Intro
Well, I really had to involve my favorite Disney Villain in this series. I love the Lion King, and this is making things more interesting. Instead of having a linear backstory in the Disney franchise, Scar actually has already three different backstories on how he even got his scar alone.
So let's dive into the Lion King franchise and see what kind of backstories he has had in the past. I have already done a full analysis of his backstory from the movie Mufasa, which I will also be addressing here, but not as detailed. If you are interested in reading that, you can find the blog post right here.
We will be getting into the following stories:
- A Tale Of Two Brothers (A book that shows the childhood between Mufasa and Scar)
- The Lion Guard (A Disney Junior Show)
- Mufasa: The Lion King
Besides the wiki pages, I don't have any resources to share for today. I have looked, but the youtube channel does not have a retrospective of Scar yet. Maybe someday though, but everything I am sharing comes from myself and the wikipedia page.
A Tale Of Two Brothers
There is a series of six books about the Lion King, one of them is called A Tale Of Two Brothers. In this version, Scar was called Taka at first. Taka is just jealous of his older brother and he wants to become king. He decides to get Mufasa in trouble and convinces a buffalo named Boma to attack him. But while Boma is busy attacking Mufasa, the rest of the buffalo heard decides to attack Taka instead, and he gains the scar on his left eye this way.
Mufasa, who doesn't know the attack was a set up, manages to trap Boma in the ravine and then rushes to help his brother. Both of them are saved, but Taka keeps his scar. He wants to be named Scar, so he will never forget what he did.
My Opinion of this backstory
To be honest, it's a classic, jealous young brother / oblivious older brother thing, and there is nothing wrong with it. Mufasa doesn't even realize Scar had set the attack up. Scar doesn't really have a reason to be evil, besides the fact that he is jealous and wants to become king. That is the whole reason why he did it. I have not read this book, but I find it an interesting, yet simple backstory.
Writer's Note: Remember, a villain's backstory doesn't have to be tragic. Just a jealous brother who wants to have power is enough to work with. The big brother could be oblivious like Mufasa, or actually know that they are against them. Perhaps the villain is not the king, but still a prince trying to get rid of his big brother. Or even banished for the attempt, but pretending to rule the land? There is a lot you can do with just the jealous brother/sister trope. Maybe even switch it around, and make the older sibling jealous instead, because the younger one got to be king for some reason.
The Lion Guard
The Lion Guard is a Disney Junior show which plays after the first movie, but before and during the second movie. In this version, Simba also has a son named Kion, who is Kiara's younger brother. They managed to solve the whole plot hole of Kion not being in the second movie, by having him make a long journey and coming back when he's older.
The Lion Guard is something that has ran in the family for a long time too. They are a group of animals (most of the time lions) who keep the land save and follow the circle of life. This group contains a leader, the fastest, the bravest, the keenest, and the strongest. While the oldest Lion becomes king or queen, the youngest becomes the leader of the Lion Guard.
Scar was the leader of the Lion Guard. While he was doing his rounds one day, he was approached by a lion, who told him he could help and they could rule the pridelands together. However, the Lion tricked him, and he was bitten by a cobra. The Lion told him he could cure the snake's venom, but only if Scar helped him take over the pride lands. Having the roar of the Lion Guard, Scar defeated the lion and the cobra, then returned to pride rock. When he told Mufasa what happened though, Mufasa teased him and nicknamed him Scar, because of the scar the snake gave him. This was the moment he decided that Mufasa should not be king.
He asked help from the rest of the Lion Guard, but they refused, after which he decided to use his roar on them to attack. But doing this, made him lose all of his powers, and he became weak without the Lion Guard's help and powers. It is also said in the series that the venom is what made him grow dark in the first place.
Writer's Note: I think the series of the Lion Guard is a good example of a midquel if you'd ever want to write one. If you suddenly write a new character or relative in to the main character, people are going to have questions as to where they were in the other book(s). Here they very simply solved it, by letting Kion gain a scar himself and needing to make a journey throughout the third season to heal it and not become like Scar. During this journey the whole second movie took place. You might think it's cheap or unnecessary, but it works very well. Readers will always find plot holes, so giving them a reason as to why a certain important character was never shown before it a pretty good and fun thing to do.
My Opinion about this backstory
To be honest, it was an interesting backstory, and I do like how they made the whole series work, even though Kion was never shown in the second movie. If you want a linear story without any plot holes, this one would work pretty good, and it fits with his character as well. Him going dark because of the venom is an interesting twist. And him trying to get the others on his side to kill Mufasa is also in character.
Mufasa: The Lion King
About a year ago, we got the live action prequel of the Lion King, going more into the backstory about the previous generation. Though the movie is about Mufasa, we come to know a lot more about Scar.
In the live action movie, he was also named Taka, and he and Mufasa were actually not blood related. Mufasa lost his parents one day, and Taka found him. Taka was actually supposed to be king, following his father's footsteps. Even though his father didn't want Mufasa anywhere near the pride because he was a stray, Taka managed to get him to let him stay, by purposely losing a race against Mufasa.
There was however a lot of pressure on Taka. His father wanted him to become like him, but Taka thought he was lazy and wanted more out of life. He did however want to be king.
His life took a turn when the outsiders attacked. He and Mufasa were forced to run, while the rest of his family and pride stayed behind and was killed. They had to journey to a place called Meleele, and throughout their journey they met Rafiki, Sarabi and Zazu. Taka instantly fell in love with Sarabi, and he thought she was queen material. Sadly, Sarabi did not return the feelings, but did have those feelings for Mufasa. When Taka finds out, he is angry and heartbroken, turning on them and helping the outsiders.
As the leader of the outsiders nearly kills Mufasa, he regrets what he did, remembering the bound the two of them had together. He jumps in front of Mufasa, and his eye is slashed, which gains him his scar. After the outsiders are defeated, Taka tries to apologize, but Mufasa tells him he can never say his name again. Taka tells him to call him Scar, so he will never forget what he did.
Though he regrets turning on his brother, he does become jealous. Mufasa has Sarabi, becomes king because he saved everyone from the outsiders, and he reunites with his mother too. Scar has nothing left, which makes him bitter.
My Opinion about this backstory
Honestly, probably an unpopular opinion, but I quite like the whole movie AND the backstory. People might say that the whole reason he became evil was because of a girl, but I disagree. Sarabi might have been part of it, but it wasn't everything. Also the fact that this is not a movie where he is good and they pose Mufasa as the villain is something fun. So yeah I like this one and if I really HAD to choose one to be actually cannon, I would choose this one. They're all good, but I like this one more.
Conclusion
This blog might have been a bit shorter. Not as much backstory as the others, but still very fun to work with. Scar will always be my favorite villain no matter what. Which one of these was the most interesting to you? Are there other backstories I was not aware of? Please let me know in the comments!
Art Shout out
The art used in the graph at the top comes from a good friend of mine who always supports me and motivates me to continue writing on my blog or fanfiction. Be sure to check out their blog for more art like this!
https://arthropoda-artistry.tumblr.com/
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