If Mufasa was the second-born...

[TheLionPrince]

and Scar was the firstborn therefore the reigning regnant king at the start of the movie, how would this have impacted the story? Would their personalities be the same? What would be the outcome of their cub(s)?

[Arbystrider]

[quote="TheLionPrince"]Would their personalities be the same? What would be the outcome of their cub(s)?[/quote]

I suppose the entire reason Scar was the way he was in TLK1 (particularly, his twisted and evil, scheming personalities) was because he wanted rule over the Pridelands for himself.

If Scar was the firstborn, he would have control over the Pridelands right off the bat. I can't say for sure if he would still be the twisted lion we see, because I believe he became that way because he hung out with the hyenas and sought for power.

I really can't theorise more beyond that.

[SimbasGuard]

It's hard to say, if Scar was was the First Born, he would likely have received proper training on how to be a King. However that does not guarantee that would have grasped the concept of putting the needs of his Kingdom before his own. There would have been no jealousy between Mufasa and he, in fact Scar might have appreciated having a strong, powerful brother to help him defend The Pride Lands. Scar might have even be the architect behind Mufasa and Sarabi's betrothal as a way of letting his brother now how much he was appreciated. Undoubtedly Scar would have had to take a mate for himself, perhaps he would have chosen Zira (Although with out knowing Zira's Back story we have know way of knowing if she would have been a candidate to marry a King). There are may possible scenarios.

[PrincessKiara]

It`s a very interesting question worth thinking about.
It`s hard to say if Scar would have been so power hungry if he had been the crown prince and known that power was within his grasp from birth. It seems to me that much of Scars evil and darkness stems from jealousy of Mufasa. Or he could have ended up as a tyrant anyway, it`s impossible to say for sure.
In terms of Scar choosing a mate/Queen, I can`t see him as a loving mate or father, he`s portrayed as selfish and greedy with no love for others than himself, and he`ll gladly screw his friends over if he needs to save his own hide. Perhaps he`d end up ruling alone and simply picking an heir from the young male cubs in the pride when he got old.

If Mufasa was the younger cub, he may have turned out to be more reckless and less wise and mature than we see him in TLK, due to not being trained for the position as leader/king.. Or perhaps he`d end up like Kion, and be leader of the Lion Guard?

[Lauren]

This does seem like an interesting idea to think about. I'm not sure if Scar would have turned out to be the same egotistical lion he is in the original. Even is Scar was the king before Mufasa, I think he probably would've still try to rule in the fashion he wants and believe that he can do whatever he wants with that power. Maybe Scar would've still believed that he was a better king/lion than Mufasa could ever be in his place (Sorta similar to Draco Malfoy's attitude towards Mudbloods - Him as a Malfoy, who are pure-bloods as a family, believes that he's better than other wizards with different blood statuses). If he did receive training from his father, Scar would've probably not taken them in with as much consideration as Mufasa did.

Also, if Scar was the first king, I would've seen him being an evil version of Simba for a longer period of time versus the time he had during the aftermath of Mufasa's death. When Simba was a cub, he believed that he could do whatever he wanted as king and he would be able to get his way due to his status as a ruler. Since Simba grew up to become a much more responsible and mature lion, he became the rightful king instead of being a tyrant or a dictator like Scar was during his absence. If Simba never received proper life lessons from Mufasa nor learned from his experiences out in the real world, he wouldn't have been as proper of a king than he became at the end. He would've been just as naive and stubborn as Scar was as a king.

[LordOfBeefDip]

I think a lot of Scar's issues were because of the order of birth. From what I gathered, there were at least a few points where others are being condescending of him.

I also think it takes some sort of trauma to create a monster like he became. In the opening scene, he didn't really seem that bad. Sarcastic, bitter, but still more or less resigned to fate.

So if he were the proper king, I think he would have done a lot better. Not perfect, and I suspect the power would still go to his head somewhat, but I don't think that he would have let the kingdom go to hell like he did in the movie.

Something I also suspect, given his more unhinged nature at the end, is that he was possibly dealing with some form of repressed guilt. Scar did murder his brother, and even if he felt justified in doing so, that is something very significant. Comparisons to Mufasa probably angered him, though I can't help but think that his banning his brother from being mentioned couldn't have another reason. A way for him to pretend his brother never existed. That way he wouldn't have to remember what he did, or think of the consequences of the pride finding out.

He was completely apathetic to how things were at the end, which probably has other factors beyond any possible guilt. Without that over his head though, I think that he could have managed things better. Without having to worry about keeping his secret, and secure in the knowledge that he was the chosen king, I believe he would be component, and considerably less cruel.

[Iberian]

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