title: Black Panther (character)

text: In 2005, Marvel began publishing "Black Panther" vol. 4, which ran 41 issues (April 2005 – November 2008). It was initially written by filmmaker Reginald Hudlin (through issue #38) and penciled by John Romita, Jr. (through #6). Hudlin said he wanted to add "street cred" to the title, although he noted that the book was not necessarily or primarily geared toward an African-American readership. As influences for his characterization of the character, Hudlin has cited comic character Batman, film director Spike Lee, and music artist Sean Combs.


title: Black Panther (character)

text: "Black Panther" vol. 5 launched in February 2009, with Hudlin, again scripting, introducing a successor Black Panther, T'Challa's sister Shuri. Hudlin co-wrote issue #7 with Jonathan Maberry, who then became the new writer, joined by artist Will Conrad. The Panther was also a featured player, with members of the Fantastic Four and the X-Men, in the Doctor Doom-based, six-issue miniseries "Doomwar" (April – September 2010).


title: Black Panther (character)

text: T'Challa then accepted an invitation from Matt Murdock, the superhero Daredevil, to become the new protector of New York City's Hell's Kitchen neighborhood. He became the lead character in "Daredevil" beginning with issue #513 (February 2011), when that series was retitled "Black Panther: The Man Without Fear". Under writer David Liss and artist Francesco Francavilla, he took on the identity of Mr. Okonkwo, an immigrant from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and becomes the owner of a small diner in order to be close to the people.


title: Black Panther (character)

text: A new "Black Panther" series written by Ta-Nehisi Coates and drawn by Brian Stelfreeze was launched in 2016 and continues to be published with Coates as the head writer.


title: Black Panther (character)

text: In 2017, the Africanfuturist writer Nnedi Okorafor wrote the series "Black Panther: Long Live the King".


title: Black Panther (character)

text: In February 2018, Christopher Priest, Don McGregor, and Reginald Hudlin each contributed one story to the "Black Panther" Annual #1. In May 2021, Marvel Comics announced the screenwriter and director John Ridley will write Black Panther comics.


title: Black Panther (character)

text: In July 2022 the limited series "Wakanda" was announced, written by Stephanie Williams and illustrated by Paco Medina, the series will have a backup series titled "History of the Black Panthers", written by Evan Narcisse and illustrated by Natacha Bustos. In August 2022, Marvel announced the one-shot "Black Panther: Unconquered", written by Bryan Edward Hill and illustrated by Alberto Foche.


title: Black Panther (character)

text: The Black Panther is the ceremonial title given to the chief of the Panther Tribe of the advanced African nation of Wakanda. In addition to ruling the country, he is also paramount chief of its various tribes (collectively referred to as the Wakandas). The Panther habit is a symbol of office (head of state) and is used even during diplomatic missions. The Panther is a hereditary title, but one must still earn it.


title: Black Panther (character)

text: In the distant past, a meteorite made of the (fictional) vibration-absorbing mineral vibranium crashed in Wakanda, and was unearthed. Reasoning that outsiders would exploit Wakanda for this valuable resource, the ruler, King T'Chaka, like his father and other Panthers before him, concealed his country from the outside world. T'Chaka's first wife N'Yami died while in labor with T'Challa, and his second wife Ramonda was taken prisoner by Anton Pretorius during a visit to her homeland of South Africa, so for most of his childhood T'Challa was raised by his father alone. T'Chaka was murdered by the adventurer Ulysses Klaw in an attempt to seize the vibranium mound. With his people still in danger, a young T'Challa used Klaw's sound weapon on Klaw and his men, shattering Klaw's right hand and forcing him to flee.


title: Black Panther (character)

text: T'Challa was next in line to be the king of Wakanda and Black Panther, but until he was ready to become the leader of the nation, his uncle S'yan (T'Chaka's younger brother) successfully passed the trials to become the Black Panther. While on his Wakandan walkabout rite of passage, T'Challa met and fell in love with apparent orphaned teen Ororo Munroe, who would grow up to become the X-Men member Storm. The two broke off their relationship due to his desire to avenge his father's death and to become the type of man who could suitably lead Wakanda, but they would see each other over the years when they could.


title: Black Panther (character)

text: T'Challa earned the title and attributes of the Black Panther by defeating the various champions of the Wakandan tribes. One of his first acts was to disband and exile the Hatut Zeraze—the Wakandan secret police—and its leader, his adopted brother Hunter the White Wolf. He sold off small portions of vibranium to scientific institutions around the world, amassing a fortune which he used to arm himself with advanced technology. Later, to keep peace, he picked "Dora Milaje" ("adored ones") from rival tribes to serve as his personal guard and ceremonial wives-in-training. He then studied abroad for a time before returning to his kingship.


title: Black Panther (character)

text: In his first published appearance, the now-adult T'Challa invites the American superhero team the Fantastic Four to Wakanda, then attacks and attempts to neutralize them individually in order to test himself to see if he is ready to battle Klaw, who had replaced his shattered right hand with a sonic weapon. For their part, the Four manage to rally and stymie T'Challa in a team counter-attack, enabling the impressed King to stand down and explain himself to the team's satisfaction. After the ruler makes proper amends to the Four, they befriend and help T'Challa, and he in turn aids them against the supervillain the Psycho-Man. T'Challa later joins the Avengers, beginning a long association with that superhero team. He first battles the Man-Ape while with the group, and then meets the American singer Monica Lynne, with whom he becomes romantically involved. He helps the Avengers defeat the second Sons of the Serpent, and then reveals his true identity on American television. He encounters Daredevil and reveals to him he had deduced Daredevil's true identity.


title: Black Panther (character)

text: After receiving numerous urgent official letters requesting him to return to his increasingly troubled homeland, the Panther eventually leaves his active Avengers membership to return to a Wakanda on the brink of civil war, bringing Lynne with him. After defeating would-be usurper Erik Killmonger and his minions, the Panther ventures to the American South to battle the Ku Klux Klan. He later gains possession of the mystical time-shifting artifacts known as King Solomon's Frogs. These produce an alternate version of T'Challa from a future 10 years hence, a merry, telepathic Panther with a terminal brain aneurysm, whom T'Challa places in cryogenic stasis.


title: Black Panther (character)

text: Later, while searching for and finding his stepmother Ramonda, the Panther contends with South African authorities during apartheid. T'Challa eventually proposes and becomes engaged to Monica Lynne, though the couple never marry.


title: Black Panther (character)

text: Years later, the Panther accepts a Washington, D.C. envoy, Everett K. Ross, and faces multiple threats to Wakanda's sovereignty. Ross assists him in many of these threats. In gratitude, the Panther often risks much for Ross in return. The first threat he and Ross encounter is "Xcon", an alliance of rogue intelligence agents backing a coup led by the Reverend Achebe. Afterward, Killmonger resurfaces with a plot to destroy Wakanda's economy. This forces T'Challa to nationalize foreign companies. Killmonger then defeats him in ritual combat, thus inheriting the role of Black Panther, but falls into a coma upon eating the heart-shaped herb—poisonous to anyone outside the royal bloodline, which had a hereditary immunity to its toxic effects. T'Challa preserves his rival's life rather than allowing him to die.


title: Black Panther (character)

text: Later, T'Challa finds he has a brain aneurysm like his alternate future self, and succumbs to instability and hallucinations. After his mental state almost causes tribal warfare, the Panther hands power to his council and hides in New York City. There he mentors police officer Kasper Cole (who had adopted an abandoned Panther costume), an experience that gives T'Challa the strength to face his illness, reclaim his position, and return to active membership in the Avengers, whom he helps secure special United Nations status.


title: Black Panther (character)

text: T'Challa recounts the story of his ascension as the Black Panther in the fourth volume of his eponymous comic book series. He defeated his uncle during the Black Panther celebration, and during his walkabout when he met and fell in love with a street urchin named Ororo in Cairo, Egypt. Unbeknownst to him the US government is planning a coup to get access to the vibranium. They allow Klaw to recruit a team of villains to support his totalitarian neighbor, Niganda. Klaw recruits Rhino, Black Knight, Batroc the Leaper, and Radioactive Man to lead the invasion. The US government then deploys an army of Deathloks to "support" T'Challa and justify an invasion, but T'Challa kills Klaw, and Storm wipes out the Deathlok army in a hurricane.


title: Black Panther (character)

text: T'Challa then helps his old flame Ororo Munroe reunite with her surviving family members in Africa and the U.S. Shortly afterwards, he proposes and the two are married, in a large Wakandan ceremony attended by many superheroes. One of the couple's first tasks is to embark on a diplomatic tour, in which they visit the Inhumans, Doctor Doom, the President of the United States and Namor the Sub-Mariner, with only the last one ending well. After the death of Bill Foster, the Black Panther and Storm side with Captain America's anti-registration forces. During the end battle between both sides, the Wakandan embassy in Manhattan is heavily damaged, though no Wakandans are hurt. After the confrontation, the Panther and Storm briefly fill in for vacationing Fantastic Four members Reed and Sue Richards before returning to Wakanda.


title: Black Panther (character)

text: Upon returning to Wakanda alone, leaving Storm in New York to aid the X-Men, Black Panther faces Erik Killmonger, defeating him with assistance from Monica Rambeau (a.k.a. Pulsar). Afterward, Wakanda fends off the alien shapeshifters the Skrulls, who had infiltrated as part of their "Secret Invasion" plan to conquer Earth. Prince Namor attempts to recruit T'Challa for the Cabal, a secret council of supervillains. Attacked by the forces of fellow Cabal member Doctor Doom, T'Challa is left comatose. His sister Shuri is trained as the next Black Panther, with the mantle passing onto her officially after T'Challa awakens from his coma and attempts to recover from his injuries.


title: Black Panther (character)

text: In the aftermath, T'Challa loses all of his enhanced attributes given to him by being the Panther totem. As a result, he works with his sorcerer, Zawavari, to accumulate a replacement. He has since made a pact with another unknown Panther deity, returning his attributes to an even higher level as well as placing incantations on his body, making himself highly resistant to most magic and mystic assaults. This has all been done in preparation for the imminent battle with Doctor Doom, which culminated in T'Challa rendering all of the processed vibranium inert to give his people a chance to rebuild without their dependence on the element.


title: Black Panther (character)

text: After the events of "Shadowland", Matt Murdock (the superhero Daredevil) asks T'Challa to replace him as guardian of Hell's Kitchen, which gives T'Challa a chance to discover himself. With the help of Foggy Nelson, T'Challa assumes the identity of Mr. Okonkwo, an immigrant from the Congo and manager of a diner called Devil's Kitchen, so that he can blend in and learn about the denizens as an ordinary man. He gets on well with two of the Kitchen's staff: Sofija, a migrant from Serbia who was formerly involved in violent Serbian nationalism, and the busboy, Brian. He also gets to know some of the neighbors from his apartment block: Mr. Nantakarn and his son Alec, as well as Iris, a social worker assigned to handle cases of child abuse.


title: Black Panther (character)

text: T'Challa finds himself up against an ambitious new crime lord, Vlad Dinu, who styles himself "the Impaler". He also seeks an understanding with the police through Detective Alex Kurtz. During an attempt by Vlad to terminate the Panther, Brian from the Devil's Kitchen is seriously injured by an energy blast from Vlad, and is reported dead. The conflict between Vlad and the Panther becomes more personal, especially after Vlad discovers the Panther over his wife Angela dead from a gunshot wound.


title: Black Panther (character)

text: T'Challa learns that Iris was the serial shooter who killed abusers of children—Gabe was abused secretly by Angela. Brian was kidnapped by his doctor, Dr. Holman, at the behest of Nicolae who wanted to use someone who received a dose of Vlad's power. After being subjected to torturous experiments, Brian lost the ability to think for himself but was rescued by Gabe who also stole the serum produced from the experiment meant to endow the recipient with Vlad's powers. The Panther obtains evidence of Vlad Dinu's crimes as well as clues to Iris as the serial shooter, and turns the evidence over to Kurtz. Vlad kills his own son Nicolae before being subdued by the Panther. Gabe is arrested for attempting to take Iris' life. Before being taken away, Gabe reveals to the Panther Brian's fate. Though aware of the Panther's identity as Mr. Okonkwo, both Iris and Sofija promise to keep silent.


title: Black Panther (character)

text: As he attempts to find Brian, T'Challa is pitted against Kraven the Hunter, who has been called in by Doctor Holman as she calls in a past favor Kraven owes her after she saved his life during a past hunt. With some help from a visiting Storm, T'Challa is able to stay ahead of Kraven long enough to lure him back to Doctor Holman's hospital and force her to admit that she cannot help Kraven with his death wish, convincing Kraven to abandon his current hunt for T'Challa and instead take her mutated animals to the Savage Land. During the war against the Serpent, T'Challa faces Josh Glenn, a disgruntled office worker who has become the new host for the essence of the Hate-Monger after T'Challa stopped him robbing a pawn shop. Glenn attempts to create a new nationalist vigilante, the American Panther, to oppose T'Challa, but T'Challa is ultimately able to exorcise the Hate-Monger from Glenn and the American Panther disappears.


title: Black Panther (character)

text: T'Challa investigates a serial killer that he identifies as his former adopted brother, White Wolf, trying to draw him into a confrontation in the belief that he can defeat T'Challa without the former king's enhanced weapons. T'Challa explicitly rejects Hunter, affirming that they abandoned him because of his cruelty rather than his adopted status.


title: Black Panther (character)

text: While transformed by the spider virus, T'Challa faces Overdrive and Lady Bullseye; T'Challa gains extra arms due to the infection. During the confrontation, he learns that the Kingpin is intending to go after the Bank of Wakanda, with the goal of forcing the Bank to foreclose its current debts by selling its remaining land rights so that they can be exploited for more conventional mineral wealth. With the aid of Sam Wilson and Luke Cage, T'Challa attacks Kingpin's allies in the Hand while Shuri infiltrates the Hand as Fisk's closes current confidant, Miyu, giving Shuri access to Fisk's financial databases. Shuri plants a worm in the database that exposes most of Fisk's illegal financial transactions, with a final backdoor worm that could expose and ruin what little resources Fisk has left if he ever tries to come after Wakanda again. Satisfied that he still has the confidence to defend Wakanda directly after this victory, T'Challa returns to Wakanda after a final talk with the returned Matt Murdock.


title: Black Panther (character)

text: Upon his return to Wakanda, T'Challa serves as a second to his sister, Shuri, who remains the kingdom's active ruler. In preparation for an upcoming attack on Wakanda as part of the "Avengers vs. X-Men" storyline, the Panther Goddess returns T'Challa's abilities. Empowered by the Phoenix, Namor destroys Wakanda with a massive tidal wave. Returning to help, Storm is stunned when the Panther informs her that their marriage has been annulled.


title: Black Panther (character)

text: After witnessing an alternate Earth over Wakanda being destroyed by the Black Swan, T'Challa reforms the Illuminati—with Beast replacing the now-deceased Charles Xavier—to confront the threat of the Incursions, parallel universes colliding with each other to the destruction of both. Although able to avert one Incursion with the Infinity Gauntlet, the subsequent destruction of the Infinity Gems forces the group to decide to resort to more questionable measures to protect Earth from future Incursions, wiping Captain America's mind so that he will not remember these events, allowing them to do "what needs to be done". Although equipped with planet-destroying weapons to protect Earth, the Illuminati mostly become disgusted with the wholesale slaughter, until Namor breaks off from the group to form a new Cabal of villains to do what the heroes will not. Despite Namor's Cabal achieving legitimacy as Earth's protectors, Namor grew weary of the wholesale slaughter they carried out in the name of preserving their universe. Although he collaborated with the Illuminati in a plan to destroy the Cabal by trapping them on the next Earth to be destroyed, Black Panther and Black Bolt left him behind to die with the Cabal, disgusted at his earlier actions, although Namor and the Cabal escape to the Ultimate universe when the other Earth has a simultaneous Incursion.


title: Black Panther (character)

text: When the final Incursion occurs during the 2015 "Secret Wars" storyline, resulting in all realities collapsing into one Earth, Black Panther is one of the few heroes to survive the Incursion in a specially-designed "life pod"—other survivors including Mister Fantastic, Star-Lord, Spider-Man, the new Thor, Captain Marvel and a Phoenix-enhanced Cyclops—although they are only released into the new world after an eight-year stasis. Retrieved by Doctor Strange, they learn that Strange has assumed a role of "sheriff" to Doctor Doom, who has appointed himself the god of the new "Battleworld" created from the multiple realities. Although Doom effortlessly kills Cyclops, Strange protects the other heroes by dispersing them across Battleworld, with T'Challa and Namor eventually discovering a new version of the Infinity Gauntlet that Strange collected, ensuring that the Gems he found would work in the location where Doom built his main fortress. Recruiting the residents of the deadlands as an army, T'Challa marches on Doom at the same time as multiple other areas rebel against him through the encouragement of the heroes, but admits when Doom confronts him that he was only intended as a distraction while Reed targets Doom's power source. As Reed takes Doom's power and sets out to rebuild the multiverse, T'Challa uses the Time Gem to take himself back to Wakanda before the Incursions, proclaiming to his people that they will lead the way to the stars and explore new ideas.


title: Black Panther (character)

text: During the 2016 "Civil War II" storyline, Black Panther represents Wakanda on the Alpha Flight Space Program's Board of Governors. He sides with Captain Marvel on needing help from an Inhuman who can predict the possible future named Ulysses Kain. Black Panther and Shuri take part in the fight against the Leviathon Tide.


title: Black Panther (character)

text: During Hydra's reign over America led by Arnim Zola, Baron Zemo and Steve Rogers, Panther is captured for opposing this regime, and brought into a containing room. Once Panther and Zemo are alone, Winter Soldier rescues Panther. Panther entrusts the unconscious Zemo to Winter Soldier, while trailing Rogers and Zola into the secret lab. Panther finds out that Zola infused a brainwashed Captain America with a Cosmic Cube using a stolen Stark tech modified by Zola himself, and warns his allies to retreat from a Cosmic Cube-powered Steve Rogers, but is too late. Even though one of the heroes knows they cannot defeat a Cosmic Cube-powered Supreme Hydra Rogers, Winter Soldier, Captain America (Sam Wilson) and Ant-Man (Scott Lang) trick Rogers by surrendering the last fragment of the cube to him. Winter Soldier and Ant-Man steal the cube from Rogers before he uses its full potential and bring back Kobik and the real Steve Rogers.


title: Black Panther (character)

text: After the defeat of Supreme Hydra Steve Rogers, Black Panther establishes his quest to go across the universe with his people, and found an Intergalactic Empire of Wakanda on Planet Bast, located in the Benhazin Star System.


title: Black Panther (character)

text: Black Panther later hosts a meeting with Arabian Knight from Saudi Arabia, Sabra from Israel, Sunfire from Japan, Collective Man from China, Captain Britain from the United Kingdom, and Ursa Major from Russia in the Eden Room of Avengers Mountain. The meeting has Black Panther proposing that they work together to protect the world from future threats. Sabra talked to Black Panther about the actions caused by Namor and the Defenders of the Deep. Losing his patience, Ursa Major started to get aggressive towards Black Panther. This caused Black Panther to have Avengers Mountain's teleportation system send Ursa Major to Siberia. Afterwards, Black Panther apologized and commented to the other representatives that he hoped that the Russian government would send Crimson Dynamo and that they sent Ursa Major on purpose. Black Panther concluded that they will not be getting any allies from Russia. He also gave a theory that the U.S. government will not be allies of the Avengers after mentioning that somebody else repelled the Defenders of the Deep from Alaska.


title: Black Panther (character)

text: Black Panther later infiltrates the Pentagon to confront Phil Coulson. When Coulson summons the Squadron Supreme of America, they plan to arrest him. Black Panther states to them that he does not know how they got their powers and that they are not the Squadron Supreme as he even asked if they trust Phil Coulson. Before they can grab him, Black Panther contacts Broo to teleport him away. As he disappears, Black Panther states that Phil Coulson will not answer their questions and that the Avengers are not their enemies unless they forced them to be.


title: Black Panther (character)

text: The title "Black Panther" is a rank of office, chieftain of the Wakandan Panther Clan. As chieftain, the Panther is entitled to consume a special heart-shaped herb which, in addition to his mystical, shamanistic connection with the Wakandan Panther Goddess Bast, grants him superhumanly acute senses, enhanced strength, speed, agility, stamina, durability, healing, and reflexes.


title: Black Panther (character)

text: He has since lost this connection and forged a new one with another unknown Panther deity, granting him augmented physical attributes as well as a resistance to magic. His senses are so powerful that he can pick up a prey's scent and memorize tens of thousands of individual ones. Following his war with Doom, T'Challa loses his enhanced abilities only to once again establish a connection with the Panther Goddess. In addition to the resurgence of his now-superhuman abilities, he is anointed "King of the Dead", granting him the power and knowledge of all the past Black Panthers as well as the ability to control the undead. After Battleworld and the resurgence of the Multiverse, T'Challa eventually showcased new powers in regards to his King of the Dead status, for not only could he reanimate the dead, but summon departed spirits into the physical world with tangible form as well. Using these spiritual energies also enables him to conjure a mystical spear of glowing blue energy to his hand.


title: Black Panther (character)

text: T'Challa worked with his sorcerer, Zawavari, to endow T'Challa with immunity to mystical attacks and detection in order to defeat Dr. Doom. When T'Challa's alchemical upgrade was tested by means of Wakanda's most powerful acolytes attacking T'Challa in unison, each mystical attack was absorbed and only served to strengthen T'Challa. During these preparations, T'Challa invented a potent mystical-scientific hybrid art called "shadow physics" and was able to use it to craft shadow weapons and to track vibranium on a quantum level.


title: Black Panther (character)

text: As king of Wakanda, the Panther has access to a vast collection of magical artifacts, advanced Wakandan technological and military hardware, and the support of his nation's wide array of scientists, warriors, and mystics. The Wakandan military has been described as one of the most powerful on Earth.


title: Black Panther (character)

text: He is a skilled hunter, tracker, strategist, politician, inventor, and scientist. He has a PhD in physics from Oxford University. He is an expert physicist, proficient in advanced technology, and is also an inventor. T'Challa has been granted the strength and knowledge of every past Black Panther.


title: Black Panther (character)

text: The chieftain of the Wakandan Panther Clan is one of the wealthiest people in the world, although financial estimates are difficult given Wakanda's isolation from the world's economy and the uncertain value of Wakanda's vast vibranium reserves and extremely advanced technologies.


title: Black Panther (character)

text: T'Challa is rigorously trained in acrobatics and hand-to-hand combat. He is skilled in various forms of unarmed combat, with a unique hybrid fighting style that incorporates acrobatics and aspects of animal mimicry.


title: Black Panther (character)

text: T'Challa's attire is the sacred vibranium costume of the Wakandan Panther Cult. In "Black Panther" vol. 3, writer Christopher Priest expanded the Panther's day-to-day arsenal to include equipment such as an "energy dagger", a vibranium-weave suit, and a portable supercomputer, the "Kimoyo card". In "Black Panther" vol. 4, writer Reginald Hudlin introduced such specialized equipment as "thrice-blessed armor" and "light armor" for specific tasks, and for a short while outfitted him with the Ebony Blade of the Black Knight. In "Black Panther" vol. 6, Ta-Nehisi Coates and Brian Stelfreeze introduced a new suit for T'Challa that allows him to absorb kinetic energy and redistribute it as energy bursts.


title: Black Panther (character)

text: The mantle of the Black Panther is passed down from generation to generation among the rulers of Wakanda although it must still be deserved through a severe selection involving the best warriors of the nation.


title: Black Panther (character)

text: Mosi is the Black Panther of 1,000,000 BC who appeared for the first time in "Marvel Legacy" #1 (November 2017). Mosi is part of the Avengers, along with Agamotto, Lady Phoenix, Odin, and prehistoric versions of Ghost Rider, Iron Fist, and Star Brand. The Stone Age Avengers defeated the Fallen and sealed it underground in what would become South Africa.


title: Black Panther (character)

text: Olumo Bashenga appeared for the first time in "Black Panther" #7 (January 1978) by Jack Kirby (scripts and drawings). Wise warrior at the head of the Panther Tribe, according to legends, during the tumult where the vibranium meteorite fell on the soil of the village, then composed of various warring clans, he gathered all the aforementioned under his guide to defeating the inhabitants transformed by the impact into fierce "demonic spirits", a company which has unified the nation by founding Wakanda and becoming its first ruler and the first to obtain the title of "Black Panther" as it tells of his "spiritual connection" with the Panther Goddess Bast that led to the foundation of the Cult of the Panther.


title: Black Panther (character)

text: During the 11th century, Nehanda was among the heroes of that time that became a member of the A.D. 1000's version of the Avengers.


title: Black Panther (character)

text: Chanda appeared for the first time in "Fantastic Four Unlimited" #1 (March 1993) by Roy Thomas (scripts) and Herb Trimpe (drawings). Black Panther and ruler of Wakanda during the Second World War, Chanda is the husband of Nanali and father of T'Chaka and S'Yan; distinguished by an excessively good and compassionate nature, he welcomed the Nazi colonel Fritz Klaue after he crashed into his reign due to a plane crash. Over time, the two make a kind of friendship and Klaue develops a strong obsession with the culture of Wakanda coming to try to convince them to make their religion deist rather than spiritist, which causes a strong friction between him and Chanda culminating in the death of Nanali by the Nazi and in its subsequent expulsion from the country.


title: Black Panther (character)

text: In several subsequent stories, T'Chaka's father (and husband of Nanali) is called Azzuri the Wise and is presented in a completely different way from Chanda, leaving doubt if it is only a sort of nickname or another character.


title: Black Panther (character)

text: T'Chaka appeared for the first time in "Fantastic Four" #53 (August 1966) by Stan Lee (script) and Jack Kirby (art). The eldest son of King Azzuri and Queen Nanali, T'Chaka inherits the throne and the title of the Black Panther on his father's death by being helped in his monarch duties by his younger brother and trusted adviser S'Yan. After having married a woman named N'Yami, believing she cannot have children, he adopts a child with her, Hunter; however, she later becomes pregnant and dies giving birth to her first child, T'Challa; from the relationship with a woman of another tribe T'Chaka then has a second son, Jakarra, and finally remarries with Ramonda, with whom he has his only daughter, Shuri. When Ramonda subsequently disappears into nothingness, leading him to believe that he has been abandoned, he raises his children alone. To protect the kingdom, T'Chaka instituted a policy of strong isolationism, but in the course of his life he often collaborated with agents of the U.S. government. He is killed by Ulysses Klaw after having surprised him when he was trying to illegally extract vibranium in his kingdom.


title: Black Panther (character)

text: S'Yan the Fast first appeared in "Black Panther" vol. 4 #2 (May 2005) and was created by Reginald Hudlin and John Romita Jr. The second son of King Azzuri and Queen Nanali, S'Yan is T'Chaka's younger and trusted advisor. Although he has no desire to reign, he agrees to ascend the throne after his brother's death until his nephew T'Challa becomes an adult and becomes one of the most beloved monarchs in the history of Wakanda. When T'Challa returns home and obtains the title of the Black Panther, he gladly returns to being a royal adviser. He dies during the war with Latveria defending Ramonda from the soldiers of Doctor Doom.


title: Black Panther (character)

text: In "Black Panther" vol. 3 #15 (February 2000), Erik Killmonger challenges and beats T'Challa in a duel for the throne, overthrowing him as king of Wakanda and taking on the role as the Black Panther. He becomes comatose after attempting to ingest the heart-shaped herb to acquire the Black Panther's powers, as he is not of royal blood. Killmonger's time as king is short-lived however, as he is killed by Monica Rambeau during T'Challa's attack to reclaim Wakanda.


title: Black Panther (character)

text: When T'Challa ends up in a coma because of Doctor Doom, Shuri becomes his substitute as the Black Panther and queen of Wakanda which, after the rise of her half-brother to "king of the dead" creates, for the first time in history, two avatars of the Panther Goddess.


title: Black Panther (character)

text: Fred Bluden of "Screen Rant" referred to Black Panther as one of the "greatest comic book heroes," asserting, "Black Panther is more than a superhero, he’s a king. As the leader of the incredibly advanced and highly private nation of Wakanda he has near-infinite financial resources, as well as access to technologies that are decades ahead of anything else in the world. Black Panther was created at a time when Black characters in mainstream comics were either sidekicks or racial stereotypes. As a technological genius, diplomat, statesman, and superhero, Black Panther helped to encourage the creation of other prominent black superheroes who were more than stereotypes. As a character, and a cultural milestone, his importance cannot be overstated."


title: Black Panther (character)

text: Jim Dandeneau of "Den of Geek" stated, "This is probably the definitive run of Black Panther. This is where Wakanda stopped being backstory and started being a living, breathing place, with geography and politics and history that all contributed to its depth and beauty. It’s also where a bunch of what’s going on the screen started: Priest introduced Everett K. Ross and the Dora Milaje almost immediately in his first issue. Priest had been separated from Marvel for several years before coming back to write this book under a separate, independent line within Marvel as the rest of the company went bankrupt around it. So, he was given a lot of leeway to write the story he wanted to, and what came out was one of the greatest runs on any comic ever. Priest’s Black Panther was funny, complex, smart, timeless and yet very much of its time." Chase Magnett of "Comicbook.com" included the "Black Panther" comic book series in their "10 best Black Panther comics of all time" list, asserting, "More than anything else, what "The Client" does best is set the table for what's to come. The initial five issues of a 60-issue run written by Priest, this story introduces a swath of new characters and concepts, infuses the story with humor, and prefects its non-linear storytelling. It is the Rosetta Stone for the best Black Panther series ever created, and incredibly entertaining to boot. Whether it's the introduction of the Dora Milaje or the hilarious, pantsless antics of Everett K. Ross, "The Client" offers everything you might want in a Black Panther or superhero comic."


title: Black Panther (character)

text: According to Diamond Comic Distributors, "Black Panther" #1 was the 27th best-selling comic book in February 2005.


title: Black Panther (character)

text: Tyler Huckabee of "IGN" included the "Black Panther" comic book series in their "10 Best Black Panther Comic Books" list, stating, "Reginald Hudlin’s run is more traditionally superhero-esque in nature than many other titles on this list, featuring costumed villains and super guest stars like the X-Men and Namor. It also introduces a number of characters who’ve become key players in the Black Panther’s life (like his sister Shuri) and tells what has now become the definitive origin story. It’s a good entry point into the Black Panther’s world, and contains some great art by the reliably terrific superhero comic book legend John Romita Jr. If you’re completely unfamiliar with the Black Panther and are just looking for an introduction to Wakanda, this is for you."


title: Black Panther (character)

text: According to Diamond Comic Distributors, "Black Panther" #1 was the best-selling comic book in April 2016.


title: Black Panther (character)

text: Alexander Jones of "Comics Beat" called "Black Panther" #1 "exciting and unique," saying, "This is another comic that immediately kicks things off with a recap page and events that are directly affected by previously established continuity. However, this is not necessarily a bad thing.  Like I mentioned, Coates said he aims to honor Black Panther’s history– not rewrite it.  Indeed, you don’t need to know much going into the book, as Coates deftly uses Black Panther’s past to welcome new characters to the family. Immediately upon opening the pages of "Black Panther #1", readers are going to be struck by Denny Mederos’ excellent design. The title page makes me think I’m looking at a Jonathan Hickman comic! This immediately sets "Black Panther"apart from some of the competition, and the reader hasn’t even reached the first page yet!" Jesse Schedeen of "IGN" gave "Black Panther" #1 a grade of 8.8 out of 10, writing, "After several years of ups and downs, Black Panther finally has the solo comic he deserves again. Coates and Stelfreeze build on the many stories that have come before to weave a tale about Wakanda in its darkest hour and a king who may not be up to the task of saving it. Whether you're a hardcore fan of the character or Captain America: Civil War has you interested in learning more about T'Challa, this comic has plenty to offer."


title: Black Panther (character)

text: According to Diamond Comic Distributors, "Black Panther" #2 was the 9th best-selling comic book in May 2016.


title: Black Panther (character)

text: Alexander Jones of "Comics Beat" called "Black Panther" #2 "opaque, but so beautiful," asserting, "One absolute I can say about "Black Panther #2" is that Brian Stelfreeze and Laura Martin are an artistic team without compare. Together, they make Wakanda seem vibrant and real. Every one of the many characters in this story feels as real as the last, and all the major players get very interesting costume designs. . The amalgamation of mystical and technological elements in T’Challa’s suit is noted and appreciated. This issue is bound to impress an open-minded Ta-Nehisi Coates fan, but his depiction of T’Challa needs more time to develop in order to win the hearts of everyone. Thankfully, Coates is committed, so we are too. This is still a comic that asks many questions.  Let’s hope the answers are just as satisfying as the mysteries themselves." Levi Hunt of "IGN" gave "Black Panther" #2 a grade of 8.8 out of 10, stating, "T'Challa is much more in the spotlight as he takes it upon himself to quell the growing unrest in his kingdom and finds that the problem isn't so easily put to rest. There's a clear attempt to humanize the character here, as Ta-Nehisis Coates explores T'Challa's kingly hubris and the massive pressures he faces. There's also a balance to the conflict that might just be this book's greatest strength. There's no real right and wrong or good and evil here, on;y various players with their own valid points of view. It's less a question of whether Wakanda can be saved than if maintaining the status quo is what's best for this troubled nation. But for all the lofty ideals at play here, this book also has plenty of visual spectacle with which to bedazzle readers. Brian Stelfreeze's lithe, burly interpretation of Black Panther and his captivating use of light and shadow make for one of the most visually distinctive Black Panther comics ever published."


title: Black Panther (character)

text: According to Diamond Comic Distributors, "Black Panther" #1 was the 5th best-selling comic book in May 2018.


title: Black Panther (character)

text: Oliver Vestal of "ComicsVerse" gave "Black Panther" #1 a score of 97%, writing, ""Black Panther" #1 made for a strong start to the series. Ta-Nehisi Coates uses thorough world-building to establish a plot and characters. Daniel Acuña uses a mix of blurry and clear details and a dark palette to reflect the tone of the issue. Overall, I am very happy with how this issue turned out. I went into this with high hopes. I’m sure I was not the only one expecting a lot after the "Black Panther" movie, and this comic lived up to those hopes. It established a new and interesting story and used telling art to help that story along. I have nothing but good feelings about future issues." Jesse Schedeen of "IGN" gave "Black Panther" #1 a grade of 8.6 out of 10, asserting, ""Black Panther" #1 is a promising start for this new era of Coates' run. It's certainly different enough from previous incarnations. And Acuna's art ensures that the book looks better than it has since Brian Stelfreeze was drawing it. Issue #1 gives readers a fresh start with the character while also offering plenty of incentive to stick around and see where this strange odyssey is heading."


title: Black Panther (character)

text: According to Diamond Comic Distributors, "Black Panther" #1 was the 10th best-selling comic book in November 2021.


title: Black Panther (character)

text: Hannibal Tabu of "Bleeding Cool" gave "Black Panther" #1 a grade of 8.5 out of 10, saying, "This John Ridley script is a rush of adrenaline and smarts all at once, with clever elements introduced along the way. T'Challa's secret balances both the old ways of Wakanda as personified by the White Wolf and the modern egalitarian Wakanda he's trying to build. Then there's the visual storytelling from Juann Cabal, Federico Blee, and Joe Sabino, which will tickle the fancy of fans of, well, any Marvel project featuring Sebastian Stan, basically. They feature a great Avengers fight scene (that also mixes in wonderful character work) with a gorgeous view of an evolving Wakanda. "A king's business is getting things done," T'Challa says at one point. With a great espionage-tinted take, this issue takes that business very seriously." Tim Adams of "Comicbook.com" gave "Black Panther" #1 a grade of 4 out of 5, saying, "Marvel's new era of Black Panther gets off to a captivating start. Whereas the previous volume by Ta-Nehisi Coates and Daniel Acuna primarily took place in the stars, John Ridley, Juann Cabal, and Federico Blue deliver the beginnings of an espionage tale. Marvel Stormbreaker artist Juann Cabal is quickly rising as a superstar artist after fan-favorite runs on X-23 and Guardians of the Galaxy. His work with Blee on Black Panther remains top-notch, and watching T'Challa balance his responsibilities between being the chairperson of the Avengers and ruler of Wakanda is even stressful for the reader. The main plot reveals some major secrets Black Panther has been keeping, which has those closest to him questioning his actions in an understandable way. Something I always enjoy with a first issue is an end-of-page teaser offering clues to future storylines, and this one has some juicy scenes of stories-to-come."


title: Black Panther (character)

text: In the 2013 "Age of Ultron" miniseries, Black Panther contacts the Fantastic Four and informs them that Ultron has invaded Earth with an army of Ultron Sentinels. Black Panther was later seen with Red Hulk and Taskmaster in Chicago spying on some Ultron Sentinels. When Taskmaster takes out a Sentinel that was sneaking up on him, alerting the other Sentinels, Red Hulk holds off the Sentinels while Black Panther and Taskmaster flee. During the mayhem, Black Panther falls several stories and breaks his neck, killing him instantly.


title: Black Panther (character)

text: The Bronze Tiger is the ruler of Wakanda and is named B'Nchalla; he is an amalgamation of the Bronze Tiger (DC) and the Black Panther (Marvel). A similar character (or perhaps the same character) called the Bronze Panther (also an amalgamation of the Bronze Tiger (DC) and the Black Panther (Marvel)) appears later.


title: Black Panther (character)

text: In the 1998–1999 limited series "Avengers Forever", Captain America and Goliath visit an alternate future timeline where Martian invaders have ravaged the Earth. An aged Black Panther leads this reality's version of the Avengers, who consist of Jocasta, Living Lightning, Killraven, Crimson Dynamo and Thundra.


title: Black Panther (character)

text: In an alternate reality where the Civil War between Iron Man and Captain America never ended, the Black Panther was killed alongside Maria Hill after activating Prison 42's self-destruct mechanism. He is succeeded by his son, Azari, who takes on the Black Panther name. It is later revealed that the Black Panther who destroyed Prison 42 was actually Queen Veranke of the shape-shifting alien race the Skrulls, who had stolen T'Challa's identity in order to manipulate and prolong the Civil War to suit her own needs.


title: Black Panther (character)

text: In the alternate universe of "Earth X", T'Challa has been affected by the mutative event that drives the plot. Like most of humanity, he is mutated; in this case to become a humanoid black panther. He is entrusted with the Cosmic Cube by Captain America, who knows that T'Challa would be the only one to resist using it and to never give it back if asked. In fact, Captain America does ask for it back and T'Challa is forced to refuse.


title: Black Panther (character)

text: An alternate version of the Black Panther, called simply the "Panther", is drafted into the interdimensional superhero team the Exiles. The Panther is the son of T'Challa and Storm and named T'Chaka, after his grandfather. Originating from Earth-1119, he was ambushed by Klaw while examining some ruins. Caught in Klaw's blast, the Panther was plucked out of time and placed on the team. Unlike the stoic 616-Black Panther, The Panther is a wisecracking flirt. After his assumed death on Earth-1119, his sister took up the mantle of the Black Panther.


title: Black Panther (character)

text: An alternate T'Challa later appears in the third "Exiles" series. His universe is still in the Wild West and he goes by King. He is a gunslinger equipped with vibranium clothing and bullets.


title: Black Panther (character)

text: The Black Panther appears in issues #1 and 6–7 of Marvel Comics/Fox Kids comic book series based on the TV show "".


title: Black Panther (character)

text: In "Infinity Wars", the Ghost Rider is fused with the Black Panther. Prince of Wakanda T'Challa was an arrogant boy who, because of his conflict with his father, was exiled from his place. He went to America where he found Jericho Simpson, who became his new father figure and gave T'Challa a new name as Johnny Blaze. During a stunt performance, he sensed his father T'Chaka dying and got distracted, which resulted in his own death. He was then revived by Zarathos, half-sister of Bast and offered to him powers in exchange of eating the souls of sinners. At first, he was reluctant, but when battling his father's killers, he accepted the offer, became the Ghost Panther and battled Erik Killraven (a fusion of Erik Killmonger and Killraven).


title: Black Panther (character)

text: In the Marvel 2099 continuity, a greatly weakened Wakanda is soon to be governed by its princess, Okusana. Fearing that she is not ready, she requests Doom's help in resurrecting Thandaza, her grandfather and a former Black Panther. Doom (who claims to have agreed to the proposal out of respect for T'Challa) and the Wakandan scientists revive Thandaza in a cyberbetic body made from vibranium, but the plan goes awry when Mkhalali, the current Panther Guard, opens fire on Thandaza, believing his resurrection to be an abomination. The attack throws off the calibrations and leaves Thandaza in a maddened state and constant pain, causing him to go on a bloody rampage. Doom is ultimately forced to kill Thandaza, who thanks him for ending his suffering.


title: Black Panther (character)

text: Black Panther was featured in the Marvel Knights 2099 one shots, which were not tied to the main 2099 continuity. A new Black Panther, K'Shamba, rose to fight and thwart the mounting invasions by the successor of Doom, named Lucian. While the victory over the new Doom appeared triumphant, the new Wakandan king was ultimately revealed to be a puppet of Doom.


title: Black Panther (character)

text: T'Challa appears in "Marvel Mangaverse Volume 2" as a man with a pet panther. When summoning the spirits, T'Challa and his panther combine to become the Black Panther. He also became the Falcon. This Black Panther found himself the object of affection of the Mangaverse version of Tigra. T'Challa's sister, T'Chana, reveals herself to be this universe's Doctor Doom.


title: Black Panther (character)

text: The Black Panther is, for the most part, one of the few uninfected superheroes in the alternate-universe series "Marvel Zombies", where he is kept as a food supply for the Zombie Giant-Man, who keeps the Panther imprisoned and cuts off various limbs so that he can maintain his intelligence via a ready access to fresh meat without infecting the Panther with the zombie "virus". Despite having lost half of his right arm and his left foot, the Panther escapes — with the severed head of zombified superheroine the Wasp in tow — and joins forces with the mutant group the Acolytes. While with the Acolytes, T'Challa briefly talks with his Earth-616 counterpart, where he expresses surprise at his marriage to Storm, but offers him all the information he can provide about the zombie plague. Decades later, T'Challa has married one of the Acolytes, Lisa Hendricks, and they have a son, with Forge having provided T'Challa with artificial limbs to compensate for his injuries. Facing retirement, the Panther is stabbed and critically wounded by an agent of an Acolyte splinter group, and the Wasp — now a willing ally after having lost her zombie hunger — zombifies the Panther in order to grant him continued existence. With the Wasp's help, he survives to the post-hunger stage himself and continues to lead his people, despite his status. Further internal betrayal leads the Black Panther and many of his allies to be tossed through the dimensions. He ends up involved with another Earth that is threatened by the zombie virus. His attempts to save this new planet fail and he is destroyed, leaving only one hand displayed as a trophy by his enemies.


title: Black Panther (character)

text: In the MC2 universe, the Black Panther has a son named T'Chaka II, who joined the A-Next as the Coal Tiger.


title: Black Panther (character)

text: In the "Mutant X" reality, the Black Panther had the appearance of a humanoid black panther. He is among the second wave of heroes who died fighting the Beyonder.


title: Black Panther (character)

text: In the alternate reality Ultimate Marvel imprint, the Black Panther is T'Challa Udaku, a young man who is experimented on in the Weapon X program before being liberated by Nick Fury.


title: Black Panther (character)

text: T'Challa, the younger son of King T'Chaka of Wakanda, is severely injured during the "Trial of the Panther" from which the protector of the nation is selected. His older brother M'Baku finds T'Challa bloodied, mute, and near death but derisively calls him a fool for attempting the trial. Later, M'Baku adds that he, not T'Challa, should have taken the trial. Angry that his father has decided to share Wakanda's technology in exchange for America's help in saving T'Challa's life, M'Baku leaves the kingdom.


title: Black Panther (character)

text: To save T'Challa, T'Chaka turns him over to the Weapon X program. Over a year later, a healthy T'Challa, in his full Black Panther garb, has enhanced speed, strength and night vision and a healing ability. Additionally, he can summon short, cat-like adamantium claws from his knuckles by balling his hands into fists. T'Chaka becomes outraged upon learning that S.H.I.E.L.D. (who had shut down Weapon X and freed T'Challa) now considers his son an asset of the U.S. and S.H.I.E.L.D. He subsequently sends M'Baku a letter, claiming that M'Baku, not T'Challa, is the titular "favorite son", and he implores M'Baku to return.


title: Black Panther (character)

text: Fury has Captain America train and mentor the Panther, who reveals his damaged throat. Captain America, sympathizing for the Panther's plight, encourages Fury to place the Panther in the superhero team the Ultimates. This turns out to be a ruse in which Captain America impersonates the Panther, allowing T'Challa to escape and return home to Wakanda.


title: Black Panther (character)

text: On an unnamed alternate Earth where King Killmonger conquered Wakanda and Asgard, one baby version of T'Challa was placed into a rocket and was shot into outer space to protect him from being killed by King Killmonger. He landed on the planet Chandilar of the Shi'ar Empire. Years later, T'Challa was operating as Sky Spider where he saved an alien from King Killmonger's mercenaries called the War Panthers after the alien got thrown out a window. Sky Spider claims that the War Panthers are marauders and mercenaries who do not deserve the Panther name. Sky Spider fights the War Panthers as King Killmonger attacks the village from his ship. Many tomorrows later, T'Challa is on the trail of King Killmonger as Vibranium Man complete with the Dora Milaje A.I. and attacks a War Panthers ship. When he finds the one that King Killmonger is on, Vibranium Man goes on the attack as he claims that his suit flows with the blood and spirit of the fallen Wakandans. King Killmonger called him a second-rate Tony Stark as he mentioned that his armor was forged by the gods that fell before his axe as he throws Vibranium Man off his ship quoting "Wakanda Nevermore". Three days later, Robbie Reyes, his Deathlok companion, and Ant-Man of Earth-818 find Vibranium Man in a solid Vibranium cocoon in an active star. After the cocoon is removed from the star, T'Challa comes out with the powers of the "white-hot heavens" as he takes the name of Star Panther where he will use his new abilities to kill King Killmonger.


title: Black Panther (character)

text: Chadwick Boseman portrayed T'Challa / Black Panther in media set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. This version displays enhanced speed, agility, strength, and durability, which he gains from ingesting the heart-shaped herb, as in the comics. Additionally, his suit has retractable claws and is made of a Vibranium weave, which can deflect heavy machine gun fire and withstand explosive attacks. T'Challa appears in the live-action films "", "Black Panther", "" (2018), and "" (2019). Following his death, Boseman posthumously voices three alternate timeline versions of T'Challa in the first season of the Disney+ animated series "What If...?"


title: Black Panther (character)

text: Black Panther appears in the 1984 role-playing game "Marvel Super Heroes". He also appears in all subsequent updates and versions.


title: Black Panther (character)

text: Serial Box Publishing will produce an audio serial starring Black Panther as part of a partnership with Marvel, titled "Marvel's Black Panther: Sins of the King".


title: Typhoon-class submarine

text: The Typhoon class, Soviet designation Project 941 "Akula" (), is a class of nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines designed and built by the Soviet Union for the Soviet Navy. With a submerged displacement of 48,000 tonnes, the Typhoons are the largest submarines ever built, able to accommodate comfortable living facilities for the crew of 160 when submerged for months on end. The source of the NATO reporting name remains unclear, although it is often claimed to be related to the use of the word "typhoon" ("тайфун") by General Secretary Leonid Brezhnev of the Communist Party in a 1974 speech while describing a new type of nuclear ballistic missile submarine, as a reaction to the United States Navy's new .


title: Typhoon-class submarine

text: The Russian Navy cancelled its Typhoon modernization program in March 2012, stating that modernizing one Typhoon would be as expensive as building two new s. With the announcement that Russia has eliminated the last R-39 Rif (SS-N-20 "Sturgeon") SLBMs in September 2012, only one Typhoon remained in service, "Dmitry Donskoy", which was armed with the more modern RSM-56 Bulava SLBM. According to one source, it remained in service until July 2022, when it was reported decommissioned. However, other sources suggested that she remained operational and that a final decision on her fate would not be taken until the end of 2022. In December it was then confirmed that "Dmitriy Donskoi" would, in fact, be decommissioned.


title: Typhoon-class submarine

text: Besides their missile armament, the Typhoon class featured six torpedo tubes designed to handle RPK-2 (SS-N-15) missiles or Type 53 torpedoes. A Typhoon-class submarine could stay submerged for 120 days in normal conditions, and potentially more if deemed necessary (e.g., in the case of a nuclear war). Their primary weapons system was composed of 20 R-39 (NATO: SS-N-20) ballistic missiles (SLBM) with a maximum of 10 MIRV nuclear warheads each. Technically, Typhoons were able to deploy their long-range nuclear missiles while moored at their docks.


title: Typhoon-class submarine

text: Typhoon-class submarines featured multiple pressure hulls which simplifies internal design while making the vessel much wider than a normal submarine. In the main body of the sub, two long pressure hulls lie parallel with a third, smaller pressure hull above them (which protrudes just below the sail), and two other pressure hulls for torpedoes and steering gear. This also greatly increases their survivability – even if one pressure hull is breached, the crew members in the other are safe and there is less potential for flooding.


title: Typhoon-class submarine

text: The Typhoon class was developed under Project 941 as the Russian "Akula" class (Акула), meaning shark. It is sometimes confused with other submarines, as Akula is the name NATO uses to designate the Russian Project 971 "Shchuka-B" (Щука-Б)-class attack submarines. The project was developed with the objective to match the SLBM armament of s, capable of carrying 192 nuclear warheads, 100 kt each, but with significantly longer range. To accommodate this increase in range, Soviet SLBMs were substantially larger and heavier than their American counterparts (the R-39 Rif is more than twice as heavy as the UGM-96 Trident I; it remains the heaviest SLBM to have been in service worldwide). The submarine had to be scaled accordingly.


title: Typhoon-class submarine

text: In the early 1990s, there were also proposals to rebuild some of the Typhoon-class submarines to submarine cargo vessels for shipping oil, gas and cargo under polar ice to Russia's far flung northern territories. The submarines could take up to 10,000 tonnes of cargo on-board and ship it under the polar ice to tankers waiting in the Barents Sea. These ships – after the considerable engineering required to develop technologies to transfer oil from drilling platforms to the submarines, and later, to the waiting tankers – would then deliver their cargo world-wide.


title: Typhoon-class submarine

text: Six Typhoon-class submarines were built between 1976 and 1985. Originally, the submarines were designated by hull numbers only. Names were later assigned to the four vessels retained by the Russian Navy, which were sponsored by either a city or company. The construction order for an additional vessel (hull number TK-210) was cancelled and never completed. Only the first of these submarines to be constructed, "Dmitriy Donskoy", is still in active service with the Russian Navy, serving as a test platform for the Bulava (SS-NX-32) missile. "Arkhangelsk" (TK-17) and "Severstal" (TK-20) remain in reserve, not currently active with the Russian fleet. All the R-39 missiles have been retired. The Typhoons have been replaced by the Borei class since 2010-2011.


title: Typhoon-class submarine

text: In late December 2008, a senior Navy official announced that the two Typhoon-class submarines, TK-17 "Arkhangelsk" and TK-20 "Severstal", that are in reserve would not be rearmed with the new Bulava SLBM missile system. They could however be modified to carry cruise missiles or to lay mines, or could be used in special operations. In late June 2009, the Navy Commander-in-Chief, Admiral Vladimir Vysotskiy told reporters that the two submarines would be reserved for possible future repairs and modernisation. In May 2010, the Navy Commander-in-Chief reported that Russia's Typhoon-class submarines would remain in service with the Navy until 2019. In September 2011, the Russian defense ministry decided to write off all Project 941 "Akula" nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines until 2014. The reasons for decommissioning the Typhoon-class vessels are the restrictions imposed on Russia by the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty and successful trials of new Borei-class submarine.


title: Typhoon-class submarine

text: Despite being a replacement for many types of submarines, the Borei-class submarines are slightly shorter than the Typhoon class ( as opposed to ), and have a smaller crew (107 people as opposed to 160). These changes were in part designed to reduce the cost to build and maintain the submarines. In addition, the United States and Canada provided 80% of funds for scrapping the older Typhoon-class submarines, making it much more economical to build a new submarine.


title: Typhoon-class submarine

text: However, according to other sources at the Russian defence ministry, no such decision has been made; in that case, the submarines would remain with the Russian Navy.


title: Typhoon-class submarine

text: In 2013, the state-run RIA Novosti news agency announced that the Navy would scrap two Typhoons, beginning in 2018. They were the TK-17 "Arkhangelsk" and TK-20 "Severstal". As of 2017, the decision about the scrapping of TK-17 and TK-20 was still not certain.


title: Typhoon-class submarine

text: On 20 July 2022, it was reported that "Dmitriy Donskoy" was withdrawn from the Russian Navy. This appears to be an earlier-than-expected decommission date, as it was previously stated that the submarine was expected to remain in service until 2026 as a weapons test platform. However other sources suggested that a final decision on the boat's fate had yet to be made.


title: Typhoon-class submarine

text: Probably the best-known fictional Typhoon-class submarine is the stealth-equipped "Red October", the subject of the Tom Clancy novel "The Hunt for Red October" and its 1990 movie adaptation, starring Sean Connery as the fictional Captain Marko Ramius.


title: Typhoon-class submarine

text: The 2001 documentary "Mission Invisible" about the Russian submarine "Severstal" was produced by Corona Films for Discovery Channel with the participation of ZED, France 5, ZDF, RTBF, TV5 Monde and the Scottish Screen Fund.


title: Typhoon-class submarine

text: In 2008 National Geographic released a documentary about the scrapping of one of the Typhoons in the series "Break It Down". This boat is TK-13, which was scrapped in 2007–2009.


title: Kristi Noem

text: Kristi Lynn Noem (; née Arnold; born November 30, 1971) is an American politician serving as the 33rd governor of South Dakota since 2019. A member of the Republican Party, she was the U.S. representative for from 2011 to 2019 and a member of the South Dakota House of Representatives for the 6th district from 2007 to 2011. Noem was elected governor in 2018 and is South Dakota's first female governor. During the 2018 election, she was endorsed by then-president Donald Trump.


title: Kristi Noem

text: Kristi Noem was born to Ron and Corinne Arnold in Watertown, South Dakota, and was raised with her siblings on their family ranch and farm in rural Hamlin County. She has Norwegian ancestry. Noem's father was killed in a farm machinery accident. Noem added a hunting lodge and restaurant to the family property. Her siblings moved back to help expand the businesses.


title: Kristi Noem

text: Noem graduated from Hamlin High School in 1990, and was the South Dakota Snow Queen. She attended Northern State University from 1990 to 1994, but left college early to run the family farm after her father's death. Subsequently, Noem took classes at the Watertown campus of Mount Marty College and at South Dakota State University, and online classes from the University of South Dakota. She completed her degree in political science at SDSU in 2012 while serving in Congress.


title: Kristi Noem

text: In 2006, Noem won a seat as a Republican in the South Dakota House of Representatives, representing the 6th district (comprising parts of Beadle, Clark, Codington, Hamlin, and Kingsbury counties). In 2006, she won with 39% of the vote. In 2008, she was reelected with 41%.


title: Kristi Noem

text: Noem served for four years, from 2007 to 2010; she was an assistant majority leader during her second term. During her tenure, Noem was the prime sponsor of 11 bills that became law, including several property tax reforms and two bills to increase gun rights in South Dakota. In 2009, she served as vice chair of the Agriculture Land Assessment Advisory Task Force. Senator Larry Rhoden chaired the task force and later served as her lieutenant governor.


title: Kristi Noem

text: In 2010, Noem ran for South Dakota's at-large seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. She won the Republican primary with a plurality of 42 percent of the vote against South Dakota Secretary of State Chris Nelson and State Representative Blake Curd. Her primary opponents endorsed her in the general election.


title: Kristi Noem

text: Noem's opponent, incumbent Democratic U.S. Congresswoman Stephanie Herseth Sandlin, emphasized her own record of independence from the Democratic caucus, including her votes against health care reform, the Wall Street bailouts, and the cap-and-trade energy bill. In response, Noem repeatedly highlighted Herseth Sandlin's vote for Nancy Pelosi as Speaker of the House. During the 2010 election cycle, Noem outraised Herseth Sandlin, $2.3 million to $2.1 million. Noem defeated Herseth Sandlin, 48 to 46 percent.


title: Kristi Noem

text: The 2011 House Republican 87-member freshman class elected Noem as liaison to the House Republican leadership, making her the second woman member of the House GOP leadership. According to "The Hill", her role was to push the leadership to make significant cuts to federal government spending and to help Speaker John Boehner manage the expectations of the freshman class. In March 2011, Republican Representative Pete Sessions of Texas named Noem one of the 12 regional directors for the National Republican Congressional Committee during the 2012 election campaign.


title: Kristi Noem

text: After being elected to Congress, Noem continued her education through online courses. "The Washington Post" dubbed her Capitol Hill's "most powerful intern" for receiving college intern credits from her position as a member of Congress. She earned a B.A. in political science from South Dakota State University in 2012.


title: Kristi Noem

text: On March 8, 2011, she announced the formation of a leadership political action committee, KRISTI PAC. Former South Dakota Lieutenant Governor Steve Kirby is its treasurer. Noem was among the top freshman Republicans in PAC fundraising in the first quarter of 2011, raising $169,000 from PACs.


title: Kristi Noem

text: Noem has said that the U.S. needs an "all-of-the-above energy approach" that includes renewables like wind and ethanol while still realizing the need for a "balanced energy mix" that ends American dependence on foreign oil.


title: Kristi Noem

text: Noem supported the Keystone XL Pipeline and supports offshore oil drilling. She co-sponsored three bills that she argued would reduce American dependence on foreign oil by ending the 2010 United States deepwater drilling moratorium in the Gulf of Mexico and reopening sales on oil leases in the Gulf and off the coast of Virginia. In 2011, she sponsored a measure to block Environmental Protection Agency funding for tighter air pollution standards for coarse particulates.


title: Kristi Noem

text: Noem opposed a bill introduced by South Dakota Senator Tim Johnson that would designate over of the Buffalo Gap National Grassland as protected wilderness. She supports the current designation of the land as a national grassland. She pointed out that the land is already managed as roadless areas similar to wilderness and argued that changing the land's designation to wilderness would further limit leaseholder access to the land and imperil grazing rights.


title: Kristi Noem

text: From 2013 to 2015, Noem served on the House Armed Services Committee, where she worked on the 2014 National Defense Authorization Act. Her appointment to the committee was seen as a benefit to South Dakota's Ellsworth Air Force Base. In March 2011, Noem was critical of President Obama's approach to the NATO-led military intervention in the 2011 Libyan civil war, calling on him to provide more information about the U.S.'s role in the conflict and characterizing his statements as vague and ambiguous. Obama has since called the Libya debacle the "worst mistake" of his presidency.


title: Kristi Noem

text: Noem opposes the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) and has voted to repeal it. Having unsuccessfully sought to repeal it, she sought to defund it while retaining measures such as the Indian Health Care Improvement Act, the provision allowing parents to keep their children on their health insurance plan into their 20s, and the high-risk pools. Noem wanted to add such provisions to federal law as limits on medical malpractice lawsuits and allowing patients to buy health insurance plans from other states. She supported cuts to Medicaid funding proposed by Republican Budget Committee chairman Paul Ryan. A study found that this action would reduce benefits for South Dakota Medicaid recipients by 55 percent.


title: Kristi Noem

text: Noem supported President Donald Trump's 2017 Executive Order 13769 that suspended the U.S. refugee program for 120 days and banned all travel to the U.S. by nationals of seven Muslim-majority countries for 90 days. She said she supported a temporary ban on accepting refugees from "terrorist-held" areas, but "did not address whether she supports other aspects of the order, which led to the detention of legal U.S. residents such as green-card holders and people with dual citizenship as they reentered the country" in the aftermath of the order's issuance.


title: Kristi Noem

text: In 2017, Noem was on the conference committee that negotiated the passage of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which she touted as giving the average South Dakota family a $1,200 tax cut.


title: Kristi Noem

text: In 2018, Noem was reported to have "pitched the idea to members of the conservative House Freedom Caucus" to attach her online sales tax bill to the government funding package as part of an omnibus. A court case under consideration in the South Dakota Supreme Court involved requiring "certain out-of-state retailers to collect its sales taxes." Noem said that South Dakota businesses (and by extension businesses nationwide) "could be forced to comply with 1,000 different tax structures nationwide without the tools necessary to do so", adding that her legislation "provides a necessary fix."


title: Kristi Noem

text: Noem has called the budget deficit one of the most important issues facing Congress. She cosponsored H. J. Res. 2, which would require that total spending for any fiscal year not exceed total receipts. She cited the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Veterans Affairs, Medicaid, high-speed rail projects, cap-and-trade technical assistance, and subsidies for the Washington Metro rapid transit system as examples of federal programs where she would like to see cuts.


title: Kristi Noem

text: In 2011, Noem indicated that she would vote to raise the federal debt ceiling, but only if "tied to budget reforms that change the way we spend our dollars and how Washington, D.C., does business. It won’t just be a one-time spending cut." She ultimately voted for S. 365, The Budget Control Act of 2011, which allowed then-President Obama to raise the debt ceiling in exchange for spending cuts to be decided by a bipartisan committee. She also said she wanted to eliminate the estate tax, lower the corporate tax rate, and simplify the tax code. She said she would not raise taxes to balance the budget.


title: Kristi Noem

text: On November 14, 2016, Noem announced that she would run for governor of South Dakota in 2018 rather than seek reelection to Congress. She defeated South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley in the June 5 Republican primary, 56 to 44 percent, and Democratic nominee Billie Sutton in the general election, 51.0 to 47.6 percent.


title: Kristi Noem

text: On November 12, 2021, Noem announced that she was running for reelection as governor. On November 17, 2021, State Representative Steven Haugaard announced that he was running for governor against Noem. On February 1, 2022, House Democratic Minority Leader Jamie Smith announced he was seeking the Democratic nomination for governor.


title: Kristi Noem

text: Noem was sworn in as governor of South Dakota on January 5, 2019, the first woman in that office in the state.


title: Kristi Noem

text: Noem is anti-abortion. She has the support of the anti-abortion group Susan B. Anthony List and has said she intends to maintain her 100% anti-abortion voting record.


title: Kristi Noem

text: Noem has signed several bills restricting abortion, saying that the bills would "crack down on abortion providers in South Dakota". She also said, "A strong and growing body of medical research provides evidence that unborn babies can feel, think, and recognize sounds in the womb. These are people, they must be given the same basic dignities as anyone else."


title: Kristi Noem

text: Following the overturning of "Roe v. Wade", South Dakota became one of the first states to enact trigger laws banning abortions. In an interview on CNN's "State of the Union", Noem defended South Dakota's abortion ban, which only allows exceptions in cases in which the mother's life is in danger. When asked about the case of the 10-year-old child abuse victim who traveled from Ohio to Indiana in order to receive an abortion, Noem said that she would not support changing the law to allow exceptions for victims of rape, explaining that she does not "believe a tragic situation should be perpetuated by another tragedy."


title: Kristi Noem

text: In response to protests against the Keystone Pipeline, Noem's office collaborated with the energy company TransCanada Corporation to develop anti-protest legislation, which Noem signed into law in March 2019. The law created a fund to cover the costs of policing pipeline protests. Another law was passed to raise revenue for the fund by creating civil penalties for advising, directing, or encouraging participation in rioting. The Pine Ridge Indian Reservation banned Noem from their grounds as a result. The Indigenous Environmental Network, Sierra Club, and other groups challenged the laws in suits, arguing that the laws violated First Amendment rights by incentivizing the state to sue protesters. In 2020, Noem brought additional legislation to repeal sections of the previous bill and clarify the definition of "incitement to riot".


title: Kristi Noem

text: In July 2020, after Noem's 26-year-old daughter, Kassidy Peters, was denied a real estate appraisal license, Noem summoned to her office Sherry Bren, a state employee who had directed South Dakota's Appraiser Certification Program for 30 years. Additional attendees included Peters, Noem's chief of staff Tony Venhuizen, Department of Labor Attorney Amber Mulder and Labor Secretary Marcia Hultman. By telephone the group was joined by the governor's general counsel, Tom Hart, and a lawyer from the state's Department of Labor and Regulation, Graham Oey. A week later, Hultman demanded Bren's resignation. Bren repeatedly, but unsuccessfully, tried to resolve the issues short of resigning, eventually filing an age discrimination complaint. She received a $200,000 settlement as part of a nondisclosure agreement to withdraw her complaint and leave her position.


title: Kristi Noem

text: Noem's spokesperson Ian Fury characterized the allegations as an example of how Noem cuts through "bureaucratic red tape". Noem responded to a public airing of the charges by writing, "Listen I get it. I signed up for this job. But now the media is trying to destroy my children" and "This story is just another example of the double standard that exists with the media... going after conservatives and their kids while ignoring Liberals." Fury contended, "The Associated Press is disparaging the Governor's daughter in order to attack the Governor politically – no wonder Americans' trust in the media is at an all-time low."


title: Kristi Noem

text: After the Associated Press published a story about the incident, the State Senate's Government Operations and Audit Committee was delegated to investigate the situation. The attorney general, Republican Jason Ravnsborg, was tasked with providing guidance to the legislature as to their deliberations. In April 2021, Noem had called for Ravnsborg's resignation after release of details of an investigation into the death of a pedestrian he had hit with his car. After his refusal to tender his resignation, in June 2022, on his impeachment, state senators convicted Attorney General Ravnsborg on two counts of official malfeasance and by a bipartisan 31–2 vote, barred him from ever holding office again in the state.


title: Kristi Noem

text: In October 2021, the Government Operations and Audit Committee invited Secretary of the Department of Labor Marcia Hultman and Sherry Bren to come before the committee to discuss the appraisal program in light of the controversy surrounding the program, Noem, Noem's daughter, and a $200,000 payout to Bren for an age discrimination claim.


title: Kristi Noem

text: On December 14, 2021, Bren testified before the Government Operations and Audit Committee. She said that Peters received an Agreed Disposition around March/April 2020. Around July 20, 2020, Peters received a letter and/or Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law when she failed to meet the requirements of the Agreed Disposition. Bren said she was told by Department of Labor attorney Amber Mulder on July 26, 2020, to be prepared to discuss "What is the definition of a serious deficiency; what criteria do you use for denials; how many are denied each year; how many are approved; are we saying that Kassidy can take certain classes and resubmit." Bren said she felt "very nervous" and "intimidated" when meeting with Noem and numerous attorneys and Labor Secretary Hultman. Bren mentioned during the meeting at the mansion some appraisal classes that she thought would be helpful to Peters. Bren said that Noem was upset that she was just now hearing about the classes. Bren testified that the decision to depart from recognized upgrade procedures and offer a third opportunity would be Hultman's. Bren said this was beyond the recognized procedures and "not normal."


title: Kristi Noem

text: On November 1, 2021, the Government Accountability Board set an agenda to discuss this issue and another issue based on complaints brought by Ravnsborg. On December 15, 2021, the Government Accountability Board referred one of the two complaints to Noem for a response and sent the other back to the complainant for further information. On February 3, 2022, the Government Accountability Board referred the second complaint to Noem for a response and gave her until April 15, 2022, to answer both pending complaints.


title: Kristi Noem

text: On February 24, 2022, Republican State Representative John Mills introduced House Resolution 7004, "Addressing the Governor's unacceptable actions in matters related to the appraiser certification program", against Noem. On March 1, the resolution was debated and failed by a margin of 29 to 38 with three excused, including Noem's primary opponent Steven Haugaard and U.S. House candidate Taffy Howard.


title: Kristi Noem

text: During the COVID-19 pandemic in South Dakota, Noem at first was responsive to containment strategies. As President Donald Trump began to actively resist governmental interventions, she segued to a hands-off approach. She used pandemic relief funds in November 2020 to promote tourism during a surge in cases in the state. She did not implement face mask mandates, raised doubts about the efficacy of mask-wearing, encouraged large gatherings without social distancing or mask-wearing, and questioned the advice of public health experts. As of December 2020, she was one of few governors who had not maintained statewide stay-at-home orders or face-mask mandates. Her response mirrored Trump's rhetoric and handling of COVID-19. She was rewarded for her COVID-19 response with a speech at the August 2020 Republican National Convention, which elevated her national profile. The "Argus Leader" described the RNC speech as a "defining moment in her political career."


title: Kristi Noem

text: Early in the pandemic, Noem requested that the legislature pass a bill giving the state health secretary and county officials the power to close businesses and other entities. The House rejected the bill. On March 13, 2020, Noem ordered K-12 schools to close, and on April 6, she extended that order for the remainder of the school year. Also on April 6, Noem ordered businesses and local governments to practice social distancing and other CDC guidelines.


title: Kristi Noem

text: Early on, Noem also emphasized South Dakota's role in evaluating hydroxychloroquine, an antimalarial drug that Trump had touted when he tweeted, "HYDROXYCHLOROQUINE & AZITHROMYCIN, taken together, have a real chance to be one of the biggest game-changers in the history of medicine." It has never been shown to be useful in treating COVID-19 but can produce fatal cardiac arrythmia.


title: Kristi Noem

text: One of the largest COVID-19 outbreaks in the U.S. at the time occurred in South Dakota. The Smithfield Foods production plant in Sioux Falls had four deaths, with nearly 1,300 workers and their family members testing positive. Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar misinformed a group of legislators that meatpacking plants employees were not likely to be infected at work, but that their "home and social" habits were spreading the contagion. Noem may have been the first officeholder to publicly express that view. On April 13, 2020, of an outbreak where hundreds of workers had tested positive at a Smithfield pork plant, she told Fox News, "We believe that 99 percent of what's going on today wasn't happening inside the facility". The industry didn't explain the deaths from COVID-19 of USDA food-safety inspectors from three plants. Almost 200 inspectors contracted symptomatic COVID-19. In the pandemic's early days, the Food Safety and Inspection Service did not provide protective equipment to its monitors, forbidding them from wearing masks in the slaughterhouses as it feared that might accentuate the risks. On April 9, 2020, the agency said its inspectors would be allowed to wear masks if the meatpacking plants' owners gave the federal employees permission to do so. Inspectors were expected to supply their own masks. A month later, after publication of the risk for spreading the coronavirus, the USDA at last started giving its inspectors masks. Noem had said that the plant was in full operation as an essential food manufacturing facility. Forty-eight of Smithfield's workers were hospitalized. On April 6, Noem issued an executive order that said people "shall" follow guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; she also ordered everyone over age 65 in Minnehaha and Lincoln counties to stay home for three weeks.


title: Kristi Noem

text: Noem did not mandate social distancing or the wearing of face masks at a July 3 event at Mount Rushmore with Trump present. Health experts warned that large gatherings without social distancing or mask-wearing posed a risk to public health. Noem doubted scientific recommendations on the usefulness of masks. In an opinion piece in the "Rapid City Journal", she defended her views, citing analysis by the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons, a group known for promoting pseudoscience. The Association of American Physicians and Surgeons had called vaccination the equivalent of "human experimentation." COVID-19 patients hospitalized on October 22 reached a record high of 355, including 75 in Intensive Care Units. South Dakota's two largest hospital systems rescheduled elective procedures to increase available space and personnel to accommodate the surge. In the absence of a statewide mask mandate, hospital systems urged people to wear masks while in the company of those outside their own households. Sioux Falls Mayor Paul TenHaken advised his constituents, "Wear a dang mask."


title: Kristi Noem

text: Sixteen weeks after Trump's executive order that provided enhanced weekly unemployment benefits of $300 as part of the U.S. federal government response to the pandemic, Noem opted out of the program, citing a low state unemployment rate. South Dakota was the only state to refuse the assistance. Its jobless rate in June was 7.2 percent, up from 3.1 percent in March, though down from 10.9 percent in April. Acceptance of the funding required the state to augment the benefit by $100 unless other jobless assistance allowed the match to be waived.


title: Kristi Noem

text: In February 2020, Noem announced her opposition to a bill prohibiting schools and universities from requiring students to get vaccinated. In May 2021, she signed an executive order prohibiting government facilities from requiring proof of vaccination to access services, a policy she called "un-American." In August 2021, Noem opposed legislation proposed by Republican state legislators Jon Hansen and Scott Odenbach that would prohibit businesses from requiring vaccinations as a condition for employment.


title: Kristi Noem

text: Noem supported the annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in August 2020, despite warnings from experts that it could spread COVID-19. Nearly 500,000 bikers attended the event. Public health notices were issued for saloons and other businesses in the Sturgis area. By the end of August, dozens of cases linked to attendance at the event were reported in several states.


title: Kristi Noem

text: In September 2020, amid a surge of new cases, Noem announced that she would spend $5 million of relief funding on a state tourism campaign. She used $819,000 of those funds to have the state's Department of Tourism run a 30-second Fox News commercial she narrated during the 2020 Republican National Convention. During September, over 550 students became infected at South Dakota universities; 200 more cases were reported in K–12 schools.


title: Kristi Noem

text: In October 2020, as South Dakota reported the country's second-highest number of new COVID-19 cases per capita and hospitals began to prioritize treatment of severe COVID-19 cases over lesser ones, Noem said the higher case numbers were because of more testing, despite the positive test rate and hospitalization rate also increasing.


title: Kristi Noem

text: In February 2021, Noem signed a bill limiting civil liability for certain exposures to COVID-19. The bill exempts health care providers and other businesses, including those selling personal protective equipment, from lawsuits unless COVID-19 exposure was the result of gross negligence, recklessness, or willful misconduct.


title: Kristi Noem

text: In July 2021, Noem criticized other Republican governors for enacting mandatory measures against COVID-19 and trying to "rewrite history" about it. She argued that South Dakota had effectively combated the pandemic by instead testing and isolating cases; in fact, South Dakota had the 10th-highest death rate and third-highest case rate at that time.


title: Kristi Noem

text: In July 2021, Noem placed Secretary of the Department of Corrections Mike Liedholt on administrative leave, and fired South Dakota State Penitentiary Warden Darin Young and Deputy Warden Jennifer Dreiske, after receiving an anonymous note with complaints regarding pay, medical coverage and instances of sexual harassment. Liedholt later announced his retirement. Later that month, after meeting with prison employees, despite lingering COVID-19 cases, Noem ended the prison's mask mandate. In August 2021, Noem announced that the CGL Group, a California-based company, was being hired for $166,410 to do a comprehensive review of the Department of Corrections operations. At the same time, the director of the prison work program was fired, and two other DOC employees relieved of their duties.


title: Kristi Noem

text: The prison work program director, Stephany Bawek, subsequently filed a complaint with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), alleging that she was retaliated against for reporting sexual harassment by Young. On March 14, 2022, Bawek filed a lawsuit in federal district court alleging that she was fired for reporting incidents of sexual harassment in the workplace.


title: Kristi Noem

text: In June 2021, Noem announced that she was sending members of the South Dakota National Guard to Texas's border with Mexico. Tennessee billionaire Willis Johnson and his wife Reba said they would donate the money necessary for the deployment. On September 22, 2021, the Center for Public Integrity sued the South Dakota National Guard and the U.S. Department of Defense in the federal district court in the District of Columbia to obtain documents about the deployment and the donation. The 2022 National Defense Authorization Act banned National Guard members from crossing state borders to perform duties paid for by private donors.


title: Kristi Noem

text: In 2021, Noem sued U.S. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland, seeking to have fireworks at Mount Rushmore for Independence Day. (Fireworks displays had been halted at the site in 2009 by the National Park Service due to fire risks and other reasons.) Noem hired the private Washington D.C. law firm Consovoy McCarthy to bring the case, with South Dakota state taxpayer money paying for the suit. The U.S. District Court dismissed the suit, with Judge Roberto Lange finding that four of the five reasons given by the NPS and Secretary Haaland were valid. On July 13, Noem filed an appeal with the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals.


title: Kristi Noem

text: On March 14, 2022, the National Park Service again denied Noem's application for a permit to have fireworks at Mt. Rushmore for the 4th of July, citing opposition from Native American groups and the possibility of wildfires.


title: Kristi Noem

text: In May 2019, Noem proposed to build a fence around the governor's mansion, estimated to cost approximately $400,000, but retracted the proposal. In 2020, the 2019 project was revived; a senior Noem advisor told the media that the decision was based on the recommendations of Noem's security team. In late November 2021, it was reported that Noem spent $68,000 of taxpayer dollars on imported rugs from India, chandeliers and a sauna for the mansion.


title: Kristi Noem

text: In 2019, Noem signed a bill into law abolishing South Dakota's permit requirement to carry a concealed handgun. In 2022, Noem sought to build a gun range in Meade County with government funds, but the legislature rejected it.


title: Kristi Noem

text: Noem opposes same-sex marriage. In 2015 she said she disagreed with "Obergefell v. Hodges", the Supreme Court's ruling that same-sex marriage bans are unconstitutional.


title: Kristi Noem

text: On March 8, Noem announced on Twitter that she would sign into law H.B. 1217, the Women's Fairness in Sports Bill, which bans transgender athletes from playing on or against women's school and college sports teams. Some critics of the bill say they are worried it might turn away business and cost the state money. On March 19, Noem issued a style and form veto to H.B. 1217 that substantially altered the bill, not just correcting grammar and spelling mistakes. She appeared on "Tucker Carlson Tonight" seeking to defend her position. On March 29, the South Dakota House rejected Noem's style and form veto, 67–2. After the House returned H.B. 1217 to Noem for consideration after the House rejected her veto, she vetoed H.B. 1217. The House then failed to override her veto by a vote of 45-24 (47 votes were needed to override). Numerous conservative commentators criticized Noem for vetoing the bill.


title: Kristi Noem

text: In December 2021, Noem and her office signaled their support for an anti-trans bill called "An Act to protect fairness in women's sports." The bill would require young athletes to join teams that aligned with their biological sex at birth.


title: Kristi Noem

text: In 2021, Noem signed a religious refusal bill into law; the legislation amended the state RFRA to allow businesses owners to cite religious beliefs as a basis to deny products or services to people on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. The legislation, S.B. 124, was criticized by civil rights groups who said it would enable discrimination against LGBTQ+ people, women, and members of minority faiths. This bill was the first major state RFRA law signed into law in six years and resembles the 2015 bill signed into law by Indiana Governor Mike Pence.


title: Kristi Noem

text: On November 18, 2019, Noem released a meth awareness campaign named "Meth. We're on It". The campaign was widely mocked and Noem was criticized for spending $449,000 of public funds while hiring an out-of-state advertising agency from Minnesota to lead the project. She defended the campaign as successful in raising awareness.


title: Kristi Noem

text: In 2020, Noem opposed two ballot measures to legalize cannabis for medical use and recreational use in South Dakota, saying, "The fact is, I've never met someone who got smarter from smoking pot. It's not good for our kids. And it's not going to improve our communities." After both measures passed, she and two police officers filed a lawsuit seeking a court decision against the measure legalizing recreational use, Amendment A. On February 8, 2021, circuit court judge Christina Klinger struck down the amendment as unconstitutional. After the ruling, she also sought to delay the implementation of the medical marijuana initiative for a year. Ultimately, her efforts failed and medical marijuana became legal on July 1, 2021.


title: Kristi Noem

text: Noem has also opposed the cultivation of industrial hemp, vetoing a bill that passed the South Dakota House and Senate in 2019 to legalize hemp cultivation. She said, "There is no question in my mind that normalizing hemp, like legalizing medical marijuana, is part of a larger strategy to undermine enforcement of the drug laws and make legalized marijuana inevitable."


title: Kristi Noem

text: Noem claimed that the 2020 presidential election, in which Joe Biden defeated Donald Trump, was marred by widespread voter fraud; no evidence supports this claim. On December 8, 2020, Noem tacitly acknowledged the outcome of the election when she referred to a "Biden administration" during her annual state budget address, but even after Biden was inaugurated in January, she still refused to accept that the election was "free and fair." Noem was initially designated to be one of Trump's three presidential electors for South Dakota, but later withdrew. In 2020 the Trump-Pence ticket carried South Dakota, receiving 261,043 votes to 150,471 for the Biden-Harris ticket.


title: Kristi Noem

text: After the U.S. Capitol was attacked by a pro-Trump mob on January 6, 2021, disrupting the counting of the electoral votes formalizing Biden's victory, Noem spoke out against the violence, saying, "We are all entitled to peacefully protest. Violence is not a part of that." One day after calling for peace and reconciliation in the aftermath of the assault on the Capitol, Noem called the two newly elected Democratic senators from Georgia, Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock, "communists" in an op-ed for "The Federalist", prompting criticism from South Dakota Democrats.


title: Kristi Noem

text: In 2022, Noem sought to put a government paid RV park in Custer State Park. The proposal was met with significant opposition to include government competing with private business and disturbing the pristine nature of the park. The House Agricultural and Natural Resources deferred the bill to the 41st day, effectively killing it, by a vote of 9–3.


title: Kristi Noem

text: In 2022, Noem sought to have prayer put back in school after mentioning it in a speech in Iowa. On January 21, 2022, the "prayer bill", HB 1015, was defeated in the House Education Committee by a vote of 9–6. An aide to Noem admitted to the committee that no schools were consulted about the proposal.


title: Kristi Noem

text: On November 19, 2021, Noem named her fifth chief of staff, Mark Miller, to replace outgoing chief of staff Aaron Scheibe. Scheibe served as chief of staff from May 1 to November 19, 2021. Tony Venhuizen preceded Scheibe from March 2, 2020, to April 23, 2021. Josh Shields preceded Venhuizen from October 1, 2019, to January 1, 2020. Herb Jones was Noem's first chief of staff, serving from January 5 to October 1, 2019.


title: Kristi Noem

text: In February 2019, she said that the Trump administration's trade wars with China and the European Union had devastated South Dakota's economy, particularly the agricultural sector, "by far" the state's largest industry.


title: Kristi Noem

text: She married Bryon Noem in 1992, in Watertown, South Dakota. They have three children. In 2011, when Noem moved to Washington to take her congressional office, her family continued to live on a ranch near Castlewood, South Dakota.


title: Kristi Noem

text: Noem is a Protestant. As of 2018, her family attended a Foursquare Church in Watertown, South Dakota.


title: Final Solution

text: The Final Solution (, ) or the Final Solution to the Jewish Question (, ) was a Nazi plan for the genocide of individuals they defined as Jews during World War II. The "Final Solution to the Jewish question" was the official code name for the murder of all Jews within reach, which was not restricted to the European continent. This policy of deliberate and systematic genocide starting across German-occupied Europe was formulated in procedural and geopolitical terms by Nazi leadership in January 1942 at the Wannsee Conference held near Berlin, and culminated in the Holocaust, which saw the murder of 90% of Polish Jews, and two-thirds of the Jewish population of Europe.