T'Chaka

: "We will fight to improve the world we wish to join. I am grateful to the Avengers for supporting this initiative. Wakanda is proud to extend its hand in peace."
: ―T'Chaka[src]
King T'Chaka was the former leader and monarch of Wakanda, assuming the throne and the role of Black Panther in his youth. During his time as King, part of Wakanda's vibranium cache was stolen by Ulysses Klaue, leading to T'Chaka discovering that it was his younger brother N'Jobu who had aided Klaue. In an attempt to arrest N'Jobu, T'Chaka killed him and left his son behind. T'Chaka then returned home and continued to rule his kingdom, preparing his son T'Challa to succeed him.
Following an incident involving the Avengers that claimed the lives of Wakandans, T'Chaka supported and signed the Sokovia Accords. However, this decision soon resulted in T'Chaka's death during a terrorist attack orchestrated by Helmut Zemo, leading to T'Challa seeking revenge. After T'Challa took over the throne of Wakanda, T'Chaka continued to support his son through the Ancestral Plane.
== Biography ==
=== Early Years ===
==== Becoming Black Panther ====
: "You told me that every choice a king makes is difficult.""True, but some choices are harder than others.""I'm sure you did what was right for Wakanda. You always do. You're a great king, baba. That is why you will always reign."
: ―T'Challa and T'Chaka[src]
T'Chaka was the eldest of Wakandan King Azzuri's two sons. He married Ramonda, and the two eventually have a son, T'Challa, and later on a daughter named Shuri. He and his wife would always talk about the day when their son will finally be crowned king. When Azzuri died, T'Chaka and his brother N'Jobu received each of their father's two royal rings, and T'Chaka succeeded Azzuri as the King of Wakanda and Black Panther while N'Jobu joined with the War Dogs and served Wakanda by traveling to the United States of America to ensure that all of their secrets were still being maintained right across the rest of the world.
==== Assassination Attempt ====
: "Klaue has escaped our pursuits for almost thirty years. Not capturing him is, perhaps, my father's greatest regret."
: ―T'Challa to Okoye[src]
T'Chaka assisted to the Bilderberg Conference as one of its invitees. Unbeknownst to him, Ulysses Klaue had been hired to kill him in case he refused to negotiate about Wakandan resources, including vibranium. Klaue also had a personal grudge against T'Chaka and the Golden Tribe, since one of his ancestors was responsible for killing Klaue's great-grandfather. However, T'Chaka was able to survive the attempt against his life, with Klaue managing to escape and remaining an enemy of Wakanda.
==== Confronting N'Jobu ====
: "Prince N'Jobu, you will return home at once where you will face the council and inform them of your crimes."
: ―T'Chaka to N'Jobu[src]
Following an attack on Wakanda by Ulysses Klaue which had left many dead including the parents of W'Kabi, T'Chaka learned that it was his own brother, N'Jobu who had informed Klaue of Wakanda's weaknesses and had allowed the Attack on Wakanda. T'Chaka and two members of the Dora Milaje had then traveled onto Oakland to confront N'Jobu about the attack, knowing from Zuri what N'Jobu had done.
Upon entering N'Jobu's apartment, T'Chaka ordered Zuri to leave them to speak alone, maintaining the pretense that he was unaware of who Zuri was as N'Jobu still viewed him as simply his loyal friend. T'Chaka greeted his brother warmly and asked how he was living in the United States of America before he had a brief conversation with N'Jobu, explaining to him exactly Klaue had stolen vibranium and left several innocent Wakandans dead.
T'Chaka noted that Klaue must have had a person on the inside as he knew the vibranium was in Mount Bashenga and how to attack. When N'Jobu questioned why T'Chaka was there, the King told him to look him in the eyes and explain why he had betrayed Wakanda. T'Chaka then had Zuri reveal that he was, in fact, a member of the War Dogs, much to N'Jobu's horror. With his betrayal exposed, T'Chaka ordered N'Jobu to return to the Tribal Council and confess.
Despite N'Jobu explaining how he had seen the African Americans being oppressed and beaten down, which had to lead him to try to steal vibranium weapons to help them rise up, T'Chaka could still not support him. As T'Chaka turned his back, an enraged N'Jobu lashed out on Zuri, pulling out his gun. Before he could kill Zuri, T'Chaka had then killed his brother, stabbing him with his Panther Habit's claws. They then left, abandoning a young Erik Stevens by himself.
==== Reassurance by T'Challa ====
: "What about when I get old, and grey, and Bast comes to carry me off to the ancestors.""By then I'll be Panther, and I'll beat them back with my Panther claws."
: ―T'Chaka and T'Challa[src]
Having returned to Wakanda from California, T'Chaka had gone to seek out solace within the City of the Dead, considering what he had done to N'Jobu. However, T'Chaka's medication and solitude was interrupted when he had detected the presence of his son T'Challa and Nakia in the city's catacombs, as they were watching him. Seeing them, T'Chaka ordered them to come out, although only T'Challa appeared, while Nakia escaped.
T'Chaka insisted that T'Challa and Nakia were not supposed to play in the catacombs, which he apologised for, before T'Chaka continued starring down at the Heart-Shaped Herbs. As T'Challa questioned what was wrong, T'Chaka explained that he had been forced to make a difficult choice, to which T'Challa noted that he had advised that every choice a King made was difficult. T'Chaka acknowledged this was true, but noted some choices were harder than others.
As T'Challa supported him and whatever decision he had made, he also insisted that he would always be the king of Wakanda, T'Chaka smiled and asked what would happen when he was old, and Bast came to take him away to their ancestors. In response, T'Challa had vowed that by that time he would have become the Black Panther, and that he would beat Bast back with his Panther Habit, which T'Chaka laughed at, before bringing T'Challa in closer for an embrace.
==== Passing the Mantle ====
: "One day, he told me he was too old to carry the mantle of Panther, he would pass it to me and just be king.""He told me he was too fat to fit the suit."
: ―T'Challa and Zuri[src]
As his son T'Challa reached a certain age, he assumed the mantle of Black Panther from his father in 2009. One week later, T'Chaka, after seeing Tony Stark out himself as Iron Man on the news, sent T'Challa to save Wakandan hostages from Zanda and Douglas Scott, and also sent Okoye with him to evaluate T'Challa's progress. T'Chaka also chose to recruit Ayo as a member of the Dora Milaje, as well as his personal bodyguard, a position which she took as a great honor.
=== Sokovia Accords ===
==== Reaction to Lagos Incident ====
: "Our people's blood is spilled on foreign soil, not only because of the actions of criminals, but the indifference of those who pledged to stop them. Victory at the expense of the innocent is no victory at all."
: ―T'Chaka[src]
During an operation in Lagos, Nigeria, the Scarlet Witch, while trying to save Captain America as well as several innocent civilians from a suicide bombing by Crossbones, accidentally moved the explosion too close to a building, killing dozens of innocent people. Since many of the civilian casualties within the catastrophe were Wakandan subjects who were there on a new goodwill mission, T'Chaka supported the Sokovia Accords along his nation.
==== Bombing of the United Nations ====
: "When stolen Wakandan vibranium was used to make a terrible weapon, we in Wakanda were forced to question our legacy. Those men and women killed in Nigeria were part of a goodwill mission from a country too long in the shadows. We will not, however, let misfortune drive us back."
: ―T'Chaka[src]
With his son, T'Chaka attended the signing of the Sokovia Accords in the Vienna International Centre. There, he met with the Avenger Natasha Romanoff, noting he was saddened to learn that Captain America had decided not to sign the Accords. As Romanoff took her seat, T'Chaka spoke with T'Challa, complimenting him on his fine work and thanking his son for coming to the signing in person despite not enjoying politics.
During the meeting, T'Chaka gave his own speech to all of those in attendance where he discussed how Ultron had used vibranium stolen from Wakanda in his attempt to destroy the world during the Battle of Sokovia, before noting how Crossbones had then killed so many innocent lives due to the Avengers' inaction. Taking note of these instances, T'Chaka vowed that Wakanda would fight for the world it wished to join and would no longer remain hidden.
During T'Chaka's speech, a bomb detonated outside the building, causing the whole room to be engulfed in a fireball with T'Chaka in the center of it. Despite all of the best efforts of his son to save him by attempting to knock him away from the blast, T'Chaka was killed instantly, devastating T'Challa, who crawled through the rubble to cradle his father's corpse. Despite being heart broken by his loss, T'Challa then took up the title of the new King of Wakanda.
=== Legacy ===
==== T'Challa's Revenge ====
: "In my culture, death is not the end. It's more of a stepping off point. You reach out with both hands and Bast and Sekhmet, they lead you into the green veld where... you can run forever.""That sounds very peaceful.""My father thought so. I am not my father."
: ―T'Challa and Natasha Romanoff[src]
Seeking revenge for the attack, T'Challa furiously decided to avenge his father's death, ruthlessly hunting down the Winter Soldier, instead of Helmut Zemo. Once T'Challa discovered Zemo's involvement in his father's death, T'Challa decided to spare Zemo's life and turned him over to Everett Ross for sentencing. Before being arrested by T'Challa, Zemo showed respect about T'Chaka as a father and the latter was not meant to die in the previous bombing Zemo set up.
==== Offering Wisdom to T'Challa ====
: "A man who has not prepared his children for his own death has failed as a father."
: ―T'Chaka to T'Challa[src]
With his son who has now inherited the throne, T'Chaka would be able to talk and guide T'Challa through the spiritual plane due to the Heart-Shaped Herb. T'Challa held high regard to his father's position as king, conflicted if he would ever be as good as T'Chaka. However, the murder of his brother and the uprising of Erik Killmonger led T'Challa to forsake his father's and his other ancestors' isolationist rule, believing they had the ability to help others but chose not to.
== Personality ==
: "You were wrong to abandon him.""I chose my people. I chose Wakanda."
: ―T'Challa and T'Chaka[src]
T'Chaka was a philosophical and caring individual who was loved by his family and by his people. Unlike his son, T'Chaka stressed the importance of politics and diplomacy and wished for Wakanda, an isolationist country, to join the rest of the world, starting with helping to come up with and ratify the Sokovia Accords. And yet, his motives were far from universally benevolent for doing so, as it was a move to keep the Avengers' unchecked activities across the globe from affecting Wakanda. T'Chaka left Erik Stevens behind to fend for himself in the United States of America after killing his traitorous father when he was a child, for fear of the repercussions of taking a child of not pure Wakanda blood back to Wakanda. As such, it was suggested that while T'Chaka might have been concerned with the state of the world, he was a traditionalist at heart and put his nation's traditions and interests above all else. To that end, he was ready to fib to his family, to the point of even omitting the shameful parts of his life, so as to keep the line of succession to the throne safe.
== Powers and Abilities ==
=== Former Powers ===
: "He could pick up a grown man with one hand. Run as fast as a zebra."
: ―T'Challa to Zuri[src]
* Heart-Shaped Herb Enhancement: After having consumed the Heart-Shaped Herb, T'Chaka's physical attributes were greatly enhanced to levels comparable to a super soldier. These powers were long-lasting, at least until T'Chaka forfeited them to pass the role to T'Challa when he became a regular human.
** Enhanced Strength: T'Chaka's strength was tremendously enhanced, which allowed him to, according to his son, lift a man with a single hand.
** Enhanced Durability: Even when not wearing his Panther Habit, T'Chaka could survive immense blunt force trauma.
** Enhanced Speed: When approaching N'Jobu and Zuri's hideout, T'Chaka entered the room before the lights flickered back on. When his brother N'Jobu pulled a gun on Zuri, T'Chaka was able to swiftly disarm and kill him before a shot was fired. His son has also remarked that T'Chaka could run as fast as a zebra.
** Enhanced Agility: T'Chaka possessed tremendous agility that allowed him to be very good at fighting in battle.
** Enhanced Stamina: As the Black Panther, T'Chaka was able to use a lot of his energy for extended periods of time.
** Enhanced Reflexes: T'Chaka was able to quickly react to N'Jobu pulling a gun on Zuri and disarm him before it was fired, despite having turned his back beforehand.
** Regenerative Healing Factor: T'Chaka's fast healing capabilities allows for him to make an extraordinarily efficient recovery.
: "My whole life I would watch him wearing the suit."
: ―T'Challa to Zuri[src]
* Panther Habit Capabilities: As the Black Panther, T'Chaka possessed a black and gold suit, fitted to look like a panther. The suit was passed on for generations to the next Black Panther. throughout the years, it gained many upgrades.
** Superhuman Durability: The suit was laced with Vibranium which gave T'Chaka extreme durability to overcome blows that would've killed him.
** Claw Retraction: The claws on the panther habit were able to be retracted back into the suit, much like the claws on an actual panther.
=== Abilities ===
* Master Martial Artist: As the King of Wakanda and one of Wakanda's best warriors, T'Chaka was highly skilled in martial arts. He used this skills to great lengths as the Black Panther.
: "Tell me how to best protect Wakanda. I want to be a great king, Baba. Just like you."
: ―T'Chaka to T'Challa[src]
* Master Tactician: As the King of Wakanda, T'Chaka held political power around his nation and vast influence over his people. He spoke publicly in front of the United Nations in Vienna to speak on the incident in Lagos. He also formulated plans as Wakanda's main warrior, Black Panther. When he suspected about his brother's betrayal of Wakanda, he sent a War Dog named Zuri to spy on his brother.
* Bilingualism: T'Chaka was fluent in his native Xhosa, as well as English with a thick Wakandan accent.
== Equipment ==
=== Other Equipment ===
* Panther Habit: During his time with the mantle of Black Panther, T'Chaka wore a black and golden-lined vibranium-weave combat suit that was, like Captain America's Shield, light-weight, nigh-indestructible, and rendered him immune to most physical damage especially from collisions and conventional weapons such as firearms. The suit is accompanied by:
** Vibranium Claws: Two sets of extendable and retractable vibranium claws embedded in the fingers of the gloves like nails; serving as both utility and the primary weapon of T'Chaka during combat. The claws are exceptionally strong and razor sharp and have the capabilities of scratching other objects made from vibranium.
* Wakandan Royal Ring: A ring that is used by the King of Wakanda, that is passed to the next generation after the death of his predecessor.
* Kimoyo Beads: A standard device in Wakandan society, T'Chaka used his Kimoyo Beads during his confrontation with Prince N'Jobu, displaying the holographic image of Ulysses Klaue during their conversation.
=== Vehicles ===
* Royal Talon Fighter: To be added
== Facilities ==
* Citadel: To be added
* City of the Dead: T'Chaka would've come here to receive the Heart Shaped Herb after he became king, giving him the powers of the Black Panther. T'Chaka also returned to the City of the Dead to mourn his brother after he was forced to kill him.
* N'Jobu's Safehouse: To be added
* Vienna International Centre: T'Chaka attended a ceremony at the Vienna International Centre for Wakanda's indirect involvement in the Ultron Offensive. As T'Chaka gave his speech, Baron Zemo detonated a bomb outside the centre, killing T'Chaka.
== Relationships ==
=== Family ===
* Golden Tribe
** Bashenga † - Ancestor
** Ancestor-in-Law †
** Andile † - Great Great Great-Grandfather
** Bazwale † - Great Great-Grandfather
** Yima † - Great-Grandfather
** Kabba † - Grandfather
** Azzuri † - Father and Predecessor
** N'Jobu † - Brother and Victim
** Ramonda † - Wife
** T'Challa, Sr./Black Panther † - Son and Successor
** Shuri - Daughter
** N'Jadaka † - Nephew
** T'Challa, Jr. - Grandson
* Lumumba - Mother-in-Law
* Sister-in-Law †
=== Allies ===
* Wakandan Design Group
** S'Yan
* Dora Milaje
** Okoye
** Ayo
** Xoliswa †
** Nomble
** Yama
* Wakandan Royal Guard
* Tribal Council
** M'Kathu
** River Tribe Elder
** Merchant Tribe Elder
** Zawavari
* War Dogs
** Zuri † - Friend
** Nakia
* Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow †	
=== Enemies ===
* Ulysses Klaue † - Attempted Killer
* Helmut Zemo - Killer
== Trivia ==
* In the comics, T'Chaka was successfully killed by Ulysses Klaue after he refused to let him extract their vibranium reserves, back when T'Challa was a child.
* T'Chaka was a fan of the Back to the Future franchise.
== References ==
The Marvel Cinematic Universe Wiki has a collection of images and media related to T'Chaka.
The Marvel Cinematic Universe Wiki has a collection of quotes related to T'Chaka.
# ↑ Jump up to:1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Black Panther
# ↑ Avengers: Age of Ultron
# ↑ Black Panther Deleted Scene
# ↑ Jump up to:4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Captain America: Civil War
# ↑ Black Panther Prelude
# ↑ The Falcon and The Winter Soldier: 1.04: The Whole World Is Watching
# ↑ Hannah Beachler on Twitter - November 14, 2022
# ↑ Script of Black Panther Wakanda Forever
Preceded by:
Azzuri	Black PantherT'Chaka1981 – 2009	Succeeded by:
T'Challa
Preceded by:
Azzuri	King of WakandaT'Chaka1981 – 2016	Succeeded by:
T'Challa
== External Links ==
* T'Chaka on Marvel Database
* T'Chaka on Wikipedia