Shagheera

Shagheera is the slash ship between Shere Khan and Bagheera from the The Jungle Book fandom.

The Jungle Book (1967)
Bagheera and Shere Khan never directly interact in the first movie, but Bagheera does mention him multiple times.

Bagheera was present during the council of the wolves, discussing the return of Shere Khan and what that would mean for Mowgli. When they agree to sending Mowgli away for his safety, Bagheera chimes in, telling them of a man village he knows of where he could be safe. Under the protests of Mowgli’s wolf father, he freely offers to take Mowgli there, knowing that Mowgli is already familiar with him and that he would trust him.

Upon leading Mowgli further away from his home than Mowgli would be okay with, Bagheera explains that he’s trying to escort him out of the jungle, since the wolf pack fears the wrath of Shere Khan should Mowgli stay. When Mowgli asks why Shere Khan hates him, Bagheera tells him that he hates all humans, fearing their guns and fire. Mowgli protests that he doesn’t have either of these things and naively suggests that they should just explain this to Shere Khan. Bagheera dismisses that idea, telling Mowgli that Shere Khan is ruthless and won’t listen to reason.

When Mowgli and Bagheera meet with Baloo the bear and he and Mowgli grow very attached to each other, Baloo also questions why Mowgli can’t just stay in the jungle. Bagheera tells him that Shere Khan has returned and that Mowgli is no longer safe where he was. Baloo understands the seriousness of Shere Khan’s return, but just like Mowgli, he questions why Shere Khan wouldn’t just leave the boy alone, believing that Shere Khan hates men, not boys. Bagheera explains to him that Shere Khan sees no difference between one human and the other, he will not wait until Mowgli is grown up to attack him. Bagheera manages to convince Baloo to tell Mowgli that he isn’t safe in the jungle, but when Baloo takes Mowgli aside to tell him what Bagheera told him, Mowgli runs away. Bagheera asks him what he’s done now and Baloo tells him that he only did what Bagheera told him to do. Alarmed, Bagheera and Baloo split and look for Mowgli, hoping to find him before Shere Khan does.

On his own, Bagheera asks Colonel Hathi’s troup if they had seen Mowgli, unaware that Shere Khan had been hunting around that area and is listening in on Bagheera. Thanks to Bagheera, Shere Khan is now aware of the man-cub’s existence. When Bagheera tells Hathi that Mowgli is completely defenseless, Shere Khan nods along sinisterly and begins to hunt his prey.

When it comes to the confrontation between Shere Khan and Mowgli, Mowgli managing to scare him off by tying Shere Khan’s tail in a burning branch, Bagheera arrives late and expresses shame for it, nearly getting Mowgli and Baloo killed in the process. Though he is proud of Mowgli for defeating Shere Khan nearly by himself and might’ve agreed with Baloo that Mowgli could survive in the jungle, he nonetheless encourages Mowgli to leave the jungle once Mowgli is given a reason to do so.

Fanon
Shagheera's popularity is rather bizarre, despite never interacting in full in most parts of the franchise, it is more popular than Baleera on AO3. This might be based on it being the only "wholesome" option for a Hero/Villain ship, along with their many similarities, aside from being in the same genus.

The TaleSpin fanbase seems to ship it more often than Baleera as well, common headcanons are that Bagheera is a heroic counterpart to the ruthless businessman Shere Khan of that series. Many like to portray them as equals, with Bagheera having just as much power and presence as him, but using it for altruistic reasons, often depicted as an honest business partner of Higher for Hire and one of Baloo's oldest friends. Naturally, that leads to Shere Khan hating his guts and they are often headcanoned as arch-enemies.

Most fanart of the ship takes inspiration or is directly based on TaleSpin.

Fandom
FAN FICTION

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