Mufasa

Mufasa is an anthropomorphic lion character who first appeared in Disney's popular 1994 animated feature film The Lion King. He was voiced by James Earl Jones.

At the start of the The Lion King, Mufasa is the King of the Pride Lands, father of Simba and mate of Sarabi. He appears to be a wise and fair ruler, who follows the "Circle of Life". However, his brother Scar is jealous of him and forms a plan to kill Mufasa and Simba, so he can be king. His first attempt to kill Simba is foiled when Mufasa interferes, but he succeeds the next time by triggering a large-scale wildebeest stampede. Mufasa successfully saves Simba and struggles to climb up a cliff. Scar, waiting for him at the top, pierces Mufasa's paws hard with his claws and lets go after saying "long live the king". Simba didn't see this happening and Scar makes him believe that he had caused Mufasa's death. Ridden with guilt, Simba runs away from the Pride Lands and meets two good friends, Timon and Pumbaa. After many years, Simba meets his old friend Nala who persuades him to return and take his place as king. Simba refuses and runs away from Nala to a field where he encounters the wise baboon Rafiki. Rafiki takes him to a small magical pool which brings upon Mufasa's ghost, up in the sky. The ghost tells Simba that he is his only son and has to take his responsibility to be King of the Pride Lands. Simba then returns to his homeland, defeats Scar and takes his rightful place as king.

Mufasa also makes a few brief appearances and dialogue in the 1998 direct-to-video sequel The Lion King II: Simba's Pride. He first appears as a ghost in the sky again in the beginning of the film, overlooking the presentation ceremony of his granddaughter Kiara. His next appearance is in Simba's nightmare, where he is seen again clinging to the cliff right before his death. Simba tries to save him but is stopped by Scar, who morphs into Kovu (Kiara's lover and Scar's chosen heir).

In the 2004 direct-to-video midquel The Lion King 1½, Mufasa is seen again in only three scenes, one at the presentation of Simba, one in the elephant graveyard saving his son and Nala, and one when he's forming from the clouds in the grasslands at night.

Mufasa is seen only in Simba's flashbacks and as a ghost in Square Enix and Disney's video game, Kingdom Hearts II; the game takes places after Mufasa's death.

Mufasa was reportedly the name of the last king of the Bagada people, who were dispersed during the English colonization of Kenya (see [1]). The name could also be derived from Mustafa, the given name of Kemal Atatürk. In the movie, one of the hyenas, Banzai, at one point pronounces the name in a funny way ("Qué pasa") that entered '90s American pop culture.

Mufasa was the first son and heir of King Ahadi and Queen Uru, as evidenced in a set of prequel books released after the success of The Lion King. In A Tale of Two Brothers, Scar tried to make a fool out of Mufasa when he was young (see more at Scar's Backstory). The storybook Friends in Need reveals how he met Zazu, his trusted hornbill "majordomo": he saved the bird when he was caught by no other than the three hyenas Shenzi, Banzai, and Ed in the elephant graveyard. However, this conflicts with another book How True, Zazu? (part of The Lion King: Six New Adventures), in which Zazu becomes steward to the king after Zazu's mother, Zuzu, retires.