go bleach your roots creep

Zebaki (orange brown maned cub) Penda (pale cub on her side) and Afua (yellow cub) – Kiara and Kovu’s triplets. Zebaki is a bold and brash little guy, taking a lot after his grandfather. He has a bit of an arrogant streak; not so much malicious, just confident. After all he’s the latest heir in line of a series of great rulers; his parents who untied the pridelands and outlands, his grandparents defeated scar the tyrant, and his great-grandparents were some of the wisest and respected in history. He’s extroverted and loves entertaining a crowd. Penda presents herself as cool and unflappable, with a strong sense of justice instilled by her uncle, but she can have a hair trigger temper if you cross her last nerve. She’s extremely proud of being the first female guard leader. Afua is gentle and empathetic, and most enjoys spending time with their grandparents and listening to stories of the history of the pridelands and beyond. They have a bit of a crush on Beba the cheetah. (I fear I may have accidentally made it look like they’re looking at Zebaki like that. It’s supposed to be at Beba I swear haha. I’m not great at this type of behind the head angle.) these cubs are based on that little Circle of Life video disney junior released a few years ago.

Kopa (cape dog) – adopted son of Kion and Jasiri. Found as a barely-even toddler hidden away not far from a slain pack that was near the border of the Backlands, believed to have been killed by leopards, rogue lions, or whichever other predators live in or near the Backlands. (kind of a shame the show never really goes into that. Surely there aren’t just leopards there.) The Guard bring him back to Pride Rock to figure out what to do with him, and lucky for him, Kion and Jasiri were feeling some baby fever, as both their sisters and some friends had babies by this point and they loved being uncle and auntie. Bit of a no brainer they would take the little guy in. He’s your classic dog, very happy go lucky, enjoys running around barking and chewing on things. Adores his auntie Kiara. Someday he’ll be Penda’s Keenest, but he uses his ears and nose instead of his eyes. (part of my hc is that there’s more than just eyesight with the keenest of sight, which is why I tend to just say keenest – that and it’s always bugged me that all the rest are one word and this role gets three. It’s much more about being very perceptive, especially considering none of the pre-kion guards had bird eyesight. I’ve noticed this is a skill Ono has that makes him one of the best keenests aside from just his eyes, as he seems extremely aware of his surroundings, before he even actually sees anything. In DnD terms the best keenests have high passive perceptions and imo you don’t need eagle eyes for that.)

Gumu (hyena) – son of Janja and Madoa, cousin of Kopa. (kind of, indirectly cousin of Zebaki and co? I think? Cousin in laws I guess? What do you call the son of the sister of your aunt by marriage? They consider him a cousin, regardless.) Heavily takes after his auntie Jasiri, with a strong desire to be as strong, loving, and brave as she is. After all, her devotion to kindness got his parents together and directly led to the reformation of the Outlands. And he’ll end up being Penda’s Bravest, the first former Outlander on the Guard.

Beba (cheetah) and Kilindi (hippo) – son and daughter of Fuli and Beshte. Beshte knew he’d always wanted kids – not to mention, an heir to his pod – but Fuli was more hesitant. She didn’t really have the patience for kids when she was young, but growing up, and bonding with the baby baboon, helped her with that. They considered letting Beshte have a kid that Fuli would be paws off with, but the idea of parenting with Beshte, who everyone knew would be an incredible father, was enough for her to decide she wanted one of her own too. Lucky for her she had a good male cheetah friend who visited them yearly. The two time their pregnancies to end around the same time (reminder my Beshte is trans; I don’t have a donor in mind for him, probably someone from his pod, or maybe a visiting hippo from Garamba. I dunno not important.) The kids are born within days of each other and are treated and raised almost as if they were twins. Beba is extremely competitive and a show off and has a bit of a rivalry with Zebaki. He’s more sociable than your average cheetah, but he still values his alone time, so he’s closest to his sister and Afua because their quieter natures is less overstimulating than the rest of his friends. Kilindi loves meeting new people and being around friends, family, and community as much as her father. But unlike him, she’s painfully shy, so she struggles to actually engage with other animals outside of sitting quietly listening. She finds it much easier to talk to kids tho.

Sorora (smaller bird) – daughter of Ona, “niece” of Ono. (I haven’t really figured out Ono’s family situation, but it almost seems like he has no parents and is raised by his flock communally so I’m thinking of having Kulinda adopt him? So Sorora being his niece would be more literal.) She’s about 4, 4.5 here, but someday she’ll be Penda’s smartest. She is/will be socially anxious and a worrywart, but stubborn enough that she refuses to let that stop her.

Jukumu (jumping brown cub) Dhania (beige cub talking with Penda) and Tola (sleeping peach cub) – Baliyo and Tiifu’s first three cubs. (I imagine they’d have a very big family, tho I have no desire to design any of them.) The three of them live at the Tree of Life but occasionally visit Pride Rock, both as their mothers’ are friends – Tiifu, along with Zuri, is also a Pridelands ambassador - but they’re kinda sorta, eh??? Zebaki and co’s cousins in the sense that they share an aunt through Vitani, and even that is by marriage, so Kovu is only kinda sorta their uncle. It’s more of a technicality than anything and they don’t really visit each other enough to see themselves as more than just family friends, but they get along alright.

Jukumu and Dhania are twins about a year or two older than the rest, while Tola is slightly younger. Jukumu is impulsive, clumsy, and a lil bit dumb, but he’s trying. I kinda imagine him sounding like Sokka. He’s also the heir to the Tree as Rani and Vitani don’t want kids. Dhania is the first ever born-heir to the Day Guard started by her aunt Vitani, who she greatly admires. She’s rough and tumble, aka extremely butch. Tola is quieter and meeker, a bit of the spoiled baby, but spoiled sweet.

Tēza (“sharp” in Hindi, please correct me if incorrect!) – adopted son of Anga and Ullu. I was originally going to make him a gryfalcon, because I like how they look like small eagle with white owl colors, but their speckle markings were too annoying for me, so I made him a red necked falcon instead. Easier markings and they’re native to both Africa and India. He lives at the Tree with Ullu while Anga lives in the Pridelands, studying to be the next Majordomo. Because of that he’s pretty good buddies with Jukumu, they’ll need to work together as adults after all. They like to playfully bully each other and wrestle as best as a lion and small bird can. He might end up Aliruka's love interest, but i don't know if i want to do another pridelands/tree of life long distance bird relationship. (but i know if this were a real canon show, as a viewer i would totally end shipping them like it did with anga and ullu lol.)