Makucha is a leopard who served as the primary antagonist of The Lion Guard episodes "The Imaginary Okapi", "The Golden Zebra" and "The Wisdom of Kongwe".
Makucha now serves as the main antagonist in the third season as he journeys to eat all the rare animals at the Tree of Life and also get his revenge on the Lion Guard.
Background
Personality
Makucha is confident and cunning, but also very persistent. Once he targets his prey, he doesn't quit until he catches them. He is willing to fight for what he thinks is his. He is very cocky in his abilities, but not to the point of arrogance, as he will surrender if he is severely outnumbered. Makucha has a great liking for okapis as food, and will go to great lengths to catch one. He frequently roars and growls to express anger or irritation.
Appearance
Makucha is a stocky, well-built leopard with incredible agility and physical strength. His fur is a pale lemon color, and his rosettes are brown outlined with black. The spots on his face and neck are smaller and solid colored. His sclerae are yellow with his irises being green. His inner ears are light pink, rimmed with black and a single rosette on the back of each. Half of his long tail is striped in black and pale cream, and his underbelly, muzzle, and paws are pale cream in color. He has thick, bushy dark brown eyebrows, long black whiskers, black claws, white teeth, and a black nose. His pawpads are red-brown. He also vaguely resembles Sabor from Tarzan.
Abilities
- Expert Combatant: Makucha is a capable fighter, as he was willing to take on Kion, Fuli, and Bunga at once.
- Expert Hunter: Makucha is a great hunter, as he has proven to be eager to hunt his favorite prey; the Okapi, as this type of animal, is hard to find, but Makucha proved to be skilled enough to find one and chase it. Even better for him, the animals in Pride Lands have no idea what a leopard is as they have never seen leopards; they are not native to the Pride Lands.
- Animal Strength: Makucha seems to be quite strong, as he was willing to take on Kion. He was strong enough that he was willing to take on more Kion, Fuli, and Bunga at once.
- Animal Speed and Agility: Makucha's speed is greater than Kion's, but not as great as Fuli's, as she was able to catch up and keep pace with him. He able to Zig Zag thanks to his counter balance unlike Fuli a cheetah unable to do that.
- Animal Leaping: Like all leopards, Makucha can jump the highest of all big cats. As such, he was able to jump across a chasm with little effort.
- Animal Stamina: Makucha keeps chasing his prey no matter what; he is willing not to give up this rare meal for himself. He also has proven to run long distances with racing against Fuli few times and still managed to run off.
- Animal Endurance: Makucha was able to endure Ajabu's kick and Besthi's brute strength as well as being thrown some distance. He was also able to get back up easily and keep chasing his intended target no matter what.
Role in the Series
The Imaginary Okapi
Makucha is seen stalking gazelles, before being confronted by the Lion Guard, who orders him to leave. Makucha replies that they will have to make him leave, before running off. The Lion Guard pursue Makucha, but he is able to outrun them.
Makucha begins stalking the okapi Ajabu, having pursed him from a far-off place. Ajabu tries to escape Makucha through a herd of zebras, but Makucha does not give up as okapis are rare.
During this pursuit, Makucha once again faces The Lion Guard and takes on Kion, Fuli, and Bunga. Beshte, who is watching from afar with Ajabu, decides to help his friends and charges at Makucha. Seeing Beshte approaching, Makucha gives up on hunting Ajabu and leaves in search of easier prey.
The Golden Zebra
Makucha appears when Kion and the Lion Guard are passing through his territory in the Back Lands. He tries to drive them off, but, after a fight, he reluctantly allows the Lion Guard to pass through his territory.
Later, when the Lion Guard is trying to break a dam that is blocking the waterhole for Dhahabu's herd, and he reveals that they are in his territory once again, and he has brought reinforcements. The Lion Guard manages to fend off Makucha's minions, but Makucha threatens to harm Dhahabu if they get any closer to the waterhole. Realizing what she must do, Dhahabu kicks Makucha, and he is knocked at the dam. The impact of his hit causes the dam to break, and Makucha breaks a hasty retreat.
The Wisdom of Kongwe
Fuli and Makini are confronted by Makucha while leading Kongwe through the Back Lands. Fuli jumps to the tortoise's defense, and Makucha backs off, though he warns Fuli that they are in his territory.
Fuli and Makini continue guiding Kongwe through the Back Lands. Suddenly, Makucha jumps out of the underbrush, and Fuli gives chase. However, Makucha skillfully evades her and climbs into a tree. Fuli attempts to follow him into the branches but gets her claws stuck in the tree trunk. Makucha takes advantage of her prone position to attack Kongwe, but Fuli wrenches herself free just in time and fends him off.
After the attack, Kongwe advises Fuli to observe Makucha in order to defeat him. At first, Fuli is adamant that she has already observed Makucha, but then she realizes that Makucha always zigzags in order to outpace Fuli. With this new wisdom, Fuli resolves to take him on once more. Fuli approaches Makucha and challenges him to another fight. This time, Fuli anticipates Makucha's zigzagging strategy and manages to catch up to him and pin him down. She orders him away from Kongwe, to which he begrudgingly backs off and leaves.
Trivia
- Makucha is the third leopard to appear in the Lion King franchise. The first and second being King Leopold and Princess Claudia, who appeared in the Timon & Pumbaa episode "No-Good Samaritan".
- Apparently, leopards are not native to the Pride Lands and the grazing animals have no defenses against them, making Makucha what is considered an invasive species.
- Real leopards and lions are enemies; lions in the wild often steal from leopards or kill them to rid themselves of a rival competitor. The same can be said of leopards and cheetahs, with the former often willing to kill the latter or steal prey from it.
- Makucha vaguely resembles Sabor from Tarzan and shares her persistence in pursuit of prey.
- He is one of the four villains not to be associated with Scar during season 2. The others being Mapigano, Mpishi, and the Outsiders.
- He is the second villain after Scar who created a group to get revenge on the Lion Guard and achieve his goals by gathering enemies from different species.
Gallery
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