Black Panther (film)

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.

"You are a good man, with a good heart. And it's hard for a good man to be a king."

—King T'Chaka, to his son.

Black Panther is a superhero film produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, based on the Black Panther comics of the same name, and released in February 16, 2018 in the United States. It was directed and co-written by Ryan Coogler.

It tells the story of T'Challa (with Chadwick Boseman reprising his role)'s ascension to the throne of Wakanda after his father, the previous Black Panther, was killed in a bombing in Vienna (as shown in Captain America: Civil War). Once T'Challa returned back in his home country to ascend the throne, he, his friends, and family learns of a plot to ruin Wakanda, especially involving theft of Wakanda's most precious metal, Vibranium. He, along with old and new friends, must save Wakanda from their dark secret and an impending international crisis.

Black Panther won the BET Award for Best Movie. It was nominated for seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture, and won three for Best Costume Design, Best Original Score, and Best Production Design.

Tropes used in Black Panther include:
  • Asteroid Miners: This is a rare non-space version, after the asteroid filled with Vibranium landed in Africa, the latter became miners to take advantage of this special alloy. Eventually, forming a country that eventually became Wakanda in the process.
  • Advanced Ancient Acropolis
  • Amazon Brigade: The Dora Milaje is a played straight example.
  • Amplifier Artifact: Played straight with the Heart Shape Herb.
    • The Heart Shape Herb can also take away the Panther powers.
  • Animal-Themed Superbeing
  • Animal Motifs: Used very much with the Wakandan tribes:
    • The lion (Mining)
    • The panther (The Golden tribe).
  • Badass in Distress: Kinda averted. Nakia infiltrated and "pretended" to be one of the woman prisoners of the terrorist group.
  • Bad Guy Bar: Played straight. It's a wretched hive that no sane person would go in.
    • Averted. Since Everett Ross is also there to snag a bad guy and Stan Lee's awesome cameo.
  • Bald Women: All of the Dora Milaje, especially their general.
  • Bar Brawl: This ensues when Klaue was trying to escape from the bar, it also escalates into a Car Chase.
  • Battle Strip: Participants for the Duel to the Death (or yield) ritual are required to fight shirtless, except for bringing some armor and wearing a tribal mask.
  • Big Damn Heroes: The Jabari tribe. Later in the movie, they fished out a comatose T'Challa and brought him to safety.
    • The Jabari tribe shows up in the film's final climax to team up with T'Challa and friends.
  • Bilingual Dialogue : Xhosa, Wakanda's native tongue.
    • Makes characters like Nakia, the War Dogs, and a few other characters as polygots because of this.
    • Makes the movie seemingly bilingual at times, with subtitles.
  • Bloodless Carnage: In several scenes, When Killmonger slits the throat of one of the Dora Milaje, there's no blood.
    • Also, T'Challa stabbing him with the spear, there's no blood, not even spitting out of his mouth.
  • Bodyguard Babes: Played straight with the Dora Milaje, once again.
  • Bulletproof Vest: The Black Panther habits, especially the upgraded one that Shuri. Since it's laced with Vibranium.
  • Cain and Abel: T'Challa and Shuri's Abel to Erik "Killmonger" Stevens' Cain.
  • The Cameo: Stan "the Man" Lee makes a cameo as the "Thirsty Gambler" in the Hong Kong den.
  • Car Chase: As Ulysses Klaw and his cohorts make a speedy get away in the Hong Kong streets, T'Challa and co. chases them in hot pursuit.
  • Car Skiing: Both the heroes and villains done this, just to avoid hitting innocents or to escape from the heroes.
  • Cats Are Superior: Bast, the cat/panther goddess.
  • Character Title: Black Panther
  • Chase Fight: While Kluwe, Erik, and make their get away in Hong Kong, the heroes go after them in hot pursuit. Whizzing though the streets and fighting to capture Wakanda's Most Wanted.
  • Cloak and Dagger: Played straight with the "War Dogs". But Deconstructed with Prince N'Jobu, who shows that spying isn't glamorous and betrayed Wakanda.
  • Crystal Spires and Togas: Wakanda is more technological advance and enlighten compare to the rest of the world, especially 1st world countries.
    • Ulysses Klaw even states that the explorers/conquistadors are barking up the wrong tree, El Dorado is actually in Africa. Including the claim that Vibranium is used in clothing, food, and etc.
  • The Coats Are Off:In and the final the Battle of , Erik removes his coat. Only using his Panther Habbit.
  • Color-Coded for Your Convenience: T'Challa's Habit (Purple) is different from Erik's Habit (which has Yellow spots).
    • This trope is the reason one can tell the Wakandan tribes apart:
      • The Border Tribe's colors are blue with wooden grain-based textures.
      • The Golden Tribe uses black as their traditional colors.
      • The River Tribe's colors are green, with river and shell-based textures on their clothes.
      • The Mining Tribe's colors are red and orange.
      • The Jabari Tribe's colors are brown and white. Since their culture is agriculture and wood works.
      • The Merchant Tribe colors are purple.
  • Cool Starship: Wakanda has little versions of these, similar to the pin jet.
    • T'Challa's Royal Talon Flyer.
  • Cool Train: The Wakandan Maglev mining train is this.
  • Combat by Champion: This trope is what happens if the challenger yields, in this ritual duel to the death combat.
  • Come with Me If You Want to Live: Not word for word, but Nakia does this with Everett Ross.
  • Country of Illusion: All of Wakanda has an illusion for the rest of the world to see and that they're a Third World country, like the rest of Africa (saved Egypt). When actually, they're a First World country in a Up to Eleven sense.
  • Culture Clash: Wakanda's first encounter with Erik (and Ulysses's) North American ways are a villainous example.
    • Everett Ross is a good guy version.
  • Dark and Troubled Past: Erik Killmonger, whose father was killed in the beginning part of the movie by T'Chaka, who left Erik as an orphan and grew up in poverty in California.
  • Deleted Scenes: There's a few scenes that are cut, but were shown in the Blu-Ray, like:
  • Discredited Memes: Shuri loves these.
  • Domed Hometown: Wakanda became this, since they have a force field wall to protect and camouflage the whole city.
  • Duel to the Death: This duel is to determined which of the five tribes' representative will rule as the new Black Panther, unless the challenger yields.
    • Erik Killmonger came in and throw T'Challa over the waterfall, making him the victor. T'Challa survived this.
  • Easily-Conquered World: In their meetings, Wakanda politicians debate and worry about becoming this trope. Since they realize that there's a chance that the outside world will catch up to them, technological-wise.
  • Energy Absorption: The Panther Habit and any certain Vibranium clothes and weapons.
  • Everything's Better with Monkeys: The Jabari Tribe loves this trope. Justified, since they revere and worship gorillas.
  • Fantastic Flora: The Heart-Shaped Herb, which is native only to Wakanda.
    • The rhinos are domesticated and have strange markings/patterns.
  • Evil Counterpart: Erik Killmonger.
  • Fed to the Beast: M'Baku threatens to throw Everett to his "children." {spoiler|turns out he's joking and that him and the whole tribe are vegetarians}}.
  • Final Battle: The Battle of Mt. Bashenga.
  • Flashback: After swallowing the Heart-Shaped herb, T'Challa experienced a bit of a flashback were he talked with his father at the Accord Meeting.
    • The same happened with Erik, back in California when little Erik found the hidden Wakanda stuff. He shared some tender moments with his own father and talked about Wakanda.
  • Fumbling the Gauntlet: Averted. Killmonger knows everything about Wakanda, despite not being there, and prepares to Duel to the Death.
  • Gadget Watches: The Kimoyo Beads are all of this and more.
  • The Good Chancellor: Zuri, the Wakandan shaman.
  • Graceful Loser:The Border Tribe surrendered when they lost the Battle of Mt. Bashenga.
  • Good Cop, Bad Cop: Ross suggested this trope that he'll be the "good cop" interrogates Klaue, while T'Challa and his buddies do the "bad cop" part.
  • Good Colors, Evil Colors: T'Challa's purple and Erik's golden spots.
  • The Good King: T'Challa. T'Chaka was also regarded as this, until he died in Captain America: Civil War. Then his son step up to become king.
  • Hologram: These pop out in their advance bracelets, since the latter also functions like a smartphone.
  • Hover Board: Hover boards are here.
    • Shuri:It's like using a hover board!
  • Higher-Tech Species: The Five Tribes that formed Wakanda are this.
  • The High Queen: Queen Ramonda.
  • Holographic Terminal: Some the hi-tech stuff, like the bracelets, does this.
    • Other Wakandan tech are part of this trope as well.
    • The holographic car and The mini-jet that Everett Ross uses in the final battle are this and so much more.
  • Innocent Bystanders: Some of the Hong Kong bystanders began to take pictures with their smartphones, while T'Challa and Uyssues's are doing a smack down. Until, Ulysses reminds him of them that the bystanders are watching.
  • Kill It with Fire:Erik ordered that all of the Heart Shape herb plants be destroyed.
  • Kill the Ones You Love: T'Chaka kills his brother, Prince N'Jobu, for betraying Wakanda, by giving Ulysses some very special metals, falling in love with an North American "Outsider," and a few other things.
    • Erik Stevens has to shoot his girlfriend/partner-in-crime, Linda, to also kill Ulysses.
  • Legacy Character: The Black Panther title, which is passed down to the Wakandan ruler only.
  • Long-Lost Relative: Erik Stevens is a villainous Ur Example.
  • Luckily My Shield Will Protect Me: The Border Tribe's Vibranium-based capes can also function as force field shields.
  • MacGuffin: The spear, which Killmonger stole from the museum.
  • Magic Meteor: In the prologue, when the meteor which had Vibranium fell into Africa. The surrounding land, plants, and animals got powers and develop in strange yet fantastical ways. The Five warring tribes took advantage of this.
  • Magic From Technology: Some of Wakanda's scientific advancements are this or appear like this, especially to "Outsiders," like Everett Ross.
  • Magnetic Weapons
  • Masquerade: The Border Tribe is very good at making Wakanda appear as a run of the mill third-world African country.
  • Monumental Theft: Klaue and co.'s robbing the British Museum is this.
  • Mountain Tribe: All of the Jabari Tribe are this in spades, even shunning mainstream Wakandan society, Vibranium, and living in the snowy nearby mountains.
  • Noodle Incident: Nakia explains a bit that she made a mess involving poaches and ivory.
  • The Nicknamer: The Wakandan kids gave Bucky Barnes of "White Wolf."
  • No One Should Survive That: T'Challa survives falling off of a waterfall and freezing.
    • Killmonger manages to survive being speared into the heart, just long enough to see a Wakandan sunset and do his final request.
  • Origins Movie: The film expands on both the titular character, his family, friends, and all of Wakanda.
  • Orphan's Plot Trinket: Erik has a Wakandan ring of T'Challa's grandfather which he threads as a necklace of sorts.
  • Outside Context Villain: Erik Killmonger is this to some Wakandans.
  • Outlaw Couple: Both Eric Stevens and Linda.
  • Powered Armor: The Panther Habit.
  • Power Crystal: Up to Eleven. Since Vibranium can be used for different things (Besides weapons), like food, medicine, clothes, and other endless possibilities.
  • Praetorian Guard: The Dora Brigade.
  • Royals Who Actually Do Something: All the Black Panthers in the past and the current T'Challa.
    • Shuri isn't a slouch, either.
  • Running Gag: "He froze, like an antelope in front of headlights." And many other teasing and banters between T'Challa, Shuri, and Nakia.
  • Schizo-Tech: Wakanda's blend of old fashion African culture meets future tech is this.
  • Sequel Episode: To Captain American: Civil War and Avengers: Age of Ultron
  • Shockwave Stomp
  • Shoot the Hostage: Erik had to do this when Ulysseus took Linda hostage.
"Sorry."
—Linda
  • Shout-Out:
    • Killmonger's reaction to the Heart Shape Herb after consuming it. Is a shout out to his comic book counterpart, who can't even eat it, since Killmonger's body has a deadly reaction, hence why he made a clone of the plant.
  • Sibling Team: Shuri and T'Challa are this.
  • Sins of the Father: Turns out that T'Chalka has some things which he kept as a secret.
  • Snow Means Death: T'Challa was found in a hypothermia/coma state by some of the Jabari fishermen in somewhere near the freezing cold waters near the mountains, the Jabari's home.
    • Averted. Nakia, Shuri, and Ramonda uses snow to cover him up, while they're healing him with the Heart-shaped herbs.
  • Snowball Lie:T'Chaka chose to maintain Wakanda's lie, over his own brother and Erik's wellbeing and happiness. This snowballs into serious consequences which endangered Wakanda and the whole world's safety.
  • Space Clothes: Wakanda is a blend of this and various African cultural clothes.
  • The Spartan Way: According to Everett, Erik has this training as a Navy Seal and trained to be a Professional Killer, just to overthrow other governments and royalty. To Erik this was all just training to help him on his quest to kill off the Black Panther.
  • Spandex, Latex, or Leather: The Black Panther habit, especially when Shuri provided upgrades to the original suit, by giving updated versions of it.
  • Take That: To pan-Africanism, the worldwide movement that aims to strengthen bonds between indigenous Africans and the African diaspora. Like most pan-African leaders (Mugabe, Gaddafi, Idi Amin Dada), Killmonger is a brutal dictator with a lot of blood on his hands who seems to ignore that Africa and Africans are not a monolithic group of people while pushing an agenda which seems to be much more about putting him on the top of pyramid of power.
  • The Stinger: Bucky Barnes came out of an Wakanda hut and seemingly recovered/deprogrammed from being Brainwashed and Crazy. Tells the kids that were staring at him earlier to not call him "White Wolf."
  • Super Soldier: Similar to the Marvel comics, the Heart-Shape herb is used for the Black Panthers' Ascension ritual, granting them super abilities/heighten senses.
  • Talking to the Dead: The second part of ritual is to swallow the Heart-Shape Herb, then go to the spiritual realm, and get advise from the ancestors.
  • Tap on the Head: During the Battle of Mount Bashenga, T'Challa while fighting bump his head on some boulders and is briefly K.O.
  • Treachery Cover-Up: King T'Chaka, Zuri, and the Wakandan politicians hid the very deep details that Prince N'Jobu betrayed Wakanda, by giving Vibranium to Ulysseus Klaue, and such. Instead they said that T'Chaka's younger brother just disappeared and remains missing.
  • There Was a Door: Erik and co. did this to the place were Ulysses Klue was held and being interrogated.
  • Tribal Face Paint: Wakandans wear these.
  • Tron Lines: Some of the Vibranium clothes, like the Panther habits, and tech, especially the maglev train mining tracks are these.
  • Town with a Dark Secret
  • Thunderbolt Iron: Every weapon in Wakanda is this trope, because of the Vibranium there (Even that prosthetic arm which also functions as a weapon that Klaue uses).
  • Unfortunate Implications: According to one of the movie's producers, Nate Moore,

"We don't call him 'Man-Ape', we call him M'Baku. Having a black character dress up as an ape, I think there's a lot of racial implications that don't sit well, if done wrong. But the idea that they worship the gorilla gods is interesting because it's a movie about the Black Panther, who, himself, is a sort of deity in his own right."

  • Unusual User Interface
  • Watching the Sunset: What Erik wanted as a kid was to watch the Wakandan sunset, the Wakandan sunset was the last beautiful thing that he sees when he died.
  • What the Hell, Hero?: T'Challa asked this to his Father, when he returned back to the Ancestor/Heaven realm, because T'Chaka unintentionally created Killmonger.

T'Chaka: I chose a lie.

  • Withholding the Aid: Wakanda's Vibranium tech is so advance that it can be used for food and even heal spinal bullet injuries. Nakia and Erik criticizes Wakanda for not participating in foreign aid, knowing that Wakanda can do better than other first world countries in this department.
  • World War III: Killmonger wants to drag Wakanda... And the rest of the world into a global revolution.
  • Zipping Up the Bodybag: Erik showed proof that Klaue died, by unzipping the bodybag which shows the dead mercenary to W'Kabi and the Border Tribe.
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