(Original title was going to be “TLK: The Next Generation” as a reference to Star Trek xD)

This is the “Adult version” of [url=]“The Gang”[/url] which is a refined version of a sketch I did in 2014 that you can see here. (Please read the description of “The Gang” before this one, it’ll come handy to understand what I’ll say next x3)

Now about the pic, all characters are in the same position, from left to right, get ready for a long description, as usual lol:


Kiara. Just as before, has the same color palette as “Fluffy”/Simba/Mufasa, it’s “the Golden Lions reign” after all lol. Her fur is a bit darker, not too much as an allegory to her name which comes from “Chiara” that means “bright”, the rings on her ears are also darker and didn’t fade like Simba’s, they stayed like Sarabi’s but got even darker. Her facial features, like her cub design, are inspired on Nala’s, I think her design is one of the most harmonic in the franchise and it’s such a shame they never use it on canon or semi-canon Simba/Nala cubs. Kiara is also a big lioness, as you can see compared with the rest on this pic, inherited from Mufasa.


Kopa. If you read the description of the cub version, you’ll see that this Kopa isn’t Simba and Nala’s cub but Malka and Tama’s. His fur is darker and now has rings on his ears, lighter than Kiara’s since they appeared later in his adulthood and because Malka’s rings are algo light, tufts of mane also appeared on his ears as he got older, just like Malka’s. Face looks more like his father but has some soft features like his mother. His more notable feature is the lack of a full mane, he still keeps on his adulthood something that younger, adolescent, lions have, which is ironic, considering that both Malka and Tama have “manes” as cubs. There’s also another story behind it that’s going to explained later on. (On a personal note, I’m not sure if I’ll ever draw him with a full mane, maybe for fun, but I’ll leave him like this “canonically” for now, makes him stand out from the rest)


Aina. I finally decided to call Tojo’s daughter “Aina” her name means “kind” in swahili, take it as she’s kindhearted (And she is, a very good friend and also very adorable sometimes lol) or as she’s “One of a kind” because it works like that too lol. Her fur is darker and now has a stripe on her head and back, like Zira’s (She isn’t related to her though), the rings on her ears now fully cover them like Tojo’s. She has very feminine facial features and body (Not visible here), in other words: she’s pretty xD


Mkali. Finally have a name for him: “Mkali” means “bright” basically because he’s very kind, if you think Aina is kind then think twice because this guy is the kinder of the gang. His fur is darker and grew up to be a big lion with a huge mane, proportional to his big heart. A bit of lore (That I still remember, interestingly xD): Kopa, even though he isn’t a bad guy, used to annoy him about his lack of mane and showing off his when they were cubs and until Mkali was almost an adult, since he didn’t develop his mane until that late, Kopa never expected that Mkali would end up being way bigger than him and his mane would grow so much while he didn’t fully develop his mane. He learned a lesson, huh?


Vitani. Her design as a cub is very good, as Scar’s daughter she could easily have a golden fur, inherited from her grandmother/grandfather, eyes would probably come from Zira’s side (I really like that they’re blueish, makes her stand out xD) and just like her cub version, blue instead of purple, Her design as an adult, in the film, feels like a downgrade, but I didn’t redesign her that much just changed some things, made her fur darker but still golden, her “mane” also bigger as a reminiscence of how it looked when she was a cub, kept the rings on her ears, wasn’t sure about adding the whiskers/“dots” on her chicks so I’ll keep it like this for now. (Fun fact: When I was younger and watched the movie, I used to think that Vitani and Simba where related, I mean, they are, but that Vitani was more like Simba’s daughter or something like that because she looked a lot like Simba as a cub when she was a cub lol, it wasn’t until I read theories about Nala being her “real” mother that I actually thought of that possibility and I’m still not into it that much xD)


Kovu. As I said on the previous pic, Kovu’s colors are Scar’s colors (Also this color study worth checking), he was going to be the Scar’s son so, in this version, he still is. His design is basically the same as the one in the movie, just like his cub version, it’s really good so I didn’t want to change it much.


Nuka. Didn’t want to change his design more but really wanted to make a healthier version of him, just a little bit: bigger mane, not so thin, fur color is also a bit reddish that reminds of Scar, more confident expression, you get the gist. Might do a 100% healthy version of him someday, that ought to be fun x3


That’s all for the characters, I’m really happy I could actually finish this, I’ve had all these designs and lore ideas ever since I did the rough sketch I left above… actually, even before that, being able to make their adult designs a reality at last is amazing, their cub designs were already a thing in that rough sketch but the adult designs were still something that wasn’t drawn and only kept in my mind (Except Kiara’s, I did draw her several times but was never convinced on the design, oh and also Kopa once or twice always lacking a full mane xD) I’ll probably introduce their full body design someday, so you can see what they inherited from their parents/grandparents on that matter, but I’ve already taken care of the most important part: their faces, which is amazing x3

(Note: Didn’t add TLG characters on both pics, it feels like an AU, at least TLK2 tries to continue with the same logic of the original film. It still works as a show for young children though)

If you follow me on Twitter/X or on Instagram you would’ve probably seen the sketches/WIPs that I posted of this project on there, in case you haven’t you can check them out here! Those are just sneak peeks, wouldn’t like to spoil the whole thing xD

I did post a highlight on Instagram with “He lives in you” as background, but the actual track I think about when looking and working on this piece and “The Gang” and their concept is actually this one: Busa – Rhythm of the PrideLands, sadly, it isn’t on IG, not even a different version so I had to pick another.

That's all, thank you so much for reading! (≧∇≦)ﾉ💖💖
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