CE: Fill In The Gaps

Uovu - "wickedness"
Father to Kuendesha

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Born and raised by complete opposites, Uovu's father was one of evil while his mother was that of pure. A conflicted lion, Uovu strives to make both parents proud each day even in their death. Evil always overthrows his good intentions however, but rarely a hint of kindness and compassion will show through although some mistake it as pride. Pride, one of the things that structures Uovu. He prides himself in his battle scars, prides himself in his missing tail and his blinded right eye. The brute however is still unforgiving, and a short fuse stands in the way of the world and his fury. He has no issue with murdering anyone that dare defies him but will keep them around for further use if they prove themselves. Almost always in a bad mood (some say he was born grumpy), it takes a lot to get Uovu to smile anymore. But the one thing that always makes him smile is winning, or by seeing his son succeed. Uovu is only tipped into the darkness, some good still shows in his heart, but in his case, good never triumphs over evil.

Uovu's front legs are shorter and much larger than his hind legs, giving him an awkward walk for the lion that he is. However his brute strength due to those front paws earned him the nickname, "Skull-smasher," in his earlier years as an adult. Many could say that Uovu was able to kill a lion just by pressing on his head for a moment, because of the brute strength that came from those legs. Due to his short legs in the front, his back is almost always raised above him at an awkward angle, and to hide that Uovu will most likely be found with his front paws elevated on a rock or mound of dirt in front of him.

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An illegitimate son to the king of a roving pride, his mother was only a huntress in the large group of lions. The king had fathered many children, those by his mate and those by the other females in the pride. Those children almost never lived to see their first birthday for his mate was a jealous female; she only wanted her sons and daughters to live. The queen killed them herself so the king would have no blood on his hands, a cub killer, but the king thought otherwise. A day after Uovu's birth, he was actually still unnamed, his mother trying to come up with a suitable name for the cub. It was at that point in which the king heard the news and ventured to see the child himself. This was something that he never did, and he took one look at the cub and grasped it in his mouth. He motioned with his head to Uovu's mother to follow to which she did. Uovu led her to the middle of the pride and gave a roar, his first decree of the child's young life. This cub was not to be harmed, he would be treated as a prince in the pride, a higher ranking than his own daughters with the queen. And this cub was to be named Uovu, and he would be trained to contend to the throne.

In all of the king's children he never did this to one that wasn't born of the queen. Needless to say the queen was furious, wanting to attack the child right then and there. However Uovu was placed with his mother for safety and guards formed around them always. As Uovu grew into a teenager his father taught him many things, his mother different things. His father was wicked, evil and nasty. His mother pure, soft and sweet. They both taught him many things, and had it not been for Uovu's mother he would have been more like his father in the end. Uovu fought many battles against his half-brothers in the pride's tournaments and due to his brutish strength -obviously gained from his father's genes- he won most of them; gaining a few scars on his legs from it. And then came the final tournament, the one to choose the next heir to the throne. It was a fight to the death, and Uovu ended up slaughtering three of his seven half-brothers in the process, one of the seven slaughtering three more until it was he and Uovu. The queen wouldn't stand for someone not of her blood winning the throne so she -against the king's wishes- entered the fray and exiled Uovu. She gave him many scars that would still be seen until his death and she executed a pride tradition; taking the tail from the exiled. With half of his tail now in the queen's mouth and his right eye ceasing to function, Uovu fled the scene and heard as his brother was named the winner.

The king raced after Uovu that night and found him in a cave where the females gave birth when they were in the area. It was the same cave that Uovu had been birthed in as well as the king himself. They had traveled far and wide across the savannah, and ended up back where everything started. It was the only time the wicked king showed some softness, when he was with Uovu, and he told him that as long as he stayed on the edge of the group that the queen wouldn't notice him. The teen nodded, understanding what his father was doing for him. Even if he wasn't to be king, then he at least could stay in the pride. But once Uovu reached adulthood the queen found out that he was still lingering in the pride as an exile she was furious. If it had not been for her old age she might have made it to the male and exiled him again. However the strain was too much on her heart and the queen fell that night, dying the next morning. The king was sorrowful, but he knew that they must move on. The queen's corpse was never moved from the spot where she fell. A mysterious sickness made it's way through the pride, killing almost half of their numbers in a pride probably fifty strong including Uovu's mother. The nomadic tribe was at a lose, something was happening that they couldn't explain, and it all went downhill when the crown prince fell and died as well.

Uovu rushed to his father after hearing the news, the old war hawk was smiling for once. He roared his last decree, Uovu was to be king, and he later died during the night. The pride of now twenty or so lions looked to Uovu, wondering what he was to do next. The half-blinded lion took a mate and led his pride to an unclaimed piece of territory and staked it as their own. They were never named, however the pride referred to themselves as the Freelanders, giving the territory the unofficial name of, "The Freelands". The lands held grassy plains, a massive jungle, cool rivers and a rock hard slab of dried mud used for training. Uovu's mate was soon with child and they called him Kuendesha. They say on that day Uovu smiled for the first time as a cub, the pride in him growing as he watched the sleeping boy. Little did he know that Kuendesha would end up being his biggest disappointment yet.

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Yet another contest entry, this time for 's Fill in the Gaps contest! I chose Kuendesha's father... Look familiar? Yeah, I redesigned Uovu from my last contest entry and used him (Raven said it was fine, don't comment saying it's a cop-out). Hopefully he wins a spot, but if not I'll sell his design like always. I have one more contest entry to do and then some commissions. Then I'll get back to ref sheets and finally the comic!

Edit: Darkened his right pupil a bit to make it look more natural-ish.