History Characters / MCUBlackPanther

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[[center: [- [[Characters/MarvelCinematicUniverse Main Character Index]] > Other Individuals and Organizations > [[Characters/MCUGovernmentMilitary Government & Military]] > [[Characters/MCUUnitedStatesGovernment United States Government]] ([[Characters/MCUUnitedStatesMilitary United States Military]] | [[Characters/MCUJohnWalker John Walker]] | [[Characters/MCUThunderboltRoss Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross]]) | [[Characters/MCUWakandaGovernmentMilitary Wakanda Government & Military]] ('''Black Panther''') -]]]
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!! Spoilers for all works set prior to the end of ''Avengers: Endgame'' are unmarked.
!!''King T'Challa of Wakanda / [[ComicBook/BlackPanther The Black Panther]]''
[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/black_panther_aiw_profile.png]]
[[caption-width-right:300:''"I '''must''' right these wrongs."'']]
[[caption-width-right:300:[[labelnote:Click here to see him in the Black Panther habit]] https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/panther.jpg [softreturn]''"Every breath you take is mercy from me."''[[/labelnote]]]]
!!!'''Species:''' Enhanced human
!!!'''Citizenship:''' Wakandan
!!!'''Affiliation(s):''' Wakanda (Golden Tribe), Avengers
!!!'''Portrayed By:''' Creator/ChadwickBoseman, Ashton Tyler (young)
!!!'''Voiced By:''' Manuel Campuzano (Latin-American Spanish dub), Miguel Ángel Garzón (European Spanish dub), Makoto Tamura (Japanese dub), Namakan Koné (French dub), Pierre-Yves Cardinal (Canadian French dub), Rodrigo Oliveira (Brazilian Portuguese dub)
!!!'''Appearances:''' ''Film/CaptainAmericaCivilWar'' | ''Film/SpiderManHomecoming'' [[note]]Cameo in a video recording[[/note]] | ''Film/{{Black Panther|2018}}'' | ''Film/AvengersInfinityWar'' | ''Film/AvengersEndgame'' | ''Film/SpiderManFarFromHome'' [[note]]Archive photography[[/note]] | ''{{Film/Black Widow|2021}}'' [[note]]Archive footage from ''Civil War''[[/note]]

->''"Wakanda will no longer watch from the shadows. We cannot. We must not. We will work to be an example of how we, as brothers and sisters on this earth, should treat each other. Now, more than ever, the illusions of division threaten our very existence. We all know the truth: more connects us than separates us. But in times of crisis, the wise build bridges, while the foolish build barriers. We must find a way to look after one another, as if we were one single tribe."''

A prince and diplomat from [[{{Bulungi}} Wakanda]]. After a terrorist attack on a UsefulNotes/UnitedNations summit in which his father King T'Chaka perishes, T'Challa finds himself grappling with how to best take on his father's mantle as the king and protector of Wakanda, the ComicBook/BlackPanther. T'Challa boasts strength and reflexes on the same level as Captain America, and a high-tech suit made of the [[AppliedPhlebotinum rare metal known as vibranium]] that further enhances his abilities.
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* AbsurdlySharpClaws: Courtesy of his vibranium suit. They're strong enough to stop vehicles and leave permanent scratches on Captain America's shield (which is also made of vibranium).
* AchillesHeel: His vibranium-weave suit renders him [[ImmuneToBullets nearly impervious]] to gunfire. However, as it's a weave rather than fully solid a la Captain America's shield, he can still be harmed by various other threats, including poison, suffocation, punches, and electricity. Black Widow takes advantage of the latter, holding him off with simple stun rounds to buy Bucky time to escape. BadassNormal Killmonger takes advantage of the suit's inability to stop momentum by shooting Black Panther with a grenade in mid-jump, causing him to fly backward and be stunned for several seconds from an attack he'd normally be able to NoSell effortlessly.
* AdaptationPersonalityChange:
** In the ''ComicBook/CivilWar'' comics, T'Challa was against registration and sided with Steve on the issue. In the MCU, T'Challa's stance on the Sokovia Accords is a mix of Steve and Tony's on the matter, i.e. he's in favor of the idea of oversight, but not the politicking that will almost certainly result from the Accords. He ends up helping Tony because he believes Bucky killed his father in the bombing at Vienna, Cap intervenes to help Bucky escape from him and Tony can help him track Steve and Bucky down, but besides that, his story in ''Civil War'' has nothing to do with the pro/anti-registration conflict. And while he does eventually agree to help Steve evade custody and even help deprogram Bucky's HYDRA brainwashing, by that point the Accords are barely a factor in the story.
** He's also more impulsive and hotheaded than his comic book counterpart and other versions (particularly ''WesternAnimation/TheAvengersEarthsMightiestHeroes'' version), who's more of a [[TheChessmaster chessmaster]] and [[TheStrategist strategist]], though he seems to be shifting more towards this characterization by the end.
** T'Challa in the comics has a reputation for being quite stoic and reserved, even with romantic partners--what with Nakia's [[AllLoveIsUnrequited unrequited crush]] and the fact that his marriage with Storm ended in divorce. The films portray T'Challa as much more visibly emotional: he exchanges banter with his sister, has some rather [[NotSoAboveItAll silly and lighthearted moments with Nakia]], openly grieving to the point of tears, or venting his rage at Zuri's death and T'Chaka's mistakes when they meet in the astral plane the second time.
* AdaptationalDumbass: [[DownplayedTrope Downplayed]] since T'Challa is still very intelligent and rational, making some of his own gear and successfully leading his country, but even so he isn't quite up to the level of his comics counterpart. In the comic books, T'Challa is not only one of the most skilled martial artists in the Marvel Universe, but he's also TheChessmaster and among the 10 smartest characters in the universe. T'Challa in the films is far more down to Earth, and if anything, his intellectual capacities are handed off to Shuri in these adaptations.
* AdvertisedExtra: T'Challa was heavily featured in most of the later marketing for ''Infinity War''. Despite this, he has only 3.5 minutes of screentime (less than Mantis and even Thanos' children) and doesn't really get to do much until the last act of the film.
* AmicableExes: He and Nakia used to date, yet they are still friendly with each other and work well together to stop Klaue and Killmonger's schemes in ''Black Panther''. It is made clear that T'Challa still has feelings for her and they get back together in the end.
* AnimalMotifs: Panthers. What else?
* AnimalThemedSuperbeing: Wakandans believe that the panther goddess Bast was the one who led their ancestors to the Heart-shaped herb that grants each Ruler their superhuman powers. As such, it became a tradition for each King of Wakanda to be known as the "Black Panther", and to use panther-styled armor and weapons.
* ArrowCatch: He catches Hawkeye's explosive arrows, which explode directly in his face. [[NoSell He doesn't even flinch]].
* AsskickingEqualsAuthority: The King of Wakanda is decided by ritual one versus one combat. T'Challa had to win against the likes of M'Baku and later Killmonger to keep his throne.
* AttackReflector: His upgraded suit in ''Black Panther'' is a variation on this, able to absorb and store up kinetic energy from physical attacks which can then be channeled into an energy shockwave.
* TheAtoner:
** Spends most of ''Civil War'' trying to kill Bucky, who he believes killed his father. After discovering the truth, he offers Bucky a hiding place and helps in finding a way to get rid of HYDRA's programming.
** His CharacterArc in ''Black Panther'' involves coming to terms with the fact Wakanda and even the father he loved has failed people like the BigBad Killmonger for generations, and it's up to him to make things right.
-->'''T'Challa:''' You were wrong! All of you were wrong! To turn your backs on the rest of the world. We let the fear of our discovery stop us from doing what is ''right''! No more. I cannot stay here with you. I cannot rest while he sits on the throne. He's a monster of our own making. I must take back the mantle back, I ''must''... I must right these wrongs.
* AudibleSharpness: The claws on his suit practically ''ring'' whenever he pops them out in a fight.
* AuthorityEqualsAsskicking: As prince of Wakanda, he was trained from childhood to eventually take the place of his father as both King and the protector of Wakanda, the Black Panther.
* AwesomeMomentOfCrowning: He beats the only challenger to his claim to the throne in single combat when he had the powers of the Heart-shaped herb stripped from him and is crowned king of Wakanda as a result.
* BackFromTheDead:
** Downplayed as he wasn't ''technically'' dead, T'Challa was barely alive after his first fight with Killmonger. It was only by taking the Heart-shaped herb from his family that he managed to wake from his death-like state in ''Black Panther''.
** In ''Avengers: Endgame'' where he is one of many characters who are brought back from being dusted by Hulk reversing Thanos' deadly fingersnap from ''Avengers: Infinity War''.
* BadassBaritone: Courtesy of Chadwick Boseman, T'Challa's voice carries weight and power in both diplomacy and in battle.
* BadassBoast: Gets a couple of these:
** To Steve and Sam, regarding the Winter Soldier:
--->'''T'Challa:''' The Black Panther has been the protector of Wakanda for generations, the mantle passed from warrior to warrior. And now, [...] I also wear the mantle of a king. So I ask you, as both warrior and king, how long do you think you can keep your friend safe from me?
** During the end credits scene, Steve warns T'Challa that all sorts of foes will be coming to invade Wakanda for sheltering the Winter Soldier. His response? "Let them try."
** When Klaue sarcastically asks him for mercy in his solo movie, a furious T'Challa spits out "Every breath you take is mercy from me."
** His line in ''Infinity War'' to Proxima Midnight and Obsidian Cull when the former says Thanos ''will'' have Vision's Mind Stone?
--->'''T'Challa:''' You are in Wakanda now. Thanos will have nothing but ''dust and blood''.
* BaitAndSwitch: A particularly cruel one in ''Film/AvengersInfinityWar''. Given the immense popularity of his solo movie, most everyone expected that he would survive Thanos using the Infinity Gauntlet to wipe out half of the universe. After the BadassFingerSnap goes off we see him going to help up the relatively expendable Okoye, only for her to survive and T'Challa to fade away.
-->''Up, General! [[IronicLastWords This is no place to die.]]''
* BashSiblings: With M'Baku, Okoye, and the Avengers.
* BattleCouple: He and Nakia kick a lot of bad guy asses together in ''Black Panther''.
* BewareTheNiceOnes: T'Challa is one of the nicest people in the MCU and is a ReasonableAuthorityFigure. He is polite, respectful, and very caring towards the people around him and those he considers his friends. But unlike his comic book counterpart, who is mostly a stoic character, this version shows that T'Challa actually is more emotional and prone to anger when he views something that has become a problem.
* BigBrotherInstinct: Threatening his little sister Shuri is a one-way ticket to an ass-kicking. Subtly done during M'Baku's challenge; T'Challa tolerates his insults up until M'Baku shouts at Shuri and makes her flinch, at which point T'Challa is visibly pissed off and cuts M'Baku off mid-sentence to announce he accepts the challenge.
** Done again in the final battle in a splendid inversion of the usual "superhero sees his LoveInterest in danger and gets a HeroicSecondWind" trope: once he sees that Kilmonger is about to murder his little sister in cold blood, T'Challa screams "SHURI! [[BigNo NOOOOO!!]]" and makes his suit release a blast so powerful, it sends every Border Tribe soldier around him ''flying.'' Cue T'Challa tackling Kilmonger into the lab and giving him a beating so fierce, Erik is finally on his toes for the first time.
* BrainsAndBrawn: T'Challa is a fierce WarriorPrince while his sister Shuri is a TeenGenius scientist.
* BrokenPedestal: He finds himself on both ends of this trope.
** He gave W'Kabi his word that he would capture Klaue and make him face justice in Wakanda. he failed, as Killmonger could break him out, and this cost T'Challa W'Kabi's trust, making him believe the new king is just "more of the same".
** Though he still loves his father and is proud of his heritage, T'Challa couldn't help but be disappointed when he found out that T'Chaka's killing of N'jobu helped turn Killmonger into the threat he became. By extension, he's disillusioned with the rest of his ancestors after realizing just how many people Wakanda has hurt or failed to help in their efforts to keep themselves hidden.
* BrotherSisterTeam: T'Challa and his sister Shuri make one heck of a team in battle.
* BroughtDownToBadass: Losing the powers of the Heart-shaped Herb hardly affects him. He still kicks ass without it. Case in point, he defeats M'Baku in a duel while de-powered despite the former's [[CharlesAtlasSuperpower nigh-inhuman strength.]]
* TheChainsOfCommanding: Examined more thoroughly in his feature film where he must succeed his slain father as king of Wakanda while holding on to the mantle of the Black Panther.
* CharacterDevelopment:
** He's initially obsessed with killing the murderer of his father. But after seeing how vengeance has consumed Zemo and torn the Avengers apart, and how it blinded him and caused him to attack an innocent on flimsy evidence, he decides to break the CycleOfRevenge and let Zemo live, taking him to prison to face justice for his crimes. From what's been seen of his solo film, the experience also made him considerably more cautious, and less likely to charge into situations without full knowledge, an attribute that will serve him well.
** In his own film, he has the same isolationist policy as his own nation, and is set on keeping it that way whenever it's brought up. Learning about T'Chaka and Zuri's hand in creating Killmonger had shaken his beliefs and he calls out his father in the afterlife, pointing out how Wakanda's policies had resulted in creating its worst enemy yet. By the end of the film, he announces his intention to unveil Wakanda's technology to the rest of the world and had set up National Relation Centers in California.
* CheatedDeathDiedAnyway: He was one of the people dusted by Thanos and was resurrected by Bruce Banner, only to be stated as deceased by the time of ''Film/BlackPantherWakandaForever'' due to Chadwick Boseman's passing.
* ClashingCousins: The main antagonist in his namesake movie is his previously unknown cousin Erik.
* ColorCharacter: The '''Black''' Panther.
* CombatParkour: His fighting style heavily incorporates jumping and clinging.
* TheComicallySerious: T'Challa has wit, but is almost always a serious and dignified warrior who nonetheless wears one of the most faithfully fantastic-looking costumes and set of armaments in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and entertainingly chafes against the more lighthearted characters therein.
* CoolBigBro: T'Challa is extremely close with his baby sister, sharing a SecretHandshake with her and relying on her science skills to supply him with his costume and tech.
* CoolMask: T'Challa's costume has been near-universally acclaimed, thanks to its badass design. Though Shuri then criticizes said mask because it's a helmet separate from the Black Panther suit, [[AwesomeButImpractical so T'Challa will lose time having to put on the mask if he's ambushed.]]
* CoolPlane: The stealth jet he uses to follow Tony and Steve to the Siberian base. There's also the [[http://ew.com/movies/black-panther-trailer-decoded-marvel-ryan-coogler-kevin-feige/black-panther-trailer-08 Royal Talon Fighter]] from the ''Black Panther'' teaser trailer.
* CovertPervert: When his female bodyguard threatens to fight Black Widow, he admits with a [[GirlOnGirlIsHot huge grin on his face]] that as [[CatFight entertaining it is to let it happen]], now isn't exactly the time or place.
* CycleOfRevenge: Deliberately seeks to defy this once he learns that he and Zemo both lost loved ones and are thus not that different by saving his life and sparing him.
-->'''T'Challa:''' Vengeance has consumed you. It's consuming them. I am done letting it consume me.
* CynicismCatalyst: Defied. He initially goes through this after his father's death but the shock at discovering he was nearly manipulated into killing an innocent man snaps him out of it when he opts to not kill Zemo.
* DarkIsNotEvil: As the Black Panther. He wears a black and silver costume with a full-face mask and claws, along with black royal suits when not in costume... and is one of the noblest characters in the whole MCU.
* DeadpanSnarker: A minor one, but he has his moments, such as his response to Hawkeye's introduction.
-->'''Black Panther:''' I don't care.
* DecompositeCharacter: Most of his role regarding the science and technology of Wakanda is given to his little sister Shuri.
* DeerInTheHeadlights: Or more accurately, ''[[HoldYourHippogriffs antelope]]'' in the headlights. In ''Black Panther,'' he suddenly freezes upon encountering his ex-girlfriend after he'd singlehandedly beaten up a human trafficking ring.
* {{Determinator}}: When T'Challa believes in something, he ''commits''. His standout example of this in ''Civil War'' is that he will stop at ''nothing'' to kill the Winter Soldier and avenge his father's death, even yelling "Barnes is mine!" during the airport fight. When Cap and Bucky make their escape, he powers through several of Natasha's electric stings and resorts to clinging to the underside of the Quinjet before being shaken off. Of course, once he finds out Bucky is innocent, he's just as determined to protect Bucky, even hiding him in Wakanda.
* DiplomaticImpunity: In ''Civil War,'' after his father is killed in the U.N. bombing he goes after Bucky Barnes who is believed to be responsible for it. This leads to a chase that creates collateral damage and eventually ends with Captain America and Falcon placed under arrest for obstructing the government while Black Panther gets off scot-free because he's the King of Wakanda.
* DisneyDeath: Erik tossed him off a waterfall in ''Black Panther'' and T'Challa was explicitly stripped of the Heart-shaped Herb's benefits at that point, but he was nonetheless found barely alive by a fisherman.
* DramaticUnmask: He takes his mask off in front of Captain America during his arrest, who at that point had no idea that T'Challa was the Black Panther.
* EarlyBirdCameo: He's been a long time coming in the MCU. Vibranium and Wakanda have been established parts of the MCU since ''The First Avenger'', when Cap gets his shield. The first reference to the character proper (or more likely, his father) came from a FreezeFrameBonus in ''Film/IronMan2'', where it was shown that ComicBook/NickFury and ComicBook/{{SHIELD}} were monitoring an unknown superhuman in Africa. Then in ''Film/AvengersAgeOfUltron'', we have mention of a past incident where Klaue ran into trouble during a vibranium heist in Wakanda. The same movie has an additional FreezeFrameBonus where a document about Klaue mentions the Black Panther lineage, and that a previous Panther had killed Klaue's great-grandfather.
* EmpoweredBadassNormal: He has the same "peak human and then some" powerset as Steve, although his abilities come from the Heart-shaped Herb rather than a Super Soldier Serum. Even without the Herb's power, T'Challa is a skilled warrior, successfully fighting off a challenge from M'Baku and putting up a respectable, if losing fight against a similar challenge from Killmonger.
* EnemyMine: He's not too interested in the Avengers and actually helps draft the Sokovia Accords, but ends up allying himself with Iron Man in order to take down Bucky.
* EnergyAbsorption: Not on his own, but rather through his suit. Vibranium totally absorbs any kinetic energy exerted on it, and the Black Panther suit's technology allows that energy to be [[ShockwaveStomp violently released]], either by contact or into the surrounding air.
* {{Expy}}: Outside of the MCU and Marvel in general, in ''Film/CaptainAmericaCivilWar'', that bared [[WholePlotReference plot similarities with]] ''Film/FirstBlood'' (both film and [[Literature/FirstBlood the book it is based on]]), his role [[DecompositeCharacter along with]] Tony Stark/Iron Man's are akin to that of the book's sympathetic version of police chief (instead of sheriff in the film version) Will Teasle for their plot-specific establishment HeroAntagonist roles they play in those respective aforementioned works (including their personal motivations to avenge the deaths of their fathers/father figures in their lives against the fugitive WarHero vets whom they believed are responsible with T'Challa initially wanting to avenge his father T'Chaka's death against Bucky to that of Teasle in the novel wanting to avenge his ParentalSubstitute Orval Kellerman's death against Rambo).
* FieldPromotion: He becomes King of Wakanda when his father is killed in a bombing on a United Nations summit, though his official crowning happens much later (and he already has the full Panther power set).
* FireForgedFriends: With Everett Ross in his solo movie. Though the two butt heads at first on how best to deal with Klaue, T'Challa starts warming up to him when he saves Nakia's life at the cost of his own.
** In a deleted scene, Ross voices his concern for Wakanda's fate should T'Challa reveal its true potential to the world. When T'Challa decides to go ahead with his announcement anyway, Ross admits that he knew T'Challa would say such a thing and promises to keep everyone else "off [their] backs." T'Challa, who is clearly touched by the other man's promise, thanks him sincerely and even laughs when Ross bids him good luck in (slightly butchered) Xhosa.
* FriendToAllChildren: One of T'Challa's rules involves a strict WouldntHurtAChild policy.
** Despite his annoyance with sixteen-year-old Shuri, it's quite obvious that T'Challa dotes on his baby sister and would do just about anything for her, even if it means humiliating himself for her amusement.
** At the end of his solo movie, he calls forth one of his jets to amaze the local children in Oakland and answers one child's questions with a patient smile.
** In a MissingTrailerScene, T'Challa and Nakia are seen interacting with some children in Wakanda's streets, with T'Challa gently patting a boy on the head as he passes.
* {{Foil}}:
** To Tony Stark. Like Stark, he discovers the truth about who killed his father (Tony learns the Winter Soldier killed his parents, while T'Challa learns that Zemo was responsible for the explosion that killed T'Chaka). Unlike Stark, who immediately launches into a vicious attack on both Bucky and Steve, T'Challa decides to spare Zemo's life and bring him to justice, preferring to end the CycleOfRevenge which began the whole tragedy.
** To Steve. Both are CaptainPatriotic characters with similar power sets. In addition, they both use Vibranium equipment (the shield for Steve, the Panther Habit for T'Challa). However, there are some interesting differences. Steve grew up in a working-class neighborhood in Depression-era New York, while T'Challa grew up as the Crown Prince of a technologically advanced African nation. Furthermore, Captain America wears a [[LightIsGood bright]] [[PrimaryColorChampion red, white and blue]] [[WearingAFlagOnYourHead outfit]], while the Black Panther wears a [[DarkIsNotEvil black outfit]]. Steve believes fervently in Bucky's innocence, while T'Challa is [[TheDeterminator determined]] to bring Bucky to justice until the end of the movie. In addition, their new status quos at the end of ''Civil War'' are quite different: Steve ends up on the run from his own country, having renounced his Captain America persona. T'Challa, on the other hand, has now become King of Wakanda.
** ''Captain America: Civil War'' frames him as a joint foil to both Steve Rogers and Tony Stark with him simultaneously being a patriotic super soldier idol of his people and a son of privilege who uses a suit of extraordinary armor to protect the weak and punish evil.
** To a lesser extent, he's also a foil to Peter Parker in ''Civil War''. Both are independent animal-themed superheroes who initially have no connection to the Avengers, but end up getting involved in the conflict. However, whereas T'Challa is very reserved, serious, and distrusts the Avengers, while Peter is mouthy, jokes around, and hero-worships the Avengers.
** He and Erik Killmonger are both deadly warriors and royalty of Wakandan descent whose goals are shaped by the past actions of their fathers and [[YouKilledMyFather sought vengeance for their deaths]] but are complete opposites in both the ways they handle it and in their backgrounds. T'Challa grew up well adjusted with a loving family in the nation he was born in. Killmonger, an outsider of mixed descent, lost his father at a young age and lived through an unprivileged childhood. T'Challa has a strong moral compass and is devoted to doing what's best for the people around him, even beyond his status as King. Erik, despite his claims of wanting to help other people of African descent, is ultimately driven by his hatred and is willing to use or kill anyone in his way to achieve his goals. By the climax of the film, T'Challa not only overcame his quest for vengeance for his father's death but had realized that his father's abandonment of Erik and why was wrong and sought to open Wakanda to the rest of the world on beneficial terms. Erik, however, blindly followed his father's legacy and let his own need for vengeance consume him to the end by seeking to wage war against the rest of the world with Wakanda on top, never reconsidering his actions to be in the wrong at any point.
* FrontlineGeneral: Being the King and protector of Wakanda, Black Panther will personally lead the army and fight if the country goes to war. In fact, his speed makes it inevitable that he'll find himself at the forefront of the army during a charge.
* GenerationXerox: Like his father T'Chaka, T'Challa is a King of Wakanda and a Black Panther. Klaue even states that T'Challa looks just like his father in his youth. Just like T'Chaka, T'Challa is forced to kill a male family member in order to protect Wakanda and the rest of the world.
* GeniusBruiser: T'Challa is an accomplished warrior and is also technologically savvy enough to have designed his own Black Panther suit, which is the one seen in ''Civil War''. Shuri remarks that it's utilitarian but not as advanced as it could be.
* GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere: When Black Panther is first introduced in-costume in ''Film/CaptainAmericaCivilWar'', he jumps at a fleeing Winter Soldier from out of nowhere. For viewers unfamiliar with the comics, there's not any obvious indication that he's T'Challa until after the battle ends, even though T'Challa '''was''' shown going after Winter Soldier after the FrameUp. In the midst of battle, Captain America and Falcon (who were both chasing after Winter Soldier) mention that they have no clue who he is or where he came from.
* GibberishOfLove: Downplayed, but Okoye teases him for "freezing" in front of his ex Nakia, which mostly consists of him being unable to do much more than say "hi" and smile at her. He's able to articulate his feelings better later on.
* TheGoodKing: Wakanda's most competent king who, unlike the previous rulers, is willing to show to the world Wakanda's true nature in hopes that the tragedy that happened to Erik will never be repeated. As such, all of Wakanda loves him for it.
* GuysSmashGirlsShoot: T'Challa prefers melee and CombatParkour while his sister Shuri fights using her [[GunsAkimbo dual]] {{Arm Cannon}}s.
* HappyEndingOverride: Shortly after his cathartic triumph in his own film, Wakanda is invaded by Thanos during ''Infinity War'' and he is forced to evacuate the city before fighting the Mad Titan alongside the Avengers. And then he finds himself [[FromBadToWorse erased from existence]] after they fail to stop him from completing the Infinity Gauntlet.
* HeelRealization: When he finds out that Bucky didn’t kill his father, he realizes that vengeance blinded him and decides to spare his father’s true killer, Zemo. That said, this is something of a CruelMercy, as Zemo is heavily implied to have become a DeathSeeker by this point, trying to commit SuicideByCop at T'Challa's hands.
* HeroAntagonist: Towards Captain America and his Anti-Registration team, but more on the personal level with Bucky, when he thinks he killed his father. Black Panther managed to realize Bucky was innocent, track down his father's actual killer and overcome his quest for vengeance to take him in alive.
** He's also this to Natasha in her solo film. He reported her act of helping Steve and Bucky escape to General Ross. She was deemed a traitor and forced to go on the run.
* HighlyVisibleNinja: Averted and discussed. Of his two new suits, T'Challa chose the purple one, contained in a simple necklace with silver claws, because it would supposedly provide more stealth than the yellow one, contained in a golden collar that stands out for miles.
* HonorBeforeReason: When Killmonger challenges him for the throne, he decides to obey tradition and accept the challenge. This leads to him almost dying, Zuri getting killed, the garden of the Heart-Shaped Herb getting burned down, and the world almost descending into chaos all because of Killmonger. If T'Challa declined his challenge and had him locked up, ''all'' of this would have been avoided.
* IAmNotMyFather: In ''Civil War'', in wake of his father's death at the UN, he said this word for word to Black Widow as while his ReasonableAuthorityFigure father can let things go, T'Challa could not and vows to avenge him. At first, this was framed as a negative portrayal that relates to the film's HeWhoFightsMonsters sub-theme, but then in ''Black Panther'', this trope has an alternative and more positive meaning when it's revealed T'Chaka had killed his own brother and abandoned his nephew Erik Stevens for the sake of Wakanda's isolation policy, which finally prompts T'Challa to pull a ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight and revokes his country's isolation policy to help outsiders, which ironically made him a better ReasonableAuthorityFigure than his father was.
* IGaveMyWord: He gives W'Kabi his word that he will kill or recapture Klaue (in this version, Klaue's actions have hurt W'Kabi far more personally than T'Challa). When Klaue escapes, it's a BrokenPedestal moment that leads to W'Kabi siding against him.
* ImmuneToBullets: His suit, which has vibranium incorporated into it, can withstand gunfire from ''attack helicopters''. He later uses it to stop Zemo from shooting himself to prevent his capture by calmly placing a hand over the gun's barrel a second before it fires.
* ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice:
** During his challenge with M'Baku for the crown, T'Challa gets stabbed in the shoulder by the sharp end of M'Baku's cudgel, but he shrugs it off like it was nothing.
** When Killmonger duels with him, T'Challa later gets stabbed in the mid-section by his spear.
* InspectorJavert: He spends most of ''Civil War'' trying to hunt down and kill Bucky, who's been framed for killing his father, taking Bucky running after being caught once as a sign of guilt. Once the truth comes out, he's shaken at how close he came to killing the wrong man and offers him asylum.
* InstantArmor: The upgraded Black Panther costume that Shuri designs for T'Challa incorporates {{Nanomachines}} that allow it to instantly form over his body at a moment's notice.
* IronicLastWords: His last words before getting snapped while helping Okoye up were "This is no place to die," just before dying there himself.
* TheyKilledKennyAgain: T'Challa spends much of the second half of his solo film close to death and is later killed by Thanos's snap in ''Infinity War'', only to be brought BackFromTheDead at the climax of ''Film/AvengersEndgame''. He also has at least one variant who was killed in ''What If''. The teaser for ''Wakanda Forever'' shows that T'Challa has died once again in that film, although this time it's likely permanent due to the sudden death of [[Creator/ChadwickBoseman his actor]].
* ALadyOnEachArm: He invokes this imagery when infiltrating a South Korean casino in his movie. However, since the ladies in question are Okoye and Nakia, they are far as possible from mere eye candy, helping him fight Klaue and his goons.
* LastOfHisKind: Of the ''mystically empowered'' Black Panthers as Killmonger destroyed the sacred orchard where their SuperSerum is cultivated.
* LegacyCharacter: According to a FreezeFrameBonus in ''Age of Ultron'', there have been many Black Panthers throughout history. T'Challa is simply the latest one to use the name, as he confirms in ''Civil War.'' This is further explained in ''Black Panther'': the first Black Panther and leader of Wakanda was centuries, if not millennia ago, and every king since - including T'Chaka - has taken up the mantle.
* LightningBruiser: He is on the same level of strength as Captain America, and considerably faster.
* LikeFatherUnlikeSon: Even before the revelation that T'Chaka abandoned his nephew, T'Challa already shows that he is vastly different from his father in one regard; he will not leave behind a person he could save, Wakanda's secrecy be damned. He brings Everett Ross with him to Wakanda to save his life, whereas his father didn't even bring his blood relative home, leading to that relative becoming Killmonger.
* LongingLook: Before they get back together at the end of his movie, it seems like T'Challa is only capable of looking at Nakia like this. It's especially adorable when one compares the stoic and regal mask he wears while serving his people to the soft, fond looks he reserves only for her.
* LoopholeAbuse: He tries to have a rematch with Killmonger and Killmonger alone during the climax to prevent unnecessary blood from being shed by pointing out that since he neither died nor yielded at the end of their succession battle, it's still technically in progress. The gambit fails to convince the Border Tribe but turns the Dora Milaje to his side.
* LuckilyMyShieldWillProtectMe: He uses a Nguni shield alongside an Iklwa spear as his weapons in ritual combat.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:M-Z]]
* MadeOfIndestructium: T'Challa's suit is made of Vibranium, which allows him to be unfazed by attacks that would leave a normal person heavily injured if not outright dead. He doesn't even flinch when hit with machine-gun fire or explosive arrows and seems only mildly perturbed at almost getting hit with a flying bus. Zigzagged in that it ''can'' be overwhelmed by some attacks of sufficient power, and is specifically weak to being disrupted by sonic attacks.
* MadeOfIron: Even without his suit, he can take quite a beating. During his duel against M'Baku, he gets stabbed repeatedly yet manages to shrug it off and continue with the crowning ceremony. Later, Killmonger cut him twice with his weapon, punched him in the face repeatedly, and tossed him from a waterfall, and T'Challa still survived. Keep in mind this was after he took the concoction to strip away his powers!
* ModestRoyalty: When not in costume, he tends to dress casually. This also applies to his Black Panther suits, which tend to be SimpleYetOpulent. He is also quite approachable in person as shown in ''Infinity War'' when he interacts with his friends in the Avengers, who are non-royalty and when Bruce bows to him in reverence, T'Challa tells him this is unnecessary -- a sharp contrast to how even his uncle N'Jobu was expected to bow before T'Chaka when he was king.
* MusclesAreMeaningless: He noticeably has a leaner build than Steve or Bucky, but his feats of strength are still very comparable to theirs.
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone:
** He has this reaction when he learns that Zemo framed Bucky and that as a result, T'Challa was trying to kill an innocent man. He's visibly shaken when he overhears Zemo's confession, and it's actually the ''first'' thing he confronts Zemo with when they finally meet.
** In his own movie, T'Challa realizes that Killmonger had a point [[JerkassHasAPoint when he pointed out how Wakanda was complicit in the suffering of their fellow Africans]], even if he went about it in completely the wrong way. Part of T'Challa's character development is getting over the isolationist thinking that could prevent Wakanda from helping those in need.
* MySuitIsAlsoSuper: The Black Panther has enhanced physiology that grants superhuman agility, speed, and strength. However, his vibranium laced suit will shrug off bullets and deliver supercharged waves of kinetic energy.
* {{Nanomachines}}: His new suit in ''Black Panther'' (along with the one Killmonger acquires) is composed of Vibranium nanomachines, which means the suit assembles on him nigh-instantaneously. Even better, it's all contained in his collar, somehow.
* NiceGuy: T'Challa has a warm and kind heart matched only by Captain Steve Rogers, and a moral integrity matched only by Peter Parker. Even though driven down the path of vengeance briefly by grief over his father's murder, having both qualities allowed him to forgive said murderer ''on his own accord.'' Said MomentOfWeakness aside, T'Challa consistently and selflessly places the needs of his people and the world first, and is torn with guilt and grief whenever the inevitable compromises one must make as a politician causes suffering and sadness in the few sacrificed for the greater good, such as when he is confronted with the truth of how T'Chaka orphaned and destroyed the life of Erik Killmonger, his cousin.
* NiceJobBreakingItHero: His adoption of ThouShaltNotKill bites him in ''Black Panther''. During his duel with Killmonger, he actually manages to knock him down first and has a chance to finish him for good. His decision to not take it and offer mercy instead allows Killmonger to get the upper hand, kill Zuri and win the fight, giving him the right to rule Wakanda. Through that, Killmonger is able to cause serious destabilization of Wakanda, most notably burning all the Heart-shaped Herbs and with them the legacy of the Black Panthers.
* NighInvulnerability: His costume is made with Vibranium, which renders him ImmuneToBullets in ways not even this setting's version of The Hulk is.
* NoBadassToHisValet:
** T'Challa may have become king and the most physically gifted man in Wakanda, but his family and general entourage still treat him as a family member from Shuri constantly teasing him to Okoye acting like a big sister to him.
** Subverted when T'Challa asks Zuri to reveal what he knows about Killmonger. Zuri says the king has sworn him to secrecy, but T'Challa loudly reminds him that ''he'' is now the king of Wakanda and orders him to reveal everything.
* NoBodyLeftBehind: Is disintegrated along with half the universe after Thanos completes the Infinity Gauntlet. He and the rest of the deceased are restored by Bruce performing the snap shortly before Thanos’ army arrives.
* NotSoDifferentRemark: He realizes that he and Zemo are both men who lost their loved ones and were consumed by their thirst for vengeance. Thus, he decides to break the CycleOfRevenge by stopping his attempted suicide before turning him into prison.
* NotSoStoic: T'Challa usually has an AngstWhatAngst attitude and is TheStoic to show that he can be introverted and quiet, but there are intense moments where he finally breaks character.
** He's seen crying over his father's death when the Vienna Bombing occurred and constantly called out his name while holding his cadaver.
** When Zuri dies in an effort to save his life, T'Challa does not [[BigNo take it well]].
** The Ancestral Plane has two dramatic moments. Him breaking down after seeing his father, and him [[BrokenPedestal calling out his father and ancestors over the consequences of their isolationalism]].
** On a lighter note, his playful side tends to come out whenever his little sister, Shuri, is around, as evidenced by their banter in her lab and T'Challa mischievously admitting that he wore sandals on his first official day as king to butter up the Elders.
* OhMyGods: During the chase for Klaue in South Korea, T'Challa orders Shuri to drive faster with the expression "For Bast's sake!". Since he and his people have worshipped the goddess presumably for their entire lives, it makes sense that he'd say it instead of "Oh, My God".
* OneManArmy: Takes down over a dozen rifle-toting slavers with ease, overwhelms Bucky in hand-to-hand combat more than once, and matches Captain America and the Winter Soldier in separate (inconclusive) fights.
* OutsideRide: Seems fond of this, as he's seen riding atop cars both in ''Civil War'' and ''Black Panther''.
* PantheraAwesome: His animal totem is the panther, which dates back to the kings who founded the kingdom.
* PlatonicLifePartners: With Okoye. [[AllThereInTheManual Bonus content on the video release]] reveals that they were practically raised together, and she's not unlike a big sister to him.
* PowerIncontinence: The suits Shuri gives him in his movie give him the ability to absorb and redirect kinetic energy. However, the process is not instantaneous and there is only a finite amount he can store at a time. Once a certain threshold is breached, the suit's reserves will be purged all at once, blowing him back with the detonation.
* PrincelingRivalry: He and N'Jadaka / Killmonger, the son of the former king's younger brother contest for the throne of Wakanda. T'Challa has no idea his rival even exists after his father has killed Killmonger's father and has covered it up. Killmonger challenges T'Challa to a ritualistic duel, nearly kills him, and seizes the throne. In the end, T'Challa returns, mortally wounds his rival, and reclaims his place as the rightful king.
* PrivilegedRival: A heroic version. He is the wealthy king of Wakanda and Killmonger was a poor kid from Oakland. He even calls T'Challa out on his background, lambasting him for having lived "safe and protected".
* PurpleIsPowerful: Black Panther's new suit has shades of purple in it, and the kinetic energy he absorbs and releases is colored purple.
* PutOnABus: Due to Chadwick Boseman's death and the decision to not recast him, although the specifics have yet to be seen. The official synopsis for ''Film/BlackPantherWakandaForever'' would later officially confirm that TheCharacterDiedWithHim.
* TheQuietOne: As noted under TheStoic, he's probably the single least-quippy superhero in the setting, even beating out Groot and the Hulk.
* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Despite earlier proclaiming to Black Widow in the wake of his father's death that he's not his father, at the end of ''Civil War'', this trope has been passed down from his father to him when he gives asylum to Bucky in Wakanda and promises to help undo his brainwashing to atone for almost killing him in the mistaken belief Bucky was behind the UN bombing. Then in his solo film, he then shows himself as a NiceGuy and TheGoodKing in his position as the King of Wakanda. In fact, he even proves himself as this more than his father due to the latter having abandoned his nephew who becomes Killmonger, prompting T'Challa to finally drop his country's isolationist policy to help outsiders.
* RedHerring: With his success at staying his hand while defeating Zemo, Klaue, and M'Baku, it looks like he'll be able to vanquish Killmonger without having to kill him. His cousin chooses death over the indignity of imprisonment and lets himself bleed out in front of T'Challa.
* RevengeBeforeReason: During ''Civil War'', he breaks international law to hunt down Bucky after believing he was the murderer. Bucky even says he didn't kill T'Chaka because he remembers all the people he kills while brainwashed, and T'Challa doesn't believe him. When T'Challa learns that another man impersonated Bucky and framed him, he follows Iron Man to Siberia so as to find Zemo rather than help stop the threat of super-soldiers. While this means that he delivers Zemo to justice, he's unable to tell Iron Man to stand down because of the distance.
* RedOniBlueOni: The stoic and regal blue to extroverted and energetic Shuri's red.
* RightfulKingReturns: Right after Killmonger takes the king's throne and has his forces prepared to spread Wakanda's weapons across the globe to enact his plan, T'Challa returns after having been revived by his mother via the herb. He comes to reclaim his throne and defeat Killmonger, citing that he neither forfeited the ceremonial challenge nor died and was thus still technically the king since the challenge technically never ended.
* RoyalBlood: He is heir to the throne of Wakanda. Defending his claim to it and becoming a worthy king are important themes of his story.
* RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething: He is a member of the Wakandan royal family, first as a WarriorPrince and then as the king, but is also tasked with defending the country and eliminating threats to his people, and appears to serve as Wakanda's emissary to the United Nations as well, despite not enjoying diplomacy.
* RulerProtagonist: He becomes this his own movie, and the politics and hardships of being king are a key theme of the plot. His character arc consists of his struggle to choose between keeping or ending Wakanda's isolationism and there is great significance in his appearance at the United Nations at the end, officially opening up his country to the world.
* SaveTheVillain: He develops a habit of this after foregoing his revenge.
** He stops Zemo from committing suicide if only to deliver him to prison instead.
** After fatally wounding Killmonger, T'Challa offers to heal him with Wakandan medicine. Killmonger declines.
* ScaryBlackMan: A heroic version. As the Black Panther, it becomes a MookHorrorShow for any unlucky punk who dares opposes him. However, he's still a good-hearted ReasonableAuthorityFigure who protects the innocent.
* ScienceHero: Downplayed. He designed his own suit and is dangerously intelligent, but his inventiveness pales in comparison to his sister's.
* SplashOfColor: At the beginning of ''Film/{{Black Panther|2018}}'', he is dressed in black, white, and gray symbolizing both his mourning for his father and his discomfort in his new role as king. At the end of the film, when he's truly ready to step up and be King of Wakanda, his clothing begins incorporating bits of bright color.
* StealthExpert: He's able to track Tony, Bucky, and Steve to the Siberian Compound, sneak around the base, and observe them. He somehow avoids the destruction when all three start fighting and even manages to find and apprehend Zemo. All without any of them noticing that he was even there at all.
* TheStoic: Rather serious and introverted compared to the [[DeadpanSnarker rest of the cast]]. At most he gets this PreAsskickingOneLiner at Clint:
-->'''Clint Barton:''' We haven't met yet. I'm Clint.\\
'''T'Challa:''' [[BrutalHonesty I don't care]].
* TheStrategist: In addition to being a skilled combatant and athlete, he is a gifted tactician who takes a cerebral approach to fighting.
* StrongAndSkilled: In order to ''become'' the Black Panther, T'Challa has to earn that right by being a very skilled warrior in case he's challenged for his title. He's capable of fighting on par with Captain America for an extended period of time and is considered one of Wakanda's greatest warriors. (Okoye is considered to be Wakanda's absolute best warrior in terms of pure skill, but only compared to a non-superpowered T'Challa.) It is mentioned he has trained for the royal title his entire life.
* StrongFamilyResemblance: Klaue comments that T'Challa looks just like his father, T'Chaka, in his youth.
* SuddenlyShouting: When Zuri plays coy with the circumstances surrounding N'Jobu's disappearance and uses the excuse that he promised the king to say nothing, T'Challa furiously retaliates "I am your king now!"
* SuperReflexes: Catches two arrows Hawkeye fires at him from only a few meters away and negotiates climbing over a moving truck and jumping onto a speeding motorcycle without difficulty. And as you would expect for a cat, he almost always lands on his feet after falling or being knocked over, unless something's really serious.
* SuperSpeed: He's able to run at speeds in excess of 40 mph (he's outpacing cars on the highway while chasing Bucky), and manages to climb two flights of stairs before the Winter Soldier has managed even one.
* SuperStrength: Holds his own against Cap and Bucky, ''nearly'' forcing the former to bring down his shield and overpowering the latter's metal arm, thanks to his suit. His solo film further shows his Cap-level strength, with him kicking a mook hard enough to send him flying several meters and into a car hard enough to dent it.
* SuperToughness: Even ''without'' his Nigh Invulnerable suit of Vibranium, he's considerably tougher than the average human. A large explosion that killed his father, who was not too much closer only sent him flying, after which he gets back up more or less unharmed. He can also take a direct punch from Bucky's road-cracking metal arm and is barely even winded. Plus, he was able to shrug off several shots from Black Widow's stun gun with only a few seconds of paralysis each and some pain, while normal humans hit by it are usually immediately incapacitated and drop like a ton of bricks, similar to a real taser. However, his greatest examples of SuperToughness are getting back up in a few minutes after being blasted by Klaue's sonic weapon (which can reduce a bulletproof car to smithereens with a single shot) with nothing but a knee height wooden cabinet to block it, and then shrugging off ''being hit by a train'' when sonic waves were suppressing his suit's vibranium.
* SupportingProtagonist: ''Civil War'' follows Black Panther's part in this CycleOfRevenge arc as much it follows Captain America and Bucky trying to stop Zemo and Iron Man's allegiance to the Sokovia Accords over his friendship with Captain America.
* SympathyForTheDevil: Has this for Erik "Killmonger" Stevens a.k.a. N'Jadaka, his cousin. When a grief-stricken Killmonger shouts about how the world took everything he loved away T'Challa simply gives him a look that says he understands.
* TallDarkAndHandsome: Like his father before him, T'Challa--who stands at 6'0, has dark hair, and has a long-standing flirtationship/relationship with Nakia--fits the trope to a tee.
* ToBeLawfulOrGood: His character arc in his own movie revolves around the hardships of being king. When meeting his father on the spiritual plane, he learns that being a good man and a good king may not always be the same thing.
* ThouShallNotKill: After ''Civil War'' T'Challa has adopted this mentality when it comes to his enemies, something that doesn't exactly endear him to some of his more conservative people. Though he drops it at the end of ''Black Panther'' and lethally wounds Erik, this is a justified case as there was no other way to stop him and he offers unsuccessfully to save Erik with Wakandan medicine.
* ThreePointLanding: He's fond of doing this. [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] as landing heavily while punching the ground is a pretty effective way of releasing his suit's energy and taking out any {{Mook}}s dumb enough to swarm him.
* TookALevelInKindness: Downplayed. He was always a very goodhearted person but his grief over his father's death gave viewers an introduction to a much more vengeful, snarky, and even abrasive Black Panther. His shock at discovering he nearly murdered an innocent man snaps him out of it, and by the time ''Black Panther'' rolls around, his NiceGuy nature shines through.
* UnexplainedRecovery: He is thrown off a cliff into an icy cold river. Later, he was revealed to have been recovered by the neighboring tribe and placed in ice. It's not actually explained how the ice prevents him from dying, but whatever.
* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: He enacts CruelMercy and prevents Zemo's suicide, then takes him to the authorities to be imprisoned. However, this instead leads to Zemo going full-on villain as ''Baron'' Zemo, foreshadowed at the end of ''Civil War'' and made completely clear in ''Series/TheFalconAndTheWinterSoldier''.
* WarriorPrince: He's the prince of Wakanda, and this title comes packaged with another, "Black Panther".
* WhatsUpKingDude: In his own movie, it is shown that T'Challa has no problem with walking through the streets of Wakanda, among the common populace. He is also clearly uncomfortable with people bowing to him, telling Bruce Banner "We don't do that here" when Rhodes tricks him into doing it in ''Infinity War''.
* WolverineClaws: In addition to his second suit's regular claws, he has a set of retractable spikes on his knuckles in his gloves, [[MythologyGag much like his Ultimate Universe counterpart]]. However, he only pops them out briefly to intimidate Klaue further before retracting them and settling for his regular ones.
* WorkingWithTheEx: For most of the plot of his movie, he gets to act alongside Nakia, who used to date him. Despite the teasing of his closest allies, they're AmicableExes who work well together and resume their relationship in the end.
* WouldntHurtAChild: He displays this mentality through his own movie. Though he kills a group of African terrorists in the beginning, he refrains from slaying a ChildSoldier with them and is horrified at what he almost did. Also, one of the things that shocked him the most about Killmonger's backstory was that he was only a child when it all happened.
* YouAreInCommandNow: Ascended to the throne after his father was killed.
* YouKilledMyFather: The reason he fiercely targets Bucky in ''Civil War'' is due to the death of his father during an attack on the United Nations council in Vienna, which the Winter Soldier is framed for. Later, after T'Challa realizes that Bucky's innocent, he agrees to hide him in Wakanda until he can be freed from the remains of HYDRA's programming.
* YoungerAndHipper: This version is a bit younger than he usually is when he sides with the Avengers.
[[/folder]]

!!Variants

[[folder:Star-Lord]]
!!''Prince T'Challa of Wakanda / Star-Lord''
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/tchallastarlord.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''"A Ravager never flies solo!"'']]
!!!'''Species:''' Human
!!!'''Citizenship:''' Wakandan
!!!'''Affiliation(s):''' Wakanda (Golden Tribe), Ravagers, Guardians of the Multiverse
!!!'''Voiced By:''' Creator/ChadwickBoseman, Maddix Robinson (young)
!!!'''Appearances:''' ''[[WesternAnimation/WhatIf2021 What If...?]]''

On Earth-21818, it was T'Challa who was abducted by Yondu to become a Ravager instead of Peter Quill.
----
* TheAce: T'Challa as Star-Lord is basically how Peter ''thought'' of himself at the start of the ''Guardians'' movie, a legendary {{Space Pirate|s}} who's famous for uplifting the poor.
* AdaptationalDyeJob: His version of the Star-Lord outfit and mask replace the red Peter uses in the Sacred Timeline with purple.
* AdaptationalJobChange: T'Challa was never a thief in the MCU or the comics.
* AdaptationPersonalityChange: Is far more relaxed and quippy than his Sacred Timeline counterpart, who while able to enjoy himself with his loved ones was burdened with his responsibilities even before his father's death. As this T'Challa's story takes place eight years before ''Civil War'' and he was raised by SpacePirates who nurtured his desire to explore the galaxy while also teaching him to be a thief, it makes sense that he would turn out so differently.
* AdaptationalSkill: T'Challa was raised as a Ravager since he was a child, meaning he is a skilled thief who uses the same equipment as the Sacred Timeline Star-Lord. However, to balance this out he loses the years of training he would have received to become the Black Panther.
* AdaptationalWimp: A very mild example but he never gained the powers of the Black Panther here but it doesn’t stop him from being a legendary MemeticBadass space hero.
* AllLovingHero: It says something that this version of T'Challa made ''Thanos'' change his ways.
* AlternateSelf: To the T'Challa of the Sacred Timeline, coming from a universe where he is kidnapped by Yondu's Ravager clan as a boy and becomes a heroic and famous figure amongst the cosmos.
* AlternateUniverseReedRichardsIsAwesome: He outshines both his Sacred Timeline counterpart and Peter as Star-Lord in every way possible. By 2008 he has saved countless planets, including Drax's which means his family is still alive, and has become a well-known and respected Robin Hood type hero throughout the galaxy where everyone knows who he is. As a result, he is likely the best hero in the entire multiverse as few have matched his achievements. He even convinced ''Thanos'' to do a HeelFaceTurn and become a loyal member of the Ravagers.
* BadassNormal: Never being given the post of the Heart-Shaped Herb hasn’t made him any less of a badass than he was in the Sacred Timeline.
* TheCharmer: As T'Challa never went through the ritual of eating the Heart-Shaped Herb to become the Black Panther, his most dangerous weapon here is how persuasive he is with his altruism. Unlike Star-Lord, he actually managed to convince the Ravagers to become a force for good and even convinced Thanos that there were solutions outside of genocide to accomplishing his goal solve resource scarcity.
* CollapsibleHelmet: Just like the Sacred Timeline Star-Lord.
* CompositeCharacter: T'Challa basically becomes Star-Lord when he is abducted by Yondu instead of Peter Quill.
* CoolGuns: He uses blasters like with the Sacred Timeline Peter Quill. He later lends one of his blasters to his timeline's Peter Quill so he can help him fight Ego.
* ForWantOfANail: The only version of T'Challa who doesn't become Black Panther, and as it turns out in many ways the universe benefits from it.
* GentlemanThief: He is this as he has a strong code of honor despite being raised as a Ravager and tends to steal from the corrupt.
* TheHeart: Outright called this by Yondu when he is reminding T'Challa that he is still TheCaptain.
* HumbleHero: He introduces himself as an ordinary junker and says that he is uncomfortable with being referred to as a lord, which only makes Korath admire him even more.
* HyperCompetentSidekick: While Yondu is the captain of their Ravager clan, T'Challa takes a more active role in the plans and is clearly the face of the Ravagers.
* InSpiteOfANail: Despite lacking Peter's reason for calling himself Star-Lord, T'Challa retains the name in this continuity. Since he seems to prefer Korath not to use it when they meet, it might have been given to him by the Ravagers or the people he saved once they learned that he is royalty.
* JustLikeRobinHood: Yondu even compares T'Challa and the Ravagers to him, though he gets the name wrong.
* LikeADuckTakesToWater: In the Sacred Timeline, T'Challa growing up in Wakanda leads him to becoming the Black Panther and proving to be a more progressive king with the desire to have Wakanda be more open with the outside world, meaning he was already pretty amazing. However giving this T'Challa the chance to explore the entire galaxy leads him to become the greatest hero ever who regularly redeems seemingly amoral and outright evil characters and saves entire planets. Yondu even says that he beleives T'Challa would be able to adapt to any situation he found himself.
* LikeASonToMe: Yondu comes to see him as his son just like he did for Peter Quill in the Sacred Timeline, even calling him his kid at one point. They are actually closer than Yondu was with Peter, however, because unlike Peter who was kidnapped shortly after his mother's death T'Challa left Wakanda willingly and immediately got along with Yondu.
* MagneticHero: Was able to convince Yondu, Taserface, and Kraglin to turn the Ravagers into a force for good, recruits Korath after beating him in a fight and talked Thanos out of his plan to kill half the universe and into joining the Ravagers.
* MeaningfulName: His nickname, Star-''Lord'', references his royal Wakandan heritage.
* MistakenIdentity: He was abducted by Taserface and Kraglin due to them mistaking him for Peter Quill.
* TheParagon: He literally inspires people who in the Sacred Timeline are little more than thieves and villains to be heroes themselves.
* PurpleIsPowerful: Has more purple than his Sacred Timeline counterpart and is hands down, one of the most badass superheroes in the multiverse.
* TheRedeemer: He managed to turn Taserface and Thanos to good in this timeline, and he helped reform the Ravagers as well. His presence alone is enough to make Korath pull a HeelFaceTurn.
* RichesToRags: Not that he's poor while with the Ravagers, but he was the prince of Wakanda before meeting Yondu and now makes money by stealing from corrupt people.
* RocketBoots: Like the Sacred Timeline Star-Lord.
* ShipTease: Has some with Nebula, who is his ImpliedLoveInterest due to their flirting and her nickname for him.
* ThickerThanWater: [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]], T'Challa is at first outraged to learn that Yondu had lied to him about Wakanda being destroyed and, in the heat of the moment, tells him that he doesn't consider the Ravagers his family. He eventually shakes off his anger and forgives Yondu and even introduces him to the Wakandans as his family.
* TragicKeepsake: He still wears his Wakandan necklace in memory of his home, which was destroyed at some point after he left Earth. Except that was a lie by Yondu to make sure he would stay with him.
* WalkingTheEarth: Young T'Challa was just exploring the outskirts of Wakanda when he was abducted. He doesn't seem that terrified to be kidnapped by aliens to see other worlds.
* YoungerAndHipper: {{Downplayed}}, but his story takes place in 2008 which is eight years before his appearance in ''Civil War''. He was also raised by criminals since childhood as opposed to growing up with the knowledge he will one day be king meaning he is far more relaxed, possibly more than his counterpart ever was.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Zombie Apocalypse's Black Panther]]
!!''King T'Challa of Wakanda / Black Panther''
[[quoteright:327:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/89ca7a32_a306_4a2e_818b_89a57d6a5a77.jpeg]]
%%[[caption-width-right:327:some caption text]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/1e8d86f9_6a2d_4fda_8c90_82e1ac5675fb.jpeg]]
%%[[caption-width-right:350:some caption text]]
!!!'''Species:''' Enhanced human
!!!'''Voiced By:''' Creator/ChadwickBoseman
!!!'''Appearances:''' ''[[WesternAnimation/WhatIf2021 What If...?]]''

->''[[ImmortalityThroughMemory "In my culture, death is not the end. They are still with us, as long as we do not forget them."]]''

On Earth-89521, Black Panther was rescued by Vision from zombies and later found by Bucky at Camp Lehigh.
-----
* AcePilot: Despite having never flown a Quinjet before, T'Challa still manages to do a great job piloting it, even managing to escape the grasp of a giant, zombified Hope van Dyne.
* AlternateSelf: To the Black Panther of the Sacred Timeline, coming from a universe where he was captured by Vision during a ZombieApocalypse and had his leg forcibly amputated to give to a zombified Wanda Maximoff.
* AnArmAndALeg: He was found by Bucky deep in Camp Lehigh and missing a leg, which was presumably fed to the zombified Wanda.
* BadassInDistress: Him going missing in the States is what prompts Okoye to join Spider-Man's RagTagBunchOfMisfits to try to locate him. As it turns out, the Vision managed to rescue him from zombies in San Francisco, only to be held captive in Camp Lehigh to be used as a living food source for Zombie Wanda.
* DramaPreservingHandicap: Vision is shown to have amputated one of T'Challa's legs in order to feed Zombie Wanda. This unfortunately prevents him from doing anything in the way of fighting once the surviving heroes come to rescue him.
* HonorBeforeReason: Despite having little reason to leave Wakanda and participate in trying to curb the ZombieApocalypse all the way in the Pacific Northwest, Black Panther nonetheless joins the Avengers in trying to do so early in the episode.
* ImmortalityThroughMemory: After escaping Camp Lehigh, T'Challa comforts Peter by explaining his culture's perspective on death as mentioned above.
* TheRemnant: He, Spider-Man, and Ant-Man are the only surviving heroes we see at the end of the episode.
* TwoferTokenMinority: Black and an amputee.
* UncertainDoom: [[spoiler:T'Challa survives alongside Spider-Man and Scott Lang's disembodied head, and is last seen flying the Quadjet to Wakanda, hoping to use the Mind Stone to cure all the zombies and restore the world. However, unknown to him and his fellow Avengers, Wakanda has already fallen to the zombified Thanos, who has the Infinity Gauntlet almost completed and waiting for them to arrive with the remaining Infinity Stone. Considering that the Watcher didn't summon him to join the Guardians of the Multiverse to stop Infinity Ultron and the zombies of his universe are later seen but not him, things do not currently look good for him.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:King Killmonger's Black Panther]]
!!''Prince T'Challa of Wakanda / Black Panther''
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/c5fb3383_db35_4ba4_9e06_3af5401f366d.jpeg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''"Our quarrel is not with you, Colonel."'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/2f5deaea_26ec_48e3_8ed9_682c1facade9.jpeg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''"Was it worth it... my cousin?"'']]
!!!'''Species:''' Enhanced human
!!!'''Voiced By:''' Creator/ChadwickBoseman
!!!'''Appearances:''' ''[[WesternAnimation/WhatIf2021 What If...?]]''

On Earth-32938, Black Panther was trying to retrieve stolen vibranium in 2009 when he encounters Killmonger.
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* AlternateSelf: To the Black Panther of the Sacred Timeline, coming from a universe where he was [[spoiler:killed by Killmonger in 2009 who then used his death to manipulate Wakanda.]]
* AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence: After he got killed by Killmonger, his spirit was sent to the Ancestral Plane where he later confronted Killmonger after he ingested the Heart-Shaped Herb.
* CurbStompBattle: He utterly demolishes Klaue's henchmen and the Air Force soldiers accompanying Rhodey.
* DeathByAdaptation: He's killed by Killmonger, while (as of the episode's airing) his Sacred Timeline self is still alive.
* FrameUp: The target of one. Killmonger kills T'Challa and Rhodey and arranges his taser and T'Challa's glove to make their deaths look like a MutualKill.
* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: T'Challa's spirit rebukes Killmonger for his actions.
-->You believe the cure for human suffering is more suffering. [...] Power unearned can be a very volatile force, cousin. It will get the best of you eventually, on your plane, or on ours.
* SeeYouInHell: At the end of the episode, he tells Killmonger that sooner or later, [[spoiler:he will be punished, even if not in his lifetime]] since his path only leads to more suffering, despite Killmonger's claims. [[spoiler:While he doesn't end up seeing Killmonger, he's right his cousin's actions lead to another Hell.]]
* WasItReallyWorthIt: He asks this question to Killmonger [[spoiler:after the latter gets the heart-shaped herb, believing he was killed for power and to cause suffering.]]
[[/folder]]
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[[folder:Prince Killmonger's Black Panther]]

[[folder:Zombie Apocalypse Black Panther]]

A prince and diplomat from [[{{Bulungi}} Wakanda]]. After a terrorist attack on a UsefulNotes/UnitedNations summit in which his father King T'Chaka perishes, T'Challa finds himself grappling with how to best take on his father's mantle as the king and protector of Wakanda, the ComicBook/BlackPanther. T'Challa boasts strength and reflexes on the same level as Captain America, and a high-tech suit made of the [[{{Phlebotinum}} rare metal known as vibranium]] that further enhances his abilities.

[[folder:Survivor Black Panther]]

* TheAce: T'Challa as Star-Lord is basically how Peter ''thought'' of himself at the start of the ''Guardians'' movie, a legendary SpacePirate who's famous for uplifting the poor.

[[center: [- [[Characters/MarvelCinematicUniverse Main Character Index]] > Other Individuals and Organizations > [[Characters/MCUGovernmentMilitary Government & Military]] > [[Characters/MCUUnitedStatesGovernment United States Government]] ([[Characters/MCUUnitedStatesMilitary United States Military]] | [[Characters/MCUJohnWalker John Walker]] | [[Characters/MCUThunderboltRoss Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross]]) | [[Characters/MCURussianGovernmentMilitary Russian Government & Military]] | [[Characters/MCUWakandaGovernmentMilitary Wakanda Government & Military]] ('''Black Panther''') -]]]

* OutOfFocus: Invoked due to Chadwick Boseman’s death, with the upcoming ''Black Panther'' sequel now focusing on his supporting cast, though it remains to be seen how his absence will be addressed.

* PutOnABus: Due to Chadwick Boseman's death and the decision to not recast him, although the specifics have yet to be seen.