Scar (The Lion King)

Scar is the main antagonist of Disney's 1994 animated feature film The Lion King. As the brother of Mufasa and second-born Prince of the Pride Lands, Scar was next in line to assume the throne as king. However, his chances were lost at the birth of his nephew, Simba. This embittered Scar with jealousy and a sense of entitlement, prompting him to develop a regicidal plot to take over the kingdom, with the aid of his hyena minions.

Why He Rocks

 * 1) Scar is one of the best and most popular Disney villains of all time. He is up there with Maleficent, Jafar and Hades.
 * 2) Scar is a cunning, sarcastic and narcissistic lion with a cultured and elegant demeanor.
 * 3) Scar is very sophisticated, charismatic, and persuasive, able to rally the hyenas to his cause.
 * 4) Scar's first scene in the movie has him capturing a mouse and planning to devour it. While this alone isn't evil, as lions have to eat meat to live, the way he toys with the mouse shows his sadistic nature.
 * 5) He has a playful relationship with Simba, while it is clear Simba genuinely looks up to his uncle and found him eccentric, Scar pretends to be a caring uncle, but in realty, Scar wants Simba dead and manipulates him in order to have him murdered.
 * 6) *It makes the betrayal more shocking and heartbreaking for Simba, as he realizes that the uncle he once looked up to murdered his own father. When he begs for mercy, Simba has nothing but distrust for him, stating everything he told him was a lie.
 * 7) His song "Be Prepared" is great and memorable for its pure expression of Scar's character.
 * 8) The way he plots his schemes was well done and successful, as he lures Simba in the gorge, then he set off a wildebeest stampede with the help of his hyena minions, that threatened Simba's life and thus lured Mufasa into danger.
 * 9) *He knocks Zazu out to prevent him from getting help from the Pridelands.
 * 10) *The way that he kills Mufasa is one of the most shocking moments in Disney history, as once he has Mufusa at his mercy, he claws into his paws, looks at him with his devious face and delivers his famous line "Long live the king" and throws him into the stampede.
 * 11) *Scar manipulates Simba into thinking it's his fault Mufasa died and tells him to run away and never return.
 * 12) He is one of few Disney villians to actually succeed with his plans, as he manages to kill Mufasa, drives Simba into exile and becomes king.
 * 13) His voice performance by Jeremy Irons is awesome and near perfect, as it fits with his evil and sinister nature.
 * 14) His climactic fight with Simba was perfect, it was a slow-motion duel, complete with a majestic version of the music that plays when Mufasa showed Simba the kingdom, fully living up to the entire film building up to it.
 * 15) His death scene was so satisfying, as he gets eaten alive by his hyenas minions after they overheard his betrayal.
 * 16) He makes a posthumous return in The Lion King II: Simba's Pride, where he appears in Simba's nightmares.

Bad Qualities

 * 1) As mentioned in GQ #8, he killed Mufasa, traumatized Simba, and took over the Pridelands.
 * 2) He unfortunately becomes less enjoyable once he becomes king. Losing his charismatic manipulative schemer of the story's first half, replaced in the later half with a far less intelligent, spoiled brat of a tyrant instead. His laziness and self-indulgence alienated any potential followers, he slacks off and willingly lets the land go to waste, not caring if his subjects suffer.
 * 3) Idiot Move: After having coerced him into admitting responsibility for his father's death, Scar has Simba trapped at the edge of Pride Rock and precariously clinging to the side. Instead of simply throwing him off the edge, he gloats around with Simba, confess it was him who killed Mufasa all those years ago. This helps Simba shake off his guilt, and he gets his Heroic Second Wind against Scar, forcing him to confess his crimes in full view of everyone, causing his downfall. He would have gotten away with it if not for a moment of gloating self-indulgence.
 * 4) He was badly flanderized in the 2019 version of The Lion King, as he gets stripped of his sarcastic and sly attitude he had, thus he is now miserable and gloomy, as well as blatantly bitter and dismissive towards everyone around him, even losing his playful relationship with Simba.

Trivia

 * Throughout the movie, Scar rarely retracts his claws. His claws are even out when he is simply talking to young Simba or minding his own business. This is purposely done to differentiate him from the other lions as he is the antagonist.
 * Scar's death is considered by many people as one of Disney's most violent and gruesome deaths; He is mauled alive by the Hyena Clan, even though just their shadows were seen.

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