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"I lived my entire life waiting for this moment. I trained, I lied, I killed just to get here, I killed in America, Afghanistan, Iraq. I took life from my own brothers and sisters right here on this continent! And all this death, just so I could kill you."
―Erik Killmonger[src]

N'Jadaka was the son of prince N'Jobu and an American woman. His legal, American name was Erik Stevens, but he also went by Killmonger, as a former Black-Ops soldier.

After his uncle T'Chaka killed N'Jobu, Erik sought revenge on his cousin, T'Challa for being exiled to America. On his plan on reaching Wakanda, he used Ulysses Klaue to help him look for vibranium before killing him and taking him to Wakanda as peace offering, what Killmonger truly wanted.

In Wakanda, he challenged T'Challa to ritual combat in front of the Tribal Council, revealing his real name. During the ritual combat, N'Jadaka killed Zuri, for claiming that he was responsible for his father's death. He defeated T'Challa and became the new Black Panther.

Upon consuming the Heart-Shaped Herb, N'Jadaka saw his father in the Ancestral Plane and declared that the remaining herbs should be destroyed. Days later, when T'Challa was revealed to be alive, the Dora Milaje betrayed N'Jadaka, deeming him unfit to be a king and after a long fight, T'Challa fatally wounded Killmonger. After the fight, T'Challa asked N'Jadaka if he can heal him with Wakanda's technology, but he declined because didn't want to die in prison. After that he took the stabbed sword and N'Jadaka died.

In 2025, N'Jadaka met with Shuri in the Ancestral Plane, because Shuri wanted revenge and he was the only relative that would help her.

Biography[]

Black Panther[]

To be added

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever[]

After ingesting the recreated Heart-Shaped Herb, Shuri was taken to the Ancestral Plane where she encountered N'Jadaka because she was feeling vengeful and N'Jadaka was her only relative that would understand her desire to watch the world burn.

Character traits[]

As a child, N'Jadaka had a happy life up until his father, N'Jobu, was killed by his uncle, T'Chaka, in a dishonorable manner.

As an adult, N'Jadaka was an angry, violent, vengeful, cruel, unstable and ruthless individual. This was due to witnessing and learning about oppression towards people of African and African-American descent, and growing up without his father or mother, who died in prison for a crime that she never committed.

Due to his training as a navy seal and black ops mercenary, killing became second nature to him earning his nickname "Killmonger". He felt little to no guilt, shame or remorse for killing his enemies and allies alike. Although his savagery made him a great combatant, Erik would have eventually destroyed Wakanda; as his anger and hatred had consumed.

Although N'Jadaka was proud of his Wakandan heritage, proudly stating his birth name to the Wakandan elders, ironically, he cared little about their traditions as evidenced by his remorseless burning of the City of the Dead so there would be no new Black Panther and was willing to break years of isolationism just so to wage wars by sending Vibranium across the world.

Despite his violent and unstable traits, Killmonger was an honorable combatant, in all of his confrontations against T'Challa, he never once resorted to dirty tactics to defeat his cousin; proving that he had a personal sense of honor.

Despite his faults, N'Jadaka's main goal was to end oppression for people of African and African-American descent who he saw as his own people. His actions had a deep impact on T'Challa, helping him realise that his father's strict adherence to Wakanda's isolationist traditions had led to the birth of a monster like N'Jadaka. Instead of protecting their country from them, T'Challa chose to reveal Wakanda's true nature to the world, to help others as a king instead of to conquer them like N'Jadaka would have. T'Challa continued N'Jadaka's vision of Wakanda helping people of African and African-American descent across the world, via the use of outreach centers in peace, instead of rebelling against their oppression.

In N'Jadaka's final moments, after being mortally wounded by T'Challa, he reflected on his decisions that brought him to Wakanda and realized that he was still only a young boy chasing the fairy tales his father had told him. He was also brave in death and even complimented his cousin's final blow against him, but refused to be healed, wanting to die free like some of his oppressed ancestors did. Ultimately, as hate-filled as N'Jadaka was, he still found beauty in the Wakandan sunset that his father told him about so many times before and died peacefully.

Powers and Abilities[]

Powers[]

  • Superhuman Physiology: After having consumed the Heart-Shaped Herb, N'Jadaka gained several superhuman attributes; all of which were equivalent to that of an actual panther and comparable to that of a super soldier.
    • Superhuman Strength: Killmonger was much stronger than normal humans. He could overpower several members of the Dora Milaje relatively easily and even fight Black Panther on equal grounds.
    • Superhuman Durability: Killmonger was far more durable than normal humans. He could withstand blunt force. While wearing the Golden Jaguar suit, Killmonger's durability was further amplified; due to its vibranium composition, which allowed him to withstand vibranium-bladed weapons, blasts from Shuri's gauntlets, attacks from Nakia's ring blades and Black Panther's kinetic energy pulses while being completely unfazed.
    • Superhuman Speed: Killmonger was much faster than normal humans. He was able to ran at speeds equivalent to that of an actual panther. He was also fast enough to avoid being hit by the Wakandan Maglev Train even while dueling Black Panther.
    • Superhuman Agility: Killmonger was far more agile than normal humans. He could coordinate his body with perfect balance, equilibrium, flexibility, and dexterity. His agility was equivalent to that of an actual panther, being capable of crawl and climb through walls and could leap great distances with accuracy. He could even jump down from a very high platform and land onto the train track during his in his final confrontation against Black Panther.
    • Superhuman Reflexes: Killmonger's reflexes were much faster than normal humans.
    • Superhuman Stamina: Killmonger possessed far more stamina then normal humans, allowing him to remain physically active for long periods of time; he could physically exert himself for several hours before experiencing fatigue.
    • Superhuman Senses: Killmonger's senses were far more greatly developed than normal humans.
      • Night Vision: Due to Killmonger's superhuman senses, he could see clearly in the dark.
    • Accelerated Healing Factor: Killmonger's metabolism allowed him to heal much faster, more extensively, and efficiently than normal humans; large cuts and bruises healed within hours.

Abilities[]

  • Master Hand-To-Hand Combatant/Martial Artist: Due to his life long training as a SEAL and Black Ops mercenary, Erik was an extremely skilled hand-to-hand combatant and martial artist. His combat skills were great enough that in their first confrontation, in which both of them had no superhuman physical attributes, he was able to fight evenly with T'Challa and ultimately defeat him, although his victory was aided by T'Challa being conflicted from the recent knowledge of his father's misdeeds and unwillingness to deliver a fatal blow. After drinking the Heart Shaped Herb, N'Jadaka became even more formidable due to gaining superhuman physical attributes, to the point that while wearing the Golden Jaguar suit, he could fight off many members of Dora Milaje and kill one, before being subdued and quickly outfight Nakia, despite her having aid from Shuri using her gauntlets to stun him. In their final confrontation, N'Jadaka against T'Challa and fighting to kill, he proved to be able to stalemate and even at times dominate T'Challa wearing his Black Panther suit.
  • Bilingual: N'Jadaka was capable of fluently speaking English and Xhosa.

Weaknesses[]

  • Mortality: Despite Killmonger's superhuman levels of durability and healing, he was not immortal and could be killed, just like any other living being.
  • Limited Durability: Although Killmonger was incredibly durable, he did have his limits. Objects, weapons or other superhumans with enough force could injure him.
  • Limited Healing Factor: Although Killmonger could heal incredibly fast, he did have his limits. He could not heal from certain injuries very quickly, this was demonstrated when he was stabbed in the chest by Black Panther with a sonic spear. Although his healing powers kept him alive, but he required the advanced medical tech from Shuri's lab to be completely healed. After Killmonger removed the spear from his chest, he instantly died from his injury.
  • Heart-Shaped Herb Negation Serum: Killmonger's heart-shaped herb powers were long-lasting, until he drinks a serum to negate the powers of the herbs for a trial combat for a fair fight to become king of Wakanda, as he will became a normal human again.

Equipment[]

  • Golden Jaguar suit: As Golden Jaguar, N'Jadaka wore an upgraded version of the Black Panther suit (shortly after he had dethroned his paternal cousin, T'Challa; becoming the new king of Wakanda) like Captain America's shield, it is light-weight, almost completely indestructible, and rendered him immune to most physical damage especially from collisions and conventional weapons; such as firearms. The Golden Jaguar suit is comprised of Wakandan nanotechnology that is emitted from a ceremonial golden necklace worn by the user, able to mentally command the suit to manifest around themselves. The suit can emit stored kinetic energy as an omnidirectional concussive wave to repel opponents close to the wearer, and can be used to propel the wearer off a surface.
  • Wakandan Royal Ring: N'Jadaka possessed a royal ring that symbolize his possession as the prince, later the king of Wakanda. The ring was obtained by N'Jadaka from his father, N'Jobu, after his death.
  • Kimoyo Beads: The Kimoyo beads are pieces of advanced Wakandan technology used by N'Jadaka to communicate and control any system they interfaced with; such as preparing the shipments of Wakandan weapons to be distributed to operatives around the world, so they may spread it to other people of African and African-American descent.

Relationships[]

Appearances/Actors[]

Behind the scenes[]

  • Michael B. Jordan noted the character's dreadlocks hairstyle was a way "to stay true to the original character as much as possible and make it as modern as we could".
  • Jordan stated that Killmonger is "very strategic, thoughtful. He's very patient. Very well skilled, trained to a T. He works very hard, and he feels what he's doing is right".
  • Jordan compared Killmonger and T'Challa's relationship to the X-Men characters Magneto and Professor X.
  • Khalid Ghajji and Aaron Toney were stunt doubles for Michael B. Jordan in the role of Erik Killmonger.

Trivia[]

  • In the comics, Erik Killmonger, originally known as N'Jadaka, was a Wakandan native who was exiled after his father was forced to work for Ulysses Klaue and attempted to overthrow T'Challa from the throne upon his return.
  • Killmonger's bumpy, ritualistic tribal markings on his chest and torso resemble the scar tattoos of the Mursi and Surma tribes.
  • N'Jadaka, Surtur, Helmut Zemo and Loki are the only villains whose plans were successful to any extent, as N'Jadaka managed to fulfill his desire to end Wakanda's isolation from the world at large, as well as to share his nation's resources and technology with the rest of the world to help people of African descent who are being oppressed, even at the cost of his own life.
  • Killmonger's armor costume resemblance Vegeta's armor from Dragon Ball Z. Michael B. Jordan is a fan of anime shows like Naruto and Bleach.

Gallery[]

Black Panther[]

Promotion, Filming and Concept Art[]

See Also[]

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