My Lion King Forum

Who had the worst life?

Nala- Grew up with no father figure.

Simba- Lost his father during a stampede.

Kiara- Forced by her father to obey his rules

Kovu- Forced to follow in Scars pawprints.

Nuka- Tried and failed to get attention.

Simba. In terms of Kiara and Nuka, following rules is a normal thing in childhood, your parents tell you what to do and you're supposed to do it. Nuka, ignored by his mother for not being good enough is constantly striving to get her attention, and yet the way in which he does it is demanding and like he's trying too hard, rather than actually going to her level. And attention and recognition from one person isn't all that matters. Which is the same in Nala's case, she doesn't seem at a loss for lack of a father figure, it's never mentioned or even hinted at, it seems like she had a fairly tight-knit group of lionesses looking after her, although Scar's reign would have been something interesting to experience.

Kovu, was a close choice for Simba, he is taught and trained to believe something his whole life which he later finds out is lies and based on hatred and greed. So his whole life has in essence has been a lie. Not only that, he then loses his mother.

Simba however, his father dies and he is lead to believe that it is his fault that he's dead. He runs away from his family, probably missing them and tearing himself up inside for years about the fact that he killed his father. He is still ashamed by it as an adult as when nala turns up and he says "She doesn't have to know, nobody has to know" you can tell it's still hurting him. Then he realises that he can go back, only to find out that the kingdom is ruled by his evil uncle who he believed up until that point to be a perfectly nice relative. He returns, sees the pridelands in ruin and is forced to fight his uncle for the throne, and then probably had to manage the pridelands properly to return them to their former glory. That's one heck of a life.

Definitely Simba.

How you described it, all that Simba had to go through was the death of his father. While extreme already all by itself, keep in mind that for a long time, Simba believed that he was responsible for Mufasa's death. So not only is Simba having to deal with the fact that his father is dead, but also that he is the murderer. If he wants to scream bloody murder, he can. He will be screaming at himself.

The others are almost no contest: All the SP characters you gave don't go through much. Simba disobeyed Mufasa just like Kiara did with him. Not trauma material. You (the reader. Yes YOU) disobeyed your parents at one point or another. Bug deal.
Kovu lived a life of a lie. He might have grown up with hate, but even in the real world, people live like that. They might be called morons, but they don't suffer from PDST.

Nala most likely went through a lot, but not for the reason you gave: I am very certain that not knowing who her father was is no match to losing Simba and believing that he died.

And you left out a character that might have actually had the worst life: Sarabi. She lost both Mufasa and Simba in the same moment. And then Scar takes over and ruins the entire world for her.

In the first movie, I'd honestly say Sarabi. She lost her entire family and lived under Scar's tyranny. Simba may had lost his father and thought that he killed him, but at least he lived a happy life in the jungle before he returned to the Pride Lands.

In SP, I'm kinda mixed between Kovu and Nuka, really. Kovu had to endure years of training to kill someone he didn't even know because apparently he killed his step-father and generally had nothing to do with it, while Nuka was treated like trash his entire life.

Simba.

[quote="Kopa23"]In the first movie, I'd honestly say Sarabi. She lost her entire family and lived under Scar's tyranny. Simba may had lost his father and thought that he killed him, but at least he lived a happy life in the jungle before he returned to the Pride Lands.

In SP, I'm kinda mixed between Kovu and Nuka, really. Kovu had to endure years of training to kill someone he didn't even know because apparently he killed his step-father and generally had nothing to do with it, while Nuka was treated like trash his entire life.[/quote]
I completely agree with this.

[quote="Kopa23"]In the first movie, I'd honestly say Sarabi. She lost her entire family and lived under Scar's tyranny. Simba may had lost his father and thought that he killed him, but at least he lived a happy life in the jungle before he returned to the Pride Lands.

In SP, I'm kinda mixed between Kovu and Nuka, really. Kovu had to endure years of training to kill someone he didn't even know because apparently he killed his step-father and generally had nothing to do with it, while Nuka was treated like trash his entire life.[/quote]


I totally agree but the part between Nuka and Kovu, Kovu had a happy life after this he fell in love with Kiara and will soon become a king! But Nuka, poor poor Nuka had termites, never grew a full mane, his mother ignored him almost completely except for when he died. So I'd say Nuka had the worst life in the SP movie.

This is a hard decision to make but for the reasons Azerane and DGFOne gave I have to say Simba He lived his life believing he killed his father, and I suspect he used Hakuna Matata in the way a depressed human might turn to alcohol. to deaden the pain. Nala at least had her mother and the other Lionesses to help her through Scar's reign.

I say Simba had the worst life.
1. His father died when he was a cub
2. He was blamed for it when he didn't do it
3. He lost his best friend
4. He suffered dehydration and starvation

I think that explains it for me.

I'd say it's a tie between Simba and Nuka.

Nala: At least she had her mother, as well as the other lionesses to guide her, I'm sure. She seemed perfectly fine before losing her best friend, which I think would hurt her so much more. Growing up thinking your friend and his father was killed? Under the rule of an evil lion? Yeah, I think there were worse things going on for her. I don't think many lionesses in that pride had father figures in that pride, anyway.

Simba: Ohhh...Simba. Watched his father be killed. Cried over his dead body. Tried to find comfort in the person responsible who only told him it was his fault and told him to run away. Then nearly killed by hyenas and left to starve and dehydrate far from his home. Sure, he was saved and seemed to have a pretty fun life with Timon and Pumbaa, but I hardly think that counts for much when you realize he was still feeling guilty the entire time, knew he couldn't go home. And I don't think he talked to either of them about it. Everything worked out, but...wow. What a childhood. Really makes me sad...Though I suppose it /was/ all a learning process for him...

Kiara: What strict rules? There are a lot of dangers out there for a little cub. And Simba knew that all too well. I'd say, while he was being a little too protective at times, Simba was a very good father. He obviously loved Kiara dearly, and wanted to make sure she was safe and didn't end up having a childhood like he had. Kiara just needed to see that she was important to the pride and very much loved by her parents, also young, so there were going to be some "rules" about her freedom.

Kovu: This is a little tricky...At least to me. We have no real idea how Zira treated him. Obviously he went through some very strict training and discipline, but he's clearly much healthier than you'd think someone coming from a pride that has little food and water would be. He /was/ Zira's favorite and was shown a lot more affection from her than her other children, so he most likely was treated much better and given a lot more perks like more food. For wrong reasons of course, being used as some secret weapon all based off of a dead Scar's opinion, but I think he was treated better nonetheless. He has issues he needs to work on, like virtually having no childhood and having his future pretty much forced on him by a strict and cruel mother, but not as much as other characters, in my opinion.

Nuka: *shakes head in sadness* How can one not feel bad for him? All he wanted was some attention from his own mother, and a chance to prove himself. He was so desperate that he literally died for his goals. And though it did get him a small sign of care from his mother, how long did it stay? Not long. Zira turned the situation back on herself and her mission, pretty much using Nuka's death for all the wrong reasons. He lived his life being overshadowed by his little brother and ignored by his own mother. Poor guy looked to be in worse condidtion than the other Outlanders, too...He didn't even get a full mane, or it didn't look like it. I'm just glad Vitani was there to actually show some real sadness for her brother.

So...yeah. There's my thoughts.