Alex the Lion (whose birth name is revealed to be Alakay in the second film) is the main protagonist of the Madagascar franchise. He is a lion living in the Central Park Zoo in New York City, proclaimed the "King of New York", before ending up with the rest of his friends on Madgascar and striving to return home to the zoo. He is voiced in the films by Ben Stiller and in The Penguins of Madagascar by Wally Wingert.