(description copied from my da):
Name: Kopa (has multiple meanings; intended by Mheetu to be "heart shape" in Swahili, but alternative meanings to note are "lame" or "to cheat, swindle, and defraud")
Parents: Mheetu & Chagua
Sibling(s): N/A
Mate(s): Afua (briefly), Babu (briefly), Boga (briefly)
Cub(s): N/A
--
Kopa was born months after Scar was overthrown, to teen sweethearts Mheetu, the soon-to-be brother-in-law of Simba, and Chagua. He was named "Kopa" for the shape of his head (ears and all) as a baby (which can sort of be seen in his cub design).
He was one of the first cubs to be born after the end of Scar's reign and as such, didn't grow up with all that much. Regardless, much to Mheetu's glee, Kopa came out a hefty cub, with no sign whatsoever of the illness that afflicted him at birth.
Kopa gets his sandy colors and green eyes from his dad's side of the family and has the sort of mix of builds between his parents. One could even theorize he'd be the spit of his father, had Mheetu sprouted a mane.
Now, for the meat of this description:
A little before Kopa's birth, Simba and Nala greatly wished to get to know one another more. Their singular date in the jungle had been immediately followed up with a massive fight, so they both feared their feelings for one another were a spur of the moment type thing. There was still so much to learn about what one another had been up to between early cubhood and young adulthood. So they tried their hardest to spend time together outside of the restoration efforts, and to their delight, their numerous talks, follow-up dates, lounging in the sun together kept coming and coming! There was no mistake or rushing anything at all; they were still one another's best friend and found their love growing greater and greater.
Despite this, however, Simba was very abruptly faced with having to fill his father's shoes (pawprints?) without really knowing how, as no one taught him. Among his responsibilities during the restoration of the Pridelands was the prospect of having an heir.
He was not as giddy to get to baby-making as one would expect from a new king. Simba is one anxious lion after living his whole life running away from his problems and keeping them bottled up inside, so he found himself a wreck over the whole thing. Him? A dad? So soon, after finally facing his greatest demons and accepting that his father's death was not his fault? At times, he still felt like a cub! After all, he'd only just reunited with his mother, who, just like him, wanted so badly to make up for lost time, so her constant doting, grooming, and coddling (which he longed to experience as much as possible until his reign was to properly begin) was not something he wished to stop any time soon.
Simba had since learned that telling people about his feelings, rather than snapping at people to leave him alone, felt pretty damn good. So when he told Nala, she was quick to soothe his anxieties. She herself was far from ready to have cubs. She herself had trauma to unpack and while she wanted cubs, she wanted to wait till she was good and ready.
But the worry still remained. How were they to secure an heir?
The Pridelands were still defenseless, still growing new vegetation, and the prey were still gone. Simba had no siblings so there was no Guard to be tasked with defending them. Rogues were passing through all the time as word spread that Scar had been usurped, and would likely set their sights on Simba.
They needed some type of assurance, no matter how little.
Their worries vanished with the birth of their dear nephew.
It was perfect! Simba and Nala could hold off on having cubs for a long as they wanted to and they have their heir! It was win-win.
And so young Kopa would enter a soft sort of grooming for the throne. The terms were never explicit and he was reminded on numerous occasions that he was a placeholder for the timebeing and of course, they didn't know how to handle things when they actually did have cubs, but more urgent matters demanded their attention.
Regardless, Kopa got the gist; he was to be useful to the kingdom in a way no one else was, and as he grew up listening to all the stories about the Great Kings and about Mufasa and about the revolt that brought them to the present, it all came to solidify into a distinct longing to actually be King. He loved his Uncle Simba and Aunt Nala and often tagged along with them on their duties to study them, seeming to prefer hanging around adults instead of cubs his age.
He had such high hopes. As he learned more and more about royal customs and traditions, he began to plot out his ideal life, to the point of gaining a complex about achieiving the throne and fulfilling his percieved role in the Circle of Life. He often fantasized about a different version of himself, one that was the full-blooded offspring of Simba and Nala, a Prince whose destiny was clear to everyone around them, beloved by all animals in the Pridelands. As more cubs were being born, he often wondered who would end up his betrothed, his future Queen Consort. Whereas most cubs would cringe at the idea of marriages and future mates, Kopa was, oddly, eager to grow up and be mated, seeing lionesses not as life partners but as someone you are owed as a means to gaining the crown and continuing the bloodline. It's what happened to his Uncle Simba after all.
What's more is as he absorbed the ideals surrounding the crown, he came to see the hierarchy for what it is -- a pedestal for the royal family, with all others beneath them.
Whilst it was all developing in Kopa's adolescent brain, the rest of the Pride were none the wiser to his inner machinations and saw nothing wrong with the little temporary Prince and found it adorable how eager he was to play a part. Out of all the cubs in the pride, Kopa was highly revered -- a golden child who did no wrong. He never got into trouble, he never strayed off the paths set for him, he never talked back, and he always obeyed. He became something of an ideal for perfection. The other cubs were oft compared to him and in general felt resentment towards him for this (sans Afua, but more on him later). As such, he was never quite close with anyone except for a select few -- Afua, Beba, Babu, and Boga -- despite believing that everyone thought highly of him. In a way, they were the first to see what would soon unfold.
All of this was shattered when he was a teen -- when Nala's pregnancy was announced.
It was, admittedly, an accident, and Simba and Nala hadn't really intended on having cubs for a little while longer. But upon finding out, the duo exchanged glances that weren't exactly anxious ones, and the rest is history.
Kopa was stricken. He needled them constantly -- "But what does this mean for me? What's going to happen, Aunty? Am I still gonna be King, Uncle?" They themselves didn't know but assured him not to worry, if only to get him off their back about it.
When Kiara was born, Kopa was relieved. A girl! Ha! Lionesses don't inherit the crown, they never have!
BUT, as we know, this didn't turn out as he hoped. Simba loved Kiara from the moment he realized she was developing in his mate's womb and even more upon laying eyes on her. He could sense she was strong, would be far stronger than him, and saw no reason to keep anything from her (ironically). King Simba sought to change many things about the royal customs during his reign but this one was the biggest -- right then and there, he declared his firstborn Kiara his official heir.
While the announcement was met with great support, Kopa was far from elated. In fact, it changed him.
He was deeply hurt and lashed out at his uncle because of his decision. He was promised the throne, not some brat! What were the customs for, if they could just be changed on a dime?
Simba, of course, didn't care for his tone, and tried as gently as possible to explain that it was never guaranteed that he would be King. Kopa would have none of it though.
From then on, Kopa would rebel, becoming the pride's worst enemy since Scar. He got into fights with the other teens constantly, hunted for himself and actively sabotaged hunting missions, talked back and frequently disrespected other animals in the kingdom. His parents had no idea how to handle it. To see their son go from cherished son of the pride to a menace was heartbreaking and they weren't equipped at all to deal with him properly. Simba and Nala were likewise lost on how to deal with him. Though everyone would bring their concerns to them, they were reluctant to punish their nephew.
He would only get worse and it came to a head finally when Kopa, hitting his biggest low in a series of lows, would attempt to harm his baby cousin. If she were out of the way, there would be nothing in his way.
His plan was, in his mind, well-orchestrated. His friends, with whom he'd formed a gang of delinquents, caused a loud distraction that drew Simba out of the den in which Nala was sleeping. Kopa snuck in amid the chaos, planning to snatch up the baby and take her to the river. However, for all his confidence in his skills, Kopa is not the sneakiest nor the smartest lion and Nala is a light sleeper.
She knew instantly, from his grasp on her baby's tail, what he was trying to do. Enraged, she slashed at his face, catching him on the cheek and chased him from the den. Kopa, fearing for his life but a teenager still, was easily caught in the middle of the plains where Nala slashed at him more for all to see. She was ready to kill him until Mheetu stopped her.
When all was explained and answered had been wrung out of Kopa's cronies, Simba made the difficult decision to exile his nephew. His accomplices were spared for confessing but defiantly left with Kopa to live nomadically throughout the rest of the their teen years.
In adulthood, Kopa is a pathetic attempt at being what he previously longed to be -- sly, charming, strong, beloved. In reality, he's unable to hold his own in a fight, has poor communication skills, is a raging misogynist, and still views himself as a higher being.
Most of all he still holds a sinister grudge against his uncle, his aunt, and especially his cousin for taking his away what was meant to be his.
--
I've had a day. I won't get into details but I've chosen to channel it in a productive way.
As some may know, I'm not entirely fond of Kopa. I've gone through so many circles trying to figure out what to do with him. First, I didn't even want him in my fanon. Then, I wanted to have him in one work and then that's it. Then I just wanted to be cheeky about him.
I seldom see a version of Kopa that I find interesting. Typically, he's a teen/young adult trying to forge his own path, a tough rogue who returns to the Pridelands covered in battle scars, a big fluffy friendly guy that everyone loves, etc. and usually, more often than not, was in some disastrous event as a kid that separated him from everyone else, usually Zira, sometimes something else.
What I wanted to do was poke fun at him, make him a satire of other versions of himself among other things. My Kopa fetishizes royalty because he was given a tiny taste of it and glorifies it to murderous ends. He's much like Simba as a cub but turned up to 100. He doesn't view lionesses as smart or capable, sees them as vessels and prizes. Meanwhile, everyone coddled him, praised, only fueled his arrogance. He appears to be a nice guy, but in reality, he's not only a disgusting, narcissistic person, but worse -- he's the type that convinces you that he isn't. He's got looks and "charm" but at the end of the day, he's using you to bolster his ego. He's got cronies that do his dirty work and avoids all responsibility. Every bad thing that happens to him is his own fault, yet is entirely unwilling to acknowledge it.
I didn't want to make him scrawny or give him conventionally unattractive features to highlight that you can be "good-looking" (shit, I wouldn't know, I'm gay and also he's a fuckin lion) and still be ugly on the inside.
I have a storyline that I thought up for after LOVESICK, that I want to write if all goes well, about my take on Kopa coming back to the Pridelands. It'll be from Vitani's perspective, so lots of fun things to come from that hehe huhu.
Also, why yes, I did heavily reference the famous Kopa panel from Six New Adventures.
--
DO NOT EDIT, TRACE, SAVE, OR REDISTRUBUTE.
Name: Kopa (has multiple meanings; intended by Mheetu to be "heart shape" in Swahili, but alternative meanings to note are "lame" or "to cheat, swindle, and defraud")
Parents: Mheetu & Chagua
Sibling(s): N/A
Mate(s): Afua (briefly), Babu (briefly), Boga (briefly)
Cub(s): N/A
--
Kopa was born months after Scar was overthrown, to teen sweethearts Mheetu, the soon-to-be brother-in-law of Simba, and Chagua. He was named "Kopa" for the shape of his head (ears and all) as a baby (which can sort of be seen in his cub design).
He was one of the first cubs to be born after the end of Scar's reign and as such, didn't grow up with all that much. Regardless, much to Mheetu's glee, Kopa came out a hefty cub, with no sign whatsoever of the illness that afflicted him at birth.
Kopa gets his sandy colors and green eyes from his dad's side of the family and has the sort of mix of builds between his parents. One could even theorize he'd be the spit of his father, had Mheetu sprouted a mane.
Now, for the meat of this description:
A little before Kopa's birth, Simba and Nala greatly wished to get to know one another more. Their singular date in the jungle had been immediately followed up with a massive fight, so they both feared their feelings for one another were a spur of the moment type thing. There was still so much to learn about what one another had been up to between early cubhood and young adulthood. So they tried their hardest to spend time together outside of the restoration efforts, and to their delight, their numerous talks, follow-up dates, lounging in the sun together kept coming and coming! There was no mistake or rushing anything at all; they were still one another's best friend and found their love growing greater and greater.
Despite this, however, Simba was very abruptly faced with having to fill his father's shoes (pawprints?) without really knowing how, as no one taught him. Among his responsibilities during the restoration of the Pridelands was the prospect of having an heir.
He was not as giddy to get to baby-making as one would expect from a new king. Simba is one anxious lion after living his whole life running away from his problems and keeping them bottled up inside, so he found himself a wreck over the whole thing. Him? A dad? So soon, after finally facing his greatest demons and accepting that his father's death was not his fault? At times, he still felt like a cub! After all, he'd only just reunited with his mother, who, just like him, wanted so badly to make up for lost time, so her constant doting, grooming, and coddling (which he longed to experience as much as possible until his reign was to properly begin) was not something he wished to stop any time soon.
Simba had since learned that telling people about his feelings, rather than snapping at people to leave him alone, felt pretty damn good. So when he told Nala, she was quick to soothe his anxieties. She herself was far from ready to have cubs. She herself had trauma to unpack and while she wanted cubs, she wanted to wait till she was good and ready.
But the worry still remained. How were they to secure an heir?
The Pridelands were still defenseless, still growing new vegetation, and the prey were still gone. Simba had no siblings so there was no Guard to be tasked with defending them. Rogues were passing through all the time as word spread that Scar had been usurped, and would likely set their sights on Simba.
They needed some type of assurance, no matter how little.
Their worries vanished with the birth of their dear nephew.
It was perfect! Simba and Nala could hold off on having cubs for a long as they wanted to and they have their heir! It was win-win.
And so young Kopa would enter a soft sort of grooming for the throne. The terms were never explicit and he was reminded on numerous occasions that he was a placeholder for the timebeing and of course, they didn't know how to handle things when they actually did have cubs, but more urgent matters demanded their attention.
Regardless, Kopa got the gist; he was to be useful to the kingdom in a way no one else was, and as he grew up listening to all the stories about the Great Kings and about Mufasa and about the revolt that brought them to the present, it all came to solidify into a distinct longing to actually be King. He loved his Uncle Simba and Aunt Nala and often tagged along with them on their duties to study them, seeming to prefer hanging around adults instead of cubs his age.
He had such high hopes. As he learned more and more about royal customs and traditions, he began to plot out his ideal life, to the point of gaining a complex about achieiving the throne and fulfilling his percieved role in the Circle of Life. He often fantasized about a different version of himself, one that was the full-blooded offspring of Simba and Nala, a Prince whose destiny was clear to everyone around them, beloved by all animals in the Pridelands. As more cubs were being born, he often wondered who would end up his betrothed, his future Queen Consort. Whereas most cubs would cringe at the idea of marriages and future mates, Kopa was, oddly, eager to grow up and be mated, seeing lionesses not as life partners but as someone you are owed as a means to gaining the crown and continuing the bloodline. It's what happened to his Uncle Simba after all.
What's more is as he absorbed the ideals surrounding the crown, he came to see the hierarchy for what it is -- a pedestal for the royal family, with all others beneath them.
Whilst it was all developing in Kopa's adolescent brain, the rest of the Pride were none the wiser to his inner machinations and saw nothing wrong with the little temporary Prince and found it adorable how eager he was to play a part. Out of all the cubs in the pride, Kopa was highly revered -- a golden child who did no wrong. He never got into trouble, he never strayed off the paths set for him, he never talked back, and he always obeyed. He became something of an ideal for perfection. The other cubs were oft compared to him and in general felt resentment towards him for this (sans Afua, but more on him later). As such, he was never quite close with anyone except for a select few -- Afua, Beba, Babu, and Boga -- despite believing that everyone thought highly of him. In a way, they were the first to see what would soon unfold.
All of this was shattered when he was a teen -- when Nala's pregnancy was announced.
It was, admittedly, an accident, and Simba and Nala hadn't really intended on having cubs for a little while longer. But upon finding out, the duo exchanged glances that weren't exactly anxious ones, and the rest is history.
Kopa was stricken. He needled them constantly -- "But what does this mean for me? What's going to happen, Aunty? Am I still gonna be King, Uncle?" They themselves didn't know but assured him not to worry, if only to get him off their back about it.
When Kiara was born, Kopa was relieved. A girl! Ha! Lionesses don't inherit the crown, they never have!
BUT, as we know, this didn't turn out as he hoped. Simba loved Kiara from the moment he realized she was developing in his mate's womb and even more upon laying eyes on her. He could sense she was strong, would be far stronger than him, and saw no reason to keep anything from her (ironically). King Simba sought to change many things about the royal customs during his reign but this one was the biggest -- right then and there, he declared his firstborn Kiara his official heir.
While the announcement was met with great support, Kopa was far from elated. In fact, it changed him.
He was deeply hurt and lashed out at his uncle because of his decision. He was promised the throne, not some brat! What were the customs for, if they could just be changed on a dime?
Simba, of course, didn't care for his tone, and tried as gently as possible to explain that it was never guaranteed that he would be King. Kopa would have none of it though.
From then on, Kopa would rebel, becoming the pride's worst enemy since Scar. He got into fights with the other teens constantly, hunted for himself and actively sabotaged hunting missions, talked back and frequently disrespected other animals in the kingdom. His parents had no idea how to handle it. To see their son go from cherished son of the pride to a menace was heartbreaking and they weren't equipped at all to deal with him properly. Simba and Nala were likewise lost on how to deal with him. Though everyone would bring their concerns to them, they were reluctant to punish their nephew.
He would only get worse and it came to a head finally when Kopa, hitting his biggest low in a series of lows, would attempt to harm his baby cousin. If she were out of the way, there would be nothing in his way.
His plan was, in his mind, well-orchestrated. His friends, with whom he'd formed a gang of delinquents, caused a loud distraction that drew Simba out of the den in which Nala was sleeping. Kopa snuck in amid the chaos, planning to snatch up the baby and take her to the river. However, for all his confidence in his skills, Kopa is not the sneakiest nor the smartest lion and Nala is a light sleeper.
She knew instantly, from his grasp on her baby's tail, what he was trying to do. Enraged, she slashed at his face, catching him on the cheek and chased him from the den. Kopa, fearing for his life but a teenager still, was easily caught in the middle of the plains where Nala slashed at him more for all to see. She was ready to kill him until Mheetu stopped her.
When all was explained and answered had been wrung out of Kopa's cronies, Simba made the difficult decision to exile his nephew. His accomplices were spared for confessing but defiantly left with Kopa to live nomadically throughout the rest of the their teen years.
In adulthood, Kopa is a pathetic attempt at being what he previously longed to be -- sly, charming, strong, beloved. In reality, he's unable to hold his own in a fight, has poor communication skills, is a raging misogynist, and still views himself as a higher being.
Most of all he still holds a sinister grudge against his uncle, his aunt, and especially his cousin for taking his away what was meant to be his.
--
I've had a day. I won't get into details but I've chosen to channel it in a productive way.
As some may know, I'm not entirely fond of Kopa. I've gone through so many circles trying to figure out what to do with him. First, I didn't even want him in my fanon. Then, I wanted to have him in one work and then that's it. Then I just wanted to be cheeky about him.
I seldom see a version of Kopa that I find interesting. Typically, he's a teen/young adult trying to forge his own path, a tough rogue who returns to the Pridelands covered in battle scars, a big fluffy friendly guy that everyone loves, etc. and usually, more often than not, was in some disastrous event as a kid that separated him from everyone else, usually Zira, sometimes something else.
What I wanted to do was poke fun at him, make him a satire of other versions of himself among other things. My Kopa fetishizes royalty because he was given a tiny taste of it and glorifies it to murderous ends. He's much like Simba as a cub but turned up to 100. He doesn't view lionesses as smart or capable, sees them as vessels and prizes. Meanwhile, everyone coddled him, praised, only fueled his arrogance. He appears to be a nice guy, but in reality, he's not only a disgusting, narcissistic person, but worse -- he's the type that convinces you that he isn't. He's got looks and "charm" but at the end of the day, he's using you to bolster his ego. He's got cronies that do his dirty work and avoids all responsibility. Every bad thing that happens to him is his own fault, yet is entirely unwilling to acknowledge it.
I didn't want to make him scrawny or give him conventionally unattractive features to highlight that you can be "good-looking" (shit, I wouldn't know, I'm gay and also he's a fuckin lion) and still be ugly on the inside.
I have a storyline that I thought up for after LOVESICK, that I want to write if all goes well, about my take on Kopa coming back to the Pridelands. It'll be from Vitani's perspective, so lots of fun things to come from that hehe huhu.
Also, why yes, I did heavily reference the famous Kopa panel from Six New Adventures.
--
DO NOT EDIT, TRACE, SAVE, OR REDISTRUBUTE.
Category All / All
Species Unspecified / Any
Gender Any
Size 1280 x 666px
Comments