Editing Simba (section)

== Role ==
Simba first appears in ''[[The Lion King]]'' as a cub, the son of [[King Mufasa]] and [[Queen Sarabi]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Peterson |first=Deborah |date=June 24, 1994 |title=Latest Jewel In Disney Crown Not The Shiniest |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/st-louis-post-dispatch-the-lion-king/90968906/ |url-access=registration |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240619071842/https://www.newspapers.com/article/st-louis-post-dispatch-the-lion-king/90968906/ |archive-date=June 19, 2024 |access-date=January 25, 2024 |work=[[St. Louis Post-Dispatch]]}}</ref> As Mufasa's heir, Simba is destined to become the next King of the Pride Lands.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Simba |url=https://www.shopdisney.co.uk/characters-and-movies/popular-characters/simba |url-status=deviated |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240206170740/https://www.shopdisney.co.uk/characters-and-movies/popular-characters/simba |archive-date=February 6, 2024 |access-date=February 6, 2024 |website=[[Disney Store|shopDisney UK]]}}</ref> However, Simba's jealous uncle [[Scar (The Lion King)|Scar]] plots against him in order to seize the throne for himself, betraying and killing Mufasa after he rescues Simba from a [[wildebeest]] stampede, and then deceiving Simba into believing he is responsible for Mufasa's death.<ref name=":30">{{Cite web |title=Lion King, The (film) |url=https://d23.com/a-to-z/lion-king-the-film/ |access-date=January 17, 2024 |website=[[D23 (Disney)|D23]]}}</ref> Crippled with guilt, Simba flees to the jungle where he befriends [[Timon and Pumbaa]], a [[meerkat]] and [[warthog]] who raise him and teach him to live the carefree lifestyle,<ref name=":30" /><ref name=":41">{{Cite news |last=Scalzi |first=John |author-link=John Scalzi |date=June 25, 1994 |title='Lion King': Film offers great characterizations |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-fresno-bee-lion-king-22/90947633/ |access-date=January 25, 2023 |work=[[The Fresno Bee]] |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref> but, for some reason, Simba hadn't noticed that he continuously struggles to ignore his past just for close attention.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Cook |first=Linda |date=September 15, 2011 |title=Not an ordinary cartoon |url=https://qctimes.com/entertainment/columnists/linda-cook/not-an-ordinary-cartoon/article_f293f556-dfb6-11e0-ad43-001cc4c03286.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150218020945/https://qctimes.com/entertainment/columnists/linda-cook/not-an-ordinary-cartoon/article_f293f556-dfb6-11e0-ad43-001cc4c03286.html |archive-date=February 18, 2015 |access-date=January 25, 2024 |work=[[Quad-City Times]]}}</ref> Years later, Simba's childhood friend [[Nala (The Lion King)|Nala]] finds him and convinces him to return to the Pride Lands which has grown barren and starving under Scar's rule.<ref name=":30" /> After being visited by Rafiki and Mufasa's spirit who reminds him of his responsibilities, Simba confronts Scar who finally admits to killing Mufasa and defeats him, reclaiming his rightful place as king.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Lion King (1994) |url=https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/60348 |access-date=January 26, 2024 |website=[[American Film Institute]]}}</ref> With order restored and Scar killed by the hyenas, Simba and Nala have a child, thus ushering in hope for the future of the Pride Lands.<ref name=":8-3">{{Cite AV media |title=[[The Lion King]] |date=June 15, 1994 |medium=Motion picture |publisher=[[Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures]] |location=United States |people=[[Roger Allers|Allers, Roger]] (director); [[Rob Minkoff|Minkoff, Rob]] (director)}}</ref>

In ''[[The Lion King II: Simba's Pride]]'', Simba and Nala commemorate the birth of their daughter, [[Kiara (The Lion King)|Kiara]], who Simba is overprotective of since she grows up to be adventurous and rebellious like he was as a cub. Simba discovers that Kiara has visited the forbidden Outlands – home to an enemy pride of Scar's exiled followers known as the Outsiders – and befriended [[Kovu]], the younger son of the pride's leader, [[Zira (The Lion King II)|Zira]]. Unbeknownst to them, Zira is grooming Kovu to avenge Scar by usurping Simba. Several years later, Kovu rescues Kiara from a [[wildfire]] started by Kovu's siblings, Nuka and Vitani. Simba reluctantly lets Kovu, who claims to have left the Outsiders, live with them, but continues to act coldly towards him. Witnessing Kiara and Kovu's growing friendship, Simba decides to spend a day getting to know Kovu. Realizing that Kovu is beginning to side with Simba due to his feelings for Kiara, Zira ambushes Simba and convinces him that Kovu orchestrated the attack. After narrowly escaping with his life, Simba exiles Kovu and forbids Kiara from seeing him, prompting her to leave. When a battle ensues between the Pride Landers and Outsiders, Kiara and Kovu return to stop them, with Kiara helping Simba and the prides reconcile their differences peacefully. Zira attacks Simba as he is about to accept the Outsiders back into his pride, but he she is intercepted by Kiara, causing the pair of lionesses to tumble over the edge of a cliff. Having landed safely on a ledge, Kiara offers to help Zira, who is struggling to hang on. However, Zira, consumed by resentment, refuses help and falls to her death. Simba finally accepts Kovu into the pride and reconciles with his daughter.<ref>{{Cite AV media |title=[[The Lion King II: Simba's Pride]] |date=October 27, 1998 |author-link=Darrell Rooney |medium=Motion picture |publisher=Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment |location=United States |people=Rooney, Darrell (director)}}</ref>

In ''[[The Lion King 1½]]'', Simba appears as a less prominent character because the film's primary focus is on Timon and Pumbaa's behind-the-scenes role and involvement in the events of ''The Lion King.''<ref>{{Cite web |last=Delia |first=John |year=2012 |title=The Lion King 1 1/2 and The Lion King 2: Simba's Pride Now on Blu-ray |url=http://acedmagazine.com/the-lion-king-1-12-and-the-lion-king-2-simbas-pride-now-on-blu-ray/ |access-date=August 9, 2013 |website=ACED Magazine}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Smith |first=Dennis |date=March 22, 2012 |title=The Lion King 1 1/2: Special Edition (a J!-ENT Children's Blu-ray Disc Review) |url=http://j-entonline.com/blu-ray-dvd-reviews/blu-ray-reviews/the-lion-king-1-12-special-edition-a-j-ent-childrens-blu-ray-disc-review/ |access-date=August 9, 2013 |website=J!-ENT |publisher=j-entonline.com}}</ref> Although the two films technically share the same story and timeline, the plot of ''The Lion King 1½'' focuses more on Timon and Pumbaa. The [[meerkat]] and [[warthog]] unknowingly coexist alongside Simba, and the story fills in the two characters' [[backstories]] and events that led up to their long-lasting friendship, coinciding with and often initiating the events that affect Simba's life during the first film. These events include the commemorative bow that occurs during the opening "[[Circle of Life]]" musical number and the collapsing of the animal tower that takes place during "[[I Just Can't Wait to Be King]]".<ref>{{Cite web |year=2004 |title=The Lion King 1 1/2 |url=http://www.comingsoon.net/news/dvdreviewsnews.php?id=3234 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040219011539/http://www.comingsoon.net/news/dvdreviewsnews.php?id=3234 |archive-date=February 19, 2004 |access-date=August 9, 2013 |website=ComingSoon.net |publisher=CraveOnline Media, LLC}}</ref> The film also explores, in further detail, the relationship among the three characters as Timon and Pumbaa struggle to raise Simba as [[Adoptive parent#Example of Terms used in Honest Adoption Language|adoptive "parents"]] and disapprove of his relationship with Nala, portraying Simba as he grows from an energetic young lion cub, into an incorrigible teenager and, finally, an independent young [[lion]].<ref>{{Cite AV media |title=[[The Lion King 1½]] |date=February 10, 2004 |publisher=[[Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment]] |location=United States |people=[[Bradley Raymond|Raymond, Bradley]] (director)}}</ref>