20 Most Important African Superheroes
We’ve had articles about Black superheroes before, but this time let me narrow the list down to African superheroes. These are heroes who come from Africa or are from fantasy countries that belong to the African region. Let’s even add African-inspired superheroes to this list. Here are 20 note-worthy African superheroes you should check out.
20. Oya/Adesuwa (Oya: Rise of the Orishas)
Adesuwa, the protagonist of the story, has the ability to transform into the warrior goddess, Oya, the Orisha of change. In this form, she has several strengths and powers. Adesuwa has the responsibility of keeping the doorway closed between the human world and the one of the Orishas. If the Orishas enter the mortal realm, they will cause destruction and havoc. In order to prevent the Orishas from crossing over, she must find the key to lock the door for good.
19. Elena (Street Fighter)
Representing Kenya in the video game Street Fighter, we have Elena. She appears in Street Fighter III: New Generation. She is mainly seen smiling and upbeat. She joined the tournament in order to meet and befriend new people. She also seems to be able to tell if the person in front of her has good or bad intentions. So, you can tell she’s one of the good guys in this tournament.
Elena was created when the development team decided they wanted a character hailing from Africa. They decided on a female fighter who would specialize in Capoeira, a martial art with Brazilian and African origins.
18. Doomfist (Overwatch)
Doomfist was born in a well-off family known for the prosthetic-technology company. He even heavily helped his family earn themselves a place in the world. While he was doing this, he used his off hours to train in traditional African fighting styles. He also added other foreign and modern fighting styles into his own combat. Due to being very good at fighting, he even competed in several martial arts competitions.
Unfortunately, he lost his right arm during the Omnic Crisis. While his company managed to replace his arm and even make him stronger, he was disqualified in almost all the competitions. He was later approached to become a mercenary so he would be able to use his talents in a new arena.
17. Enzo Kori-Odan (Aurion: Legacy of the Kori-Odan)
Enzo is the last surviving heir who belongs to the Kori-Odan family. His family has ruled over the city of Zama for several generations. He inherited his gear from previous kings of Zama to modify them so that he could use the equipment to its full potential. His most notable gear item is Urithi, his spear. The spear is equipped with its own unique Aurionite and is linked to his family’s history.
16. Kweku Ananse/Selasi Rockson (The True Ananse)
This is the story of Ananse, the trickster god, and how he became a crime-fighting superhero in modern-day Africa instead of following his legend. In this telling of his tale, the gods all had a single king, Odumankoma, who was the authority over them. Kweku Ananse is the spider god, and he is known to be incredibly crafty. He wanted to someday rule over all the other gods and wanted to prove himself worthy of the title of king.
He eventually got in trouble with the gods, and as punishment, he was sent to earth as a cursed statue. He stayed in that state for several years until Selasi Rockson saw the statue and broke the curse. Now, Anase dwells inside the boy and decides to use his abilities for good to regain his place in the sky kingdom.
15. Strike Guard/ Abolaji Coker (Vortex Comics)
Abolaji Coker is an undergraduate student coming from the University of Lagos. His university’s cultist, unfortunately, killed him. His body was then dumped in a pit. The pit miraculously happens to be the grave of an ancient deity, Ajagbeja, who offers to revive him on the condition that Ajagbeja can stay within him as an alter ego. He agrees, and the spirit world cracks open due to their deal. Now, it’s up to Abolaji and his newfound abilities to face the hoard of spirits that escaped.
14. Kwezi (Loyiso Mkize Art)
Kwezki is a 19-year-old boy who discovers he has powers. At first, he begins life as an anti-hero who is excited about this development in the big city but later realizes the importance of fighting for good and his cultural roots. Kwezki, like any boy his age, was trying to make it big in the city but later learns about his responsibility as someone who has abilities and can do good. The creator of the comics was hoping to create Kwezki as someone who could represent South African Youth.
13. E.X.O./ Wale Williams (E.X.O. – The Legend of Wale Williams)
This is a sci-fi superhero tale following the story of Wale Willaims. Wale is a young man living in the busy city of Lagoon whose life seemed pretty perfect and ordinary without any powers. However, he inherits the superpower suit once his father goes missing. The once peaceful life of Wale comes crashing down as he no goes on a quest to discover what happened to his father.
In addition to looking for his father, he decides to use his newfound powers for good. He saves the city from the attacks of the sociopath Oniku, the leader of the CREED.
12. Avonome / Hilda Avonomemi Moses (Comic Republic)
Hilda was born way back in 1937 in the village of Etunor in a settlement in Ighara, Edo state. She disappeared without a trace and suddenly reappeared in the present time without any memories. She has a shape-shifting companion and the power to see and bend spirits to her will. She gets adopted by Pastor P. Moses.
Her comic features her journey in this new timeline, how she makes friends and figures out how to belong. She learns more about her abilities and also about who she really is. In addition, there’s also a powerful enemy who is threatening to destroy the universe. So it looks like Avonome is the only one who can stand up to it.
11. Umzingeli: The African Bounty Huntress(Enigma Comix Africa)
The story follows the adventure of a girl named Umzingeli. She is a bounty hunter working for an underground government organization. Her job is to take down dictators, warlords, pirates, and corrupt politicians. She is definitely one hero that Africa needs.
10. Captain South Africa (Bill Masuku)
If America has Captain America, it isn’t really out there that there might be Captain South Africa, and there is! The creator Bill Masuku even said that the hero is a reference to the Marvel hero. Similar to the American hero who wears elements and colors of the American flag, Captain South Africa is designed the same way.
However, there are a couple of quirks unique to the African hero. First, this particular hero is a female, referencing a movement that empowers movement. In addition, instead of fighting crime with her fists, Captain South Africa would instead solve conflict through diplomatic words.
9. Hawi /Ement Legesse(Etan Comics)
One thing I love about African superheroes is how much creators like to inject how their people are proud of their culture. Hawi is another hero’s story that happens to be culturally rich. The story is a historical fantasy set in modern-day Ethiopia. A stranger kidnaps the mother of Ement Legesse on their first trip back to their city. Now, Ement must go on an adventure to rescue her mother.
Accordingly, the story is inspired by the Ethiopian Queen, Yodit Gudit, who is known for destroying the Axumite empire. The queen was nicknamed “Esato,” meaning “fire,” because she had several things burned down after she won wars.
8. Gentle/ Nexhno Abidemi (Marvel)
Gentle is the son of a Wakadan mother and a Russian father. Due to his heritage, he was rejected almost everywhere. Wakanda rejected him because he is an outsider, and the outside rejected him because he was a mutant. He was sent to Xavier Institute for Higher Learning once his mutant power emerged.
Due to traumatic experiences, his body would often get seizures. To ease this, Gentle’s body is covered in Vibranium tattoos so he will not kill himself. In school, he was placed under Storm’s guidance.
7. Azari T’Challa T’Chacka Evan (Marvel)
Azari is the son of both Black Panther and Storm, who was taken to safety by Iron Man during Ultron’s attack. Along with the other hidden children, he only heard about the Avengers through Tony’s stories.
An incident caused Ultron to learn about their hideout, and now the children, along with Iron Man and Vision, have to fight for their lives.
6. The Fifth Element/Quintessa (Foresight Comics)
Sometimes people forget important world issues when they are immersed in entertainment. The Fifth Elements tries to keep their reader updated and aware of the dangers of climate change. The fifth element follows the story of Quintessa, a 14-year-old superhero who wants to stop climate change. He mainly made the comic to keep Zambians aware that Climate Change involves them as well.
5. Shuri (Marvel)
Just because her older brother is the main hero doesn’t mean Shuri is any less of a hero. In fact, Shuri has been training to be the Black Panther for years and might have been able to become the Black Panther if her brother hadn’t joined the challenge anonymously. For this article. Shuri in the comics also inherited the powers of the Black Panther at some point in the comics.
4. Outrun (Guardians of the Globe)
While she may not look like it, Outrun is a superhero from South Africa. The Guardians of the Globe offered her a place on their team, and she quickly accepted. Early into her membership with the group, she got possessed by the villain known as Embrace. Embrace used her to infiltrate the Guardians of the Globe and feed information to the Order.
3. David Zavimbe/ Batwing (DC)
He is one of the Bat-themed superheroes that Batman has chosen to be part of Batman Incorporated. He and his brother Isaac were child soldiers for the Army of Dawn. Both of them were probably the most skilled in the army. However, an incident had Isaac murdered, and David had to run away.
He became a policeman in Tinasha, wanting to do good. Soon after Bruce announced his Batman Incorporated plan, he visited Tinasha and inducted David as one of the new members of his team. This is when David takes upon the name Batwing.
Due to being trained as a child, David is very skilled in martial arts. With the addition of the gadgets Batman provides him with as Batwing, he becomes quite the obstacle against superpowered foes. However, his martial arts isn’t the only thing that’s to be feared. His costume grants him the ability to fly due to the wings installed in it. As a police officer, we can also assume he was also given additional training.
2. Storm/ Ororo Munroe (Marvel)
Storm is well known for being one of the strongest members of the X-Men. Here are more facts about Strom’s heritage. Did you know she was born royalty? Storm was born to a princess from Kenya who had a relationship with an African-American photographer. She was raised in several cities due to the nature of her father’s job. However, her parents were killed in the middle of the Arab-Israeli conflict, making her an Orphan.
Having to survive on her own, Storm made it through becoming a thief through the usage of her mutant powers. Then, through pure coincidence, she runs into Professor X, who convinces her to join the X-Men. Agreeing to the deal, Strom is a leader figure to the younger mutants and develops her powers for the greater good.
Storm also acts as the first major female African hero in the Bronze Age of Comic Books.
1. Black Panther/T’Challa
Black Panther is actually a name shared by several heroes who have defended Wakanda. Whoever earns the title has the responsibility of ruling the country and making sure the different tribes of Wakanda are taken care of. Despite it being a heredity title, the one next in line must still earn it by defeating the previous Black Panther.
We’ll focus on T’Challa’s story alone. T’Challa was raised mainly by his father, and he was the next in line for the throne. However, his father was murdered without T’Challa being old enough to take over. As a result, his uncle passed the trails and became the Black Panther instead.
While T’Challa was in the middle of completing the trials, he met and fell in love with X-Men’s Storm before she joined Professor X. The two developed a romantic relationship but had to break up because of T’Challa’s desire to avenge his father’s death.
Eventually, when he returned to Wakanda, he completed the last bits of his trial by defeating the heads of the tribes of Wakanda and later beats his uncle for the title. Due to the world facing out of this world villains. The Avengers and other superhero groups recruited T’Challa to defend the earth. He had to stop his active membership in the Avengers to return to Wakanda and continue to look after his country.
T’Challa also reunites and marries Storm after some time. The two also would have a child who would possess both of their abilities.
