Banya is the main antagonist of the first three seasons of The Lion Guard: The Junior Night Pride.
Biography[]
Banya is a large lion, whose size and strength rivals several other large lions, such as Mufasa, Simba, Surak and Kion's. Back at the time when both Rani and Baliyo were cubs, their parents alive and Queen Janna ruling the Tree of Life together with her mate, Banya used once to be a member of the Night Pride and dutiful to protect the kingdom from the outside threats. He was once a loyal to the royal family of the Tree of Life and even good friend with both Sâhasí and Surak. However, something suddenly snapped inside of Banya's head. The lion slowly became surprisingly aggressive, self-interested and incredibly dismissive towards the ones he once considered as his friends. Banya also began to develop a sociopathic traits, secretly mistreating other animals of the Tree of Life with the cruel and remorseless manner and vowing to silence them personally if they turn him in to the rulers of the Tree of Life. Banya also began to develop a extreme desire for power, feeling disgusted by the idea of serving the animals of the Tree of Life instead of ruling them by the way he believed was the way how "true king" should rule. However, Banya knew that as long as the royal family of the Tree of Life (Queen Janna, her mate and the king of the Tree of Life, crown prince Sâhasí, his mate Ãnanda, Prince Surak and little prince Baliyo and princess Rani) and their legacy lived, he could never rule the Tree of Life. And so, Banya began to plot a one-lion revolution against the royal family of the Tree of Life. First he started a killing spree throughout the kingdom, killing all the animals he had threatened previously in order to lure half of the Night Pride out of the Tree to investigate the situation so that the way to the Queen Janna, her mate and their grandchildren would be open for him. His plan managed to lure only Sâhasí and Surak out of the Tree, leaving Ãnanda with her cubs and the rulers, so Banya impatiently moved in to murder the royal family. Banya managed to murder both Queen Janna's mate and Ãnanda in front of their loved ones, but was tackled by Sâhasi and Surak before he could kill the cubs or Queen Janna. The battle between the former friends was fierce, leaving all three lions severely wounded. When Banya had knocked Surak out of his way and was getting an upper paw over Sâhasi, preparing to kill him, Rani did a very valiant act and swiped the evil lion with her claws, damaging his left eye permanently. This allowed both Sâhasi and Surak gain the upper paw over Banya and eventually defeat him. After Banya was defeated, Queen Janna exiled him from the Tree of Life forever. Banya left voluntarily, but not before vowing to one day end Queen Janna's whole bloodline and take over the Tree of Life for himself. Not long after Banya's exile, Sâhasi, who had suffered too much injuries during the fight to protect his cubs, died shorty into his wounds. Banya's betrayal left half of the Night Pride killed, Baliyo and Rani orphaned, Surak without brother and father and Queen Janna a widow. His betrayal also turned his Mark of the Night Pride from its natural color into a sickly green as a symbol of his treachery and evil heart.
Years after his betrayal and exile, Banya's name is still feared amongst of the animals of the Tree of Life, and Banya likewise has not forgotten his blood oath against the remains of the royal family of the Tree of Life and the Night Pride and constantly plots his revenge against Queen Janna's family - making it a life-long oath to destroy her bloodline once and for all - and takeover of the kingdom. When he hears about the Queen Janna's death and that she is succeeded by Queen Rani - the same cub who'd damaged his left eye a long time ago - he returns to the Tree of Life in order to try to claim the throne from her by force and threat. However, when he finds out that the new king of the Tree of Life is the adolescent lion with the legendary and powerful Roar and the scar across his left eye, and that the group of non-lions has joined into the Night Pride, Banya arrogantly doesn't think any of them to be a great threat to his plans, constantly insulting them with the offensive nicknames, and doesn't view neither this "scarfaced" lion nor Rani worthy over his "right" to the throne.