User blog:Nausiated/Making Sense of Black Panther's family tree

'''Please Note: This blog post is speculative. It's not officially recognized cannon or the editorial position of this Wiki.'''

So I've been trying to make sense of the Black Panther's origins and family tree, and after scouring the 50+ years of his adventures, there are a bunch of weird puzzle pieces that don't make sense... Or do they? One might simply dismiss these as retcons to get with the times, but I think that's just a lazy excuse that is more the style of the Distinguished Competition. Stan and Jack would have said these sorts of things are the stuff of No Prizes. As a card carrying member of FOOM, I thought I'd take a crack at putting together some of the pieces of the puzzle. Here's what I've come up with.

First, let's talk about T'Challa's origins. It was told again in Rise of the Black Panther #1 told in the diary of T'Challa's mother. It's a more realistic telling of the origin originally told Fantastic Four #53. However, this isn't the only different telling of the story. Natch there is FF #53, but then there's the version that is told by Klaw in Black Panther Vol 4 #3. Obviously, the different tellings are due to the biases that are inherent whenever a person tells a story. T'Challa's telling in FF #53 is fantastic because they're the dim rememberings of a triumphant child avenging the death of his father. Klaw's telling in BP Vol 4 depicts him as a deadly assassin as opposed to a white guy waltzing in an trying to Blood Diamond the Vibranium in Wakanda and getting his butt handed to him by the locals. The most recent telling in RotBP is probably the most accurate telling because it's a lot less fantastic than T'Challa's recollection.

Then there are all sorts of anachronisms regarding T'Challa's family and the Black Panther lineage. Here's what I've been able to dope out:

1) T'Chaka, T'Challa's father, and immediate predecessor to the Black Panther mantle. Up until recently, he has been identified as the Black Panther of World War II notably Black Panther Vol 3 #30 which identifies him as the Black Panther circa 1941 and was t he one who gave Captain America the Vibranium needed to make his round shield. He also appears again as the Black Panther of WWII in the Avengers/Invaders story, which takes place in December 1943, not long before Cap goes into suspended animation. He's also depicted as an adult in 1937 in Astonishing Tales: Dominic Fortune #5-Astonishing Tales: Dominic Fortune #6. In that story, T'Chaka is the Black Panther, and his father is a man named Azzari. He also has a wife named Nyami and an adopted son named Hatut Zeraze.

2) Chanda: Whose story is told in Fantastic Four Unlimited #1. It is stated that he was T'Chaka's father and the Black Panther of World War II. Earning the ire of Colonel Klaue. This is his only appearance, Black Panther finds the record in a diary written by his old advisor N'Baza. It's notable to state here that in this story, T'Chaka was depicted as an infant. The timeline of Colonel Klaue would place this story sometime around 1943. It also states that Ulysses Klaw was Colonel Klaue's son.

3) Lastly, we've got Azzuri, who has appeared in stories of the last while, and has been identified as the T'Chaka's father and the Black Panther of World War II, starting in Black Panther/Captain America: Flags of Our Fathers. It places Azzuri as meeting Captain America during 1941, T'Chaka is depicted as a youth (probably not older than 13 or so). This is also reinforced in the new Rise of the Black Panther series.

There are a lot of confusing reports as to who was T'Chaka's father, and how old he was and when. So here's my take on how to sort out this mess. Here's what I'm thinking:

1.) The T'Chaka seen in 1937 is not the father of T'Challa, but a similarly named relative. Sure he has a wife with the same name, but he is depicted as an adult and also only has an adopted son. This is all in contradiction with everything else that is established that it has to be another relative. You could even say that the different spelling between Azzari and Azzuri members of the same family. I think this is the safest way to explain that, until otherwise stated.

2.) Then we've got Azzuri, who has been reinforced as the Black Panther, at least in 1941. It has been reinforced numerous times that he is the Black Panther who gave Captain America the shield. I think it's safe to say that any reference to T'Chaka being the Black Panther at the time are mistaken.

3.) Chanda is a weird one, one could assume that since the story is told in the diary of N'Baza (written before T'Challa was even born) there might be some factual errors in the account. It seems incredibly unlikely that N'Baza would confuse something like the name of T'Chaka's father. Although N'Baza may not have been clear on the date this event happened or how old T'Chaka really was at the time. Still, the only place this would fit into continuity it had to have occurred in 1943. Since there are no stories about Azzuri past his encounter with Captain America in 1941, perhaps something happened to Azzuri between that time and Chanda had to become the Black Panther, even if it was at least temporary. Obviously, the references to Colonal Klaue being the father of Ulysses Klaw is a topical reference for the time the story was written, the more recent handbooks state the Klaue is an ancestor of Klaw, not his father. Perhaps he is the Black Panther who encounters the Avengers and Invaders in 1943 when they stopped the Red Skull from using the Cosmic Cube to change the outcome of the war.

Also how do you explain the fact that all odd stories the characters are all called T'Chaka? Well it reminds me when ol' Stan had to explain why Bruce Banner was called Bob Banner in Fantastic Four #25. He was like "Oh right, his real name is actually ROBERT Bruce Banner!" I'd say that this is something similar, however probably more in line with African naming traditions. Given Wakanda's fictional proximity to Kenya, perhaps they have also adopted the Kenyan naming tradition that uses patronym or matronym to denote lineage.

Perhaps these characters were called "T'Chaka" because they were a son of a man named T'Chaka. There are different dialects on how this is pronounced, it would typically translate to "So-and-so son/daughter of this-other-person"

So break out a red pen and T'Challa's family tree, because I think I've got a reasonable explanation for all of this: We got: 1) Azzari - the king of Wakanda seen by Dominic Fortune in 1937.

2) T'Chaka - the son of Azzari who was the Black Panther of 1937. His name, based on my theories would be T'Chaka mwana'a Azzari

3) Azzuri - the Black Panther of 1941. He's the son of T'Chaka mwana'a Azzari, as he's the first born he likely was named Azzuri in honor of his grandfather Azzari. As that is also a common tradition. His name would be Azzuri mwana'a T'Chaka

4) Chanda, the younger son of T'Chaka, aka Chanda mwana'a T'Chaka.

5) Then you've got T'Challa's father T'Chaka, son of Azzuri. He's named after HIS grandfather the T'Chaka of 1937. So his name would be T'Chaka mwana'a Azzuri

So my guess is this:

T'Chaka mwana'a Azzari was the Black Panther of the 1930s. He was succeeded by his son Azzuri who was the Black Panther until at least 1941. Something must have happened to him, leading to Chanda becoming his successor in 1943 since T'Chaka mwana'a Azzuri would have been too young to take the mantle at the time. Why was Chanda referred to as T'Challa's father? Maybe he is actually T'Challa's adoptive father because it's possible that Azzuri may have died between 1941 and 1943.

Now why would everyone be calling both Azzuri and Chanda by the name of their father and Azzuri's son? Since most of these stories are told by Americans with little knowledge of African culture, perhaps the mixed up the names, thinking that, for example, in the case of Azzuri mwana'a T'Chaka, Azzuri was their "last name" and T'Chaka was their "first name".

Thoughts?