Roar of the Elders

"It is more than different. It is the Roar of the Elders! When you use it, the great lions of the Pride Lands' past roar with you."

- Rafiki, Return of the Roar

The Roar of the Elders is an intensely powerful roar that is bestowed on the leader of the Lion Guard by the Great Kings of the Past. It is currently possessed by Kion, the son of Simba and Nala.

Information
While the firstborn cub of the monarch is destined to become the next king or queen of the Pride Lands, the second-born cub is tasked with leading the Lion Guard, a group dedicated to preserving the kingdom and defending the Circle of Life. As its leader, the second-born cub is expected to be the fiercest of the group and is thus gifted with the Roar of the Elders by the Great Kings. When the leader of the Lion Guard uses the Roar of the Elders, all the ancient kings roar along with him or her, instilling real power in the cry. The Roar is strong enough to blast downward-falling water upward or force a clan of hyenas back.

Since the Great Kings provide the power behind the roar, they control its use. It is to be used for good only and can be taken away if the user does not respect his or her gift, as is the case with Scar.

Prior to The Lion Guard: Return of the Roar
Before the events of The Lion Guard, Scar was the leader of the Lion Guard and possessed the Roar of the Elders, as he was the second-born cub of the monarch. However, the power quickly got to his head, and he thought himself more worthy of being king than his older brother, Mufasa. When he tried to employ the rest of his Lion Guard to help him overthrow Mufasa, they refused, and he destroyed them. Seeing this, the Great Kings snatched back his power, for they had never intended for the roar to be used for evil.

The Lion Guard: Return of the Roar
Kion, the second-born cub of Simba and Nala, is given the Roar of the Elders. When his best friend, Bunga, is trapped by a pair of hyenas in the Outlands, Kion uses his power to free him from their grasp. The Mark of the Guard appears briefly on his shoulder, though disappears before Kion even realises it was there. Back at Pride Rock, Rafiki and Simba happen to overhear the Roar, and they come to the conclusion that Kion is now ready to be the leader of the new Lion Guard.

After Kion assembles a team, he attempts to show them his powerful Roar, but the power refuses to work. However, the Roar returns to him in the final battle against Janja's clan, in which Kion uses the Roar to send the hyenas scurrying back to the Outlands.

Never Judge a Hyena by Its Spots
After fighting off Janja and his clan, Kion tells Jasiri to get behind him as he uses his roar to defend both himself and Jasiri by blasting the hyenas away. The roar also worked as a powerful signal to alert the rest of the Lion Guard, who rushed to his rescue. Jasiri is amused by what she sees, but also impressed that a lion saved a hyena.

The Rise of Makuu
Kion uses a demonstration of the roar on Grove of Trees to persuade Makuu and the crocodiles to leave Big Springs after they force Basi's Pod out. The resulting roar causes the leaves to disappear from the trees, and concerns Makuu, who takes his fleet away from Big Springs, heading for home.

Bunga the Wise
When Bunga's quick and easy dam solution leads to the dam breaking apart, the waters that it was restraining spread rapidly over the Pride Lands. The Pridelanders flee, but are eventually trapped, with rock walls on all sides of them and the floodwaters on another. Kion uses the Roar to move the water back, away from the animals, with enough force to push it over the side of the rock walls and create a waterfall.

Eye of the Beholder
When Janja, Cheezi, and Chungu trap the Lion Guard in a ravine by dropping boulders on either side of them, Kion uses the Roar of the Elders to blast the rocks away so that he and the Guard can stop the hyenas from attacking the zebras.

The Search for Utamu
When Fuli is attacked by Mzingo's Committee, Kion uses the Roar to drive the attacking vultures away from her.

Paintings and Predictions
After Beshte accidentally knocks a boulder which causes the zebras to run straight into a fast flowing river leading to a waterfall, Kion leaps down onto a nearby tree branch and uses the Roar of the Elders to drive back the water and save the zebras from harm.

The Day of the Crocodiles
If the reader chooses Fuli's ending, Kion uses the Roar of the Elders to blast the crocodiles away after rescuing Zuri from them.

Trivia

 * The first mention of this ability was in the book Hear Me Roar!.
 * When Kion uses the Roar, he always tells everyone to get behind him. But in the title sequence, Bunga is clearly in front of him, and therefore should be blasted forward.