Lion guard Story Reviews

A Triumph of Character Growth (Simba's Pain Written by MrToast101)

Once again, this story is on FanFiction.net, PLEASE go check those stories out. If I'm reviewing a story, then you know it's good.

Introduction

Character growth is a vital part of storytelling. If a character dowsn't grow or develop then there was no point at all if you end up with the same person you had from the beginning.So being able to successfully make a character grow is quite an accomplishment, especially since 91% of Lion Guard Fanfics are unable to do this (boom roasted).

Now there is a formula to successfully have character growth that makes the viewers experience feel natural. You have to slowly build up and develop the character, you cant just have the person do a 180 and call it a day. You need the character to experience a series of events that build up to the end result.

However this story has managed to miraculously make me connect with the characters, and allowed for nearly all of them to grow and develop, and allows the viewer to have an emotional connection with them. The writing in this book is SO good, I am able to understand these characters, and for the most part, they are consistent with logical character development. And lets start off with the main couple of the story.

Simba

Unlike main universe Simba where he is cocky for the first few years of his life, then he doesn't give a shit because of Hakunah Matatta and shit, this version is instead socially deprived and neglected. He somehow feels like everything is his fault so he strives for self improvement, he said it himself that he hopes to find out what's wrong with him so everyone else can be his friend.

As a result he feels like he should apologize for everything even if it wasn;t his fault which sometimes can be bad, but the sense of self improvement has also been effective when it came to his physical training. He pushes himself to the limit and as a result, he is one of the strongest, if not the strongest lion in the Pridelands.

But after he has met Nala and has gained some new friends, the sense of self improvement has allowed him to grow. We see him be less socially awkward, and grow to be a better king-in-training. He better understands emotions and becomes a better boyfriend to Nala. Although he is highly different from when he started, the sense of self-improvement has helped maintain a sense of consistency.

Nala

On the other hand we have Nala. In the main universe she also had a sense of adventure much like Simba, but she was more calm than him, and I'm not sure about her teenage years but its likely that she became more mature especially since her home was an extremely dangerous place to live in. Compare that to this version where she starts off as just someone else trying to fit in, which means bullying Simba from time to time. However she still is empathetic which allows her to see Simba as more than a looser. She got to know him in the short amount of time they spent together. She felt bad for him but also admired his sense of self improvement, which is most likely why she fell for him.

However as the story moves on she develops a sense of fear, and as we discussed earlier, fear can sometimes make people do illogical things and make mistakes. She becomes more possessive of Simba, not allowing her friends to hang out with him, which in turn hurt Simba even more.

But she was able to recognize that (after her mother yelled at her) and try to improve her behavior, and as she tries to improve her behavior more, their relationship became less toxic and more stable. She has developed her own sense of self improvement and that's why her and Simba are a happy couple.

I think it's clear by now that a main theme in this story is self improvement. Some of the other side characters like Chumivi grow and change throughout the story. He went from a jerk to someone more empathetic and kind because he became aware on how bad his behavior was, and he began to change it.

Character growth is both easy and hard at the same time. Its about thought and execution. Sure you can map out a character's arc in your head, but if the arc is too short or too long then it could ruin the whole thing. You also need to find a way to make the character progression feel natural and not forced. And Mr.Toast has done that. This writer has given us flawed character who were able to recognize their own mistakes and we get to see them try to improve themselves.

When we started off in the book, we were presented with a version of Mufasa who was a huge asshole, you could care less if he died or not. But we see him change and grow, he recognized his mistakes with the help of Simba and he became amore kind and caring father once again, so when he dies, we actually feel bad for him just like in the main universe. That is excellent writing.

And it's a shame because other fanfics I see have the characters start and end the story as the same person. If there is no growth for the characters, then what was the point of the story? A good story would have a well constructed plot, a better one would have characters that are flawed that grow and change, and make the audience invested in them. And "Simba's Pain" is the perfect example of how character progression should be thought out and executed. And if you would like to see an alternate version of Simba and Nala's romance, then please read this (even though i just spoiled half of the goddamn story lol)

Alright, so the next story Im gonna review is gonna be a pain in the ass because its so long (that's what she said) so hang on guys. But anyways see ya.