Adopted brother of Wakanda’s King T’Challa and the leader of the Wakandan Secret Police, the Hatut Zeraze, Hunter, is an expert tracker and nicknamed the White Wolf.
Origin
When a plane crashes in the remote African nation of Wakanda, a husband and wife discover a Caucasian infant boy whose parents died in the crash. The husband fears the child and wants him killed, while the wife wants the child for herself. Bringing the infant to their liege, King T’Chaka, the monarch astounds his people by adopting the child as his son. T’Chaka names his son Hunter, and he grows to become a dutiful prince, learning combat and hunting at his father’s side. He achieves mastery of deadly combat at the age of six.
During Hunter’s adolescence, T’Chaka’s wife, N’Yami, dies giving birth to their son, T’Challa, who later becomes the Black Panther. Hunter resents T’Challa for N’Yami’s death and soon realizes T’Challa was T’Chaka’s favorite and heir apparent. Hunter then befriends T’Chaka’s new wife, Ramonda, a South African who sympathizes with his status as an outsider.
When Hunter enters adulthood, T’Chaka appoints him head of the Hatut Zeraze, AKA the Dogs of War, Wakanda’s secret police and Hunter takes the codename, White Wolf.
Espionage Agent
Hunter is an expert espionage agent, interrogation officer, tactician, hunter, and tracker. Hunter has extensive experience in armed and unarmed combat, particularly with knives and firearms.
As the White Wolf, Hunter wears a Vibranium-weave uniform that absorbs any impacts’ kinetic force, rendering him bulletproof. His gloves include claws, which he uses to scale most surfaces, and his the sole of his boots contain Vibranium alloy pads that can vibrate at various frequencies, allowing him to run up the sides of buildings, land soundlessly and without injury from heights of 50’, walk on water, or slice through metal. His uniform is fitted with cloaking technology, concealing it as normal clothes. He occasionally wields machine guns or a sniper rifle.
Adopted Allies and Enemies
Adopted as an infant and named by his adoptive father T’Chaka, Hunter learns everything from him, such as how to be a hunter and warrior of Wakanda. When his adoptive mother N’Yami dies in childbirth, giving birth to T’Challa, he immediately resents his new brother. Hunter resents him further for ascending to the throne, a right he thought was his. He did unspeakable things in the Hatut Zeraze, which led T’Challa to disband the group. Afterward, he fights T’Challa repeatedly, believing himself to be more worthy of the throne and the Black Panther mantle.
He allies with several terrorists to Wakanda, desiring that someone else would take out T’Challa to make room for his reign on the throne. Some of these threats included the unhinged Achebe and Ulysses Klaw.
A History of Suspicious Loyalties
T’Challa soon learned of the Hatut Zeraze and was disgusted by their brutal interrogation methods. When outsider Ulysses Klaw invaded Wakanda to exploit the nation’s Vibranium, T’Chaka was killed, promoting T’Challa to king. Although a fierce Wakandan patriot, Hunter believed T’Challa was unfit to assume his father’s role and began plotting a coup. One of Hunter’s men in the Hatut Zeraze, Derek Khanata, alerted T’Challa, and T’Challa had Hunter imprisoned and dissolved the Hatut Zeraze.
Hunter spent years in confinement until the madman Achebe engineered a coup, usurping the leadership in Wakanda while T’Challa was distracted. Achebe released Hunter and many of the Hatut Zeraze to occupy T’Challa. Hunter tracked T’Challa through Manhattan, attempting to goad him into authorizing Achebe’s assassination, but T’Challa refused to recognize the Hatut Zeraze as a legal authority.
After Achebe was driven from Wakanda, T’Challa returned Hunter to his cell. Hunter was soon released by T’Challa’s ally Everett K. Ross, acting as regent of Wakanda. With T’Challa’s role as Black Panther usurped by his nemesis Erik Killmonger, Ross hoped Hunter could help defeat Killmonger. Instead, Killmonger was rendered comatose after ingesting the heart-shaped herb needed to assume the Black Panther’s powers.
Still at large, Hunter revived Klaw and had him fire on a United States vessel, making Wakanda appear responsible. Hunter hoped by placing pressure on T’Challa, he could inspire him to be a better leader (or perish and make way for another one), but Klaw ultimately abandoned their alliance and was quickly beaten by T’Challa.
Hunter’s sources soon informed him that XCon—an international conspiracy of intelligence agencies—has supported Achebe in his coup and obtained King Solomon’s brass frogs. Using the brass frogs, they summoned future versions of Canada’s prime minister and the U.S. president, and then hypnotized the officials into serving XCon. Hunter eliminated the officers running XCon, taking over their plot, but the combined resources of Tony Stark, AKA Iron Man, T’Challa and Canada's Alpha Flight disrupted the plan and returned the future politicians to their place in the timestream.
Soon after, T’Challa retired from being the Black Panther due to a brain aneurysm. When police officer Kevin “Kasper” Cole began masquerading as the Black Panther in Manhattan, Hunter confronted Cole and offered his support, providing him with weapons, vehicles and intelligence, hoping Cole would flush out T’Challa. Cole did eventually find T’Challa and was torn for a time between Hunter and T’Challa’s influences, but ultimately became T’Challa’s protégé, and Hunter ceased assisting him.
After T’Challa abdicated the throne, destroyed the world’s supply of Vibranium, and left Wakanda, Hunter started killing women to draw him out. Eventually Hunter was trapped by T’Challa, the NYPD, and Sofija (Girl Wonder), and a confrontation between the two Wakandans followed. Before handing him over to the authorities, T’Challa defeated Hunter and told him that his country and family were done with him.
