, it allows its user to conjure storm clouds and divert liquid water (waterbending), manipulate earth (earthbending), trigger volcanic eruptions (firebending, more or less), and blast obstacles and enemies out of the way (airbending). Not to mention, when the Captain of the Guard roars, the spirits of the Great Kings of the Past — and, presumably, previous Lion Guard members — roar with them, just as how the Avatar draws upon the spirits of his or her past lives when in the Avatar State. (In both cases, this latter detail crosses over with Voice of the Legion.)
• Shrinking Violet:
  • Ajabu the Okapi is shy around new animals, most often choosing to hide from them.
  • The aardwolves are very shy and timid, responding to what they perceive as threats by fleeing and hiding. Truth in Television, as real aardwolves are indeed shy creatures.
• Simultaneous Arcs: The final season is set within the timeline of Simba's Pride, which explains why Kion and the Guard were absent during the second half of the movie.
• Single-Episode Handicap: Ono is temporarily blinded in one eye during "Eye of the Beholder," literally leaving him with only half of his vaunted keen sight.
• Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism: The first season always portrayed the Lion Guard winning regardless of the villains scheming. Season Two began to show the Guard winning, but often with a Pyrrhic Victory, and Season 3 explicitly shows that Kion will be struggling with his darker instincts, and setting up the Guard for not appearing in Simba's Pride, landing it decisively on the cynical side.
• Small Name, Big Ego: Punda Milia is convinced that zebras are the tastiest animal in the Pridelands, and thus, the prime target for predators. In "The Imaginary Okapi," he acts highly insulted when Makucha the leopard doesn't even try to eat him, referring to Ajabu the Okapi as "much tastier."
• The Smart Guy: Ono, whose bird's eye view allows him to analyse the situation for everyone else. He's also a bit snarky.
• Smug Snake:
  • Mzingo's vulture parliament. In "The Search For Utamu," their anthem, "All Hail The Vultures," is basically them boasting about being the "lords of the sky" and "the greatest" in the Pridelands. Moments later, the Lion Guard easily drives them away from an exhausted Fuli, and even Ono (who belongs to a much smaller species of bird) has no trouble fending one off. Though it should be said that vultures are fiercely intelligent birds and crucial to the ecosystem besides, so they're not exactly wrong.
  • Reirei is highly confident that "jackal style" will allow her and her family to take what they want, and avoid repurcussions by passing it off as a "misunderstanding," taking great pleasure in conning the Pridelanders. But when her family is finally exposed for what they are, and their plan to attack the animals at the Kupatana celebration is stopped, she's reduced to begging Kion for another chance.
• The Smurfette Principle: Fuli, who's the only female of the group - at least until Season 3 when Anga joins the Guard.
• Snakes Are Sinister: Or at least venomous ones, as the only antagonistic snakes are Ushari the Egyptian cobra and the dark cobra who was responsible for giving Scar his scar. African rock pythons, however, don't show any signs of being hostile or villainous (they've been the least troublesome of large predatory reptiles, if at all).
• Spaghetti Kiss: Bunga and Binga do this with a worm.
• Spear Counterpart: The show is one to Sofia the First - Both shows feature a royalty protagonist learning valuable lessons, and each possesses a special power (Sofia's Amulet, Kion's Roar). On a side note, both shows had a Pilot Movie in November, followed by the actual show airing in January of next year.
• Spirit Advisor: Mufasa's spirit appears to Kion fairly often to give him advice.
• Squashed Flat: During the visuals for "Out Of The Way," a boulder rolls over the Lion Guard (sans Ono), flattening them.
• Sssssnaketalk: Ushari is an Egyptian cobra, so naturally, he talks in this way.
• Stalker Shot: In "The Rise of Scar", Makini is introduced spying on Kion from a bush as she witnesses him talking to Mufasa's ghost in the clouds (which is invisible to her).
• Standardized Leader: Kion has some shades of this. His main trait is being "the fiercest" which he fails to display as well as the other Lion Guard members display their traits. He mostly displays it by the roar, but he fails to show any sort of combat ability superior to the others or aggressiveness, traits you would expect "the fiercest" to have. In other words, he's not really truly that fierce.
• Start of Darkness:
  • For Ushari in "The Rise of Scar", where he pulls a Face–Heel Turn and becomes allies with Janja and then Scar so he can get even with the Lion Guard and rule the Pride Lands.
  • "Let Sleeping Crocs Lie" is one for Kiburi as he gets exiled from the Pride Lands for attempting to assassinate Simba and becomes a member of Scar's Legion of Doom
• Surprisingly Realistic Outcome:
  • During the crocodile mashindano in "The Rise of Makuu", despite Pua having more experience in fighting, his old age caused him to become physically weaker and thus lose to the younger, more fit Makuu.
  • "Bunga and the King" shows that the role of leader of the Lion Guard has caused Kion to suffer a serious drop in his social and private life, showing that the role of leader is taking a large toll on the cub.
  • In "Janja's New Crew", it's heavily implied Janja's repeated failures are causing the rest of his clan (Cheezi and Chungu aside) to lose their respect and faith in him as leader.
  • In "Savannah Summit", Simba invites Makuu to partake in the Savannah Summit to discuss a course of action for the approaching dry season. Kion is understandably wary since Makuu has been an antagonistic force in the Pride Lands since he became leader of the crocodiles; he poised a direct threat against the Queen (Kion's mother) on one occasion and the local hippo leader (Beshte's father) on another. However, Simba points out that Makuu is still the leader of a tribe of Prideland citizens, meaning he is entitled to a seat at the Summit. Simba also clarifies that the meeting is not a meeting of just friends, implying that he himself isn't pleased to have to deal with Makuu, but knows that he must since Makuu is the sovereign leader of the crocodiles. Likewise, Makuu's prior acts of villainy results in him having a hard time negotiating with the other Pridelanders since they do not trust him, even if he genuinely wants to co-operate.
  • In "Let Sleeping Crocodiles Lie" the crocs are utterly livid that they have to go through the dry season. That said, Makuu is willing to drop the Proud Warrior Race Guy in the interest of survival of his float, and when one of his followers challenge the small amount of water they have, he points out that under the current circumstances, it is the best they have. Similarly, when said follower tries to defeat him in a mashindano, Makuu is still able to win despite the follower's youth because Makuu is still in shape.
  • Scar's plan to unite everyone under his banner, while a smart idea as it means the Lion Guard has to fight a unified force, also comes with the equally difficult problem of infighting, and him very frequently having to settle debates between them in order to keep them in line.
  • In "The Little Guy", Hodari tries to convince the Pride Lands' crocodiles in allowing him to join their float by singing an upbeat song. Makuu remains unconvinced and dismisses him since it's not their tradition, only reconsidering after the gecko actually proves himself that he can be an asset to the crocodile clan.
  • In "Pride Landers Unite", it is revealed that Simba is keeping Scar's return a secret and has ordered Kion to keep quiet about it, in order to prevent a panic. When Scar reveals himself in "The Fall of Mzimu Grove", Simba takes the blame by stating that he ordered Kion to keep Scar's return secret. The herds are horrified and disgusted that the king kept such a dangerous threat away from the citizens, and many of the herds are on the verge of leaving, as they believe that they are no longer safe in the Pridelands.
  • In Season 3, as Ushari's venom begins to work its way through Kion's body, several of the episodes focus on merely getting Kion enough medicine for the day, as the symptoms keep getting worse. As it turns out, the venom just keeps adapting to the medicine given, so larger doses are needed to allow Kion to fight off the venom's insanity.
  • In "The Accidental Avalanche", the snow monkeys are scared of giant eagles. As a result, when Anga first meets them, they throw snow at her because they think she will attack them, and despite how much she tries to prove it to them, they still are scared of her because she is their natural predator. When Anga attempts to save the snow monkeys using her talons, one of the monkeys predictably panics anyway and nearly gets them all killed as a result. It isn't until she successfully saves them that they finally acknowledge her as a friend.
  • In "Long Live the Queen" the Night Pride is shown to be aware that they know Queen Jhanna is dying. When she actually does die, even from old age, this doesn't stop them from weeping profusely. Rani nuzzles Kion out of grief, and Kion actually cries during the scene. It doesn't matter if you know a relative will die, even from natural causes, it still causes some emotional trauma, even if temporarily.
  • In "Journey to the Pride Lands", Janja and Jasiri show up at the Tree of Life, telling the Guard that they must return to the Pride Lands, as they are needed to help fight against Zira's forces. Despite heading out immediately, and taking a couple of major shortcuts along the way, the Guard and their allies don't arrive back at the Pride Lands until some time after the conflict has been resolved. The journey to the Tree of Life took a long time, so the trip back would also take a while, even with the aforementioned shortcuts.
• Surrounded by Idiots: Janja feels this way concerning Cheezi and Chunga.

T-Z

• The Talk: Kion has apparently been given at least part of this, given his reaction to his father saying "We need to talk."
• Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: Given the number how times they argue with each other, it quickly becomes clear that Scar's influence is the only thing that allows the different factions of the Outlands to cooperate. They do work together well during the missions, but spend most of their time arguing before and after them.
• Tempting Fate:
  • In "Can't Wait to be Queen" Kion has to divert a herd of animals away from a place where a bunch of bees have built their hive. Kion decides to move the bees instead and asks "What could go wrong?" the next scene has the group being chased by the entire swarm.
  • In "The Rise of Scar" after Janja gets to his head and he unleashes the roar in anger, Kion is sure at least nothing bad happened. Cue Scar being risen after Makini's staff is tossed into the volcanoes.
  • In "Battle of the Pride Lands", Nala expresses hope that Kion will return in time for Kiara's first hunt. Anyone who has seen Simba's Pride knows that will not happen.
• Theme Naming: Most of the jackals have two-syllable names that rhyme with each other (Reirei, Goigoi, Dogo).
• There Are No Therapists: Averted. Rafiki is very much the equivalent of a therapist in the Pride Lands, and the third season has Kion undergo therapy treatment for his injury which is causing him to lose his temper.
• Time Skip: The final season takes place a year at least, as Kion is shown to be approaching a teenager, but Kiara is not the age she was in the second half of Simba's Pride. Another one happens at the end of the series, with Kiara, Kovu, and Vitani in their adult designs.
• Title, Please!: A strange variant; beginning with "The Harmattan", episode title cards have been discontinued, and the narrator says the episode titles instead of Kion. This has become common amongst almost all Disney Junior shows as of mid-2018 for no apparent reason.
• Toilet Humor: Characters are said or shown to have elephant dung splattered on them. The memory of a well-respected elephant always being covered in it brings a chuckle to those in attendance at his funeral. At one point, Fuli ends up with elephant dung splattered on her shoulder. She thinks it's mud at first, until Ono tells her otherwise.
• Took a Level in Jerkass: The crocodile float gets it hard in "Never Roar Again." In his last major appearance, Makuu was rude and hotheaded, but not evil or even entirely unreasonable; his float simply content to follow whoever was leader. Here, they all try to take over the floodplains and straight up attack Nala. This continues into "Beshte and the Hippo Lanes", where they try to eat Basi so they can do whatever they want in the floodplains. In "Ono the Tickbird", however, they behave more like mean predators than outright villains.
  • Subverted in "The Savannah Summit" where Makuu turns out to be genuinely trying to work things out diplomatically, despite the Guard suspecting otherwise. He even thanks the Guard for saving him from falling into a pit of rotten fruit created by Twiga and Vuruga Vuruga. This development for Makuu continues in "Let Sleeping Crocs Lie".
• Trailers Always Spoil:
  • Trailers for "Return of the Roar" featured scenes from the final battle, which feature Kion and friends with their lion head marks, which they don't receive until before the battle begins. There is also a scene of the team standing on a ledge in front of the sunset, spoiling the very end of the film.
  • The descriptions for "The Rise of Scar" and "Battle for the Pride Lands" completely give away what happens at the end.
• Uncertain Doom: The fate of Makucha and his army in "Triumph of the Roar". After defeating them and saving the Tree of Life, Kion uses the Roar of the Elders to create a tornado, which sucks them all in and carries them away to never be seen again. Chances are that they ended up dead depending on where they landed, yet it's also possible that they landed safely and simply gave up or are taking time to plan their next attack.
• Unexpectedly Dark Episode: Dark undertones had already been creeping in since "The Rise of Scar", but nothing too serious until "The Scorpion's Sting", where Scar sends a scorpion to lethally poison Simba, and then sets a trap for the Lion Guard when they come for the cure that includes siccing all of his Outlander forces on them within a volcano, with a climax where it continuously looks like the Lion Guard and/or Simba are doomed. It's only at the last minute that they escape and cure Simba, and even then they now know that a war is brewing.
• Unpleasant Animal Counterpart:
  • Just like the original film, lions are mostly good guys while hyenas are bad guys. Deconstructed by "Never Judge a Hyena by its Spots", where it's revealed hyenas are also mostly good. "Lions of the Outlands" has the good hyenas being menaced by evil lions.
  • In "The Imaginary Okapi", Makucha the leopard is the villain of the episode, in stark contrast to heroic cheetah Fuli as well as the noble lions of the Pride Lands. Subverted later in "The Trouble with Galagos" where we meet the good leopard Badili (although the episode's antagonist is also a leopard).
  • "Too Many Termites" is about the Guard mistaking some harmless aardwolves for the bad hyenas.
  • "Ono's Idol" introduces good eagle Hadithi, a contrast to the evil vulture Mzingo. The opposition between the two raptors gets played up in "Fire from the Sky".
  • Pythons are good, while cobras are morally ambiguous or outright evil to the point of being The Corrupter.
  • Geckos, chameleons, and agamas are good, while villainous lizards have been skinks and monitor lizards.
  • Foxes are portrayed as harmless, in contrast to the jackals.
  • "Long Live the Queen" has good tigers as a contrast to the evil leopard and snow leopard.
  • Downplayed with baboons. While they are prone to be more antagonistic than other monkeys, they are mostly good.
  • However, there has been instances where the show averts this. Particularly, rhinoceroses are just as good guys as the elephants and hippopotamuses, and gorillas are just as friendly as the chimpanzees and monkeys.
• Villain Ball:
  • Reirei's plan for her family to attack the Kupatana celebration. Two adults and a bunch of pups attacking a large gathering of pridelanders (which included Simba and the Lion Guard), in a way that couldn't possibly be passed off as a "misunderstanding," was quite a departure from their previous activities, which relied on Bitch in Sheep's Clothing tactics.
  • When confronted by the Lion Guard, Nne and Tano just stand there, and mockingly ask if Kion is going to use the Roar on them (which he does). Up until that moment, Nne and Tano had shown a higher level of cunning than most hyenas, having formulated a very clever strategy (which would have worked if Janja hadn't ratted them out to the Guard), making their sudden leave of intelligence even more jarring.
• Villain Song:
  • The hyenas have quite a bunch.
  • "Jackal Style" for Reirei and her pack of jackals. She and Goigoi also sing to the aardwolves "We're Gonna Make You A Meal".
  • Mzingo and his vultures sing "All Hail The Vultures" before they start their meeting.
  • Zira has "Lions Over All" to convince Kion to join her side.
  • Janja, his hyena clan, and Ushari sing "Bring Back A Legend" as they plot to raise Scar from the dead.
  • Scar has "I Have A Plan" as he recruits Kiburi and his followers to his growing army of Outlanders.
  • Makucha has "The Tree of Life" where he desires to track down the Lion Guard to said tree and feast on the rare, lame, sick and exotic animals that reside there.
• Waxing Lyrical:
  Simba: Son, we need to talk.
  Kion: Oh, no...Dad, we already had that talk! "Can you feel the love tonight..." I know all about that mushy stuff!
• Weaponized Stench: Bunga, especially in season 3. Mama Binturong was on the wrong end of it several times and Binga once joined him doing it.
• Weddings for Everyone: The series finale — Kiara has married Kovu, Kion marries Rani, Bunga and Fuli have unambiguously hooked up with Binga and Azaad, and even Janja and Jasiri share a significant look at Kion's wedding.
• Wham Episode:
  • "The Rise of Scar" + "Let Sleeping Crocodiles Lie": Ushari is now allied with Janja's clan, and together they've succeeded in bringing back the spirit of Scar, who begins building a Legion of Doom to take over the Pride Lands. In that same episode, we are introduced to a new crocodile villain in Kiburi as Makuu's Heel–Face Turn becomes permanent.
  • "The Scorpion's Sting": Scar orchestrates a nearly-successful assassination of Simba (on the anniversary of his death, no less), and reveals himself to the Lion Guard - as well as the true numerical might of his army, including Ushari and Mzingo's vultures. The episode marks the beginning of an official war between the Pridelands and the Army of Scar.
  • "The Fall of Mzimu Grove": The citizens of the Pride Lands now learn that Scar has returned.
• Wham Shot: In "The Wisdom of Kongwe", we learn in the opening of the episode that Mufasa does not appear as he has in the series exclusively to Kion, as he is shown speaking to both his grandson and his son at the same time. ^note We've of course seen Mufasa appear to Simba from the heavens in the original film, but this is the first time in this series that Mufasa has done so for Simba in the series.
• What Measure Is a Non-Cute?:
  • The vultures are portrayed as scheming minions to the hyenas, eager to help them kill indiscriminately and unconcerned with the "circle of life." In reality, vultures are extremely important members of the ecosystem who help prevent the spread of diseases such as cholera, rabies, and anthrax, and are the most social (and thus friendliest) of the birds of prey. They're also in very real danger of dying out.
  • "Never Judge A Hyena By Its Spots" features Jasiri, a good hyena, showing they are trying somewhat to avoid this trope. They did try their hardest to make her cute for a hyena, though.
  • Played painfully straight when Bunga physically assaults Ushari, who was about to eat a tree hyrax. His only crime was trying to have some lunch. On the other hand, pythons are not shown as any more menacing than the other predators nor are they as negatively portrayed (probably because pythons are considered "cute" snakes).
  • Inverted in that skinks are portrayed as sneaky spies to the villains, in spite of the usual portrayal of small lizards as good guys and skinks themselves being usually harmless in real life. Played straight with the good lizard characters Hodari and Kinyonga, who are respectively a gecko and a chameleon (universally considered to be cute lovable lizards).
• Won't Take "Yes" for an Answer: When Kion sets out to assemble the Lion Guard, Bunga makes an impassioned speech about how he should be part of it—until Kion shuts him up long enough to recruit him.
• You Are Better Than You Think You Are: Mufasa's message to Kion when he doubts being a leader and using the Roar.
• Youthful Freckles: Tiifu has these. Bunga's cheek stripes seem to serve as a species specific variant.
• Your Size May Vary: Bizarrely, Simba and Nala are much smaller than in previous films — while Timon, much like in the Timon & Pumbaa series, is almost twice as big here as he was in the movies.
• Zebras Are Just Striped Horses: The zebra in this series make the same sounds as a horse.

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