Name: Ekene (African for 'salute')

Sex: Male

Parents: Nyarai and Uzoma

Siblings: Dead (full); Khari, Sauda, Kito (half)

Mate: N/A

Cubs: N/A

Pride: Riverland Pride (birth); Outland Pride (currently)

Generation: Fourth (Simba's Generation)

Personality: Though he can be somewhat distant in his mannerisms, Ekene is actually a much nicer lion than his father could ever be. He responds in a reasonable, careful way, and even though he will say a sarcastic answer now and again, he is more considerate of where that will make him end up. Unlike his father, Ekene also tries to understand others, and see where he can cooperate with them and about their problems, rather than throw himself completely into doing a single job. Though sometimes, and he doesn't like to admit it, he does end up doing that.

History: Ekene was born in the Riverlands, but he was conceived in the Outlands during the war between the two prides. His mother, who had already bore her litter with her mate Imamu, was afraid that her mate would not return from the war, and submitted herself to a night of romance by Uzoma, who had been pining for her for some time. Ekene's birth was difficult for Nyarai, as he was born upside down. They managed to save him during the birthing, but they could not save his siblings. Imamu, emerged from the war fully intact, was understanding of the situation that had conspired between his mate and love 'rival', but suggested that it would be better for the cub to live with his birth father. Nyarai agreed with the idea. She named Ekene, deeming him for greatness, and once he was finally old enough and weaned from his mother's milk, Imamu took him across the river to Uzoma.

His father welcomed him, but it had been a cold reception. Uzoma was unhappy that Nyarai chose Imamu over him, and threw himself back into reworking the Outland Pride to stop himself from dwelling on it. As a result he neglected Ekene a lot. The cub was baffled - his mother talked a great deal of Uzoma, and praised his character, yet he was the complete opposite of what she made him out to be. This later made Ekene become resentful of his father, and decide to deem Imamu as his true father.

While Uzoma worked on the political and structual rebuilding of the pride, Ekene made himself more involved in the community. He was wanted by many of the females, but had no interest as he was still only a growing adolescent. But he wanted to hear what they had to feel, and they all felt the same - Uzoma was a great leader, but now he seemed distant. As Ekene was his son, he knew he was the next in line to rule, and he promised himself that he would not be like his father.

His half-sister, Sauda, fully grown and older, joined up with their pride, as she admired Uzoma, and thought of him as her father rather than Imamu. While they may have loved each other when they were younger, this opposite way of thinking caused a rift between Ekene and his half-sister, and he wanted no part of her antics whenever she tried to impress his father. He knew that his father only saw Nyarai's rejection whenever he looked at him and Sauda.

Ekene had been young when Scar came to the pride, but he was much more mature when Zira showed her face. At first he was somewhat taken with the lioness, and sympathized with her situation. That quickly disappeared when it was revealed she murderered Uzoma in cold blood behind the scenes. Despite him not loving his father for most of his life, Ekene was pained by the incident, and as a result made sure that he distanced himself from Zira's proclaim as ruler of the pride. Half of the Outlander pride, who still saw him as their real leader, left with him while the rest stayed with Zira. Ekene called upon help, but the Riverland Pride was busy trying to rebuild itself, and the Prideland Pride was not welcoming to their plight. So Ekene decided that they would have to wait for the problem to solve itself out.

Though aging, Ekene saw the end of Zira's deranged rule, and saw the Outland Pride come back together in an instant, though not all of them stayed. Some went to the Pridelands; though Ekene was initially hesitant because of the bad blood between the two from the 'war' (and the fact that the Pridelanders refused to help them still stayed with him), they eventually reworked on their alliance. Khari, Ekene's half-sister, also reached out for help to re-establish the pride, and he was quick to her aid, proclaiming that they would always have shelter in his pride's lands whenever they needed it.

Throughout his lifetime, Ekene had been challenged multiple times by restless males, both from his pride and from rogues, for leadership, but he had been able to overcome the challenges. He has been pressured by his subordinates to have cubs so that he could pass on his leadership to another, but for now he has been adamantly battling against the idea. Truth is, despite him doing his best to distance his character from his father, it still left a fear that he would fail at being a father figure.

Family History:

Great-Great Grandparents: Joe and Gbemisola

Great-Grandparents: Mohatu and Thema

Great-Grand Aunt: Asabi

Great-Grand Uncle: Emeka

Grandparents: Kanika and Juugu/Ferisk and Imani

Grand-Aunts: Uru, Nakato

Grand-Uncles: Bakari, Asante