War and conquest are not purely human traits. Shere Khan, Lord of the Tigers, seeks to rule all the wilds. Many have stood against him and all have fallen as Khan plays a game where he seeks to be the only victor. But an unexpected player might put an end to Khan's dreams of complete control, a man they call Tarzan of the Apes.
Kings and Khans is a Crossover Fanfic by Finmonster started in 2014, combining the plot of The Lion King, The Jungle Book, and Tarzan. It was last updated in 2016, due to the writer focusing on other projects, and can be found on Fanfiction.net here
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Kings and Khans provides examples of:
- Appropriated Appellation: Taka gets insultingly called Scar by Sabor and Shere Khan after he's severely wounded and it leaves him with a scar. He decides to take it up as an honor.
- Artistic License – Geography: This story is a crossover between one Disney film set in Kenya, another one set in India, and a third set in the Congo. Naturally, this happens.
- Ax-Crazy: Sabor is a murderous leopard who kills not for food, but for sheer pleasure.
- Beary Friendly: Baloo, as per canon.
- Big Bad: Shere Khan serves as the primary and most dangerous threat to the Pride Lands.
- Both Sides Have a Point: After Shere Khan retreats from the Pridelands, Taka encourages Mufasa to pursue him and kill him before he reaches the jungle. Mufasa refuses, because killing Shere Khan would cost countless lion lives: Taka dryly points out that he'll risk even more lives when Shere Khan inevitably returns.
- Cats Are Mean: Subverted with Mufasa and the majority of the Pridelanders, as per canon. Also subverted by Bagheera. Played straight by Shere Khan and Taka/Scar, who was never the nicest lion even before his Face–Heel Turn. Sabor is straight-up Ax-Crazy.
- Cats Are Snarkers: Bagheera and Scar, most prominently.
- Crossover Relatives: Tantor is Hathi's son — notably, despite the former being an African elephant and the latter being an Indian elephant, and thus from different species.
- Dark and Troubled Past: Downplayed. Bagheera was captured by humans and taken from his home at a young age, but he was treated well, despite it never feeling like home.
- Dark Is Not Evil: Bagheera is the heroic black panther to Sabor's Light Is Not Good leopard.
- Erudite Orangutan: King Louie is a rather sinister example — the self-proclaimed smartest creature in the jungle, who schemes to learn the secret of fire.
- Evil Is Bigger: Shere Khan, as a tiger, is larger than Mufasa and Bagheera.
- Face–Heel Turn: Some time after getting injured by Shere Khan, Scar decides to betray his brother and offer his services to the Khan in exchange for getting the Pridelands.
- Faux Affably Evil: Shere Khan is refined yet rude in his interactions with Scar, needling the younger lion's jealousy of his brother.
- Gender Flip: Sabor is female in the original Tarzan, but is male here.
- Gory Discretion Shot: The murder of Kerchak's son by Sabor, as per canon.
- Hakuna Matata: Baloo is a follower of this philosophy, instead of Timon and Pumbaa, who haven't appeared yet.
- Heinous Hyena: Scar introduces Sabor to the hyena clans that he allied with, including their queen, Shenzi.
- Horrible Judge of Character: Again, Mufasa doesn't seem suspicious of his brother Taka/Scar's hostility and jealousy of him, even when Bagheera warns him about it. And it's not the first time either, according to Bagheera — he once trusted Shere Khan, too.
- Interspecies Friendship: Bagheera the Panther befriends Mufasa the lion, Hathi the elephant, Kala the gorilla, and Rafiki the mandrill.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Kerchak, with emphasis on the "Jerk" part.
- Jock Dad, Nerd Son: Hathi the elephant leader is a Proud Warrior Race guy—er, elephant. His son Tantor is a Lovable Coward. Needless to say, Hathi's not all that happy.
- Killer Gorilla: Kerchak appears to be one of these, but he's just Good Is Not Nice. Considering he lives on the borders of Shere Khan's kingdom, it makes sense.
- Large and in Charge: Numerous animal leaders are larger than their subjects, such as Mufasa, Shere Khan, Kerchak, and Hathi. Zig-zagged with King Louie, though: he's larger than his monkey subjects, but that's because he's an orangutan.
- Monkey King Lite: Rafiki is one of these in-universe. King Louie has heard stories that he comes from a land in the east, that his staff can extend to the heavens and he rides upon the clouds. It's partly the reason why he's so jealous of the mandrill.
- Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: Sabor kills Kerchak's infant son before going to kill Tarzan's family? He indirectly drives Kala into being in the right place to save young Tarzan from him, and gives Kerchak a reason to ally with Mufasa against Shere Khan. The enraged Khan punishes Sabor for not being able to curb his bloodlust long enough to do his job by banishing him to the Pridelands on a reconnaissance mission, and forbids him from killing anything while he's there.
- Obviously Evil: Sabor is a raspy-voiced leopard with a straight-up deranged expression. No wonder they call him The Assassin.
- Outliving One's Offspring: As per canon, Sabor kills Kerchak and Kala's baby son. This proves to be a serious mistake, as mentioned above.
- Panthera Awesome: Bagheera, Mufasa, Shere Khan, Sabor... Quite a lot of big cats.
- Politically Incorrect Hero: Zazu of all people describes Kerchak's gorillas as flea-bitten apes. Mufasa tells him off for it.
- Red Baron: Bagheera is known as "The Outlander" among Mufasa's people, because he's not from the Pridelands. Sabor is known as "The Assassin". And given what he does for Shere Khan...
- Snakes Are Sinister: Kaa is Shere Khan's trusted informant, and a lot less of a Smug Snake than in the original Disney film.
- Spared by the Adaptation: Sort of. Tarzan's mother stays alive longer than she did in the film by running from the treehouse with young Tarzan while Sabor is distracted by attacking her husband, but she ends up breaking her leg just before Kala shows up. She wordlessly entrusts her baby to the gorilla, and then carries out a Heroic Sacrifice by screaming and waving to distract Sabor so he kills her and gives Kala enough time to escape with her baby.
- Teeth-Clenched Teamwork:
- Taka/Scar with pretty much anyone: with Mufasa, before he goes evil and with both Sabor and Shenzi and her hyenas, after he goes evil.
- Kaa and Sabor, Shere Khan's Co-Dragons, don't get on, with Sabor barely hiding his disdain for the snake and Kaa, in return, ratting Sabor out for killing Kerchak's son.
- Third-Person Person: Rafiki sometimes speaks like this.
- Truer to the Text: Bagheera being taken captive by humans, Kaa being intelligent and serious (though still evil), and Tarzan's parents being called John and Alice.
- Undying Loyalty: Kaa is a more faithful servant to Shere Khan than Sabor. He even rats the leopard out for killing Kerchak's son, so that Khan will punish him.
- A Villain Named Khan: Shere Khan, in case the title didn't tell you.
- Villainous Valor: He's not a villain yet, but Taka/Scar furiously attacks Shere Khan right after the tiger overpowers him and gives him his scar.
- We ARE Struggling Together: A main reason why Kerchak is reluctant to ally with Mufasa.
