In C.S. Lewis's Narnia, Aslan is the lion who rules the land. He is introduced in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe as a powerful and benevolent figure whose return signals hope for Narnia.
Aslan appears throughout the Chronicles of Narnia, not only in the first book. He creates Narnia in The Magician's Nephew, guides characters through several adventures, and appears at the series' conclusion in The Last Battle. His role changes from ruler and protector to creator and judge.
Aslan is widely read as a Christ figure, although Lewis's fiction is not simply a one-to-one retelling of the New Testament. Lewis explained that he imagined how Christ might appear in a world inhabited by talking animals. The name Aslan comes from the Turkish word for lion.