Follow TV Tropes

Following

Characters / MCU: T'Challa
aka: MCU Black Panther

Go To

Main Character Index > Other Individuals and Organizations > Government & Military > United States Government (United States Military | John Walker | Thaddeus Ross) | Wakanda Government & Military (T'Challa)

Spoilers for all works set prior to the end of Avengers: Endgame are unmarked.

King T'Challa of Wakanda / The Black Panther

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/black_panther_aiw_profile.png
"I must right these wrongs."
Click here to see him in the Black Panther habit 

Species: Enhanced human

Citizenship: Wakandan

Affiliation(s): Wakanda (Golden Tribe), Avengers

Portrayed By: Chadwick Boseman, 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: Captain America: Civil War | Spider-Man: Homecoming note  | Black Panther | Avengers: Infinity War | Avengers: Endgame | Spider-Man: Far From Home note  | Black Widow note  | Black Panther: Wakanda Forevernote 

"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 Wakanda. After a terrorist attack on a United Nations 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 Black Panther. T'Challa boasts strength and reflexes on the same level as Captain America, and a high-tech suit made of the rare metal known as vibranium that further enhances his abilities.


    open/close all folders 

    A-E 
  • Absurdly Sharp Claws: 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).
  • Achilles' Heel: His vibranium-weave suit renders him 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. Badass Normal 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 No-Sell effortlessly.
  • Action Dad: It wasn't known at the time, but, by the time of T'Challa's resurrection in Avengers: Endgame, he had become a father to Nakia's son, also named T'Challa.
  • Adaptation Personality Change:
    • In the Civil War 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 The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes version), who's more of a chessmaster and 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 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 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.
  • Adaptational Dumbass: 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 The Chessmaster 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. Wakanda Forever at least somewhat rectifies this through some dialogue from Shuri, where she indicates that he taught her much of what she knows now.
  • Advertised Extra: 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.
  • Alternate Self: T'Challa has three alternate counterparts, but only one of them is confirmed to still be alive.
  • Amicable Exes: 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.
  • Animal Motifs: Panthers. What else?
  • Animal-Themed Superbeing: 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.
  • Arrow Catch: He catches Hawkeye's explosive arrows, which explode directly in his face. He doesn't even flinch.
  • Asskicking Leads to Leadership: 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.
  • Attack on the Heart: He manages to kill Erik Killmonger by swiping his spear from him and then stabbing him in the heart with it.
  • Attack Reflector: 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.
  • The Atoner:
    • 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 Character Arc in Black Panther involves coming to terms with the fact Wakanda and even the father he loved has failed people like the Big Bad 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 the mantle back, I must... I must right these wrongs.
  • Audible Sharpness: The claws on his suit practically ring whenever he pops them out in a fight.
  • Awesome Moment of Crowning: 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.
  • Back from the Dead:
    • 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.
  • Badass Boast: 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.
  • Bait-and-Switch: A particularly cruel one in Avengers: Infinity War. 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 Badass Finger Snap 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! Up—this is no place to die.
  • Baritone of Strength: Courtesy of Chadwick Boseman, T'Challa's voice carries weight and power in both diplomacy and in battle.
  • Bash Siblings: With M'Baku, Okoye, and the Avengers.
  • Battle Couple: He and Nakia kick a lot of bad guy asses together in Black Panther.
  • Beware the Nice Ones: T'Challa is one of the nicest people in the MCU and is a Reasonable Authority Figure. 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.
  • Big Brother Instinct: 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 Love Interest in danger and gets a Heroic Second Wind" trope: Once he sees that Kilmonger is about to murder his little sister in cold blood, T'Challa screams, "SHURI!" 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.
  • Big Brother Mentor: Shuri reveals to Riri in Wakanda Forever that it was T'Challa who taught her all the scientific subjects she is skilled in presently.
  • Big "NO!": When Killmonger kills Zuri during their trial by combat and later when W'Kabi unleashes his rhinos in the final battle.
  • Brains and Brawn: T'Challa is a fierce Warrior Prince while his sister Shuri is a Teen Genius scientist.
  • Broken Pedestal: 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.
  • Brother–Sister Team: T'Challa and his sister Shuri make one heck of a team in battle.
  • Brought Down to Badass: 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 nigh-inhuman strength.
  • Calling the Old Man Out: He calls his father out in the Ancestral Plane after finding out that he left behind his nephew to fend for himself after killing said nephew's father. He also calls out the other Wakandans in the Ancestral Plane for turning their back on the world when they could have used Wakanda's vast resources to help it.
  • The Chains of Commanding: 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.
  • Character Development:
    • 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 Cycle of Revenge 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.
  • Character Death: Dies of an unknown illness in the beginning of Wakanda Forever, despite Shuri's desperate attempts to save him. With his absence felt throughout the entire film, it's very unlikely that T'Challa will ever be coming back.
  • Cheated Death, Died Anyway: He was one of the people dusted by Thanos and was resurrected by Bruce Banner, only to die of an unidentified illness at the start of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever due to Chadwick Boseman's passing.
  • Clashing Cousins: The main antagonist in his namesake movie is his previously unknown cousin Erik.
  • Collapsible Helmet: His helmet can materialize and dematerialize at will like the rest of his suit.
  • Color Animal Codename: The mantle he's carrying, The Black Panther, is this.
  • Color Character: The Black Panther.
  • Combat Parkour: His fighting style heavily incorporates jumping and clinging.
  • The Comically Serious: 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.
  • Cool Big Bro: T'Challa is extremely close with his baby sister, sharing a Secret Handshake with her and relying on her science skills to supply him with his costume and tech.
  • Cool Mask: 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, so T'Challa will lose time having to put on the mask if he's ambushed.
  • Cool Plane: The stealth jet he uses to follow Tony and Steve to the Siberian base. There's also the Royal Talon Fighter from the Black Panther teaser trailer.
  • Covert Pervert: When his female bodyguard Ayo threatens to fight Black Widow, he admits with a huge grin on his face that as entertaining it would be to let it happen, now isn't exactly the time or place.
  • Cowardice Callout: After learning the truth about Killmonger's origins, T'Challa calls out his father and other ancestors on the Ancestral Plane for fearing the consequences of the rest of the world learning of Wakanda's Vibranium so much that they turned their backs on the world's suffering and horrors for centuries.
  • Cycle of Revenge: 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.
  • Cynicism Catalyst: 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.
  • Dark Is Not Evil: 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.
  • Deadpan Snarker: A minor one, but he has his moments, such as his response to Hawkeye's introduction.
    Black Panther: I don't care.
  • Death by Adaptation: Passes away of an illness at the beginning of the second film due to the death of his actor, while in the comics he is still alive and remains the core Black Panther.
  • Decomposite Character: Most of his role regarding the science and technology of Wakanda is given to his little sister Shuri.
  • Deer in the Headlights: Or more accurately, 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.
  • Diplomatic Impunity: 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.
  • Disappeared Dad: Tragically, T'Challa is one to his son Toussaint/T'Challa II. The timeline given in Wakanda Forever implies that Toussaint was born around the time T'Challa was killed by Thanos. While he was eventually resurrected by the Blip, it means he missed the first few years of his son's life, and his subsequent illness and death means he won't be there for the rest of it. However, Nakia tells Shuri that at least this time she and Toussaint knew what was going to happen and were able to prepare themselves for it.
  • Diving Save: In Civil War, he attempts to save his father this way when he sees that a bomb has been planted near the building. Unfortunately, he was a few seconds too late.
  • Disney Death: 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.
  • Dramatic Unmask: 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.
  • Early-Bird Cameo: 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 Freeze-Frame Bonus in Iron Man 2, where it was shown that Nick Fury and S.H.I.E.L.D. were monitoring an unknown superhuman in Africa. Then in Avengers: Age of Ultron, we have mention of a past incident where Klaue ran into trouble during a vibranium heist in Wakanda. The same movie has an additional Freeze-Frame Bonus where a document about Klaue mentions the Black Panther lineage, and that a previous Panther had killed Klaue's great-grandfather.
  • Empowered Badass Normal: 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.
  • Enemy Mine: 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.
  • Energy Absorption: 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 violently released, either by contact or into the surrounding air.

    F-M 
  • Fake Arm Disarm: Once he has Klaue dead to rights, he tears off his cybernetic arm so he has nothing to defend himself with.
  • Field Promotion: 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).
  • Fire-Forged Friends: 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.
  • Friend to All Children: One of T'Challa's rules involves a strict Wouldn't Hurt a Child policy.
    • Despite his annoyance with 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 Missing Trailer Scene, 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 Cycle of Revenge which began the whole tragedy.
    • To Steve. Both are Captain Patriotic 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 bright red, white and blue outfit, while the Black Panther wears a black outfit. Steve believes fervently in Bucky's innocence, while T'Challa is 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 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.
  • Frontline General: 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.
  • Generation Xerox: 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.
  • Genius Bruiser: 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.
  • Giant Space Flea from Nowhere: When Black Panther is first introduced in-costume in Captain America: Civil War, 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 Frame-Up. 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.
  • Gibberish of Love: 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.
  • The Good King: 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.
  • Ground Punch: If his suit is filled with kinetic energy, he can punch the ground to unleash a dome of it to knock out or kill anyone within his proximity.
  • Guys Smash, Girls Shoot: T'Challa prefers melee and Combat Parkour while his sister Shuri fights using her dual Arm Cannons.
  • Happy Ending Override: Two years 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 erased from existence after they fail to stop him from completing the Infinity Gauntlet. Things do get better for him in Endgame however, being returned back to life and later helping lead a successful attack against Thanos' forces... only to die from an illness shortly after that.
  • Heel Realization: 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 Cruel Mercy, as Zemo is heavily implied to have become a Death Seeker by this point, trying to commit Suicide by Cop at T'Challa's hands.
  • Hero Antagonist: 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.
  • The Hero Dies: One of the main protagonists of the MCU, but unfortunately he dies at the beginning of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever due to the death of his actor.
  • Highly-Visible Ninja: 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.
  • Honor Before Reason: 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.
  • I Am Not My Father: 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 Reasonable Authority Figure 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 He Who Fights Monsters 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 Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right! and revokes his country's isolation policy to help outsiders, which ironically made him a better Reasonable Authority Figure than his father was.
  • I Gave My Word: 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 Broken Pedestal moment that leads to W'Kabi siding against him.
  • Immune to Bullets: 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.
  • Impaled with Extreme Prejudice:
    • 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.
  • Inspector Javert: 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.
  • Instant Armor: 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.
  • Ironic Last Words: His last words before getting snapped while helping Okoye up were "This is no place to die," just before dying there himself.
  • Javelin Thrower: After knocking out several Border Tribe warriors with a Ground Punch, he picks up one of their spears to throw it at a ship opening fire at him to destroy it.
  • Killed Offscreen: The opening scene of Wakanda Forever has him die offscreen.
  • Knightly Sword and Shield: T'Challa is a wise young king who wields a shield and iklwa (short spear) in duels.
  • A Lady on Each Arm: 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.
  • Last of His Kind: Of the mystically empowered Black Panthers as Killmonger destroyed the sacred orchard where their Super Serum is cultivated.
  • Legacy Character: According to a Freeze-Frame Bonus 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.
  • Life Will Kill You: After years as a combatant protector of the innocent as Black Panther, he ultimately dies of an unspecified illness at the beginning of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.
  • Lightning Bruiser: He is on the same level of strength as Captain America, and considerably faster.
  • Like Father, Unlike Son: 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.
  • Longing Look: 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.
  • Loophole Abuse: 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.
  • Luckily, My Shield Will Protect Me: He uses a Nguni shield alongside an Iklwa spear as his weapons in ritual combat.
  • Made of Indestructium: 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.
  • Made of Iron: 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!
  • Modest Royalty: When not in costume, he tends to dress casually. This also applies to his Black Panther suits, which tend to be Simple, yet Opulent. 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.
  • Muscles Are Meaningless: He noticeably has a leaner build than Steve or Bucky, but his feats of strength are still very comparable to theirs.
  • My God, What Have I Done?:
    • 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 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.
  • My Suit Is Also Super: 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.

    N-Y 
  • 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.
  • Nice Guy: 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 Moment of Weakness 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.
  • Nice Job Breaking It, Hero:
    • His adoption of Thou Shalt Not Kill 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.
    • Part of the fears he had about sharing Wakanda's true nature with the rest of the world come to pass after his death in Wakanda Forever. America and France in particular are eager to take vibranium either by force from Wakanda or to find their own so they can subjugate the country and the rest of the world with it. The vibranium race alarms Namor of Talokan who becomes convinced the time is now to retaliate against the surface world, setting the sequel's plot in motion.
  • Nigh-Invulnerability: His costume is made with Vibranium, which renders him Immune to Bullets in ways not even this setting's version of The Hulk is.
  • No Badass to His Valet:
    • 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.
  • No Body Left Behind: 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.
  • "Not So Different" Remark: 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 Cycle of Revenge by stopping his attempted suicide before turning him into prison.
  • Not So Stoic: T'Challa usually has an Angst? What Angst? attitude and is The Stoic 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 he comes face-to-face with Giant-Man during the airport battle, T'Challa practically freaks out when Scott attacks him, only barely able to jump out of the way of his kick, and cowers back in fear as he stomps towards him menacingly. It's worth noting that this is the only time that T'Challa shows any kind of fear when fighting an enemy.
    • When Zuri dies in an effort to save his life, T'Challa does not take it well.
    • The Ancestral Plane has two dramatic moments. Him breaking down after seeing his father, and him 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.
  • Oh, My Gods!: 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".
  • One-Man Army: 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.
  • Outside Ride: Seems fond of this, as he's seen riding atop cars both in Civil War and Black Panther.
  • Panthera Awesome: His animal totem is the panther, which dates back to the kings who founded the kingdom.
  • Platonic Life-Partners: With Okoye. Bonus content on the video release reveals that they were practically raised together, and she's not unlike a big sister to him.
  • Posthumous Character: Black Panther: Wakanda Forever opens with T'Challa dying of an unidentified illness. His shadow looms large over the rest of the movie, as he is frequently spoken of by those who knew him. Ramonda claims to have felt his presence when she finally came to terms with his passing, and given what we've seen of the afterlife in the MCU, we're given no indication this wasn't T'Challa himself despite Shuri's protests.
  • Present Absence: T'Challa dies offscreen during the opening scene of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, and his absence resounds heavily throughout the story; in the absence of the Black Panther, other nations are emboldened to try and challenge Wakanda, and T'Challa's loved ones struggle to carry on without him, Shuri and Ramonda in particular. The grief of her brother's passing and the need to carry on his legacy weighs on Shuri throughout the film, culminating in her decision, after Ramonda's death, to become the new Black Panther. It's ultimately his memory, and that of their mother, that turns Shuri away from a dark path and convinces her to spare Namor's life in the name of peace.
  • Power Incontinence: 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.
  • Princeling Rivalry: 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.
  • Privileged Rival: 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".
  • Purple Is Powerful: Black Panther's new suit has shades of purple in it, and the kinetic energy he absorbs and releases is colored purple.
  • The Quiet One: As noted under The Stoic, he's probably the single least-quippy superhero in the setting, even beating out Groot and the Hulk.
  • Rank Scales with Asskicking: 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.
  • Reasonable Authority Figure: 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 Nice Guy and The Good King 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.
  • Red Herring: 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.
  • Relative Button: When Killmonger taunts him about killing anyone loyal to him and burying them next to Zuri, T'Challa charges at him while screaming with rage.
  • Revenge Before Reason: 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.
  • Red Oni, Blue Oni: The stoic and regal blue to extroverted and energetic Shuri's red.
  • Rightful King Returns: 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.
  • Royal Blood: He is heir to the throne of Wakanda. Defending his claim to it and becoming a worthy king are important themes of his story.
  • Royals Who Actually Do Something: He is a member of the Wakandan royal family, first as a Warrior Prince 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.
  • Ruler Protagonist: 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.
  • Save the Villain: 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.
  • Scary Black Man: A heroic version. As the Black Panther, it becomes a Mook Horror Show for any unlucky punk who dares opposes him. However, he's still a good-hearted Reasonable Authority Figure who protects the innocent.
  • Science Hero: Downplayed. He designed his own suit and is dangerously intelligent, but his inventiveness pales in comparison to his sister's.
  • Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!: After seeing how much Killmonger and other people have suffered because of Wakanda's isolationism, he calls out his father and their ancestors and decides to renounce that rule and offer Wakanda's resources to the world at the end of the first movie.
  • Secretly Dying: Wakanda Forever reveals that T'Challa languished under an unnamed illness for some time before he finally asked Shuri for help. Tragically, he sought his sister's aid too late, and T'Challa dies before anything can be done to save him.
  • Soap Opera Disease: T'Challa dies from an illness in the opening of Wakanda Forever, though it's left intentionally vague throughout the film on what it was. All we know is that it was fatal and that synthesizing the Heart-Shaped Herb was either the cure or the only solution they would have had after exhausting all other options.
  • Someone to Remember Him By: Sometime before Infinity War, Nakia became pregnant with T'Challa's son, and they decided that the boy should be raised away from Wakanda to avoid the pressures of royal life. Nakia raised the child alone after T'Challa was killed in the Snap, and continued to do so after T'Challa's return and subsequent final death in Wakanda Forever.
  • Splash of Color: At the beginning of Black Panther, 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.
  • Stealth Expert: 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.
  • The Stoic: Rather serious and introverted compared to the rest of the cast. At most he gets this Pre-Asskicking One-Liner at Clint:
    Clint Barton: We haven't met yet. I'm Clint.
    T'Challa: I don't care.
  • The Strategist: In addition to being a skilled combatant and athlete, he is a gifted tactician who takes a cerebral approach to fighting.
  • Strong and Skilled: 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.
  • Strong Family Resemblance: Klaue comments that T'Challa looks just like his father, T'Chaka, in his youth.
  • Suddenly Shouting: 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!"
  • Super-Reflexes: 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.
  • Super-Speed: 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.
  • Super-Strength: 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.
  • Super-Toughness: 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 Super-Toughness 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.
  • Supporting Protagonist: Civil War follows Black Panther's part in this Cycle of Revenge 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.
  • Sympathy for the Devil: 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.
  • Tall, Dark, and Handsome: 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.
  • They Killed Kenny Again: 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 Back from the Dead at the climax of Avengers: Endgame. He also has at least one variant who was killed in What If. Wakanda Forever shows that T'Challa has died once again due to an unspecified illness, and this time it's likely permanent due to the sudden death of his actor.
  • To Be Lawful or Good: 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.
  • Thou Shall Not Kill: 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.
  • Three-Point Landing: He's fond of doing this. Justified as landing heavily while punching the ground is a pretty effective way of releasing his suit's energy and taking out any Mooks dumb enough to swarm him.
  • Time-Shifted Actor: Chadwick Boseman plays him as an adult, while Ashton Tyler plays him as a child.
  • Too Good for This Sinful Earth: One of the most altruistic, kindhearted, and compassionate heroes in the MCU perishes to an unknown illness at the start of Wakanda Forever.
  • Took a Level in Kindness: 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 Nice Guy nature shines through.
  • Unwitting Instigator of Doom: He enacts Cruel Mercy 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 The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.
  • Use Their Own Weapon Against Them: He manages to impale and kill Killmonger with his own short spear.
  • Wall Run: He briefly does this while chasing after Klaue's car in Busan.
  • We Used to Be Friends: He and W'Kabi were the bestest of friends until T'Challa's failure to capture Klaue puts a strain on their friendship and W'Kabi's decision to side with Killmonger fully destroys it.
  • Warrior Prince: He's the prince of Wakanda, and this title comes packaged with another, "Black Panther".
  • What the Hell, Hero?: Upon entering the Ancestral Plane for the second time in Black Panther, he royally chews out his father and the rest of his ancestors for valuing Wakanda's security over the life of a human being. He essentially says that everyone who took the mantle of Black Panther is entirely at fault for Killmonger's coup.
  • What's Up, King Dude?: 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.
  • Wolverine Claws: In addition to his second suit's regular claws, he has a set of retractable spikes on his knuckles in his gloves, 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.
  • Working with the Ex: 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 Amicable Exes who work well together and resume their relationship in the end.
  • Wouldn't Hurt a Child: He displays this mentality through his own movie. Though he kills a group of African terrorists in the beginning, he refrains from slaying a Child Soldier 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.
  • You Are in Command Now: Ascended to the throne after his father was killed.
  • You Killed My Father: 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.
  • Younger and Hipper: This version is a bit younger than he usually is when he sides with the Avengers.

Variants

    Star-Lord 

Prince T'Challa of Wakanda / Star-Lord

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/tchallastarlord.png
"A Ravager never flies solo!"

Species: Human

Citizenship: Wakandan

Affiliation(s): Wakanda (Golden Tribe), Ravagers, Guardians of the Multiverse

Voiced By: Chadwick Boseman, Maddix Robinson (young)

Appearances: What If...?

On Earth-21818, it was T'Challa who was abducted by Yondu to become a Ravager instead of Peter Quill.


  • The Ace: T'Challa as Star-Lord is basically how Peter thought of himself at the start of the Guardians movie, a legendary Space Pirate who's famous for uplifting the poor.
  • Adaptational Dye-Job: His version of the Star-Lord outfit and mask replace the red Peter uses in the Sacred Timeline with purple.
  • Adaptational Job Change: T'Challa was never a thief in the MCU or the comics.
  • Adaptational Relationship Overhaul: Because he's lived a life so completely different from anything his variants or comic self have lived, he naturally has this with many characters. He's never met Yondu or the other Ravagers like Taserface and Kraglin, while here they are his surrogate father figure and family. Nebula is generally someone he knows about as opposed to actually knowing in the Sacred Timeline and the comics, but here she's his Implied Love Interest. And finally, Thanos has always been an enemy of T'Challa and the Avengers in the comics, but here they're teammates.
  • Adaptation Personality Change: 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 Space Pirates 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.
  • Adaptational Skill: 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.
  • Adaptational Upbringing Change: Instead of being raised by his family in Wakanda as a prince and heir to the Black Panther title, this T'Challa was kidnapped and raised by space pirates who placed no expectations on him and instead encouraged his natural inclination towards exploring. As a result the playful side to T'Challa in the Sacred Timeline isn't tempered by his responsibilities and given free reign, with this version being far more relaxed and quippy. His different circumstances also means he grew up to be a Just Like Robin Hood thief and became the greatest hero on the galaxy for saving several planets.
  • Adaptational Wimp: 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 Memetic Badass space hero.
  • All-Loving Hero: It says something that this version of T'Challa made Thanos change his ways.
  • Alternate Universe Reed Richards Is Awesome: 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 Heel–Face Turn and become a loyal member of the Ravagers.
  • Badass Normal: Never being given the Heart-Shaped Herb and the role of Black Panther hasn’t made him any less of a badass than he was in the Sacred Timeline.
  • Bash Siblings: With the other Ravagers and the Guardians of the Multiverse.
  • The Charmer: 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 of solving resource scarcity.
  • Collapsible Helmet: He has one just like the Sacred Timeline Star-Lord.
  • Composite Character: T'Challa basically becomes Star-Lord when he is abducted by Yondu instead of Peter Quill.
  • Cool Helmet: Has a collapsible one that looks just like the Sacred Timeline Star-Lord but with more gold and has purple lenses instead of red.
  • Cool Ship: He drives an M-Class spaceship called the Mandela, which is no doubt named after the first president of South Africa himself.
  • Empowered Badass Normal: In the season one finale, Strange Supreme grants him and the other Guardians of the Multiverse a temporary protection spell that increases their offensive and defensive capabilities tenfold.
  • For Want Of A Nail: 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.
  • Gentleman Thief: He is this as he has a strong code of honor despite being raised as a Ravager and tends to steal from the corrupt.
  • Gold-Colored Superiority: His jacket, helmet, and blasters have gold accents all over it.
  • Guns Akimbo: He uses two Quad Blasters in combat.
  • Happily Adopted: He and Yondu have a very happy father-son relationship and while it got strained by T'Challa finding out that Yondu lied about Wakanda being destroyed, the two mend fences and become even closer by the end of the episode.
  • The Heart: Outright called this by Yondu when he is reminding T'Challa that he is still The Captain.
  • Humble Hero: 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.
  • Hyper-Competent Sidekick: 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.
  • In Spite of a Nail: 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.
  • I Owe You My Life: He tells Carina that he's forever in her debt after she saved him from getting killed by Ebony Maw.
  • Just Like Robin Hood: Yondu even compares T'Challa and the Ravagers to him, though he gets the name wrong.
  • Like a Duck Takes to Water: 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 believes T'Challa would be able to adapt to any situation he found himself in.
  • Like a Son to Me: 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.
  • Loved by All: Having turned the Ravagers into a force for good, managing to reform several former villains, and saved numerous planets in his adventures as Star-Lord, T’Challa has become a beloved and respected hero across the galaxy, even his enemies, like the Collector have respect for him.
  • Magnetic Hero: 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.
  • Meaningful Name: His nickname, Star-Lord, references his royal Wakandan heritage.
  • Mistaken Identity: He was abducted by Taserface and Kraglin due to them mistaking him for Peter Quill.
  • The Paragon: He literally inspires people who in the Sacred Timeline are little more than thieves and villains to be heroes themselves.
  • Purple Is Powerful: Has more purple than his Sacred Timeline counterpart and is hands down, one of the most badass superheroes in the multiverse.
  • The Redeemer: 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 Heel–Face Turn.
  • Riches to Rags: 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.
  • Rocket Boots: Like the Sacred Timeline Star-Lord.
  • Ship Tease: Has some with Nebula, who is his Implied Love Interest due to their flirting and her nickname for him.
  • Stellar Name: Star-Lord.
  • Sticky Fingers: As a result of being raised by Yondu, he's an excellent and competent thief. He even utters the trope word-for-word when he manages to swipe the Soul Stone from Infinity Ultron right from under his nose.
  • Thicker Than Water: 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.
  • Time-Shifted Actor: Chadwick Boseman voices him as an adult while Maddix Robinson voices him as a child.
  • Tragic Keepsake: 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.
  • Walking the Earth: 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.
  • Younger and Hipper: 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.

    Zombie Apocalypse T'Challa 

King T'Challa of Wakanda / Black Panther

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/89ca7a32_a306_4a2e_818b_89a57d6a5a77.jpeg
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/1e8d86f9_6a2d_4fda_8c90_82e1ac5675fb.jpeg

Species: Enhanced human

Voiced By: Chadwick Boseman

Appearances: What If...?

On Earth-89521, Black Panther was rescued by Vision from zombies and later found by Bucky at Camp Lehigh.


  • Ace Pilot: 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.
  • An Arm and a Leg: He was found by Bucky deep in Camp Lehigh and missing a leg, which was presumably fed to the zombified Wanda.
  • Badass in Distress: Him going missing in the States is what prompts Okoye to join Spider-Man's Rag Tag Bunch Of Misfits 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.
  • Drama-Preserving Handicap: 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.
  • Honor Before Reason: Despite having little reason to leave Wakanda and participate in trying to curb the Zombie Apocalypse all the way in the Pacific Northwest, Black Panther nonetheless joins the Avengers in trying to do so early in the episode.
  • Immortality Through Memory: After escaping Camp Lehigh, T'Challa comforts Peter by explaining his culture's perspective on death as mentioned above.
  • The Remnant: He, Spider-Man, and Ant-Man are the only surviving heroes we see at the end of the episode.
  • Twofer Token Minority: Black and an amputee.
  • Uncertain Doom: 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.

    King Killmonger's T'Challa 

Prince T'Challa of Wakanda / Black Panther

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/c5fb3383_db35_4ba4_9e06_3af5401f366d.jpeg
"Our quarrel is not with you, Colonel."
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/2f5deaea_26ec_48e3_8ed9_682c1facade9.jpeg
"Was it worth it... my cousin?"

Species: Enhanced human

Voiced By: Chadwick Boseman

Appearances: What If...?

On Earth-32938, Black Panther was trying to retrieve stolen vibranium in 2009 when he encounters Killmonger.


  • Ascend to a Higher Plane of Existence: 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.
  • Curb-Stomp Battle: He utterly demolishes Klaue's henchmen and the Air Force soldiers accompanying Rhodey.
  • Dead Alternate Counterpart: He's murdered by Killmonger in this timeline, making him this to his Star-Lord and (possibly) Zombie Apocalypse counterparts.
  • Death by Adaptation: He dies fifteen years earlier than his Sacred Timeline counterpart both chronologically and in release date order.
  • Dies Differently in Adaptation: Inverted. The episode he dies in was released a year earlier than the movie where his Sacred Timeline counterpart dies, and unlike his Sacred Timeline counterpart, who died of an undisclosed illness, this T'Challa was killed by Killmonger using a sonic taser.
  • Frame-Up: 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 Mutual Kill.
  • "The Reason You Suck" Speech: 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.
  • See You in Hell: At the end of the episode, he tells Killmonger that sooner or later, he will be punished, even if not in his lifetime since his path only leads to more suffering, despite Killmonger's claims. While he doesn't end up seeing Killmonger, he's right his cousin's actions lead to another Hell.
  • Tranquil Fury: His "The Reason You Suck" Speech towards his cousin was vicious, but calm.
  • Was It Really Worth It?: He asks this question to Killmonger after the latter gets the heart-shaped herb, believing he was killed for power and to cause suffering.

"Yibambe!"

Alternative Title(s): MCU Black Panther

Top