Scar (The Lion King) - The Lion King - Nala

Nala is Simba's closest childhood playmate and future wife, who first debuts as a cub in the first film of the franchise who accompanies Simba in his venture into the forbidden Elephant Graveyard, depicted as being as mischievous, adventurous, and playful as her friend. She later appears mourning over Simba's alleged "death" before finally reappearing as a lovely adult who unknowingly entangles herself in a brawl with a matured Simba after having attempted to attack Pumbaa. To the chagrin of Timon and Pumbaa, a romance gradually blossoms between the pair during the sequence "Can You Feel the Love Tonight?", though their relationship is interfered after Nala urges her reluctant friend to return to the dilapidated Pride Lands, corrupted by Scar's tyrannical kingship, and claim the throne. After Simba is encouraged by Rafiki to return home and confront his uncle, an overjoyed Nala, accompanied by Timon, Pumba, and the lionesses of the Pride Lands, compete in the malicious battle allied with him after successfully toppling Scar's reign. She was horrified when Simba admitted to her and the other lionesses his mistaken belief that he was responsible for Mufasa's death, and enraged when she later learned that it was in fact Scar who had murdered Mufasa and tricked Simba into thinking he was responsible for his father's death. Defying the vow they had proclaimed as children repulsed at the prospect of being betrothed, she marries Simba and together the two have a daughter named Kiara.

In the following sequel, The Lion King ll: Simba's Pride, the significance of Nala's role is downgraded, though she still makes frequent appearances throughout the course of the film, where she is depicted as being looser, calmer, and less uptight than her overprotective husband, but reappears when necessary. Naturally, she also appears with a similarly-reduced role in "The Lion King 1 1/2," a direct-to-video midquel retelling the events of the first film from Timon and Pumbaa's viewpoints, in which the pair's attempts at thwarting her developing romance with Simba are further detailed.