Red Lion (Legendary Defender)

This article is about the lion as it appears in Voltron: Legendary Defender-related interpretations. For a list of other meanings, see Red Lion (disambiguation).

Guardian Spirit of Fire
Pilot	Lance (current) Keith (formerly) King Alfor (formerly)
Elemental affiliation	Fire
Weapons	Tail laser Mouth cannon Jaw blade Magma beam Back Rail Gun

The Red Lion is one of the components of Voltron, serving as the right arm of the giant robot. Its current Paladin is Lance, who was chosen to take over it after its former Paladin Keith became Paladin of the Black Lion.

Its speed and agility ranks the highest among the five Lions, easily capable of navigating through an asteroid belt without a single collision. The Red Lion is very temperamental making it difficult for its Paladin to tame. Keith almost lost his life defending it from Galra sentries before the Red Lion accepted him, and Lance had to fiercely defend his sister from a fighter before the Red Lion rushed to his aid.

Personality

Red Lion is temperamental and the most volatile of the Voltron lions; as it only chooses a pilot that relies more on instinct than skill alone. This relates very closely with Keith, a pilot at the Garrison Academy on Earth before he was expelled, even though he was the best in his class.

The Red Lion also recognizes humility, such as when Alfor believed Zarkon would make a better leader of the Paladins, and later when Lance accepted Keith as the new leader of the Paladins. This shows the Red Lion respects those who recognize the merits of others despite personal ego.

Weapons and Features

The Red Lion can use a laser from its mouth in order to attack other ships. If targeted correctly, it will be able to cut through steel ships and target their gas tanks, blowing them up. The tip of its tail can also fire lasers albeit with inferior firepower. For melee, it can use either its claws or summoned jaw blade both capable of damaging Galra ships. Other features the Lion shares with the others are speeder (a small transportation vehicle stored inside for its Paladin to traverse environments), impassable particle barrier to prevent anyone but its chosen Paladin from reaching it, thrusters on paws and back legs for flight, increasing speed, and slowing the fall; and eyes that can act as flashlight to see through the dark areas.

In times of dire need, the Red Lion can use the laser in its mouth to eject a stream of lava mixed with fire, that burns everything in its path. The fire is so hot it was able to fully melt the base of a watchtower on the Balmera V - 95 - Vox when the Galra occupied it.

Keith's bayard can be used to create a gigantic sword that can only be used with Voltron. It has been shown that the sword can be further empowered when used in combination with the other Lion's bayards: when used in conjunction with the Blue, Green, and Yellow bayards the blade grows to even greater size and sharpness and when used with the Black bayard the sword gains a blazing aura that increases the damage it deals out. Season 7 revealed two new bayard combinations, first is Red and Black, an enhancement to the wings of Voltron that drastically increases its speed in a manner similar to the Black Lion's special ability. The second is summoning dual swords when used in combination with Green Lion.

When it's pilot becomes overwhelmed with intense emotion, the lion can sprout a pulse emitting Rail Gun from its back capable of destroying large sections of a solar system spanning space station. As well as stagger if near debilitate Emperor Zarkon in one shot.

Trivia

• The Red Lion's "sex" is confirmed as male, as stated during the panel at the 2017 New York Comic Con. This means Lance has flirted with a male in the series, mistaking it for female.
• The Red Lion is very often assumed as female due to it’s behaviour towards Keith in earlier seasons(and possibly size/appearance).