Shere Khan

Shere Khan was the main antagonist of both Disney's 1967 hit feature film The Jungle Book and its sequel, and later an anti-hero in both its television series TaleSpin and Jungle Cubs. A powerful, suave tiger, Shere Khan had nothing but disdain for his victims. His reputation was such that he needed only to show himself to intimidate the inhabitants of the jungle. His only fears were man's gun and fire, which the man-cub Mowgli used fire to his advantage in the first film's climactic battle by tying a burning branch to his tail.

History
As a cub, Shere Khan was best friends with Baloo, Bagheera, King Louie, Hathi and even Kaa. The group went on many adventures. At some undetermined time, Shere Khan became what he truly is, a vicious predator. Shere Khan then lost his friends who ended up becoming his arch enemies. Shere Khan's family was killed by men using guns and fire. He then developed a fear of both. Due to the tragedy of what happened to his family, Shere Khan vowed to kill any human that entered his jungle which lead up to the main plot of the original film.

Personality
Shere Khan is very similar to fellow Disney villain Scar. He is civilized, sophisticated and proper. He was also a dangerous and very feared predator in the jungle. When an animal in the jungle heard his name, they usually screamed it in fear. Shere Khan's only fears were man's gun and fire. He overcame his fear of fire in the sequel film where the final battle takes place in ruins filled with fire and lava.

The Jungle Book
Despite having been referred to and spoken of several times, he did not make a live appearance in the first film until about two thirds into it. He is first seen stalking a deer as prey. His hunt was ruined when Colonel Hathi came marching by with his heard and scared it away, much to Khan's disgust. After Bagheera stopped them, Shere Khan eavesdropped on their conversation and was delighted when he heard about Mowgli. After they had left, he began his hunt for Mowgli.

After searching some, he heard Kaa singing and became suspicious. He grabbed Kaa's tail and got him to come down. He questioned Kaa about Mowgli and Kaa acted strangely while answering his questions. Kaa's suspicious behavior prompted Shere Khan to search his coils for Mowgli, but was still not totally fooled when he didn't find him. He told Kaa if he did see him, he was to inform him first before continueing h is search.

Later he heard the Vultures singing and investigated the occassion. He then found Mowgli and, after being impressed by his courage, gave him ten seconds to run away. Khan became more and more annoyed when he didn't and tried to kill him after he reached ten. Baloo grabbed his tail before he could and stopped him. After a chase, the Vultures got Mowgli to safety.

Shere Khan then became furious, battled Baloo, and nearly killed him. The Vultures intervened, stopped him before he could, and stalled him while Mowgli tied a burning branch to Khan's tail. Khan then became terrorfied and tried to put out the fire, but failed. He then fled with burning branch still tied to his tail and was burned on his bottom several times while doing so, greatly humiliating him.

The Jungle Book 2


Shere Khan returned once again as the main antagonist in the second film. Unlike in the first, he appeared much earlier. He is first seen smashing a makeshift version of Mowgli's head after Baloo left the area with Bagheera in pursuit. He then went to the village hoping to find Mowgli, while being teased by the Vultures and their new member along the way. After getting there, he began to look for Mowgli.

He had no luck until he heard Shanti, one of Mowgli's friends, calling him. He then found Mowgli's house and was delighted that he would now have his chance for revenge. He became annoyed when Mowgli didn't appear. All at once, Mowgli appeared in the air above the house. After Shanti started screaming about a wild animal, Khan noticed it was Baloo with Mowgli and was surprised.

After the villagers responded to Shanti's calls, they saw Shere Khan instead of Baloo and chased him out of the village. Khan was at first angered, but became happy when he heard a villager say Mowgli and Shanti were in the jungle. He then pursued them. He encountered Kaa afterwards, who had seen Mowgli. Kaa at first insisted he hadn't, but Shere Khan knew better and intimidated him.

Kaa lied to him and sent on a wild goose chase. Khan became angered after this. The Vultures appeared again and their new member, Lucky, started to tease him again as he drank some water. After Lucky said something about Mowgli, Khan tricked him and found out Mowgli's location. He found Shanti and Ranjan and cornered them. Mowgli then appeared to find them and Khan confronted him.

Mowgli ran away and Khan pursued him to a temple in the middle of a pool of lava. After Baloo and Shanti teamed up and started to bang gongs with Mowgli, one fell down revealing Shanti. He then said he would kill her if Mowgli wouldn't come out. Mowgli did and he pursued him and Shanti after knocking Baloo aside and jumped out on to a tiger statue. Before he could kill them, the statue's head fell off towards the lava.

Baloo saved Mowgli and Shanti and Khan fell into the pit of lava, but landed of a slab of rock and was trapped underneath the statue's head. Lucky then flew down and started to tease him again, much to his annoyance. Though his death is neither shown nor mentioned, it can be seen that Shere Khan died either when the slab he was trapped on eventually sank in the lava or from starvation and dehydration from being trapped in the heat with no food or water. He is now currently deceased in the films.

TaleSpin


Shere Khan appeared, in a more anthropomorphic form, in the television series TaleSpin. His character, while still villainous, had taken on a more corporate identity.

Depicted as stereotypical businessman that owned his business that included a fleet of plans and even his own navy, Shere Khan was extremely ruthless and willing to do most anything to make money. None the less, he does have a sense morals and believes in aiding those who have helped him. Despite his threatening presence, he far more frequently appeared as an ally then an antagonist.

This version of Shere Khan also makes a cameo on a mugshot in Bonkers.

Jungle Cubs


Shere Khan appeared as a young cub in the animated series Jungle Cubs. In the this series it was shown that Shere Khan was originally friends with Baloo, Bagheera and others. Shere Khan was more of a bully and cocky in the series rather than a dangerous predetor. Shere Khan tagged along with Baloo and friends on many adventures.

House of Mouse
Shere Khan made numerous appearances in the animated series Disney's House of Mouse.

The Jungle Book
Shere Khan appeared as the final boss in the Virgin Studios video game adaptation of The Jungle Book.

The Jungle Book: Rhythm N'Groove
Shere Khan also appears in The Jungle Book: Rhythm N'Groove PlayStation 2 game.

Trivia

 * The Nostalgia Critic listed Shere Khan as Number 8 on his "Top 11 Disney Villains" list.
 * In the second film, it is revealed that Shere Khan now knows Mowgli's name. It is unknown how he learned this, although it could be that he heard Baloo mentioning Mowgli's name in the final battle scene in the first film.
 * In the original stories by Rudyard Kipling, Shere Khan had a crippled leg and was killed by a stampede of cattle organized by Mowgli and his wolf brothers.
 * In one episode of House of Mouse, Mortimer Mouse called Shere Khan "Tigger's evil twin", although it's never really mentioned if the two are family or not.