Why did Rafiki not fight the Outlanders?

[FriendlyHyena]

I recall that he most definitely took part in the Battle of Pride Rock in the first movie. Also, we know that Simba, Nala, and even Timon and Pumbaa were present at the second Battle of the Pridelands near the end of Simba's Pride. However, unless I've forgotten, I don't recall seeing Rafiki there at all.

Obviously, this may be because he knew Mufasa wanted Kovu and Kiara to reunite the Pridelanders and Outlanders, but still, I would think Simba would question his absence, unless Simba sent him specifically to get Kiara (which could also explain why Kiara and Kovu seemed to know where the battle was: Rafiki found them and pointed them to the battle location so that they could intervene in time.)

(Of course, I don't recall Zazu being in this battle much either, if at all, so maybe only lions were ordered to go to the battle and Timon and Pumbaa were made to go as punishment for losing Kiara )

[MeerkatOnTheMoon]

I've been wondering the same thing. But you may be right that Rafiki knew Mufasa's plan to unite the Pridelanders and Outlanders so he waited it out to see what the outcome was.

Zazu was the one to alert Simba about Zira and the Outlanders attacking while Simba was with Timon and Pumbaa. I think Timon and Pumbaa came out of their own will, even though they lost Kiara once again. Given they resided at Pride Rock, there must've been other extra jobs they were assigned to do other than watching Kiara like assembling the lionesses (as Simba told them to).

[SimbasGuard]

I do not think that Rafiki is a defender of Pride Rock. He did fight in The Battle For Pride Rock, But he wanted help overthrow Scar and save The Pride.
Being that Simba was there to lead The Pride into Battle when The Outsiders attacked . Rafiki likely thought that his assistance was not needed. Also if anything happened to him during The Battle, there would have been no one to treat any wounded afterword.

As for Zazu, Simba sent him to find Kiara.

[Stormy]

tbh I think the fact that it was all lions and not just hyenas this time could’ve had an effect but I’m probably wrong on that one

[Elton John]

the realistic answer is that this movie was made fast and on a small budget.

zazu had one or two lines, a flimsy excuse as to why the hyena characters were gone (so they didn't need to animate them, or pay cheech marin/whoopi to return), Nala had barely a role in this outside of the end, animating rafiki at the end would have taken time and money.

These dtv sequels were made cheap and easy to cash in on the success of the originals and maximize profits. Be glad tlk2 was given a bigger budget than most.

Unrealistic answer - maybe he was asleep?

[Stormy]

stop making sense

[PrincessKiara]

Perhaps he thought this was a fight better left to the lions - or he wanted to avoid the conflict/war because he has aged and was too frail, he didn`t want to risk himself getting injured. For me, I`ve never been bothered by Rafiki not being there at the battle, he had the great comical moment of fighting the hyenas in TLK, there was no need to callback to that in SP.
Timon and Pumbaa being there makes no sense, as they`re useless in a fight, so I don`t see why Simba even brought them along. They should have stayed at Pride Rock for their own protection, in my opinion.