Did Simba friendzone Nala?

[Elton John]

But nala is simbas bae.

[Regulus]

I think not.

Being in the friendzone doesn't mean you fancy a friend. Being in the friendzone means you fancy someone, you tell them so they know it, and they say something like, "ewww no way, definitely not." They're very, incredibly, extremely not interested in that happening even though you vote yes. So basically, you're very unhappy all the time and the relationship is toxic to you.

If you're in the friendzone on the I vote yay side of things, the entirety of the friendship is little more than one long, continuous rejection of you as a person. In that case you’re not doing much with your life aside from wallowing there in your self-pity like a little cubby losing his father. We don't see any of that from Nala.

If you’re on the I vote nay side of the situation, here’s what’s happening—you know there's quite a bit of suffering in your friend's world, but they're not really your friend so you love it. It gives your precious ego the boost of a pedestal to stand on every time you're around them. You enjoy it so much you probably even lead them on intentionally, perhaps by saying things like, "maybe I do still like you a little." You make sure to keep just enough ambiguity in the situation that their bleeding heart continues to lather your ego from whisker to tail's end on your whim. If you're not a lion, you probably have your friend's number saved on your phone by the name of something like "Free Food #4."

From the few scenes that we see of the two of them, nothing about Simba and Nala's relationship as cubs looks like that. Let's look at the facts here:

Simba finds out about the elephant graveyard, and the first thing he does is ask Nala to come along too. He doesn't run off on his own and go straight there to prove how brave he is. He brings Nala along with him. Why is this? Is it that he wants to impress her, or is it that he just enjoys having her around to talk to? I'm not sure, but either way, it's clear that Nala is a friend that he actually wants to be with.

After IJCWTBK, we find that Nala pushes back against Simba when they have their argument about who's idea it was. Looking at the distribution of authority in this friendship, they seem to be pretty equally matched. Even though Simba does have his big ego, and even though he brags about his idea, Nala basically says, "But it was my idea and I helped too." If she was in any way hurt by Simba's comment, do you really think she would tolerate that? Oh, no. I doubt it.

To add to that, their bickering stops when they actually get to the elephant graveyard. Even though they're fighting each other over that, it's pretty obvious that they're just playing. Nala pins Simba down twice, but she doesn't go on bragging about it, and Simba isn't too bothered by it. They're just playing a game, and at the end of it, they're done. That's something that friends do. For the most part, they are friends.

Later, when they're running from the hyenas in the elephant graveyard scene, Nala slips and falls. She calls out to Simba, and he goes back to slash the hyenas and even draw a little blood. I think we can see very clearly here that he really does care about her. Of course, he is trying to be brave, but in defending Nala he is doing just that--defending her. Later, she tells him she thinks he's brave and we see that they're both supportive of each other.

Their friendship seems to be pretty equally balanced. Never have I thought that they're using each other for their own selfish purposes. Nothing suggests that they don't care about each other. They have a happy, healthy friendship where they play games, go on adventures, tell each other about what cool things they find, and are generally supportive.

Even at the ages that they're at, they're very close to acting like a couple. That is that reason why I think they both reject the idea. They both know that they like each other a lot, but they're afraid to admit it because they're young. It's embarrassing to them. They say they're only friends because it's difficult for a young mind to fathom more than being a friend to someone.

I've always been in the camp that believed both Simba and Nala had cubby crushes on each other, and I absolutely love all their scenes. They are both really good friends to each other, too; I think most people here can agree with that. If both those statements are true, that doesn't mean they're residing in the friendzone. If anything, it means the opposite.

[it means no worries]

I think they are just friends and at the age of which they dont even consider marriage or romance

[NaiaRulez]

Well, I guess Simba said that 'cause he considered Nala as a sister, and for him marrying his "sister" would be weird. In fact, most of the friends which I have most affection are boys (with exceptions), and I mark the "friends" word 'cause there's no need to love as a pairing anyone of your opposite sex (another thing's if they are having a crush on me and I "friendzone" them XD)
And about Nala's tears... Simba and Nala loved each other... As friends. They were only cubs, as I said before, if you have affection to a person of you opposite sex there's no need to think about pairing love, only as friends or bro's love... A very different way to love somebody.

[Elton John]

Simba never considered Nala to be a sister.... He never refers to her as a sibling, at least in the original english version.

[NaiaRulez]

[quote="Elton John"]Simba never considered Nala to be a sister.... He never refers to her as a sibling, at least in the original english version.[/quote] I didn't say that Simba said Nala was like her sibling, the only thing I said is that I guess that would seem weird to Simba marry Nala because they're very close friends, like siblings, so Simba wouldn't wanted to marry Nala 'cause he's maybe afraid to ruin their friendship, and mostly because they're cubs and they don't know much about real love interests.