Favorite Characters: Okoye (Black Panther)

The last Favorite Characters post I have from Black Panther for the time being, Okoye is certainly not least.  The Dora Milaje general is fierce, devoted, and formidable, fine qualities that any ruler would want at their side (Okoye-related spoilers.)

Okoye joins Black Panther characters like T’Challa and Nakia in generally being more serious than a lot of MCU characters, many of whom toss off one-liners as easily as they land punches.  Oh, she can be wry when she likes to, and when she shows off her smile, it’s dazzling.  But Okoye isn’t playing around.  No doubt she’s trained long and hard to get where she is, and she recognizes both the privilege and the responsibility of her position as the head of the Dora Milaje.  Whether she’s in battle, undercover, or chasing bad guys through city streets, she’s sharp and focused, singleminded in her aim of accomplishing her task for the sake of Wakanda.

Because more than anything, that’s what Okoye is about.  She’s a powerful badass with incredible fight moves, and it’s all in service to her country.  Not that she has no other priorities – she does, like her friends and her love, W’Kabi – but Wakanda will always come first.  It’s why, when T’Challa is bested by Killmonger and thought slain, Okoye and the Dora Milaje remain at Killmonger’s side instead of fleeing the city like Nakia, Shuri, and Ramonda to find a way to overthrow him.  Okoye’s life is governed by duty, and because T’Challa is seemingly killed according to the rules of ritual combat, she believes Killmonger’s claim to the throne is legitimate, and no matter how much she valued T’Challa as a person, she cannot circumvent her vow to serve the king, whoever that may be.

That’s one of the most intriguing aspects of Okoye to me, and her scene in the throne room with Nakia is one of my favorites of hers.  This idea that she’s just as torn up over T’Challa’s “death” as Nakia and the others, but she can’t allow her feelings to get in the way of her duty, and so she stays.  Nakia is horrified by Okoye’s stance, but I understand where it comes from.  And when T’Challa reappears and Okoye realizes the challenge was never completed, she’s able to invalidate Killmonger’s claim and lead the Dora Milaje to back T’Challa as their rightful king.  Even there, though, fighting for the king she both is sworn to and believes in, we again see her placing Wakanda about other, more personal concerns; she goes head to head with W’Kabi and is prepared to do what she needs to if he doesn’t back down.

Another facet of Okoye’s devotion to Wakanda is how its culture shapes her.  She takes pride in her country’s traditions and language, its weapons and customs.  Going undercover in South Korea, she loathes the wig she uses to cover her shaved head (which marks her out as a Dora Milaje,) and when her cover is blown, she discards it the first chance she gets, throwing it in the face of an opponent to obscure his vision.  She scoffs at guns, primitive weapons compared to her Vibranium spear, and she can stand on top of a car like she’s riding a chariot, solid as a statue as she bears down on her target.  Without a doubt, a warrior you’d want in your corner.

Relationship Spotlight: Okoye & T’Challa (Black Panther)

How cool is it that this superhero film features three major female characters (there’s Ramonda too, but her role is quite a bit smaller) who all have interesting and different relationships with the male lead?  We’ve already looked at T’Challa with his sister Shuri and his once-and-potential-future paramour Nakia; now, it’s time to see him with his loyal right hand, Okoye (T’Challa-Okoye-related spoilers.)

As the general of the Dora Milaje, Okoye spends a great deal of her time at her king’s side.  Whether it’s flying his plane, advising him on strategy, joining him on undercover missions, or leading the Dora Milaje to battle in his name, she is both highly capable and deeply devoted to her service.  She may not have the same careful hand for undercover work that Nakia or T’Challa do, but you’d be hard-pressed to match her skill or her boldness in a fight.  With her everpresent spear in hand, she’s a deadly foe, and she’s always ready and willing to do battle for the sake of Wakanda.

T’Challa trusts Okoye, his general, greatly.  That doesn’t mean he always takes the advice she gives him – such as their mission at the start of the film, where he goes in alone despite her counsel and she winds up dropping in anyway to save him at an opportune moment – but he’s pretty much always prepared to hear it.  He respects her insight and experience, and there’s something quite stirring about seeing a young king, who is himself skilled in both combat and strategy, consulting this trusted female warrior.  The film definitely establishes the ties between T’Challa and W’Kabi, but the comradeship T’Challa has with Okoye is demonstrated, almostly effortlessly, in every scene they share together.

(On a side note, it occurs to me that, while Okoye and T’Challa are often in the same fights, I don’t think we’ve really seen much of them actually fighting side by side.  There are always so many bad guys involved that their respective attentions tend elsewhere, and each ends up kicking ass in a different part of the fight/battle.  Given their different fighting styles – T’Challa’s graceful acrobatics and hand-to-hand combat, Okoye’s skill and power with her spear – it would be really fun to watch them fighting more alongside each other.)

But more than allies, more than a king and his loyal general, they’re also very genuinely friends.  T’Challa and Okoye are both more reserved than a lot of the characters in the film, and so they’re a good match, bringing a steadiness to the work they accomplish together.  They discuss strategy efficiently and well, but they have fun, too.  Okoye is definitely at her funniest with T’Challa, lightly teasing him about his feelings for Nakia or innocently playing it off when he good-naturedly chides her for having fun at Everett Ross’s expense.  While they make a strong team in a fight, there’s a history and a rich platonic regard backing that up.