Warning: Contains SPOILERS for Disney Villains: Scar #4
As far as Disney villains go, there are few characters that fans love to hate as much as Scar, the main villain of The Lion King. From his iconic and sinister design to his evil machinations, Scar is peak villainy through and through – but as revealed in an issue of Disney Villains: Scar, Pride Rock’s usurper had yet another skill that nobody knew about – magic.
Disney Villains: Scar #4 – by Chuck Brown, Trevor Fraley, and Chiara Di Francia – finds the titular character running the Pride Lands into the ground, disregarding the needs of subjects who come to him for aid. When royal advisor Rafiki mystically pulls Scar into a dark, prophetic dream of the Pride Land’s future, their brief exchange not only alters fans’ understanding of Scar, it also reinforces a notable Disney villain pattern.
Scar Saw What Was Coming And Refused To Change
In Disney Villains: Scar #4, as he’s pulled into the prophetic vision, Scar immediately recognizes the old mandrill’s spell. Rafiki replies, “Of course you do. You were taught by the best. Me.” The fact that Scar apparently learned some degree of magic from his secret friend Rafiki is a wild detail in its own right, but the notion that he saw where his actions would lead thanks to this vision, and yet still chose to continue down the same path, speaks to the overwhelming hubris of the character. Scar is a fan-favorite Disney villain for many reasons, with his lack of humility being a signature trait, one Scar #4 reinforces.
Scar’s Pride Rocked His Chances At Success
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Every villain is the hero of their own story, and Scar truly believed that ruling Pride Rock as he saw fit was what was best for him, as well as for the population of Pride Rock. His final battle against Simba proves this wasn’t the case. If he’d only heeded Rafiki’s warning and changed his ways, he may have managed to escape the conflict before it was too late. While hubris was his fatal flaw, the fact that magic was one of Scar’s hidden strengths puts him in a similar category to other Disney villains like Ursula, Maleficent, or even Jafar.
Disney films have a longstanding tradition of the magic-using malcontent who seeks to claim power for themselves, and this revelation squarely places Scar within that category. And much like his fellow mystics, Scar met his ultimate end thanks to his own overconfidence. Scar is a fan-favorite Disney villain for many reasons, but humility isn’t one of them. It’s clear that Mufasa’s brother had chance after chance to correct the mistakes he made and simply chose to double down, even with newly revealed magical abilities that could’ve helped him make things right. Ultimately, it seems that The Lion King’s Scar was destined to end up like all of Disney’s magical villains – beaten.
Disney Villains: Scar #4 is available now from Dynamite Entertainment.
