Yep, originally Zira was named Bianca, she was Kovu’s aunt, not mother (dead already), and she had the hyenas as her allies and army. Here’s Bianca’s model sheet. And I like this design much more than Zira’s final design. Bianca’s design fits to TLK universe, but still is pretty unique.
While Zira’s final design is a pure disaster (the same thing I can say about her cubs’ design). Just female version of Scar. Or as if she was Scar’s either sister or daughter. Absolutely bland and mediocre.
This is indeed a very cool find, but, uh, doesn’t Bianca just sound like a female Scar? An evil aunt, an army of hyenas to do their bidding. Sounds exactly like Scar to me. His poses were even recycled for “Bianca’s” model sheets here. IDK I prefer the finalized version of Zira more. Even if her origin is lacking, she’s more well-rounded than gender-bending the villain. But hey, they had to start somewhere! Plus, this gives us more ideas for fandom content 😁
