Simba/Relationships

NalaEdit Simba's best friend since they were cubs, the two were nearly inseparable. Unknown to them, they were betrothed at an early age and both agreed that friends marrying each other was too weird once they discovered this fact. They appeared to also have a small rivalry between them, arguing over who deserved the credit for escaping Zazu. When they fought, Nala would easily beat Simba with her special pin move and taunt Simba by smugly saying "pinned ya." They got into many adventures, but when they were being chased by the hyenas, Shenzi was about to kill Nala and Simba saved her. Simba and Nala nearly died when the hyenas were after them they were trapped. Simba let out a feeble roar, but then, Simba and Nala were saved by Mufasa. Nala was heartbroken when Scar claimed that Simba died with Mufasa in the wildebeest stampede. As young adults, Nala was the lioness who brought Simba back to Pride Rock, to save the pride and kingdom from Scar's tyranny. Simba briefly fought her to protect Timon and Pumbaa from her, but immediately recognized her after she once again used her pin move on him. In the midst of all this, they finally realized their friendship had grown into love and they eventually married as originally intended. As Queen of Pride Rock, Nala often acts as a voice of reason for Simba, trying to get him to see the light when his protective judgment gets the best of him.

In The Lion Guard, Simba and Nala continue to have a loving relationship and together raise their two children Kiara and Kion.

MufasaEdit Simba had a strong father-son relationship with Mufasa.

He looked up to him in every way and after being chased by the hyenas, he said he was just trying to be brave like his father. Mufasa tries to teach Simba the appropriate conduct in times of danger and as a king, and discourages him from taking unwise risks. Simba spent all the time he was not with Nala with his father, and Mufasa showed him how to be a good ruler. When his father was killed in the wildebeest stampede caused by the hyenas under Scar's signal, he was upset, believing it to be his own fault. It was Mufasa's spiritual guidance that eventually convinced Simba years later to reclaim the throne stolen from him.

In the second film, it is shown that Simba desires to live up to his father's legacy. Several of Simba's actions are based on what he thinks his father would approve of.

SarabiEdit The queen of Pride Rock and the mate to Mufasa, Sarabi and Simba had a loving mother-son relationship. She was enormously proud of her son, and like Mufasa, tried to teach him appropriate conduct and groomed him for his future as the king. She was also protective of him, ensuring that Simba didn't run off to where he could get himself into trouble. When Scar claimed that Simba died alongside Mufasa in the wildebeest stampede, she was heartbroken. Years later, when Simba arrived to save his home, he watched sadly as Scar berated his mother. When Scar struck her down in a fit of rage, Simba immediately came to her defense and comforted her. She was in disbelief to see him alive, but very elated. After Scar was forced to confess that he killed Mufasa, Sarabi fought by Simba's side and they managed to save their home. She watched proudly as Simba assumed his throne as intended. Sarabi still supported her son after he became king, as shown in the second film, when she stands by Simba's side along with Nala, Timon, Pumbaa, and the rest of the pride when Simba faces Zira.

ScarEdit At first, Simba loved his uncle and would always tell him of his adventures, but Scar never seemed to be interested; in fact, Scar did not care for Simba from the moment he was born. After Simba tells Scar about his father showing him the whole kingdom, Scar deliberately told his nephew about the Elephant Graveyard, hoping that Simba would go there and get himself killed (even though he covered his mouth and pretended he told him by accident).

Scar sent the hyenas, Shenzi, Banzai and Ed, after Simba to kill him, but this first attempt failed. Later on, Scar led Simba into a deep gorge, and Scar, along with help from the hyenas, caused a stampede of wildebeests in the gorge, intending to kill Simba and his father. He only succeeded in killing Mufasa, his older brother, by throwing him off of a high ledge he was clinging on to and into the stampede. He told Simba a lie about the death of his father, Mufasa was his fault, and that he must run away and never return. Scar then again ordered the hyenas to kill Simba, but they failed once again, unbeknownst to Scar.

Years later, Simba is now a young adult, and he went to challenge Scar for the throne. He saw Scar backhand Sarabi (Simba's mother) across the face. Thus, Simba's love for his uncle turned into pure hatred, and he told Scar to either step down or fight. Scar said that he would step down, but cannot since the hyenas thought he was the King. Then, Scar made Simba reveal that he's responsible for Mufasa's death, but Simba insisted that it was an accident and that he is not a murderer. Just as Scar was about to throw Simba off of Pride Rock, he whispered to him and told him that he killed Mufasa. In his rage, Simba jumped back up and pinned Scar to the ground. After Simba forces Scar to reveal the truth to the lionesses, a violent fight between the lionesses, Timon, Pumbaa, Rafiki (who all appeared to support Simba), and the hyenas ensued. Simba chased Scar up Pride Rock on his own afterwards and soon cornered him in an attempt to overthrow him. Scar, knowing he was not strong enough to defeat Simba, begged for mercy and tries to explain it is the hyenas who are the real enemy (unbeknownst to him, the hyenas were there to help Scar, only to hear him blaming them for the crime and as a result, back away while growling angrily at him). But Simba refuses to believe him, stating that everything Scar ever told him was a lie. Simba, not wishing to be the monster Scar was, spared him instead of killing him, telling him to run away and never return (the same words Scar told Simba when he was a cub). Scar pretended to leave, but tricked him and threw burning embers at Simba's face, and then a fight between Simba and Scar broke out. Before Scar can pounce on Simba and kill him, Simba kicked him over himself and over an edge and he lands down at the bottom of the ledge where the hyenas wait, they destroyed Scar by mauling him after years of lies, derogatory treatment, and broken promises and as revenge for his blaming them for Mufasa's death.

Simba has not forgotten how Scar ruined his life, and swore to spare the Pride Lands from another such tragedy. In the second film, it is implied that maybe Simba is trying to forgive his uncle for his actions because when he takes a walk with Kovu, he simply says that Scar couldn't let go of his hate and in the end, it destroyed him.

Timon & PumbaaEdit Timon and Pumbaa have been Simba's best friends ever since he ran away after his father's death. Though it is shown in the third film that Simba had a habit of waking Timon up in the middle of the night (this happened 4 times in the film: 1st was to go to the restroom, 2nd was to get a drink of water, the 3rd was presumably go to the restroom again, and the 4th time being that he had a bad dream and ends up sleeping with them). He was also, according to Timon, holds the record of the world's "longest bug belch", as well as beating both of them in various bug-eating contests (Slug Swallowing, Cricket Crunching, Grub Gulping, Maggot Munching, and the shown Snail Slurping). As a cub, Simba thought of Timon as a surrogate father figure and looked up to him a lot while he saw Pumbaa merely as the uncle he never had.

As gratitude for saving him out in the desert, Simba decided to repay them by protecting them from danger. When Simba went back to Pride Rock to save the Pride Lands from Scar's tyranny, Timon and Pumbaa fought alongside Simba and Simba was again grateful to them for helping him (in the third film, when they bowed respectfully to him, he hugged them, and claimed that he couldn't have done it without them). While Simba is King, Timon and Pumbaa are his bodyguards and are often tasked by him to look after Kiara.

ZazuEdit Not much is known about Simba's relationship with Zazu, apart from the fact that as a cub, he was never pleased when Zazu had to watch him and Nala and the fact that Simba liked to tease the bird at every chance he got, even calling him Banana Beak, much to Zazu's chagrin. Despite this, Simba had at least some degree of respect for Zazu, as he willingly goes with Zazu when Mufasa tells him to take Simba home while he takes care of some trespassing hyenas, though Simba was a little disappointed that he could not go with him. After Simba voiced his frustrations, Zazu boosts Simba's morale by reminding him that one day he will be king. When Simba grew up and became king, he let Zazu retain his job as majordomo and had a more respectful and professional relationship with him.

RafikiEdit When he first interacted with Rafiki, Simba found him to be extremely aggravating, most likely due to not remembering that Rafiki was the same baboon that anointed him at his birth ceremony. After he helped Simba with his identity crisis and helping him in the fight against the hyenas, Simba began to respect Rafiki as a friend and ally.

Shenzi, Banzai and EdEdit Simba and the hyena trio are enemies. They made attempts on his life as a cub; however, all of them have ended in failure. After Simba defeated Scar, who was then is killed by the hyenas, even though then they have stopped being loyal to Scar, it is assumed that the hyenas remained enemies with Simba as they are not shown together in the sequel.

KiaraEdit Simba had a loving father-daughter relationship with Kiara. Simba tries his best to protect his daughter, but the headstrong lioness doesn't listen to his instructions, shown to stray from the path that her father marked for her and even entering the Outsider's lands even after Simba warning her about it. When Kiara met the Outsider Kovu, son of Simba's hated enemy Zira, he immediately disapproved of their friendship and became even more determined to protect Kiara.

When Kiara is an adolescent, Simba promised to let her go on her first hunt alone. And yet, he secretly sent Pumbaa and Timon to keep a close watch on her like he did when she was a cub. Kiara discovered this and becomes furious with her father, and ran off to the outskirts of the Pride Lands. Angry and worried, Simba forbids her to go on anymore hunts when Kiara nearly passed away in a brush fire set by Vitani and Nuka, Kovu's siblings. When Kovu returned, he kept a close eye on the two friends, but eventually warmed up to Kovu when he proved himself trustworthy. Unfortunately, Zira ambushed Simba in a trap supposedly set by Kovu, when he in fact did it unknowingly and unwillingly which almost ended up in Simba's death. After this incident, Simba forbade Kiara from so much as leaving his sight, and exiled Kovu. Heartbroken, Kiara said her father would never be Mufasa, greatly hurting her father. Kiara ran off to find Kovu afterwards.

When Simba fought the attacking Outsiders, Kiara stopped him, with Kovu's guidance. She finally made him realize that he and the Outsiders were one and the same, finally ending the feud, and he and his daughter finally nuzzle. When Zira attacked Simba in rage, Kiara tackles her, and Simba helped her after Zira fell to her death in the raging river below. Simba was finally able to reconcile with his daughter and accepts that she's old enough to become self-sufficient and make her own decisions.

In The Lion Guard, Simba and Kiara have a close father-daughter relationship, with Simba teaching his daughter about being future queen.

KovuEdit Since Kovu was the son of Zira, his enemy in The Lion King II: Simba's Pride, and since Kovu was also Scar's chosen heir, he saw Kovu as untrustworthy and and an enemy. And yet, when an adolescent Kovu saved his daughter, Simba was forced to reserve any judgement. Later, when Simba took Kovu out and talked to him about Scar, it seems Simba has accepted him, but when the Outsiders attack him and Zira implies that Kovu was the one to lure him, all trust Simba had for him vanished, and now saw Kovu as a traitor all over again. When Kovu tried to ask for forgiveness, despite Kiara's protests, Simba exiled him. In the end, when he sees Kiara and Kovu together, he owes Kovu an apology for arrogantly exiling him and accepts him, along with the other Outsiders, to the Pridelands. He also watches Kovu and Kiara as Rafiki blesses the two of them. Roaring with him on the top of Pride Rock, alongside Nala and Kiara.

KionEdit Simba has a fairly good father-son relationship with Kion. In The Lion Guard: Return of the Roar, Simba becomes aggravated with Kion when he and Bunga disrupt his lecture with Kiara and ends up having to separate his two children when they argue on purpose. When Rafiki declares that Kion is ready to lead The Lion Guard, Simba is worried about this, thinking that due to Kion being a cub, he's not ready in the first place. However, he changes his mind when Nala encourages him to listen to Rafiki.

After seeing that Kion has chosen Bunga, Beshte, Fuli and Ono to be part of The Lion Guard, Simba is most displeased. He tells his son that The Lion Guard has always been made up of lions and scolds Kion for treating his role of leader as a game and tells him to take his responsibilities seriously like Kiara is with hers.

However after Kion and The Lion Guard save Kiara from a gazelle stampede and chase away Janja and his clan, Simba realizes that Kion was wise to have chosen who he chose and expresses pride in his son and accepts The Lion Guard.

ZiraEdit Zira is another one of Simba's greatest enemies. He banished her and her pride to the Outlands due to their worship for Scar, threatening a harsh punishment should they return. When the outsiders came to the Pride Lands for an attack, Simba gave Zira a final chance to surrender and return to the Outlands, however, Zira refused and attacked anyways. The two lions were about to engage in a potentially bloody battle, when Kiara and Kovu intervened. While Simba was ready to call off the war and allow the outsiders to return to the Pride Lands, Zira still wanted to kill Simba to avenge Scar. Simba tried reasoning with her, but Zira refuses, which, like Scar, ultimately leads to her death.