LGBTQIA Week: Aneka and Ayo

[leahandillyana]

Aneka and Ayo are my #2 comic book couple. Their appearances in the comics have been sparse and limited to Black Panther family of comics. Below I discuss these appearances, so spoilers apply.


Aneka and Ayo were Dora Milaje, elite soldiers serving the royal family of Wakanda directly. Of the two, Aneka was a veteran warrior while Ayo was a somewhat troublesome initate. The two fell in love, which initially gave Aneka plenty of anxiety as she saw being potential lover of the Wakandan king as being a part of the Dora Milaje duty. At some point, Aneka went to a far off village to investigate the rumours of the chief abusing women. They turned out to be true, and enraged Aneka killed the man, for which she was sentenced to death by queen Ramonda. Ayo wore experimental armor she stole and broke her beloved out, the two running away and starting a revolution against local abusive authorities and the government of Wakanda by extension.
I love the characters because they are so incredibly badass! I’m really weak for characters who fight for the rights of the people. The arc they play a major role in, A Nation Under Our Feet, is a very deep storyline in Black Panther, discussing various forms of government and the philosophical and moral roots of them all. Suggested reading order:
World of Wakanda #1-#5
Black Panther Vol 6 #1-#12

Comments

[icon_uk]

I'm not terribly au fait with how the comics depict Wakanda, but has there been an expectation of the Doea Milaje serving as the Kings harem as well as their guardians?

Sounds like a cool story arc, thanks for sharing!

[penguinzero]

As I understand it, it's more of a historical legacy thing. The Dora Milaje were wives-in-training promised to the king of Wakanda, candidates for him to marry from each village and tribe under his rule, giving them all a chance to be bonded to him. They were also traditionally trained as the king's bodyguards, so they could always be by his side. In the modern day, T'Challa has never had any intention of taking advantage of the 'arranged marriage' side of the equation, but found the prospect of having highly-trained bodyguards available to him very useful, so he's let the custom continue.

[icon_uk]

Ah, thank you.

[cainofdreaming]

Has it been stated whether T'Challa's mother was Dora Milaje or not, btw?

[penguinzero]

Neither his birth mother N'Yami nor his stepmother Ramonda were Dora Milaje. Doing some research, it looks like the practice had actually fallen into neglect for quite some time until T'Challa reinstated it as a way to bring the kingdom together during a time of political unrest. Even if he never actually intended to marry them, giving the political factions a chance to offer bride candidates was a good way to let them feel like they were influencing him.

[dan_ingram]

You're half right.

Under Priest, it was an old tradition that T'Challa revived when his reforms introducing technology across Wakanda met some resistance. There were only three Doras, and we never saw any indication of any more for some time.

Not in T'Challa's flashback to seeing his father, or when Cap visited.

But after Priest, Hudlin introduced a million of them as red shirts, and later writers made T'Challa's half brother by a Dora as well.

[penguinzero]

I stand corrected. I never read much of Hudlin's run, and to be honest it's been a while since I read Priest's, either.

[themajesticmoose]

I love these two so much!

It's a shame they have appeared so little in recent years :(

They co-star in the Wakanda Forever trio of one-shots in 2018

[chortles81]

Specifically them and Okoye meeting with Spider-Man, the X-Men, and finally the Avengers.

Re: They co-star in the Wakanda Forever trio of one-shots in 2018

[themajesticmoose]

Oh those I knew about but they don't seem to have appeared much/at all since then sadly :(

Unfortunately

[chortles81]

I think part of is a lack of familiarity (as far as I know they only appeared previously in Coates' Black Panther and/or World of Wakanda)... and these days aren't T'Challa's only other appearances in Aaron's Avengers?