Personality: Wise and preferring to look at things in a positive light, Arien is never one to hold a grudge. He is laid-back, chivalrous, and prefers to be peaceful overall. He has a knack for calming others down and is always the voice of reason in an argument.

Relations: Vitani (mother), Kiara and Kovu (uncle/aunt-in-law), Gainell + Elewisa + Khan + Lapin (cousins)

Basic Information: Arien was born to Vitani and a rogue male, as the lioness wanted to have a cub of her own to raise. Despite his mother wanting to be there, Arien oftentimes found himself alone as she was always busy with the guard. This didn’t deter the young cub from exploring, making friends or otherwise growing up happy. Arien lived to make his mother proud and was happily trained by the older lions into becoming the next leader of the lion guard.

Arien was one of many lions to bear witness to the struggle for the throne that his cousins craved. Unlike many lions however, he refused to choose a side. Arien often was the voice of reason that calmed his cousins down and was the only lion cunning enough to see that Elewisa was often the cause of strife between his brothers. Arien sought to distract Elewisa with a new position and travel, and the trick worked, although most of the damage inflicted through years of sibling rivalry couldn’t be as easily erased.

Arien tried to spend most of his time away from his bickering family, and one day he was tasked by his mother to investigate a snake that had been reportedly been hunting other animals for sport. Arien made his way into the forests where he inadvertently rescued a gibbon by the name of Seisou from the snake. After Arien defeated the snake, the gibbon decided to braid parts of Arien’s mane in honor of his bravery, and to distinguish him from other lions.

Upon Arien’s return, Vitani handed over the leadership of the guard to Arien, who upheld the position with honor until he was replaced by his cousin Khan under the king’s orders. Arien didn’t take the demotion to heart and instead focused on helping Khan lead. The two spent much time working together. When Khan was exiled, Gainell returned the leadership to Arien, who took it if only to ensure that no other lions who showcased sympathy to Khan would be exiled.

In the final days before Gainell’s abdication, Arien received word from Khan and Elewisa that they were planning to reclaim pride rock, and seeing the way that Gainell was handling things, Arien agreed to have his lion guard stand down whilst the brothers marched on Pride Rock.

Trivia:

• His name comes from the name of the Maia ‘Arien’ who, in Tolkien’s universe, was responsible for raising the sun each day.
• Arien is very much akin to the ‘knight in shining armor’ trope and spends most of his days upholding that image of himself.
• He led his own lion guard for the pride lands for a short while before his position was given to Khan.
• After the leadership of the pride lands is settled, Arien goes on to start his own pride.
• He has five braids in his mane, three on the back of his head and two on either side framing his face.

Summary-Relation: In short, Arien, the son of Vitani and the cousin to Kovu and Kiara’s sons, is raised to lead the lion guard after Vitani retires hers, and just before his brief leadership he helps to rescue the gibbon Seisou from a particularly nasty snake. In thanks for his help, Seisou gives Arien his trademark braids.

A big thank you to Luscience for helping me out with the design!

Original photos belong to Disney!