Kiara/Relationships

The relationships of Kiara from The Lion King franchise.

Romance

Kovu

Kiara shows her affection for Kovu.

Kiara first met Kovu as a cub when she entered the Outlands. When they first met, Kiara was wary of Kovu, but she immediately loosened up to him and admires his way of living without relying too much on anyone. They quickly became friends after working together escaping from a float of crocodiles, but soon were separated by their parents due to their hatred for one another. Even though this was their only meeting, it leaves a big impression on both Kiara and Kovu.

When they're reunited years later, Kiara soon recognizes her childhood friend and is more than happy to welcome him into the pride after he saved her from the fire (which was actually part of Outsiders' plan to get close to Simba). Kiara begins to spend more time with Kovu, having him teach her how to hunt better and she in return teach him how it feels to simply have fun. Eventually their feelings blossom into love and Kovu refuses to drop his mission. Even after hearing Simba's accusation of Kovu led him to the trap to kill him that results with Kovu's exile, Kiara still believes in Kovu's love for her and pleads to her father to reconsider his punishment while defending Kovu. Her love for Kovu is so strong that she snuck out to look for him, showing how much she wants to be by his side. After they are reunited and convinced their prides to stop the fighting, Kiara and Kovu are finally married.

Family

Simba

Simba and Kiara

Despite their mutual affection for each other, Simba is incredibly overprotective which makes Kiara feel suffocated sometimes. It gets worse before it gets better as Kiara got older. Kiara yearned to prove to her father that she was responsible and mature, and despairs when Simba breaks a promise to her to the point she left the Pride Lands a couple times. Once she reunited with Kovu and spent more time with him, she became more distant with her father. Simba distrusts their relationship due to Kovu's Outsider heritage. This further worsened after Simba exiles Kovu for the crime that Kiara believes Kovu is innocent of (which is true) and banned Kiara from going anywhere alone again to make sure she would not meet him. Kiara was so angry and distraught by her father's irrational decision and stubbornness, that she declared her father would never be like her grandfather and then she snuck out find Kovu.

However, Kiara still loves her father and cares for his well-being, so she convinced Kovu to help her reunite their prides and help her father realize Mufasa's true wish. Once Kiara and Kovu put a stop to the fight between the two feuding prides and Kiara expressing her understanding of “We are one”, Simba looks at Kiara fondly and they embrace. After the two prides are united, Simba finally accepts Kiara is growing up and she can make good decisions.

In The Lion Guard, Kiara has a close relationship with her father, happily learning how to become a proper queen from him.

Nala

Kiara with her mother.

Kiara's and Nala's mother-daughter relationship is observed to be affectionate and supportive, Unlike Simba, Nala isn't overprotective of her daughter, and shows trust in Kiara's abilities. She expressed support and pride for her daughter on the onset of her first hunt and was relieved that Kiara was unharmed by the fire set by Nuka and Vitani. Nala also supports her daughter's blossoming romance with Kovu, an outsider, as shown when she suggested Simba to get to know Kovu and shocked when Simba exiled Kovu out of rage. She was greatly relieved when Simba admitted he was wrong about Kovu and allowed him to rejoin the pride, knowing the happiness this brought to Kiara. With great pride and joy, Nala happily watches and takes part in her daughter’s wedding to Kovu, roaring alongside them over the Pride Lands.

In The Lion Guard, Kiara is shown to have a loving mother-daughter bond with Nala, more or less the same as in The Lion King II: Simba's Pride, and enjoys learning about the importance of hunting and tracking from her.

Kion

Kion and Kiara

Kiara has a common sibling relationship with Kion, her younger brother. Both occasionally prone to squabbles due to their similar prides. However, they resolve their differences and hold affection for one another in the end. Unlike how their great-uncle was with their grandfather, Kion doesn't hold resentment or jealousy towards his Kiara's role as future queen, even when she bossed him around while she was interim queen, and realized, with Mufasa's guidance, that as her younger brother he needs to be by her side to support her and give her the right advice.

In "The Trail to Udugu", Kion and Kiara's sibling rivalry is made apparent as both were trying to best one another to find Udugu, which only resulted with them messing up. Only after their mother went missing did Kiara and Kion finally acknowledge' each other's skills and teamed up to find their mother, which resulted with them succeeding.

Throughout the rest of the series, Kiara and Kion become much closer. He and The Lion Guard also come to her rescue a number of times as well. Not only Kiara helped out in her royal duties, she also was seen helping The Lion Guard when she can. Kiara is so supportive of her brother and the Lion Guard that she doesn’t approve others using them for false alarms/minor emergencies, such as Kiara telling Tifu and Zuri off for calling the Lion Guard over their messy fur.

In ”Battle for the Pride Lands“ Kiara was deeply worried about Kion after he got his scar. When Kion learned that he had to journey to the Tree of Life in order to have his scar healed Kiara wished him luck as he departed. Kion, in turn, wished to return in time to see his sister’s first hunt.

Many months later in “Return to the Pride Lands“ when Kion returned from his journey he was delighted to see Kiara again and when he thought she was in danger from Kovu (due to not realizing the events that happened while he was away) he quickly attempted to protect her before she explained everything to him.

Later that night Kiara and Kion sat together watching the stars from Pride Rock. Kion confessed to her how seeing her together with Kovu reminded him of a certain “friend” he met at the tree of life. Realizing her brother’s feelings for his so-called friend, Kiara playfully teased him, expressing delight over the fact that Kion had a love interest of his own, and wished to know about her. She was impressed when it was revealed to be Rani, the Queen of the Tree of Life. Sensing Kion’s sorrow, she realized that he missed Rani and was longing to be with her again. Knowing full well of the pain of being separated from the one you love, Kiara consoled Kion, assuring him that he would be able to return to her, and she’s sure their parents would understand.

Kiara later attended Kion and Rani’s wedding/coronation ceremony along with Kovu, Simba, and Nala. During the event she enthusiastically cheered for Kion, overjoyed that her brother, like her, was able to be with the one he loves as well as becoming a ruler himself.

Mufasa

Due to his death, Kiara never got to meet her grandfather. She clearly was told a great deal about him and knows how honorable he was, defying her father after he banishes Kovu, knowing that Mufasa would've been more merciful and forgiving in Simba's place.

In "Return to the Pride Lands" she and her family were shown speaking to Mufasa's spirit.

Scar

Like her grandfather Mufasa, Kiara never met her great-uncle before his death, but had been told of his horrible crimes against the kingdom and their family as a false king. When Scar returned from the afterlife, Kiara was determined to help Kion and the Lion Guard defeat him. In "Battle for the Pride Lands" after escaping a fire from Pride Rock, Scar appeared before the royal family and Kiara showed signs of fear upon seeing her great-uncle.

Unlike her father and brother who become indecisive from their dislike of Scar, Kiara doesn't let hers influence her judgement. Kiara is able to befriend and fall in love with Kovu, Scar's chosen heir, and see the good in him as well as an individual. At the same time, she holds her low opinion of Scar in a more subdued manner, simply stating to Kovu there was a darkness in him he couldn't escape.

Vitani

Kiara and Vitani

Vitani originally disliked Kiara, since she was a Pridelander and the daughter of Simba, the Outsiders’ most hated enemy. At first, Vitani held no respect for Kiara, viewing her as nothing more than a mere princess and Simba's "pretty daughter". It was Vitani along with her brother Nuka who set the flames to trap Kiara so Kovu could rescue her and thus infiltrate the Pride Lands in order to assassinate Simba. However, when Kiara and Kovu worked together to stop the fighting between the prides and pleaded for them to join together again, Vitani was deeply moved and became the first Outsider to rejoin Simba's Pride.

When Vitani did this she openly admitted that Kiara was right, thus developing a newfound respect for her, and acknowledging her wisdom. After her mother’s death, Vitani smiled as she watched her brother marry Kiara; making them sisters-in-law. Kiara, in turn, happily accepts her mate’s older sister as a member of her family.

When Kion returned from the Tree of Life and was about to use the Roar of the Elders on Vitani and her Lion Guard (due to believing them to still be enemies) Kiara risked her life to protect Vitani by jumping in front of her brother before he could use the roar. This shows that both Kiara and Vitani completely accept each other as family, and have grown to care for each other. Along with the Pride Landers, Kiara cheered for Vitani when she became the official leader of the Lion Guard.

Zira

Zira hated and had no respect for Kiara so bad, she doesn’t refer to Kiara by her name but as “the daughter” just because Kiara is Simba’s daughter. Kiara falls in love with her son Kovu. Kovu and Vitani decide to join Simba's Pride and Zira got mad. Zira tries to attack Simba one last time but Kiara tackles at her to put a stop to it. Zira hangs on to a cliff and Kiara tries to save her. Zira falls to her death and Kiara marries Kovu, thus making Zira Kiara’s posthumous adopted mother-in-law.

Rani

Kiara and Rani are on good terms. She along with Simba, Nala and Kovu attends Rani and Kion's wedding; making Rani Kiara's new sister-in-law. Kiara enthusiastically cheers for them along with the rest of the Pride Landers.

Baliyo

Kiara and Baliyo are on good terms. Baliyo becomes Kiara's brother-in-law when Kion marries Rani.

Friends

Tiifu and Zuri

Kiara with Tiifu and Zuri

Tiifu and Zuri are Kiara's best friends. They enjoy learning how to hunt together and usually spend most of their days together. Tiifu admires Kiara as the princess, expressing excitement and strong faith that Kiara will do great when they learned how to hunt together. She's also jealous of anyone that she thinks to be too close to Kiara, which is shown when she saw how Kiara and Fuli trained to hunt together, thinking that Fuli is trying to replace her position as Kiara's best friend. While Zuri doesn't go as far as Tiifu, she also admires Kiara and believes in Kiara's capabilities as future queen and takes her duty seriously when she's tasked as Kiara's royal adviser.

In "Baboons!", Kiara tasked Tiifu and Zuri with helping her prepare for her royal duty, she expresses amused annoyance with their obsession with her appearances, but later credits them when speaking to Vuruga Vuruga.

In "The Underground Adventure", Kiara immediately saved Tiifu without a moment's hesitation when she accidentally caused a cave-in during a panic attack, proceeded to berate Zuri and Bunga for causing her fears to manifest even further, and comforted Tiifu until they returned home, indicating that despite showing annoyance for their prior act of getting the Lion Guard involved in a false alarm, she still sees them as friends.

Timon and Pumbaa

Despite their differences, Kiara is shown to have a close relationship with her father's childhood friends and guardians. She expresses annoyance at Simba's insistence that they accompany her everywhere, but still maintain a good relationship with the both of them. Timon and Pumbaa were initially shocked and disappointed when they found out Kiara is a girl as they had expected to raise her as they did with Simba, but eventually accepted her since she's Simba's daughter. They take their duty as Kiara's guardians seriously and make sure she's not hurt whenever she's going out alone, though unfortunately they constantly lost her due to their clumsiness.

Bunga, Fuli, Beshte and Ono

Kiara becomes good friends with Kion's Lion Guard. They save her in "Can't Wait to be Queen and The Rise of Scar" from Janja's Clan.

Dhahabu

Kiara becomes good friends with queen Dhahabu when she visits the Pride Lands.

Acquaintances

Rafiki

Kiara appears to have a friendly relationship with her father's shaman, Rafiki was the one that Mufasa foretold Kiara and Kovu's eventual romance to, and though he was skeptical of the plan, Rafiki agreed to bring the two together for the benefit of the prides. When Rafiki surprised Kovu by appearing suddenly in front of him, Kiara calmed a panicked Kovu by saying awkwardly, that he was a friend of the family, indicating that despite not knowng him personally well, she still saw him as a friend. He sang Upendi in order to boast their blossoming romance. This led to Kovu and Kiara reuniting after Kovu's exile, and joining together to save their families and prides.

After the battle, Rafiki blessed their union, and watched as Kovu and Kiara nuzzled each other and roared from atop the peak with Simba and Nala.

Zazu

Like her relationship with Rafiki, Kiara is also shown to have a close friendship with Simba's majordomo. He helped her father warn her about the dangers of the Outlands, and the Outsiders, and during her first hunt, Zazu located her and led her parents to her location. After the battle, Zazu watched as Rafiki blessed Kovu and Kiara's marriage.

Jasiri

Jasiri and Kiara are on good terms since they both fight the Outlanders.

Janja

Kiara was willing to give Janja the benefit of the doubt in Can't Wait to be Queen, hoping that an arrangement could be made that would stop the fighting between them and the rest of the Pride Landers. However, upon learning that Janja had tricked her, Kiara never trusted Janja again.

Despite this, Janja was still able to kidnap her in The Lion Guard: The Rise of Scar, which only made her more furious towards him and his clan.

In Battle for the Pride Lands, Kiara and Janja are on good terms when he changes sides.

Chungu

Chungu kidnapping Kiara.

Chungu helps Janja with nearly every evil scheme. He along with the rest of Janja's Clan attempt to murder the princess in Can't Wait to be Queen, only to be stopped by the Lion Guard. In The Rise of Scar, the hyenas attack her and Makini and under Janja's orders, he kidnaps the princess and carries her all the way into the Outlands as part of Janja's plot to summon the spirit of Scar. Then, he throws her in the steam vent by the Outlands Volcano.

In Battle for the Pride Lands, Kiara and Chungu are on good terms when he changes sides.

Cheezi

Cheezi helps Janja with nearly every evil scheme. He along with the rest of Janja's Clan attempt to murder the princess in Can't Wait to be Queen, only to be stopped by the Lion Guard. However, he is disappointed that Kion and Kiara were not fighting each other showing how much he enjoys violence. He attacks her in The Rise of Scar when she and Makini were strolling around the Pride Lands as part of Janja's plan to summon the spirit of Scar.

In Battle for the Pride Lands, Kiara and Cheezi are on good terms when he changes sides.

Anga

Kiara and Anga are on good terms. Anga saves Kiara when Pride Rock was on fire.

Kuchimba

After being lost under ground Kuchimba helps Kiara and her friends get back home.

Mzingo

Mzingo manipulated her into believing that if she met Janja at Broken Rock at sunset, that he and Kiara could make things work (really part of Janja's plot to rule the Pride Lands) for the Pride Lands. Kion, however, scolds her for trusting him because he knows that he along with Janja are villains who cannot be trusted regardless of what they say. Kiara later finds out that what he said actually was a lie. However, in Return to the Pride Lands, Kiara forgives Mzingo for his previous actions.