History Film / Beast2022

* FluffyTamer: Martin raised the males of the local pride from cubs, and thus they're okay with playing a bit with him. There are limits though, and he has to back off when one snarls at him for getting too close to his mate.

** Also the lion's first bite to the spine would have killed Nate, and punching a big cat engineered to take water buffalo kicks to the face would not work. But given the pains the movie went through to show accurate lion behavior, they're very forgivable details for RuleOfCool. To give further context, one of the two Tsavo man eating lions from 1898 (which was adapted in the Val Kilmer film ''The Ghost and The Darkness'') took ''nine shots from a rifle'' before it finally died of its many wounds. So good ol' fisticuffs sounds cool on paper for a movie, but there is nothing an unarmed man could ever do to a full grown lion to hurt it, let alone actually kill it. That's why in general, movies don't pit a person vs. a lion because ''it's not a fight, it's a massacre.''

* ApologeticAttacker: [[spoiler:Martin says, "I'm sorry, boy" before attempting to blow up himself and the lion.]]

* AccidentalHero: [[spoiler:During Nate's final stand against the rogue lion, he is saved at the last moment by a nearby pair of male lions from another pride that Martin raised as cubs who engage and kill the rogue to defend their territory and pride.]]
** [[spoiler:The rogue Lion is this himself earlier in the film when a group of EvilPoachers come across Nate and his daughters stranded out in the wilderness and were immediately going to execute them simply for being in the company of Martin, who they recognized as an anti-poacher, however the rogue attacks before they can do anything, saving Nate and his daughters.]]

* ApologeticAttacker: [[spoiler:Martin says, "I'm sorry, boy" before attempting to blow up the lion.]]

* NonMaliciousMonster: The rogue lion, for all of its brutality and not killing to eat, isn't actually evil, but has been driven to it by poachers killing off his pride. He is basically lashing out in anger, grief and fear, something the main characters are well aware of. Noticeably for most of the movie they are just trying to escape, until the desperate situation makes clear it's either him or them.

** Also the lion's first bite to the spine would have killed Nate, and punching a big cat engineered to take water buffalo kicks to the face would not work. But given the pains the movie went through to show accurate lion behavior, they're very forgivable details for RuleOfCool.

* AccidentalHero: [[spoiler:During Nate's final stand against the rogue lion, he is saved at the last moment by a nearby pair of male lions from another pride that Martin raised as cubs who engage and kill the rogue to defend their territory and pride. The rogue Lion is this himself earlier in the film when a group of EvilPoachers come across Nate and his daughters stranded out in the wilderness and were immediately going to execute them simply for being in the company Martin, who they recognized as an infamous anti-poacher, however the rogue attacks before they can do anything, saving Nate and his daughters.]]

** Even Nate might qualify for this [[spoilers: how else would you call someone able to go mano a mano with a lion for ''minutes'' and survive, even getting some kicks in?]] Granted, [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome he ends up in the hospital because of it]], but it's still some impressive durability.

* AccidentalHero: [[spoiler:During Nate's final stand against the rogue lion, he is saved at the last moment by a nearby pair of male lions from another pride that Martin raised as cubs who engage and kill the rogue to defend their territory and pride.]]
* AlasPoorVillain: If you interpret the lion as the villain, seeing how it does have a very sympathetic motive, and it ends up dying at the end.

* HumansAreTheRealMonsters: The poachers slaughtering the lion's pride at the beginning, making it go off in the first place.

* RasputinianDeath: [[spoiler:The rogue lion gets stabbed and slashed multiple times, shot, dumped off a cliff, badly burned by a gas explosion, and then finally killed when it's mauled to death by the brother lions that Martin raised.]]

* MadeOfIron: The killer lion endures quite a few injuries and keeps on going, including [[spoiler:falling off a cliff and getting blown up in a gasoline explosion]]. That said, it ''is'' [[DentedIron clearly slowed down by its wounds.]]

* ArtisticLicenseBiology: At times, the lion prustens: a sound that lions do not make. Prusten is unique to tigers and leopards/jaguars among the big cats. On top of that, it's a non-aggressive sound, specifically showing affection or friendliness, such as between mother and cubs. Tiger sounds are often dubbed over lions, as their roars are more impressive (even The Lion King did it.[[note]]while also interjecting roars from Creator/FrankWelker into them for the [[WesternAnimation/TheLionKing1994 1994 film]][[/note]]) So, some other tiger sounds were obviously mixed in.

* AbortedArc: Near the beginning of the movie, Norah talks about how she read about anti-poachers, people who kill poachers. [[spoiler:When a group of poachers try to help Nate and his family, they become hostile when they find out Nate is allied with Martin, claiming that Martin killed three poachers. Since Nathan died before giving an explanation,]] this goes absolutely nowhere and anti-poachers aren't even mentioned for the remainder of the film.

* AbortedArc: Near the beginning of the movie, Norah talks about how she read about anti-poachers, people who kill poachers. [[spoiler:When a group of poachers try to help Nate and his family, they become hostile when they find out Nate is allied with Martin, claiming that Martin killed three poachers. Since Nathan died before giving an explanation,]] this goes absolutely nowhere and anti-poachers aren't mentioned for the remainder of the film.

* AbortedArc: Near the beginning of the movie, Norah talks about how she read about anti-poachers, people who kill poachers. [[spoiler:Kees becomes hostile when he finds out Nate is allied with Martin, claiming that Martin killed three poachers. Since Nathan died before giving an explanation,]] this goes absolutely nowhere and anti-poachers aren't mentioned for the remainder of the film.

* ArtisticLicenseBiology: At times, the lion prustens: a sound that lions do not make. Prusten is unique to tigers and leopards/jaguars among the big cats. On top of that, it's a non-aggressive sound, specifically showing affection or friendliness, such as between mother and cubs. Tiger sounds are often dubbed over lions, as their roars are more impressive (even The Lion King did it.[[note]]while also interjecting roars from Creator/FrankWelker into them[[/note]]) So, some other tiger sounds were obviously mixed in.

* ArtisticLicenseBiology: At times, the lion prustens: a sound that lions do not make. Prusten is unique to tigers and leopards/jaguars among the big cats. On top of that, it's a non-aggressive sound, specifically showing affection or friendliness, such as between mother and cubs. Tiger sounds are often dubbed over lions, as their roars are more impressive (even The Lion King did it.) So, some other tiger sounds were obviously mixed in.

* ArtisticLicenseBiology - At times, the lion prustens: a sound that lions do not make. Prusten is unique to tigers and leopards/jaguars among the big cats. On top of that, it's a non-aggressive sound, specifically showing affection or friendliness, such as between mother and cubs. Tiger sounds are often dubbed over lions, as their roars are more impressive (even The Lion King did it.) So, some other tiger sounds were obviously mixed in.