Fictional character biography
The princess of Wakanda, Shuri is T'Chaka's youngest child and only daughter. From a very young age, Shuri coveted the Black Panther mantle. She attempts to challenge the then-Black Panther, her uncle S'yan, for the mantle, only to discover that he had already been defeated by her older half-brother T'Challa. [6] During an attack on Wakanda by Klaw and a group of his mercenaries, she uses the Ebony Blade to defeat the Russian Radioactive Man, killing him in the process. Because she is shell-shocked by her first kill, T'Challa promises to train her in hand-to-hand combat, enabling her to fight on her own terms should she ever need to take his place as leader of Wakanda. [7]
While T'Challa and his wife Queen Ororo are away as members of the Fantastic Four, American battleships aligned with Erik Killmonger moved in on Wakanda. With their King away, Shuri and her advisers decide to sneak onto the ships in the night and incapacitate them. During the raid Shuri is captured by Killmonger's men and thrown in a cell. She challenges Killmonger himself to a fight but, seeing her as beneath him, he sends a group of his men to battle her. She defeats them easily and is broken out of her cell by Zuri, one of T'Challa's advisers. [8] After T'Challa and Ororo leave the Fantastic Four and return to Wakanda, the Skrulls invade Wakanda as a part of Secret Invasion . Shuri and her uncle S'yan lead most of the Wakandan army on an assault against the invading Skrulls, while T'Challa and Ororo battle their leaders. [9]
Prince Namor of Atlantis attempts to recruit T'Challa for the Cabal, a secret council of supervillains run by Doctor Doom. He rejects the offer but is attacked by the various members, and is left in a comatose state. Queen Ororo nominates Shuri as his successor, and she successfully completes the various trials, granting herself access to the heart-shaped herb. However, when she consumes the herb, the Wakandan Panther God does not imbue her with the powers of the Black Panther, instead rejecting her due to her lifelong jealousy of her brother's mantle and her arrogance in its presence. [2] When the powerful villain Morlun threatens to annihilate Wakanda entirely, Shuri takes on the Black Panther identity and outfit anyway, and manages to both save Wakanda and resurrect her comatose brother. Through her humble act of self-sacrifice she earns the mantle of the Black Panther, and the Panther God grants her its accompanying powers. [3]
When a now powerless T'Challa discovers that Doctor Doom infected many Wakandan officials and advisers with nanites, he goes off in search of a way to stop him, leaving Shuri as acting ruler of Wakanda. [10] Shuri tracks down and fights Namor, trying to discover for herself what part he played in her brother's injuries. Together, T'Challa and Shuri discover that the infected Wakandans, calling themselves the Desturi, intend to stage a revolution, seizing power in Wakanda for themselves. [11]
With Doctor Doom's Desturi successfully overthrowing the incumbent Wakandan government as seen in the Doomwar storyline, he finds himself with access to the world's largest supply of vibranium. Shuri and a re-powered T'Challa, who were able to avoid infection from Doom's nanites due to their heightened senses, remain the only Wakandans not under Doom's control. They team up with Colossus, Nightcrawler, and Wolverine of the X-Men to regain control in Wakanda. They succeed, but Doom steals a large portion of the vibranium. Shuri travels the globe, attempting to destroy Doom's criminal network and recover the stolen vibranium. Doom uses vibranium's inherent mystical qualities to take control of all processed vibranium on the planet, and Shuri and the other heroes attempt to fight and stop him. They succeed when T'Challa uses Doom's own mystical ploys against him, rendering all processed vibranium on the planet inert. [12]
With Wakanda struggling economically as seen in the "Klaws of the Panther" storyline, Shuri travels to the Savage Land to meet with Ka-Zar and obtain a stock of natural vibranium present there. They are attacked by Klaw, who wants the vibranium for his own use. They defeat him, but a volcanic eruption caused by his sound waves covers the vibranium and renders it unobtainable. She tracks down other stockpiles in Madripoor and New York, but Klaw already has A.I.M. troops excavating both sites and fights ensue. Klaw had created a monster called M.U.S.I.C. using the vibranium, and intended to place it on an AIM space station to enslave the world. With help from various other heroes, including Wolverine, Spider-Man and Black Widow, Shuri is able to thwart his scheme. [13]
Following Namor's attack on Wakanda during Avengers vs. X-Men , Shuri declares war on Atlantis, despite her brother's protests. [14] The Wakandans virtually level Atlantis, leaving only a few Atlantean survivors. [15] In retaliation for Shuri's assault on Atlantis, Namor lies to Thanos’ agents by falsely telling them that the Infinity Gems were located in Wakanda. [16] After Wakandan troops were forced to retreat from a counterattack by Thanos’ army, Shuri learns from the Dora Milaje that T’Challa was in contact with Namor during the Wakandan/Atlantean conflict and that he allowed Namor into the Necropolis several times during the conflict. As a result, Shuri banishes T’Challa from Wakanda's capital city. [17]
During the 2013 "Infinity" storyline, it is shown that Shuri is the head of the Wakandan School for Alternative Studies. [18]
When Wakanda is attacked by the Cabal during the "Time Runs Out" storyline, Shuri sacrifices herself by staying behind in order to hold off Proxima Midnight so T'Challa can escape. [19] Her death is later confirmed when her spirit is seen among those of the past Black Panthers. [20]
As part of Marvel's 2015 branding All-New, All-Different Marvel, T'Challa is shown trying to revive Shuri's body. Shuri's soul had transcended to the Djalia which was a spiritual plane consisting of the entire memories of Wakanda. There Shuri trained under the tutelage of a griot spirit who had taken the form of her mother, Ramonda. As they trained the griot spirit shared the memories of not only Wakanda but also before the nation had formed. With the help of Manifold, T'Challa was able combine his technology and Manifold's bending of reality to bring Shuri's soul back to the physical plane. After her revival Shuri had been imbued with the power similar to that of the griot spirit. She had then been informed of the events taking place in her absence including the rogue Dora Milaje and the rebellion led by Tetu and Zenzi. Shuri had then set out to confront the rogue Dora Milaje and convince them to join forces with T'Challa in order to stop the rebellion and the march against the Golden City, which she was successful in doing. With the united power of Shuri, T'Challa, Manifold, the Dora Milaje and the forces of Wakanda, Tetu was defeated although Zenzi had escaped. As the rebellion came to an end Shuri joined Wakanda's council that had been established by T'Challa. [21]
