NOTE: This page is only for Scar's characterization in the remake duology, considering the original animated counterpart was voted Pure Evil. Therefore, only the remake version's info and actions should be listed here. |
“ | Then call me Scar, so I will never forget what I have done. | „ |
~ Taka to Mufasa, after embracing his new name when the latter disowns his real name for betraying him. |
“ | Long... live... the KING! | „ |
~ Scar revealing his true nature to Mufasa before murdering him, and his most famous quote. |
“ | Simba: You can't win, Scar! Scar: This is MY kingdom! MY destiny! |
„ |
~ Scar’s breakdown and his second most famous quote as he battles against Simba. |
Taka, later known as Scar, is the main antagonist of The Lion King remake film duology, serving as the main antagonist of Disney's 2019 photorealistic animated musical drama film The Lion King, based on the 1994 animated classic film of the same name and the deuteragonist of its 2024 prequel/sequel Mufasa: The Lion King.
He is a tyrannical, bloodthirsty, and megalomaniacal lion who was the son of Obasi and Eshe, the best friend turned adoptive brother and later arch-rival and murderer of Mufasa, the former love interest and adoptive brother-in-law of Sarabi, and the arch-nemesis of his adoptive nephew Simba and the second archenemy of white lion Kiros, who is the reason why he was corrupted. He is also based on his original counterpart.
In contrast to his original counterpart though, this version of Scar is shown to have once had redeeming qualities, such as genuinely caring for and bonding with Mufasa, loving his family, and having romantic feelings for Sarabi. Sadly, after longtime emotional scars inflicted by Kiros, he lost almost all of his redeeming qualities, including his love for his brother and Sarabi.
As an adult, he was voiced by Chiwetel Ejiofor, Kelvin Harrison Jr. as an adolescent and Theo Somolu as an cub.
His Evil Ranking[]
What Makes Him Close to Being Pure Evil?[]
In General[]
- Although Scar was originally known as Taka, who used to be a nice lion and genuinely cared for Mufasa, all of this was thrown out of the window however, as he became a power-hungry tyrant and would kill Mufasa as revenge for stealing his destiny.
- While he doesn't abuse the hyenas unlike his original counterpart, there is no indication that he sees them anything more than pawns even before they turned against him.
- While the prequel does show that Scar had a sympathetic backstory, did not have the best role models in his life, and was denied the throne that he believed rightfully belonged to him, the movie also makes it very clear that regardless if he had sympathetic reasons for his fall, it does not justify his heinous actions in both the prequel and the first film proper.
Mufasa: The Lion King[]
- Even before turning evil, Taka already showed signs of egotism. As a cub, he believed that as future king, he could control his subjects even when Mufasa tries to show him that he can't control everything, yet Taka ignored his advice, showing that he already had a poor view of his role as future king which ultimately came true in the 2019 film. Later, after saving Mufasa again, he bragged about it and teased Mufasa over it (though to be fair this was somewhat of a more mischievous moment on Taka's part).
- After learning Mufasa and Sarabi fell in love, Taka, who was outraged by the loss of his parents and resented Mufasa for stealing his destiny and the love of his life, betrayed his brother by leading Kiros and the Outsiders to Milele out of spite, causing the Outsiders to terrorize the animals of Milele and hurting his brother in the process. This is possibly his worst act in Mufasa: The Lion King.
- While he ultimately refuses to allow Kiros to execute Mufasa and gains his scar this way, a disgusted Mufasa makes it clear that he never fully forgave Taka for this act of treachery and disowns his real name. Taka even bitterly tells Mufasa to call him Scar since the person who brought him into the family died when he was injured.
- While he used to have some comedic moments in the prequel, such as his sarcastic remarks and his awkward moments with Sarabi that are played for laughs, this was subverted in the last half of the movie when his heinous actions were taken seriously.
- These moments are completely absent in the 2019 movie, with all his actions in said movie being taken completely seriously, and all his sarcasm being bitter and dry.
- His act of treachery where he leads Kiros and his pride to Milele is treated by the film as the exact moment that he fully begins his downward spiral into Scar and begins leaving his older personality behind. Very tellingly, while he does show brief remorse and does help Mufasa beat Kiros and ultimately makes the choice to save him, the conversation afterwards is very tense and it is made clear that this brief moment of reconciliation is the last time that Mufasa and Taka had anything close to their original bond, with Taka finally becoming Scar, the monster he ultimately turned into in the future.
- Furthermore, in the ending of the film, Scar looks at Mufasa with a look of disdain and envy before he walks away, showing that he still holds strong resentment towards Mufasa.
The Lion King (2019)[]
- He nearly ate Zazu alive out of spite after he came to inform him that Mufasa was on his way to his den.
- He later even banished Zazu from the Pride Lands after usurping the throne.
- He shows no gratitude towards Mufasa for allowing him to live in the pride even when he knows they are on bad terms. This is even more horrible with the prequel making it clear that despite having already betrayed Mufasa once and still being shown mercy by him, Scar still schemes to take the throne back.
- He tricked Simba into going to the Elephant Graveyard, where he planned to have the hyenas slay him, and was completely unfazed when Nala was also endangered, despite her not being a threat to his plans.
- Went as far as to kill his own brother via tossing him into a wildebeest stampede to be trampled to death out of revenge for stealing his destiny so he could steal his throne and hated his own nephew Simba due to his birth causing him to lose the chance of earning the throne, which also led to him skipping Simba's ceremony.
- He even mockingly said "Long live the King" before tossing him into the stampede by scratching him in the face, watching as he fell to his death.
- He accused Simba of Mufasa's death just to emotionally spite the cub while "comforting" him, despite knowing his nephew had nothing to do with his brother's death. He then banished him from the Pride Lands and ordered the hyenas to kill him to cover his tracks further.
- He broke the Circle of Life and nearly turned the Pride Lands into a barren wasteland, causing damage and death that spread beyond the horizon.
- Watches the hyenas overhunt and kill animals and shows no remorse when called out by Sarabi.
- He continued to possessed a lust for Sarabi just because he was denied her affections. While the animated version was only implied to possess such feelings, this version is confirmed to.
- After becoming the new king, he cruelly told Sarabi to get over Mufasa's death without a hint of sensitivity, showing no concern about her emotions.
- He harasses Sarabi constantly towards being his queen, and when she refuses, he spitefully condemns the lionesses to starve by ordering for the lions to eat after the hyenas, knowing that they "leave little behind".
- This shows that he has zero concern for the pride's well-being.
- After Sarabi told him that he was nothing compared to Mufasa, he attacked her and presumably tried to kill her, thus subverting any genuine love he had for her, and would have succeeded if Simba had not intervened.
- Upon learning that Simba is still alive and wanting to claim the throne, he attempted to stop him from doing so by continuing to blame him for Mufasa's death.
- Furthermore, he and the hyenas backed him to the edge of Pride Rock, (while repeatedly asking whether or not he is the king) where lightning struck and caused a wildfire. He then taunted Simba over the similarity between it and Mufasa's final moments.
- Afterwards he proceeded to attempt to kill his nephew the same way he killed his brother (albeit by throwing his victim into fire instead of a stampede) but not before bragging to the former about having done it, which led to him being exposed in retaliation. He even tried to call Simba a liar and the true murderer of Mufasa just to continue his reign.
- Furthermore, he and the hyenas backed him to the edge of Pride Rock, (while repeatedly asking whether or not he is the king) where lightning struck and caused a wildfire. He then taunted Simba over the similarity between it and Mufasa's final moments.
- He ordered the hyenas to kill Simba and the entire lion pride after his actions were exposed by Sarabi and Simba.
- While it is clear that Scar, unlike his original counterpart, made good on his promise to the hyenas by overseeing hunts for them to gain their genuine loyalty, this went down the drain when he threw them under the bus by attempting to put the blame on them when cornered by Simba, proving that he was just using the hyenas as pawns in a more pragmatic way, which Simba calls him out for.
- Additionally, it's made clear that his act of allowing the hyenas to eat before the lionesses is done solely out of spite towards Sarabi for refusing to be his queen instead of honor.
- After Simba chose to spare Scar and instead send him into exile, Scar tried to slay him unfairly by throwing burning embers into his eyes before attacking him so he'd have the advantage.
- Although Simba was shocked after believing he killed Scar in self-defense as the latter seemingly fell into the fire, it was only because he had no desire to resort to lethality during their battle. Even if Simba was the one who killed him, it would've been 100% justified due to Scar killing Mufasa and attacking Sarabi and then attempting to kill Simba.
- When cornered by the hyenas (who overheard his treacherous words) after being defeated by Simba, Scar attempted to talk his way out of it by admitting that he was trying to fool Simba. But when the hyenas refused to accept this, Scar attempted to attack the hyenas, proving that he was not trying to fool Simba and he really was blaming them for him killing Mufasa; and was really planning on killing them all once they had served his purpose.
- In fact, even Simba called Scar out for how he fooled the hyenas like how he fooled him, moments before their final battle.
- Though he gets a very gruesome death at the jaws of the hyenas, he's more than deserved it for what he has done to nearly everyone he knew.
What Prevents Him from Being Pure Evil?[]
- While most of his redeeming qualities are subverted, it is never shown if he subverted his care for his mother.
- His backstory, while not justifying his actions or holding up as tragic, is played for minor sympathy, as he was shown to have once loved Sarabi and was genuinely hurt when she chose Mufasa over him.
Trivia[]
- He and his Kingdom Hearts counterpart are the two only versions of Scar to be Near Pure Evil, which is ironic since most versions of Scar are absolutely evil and have no redeeming qualities.
- However, the Kingdom Hearts' Scar is only not PE due to being outheinoused, meaning this version of Scar is the only one to still have redeeming qualities.
- This incarnation of Scar is one of the three Lion King remake villains to be Near Pure Evil, along with Shenzi and Kiros.
- Scar is one of the few Near Pure Evils to have a page on the Heroes Wiki.
External Links[]
- Scar on the Villains Wiki
- Scar on the Heroes Wiki
- Scar on the Disney Wiki
- Scar on the The Lion King Wiki
[]
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