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I don't think Niju and Steele are alike aside from their persistence as antagonists in the films.

Steele was a wannabe hero, a pathetic show-off, and a cold-hearted villain.

To call Niju a villain is, in my opinion, fairly unobservant. Niju is a wolf who is concerned with ancestry and the sacredness of their land. Though he can be rather violent(normal behavior for a wolf...no?), his heart is generally in the right place. He is scared of change, and is concerned about the pack dying when they cross the ocean. He is an antagonist, trying to keep Aleu/Balto/Nava/etc from reaching their goals, but I for one cannot truthfully call him a villain.

The designers proabably the same design as Steele. Maybe they though it looked good.

I just wanted to point this out: Niju looks a lot like a black and white bobcat (in my opinion)

Uncreative? Talk about uncreative, and Steele and Niju are TOATALLY diffrent. Steele was serious, hard, and pretty fearless. Niju freaked when Balto told him to lead the pack home. Talk about pitiful, Steele was brave, bold, and never exactally listened to athority. Niju was a wus, he listened to Nava and even Balto, and looks like a girly cat! Yeah, these artists don't exactally have many creative ideas. They put the same antagonist themes in both movies (Bad Boy and followers) because Steele was loved for the markings and his sassyness. They noticed this and threw Niju in.