James Rhodes/Killmonger's War

Lieutenant Colonel James Rupert "Rhodey" Rhodes was a United States Air Force officer and a military liaison for Stark Industries. Rhodes was involved in Tony Stark's plan to acquire vibranium from Ulysses Klaue, however, he was betrayed and killed by Erik Killmonger. The deaths of Rhodes and T'Challa were used by Killmonger to destabilize a political climate between the United States of America and Wakanda.
==Biography==
===Investigating Killmonger===
Rhodes conducted an investigation on Erik Killmonger after the latter saved Tony Stark from an assassination attempt by the Ten Rings. During a party held shortly after Stark's rescue, he shared the results of his search with Pepper Potts, informing her that Killmonger was a highly trained assassin. He then inquired as to why Pepper did not trust Killmonger, at which she replied that she could not identify what Killmonger seemed to be after.
===Ambush at the Salvage Yard===
Rhodes was tasked by Tony Stark to meet with Ulysses Klaue in order to acquire Vibranium from him that would be used to manufacture an army of Stark Liberator Drones. Rhodes thus met with Klaue at the latter's Salvage Yard and assured him that Stark was willing to pay the high price for the Vibranium. This prompted Klaue to show his entire stockpile of the precious metal, which surprised Rhodes.
However, it soom became apparent that the salvage yard had been infiltrated by Black Panther, who took down Klaue's men. Rhodes fired several times at Black Panther, but his bullets had no effect. He was then told by Black Panther that the Vibranium should be returned to Wakanda, but before Rhodes could reply, both he and Black Panther were attacked by Killmonnger using a Sonic Taser.
Unable to resist the weapon, Rhodes collapsed on the ground and helplessly watched as Killmonger murdered Black Panther. He asked Killmonger about his motivations, but in turn, Killmonger blamed him for serving in the United States Armed Forces. As Rhodes attempted to explain that he thought he could help change the system from the inside, he was murdered by Killmonger using the glove of the Panther Habit, thus staging the scene as if Rhodes had been killed by Black Panther, which would be used as a pretense to ignite the American-Wakandan War.
==Personality==
Rhodes was a loyal officer of the United States Air Force, taking his responsibilities seriously even though he was aware of the dirty work that this implied sometimes, stating to Ulysses Klaue that this was a necessary sacrifice to help protect the world. As a person of color with a high-ranking position in the military hierarchy, Rhodes believed that he could help change the system from the inside to end racial prejudice.
==Abilities==
*Gifted Intellect: To be added
*Expert Combatant: To be added
*Expert Marksman: To be added
*Expert Pilot: To be added
==Equipment==
*: Rhodes used this standard handgun to defend himself against Black Panther, although it was mostly inefficient against the defensive capabilities of the Panther Habit.
==Relationships==
===Allies===
*United States Air Force
**Thaddeus Ross
*Stark Industries
**Tony Stark † - Best Friend
**Pepper Potts
**Happy Hogan
*T'Challa/Black Panther † - Temporary Enemy
===Enemies===
*Ulysses Klaue † 
*Klaue's Mercenary †
*N'Jadaka/Erik Killmonger - Former Ally and Killer
==Behind the Scenes==
*What If... Killmonger Rescued Tony Stark? takes place during the same time period Iron Man took place in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. James Rhodes' likeness is based on Don Cheadle instead of Terrence Howard, who played the role in Iron Man before being recast by Cheadle from Iron Man 2 onwards.
==Gallery==
==References==
==External Links==
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Category:Characters
Category:What If...? Characters
Category:Humans
Category:Males
Category:Black Hair
Category:Brown Eyes
Category:United States Air Force Officers/Killmonger's War
Category:Stark Industries Employees/Killmonger's War
Category:Deceased Characters
Category:Characters Killed by Erik Killmonger/Killmonger's War