# In the Lion King, why are the hyenas bad guys? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 7, 2014, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-lion-king-why-are-the-hyenas-bad-guys/697765 "2014-09-07T13:41:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![mr.jp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/48db29/32.png) [@mr.jp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mr.jp)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2014, 8:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-lion-king-why-are-the-hyenas-bad-guys/697765/21 "2014-09-08T08:01:56Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > They’re scavengers. They don’t hunt for their food, they take leftovers or steal from others. That’s actually not true. But even if it were, why would that be bad. Isn’t it the more environmentally conscientious choice to eat leftovers, instead of letting it go to waste? ---
**Author:** ![mr.jp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/48db29/32.png) [@mr.jp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mr.jp)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2014, 8:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-lion-king-why-are-the-hyenas-bad-guys/697765/22 "2014-09-08T08:20:00Z")
The hyenas are basically something akin to the type of human we would call a hyena. If they get in a position of power, they do not wield it with consideration for their subjects. Instead they exctract riches (“food”) for themselves through extortion, corruption etc. They are like the people in power in most African countries today. Scar is Mugabe and the hyenas are his cronies keeping him in power, as long as he lets them be corrupt and gather wealth. As in Zimbabwe, this is bad for the whole country, but Scar and the hyenas don’t care as long as they themselves live comfortably. In the end there are food shortages, even though the place in itself is highly fertile. Essentially, the hyenas do not represent a race or a group you are born into, they are a type of people that you rightfully do not want in positions of power. (In the real world, of course you are born into the group of hyenas, but you have to ignore that. Also real world animals don’t have monarchs.) ---
**Author:** ![Cyros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a698b9/32.png) [@Cyros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cyros)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2014, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-lion-king-why-are-the-hyenas-bad-guys/697765/23 "2014-09-08T12:24:51Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > Damnit, you beat me to it! 😃 > > Yep, it is all about patriarchal domination. You just have to remember that the Lion King is told from the POV of the entrenched ruling class. … > > No Scar and the hyenas are the true heroes of the story. But alas in real life, heroes usually fail. Beautiful and I’m stealing it! ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2014, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-lion-king-why-are-the-hyenas-bad-guys/697765/24 "2014-09-08T12:29:03Z")
Isn’t that something? Hyenas are always portrayed as the good guys in no story ever. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_the\_Immortal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6de8d8/32.png) [@Max\_the\_Immortal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_the_Immortal)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2014, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-lion-king-why-are-the-hyenas-bad-guys/697765/25 "2014-09-08T12:35:38Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > Yes, exactly. They weren’t starving at that point, they were simply hungry. Or “starving” like my kid is starving between lunch and dinner. Later on they were literally starving, when Sarabi tells Scar, “Scar, there is no food. The herds have moved on.” I’ve never seen the movie, so I’ll need someone to tell me: How many times do they show a lion going hungry? Are the lions shown to be conscientious about not overstressing the ecological balance, or does an attitude of “_I’m_ going to eat my fill. The hyenas had better just suck it up.” fit with what’s shown on screen? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Fault\_In\_My\_Fart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/4af34b/32.png) [@The\_Fault\_In\_My\_Fart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Fault_In_My_Fart)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2014, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-lion-king-why-are-the-hyenas-bad-guys/697765/26 "2014-09-08T12:38:03Z")
Its simple to me- Because the hyenas are ugly looking, and like in all typical stereotypical movies, ugly means villain. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2014, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-lion-king-why-are-the-hyenas-bad-guys/697765/27 "2014-09-08T12:48:02Z")
> [@Max\_the\_Immortal](#): > > I’ve never seen the movie, so I’ll need someone to tell me: How many times do they show a lion going hungry? Are the lions shown to be conscientious about not overstressing the ecological balance, or does an attitude of “_I’m_ going to eat my fill. The hyenas had better just suck it up.” fit with what’s shown on screen? The lionesses are starving as well. The “lion’s share” attitude is presented by Scar, the villain, who says, “I’m the king, I can do whatever I want!” It’s not shared by the other lions. ---
**Author:** ![vontsira](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/51bf81/32.png) [@vontsira](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vontsira)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2014, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-lion-king-why-are-the-hyenas-bad-guys/697765/28 "2014-09-08T12:56:52Z")
Perspectives vary; and the villain who actually sees himself as a villain, consciously doing evil for the pure hell of it, is very rarely met with. Maybe the hyena-fans just need to create an alternative _Lion King_, where the hyenas are the good guys, and the lions are the bastards. Somewhat along the lines perhaps, of the alternative “take” on _The Wind In The Willows_ – the novel _Wild Wood_ by Jan Needle. In this tale, written from a socialist point of view and with the hero / first-person narrator being a ferret called Baxter: Toad / Mole / Rat / Badger are regarded as the parasitic, selfish, heedless aristocracy, and the various lackeys and lickspittles who keep them in power; and the “Wild Wood” denizens, the weasels / stoats / ferrets, are the oppressed workers and peasants who, justly, rise up and take from the evil ruling class, what should rightfully be theirs. From what I remember, the book itself was a bit disappointing and not very well executed; but (political leanings completely aside) I had to like the general paradoxical, turning-things-upside-down, idea. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_the\_Immortal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6de8d8/32.png) [@Max\_the\_Immortal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_the_Immortal)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2014, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-lion-king-why-are-the-hyenas-bad-guys/697765/29 "2014-09-08T12:59:59Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > The lionesses are starving as well. The “lion’s share” attitude is presented by Scar, the villain, who says, “I’m the king, I can do whatever I want!” It’s not shared by the other lions. What about when Mufasa is still in power? ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2014, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-lion-king-why-are-the-hyenas-bad-guys/697765/30 "2014-09-08T13:02:49Z")
It’s been a long time, but I don’t remember Musafa being particular angry at the hyenas when he has to go rescue Simba. I mean yeah, he knocks them around and scares the piss out of them, but he doesn’t really hurt them, let alone kill them. Mufasa knows that the hyenas are just being what they are, and they were acting completely within their nature by trying to eat his son. He’s angry at _Simba_, for going where he shouldn’t. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2014, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-lion-king-why-are-the-hyenas-bad-guys/697765/31 "2014-09-08T13:07:48Z")
> [@Max\_the\_Immortal](#): > > What about when Mufasa is still in power? Nobody was starving under Musafa, because he was the Wise and Rightful King. The hyenas were not part of his kingdom at that point. In fact, one of his jobs as king was keeping the Pridelands safe from the hyenas by chasing them off. The hyenas lived in the shadowy domain next door, where the cub Simba was not allowed too go. (He did anyway, of course, because plot, but his guardian bird informed him, as he was being threatened by the hyenas, that technically they had the right to threaten him, because now he was on their land.) ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2014, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-lion-king-why-are-the-hyenas-bad-guys/697765/32 "2014-09-08T13:13:56Z")
> [@Max\_the\_Immortal](#): > > I’ve never seen the movie… I recommend you do, as it’s a lot better than you might be expecting. Most of the Disney animated films of the 90s and early 2000s are actually really good. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2014, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-lion-king-why-are-the-hyenas-bad-guys/697765/33 "2014-09-08T13:27:34Z")
From what I understand/vaguely remember: Scar suggested Simba go to the Elephant’s Graveyard, _then told the hyenas he was there_ to kill Simba. And the Pridelands go bad when Scar comes to power is because of the Fisher King-connection to the land. Poor hyenas are just tools of the Man. Gnolls represent! ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2014, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-lion-king-why-are-the-hyenas-bad-guys/697765/34 "2014-09-08T13:31:24Z")
I haven’t seen it, but it looks like in Kimba: The White Lion, the big political issues were: 1. Vegetarianism\* 2. Cooperating with humans Kimba was for and, presumably, Claw was against. The Hyena, as Claw’s supporters, would also have been pro-carnivore and anti-human. If we use Kimba to fill in the gaps of The Lion King, then we can presume that their crime was either to eat someone or to kill a human. - Apparently, eating insects was okay, though. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2014, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-lion-king-why-are-the-hyenas-bad-guys/697765/35 "2014-09-08T13:51:14Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > Yep, it is all about patriarchal domination. You just have to remember that the Lion King is told from the POV of the entrenched ruling class. Everything is part of the ‘Circle of Life’, but notice who conveniently sits at the apex of the ‘Circle of Life’ - why, the lions of course. In particular the ruling male dynasts of Mustafa’s line. Why is Mustafa’s son more entitled to succeed his father? Merit? Don’t make me laugh - he’s a frickin’ cub! Better than having some moistened bint lobbing a scimitar at him. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2014, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-lion-king-why-are-the-hyenas-bad-guys/697765/36 "2014-09-08T14:01:31Z")
I didn’t think of the hyenas as exiled to the elephant graveyard. I assumed they lived there by choice because they were scavengers and, hey, free elephants. Mufasa still wants to keep them out of the Pridelands because hyenas and lions compete for prey. Keeping other predators off your patch is still very natural and normal. ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2014, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-lion-king-why-are-the-hyenas-bad-guys/697765/37 "2014-09-08T16:02:43Z")
Are ya’ll so sure the hyena’s _are_ villains? Yes, they’re antagonists, but a rather large gap exists between antagonist and villain. Arguably Simba isn’t a hero throughout most of the movie - but he’s clearly the protagonist. If anything, I found people liked the hyenas and thought they were pretty entertaining. And while they aren’t nice, they also aren’t particularly evil or villainous. They wanted to move up and compete more directly with the lions, but weren’t especially vile about it. If anything, the hyenas wanted to knock some sense into Scar late in the movie. And the ending puts that relationship into a very different light, as it’s implied that without Scar, they didn’t especially _desire_ conflict with the prides. In short, they have a surprisingly human emphasis spin on the often-generic minions you see in lots of stories. In most movies, the villainous minions are just there to be beaten up/killed by the heroes and have nothing to really say for themselves. Here, we see they’re capable of loyalty, humor, and even have a certain innocence - and that they’re capable of taking action themselves when the situation changes. And I don’t know anyone who actually hated the hyenas. Heck, I recall a fair number of kids who wanted little hyena plush dolls. I think Disney _still_ sells the things! ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2014, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-lion-king-why-are-the-hyenas-bad-guys/697765/38 "2014-09-08T16:45:20Z")
> [@TreacherousCretin](#): > > Here’s a link to an image I’ve had in my computer forever. > (I have no idea where I found it. Very mildly NSFW.) > > [Imgur: The magic of the Internet](http://imgur.com/i6IkWtg) Possibly a reference to this Robot Chicken sketch: [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8yF3z-Z284o) (Or perhaps Seth Green created the sketch after seeing that image. Any idea about the dates?) > [@mr.jp](#): > > Scar is Mugabe and the hyenas are his cronies keeping him in power, as long as he lets them be corrupt and gather wealth. As in Zimbabwe, this is bad for the whole country, but Scar and the hyenas don’t care as long as they themselves live comfortably. Scar = Robert Mugabe Mufasa = Ian Smith? :eek: What would that make Simba? 🙂 Of course, if we bring the Congolese Simbas into the discussion, this is going to get really weird really fast. ---
**Author:** ![mr.jp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/48db29/32.png) [@mr.jp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mr.jp)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2014, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-lion-king-why-are-the-hyenas-bad-guys/697765/39 "2014-09-08T17:18:23Z")
> [@mbh](#): > > Scar = Robert Mugabe > Mufasa = Ian Smith? :eek: Eehhhmmmmm. That is a shadowy place. We should never go there. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2014, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-lion-king-why-are-the-hyenas-bad-guys/697765/40 "2014-09-08T18:58:48Z")
> [@mbh](#): > > Possibly a reference to this Robot Chicken sketch: > > [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8yF3z-Z284o](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8yF3z-Z284o) > > (Or perhaps Seth Green created the sketch after seeing that image. Any idea about the dates?) My best guess: I downloaded it at least ten years ago, probably from a satirical Onion type of website. It struck me funny for many of the reasons that have appeared in this thread. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-lion-king-why-are-the-hyenas-bad-guys/697765.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-lion-king-why-are-the-hyenas-bad-guys/697765.md?page=3)