Nala (The Lion King) in "The Lion King" (1994) as the daughter of Sarafina and the best friend of Simba, who she often accompanies on his adventures throughout the Pride Lands. Simba invites Nala to visit the forbidden Elephant Graveyard with him, despite his father Mufasa's orders. The cubs are soon ambushed by Shenzi, Banzai and Ed, a trio of hyenas chosen by Simba's treacherous uncle Scar to kill Simba in order to improve his own chances of becoming king, but are ultimately rescued by Mufasa. The following day, however, Nala is devastated to learn from Scar that both Simba and Mufasa have perished
Nala (The Lion King) University of Waterloo's Kinema, Vicky Wong believes that Nala reinforces the film's "take your place" motif, reminding main character Simba of his responsibilities. In his book "Retelling Stories, Framing Culture: Traditional Story and Metanarratives in Children's Literature", author John Stephens credits Nala with teaching Simba about responsibility – "the lesson the hero must learn before he can become an adult". Film critic James Berardinelli identified Nala as "The Lion King"'s "sole significant female character." Including Nala, "The Lion King" has only three major female characters in comparison to the film's total of nine male ones. Shepherd University's Emmylou Allen observed