Erik KillmongerKillmonger

Erik Killmonger

Every great hero has an arch nemesis. And for the Black Panther, that man is Erik Killmonger.

A fierce and cunning warrior who thinks of himself as a more capable and courageous than T’Challa, Killmonger has opposed the King of Wakanda almost constantly. Over the years, Killmonger’s villainy has taken many forms, but his goal has always remained consistent: to undermine the Black Panther at every turn while forcing him to look inward at his own actions.

A Troubled Beginning

Born with the name N’Jadaka, Killmonger grew up in Wakanda, like T’Challa. Still a child when Ulysses Klaw invaded the country to steal Vibranium, he was orphaned when his family was killed by Klaw during a botched job. As he escaped, Klaw took N’Jadaka captive, taking him to America. There, N’Jadaka was able to escape from Klaw’s grasp, but had no way to get back home. So, he changed his name to Erik Killmonger and moved to Harlem in New York City.

In New York, he studied business before earning a Ph.D. in engineering and becoming a professor at MIT. Upon seeing Wakanda’s new king, T’Challa, in the United States alongside the Avengers, Killmonger contacted him to arrange a safe return to his mother country, posing as a lost citizen. In reality, Killmonger blamed the Wakandan monarchy for his parents’ deaths and would use everything he learned abroad to make life hell for T’Challa back home.

Usurper Skills

Erik Killmonger is an extraordinary hand-to-hand combatant whose evolving uniform has always included deadly elements—from studded spikes that inject poison, to wristbands with blades and energy blasters. He is a brilliant tactician and a resourceful warrior, willing to risk anything to achieve his aims, whether it requires a reliance on his extensive martial arts skills or branching out to acquire high advanced combat technology like force field generators, laser rifles, armor, magnetic beams, and buzz-saws.

Forever Foes

Killmonger’s primary foe has long been the Black Panther. But, he has also done battle with Kevin “Caspar” Cole, also known as T’Challa’s associate, the White Tiger.

Terrifying Team-Ups

Killmonger has allied himself with a range of antagonists in his quest to defeat the Black Panther, including Baron Macabre, King Cadaver, Salamander K’ruel, Malice, Sombre, Lord Karnaj, and even Venom.

Enemy of the State

When Killmonger made it home to Wakanda, he hijacked the mysterious Resurrection Altar, using its mutagenic radiation to endow some of his new followers with super human abilities. Alongside new lieutenants like Baron Macabre, King Cadaver, and others, Killmonger also put together an army of rebels called the Death Regiment. This group sowed unrest and preyed on Wakandan dissatisfaction with King T’Challa’s focus on America and the Avengers. Killmonger’s army eventually unleashed a full assault on the royal palace. Ultimately, Killmonger and the Panther engaged in hand-to-hand combat atop Warrior Falls, where Killmonger had T’Challa beat, hoisting his prone body over the nearby precipice. But Kantu—the young son of a farmer killed by Killmonger’s men—pushed Killmonger over the falls to his death.

Killmonger’s surviving lieutenants were imprisoned. But his lover, Madame Slay, retrieved his body and preserved it using a mastery of unusual herbs and methods. Later, he was resurrected by the Mandarin, who brought him back to life and outfitted him with one of his mystical rings in an attempt to transmute the sacred mound of Wakandan Vibranium into Antarctic Vibranium (also known as antimetal) to trigger a chain reaction powerful enough to dissolve all metal on Earth. With the help of Iron Man, the Panther thwarted this renewed Killmonger who, in defeat, reverted to his former lifelessness. Later, Klaw, the same man responsible for the death of Killmonger’s family, also resurrected him in a battle against T’Challa. Once again, the king emerged victorious and Killmonger returned to being dead.

But he didn’t stay that way; members of the Death Regiment brought Killmonger’s ashes to the Resurrection Altar and sacrificed almost a dozen of their own members to restore him to life. Killmonger then launched a campaign to destroy the Wakandan economy by ruining T’Challa’s reputation internationally. His initial attempts to overthrow Wakanda’s monarchy as a revolutionary were unsuccessful, so he decided to try again as a capitalist. But just like his initial attempts at undermining T’Challa, this would not be a solo mission. In a grandiose house-of-cards scheme, Killmonger manipulated multiple super humans against the Black Panther, including Hydro Man, The Hulk, Nightshade, Stiletto, and the Serpent Society’s Cottonmouth. He also recruited former Dora Milaje bodyguard Nakia into his ranks, gifting her powers and transforming her into a villain called Malice.

T’Challa defeated the central elements of Killmonger’s financial crisis plan by nationalizing all foreign companies’ holdings in Wakanda. This essentially rendered Killmonger’s schemes moot, but risked the collapse of the entire world economy to do so. Killmonger, however, had another ace up his sleeve: challenging T’Challa in ritual combat for the mantle of Black Panther…which he won.

As the new Black Panther, Killmonger tried to usurp his foe in all aspects, even attempting to infiltrate the Avengers. But his own hubris was his undoing. He ingested the Heart-Shaped Herb, which normally gives the Panther his super human abilities. Not being of royal lineage, Killmonger’s blood didn’t have the genetic imperviousness to the herb’s poisonous content, leaving him in a comatose state.

After Killmonger eventually found his way out of that coma, he was able to synthesize a genetically modified version of the Herb for New York City cop Kevin “Kasper” Coe, who had been using a Black Panther costume to fight crime. Cole was able to use this version of the herb to develop powers without being poisoned. Cole then took on the role of a White Tiger within the Black Panther cult, rejected Killmonger’s offer for help, and chose to remain loyal to T’Challa.

Later, the U.S. State Department made a secret alliance with Killmonger, believing they could count on him to go to war with Wakanda and create an excuse for America to take control of the country. Killmonger teamed with Red Ghost, a super human with genius level intellect from Niganda, one of Wakanda’s neighboring states. Red Ghost supplied Killmonger with advanced technology and the resources of other engineered animals from Niganda. Killmonger then led a revolt against the government of Niganda, made himself their ruler, and took T’Challa’s sister Shuri as his prisoner. And after Iron Man sent Monica Rambeau, the former Captain Marvel, to stop Killmonger, he captured her as well. War broke out between Killmonger’s new kingdom and Wakanda, but Red Ghost’s impenetrable force-field technology meant no Wakandans could approach from land or air. T’Challa had to use a tunneling device acquired from the Mole Man to get close enough to try to stop his longtime foe.

The two men, as they had so many times before, would do battle once more, each outfitted with suits of powerful armor. As he had in so many of their encounters, Killmonger got the upper hand and was ready to deal a death blow to T’Challa, but Rambeau intervened, killing the would-be ruler.

Killmonger’s children and followers took his body and vowed vengeance on T’Challa, who they blamed for the death of their father—who was certain to rise against the throne once again.