Nuka’s Father

So here’s the situation. The majority of devoted Lion King fans think that Nuka is Scar’s son, and that possibly Vitani is his daughter. Most people agree that Kovu had a different father; it was, after all, clearly stated at several points in the movie that Kovu is not and never was related to Scar. Now we get to my case in point: if Kovu isn’t Scar’s son, why would Kovu’s siblings be Scar’s children?

I know those of you who believe Nuka and Scar are related are probably starting to fume right about now. But please hear me out.

The most common “proof” is this. In the first Outlands scene, Nuka mutters the following line: “Kovu, Kovu, Kovu. Scar wasn’t even his father. He just took him in.” Nuka is saying exactly what he means; he’s reinforcing to the audience that Kovu was taken in by Scar and is now considered more important than Nuka. Naturally Nuka is jealous of Kovu getting such special treatment, and he puzzles aloud why Kovu is being treated as something so special if Scar wasn’t even related to him. It’s kind of like he’s wondering, “What does Kovu have that I don’t have? If he were Scar’s son, then sure, he’d be the heir. But he’s not. So why did Scar choose HIM when he could have easily chosen me instead? I am older, after all.”

Nowhere in the quote does Nuka say HE is Scar’s son. Most people seem to think that this quote “proves” Nuka and Scar are related. And where does it say that they are, exactly? Point it out to me. If Nuka was supposed to be Scar’s son, the moviemakers would have made it clear.

About that. Allow me to go into some detail. Nuka says to Vitani, “Oh, who cares? I should have been the Chosen One. I’m the oldest, I’m the strongest, I’m the smartest…” and that is his argument. Nuka believes that he should have been chosen instead of Kovu for three very clear reasons: he’s older, stronger, and smarter (or so he thinks) than Kovu. Now, if Nuka were Scar’s son, he would be sure to say that as well. In fact, if Nuka were Scar’s son, would he even resort to his other arguments at all? He would be constantly complaining that his position as prince had been usurped. He would make it clear to everyone, including the audience, that he was Scar’s blood son who had been unrightfully deposed from his throne. He would make a big fuss. But does Nuka do that? No. He would probably also refer to Scar as “Father” or “Dad” as well, but he doesn’t do that either. He merely thinks that he would have been a better candidate than Kovu.

This brings us to something else: did Scar have any children anyway? He doesn’t seem like the fathering type. There is one scene in the Broadway musical where Scar realizes that he needs a queen so that he can have cubs. Here’s the quote: “Without a queen, what am I? A dead end, no line, no descendants, no future! With a queen, I’ll have… cubs. Immortality will be mine. Immortality will be mine!” He then proceeds to flirt with Nala, who is naturally disgusted and smacks him in the face. In the next scene Nala leaves the Pride Lands to find help. The point is that Scar had neither children nor mate, all the way up until Nala’s departure. And she wasn’t gone very long, either. Within the space that Nala is gone, which can’t have been more than a week, Scar could have mated, but could not have had a child. He probably realized after looking around that his chances of finding a mate that actually liked him were slim. When he saw that Zira had had a cub that looked almost exactly like him, he was obviously impressed/thrilled and promptly named the cub as his “son.” This cub was, of course, Kovu. Nuka and Vitani were unimpressive to Scar in comparison. Perhaps Scar named Zira as his queen then, perhaps not. They could have mated, they could have not. But Scar couldn’t have given Zira children. There was no time.

There’s one question left that you may be asking. Where was the father? We’ve already established that none of the cubs were Scar’s progeny. We know of no other males in the pride (though there could have been). The father is most likely a rogue or male from a nearby pride. Zira could not have met/fallen in love with Scar until after she became pregnant with Vitani and Kovu. (Side note: Vitani and Kovu are fraternal twins/littermates. They look too close in size and age not to be.)

On a parting note, I’m providing a link to a couple of deleted scenes from the movie. They paint a pretty clear picture of Zira’s family. Notice: