While not nearly as prominent or well organized (to the best of my knowledge) as our little fandom, the Lion King fanbase does have it's far share of continuity-related quirks. Perhaps none are so prominent as that of Kopa.

First debuting in a short book series called The Lion King: Six New Adventures, Kopa was the son of Simba and Nala. More or less a clone of young Simba, he was an adventurous and rambunctious cub who played a prominent role in the series. He also appeared in a couple of audio books, befriending a hyena and joining his father in a brief exile.

Then 1998's The Lion King II: Simba's Pride came out. Kopa was retconned out of existence, and replaced with Kiara. He hasn't been seen in any sort of TLK-related media since then.

However, some fans have found ways to work Kopa into their own headcanons. The most prominent theory is that he died sometime before Kiara's birth at the claws of Zira, an insane fanatic devoted to Scar and the main villain of TLK2. This scenario is generally used as an in-depth reason for the exile of her and her followers. Most often, these scenarios will have Kopa somehow survive and return to the Pride Lands after the events of TLK2. Occasionally he will have some romantic history with Vitani, Zira's daughter.

Just a little ramble on TLK fan lore. :)

7289492
It gets even more confusing when you factor The Lion Guard into the equation. Kion is clearly stated to be the second-born; i.e. Kiara's little brother.

If Kiara is the first-born, Kopa does not exist, unless Simba is lying to Kiara and Kion about them being first and second respectively.

7289492
Honestly, I don’t consider Kopa to be real. Mainly because he exists in a book and not a movie.

7289557
He's soft canon/secondary canon.

7326147
I believe the cub at the end of the first film was later explained to be Kion from “The Lion Guard”.

7369399
Nope. Retconned into Kiara from TLK2.

7369452
But Kiara’s intro and the ending of the first movie are different. It would be illogical to assume that the cub at the end of the first film is Kiara, which is why I believe it was Kion.

7369540

But Kiara’s intro and the ending of the first movie are different.

Hence why it's a retcon. It's practically common knowledge that the cub at the end of TLK2 is supposed to be Kiara now.

It doesn't make sense from a chronological stand-point either; why skip ahead to the second born?

7369637
Because the makers of “The Lion Guard” were inspired to expand on the cub at the end of the first film and make that cub Kion.

7372923
Believe me, it's in no way meant to be Kion.

7372924
How do you know?

7372925
I could ask the same of your earlier statement, but the reasons are two.

(1) When The Lion King was originally made, there were no immediate plans for a sequel. The ending was just there to echo the beginning of the film and show that the Circle of Life would continue through Simba and Nala's new family. Then when The Lion King II was made, they retconned the unnamed cub into Kiara, and that movie's opening replaces TLK's ending in canon. But there's absolutely no evidence to suggest that the producers wanted TLK's ending to imply that it was Kion.

(2) As far as we know, it's only the cubs who are heirs who are displayed on Pride Rock. Kion is not an heir to the throne, so why would they do the ceremony for him? Certainly not for Leader of the Guard, because he had no idea the Guard was even a thing until the beginning of the show, whereas Simba and Kiara were aware of their future roles from almost birth.

7289492
If Kopa was to, say...appear in an animated installment or more as an adult at some point, what celebrity do you think would be perfect for the part?

7477604
I have no idea.

7477610
I was just curious. After all, you certainly do seem to want to acknowledge Kopa as an existing character.

7477742
Not really, just wanted to share a bit of TLK lore.

I never said I wanted to acknowledge him as an existing character in-canon. He's clearly not.