Erik Killmonger

Latest revision as of 16:54, 22 February 2022

Erik Killmonger in Black Panther v4 #38.

Erik Killmonger is a male comic supervillain who features in Marvel Comics.

Biography

Killmonger in Jungle Action v2 #6.

N'Jadaka

It was said that his father was a nobleman of Wakanda. (Killmonger v1 #2)

He came to be list as one of the many abductees taken from Wakanda and thought to be lost in the outside world. (Rise of the Black Panther v1 #2) Afterwards, Klaue took the boy to South America where he named him Erik and decided to raise him to be an outlaw to serve him. (Killmonger v1 #2) Whilst in America, he learnt much of the criminal ways of his comrade M'Demwe who he later killed after being taught to be a murderer. (Killmonger v1 #1)

While at MIT, he saw the news when Wakanda under King T'Challa revealed the existence of the advanced nation to the world with Erik sensing this as an opportunity to return to his country. (Rise of the Black Panther v1 #3)

Upon graduating, he was widely sought out by various sectors of industry with Erik refusing as he claimed he desired his freedom to make his own choice of work rather than take the lowest paid form of employment. He then departed to Harlem in New York City where he began tracking Ulysses Klaw in order to kill him. He attempted to kill Klaw but was stopped by a woman named Knight. After being apprehended, he was introduced to the Kingpin who ordered his subordinate King to kill the young man. At first complying, King however felt there was potential in Erik and decided to recruit him into their team that worked missions for the Kingpin. (Killmonger v1 #1) They were sent to execute a group of people that had displeased Wilson Fisk with them succeeding on the assignment. However, Fisk came to be displeased by them and decided to pit them against his top enforcer Bullseye. King knew instantly that they were set up and though he initially agreed to the assignment in reality he intended for his crew to quickly escape. Before the could do so, they were tracked by Bullseye who killed Rook and targeted the rest of the team. (Killmonger v1 #2) They barely escaped with their lives as King decided to disband the group as they now could not operate in Kingpin's territory. Erik departed with Knight as the pair slept with one another as he wanted her to stay by his side. He was later captured by S.H.I.E.L.D. who had formed a deal with Knight whose real name was Patricia Jackson with them wanting her to betray King to them. (Killmonger v1 #3)

The dead body of Killmonger was recovered by Madame Slay where she preserved it with Wakandan herbs and kept a vigil over it. This was until one night she found the body missing where it had actually been secretly taken by the Mandarin. He came to place one of his rings of power onto the corpse and reanimated it thus bringing Killmonger back to life. Three days later, he returned to Wakanda and greeted the overjoyed Madame Slay whereupon he planned a rebellion to take the throne of Wakanda again. Using his spies, he staged an attack on King T'Challa during a visit from Tony Stark and made it seem that this was the work of foreigners. This seemingly led to the Black Panther's death where Killmonger blamed outsiders for the death of their king and pretended that he mourned the passing of T'Challa. This earned the love of the Wakandan people allowing Killmonger to be declared king through the support of his agents. Unknown to him, the Black Panther was actually a Life Model Decoy designed to draw out the masterminds of the conspiracy afflicting Wakanda. This led to Killmonger battling the still living Black Panther and his ally Iron Man. Through Madame Slay's actions, Iron Man was forced to leave the battle to save his good friend James Rhodes leaving the fight between Killmonger and Black Panther. Ultimately, T'Challa prevailed and defeated Killmonger whose body returned to being a corpse with the ring reanimating him returning to the Mandarin. (Iron Man Annual v1 #5)

Killmonger came to be active once again when Reverend Achebe had taken over Wakanda. In this time, T'Challa was missing leading to Everett Ross being appointed temporary regent of the country. Killmonger looked to try to usurp leadership of Wakanda by exploiting the economy. (Black Panther v3 #13)

Overview

Personality and attributes

When he operated initially as a mercenary he came to go by the code name of Pawn when part of one such group. (Killmonger v1 #2) A forgotten Wakandan deity later came to urge him to embrace the name Killmonger as he devoted himself to attaining vengeance. (Killmonger v1 #4)

M'Demwe had taught him to remember his anger as it would serve as his shield. His mentor told him to give his grief and fears to it as it would keep him alive. In those years, M'Demwe had taught him to distrust the outside world as it did not value people like them and that every outsider was an enemy. From his mentor, he learnt how to lie and ultimately was shown to be a killer under his tutelage. (Killmonger v1 #1)

As a young man, he was known to sleep with white women but came to resent them as he saw the West as colonizers. This stemmed from his childhood where his accomplice that took him in taught him to hate outsiders and not trust anyone not of Wakanda. (Killmonger v1 #1)

It was said that he had poison in his blood and an overwhelming sense of jealousy towards Prince T'Challa in the time they were growing up together. Killmonger believed that he deserved the throne of Wakanda which had only gone to T'Challa due to royal privilege. He claimed that T'Challa was no longer a Wakandan and that the garb of the Black Panther was simply a costume to the royal. (Iron Man Annual v1 #5)

Powers and abilities

Killmonger in his armor on the right in Black Panther v4 #37.

From his ally Sombre, he gained access to a mysterious device known as the Resurrection Altar located in Wakanda's Land of Chilling Mist. The device had crashed to Earth long ago and bathed those within it with quasar energies that could bring the dead back to life and even impart them powers. (Jungle Action v2 #12)

Notes

• Erik Killmonger was created by Don McGregor and Rich Buckler where he made his first appearance in Jungle Action v2 #6 (September, 1973).

Alternate Versions

• In Infinity Wars: Ghost Panther v1 (2018), an alternate world was created when Gamora using the Infinity Stones used its powers to merge various individuals with one another leading to Erik Killmonger being merged with Killraven to become Erik Killraven. In the merged setting, he was an inhabitant of Earth when it came under attack from the Martians who managed to conquer much of the world with the exception of Wakanda. His mother taught him of Wakanda to instil in him notions of freedom but this led to the young Erik resending the nation for surviving conquest. During these years, he was captured and experimented on by the Martians who used him in gladiatorial combat. This was until he managed to escape alongside other gladiatorial slaves who formed the Freemen.
• In Free Comic Book Day 2021: Avengers/Hulk v1 #1 (2021), an alternate version of the character called King Killmonger appeared to inhabit the Multiverse. This version had conquered both Wakanda and Asgard where he wore a suit of Destroyer Armor which was when he was recruited into the multiversal Masters of Evil.

In other media

Television

• In Avengers Assemble, Erik Killmonger appeared in the setting of the animated television series where he was voiced again by actor Keston John.
• In What If...?, Erik Killmonger appeared in the setting of the Disney+ animated television series set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe where actor Michael B. Jordan reprised the role.

Films

• In Black Panther, the character starred as the primary antagonist who was known as Eric Stevens who appeared in the live-action film set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe where he was portrayed by actor Michael B. Jordan. He was the son of an American woman and N'Jobu who was a prince of Wakanda and King T'Chaka's younger brother. His father was sent to America as a spy where he came to believe that black people were oppressed and intended to start a revolution. The family lived in an area in Oakland, California in the United States of America. To accomplish that, he began selling black market Vibranium as he intended to spread it around the world as a weapon leading to a confrontation with his brother where he was killed after it was revealed he was a traitor. Though aware of Eric's existence, King T'Chaka left the boy behind in America as he felt that bringing his slain brothers child would create chaos in Wakanda. A young Eric came into his apartment to find his father dead and swore revenge as he knew of his family heritage despite never having gone to Wakanda. When he grew up, he enlisted as an American black-ops soldier where he treated warfare as a game and racked up a large number of kills to the point that his nickname was Killmonger. This was all to prepare him for an eventual challenge for the throne of Wakanda.

Video games

• In Marvel: Future Fight, Erik Killmonger appeared as a playable fighter in the mobile video game where he was based on the MCU version.
• In Marvel: Contest of Champions, Erik Killmonger appeared as a playable fighter in the mobile video game where he was based on the MCU version.
• In Marvel Duel, Erik Killmonger appeared as a playable card in the setting of the mobile collectible card game.

Appearances

• Jungle Action v2: (1973)
• Iron Man Annual v1:
• Black Panther v3:
• Black Panther v4:
• Rise of the Black Panther v1:
• Killmonger v1:

External Links

• Marvel Database Entry
• Comicvine Entry
• Wikipedia Entry

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