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The following are fictional characters from Disney's The Lion King franchise.

A total of thirteen supervising animators from Walt Disney Animation Studios and Disney-MGM Studios were responsible for establishing the personalities and setting the tone for the first film's main characters. The animation team studied real-life animals for reference, as was done for the earlier film Bambi. The animation of the characters counted with supervision by wildlife experts such as Jim Fowler, who visited the studio on several occasions with lions and other animals to help the animators reproduce authentic behavior. Screenwriter Irene Mecchi joined the directing team to help in the character development process and define each character's personality. Story head Brenda Chapman spoke of the challenges of character development: "It was our job to make the main character likeable and sympathetic. It was also challenging to make the environment and characters interesting. In real life, lions basically sleep, eat and have no props."

Simba, meaning "lion" in Swahili, is a main character of the franchise and the protagonist of The Lion King, the musical, and several video games. Simba is the son of Mufasa and Sarabi. During the events of The Lion King he becomes King of Pride Rock. In Simba's Pride he and Nala have a daughter, Kiara. As the events of 1½ occur during the same time as the original film, his upbringing with Timon & Pumbaa is further explored. Jonathan Taylor Thomas played young Simba, and Matthew Broderick played adult Simba.

Timon and Pumbaa are a meerkat and warthog double act. Pumbaa's name means 'simpleton', 'stupid' or 'carefree' in Swahili. They are secondary characters in The Lion King and The Lion King II: Simba's Pride, serving as friends and sidekicks of Simba. They are the protagonists of the third film, The Lion King 1½, and their own spin-off TV series, Timon & Pumbaa. The Timon & Pumbaa's Jungle Games and The Lion King 1½ video games also center around them. The name Timon is Greek for "respect".

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