How Scar Became a Bad Guy

Writing prompt: The classic villain is convinced that their actions are for the greater good. Convince me that the villain is not actually delusional, but actually working for a noble cause, even if his/her methods are unorthodox/illegal.

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“It happened then, and it will happen again,” I told my brother. “Can’t you see the grass has gotten thinner here, and if we don’t do something soon, there will be no more animals to hunt?”

“Nonsense. Some years are better than others, that’s all. We’re doing fine, and next year will be even better. Try to have a little optimism.”

He was wrong. He was so so wrong, and I knew it. I tried to reason with him- seriously, the changes that have been happening in the past few years- the weather and the decrease in plants and wildlife- it’s just like our grandfather told us all those years ago. It means a famine is coming.

We needed to get organized. We needed to find the best sources of food, and work to preserve them. But my brother wouldn’t listen. He was the king- this should be his responsibility! But he’s so overconfident, and doesn’t care to study and understand our environment.

If only he could see.

That’s when I got an idea. Maybe a bad idea, but I was desperate. There was one area to the east which was rather dry and desolate. It hadn’t been that way just 2 years before. I needed my brother to see it. But oh, he’s the king, he’s so busy.

But if his young son went exploring there, I just knew my brother would fear for his safety and go get him.

So I had a little chat with my nephew, Simba. Poor kid. What would happen to him when the famine came?

Well, my plan sort of worked. Simba went to the elephant graveyard, and my brother went to save him. In my defense, I really did not expect the hyenas to be there that day, but I guess their homeland has become more and more dry and now they’re staying on the outer edge of our kingdom on a more permanent basis.

I was waiting there when my brother got back home. He seemed a little too happy for someone who had just seen the early stages of famine.

“Oh honey, I was so worried!” his wife exclaimed.

“Haha, don’t worry, everything’s fine,” my brother answered with a laugh. “And I know a few hyenas who will think twice before they ever come around here again. We won’t be seeing them any time soon!”

Everyone laughed, but I interrupted: “No! They will come back. Don’t you see, things are getting worse and worse…”

“Oh, come on, Scar!” said my brother. “Do you always have to be a little raincloud?” Everyone laughed again- I don’t know why everyone thinks he’s so hilarious, because he’s really not. But I looked around at the faces in the room, so full of life. Mothers watched their children roll around purring and playing. So much happiness here, and nobody knows what fate will come to us in just a few years. And nobody cares, not even the king. Nobody cares about our future, except for me.

At that moment, something changed inside me. Yes, I will protect this kingdom, no matter the cost. I have to kill Mufasa.

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The next morning, I started work on my plan. It would have to be clever- my brother is so much stronger than me, there’s no way I could take him in a fight. And of course no other lion would help. Perhaps I could get the hyenas on my side- they were already a little angry at him, right? Still, Mufasa could probably fight off 5 or 10 of them.

His only weakness is Simba, I decided. Ah, I hate to put my sweet little nephew in danger, but this is for the good of all of us.

I went to see the hyenas and told them my plan. I would be king. I would save all of us- lions and hyenas. Well, I had to keep the hyenas a little in the dark about my real motives- those guys are a bit too anti-lion.

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Finally the day came to set the plan in motion- to kill Mufasa. The hyenas provoked a wildebeest stampede, and really everything went right- Mufasa died and little Simba didn’t.

Ah, poor kid. I know, it’s kind of a sad thing, but with me as the king, everything would work out. I fully assumed Simba, because he was so young, would agree to have me rule in his place for a few years, or at least make all the important decisions as an all-powerful “advisor.”

Everything had gone perfectly, until I approached my nephew crying beside my brother’s body, and suddenly I sensed I was being watched.

Oh crap. I had told the hyenas we were going to kill Simba too, and now they were waiting to see it happen. This was NOT part of the plan. I thought they would go back to the elephant graveyard after their job was done- really, they only needed to be there at the beginning.

I needed Simba to get out of there. The only thing I could think was to tell him it was all his fault. Seriously, I know the hyenas would have killed both of us if they saw me being merciful to him. As soon as Simba had run away, I could hear hyena footsteps, slowly coming out of hiding, waiting for my orders.

There was nothing I could do. I couldn’t risk the hyenas’ anger, not when I was this close to becoming king and saving the kingdom.

“Kill him.”