KOPA
Born to a wanderlust mother passing through the Pridelands at the wrong time, Kopa and his siblings entered the world during harsh times. Prey and water were still around, but the blight of Scar's rule was beginning to show in earnest from the cracked earth, dried grass and wildfires that wracked the once fertile lands. Kopa's mother did her best to hold the fort until they were of age to travel and leave the dying plains, but it was not enough. Fields burned too quickly, prey spotted her too easily, and the gluttonous cackle of hyenas never far behind from every kill she made. One by one, be it sickness, hunger, or thirst, the lights that were her children flickered out. Until only one was left: Kopa. Desperate to protect her last child and show him the beauty of the world beyond this dusty bowl, she poured all her resources into him.

And it worked. Kopa lived. Stayed fed. Thrived, even. Until the day came to leave and they didn't. By putting everything into her son, Kopa's mother had sacrificed herself, and she collapsed and faded away on their way out of the Pridelands. Lost, broken, and alone, Kopa was now at the mercy of the hyenas.

And he would have become their dinner, too, if it weren't for the return of the rightful king and a generous paw reached out to provide him a place to call home.

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TL;DR - I always felt like Kopa (as a noncanon/semicanon or w/e Lion King character) had a lot more potential if he were anything other than a lion. So for my personal Lion King AU, I made him an orphaned cheetah. That way he can functionally serve as Simba's 'first' child, while also have unique character growth to have on his own. As a cheetah that grew up in a torn up and hellish world he is very skittish, nervous and anxious, and comes to be a lot more confident if somewhat jumpy still out of habit as an adult.

I've had a lot of fun working on his story and character, so I'm glad I went this route.