Erik Killmonger (Marvel Cinematic Universe)

Sorry, I guess it was a little too late back three days ago to do his birthday tribute but here I did.

Hated

6: Karli Morgenthau

5: Whiplash

4: Kro

3: Dar-Benn

2: Malekith

1: This stupid fucking goober named Todd

Favorites

12: Ego

11: Hela

10: Ultron

9: He Who Remains

8: Cassandra Nova

7: Vulture (Adrian Toomes)

6: High Evolutionary

5: Baron Zemo

4: Green Goblin

3: Thanos

2: Erik Killmonger

1: Loki

SPOILERS for those who haven’t watched Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

So this post is about both Namor and Killmonger, but it’s not about who is better and who isn’t, this post is about what their motivations and reasons were and why they did what they had to do… in other words, what drove them to do their villainous actions in the first place.

Let’s start with Killmonger. Erik Killmonger or N’Jadaka is the son of Prince N’Jobu, who was murdered by his brother, King T’Chaka, and instead of taking the young N’Jadaka with them, he left the kid to survive on his own, and he had to see his father dead with panther claw holes on his chest. Not only that, Killmonger’s mother died in prison for a crime she didn’t commit, thus leaving N’Jadaka as an orphan in the process. He served the military after graduating from MIT, became a cold-blooded mercenary, came in contact with Ulysses Klaue, but after rescuing him, he betrayed and kill him to enter Wakanda and took over when he defeated T’Challa. He then took the Heart-Shaped Herb, therefore becoming the Black Panther, and the next he does after this, he orders his subordinates to burn all the herbs so can rule eternally. Fortunately, T’Challa survived and fought against Killmonger to not only reclaim the throne, but to fix the mistakes his ancestors did, including his father T’Chaka. T’Challa then defeated Killmonger but he sympathized with his backstory, and let him see Wakanda’s sundown. T’Challa, even though he will get Killmonger incarcerated, he offered his cousin to heal his wound, but Killmonger preferred to die instead of bondage. However, because of the fact that he burned the Heart-Shaped Herb, T’Challa died from his illness, which lives Wakanda defenceless to Namor’s attack and Ramonda’s death.

So what were his motivations; Vengeance and Power. He was consumed by vengeance for what his uncle did to his father. He claims to fight for other black people, like his father wanted. However, unlike his own father, whose intentions were understandable, Killmonger’s were not well-intentioned as he was willing to kill his fellow black people for his selfish goals, like Zuri, his girlfriend Linda and Xoliswa, a member of the Dora Milaje. This proves that Killmonger is nothing but a power-hungry, hypocritical dictator who uses his father’s goals as a way to not only to gain control of Wakanda, but to cause pain and suffering as he endured in his childhood.

As with Namor, he was the son of Fen and an unnamed father, he was born as the firstborn King of Talokan, as due to the fact his mother and people consumed vibranium from a plant found in a cave by their shaman, which altered their physiology, making them able to breathe in water but no longer in air. Namor was born as the first Talokanil, but he had several mutations such as his pointed ears and wings of his ankle, it gave him the ability to breath both air and the water and living forever. After his mother died, she asked him to bury her in her old home due to her nostalgia, which he fulfilled without question. After arriving on land, he witnessed how the Spanish Conquistadors enslaved his people, therefore attacking the Conquistadors, gaining his name, Namor, as an inspiration from the phrase, El Niño sin Amor and K'uk'ulkan, the feathered serpent god. He spent centuries using the Vibranium to reshape Talokan alongside his people, he developed a hatred for humanity for what they did to his people. His misanthropy reached its apex when a machine made by Riri Williams, which is capable of discovering underwater Vibranium ores compromised the safety of Talokan and risked the exposure of his underwater kingdom. He requested the Wakandans to find Riri so he can kill her in order to protect Talokan. Sure they found Riri, and they took her along with Shuri, the latter who willingly came with Attuma and Namora to see Namor herself. Even though he was affable and kind to Shuri and showed her his kingdom and people, Namor later immediately warned her against protecting Williams, stating that he will destroy Wakanda first if they resist, while he proclaimed that the two nations were both affected by the aggression of other world powers, something he wasn’t totally wrong, as seen in the beginning of the film. After the Wakandans rescued both Shuri and Riri, which left two Talokanil dead, Namor strikes down Wakanda with his army, thus leading to many casualties, including Ramonda herself.

This left Shuri yearning for vengeance, which is why she became the Black Panther, to avenge her mother’s death. When she visited the Astral Plane for the first time, she didn’t saw her mother, nor her brother, but the very monster who invaded her home and the one responsible for T’Challa’s death, Namor’s attack on Wakanda which led to Ramonda’s death. Shuri was almost taking a path of vengeance as both her brother T’Challa (who wanted to avenge their father’s death by killing Helmut Zemo, his killer) and N’Jadaka. However, she later realized that vengeance was consuming both her and Namor, the same way T’Challa realized the same way, so he spared Helmut Zemo, just as Shuri spared Namor. Both siblings and Namor realized that vengeance can lead to more pain which would affect not only themselves, but their people as well, something N’Jadaka himself didn’t learn.

So what were Namor’s motivations and reasons for his villainy: Vengeance and his people. It’s true that both Killmonger and Namor lost their parents from different tragedies and became fueled with vengeance. The only difference is that while Killmonger’s motivations were just for power, Namor’s motivation was for the good of his people, that’s why he yielded to Shuri and made peace with Wakanda, not for himself, but for his people. Yes, he attacked Wakanda and killed Queen Ramonda, I’m not gonna deny it , but Namor’s intentions were noble as he cared and protected his kingdom and people, he was fueled with vengeance after witnessing his people being enslaved by the Conquistadors, which gave birth to his misanthropy. He stopped his goals of warmongering against the surface-dwellers after understanding that Shuri sympathized with his people, he even admitted that he deserved death after what he did to Ramonda, yet Shuri couldn’t fulfill her thirst for vengeance for the sake of Wakanda, the same way he did so, for the sake of his people.

Conclusion:

I liked both villains, and their motivations. However, I sympathize more with Namor’s motivations than Killmonger’s, as Killmonger’s motivations were just for the sake of power, Namor’s motivations were for the sake of his own people.