Rafiki

Rafiki is a mandrill-like baboon who first appeared in the Walt Disney Pictures animated film The Lion King. He lives in a baobab tree and is old and wise. He performs activities which are often shamanistic, but also sometimes quite silly. He tends to speak in third person when speaking of himself. Rafiki provides important counsel to the adult Simba when the latter is trying to determine his destiny. His tail looks broken and bent. His name means "friend" in Swahili, a borrowing from Arabic (رفيق , rafīq : friend, companion, attendant) and he is voiced by veteran actor Robert Guillaume. Though his character was intended to resemble a mandrill, Rafiki has a long tail and lacks a distinctive crested head. Rafiki's character often serves as the visual narrator of the story of The Lion King. He is shown to be a dear friend to Mufasa. He presents newborn cubs to all the animals gathered at Pride Rock, and draws a stylized lion cub on the walls of his treehouse home to represent Simba's...