The Future of Our Past
is a lengthy The Lion King fan-comic that delves into various stories, past and present, of the franchise. It takes various elements from different media, as well as some developmental elements from the films.
The series consists of Mohatu's Reign, Uru's Reign, The East Land Chronicles, Mufasa's Reign, Scar's Reign, and Daughters of the Outlands.
This comic provides examples of:
- Age Lift: Zira is only a season older than Simba and is a teen when he's a cub.
- Adaptational Angst Upgrade: Taka/Scar is shown since cubhood to be a victim of the manipulation of the hyena matriarch Viccha who ultimately shaped him into the villain he is, as well as witness his grandfather and father’s deaths. However, this doesn’t change how Scar’s actions became more heinous as he grew older and eventually became king.
- Asshole Victim: Viccha, who is killed by Taka after the latter learns she had faked kindness towards him to gain access to the Pridelands AND killed his grandfather. Also Kuendesha, who has his throat slit in his sleep by Naanda.
- Bloodier and Gorier: Canon uses near-Bloodless Carnage and doesn't show hunting outside of bugs, The Future of Our Past features hunting and bloody lion-on-lion fights.
- Childhood Friend Romance: Scar and Sarafina had a thing in their youth. Sarafina eventually moved on and had Nala with someone else. However, Sarafina devises a plan to seduce Scar and become his queen in order to protect the rest of the pride. Scar does genuinely take to Sarafina.
- Composite Character: In the official comic An Unusual Choir, Simba's unnamed aunt gives birth to twins. In an official puzzle, it's mentioned that Simba has a cousin named "Mtoto". The Future of Our Past blends Simba's unnamed male cousin with Mtoto.
- Heir Club for Men: Scar rejects Zira as his heir because he wants male cubs to succeed him. He is by contrast thrilled by the birth of Mheetu, his son with Sarafina.
- Improbable Infant Survival: Invoked. It's forbidden to hunt young animals in the Pridelands.
- Patchwork Fic: Various elements of the franchise are mixed into the narrative, ranging from the comics to sequels.
- Related in the Adaptation:
- Zira is Scar's daughter, which also makes her Simba's cousin.
- Mheetu is Scar's son.
- Used to Be a Sweet Child:
- Despite her name Zira used to be a sweet cub. She became colder as she grew, especially due to the influence of her father (or, more specifically, the lack of influence) .
- Scar was gentle once upon a time. Even after he changes, his mother Uru still doesn't want to believe her son is gone. It's only after Mufasa's death that it settles in.
- What Happened to the Mouse??: Zuzu, Zazu’s mother and Uru’s majordomo, completely disappears from the plot after Ahadi dies
- Would Hurt a Child:
- Scar - as in canon - actively plots the deaths of his brother Mufasa and young nephew Simba, although the latter of course survives. Scar's emotional abuse and neglect of Zira from cubhood onwards may also count.
- Ahadi's father definitely isn't winning any 'father-of-the-year' awards...
- The hyenas break the rule about not hunting youngsters, as showcased in gruesome fashion following Scar's ascension.. Early on in the story, they even attempt to hold a young Uru hostage to gain leverage over King Mohatu - this backfires spectacularly.
- Viccha - the hyena clan matriarch - is all to happy to kill off cub-aged Zira to keep her silent after she witnesses the hyena clan murder Moyo . Taka's interference does prevent this from happening though.
- Mnyama bites through the ear of cub Zira, giving her a characteristic notch.
- A sign of Zira's worsening personality is when she smacks a cub-aged Nala during an argument.
