My Lion King Forum

[quote="crownofsimba"]But then Kiara never gets called a tomboy, which is funny since between her and Kovu, Kovu is the better hunter, which means he'd be the more "feminine" one and her the "masculine."[/quote]

OH MY GOSH YES! I never thought about this but I really like your point there! I've always thought that Kiara would be better in combat rather than hunting, and I never noticed the whole aspect of Kovu being considered more 'feminine' because of his skill in hunting, but it definitely makes sense!

As for Vitani being a tomboy, I don't really know if there's a way to tell. I personally don't think so. I think a lot of people think she is because she wouldn't be considered a conventionally pretty character, though I still think she is.

As others have stated, perhaps Tomboy isn't the right word to describe Vitani. I hate to contradict anything I said earlier in this thread, but It's not that Vitani is a Tomboy I just doubt she is the type of lioness that would (And I DO NOT WANT to offend any of our female members by using these examples.) worry about a broken claw, or care too much if her fur was not necessarily exactly how she wanted it. Maybe a better way to put it is that while Vitani is without a doubt a female, she may not necessarily concern herself with acting like a prim and proper lady at all times. Unlike Sarabi, Sarafina Nala, and Kiara.

Now that being said I don't think Vitani would have the slightest problem attracting and keeping the attention of whatever lucky single Lion she set her sights on.

to be honest, I was 12 when the movie came out, and I actually thought Vitani was a dude
I realized I was wrong when she grew up and became a, well, female lioness
If you compare Vitani to Sarabi, Nala or Kiara, she isn't very feminine. But, on the other hand, these lionesses are queens, and have to behave in a certain manner.
Also there is the fact that the outlanders had to fend for themselves, what makes them all look more scruffy, skinny and neglected (if thats the right word)
I still wonder why Vitani was put in the movie.. I really like her as a character, but I never found out what her role was in the story..

[quote="zerodix"]to be honest, I was 12 when the movie came out, and I actually thought Vitani was a dude
I realized I was wrong when she grew up and became a, well, female lioness [/quote]
Really? I never thought so, and my 7 year old cousin just watched the movie last week and referred to her as a girl before she grew up. I have heard a few people say they initially thought she was a guy, though, so I guess it's more common than I'd think.
[quote]I still wonder why Vitani was put in the movie.. I really like her as a character, but I never found out what her role was in the story..[/quote]
She has a role, it's just not a very big one. She is the one who reports to Zira. You could say "why can't Nuka do what she did?" Well, because of his personality. He wouldn't necessarily provide trustworthy information to Zira. The two of them sort of served the same purpose as Scar's hyenas, with Nuka being more like Banzai and/or Ed, and Vitani being the brains of the outfit, like Shenzi. She also had the purpose of being the one to turn against Zira first in the final battle. She was Zira's own child, and so it made more of an impact when Zira said "if you will not fight then you will die as well." It wouldn't have been as powerful if the lioness who had rebelled was not her flesh and blood. For the plot, it was necessary for Nuka to have died and Kovu to have betrayed Zira by this point. Another lion needed to exist for this role, ergo, Vitani was needed.

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As to the topic itself, I don't think it is just Vitani's appearance that makes some people assume she has tomboyish qualities. I always saw her as very akin to myself and rather tomboyish, and part of the reason was certainly her demeanor, her attitude, and her appearance. She doesn't carry herself the way the other lionesses do, she doesn't talk the way they do, she doesn't act the way they do. I do agree that her tomboyishness dissipates as she grows into an adolescent, and that one should not be judged entirely by their looks or character design. At the same time, in animated shows, often the design of a character can be revealing about their personality, as it is done this way on purpose. It's complicated.

As a general rule, I agree that she seems a bit of a tomboy at parts, and that she grows out of it a bit by adulthood, and that's based on, as I said, her demeanor and attitude as well as her appearance.

I hope that if vitani shows up in the lion guard she gets a bit of development. In my fanfic I posted here I made her kind of like a mentor for Kion.

^ Johnny Boy, please keep posts on topic. This thread is about whether or not she's a tomboy, not whether or not she'll get development in TLG. You could post that in her character topic or a TLG thread.

As a child I knew she was a girl. It's not like a huge obvious thing, but I knew. I actually loved her. After kiara and kovu she was one of my favorites.

I have grate affection for Vitani as well. As for people confusing her gender, I think it is because of her rough and tumble attitude attitude.

"Hey Kovu wanna fight."

and the fact that people misidentify her cute bangs as an early mane.

If it were a mane, she would have had as much hair as kovu at the end though...maybe that's how I knew? Idk lol

I knew Vitani was a girl right away, and I loved her tomboyish nature. I actually think I love her more than Kovu (and definitely more than Kiara).