Everything You Need to Know About Black Panther’s Dora Milaje

Who are the Dora Milaje? The second Avengers: Age of Ultron trailer
features a black woman that looks an awful lot like the Wakandan
warriors known as the Dora Milaje. If you haven’t seen it, here are
some high res images of her.

It’s possible she could be someone else, like T’Challa’s youngest sister Shuri or the Asgardian Hela, but it seems very likely to be a Dora Milaje. So, who are they?

In the Marvel Universe there’s a hidden fictional city in Africa known
as Wakanda. It’s a highly advanced society and it’s spiritual leader is
known as “Black Panther“.
Right now it’s T’Challa and he sometimes fights as a superhero using
his enhanced strength, superior senses and fighting skills.

Here are some fast facts about the Dora Milaje:

1. The Dora Milaje (pronounced dora-meh-LAH-shay) is translated in English as “Adored Ones”

2. In the early appearances of Black Panther both male and female
warriors are shown fighting side-by-side for Wakanda. But, in the
1990s, Christopher Priest’s  Black Panther
“the Client” storyline established there is an elite all-female guard
that serve the king. It was later ret-conned that the Dora Milaje have
been around for decades. They even fought the Nazis, Namor and the Invaders
during World War II under the command of T’Challa’s grandfather King
Azzari the Wise.

3. The central city of Wakanda is surrounded by 18 tribes that often
war with each other. To bring unity the king would select an
exceptional young girl from each tribe to be his potential wife. These women are the best of the best.

4. While the women are supposed to be wives-in-training they’re not a harem.
It’s mainly a ceremonial position. Some of the girls understand this but a few
harbor romantic feelings for the king. However he doesn’t have sex with
them and is upset when he mistakenly kisses one of them. They aren’t Black Panther’s booty call.

5. It’s customary for the Dora Milaje to shave their heads and have tribal markings. This is the biggest clue that the black woman in the traileris a Dora Milaje. Some have speculated that she’s wearing cybernetic
implants, it’s more likely that she’s wearing African ornamentation.

6. While most of the Dora Milaje are nameless several have been named
like Okoye, Nakia (who later became the villain Malice) and Queen
Divine Justice.

7. At one point there were over 500 members of the Dora Milaje order and helped defend Wakanda during Marvel’s Civil War storyline. “Marvel has said that Black Panther will appear in Captain America: Civil War, so they may be there as well.

8. They are the fiercest and most accomplished female fighting team in
the Marvel Universe. They fought the master Russian assassin Black
Widow to a stand-still and almost defeated the Omega-Level potential mutant Storm (although
she wasn’t fighting at full strength), the underwater superhero Namor
and thousands of other warriors with ease.

These girls aren’t just
jungle fighters. They’re accomplished warriors who can fight in any environment.

There is an elite team of Dora Milaje known as “The Midnight Angels”.

9. They are highly skilled in a specialized form of martial arts, but
are also trained in various bladed weapons like swords, spears,
nun-chak, bo-staff and more.

10. Dora Milaje are trained to kill, but by Black Panther’s orders
they’ll limit themselves to maiming. These women do not mess around.

11. They are not wives of the king, but are bodyguards and soldiers.
When T’Challa was married to Storm they continued to be in his service
and were even placed under her command.

Did you learn anything about the Dora Milaje? Do you think they should be in Avengers: Age of Ultron? Who would you cast to play them?

Some images via Comic Vine, World of Black Heroes and Comic Book Religion
 

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