The fictional lion in C.S. Lewis’s Narnia books is Aslan. Aslan is the central figure of The Chronicles of Narnia, serving as creator, king, guide, and protector within the series’ imagined world.
Lewis described Aslan as representing Christ, but Aslan is not simply a direct retelling of Jesus’s life. The character appears in different forms across the stories and is especially important in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, where he sacrifices himself to save Edmund Pevensie and later returns to life.
The name Aslan comes from the Turkish word for “lion.” Readers sometimes confuse Aslan with Rilian, a human prince in The Silver Chair, or with Puddleglum, a Marsh-wiggle in the same book. Aslan’s role extends across all seven Narnia books, making him the series’ most consistent character and its clearest theological symbol.