Long ago, a huge meteorite made of a rare mineral now known as vibranium, crashed landed in Wakanda. The first king of Wakanda, Black Panther Bashenga, harnessed the mineral and used it to nurture his nation. Thousands of years later, under the ruling of Black Panther T‘Chaka, Wakanda's level of technological and economic achievements continued to excel far beyond those of the traditional world.
T'Chaka concealed Wakanda from the rest of world to prevent it from being manipulated by outsiders. His first wife, N'Yami, died while in labor with Prince T’Challa. Years later, a Dutch scientist named Ulysses Klaw found a way into Wakanda, created a vibranium sound-based weapon, and used it to kill King T’Chaka. Prince T’Challa, only a child at the time, managed to turn the sound weapon on Klaw, destroying his right hand. Klaw fled the country, exposed Wakanda to the outside world, and vowed revenge.
Prince T'Challa would later become king after defeating his uncle, King S'yan, in a once-a-year ritual that allowed anyone of Wakandan royalty to become king/queen by defeating the current ruler in hand-to-hand combat. Given the fact that the ruling Black Panther possessed enhanced and superhuman abilities from digesting the Wakandan Heart-shaped Herb, the chance of an average man defeating a Black Panther was slim. However, T’Challa succeeded. He digested the Heart-shaped Herb, which gave him superhuman senses and provided him with enhanced agility, strength, and over all physical capability.
Creation
The Black Panther was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. His first comic appearance was in Fantastic Four #52 in 1966. The Black Panther is among the first mainstream black superheroes. He is comics first mainstream African hero, with Falcon being comics first African American hero.
Character Evolution:
Jack Kirby's unused design of T'Challa, the "Coal Tiger."
Created in 1966 by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, the Black Panther, has traditionally been the warrior king of the hyper technologically advanced African nation, Wakanda. Using his superhuman senses of sight, smell, and hearing combined with his enhanced panther-like reflexes, he divided his time as a king and crime fighter. During the characters first debut, Stan Lee scribes the African hero defeating the American superhero team, the Fantastic Four.
Several years later, in 1968, Roy Thomas scribes the character's first appearance as an Avenger. In 1972, after the first four issues, the Black Panther becomes the titular character of Don McGregor's Jungle Action. McGregor's "Panther's Rage" is one of the most critically acclaimed stories of the Black Panther mythos. The co-creator of the Black Panther, Jack Kirby, would later go on to illustrate and scribe the hero's solo series in 1977.
In 1998, Christopher Priest began writing the Black Panther's following series. Priest modernized the character by building and expanding upon the Black Panther mythos mapped out by Lee and McGregor. In Priest's retcons of Wakanda, he established Bastet (the ancient Egyptian God) as the panther god that the Wakandans built their religious cult of the Black Panther around. Prior to this retcon, the Wakandan panther god did not have a name/origin. Priest's interpretation of the Black Panther is widely praised.
In 2005, TV/movie scribe Reginald Hudlin began writing the Black Panther. Hudlin's tenure retconned a lot of what was previously established about the character, as he rebooted the heroes adventures. However, major establishments, like T'Challa being a warrior king, all stayed true to the classic tales of the Black Panther. Hudlin's tenure on the Black Panther is the most commercially successful series of the Black Panther franchise. He also created Shuri, T'Challa's younger sister, who he would later scribe becoming the new Black Panther in 2009.
Major Story Arcs:
Defeating The Fantastic Four
Becoming an Avenger
The Client
Enemy of the State
Marriage: Civil War
Secret Invasion: See Wakanda and Die
Dark Reign
Doomwar: Power
Black Panther: Most Dangerous Man Alive
King of the Dead
The Illuminati
Avengers vs X-Men: Marriage Annulment
Powers:
T'Challa, demonstrating his superhuman reflexes.
Upon becoming chief of the Panther Clan and king of Wakanda, T'Challa was entitled to eat the ceremonial Wakandan Heart-shaped Herb, which provided him with enhanced strength, endurance, and reflexes. The herb can only be digested by Wakandan Royalty, and acts as a poison to those not of the royal bloodline. The Heart-shaped Herb also heightened T'Challa's senses to superhuman levels. Later blessings from the Panther Goddess elevated his enhanced strength, endurance, and reflexes to superhuman levels:
Black Panther Knowledge
Superhuman Agility
Superhuman Senses
Superhuman Strength
Superhuman Stamina/Endurance
Superhuman Durability
Healing Factor
Superhuman Speed
King of the Dead
Abilities:
Genius-level Intellect
Master Combatant
Weapons Master
Master Acrobat
Expert Marksman
Master Tactician
Expert Tracker & Hunter
Multilingual
Master Inventor
Highly Influential Connections
Diplomatic Immunity
Rich
Weapons and Equipment:
Vibranium Microweave Mesh
Anti-Metal Claws
Energy Daggers
Vibranium-based boots
Projectiles
Ebony Blade
Other weapons:Swords, spears, shields, knives, clubs, quivers and arrows. A large variety of firearms and other weapons used for close range, as well as technological weapons and devices such as a large 'power glove.'
Energy Shield
Cloaking Technology
Kimoyo Card
Telepoter
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