C.S. Lewis named the lion ruler of Narnia Aslan.
Aslan is the great lion who appears throughout The Chronicles of Narnia. He is portrayed as Narnia’s creator, king, and guardian, and his presence connects the separate stories across the seven-book series. The character is strongly associated with Christian imagery, especially in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.
The name Aslan comes from the Turkish word for “lion.” Lewis’s use of the Turkish term reflects his interest in languages and world literature. Aslan is not simply a talking animal among many others in the series; he occupies a unique moral and royal position in Narnia’s fictional universe.
Readers sometimes compare Aslan directly with characters from Tolkien’s Middle-earth, but Aslan belongs exclusively to Lewis’s Narnia books. The lion also appears in adaptations, including the 2005 film The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.