Are the hyenas villains?

[Panda-chan]

Well this topic got me thinking: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=2615
Can Shenzi, Banzai, Ed, and all the other hyenas be considered the bad guys? Because technically they were only following orders from Scar when they took over Pride Rock. But if they were truly good, they wouldn't have helped to plot the killing of Mufasa and Simba, would they? They were Scar's henchmen, but does that mean they were necessarily bad? I mean, that's like saying if they had been following someone else's orders such as Mufasa's, that would automatically make them the good guys.
What do you think?

[Amy43]

That's a good question. I don't consider Ed a villain, but I do consider the other two sort of villains, especially Shenzi. I think they turned good in the end, because they turned against Scar.

[TheRoguePrince]

Well, they weren't really villains, but they were in the service of one, which makes them more or less undecernable

[Jiirani]

What I believe is that the hyenas were just hungry. The did Scars bidding because he promised them food, so really they only did what they had so they could eat. They couldn't help how ready they were, in my opinion x3 Scar is the antagonist, and they are his hungry henchmen x3

[TheRoguePrince]

agreed, henchman it is, if they weren't hungry then the Pridelanders wouldn't have had to worry

[Jiirani]

I don't think the hyenas can help themselves x3

[SuperBabySimba]

Of course they are. Especially the main trio. They were fully aware and willing to kill the king's son. Twice. While the son was onlly a child. I know in real life hyenas have the habit to kill lion cubs but this film takes it all to a very human moral level anyway. Also, they were doing Scar's bidding completely out of their own free will, every step of the way. Did you notice how massive number of hyenas were there when Scar plotted to murder Mufasa and Simba? There is no way Scar coud've forced them to do anything. They did it all because they wanted to. And in the end when Scar was the king... The hyenas still were much larger in number than the lion pride was, so again, no reason why they should do Scar's bidding unless they genuinely wanted to. But at that time as they were displeased with Scar's rule, it is highly likely Scar had done something to win their loyalty - especially as Scar either wasn't stupid - he didn't afford losing the support of his original "friends".

They probably were more in number even during Mufasa's reign yet they apparently didn't try to invate Pride Lands in large numbers but kept stealing in every once and a while. Why? I think it's bevause they did fear and respect Mufasa who was not only huge and powerful physically but a strong and wise leader and king. It is highly possible he had connections and friendships with neighbouring lion prides and thus could've summoned help if the hyena lot attacked. And as lion is bigger and stronger than hyena, they wouldn't have stood a chance in the end. Scar sucked as a king big time, so everything probably fell apart quickly; the pride's loyalty as well as neighbouring prides' interest and all.

I don't think the hyenas, generally taken, were stupid at all. They were fully aware of what's smart, but just too selfish and greedy to see clearly. Just like Scar.

[Jiirani]

I suppose your right. What always bugged me about the ending of TLK was the fact that there were so many hyenas and the Pride actually managed to take them down, but needed Simba to do it. I mean seriously, if you're going to be able to take down an impossibly large amount of hyenas with Simba, how come you can't take them down without him? It seems stupid.

But the hyenas were meant to be lower class than Scar within the movie, he was meant to be the main antagonist, so for the kids that watched the movie would feel him the strong, evil one and the Hyenas were just there to do his bidding. That's the main frame of it all. But the hyenas themselves never really stood up for themselves or rebelled until the end of the moive, so I don;t think anyone was meant to take them seriously, which if they did so they would see that SBS's comments are probably valid, and the hyenas were just going along with it to make life easier and to get rid of Mufasa. When Scar did just that, the Hyenas, as Scars 'friends' got to live the easy life, not having to worry about anything, except the lioness not 'hunting well enough' for them because they [the hyenas] probably ate everything. Before all the animals left of course.

So whether you consider the hyenas to be the main evil behind all of it is up to you. I mean, in the end Scar says that it was the hyenas, it was all their fault. What if it was? What if the hyenas controlled Scar when he was younger and though he came up with the plans, the hyenas threatened him etc? I mean that might be true, the hyenas could've killed Scar at the end because he betrayed them x3 If you get what I mean anyway :9

[FlipMode]

Well if they were following Mufasa then he is a good guy so that would have made them good inherently but they were not, they were following Scar and Scar is evil, they are bad guys. What if they were doing it for food? That still doe not condone plotting to kill people, I mean for food, would you kill a person? I mean I myself probably would, but that is so not the point I am making here! And if I did it probably would not be a child either.

[Chumvikingpride]

If mufasa offer them food, they would be nice