This one almost made me as dead as Simba here.

The initial idea spark for this drawing came to me from an observation I made about Kenta (Kovu/Kiara's first cub) throughout my art history. With only one or two exceptions, he's always been smiling. I've always drawn him being all cute and happy and upbeat and all, even though there's more to him than that. It was getting repetitive, and I wanted to put Kenta through some drama for a change. That eventually crossed paths with a second idea I've wanted to do forever now: Simba dying. I thought it'd only be practical to put the two together. That way, no one would be smiling.

Here's my story for it:

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About a year after Simba's Pride ended, Simba was out in the savannah playing with Kenta while his parents were busy, just having a good time and getting a kick out of play-fighting each other. But then, Zazu came flying in and told Simba there was a situation by the borders. Able to tell he was serious, Simba told Kenta to stay put and promised that he'd be right back to keep playing. Upon reaching the borders, Simba was met with a horrific sight: An entire herd of twenty zebras had been slaughtered for sport. Almost immediately, a dark-maned lion with crimson eyes showed himself and admitted this was his doing. His name was Dhambi, who revealed himself to be the true son of Scar. Dhambi explained that Scar and Zira had had him in secret, mostly as a final backup plan in case the strategy with Kovu and the Outsiders failed. Once it did, Dhambi knew it was his time to start preparing to take Scar's place when Kovu wouldn't. Now here he was, ready and willing. Dhambi's intentions were to go after Kenta first, fully prepared to rip the little cub apart within the minute.

Furious, Simba vehemently fought Dhambi off to protect his grandson. But Simba wasn't as strong as he used to be, and Dhambi gained the upper hand, beating him into submission. It wasn't until Nala came in, saw what was happening and helped fight Dhambi nearly to death that he was driven away from the borders. Dhambi swore he would be back. Nala made it out alive, but she saw that Simba was on the ground and horribly injured. A storm started rolling in as she carefully carried him back to Pride Rock. By now, the entire pride had heard what happened from Zazu, and that Simba was likely in terrible condition. His entire family; His children, their mates, his grandchildren, etc. all surrounded him. The rain started coming down, and Simba could feel his entire body fading. Dhambi had damaged several of Simba's increasingly frail insides, broken several bones and made him lose more blood than he could afford. There was nothing any of them could do to save him. The rain started pouring down harder. One by one, everyone started to realize that Simba wasn't going make it as the minutes turned into hours. Kenta felt incredibly guilty since Simba was protecting him specifically. But with his fading breaths, Simba told him that he was protecting his whole pride, and that it was an honor to do so. Eventually, everyone had their last exchanges with Simba, knowing this was it. He made Kenta promise that he would be the best king he can be someday, made Kiara promise to continue leading the kingdom in his absence, and had Nala promise to stay strong and live her life as best as she can. They all agreed. The last thing Simba ever saw before he finally gave out was Kenta, trying to give his grandfather one last smile. Then, Simba's eyes closed for the last time. That was it. The former king of Pride Rock had died so that the rest of his pride could live.

Immediately, Kenta and several others burst into tears. He felt responsible. He was the one Simba was trying to save from Dhambi, and thought it wouldn't have happened if he hadn't asked to play earlier. Kopa, grabbing onto Simba's right paw, looked up to the dark sky and prayed to the Great Kings of the Past, asking them to watch over his father up there. Kiara was utterly destroyed by the loss of her father, all those memories of her as a cub having fun with him flashing before her eyes. She turned to Kovu for any comfort. But he himself needed comforting too. Simba was the closest thing Kovu ever had to a father figure, so losing him was like losing the only male role model he ever had. Sala, despite being the fiercest new Lion Guard leader, couldn't hold back her tears as she broke down beside her grandfather's body. Vitani held onto her and Kopa's son, Amani, as he wept into her fur and held onto her like his life depended on it. It truly hurt for Vitani to see her cub in such pain. Kion's mind couldn't even process that his father was dead. He was still in utter shock and horror that it was even right in front of his eyes. It all happened so fast. Simba may have been more frail than he was in his prime, but Kion didn't know something like this could be enough to damage him that bad. Across from him, Fuli and Kipekee, Kion's mate and daughter, were equally as stunned. Kipekee was holding back tears, and Fuli was just doing what she could to be there for her daughter. If there was one thing she hated more than getting wet, it was seeing Kipekee about to cry.

Out of all of them, however, Nala was the one who was impacted the most. All of those memories she had of her childhood friend: Their trek into the Elephant Graveyard, the times she'd humorously pinned him, their reunion and consummation in the jungle, the birth of their children, the look on Simba's face at Kiara's wedding, the way he celebrated when Kopa was found alive, and the way he cried tears of joy when Kenta and Sala were born; All of it felt meaningless to Nala now. All she could do was stand back and weep in horror. Never again could she gaze into his loving eyes, feel him nuzzle her to sleep, or pin him on his back for fun. It was all over. The only thing Nala could think of for consolation was that she knew one thing for sure. She knew that, someplace above her, Simba's spirit was now reunited with Mufasa. He could once again know his father like he once did, and this time, for eternity without Scar's interference. His mother Sarabi was up there too. The royal family she once knew from her childhood was together again in the sky. Nala simply bowed her head and thought to herself, "Please... take good care of your boy, Mufasa..."

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God damn, that was a mouthful.

Compared to a good chunk of my other work, this drawing is admittedly pretty grim. But that's what I was going for, really. The idea of Simba dying isn't something to be taken lightly, as it would either make or break an enormously emotional scenario like this. I've wanted to draw it for a long time, but I could never figure out just how to handle it. Now, I think it's the right time. For better or for worse, that is. I think if a third Lion King film were made, Simba dying would be a hugely significant way to take the drama to new heights, and it'd be a pretty fucking bold thing to do overall. Provided that it was done right, that is. If Simba's going to die, he has to die in a blaze of glory for a damn good cause. In this case, saving his pride and his first grandchild from being killed by Scar's own son seemed appropriate enough.

The character of Dhambi was one I've debated on using for my art for a while now. Suddenly pulling out that Scar had a backup son might be too confusing for some. But the way I see it, if they can hide the whole pride of Outsiders in between movies, then just having one lion wouldn't be much of a stretch in comparison. I just need a more solid way to work him in is all...

Aside from that, this drawing was truly hell for me to work on. I've never attempted to draw this many characters in one image before, shading them all correctly was hard, and it took up almost 400 layers in Photoshop. It was hell trying to keep track of it all. In total, it took me 3 and a half weeks to complete this, which is a definite first for me. I could really go on about how much hell this put me through, to the point where Photoshop was lagging like crazy by the end of it. But you get the idea.

Let me know in the comments what you think!