Simba

"...This is my kingdom. If I don't fight for it, who will?"

- Simba

Simba is the protagonist of Disney's 1994 animated feature film, The Lion King. He is the son of Mufasa, who was destined to rule the Pride Lands, as king. When Mufasa is killed in a wildebeest stampede, Simba is blamed for the tragedy and abandons his kingdom in guilt. He finds refuge in a jungle oasis with a meerkat named Timon and warthog named Pumbaa, but the Pride Lands fall to disarray during his absence. With the kingdom in peril, Simba is forced to confront his troubled past in order to reclaim his throne and restore balance to the "Circle of Life."

Upon entering adulthood, Simba marries his childhood best friend, Nala, and has two cubs named Kiara and Kion.

Personality
As a cub, Simba was quite adventurous and impressionable, he highly admired his father, Mufasa, and wished to someday become a ruler as mighty as he, spending much of his time either learning the ways of a king or simply envisioning what life would be like with such power and self-esteem. This inflated his ego, making him arrogant and boastful towards characters such as Zazu and Scar, and additionally led to troublesome situations, as his viewpoint on Mufasa led him to believe being a king meant being fearless and looking for unnecessary danger, just to prove how mighty one could be. This would fall perfectly in line with the schemes of Scar, who plotted to kill Simba to increase his chances of becoming ruler of the Pride Lands. Nevertheless, Simba was able to learn from his mistakes in the end, as his negative actions were primarily driven out of admiration for his father.

As a young adult, Simba's personality takes a shift, becoming melodramatic and fearful - a direct result of Mufasa's death. Because he believed his father's demise was ultimately his fault, Simba felt unworthy of ruling the throne, hinting at signs of insecurity and low self-esteem, in addition to becoming reluctant to ever face his past. It wasn't until he met and obtained guidance from the wise mandrill, Rafiki, that Simba would learn that the past is important, and should be looked to as a means to learn from mistakes, but never as a reason to prevent one's self from moving on in life. It also wasn't until Simba learned the truth of his father's demise, he was more confident and self-assured. In spite of this, Simba was also willing to partake in more easy-going hobbies, such as loafing around with Timon and Pumbaa. As seen during "Hakuna Matata", and his time as a teenager seen in The Lion King 1½, Simba retained some of his childlike nature when simply in the presence of his friends, and away from the pressures of his past, being laid-back and fun-loving if given the chance.

Now as a full grown adult and King of the Pride Lands, with a loving family, including a daughter, Simba is no longer overly adventurous and outgoing, instead of becoming humble and rather soft-spoken, even in the face of his family and closest friends. As a direct result of Mufasa's tragic death, Simba also became fearful and overprotective, specifically with his daughter, Kiara, as he feared the dangers that lurked in the Pride Lands, be they outright such as the hyenas were or hidden within the shadows, such as the true nature of Scar. He also looked back at his childhood with some sense of shame, as evidenced by his conversation with Nala early in The Lion King II: Simba's Pride, in which he claimed that Kiara's adventurous spirit made him fearful, as she mirrored his own adventurous attitude as a cub, referring to the dangers he endured during childhood.

Simba was also shown to be a wise and respected ruler, much like Mufasa before him. He had the prejudice against those who retained loyalty to the dethroned Scar, but was willing to accept them eventually, as he followed the philosophy verbally showcased in "We Are One". However, despite being King, Simba knows that he has to respect the traditions of other animals, which was why he didn't interfere with Makuu and Pua's mashindano.

Simba also likes to stick to tradition, which was why at first, he was disappointed with his son Kion for putting other animals in the Lion Guard instead of other lions like the previous Lion Guards. However, after witnessing the new Lion Guard defeat hyenas, Simba accepts his son's choice and expresses pride for him.

Like his father, Simba is willing to jump into combat when it comes to rescuing his family and friends, even if it means his own life is in danger. When he and Nala were being chased by Shenzi, Banzai, and Ed, he noticed Nala was starting to slip on a mountain of bones in the elephant graveyard. Without hesitation, he ran down the bones to assist Nala to climb back up for their escape. Simba then also swipes at Shenzi's face which leaves 3 scratch marks on her. Another example is when Pumbaa and Timon were being chased by a lioness, Simba quickly springs into action and fights the lioness, until coming to the realization that he was fighting Nala.

Simba sometimes doesn't listen to the advice he is given from his friends and family right away, showing he had to find out the hard way. As time went on he got what his friends and family meant when he sees things for himself, shown when he finally understood the advice he was given from Timon and Pumbaa about letting go of the past back when he was cub after witnessing Zira not willing to let go of it. Also, he uses the same advice that he was given to him from his friends and family for others, shown with Zira.

Despite his many commendable attributes, Simba can sometimes be arrogant, even towards those who know him, he is also sometimes gullible (a trait he still possesses from his childhood) to the point of believing his enemies, evidenced by the fact that when Zira claims that Kovu led him into an ambush, however, in truth, the latter had no knowledge of the ambush, and was completely innocent.

Simba can sometimes lets his temper get the better of him as he can hold a grudge against those loyal to Scar or who he considers enemies, as seen when he didn't give Kovu a chance to explain that he didn't see the ambush coming. Simba was so caught up with his grudge against the outsiders that he had forgotten they're also lions just like him and his pride until he was reminded by Kiara that they are one which helped him see through his mistakes.

Physical appearance
Newborn Simba was very small with a large head. He had light spots on his head and body, as newborn lions usually have. As a cub, Simba has "brownish-gold" fur, with a lighter cream color accenting his belly, muzzle, and paws. He has large, bright eyes with red irises and yellow scleras; his upper lids are a deep tawny. Additionally, he has a light pink nose and four black whiskers on either side of his muzzle, and the insides of his ears are tawny and rimmed with black. Young Simba boasts a small tuft of hair on top of his head and a short bushy tail. He has somewhat stocky proportions.

As an adolescent, Simba retains much of the appearance he had as a cub but is more lithe. He has a mop of reddish-orange hair growing on the top of his head and partially down his neck; this is the early stage of his mane growing in. He also has some noticeable darker colorations on his body, such as a brownish point above his nose.

As a young adult, Simba is much larger and his body is muscular. His russet mane is now fully grown and covers the entirety of his neck and much of his back, and his ears are barely seen. His eyes are smaller in relation to his head and are more oval-shaped. In the sequel Simba's Pride, now a full grown adult, the colors of his pelt and mane are somewhat duller, and he has a more aged look and a heavier build.

In the remake version, young Simba has brown eyes and his fur is tan and gold which resemble real-life male lion cubs. As a young adult, Simba resembles his father Mufasa; to differentiate his traditional animation counterpart who had a fringe on his russet mane, he has white marks on each side of the bridge of his nose.

The Lion King
At the break of dawn, the royal couple Mufasa and Sarabi welcome the arrival of their newborn cub, Simba, and, at his birth, is presented to the kingdom as their future king. Rafiki, a wise mandrill who was an old friend of Mufasa, heads the ceremony, performing a ritual before presenting Simba.

Time passes, Simba grows up into a clever and kind playful cub, with a rambunctious attitude. He grows excited about being king someday after Mufasa shows him the kingdom. Mufasa explains that Simba will one day rule over everything they can see, but warns Simba not to go to a shadowy area beyond the borders of the Pride Lands. Though Simba initially believes that being king is about getting to do whatever he wishes, Mufasa teaches him about the responsibilities of being royalty. Suddenly, Mufasa is alerted by Zazu of hyenas in the Pride Lands. Mufasa goes to deal with the situation and tells Zazu to take Simba home, much to the cub's disappointment.

After Simba returns home, he tells Scar, his uncle, about the trip. Taking advantage of the cub's naive nature, Scar tells Simba what the forbidden place is (tricking him into going there). It is in fact, the elephant's graveyard, where only the bravest lions travel. Simba wants to prove himself brave, and Scar makes this their "little secret." As of that moment, Simba's journey to kingship had begun.

Later that afternoon, Simba meets his best friend Nala, and they travel to the graveyard. Unknown to them, Scar had placed his hyena henchmen there to kill the cubs, in an attempt to remove Simba from the line of succession so that Scar could become king and make every animal from Pride Rock obey him. Having been found by Zazu after the hyenas had their fun shooting him out of a geyser, Mufasa saves the two cubs, foiling Scar's plan, but is disappointed in Simba for disobeying him. After sending Nala and Zazu back to Pride Rock, Mufasa lectures Simba on the line between bravery and bravado, and he forgives and forgets. Afterward, Simba asks if they will always be together. Mufasa responds by telling Simba about the Great Kings of the Past, who look down from the stars. Mufasa tells Simba if he ever feels alone, the Great Kings will always be there to guide him, and so will he.

The next day, Scar tells Simba that his father has a surprise for him. Scar leaves him in a deep gorge, telling Simba that Scar will return with his father soon. In fact, the so-called "surprise" was another plot of Scar's, this time with the goal of killing both Simba and Mufasa. Scar's hyenas drive a herd of wildebeest toward Simba. Mufasa successfully saves Simba, but does not survive. Mufasa had attempted to climb a sheer cliff to safety after dropping Simba on a safe ledge. Near the top, Mufasa called to Scar for help. Instead, Scar threw him off after saying with an evil grin, "Long live the king". However, this was unknown to Simba, who only saw his father fall to his death, to his shock and horror. Simba is later manipulated by Scar into believing that Mufasa's death was his own fault (as Simba had practiced his roar on a lizard seconds before the stampede started). Scar tells Simba to leave the kingdom and never return, before secretly sending the hyenas to kill him. Simba is able to escape by leaping into a bed of thorns that the hyenas were too afraid to enter. Simba then continues to run far away from home through a desert. As for Shenzi, Banzai, and Ed, they call after him that if he ever returns to the Pride Lands, they'll kill him, before returning to Scar and lie to him that Simba is dead, leaving him clear to claim the throne as the new king.

While going through the desert he passes out from heat exhaustion. A flock of buzzards attempts to eat him but Timon, a meerkat, and Pumbaa, a warthog chase the buzzards away and find Simba's unconscious body. They take Simba to the edge of the jungle where Timon splashes water in his face. When Simba regains consciousness he thanks them for their help and they offer to let him stay with them, as Simba was an outcast like they were. They teach Simba about their life in the jungle, and about their motto "Hakuna Matata", which means "no responsibilities, no worries" and successfully cheer him up. Simba takes this to heart and survives by eating bugs. But they also teach him a very important life lesson, how to put your past behind you, which would become a key role later on in the young prince's life.

After years of living an enjoyable easygoing life in the jungle, Simba has grown up into a fairly carefree young adult lion, but he is reminded of his father's death while he, Pumbaa and Timon are stargazing. One day, Simba is called upon to save Pumbaa from a mysterious lioness, only for him to discover that the lioness is Nala. Though Nala is happy, as Simba being alive means that Simba can become king, Simba is hesitant, as he still feels guilt about Mufasa. After Simba and Nala spend time alone, they discover their friendship has blossomed into a romantic relationship. However, Nala tries to get Simba to return with her to the Pride Lands by telling him about Scar's tyrannical rule, but Simba still refuses. Only encounters with both Rafiki and the ghost of Mufasa are able to convince him to return, as Mufasa reminds him that he must accept his role in the Circle of Life and Rafiki demonstrates how you can either run from the past or learn from it when he hits him with his stick.

Simba returns to the Pride Lands, where he discovers that the land has been destroyed during Scar's reign. As a result, the herds have moved on, leaving the pride with no food or water. Simba heads to Pride Rock, followed by Nala, Pumbaa, and Timon. While Timon and Pumbaa distract the hyenas and Nala rallies up the lionesses, Simba goes to find Scar. Simba reveals himself to his uncle after seeing Scar strike down Sarabi. Scar is fearful at first, mistaking Simba for Mufasa upon first seeing him, but is able to force Simba to admit guilt in Mufasa's death to the lionesses. Scar forces Simba over the edge of Pride Rock and pierces Simba's paws with his claws (just like he did to Mufasa) before revealing that he killed Mufasa, not Simba. Enraged upon learning the truth, Simba breaks free of Scar's grip, and pins him down, leaving Scar terrified for his life, and forces him to admit his treachery to the rest of the pride. Alongside the lionesses and his friends, Simba leads a subsequent battle against Scar and his hyenas. After a fight with Scar at the top of Pride Rock, Simba is able to flip his villainous uncle over the ledge. There, Scar is mauled to death and consumed by his hyena henchmen as revenge for pinning the death of Mufasa on them. With Scar overthrown and deceased, Simba ascends Pride Rock as the lionesses, Rafiki, Zazu, Timon, and Pumbaa watch on. With a roar, Simba ushers in his reign as king of the Pride Lands.

By the time the kingdom is restored to its former glory, Simba has taken his rightful place as king. He married Nala, and the two have their own cub, who is presented to the kingdom in a similar manner to the beginning of the film.

The Lion King II: Simba's Pride
In The Lion King II: Simba's Pride, Simba is now a mature adult and he and Nala have a daughter, Kiara. Though he's shown to be a loving father, he's also concerned and over-protective of Kiara, due to his life experiences as a cub. One day Simba lets his daughter out to play with Timon and Pumbaa to watch her. Unknown to Simba, Timon and Pumbaa begin to argue about bugs and Kiara slips away from them unnoticed.

Kiara ends up crossing over into the Outlands where she meets Kovu, an Outsider cub whose pride was exiled by Simba because of their loyalty to Scar. The two befriend each other until Simba leaps in to confront Zira, Kovu’s mother, who was watching the two cubs. After the confrontation, Simba talks with Kiara and explains to her that they "are one."

When Kiara is an adolescent, she heads out into the Pride Lands alone for her first hunt. Simba is worried for her safety and sends Timon and Pumbaa out to watch her again. While Kiara is hunting, Simba paces nervously at Pride Rock. He notices smoke from a wildfire and rallies the pride to go find Kiara. Kovu rescues her and asks to join the pride. Simba at first tries to send him away, citing his banishment alongside the other Outsiders. Nala, Rafiki, and Zazu convince him to accept Kovu into the pride, reminding that Pride Lands law states that debts must be repaid, and they owe Kovu for rescuing Kiara. Simba agrees to these laws but says he will place judgment on Kovu and when the pride returns to Pride Rock, he makes Kovu sleep outside the cave out of distrust.

That night, Simba later has a nightmare of him trying to save his father Mufasa from the stampede but is prevented from doing so by Scar, who morphs into Kovu and is thrown off the cliff himself. Unknown to Simba, Zira has secretly trained Kovu to infiltrate Simba's pride and kill Simba. Simba gradually begins to trust Kovu, and Kiara and Kovu begin to fall in love. Soon this led to Kovu questioning his loyalty to the Outsiders.

After a while, Simba takes Kovu out for a walk and tells him the real story about Scar. However, Zira and the other Outsiders ambush Kovu and Simba while they are walking and talking, automatically reigniting Simba's distrust in Kovu, after Zira congratulates Kovu for leading him into the ambush, "just like they always planned," leading Simba to turn his back on him. Kovu tries to convince Simba that he didn't see the attack coming, and even tries to protect Simba, but is knocked down by his sister, Vitani. Simba is injured, but leaps up a river dam to safety, causing a few logs to fall on Kovu's brother Nuka, who tried to stop him from escaping, and dies from his injuries. Kovu is blamed for his death, and Zira strikes Kovu with her claws and gives him a scar over his eye that resembles Scar's. He then flees to the Pride Lands in shame, with Zira telling her pride to let Kovu go.

Simba, still believing Kovu had dark motives when he saved Kiara, exiles the lion after refusing to accept his apologies and silences his daughter when she requests her father to listen to Kovu. Kiara is distraught at this and pleads with her father to reconsider, but he claims that Kovu used her just to get to him, that he is following Scar's paw prints, and that he himself must follow his own father's. Kiara angrily defies her father and exclaims that he will never be Mufasa, which scares and hurts Simba deeply.

Later, Simba enters the cave and learns from Timon and Pumbaa that Kiara has ran away before Zazu arrives and announces that the Outsiders have initiated a war. Simba heads out to fight with his lionesses, Timon, and Pumbaa while sending Zazu to find Kiara. Before the battle begins, Simba, in earnest, offers Zira a final chance to surrender and leave in peace, which the lioness, determined to see her goals to fruition, rejects. At this point, Simba leads the charge against the Outsiders.

After a lengthy battle, Simba and Zira confront each other directly. Just as the two are about to clash, Kiara and Kovu leap into the middle of the confrontation, and Kiara reminds Simba of what he once told her that they "are one", which includes the Outsiders. Hearing Kiara's words of wisdom, Simba took a good look of the outsiders, and realized Kiara is right while also reconciling with her.

The Outsiders, after learning of their leader's true nature when she threatens to kill a defecting Vitani, abandon Zira entirely and join the Pridelanders. Simba told Zira that it was time to put the past behind them, so that peace may come between them for a better life; however, she is too overcome with worship for Scar to accept his understanding.

Zira, enraged, tries to leap at Simba, when he is momentarily distracted as the dam breaks, only to be knocked aside by Kiara. The two lionesses tumble into the gorge, which rapidly began filling with water. Simba jumps down the cliff after them while Zira, despite Kiara's offers of aid, slips and falls to her death into the swirling torrents of the river below. Simba reaches Kiara and gives her his paw to help her back up the cliff.

After Simba and Kiara climb back up to safety, he patches things up with Kovu as he accepts him and the other Outsiders into his pride. The two united prides head back to Pride Rock, where Kiara and Kovu are married. In celebration, Kovu, Kiara, Simba, and Nala walk up to the promontory of Pride Rock and roar out across the kingdom, along with the rest of the pride, the rest of the animals of the Pridelands celebrating below. The disembodied voice of Mufasa congratulates him warmly, his deep voice rumbling through the air. "Well done, my son. We are one."

The Lion King 1½
In the 2004 direct-to-video interquel The Lion King 1½, Simba appears as a supporting character. He briefly appears in the movie's opening with the unveiling ceremony where the animals are bowing, although unknown to Mufasa or Rafiki, the real reason they were bowing is that Timon forced Pumbaa to fart in order to clear the crowd, and they were trying as best as they could to block out the stench. More is revealed about Simba's life in the jungle with Timon and Pumbaa after his exile.

Simba proves to be a handful, as he scales tall and dangerous trees and swims over waterfalls, not caring about the danger he is in and Timon's frantic efforts to discipline him. As a teenager, he has beaten Timon in every kind of bug eating contest, along with a snail slurping contest that is shown. He also has a tendency to wake up at night, thirsty or "needing to go" and in one scene, he mentions that he had a "bad dream", either about his father's death or getting killed in the stampede trying to get to safety, leading to him sleeping beside Timon and Pumbaa.

Later on, Simba has become a teen and is challenged by Timon to a snail slurping contest which Simba walks away from victoriously. Simba burps after he slurps one last snail. Soon enough, he reunites with Nala, and while they are having a date, Timon and Pumbaa lie in the background attempting to break them up. Simba then leaves the next day to reclaim the throne and get help from Timon and Pumbaa. Before he reclaims the throne, he thanks, Timon and Pumbaa stating "I couldn't have done it without you guys." He is later shown visiting Pumbaa and the meerkats in their new home.

Timon & Pumbaa
Simba makes occasional appearances in the Timon & Pumbaa animated TV series. This includes one episode in which Timon drags him out to try to revive Pumbaa's lost memory. In the episode "Congo on Like This", Timon and Pumbaa suspect that Simba may have reverted to his carnivorous nature, but the threat is soon established as a disguised wolf trying to lure Timon and Pumbaa away from Simba. The episode "Shake Your Djibouti" features Simba again where Timon and Pumbaa are forced to train Simba to protect them from a laboratory monster as they fear he has lost his edge, but Simba soon establishes that the 'monster' is actually friendly. In another episode, he appears only as a cardboard cutout.

Another episode entitled "Rome Alone" sees Simba being captured by Romans, who force him into gladiatorial battle with another lion named Claudius when he refuses to eat Timon and Pumbaa, but he gets out of the battle when Claudius falls asleep before the fight after Timon and Pumbaa keep him up all night trying to bribe him to forfeit the contest. In the episode "Once Upon a Timon", Simba arrives during the episode's climax and persuades Rafiki to finish telling the story of how Timon became an outcast (having had an appointment with Zazu that Zazu neglected because he wanted to hear Rafiki's full story about Timon's past).

Simba also appears in a music video of "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" starring Timon and Pumbaa, which appeared at the end of one episode.

House of Mouse
Simba made numerous appearances in the House of Mouse television series as a guest at the club. He is sometimes seen as a cub or as an adult.

In "The Stolen Cartoons", Rafiki was seen bathing in Simba's soup. In "Timon and Pumbaa", he complains about Timon and Pumbaa's popularity, saying "Those guys always get all the attention!". In "King Larry Swings In", a cub Simba was seen in a flashback and fell from the cliff of Pride Rock after Donald accidentally dropped him. He also appears in the finale advertisement with Nala being scolded by a babysitting Donald Duck in "Mickey vs. Shelby". He was also featured in re-used crowd shots of guests fleeing the club on several occasions.

He also makes brief appearances in Mickey's Magical Christmas: Snowed in at the House of Mouse and Mickey's House of Villains.

The Lion Guard
Simba appears in the 2016 TV series The Lion Guard which takes place in the middle of The Lion King II: Simba's Pride and centers around his and Nala's second-born child and only son, Kion.

First appearing in The Lion Guard: Return of the Roar, Simba is first seen reciting the speech Mufasa gave to him early on in the original film, to his daughter, Kiara. In the middle of the speech, however, Kion and his best friend, Bunga, barge in and cause a distraction. This increases Simba's concern over Kion's immaturity, and he voices his hopes that his son will eventually "grow up". Later on, while at Pride Rock, Simba and Nala are told by Rafiki that Kion has been blessed with the "Roar of the Elders": a power given to the second-born of each Lion King, which indicates the new leader of a team of protectors known as the Lion Guard. Simba feels Kion is not yet ready for such responsibility, but he eventually agrees to inform Kion of his newfound responsibility, and asks his son to assemble the Pride Lands' finest to join the guard, assuming that Kion knew he meant lions. Instead, Kion assembles of a diverse group of animals, much to Simba's disappointment. In the end, however, Kion and his friends are able to prove their worth by rescuing Kiara from a stampede and fending off troublesome hyenas. Because of this, Simba finally agrees with Rafiki's testament, confidently declaring it is time for the Lion Guard to rise again.

In "Can't Wait to be Queen", Simba travels with Nala and Zazu to a funeral. He is set to give a tribute to a fallen elephant but must do so in the language of the elephants, which he has difficulty doing, but Zazu attempts to remind him of his other more pleasant royal duties.

In "Bunga and the King", however, Simba and Bunga find themselves trapped in a massive sinkhole. As they try to free themselves, their equal stubbornness causes them to clash. In spite of this, they soon find something in which they can relate after realizing they were both raised by Timon and Pumbaa, establishing themselves as "half-brothers" in response to this. The episode is also significant in establishing Timon and Pumbaa as not only Simba's best friends but surrogate parents, as well.

In "The Trail to Udugu", Simba serves as the temporary leader of the Lion Guard whilst Kion goes on a journey with Nala and Kiara. Initially Simba attempts to fully command the Lion Guard,but soon comes to accept that he has to trust them to deal with their relevant roles in a crisis on their own.

In "The Savannah Summit", Simba gathers other leaders within the Pride Lands to discuss unity between the diverse species and the future of the kingdom. Significantly, Simba invites the crocodile leader Makuu, who is universally hated by Pride Landers because of his ruthless behavior. However, Makuu makes a legitimate effort to prove his worth, something only Simba believes in for the majority of the summit.

In "Let Sleeping Crocs Lie", Ono and the guard accidentally wake Makuu and his float during their dry season hibernation. Unable to go back to sleep, Makuu seeks Simba's guidance for finding a suitable watering hole for he and the crocs to remain for the dry season. During the search, Makuu is challenged by his rival, Kiburi, for leadership amongst the crocodiles. Unbeknown to Simba or even Makuu, the challenge is a coverup; while Simba is distracted by the fight, Kiburi's followers are to ambush the king and kill him. With Simba gone, Kiburi will rule the Pride Lands. The plan fails, however, and Simba banishes Kiburi upon learning the truth. However, Simba questions how Kiburi and his float could have orchestrated such a scheme on their own, given their limited intelligence. This leads him to believe they were not the true masterminds behind the plot.

In "The Scorpion's Sting", Simba gets stung by a scorpion and gets really ill. Rafiki asks Makini and the Lion Guard to go get volcanic ash which will cure Simba. In doing so, they learn that the sting was part of an orchestrated plot by Scar (who has been 'reborn' as a flaming spirit) to kill Simba.

In "The Wisdom of Kongwe", Simba and Kion talk to Mufasa together for the very first time and tell him that Scar is back. Mufasa reminds Simba that if he beat Scar once he can beat him again. Simba sends Makini and Fuli to go find Kongwe the oldest animal in the Pride Lands for her wise advice.

After finding out about Scar's return, Simba asked the Lion Guard not to tell any of the Pride Landers about it, as he feared that if they knew, they wouldn't feel safe in the Pride Lands anymore and want to leave. Unfortunately, in "The Fall of Mizimu Grove," everyone dose find out when Scar appears before them. Simba tells them that even though he doesn't want to lose any of them, he will always respect their decisions and leaves them to discuss whether or not they should leave. However, after Kion tells them that they'll be stronger if they stay together, all the herds decide to stay in the Pride Lands much to Simba's joy.

In "Battle for the Pride Lands" Simba comes to congratulate Kion and the Lion Guard for once again beating Scar's army. He tells them that even though they have proven they can defend the Pride Lands, it still hasn't stopped Scar and his army. Simba decides it's time to take the fight into the Outlands. That evening, Kion tells Simba that he doesn't know if they'll be able to defeat Scar, but Simba tells his son that he knows he and the Lion Guard will triumph (showing that he has great faith in him.) A short while later, Scar's army sets Pride Rock on fire. Luckily, Hadithi and Anga are able to fly Simba, Nala, and Kiara to safety. Moments later Scar appears above Pride Rock. Simba is horrified when Scar says that Kion and the Lion Guard have been lost in the fire but at that moment, the Lion Guard appears alive and completely unharmed. After Scar has been defeated for good, Simba and the royal family are very worried when they see what Ushari's bite has done to Kion, even more so when Rafiki tells them that there is no cure for him in the Pride Lands. But then Rafiki says that Kion can get better if he goes to the Tree of Life. As the Lion Guard is about to set off on their great journey, Simba wishes them safe travels and tells Kion that they will miss him very much.

In "Return to the Pride Lands" (which happens sometime after the events of Simba's Pride) Simba and Nala are together on Pride Rock when Kion comes home. They are overjoyed to see him and Simba welcomes him home as they embrace him. The rest of the Lion Guard comes up and Simba asks how their journey went. He also thanks Azaad for helping them get home so fast. Simba, Kiara and Kovu explain to Kion and the Lion Guard what happened while they were gone. Simba and the royal family spend the whole day together, then at night they talk to Mufasa then go inside of Pride Rock. The next day Simba watches as Kion and Vitani's Lion Guards compete to see which is better. In the end, Kion and his Lion Guard decide to go back to the Tree of Life and help the Night Pride. The royal family as well as all the Pride Land animals gather there to see Kion's coronation ceremony (which doubles as a wedding.) Simba proudly watches as Kion is made King of the Tree of Life and marries Rani.

The Lion King (2019)
Simba appears in the CGI remake of The Lion King, voiced by JD McCrary as a cub and Donald Glover as an adult, still the main protagonist of the film.

Simba appears at the beginning of the film during the musical number "Circle of Life" where he is carried by Rafiki as the mandrill presents him into a big crowd of animals celebrating the birth of Mufasa and Sarabi's new son. Later after the presentation, Rafiki then paints an image of Simba on his tree to remember he was present during the birth of Simba. The next day, Simba tells his father Mufasa to wake up to help him see the world around him. Mufasa then takes Simba to the ledge of Pride Rock and he explains that Simba should not enter the backlands because of danger.

Going down Pride Rock, Zazu gives Simba and Mufasa the morning report while Mufasa teaches his newborn cub for a pouncing lesson. After Zazu flies around the Pride Lands to search for news, he explains to the two that there are hyenas in the Pride Lands, and that Sarabi is leading an attack to drive them off. Simba offers to go with Mufasa, but his father refuses, telling his son to stay with the other cubs.

After Mufasa leaves to take care of the hyenas with Sarabi, Zazu takes Simba back to Pride Rock, much to Simba's disappointment. Rather than playing with the other cubs. Scar then comments him on his effort in learning to hunt and then when Simba asks Scar about the Elephant Graveyard, Scar then tells him only adult lions can enter this area since lion cubs are most likely to get eaten. Later, Simba then meets his mother, Sarabi, and encounters his best friend, Nala, who is also having a bath with her mother. Simba plans to go to the water hole, but Sarabi warns the two cubs that they need Zazu to guide the two cubs to make sure they are safe from predators. As soon as Zazu takes the two to the water hole, he explains to the cubs that Simba and Nala will be married as adult lions but Simba and Nala are disgusted because he doesn't want to marry Nala, but Zazu explains to the two that a tradition cannot be broken. Simba and Nala make plans to distract Zazu during the musical number "I Just Can't Wait to Be King" where they get race through herds of animals and a flock of weaverbirds to distract and confuse Zazu.

Losing Zazu, Simba and Nala end up in the Elephant Graveyard. Nala feels concerned that if Simba explores the area, something bad could happen. Simba encounters a whole clan of hyenas along with Shenzi, Kamari, and Azizi who approach the cubs, though Zazu warns Shenzi that if she attacks Simba, the Pride Lands will begin a war against them. Shenzi and the other hyenas attack the cubs, citing that lions and hyenas have been at war since the dawn of time, but Mufasa arrives and saves the cubs before the hyenas can eat them, warning Shenzi that he will not show mercy the next time the hyenas try to hurt his son. Mufasa takes Simba and Nala back to the Pride Lands after surviving the ambush, where Mufasa lectures and scolds him for endangering not only himself, but Nala and jeopardizing the future of their pride.

Meanwhile at the gorge, Scar urges Simba to roar like an adult lion to impress him. Upon scaring a chameleon away, he notices a wildebeest stampede occurring across the gorge as Simba grabs on a tree to protect himself from the wildebeests. Simba asks Zazu for help, but Zazu tells him that Mufasa is on his way to rescue his son. Mufasa then arrives on the dead tree Simba is standing on telling him to jump so that he could get him out of the gorge, but a wildebeest runs into the tree, putting Mufasa and Simba in trouble. Mufasa tries to get Simba to safety, but ends up getting attacked by wildebeests. Simba then watches his father trying to get help from Scar, but Scar refuses to help. Scar then pushes Mufasa down the gorge where he dies in the stampede, causing Simba to lose his father.

Simba then walks in the gorge by himself looking for his father, but finds a lone wildebeest leaving the gorge. Simba does find his father, only to find him lying dead; he then explains that it was his fault in causing Mufasa to die because there were a lot of wildebeests stampeding across the gorge. Scar then arrives telling Simba that Mufasa is dead and exiles Simba, telling Shenzi, Kamari, and Azizi (along with an additional hyena) to kill him. Simba manages to escape from the hyenas during exile and ends up escaping where the hyenas then plan to tell their master that Simba is dead during the escape.

Back at Pride Rock, Scar tells the other lionesses that Mufasa and Simba are both dead since Simba did not come back to Pride Rock at this time as Scar becomes the new king as Rafiki and Zazu hear Scar's plan about this. Meanwhile in the desert, Simba is shown to be alive, but passes out due to the intense heat as a flock of vultures arrives and prepares to eat him. Timon and Pumbaa manage to rescue Simba. Simba then prepares to adapt having a new life without his father with Timon and Pumbaa where they teach him "Hakuna Matata" meaning "no worries" to him. Meanwhile in the jungle, Simba, Timon, and Pumbaa arrive and encounter the animals neighboring with Timon and Pumbaa where Simba must eat the food what the fellow animals are eating instead of eating mammals (especially antelopes) and birds they see in the jungle. Adapting a new life, Simba then grows up as an adult lion where he spends time with his new friends in the jungle.

Now an adult lion, the animals decide not to play with him because Simba is no longer a cub; however, he helps topple over a termite mound to release a bunch of termites for the fellow animals to eat. That night, Simba, Timon, and Pumbaa look at the stars; while Timon and Pumbaa think the stars are fireflies, Simba explains the stars remind him of the Great Kings of the Past just like what his father told him. Thinking of his father, he feels sad and a part of his mane flies off in a wind. The next day, each animal collects a part of Simba's mane and each of them brings the mane to Rafiki who then realizes that Simba is alive.

Meanwhile, Simba then fights against a lioness who is then revealed to be Nala who has grown up, much to Timon and Pumbaa being disappointed that he might spend time with Nala more than the two. Simba and Nala then fall in love, but Nala explains to him that everyone thought Simba is dead. Nala then urges Simba to return to Pride Rock but Simba explains that he is not the king and everyone will think he is Mufasa returning. Simba then refuses to go back to Pride Rock as Nala leaves to return to Pride Rock by herself.

Later, Simba encounters Rafiki who realizes that he is the son of Mufasa. He takes him to a pool which shows a reflection of Simba and his late father who appears as a spirit. Mufasa then explains to Simba that he must take his place as the new king who controls the Pride Lands as Simba explains to himself that he is the son of Mufasa. Simba then decides to return to the Pride Lands thanks to Mufasa's advice, where he, Nala, Timon, and Pumbaa arrive in the deserted Pride Lands. Upon arriving, he discovers too many hyenas occupying the spot and tells Timon and Pumbaa to create a plan to distract them.

Simba then notices Scar attacking his mother where he encounters Scar again. Everyone thinks Simba is Mufasa, but Simba explains that it is him as an adult returning. Nala then argues with Scar to tell Simba that he is the rightful king to rule Pride Rock as Simba tells Scar to leave or fight against him. Instead of listening to Simba, Scar accuses Simba to know he is the one who killed Mufasa during the stampede and explains to him if he is really a king or a bad lion. Simba then almost falls off Pride Rock when Scar corners him as lightning hits a dead tree to cause a big fire in Pride Rock. Simba hangs for his life while about to fall into a pool of fire while Scar confesses him that he killed Mufasa. Simba then remembers seeing Scar pushing Mufasa down the gorge, leaving his father to die in the stampede.

Upon remembering this, Simba manages to save himself from falling into the pool of fire, biting Scar on his mane to pull himself back up, furiously asking Scar how he could do this to his own family. Simba then demands Scar to tell the other lions the truth, but Scar refuses to listen, trying to convince lion pride that Simba killed Mufasa and now wants to kill him to cover up his crime. However, Sarabi reveals she overheard Scar saying he saw the look in Mufasa's eyes, revealing that Scar lied to the lionesses for not getting to the gorge in time just as Simba calls his uncle a murderer. Scar, now exposed and robbed of all composure, summons the hyenas to kill all the other lions and Simba; the hyenas attack Simba while Nala calls the other lionesses to attack the hyenas.

As the Pridelanders fight against the hyenas, Simba chases Scar across another area in Pride Rock where he confronts his uncle, telling Scar to leave Pride Rock before he destroys the natural home of the Pridelanders, but Scar refuses to as he explains to Simba that Pride Rock is now his kingdom. Scar then slates some embers in Simba's face as the two lions fight to know who is the king as a big fire rages behind them. Simba bravely fights Scar and knocks him off a cliff. After Simba defeats him, Scar then plans to take revenge against Simba by building a bigger army of hyenas, but the hyenas think Scar wants to kill them as they plan to take down their leader; Scar tries to fight back, but ends up getting eaten alive, ending his tyranny forever.

With Scar dead, all the other Pridelanders praise Simba for defeating Scar while Rafiki tells him that it is time to take his place as the new king. Simba then ascends Pride Rock and becomes the new ruler. Sometime later, Simba and Nala give birth to a new cub whom Rafiki presents to all the animals of Pride Rock.

Other appearances
Simba, as a very young cub, makes a brief cameo in the episode Safety Smart: Goes Green of Timon and Pumbaa's Wild About Safety, in which Timon misunderstands a CFL light bulb as a "cute fluffy lion." Then, an angry Sarabi comes to get back her son.

Simba also appears in the animated blooper reel featured in the Diamond Edition release of The Lion King. One outtake featured Simba continuously botching the pronunciation of "Hakuna Matata". Another featured Simba trying to wake Rafiki in the midst of their scene during the latter half of the film. The final outtake on the short showed Rafiki accidentally dropping an infant Simba off the ledge of Pride Rock.

Simba (as a cub) makes an appearance being pursued by Scar and the hyenas in the episode "Hyena Havoc" of Disney Crossy Road: The Animated Series.

In Ralph Breaks the Internet, a screenshot depicting Simba, Timon and Pumbaa can be seen around the Sorcerer Hat at the Disney Animation pavilion in Oh My Disney.

Kingdom Hearts series
Simba is a recurring character in the Kingdom Hearts series. In Kingdom Hearts and Chain of Memories, he is featured as the first obtained summon.

In Kingdom Hearts II, he took on a much larger role since he was an ally and party member. This was largely due to the fact that his homeworld, the Pride Lands, was visited by Sora, Donald, and Goofy. His role was similar to that of the film: Nala, along with the trio, encouraged Simba to return to Pride Rock and overthrow the tyrant king, Scar. Simba agreed to this after his father's spirit, Mufasa, rebuilt his confidence. He returned to his kingdom to find out that Scar had turned into a Heartless so after a battle, Scar was defeated and the hyenas were expelled, allowing Simba to take his rightful place as king. However, Simba's confidence in his leadership capabilities dabbled when Scar's ghost returned to haunt and torment Simba. Sora eased his worries and helped him defeat Scar's ghost so that there was nothing holding Simba back anymore, including when the ghosts of Scar fused together into the powerful Groundshaker Heartless to try and take Sora and Simba down, but they were able to defeat it.

In Kingdom Hearts III, Simba returns as a Link summon that comes with a special move called Kingsflare. This attack brings forth a roaring Simba who curls into a ball as fire surrounds him, creating a miniature sun that incinerates enemies in the area.

Epic Mickey: Power of Illusion
As a cub, Simba is one of the many Disney animated characters having been sent to the Wasteland by Mizrabel. He is later found by Mickey Mouse and brought to the Fortress. Afterward, Simba asks Mickey to find his friends Timon, Pumbaa, and Zazu.

Other games
Young Simba also made an appearance in the Nintendo DS game Disney Friends as one of the characters the player has to care for as a babysitter.

Disney Universe also featured Simba as an add-on costumed character. The train that the player(s) ride on in the final level of Upper Pride Lands also resembles Simba as a cub.

Musical
Following the success of The Lion King, Julie Taymor created the musical The Lion King.

In this production, we have an insight into events that weren't explored in the original film, as Simba, young and old, is in nearly all the musical numbers. But in the Broadway production, we see a slightly extended role, which includes scenes like Timon being trapped above a lake full of crocodiles, which was Simba's fault; as the situation reminded him of the day his father was killed by his uncle Scar, and sings an additional song called "Endless Night".

Jason Raize plays Simba while Scott Irby-Ranniar plays young Simba in the original Broadway cast of The Lion King. However, after Raize committed suicide in 2004, a new actor had to take his place as Simba in future showings.

Disney Parks
Like most characters from The Lion King, Simba does not appear for meet-and-greets. Instead, he appears in certain shows.

Disneyland
In California, Simba makes a cameo in It's a Small World, and can be seen as an audio-animatronic atop float for Mickey's Soundsational Parade.

In Disney California Adventure, Simba makes appearances in various renditions of World of Color. In the standard version, he is seen reliving the wildebeest stampede from the film, and can also be seen during the finale.

Walt Disney World
in Florida, Simba appears in Disney's Hollywood Studios' Fantasmic!, during the bubble montage of Disney films and characters.

In Magic Kingdom's Mickey's PhilharMagic, where he sings "I Just Can't Wait to Be King". In the former Magic Kingdom attraction The Legend of the Lion King, the story of the film was retold using animatronic puppets and scenes from the film, and of course, Simba appears in it. In Once Upon a Time, also at the Magic Kingdom, Simba briefly appears alongside Pumbaa and Timon during Mrs. Potts' opening narration. He also appears in the "Hakuna Matata" segment of Happily Ever After.

Simba also has his own spell card known as "Simba's Roar" in the attraction Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom.

Simba is also a prominent character for Disney's Animal Kingdom merchandise and promotional material. Also in the park, Simba stars in Festival of the Lion King, hosted by Timon.

Simba and other characters from The Lion King are also featured in Disney's Art of Animation Resort in Walt Disney World.

Disneyland Paris
An animatronic of Simba as a cub appears in the main park's daytime parade, Disney Stars on Parade on the jungle-themed unit.

Shanghai Disneyland
Simba makes a notable appearance during an early segment themed after The Lion King in Ignite the Dream. The segment goes through Simba's birth during "Circle of Life", his childhood through "I Just Can't Wait to be King", up until his eventual young adulthood during "Hakuna Matata".

Simba also appears on the resort property's rendition of The Lion King musical stage play.

Trivia

 * "Simba" in Swahili means "lion", so he's named after his own species.
 * Interestingly, all of Simba and Nala's children's names begin with "K" (Kopa, Kiara, Kion); though Kopa is their semi-canon son, while Kiara and Kion are their full canon children. This trait is also shared by their son-in-law, Kovu. However, this trait would later be broken by their daughter in law Rani.
 * In some concepts, Simba is shown with blue eyes.
 * When the animators were drawing adult Simba, they wanted a little twist for his appearance and personality to be like his voice actor Matthew Broderick.
 * In one episode of Home Improvement, Randy (played by Jonathan Taylor Thomas) says that he always expected his dad to be called a king by everyone while playing with a lion cub doll who resembles Simba. Thomas was the voice of young Simba in The Lion King. In a Halloween episode of the same series, the Taylor home is greeted by two trick or treaters dressed as Buzz Lightyear and Simba, respectively. Randy gives one piece of candy to the former and seven pieces of candy to the trick or treater dressed as latter.
 * Simba is the first animated Disney character to have a villain as a biological relative, followed by Hercules.
 * Simba's adult mane was supposedly inspired by Jon Bon Jovi's hair.
 * Simba has trouble speaking in other animal languages, especially elephant.
 * According to Timon in The Lion Guard: Return of the Roar, Simba repeatedly got his claws stuck in logs as a child.
 * In "Lions of the Outlands", it is shown that Simba had confronted Zira prior to banishing her and was the victor. This was likely right after taking his rightful place as king and before the Pride Lands were restored.
 * If you look closely at Simba as a cub, he was sometimes seen with whiskers, and sometimes without whiskers. Some say he looks cuter without the whiskers.
 * Originally, Simba was going to lose the battle of Pride Rock to Scar, (who is later burned alive after losing his sanity over the loss of everything as laughing well at his "victory"). This ending was cut for being too dark as well as portraying Simba as weak on his part.
 * Simba claims that Scar was killed in the fire at Pride Rock when he speak with Kovu. This may imply that Simba didn't see Scar being devoured alive by the hyenas because of the flames and thick smoke below, and thus Simba assumed that Scar died in the fire when he threw him from the top of Pride Rock. This would explain why Zira believes that Simba is the one who killed Scar. It is also likely that this implies that Scar was attacked by the hyenas, but was killed by the wildfire that broke out during the fight, as they devoured him.
 * It can be debatable about whether Simba or Kiara was the protagonist of Simba's Pride; some say Kiara because the film shows her coming of age, while others say Simba because the film could be about him learning a lesson in fatherhood.