My Lion King Forum

No, not a troll post. LOL!

Seriously, she is an underrated character. She only had one line and she has lots of fans. If given the opportunity, how would you flesh out Sarafina?

"Hmmm, what do you think Sarabi?"

Just by this line alone, it is implied that Sarafina is a submissive type. Never mind the fact that Sarabi is Queen. I have seen versions where she is 'adventurous'. Is that where Nala gets her 'head strong' personality from? As a cub I noticed that Nala was more likely to disagree with Simba. Did she get this trait from Sarafina?

Any takers?

Apart from being Nala's mother? No idea.

But from what I read, Sarafina originally had more lines, just that they were cut one by one until she had only one left. Bummer... I don't really know why, but recently, Sarafina became on of my more favorite TLK characters. Could be because with so little development, much of her is left to interpretation.

And I absolutely think that she is one of the more underrated characters. Alongside Zazu and Timon who both have a bad reputation among fans. (Timon I can kinda understand, but not Zazu).

In the junior novelization, Sarafina has a bit longer dialog with Sarabi at this juncture. Simba had just gotten back from his morning with Dad interupted by emergency hyena management, and when the children ask to go play, Sarafina more elaborately asks Sarabi, "Do you think it's safe with hyenas running around loose?"

I'm pretty sure these are the deleted lines referred to. (There are also jokes/exchanges between the Hyenas in the novelization that don't appear in the movie and yet are used verbatim in the official comic book too, which leads me to believe the novelization used an actual script from some point and lines were dropped as the flow of the movie was tweaked.)

The picture it paints less of an uncertain lioness and more of normal concerned parent, and I think with the background of context makes Sarafina's kinda lame one line a lot less mystifying. At least it finally felt explained to me.


As for why she's so popular....well, she's an unspoken for Nala clone, number one, which gets you far in this fandom for her many admirers, LOL, and number two I think a lot of people love the fanfic hook/possibility of a romantic history between Scar/Sarafina/Mufasa/Sarabi/slice&dice-anywhichway. Especially since she's the only other grown lion of that first generation named in canon!


For me, I consider her a single parent (which is nothing to sneeze at truly,) possibly a little younger than Sarabi since she does look to her for guidance and second opinions. Beyond that I don't venture much of a guess.

I don't think it's unreasonable to think that she was a good mother given that Nala turned out so well despite growing up under Scar's reign. I think it's commonly assumed that she and Sarabi were close friends, but to be honest, I can't even say for sure that I see that in the movie since we only see them together in one scene that only lasts a couple of seconds. Other than that, she's a pretty mysterious character which is probably what draws a lot of people to her.

I believe Sarafina is much like Nala, maybe a little calmer though.

Sarafina is the mother of Nala and best friend of Sarabi. She did have more lines during early productions, but a lot were cut. Resulting in her having one line. "hmm, what do you think Sarabi?". It doesn't make her submissive, in TLKB she apparently killed Banzai's father. Now things were of course changed compared to the film. Also Nala must have learn't her skills from somewhere, probabaly from Sarafina. Nala could have a natural talent for hunting and fighting. But as females in their pride learn a lot from their mothers, she must have been taught by her mother. Sarabi is the queen after all, the lead hunteress. So all lionesses would have to obey her. I think Sarafina asked her in a way, she knew that Sarabi would be able to get someone to watch out for cubs that being Zazu.

I like to think that Sarafina didn`t ask Sarabi because she can`t form her own opinion or make her own choice regarding Nala, but because Sarabi is the queen, and as Simba (the crown prince) is her son, I think Sarafina asked out of respect. She was fine with Nala coming along, but wanted to check with Sarabi and let her have the final say.

As for Sarafina`s personality, I have always imagined her as a very loving, caring and nurturing mother.. protective. I think she`s a skilled hunter and strong fighter, I can picture her training Nala and teaching her all the tricks, lol.
I think Sarafina is a little on the shy side, she can be quiet, thoughtful... Mild, generally, but harsh and stern when she needs to be.

[quote="DatLioness"]I imagine Sarafina as a protective, nurturing, and mothering character. I think she would die to protect her pride and family so I also think she is devoted, who might also be very accepting of others. However underneath her cool exterior is a strong passionate lioness who won't back down. I like to think that at one point Sarafina and Scar had something. Whether it was lust, one sided, or mutual is a mystery. [/quote]
That's a pretty interesting perspective. However, if this is implying that Scar is Nala's father, I just simply can't imagine Disney going through with that as they wouldn't even go as far as to make Kovu Scar's son because of the whole "incest" thing.

For the record, I`ve always believed that Scar is Nalas`s father, and that he and Sarafina had *something* in their younger years.