Kiara

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Kiara is a fictional lioness character first introduced in the 1998 Disney direct-to-video movie The Lion King II: Simba's Pride, the sequel to 1994's The Lion King. She was voiced as a cub by Michelle Horn and as an adult by Neve Campbell.

Kiara is Simba's successor as mentioned in the second movie. She is his heir and future Queen regnant of Pride Lands.

[edit] The Lion King II: Simba's Pride

Kiara is the daughter of King Simba and Queen Nala and future queen of the Pridelands. She is mischievous and adventurous like her father was as a cub. Simba is very protective of her, and has Timon and Pumbaa as her babysitters. After slipping away from them when they began arguing about bugs, she finds herself wandering into the mysterious Outlands (where those loyal to Scar were exiled).

After stumbling on a log she bumps into the cub Kovu. As he walks toward her she tries to stay face-to-face with him, because her father told her that you should "never turn your back on an Outsider." Kovu mocks her for this remark, calling her "daddy's little girl."

Eventually the two walk onto what they believe are stones in the water. The stones turn out to be crocodiles and they are attacked by them. They escape, and begin to laugh with each other. Kiara starts hopping about, hoping to play tag with Kovu, but he doesn't understand what she is doing. She begins to growl playfully, but as Kovu catches on and growls playfully in response, Simba leaps in front of him and roars. Zira leaps out of the bushes where she had been watching the cubs, and the two lions confront each other.

Kiara and Kovu are saddened and say goodbye to each other as they are carried away in the mouths of their parents. When Kiara gets home, Simba scolds her and tells her that she could have been killed. She says she didn't mean to disobey him. Simba begins to sing about the two of them being part of each other ("We Are One").

The years pass, and Kiara grows into a young adult(some say she's more of a teenager). On the day of her first hunt, everyone is excited for her. She tells Simba that she wants to do it on her own without Timon and Pumbaa following her. Despite promising to the contrary, Simba sends them after her anyway. Upon discovering them, Kiara becomes angry and rushes off, determined to do her hunting away from the Pridelands.

Meanwhile, Zira is setting her plan in motion, and her children Nuka and Vitani are setting a fire in the dry grasses of the savanna. To her horror, Kiara finds herself in the middle of the fire and soon passes out from the smoke. Zira sends Kovu, now an adult, to rescue her. He drags her to safety, but when Kiara wakes up, she is upset because he brought her back to the Pridelands. When she realizes that it is Kovu, however, she is happy to see him.

Simba arrives and confronts Kovu, but Rafiki brings up the fact that the young lion saved Kiara's life. Simba asks why and Kovu responds by saying that he'd like to join the pride. It is explained that Simba is in Kovu's debt, and when he finally decides to give him a chance, Kiara is overjoyed.

That night, Kovu tells Kiara that he could teach her how to hunt, and she accepts his offer, saying that they will start at dawn. The next morning, unbeknownst to Kiara, Kovu is getting ready to attack Simba when he is off-guard and drinking from the water hole. She jumps in front of him before he can take action. Kovu begins to give her a hunting lesson, and soon they run into Timon and Pumbaa. Timon explains that for once, they're not following her, and that the place they're at is the best place to find bugs. However, some birds have gathered there and are eating everything. Timon asks Kovu and Kiara to roar to chase them away, and Kiara shows a puzzled Kovu how to do so. He wonders what this training is for, but she tells him that this is not training, but merely just for fun. He doesn't seem to understand what "fun" means, but soon finds out and has a good time.

Later on, they gaze up at the sky, looking at star formations. Something, however, seems to be bothering Kovu, but just as he gets up to leave, he is confronted by Rafiki, who tells the two lions to follow him. He takes them to a place called Upendi (which means "love" in Swahili). They laugh and sing on the way back to Pride Rock.

The next day, Kiara is shocked to find her father injured. He explains, weakly, that it was an ambush that had to do with Kovu. When Kovu returns to the Pridelands, Simba exiles him. Kiara is extremely upset by this, and runs away to find him. When they meet up with each other again, Kovu suggests that they start their own pride somewhere else, but Kiara tells him if they don't go back to their own prides, they'll be divided forever.

They return to the Pridelands to find that the Outlanders and Pridelanders are facing off. Kiara and Kovu leap between their fighting parents and tell them that the fighting has to stop. Kiara reminds her father of what he told her when she was a cub, "we are one." He understands, as do all of the Outlander lionesses, who desert Zira. Zira refuses to surrender and leaps at Simba. Suddenly, Kiara jumps in front of her father and both she and Zira tumble down into the gorge. The log dam has broken and water is rushing below them. Kiara tries to grab Zira's paw, hoping she can pull her up, but Zira slips and falls to her death into the swollen river below. Kiara is rescued and when Simba sees Kovu and Kiara together, he decides that Kovu belongs in the Pridelands.

Kovu and Kiara are wed. Simba, Nala, Kovu and Kiara ascend Pride Rock and roar out across the kingdom.

[edit] Trivia and facts

• In the Lion King 1½ DVD game Who Wants to Be King of the Jungle?, one of the trivia questions is about the welcoming of a possible future child of Kiara and Kovu.
• Kiara was originally named Aisha, a popular Arabic name.
• Kiara means "small dark thing" in Kiswahili.
• In a book set titled The Lion King: Six New Adventures, Simba and Nala had a son named Kopa. His existence is retconned and is not considered canon.
• Kiara makes a cameo appearance in the Square-Enix video game, Kingdom Hearts II during the credits. Rafiki holds up the new-born Kiara from the top of Pride Rock to show the animals of the kingdom.

The Lion King
Films	The Lion King | The Lion King II: Simba's Pride | The Lion King 1½
Characters	Ahadi | Kiara | Kopa | Kovu | Ma | Mohatu | Mufasa | Nala | Nuka | Rafiki | Sarabi | Sarafina | Scar | Shenzi, Banzai and Ed | Simba | Timon and Pumbaa | Tojo | Uncle Max | Uru | Vitani | Zazu | Zira
Songs	"Circle of Life" | "I Just Can't Wait to Be King" | "Be Prepared" | "Hakuna Matata" | "Can You Feel the Love Tonight"
Books	The Lion King: Six New Adventures | The Lion King: The Brightest Star
Games	The Lion King | Timon & Pumbaa's Jungle Games
Other media	Original motion picture soundtrack | Circle of Life: An Environmental Fable | Rhythm of the Pride Lands | The Lion King's Timon & Pumbaa | Broadway musical | Festival of the Lion King | Festival of the Lion King soundtrack
Misc	Kings of the Pride Lands | The Lion King family
See also	"The Lion Sleeps Tonight" | Kingdom Hearts II | Kimba the White Lion controversy