Black Panther

Retcons from later appearances haven’t been included in this writeup (so for instance he doesn’t have a sister). This profile is followed by the Black Panther (Hudlin era) one.

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Background

Powers and Abilities

As well as being highly trained, T’Challa’s abilities have been enhanced by a mystical heart-shaped herb given only to Wakandan kings in a sacred ritual.

He’s accomplished at gymnastics, acrobatics, and brachiation (swinging from one branch to another using one’s arms), and is an expert in various African martial arts, his fighting style incorporating acrobatics and a number of cat-like stances, moves, and blows.

An expert tracker, T’challa also possesses enhanced senses, especially night vision and a superior sense of smell. Using sight and smell, he can track a quarry’s trail through the jungle up to 12 hours later, or through a city environment up to 6 hours later.

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He temporarily possessed telepathic and precognitive abilities due to exposure to raw Vibranium .

Lastly, T’Challa is a man of stark intelligence and great political and manipulative ability. He’s able to design extremely complex and clever plans to – somewhat ruthlessly – reach his objectives.

The equipment of the Panther

The Panther’s bodysuit has a Vibranium microwebbing that not only stops bullets but saps their momentum. Like older forms of Kevlar, it can be cut if you cut along the grain of the webbing, but cannot be punctured conventionally by blunt force.

The Panther’s boots have special Vibranium soles that absorb sound and impact, enabling him to leap off buildings up to 8 stories tall and land without injury. He can also literally run up the sides of buildings (but cannot simply stand on a wall, say the way Spider-Man can), and walk on water.

The Panther’s claws are retractable, and contain a new composite of the experimental “anti-metal” Vibranium, that can break down other metal alloys. His claws can cut through most common metals. The Panther’s mask is fitted with night vision lenses to augment his already superhumanly enhanced natural senses.

His cloak is retractable, stretching up to 10 feet to billow dramatically behind him, or vanishing altogether. He also possesses some form of image inducer that allows him to appear in costume or not, as he desires.

His Energy Daggers are virtual blades that can be fired, thrown, and handled like an actual knife. They have three settings: Non Lethal (blue), Stun (Green) and Lethal (Red). At its highest setting, the Energy Dagger can cut through forged steel like it was government cheese, and has been known to damage Ultron.

Kimoyo Cards (keh-MOY-oh is a Bantu  word for “The Spirit”): These are global positioning and communications device. It can also home in on the unique energy signature Panther’s Energy Dagger “marks” his prey with.

History

T’Challa is the son of T’Chaka, King of the African nation of Wakanda. He inherited the title when his father was slain by lawless Dutch ivory hunter, Ulysses Klaw, who sought to possess Wakanda’s Vibranium mound. Swearing vengeance, the young T’Challa succeeded in thwarting Klaw’s raid, and destroying his hand, but Klaw escaped immediate justice.

During a ceremonial walkabout period he met and fell in love with Ororo Monroe, an orphaned teen. His responsibilities and desire for revenge prevented them staying together, but they would encounter each other years later, after she’d become the X-Man, Storm.

Sent for an education at the finest schools in Europe and America, T’Challa returned home, bearing a degree in Physics, to assume the mantle of leadership. He was given 2 tests: to triumph against six of Wakanda’s greatest warriors in unarmed combat, and to obtain the secret heart-shaped herb which granted great physical strength and heightened senses.

Passing the tests, he donned the ceremonial garb of the Black Panther, the totem of the Wakandan people.

Reign

As the Black Panther, T’Challa protected his land from outside invaders, and led it into greater industrialisation and wealth. He initially had trouble getting the various tribes to accept the closer community he wanted, so reinstated the tradition of the Dora Milaje, the Adored Ones.

He took a couple of teenage girls from the most troublesome tribes to train as wives in waiting, who also acted as bodyguards when old enough. He had no intention of them ever actually becoming his wives, but treated Nakia and Okoye as family, and it helped build a cohesive society.

After working with Captain America, T’Challa was offered membership in the Avengers. He accepted so he could see whether they posed a threat to Wakanda. Taking a leave of absence from his royal duties, he served with the Avengers for a time, acquainting himself with American methods of fighting crime.

Returning to Wakanda, he found it in turmoil due to his absence. He had to subdue an uprising led by Erik Killmonger, an ambitious angry man intent on taking the throne, who actually managed to beat T’Challa. After regaining the respect of his people, the Panther worked to bring his country out of its isolation.

He has since made several trips to the US. During one such trip, he joined the world’s heroes in battling the creature known as Onslaught, and was consequently jaunted into an alternate dimension for a year.

Enemy of the State

When trouble in the neighbouring country of Ghudaza led him to set up refugee camps in Wakanda, T’Challa sensed opponents moving against him, and it wasn’t long before tensions rose between the refugees and Wakandans.

Realizing the death of a child related to a New York-based charity funded by Wakanda, the Tomorrow Fund, was likely part of the plan to draw him out of Wakanda, T’Challa went along with it to see where the trail led. Travelling to the US in a more official capacity, he was assigned a State Department handler, Everett K. Ross. No sooner had he arrived than a coup d’État in Wakanda saw psychotic cleric, Achebe, seize power.

Continuing his investigation in America, he found the corrupt elements in the Tomorrow Fund and the Wakandan consulate. He captured the murderer with little trouble, learning that Achebe had been responsible for it through his deal with Mephisto, who wanted T’Challa’s soul.

Confronting Mephisto, T’Challa and Ross were taken to his realm. There T’Challa tricked him into accepting the soul of the Panther god to whom he was linked, which proved too much for Mephisto. He renounced his claim, and removed his backing from Achebe. This weakened Achebe, but T’Challa, sensing more at work, stayed in America.

The trail led to the implication of members of the US intelligence community in the plot against him. They were part of the group which would later be known as XCON, which also included the Russian Mob, and the LCL (the Volcan Domuyan Secret Service. T’Challa announced it at the United Nations, declaring it an act of war.

He was also reunited with his former fiancé, Monica Lynne, who’d been kidnapped and rigged with explosives to use against him. T’Challa rescued her, but Achebe revealed to the Avengers T’Challa’s real reason for originally joining them, souring his relations with the team.

Returning to Wakanda, T’Challa forced Achebe to run, and restored himself to the throne. Ross was briefly banished to Iceland for failing to rein T’Challa in.

Killmonger

Returning to America to heal the political effects of his announcement, T’Challa was targeted by a few assassination attempts. He then learned that Erik Killmonger had returned to life and was in Wakanda. The Panther worked out that Killmonger’s plan was to destabilize both T’Challa’s reputation and the Wakandan economy, to beat him through commercial means before physical ones.

T’Challa nationalized all foreign corporations’ assets in Wakanda and dismissed the parliament, scuppering Killmonger’s plan.

This caused panic on worldwide stock markets, and let Tony Stark buy up the majority of outstanding shares of the Wakandan Design Group, which he’d later return to the market.

Obliged by custom to accept Killmonger’s challenge to his chieftainship, T’Challa fought him. The battle went on for days with breaks for them to heal between bouts. Eventually, T’Challa gained the upper hand, but a momentary distraction brought on by exhaustion let Killmonger win, almost killing T’Challa.

Killmonger became chieftain of Wakanda, and the new Black Panther. However, T’Challa had temporarily named Ross the King for political reasons, so Killmonger didn’t get the throne.

T’Challa’s recovery was difficult. His spirit had been trapped by the mystical entity Nightmare, who sought access to the Panther God’s spirit world. The Black Panther also had Brother Voodoo repair the weakened barriers between this world and the next, since that was what had allowed Killmonger to be revived.

During his recuperation T’Challa and those around him were attacked by former Dora Milaje, Nakia. She now called herself Malice and tried to murder Monica Lynne. She instead managed to kill Ross’ girlfriend and boss, Nikki Adams (who’d been T’Challa’s girlfriend in college), before escaping.

Killmonger insisted on completing the trials of the chieftain, despite T’Challa saying it was unnecessary. He tried eating the heart-shaped herbs which gave the Black Panther his powers. The herbs were poison, however, with T’Challa’s bloodline having developed immunity to their damaging effects. Killmonger didn’t, and fell into a death-like coma.

T’Challa therefore regained chieftainship, although not by means he’d have preferred, and reversed the financial damage to Wakanda and the world.

Sturm und Drang

Discovering a Deviant mother with a human-looking child taking refuge in Wakanda, T’Challa offered them sanctuary from Lord Ghaur of Lemuria. This was an humanitarian gesture, since the infant’s human appearance would see him killed as genetically impure.

This escalated into a standoff which also included Atlantis and the US, and T’Challa had to negotiate with other super-powered world leaders, Namor, Magneto, and Doctor Doom.

The situation escalated when Klaw attacked the US fleet. He then forced the Deviants to attack the Wakandan fleet, all the while remaining hidden until he attacked T’Challa. That fight didn’t go as he’d planned, and T’Challa ended up slicing him up, and apparently killing him, in front of the UN building in New York.

With satellite imagery from Latveria proving Wakanda’s innocence in the attacks on the US ships, and T’Challa convincing Namor of the truth, the Atlantean and US forces which had started attacking Wakanda withdrew.

Ross, having been sent to Lemuria to broker a peace with Ghaur, discovered the child was Ghaur’s. The Deviant priest wanted it killed to avoid political damage from the revelation. Ross managed to broker an agreement whereby they faked the child’s death under the US bombardment of Wakanda, and the child was then given to Namor to take to safety.

By allowing himself to be the subject of a congressional hearing regarding his recent activities, T’Challa soothed tensions with the US government. However the US public continued to protest against him. T’Challa also made peace with Captain America over the earlier revelations about this time with the Avengers.

Malice

Receiving a warning from Malice, T’Challa deduced she was targeting his loved ones, and took measures to protect them and track her down. He learned in the process that she’d been using a powerful drug to enslave agents. She captured him and treated him with the drug, but he’d taken a time-release capsule to counter its effects.

He played the part of her slave, even pretending to badly injure Okoye when she came between them in a planned act, but was ultimately unable to talk her down.

Their fight ended on the back of a moving truck, where he showed her his forces were in place to destroy her village rather than let it become a focal point for tribal rivalries which would destroy Wakanda. Pushing him off the truck, she let herself be killed by an approaching low tunnel.

Gorilla Warfare

Familiar with Wakandan security, and the labyrinthine depths of the palace, Malice had released Man-Ape from his prison before travelling to New York to confront T’Challa. She shared with Man-Ape information about her replacement, Chanté Brown (Queen Divine Justice). While T’Challa hunted Malice, Man-Ape abducted Chanté. He took her to the forbidden Crystal Forest, where his forces were waiting for them.

Man-Ape revealed to her she was the sole child of the Jabari tribe, the worshippers of the White Gorilla God. The Gorilla God had been outlawed by T’Challa early in his reign, and the Jabari had been persecuted by other tribes as a result. Man-Ape wanted her to lead the tribe so that her relationship to T’Challa would stay his hand from retribution.

When T’Challa arrived to rescue her, with his new US State Department liaison, Henry Peter Gyrich, dragged along, the Man-Ape challenged him. Using tradition, T’Challa appointed Gyrich as his stand-in while he saw to freeing the captives. He admitted to Chanté that her parent’s deaths were due to his decisions.

T’Challa took over the challenge when Man-Ape was enraged enough to try to seriously attack Gyrich, and apparently won. Man-Ape gained his revenge by revealing a frozen body he claimed was the true T’Challa, the reason the Black Panther had forbidden access to the Crystal Forest.

Return of the Dragon

Mephisto then turned himself in to the Wakandan Embassy in the US, claiming to be Ross who’d had his body taken by Mephisto. T’Challa quickly deduced the Mephisto appearance was a ruse by the true culprit, the Black Dragon. Visiting Ross’ hotel room, he gave ‘Ross’ the opportunity to surrender.

It was declined, and T’Challa left, but not before taking the captive Nightshade with him. He also had the Black Dragon’s eggs, which it had left at the bottom of a river, destroyed.

Nightshade, having recently been arrested thanks to T’Challa, had revived the dead Black Dragon to get her revenge on him. She’d told the dragon she’d set a genetic bomb in his body, hence his switching bodies with Ross, although that was a lie.

The Black Dragon genetic instability was due to her limited understanding of his genetic makeup. The eggs had been intended to provide genetic material to heal him.

The enraged Black Dragon enslaved his old foe, Iron Fist, and sent him to attack T’Challa. They had a battering fight (leaving T’Challa with brain damage which would return to haunt him) before the Panther managed to free Iron Fist. They were soon faced with the Black Dragon, back in his own body, and determined to wreck vengeance on his oppressors if he was soon to die.

Swallowing T’Challa, he flew towards Wakanda. He arrived in the midst of civil unrest caused by T’Challa’s recent erratic behaviour, along with the increasing tribal tensions in the wake of some of his actions. The dragon ended the tribal fighting by offering a single target, although he could still have done significant damage if T’Challa hadn’t acted.

Surviving in the dragon’s stomach for a while, the Black Panther planted devices to alter the Black Dragon’s genetics so that his instability was postponed, but he was trapped in human form and easily captured.

While the battle carrier followed him back to Wakanda, the captive Nightshade had escaped. She found the comatose Black Panther on board. Believing it to be T’Challa, and feeling indebted for him rescuing her from the Black Dragon, she revived him, and he soon earned the nickname “Happy Pants Panther”.

Enemy of the State 2

Aware of further XCON plans in motion, T’Challa travelled to Canada, telling the Happy Pants Panther to remain in Wakanda. He caused another international incident by making an official claim on some politically sensitive land in Canada, to which an old and obscure treaty gave them rights.

He also put moves in motion to draw Iron Man into play, in a way that signalled to him to appear hostile to T’Challa. So Stark ‘discovered’ T’Challa had been bugging his offices and Avengers Mansion for years.

T’Challa recruited Wolverine, to help him when they inevitable came into confrontation with Alpha Flight. He did so by revealing XCON had replaced the Canadian Prime Minister with a double, and intended the same for the American President.

They attacked an XCON front, and stole a briefcase. This led to a conflict with Iron Man, who wanted to know what was going on. They got away with the case, and T’Challa let Wolverine open it to find one of King Solomon’s Frogs inside. Wolverine was not impressed.

At the same time, the Happy Pants Panther had taken Ross, Nightshade, and a couple of old acquaintances, Abner Little and Princess Zanda, on a quest of his own to find the other Frog. The two groups met up, and headed to the White House,

XCON had used the Frog in their possession to summon duplicates a few seconds in their target’s future, who’d be dazed on arrival and easily subject to control. The organization had been hunted by the White Wolf for their actions against Wakanda. The Wold attacked and took them over just as the plan had gone into effect, keeping it in place to ensure the future security of Wakanda.

The only survivor of XCON was Junta, who’d escaped with the real President, recruiting Queen Divine Justice to help him get in contact with T’Challa.

When T’Challa collapsed on their way to Washington, due to the after-effects of his battle with Iron Fist, Happy Pants Panther impersonated him as he infiltrated the White House. He stopped Junta’s bunch before they interfered. Soon faced with a doubled Stark in armour designed to face T’Challa’s vibranium, the fight ended with Happy Pants Panther taking Iron Man down.

They gathered the doubles out of sight, where they were sent back to their true points in time.

The trouble dealt with, there was a brief detour as the Frogs took them to the Wild West, but they returned to their own time, only for the Happy Pants Panther to collapse on the verge of death.

The King is Dead

Happy Pants Panther was returned to stasis as they proved unable to help him. Queen Divine Justice, believing Man-Ape was a political prisoner, decided to free him. He gave her his word he’d leave without incident, and return for trial without complaint. The Man-Ape reneged on his word, attacking T’Challa, and smashing the stasis tube holding Happy Pants, killing him.

The forces of Wakanda hunted Man-Ape, ending with their armies facing off, the Jabari tribe against the Wakandan army. Queen Divine Justice made a last attempt at trying to talk to T’Challa, but the stress and his condition had left him hallucinating, and he almost killed her by accident.

Calling an end to hostilities, T’Challa made peace with the Jabari, and released Chanté from her vows as a Dora Milaje.

Returning to his throne room, T’Challa shut himself away as his hallucinations continued, the cost of his failures, and the weight of his father’s legacy weighing him down. Then he vanished from Wakanda altogether.

Black and White

He turned up in New York City when a cop, Kasper Cole, began operating as the Black Panther. Cole used an abandoned costume he’d found. T’Challa observed the surrounding machinations, playing little active role in events.

Cole eventually asked T’Challa to be allowed to take the Rite of Ascension, so he could gain the powers to go with the suit. T’Challa tried dissuading him, before ultimately agreeing to let him try.

Killmonger awoke from his coma soon after, resuming his chieftainship but not taking the Black Panther name again. Fighting him was one of the tests Cole had to face. Killmonger took advantage of the opportunity to offer him a synthetic version of the heart-shaped herb which wouldn’t be as likely to kill him, as well as information on where a captive child he was seeking was being held.

Cole accepted the herb, but raced to find the child before Killmonger gave him the information, to avoid being indebted to him. Cole found the child first, safely in T’Challa’s care. T’Challa gave him his blessing, but said he’d have to give up the Black Panther identity. He did, becoming the White Tiger, and T’Challa returned to playing against Killmonger.

Description

T’Challa is a Black man in his late 20s/early 30s, with a muscular but lean build. He moves with catlike grace, and basically gives the impression that he is a black panther in human form. He wears his head shaved, with a beard and moustache, and has a tiny scar above right eyebrow.

He wears a black full-body costume and cape.

Personality

Masks

Calm, disciplined, and reserved, T’Challa speaks in a controlled and precise manner, displaying little emotion and appearing generally unreadable. He can come across as arrogant, where he’s actually just confident in his abilities.

He displays what he considers to be a regal bearing, as he tries to live up to the memory he has of his father as a perfect ruler. He feels the need to be in constant control of himself and events surrounding him.

There’s little division between his masked and unmasked identities. His costume is ceremonial rather than a uniform, and neither is used as a retreat from the life of the other (like, for example, Peter Parker turning into Spider-Man if he needs time to think etc.).

In a way he has two masks. His real face rarely displaying his true self, so is really as much a mask as the Panther face. He will use whichever is best suited for achieving his current goals.

When with hero groups, such as the Avengers, he tends to quietly observe proceedings, making sure he understands all the factors in play before acting. Despite his aloofness, he’ll never ignore other heroes, whether old friends or new to him (unless of course he’s manipulating them).

He always has a certain reserve from everyone, having what’s been called “the world’s greatest poker face”.

T’Challa is dedicated to the welfare of his people and his country above all, and to leaving a legacy which can begin to come close to his father’s. It’s to this end he’s tried modernizing his country, removing the isolationist policies it had for so long.

This has caused trouble among certain factions, but he views it as a necessary step in the long term, with a global community developing which he doesn’t want his successors cut off from.

Moves

A capable politician, and a master manipulator and strategist. The move he appears to be making, whether at a strategic of tactical level, is usually misdirection. T’Challa will manipulate friends as freely as enemies, keeping them ignorant of the facts for their own good.

He’s always watching events around the world, even those which may not appear to be directly relevant to Wakanda. He is always trying to determine their true purpose, knowledge being what he considers his primary weapon in defending his country.

Once aware of a threat, he’ll formulate a plan to counter it. He has detailed files on how to deal with most considered threats, up to and including Galactus. He’ll manipulate or direct whoever he needs in play to do so.

The Panther will use duplicity, threats, and violence to manipulate people. He can be ruthless to the point of cold-bloodedness if the circumstances mean that it is — in his view — necessary. Many see this as a dark, almost villainous, side of his personality, but T’Challa views it as what he must do for his country.

T’Challa is first and foremost a warrior-king, living in a complicated and morally unclear world. He puts the interests of his country as he views them above any moral consideration. He’s thus not quite a superhero and may have to manipulate, kill, start wars, or take huge risks with the lives of heroes and the welfare of entire countries.

He’s more a trickster than a negotiator, and more a strategist than a politician.

Flaws

Much of his current mental state and personality is no doubt due to the revelations of the “Happy Pants Panther”, and the knowledge of exactly how much longer he has to secure the future of his country. Despite his control, there’s a degree of urgency to his actions, as he tries to make sure potential threats are triggered while he’s around to deal with them. For instance, he’ll force conspirators to act sooner than they may have intended.

It’s also caused him to withdraw slightly from those around him, such as ending his engagement to Monica Lynne, so he wouldn’t hurt her with his death.

He’s grown less comfortable opening up emotionally, only feeling comfortable doing so with a few people. These include his step-mother and Storm, but even then the aloofness he’s trained into himself can be difficult to shake.

While he does occasionally have bursts of anger or frustration, it can be difficult to tell which are real and which are for an audience. He does have a hatred of Klaw, but isn’t so caught up in it that he would leave others in danger.

T’Challa has a huge ego and is very proud, which some view as cockiness. However, this is usually under his strict control due to his honour and discipline. Ordinary incidents are unlikely to turn his ego into a liability. It can be a tragic flaw in some circumstances, though, and his need to appear to know everything has tripped him up in the past.

His actions, necessary to his mind for the good of his country, have taken a toll on him. As a King, he must often make decisions that personally cost him dearly, sacrificing friends in the chess game of international politics, or rejecting loved ones in favour of his duty.

These necessities and this discipline have left him lonely and isolated, often wracked with self-doubt in the privacy of his throne room, and wondering whether he’s becoming the kind of monster he’s been protecting his country from.

Quotes

“My father taught me to always be two steps ahead of my enemies, and three ahead of my friends.”

“I am the King of a small African nation.”

Storm [to T’Challa] “There was once a great man of sound mind and temperament who had great dreams of protecting his people from evil, and building a great society that would enrich and enlighten all mankind. His fatal flaw was his crippling inability to admit he didn’t know everything, that he was afraid. That man’s name was Magnus. One of the most tortured souls I have ever encountered. You, my friend, are in grave danger of becoming just like him.”

Black Panther: “I have behaved… shamefully.”
Storm: “You are a human being, my lord… bones and flesh. A spiritual being trying to master a human experience. Holding yourself to impossible standards.”
Black Panther: “I am deeply ashamed. Of my confession. Of my weakness. Of my inability to rule as my father ruled. Of my unworthiness of his legacy—”
Storm: “Your father is dead, T’Challa.”
Black Panther: “And I martyr him with my weakness, my accursed humanity.”

“You must trust me, this is the way to deal with this threat. And deal with it I shall.”

‘Happy Pants’ Panther: “I need not my awesome mind-powers to tell me you think me a fool.”
Black Panther: “Never, my lord.”
‘Happy Pants’ Panther: “You are the world’s greatest liar, T’Challa. A missing piece of myself that leaves me vulnerable. You don’t care for me. You were glad to be rid of me, and my return horrifies you.”
Black Panther: “You are my King.”
‘Happy Pants’ Panther: “And you are mine, T’Challa. Ho ! What great mystery is this ! You need to smile more T’Challa. You’ve lost your joy — your verve. In what time remains to me, I shall make every effort to return those to you, my lord !”
Black Panther: “I desire nothing, lord King, but your favor.”
‘Happy Pants’ Panther: “You desire love. Laughter. Family. All that you have denied yourself. T’Challa, I am the best part of you ! I am that which you now wholly deny yourself ! Forget Ontario, call in the dancers !”
Black Panther: “I cannot.”
‘Happy Pants’ Panther: “You will not ! You choose not !”

DC Universe History

The herbs he gets his powers from could have some link to Vixen‘s Tantu totem.

By Gareth Lewis.

Source of Character: Black Panther (vol. 2, written by Christopher Priest).

Helper(s): Woodrow Hill, Chris Cottingham, Phil Dixon, Nick Yankovec, Andrew Lee, Angel, REZCat, Brian Patrick Young, Chris Gordon, Perry Holley, Jackson, VBTusky, Michael Davis, John Colagioia, Eric Langendorff, Sébastien Andrivet, Roy Cowan, Peter S Piispanen, Umbra, http://www.marvel.com/panther/, http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Workshop/2888/ for the elements of the History and Powers & Abilities sections. The Tan/Gulaci illustration was coloured by 9tails-Studiokoto (it’s not from the published cover, but a colouring job done using Tan’s line art).