Black Panther

"The Black Panther has been a protector of Wakanda for generations. A mantle passed from warrior to warrior. Now because your friend murdered my father, I also wear the mantle of king. So I ask you, as both warrior and king, how long do you think you can keep your friend safe from me?"

- Black Panther to Captain America

T'Challa is the king of the nation of Wakanda, assuming the role of the protector of his tribe, Black Panther. Due to his father being assassinated in a terrorist attack orchestrated by Colonel Helmut Zemo, T'Challa focused on killing the man he believed to be responsible - Winter Soldier. This led him into the conflict between the Avengers, siding with Iron Man's team. However, when T'Challa learned of Zemo's deception, he assisted Winter Soldier and allowed him to recover from his trauma in Wakanda.

Early Life
"For a man who disapproves of diplomacy, you're getting quite good at it." "I'm happy, Father."

- T'Chaka and T'Challa

T'Challa was born as the crown prince of Wakanda, a highly scientifically advanced country in Africa. With his father being King T'Chaka, the young prince was trained for much of his life to be the next Black Panther, the protector of Wakanda. Despite his father's best efforts, T'Challa showed a great dislike for politics, despite having a highly active mind.

A King's Death
"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 Sekhmed, 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

When the United Nations decided to approve the Sokovia Accords in order to control and monitor the actions of the Avengers in the wake of a devastating battle between the Avengers and the now deceased terrorist Crossbones in which several Wakandan citizians were killed amoung other innocents, T'Challa and the Wakandan government chose to support the accords as they felt that the Avengers could become a true risk to the safety of Wakanda and the rest of the world considering their involvement in Ultron's creation. T'Challa and his beloved father T'Chaka attended the conference in Vienna, meeting Natasha Romanoff there. T'Challa spent time speaking with Romanoff of they discussed the accords and their shared discomfort of such political meetings. T'Challa commented on the fact that the last time Romanoff was in such company, she had exposed S.H.I.E.L.D.'s secrets during the HYDRA Uprising, claiming her dislike for it made him happy to see her there. They were then interrupted by T'Chaka who teased his son and greeted Romanoff, noting that Captain America had decided not to attend as he disagreed with the control the accords would put on his and the Avengers' actions. Once Romanoff had taken her seat, T'Chaka expressed his proudness of seeing his son's skill at politics getting much better as they thanked each other for their support during this difficult time for Wakanda. During the conference, T'Challa's watched as his dear father gave a speech about Wakanda's dark history and unfortunate involvement in the creation of deadly weapons made with Vibranium, using these as his own reasons for signing the accords. Hearing commotion outside, T'Challa realised danger was incoming but was too late to stop his father being killed in a terrorist attack secretly orchestrated by Helmut Zemo under the disguise of the Winter Soldier. While the fire was being put out, T'Challa mournfully took his late father's ring and took over his rightful role as King of Wakanda. While considering his next actions, T'Challa was greeted by Romanoff who expressed her own grief at T'Chaka's death and promised him that the Joint Counter Terrorist Centre would find and arrest the Winter Soldier. T'Challa however informed Romanoff that he intended to find and kill the Winter Soldier himself.

Hunting the Winter Soldier
"T'Challa, Task Force will decide who brings in Barnes." "Don't bother Ms. Romanoff, I will kill him myself."

- Natasha Romanoff and T'Challa

As the news broke that the one who crafted the terrorist attack was the Winter Soldier, T'Challa put on the Panther Habit to avenge his father's death. He managed to track Winter Soldier to Bucharest, where he fiercely attacked him. Using his incredibly sharp claws on his suit, Black Panther slashed at his enemy and tried to kill him, only stopping when he was shot at by a helicopter, with his Vibranium suit saving him. While the Winter Soldier attempted to escape by running on foot, the Black Panther hunted and chased Barnes down, following him when Barnes jumped from the roof top to the street below with Panther using his own claws to grind his way down the side of the building to keep close to his prey. They soon chased each other through a long traffic tunnel while also fighting Captain America and Falcon in the hot pursuit to try and protect the Winter Soldier.

When Rogers apprehended a JCTC car to try and catch up to Barnes, who was escaping on a motorbike, Black Panther jumped onto the back on the car to gain extra speed as well as jumping on the back of Falcon and flying through the tunnel, trying several times to knock Barnes off the motorcycle he was riding but finding that Barnes' Prosthetic Arm gave him an advantage as the Panther was grabbed by the throat and thrown to the ground. Eventually Barnes reached the end of the tunnel and tried to use an explosive to block their way, only for Black Panther to leap through the blast and cut through Barnes' tires, causing his own bike to crash. Although Rogers stopped him from killing Barnes, they were all soon captured when War Machine and an entire police squad arrived and surrounded them, to which he unmasked and revealed himself as the new king of Wakanda to the surprise of everybody.

The police apprehended Barnes, Rogers and Wilson, who were fugitives due to the Sokovia Accords. The group were then brought to Berlin in an armoured car to await their own punishments for the chaos they caused. Along the way, T'Challa explained to Rogers and Wilson the history of the Black Panther and why he had targeted Barnes, as he desired to avenge T'Chaka and vowed that Rogers would not be able to keep Barnes safe.

The group soon arrived the the Joint Counter Terrorist Centre Headquarters where they were greeted by Sharon Carter and her boss Everett Ross while Barnes was locked up in a maximum security prison of the German anti-terror police force GSG9. T'Challa was also brought in and watched as Captain America's Shield and the EXO-7 Falcon were taken away. Ross then explained that T'Challa would be provided with an office rather than a cell.

Losing the Winter Soldier
"How long do your psychological evaluations usually take?" "Why? You bored?" "Not currently, but my prisoner and I have a plane to catch."

- T'Challa and Natasha Romanoff

While awaiting news on what would happen with the Winter Soldier at the Joint Counter Terrorist Centre, T'Challa was visited by Natasha Romanoff who expressed her surprise at his secret identity. T'Challa noted that he wanted the conversation to end so he could take Barnes to Wakanda for trail, just as Romanoff claimed this would be unlikely, Everett Ross arrived and confirmed this would be happening as soon as Barnes' questioning was finished.

T'Challa sat in his office while the Winter Soldier was questioned by a man posing as the psychiatrist Theo Broussard. However while T'Challa, Ross and the Avengers were watching the questioning unfold, the power throughout the building was suddenly shut off, cutting the video and audio feeds in the interrogation room. Sensing a more sinister plan was unfolding involving the Winter Soldier, T'Challa went to investigate further.

Heading downstairs, T'Challa discovered the Winter Soldier had escaped and was fighting Romanoff, Tony Stark and Sharon Carter. T'Challa managed to save Romanoff from being strangled by the Winter Soldier and engaged in a one on one fight with his enemy, proving to be equally matched in skill although the Soldier was able to use his Prosthetic Arm to gain an advantage with strength and managing to knock T'Challa to the ground. When T'Challa learned that the Winter Soldier had escaped from the building, seemingly with the help of Steve Rogers, he decided to use Wakanda's many resources to track him down. One his way out, he was stopped by Natasha Romanoff, who came close to fighting his Security Chief. T'Challa spoke to Romanoff politely and explained his plan, however Romanoff offered him an alternative, to join Stark's team of Avengers members in finding and capturing Rogers along with the Winter Soldier for Thaddeus Ross. Knowing that this would prove to be a much faster method of finding and killing his target, T'Challa agreed to join Stark's team with Romanoff.

Clash of the Avengers
"I didn't kill your father." "Then why did you run?"

- Winter Soldier and Black Panther

Having joined Iron Man's side, Black Panther eventually found and ambushed Captain America at an airport in Flughafen Leipzig-Halle, greeting Rogers with respect while Stark continued to argue with his former ally about the Sokovia Accords while Spider-Man arrived and took away his shield to ensure that he could not fight back, as Stark tried to convince him to surrender himself over to the JCTC for interrogation. However Rogers remained confident and had Hawkeye free him from Spider-Man webbing and Ant-Man gave him back his shield. As Iron-Man scanned the area, he spotted the Winter Soldier, who Black Panther attempted to go after, only for Rogers to stand in his way. When Rogers ignored T'Challa's warning to get out of his way, they engaged in a fierce fight, where the claws on his own Panther Habit caused permeant scratch marks on Rogers' shield. T'Challa teamed up with War Machine during the fight but they both proved to be bested by Captain America, who fought them both off while disarming War Machine's weapons. The fight was stopped when Captain America and Ant-Man used a Pym Particle Disk to enlarge and throw a large fire truck towards T'Challa, War Machine and Black Widow, much to their annoyance as both T'Challa and Widow managed to dodge the explosion while Rhodes was hit with it's full on force, knocking him painfully backwards. As Rogers and the rest of his team attempted to make their way to the Avengers' Quinjet to make their escape from the airport, their path was soon stopped by the Vision, who used the Mind Stone to stop block their path. T'Challa joined the rest of Iron Man's team as the two opposing sides later gathered up to charge against their former allies, T'Challa first targeted the man he was desperate to get revenge on the man seemingly responsible for the terrorist attacks. During the fight Winter Soldier tried to convince T'Challa that he wasn't the one who murdered T'Chaka, but T'Challa only questioned why he had run away if he was innocent. He almost succeeded to kill the wrong suspect as he pulled away his Prosthetic Arm and then attempted to cut his throat, but Scarlet Witch intervened and stopped his claws from reaching Barnes, and threw T'Challa through a distance with her powers, hitting a jet bridge.

Losing his Targets
"We haven't met yet. I'm Clint." "I don't care."

- Hawkeye and Black Panther

Later, T'Challa spotted both Captain America and the Winter Soldier attempting to escape with a Quinjet in the hangar, but Giant-Man held him and the rest of Iron Man's team back. When keeping Spider-Man, Iron Man and War Machine away from his team members Ant-Man kicks an airplane bus at T'Challa, only to be saved at the last second by Vision intervening and blocking the bus with his Vibranium body. With Vision's, help T'Challa was able to elude Ant-Man to reach the Quinjet Hangar. Before he can do so, Hawkeye tries keeping T'Challa at bay by firing many of his explosive arrows directly at him. T'Challa dodged many of the arrows and catches two before they explode right in his face, angering him enough to fight Hawkeye by showing him his Vibranium claws unleashed from his own Panther Habit as the Black Panther prepared to fight his legendary attacker. Seeing that his current technic was not working and still attempting to ensure his ally's escape, Hawkeye turned his bow into a staff and introduced himself to T'Challa, since they had never been introduced before this point, with the latter replying that he did not care who it was he was fighting. The pair started fighting one another until T'Challa broke his staff and knocked Hawkeye out of the fight, continuing his pursuit to the Quinjet Hangar. Despite the best efforts of Vision to block them, Rogers and Barnes reached the hangar due to Scarlet Witch's interference. Black Panther came close to them, only to be stunned multiple times by Black Widow's Widow Bite, allowing Rogers and Barnes to escape, despite T'Challa trying to get a hold of the Quinjet. As they left, Romanoff claimed she had only promised to help him find not kill them, something he later reported to Everett Ross.

Capturing Helmut Zemo
"Vengeance has consumed you. It is consuming them, I am done letting it consume me. Justice will come soon enough." "Tell that to the dead." "The living are not done with you yet."

- Black Panther and Helmut Zemo

Having had a meeting with Thaddeus Ross onboard the Raft prison, Tony Stark discovered the location of the now fugitives Captain America and the Winter Soldier. Once Stark put on his Iron Man suit and went to find them, T'Challa secretly followed Stark onboard his jet to Siberia, where the Winter Soldier laboratory was located.

T'Challa infiltrated the building with the plan to kill Winter Soldier; following close behind as Iron Man made peace with Rogers. However, he overheard the conversation between Rogers and the terrorist Helmut Zemo, in which he confessed to killing all the other Winter Soldiers and admitted to framing Barnes for killing King T'Chaka. Having learned this truth that he had been decieved, Black Panther focused his efforts on capturing Zemo. While Zemo rested on top of a hill outside the missile bunker, certain that he had succeeded to pit Iron Man and Captain America against each other, T'Challa confronted him, now aware of the truth. However, rather than going face-to-face with T'Challa, Zemo instead explained to T'Challa that his family died in the Battle of Sokovia and that he wanted to tear apart the Avengers to find justice for his family's tragic demise. Zemo also admitted that T'Chaka's death was not intended and apologized for it, saying that T'Chaka was a good man. Realizing how horribly revenge could consume a man and that his father would never have wanted a Black Panther to commit murder, T'Challa decided to spare Zemo and even stopped him from committing suicide, using his Vibranium-protected hand to block the gunshot. While he struggled to get out of the headlock, T'Challa stated to Zemo that the living are not done with him yet, later handing him over to Everett Ross for his punishment.

Saving Winter Soldier
"Your friend and my father, they were both victims. If I can help one of them find peace." "You know if they find out he's here, they'll come for him." "Let them try."

- T'Challa and Steve Rogers

T'Challa later helped Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes to safety and gave them brief asylum in his Kingdom of Wakanda, where Barnes willingly let himself freeze in a cryo-chamber until the Wakandan scientists can find a way to cure him of HYDRA's brainwashing. Rogers warned T'Challa that forces of opposition could come and declare war on Wakanda for allowing the infamous Winter Soldier to take refuge within their kingdom. T'Challa replied that they should try as the overlooked the landscape.

Personality
"Move, Captain. I won't ask a second time."

- Black Panther to Captain America

T'Challa is showed to have high respect towards other people, especially towards his father, T'Chaka. He honors the tradition and principles of Wakanda and is willing to take action whenever it is necessary. When his father died, he was willing and ready to take on his rightful place as king of Wakanda. While he does not seem to favor a fight, he was very quick trying to avenge his father's death. An honourable fighter, T'Challa respects his opponents and is willing to spare his enemies' lives.

According to his father, T'Challa tends to disapprove of diplomacy, but was nevertheless supportive of the Sokovia Accords.

However, when he finally had the chance to avenge his father, he ultimately chose not to, knowing that doing so would make him fall as low as Zemo. As he stood by Zemo, the latter explained to him about how he had also lost his loved ones too, and that he and T'Challa were not different, as they both are in pursuit of revenge. It was at this moment that T'Challa realized that revenge has completely consumed Zemo, and he realized that this is not what his father would have wanted for him. In the end, he was willing to help Captain America and Winter Soldier, allowing them to stay in Wakanda for safety.

Powers

 * Enhanced Strength: T'Challa's strength is enhanced beyond the peak of human potential, moving into the early levels of superhuman condition. He was able to fight Winter Soldier on equal grounds. He could overpower and send Winter Soldier flying through the air with his attacks. He was also strong enough to hold back Winter Soldier's bionic arm, and duel Captain America on equal grounds.
 * Enhanced Durability: T'Challa's is much more durable than any human being. Even when not wearing his Panther Habit, he can survive blunt force trauma such as being hit with the Winter Soldier's bionic arm. While wearing the Panther Habit, T'Challa's durability is increased to superhuman levels, thanks to the Vibranium, which allowed him to withstand bullets and explosions unfazed.
 * Enhanced Speed: T'Challa can run and move at speeds beyond the peak of human potential, moving into the early levels of superhuman condition. He possesses speed on par with Captain America and the Winter Soldier, and is fast enough to easily outrun moving vehicles.
 * Enhanced Agility: T'Challa's agility is greater than that of an any human being. He can coordinate his body with perfect balance, equilibrium, flexibility, and dexterity. He is able to quickly move through walls and leap distances with accuracy.
 * Enhanced Reflexes: T'Challa's reflexes are superior to those of the finest athlete. They are beyond human potential which allowed him to to catch Hawkeye's arrows with ease.
 * Enhanced Stamina: T'Challa's musculature produces less fatigue toxins during physical activity than the musculature of an ordinary human. T'Challa's body eliminates the excessive build-up of fatigue-producing chemicals in his muscles, granting him exceptional endurance and lung capacity, greater than of normal humans. He was able to intensely pursue the Winter Soldier on foot without any signs of fatigue.

Abilities

 * Master Martial Artist: T'Challa is an extremely skilled martial artist, having been trained vigorously to become a warrior and protector of Wakanda, the Black Panther. His unique Wakandan fighting style is very acrobatic and heavily attack-oriented, primarily utilizing powerful sweeping kicks, aerial take-downs, and lashing attacks with hooked and clawed fists, reminiscent of the manner in which a panther strikes. Black Panther's techniques combine African martial arts such as Engolo, Moraingy, Musangwe and Dambe.
 * Master Acrobat: T'Challa is a master gymnast and acrobat, which allowed him to quickly catch up to Winter Soldier mere seconds after being and the latter having gone up several flights of stairs. Black Panther's agility allows him to effortlessly outrun and vault over moving vehicles, land on his feet unfazed from several stories, perform aerial wheel kicks while fighting Captain America, to send Winter Soldier flying through the air, and lunge several feet to knock Winter Soldier off his motorcycle.
 * Master Tactician: T'Challa is a master in strategy and tactics.
 * Multilingual: T'Challa speaks his native, as well as fluent English (albeit with a thick Wakandan accent).
 * Pilot: T'Challa has shown to be a skilled and elusive pilot, managing to tail Iron Man without the latter knowing.

Equipment

 * Panther Habit: In his Black Panther persona, T'Challa wears a black and silver-lined combat suit that is composed of a specially-designed Wakandan Vibranium-mesh weave akin to chain mail that is, like Captain America's Shield, light-weight, vibration-absorbent, nigh-indestructible and renders him immune to most physical damages especially from collisions and conventional weapons such as firearms, though he was notably vulnerable to the electrical charges of Black Widow's Bite. The suit is accompanied by:
 * Two sets of extendable and retractable Vibranium Claws embedded in the fingers of the gloves like nails; serving as both utility and primary weapon of T'Challa during combat. The claws are exceptionally strong and razor sharp as it was able to put scratch marks on Captain America's Shield during the airport clash.
 * The Black Panther helmet which have similar properties with the suit, and is adorned with silver trimmings and slight pointed arches on either side of the top that mimic the ears of the . The helmet seems to have some kind of safety lock in the rear area, enabling it to attach firmly to the user's head.
 * Jet: T'Challa has a technologically advanced jet, similar to the Avengers' Quinjet, that he uses when he needs to travel the world quickly. When Black Widow stopped him from capturing Bucky, he used the jet to follow Iron Man to Siberia because he knew that Stark was going after Bucky too, arriving just a few minutes later.

Family

 * T'Chaka † - Father

Allies

 * Security Chief
 * Attaché
 * Avengers
 * Tony Stark/Iron Man - Former Teammate, Ally and Temporary Enemy
 * Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow - Recruiter and Temporary Enemy
 * James Rhodes/War Machine - Former Teammate
 * Vision - Former Teammate
 * Steve Rogers/Captain America - Enemy turned Ally
 * Sam Wilson/Falcon - Enemy turned Ally
 * Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch - Enemy turned Ally
 * Clint Barton/Hawkeye - Enemy turned Ally
 * Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier - Mortal Enemy and Target turned Ally
 * Scott Lang/Ant-Man - Enemy turned Ally
 * Peter Parker/Spider-Man - Former Teammate
 * Joint Counter Terrorist Centre
 * Everett Ross
 * Sharon Carter

Enemies

 * Helmut Zemo - Detainee

Trivia

 * In the comics, Black Panther was a member of the Avengers and became a temporary member of the Fantastic Four. He was the first black superhero in mainstream comics and was married to the X-Men member Storm, but later annulled their marriage during the events of .

Behind the Scenes

 * Michael Kenneth Williams expressed interest in portraying Black Panther before Chadwick Boseman was cast.
 * According to Kevin Feige, the Black Panther was included in Captain America: Civil War as a third party, someone with a different point from view from both Captain America and Iron Man.