| Mshale (A Crocodile's Journey) | |
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Mshale is a male egret, and a member of Bakshi's flock.
Background[]
From the moment he first saw Kitwana, Mshale has never liked him. Not a very kind egret, he likes to pick on chicks smaller or younger than him to prove his superiority, and has a deep-rooted hate of crocodiles, and now has a chance to take it out on somebody.
Personality[]
Mshale is unkind, disrespectful and arrogant. He knows he is bigger than most egrets, and takes advantage of it by bullying them. He is a braggart, a liar and a coward, fleeing at the slightest sign of danger. Despite this, he is held in high regard by the other egrets due to his knack for flight and his good looks, which he takes advantage of. He hates crocodiles with a passion, calling them monsters.
Appearance[]
Mshale is older than both Dalila and Kitwana, so his adult plumage has already started to grow, and his crest is wilder than the usual. He is bigger than most chicks his age.
A Crocodile's Journey[]
Chapter 5[]
Mshale first appears when he spots Kitwana, Makuu's adoptive son, playing in the water, near his flock and approaches him, followed by his cronies. He teases Kitwana for thinking he is a crocodile, and then proceeds to call crocodiles monsters for eating other animals, but is caught and scolded by Bakshi before he can say anything else, and is sent off despite his protests. He glares resentfully at Kitwana before leaving.
Chapter 6[]
When Kitwana and Dalila start playing together, Mshale notices; jealous of the positive attention Kitwana has from Dalila, he makes a 'friendly approach'. Though Dalila notices his intentions, Kitwana is completely oblivious to them, and innocently makes a comment which Mshale takes advantage of to be offended and turn on the offensive. He proceeds to mock Kitwana's name and Makuu, baiting Kitwana.
His plan works, and Kitwana attacks him. Mshale calls for help and plays victim, stating Kitwana attacked him for no reason when he only tried to be friendly, despite Dalila stating he had provoked Kitwana in the first place. The flock believes Mshale, and he grins smugly at Kitwana as he is led away, though manages to hide it from the other egrets.
Chapter 7[]
Although not appearing directly, he is mentioned when Kitwana wonders outloud why Mshale dislikes him so much, to which Dalila explains that Mshale's father was eaten by a crocodile from the Outlands, and he has hated crocodiles ever since.
Relationships[]
Kitwana[]
From the first moment, Mshale has had it against Kitwana, and messed with him whenever he could. Initially, this was because he was raised by the animals that killed his(Mshale's) father, but it became personal when he noticed Dalila, on whom he has always had a crush, liked Kitwana better. Although initially intimidated by Mshale, Kitwana later on was willing to pick on a fight on self-defense, which Mshale took advantage of by playing victim.
Dalila[]
Mshale has an unrequited crush on Dalila, and is constantly trying to impress her by establishing his superiority to younger/smaller chicks or doing reckless things, which only exasperate Dalila. She knows his true colors and is not easily fooled by him.
Trivia[]
- The reason he hates crocodiles is because a crocodile from the Outlands ate his father when he was younger.
- Though this event is a natural part of the Circle of Life, since crocodiles feed on birds sometimes, Mshale has never come to terms with it, and chose to blame crocodiles instead.
- In a way, this makes him similar to Makuu, who blamed the Circle of Life for the loss of his mother and siblings. Unlike Mshale, however, Makuu eventually came to see the error of his ways and accepted that was happened was just how the Circle of Life works.
- Part of the reason he hates Kitwana, apart from being better-liked by Dalila, is that he has a (crocodilian) fatherly figure in his life, while Mshale lost his to a crocodile.