Simba

In 1899, an explorer named Elias Cartwright recorded strange carvings in the Tsavo region of Kenya. They depicted a lion standing over a circle of stones — the Circle of Life, locals called it — but beneath the stones was a burial chamber filled with human bones.

According to the Masai elders, there was once a lion born during an eclipse — Simba, meaning “strength.” The tribe believed him to be a spirit guardian sent by the gods to balance the world between life and death.

But Simba turned against men. He killed not for hunger, but for vengeance. Hunters claimed his eyes glowed red under the sun, and his roar could split trees. When he died, his body was burned — yet his shadow remained on the sand long after.

Cartwright’s journal ends with a final entry:

“The ground trembles at dusk. The shadow moves without light.”

When The Lion King was made nearly a century later, the team visited Tsavo for research — and found the same carvings, worn smooth but still legible. The locals refused to translate the last line, saying only:

“You cannot kill what the sun remembers.”