Scarabi

Scarabi
GENERAL
The Lion King
Character	Scar
Character	Sarabi
Canonical?	Fanon Semi-Canon (2019 continuity)
Status of Relationship	Enemies; Scar is deceased Former Attraction on Scar's side (2019 continuity)
IN FANDOM
Type (?)	Het

1

Scarabi is the het ship between Scar and Sarabi from The Lion King fandom.

Canon

Sarabi is Scar's sister-in-law, from being the mate of Scar's brother, Mufasa.

1994 film

Mufasa mentions that both he and Sarabi noticed Scar’s absence from the presentation of their son Simba. Sarabi was later present when Scar announced Mufasa’s death and the alleged death of Simba. Her grief turned to horror as Scar, having proclaimed himself the new king, reveals that he has also welcomed the hyenas into the Pride Lands as his allies. Years later, Sarabi is in charge of the lionesses who serve as hunters, but Scar’s misrule and an apparent drought have left them with no prey.

Scar eventually summons Sarabi in order to demand an explanation. Sarabi calmly explains the situation, but Scar refuses to listen to reason. He further refuses to heed Sarabi’s urging that they leave Pride Rock, even when she insists that not doing so will lead to their deaths. Scar expresses a perfect willingness to allow this, much to Sarabi’s disgust, and claims that he has the right to do so as king.

Angrily, Sarabi begins to make an unfavorable comparison between Mufasa and Scar. Scar reacts by striking Sarabi, knocking her to the ground. When Simba appears to challenge Scar, Sarabi is quick to join the other lionesses against Scar. Scar makes an attempt to discredit Simba by blaming him for Mufasa’s death, much to Sarabi’s horror. However, Scar’s scheme backfires when he makes the mistake of admitting his own role in Mufasa’s death to an apparently helpless Simba.

2019 continuity

SPOILER WARNING! this article may contain major plot or ending details

As revealed in Mufasa: The Lion King, Sarabi and Scar first met after their respective prides were attacked and all but annihilated by the Outsiders, a vicious group of lions led by Kiros. Sarabi had followed Scar-then known as Taka-and his adopted brother Mufasa for some time while searching for other survivors from her own pride. Mufasa detected her presence, and the brothers confronted Sarabi, who shared her story with them. Sarabi intended to return to her lone wandering, but Taka sympathized with her plight and encouraged her to join them on their own journey.

Though initially unwilling to do so, Sarabi eventually relented with the encouragement of her companion Zazu. Taka soon became enamored of his new companion and admitted as much to Mufasa. On Mufasa's advice, Taka does his best to win over Sarabi by paying attention when she talks. He also complimented some flowers from her native valley-yet another suggestion of Mufasa's-and Sarabi was touched by his attention. Later, when Sarabi was knocked unconscious and rescued by Mufasa, Mufasa would claim that it was Taka who had rescued her out of loyalty to his brother.

Believing Mufasa's words, Sarabi would become affectionate towards Taka. It would not be long, however, before she learned the truth about who had saved her, as well as the source of Taka's insights. This led her to turn her affections towards Mufasa, greatly to the anger of Taka. He would thus betray his companions to Kiros and the Outsiders; though he later repented of this, he would afterwards be known only as Scar, after a wound that Kiros had inflicted upon him. Sarabi also remained faithful in her choice of Mufasa, eventually becoming his queen.

In the 2019 The Lion King, Scar is shown to still harbor desire for Sarabi. He makes a point, when confronted over his failure to appear at the presentation of Mufasa and Sarabi's son Simba, that he had intended no disrespect towards the queen especially. After secretly murdering Mufasa and assuming the throne himself, Scar would summon Sarabi to a meeting. Seeking both to have her as his mate at last and to cement his newfound power, he offered Sarabi the chance to become his queen. Loyal to the memory of Mufasa, Sarabi rejected the proposal; in retaliation, Scar decreed that his hyena allies would feed before her and the other lionesses in the future.

Scar would later demand Sarabi become his queen, only to not only be rejected but insulted with an unfavorable comparison to Mufasa. Enraged, Scar struck at Sarabi, only for Simba-fully grown and returned from his long exile-to appear. During their confrontation, Scar was exposed as being responsible for Mufasa's death. Sarabi, in particular, noted how Scar mentioned how Mufasa had looked just prior to his death, when previously Scar had claimed not to have reached the site until Mufasa was already dead.

Fanon

Scarabi doesn't enjoy a great deal of popularity in The Lion King fandom for a variety of reasons. Their relationships in both the 1994 film and the 2019 remake are clearly hostile, giving little if any indication that any romance could exist between them. The idea of Sarabi becoming involved with her late husband's brother may also be distasteful, even if Scar's role in Mufasa's death is unknown to her. In this way, the ship is contemptuous in a manner similar to the relationship between Queen Gerturde and Claudius in Hamlet, the Shakespear play regarded as a major inspiration for the plot of The Lion King.

There are 13 works featuring the pairing on AO3, 3 of which are rated Mature or Explicit. It thus falls far behind Mufasarabi, the most popular het ship for Sarabi, and even behind Scarira, the most popular het ship for Scar.

Fandom

FAN FICTION

Sarabi/Scar tag on AO3