Wakanda (), officially the Kingdom of Wakanda, and later the Intergalactic Empire of Wakanda, is a fictional country appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, particularly those featuring Black Panther. Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, the country first appeared in Fantastic Four #52 (July 1966). Wakanda is located both in East Africa on Earth, and on Wakanda-Prime in outer space. T'Challa, the Black Panther, is usually portrayed as the monarch of the nation.
Wakanda has appeared in comics and various media adaptations, such as in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, where it is depicted as the most technologically advanced nation on Earth. The country first appears in film in Captain America: Civil War (2016).
Location
Some sources place Wakanda just north of Tanzania and exactly at Rwanda,Fantastic Four (vol. 3) #21 while others such as Marvel Atlas #2 show it at the north end of Lake Turkana, in between South Sudan, Uganda, Kenya, and Ethiopia (and surrounded by fictional countries like Azania, Canaan, and Narobia).
Director Ryan Coogler stated that his depiction of Wakanda in the 2018 film Black Panther was inspired by the southern African Kingdom of Lesotho.
In Ta-Nehisi Coates's Black Panther series, Wakanda is located on Lake Victoria, near fellow fictional nations Mohannda, Canaan, Azania, and Niganda. This places these nations in the eastern half of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Birnin Zana is located within Wakanda. It is considered by some to be a smart city. In Birnin Zana, pedestrians walk along commerce-filled streets that are car-free except for the occasional appearance of bus-like shuttles. The whole is quite similar to the woonerf concept, an approach to public space design which started in the Netherlands in the 1970s. Maglev trains are seen zipping above and around the city. Wakandan buildings incorporate some traditional African elements, such as thatched roofs and hanging gardens, on some of the tallest structures.
History The Egyptian goddess Bast selected the region that would one day become the nation of Wakanda as her patron land.
Eons ago, during the First Blasphemy, Khonshu sought to avenge a prisoner killed by Varnae, but Bast warned him to stay his hand. Varnae had stolen Vibranium from the Fires of Ptah and planned to ascend to godhood, an act that drew Khonshu's attention. During Ra's slumber, Khonshu met with Bast, Eshu, Gherke, and Ptah, insisting that the gods of the surrounding realms be made aware before he retaliated. He secured their support, as well as the support of Kokou the Ever-Burning. Gherke was a deity venerated by the White Gorilla Cult of Jabari, whose followers had long stood opposed to the Panther Cult, and his presence at this council underscored the unprecedented gravity of the threat. It was then that the mortal leader Nyami summoned the deities and made a solemn pact with them: the Ennead and the Orishas would protect those who tilled that land, ensuring they would never wear chains again. This pact marked the first formal alliance between the Egyptian and West African pantheons. In the distant past, Bast and Gherke led the Enneads and the Orishas against Varnae's forces, while Kokou confronted the vampire god in his temple. The prisoners were evacuated as Bast instructed the black panthers to take the prisoners west and wait for the news of victory.Black Panther: Blood Hunt #2
Before the emergence of the Wakandan nation, mystic beings known as Originators lived in the region. The Originators were diverse races: Anansi (spider-like), Vanyan (ape-like), Creeping Doom (insectoid), Ibeji (two-headed humanoids), and Children of Olokun (sea-creatures).
Later, with the pact already established, the Originators were expelled from the region by the humans and the Orisha, the now-united pantheon of Wakanda consisting of Thoth, Ptah, Mujaji, Kokou, and Bast.
In the distant past, a massive meteorite made up of the element vibranium crashed in Wakanda. The meteorite was named Mena Ngai. It was unearthed a generation before the events of the present day. T'Challa, the previous Black Panther and brother to the current Black Panther, Shuri, is the son of T'Chaka, the Black Panther before him and a descendant of Olumo Bashenga. Knowing that others would attempt to manipulate and dominate Wakanda for this rare and valuable resource, T'Chaka conceals his country from the outside world. He sells off minute amounts of the valuable vibranium while surreptitiously sending the country's best scholars to study abroad, consequently turning Wakanda into one of the world's most technologically advanced nations. Eventually, however, the explorer Ulysses Klaue finds his way to Wakanda and covers up his work on a vibranium-powered, sound-based weapon. When exposed, Klaue kills T'Chaka, only to see his "sound blaster" turned on him by a grieving teenaged T'Challa. Klaue's right hand is destroyed, and he and his men flee.
Wakanda has an unusually high rate of mutation due to the dangerously mutagenic properties of the Vibranium mound. A large number of these Wakandan mutates are working for Erik Killmonger.
Vibranium radiation has permeated much of Wakanda's flora and fauna, including the Heart-Shaped Herb eaten by members of the Black Panther Tribe (although T'Challa once allowed a dying Spider-Man to eat it in the hope that it would help him deal with a mysterious illness) and the flesh of the White Gorilla eaten by the members of the White Gorilla Tribe.
In the 2008 "Secret Invasion" storyline, Skrull forces led by Commander K'vvvr invade Wakanda and engage Black Panther and his forces. Due to heavy resistance to the deployment of technological developments, both sides are forced to fight with swords and spears. The Wakandan forces voluntarily wear panther masks; this prevents the Skrulls from focusing attacks on their leader. Despite losses, the Wakandans defeat the Skrulls. They kill every single one, including K'vvvr, and send their ship back, packed with the bodies. A warning against invading Wakanda is left written on the wall of the ship's control center.Black Panther (vol. 4) #38-41. Marvel Comics
While under the cosmic power of the Phoenix Force, Namor attacks Wakanda for hiding the Avengers and destroys much of the country with a tidal wave. After the attack, all mutants (particularly those who were siding with Phoenix controlled mutants) are banned from entering Wakanda as stated by Black Panther. Some students from the Jean Grey school are attacked by the Wakandan people; the students barely flee with the help of Storm.
When Hydra manipulates a sentient cosmic cube named Kobik into unknowingly replacing the real Captain America's Steve Rogers with his Hydra counterpart, then enact their Secret Empire, Wakanda is under a threat to be taken over by the rise of terrorist group across the universe, with its king T'Challa getting captured and forced to surrender, until all heroes and some villains who rebel against Hydra finally find a way to get both Kobik and the real Steve Rogers back, while rescuing both T'Challa and the rest of both captured and manipulated heroes.Captain America (vol. 8) #25. Marvel ComicsSecret Empire #9. Marvel Comics Once Hydra's empire has been undone, Wakanda expanded its legacy to form an intergalactic empire on Planet Bast, while also revoking the mutant ban in their country, such as allowing Storm to visit and help anytime. The empire, now encompassing five galaxies, arises after a mission that sought the origin of Mena Ngai, the meteorite that brought the vibranium to Wakanda.Secret Empire #10. Marvel Comics
2000 years in the distant past,Black Panther (vol. 7) #12-15. Marvel Comics. a man named after Killmonger's real name, N'Jadaka, became a hero of the empire after retrieving the Shard of M'Kraan during the war against the Shi'ar Empire. However, the current ruler of Wakanda feared that N'Jadaka would overthrow him, so he sent N'Jadaka along with his squad on a secret suicide mission to take the Matrix of the Mamadou galaxy, which was inhabited by the Kronans, Shadow People, and the Klyntar. Upon arriving on a planet in the galaxy, they were quickly attacked by a race known as the Between. Trying to survive, he came across a member of the Klyntar race and bonded with it, since they had a mutual hatred against the current emperor, who made the Klyntar an endangered species. Upon defeating the Between, N'Jadaka and the symbiote killed the emperor and took the throne as the new emperor of the Intergalactic Empire of Wakanda, naming their new homeworld Wakanda-Prime.Black Panther (vol. 7) #1-6. Marvel Comics During this time, he got married and conceived a daughter.Black Panther (vol. 7) #6-11. Marvel Comics Upon finding out that T'Challa from the future had arrived in his present, he feared that T'Challa would join the Maroon rebels, so he had him become a member of the Nameless, slaves who had their memories wiped and were forced to mine for Vibranium on asteroids.Black Panther (vol. 7) #18. Marvel Comics.Black Panther (vol. 7) #1. Marvel Comics. However, T'Challa retained his memories of Storm and managed to escape to join the Maroons regardless. After that, N'Jadaka approached Bast and after recounting his origin, battled Bast's avatar. He was successful in killing it and making his daughter the new Avatar of Bast.Black Panther (vol. 7) #20. Marvel Comics. After the Maroons got ahold of N'Jadaka's daughter and T'Challa had visited the planet of the Between, N'Jadaka with his army went after the rebels in order to get his daughter back. However, Bast betrayed him and made his Empire fighters crash into the mothership while a rebel commander set the planet holding the rebel base's core to explode as a last ditch attempt to stop him; resulting in the sacrifice of thousands of lives and the apparent death of N'Jadaka.Black Panther (vol. 7) #13-14. Marvel Comics.
After N'Jadaka invades Earth, Queen Ramonda forms an alliance with the Originators to prevent total destruction. T'Challa ultimately becomes the ruler of the modern-day version of the Intergalactic Empire of Wakanda, taking control of it from B'Wete and his Ebony Guard, merging its rule with that of the Kingdom of Wakanda.Black Panther: Intergalactic #1–4. Marvel Comics.
Characterization Name There are several theories about the etymology of Wakanda. The name may be inspired by a Siouan god called Wakan Tanka, Wakanda, Wakonda, or Waconda; or Wakandas. Or it may draw from a fictional African tribe from Edgar Rice Burroughs' novel The Man-Eater, written in 1915 but published posthumously in 1957; or otherwise from any of several terms derived from the Proto-Bantu "-ganda", such as the Kenyan Kamba ethnic group, also called Akamba or Wakamba;Black Panther: storia, cultura, geografia e religioni del Wakanda or the word kanda, which means "family" in Kikongo.
Language Wakanda has three official languages: Wakandan, Yoruba, and Hausa. In the Marvel Cinematic Universe, characters from Wakanda are portrayed speaking the South African Xhosa language.Babayi, Ivankosi, Tessa Dowling, Rethabile Possa-Mogoera. 2020. The language of Wakanda: An analysis of the use of isiXhosa in the Hollywood science-fiction film Black Panther. South African Journal of African Languages 40.3:249-25. The Jabari Tribe are portrayed speaking a dialect similar to Igbo from Nigeria.
In the 2018 film Black Panther and its 2022 sequel Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, the Wakandan language is depicted as being written in a Wakandan writing system based on the Nsibidi writing system; the Wakandan writing system was created for the film by production designer Hannah Beachler. According to designer Zach Fannin, it was also inspired by Tifinagh, Ancient South Arabian and Bamum script.Creating Custom Fonts: An Interview With Zach Fannin from the Black Panther Movie
Defenses