You don’t have to be a bad guy to the the bad guy, but it helps. So many villains, Disney or otherwise, have a loveable side, misunderstood in some way. If you want to be a true contender for greatest Big Bad Evil Guy, you really need to have that in your core.
For instance, someone who is ready to commit fratricide, nepiticide, abuse of multiple family members, a hostile takeover that leads to the breakdown of an entire ecosystem… well… they’re gunning for the number 1 spot.
Presence – 3 out of 5
Now we have to be careful here. If we were going with who he is as a full character, he’s a 5. Be Prepared alone would be worth half those points. Yet this is as villain that presents to the Player Characters a certain way. The audience (or more insightful hero characters) will see him for who he is, but in their interactions in your TTRPG, Scar is deliberately playing it meek. Much like Jafar, he’s hiding those intentions, which means that his presence is downplayed on purpose.
When he does reveal himself fully, it’s all a little bit too late.
Atmosphere – 3 out of 5
First half of the film/first half of your TTRPG, Scar is deliberately playing his presence down, and his impact on the wider world is also carefully controlled.
The second half however, we see this BBEG’s influence on the world at large. Well, at least his kingdom. Those in the jungle continues to eat bugs and Hakuna Matata all day long. The plains are wrecked though. Scar’s ambition corrupts at entire ecosystem. And possibly the weather?
When he sings, he also appears to cause small-scale tectonic activity… but I can’t confirm that.
Omniscience – 2 out of 5
This is an area of concern for Scar as an NPC. He has a great plan to take out Mufasa, which required some understanding of his environment and he was prepared for his brother making it out of a full-on stampede.
On the other hand, he had no idea that Simba was alive for an extended period of time. The amount of time where a flash forward and a tremendous transformation of the protagonist can take place.
Furthermore, whilst the effect his rule has on the kingdom is impressively ominous, it does demonstrate his ignorance towards the Circle of Life, and how to properly maintain his domain. There was whole song about it, but that went over his head apparently.
Henchmen – 3 out of 5
Oh, I struggled with this score and I’m still not fully convinced. So many Disney villains are widely incompetent, which impacts the combat in your TTRPG. On the other hand, the goons are so often a treat to behold, and their ineptitude lends to a fun time for your players.
The hyenas benefit from numbers. Serious numbers. Mimicking a goose-stepping imperial march numbers. They may be morons, but they are a flood of morons. Whilst this makes them dangerous, what the TTRPG version of this would suffer from is ‘lack of variety’. The only enemy established in The Lion King, other than Scar himself, are all identical in appearance and moves they can pull in combat.
Threat Level – 2 out of 5
Being a full grown lion should earn Scar a point, but we’re in a world full of hyenas and lions, and he’s a particularly scrawny lion at that (which he why he fights the way he does).
He’s got a sneaky moveset in combat, so that’s something. However, his one move is getting his opponent stuck on the edge of a cliff face or precipice, and that is provably only 50% effective. He also has the great weaknesses of gloating before the kill strike.
Finale – 3 out of 5
It’s a pretty sold end, and he plays his part well. One point for the final fight, surrounded by flames and hyenas. Good stuff. In comparison to the finales of BBEGs we’ve seen so far, it not quite the same level of spectacle. It’s hugely memorable, and Scar gives his best, but the friendly NPCs and hyenas are doing a lot of the work.
I will say, there is a good possibility for your adventurers to go the non-combat route. Whilst distracting the Hyenas, they could instead goad Scar into putting his foot in it. Having the hyenas realise what he thinks of them before the heroes risk a fiery death would be very satisfying. But again, that’s not Scar boosting the finale alone.
Final Score = 2.66
Lions are a fun early creature to throw at a D&D party. The running, leaping and knocking to the ground is all good stuff. As a BBEG, it’s not going very far, though I’ve given him an extra trick to make him interesting.
Add hyena to raise difficulty to the desire amount.
| Disney Villain | Score |
| Hades | 4.00 👑 |
| Jafar | 3.83 |
| Professor Ratican | 3.66 |
| Lyle Tiberius Rourke | 3.66 |
| Billy Pine, a.k.a Syndrome | 3.33 |
| Elsa of Arendelle | 3.16 |
| Hopper | 3.16 |
| Robert Callaghan | 3.00 |
| The Horned King | 3.00 |
| Judge Claude Frollo | 2.83 |
Another fallen short of the Top 10. I thought Scar had potential but on review he’s a lot of gravitas without the muscle to back it up, and a clueless quality beneath the brooding.
Bring in Ursula.
Thank You For Reading
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Gamer Peak 
Another bummer, but seems accurate. In a D&D setting it seems like there should be some milage in an intelligent lion pretending to be a dumb animal but it’s hard to full that kind of thing off. Most PCs would just kill the lion anyway, you know, for the sake of killing.