History[]
"If you taught me anything, baba, it's that Wakandans are a brave people. They will face the world with exactly that, bravery, whatever that may mean."
T'Challa is the current sovereign ruler of the African nation of Wakanda and the current holder of the mantle of the Black Panther. The eldest child and only son of former King T'Chaka, T'Challa has only recently assumed the throne as a result of his father's death at the hands of the Winter Soldier (though he was coerced into doing so) in Vienna Austria. Born to T'Chaka and Queen Ramonda, T'Challa was immediately named the Crown Prince of Wakanda and future heir to the throne. He was taught by his father of Wakanda's history as well as its special nature, trying to instill the same sense of duty for his nation that he himself had been taught by his father before. As part of his training, T'Challa was sent abroad to a top flight school in the United Kingdom, though he was always kept close with a cover story of being the son of an African millionaire as opposed to being the son of the King of the isolationist nation.
By his early 20s, T'Chaka officially retired the mantle of the Black Panther, passing it on to his son as his heir while still retaining the throne of Wakanda, officially. T'Challa was imbued with the strength of the Black Panther via the Heart-Shaped Herb, granting him enhanced abilities far beyond that of a normal human. It was also at this time that T'Challa began a romance with a woman named Nakia, though she broke off that romance when she elected to join the undercover War Dogs and leave Wakanda, rather than stay behind as a "nameless queen."
After the vibranium stolen by Ulysses Klaue was used in the Sokovian Incident, T'Challa joined with his father in a diplomatic outreach to the world. This outreach, however, ended tragically when several diplomats were killed as collateral damage in an unrelated incident involving the Avengers in Alexandria, Egypt. Undeterred, T'Challa accompanied his father to Vienna, Austria for the signing of the Avengers Protocols, which would give SHIELD greater control over vigilante groups like the Avengers. However the Winter Soldier, acting under coercion (supposedly from Helmut Zemo), detonated a bomb outside, resulting in the death of King T'Chaka. Now consumed by grief and guilt over his father's death, T'Challa donned the Black Panther mantle and used his resources to track down Bucky Barnes, who was currently hiding out in Budapest. He engaged Barnes shortly after he attempted to make his escape with Captain America and Falcon, and nearly kills him. However he is stopped by War Machine and Wonder Man, allowing Bucky to try and escape. Eventually T'Challa corners Bucky after a long car chase, but incoming authorities and the arriving Avengers (along with Cap and Falcon being with the Winter Soldier) causes T'Challa to withdraw without revealing his identity for the time being.
Less than a day later, confronted again by Helmut Zemo (though Zemo claimed this was the first time), the Winter Soldier broke out of captivity and made his escape. T'Challa attempted to apprehend him a second time, revealing his identity as the Black Panther to Iron Man and the rest of the Avengers. After Bucky made his escape with the help of Cap and Falcon, T'Challa joined with Iron Man's group to try and apprehend them at the Budapest Airport, ignoring the claims that Cap made concerning Zemo's desire to take control of other Winter Soldiers. T'Challa fought Cap in the Battle of the Budapest Airport, among other Avengers, nearly capturing him in Bucky in the closing moments of battle, only to be stopped by the Black Widow, who switched sides in allowing Cap and Bucky to escape. T'Challa informed SHIELD director Thaddeus Ross of Romanoff's actions and remained at the Avengers facility to see what the next move would be. However, Tony Stark obtained corroborating evidence of Rogers' claims of Bucky's innocence, driving T'Challa to travel with Stark to the Raft prison to find out where Cap and Bucky had gone. Eventually the two made their way to Siberia, where T'Challa apprehended Zemo while Cap and Iron Man had their final battle (after Stark learned of the complicity of Barnes in his parents' death). T'Challa prevented Zemo from killing himself and turned him over to SHIELD authorities, returning to Wakanda to mourn his father's passing for days before becoming king himself. While there, he secretly granted Barnes asylum at the request of Steve Rogers, cryogenically freezing him until he could find a way to reverse the mental programming HYDRA had put him through.
After the requisite period of mourning for his father and fallen king, T'Challa traveled to the Democratic Republic of the Congo to retrieve Nakia, who was stationed there as a member of the War Dogs spy group, to bring her back for moral support during the tradition challenge for the throne. Upon returning to Wakanda, T'Challa underwent a procedure to strip him of the powers of the Black Panther, and was forced to undergo ritual combat to earn the throne of Wakanda. While the four main tribes of Wakanda refused to put forth a challenger, he was challenged by M'Baku, the leader of the rogue Jabari tribe of the mountains. Agreeing to the challenge, T'Challa faced M'Baku on the side of a waterfall, nearly getting killed before cornering the Jabari leader on the edge of the cliff. Recognizing that M'Baku was needed by his people, T'Challa urged him to yield the challenge, which M'Baku eventually did. T'Challa was then taken to a sacred grove where he ate of the Heart-Shaped Herb, regaining his strength and seeing his father's spirit on the Ancestral Plain of Wakanda.
Shortly afterwards, T'Challa was counseled both by Nakia and his friend, W'Kabi, on how best to rule Wakanda and whether or not he should maintain the nation's isolationist policies. Before he could reflect greatly on the decision, Wakandan intelligence determined the location of Ulysses Klaue, a noted arms dealer who had stolen more than a ton of Vibranium years earlier at the expense of several Wakandan lives. Eager to capture Klaue, a feat his father regretted never accomplishing, T'Challa left for Busan, South Korea to intercept the dealer as he sold a Wakandan Vibranium Artifact to an unknown buyer. Taking with him Nakia and Okoye (complete with new equipment from his sister Shuri), T'Challa infiltrated an underground casino, but quickly realized that they weren't alone, as the place was crawling with SHIELD agents who had set up a sting for Klaue. Making contact with Agent Phil Coulson, T'Challa and he argue over who has jurisdiction, when Klaue arrives for the deal. A fight breaks out with the SHIELD agents and the Wakandans on one side and Klaue's mercenaries on the other. As Klaue attempts to escape, T'Challa gives chase through the streets of Busan, eventually cornering him and preparing to kill him where he stands to appease his friend, W'Kabi. However, after being told that there are people watching, T'Challa as the Black Panther withdraws and Coulson takes Klaue into custody. Later, T'Challa listens as Coulson interrogates Klaue, until Klaue's associate Erik Stevens attacks the police station where he is being held. In the melee that follows, both Coulson and Nakia are wounded by Stevens. T'Challa briefly gives chase and notices a ring similar to his father's ring around Stevens' neck before he is forced to withdraw, taking Nakia and Coulson back to Wakanda for healing.
While Nakia and Coulson convalesced (and T'Challa was confronted by W'Kabi over his failure to capture or kill Klaue), T'Challa visited the high priest Zuri to find out the truth about the man who broke out Klaue. Zuri at first is reluctant to tell him, but eventually says that he is the son of T'Challa's uncle, Prince N'Jobu, who had "disappeared" several years earlier. In reality, N'jobu had been the one who had helped Klaue steal vibranium from the Wakandans and caused the deaths of several Wakandans, and in the course of trying to apprehend him, King T'Chaka was forced to kill his own brother and chose to leave behind his son, trying to put the whole thing behind him. T'Challa is incensed by this omission, but is forced to answer a challenge in the throne room of Wakanda. When he arrives he finds the man from before, claiming to be N'Dajaka, the son of N'Jobu, and he is here to challenge for the throne. He also had the support of W'Kabi and the border tribe, due to N'Dajaka tricking Klaue into coming back to Wakanda and arresting him at the border. T'Challa accepts the challenge of his cousin and is once again stripped of the power of the Black Panther. This time, however, he is defeated in the challenge and cast off the waterfall, left to die.
T'Challa's body was found washed up on the river banks near Jabari territory, and he was brought to M'Baku. Feeling a debt for his life, M'Baku saved T'Challa's life, later leading Ramonda, Nakia, Shuri and Agent Coulson to his comatose body. After feeding him another of the Heart-Shaped Herbs, T'Challa had a vision of his father on the ancestral plain and argued with him about the isolationist policies of Wakanda, arguing that they must change and confront the world to prevent more Killmonger's from rising up. T'Challa and his family, with aide from Agent Coulson and the Jabari, then launch a strike against the new king N'Dajaka to prevent him from spreading Wakandan weapons around the world. After sparring with members of the Border Tribe (and rallying the Dora Milaje to his side), T'Challa confronted N'Dajaka as the latter was threatening his sister Shuri. T'Challa and Killmonger fought down a pit into the Great Vibranium Mound, their suits disrupted by the monorail trains and their sonic disrupters. In one such moment, T'Challa was able to use a simple blade to stab N'Dajaka in the chest, killing him. T'Challa granted his foe's last requests, taking him to a cliffside to see a Wakandan sunset for the first time, as well as eventually burying his remains in the ocean.
With Klaue and W'Kabi locked away for their respective crimes and M'Baku granted a seat of advisory to the king, T'Challa began constructing outreach centers to spearhead a science and technology exchange with the rest of the world, with Agent Coulson assuring T'Challa that Tony Stark would be kept away from some of the more volatile ideas they had come up with. At a speech in the UN, T'Challa faced down delegates who questioned what his nation could offer the world, as Wakanda under his leadership stepped out onto the world stage.
Powers & Abilities[]
- Powers of the Black Panther: Due to ingestion of the Heart-Shaped Herb, T'Challa is imbued with the ritual strength of the Black Panther, including super strength, speed and reflexes. His upper limits are unknown, but he has been shown to be strong enough to withstand the Winter Soldier's cybernetic arm, fast enough to outrun cars, and quick enough to dodge close range gunfire while empowered.
- Black Panther Habit: As the Black Panther, T'Challa has a suit that is made entirely of vibranium, and thus is Bulletproof. The suit also includes retractable Vibranium claws on the hands, capable of damaging Captain America's shield at least superficially. The newest version designed by Shuri also has sound-absorbent footware, the ability to absorb and redistribute kinetic energy, and is fully contained within a necklace via nano-technology.
- Martial Arts Master: Even without his powers, T'Challa is a skilled unarmed combatant, as he was able to defeat the larger M'Baku in ritual combat to earn the title of King of Wakanda.
- Vast Resources: As the sovereign ruler of Wakanda, he has access to the vast resources of the tiny nation, including near autonomous decision making on how the nation's Vibranium is utilized.
Weaknesses[]
While T'Challa is a skilled combatant even without the powers of the Black Panther, these powers could be theoretically removed from him via an antidote to the Heart-Shaped Herb, the formula of which is a closely guarded state secret. Without them, T'Challa would be much easier to kill.
The current version of his Black Panther Suit has also been shown to be vulnerable to high frequency sonic attacks, as it disrupts the natural properties of Vibranium.
Film Details[]
T'Challa appears in the following films within the Earth-11584 continuity. In all cases he is portrayed by actor Chadwick Boseman.
- Captain America: Civil War (2016)
- Black Panther (2018)