Claw makes his first appearance in Episode 2: "The Wind in the Desert", though another "first meeting" between him and Kimba takes place in Episode 7: "Battle at Dead River". He is Panja's nemesis and rival besides Marody and Specklerex through out the series.
Appearance[]
Bubu is a dark brown lion with a dark mane and a closed left eye. Implying it's missing, likely from Panja, in every appearance after 1966, he has a scar over that eye. His other eye has a small blue "bag" underneath it. Bubu's teeth are portrayed as being all sharp.
- in this earlier color manga appearances such as the 1964 Disneyland comics and the color version of the Third Grader chapters, Bubu has tan fur with a white underbelly.
Personality[]
Depending on the version he's in, Bubu is either an amateurish, wanna-be villain that needs his panther sidekick (Toto) to do the heavy thinking, or a cold-blooded, calculating villain. He wanted Kitty to be his queen when she's a little older as seen and heard in the episode "Battle at Dead River".
In Jungle Emperor (manga)[]
Like in the two versions of the TV series, Bubu's backstory remained the same such as his duel and the loss of his left eye to Panja. Bubu has a comic sidekick black panther named Toto in addition. He remained bitter towards Kimba's family throughout the manga series as well. He manages to lose his right eye in a fight with Kimba, making him blind. Bubu was seen in the eighth chapter at long last, "On the Banks of the Donga River" and it’s unknown what happened to him and Toto beyond this point
In Jungle Emperor [Third Grader] (manga)[]
Bubu (Claw in boxing gloves on right)
Bubu (Claw) still wishes to overthrow Leo as the leader of the jungle. Toto (Cassius is still his henchman in this spin-off series as well. He challenges Leo to a boxing match to see who’s the mightiest.
In Kimba the White Lion[]
in ep. 35
At first, Bubu (Claw) appears in ruling Panja's (Caesar's) undefended jungle in ep. 2 - "The Wind in the Desert". Bubu (Claw)'s back story is semi-explored in episode 10 and 19 ( "Two Hearts and Two Minds" and ""The Mystery of the Deserted Village" ), which explains Caesar defeated him in a duel after he was being asked to help by Dan'l Baboon (Buzara). He had an enormous lust for Kitty. He never got the chance to slaughter Panja, because he was already slaughtered by hunters while he was trying to rescue a pregnant Eliza. Throughout the series, he tries and fails to overthrow Kimba (Leo) as the leader of the jungle and woo Kitty (Lyra).
In The New Adventures of Kimba The White Lion (1989)[]
Bubu makes his first appearance in this series in episode four. He is no longer the amateurish brute of the 1966 and 1993 original series dubs, but rather a relaxed, brutal villain who clearly has no qualms about slaughtering a cub. He is the mastermind now, with Toto and a new vulture sidekick at his beck and call. The English dub (what there is of one) gives him a suave voice reminiscent of Scar. Ultimately, Bubu is a more brainy character. Close the end of the series, he will even collaborate with Leo and the other jungle’s animals to face a common threat Which Will end With him sacriface himself for save Leo. The desire for Laiya to be his queen when she is older as is not seen in this version. Sometime throughout the series, Bubu challenged Panja to a duel, but he had lost the duel; before Leo was born, costing Bubu his eye.
In Jungle Emperor Leo: Hon-o-ji[]
Bubu appears as the antagonist of the short. He eliminates a few birds' nests and their eggs, and attempts to frame Paola for it, using it as a vice to have Kimba step down as king for inviting a newcomer into the jungle. Upon being exposed, he fights Kimba; which results; in him losing his right eye.
In this version, Bubu is Kimba's uncle.
Trivia[]
- To most Kimba fans old and new, Claw was nicknamed by those who dislike him throughout the years "The Meanest Lion in Africa", "The Bully with No Friends" or "The One Eyed Loser" or simply known as "El Blindo".
- While he’s known in the TV series and Mangas, he doesn't appear in any of the film adaptations.