Scar (Disney)

Scar, formerly known as Prince Taka, is the main antagonist of The Lion King and the secondary antagonist of The King 1.5. He is Mufasa's jealous younger brother and Simba's uncle. His father was Ahadi, who taught Mufasa how to rule because he was the older sibling. Scar has a scar on his left eye that, according to the Disney book A Tale of Two Brothers, he recieved from a cape buffalo. As revealed in The Lion King II: Simba's Pride, he has a pride of lionesses loyal to him, led by his possible mate Zira. He is voiced by Jeremy Irons and animated by Andreas Deja.

The Lion King
Scar was next in line to be king until his nephew Simba was born. With Simba born, Scar had little chance of being king. The first time this was shown was when Scar didn't show up to Simba's christening, leading him to be scolded by Zazu, Mufasa's assistant. Scar would've eaten Zazu if it weren't for Mufasa stopping him. After a heated conversation in which Scar expressed his disdain for Simba's birth, the lions departed. From then on, Scar acted sarcastic to Simba, who was unaware of his true nature and simply found his behaviour weird. While Simba grew up, Scar was leading the hyena clan, bribing them to do his bidding with food. One day, Scar made his first move. He tricked Simba into entering the Elephant Graveyard by saying that only the bravest lions would go there. As expected, Simba wanted to prove his courage and brought his friend Nala to the Elephant Graveyard as well, watched by Zazu, where Scar sent the hyena trio consisting of Shenzi, Banzai and Ed to kill them. After a long chase, the hyenas were attacked by Mufasa, who threatened them and scared them off. As they left, Scar watched from above, angered at the hyenas failure.

Scar berates them during the night for their failure, but gives them meat anyways. He also reveals his plan to kill Mufasa and Simba and take over as king of the Pridelands, and the hyenas clan pledge their loyalty to Scar when he lies to them, saying they will never go hungry again. The next day, Scar tricks Simba into standing on a rock in a giant canyon, where he signals the hyenas to scare a stampede of wildebeest into the canyon, where Simba is nearly trampled. Scar tells Mufasa, who rushes in to save Simba. He succeeds but as he climbs up a cliff to get to safety, Scar claws his paws and sends him plummeting into the stampede, killing him. As Simba mourns Mufasa's death, Scar decieves him by convincing him it is his fault that Mufasa is dead, so Simba runs away at Scar's urging. When Simba is gone, Scar tells the hyenas to attack Simba. They chase after the cub but he manages to escape by running through a thorn patch, which the hyenas cannot fit through. Tricking Scar into believing Simba is dead, Scar takes over as king of the Pridelands, making the lionesses believe that both Mufasa and Simba have been killed. Much to the lionesses surprise, when Scar took over as king, he allowed the hyenas to enter the Pridelands.

The Pridelands was disastrous under Scar's rule, and there was a drought and a lack of food. The other animals started to move away, and even the hyenas began to doubt his rule. When Mufasa's widowed wife, Srabi, suggested they leave the Pridelands, Scar rejected the idea and slapped her across the face when she compared him to Mufasa. Unfortunately for hm, an adult Simba had returned to regain the thrown. Initially horrified at Simba's survival and angered at the hyenas for failing to finish the job, he then played on the fact that Simba still believed that he was responsible for Mufasa's death and drove him to the edge of the cliff. As he was about to fling him off the edge, he revealed he was the one who murdered Mufasa. Furious, Simba pounced on Scar and made him reveal the truth. As the lionesses, joined by Timon, Pumbaa, and Rafiki, fought the hyenas, Simba chased Scar to the top of Pride Rock. Scar begged for mercy, blaming the hyenas and saying it was their idea, nt knowing that they were listening. Simba commanded that he leave. Instead, Scar attacked him and nearly defeated him, but was kicked off the cliff and plummeted to the grounnd. The hyenas then confronted him on his betrayal and promptly mauled him to death.

Personality
Scar is famous for being one of the most sneaky and manipulative villains in the Walt Disney Company. Scar can easily manipulate and bribe others to do what he wants, getting the hyenas to follow him by bribing them with food and tricking Simba into thinking he is responsible for the death of Mufasa. Another of Scar's best traits is his envy. He envied his brother's role as king and was infuriated when Simba was born, since this ruined his chance of becoming king. This jealousy drove him to madness as he plotted the death of his family and even succeeded at killig his brother. When he took over as king, he banned Mufasa's name from being spoken, and would react violently when this rule was broken.

Scar, unlike the other lions, didn't have a large and muscular build and lacked brute strength, or so it seemed. Because of this supposed disability, he relied on his intellect. This made him very dangerous. At the climax, it was shown that Scar did possess violent skills and was an excellent fighter, nearly defeating his stronger nephew and was strong enough to knock Sarabi several feet away with one hit.

Trivia

 * Scar is based on King Claudius from Hamlet, as both murdered their brothers to obtain the throne.
 * Scar is one of the most popular Disney Villains.
 * Originally, Scar threw Simba off of Pride Rock after the latter spared his life. As Scar laughed, he was killed by the flames that had shrouded Pride Rock.
 * Scar makes a brief cameo in the 1997 film Hercules when the titular character wears his skin while posing for a painter.