Diego (Ice Age)

Diego is a sabre toothed tiger and the tritagonist of the Ice Age franchise. He is one of Manny's best friends and one of Peaches' adoptive uncles. He becomes Shira's lover or husband in Ice Age Continental Drift

In Ice Age
In the first film, he was part of of a pack of saber-toothed tigers led by Soto, their vicious leader who hated humans for killing half of their pack. Diego was tasked with getting a human baby from a tribe of humans so that Soto would have his revenge on the humans by killing the baby to send the humans a message they will never forget. Diego, however, failed to retrieve the baby due to the baby's mother intervention. Soto then ordered Diego to get the baby or face being killed by his own pack. Diego then encountered Manny and Sid, who had already found the baby before he did. Diego then plotted to bring both the baby and Manny to his pack to kill them. But after Manny risks his own life to save him from falling into a river of lava, Diego has a change of heart and then tells Manny and Sid of his plot. Out of anger, Manny pins Diego to a rock wall with one tusk, and pressed the other tusk's point against Diego's throat, intending to kill the saber. Diego pleads for Manny to trust him as he forms a plan. However, the plan goes wrong as Soto appears around the corner, inviting Diego to help kill Manny. At first, he sides with Soto, growling at Manny. But he stands in front of Soto telling him to "Leave the mammoth alone." Oscar and Lenny, (Who had been unconscious at the time), attack Manny. Diego then fights Soto. Diego ends up severely wounded after intercepting Soto's attack. Manny then knock Soto into a wall and icicles impale him. Diego tells the herd to leave him before they lose the humans. Eventually, he (Seemingly) dies from his injuries however,in the end, Diego recovers from his injuries and catches up with Manny and Sid to head south.

In Ice Age: The Meltdown
In the second film, Diego reveals his hidden fear of water. Sid, the only one who knows about Diego's fear, teaches him how to overcome his fear of water. When Sid becomes unconscious after hitting his head on a block of ice during an attempt to save Crash And Eddie. Diego, through Sid's advice, overcomes his fear of water and saves Sid and Crash and Eddie.

In Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs
In the third film, after failing to catch a gazelle, Diego fears that his time with the herd has made him soft and decides to leave the herd. He then later joins the herd in finding Sid who was taken by Mommy T-Rex. Later in the film, Diego protects a pregnant Ellie from a pack of hungry Guanlong. In the end, he decides not to leave the herd.

In Ice Age: Continental Drift
In the fourth film, he meets a saber-toothed tigress named Shira when Manny, Sid, Diego and Sid's grandmother rescued her. Diego then starts to have feelings for Shira and convinces her to join him and his friends. In the end, Diego and Shira fall in love with each other and become a couple.

In the future, Diego marries Shira and have a litter of cubs with her.

Trivia

 * Diego and Shira are equivalents of a male African lion and a female White Tiger.
 * In Ice Age 4, Diego and Shira are seen constantly pinning each other to the ground:
 * Shira pins Diego after he tries to cut the ropes attached to the floe.
 * Shira pins Diego to the ground after he calls her "Kitty." (Diego retaliates this however).
 * Diego pins Shira after she tries to escape from the herd.
 * Shira pins Diego when he tries to escape with Gutt's 2nd ship. Manny stalls the ship and Diego asks Shira "Why are you doing this?" she replies, saying she had no choice but to kill him or Gutt would kill HER. However, before she can try to kill him, Diego quickly tells her she "doesn't have to live this way." and she will be SAFE with them. Manny however, cannot hold on any longer and the ship drifts away. Diego pushes Shira off of  him and tells her to come with him. Shira silently nods and they chase the ship. Shira sees Gutt is still far behind and as Diego leaps onto the ship, Shira dives into a corner. Diego asks what she is doing and she replies, "I got your back." she pushes some broken ice onto the path and Gutt misses the ship. Diego sadly shares a glance at her and they sail away. Later, Gutt tells Shira she has a choice: She dies, or Diego dies.
 * Diego is one of the three main characters who has had the most near death experiences:
 * He was threatened by his pack that they would kill him if he did not bring them Roshan.
 * He almost fell into a river of lava. (But Manny saved him)
 * Manny pinned him against a rock wall with one tusk, (After confessing his plan), and pressed the other tusk's point against Diego's throat, intending to kill him.
 * He almost sacrificed himself to save Manny.
 * He was almost killed by Maelstrom (Due to him not moving as he was terrified of water).
 * He, (Along with Manny, Sid, Ellie, Crash and Eddie), almost drowned during the meltdown.
 * He was nearly trampled by Mama Dino.
 * When Crash and Eddie played dead, they were nearly crushed by a large Dino however Diego grabbed them just in time. (But nearly fell off a cliff in the process.)
 * He nearly died laughing with Manny, Crash, Eddie and Buck in the chasm of death.
 * Rudy nearly killed him when he saved Buck.
 * He tried to protect Ellie from dinosaurs who wanted to kill her. (When they killed Ellie they may have tried to kill him to).
 * He was about to be one of the herd forced to walk the plank by Gutt. (But they escaped).
 * Shira was forced to kill him or face being killed herself, but Diego pushed her off of him and told her to join their Herd.
 * He was almost lured to his death by a Siren.
 * Diego plays the bravery in the Herd. (While Manny is the brains and Sid is the comedy).
 * In each ice age movie, Diego has his own side story:
 * In Ice age 1, Diego's story was about his double agency.
 * In Ice age 2, Diego's story was about his Aquaphobia.
 * In Ice age 3, Diego's story was about trying to rescue Sid on his own. (Later, joins the Herd)
 * In Ice age 4, Diego's story was about him meeting Shira, a female Smilodon.