Ushari

Ushari is an African cobra who serves as a minor character in the 2015 TV film The Lion Guard: Return of the Roar, and one of the antagonists in its 2016 follow-up series The Lion Guard.

History

The Lion Guard: Return of the Roar

Ushari makes a brief appearance in the film during the scene where Kion and Bunga are playing Baobab Ball. Ushari ends up getting caught up in the duo's game and gets the baobab fruit wedged in his mouth.

Season 1

"Never Judge a Hyena By It's Spots"

Ushari makes a brief appearance in the scene where Bunga is trying to guide Fuli, Beshte and Ono to Flat Ridge Rock to meet with Kion. After taking a wrong turn in a jungle area, Bunga pushes leaves away and comes face to face with Ushari, who sinisterly asks him if he is going somewhere, to which Bunga nervously laughs and leaves.

"The Rise of Makuu"

Ushari attempts to eat a hyrax, but he is stopped by Bunga. Ushari confronts Bunga for stopping him from eating his lunch. Bunga responds by rolling Ushari into a ball and throwing him at a tree, which the snake bounces off and lands on the ground.

"Fuli's New Family

Ushari bites Bunga after the honey badger lands on him. Fortunately, Bunga is informed by Rafiki that the bite will not kill him as honey badgers are immune to snake bites.

"Paintings and Predictions

After Bunga jumps on him, Ushari wraps his coils around him and says that he should bite him, but decides against it as last time he couldn't get rid of Bunga's taste from his mouth for days.

Season 2

"The Rise of Scar"

Ushari has finally grown tired of being injured during The Lion Guard's antics. He overhears Kion talking with Rafiki's apprentice Makini about talking to the Lions of the Past, which gives Ushari an idea. Ushari travels to the Outlands where he is confronted by Janja and his clan, who wish to eat him. Ushari is able to convince them not to by revealing that the reason The Lion Guard can defeat them is because of Kion getting advice from the spirit of his grandfather Mufasa. He tells them that if Kion can talk to Mufasa, they could talk to Scar (Mufasa's younger brother and the previous leader of the Lion Guard before Kion). Convinced, Janja sends Ushari to gather information.

Ushari comes to Makini (who is looking for a Bakora Staff) and claims that he is a friend of Kion and the Lion Guard. He questions her on if bad lions from the past can be summoned, to which Makini is uncertain. Later after Janja wishes for more information, Ushari has a skink named Nyeusi follow Rafiki and Makini to find out where they are going. Nyeusi returns later and leads Ushari and the skinks' leader named Shupavu to the Lair of the Lion Guard. Ushari listens to Rafiki and discovers that the spirits of bad lions can be summoned by a Bakora Staff and the Roar of the Elders. Ushari returns to Janja and tells him what he knows. Knowing that Kion's Roar is most powerful when his loved ones are threatened, Janja and his clan go to the Pride Lands and kidnap Kion's sister Kiara and steal Makini's Bakora Staff. After Janja's tricks Kion into using the Roar of the Elders in anger, causing the hyenas' lair's volcano to erupt, Ushari attempts to use the Bakora Staff to summon Scar, but to no avail. Angered, Janja grabs the staff and kicks it into the volcano, which summons Scar.

"Let Sleeping Crocs Lie"

After the skinks see that Makuu's float is awake during the Dry Season, they inform Ushari, who then tells Scar and thinks it could lead to the end of Simba's reign. Later after the skinks inform the two of them that Kiburi has challenged Makuu to a Mashindano, Scar tells Ushari to trick Kiburi into taking down Simba so that he can rule the Pride Lands and he does so. After Kiburi loses the Mashindano he and his three followers are banished to the Outlands where they find Ushari sleeping on a rock and confront him with anger. It is there he takes the four of them to the hyena's volcano Scar reveals himself and they are made members of his facation in a plan to unite all the outlanders and take over the Pride Lands.

"Swept Away"

Ushari is resting in the volcano, but can't because the hyenas are arguing. When all of a sudden the skinks arrive and inform them that Beshte is lost in the Outlands, Scar sees it as an opportunity to get rid of him which Ushari agrees to. After the pain fails Ushari appears and tells Janja, Cheezi and Chungu that Scar wants to see them and he's not happy.

"Rescue in the Outlands"

Ushari is awoken by the hyenas and states "Need I ask how the meeting with the jackals went?"Janja exclaims they didn't find them, instead they ran into Jasiri and how she kicked their butts.

"The Bite of Kenge"

After Scar orders the hyenas to go and steal all the elephant's melon supply, but they were just stopped by the Lion Guard Ushari tells them about his monitor lizard friend Kenge and how he can help stop the Lion Guard and Scar tells him to go an ask Kenge for his assist.

"Undercover Kinyonga"

When Scar summoned Janja to execute his newly planned operation, Ushari informed Janja that he is late and Ushari would have sent the Skinks to search for him if he didn’t come. They started bickering each other which was quickly broken up by Scar.

Season 3

"Battle for the Pride Lands

Years into the battle with the Lion Guard, Ushari is told by Scar about how he came to get his scar. He tells Ushari that he was bitten in the face by a cobra. When the Lion Guard arrive at the volcano, Scar has Ushari attack Kion, giving him a scar over his left eye.

After Kion calls upon the Great Lions of the Past to destroy Scar, Ushari attacks him to avenge his boss. Bunga comes to Kion's defence and knocks Ushari away into the pit, causing the two to fall towards the volcano's lava. Whilst Ono manages to save Bunga from a fiery fate, Ushari falls into the lava and burns to his death covered by smoke.

Trivia

• Ushari was first thought to be a villain before the movie was released. However, he later became a villain during The Lion Guard: The Rise of Scar.
• With his hood closed Ushari closely resembles a red spitting cobra except for the "eye" markings on his hood when extended (a trait the species lacks).
• Ushari's role in Season 2, being the snake sidekick to Scar, is derived from early concepts of The Lion King in which Scar would've had a snake (albeit a python rather than a cobra) as a comic relief sidekick.
• Ushari is the first and so far only antagonist in The Lion Guard to actually die onscreen (not counting Scar, as he originated from the original film and was already dead). By extension, Ushari has the distinction of being the first antagonist in a Disney Junior show to be explicitly killed.
• Despite not being involved with them, Ushari was indirectly responsible for the formation of Makucha's Army.
• His death is similar to Zira as they both die trying to avenge Scar.