Simba
- "You can all come out now... I'm going back to face my past. I can use your help."
- —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 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.
Story
Kingdom Hearts
Simba appears as a Summon, using an attack called Proud Roar where Sora charges up the roar and fires off a powerful attack.
Though his world was destroyed, 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, Simba's body was restored and he returned to his own world.
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 first appeared in The Lion King as the main character of the movie. At the beginning of the movie, Rafiki presented a new-born Simba, son of Mufasa and prince of the Pride Lands, to a large crowd of animals. The movie skipped to a later part in Simba's life where he is tricked by his uncle, Scar, to go into the Outlands his friend, Nala, while being supervised by his father's majordomo, a hornbill named Zazu while Mufasa is busy. In the Outlands, Shenzi, Banzai and Ed ambush the three and, just when the three hyena's were about to get Simba and Nala, Mufasa came and subdued the hyenas and had Zazu take Nala back home while Mufasa had a important talk with Simba. The next day, Scar sends Simba to go to a canyon where the hyenas have started a wildebeest stampede, while Scar tells Mufasa about the stampede. Mufasa saves Simba in time, but Scar kills Mufasa by knocking him into the stampede, with Scar misleading Simba into thinking that it was all Simba's fault that his father died and had him leave the Pride Lands. Simba did just that and was dying in the wild, when Timon and Puumba saved him, nursed him back to health and started teaching him about their motto, Hakuna Matata, meaning "no worries". They raised him for the next few years, until one day, when Simba was a fully grown lion, when a lioness came and attacked Timon and Puumba. Simba protected them, but quickly realized his lioness opponent was his old friend, Nala. They rejoiced at seeing each other and Nala informed Simba that Scar had taken over the Pride Lands and that he was leading them into complete starvation, asking if he could help overthrow his evil uncle. Simba was still guilty over his father's death, so he refused, until he was lead to see his father's ghost in a thunderstorm, who convinces SImba he must overthrow Scar and take his rightful place on the thrown. Finally convinced, Simba returned to his friends and the four headed back to Pride Rock. Timon and Puumba distract the hyenas while Simba faces his uncle. Simba is downright slaughtered and is about to fall off of Pride Rock, when Scar whispers to him that he killed Mufasa. Enraged, Simba gets up and tackles Scar, forcing him to reveal his actions to all the lions and lionesses. After this, Simba corners Scar at the very tip of Pride Rock, with Scar begging for mercy and blaming the hyena's for everything. Mercifully, Simba gives him one chance to run away and never return to the Pride Lands. Scar, however, tricks Simba into thinking he's accepting the offer and attacks Simba. Simba beats Scar and knocks him off Pride Rock, with the hyena's then killing him for his treachery. Simba then takes his place as king of Pride Rock, with Nala by his side.
"Simba" is Swahili for "Lion".
Appearance
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, thicker, and darker. Simba has yellow-orange fur covering most of his body, except for his belly, paws, and mouth, which are peach-colored. His mane is rust-colored 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 orange 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, and the brown tuft on his tail is a bit less wild. Simba has large, circular ears that are rimmed with black as a cub and a scruffy patch 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 causes 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. Simba doesn't have his priorities straight, and is constantly looking to do the right thing, but always says he fails of living up to his father. In short, Simba is a caring, brave and good friend, who is 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 who 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..."
- "You know, I'm really lucky to have friends who'll stand by me... and help me see clearly. My father wasn't so fortunate."
- "But my father always had Scar lurking behind his back, trying to cut him down."
- "I've come back Nala."
Trivia
- Jonathan Taylor Thomas, Young Simba's original voice actor, is credited for "reprising" his role for a single line, which is actually archived audio.
