Simbfasa

Simbfasa
GENERAL
The Lion King
Character	Simba
Character	Mufasa
Canonical?	Canon
Status of Relationship	Father and Son; Mufasa's spirit lives in Simba
IN FANDOM
Type (?)	Family

1

Mufasa – “Simba... you have forgotten me.”

Simba – “No! How could I?”

Mufasa – “You have forgotten who you are, and thus have forgotten me [...]”

Simbfasa is the family ship between Simba and Mufasa from the The Lion King fandom.

Canon

The Lion King (1994)

Traditionally, the king of the Pridelands lets his cub be presented shortly after its birth, to show his subjects their future king. Mufasa lets his son be presented by his old friend Rafiki, accompanied by Simba's mother Sarabi. Though after the ceremony ends, Mufasa notes that his own brother Scar is absent. Looking for him, catching him trying to eat the royal messenger Zazu and chiding him for not attending his nephew's presentation. He tells Scar that Simba will be his future king, hoping to get him to admit his mistake. Scar is not remotely ashamed and leaves the scene, irritating Mufasa.

Later, when Simba has grown enough to be able to talk and run around by himself, Mufasa and Sarabi are rudely awakened by their son, pleading his father to show him the kingdom. Mufasa gets up and carries Simba to the very top of Pride Rock, telling him that everything the light touches will be his one day. He does this to remind Simba of his future duties as king, but Simba doesn't seem to understand it yet. When Simba asks his father about the shadowy place in the far back, Mufasa warns him to never go there, it is hyena territory. When they take a stroll through their kingdom they are visited by Zazu giving his daily morning report. Mufasa shows a mutuality with his son, both find Zazu's morning report incredibly boring and thus Mufasa decides to turn it into a pouncing lesson at Zazu's expense. However, a ground hog tells Zazu and Mufasa about hyena's encroaching on the Pridelands and Simba is left alone.

Bored out of his mind, Simba decides to bother Uncle Scar, who unsubtly tells him about the Elephant Graveyard, the very shadowy place Mufasa warned him about. Simba is hooked and ropes his best friend Nala into it, however, Mufasa is alerted by Zazu and comes to his son's aid. Scar's discrete plan to have his hyena friends murder Simba is foiled when Mufasa arrives to save everyone at the last second. When he carries Simba to safety, Mufasa is anything but amused about Simba not only endangering himself, but Nala and Zazu as well. He confesses how scared he was for his son's life, despite having to keep a brave face as king. He tells Simba that what he has done was not brave, but haughty, forgiving him when Simba seemed to have learned his lesson. Cheering him up, he tells Simba what his own father told him; the great kings of the past will always watch down on him to guide him. Mufasa was already aware that he won't always be there for Simba and that there will be a time where he has to leave this Earth and join the kings of the past. He had no idea that Scar was planning this fate for both of them very soon.

The next day, Scar tells Simba that he has a "surprise" in store for him, positioning him near a herd of wildebeest and telling him to practice his roar. Simba doesn't question this, the roar is actually the signal for the hyenas to send the wildebeest into a stampede. Simba ends up running away from them, holding onto a dry tree for dear life, Scar alerts Mufasa about this, feigning concern. Mufasa manages to save Simba, but the cliffs are too steep for him to climb and he ends up slipping, calling for his brother to help him. Simba can barely see what is happening, but from one moment to the next, Mufasa is falling right into the stampede and gets trampled to death. Simba desperately tries to wake his father up, but cowers in his father's corpse when he realizes that he isn't going to. Scar then appears, pretending to feel sorry for what happened, but also planting the idea into Simba's head that Mufasa's death was all his fault, as he wouldn't have died if Simba didn't alert the wildebeest in the first place. Simba is scared of what will happen to him now and asks Scar what he should do, Scar tells him to run as far away from the Pridelands as he can, but then tells his hyenas to kill Simba as soon as he's out of earshot. Scar then returns to the Pridelands telling everyone that Mufasa and Simba had died and that it only leaves him as a potential king, letting his hyenas invade the Pridelands and wreck havoc.

Simba escapes and manages to gain the sympathy of an odd couple consisting of a meerkat and warhog, but avoids questions of where he came from and why he's all by himself. They teach him about "Hakuna Matata", leaving all his worries behind and Simba grows up almost forgetting about his guilt, only to be reminded of it when Timon and Pumbaa ask him what he thinks stars are made of. Simba's past continues to creep up on him when Nala suddenly shows up to tell him that Scar had taken over. However, Simba continues to run away from responsibility until Rafiki finds him. Simba asks him how Rafiki knows him, having already forgotten him since he was only a few hours old when he saw him last, but Rafiki tells him that he knows Mufasa. Simba tries to tell him that Mufasa is dead, but Rafiki won't accept it and tells Simba to follow him to a small lake. Rafiki tells him to look at the water, but Simba can't see anything past his reflection. But Rafiki's words make him realize that he recognizes his father in himself. Mufasa then appears as a ghost in the clouds, chiding Simba for having forgotten him and telling him that he needs to reclaim his birthright by taking the throne from Scar and taking his place in the Circle of Life. This finally convinces Simba and he and his friends make their way to the now barren Pridelands.

Simba confronts Scar, but Scar is feeling manipulative again and tries to compell Simba to tell the pride that he was responsible for Mufasa's death. Simba won't back down from that, but Scar corners him, intending to throw him into burning thornbushes, which reminds him of the way Mufasa died. But just before Scar could throw Simba like he threw Mufasa, he confesses that he was actually the one who killed Simba's father to rub salt in the wound. However, that enrages Simba so much that he finds the strength to defy his father's fate and defeat Scar. After Scar meets his own demise at the hands of the hyenas he betrayed at the last second, Simba claims his throne, still unsure of himself until Mufasa tells him to remember. Simba will never forget Mufasa and conceives a cub of his own after becoming the new king.

Fanon

Most of the shipping in The Lion King fandom is romantic in focus, but people often appreciate Simba's bond with his father and how the movie goes to great lengths to make the audience care about Mufasa before killing him off. Some fanfics avoid Mufasa's death, but others lament how this runs counter to the movie's message.

Fandom

FAN FICTION

Mufasa & Simba tag on AO3