Black Panther

T'Challa

### Relatives

First Black Panther (paternal ancestor, deceased)Bashenga (paternal ancestor, deceased)T'Chaka (father, deceased)S'Yan (uncle, deceased)N'Yami (mother)Shuri (half-sister)Storm (Ororo Munroe)(Wife)

## Physical description

### Eye color

Brown

The Black Panther, His Majesty the King of Wakanda, Chief of the Panther Clan

## History

Among the oldest countries in Africa, it was Wakanda that gave birth to the world's first superhero  the nation's founder, Bashenga, was given strange powers by a heart-shaped herb circa 8,000 BC, and took up the mantle of the Black Panther. This title was passed down through all monarchs of Wakanda, including, perhaps, the greatest of them all, T'Challa.

Groomed from birth to become the next king of Wakanda, T'Challa, son of T'Chaka, lived a comfortable life, thanks to the rare mineral Vibranium, found in a meteor within the country's borders. T'Chaka, unlike the secretive kings before him, used Vibranium sales to fund the nation, allowing many upper-class Wakandans to study abroad and turn Wakanda into among the most scientifically advanced nations on Earth.

T'Challa spent most of his early life training, in preparation for his ascension to the throne. As a boy, unknown to him, his father T'Chaka tracked down an illegal Vibranium trade conducted by Dutch explorer Ulysses Klaw and T'Chaka's own brother: N'Jobu. T'Chaka killed N'Jobu to save the life of the informant Zuri. Some years alter, at a World summit in Switzerland, Ulysses Law carried out the assassination of T'Chaka, which was witnessed by T'Challa. An Uncle would takeover control of Wakanda until T'Challa came of age.

In his teens, while travelling abroad as part of his training, he met with the young mutant Ororo Munroe, and entered into a childhood friendship with her before his desire for revenge forced him to return to Wakanda. As an adult he defeated his uncle in combat, proving himself worthy to take the throne. The first great test of the New King's ability was tracking down the assassination of his Uncle at a UN meeting by the terrorist Baron Zemo, which Bucky Barnes was framed for, bring T'Challa into brief conflict with the Avengers.

The next threat came when Ulysses Klaw, armed with an advanced weapon and a team of supervillains including Batroc the Leaper, the Rhino, The Black Knight and Radioactive Man. This attack was thwarted and the villains defeated, with the exception of Klaw, who was killed by T'Challa. However, a new heir would reveal himself among the Klaw's group, Eric Killmonger. The son of the murdered N'Jobu. He made a claim to the throne and emerge victorious, throwing T'Challa off a cliff and nearly leading Wakanda into war. While T'Challa would survive and defeat Killmonger, the conflict inspired T'Challa to change the way Wakanda interacted with the outside world. It also led to T'Challa reuniting with Ororo, now the X-men member Storm. .

While in the United States, he met the Fantastic Four. In 1966, he invited the Fantastic Four to Wakanda as a show of strength  after disabling them to prove his ability to the public. Later, in 1968, he returned to the USA to aid the Avengers; after rescuing the team, he was offered membership, which he gladly accepted, at least in part to learn of the teams secrets. From this point forward, he jointly ruled Wakanda and fought for justice in America.

Many others soon threatened the nation, with the most prominent being the Draka. Under T'Challa, the nation was able to weather the storm, but just barely. Rather than continue fighting crime, he remained in Wakanda to begin rebuilding the country. T'Challa would vanish during "The Snap" when Thanos wiped out half the Universe, but was fortunately restored.

It was during this period that he rekindled his romance with Ororo Munroe, who, at this point, was a member of the X-Men; after a long courtship, the two married. The two produced a child named Azari, for T'Challa's great-grandfather, the boy was set to be raised as the heir of the Wakandan throne.

Unfortunately, disaster struck under the guise of Ultron, the Avengers' greatest foe. T'challa was killed in battle alongside many of his teammates. To protect Azari, Ororo trusted him to the care of Tony Stark, while she remained regent to the Wakandan throne. Eventually, Ultron would be defeated by Azari and the other "Next Avengers," who would live up to their name, avenging the death of Wakanda's greatest king. This marked the end of Wakanda as it had been and it became bittersweet when the Machines began to build their nation of Zero-One upon the remains of Ultron's Robotic city, and Wakanda as well, further spurning the Human-Machine War.