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".

Kingdom Hearts
''The leader of the pride. He rules over the other animals of the Pride Lands, 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.

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, Seeker of Darkness (Xehanort's Heartless), Simba's body was restored and he returned to his own world.

Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories
In Kingdom Hearts: 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
Simba was surprised to see Sora, Donald, and Goofy in the Pride Lands. 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 had 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.

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.

After Xemnas's defeat, Simba is seen standing on Pride Rock, with Rafiki holding princess Kiara over the animal kingdom to show the animals the newborn cub.

Origin
"Simba" is Swahili for "Lion".

Appearance
Simba is one of the few Disney animated animals not to be a cartoonish caricature of the animal he is. As an adult male lion, Simba bears a great resemblance to his father, Mufasa, the only significant difference between the two being that Mufasa's mane is longer. Simba has yellow-orange fur covering most of his body, except for his belly, paws, and mouth, which are peach-colored. His mane is brown with a slight red tint and parts on the right side of the top of his head. He has a tuft of fur the same color as his mane on the tip of his tail. Simba's eyes are red and his sclera are yellow. His ears are partially visible poking through his mane, and he has eight dark whiskers; four on either side of his upper lip.

When he is briefly seen as a cub in Kingdom Hearts II, Simba appears significantly different. His yellow-orange, adult fur is now pure yellow, he lacks his mane entirely, the brown tuft on his tail is a bit less wild, and his eyes are a lighter shade of red, closer to orange. Simba has large, circular ears as a cub and a short ruffle of fur on the top of his head. Finally, he is, of course, much smaller in size than he is as an adult.

Personality
Simba is a courageous, yet occasionally low self esteemed ruler. He knows of his duty to rule the Pride Lands, but his fear of failure and disrespect often cause him to not do as well as he can. He is shown to be unself-reliant, always wishing he knew what his father would do in times of crisis, seldom thinking for himself. He doesn't have his priorities straight, and he looks to do the right thing, but fails of living up to his father. But on the whole he is a caring, brave and good friend, always looking to do the right thing.

Abilities
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.
 * Limit ability: Wildcat

Quotes

 * "How can I go back? I'm not what I used to be."
 * "Murderer! Tell them the truth!"
 * "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."

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".
 * When in Pride Land, Simba's Limit, Wildcat, is the only Limit Sora can perform, since 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, Peter Pan, and Stitch are the only party members to appear also as summons.
 * When Sora, Donald, and Goofy meets up with Simba and Simba recognizes the trio from their normal forms, he sees Sora as he appears at the beginning of Kingdom Hearts II, rather than how he appeared in Kingdom Hearts.