Theory: Who Exactly Is Zira? (The Lion King 2: Simba's Pride)

(Note: this theory is mainly filled with my own opinion and is also my own interpretation of events in The Lion King)

The Lion King is one of the greatest animated films of all time. It's gorgeously done with classic characters and catchy songs that you'll be humming for days after you watch it. One of the things that people remember the most about this masterpiece of a film is the devious Scar who rids the kingdom of the beloved Mufasa in order to be king. We follow Mufasa's son Simba throughout the film as he discovers what it means to be a king and that Hakuna Matata is an alright philosophy every so often.

How could Disney possibly continue this story and have it be on par with the original? What would they need to do to make a sequel justifiable? How could they make it memorable? Everyone that I've talked with about The Lion King 2 almost instantly brings up the wicked lioness known as Zira. Zira is a villain who is on equal grounds, if not higher grounds, to her predecessor Scar. In fact, I once had a conversation about our top 3 Villain Songs from Disney and My Lullaby got the number 3 spot whereas Be Prepared was no where mentioned. (Sidenote: The first two spots belonged to Mother Knows Best (From Tangled) and Judge Claude Frollo's Hellfire from The Hunchback of Notre Dame).

Who Is Zira?

Right when we get to meet Zira, she is instantly understood. She was part of the Pridelands Lions at one point but was banished by Simba for being a follower of Scar after the tyrannic lion's death. She even claims to Simba that "These lands belong to Scar!" after retrieving her cub, Kovu from the Pridelands. Fast forward a little and the film introduces us to her other two children Nuka and Vitani. Based on the look of these lions (with the exception of Kovu) their home, the Outlands, are the wrong side of the tracks. Everyone there is rough and tumble with the exception once again of Kovu who just wanted to befriend Simba's daughter, Kiara. Zira trains Kovu into his teenage years to be Simba's assassin so he can take the throne that she believes rightfully belonged to Scar. Zira is seen a majority of the second act like a fly on the wall as she watches Kovu to see if he will pull through with the assassination. She then unleashes the full power of her brutality when her pride ambushes Simba and she realizes that she has to kill Simba herself instead of sending out someone else to do her dirty work.

So, What's The Problem Here? 

A lot of fans of the series seem to interpret her obsession as her being Scar's mate during his time in the pride. Originally, Kovu was going to be Scar's son but this was ditched since his romance with Kiara would be seen as incest which is extremely uncalled for in a children's film and even more so for a Disney film. However, even though they took out that plot point, it remains unclear about whether of not Zira was ever Scar's mate at one point. Did she and Scar have a relationship at some point or was she a power obsessed lioness that never got her chance to be queen? Going through the film, evidence points at both a yes and no answer but which one is the winning one? The answer lies by looking at non other than her own children: Nuka, Vitani, and Kovu.

Starting from Oldest to Youngest:

Nuka (Most likely Scar's actual son)

Nuka is the closest to proving the theory that Scar and Zira were mates. He's the closest in color scheme to Scar as his fur and mane color are practically the same as Scar's. Another similarity is that Nuka's front claws are always exposed much like Scar's were in the first movie.  Yet, looking at Nuka, it is obvious why Scar chose Kovu to be his heir since he looks incredibly pathetic. When he's introduced Nuka mutters the line "Kovu, Kovu, Kovu, Scar wasn't even his father. He just took him in." A red flag immediately goes up with this line since it seems that Nuka knew Scar as a father figure and hates that some kid who isn't even of his blood gets the role of potential king. Evidence that supports this line meaning Nuka was Scar's son is his age. During the first encounter with Zira, Simba and Zira have an exchange that goes as follows:

Simba: I banished you from the Pridelands. Now you and your young cub, Get out!
Zira: Oh, haven't you met my son, Kovu? He was hand chosen by Scar to follow in his paw prints and become king. [Simba proceeds to intimidate Kovu causing the cub to shake in frieght. Timon remarks that he's more of a fuzzy maraca than a king.] Kovu was the last born before you exiled us to the outlands where we have little food...less water...

From these lines of dialogue, Zira's pride was not banished too long ago in The Lion King timeline and the ending of the first film with Simba and Nala's cub (even though the presentations of the cub at the end and Kiara's presentation at the beginning of The Lion King 2 look very different so for the sake of the theory, I'll just call the cub at the end of the first film Kiara). So, given this, it seems like Nuka most likely was a cub during some of Scar's reign since and most likely is Scar's son. His line about Scar not even being Kovu's father and Zira's line about Kovu being the last born prior to being kicked out of the Pridelands pretty much confirms that Nuka is the offspring of both Scar and Zira. He most likely wasn't seen in the first film (I know it's truly due to Nuka and his family not being created yet but once again, its for the theory) because of Scar being ashamed of his pathetic looking son and waited till one worthy of being king was born.

Vitani (Most likely not related to Scar)

Vitani is Zira's second born and never actually mentions Scar or her actions at all. Given how close in age she is to Kovu, she most likely never was old enough to witness how evil Scar was. Sure, she does bear a resemblance to Scar through the dark fur patches around her eyes, who Vitani is was shaped through her exposure to the outlands. Looking at the other lionesses briefly seen that inhabit the desolate area, Vitani has more resemblance to them than anyone else besides her mother. Because she doesn't say Scar at all and is mainly seen as reconnaissance for Zira, Vitani most likely was born to Zira and another male after Scar perished to the hyenas. She has little ties to the tyrannical ruler and seems to only be doing what her mother tells her. I personally believe that Zira didn't bother with Vitani and connecting her to Scar due to either A. thinking that Scar wouldn't want a female leading or B. wanting to grow the pride to be strong enough to take down Simba. Zira mainly was using Vitani and keeping her around for the power status.

Kovu (NOT Scar's son)

Kovu is the youngest son of Zira and the one being trained to kill Simba. Zira says that he was hand chosen by Scar to become king but how could that happen if he is relatively the same age as Kiara. How did this happen if Kovu and Scar never met? It is even confirmed more that Kovu isn't Scar's son when he tells Kiara "He wasn't my father but he was still part of me." Exactly how did Scar hand choose Kovu if he wasn't his father and wasn't alive when Kovu was born? The answer lies in the first Lion King.

Most likely, most everyone remembers this scene from the first film where Mufasa comes back and tells Simba that he has to take his place as king.

When coming up with this theory about who Zira really is and how Kovu was chosen by Scar, I thought about Mufasa coming back in ghost form and it made me realize that this is most likely how Kovu was chosen by Scar. My hypothesis is that Zira received a vision from Scar of him telling her that he chose Kovu to take his place and must avenge him. Shortly after this, Zira instantly put her plan into action and began conditioning Kovu to be the cold hearted killer she wants him to be while ignoring Nuka in the process leading to his constant want and need for attention.

Wrapping it up:
Zira was once a regular lioness in the Pridelands that got too attached to Scar during his reign and most likely had a cub with him, Nuka. When Simba took over and after Scar's death, she had Vitani and Kovu. The family and the other followers of Scar were banished to live in the desolate Outlands. By looking at her children and some dialogue in the movie, Zira's true identity is revealed. I believe she was actually Scar's queen at some point but was soon demoted once Simba came back and avenged his father's death. Zira was then replaced by Nala as Queen of  the Pridelands and Zira was forced to move out to her home at the beginning of Simba's Pride. After the spirit of Scar came back to Zira and told her about his decision to make Kovu king, Zira started a revolt that would end up changing the fate of the Pridelands, thus creating one of Disney's greatest villains of all time.


https://greaterthanknowledge.wordpress.com/2011/02/10/a-review-of-the-lion-king-2/
http://thelionking2.wikia.com/wiki/Zira
http://disney.wikia.com/wiki/Zira
https://www.mylionking.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=32&t=36648
http://lionking.wikia.com/wiki/Fluffy
(Screenshot of Kiara's presentation came from my own personal copy)
http://lionking.wikia.com/wiki/Vitani
http://kovu-and-his-team.wikia.com/wiki/Kovu
http://jadensadventures.wikia.com/wiki/File:Mufasa-s-ghost-the-lion-king-31491394-818-480.jpg