- “With strength and respect, Night Pride protect!”
- ―The Night Pride's catchphrase
The Night Pride is a group of animals led by Rani and Kion. They appear in Season 3 of The Lion Guard as sworn protectors of the Tree of Life. Originally, it was a group of lions led by Rani until Kion and his friends became members of the Night Pride in Return to the Pride Lands, and as of now, Kion and Rani are married and not only lead the Night Pride but rule the Tree of Life together as King and Queen as well.
Background[]
The Night Pride are the protectors of the Tree of Life, Each donned with a mark similar to the Mark of the Guard that the Lion Guard members have. The Mark of the Night Pride is a tree that resembles a lion's face that is visible on the right side of their shoulders.
Their duty is to protect the Tree of Life and all who live there and who seek refuge from those who would cause them harm. And just like the Lion Guard, they also defend the Circle of Life.
Role in the series[]
"The Tree of Life"[]
The Night Pride, led by Rani, arrives to the spot where Ullu saw the Lion Guard earlier only to notice the mountain pass is blocked by the rockslide caused by Bunga. Rani asks Surak to know who the voices outside are to which Surak explains that they are strangers as he tells Rani that they are powerful than the Night Pride to cause the mountainside to collapse. Rani asks Nirmala to know if she noticed the Guard to which she asks her to take it slow by talking to the Guard. Upon hearing Kion clearing away the rockslide, Baliyo decides to find out what is happening. Upon overhearing Kion about getting to the Tree of Life, Baliyo decides to take on the Lion Guard as the rest of the Night Pride decides to fend them off, thinking Kion and his members are threats. As the Night Pride attacks the Guard, Fuli tells Beshte to hold back the Night Pride while telling Makini and Ono to work together to rescue Bunga and clear the rockslide.
Soon as Rani tries to attack Fuli, she tells the lioness that it is a misunderstanding to which she refuses to listen. Bunga, trapped in a rockslide, sees the Lion Guard fighting against the Night Pride while Makini and Ono are clearing away the rocks from the rockslide. Kion then uses the Roar of the Elders against Baliyo to know which lion is stronger than him. Soon as the Night Pride notices this, Rani confronts Kion for his actions against Baliyo. Rani then warns Kion that his actions are more powerful than words to which Fuli tells her that the Guard is not harming anyone. Kion asks Rani to know they need help at the Tree of Life but she refuses to let the Guard in the Tree of Life due to Kion's actions. Soon as the Night Pride returns to the Tree of Life, the Guard decides to remove the rocks from the rockslide trapping Bunga inside as a plan to get to the Tree of Life as Beshte explains that the Lion Guard should be welcomed to the Tree instead of being fought as he thinks the Night Pride was defending their home. Meanwhile at the Tree of Life, Janna tells Rani to welcome Kion and his friends to the Tree of Life before they leave and never return. Outside, Baliyo offers the Night Pride to talk to the Lion Guard as she and Rani discuss the situation about the Guard. As Surak and Nirmala tells Baliyo to relax, Rani decides to talk to her deceased parents. Rani then talks to Sãhasí and Ãnanda to know how good is she. She talks to them that her grandmother Janna wants her daughter to welcome the Lion Guard to the Tree of Life and is unsure if she should welcome them to the Tree to which her parents tells her that one day when Queen Janna passes away, she will become queen as well. After talking to her parents, Rani decides to follow the advice from her deceased parents as the Night Pride decides to talk to the Lion Guard.
Arriving to the Guard, Kion apologizes to Rani for using the roar against Baliyo as he tells her to tell Ono to complete his journey to the Tree of Life as he was not affiliated in fighting against the Night Pride as his eyes need to be healed. Rani accepts Kion and Ono to go to the Tree of Life so they can be healed as she welcomes the Guard to the Tree of Life. She and the Night Pride take the Guard to the Tree of Life.
"The River of Patience"[]
The Night Pride introduces the Lion Guard to the Tree of Life, a place where all animals must respect the Circle of Life. Janna then tells Nirmala to know if the healing will begin to which she decides to begin the remedy now to which Nirmala plans to take Kion to be healed. Janna then tells Rani that Baliyo and Surak can handle the Night Pride's duties as she tells her that Rani must do the duties her grandmother cannot perform anymore. Rani decides to do Janna's task while Janna tells Makini to stay to which she remembers Makini was little when she and her parents arrived to meet Rafiki. Makini also tells her that the Tree of Life is the spot where she would be a Royal Mjuzi someday. Makini then decides to continue the training of being a Royal Mjuzi.
Elsewhere outside the Tree of Life, Nirmala takes Kion to a river known as Dirisha, the River of Patience. However, when Makucha's Army arrives at the Mountain Pass leading to the Tree of Life, Makucha prepares to get inside the Tree of Life. However, the Night Pride arrives and prepares for battle against them. As the Night Pride fights against Makucha, Chuluun, and Ora, Kion stays at Dirisha where he is waiting patiently as Fuli told Kion that Ullu warned to Rani about Makucha's army planning to eat the rare animals in the Tree of Life. The Night Pride continues fighting against Makucha and his army as they are able to fend them off from reaching the Tree of Life. The Lion Guard then arrives to the Night Pride only to notice that the Night Pride defeated the predators to which Rani explains that defending the Tree of Life is the Night Pride's job and they are good at it.
Meanwhile, Rani arrives to the Night Pride to which Surak found out that Makucha, Chuluun, and Ora are back as the Night Pride continue their duty to protect the Tree of Life. At the entrance to the Tree of Life, Makucha plans to taking revenge against the Night Pride as Ora, the big Komodo dragon, plans on doing it his way by biting every animal he sees. During battle, Kion then notices the Night Pride fending off the predators with Baliyo injured by Ora's venom. Getting the flower, Kion decides to help the Night Pride by taking Baliyo's place. After stopping Chuluun before she kills him, Baliyo tells Kion to use the Roar of the Elders against the predators to which Makucha and Chuluun decide to go to the other side of the Tree of Life. Rani escorts Surak to find and defeat Ora while telling Nirmala to bring Baliyo to safety. Rani then tells Kion to stop Makucha and Chuluun from reaching the ridge by following Nirmala's path. At the ridge, he and Rani confront Makucha and Chuluun to which they are able to knock them off the ridge. The leopard and snow leopard prepare to fight against the Guard as Bunga was able to use his stench ability to defeat the predators. Upon arriving to Baliyo, Nirmala explains that the venom by Ora will eventually wear off. Rani then tells her little brother to be careful while fighting a Komodo dragon like Ora.
"Little Old Ginterbong"[]
The Night Pride overhears Mama Binturong crying for help pretending to be an injured animal, to which the group "defends" her from Makucha, Chuluun, and Ora. This is due to Mama Binturong's plan to trick the Night Pride into letting her into the Tree of Life by finding their weaknesses due to her plan to take revenge against Bunga. The group then takes Mama Binturong to the Tree of Life to be "healed"; however, it is found out that Mama Binturong has been playing dirty tricks on the Lion Guard, the Night Pride, and the other animals the whole time as she is working for Makucha's army. With Mama Binturong defeated by Bunga and Binga using their stench abilities to defeat her, Rani thanks Ono for figuring out Mama Binturong's true form to which as she thanks him for helping the Night Pride to which he is still helpful even though his position of the Lion Guard is the Smartest as Ono feels satisfied of himself even though his eyesight will never be as strong as it once was.
"Poa the Destroyer"[]
The tundra animals blame Beshte for being a nuisance to them to which they try to warn the Night Pride about Beshte's bad reputation. To prove that he is not a menace to the tundra animals, Beshte rescues Pinguino from falling off a cliff, dealing with Beshte's bad reputation to which the misunderstanding and apologies to Beshte is accepted by the Night Pride.
"Long Live the Queen"[]
The Night Pride with help from the Lion Guard defends a family of tigers from Makucha's army. The groups are able to defend the family of tigers from being killed. When Ullu warns Kion and the Night Pride about Queen Janna wanting to see them, the lions notice a large crowd of animals outside the Tree to which Nirmala explains that Queen Janna's time has come, meaning she is ready to complete her journey through the Circle of Life. Arriving at the Tree, Kion and the Night Pride arrive towards Janna to which Kion tells Makini to know how well is she doing. It is then revealed that Janna would like to see Kion's healing to be completed before she passes away. The Night Pride then spends their last moments with Queen Janna before she completes the Circle of Life. Rani is the last to spend time with her to which she explains that it is time for her to be the new queen of the Tree of Life as Janna completes her Circle of Life while Rani decides to do the task just as Janna dies of old age. The Night Pride, Kion, and Makini grieve over Queen Janna's dead body while Kion comforts a weeping Rani. Outside the Tree, the Night Pride and Kion arrive as Rani tries to give out the sad news of Queen Janna who died recently as Makini tells the nearby animals that Queen Janna has completed her journey through the Circle of Life and as a tradition, all the animals will attend her funeral at the Willows. At the Willows, a funeral is gathered there as the animals all mourn for the queen's death. While Kion tells Rani that he will have a conversation with Mufasa, Surak tells the Night Pride that they are all going to miss Queen Janna due to her passing away. Baliyo, Nirmala, Surak, Ono, Fuli, Beshte, Bunga, and Anga all gave their condolences to Janna where they talk about their lifetime with her before she died. After giving their condolences, Nirmala explains to Fuli that it is time for Rani to be the new queen to take her place.
That evening, the Night Pride, the Lion Guard, and all the animals of the Tree of Life attend the new queen's coronation as Rani is crowned as the new queen of the Tree of Life.
"The Lake of Reflection"[]
The Night Pride confronts Makucha's army from getting into the Tree of Life along with the Lion Guard who works together with the Night Pride as they end up conflicting to which Rani tells Kion to lead the Guard to take on Ora while the Night Pride to take on Makuch an Chuluun. Rani also tells Anga and Ono to take on Mama Binturong as the villains ends up retreating. Rani explains to Kion that the Guard did help but she is to follow her lead. With Kion upset that he can't control the Roar, Mama Binturong overhears him saying Kion doesn't want to lead and can't control the Roar. Kion tells her that the Lion Guard could patrol all day while the Night Pride could patrol all night as a compromising strategy. Kion decides to bring the Guard to do their day duty to which Nirmala tells Kion to come with the Night Pride. Fuli then tells Rani that Kion is still not feeling better to which she says to the cheetah that Nirmala said Kion's healing takes patience. Fuli then decides to trust Nirmala who is the healer of the Tree of Life.
Meanwhile, Ullu warns the Guard that Makucha's army is back once again in the mountain pass as Kion leads the Guard to stop the villains who already arrive at Pratibimba to which. During battle, Beshte gets wounded as the Night Pride arrives to take on Makucha, Chuluun, and Ora while Anga takes on Mama Binturong. Soon as the villains retreat, Nirmala tells Beshte that the venom from Ora is wearing off. Kion then tells the group that he needs to reflect about the group.
"Triumph of the Roar"[]
The Night Pride remains with their duty in protecting the Tree of Life as the Lion Guard plans to go back to the Pride Lands. Having fended off Makucha's army, the group plans to taken revenge against the Lion Guard and the Night Pride as Smun, his fellow porcupines, Fahari, Jiona, and two other Komodo dragons arrive to add reinforcements in order for Makucha's army to defeat the Guard and the Night Pride as Mama Binturong plans to take over the heroes. Ullu warns the Night Pride that Mama Binturong has led an army of villains to kill the Lion Guard and the Night Pride so that they can eat the rare animals as the Night Pride decides to stop the army of villains from attacking. Meanwhile, the Lion Guard hears a loud stampede of villains approaching the Tree of Life. Ullu then tells the Lion Guard about the Night Pride on their way to fight back.
Later, the Night Pride (this time without Rani) arrives at the Tree of Life and talks to Makini who tells them that Rani and Bunga went looking for Kion. Soon as they plan to escape, they are unable due to Makucha's army placing a boulder blocking them. Makucha's army then attacks the innocent animals (including Heng Heng, Astuto, Tangaagim, Kely, and others) as they plan on killing the other animals with the Night Pride trapped. Ullu and the Guard notice this as they plan on stopping the villains before they kill the other animals. Anga then notices the boulder blocking the entrance to the Tree which means they are trapped as they decide to work together to save the Night Pride and fend off Makucha's army.
Soon as Kion finishes mastering the power of the roar at Cikha Escarpment, Anga arrives and warns Kion, Bunga, and Queen Rani that Makucha's army is back and has trapped the Night Pride and Makini at the Tree of Life as they continue planning to kill the other animals. Before planning to leave, Kion thanks Askari that he is now ready to use the roar. Kion sets out to use the Roar at Makucha's army in order to save the animals, defend the Tree of Life, and rescue the Night Pride trapped inside by creating lightning to destroy the boulder blocking the Tree of Life. Kion then uses the Roar of the Elders one last time to create a tornado that sucks up all the villains to lead them to a place very far away from the Tree of Life to never be seen again. Upon fending off all the villains, with the Night Pride saved, and the Tree protected, Nirmala tells Kion he is now healed while Rani tells Kion that the Roar has returned to the Tree by telling him to stick around before leaving for the Pride Lands.
"Journey to the Pride Lands"[]
After Kion speaks with Mufasa, Rani comes to him and asks if he's made his choice about staying at the Tree of Life. They both not only think that the Lion Guard and the Night Pride make a great team, but that the two of them do as well by working together in fighting off villains, solving problems and keeping the Tree of Life at peace, and they confess their feelings for each other singing Of the Same Pride. As the Guard is ready to leave, Rani wishes for them to stay. Everyone else was open to the idea except for Fuli. Soon Azaad comes and Fuli asks how Rani knows him. Rani says that he's been to the Tree of Life before. She asks why he's here and he says he was showing two travelers to the Tree of Life, (Whom turn out to be Jasiri and Janja). Jasiri tells the Lion Guard that Zira and her pride are back. Kion knows it's up to the Lion Guard to stop them. Rani says goodbye to the Lion Guard a tells them that they will always be welcome at the Tree of Life and that she considers each of them a member of her pride. As the Lion Guard departs, Rani hopes that the Roar will return to the Tree of Life again someday.
"Return to the Pride Lands"[]
After Kion gives his role as leader of the Lion Guard and the Roar to Vitani, Askari appears and praises Kion for truly mastering the Roar and tells him that there is another place that needs the Roar's help, as well as him and his friends. Kion realizes he's talking about the Tree of Life and the Mark of the Night Pride given to Kion by Queen Janna before her death appears on Kion's shoulder. Kion asks his friends if they'd like to join the Night Pride and become protectors of the Tree of Life. They all happily accept and the Mark of the Night Pride immediately replaces the Mark of the Lion Guard on their bodies. The Night Pride, as well as Kion's family, friends, the Pride Animals and all the animals of the Tree of Life cheer for Kion as he marries Rani and is crowned King of the Tree of Life.
Gallery[]
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