Disney Fan Fiction Wiki
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Rafikidisney
Rafiki
Background information
Feature films The Lion King
The Lion King II: Simba's Pride
Mickey's Magical Christmas: Snowed in at the House of Mouse
The Lion King 1½
Television programs Timon and Pumbaa
House of Mouse
Video games The Lion King
The Lion King 1½
Kingdom Hearts II
Disney Universe
Park attractions Rafiki's Planet Watch
Fantasmic!
Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom
Mickey's Jammin' Jungle Parade
Mickey's Jingle Jungle Parade
The Legend of the Lion King
Light Magic
Portrayed by
Portrayed by
Animators James Baxter
Voice Robert Guillaume
Kevin Michael Richardson
Ryūji Saikachi (Japanese)
Performance model
Designer
Inspiration Frar Laurence
Yoda from the Star Wars saga
Friend Owl
Honors and awards
Character information
Full name
Other names
Personality Wise, crazy, funny, cryptic, eccentric, mystical, an oracle
Appearance Slender teal mandrill, elderly, broken and bent-looking tail, half bald, white hair, yellow eyes
Birthday
Occupation Shaman, Nefu's uncle
Affiliations Good
Goal To help Simba return home and save his kingdom from Scar (first movie)
To get Kiara and Kovu together to bring peace between the Pride Landers and Outsiders (second movie)
Home Pride Lands, Rafiki's Ancient Tree
Relatives Nefu (nephew)
Pets
Allies Mufasa, Zazu, Simba, Nala, Timon, Pumbaa, Sarabi, Sarafina, Kiara, Kovu, Vitani, Ma, Uncle Max, Sora, Donald Duck, Goofy, Sorcerer Mickey, Merlin, Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom players
Minions
Enemies Scar, Shenzi, Banzai and Ed, The Hyena Clan, Zira, Nuka, Vitani (formerly), Hades
Likes Playing around, helping Simba and his friends, safety
Dislikes Scar, threats against the kingdom
Powers and abilities Kung Fu skills
Weapons His walking stick
Fate Still alive
Quote "He lives in you."
"Asante sana, squash banana, we we nugu, mi mi apana!"
"It means you're a Baboon and I'm not."
"Can't cut it out. It'll grow right back."

Rafiki is a mandrill who plays an important part in The Lion King, also appearing in its two sequels and television spin-off. He is voiced by Robert Guillaume.

Personality

Rafiki lives in a baobab tree and is old and wise. He performs activities which are often shamanistic, but also sometimes quite silly. He tends to speak in third person when speaking of himself. Rafiki provides important counsel to the adult Simba when the latter is trying to determine his destiny. His tail looks broken and bent. His name means "friend" in Swahili.

Appearances

The Lion King

Rafiki's character often serves as the visual narrator of the story of The Lion King. He is shown to be a dear friend to Mufasa. He presents newborn cubs to all the animals gathered at Pride Rock, and draws a stylized lion cub on the walls of his treehouse home to represent Simba's birth. When Simba runs away and his family believes him dead, Rafiki draws his paw across the Simba drawing, obscuring it in grief. Later, after picking up Simba's scent in the dust and pollen in the air, Rafiki determines that Simba is still alive and restores the drawing, adding the full mane of an adult lion as a sign to seek out this young deliverer from Scar's tyranny. Journeying to the area where Simba lives with Timon and Pumbaa, Rafiki observes Simba and recognizes, at least in principle, that he is suffering from a ponderous emotional burden. To treat it, he approaches the young lion and teaches him a few playful (and sometimes painful) lessons about learning from the past, not living in it. He also points out that the spirit and values of Simba's dead father Mufasa continue to live in Simba himself. During this scene, Rafiki incessantly repeats the Swahili phrase "Asante sana, squash banana, we we nugu, mi mi apana", which roughly translates to "Thank you very much, squash banana, you are a baboon, and I am not". When Simba decides to return to Pride Rock and fight Scar for the kingship, Rafiki accompanies him, demonstrating his kung fu skills in battle against the hyenas. At the end of the film, Rafiki raises Simba and Nala's new-born cub atop Pride Rock for everyone to see, echoing the beginning of the film. Judging by their meeting at Timon and Pumbaa's home, it would seem that Simba has not met Rafiki before that point, or at the very least does not remember him.

The Lion King II: Simba's Pride

In the sequel The Lion King II: Simba's Pride, Rafiki appears in the beginning again as the presenter of Simba and Nala's new-born cub Kiara. Later on in the film, despite protesting that Simba and Zira would forbid it, he is persuaded by Mufasa's spirit to attempt to get Zira's son Kovu and Kiara to fall in love. He tries to make the adult Kiara and Scar's heir Kovu fall in love with each other by taking them to a fantasy paradise called "Upendi" (similar to the Swahili word for "love"). Later, when Simba exiles Kovu, he was seen sighing sadly of Kovu leaving. In the end, he acts as the host of Kiara and Kovu's wedding.

The Lion King 1½

Rafiki appears briefly in the midquel The Lion King 1½, and is referred to by Timon as "The Omniscient Monkey". It is revealed that it was Rafiki who taught Timon the philosophy of "Hakuna Matata". Besides appearing in the scenes he appeared in the original film, Rafiki also appears in a scene where he chats with Timon's mother and in a scene where he makes Timon go back to join his friends against Scar, albeit saying nothing but "My work here is done" after Timon goes to find Pumbaa on his own. A deleted scene from the film revealed that Rafiki was the movie's original narrator.

Timon and Pumbaa

Rafiki appears in a few episodes of the Timon and Pumbaa TV series and also has his own series of skits called "Rafiki Fables" in the same show.

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