- NOTE: This article is about the incarnation of Scar from the 2019 movie. The mainstream version can be found here: Scar (Disney).
| “ | Long live the king!!! | „ |
| ~ Scar revealing his true colors to his brother Mufasa before murdering him - his most famous quote. |
| “ | This isn’t my kingdom, my destiny!!! | „ |
| ~ Scar battling against Simba before he is overpowered and defeated by him. |
Scar is the main antagonist of the 2019 CGI epic film The Lion King, a remake of the 1994 animated classic film. He’s a lustful, envious, ambitious, and megalomaniacal African lion who acts as the temporary king of Pride Rock, as well as the younger brother turned killer of Mufasa and the uncle-turned-arch-nemesis of Simba.
He was voiced by the Academy Award nominated actor Chiwetel Ejiofor, who also played Baron Mordo in Doctor Strange, Luke in Children of Men, and Victor Sweet in Four Brothers.
Biography[]
Plotting against Mufasa and Simba[]
| “ | Life's not fair, is it, my little friend? While some are born to feast, others spend their lives in the dark, begging for scraps. | „ |
| ~ Scar's opening line. |
At first, Scar appeared talking to a mouse how unfair life is, since he lived his entire life in the dark and he deserved to rule the kingdom of Pride Rock. Although Zazu disturbs and furiously asks Scar why he did not come to Mufasa's ceremony of Simba's birth. Scar tries to have Zazu slaughtered, but he abandons that idea as Mufasa shows up at his cave and makes an excuse he did not remember the day of the ceremony. Mufasa tells him Simba will be king of Pride Rock one day, and that he must obey Simba's orders by the time he rules the lands. As an unperturbed Scar departs, Zazu suggested to Mufasa that he should have exiled Scar when he had the chance, but Mufasa retorts this by saying Scar is free to live in Pride Lands since he’s a part of the family.
While Mufasa is busying scouting the Pride Lands, Scar tells Simba to go back to his den as he doesn’t babysit, thus showing some cold hatred towards the young cub. However, Simba told him he’ll be the king of Pride Rock one of these days, much to Scar's disappointment. Scar sardonically told Simba not to go towards the abandoned areas beneath the light, but he tempted Simba into going there by mentioning it is an elephant graveyard and that only the bravest lions go there. Simba goes to a voyage with Nala and they manage to enter and get away from the Elephant Graveyard with Mufasa's assistance. Scar acknowledges Simba is still alive, and goes to the Elephant Graveyard in order to convince the Hyena Clan (led by Shenzi, Kamari and Azizi) they must team up to kill Simba and Mufasa.
Taking Over the Pride Lands[]
| “ | Run. Run away, Simba. Run away and never return. | „ |
| ~ Scar banishing Simba after pinning the blame on the latter for Mufasa's death. |
Scar meets the hyena clan at the graveyard. At first, they attempt to devour him as they thought Scar is just another lion from the Pride Rock. However, Scar reveals to them his ambitious plans and promises they’ll get unlimited food as their bellies are never full. Scar finally sets a trap for both Simba and Mufasa. He asks Simba to practice his roar in the middle of a valley, and he told Simba he would be back within the next few minutes, but in the meantime, he gave the hyenas a signal to roar at the wildebeests so they would run and cause a stampede. Simba almost gets slaughtered or at least injured inside the stampede, but Scar calls Mufasa and Zazu for assistance. Scar orders Zazu to call the pride for assistance. Mufasa shows up on time and puts Simba onto a rock, before he climbs up to ask Scar for help. And yet, Scar grabs Mufasa's paws and shouts "Long live the king", before he smacks Mufasa on the face, thus causing him to fall down and get slaughtered by the wildebeests.
Simba searches for Mufasa's corpse afterwards. Scar shows up and convinces Simba he is accountable for the death of Mufasa. He orders Simba to run away and never return to Pride Rock. As Simba runs away, Scar sends Kamari and Azizi to kill him, but Simba gets away, prompting Kamari and Azizi to fib to Scar and Shenzi they had Simba slaughtered. As the pride and the citizens of Pride Rock gather up together, Scar announces because Simba and Mufasa are no longer alive now, he’ll be their king from now on and permits the hyenas to refuge in the Pride Lands. Scar calls Sarabi for a meeting afterwards, and asks her to become his queen, and team up with him so the entire pride will obey him. Sarabi furiously stated she will never be the queen of such a selfish and ruthless lion. Scar becomes most displeased, and out of fury and frustration, he announces from now on the hyenas will hunt first and leave the lionesses with little to no food to eat afterwards. Because of this act of overhunting in addition to a severe drought, the Pride Lands become scarce in food and water, eventually becoming a barren land, much to the different animals' distraught.
Final Fight and Death[]
| “ | Scar: My friends, it will take some time, but together, we will build our army.
Kamari: Friends, huh? I thought you said we were "revolting scavengers". |
„ |
| ~ Scar's last words before the hyenas make him pay with his life for his betrayal. |
Eventually, a fully-grown Simba returns to Pride Rock, and with the help of a fully-grown Nala, Timon, Pumbaa and Zazu, the young warrior is ready to fight Scar for the throne. Realizing that Kamari and Azizi fibbed about Simba's fate, Scar tries to convince the pride Simba was accountable for Mufasa's death, and asks Simba to tell his secret and confess to "the truth". Simba confirms he is accountable for Mufasa's death. Scar almost throws Simba into the tip of Pride Rock afterwards, where a lightning bolt strikes the ground and causes a wildfire. Noticing how similar Simba is hanging just like Mufasa, Scar points out the similarity before silently revealing to Simba he killed Mufasa. Realizing the dreadful truth, Simba quickly uses his jaws to grab Scar by the mane to pull himself up, furiously confronting him for his actions and ordering him to tell the truth to the other lions. Scar refusing to tell the truth tries to deny it, but Sarabi furiously reveals she overheard Scar torturing Simba that he saw the look of fear in Mufasa's eyes before he died, revealing that Scar fibbed to the pride he didn't get to the gorge in time, just as Simba called Scar a vile betrayer. Realizing too late that he's been easily heard and been caught, Scar infuriatingly orders the hyenas to kill the entire lion pride. But the hyenas are easily overpowered and defeated, however, and Simba starts chasing after Scar, until the latter reaches a corner on top of Pride Rock where he can’t jump due to the height. Scar begs for mercy and even double-crosses the hyenas in his desperation, accusing them for Mufasa's death and calling them "revolting scavengers" that he was going to kill anyway. Unknown to him, Shenzi, Kamari and Azizi are listening nearby and they become outraged. Simba knows it's all fibs as Scar used the hyenas just like he used Simba a while ago.
Scar asks if Simba is going to kill him to avenge Mufasa's death afterwards, to which Simba replies that he will not since he is not a murderer like him. Scar asks Simba what he could do to make it up to him afterwards, to which Simba responds by furiously ordering Scar to run away from the Pride Lands and never return. Scar pretends to concur to that consequence, but instead he scratches some fire and causes it to spread on Simba's eyes and attacks him. The two lions grapple with one another, Scar tries to push him off the cliff again but Simba manages to throw Scar to the ground and the two of them fight for the throne of Pride Rock, with an outraged Simba declaring that he will not let Scar win, only for an infuriated Scar to declare that it's his destiny to rule his kingdom whatever way he likes. Simba eventually manages to overpower Scar and defeats him by throwing him off the cliff.
Scar survives the fall and as he struggles to his feet, Shenzi, Kamari, Azizi and several other surviving hyenas show up and encircle him. At first, Scar is relieved to see the three of them, saying they’ll rebuild their army together to get revenge on Simba for exposing his evil intentions, but to his shock, Kamari and Azizi reveal they overheard his attempt to double-cross them. Realizing they’re turning against him, Scar tries to talk his way out of the situation, but Shenzi rejects Scar's empty promise by telling him that he was right only about one thing: that a hyena's belly is never full. Cornered, outnumbered, and realizing he is doomed, Scar desperately tries to attempt to fight off the hyenas as they attack him, but is quickly overwhelmed and he hollers in agony as he is getting eaten alive, ending his reign of tyrannical for good.
Appearance[]
In contrast to his animated counterpart, Scar has a closer resemblance to Mufasa. He has dull gold fur and an emaciated frame separating him from the rest of the pride. He has a thin and pale mane until his regime over the Pridelands; by then, his mane is closer to the original's fuller black mane. As his name suggests, he has a long, thin, vertical scar over his left eye, a torn right ear and small scratch marks on his flanks. He also has amber eyes, a tan muzzle complete with a goatee and a dark stripe down his forehead.
Personality[]
Scar is an extremely conniving, short-tempered, relentless, persistent, callous, and heartless lion who cares about nothing else than the throne and being on top of everyone else. He committed unspeakable crimes in order to achieve his goals. This version of Scar also lusts Sarabi for himself and he desires to be every bit like Mufasa, but he does the opposite. He is also shown to be a little valiant in combat than his original counterpart as he was ready to fight back against his enemies if it was necessary; he even tried to fight back against the hyenas when they turned against him for a very short time, but they overpower and eat him alive at once.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- Unlike other live-action remakes of other Disney Villains, this Scar is basically same version as his animated counterpart. However, there are certain differences between the two versions:
- In the original film, Scar was slightly effeminate in his mannerisms, which initially met a mild controversy back when the original film was released. In the live-action film, Scar never shows any kind of effeminated mannerisms, possibly to avoid further controversy.
- In the original film, Scar's motivation to become king was because he was upset when Mufasa was chosen by their father to become king. In the live-action film, Scar's motivation was to have Sarabi for himself because she chose Mufasa when they were young, and it was implied that Scar fought against Mufasa for Sarabi's affections and lost; even his voice actor Chiwetel Ejiofor stated that the Scar in the live-action film is far more 'psychologically possessed' and 'brutalized' than the cartoon one for this reason.
- In the original film, how Scar got his scar goes unexplained. It has been recently confirmed in The Lion Guard that he got it after being attacked by a black-necked spitting cobra despite Rob Minkoff's opinion that Mufasa probably gave it to him when they were cubs (whereas the book "A Tale of Two Brothers", which is disregarded from canon, says that Scar got his blemish when he was attacked by a large buffalo). In the live-action film, it was implied that Mufasa gave him the scar during their fight over Sarabi's affections, which made it clear why Scar had done the same to Mufasa when pushing him to his death in the gorge.
- In the original film, Scar was friends with the hyenas, but neglected them by leaving them and the lions to do the hunting tasks for him due to his laziness, which made the hyenas question his reign (due to shortage of food and water) and contribute to his downfall. In the live-action film, he wasn't friends with the hyenas as he first met them in the graveyard, but made good on his promise for them by personally overseeing hunts for them after taking over Pride Rock, which has allowed him to earn the hyenas' genuine loyalty until the end when he tried to pine the blame on them.
- In the original film, Scar was a bit reckless and didn't care in raise any possible suspicions, demonstrated when he knocked out Zazu in the gorge before proceeding to dispose of Mufasa. In the live-action film, Scar is more cunning and sends Zazu out for help and while he hurts Mufasa with his claws before pushing him to his death, Simba doesn't notice it due being just a cub.
- In the original film, Scar was forced by Simba, who threatened to strangle him to death, to reveal his betrayal and expose his true nature behind Mufasa's murder to the lionesses. In the live-action film, Scar stands his ground, refusing to tell the truth, only for his efforts to fall flat when Sarabi reveals that she overheard him gloating how he saw the look of fear in Mufasa's eyes, exposing himself as a evil traitor he really is.
- In the original film, Scar was too cowardly to do anything if cornered; this was shown when he begged for mercy when the hyenas turned against him for his betrayal and mauled him to death. In the live-action film, he shows little to no fear as he was willing to defend himself against danger if necessary; this was shown when he briefly tried to fight back against the hyenas before they outnumbered and killed him.
- Jeremy Irons, the actor who voiced Scar in the original film, was interested in reprise the role for the remake much like how James Earl Jones was brought back to reprise the role of Mufasa. However, Irons was never asked out nor contacted by Disney to reprise the role.
- Scar's lust for Sarabi in the film is very similar, and was likely inspired, by his lust for Nala in The Lion King Broadway musical (which was originally intended for the original film but taken out when it was deemed that sexual harassment wasn't suitable for a family film). However, unlike the Broadway musical, he doesn't harass Sarabi as he does with Nala in the musical, yet he still threatens her.
- His physical appearance is similar to that of Zira (such as having a notch in his right ear), the main antagonist of The Lion King 2: Simba's Pride.