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This topic has been on my mind for the past few days, and now that the forum is back up I decided to post about it.

Now, has anyone ever noticed that we never really get to know Mufasa? He dies so early in the movie, it is almost impossible to know the character. Throughout the time that we actually see Mufasa, several of the characters mention things that make you think. Is Mufasa really the good, wise, and brave king that most people think?

When we are first introduced to Mufasa's brother, Scar, you hear Scar mention Mufasa's temper.

"Oh no, Mufasa, perhaps you shouldn't turn you back on me..."
"Is that a challenge?"
"Temper... temper..."

When Mufasa questions Scar about challenging him, Mufasa acts as though Scar was trying to start a fight. Clearly, Scar is way too small of even dream of challenging the much stronger Mufasa, as he clearly says a few moments later. Due to his sudden spark in anger, could Mufasa have had a violent past?

When Mufasa fights of the hyenas and tells Zazu to take Nala home, Zazu acts genuinely afraid of the king. Sure, it could be because he was in fear of being fired from his job, but could there have been a different reason?

"Zazu!"
"Y-yes... sire?"
"Take Nala home. I need to teach my [i]son a lesson."
"Come, Nala. Simba.... good luck."[/i]

Why would Zazu wish him good luck? Sure, he could just feel sympathy for the cub because he was going to be scolded by his father but, as stated earlier, Mufasa is said to have a temper.

And also, Scar and Mufasa are brothers, and since we get to see Scar throughout the whole movie, we know he has an ambitious and murderous attitude. Could Mufasa have the same personality as his brother, even though the two don't look alike at all?

Some may argue, "But under Scar's rule, the pridelands turned into a wasteland. Why didn't that occur under Mufasa's rule?" This was because Scar allied himself with a huge pack of hyenas, who most likely ate all of the food. The maximum amount of hunters and mouths to be fed went over the carrying capacity that the pride lands could provide. Mufasa clearly made the hyenas stay away, so that the prey amount would not be disrupted.

So is it possible Mufasa could have been just as much of a villain as Scar? Or was the mentions of his temper just empty words and he really was just a kind and peaceful king?

Hmmm that's actually a good question. I don't think it'd be impossible for Mufasa to have a temper. I mean he is the ruler of a kingdom and he has to be firm in his rulings. For the Mufasa/Scar scenario, his sudden spark of aggression could've been from the fact that Scar was aggravating Mufasa. After all, when their scene shows up, Mufasa seems to already be annoyed at Scar for intentionally missing Simba's blessing.

For the second scenario, I always thought that dialogue was because of how fierce Mufasa was during the Elephant Graveyard scene as he came in and beat up the hyenas. And his sudden ferocity there kind of spooked them because we hadn't really seen Mufasa be so fierce. But it also could've been because of what Simba did. He did go against what his father said and went into the Elephant Graveyard when he wasn't supposed to, and so Zazu might've wished Simba good luck because he disobeyed his father's wishes and did exactly what he wasn't supposed to.

I don't think it's unlikely Mufasa would have a temper. But I don't think he would be as much of a villain as Scar. Scar was in his own league of villainous and Mufasa never seemed to have a thought of murder in his mind. He just had a temper.

Mufasa is the good guy and Scar is the bad guy.

It's possible that Mufasa didn't have the greatest past, but one thing is for certain that he isn't the bad guy in the movie. If he was a villain he would most likely be acting like Scar. Also there didn't seem to be anyone that hated or challenged Mufasa's rule as king besides Scar, if he was a villain I'm sure there'd definitely be many characters talking about how bad or harsh Mufasa is. I'm 100% convinced Mufasa is not a villain, and I'm sure the temper thing is just a smart alec remark from Scar. The only way to really convince me is if Disney made a movie featuring Scar and Mufasa's childhood.

Mufasa doesn't seem like a bad guy at all.

Yes he did yell at Scar and asked if he dared to fight him, but that seemed to be because Scar was being a jerk to Mufasa for having a son (Simba) and not honoring him at his birth ceremony. Plus it seems like Scar disrespects him qiet a few times according to Mufasa. And plus Zazu must be scared of Mufasa mainly because of the size difference. Mufasa can pretty much eat zazu with one bite haha. Plus you never want to upset your king, he probably wished Simba good luck because he didn't know how hard Mufasa was going to be on him. When Mufasa doesn't have to be a tuff guy to his enimies he seems like a very calm and gentle King and always seemed like a good man (or lion Lol). But like he said "I'm only brave when I have to be." and it seems like thats just what he's doing with Scar and the hyenas.

Having just seen the movie again, I feel I can now reply to this. xD



Technically, Scar was giving Mufasa a challenge in a way. You could hear it in his voice - Scar wanted to at the very least strike a nerve in his older brother. Which he successfully did shown by Mufasa's reaction. But it doesn't mean he had a violent past. Mufasa is the King - the last thing he'd probably want to do is fight his own brother. And the "Temper... temper..." thing was probably just mocking his brother.



Have you ever seen a son/daughter do something their parents have told them not to? And the reaction the parents have after - especially if the child was in immediate danger of some sort? I have and a lot of the times the parents act like Mufasa did - they are MAD. In this case Mufasa almost lost his young son, some people when they are under stress like that may have tendencies to be slightly more 'violent' (though I never really thought he was violent so much as strict). As for Zazu's reaction - who knows if he'd ever seen Mufasa act so fierce? If he had that'd be enough to shake the bird a bit.

While Mufasa might have had a temper - however slight - I do believe he was mostly a peaceful king and a loving mate/father.

how could anyone think he's bad ?