Zirovu

Zirovu
GENERAL
The Lion King
Character	Zira
Character	Kovu
Canonical?	Canon
Status of Relationship	Mother and son
IN FANDOM
Type (?)	Family

Zirovu is the family ship between Zira and Kovu from The Lion King fandom.

Canon

In The Lion King II: Simba's Pride, Zira and Kovu are introduced as mother and son with Kovu being the youngest of Zira's cubs. Zira was loyal to Scar, the usurper king of the Pride Lands, and he chose Kovu to succeed him as king. After Scar was overthrown by his nephew Simba, the rightful heir to the throne, Zira insisted that the throne belonged to Scar and, thus, to Kovu. As a result of her rebellion, Zira and Kovu-together with Kovu's siblings and Zira's other followers-were exiled from the Pride Lands, with death being the penalty if they dared to return.

Sometime later, when Kovu had met and befriended Simba's daughter Kiara, Simba appeared and angrily confronted the cub only for Zira to appear as well. Though faced by Simba, his queen Nala, and other lionesses, Zira reiterated her belief that Kovu was meant to be king of the Pride Lands. Simba reminded her of his earlier decree against her and her followers, with Zira commenting that Kovu had been too young to be aware of the consequences. Pushing her shivering son forward, she invited Simba to execute the penalty, knowing full well that Simba would not do so. Having won a minor victory, Zira then departed with Kovu.

Upon returning to her other children, Zira immediately berated her older son Nuka for failing to watch Kovu as he had been ordered. Kovu came to his brother's defense, only for Zira to turn her wrath upon him for wandering off and for daring to fraternize with their enemies. She was initially disgusted by Kovu's suggestion that he and Kiara could have been friends, but was suddenly struck with the idea that this could be a strategy they might use to take revenge on Simba and take over the Pride Lands. Adopting a false sweetness, she promptly put her youngest son to bed over his protests that he was uninterested in power, informing him as she departed that the next day would see an uptick in his training. Through the song "That's My Lullaby", she then eagerly anticipated shaping Kovu into an assassin who would kill Simba.

Despite Zira's machinations, Kovu remained hopeful-at least for a time-that the Outsiders might be able to return to the Pride Lands peacefully, as seen in The Lion Guard episode "Lions of the Outlands." Upon meeting Kiara's brother Kion, who was unfamiliar with the account of the Outsiders, and hearing him voice the belief that Simba would welcome them, Kovu brought Kion to see Zira. Kovu was later surprised to see Zira giving Kion instruction on how to use his might Roar of the Elders, which she had learned about from Scar. Zira would then leave Kovu and his siblings behind as she went to speak with Kion in private.

Unfortunately, Zira had no intention of peacefully reconciling with the Pride Landers, particularly not if it meant accepting Simba as king. Not knowing his mother's intentions, Kovu followed her instructions in preventing his brother Nuka from harassing Kion's friend Jasiri but was relieved when Zira returned. Later, he tried to convince Zira not to fight with Kion and his friends in the Lion Guard, again expressing the wish that the Outsiders and Pride Landers might be able to live in peace. Zira, however, asserted that Kion had chosen to side with Jasiri and her fellow Outlands hyenas over the lions who were his own kind. Kovu would later back away from the other Outsiders as Kion prepared to unleash the Roar against them but would follow after they were sent flying beyond the Outlands.

As was further shown in Simba's Pride, Zira poisoned Kovu against the Pride Landers, eventually persuading him that it was indeed his role to take vengeance upon Simba for Scar's death. In order to achieve her purposes, Zira had her other children set a fire intended to trap Kiara and then sent a now full-grown Kovu to "rescue" her. As an additional aspect of the ruse, Kovu would claim to have left Zira's following. Zira, observing Kovu from afar with Nuka, would later defend his action of not attacking Kiara while the two of them were alone, noting that Kovu would be taking advantage of his reconnection with Kiara to get himself into position to kill Simba.

Unfortunately for Zira, other forces than her will were at work, with Kovu developing genuine friendship and even affection for Kiara that made him reconsider the purpose for which he had been trained. Zira was later appalled to hear that, having been alone with Simba at one point, Kovu had failed to attack him. Determined to have her revenge, and seeking to retain her grip on Kovu, Zira would lead her followers in ambushing Simba and Kovu when they went walking alone in the area burnt out by the fire Zira had ordered set. Zira would praise Kovu, making it seem as though he had deliberately led Simba into this trap, which Kovu attempted to deny in the brief moment before the Outsiders set upon Simba.

As Simba attempted to escape, Kovu ended up above him in a position where he could attack, which Zira urged him to do. However, Kovu refused, instead apparently moving in an attempt to come to Simba's aid. Before Kovu could do so, Simba managed to escape, with Kovu's brother Nuka being crushed underneath a pile of fallen trees in the process. Zira would shove Kovu aside in her efforts to reach Nuka. Then, in a rage, she would attack Kovu with her claws extended, leaving her youngest son with a scar over one eye just like the lion he had been chosen to succeed.

In the face of Zira's angry accusations, Kovu denied that he had done anything wrong, only for Zira to respond that he had betrayed his pride and Scar. Kovu asserted that he had no wish to be associated with Scar any longer, with Zira retorting that it wasn't something he could be free of before blaming him for Nuka's death. Grieved, Kovu departed, and Zira prevented Vitani from pursuing him. Claiming that Simba had "corrupted Kovu", she resolved to lead her remaining followers in an attack on the Pride Lands, apparently abandoning Kovu.

However, in the midst of the battle between the Outsider and Simba's pride, Kovu-having been joined by Kiara-would appear to confront his mother and bring a halt to the fighting. Zira ordered her son to move and condemned him as weak; Kovu responded by refusing to move and informing Zira that he would protect both Kiara and Simba from her. The other Outsiders would ultimately heed Kovu and Kiara's pleas to make peace, but Zira would attack Simba in a murderous rage. Kiara intercepted her, and Kovu would look on aghast as his mother and the lioness he loved tumbled into a nearby gorge above a raging river. As Zira eventually plunged into the river and met her death, Kovu looked on in grief.

In The Lion Guard episode "Journey to the Pride Lands", Jasiri would travel to the Tree of Life in search of Kion and his Lion Guard and inform them that Zira had attacked the Pride Lands in their absence. She would make particular note of the fact that Kovu and his sister Vitani, Zira's children, were now mature. In "Return to the Pride Lands", Kovu would be spotted by Anga of the Lion Guard and described to Jasiri, who recognized him as Zira's son based on the account. Kovu and Kiara would then intervene in a clash between Kion's Lion Guard and one formed by Vitani after she and the other Outsiders were welcomed into the Pride Lands. Kovu would then explain that his mother was dead, before sharing a fuller account with Kion and his Guard and noting that Zira had been destroyed by her failure to see that the lions were meant to be one pride.

Fanon

As with most of Zira's relationships, the connection between her and Kovu is fairly toxic, revolving around Zira's obsession with avenging Scar by killing Simba. Initially angry with her son for daring to interact with their enemies in a friendly fashion, she then sought to use him as a tool of murder and revenge. Then, when he failed to do as she wished, she actually attacked him and condemned him as a traitor. However, despite turning against his mother's evil ambitions and opposing her openly, Kovu was saddened by her passing. This seems to have implied a genuine affection, regret for the path that she had chosen, and/or disappointment for her failure to take the path of forgiveness.

There are currently no works on AO3 tagged solely for Zira and Kovu's relationship.

Fandom

FAN ART

Wicked Sairah: "Zira and young Kovu sculpture (older piece)" — Bluesky

YOUTUBE

How Kovu Escaped Zira's Revenge Trap