History
Lalei was a member of the Bantu Tribe which existed in the jungle of South Africa in the 20th Century. She was the lover of Waku the son of tribal chief Kaba. In 1954, Kaba become deathly ill and on his death bed chose his son as his successor, but had Waku promise to never use force as a leader. This was overheard by Lalei who watched with growing dismay as her fellow tribes people forced Waku out of the tribe and into exile as he refused to follow tradition as tribal successor by fighting its greatest warriors. Lalei watched as Waku's rival Mabu took over the tribe and lived in relative opulence while the rest of the people lived in poverty.
On the month anniversary of Kaba's death the Bantu's put on a celebration honoring their former leader. Unknown to Lalei she was being influenced by the spirit of Kaba to put on a disguise and pose as Kaba's spirit and tell the Bantu's that he had lifted Waku from his vow of non-violence. When Mabu tries to expose this hoax, Waku (who had been overhearing and fell for it) attacked him and defeated him in battle, throwing Mabu into a nearby bond fire. Lalei revealed it was she who was disguised as the spirit of Kaba. Realizing he had been deceived, Waku was prepared to jump into the bond fire himself. Lalei, unable to live without Waku, also decided to jump into the flames with him. However they were stopped by the true spirit of Kaba who made his presence known and told Waku that he was working through Lalei. He renounced Waku from his vow and Waku was crowned the new leader of the Bantu[1].
Lalei frequently involved herself in Waku's adventures during his time as tribal leader, often putting her into danger. When Waku's title of leadership was challenged by the warrior Rakatu, Lalei was briefly captured by the gorilla Gondo capture Lalei. However, Waku proved his superiority by defeating Rakatu in battle in hand to hand combat and Gondo returned Lalei to him[2]. Lalei was captured by two other would be usurpers of Waku's rule, the warrior Kom[3] and Zabo[4] in both cases she was rescued by Waku[5]. Later when the tribe is threatened with starvation thanks to a lava flow that cut off their water supply, Waku ventured off to free the water. He was opposed by Omando and Chomanchi who captured Lalei in order to eliminate Waku in order to take control of the tribe themselves, but Waku defeated them and freed the water from its naturally made dam[6].See Also
Links and References
References
- ↑ Jungle Tales #1
- ↑ Jungle Tales #4
- ↑ Jungle Tales #5
- ↑ Jungle Tales #6
- ↑ Waku story from Jungle Tales #7 goes here
- ↑ Jann of the Jungle #8