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Template:DisneyChar Kopa is a fictional lion character in Disney's The Lion King universe. According to a set of books titled The Lion King: Six New Adventures he is the son of King Simba and Queen Nala. The word kopa has multiple meanings in Swahili.

In the books, Kopa is the cub presented at the end of The Lion King, but his existence has been retconned by the release of The Lion King II: Simba's Pride. In that film, Kiara is the only child of Simba. There are some fan theories that attempt to reconcile the two. In these it is assumed that Kiara is presented in a ceremony different than the one at the first film's final moments, and that Kopa had died or disappeared before Kiara's birth. The most believed fan theory is that he was murdered by Zira, a lioness loyal to Scar, that being the main reason why she and her pride were banished to the Outlands. That theory also explains why Simba hated Zira and why he is so over-protective to Kiara. There is, however, a rather small margin of fans who, primarily because of Kopa's exclusion, don't consider The Lion King II: Simba's Pride to be canon.

The Lion King: Six New Adventures

In the book series, Kopa is featured prominently in Vulture Shock. He also had minor roles in other books of the set. According to the illustrations, he looks almost exactly like Simba as a cub, except for a small tuft of brown fur on his head. He is described as loving to hear stories.

In Vulture Shock, Kopa wanted to find his family tree so he asked Simba to take him to it. Simba was busy and Kopa decided he'd find it by himself. After he found a lizard and chased it he ended up in a dry, barren land. He couldn't find a way back so he curled up and fell asleep. In the morning he was found by two vultures who took him for ransom. They kept him prisoner high up in a tree. He was later found by the Buzzard Boyz, a group of rapping vultures. They befriended Kopa and brought Simba and Nala to him. Kopa was then rescued.

In A Tale of Two Brothers, Rafiki tells the backstory of Mufasa and Scar to Kopa, and teaches him that we shouldn't be jealous of others.

In How True, Zazu?, Zazu tells Kopa about his life when he was young and how he became the King's majordomo.

What happened to Kopa?

Because the cub in the end of The Lion King is believed to be Kopa due to his resemblances to Simba, and due to the differences between the cerimonies, and even Simba and Nala's own appearance, there are many theories to explain what happened to Kopa. Here are some of them:

• Zira killed him (this one is among the most believed by fans)

• He was killed by some predator

• He fell off a cliff

• He died from illness

• He was kidnapped by another lioness

• He ran away from the Pride Lands, knowing that Zira would kill him

• He is always there, and was simply dropped from the movie

• He got kicked out of the pride

Another theory, probably the most realistic, is that since Kopa is older than Kiara, he might've left the pride when he hit adult-hood to go off and create his own pride, which is what happens in real life, the male cubs leave to make their own prides while the females stay with their birth prides.

References

1. http://research.yale.edu/cgi-bin/swahili/lookup.cgi?Word=kopa&EngP=0&SUBMIT2=Look+Up

• The Lion King characters
• Fictional lions