How The Hyenas Accidentally Revealed A Disturbing Truth About Scar's Health In Lion King 

Scar was able to father cubs. He had one cub in TLK2:Simba’s Pride with Zira, the older brother Nuka. If Scar was sick it’s very likely that Nuka was sick with the same disease too, it may have even been genetic. That’s why Nuka believed he could/should be king instead of Kovu who was paw picked by Scar because he would grow to be strong and healthy. Also, let’s not forget about the broadway musical. There’s a song in there that was originally meant for the movie, but was ultimately cut called “The Madness of Scar” which shows his mental state declining and him trying to force Nala to be his mate and bare his cubs. If it had been kept in the movie it would have completely changed this theory.

Actually, Scar has one major, defining feature over Mufasa: a dark mane. See, in the wild, the mane correlates to a lion's testosterone level: the darker the mane, the more testosterone a lion has. Another feature is the tufts of fur on the elbows, and, for this subspecies, that is a dominant trait. However, darker manes attract more heat, and kills more of the batter used in cooking (if you know, you know).

I feel this theory REALLY reaches a lot and assumes the writers of these movies were delving deeper into these characters than they actually were. I don't think they were bearing in mind real-world lion pride behaviors when they made Scar - I think they just needed to establish his villainness by having him be something of an outcast among the lions. This theory, interesting though it is, seems to just want to make Scar feel more sympathetic than he was ever really intended to be.

5:07 Scar in the original lion king was hunting on behalf of a whole pack of hyena and prioritize feeding them to build alliance. He WAS able to hunt, even beyond his own need but may have voluntarily borderline starved himself for his long term plan

An interesting theory. But like a lot of theories about anything like Lion King, one thing gets forgotten: how much of the story is really a human story with animal costumes. Lots of the behavior was human behavior, not lion behavior, including the hand waved implication of other cubs having other fathers that were just off screen or something.

Scar wasn't sick. Disney made a play on size and brain power. Scar was made skinny on purpose. Mufasa was made muscular on purpose. Scar had the brains. Mufasa had the braun. Hence when Scar says to Zazu at the beginning of the film " When it comes to brains I've got the Lion's share, but when it comes to brute strength I'm at the shallow end of the gene pool ". He was never sick. He was just genetically smaller. His brain however, made up for it, as shown by his incredible calculative planning of the stampede, literally one of the most masterful acts of villain behavior ever portrayed by cartoon artists and screen writers on screen

When I was a kid I noticed the considerable size difference between Mufasa & Scar. It just didn't seem right. I remember thinking that it wasn't just a weight issue and that he actually looked sick. Glad to know I wasn't crazy.

Scar had a grudge against his oldest brother and passed that down against his own oldest son who was Nuka and decided to give priority to the second born because of it. The next cub born was probably vitani but Scar wanted a male successor. Kovu was either kidnapped from another pride, or adopted. Scar was so impressed by a cub that nearly looked like him that he chose him. So Kovu and Vitani received most of the best rations of food which is why they looked the healthiest compared to Nuka. Nuka was just the scapegoat because he is the oldest.

The interesting thing is Scar was based off of your typical African lion. Mufasa and Simba were based more off of Barbary lions, which are now extinct in the wild. African lions have a slinky, thinner appearance compared to the bulkier Barbary lion.

Well, if Scar had a deadly physical disease, he wouldn't be able to fight it for like 5 years. That just seems unlikely, but it could still be possible that his immune system was strong enough to keep him alive that long until the hyenas attacked him, but he would've died before The Lion King II: Simba's Pride. Hyena attack or no Hyena attack if this theory was true.

Scar brought the Hyenas food, not the other way around. We see him throwing them a Zebra leg after they beg for it in the movie, and its the entire premise of their alliance "Stick with me and youll never go hungry again!".

Male lions tend to form coalitions with each other. Prides often have more than one adult male lion in them. Sometimes those males are brothers, and sometimes they just teamed up while wandering as young adults. Mufasa and Scar tiffing about who's in charge wouldn't happen in the real world of lions.

Wait, isn’t the fact that Scar was feeding the hyenas show he was a capable hunter? The hyenas seem to be starving in the film until Scar gives them a leg of a zebra.

A Tale of Two Brothers was deemed noncanon by Disney while the Lion Guard was confirmed to be canon. Scar was ill, but it was the venom from the snake bite that scarred his eye that was killing him and no one in the pride cared enough about him to do anything about it. Mufasa even patronized and teased him about it by nicknaming him Scar instead of thanking Scar for saving their kingdom from the scheming strange lion. Scar also had at least one cub, Nuka, who was angry because his own father chose Kovu over him as heir.

He did have a cub though. It wasn’t Kovu yeah, but wasn’t Nuka the blood son of Scar? Yeah he was clearly sickly and it passed down it seems, but he wasn’t completely unable to have cubs. Most likely the cubs he had just died from starvation or sickness is all.

The hyenas helped Scar with the promise of food. Scar brought the hyenas a zebra leg which they devoured. If Scar was really unable to hunt and starving where did he get the zebra leg and why didn't he eat it himself?

Scar had two cubs and adopted a third. There's even a theory that Nala is Scar's cub, making her and Simba cousins but a lot of people say they're siblings

scar actually does produce offspring. which is nuka but completely weak and scar rejected him.

But it was Scar that was bringing the hyenas food. They didn't have access to hunt the pride lands and could only get scraps from the bones in the Elephant graveyard. Scar brought them that Zebra leg and unless that was provided to him by the lionesses, then that means he would have hunted it on his own. In real life, however, male lions can't actually hunt once they're fully grown because their manes weigh them down too much. That's why they rely on the lionesses to provide food for them while they offer protection and breeding. Young male lions can hunt before their manes are fully grown in, but they must join or takeover a pride if they are going to survive.

Irl black maned lions are a LOT stronger, larger AND healthier. So scar should've had the blonde/red mane and Mufasa should've had the black mane

I don't think scar was getting food from the hyenas it is shown in the movie scar bringing the leg of a zebra to the hyenas and telling them they don't really deserve it.

Yeah...no. Scar might have been sick, but I'll tell you what. It wasn't from lack of testosterone. That pure black mane is a sign of macho man status for lions. The girls would have been all over him. He already had kids with Zira from the Outlands Pride, Nuka and Vitani. So that fatherless Scar theory doesn't wash. Sorry, not sorry. Also, I don't understand who the characters in Lion King 2 thought Kovu looked like Scar after he got his own scar. They kept comparing the two of them. But Kovu looked like a normal lion to me. Nuka looked more like his father, and Vitani had an evil Kiara feel to her and she might have ended up looking like Zira when she got older.

Did you seriously just say that a fan book is more reliable than the actual company that came up with the series showing Scar's backstory? Scar had a son. His name is Nuka and it's likely that Vitani is his daughter. So yes Scar did have children. No Simba didn't take down Scar easily. He was loosing until Scar told him that he murdered his father.

Dident scar have nuka and vitani only nuka seems to have inherited his father genes the most his mane doest grow as much as kovu i cant realy believe scar was sick just less strong but he was smarter for sure

In the Lion Guard, Scar sung the song "When I Led The Guard". In it, Scar meets a strange male lion who looked like Zira had a friend snake who bit Scar in the eye which gave him the scar on his eye. The snake's bite had venom which poisoned Scar both mentally & physically

Scar does have cubs. Nuka is his son and the name Take mean is "dirt" or "garbage."

Why eat scraps of the hyenas when the lionesses do the hunting? He even brought a zebra's meat to the hyenas, which means it was the other way around and Scar was feeding the hyenas to gain control over them.

I had this theory when I was a kid, because of his unnatural coloring, I knew a bit about lion prides when I was a kid even before I saw the movie.

Well....just one problem.... Seriously though Scar was trying to get with Nala... Yes I know it was a yeeted concept but it was because of slight taboo indication even though it would be a thing with lions irl. Still Disney was wise to not have Lion King get scary accurate that way....

Uh, male lions don't need to hunt if they're in a pride, that is the females' job and the males eat first, especially the alpha male, females and cubs afterwards. Males only hunt if they're alone or if they're in a smaller group of twos or trios (especially if they're brothers).

I think this script was written by AI. At one point the video calls Simba's father "Musafa" instead of "Mufasa"

Nuka is Scar's son. There is no doubting that, he looks just like Scar, but has Zira's red eyes. Vitani is Zira's daughter but her father isn't known (though there is a popular theory that Nala is actually her mother and that Scar is her father, but not canon). Kovu is Zira's son, but possibly adopted by her. Scar is not his father, though it was originally meant to be that way and was scrapped for the love story between Kovu and Kiara. If you look at Kovu though, his mane is brown and not black. He is probably related to the darker color lions of the night pride from Lion Guard and perhaps one day we will find out his canon origins.

Actually, hyenas are significantly more efficient at hunting than lions. Lions steal from hyenas A LOT more frequently than hyenas do from lions.

Don't buy it. This is just a "give Scar a little sympathy, he's had a hard life..." Mufasa was already too lenient letting him stay with the pride. The only case that I know of, where that happened was with two male lions who worked as a team acquiring and defending their pride. Scar is no team player.

Uh only one problem with that theory scar had two cubs with his wife zira: nuka and vitani and yes I can hear you ask what about kovu well even in the second lion king movie nuka said clearly that kovu wasn't scar's kid he just took him in. Now I don't doubt that scar is sickly at the time we see him in the movie but that could be that he was shuned by the others though technically lion prides don't actually have more than one male in the pride in fact most male lions are kicked out of their parents pride when they hit adolescence to start their own prides there are thousands of inaccuracies in the lion king movies

Even if you disregard the other movies, remakes, etc... I seem to remember that the darker the lion's mane, the older the lion was. So I've always wondered why Mufasa, with his gold-red mane, was king.

Counter-theory: Lionesses prefer males with darker manes because darker manes mean higher levels of testosterone. Realistically, Scar should've been king the whole time and had dozens of cubs.

In the Lion Guard, Scar used to be muscular like Mufasa. However when he betrayed the guard and lost the Roar, he became skinny.

Didn’t Mufasa try to keep Scar around as a loving brother and only get serious to Scars threats? At least in the movies? Between that and the acceptance as king it doesn’t seem like he was shunned as far as the movies go.

Hey @DeluxeDisney, why do you think Scar wanted Nala as his queen in "The Madness of King Scar"?

With all this in mind, can you please explain NUKA (and VITANI)? Nuka looked a lot like Scar, although even more sickly. Poor soul.

poor scar his health affected his actions and made him sad

Hate to put a wrench in that uh theory but didnt Scar have two children? Nuka and Vitani? Vitani it being questioned whether or not scar hurt nala in order to obtain a child?

Didn’t Scar father Nuka and Vitani, though?

scar knew the hyenas from a young age and he dint make them belive he could hurt them and they did not hunt for him, he hunted for them accualy, its shown him giving them food in the movie, and he was not infertile, he had a cub, Nuka, scar is likely skinny due to his color, getting alot warmer than the other lions, wich is why he hengs out in the shadows, and he was not emaciated when simba returned, u can even see it in ur own clips, wasit is fater, back legs arent skin and bones and his torso too looks biger, his healthy looking but not muscular

I'm pretty sure there were cubs off camera. Simba killed them all, like a real lion. For reals now, there's a deleted scene where he tries to get with Nala.

That theory doesn't add up. In the original deleted scenes it shows scar talking about needing a mate after he took over pride land. He chose Nala to be his queen which she rejected, due to that rejection she got banished by scar. The remaining lionesses refused also to mate with scar. At first tho, the directors thought of scar having a hyena as mate but that would have been awkward and creepy. Anyway, the reason why scar is depicted as "thin" and "smaller" is because he's a villain. Aren't all villains in Disney classics rather thin? Also scar would be superior in reality as his dark mane would be more attractive to females. Besides, if the lion king would be strictly based on real life lions then sweet home Alabama is not far

Nuka from TLK2 was Scar's biological son and he looked more sickly than Scar (not 100% sure about Vitani, but she might have been as well).

If this is true I’m gonna Cry and Scream my lungs out😭 scar’s my favourite DISNEY VILLIAN!!!!

Fun fact about real lions, black manes are more desirable to females but are also an indicator of low fertility.

Scar was so thin because he was giving part of his food to the hyenas seen when he gives them his zebra leg

Scar was the one who fed the Hyena's he brought them food, not the other way around, that and Scar had Cubs, Nuka. from 2nd movie. and Disney stted tale of two brothers was not Canon, but Lion Guard is.

Nuka actually resembles scar. Same evil eyes, emaciated look. Nuka means trash in Swahili as Scar's birth name Taka means dirt or waste...do the math

Both the video and several of everyone’s comments make sense and very valid points to Scar’s character development and terminal illness and the debating factors of his origins based off actual lions and human behavior and that Nuka and Vitani were his actual cubs from Zira, unfortunately Nuka inherited much of his sickness and that landed his position as the “Goat” despite being the eldest. I also agree that, as harsh and unfair as it is in human terms….it’s a fact/law of nature that applies within any animal species, that the strength, resilience and intelligence of the said animal will determine their abilities to adapt and survive either alone as solitary predators/prey or as a valuable asset to the herd, pack, pride, troop, etc. Those who are too sickly and unable to hunt or produce healthy offspring are too big a liability to ensure the group’s survival and are therefore ousted by the group.

The theory of your operates under the assumption that Scar has an illness that debilitated him to where he couldn't hunt for food. This is the part of the theory that falls apart right off the bat. Scar may have been weaker than his older brother, sure, but Scar was easily strong enough to hunt for food. He amassed an army of hyenas bit by bit over the years by using his food catches as leverage to control them. He offered up a zebra thigh to three yeens as a 'reward they didn't deserve', and judging by the yeens' reactions, this isn't the first time Scar has done this. He may not have any cubs of his own because none in the pride want anything to do with him either because he was the weakest of the lions or because Scar was generally unpleasant that only yeens could put up with him. As for a disease that was slowly killing him. I strongly disagree for the reasons above. Weakness isn't a disease. Scar was the weakest of the pride, but even so, he's still a lion at the top of the food chain.

The song be prepared throws out the theory that the hyena's fit scar plus it was always scar that fed them. Also, MattPat's theory states that scar wasn't alpha. Based on the type of lion he was. So no I don't think it was because of illness or being weak and inferior I think scar was just evil

This just makes me think "Ooh, it would have been such a good detail if under Scar's rules the lionesses lost weight and Scar gained some mass"

I also love that Scar had a black mane, which would make him the Lion version of peak Brad Pitt! So I also always thought that he probably couldn't reproduce.

...There's ...a lot of Lion-family-unit stuff not taken into consideration in this theory. Like that the female lions hunt. Scar wouldn't be hunting either way.

The lion guard was confirmed to be canon but the book was not.

Those books are not canon though and so nothing in them can be regarded as truth in the Disney lion universe. Lion Guard is considered canon and so whatever is in that as well as the movies are how Disney actually made it.

Another reason that fits this is if he had a waisting disease. This would explain his physically weaker form due to the malnutrition. It could be less about him starving due to his physically weaker form but the reverse. His body can't properly absorb or process the nutrition he gets so it stays emaciated and stunted.

Scar had cancer that's why he never gained any weight but he was able to father nuka

scar did have one cub nuka but the illness would make sense since nuka was skinny just like his dad scar.

He wasn’t, he got bit my a snake ‘lion guard”

On the topic of how long it was before Simba finally returned, lions typically grow from cub to mature lion in about 4 years. So it's anywhere between 2 to 4 years as the most likely answer.

im sorry no but scar can have cubs vitani and nuka are his biological cubs or at the very least nuka was kovu was adopted but nuka is his and i beilive vitaini is based off all movies and shows

So my question would be the Outlanders. Did they have any relation to the Lion Guard and was there a deeper reason why they were despised by Mufasa/Simba's pride?

The thing with scar not having cubs would be confusing if they kept the deleted scene "The madness of scar" where he asks nala to be his mate- :b

That’s so sad 😭

if you use scars backstory in lion gaurd it makes sense in the lion gaurd kion got a scar like scar which also had poison but eventually treated it but scar didnt get a treatment for his it could also be why he has a supperiority complex cause the scar also affected kions personality meaning scars supperiority complex probably wasnt that bad cuz if you think about it the roar was only given to lions that are humble, proud and pure so if scar was given the roar that means he was humble, proud,pure so it pretty much adds up

Just like what the Jedi did to Anakin. The Lions of Pride Rock made Scar a Sith.

I was, at first interested, but then when you dropped the Tale of Two Brothers, you lost me. That's published fanfiction. Everyone should know that.

Scar had two kids and one adopted son in The Lion King 2 movie

As a male he wouldn't hunt for himself.

Interesting. In real life, lion prides often have more than one male lion lion. There wold be two of them. There may even be a few. These males tend to be brothers, and they share the harem of lionesses. A male lion would be nurturing to all the cubs. Lions can't do DNA testing. So a male lion can't tell his sons from nephews and his daughters from neices. Even then the newphews and neices still pass off the genes to some extent. So Scar being murderous to Simba is very unusual. He made two assasination attampts. The first was the Elephant Graveyard. The second was the stampede. The third was the hyena attack immediatly after the stampede. This video has a theory on Scar being sickly. This does explain Scar's situation very well. The infertility can explain why everybody knows that Simba is Mufasa's son instead of Scar's son. It does help that Simba and Mufasa do look really similar. In adulthood, both are nearly identical. As a cub, Simba may even looked just like Mufasa, when he was a cub. That may have brought up bad memories and resentment in Scar. In Harry Potter, Snape is mean to Harry a lot. There is backstory. Hary had Lily and James Potter as his parents. Snape had a love triangle with them when they were younger. Snape loved Lily. He hated James for being a rival. They competed over Lily. In the end James got the girl. Then Harry looks a lot like him. Snape would have been mean to Harry, because Harry's aperance brings up bad memories of James and the love triangle. Snape does seem so resentful. Maybe Scar resents Simba in the same way. I wouls like to give a little correction. Hyenas are full blown hunters in real life. Almost all of what they eat is suff they hunted themselves. So if Scar was with the hyenas, he would have still eaten well. He may even be just as well off food wise with the hyenas as he would with the other lions.

Possible illness is a very good theory.

Scar did have a cub with Zira: Nuka

Nuka and Vitani was Scar's cubs with Zira. These conspiracy theories are really bogus at some point and over the edge.

But Scar did have a cub, Nuka

Aha so that’s why scar was evil in the first place

He isn't sick, he is supposed to be an evil intellectual. He is smarter, but weaker. These are Anthropomorphized lions not real animals. Scar was expending a lot of time with the Hyenas. He was sinister & weak that's why lioness rejected him. Who knows how long took him to build his army & make a plan to eliminate Mufasa & Simba to take the trone. In the Broadway Lion King, it was said he starved himself to feed the hyenas. In a eliminated scene he wanted Nala to be his Queen. In the sequel he has a Mate & 2 biological cubs, Vitani & Nuka.

Very nice theorie, but please turn the music a little bit lower, it's very dominant.

That makes a lot of sense.

Tapeworms maybe?

What the Hades is this hot mess of a comment section?

Scar has a cub in Simba's Pride. He can have cubs.

just a little nitpick, music is a wee loud for your narration. Other than that nice video, very informative ^^

Scar does have a son he is revealed in a later sequel

I coulda sworn scar had one cub with Zira, Nuka was his only son

Nuka was scars birth cub tho so he would have children but nuka also looked just as sickly as scar

First child?....idk maybe his first son I'm pretty sure the other kids in pride rock is his too

I doubt that theory, in a pride, there is only one male who rules over a pride, it wouldn't make sense for them t have Scar in the pride. But who is Nala's father if it isn't Mustafa?

But what about nuka and vitani from the lion king 2?

I don't like hyenas at all because of scar

I think your hypothesis is solid.

Naaah this is a children's movie we are talking about. Don't overanalyze. They kept Scar thin and the lionesses healthy looking later in the movie because children need continuity to follow along a simple story, which is actually an adaptation of Hamlet.

He did have a cub with Zira and that is Nuka Vitani and Kovu were adopted by Zira and Scar after he died Zira was the one who took care of the three cubs

Lion males that older and alone can't hunt on thier own and usually easte away until they starve to death.

Honestly makes sense. I know people don't like sympathetic villains at times, some people just want them to be evil beyond redemption like Jack Horner for no reason other than to be evil. But I've always felt sympathetic villains made things more realistic and interesting. Though these days, people being evil for no reason than they love being wicked, is becoming a standard... 😮‍💨