Zira

Near Pure Evil

Full Name

Zira

Alias

No information

Origin

The Lion King II: Simba's Pride

Allies

Vitani

Kovu
Her Outsiders (all formerly)
Scar
Nuka

Powers / Skills

Cunning

Manipulation
Poise
Intimidation
Sharp teeth and claws

Goals

Make Kovu become the new King of the Pride Lands (succeeded indirectly).

Take over the Pride Lands under her command.
Make Kion her apprentice.
Kill Simba to avenge Scar's death (both failed).

Moral Event Horizon

Brutally attacking Simba over what happened to Scar.
Having Nuka and Vitani start a wildfire, just to have Kovu save Kiara.
Scarring her son Kovu's eye over Nuka's death.
Starting a war between Simba's pride and the Outsiders.
Vowing to kill her own daughter, Vitani, over betraying her.

Kill Count

Several (attempted)

Crimes

Attempted regicide
Abuse of power
Psychological abuse
Vandalism
Child abuse
Attempted mass murder
Stalking
Conspiracy
Arson
Attempted usurpation
Fraud
Terrorism
Treason
Incrimination
Assault and battery
Attempted filicide
Trespassing
Unlawful imprisonment

Type of Villain

Vengeful Fanatic

“	These lands belong to Scar!	„
	~ Zira's most famous quote. noicon

“	If you will not fight, then you will die as well.	„
	~ Zira to Outlanders then before redeeming themselves. noicon

Zira is the secondary antagonist of Disney's The Lion King franchise.

She was once a loyal follower to Scar who sought to avenge him after his first defeat and take back the Pride Lands for herself and her Outsiders. She is the mother of Nuka, Vitani, and Kovu, whom she tried to make the new King of the Pride Lands. She is also the mother-in-law and arch-nemesis of Kiara.

In The Lion King II: Simba's Pride, she was voiced by the late Suzanne Pleshette, while she was voiced by Nika Futterman in The Lion Guard.

Her Evil Ranking[]

What Makes Her Close to Being Pure Evil?[]

While her being banished to the Outlands can be seen as tragic, it is worth noting that Simba explained that Scar wasn't the true king (as he became king due to killing Mufasa), and she attacked Simba over a petty grudge making her banishment all her fault.
After Simba took his place as King of the Pride Lands, he made it clear that Scar wasn't the actual king. Enraged by this, Zira attacked Simba, and after she was forced to leave the Pride Lands, she vowed to kill him to avenge Scar.
She trained her children to be soldiers, wanting to use them to help with her plan to avenge Scar and take over the Pride Lands. She also wanted Kovu to become the next King of the Pride Lands after she killed Simba and took over and she would have most likely used him.
She was shown to be abusive to her own children, given that she mainly just used them with her plans. Even if she truly cared for them, she'll kill her own children if they turn against her.
During her confrontation with Simba, she dares him to kill Kovu.
It is made clear that she generally believes that lions are superior to everyone else, showing that she has almost no care for anyone else who isn't a lion.
In her song "My Lullaby", she sang about how she wants to kill Simba and cause the Pridelanders' despair.
She manipulated Kion into thinking that if he used the Roar of the Elders on her, he would lose it since she claimed that Scar did the same to other lions and that was the reason why he lost his roar, even though in reality, Scar lost it as punishment for using it for evil purposes. She also tried manipulating him into becoming her apprentice.
She had Vitani and Nuka start a wildfire to have Kovu save Kiara so he could gain Simba's trust, making her indirectly responsible for arson.
When Simba finally warms up to Kovu, she sabotages it by lying to the former that Kovu was in on her ambush (which he really wasn't) just to spite the latter for rightfully taking Simba's side. Even after Kovu truthfully tries to tell Simba that in reality, he had absolutely nothing to do with the attack, he is still wrongfully exiled from the Pride Lands, an event that Zira is directly responsible for, which soon causes Kiara to turn against her father for his actions.
After Kovu began to detract from her plans to kill Simba and take over, she slowly began to hate her own son. After her other son Nuka died, she scarred Kovu's eye. She even blamed him for Nuka's death when it was truly her fault that Nuka died. Though she didn't attack him when she ordered him to get out of her way when she was about to kill Simba, she said it angrily, proving her indignation.
- She also likely knew that she couldn't defeat her son in combat, which was probably the main reason she didn't attack.
- While she did express shock over her scarring Kovu, it's immediately subverted when she calls him out for killing Nuka despite it being her fault.
After Vitani left her, Zira vowed to kill her, causing the other Outsiders to become disgusted and leave her.
When offered to change herself, Zira refused, believing that the Pride Lands still belonged to her and Scar. She would attempt one last time to kill Simba. When Kiara attempted to save Zira from falling to her death, Zira refused and attempted to attack her, leading to her own demise.
She is feared and hated by the hyenas in the Outlands including Janja's Clan who hate her for being ruthless and giving lions a bad name.
While Kiara and Kovu look sad when she dies, possibly feeling guilty for her death, this does not make her death sympathetic as it was her own fault that she rejected her help and instead tried to claw her.
While she's not as heinous as Scar she still stands out given her lesser resources. Since Scar had hundreds if not thousands of hyenas at his disposal when he was alive and as a ghost he had an army of various different animals as part of his army and the powers of pyrokinesis and immortality, meanwhile all Zira had was a pride of lions as her allies. She also has unique acts like abusing her children to the point of threatening to kill them and instigating a war against her own species.
She didn’t pick Nuka up from the logs and save him (which is reasonable because his body may already be broken).

What Prevents Her from Being Pure Evil?[]

She was genuinely loyal to Scar, as her main motivation was to avenge him.
Even though she may have been abusive to him and did stop caring about her other two children, she did genuinely care about Nuka, even seeming to feel horrible and upset when he died. It could also be argued that Nuka's death was a bit of a sympathetic moment for her.

Trivia[]

To further highlight her genuine care for Nuka, a draft scene for Simba's Pride shows her giving a heartwarming smile to him just as he's about to slowly die.
Her live-action equivalent is Kiros, who is also Near Pure Evil.
- Both of their prevention are caring for someone.