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Scar Wasn't Really That Bad


Everyone has seen The Lion King as well as the sequels and most likely the prequels as well. Through all of this, Scar is painted as the big villain. But, what if I told you Scar wasn't the real villain? What happens when you look at the films objectively and realize that Scar wasn't so bad. Don't get me wrong, he's still creepy, but he's not necessarily a bad guy. Especially not the vile villain he is painted as.

The first thing that pops into your head is probably that he killed Mufasa and that's true. He did kill Mufasa. But, Mufasa challenged him to do so. When Mufasa came to harass Scar about missing Simba's ceremony Scar suggested he would have been a better ruler than Mufasa. Mufasa challenges him to a fight on the spot for control of the pride. Scar even points out that Mufasa always does this by stating that Mufasa knows Scar would always lose in a fight based on power. It establishes that Mufasa has a history of challenging Scar to fight for the crown. Yet Scar explains he's smarter than Mufasa. So, it was only a matter of time until Scar found a way to challenge him after years of being told he couldn't match up.

Let's also keep in mind that Mufasa was kind of a dictator and an all around asshole, if we're being blunt. Did you notice he exiled all the male lions from the Pride except Scar and Simba who were his family? In a small lion Pride it's normal to have one male lion and up to five or six female lions. But, this was a large pride where it's not uncommon for there to be up to five male lions and thirty females. Yet, that wasn't the case here. The king, only remained that way by making sure nobody ever grew to challenge him.

What about the Outlands? Mufasa tells Simba that everything the light touches is theirs, but he should never go to the Outlands. What's in the Outlands? The hyenas and other animals that Mufasa had banned from the area. There they were basically left to die. There was nothing for them to hunt and they were on the verge of starvation. The only reason they didn't die is because Scar would provide them with food.

Yes, Scar killed Mufasa, but what did he do after that? He led the Hyenas out of the dark. He didn't exile anyone from the tribe.While there was a drought during his reign, that's nothing he could control. Outside of the drought Scar had a rather uneventful rule that didn't negatively effect anyone.  Yet what happened when Simba led the pride? He banned any lion that was still loyal to Scar including pregnant lionesses who had given Scar children. He left them to die. The same thing Mufasa did by sending the Hyenas to the Outland.

I'm not saying Scar is a great guy. I'm not even saying he's a great ruler. I'm just saying he's nowhere near as bad as he's made to look. Yeah, he killed Mufasa and tricked Simba into running away. Those are pretty bad, but when stacked up next to the things Mufasa and Simba did, he's not exactly the worst. If we really want to go back, we can talk about how his father basically neglected him in favor of Mufasa for his entire life. Scar had a crappy life and maybe that's what made him the way he is. He's just not pure evil.

You can hear Darrell on the CP Time and Powerbomb Jutsu podcasts. He also plays classic arcade games on The Cabinet. You can also check out his playthrough of Sleeping Dogs.
Darrell S.

Hey, I write stuff, a lot of different stuff, that's all.

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