Black Panther Illustrations – Created by Yann Dalon
Tag: Nakia
okay, so everyone has set up the main rivalry in Black Panther as Killmonger vs T’Challa. And obviously that’s the main narrative structure of the story, not arguing with that. But I feel like from a purely character arc standpoint, the actual battle is Killmonger vs Nakia, and she obliterates him.
Erik Stevens is a CIA covert operative; basically, he’s a spy. So is Nakia. And when you look at their various actions through the lens of “who accomplished their mission better?”, it becomes pretty clear that Erik spent 20-some years preparing to destabilize T’Challa’s reign, including having inside knowledge and a birthright on his side…and Nakia spent roughly 36 hours successfully destabilizing his reign, in turn, with nothing but her incredible ability to network disparate resources.
Let’s just review her actions over those 36 hours okay:
– Gets the surviving members of the royal family successfully out of danger within seconds of the coup (aka the only living people with a competing blood claim to the throne aka the greatest threat to his regime)
– Sows enough doubt in the “greatest warrior in the country” about Killmonger’s ability to lead that when the time comes, Okoye and the entire Dora Milaje all defect (eventually saving hundreds of lives)
– Steals a heart-shaped herb from under his nose as he’s identifying it as the most important power resource in the country and trying to prevent it falling into anyone else’s hands, lol too late buddy
– Immediately identifies the person in the country with the best platform to mount a counter-insurgency (M’Baku), identifies what it will take to get him on their side, and casually resolves a centuries-long division in their country while she’s at it
– Correctly predicts Killmonger’s opening move of distributing vibranium to the war dogs, and assists in a comprehensive strategy that shuts it down cold–a strategy they wouldn’t have been able to use if she hadn’t gotten Shuri, Ross, and T’Challa all in one place with the right information at the right time
As soon as T’Challa is back she takes an immediate backseat again (she said it herself, she’s a spy, not the leader of an army), but, seriously, if you have to pinpoint the one person who took down Killmonger, it’s undeniably her. And she did it by clearly demonstrating that her skills as a war dog are miles ahead of his as a CIA agent (due in part, I’m sure, to being trained in a superior country, but also she’s Just That Good).
Yes! Erik’s real misfortune was coming up against a much better and smarter intelligence operative. She also gives the lie to the stereotypical spy narrative (embodied by Erik) that you have to be heartless and violent to achieve your ends. She is the moral center and touchstone of film, so filled with goodness it comes off her like a glow, but she kicks the ruthless Erik’s ass from Wakanda to Kinshasa.
Another thing Nakia was good at was identifying where the necessary resources weren’t, namely in herself. That was why she argued Ramonda out of the idea of taking it herself. It wasn’t self-effacement or modesty, it was a clear-eyed calculation of what it would take to win and the best chance was with M’Baku, not her.
And she did much of this while she thought the man she still loved was dead. She admits as much to Okoye, too. Think of how much sheer fortitude that took, to work through a grief like that to save your country. She is a hero and her heroism is no less amazing for not being flashy or center stage.
It’s also interesting and important to point out that, in moral views, she’s also a counter to Erik Killmonger. They contrast & compliment each other and are very much set up to be mirrors of the same cause. Killmonger believed in Wakanda using its vast & superior resources to liberate oppressed folk around the globe. He hated that a near utopian society existed while so many of their people and ancestors were left to suffer. This is what, in part, made Killmonger such a sympathetic villain. His means were wrong, but his ideas? He had the right ideas….W’kabi thought so too, thus why he took Killmonger’s side. It took Killmonger’s insurrection for T’challa to learn that lesson as well.
But it was a message Nakia had been preaching all along.
Let’s not forget that it was Nakia that first proposed the idea of ending Wakanda’s isolation. She refused to become a queen, she chose to remain a spy, because morally she couldn’t stand by while so many others suffered. In essence, Nakia and Killmonger mirrored each other in moral standing when it came to Wakanda needing to reach out and help their people. However, where Killmonger decided to kill relentlessly and take the throne, then find the solution in arming the oppressed to overthrow nations, Nakia valued life above all.
And you can say “Killmonger was right bc in the end, T’challa listened to him.” But did he listen to Killmonger, or did he finally listen to Nakia?
Some food for thought.
……..also while I firmly believe that T’Challa, Nakia, and W’Kabi went to the same schools that all children in the capital city attend (because Wakanda isn’t about to socially stratify its educational system—rich or poor, royalty or no, all children from all tribes attend the Wakandan schools) they also had a whole bunch of additional lessons. As royalty and de facto nobility, they were being raised with the expectation that they would one day rule, so they were stuck in lots of boring English/French/Mandarin lessons; lessons on the laws of Wakanda and the intricacies of the Council’s etiquette, etc.
And then, when they’re a little older they have combat and warcraft; statecraft lessons with the Dora-in-training, and this is when they meet Okoye. She’s a gawky teenager—taller than all of them, she had her growth spurt first—who scowls whenever they whisper or giggle in class. (She is not from the capital city, her Wakandan still accented; later they learn she traveled hundred of miles with nothing but her pack, just to come before the head of the Dora and throw herself on her knees, begging to be considered. She has sweat and bled for it, and she thinks they are not taking their duty to Wakanda seriously enough.)
Still, despite being stiff and disapproving, she’s smart, and fierce; the other Dora-in-training seem to look up to her and like her. (They also have gone disapproving and haughty when it comes to the Trio.) However, maybe a year into their lessons, the Dora-hopefuls play a hilarious prank on their Modern Politics instructor. It involved a jackfruit, a pun on the Wakandan word for colonialism, and their teacher’s inability to remember anyone’s names; it was extremely funny.
And T’Challa, Nakia and W’Kabi are floored when they discover it was Okoye who planned it—they didn’t think she had a sense of humor, or was capable of something like a prank, even if it was a hilarious and generally harmless.
They decide they like Okoye immensely, and she should be their friend. They put their heads together, and carefully plan charm offensive—behaving in class so she doesn’t glare at them, asking to sit with them and eat with them; inviting her to the market with them and encouraging her to tell stories. The Dora-hopefuls live in the barracks, so they cannot invite her to sleep in T’Challa’s rooms, the way W’Kabi and Nakia often do, but they would have her study with them there.
This, they think, is a good plan.
She looks spooked, the first time Nakia asks her to sit and eat with them in the gardens beyond the Dora training building. Okoye sits cross-legged and stiff, barely touches her food, her eyes darting around as though she is a trapped animal. When Nakia reaches out—just to indicate the tattoo on her shoulder, ask about its meaning, she was not going to touch her—Okoye flinches.
Friendly Reminder that Nakia is the true, unequivocal, and righteous hero of Black Panther. (insp)
that line from Okoye in Infinity War
holy fuuuuck i want to see M’Baku’s reaction to Wakanda taking part in the Olympics
he would hit. the. fucking. roof. t’challa would start hiding out in shuri’s lab because otherwise M’Baku would be lying in wait for him around every corner, ready to loom over him and bellow about the shame of it, the shame of participating in this disgraceful Western farce run by corrupt bureaucrats and denigrated by colonial governments who force their athletes to cheat, this abomination that achieves naught but squandered resources and the enrichment of the few at the expense of the many.
then when t’challa says that, ‘well, fine, I understand and respect your feelings brother, perhaps the Jabari could stage an act of peaceful protest by refusing to participate? :)’
and fucking smoke issues forth from M’Baku’s nostrils and his eyes turn blood-red and he roars at the top of his lungs that how dare T’Challa try to humiliate his people by suggesting that they not be counted among the top sportsmen in the world, there will be recompense for this insult!!!!!!!
and then he storms off and tells his best warriors to start training right the fuck now before he has them all flayed, and a few months later the Jabari have won gold medals in every event
‘pah. these trinkets mean nothing,’ says M’Baku, wearing seventeen of them
Ok but consider: Nakia wreaking absolute havoc on the Olympic Committee in a series of devastating board meetings and equally devastating outfits
What? You’re used to having indentured servants build the arenas because they have to work off their citizenship sponsorship? That’s cool, Wakanda will sponsor visas for literally all of them right now so we can pay them a fair wage and they can work for the civil service after the games. Oh we need to talk about the supposed ~issue~ of trans athletes? Don’t worry, Wakanda drafted legislation protecting trans and two-spirit people centuries ago, just sign here :)) sweetie :))) Yes Thank you we’ll take the IOC’s money the exit is this way
And you better believe they would not let those announcements happen in French. Like. I mean maybe Nakia would be nice about it to their faces but there’s no WAY they’re gonna make anyone listen to that colonizer language, so Shuri is in charge of tech for the games and OOPS something goes wrong with the microphones so that any French is automatically translated into Wakandan, sorry Mr President what a silly mistake I can’t i m a g i n e how that happened
Meanwhile the Dora Milaje have all won at least two medals each, except Okoye, who is nominally on guard duty with T’Challa but is actually watching Wakanda kick the world’s ass from the best seats in the stadium and cackling
Rebellions are built on hope 