Are the hyenas evil?

[Meskhenet]

To be honest, I don't think the hyenas are actually evil. They were[quote="Julie Skywalker"]manipulated into helping him.[/quote] They were starving in the Elephant Graveyard and the only way they obtained any source of food is when Scar sneaks some meat for them.
So I'm sure their decision was based on hunger and excitement that Scar would be king enabling them to have the life they never had when Mufasa was in charge. Since he would run them out. In fact, if you think about most henchmen are on the villain's side because they are promised incentives that they need or want such as food for the hyenas. Scar having that manipulative charisma knows that the hyenas are hungry so he promises them that they'll never go hungry again. And since they are obviously hungry they agreed to the terms of aiding Scar to murder Mufasa and Simba. In which case they started the wildebeest stampede by scaring and snapping at the wildebeest heels to get them to go down the gorge wall. They turned against Scar in the end because he put the blame on the hyenas for Mufasa's death and therefore it is assumed that he was eaten as he and some of the hyenas (the ones who were mauling Scar) were burned alive. So it does make them good in a way. But hyenas will be hyenas.

[mamaprince]

They are, and they aren't at the same time.

[Si-Amber]

I would say that they are easily manipulated rather than evil. They are the kind of characters who are only loyal to themselves.

[DGFone]

I don't really consider them evil. They are just doing whatever they feel is the correct path towards improving their lives. Mufasa is enforcing a "no hyenas in the Pride Lands" law, so they are left to fend for themselves in the elephant graveyard, which is no place to live. Scar comes along with promises of solutions to all their problems, in return for their loyalty. Are they going to refuse? I don't think so.

In the eyes of the hyenas, it's Mufasa who is the bad guy, for refusing them a safe and plentiful food supply that is in the Pride Lands. To them, killing Mufasa is no different than killing a tyrant in the name of glorious revolution. In fact, this is quite a good analogy considering the unfortunately very common trope in history of replacing a bad leader with an even worse one. The hyenas themselves admit that things were better when Mufasa was king, but that was after they helped Scar take the throne and make an utter mess out of it. Before that, when Mufasa was still alive and they had to survive rotting away in the graveyard, can you really blame them for acting in a way that is considered "evil" by one side, but not evil by the other?

Maybe that's why they didn't fight necessarily all that hard when Simba returned (otherwise how could a single lion pride defeat an entire hyena army). When your leader is horrible, are you really willing to risk everything for them? Clearly the hyenas were willing to do that initially, when Scar was still the enigmatic lion who will solve all their problems. But when he turned lazy, they were no longer as willing to keep him in power.

[FlipMode]

Yeah. They helped Scar murder Mufasa and tried to kill Simba and Nala. Tell me that isn't evil.
Scar lied to them that they would be rewarded but they still agreed to help him which is a pretty evil thing to do.

[DGFone]

[quote="Flip_FTW"]Yeah. They helped Scar murder Mufasa and tried to kill Simba and Nala. Tell me that isn't evil.
Scar lied to them that they would be rewarded but they still agreed to help him which is a pretty evil thing to do.[/quote]

That's the thing: Scar lied to them. They didn't know that he was lying. And yes, killing Mufasa and Simba is "evil", but that's because we the audience are told that Simba and Mufasa are the good guys, and killing them is evil. When Simba fought Scar, with the intent of killing him, I might add, we never considered it "evil" because the movie told us that Scar is the bad guy and needs to die.

But the hyenas are not the audience, and in their eyes, Mufasa and Simba are the bad guys. So is killing them really "evil" then? While murder is bad, true, it's not that rare when death is used as a necessary evil, which I am sure is what the hyenas were viewing it as. After all, I doubt they would shed a tear about killing Mufasa, who would kill them if he had the chance.

[EdtheHyena]

While they may have had a darker side to them in the original movie, I believe that after the film they became LooneyTunes-esque characters and had the adventures we see in the TV series.

[PrincessKiara]

I consider them evil. They were more than willing to both kill and aid in murder (Elephant Graveyard and Stampede) Sure, they believed Scar would reward them with food if they remained loyal and did him some favours, but still.

I think what really makes me believe they`re evil is seeing the enjoyment the hyenas have in chasing the cubs around the graveyard, or scaring the wildebeest into a stampede, being fully aware of Scars intentions. They like causing others pain.

[EdtheHyena]

[quote="PrincessKiara"]I consider them evil. They were more than willing to both kill and aid in murder (Elephant Graveyard and Stampede) Sure, they believed Scar would reward them with food if they remained loyal and did him some favours, but still.

I think what really makes me believe they`re evil is seeing the enjoyment the hyenas have in chasing the cubs around the graveyard, or scaring the wildebeest into a stampede, being fully aware of Scars intentions. They like causing others pain.[/quote]

About that.

You know, some of the time you sort of almost are voting for them. Not you in particular, but in general. The elephant graveyard scene is a good example. For someone who finds brats really irretable, I sort of like seeing them enjoying chasing and circling puny Simba and Nala. It's just hard to really give a [censored] about those stupid cubs during the scene, and you're voting for the awesome predators. I'm not saying this applies to everyone, but I sort of find it that way.

Anyways, I don't think they see the true wrongness of their ways. So Banzai and Shenzi are a little mean, but not evil, and Ed is definitely not evil. can't believe anyone would truly see him as evil. The only reason I can think of is his angry expression when they corner Scar at the end, and that was pretty justified.

The way I think of it---

Ed---quite sweet and nice
Shenzi----sassy but nice
Banzai---a little mean, but not truly evil

Plus, the TV series did portray them in a rather silly but good natured light. I know it's not canon, but they mainly had to go with their characters from the film. As I said, Timon is a little crazier then in the movies, but he's still fairly close to what he was. And so are the hyenas. If they were truly evil---like Scar---I seriously doubt they would have had their own segment at all, and the idea of them getting a movie probably wouldn't be nearly as likely.

[AnnaM]

[quote="PrincessKiara"]"I think what really makes me believe they`re evil is seeing the enjoyment the hyenas have in chasing the cubs around the graveyard, or scaring the wildebeest into a stampede, being fully aware of Scars intentions. They like causing others pain."[/quote]
[quote="Mike0908"]"they tried to kill simba, nala, and zazu when they were in the elephant graveyard. they were laughing and enjoying themselves."[/quote]
This is a point that I agree with; let me also add how they enjoyed torturing the meerkat colony in TLK 1 & 1/2.

I agree with every post in this topic, especially mamaprince's. I don't really know whether the hyenas were good or evil. The murders they helped commit were wrong in the sense that they took lives, but as DGFone said, some evils are necessary, and people don't consider death in war/revolution wrong. And the "war" the hyenas waged was justified because their ruler (Mufasa) was not ruling with consent of the governed (all the animals in the Pridelands, including the hyenas). I need "all of the above" in the poll!

One thing I really don't know is whether the hyenas were trying to serve justice on Scar when they realized he was a liar and murderer (because of his betrayal of them) or just have revenge.

And this raises a question about the topics Has it been confirmed that the hyenas survived? and Shenzi, Banzai & Ed---alive or...no, no, no.... Yes, the question is off topic, but not really, since part of the answer to the question of whether or not the hyenas are evil is whether revenge was (or was one of) their intention(s) for mauling Scar (to death).

If the hyenas wanted Scar to die, and themselves died after and/or while mauling Scar in the fire, but the fire was going to do the job anyways (and they knew it), then why did they essentially commit suicide by finishing the job for the fire before the fire had the chance? It seems to me that if the fire truly consumed Scar and the hyenas, they would have been able to predict this before trapping themselves in its path, so why would they trap themselves in its path anyways, unless they wanted to die? So I don't think the fire consumed Scar and the hyenas.

Or maybe, after seeing Scar rise from his fall, they thought he would escape the fire's path if they didn't finish him off first, so they went for it. Did they not predict that the fire would trap them (assuming it did)? Were they willing to die to get their revenge (were they cutting their noses off to spite their faces, assuming the fire did consume them and they did predict that it would)?