Aja-AdannaShuri

The daughter of T’Chaka and half-sister of T’Challa, Shuri spent much of her life living in the shadows of men. However, after working to stop an invasion of Wakanda and helping her brother recover after Doctor Doom nearly killed him, Shuri stepped into the spotlight and became the Black Panther herself.

Primed for the Panther

On the day that T’Challa took over the mantle of Black Panther from his uncle S’Yan, Shuri intended to compete for the title herself, but she was taken out by an opponent who pressed her to the ground, which her brother leapt over to enter the ring.

Still, Shuri proved a commendable Wakandan who wanted the best for her people. She managed to work on that more after becoming the Black Panther in the wake of her brother’s near fatal run-in with Doctor Doom. After learning a great deal in the Plane of Wakandan Memory, she sacrificed her life in battle with Proxima Midnight then returned through mystical means with additional abilities and a new outlook.

Smarts and Strength

Naturally intelligent, strong, and brave, Shuri does not have any super human abilities, though she keeps herself at peak physical levels.

As Black Panther, she ingests the heart-shaped herb that boosts her strength, senses, and abilities, while also wearing a Vibranium-laced costume. After returning from the Djalia, she has a deeper cultural memory, can seemingly control crows, and also turn her skin statue-like.

Enemies of Wakanda

Like her brother, Shuri despises Klaw for killing their father. However, when she faces him, she controls her rage instead of murdering him for his transgressions.

The first Super Villain she fights is Radioactive Man. She is once captured by Killmonger and embroiled in a war with Doctor Doom. Shuri also hates Namor for the pain and destruction he brings to Wakanda. Later, in facing the Cabal’s Proxima Midnight, she loses her life, but is later resurrected.

Royal Allies

The daughter of Wakanda’s Black Panther T’Chaka and his second wife Ramonda, Shuri is descended from the royal line along with her brother T’Challa. She is close with high-ranking officials Zuri and W’Kabi, as well as her uncle S’Yan. Shuri also takes a shine to her sister-in-law Storm while she was wed to T’Challa. While in the Plane of Wakandan Memory, Shuri trains with a spirit guide who looks like her mother and dispenses wisdom-filled stories and knowledge.

As a Super Hero, she works alongside Spider-Man, Wolverine, the Fantastic Four, Black Widow, War Machine, and Deadpool on certain occassions.

Sister and Defender

At first, Shuri fully intended to compete with her uncle S’Yan to become the new Black Panther, but wound up on the wrong side of a dispatched adversary just before T’Challa jumped into the ring and took the title himself.

After that, she studied nuclear physics and later attempted to warn her brother that something was amiss with the Great Mound of Vibranium. He denied her request to take a group of experts down and explore further, but she decided to go anyway. While down there, she and her team came face to face with Radioactive Man (Igor Stancheck), just one piece of an insurrection planned by Klaw. Though the villain seemed far more powerful, Shuri won by using the fabled Ebony Blade to cut him in half at the waist.

T’Challa then went in search of a wife and reconnected with Ororo Monroe, otherwise known as Storm. The two soon wed, with Shuri in attendance and greatly approving of her new sister-in-law.

Later, after Black Panther and Storm took Mr. Fantastic and Invisible Woman’s places on the Fantastic Four in the wake of Civil War, Shuri struggled with whether she should personally deal with the U.S. warships just outside of Wakandan waters. Upon investigating the ships, she discovered that the Americans had been secretly working with Killmonger in his efforts to overthrow T’Challa. She was captured in the process and imprisoned in Niganda.

Shuri handled herself well against the men Killmonger sent to test her. She finished them off by the time Wakandan forces broke in to spring their princess. Her retreat back to Wakanda allowed Black Panther to fully focus on the battle at hand and defeat Killmonger.

During the Skrull’s Secret Invasion, Shuri stood by her brother as Skrull Commander K’Vvvr led a squad to invade Wakanda with the help of three incredibly powerful Super Skrulls. While T’Challa and Storm worked on their own part of the plan, Shuri waited for their signal and then led the Wakandan charge against the invaders.

Weeks later, T’Challa traveled to Latveria where he spoke to Namor and Doctor Doom about joining Norman Osborn’s Cabal and declined. In response, Doom blew the Panther’s ship up, nearly killing him in the process. Needing a new leader immediately, those powers fell to Ororo as the queen, but she hoped to grant Shuri the mantle of Black Panther if the Panther God approved.

While she skipped some of the Panther protocol, Shuri climbed a huge mountain, traversed a small army of panthers, and attained the heart-shaped herb reserved only for Black Panthers. Upon ingesting the herb, she declared her worthiness to the Panther God, which did not sit well with the deity. Because of her jealousy, hubris and entitled feelings, the god told Shuri she was not worthy to become the Panther.

Usually, that meant that the candidate would forfeit his or her life, but Shuri returned to consciousness in time to face the oncoming threat of Morlun. In spite of the rejection, she donned the costume and played her part in a plan to take out the totem-devourer. After succeeding, a mystic by the name of Zawavari reasoned that Shuri proved her value by engaging Morlun, assuming she’d die in the process, proving herself worthy as she did.

Shuri took on the great responsibility as Black Panther, even as her brother began to recuperate from his injuries. Her first days and weeks as Black Panther proved incredibly difficult as Doctor Doom plotted against her homeland. Still, she banded together with Namor and the Fantastic Four to take on the Latverian despot who attempted to teleport directly into Wakanda and take the Vibranium for himself.

As the Black Panther, Shuri worked alongside T’Challa, Storm, the Fantastic Four, War Machine, Monica Rambeau, and Deadpool to stop Doom’s scheme from coming to fruition. She agreed with her brother’s plan to make the Vibranium inert, which derailed Doom’s plan. At the end of the conflict, Shuri wanted to kill the dictator, but appealed to her better nature and allowed him to live, saying that if he ever stepped foot on Wakandan soil again, she’d end him.

While her brother left the country to take care of Hell’s Kitchen for Daredevil, Shuri did her own traveling to stop Klaw from getting his hand on the other kinds of Vibranium found around the globe. Along the way, she teamed up with Ka-Zar, Shanna, Wolverine, Spider-Man, and Black Widow to put an end to the villain’s plans.

Shuri continued to serve as the Black Panther, even after Mr. Fantastic helped T’Challa become a new kind of Black Panther that championed the city of the dead. This, of course, installed her as the main Wakandan leader during the Avengers’ fight against the X-Men. T’Challa later broke up with Storm, Namor flooded Wakanda, and the Cabal set the nation under siege. Shuri sacrificed herself fighting Proxima Midnight, giving her brother enough time to escape and continue the battle for the survival of their reality.

After the reality-shaking Secret Wars, T’Challa attempted to bring his sister back to life. However, Shuri proved to be in another place altogether called the Djalia, also known as the Plane of Wakandan Memory, where she learned the power of her peoples’ song which came in the form of an intensive history lesson.

T’Challa and Manifold combined their inventions and abilities to bring Shuri’s soul back from the Djalia. Back on the physical plane, Shuri learned of Wakanda’s many conflicts and managed to bring the Dora Milaje back into the fold which helped combine forces against Tetu and Zenzi’s evil plots to cause strife in the Golden City.

Shuri now serves on the Wakandan council that T’Challa started to make sure the entire nation is well represented. For her part, Shuri helps safeguard the deep history of the people in hopes that knowledge will help lead to a brighter future.