Mayor Lionheart

"Courageous, strong, loyal; truly the lion is king of the jungle—or at the very least, the mayor of it."

- J.K. Simmons on Lionheart

Mayor Lionheart is a major character in the 2016 Disney animated feature film Zootopia. As his name suggests, he is the mayor of the eponymous city.

Background
Leodore Lionheart is the 52nd mayor of Zootopia, having served as a City Hall councillor prior to being elected. As the head of the city, Lionheart serves as a mighty ruler, with genuine pride in the unique community that is Zootopia, primarily in its diversity. As mayor, Lionheart has one particular goal in mind: to ensure all mammals are given a chance to live their dreams, coining the phrase in which Judy Hopps lives by, "In Zootopia, anyone can be anything". To do so, Lionheart enacted the Mammal Inclusion Initiative, an act which provides all animals with high-ranking opportunities to ensure equality among the predator and prey citizens. This was met with controversy, specifically with Chief Bogo, the head of Lionheart's police department, but even so, Lionheart was one of the few characters in the film to never show any sign of bigotry, instead judging mammals by their character, rather than their species, and was notably annoyed by those who did otherwise.

He is often accompanied by his deputy mayor, Bellwether, whom he treats more along the lines of a secretary and a stooge, despite the hefty amount of work she puts into assisting him. Unbeknown to Lionheart, Bellwether holds a fierce grudge against him due to his treatment towards her, and she secretly plots to someday exact revenge by taking over his position as mayor.

Official Bio

 * Mayor Leodore Lionheart is the noble leader of Zootopia, who coined the city’s mantra that Judy Hopps lives by: "In Zootopia, anyone can be anything."

Personality
Lionheart is a rather controversial figure. When first introduced, he appears to be a charming, level-headed leader. His will to ensure all mammals are treated equally within his city supports this, as his goals are primarily focused on keeping his citizens, and the city itself, safe. However, he was willing to go to illegal lengths to achieve these goals, establishing that, despite his nobility, he is not devoid of negative traits.

He is strictly intolerable of incompetence, especially during urgent matters. When angered, Lionheart becomes an imposing figure, which makes him a feared individual to those who work closely enough with him to witness this side. This can be seen with Chief Bogo who, despite being against some of Lionheart's political decisions, refrained from doing anything to upset the latter, even becoming anxious when his name is brought into conversation.

This is also seen with Lionheart's treatment towards Bellwether, whom he treats with little respect, though their relationship is not purely black and white. When with Lionheart, Bellwether appears to suffer from anxiety, somewhat, possibly due to her dislike for predators. As a result, she can often fumble, which occasionally annoys Lionheart to the point of lashing out, going as far as to calling Bellwether derogatory names, making him seem cruel and cold towards his employees. Nevertheless, Lionheart at least makes attempts to keep his temper, and show compassion towards those who assist him. When barking for Bellwether to take care of other matters while he tends to something more important, he does so gruffly, but sympathetically adds "please" to his demands at the end, in response to his own roughness. Later on, Bellwether reveals that Lionheart made an effort to actually get her a gift, though it was merely a mug labeled as "World's Greatest Dad" with the "Dad" bit scribbled and replaced with "Assistant Mayor" through a marker. It seems Lionheart isn't the best in handling too much at once, and can be rather neglectful towards other needs as a result.

However, Lionheart's actions were not always out of pure selflessness; he appears to care greatly about his reputation among the citizens, this being a partial reason in creating the Mammal Inclusion Initiative, as creating opportunities for prey meant winning the favor among the majority of Zootopia. During his confidential operation to keep infected predators imprisoned until a cure can be found, Lionheart is directly advised to come forward due to the urgency of the situation, though he refuses, alluding to his fear of losing his job as a result of prey citizens (the majority of the populous) revolting against having a predator as their mayor.

Lionheart tends to justify his negative traits by claiming them to have been done for the greater good. Though he is truthful in this regard, this indicates that he sees no harm in committing illegal acts if it's for the sake of something he values.

Role in the film
Lionheart is first introduced during the graduation ceremony of Judy Hopps, from the Zootopia Police Academy; a success that he credits to have been produced by his Mammal Inclusion Initiative. Judy's impressive record prompts Lionheart to assign her to the highest precinct in the department, located across from City Hall at the heart of Zootopia. Unbeknownst to Lionheart, his head officer, Bogo, disapproves of the mayor's decision to add Judy as a member of the force, but begrudgingly abides out of fear.

Meanwhile, Zootopia faces a crisis: mammals across the city have lost their sanity and gone savage. The cause of the outbreak has yet to be discovered, with Lionheart being one of the only citizens to have knowledge of this. He takes the issue of solving the problem into his own hands by assembling a team of elite wolf guards to patrol the city and capture the savage animals, incarcerating them at an asylum in the outskirts of Rainforest District, where Dr. Madge Honey Badger is stationed to find a cure; the entire situation was purposely kept confidential as a means to avoid civil unrest, making it an illegal operation. Over the span of two weeks, a total of fifteen savaged mammals occupy the asylum, and uncovering the mystery behind their disappearances becomes the top priority at the ZPD.

The situation also takes a toll on Lionheart's mental health, with his temper more unruly than usual, and unintentionally taken out on Bellwether. With his afternoon cleared curtesy of his assistant, Lionheart visits the asylum for updates, only to find that the cause of the outbreak is still unknown. Frustrated with the delays, Lionheart confronts Dr. Badger on her incompetence, to which the latter responds by hypothesizing the outbreak to be linked to "biology". She explains that the only animals going savage are predators, implying that they may be reverting back to their primitive instincts. Badger then advises Lionheart to inform the public of the dire situation, but the mayor refuses, knowing the balance between predator and prey would be broken out of fear should word get out, while also alluding to his own personal insecurities, as the rapid distrust towards predators, such as himself, could ruin his reputation. When asked about Chief Bogo's thoughts on the matter, Lionheart admits that Bogo is being kept in the dark. Just then, Lionheart hears the ringtone of a phone, and removes himself from the scene while Badger alerts the guards. The spies were Judy and her accomplice, Nick Wilde, who recorded Lionheart's admission and subsequently informed Bogo of the operation. The asylum is raided that night, and Lionheart is arrested. As Bogo and Judy escort him to a patrol car, Lionheart explains that he was trying to protect the city, though Judy accuses him of caring for his job and nothing more. Lionheart warns Judy of the danger that the savage outbreak holds, and if a cure can't be found, it could lead to the destruction of Zootopia; his words are nevertheless dismissed, and the former mayor is subsequently removed from office. Bellwether, meanwhile, rises to power in his place.

Unfortunately, Lionheart's fears were correct. The news that predators are the only mammals going savage causes citywide panic, with prey mammals developing a heightened fear of predators, who in turn face direct discrimination and injustice. Over time, more predators mysteriously fall under the infection, leading to public attacks, though Lionheart was now powerless to suppress it. In the end, however, it is revealed that the predators were not turned by biology, but through a drug concocted by Bellwether's henchman from night howler flowers, in her scheme to get predatory species ostracised from the city and usurp Lionheart. Due to Judy's heroism, Bellwether is arrested and removed from office, while the inflicted predators are successfully cured of their ailment. When informed and interviewed on the matter, Lionheart (who appears to be rather unfazed by the fact that he is in prison) explains that he had no knowledge of Bellwether's plot, but fully confesses his crime of illegally imprisoning the savage predators during his confidential mission to protect the city, confidently declaring it to have been done for the "right reasons".

During the end credits, a tranquil Lionheart is seen casually lounging in his prison cell while enjoying and sharing his thoughts on a magazine with his cellmate.

Trivia

 * Mayor Lionheart's first name Leodore is a portmanteau of "Leo", which is Latin for lion, and "Theodore".
 * In the Latin American dubbing, he is named "Leonzalez"; a cross between León (lion) and Gonzalez, Spanish surname for Gonzalo.
 * His exact fate in the film's ending is ambiguous, as he was still seen in jail during the end credits even though Bellwether was found guilty for the crime. However, the junior novelization mentions that he was released from jail following Bellwether's arrest.
 * The official Zootopia comic (being published in China) centering Judy and Nick's adventures as officers shows that Lionheart was, indeed, reinstated as mayor following the events of the film.
 * In early drafts of the story, the mayor was a female pig named Swinton instead of Lionheart. She was also going to be the true mastermind behind the conspiracy, a role that was given to Bellwether.
 * Lionheart has three visible scars; one under his left eye, another under his right, and one on the right side of his snout.
 * There is a street named "Lionheart Avenue" in the downtown area of Zootopia.
 * A framed picture of Lionheart and Bogo can be seen hanging on the wall of Bogo's office.