- "I observed for as long as I could. Their leaders have been assassinated. Communities flooded with drugs and weapons. They are overly policed and incarcerated. All over the planet our people suffer because they don't have the tools to fight back. With Vibranium weapons they can overthrow every country and Wakanda can rule them all the right way."
- ―N'Jobu to T'Chaka[src]
Prince N'Jobu was the younger brother of T'Chaka, the King of Wakanda and an agent of the War Dogs. Having betrayed his own people and aided Ulysses Klaue with getting vibranium out of Wakanda with the intention of allowing oppressed people to possess its power, N'Jobu was confronted by T'Chaka. After a failed attempt to shoot at Zuri, N'Jobu was killed by his own brother. His death led his son, Erik Killmonger, to go on a long journey of vengeance to avenge his father's death.
Biography
Early Years
Joining War Dogs
Born to King Azzuri of Wakanda, N'Jobu was raised as a member of the Golden Tribe and received one of the royal rings prior to his father's death. Later in life, he later joined the ranks of the War Dogs while his brother T'Chaka inherited both the throne and the mantle of the Black Panther.
It was during his time as an undercover agent that N'Jobu traveled to Oakland, California and met an American woman, with whom he fathered a son named Erik. The Prince would later tell his son about their origins and his share his worldviews.[1] Unfortunately, sometime after Erik's birth, N'Jobu's spouse was arrested by the police and sentenced to jail for the rest of her life.[2]
Betraying his Family
Attack on Wakanda
Over time, N'Jobu became convinced that Wakanda's isolationist policies were doing more harm than good and that people of African descent around the world were being oppressed. He then decided that the only course of action was to initiate a global revolution. To arm his cause, he revealed his country's existence to black-market arms dealer Ulysses Klaue and helped him infiltrate Wakanda in order to steal a cache of vibranium resulting in the deaths of several Wakandan citizens.[1]
Fall From Grace
N'Jobu is personally confronted by T'Chaka
Unbeknownst to both Ulysses Klaue and N'Jobu, T'Chaka had learned about his brother's treachery from his confidant Zuri, who previously disguised himself as an American citizen named James in order to gain the Prince's trust. T'Chaka made his way to the United States of America and confronted his brother at his apartment in Oakland,[1] while they were preparing a plan to break out N'Jobu's wife from prison.[2]
N'Jobu's corpse is discovered by N'Jadaka
No longer needing to play his fake role, "James" revealed his true identity. Horrified by James' betrayal, N'Jobu then attempted to shoot him, however, T'Chaka reacted quickly, and impaled N'Jobu with the claws on his Panther Habit, killing N'Jobu. While T'Chaka, Zuri, and the Dora Milaje fled back to Wakanda, N'Jobu's son N'Jadaka, who was playing basketball with his friends outside at the time of N'Jobu's death, discovered his body inside the apartment and mourned his death.[1] Erik's mother passed away on jail sometime after her husband's death.[2]
Legacy
Posthumous Effects in the 21st Century
In 2015, Ulysses Klaue sold some of the vibranium N'Jobu helped him stole to Ultron, which he used to create several bodies for his consciousness as well as to combine it with Chitauri technology in an attempt to eradicate humanity. This makes N'Jobu indirectly responsible for the events of the Battle of Sokovia, the birth of Vision[3] and eventually, the creation of the Sokovia Accords, the death of his brother at the hands of Helmut Zemo on Vienna and the Avengers Civil War.[4]
Reunion in the Ancestral Plane
N Jobu meets Erik in the Ancestral Plane
Upon defeating T'Challa and becoming king of Wakanda, N'Jadaka underwent the ritual of the Heart-Shaped Herb and traveled to the Ancestral Plane, where he conversed with his father one last time. While talking each other, N'Jobu asked his son why he didn't cry for him, to which N'Jadaka replied that everybody dies and that in Oakland it was naturally.[1]
T'Challa's Decision
The murder of N'Jobu by his own brother, which led his son Erik to become a vengeful angry character, served as a cautionary tale for T'Challa that would ultimately change the way Wakanda ran as a country. Though N'Jobu wanted to protect Africans across the world from oppression, his son desire to have them dominate over others would lead to global warfare. His nephew would indeed introduce other nations of their advanced Vibranium technology, but as a means of having the rest of the world and Wakanda protect each other as one tribe unified.[1]
Personality
N'Jobu is a compassionate person, which lead him to question his home nation's isolationist policies, and later, fall in love with a foreigner and father a son with her. However, he is also a rogue and an extremist by nature, seeing as how he not only betrayed Wakanda to fund a war against the world at large, feeling that to be the only way to liberate people of African descent, whom he sees as his people but also willing to eventually subdue all countries and rule as a benevolent dictator. Due to his training as a War Dog, he is cautious and slow to trust but is willing to put his life on the line for people who he has indeed come to trust.
Abilities
- Combatant: Due to being trained as a War Dog, N'Jobu was a skilled combatant.
- Expert Spy: N'Jobu maintained his status as an undercover War Dog until his death.
- Multilingualism: N'Jobu was fluent in his native language, Xhosa, as well as English.
Equipment
Weapons
- Handgun: N'Jobu had a handgun by the time his brother, T'Chaka, came to confront him in 1992 for aiding Ulysses Klaue in attacking Wakanda to steal a cache of Vibranium. When he realized that "James" had betrayed him, N'Jobu took this handgun and tried to shoot at him, but T'Chaka was faster and impaled N'Jobu with his Panther Habit claws, killing him and leading him to drop his handgun to the floor.
Other Equipment
- Vibranium: To be added
- War Dogs Tattoo: To be added
Facilities
- N'Jobu's Safehouse: To be added
Relationships
Family
Allies
Enemies
- Dora Milaje
- Zuri † - Former Friend turned Attempted Victim
Trivia
- In the comics, the father of Erik Killmonger was an unnamed Wakandan miner that was forced to cooperate with Ulysses Klaw during his incursion in Wakanda, and was subsequently exiled along with his family. Following the release of Black Panther, he was given the name N'Jobu in the comics as well.
- N'Jobu's counterpart in the Mainstream Comic Universe is S'Yan, T'Chaka's brother who reigned over Wakanda after his brother's assassination and remains at T'Challa's side after his coronation. The Marvel Cinematic Universe version of S'Yan is not related to the Wakandan Royal Family.
Behind the Scenes
- Qualen Bradley was a stand-in for Sterling K. Brown in the role of N'Jobu.
