Black Panther: All Wakanda’s Armed Forces and Defenses Explained

Warning: spoilers for King in Black: Black Panther #1 are ahead. 

Black Panther’s nation of Wakanda is without a doubt the best prepared country on Earth for an alien invasion. Fortified with the help of vibranium, technology developed by some of the brightest minds in the Marvel Universe, and led by a fierce warrior king, T’Challa, Wakanda is not to be trifled with. Still, that does not stop aliens such as the symbiote god, Knull, from trying to invade their borders.

The epic fight of Marvel’s King in Black storyline recently hit new ground in King in Black: Black Panther #1 (written by Geoffrey Thorne, art by German Peralta, colors by Jesus Aburtov, and letters by VC’s Joe Sabino). As Wakanda was overrun with Knull and his army of Grendel dragons and fiends, T’Challa, Shuri, and Okoye had to improvise a way to take Knull down. What followed was a stunning display of Wakandan military prowess and creativity on Shuri and T’Challa’s parts.

As the issue shows, there are several parts of Wakanda’s armed forces: the army with rhinos in their stead, air ships, the Dora Milaje, the Hatut Zeraze, City Guard, and Midnight Angels. Each group was deployed to different parts of Wakanda during the issue, playing to their specific strengths as units.

Outside of Birnin Zana, or the Golden City, T’Challa fought Knull’s hordes with the Wakandan army, their rhinos, and their airships. In past Black Panther stories, most notably in writer Reginald Hudlin’s run from 2005, Wakanda’s air force handled airborne threats with their own fighter planes. The army was outfitted with protective sheaths that they deployed when T’Challa was preparing to release a kinetic blast from his suit.

Shuri’s Alchemy Showcased Different Areas of Wakanda’s Armed Forces.

In this issue, T’Challa’s sister Shuri was able to create copies of herself through alchemy that she then sent to fight alongside various Wakandan troops. Fighting with the Hatut Zeraze, City Guard, and Dora Milaje in Midnight Angel armor, Shuri spread her reach across Wakanda and illustrated the duties of each unit.

Known to T’Challa as his “War Dogs,” the Hatut Zeraze were sent to Birnin Mutata to beat back Knull’s hordes. Identifiable by their white suits that resemble T’Challa’s panther suit, the Hatut Zeraze are responsible for guarding the king’s war room in Birnin Zana as well as fighting on the field. In the past, they have been deployed on secret missions, such as attacking Atlantis while Namor was away during the war between Wakanda and Atlantis in New Avengers #8 (written by Jonathan Hickman, art by Mike Deodato, colors by Frank Martin, letters by VC’s Joe Caramagna). In contrast to much of Wakanda’s armed forces, the Hatut Zeraze are armed with guns instead of spears and shields.

In Birnin Bashenga, a fort on the edge of Jabari Lands, Shuri appeared to the City Guard with an army of herself in Midnight Angel armor.The Midnight Angel armor is a pair of wings worn by a warrior, offering them greater flexibility and mobility on the battlefield. It was first seen in the beginning of Ta-Nehisi Coates’s seminal Black Panther run, where former Dora Milaje members Ameka and Ayo had stolen it while staging their own revolution. Powered with spears, the City Guard was responsible for escorting Wakanda’s civilian population to the safety of bunkers. Led by Captain Sele, they were outnumbered by Knull’s dragons and ground forces. The air support provided to them by Shuri strengthened their morale.

Similarly, Shuri came to the aid of the Dora Milaje in Birnin Azzaria, near Wakanda’s southern border. Forming the bulk of the king’s guard, the Dora Milaje have also accompanied T’Challa in battles overseas, including in New Orleans when it was under attack by vampires. They were featured prominently in the 2018 Black Panther film.

Wakanda Lacked Manpower, But Not Ingenuity.

Though they are technologically far more superior to anyone else on Earth, Wakanda was definitely short on manpower in this issue in comparison to Knull. The infectious nature of Knull’s attack posed a challenge to Wakanda’s battle strategy that prioritized containment first (hence, the deployment of different forces around the country). Shuri’s duplication of herself afforded a distraction so that T’Challa and Okoye could prepare for the biggest part of their plan, summoning the Hand of Bast and using the protective shield around Wakanda as an amplifier. Knull’s army kept growing, so to counter this, Shuri singlehandedly expanded Wakanda’s own to hold them off.

 By far the biggest weapon in Wakanda’s arsenal, the Hand of Bast, is what can be described as a remotely piloted panther mecha controlled from one of Wakanda’s weapon vaults. Piloted by Okoye, the giant panther took on Grendel dragons on the streets of Birnin Bashenga. Built to fight the Phoenix Force, the Hand of Bast is without a doubt one of the most powerful weapons in the Marvel Universe, remedying overwhelmed ground soldiers with ease.

Lastly, Wakanda’s greatest asset in the issue was also its most underestimated: the shield. Knull’s army was able to break through with a “frequency variance” in the system, which T’Challa then exploited later on by aiming a sonic cannon at the shield itself. Stretching across the whole of Wakanda, the shield is a defensive common denominator that was perfect for weaponing against Knull. It was going to be impossible for Wakandan forces to fight off every one of Knull’s, so the shield’s amplification was the most efficient way of ridding the symbiote from Wakanda’s borders.

As this issue demonstrates, Wakanda benefits massively from having a united defense system, as well as the ability to merge science and magic to aid overwhelmed ground forces. The involvement of the royal family in military affairs makes them strong leaders in the field, boosting the morale of troops.

Over the years, Wakanda has had to fight off many invasions. With their myriad of vaults, there is no telling how many different weapons and countermeasures they have for threats of all kinds. And if Knull learned anything from his run-in with Black Panther, it is that you don’t mess with Wakanda and expect to make it out without a scratch.

About The Author

Jules Chin Greene
(245 Articles Published)

Jules Chin Greene is an editor, filmmaker, and animator based in Los Angeles. She has a B.A. in English and Cinema Studies from Oberlin College, where she was awarded Excellence in Critical Writing for her thesis on Indigeneity and Anti-Imperialism in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In her free time, she enjoys roller-skating and horror movies. You can find her on Twitter at @JulesChinGreene.

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