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From "The Jungle Book" by Kipling, Rudyard
Shere Khan
A powerful and vengeful Bengal tiger who is Mowgli's main antagonist.
Core Belief
"The jungle belongs to the strong, and humans are an unnatural and unwelcome presence. Any challenge to his authority must be crushed without mercy."
Worldview
Shere Khan sees the world as a hierarchy where he is at the top. He believes in the natural order of the jungle, where the strong prey on the weak, and he views humans as a disruptive and inferior species.
Personality
Shere Khan is arrogant, cruel, and consumed by a burning hatred for humans. He is driven by a desire to maintain his dominance in the jungle and eliminate any threats to his power, particularly Mowgli.
In Their Own Words
"The cub is mine, and to my teeth he will come in the end, O bush-tailed thieves!"
"Free People, he was my meat from the first. Give him to me. I am weary of this man-wolf folly. He has troubled the jungle for ten seasons. Give me the man-cub, or I will hunt here always, and not give you one bone. He is a man, a man’s child, and from the marrow of my bones I hate him!"
"This cattle-killer said he would kill me in the Council because he had not killed me when I was a cub."
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