Kiara

"A wise king once told me "We are one". I didn't understand him then. But now I do."

―Kiara

Kiara is the main protagonist of Disney's 1998 animated direct-to-video film The Lion King II: Simba's Pride and a supporting character in its TV series, The Lion Guard. She is Simba and Nala's daughter, Kion's older sister, and the mate of Kovu.

Personality

Kiara is cute, curious, and wild-hearted as a cub, constantly seeking new adventures and easily fraught at the sight of her safe nest back home in the Pride Lands. Her hunger for adventure often leads her to outright rebellion, as she ignores her father's better judgment in order to explore the Outlands and get answers to her unresolved questions. Kiara inherits her parents' curiosity, and her curiosity in her surroundings gets her into real trouble.

Kiara is also very strong-willed, and she possesses a strong desire for independence and self-sufficiency. As a result, she can escape and sneak out at times to reach her goal. She also displays frequent annoyance when addressed by her title, preferring to be known for herself rather than who her family is.

Later in her cubhood, Kiara becomes more accepting of her destiny as the future queen and takes her royal duties seriously. Unfortunately, sometimes her duties lead her to rub it on her younger brother Kion's face, which leads to sibling rivalry, though they still care for each other.

Kiara is still a cub at heart and can laugh at everything and make even Kovu's rough training into a game. However, her outlook is a positive one, and she is one of Kovu's most loyal encouragers, seeing past his rough exterior to the kind character within. She also shows a strong amount of charisma as she convinces both prides that they are better united than against each other. She also cares for her enemies, as shown when she tries to rescue Zira from falling down the cliff despite trying to attack Simba a few minutes earlier.

Like her father, Kiara sometimes doesn't get the advice and criticism she is given by her friends and family right away. Not to mention, she has to find out the hard way. But, in addition, Kiara does get what her friends and family meant when she hears or sees it for herself, shown when Kovu shows her their reflection in the water and saying that they are one, which helps her see the truth in her father's words when she was a cub. Kiara then uses the same advice she was given to help her family, shown with her father and the outsiders.

Physical appearance

Kiara is small, soft-featured, and less robust and stocky than her father but just as lithe and sleek as her mother. Kiara's color scheme is more of a peach tone like that of her father's, but it is tempered by the creamy hues of her mother. As a result, she doesn't carry as rich gold as her father's or grandfather's. Her muzzle, paws, and underbelly are cream-colored, and her tail tuft is creamy brown. Not only that, but her eyes are reddish-brown.

Kiara remains the same light shade from her cubhood and not darkening with age as her parents do, but this could be attributed to her not being a full-grown adult yet.

Appearances

• The Lion King
• The Lion King II: Simba's Pride
• Kingdom Hearts ll
• The Lion Guard
• The Lion King (2019)
• Mufasa: The Lion King (Upcoming)

Trivia

• She was originally going to be named "Shani", which means "marvelous" in Swahili. Another name for her was also going to be "Aisha", which is Swahili for "life".
• Interestingly, all of Simba and Nala's children's names begin with "K" (Kopa, Kiara, Kion); though Kopa is their unofficial son, while Kiara and Kion are their official children. This trait is shared by their son-in-law too, Kovu.
• Kiara is the second child of an original film's protagonist to be the main character of the sequel (in this case, taking over for Simba and Nala after the first Lion King film). The first was Nicky Ferris from The Parent Trap II (taking over from Sharon McKendrick). The trend has since followed in many Disney sequels.
• Kiara will also be the first child character to appear in a spin off of a live action remake. While Sam Flynn is the first child character to appear in a Live Action film, Tron was already a live-action film to begin with.
• Additionally, Kiara is the first female protagonist of any part of the Lion King franchise, as she is that of the second film; the rest of the films' protagonists are male.
• Kiara is one of the few Disney sequel characters to make further appearances
• Originally, Kiara was going to have an older brother named Chaka, but he was cut from the film
• If Chaka did appear, he would have the been the cub presented at the end of the first film instead of Kiara.
• In The Lion King 1½ DVD, if the viewer plays the Who Wants to Be King of the Jungle game, one of the questions about the ending of The Lion King II: Simba's Pride indicate that Kiara and Kovu possibly have a cub together in the future.
• This was later contradicted in the final episode of The Lion Guard, taking place at an unspecified time after Simba's Pride. In that episode, Kiara and Kovu did not have a newborn cub at the aforementioned episode, nor are they even the rulers.
• It is currently unknown what the age gap between Kiara and Kion is. Though in "Lions of the Outlands", Kion was unaware of Kiara's encounter with Kovu, hinting that he was either not born yet, still an infant, or somewhere else during the encounter. In "Return to the Pride Lands", Kiara is a young adult while Kion is still a teenager, indicating that there is somewhat of a significant age gap between them.
• Kiara is the first known female cub in her family set to inherit the throne of the Pride Lands, as her father was an only child (making him the only heir), and all of her predecessors to the throne so far had been male heirs.
• In the Pride Lands Pedia bonus feature exclusive to digital releases of the 2019 remake of The Lion King, the cub that is shown during the end of the film is identified as "Kiara". This contradicts the novelization's revelation of Simba and Nala's newborn cub as a future king, like in most storybooks based on the plot of the original Lion King film. Therefore, the cub's gender for the 2019 remake is unclear and will remain such until the release of Mufasa: The Lion King.