Simba
- "My father's dead. And it's because of me... It's my fault. I can't go back... It won't change anything."
- —Simba
Simba is a recurring character in the Kingdom Hearts series, serving as a Summon in the first game and an ally in the second. He is originally from Disney's "The Lion King".
Journal Entries
Kingdom Hearts
The leader of the pride. He rules over the other animals of the Pride Land, his savanna kingdom.
Hold down the X button to charge up his power. When the command changes to Proud Roar release the button to unleash the attack. Hold the button down longer for more power. Cost: 2 MP
He roared onto the scene in "The Lion King" (1994).
Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories
Successor to his father as ruler of the Pride Lands.
Sora need only call and Simba will appear and lend his strength.
Kingdom Hearts II
The Lion King (1994)
Son of the great Mufasa who grew up to succeed his father and rule the Pride Lands.
As a young cub, Simba mistakenly thought he was responsible for his father's death. He left the Pride Lands and met two new friends: Timon and Pumbaa. They taught him to lead a carefree life.
During their first quest, Simba helped Sora, Donald, and Goofy whenever they called on him.
Story
Kingdom Hearts
In the first game, Simba appears as a Summon, using an attack called Proud Roar where Sora charges up the roar and fires off a powerful attack.
His world was destroyed; however, Simba's strong heart refused to languish in darkness, keeping his spirit alive and turning him into a Summon Gem, Earthshine. The gem was in turn found by Leon, who kept it as a "lucky charm", and was eventually given to Sora after Leon told him about the hearts of Worlds. After bringing it to the Fairy Godmother, she recognized it as a Summon Gem and immediately restored Simba's spiritual form, making him able to assist Sora in battles. After stopping Ansem (Xehanort's Heartless), Simba's body was restored and he returned to his own world.
Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories
In Chain of Memories Simba reappears as a figment of Sora's memories, and he is once again a summonable character. He's the first Summon Card that Sora receives, given to him by Leon after finishing his tutorial and visit to Traverse Town.
Kingdom Hearts II
First Visit
Simba was surprised to see Sora, Donald and Goofy in the Pride Land. He was more surprised that the three looked very different from when he last saw them, as they had taken on an animal form. He was even more amazed to find out that they had met his childhood friend, Nala. Sora, Goofy, Donald, and Nala attempted to convince Simba to return to the Pride Land to overthrow Scar; however, Simba resisted until he met the spirit of his father, Mufasa who helped him rebuild his confidence. He returned to Pride Rock to find that Scar's hatred has turned Scar into a Heartless. After a battle on the top of Pride Rock, Scar was defeated, and driving the hyenas out, Simba took his rightful place as king.
Second Visit
However, the appearance of Scar's ghost caused Simba to have doubts, which made the other lions question his abilities as king. The apparition of these ghosts made Simba wonder if he could be a king just like his father was. Sora convinced Simba to follow his own path, and not his father's. With Sora's help he was able to overcome these fears, defeat Scar's ghost and become the King he was meant to be.
He is last seen standing on Pride Rock during the end credits, with Rafiki holding princess Kiara over the animal kingdom to show the animals the newborn cub.
Battle Style
When fighting, Simba uses his claws and fangs to wound the enemy, and, like Tarzan, can cure using herbs and animal knowledge. He's an agility-focused fighter, but with good strength and defense.
Simba is a physical attacker with a handful of healing abilities. He attacks very rapidly in battle using, as one would expect, his claws and fangs. He has no armor slots, two accessory slots and three item slots. Simba's abilities in Kingdom Hearts II are as follows:
- Fierce Claw: Attacks an enemy several times.
- Groundshaker: Attacks enemies around him.
- Healing Herb: Restores the party's HP.
- MP Rage: Restores MP when attacked.
- Defender: Increases defense when HP is critical.
- Auto Limit: Sets the Reaction command to Limit, if a Limit has been equipped.
- Hyper Healing: Quickly revives a fallen party member and restores their HP.
- Auto Healing: Restores HP when switched out for another party member.
- Limit ability: Wildcat
Quotes
In cutscenes
"How can I go back? I'm not what I used to be."
"Murderer! Tell them the truth!"
"Louder!"
"That doesn't concern you."
"Live for today. And find my own path. Not my father's..."
"I'm lucky to have friends who will stand by my side, my father wasn't so lucky, he always had Scar lurking behind his back always trying to cut him down."
"I've come back Nala."
During battle
"Together!"
"I'm here!"
"Sora!"
(Upon taking damage) "I can't do this!"
Trivia
- Simba is the first character in Kingdom Hearts to use Earth magic that is also an ally.
- Upon summoning Simba in Kingdom Hearts, Simba appears in darkness, and bears resemblance to his father Mufasa, until he steps forward and is revealed in light.
- The voice of adult Simba in Kingdom Hearts II is played by Cam Clarke, who provided Simba's singing voice in The Lion King II: Simba's Pride. He is also famous for providing the voice of Liquid Snake, the main antagonist of the Metal Gear Solid series.
- When in Pride Land, Simba's Limit, Wildcat, is the only Limit Sora can perform while his, Donald's, and Goofy's are disabled.
- Jonathan Taylor Thomas, Young Simba's original voice actor, is credited for "reprising" his role for a single line, which is actually archived audio.
- Simba and Peter Pan are the only party members to appear also as summons.
- Simba is the only non-original character to appear with a strong change of age.
