Cheka

Cheka
Lulu (left) and Cheka (right)
Meaning	Laugh, Tease
Species	Elephant
Close Relations	Son of Pembe, Brother to Lulu
Information
Appearances	How True, Zazu?

"We could give Zazu wrong information. That way, he'd get in trouble with Mufasa."

—Cheka, talking about Zazu's nosiness

Cheka is a young elephant.

Physical Attributes

Cheka is a large, blue-gray elephant with long, curved tusks and golden eyes.

Personality

Cheka: "Listen, you guys, I've made up a game for us to play. It's called get-Zazu."
Lulu: "But, Mama told us-"
Cheka: "Give me a break, Lulu. Since when do we wait for adults to do anything? They don't want us to have any fun."

—Cheka talking to Lulu, Nzuri, and Sukari

Cheka is a trouble-maker. He is much less cautious concerning disobedience than his sister, Lulu, and finds amusement in taking advantage of others. He also tends to be the leader of the group of young animals, and has a sharp mind for coming up with plans to fool Zazu.

Information

Cheka: "Let's see, why don't we report someone missing?"
Lulu: "That's a good one!"
Cheka: "Okay. We'll tell Zazu that Mayai is missing."

—Cheka trying to come up with another plan to fool Zazu

Cheka is first seen with his mother and sister, walking to the watering hole. Pembe asks Nzee, an adult antelope, why she wasn't drinking from the pool, and the antelope says that it was because of Zazu, Mufasa's majordomo. The two begin to complain about Zazu, and are joined in by Muwa and her son, Sukari. As the conversation continues, Cheka pipes up, telling his friends that he, Sukari, Lulu, and Nzuri had been chasing some baby ostriches one day, when Mufasa had come running up, and telling them to not be so mean. After the other animals chime in with their agreement, Cheka suggests they give Zazu false information, so he would get in trouble with Mufasa. Nzuri thinks it sounds like fun, but Nzee declines Cheka's offer, and decides to have a private council with the other adults.

When the adults leave, the children begin to play in the water hole. Cheka fills his trunk up with water and splashes the other kids, then motions for them to come closer. When they gather round, he tells them that he had just made up a new game for them to play, called "get-Zazu". Lulu begins to protest, but Cheka interrupts her, telling her that the adults didn't want for the young ones to have fun, and that they shouldn't have to wait around for their parents' decisions. Nzuri agrees with Cheka, tired of Zazu's meddling, and asks the young elephant how you played the game.

He tells them that they were going to make up stories. Lulu then says that she loves stories, but she didn't want anyone to get hurt. Sukari assures her that no one would get hurt, and Nzuri tells Lulu that it was going to be fun. Cheka then suggests they spread a rumor that there's a terrible beast sneaking around the Pridelands, so Zazu would hear the news and tell Mufasa. Sukari laughs, and begins to chase Nzuri. When the other animals give their agreement, Cheka suggests they tell the baby ostriches the story, since they're always squawking and running around. He then fills his trunk up with water and sprays the other animals

The next day, Cheka and his friends tell the baby ostriches how to play "get-Zazu". After telling the ostriches, the rumor spreads like wildfire, and it isn't long before Zazu hears about it. For a while, there's total chaos, and Zazu and Mufasa are frantic. But eventually, the rumor dies down and everything goes back to normal.

Early one morning, Cheka meets with the other young animals by the watering hole. They agree that "the beast" story hadn't really worked out very well, since Mufasa didn't blame Zazu for the wild-goose-chase. Cheka agrees with them, and asks the others what they should do next. He then suggests they report someone missing, and the others enthusiastically agree with him. He then tells them that they would report one of the little ostriches, Mayai, missing. He then instructs the young ostrich to hide on Lulu's back in the forest.

After Zazu is informed of Mayai's disappearance, he fetches Mufasa, who helps assist in the search. After Lulu and Mayai reveal themselves to Mufasa and Zazu, Zazu is blamed for having caused another false alarm. The young animals meet again, and Cheka comments that Zazu was finally being known for the "loudspeaker" that he was. They then decides to tell Zazu that a baby wildebeest had been attacked by a hyena, and runs to tell the majordomo. After Zazu is informed, he tells Mufasa, and the two go to the wildebeest herd and find out that no one was missing.

Later, when the army ants are attacking, Sarabi takes the Pridelanders to safety on the high plains. After the army ants are destroyed, Zazu is hailed a hero.

According to Zazu, who is telling the story to Kopa, Cheka and the other young animals felt guilty about all the trouble they had caused, and eventually confessed to Mufasa. The king was furious, but tried to be fair with them, and told the adults that their kids had something to tell them. The other kids hung their heads, while Nzuri explained the whole thing. They now realized the danger of discrediting someone; especially someone who's in charge of looking after others. At first, their parents are furious, and want to punish them severely, but Mufasa thinks otherwise, and tells all the young animals to help Zazu gather news about the Pridelands. That way, they would be able to distinguish fact from story. After the young ones happily agree, Cheka is not mentioned again.