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- "My real name... is Imani. Imani Udaku."
- ―Imani telling T'Challa her real name
Imani Udaku, legally known as Sanaa Erikson, is the Princess of Wakanda, only child of Prince T’Challa and Zipporah, and the niece of Princess Shuri. Born during her mother’s covert mission in the United States, she was raised unaware of her lineage and the legacy awaiting her. A descendant of the Golden and Border Tribes, Imani embodies the unity of Wakanda’s royal bloodlines as well as Egyptian and Arabian ancestry.
She is the granddaughter of Tuya and Azole through her mother, and Queen Ramonda and King T’Chaka through her father.
Known for her striking intellect and natural affinity for technology, Imani’s mind has drawn comparisons to Wakanda’s greatest scientific minds. Despite her unconventional upbringing, she displays a cognitive brilliance that defies expectation and redefines tradition.
Biography[]
Early Life (2001–2016)[]
Imani was born in May 2001 in Oakland, California, far from the vibranium-rich land of her ancestors. Her mother, Zipporah—once a respected War Dog—chose to raise Imani in secrecy under the legal alias Sanaa Erikson, protecting her from a world that would have weaponized her bloodline. Though Wakanda was never spoken of by name, Zipporah quietly passed down echoes of its soul—the Xhosa language, moral fortitude, and a silent pride steeped in tradition.
Imani grew up unaware of her true identity, her father’s name, or the reasons behind her mother’s guarded nature. But even without the truth, she inherited a quiet fire. Her intellect was sharpened early. Her instincts: razor-honed by necessity.
Tragedy struck weeks before her fifteenth birthday when her mother succumbed to cancer in 2016. Orphaned and still unaware of her origins, Imani was left only with a name that wasn’t truly hers, a culture she did not know, and a Panther Claw Amulet Zipporah had hidden away for her—a key to a legacy waiting to be unlocked.
Discovery of Her Heritage[]
In the aftermath of her mother’s death, a series of unforeseen events led Imani on a path that began uncovering the truth—about Wakanda, her father, and the royalty coursing through her veins. Each discovery was a step toward reconciling who she was with who she was born to become. And though she had been raised far from the throne, she carried its bearing in her bones.
Physical Appearance[]
Imani Udaku is a striking embodiment of legacy and lost royalty, her appearance echoing the harmony of the worlds she was born between.
Imani is a vision of blended ancestry—her skin a warm umber touched by desert sun, paying homage to her Egyptian and Arabian lineage through her mother, Zipporah. Her long, sable hair flows in waves, often adorned with subtle yet meaningful details like a jeweled headband, echoing both Bedouin craftsmanship and Wakandan tradition. Her eyes are arresting—a deep brown that reflects the weight of unspoken truths and a curiosity that never quite dims, framed by expressive brows that furrow in contemplation or raise with subtle defiance.
She carries herself with effortless grace even before she knows her origins, moving through the world with the quiet strength of someone shaped by grief, love, and survival. There’s a certain resilience in her posture—shoulders back, chin lifted—not born from nobility but from learning to hold her own when the world offered no sanctuary.
Personality[]
Imani is complex and deeply empathetic, bearing the quiet maturity of one who has seen too much too young. Raised without knowledge of her true identity, her values were forged in the crucible of loss and longing. She's observant, guarded at first, but fiercely loyal once her trust is earned. Much like her mother, she has an instinct to protect, though she doesn’t yet know just how far her influence stretches.
Imani wrestles with feelings of abandonment and belonging, walking the line between her American upbringing and her Wakandan bloodline. But underneath it all is a fire—not loud, but steady—that drives her to uncover truth, to reclaim her voice, and ultimately, to shape her destiny on her own terms.
She is the story of a girl born between worlds, becoming a woman capable of leading them both.
Powers and Abilities[]
Abilities[]
- Genius-Level Intellect (Surpassing Shuri): Despite growing up without access to Wakanda’s formal education or advanced laboratories, Imani possesses a mind that rivals—and ultimately surpasses—that of her aunt, Shuri. Her intelligence is not only innate but sharpened by necessity. While Shuri was designing vibranium-powered rail systems in a palace lab, Imani was decoding encrypted War Dog tech in a cramped Oakland apartment, using salvaged parts and intuition. Imani’s cognitive abilities include:
- Eidetic memory: She can recall complex schematics, languages, and patterns after a single exposure.
- Intuitive engineering: She reverse-engineered a dormant vibranium artifact left by her mother without knowing its origin, creating a prototype energy stabilizer that mimicked Wakandan tech.
- Multilingual code fluency: Fluent in multiple programming languages, she developed her own encryption dialect by age sixteen.
- Neuroadaptive learning: Imani’s brain adapts rapidly to new systems—biological, mechanical, or digital—allowing her to interface with Wakandan tech long before she understood its purpose.
- Technological Innovation: Imani’s most notable invention is the Khepra Lens, a wearable device that overlays real-time data onto the physical world using a hybrid of vibranium resonance and solar refraction. Originally built to help underserved communities detect environmental toxins, it has since been adapted for stealth reconnaissance and medical diagnostics.
- Combat Aptitude (Emerging): Though not formally trained in Wakandan martial arts, Imani has inherited her mother’s agility and her father’s instinct. She’s a quick study, and her analytical mind allows her to read opponents’ movements and adapt mid-fight. Her style is still raw, but it’s evolving.
- Master Engineer: Imani is a prodigious engineer whose brilliance emerged not from royal labs, but from necessity and instinct. Without access to Wakanda’s advanced facilities, she taught herself to build, dismantle, and reimagine technology using salvaged parts, encrypted War Dog relics, and sheer ingenuity. Her designs are often leaner, more adaptive, and startlingly efficient—born from a mind that sees not just what is, but what could be. Her most notable engineering feats include:
- The Khepra Lens, a wearable device that overlays vibranium-based diagnostics onto the physical world using solar refraction and resonance mapping.
- Reconstruction of a destabilized vibranium core, originally deemed a “defect” by Shuri, which Imani stabilized in under a minute using harmonic phase realignment.
- Creation of a modular stealth field, compact enough to fit into a bracelet, capable of masking both heat and vibranium signatures.
- Master Scientist: Imani’s scientific prowess spans multiple disciplines, rivaling and in some areas surpassing even Shuri’s. Her understanding of physics, bioengineering, and computational systems is largely self-taught, yet her insights often outpace those with formal training. She approaches science like a language—fluid, expressive, and deeply personal. Key accomplishments include:
- Developing a synthetic vibranium-based neural mesh, capable of restoring damaged synaptic pathways—an advancement that could revolutionize trauma recovery.
- Decoding and improving dormant War Dog surveillance tech, enhancing its range and reducing its energy signature by 60%.
- Creating a predictive algorithm for vibranium resonance, allowing for real-time structural adaptation in unstable environments.
Relationships[]
Family[]
Golden Tribe[]
- Bashenga † - Paternal Ancestor
- Paternal Ancestor-in-Law †
- Andile † - Paternal Great Great Great Great Great-Grandfather
- Bazwale † - Paternal Great Great Great Great-Grandfather
- Yima † - Paternal Great Great Great-Grandfather
- Kabba † - Paternal Great Great-Grandfather
- Azzuri † - Paternal Great-Grandfather
- T'Chaka † - Paternal Grandfather
- Ramonda - Paternal Grandmother
- N'Jobu † - Paternal Great-Uncle
- T'Challa/Black Panther - Father
- Shuri - Paternal Aunt
- N'Jadaka † - Paternal First Cousin Once Removed