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- “I'll never let it go! This is for you, Scar!”
- — Zira before attacking Simba
Scarira is the het ship between Scar and Zira from The Lion King fandom.
Canon[]
During Scar's temporary rule of the Pride Lands, a handful of the pride became devoted to him. Among those, Zira was among the most loyal to the point of fanaticism. Scar had evidently saw Zira's loyalty and rewarded it accordingly. For one, he gave her some insight about his time as leader of the Lion Guard and some secrets about the Roar of the Elders. More importantly, however, Scar had named Zira's son Kovu as his successor despite not being related by blood.
Scar would eventually be deposed by his nephew Simba and killed by the hyenas he tricked into helping him, an act that enraged Zira. Still believing Scar is the true ruler, Zira tried to keep his lineage in power by asserting he chose Kovu as his successor. Simba tried to point out to Zira that Scar was an illegitimate ruler in the first place, but this enraged her and she tried to attack him. However, Simba defeated her and had her exiled along with everyone else devoted to Scar - creating the Outlanders pride. From then on, Zira vowed to avenge Scar by killing Simba - the one she believes is the one that killed him - and putting Kovu on the throne.
Zira would get an opportunity when Kovu accidentally starts bonding with Simba's daughter Kiara. She trains Kovu with the goal of having him kill Simba and take his place as Scar's heir. Part of this was instilling in him the belief that Scar's rule was good and that he - his chosen heir - is the one deserving of the throne. During this time, she gets a second out when Simba's son Kion arrives in the Outlands. Learning Kion is the current leader of the Lion Guard, Zira tells him about what Scar told her about his time as leader and the Roar of the Elders in the hope of getting him to join her. However, Kion refuses as he iterates that Scar wasn't a real ruler. Angered by that, Zira tries to force Kion to join her, but he manages to get out - leaving her with only her original plan to avenge Scar.
Eventually, Kovu comes of age and now believes in Scar's rule like his mother. With this, Zira sends him out to ingratiate himself into Simba's pride, but this backfires when he falls in love with Kiara. Still thinking her plan has a chance, she and some of her Outlanders ambush Simba while he's with Kovu. She tries to get Kovu to finish the job, but by this point he's realized his mother has been feeding him lies about Scar and won't do it. The resulting chaos from this decision ends with the death of Zira's elder son Nuka. After praying to Scar to watch over Nuka, Zira lashes out at Kovu for his insubordination - and is shocked when the scratch she leaves mirrors Scar's. Regardless of this shock, Zira still sees Kovu as a failure and he responds by running away and back to the Pride Lands.
With Simba still weakened by the earlier ambush, Zira decides now is the time to avenge Scar. To that end, she leads her Outlanders into a full scale battle with Simba's pride and the two leaders are ready for a brutal fight. The fighting is broken up when Kiara and Kovu arrive, telling both sides that they're one and pleading to see that. Vitani, Zira's daughter, is the first of the Outlanders to understand and sides with Simba, causing Zira to threaten her. The other Outlanders see this and, now seeing the truth of Scar's ideology, turn their backs on her. Even with her family and pride siding against her, Zira is determined to avenge Scar by trying to attack Simba - resulting in Kiara defending him and causing Zira to plummet to her death.
Quotes[]
- “Scar and I were close. Very close. He taught me all about the Roar! If it weren't for your father, he'd still be king of the Pride Lands.”
- — Zira to Kion, Lions of the Outlands
Behind the Scenes[]
According to The Lion King II director Darrell Rooney, Bianca - the character that would eventually become Zira - was conceptualized early on as Scar's mate and queen. Kovu would've ended up becoming Scar's biological child in addition to Bianca's. However, due to Kovu's lineage in this version, he and Kiara would be first-removed cousins and make their relationship incestuous. To avoid this, Scar's and Bianca's/Zira's relationship was overhauled so that she was just fanatically devoted to Scar.
Fanon[]
Scarira is a well known ship in The Lion King fandom. While there isn't a lot of insight about how they actually interacted, Zira holding Scar in such high regard and her single-mindedness about avenging his death led fans to think she was more than a just a follower. The fact Scar chose one of Zira's cubs as his heir despite not fathering him was also not lost on these fans. The reveal Zira was initially conceptualized as Scar's mate served to solidify the ship's popularity, with many seeing Zira as Scar's Sarabi. The ship received a jolt of support after Zira's appearance in The Lion Guard with implication made in the episode only strengthening the possibility they were together. Many wonder why Zira held Scar with such regard, with some theorizing he may have aided her to such a degree that she was indebted to him. There are detractors of this ship that think that Scar was merely using Zira in much the same way he used the hyenas.
Several fans of this ship theorize that Nuka could be Scar's and Zira's biological child. Nuka appears to have a closer physical resemblance to Scar than to Zira. Also, during his rant about Kovu not being Scar's actual child, Nuka believes he should be heir in a mirror of how Scar viewed his brother Mufasa. Zira telling Scar to watch over "her" son instead of "our" son following Nuka's death is a point against this theory, however.
On AO3, this ship has a decent amount of support with tagged entries in the 40's range, 7 of them being rated Mature. This puts it as the fifth-most popular ship for The Lion King after Simbala, Kovara, Mufasarabi, and Ranion. It's also the most written ship for both Scar and Zira.
Fandom[]
- TUMBLR
- Scar x Zira tag on Tumblr
[]
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| The Lion King Ships • The Lion King Characters | ||
| SHIPS | het | Azali • Janjasiri • KiFu • Kisiri • Kopa x Vitani • Kovara • Mufasarabi • Nirak • Ranion • Scarabi • Scarira • Scarla • Scarzi • Simbala • Vitani x Kion |
| slash | Timbaa | |
| femslash | Kiara x Vitani | |
| family | Kiarion • Kopiara • Kopion • Kovitani • Kovuka • Mufion • Naliara • Nalion • Scarfasa • Simba's Two Dads • Simbar • Simbarabi • Simbfasa • Simbiara • Vitanala • Zirange • Ziratani | |
| CHARACTERS | male | Kion • Scar • Simba |
| female | Kiara • Nala • Vitani | |