Who is the lion in C.S. Lewis’s Narnia series?

Aslan is the lion who serves as the central figure of C.S. Lewis’s Narnia series.

Aslan appears throughout The Chronicles of Narnia as the great lion, creator, king, and protector of the world. His name is derived from the Turkish word for “lion.” He is first encountered by the Pevensie children in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, although his presence is anticipated before his arrival.

Aslan’s role differs from book to book. He guides characters, confronts evil, restores order, and helps connect separate stories across Narnia’s history. In The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, he gives his life in place of Edmund and returns to life, a central event in that novel.

Readers often describe Aslan as an allegorical representation of Jesus Christ, but Lewis said the stories were not simple one-to-one allegories. Aslan is also a character within Narnia’s own fictional world.