The Outlands (also known as the Shadowland) are a barren wasteland where the exiled lions of the Pride Lands live. Most of its inhabitants are lions who were banished by Simba for remaining loyal to Scar. It is also the home of the Outlanders, including a clan of hyenas descended from the hyenas of the original film.
The design of the Outlands was meant to mirror that of an actual badlands. The Outlands are heavily eroded, with few trees and plants, little water, and minimal creatures living there. There are peculiar, stunted trees that dot the landscape, as shown when Vitani is attempting to bite off a branch, as well as scattered boulders. The threshold of the Outlands seems vaguely better, with an actual water source (albeit infested with crocodiles), a noticeably purple sky, and some trees and plants.
An Outsider scrounges for food in the Outlands
The most noticeable features of the Outlands are the sky and the massive termite mound where the Outsiders sleep. The sky is limitless and is a bold orange-yellow by day. As the sun sets, noticeable shades of red tint the sky. The termite mound itself is distorted and internally vast (despite seeming superficially like mountains), with many pathways, knolls, and places for somewhat uncomfortable sleeping. As shown in "My Lullaby," it seems that through various holes that the termites have burrowed into, all kinds of color from the sky and sun will pop through, and a lioness can actually burrow her way to the top, as shown when Zira knocks over a few rocks to stand at the top of her termite mound.
Nothing more is told about the Outlands after Zira reviews Kovu's training. It is implied that over the course of the film, Zira and her pride still live there, but by the end of the film, the Outlands are abandoned by the Outsiders, who join Simba's pride.
The Outlands are first mentioned by Simba, who warns his daughter that the Outsiders and their land are dangerous. Ignoring her father's orders to stay away from the Outlands, Kiara ventures into the Outlands herself and encounters Kovu, an Outsider cub. The two end up playing together and barely escape a horde of crocodiles, though Kiara is later apprehended by her father, who roars her away from Kovu and his mother, Zira.
The Outlands as viewed from the Pride Lands
Trying to appeal to Simba's softer side, Zira complains about the Outlands, mentioning its lack of food and water, but Simba, resolved to keep the Outsiders away from Pride Rock, orders her away, and she carries Kovu back to their homeland.
Once there, Zira yells at her son for trying to befriend a Pridelander cub, exposing the fierce tension between the malnourished Outsiders and their much healthier enemies. While chiding Kovu, Zira comes up with a plan to kill Simba, and she and her pride sing "My Lullaby," singing of the rise of Kovu as their king instead of Simba.
Years later, Kovu has grown into a young adult, and Zira prepares him for his mission to kill Simba. When Kovu proves that he is ready to avenge Scar's death, the Outsiders roar their approval, and Kovu and Zira move out to fulfill the plan.
At the end of the film, the Outsiders (aside from Zira) join Simba's side, leaving the dark days of the Outlands behind them.
Since Scar's death, the hyenas have been living in the Outlands, called the "Shadowland" by exiles. One particular hyena named Asante befriends Kopa, the son of Simba, and invites him to explore the Shadowland with her. While there, the two run into a fierce storm, which traps Kopa in a raging river. With the help of her friend Kroko, Asante frees Kopa, and the two return to the Pride Lands, where Kopa insists on introducing Asante to his parents. Thus, for the first time, an exiled hyena from the Shadowland is allowed to venture into the Pride Lands.
Despite Asante's friendship with Kopa, the hyenas still live in the Shadowland, and a particularly bitter hyena named Fisi schemes to place Kesho, a weak-willed cheetah, on the throne of the Pride Lands in Simba's place.
When Bunga and Kion lose their baobab fruit, Bunga insists on straying into the Outlands to retrieve it, despite Kion's warnings that his father has forbidden him to go there. When Bunga at last retrieves the fruit, he is captured by two hyenas named Cheezi and Chungu, who plan to feed him to their leader Janja, until Kion's roar gives him the opportunity to escape.
The Outlands later appear when Mzingo arrives to tell Janja that Kion is assembling a Lion Guard, to which Janja declares that he and his clan will attack the Pride Lands that very night.
The Outlands appear when Kion falls into a river while pursuing Janja, Cheezi, and Chungu. After telling his friends to meet him at Flat Ridge Rock, Kion travels through the Outlands to find a way out. Along the way, he meets a female hyena named Jasiri, who leads him in the right direction.
After the two part ways, Jasiri is confronted by Janja and his clan. Kion returns to save her by using the Roar of the Elders to scare away Janja and his clan. Soon after this, the Lion Guard arrives and at first thinks that Jasiri is a threat, but they are convinced by Kion that she is a friend. Kion and Jasiri then part on good terms, with Kion and his friends returning to the Pride Lands and Jasiri to the Outlands.
The Outlands appear when Mzingo arrives to tell Janja that Kiara is temporary queen and is squabbling with Kion. This news gives Janja an idea and he sends Mzingo to tell Kiara that he wants a peace proposal.
Janja appears in the Outlands overhearing Mzingo and his flock talking about Ono being out of commission, due getting sand in his eye. Janja decides to take advantage of this and plans with Cheezi and Chungu to trap the remaining members of the Lion Guard.
Cheezi spots Bunga venturing to a volcano in the Outlands and reports this to Janja, who along with the rest of the clan, ambushes Bunga who claims to be immune. This statement is heard by Fuli who comes to her friend's rescue.
The two friends float downstream in lava on a piece of broken rock whilst being pursued by the hyenas. Luckily, Kion, Beshte and Ono, come to their friends aid, leaving Janja, Cheezi and Chungu trapped on a log.
After invading the Pride Lands, Janja and his clan are banished back to the Outlands, where Janja fires Cheezi and Chungu, and elects Nne and Tano in their place. The new recruits soon come up with a plan to sideline the Lion Guard, and Janja accepts their plot.
When a strange group of lions invades Jasiri's watering hole, the hyena comes to Kion for help. Kion visits the Outlands and meets Zira, Nuka, Kovu and Vitani, who currently are presiding over the watering hole. After an unsuccessful attempt to make Zira and her family to leave the watering hole, Kion and the Lion Guard blast them away to a different part of the Outlands.
The Lion Guard chases Janja's clan back into the Outlands, where they wait for the Guard to get out of sight before they slink back into the Pride Lands. There, they are confronted by Nala and Kion, who uses the Roar of the Elders to banish them back to the Outlands.
Kovu is the youngest Outsider, born just before the Outsiders were exiled to the Outlands by Simba. He was hand-picked by Scar to be his successor as the king of the Pride Lands.
