My Lion King Forum

Why does Kovu look so much healthier than Nuka if they both grew up in an environment with less food? Could it be that Zira treated Kovu better and gave him more food or something?

Yes, Kovu was given a greater ration of the food the Outsiders could gather up because he was seen among the pride as the "Chosen One" who will defeat Simba, take Scar's place as king, and free the pride from residing in the Outlands. Not to mention he received Zira's training. So, it would make sense that he was more healthier and fit than the rest of the Outsiders because he was being trained to take on Simba, who was a force to be reckoned with.

Nuka was, I would say, not worth much to Zira because he was lanky, thin, and termite infested. He wouldn't be worth of a challenge against Simba, which he is why he wasn't given as much food as Kovu was given.

That would make sense.

I wonder how Vitani's health compares to them. She's never looked unhealthy to me.

TLP pretty much said it all lol. Although I would add the factor of genes playing a role. Vitani and Nuka are both the cubs of Scar and seem to have inherited his lanky and weak frame. Kovu's father, whoever he was, might have been more muscular and passed that trait on to Kovu. This is all just speculation though.

[quote="Amy43"]I wonder how Vitani's health compares to them. She's never looked unhealthy to me.[/quote]
I was about to bring this up about her too. Vitani seems just as healthy as Kovu does, but I assume Kovu is stronger and more built up. Just remember, Nuka was the first child born. He probably didn't eat as much as Kovu and Vitani did at the time. He might have a different health than they do.

[quote="Amanda"]TLP pretty much said it all lol. Although I would add the factor of genes playing a role. Vitani and Nuka are both the cubs of Scar and seem to have inherited his lanky and weak frame. Kovu's father, whoever he was, might have been more muscular and passed that trait on to Kovu. This is all just speculation though. [/quote]
I agree.

[quote="Amy43"]That would make sense.

I wonder how Vitani's health compares to them. She's never looked unhealthy to me.[/quote]

Perhaps because she was useful to her mother. Vitani seemed to be Zira's spy and report everything to her. Could be that she was to be a front-line fighter when it came time to conquer the Pridelands. Ehh...I don't think I've making any sense. Point is, she seemed to be improtant, at least to me. Her being unhealthy would not make her very useful.

Kovu's the "chosen one", and was raised to fight Simba. I would imagine he was given better treatment than Nuka was; better/more food, more water, etc. Genetics could also be a big factor. Considering Kovu and Nuka have different fathers, it's not all that unlikely that they'd be so different in build.

As for Vitani, I've always thought that she WASN'T Scar's cub; I've always assumed that Kovu and Vitani were twins. She seems to be the same age as Kovu, and while I know the movie's not intended to be completely realistic in terms of mating and stuff, aren't cubs usually full-grown or nearly full-grown before the mother is ready to mate again? At least, that's how it is with housecats... Anyway, if they are, the same"genetics" reasoning can be applied to her.

[quote="Amanda"]TLP pretty much said it all lol. Although I would add the factor of genes playing a role. Vitani and Nuka are both the cubs of Scar and seem to have inherited his lanky and weak frame. Kovu's father, whoever he was, might have been more muscular and passed that trait on to Kovu. This is all just speculation though. [/quote]

Even though I know you're speculating, but, Nuka and Vitani aren't Scar's cubs. Neither of them referred to Scar as their father in the film, and if reliable enough, the deleted scenes have them referring to him as just "Scar".

And yes, genetics does play a factor in their build. How could I forget about that? Well, I believe all of Zira's cubs share the same father, and most siblings always look different from each other because the parents's genetic traits can have multiple ways of producing their offspring as genetics is just that complicated enough to do that.

I think because Vitani is obviously also more smarter then Nuka, she could have taken care of herself a lot better.

About Kovu, I agree with the rest, Zira had huge plans for him, and therefor gave him more care and attention.

Like everyone said: All of Zira's plans revolve around Nuka, so she makes sure that he gets a lot of meat and nutrition at the expense of effectively the rest of the Outsiders. He has to go through all the training and extra dosing of brainwashing, but he also gets prime picks of the food, so that he will serve Zira's cause loyally and to the fullest of her dreams.

But then Kiara came along, but that's another story...