Zipporah

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"I’m sorry, I never told you about my past... or your father... I did it to protect you. There will always be those who seek to exploit what I know, to use me for their gain. And I refused to let that danger touch you... my child. I need you to be strong. You have to leave. You’re going to Nigeria. You have to. There are horrors there. Trafficking. People who need someone to see them. Listen to me, I need you to understand the world, to see it beyond Oakland. You have to go. I love you, my desert flower... and your father..."

―Zipporah's last words

Zipporah was the daughter of Tuya and Azole, born of three proud legacies—Wakandan, Egyptian, and Arabian—and a fierce spirit molded by purpose. A former War Dog, she was revered for her tactical brilliance and unshakable moral compass. Much like Nakia, her missions across the globe opened her eyes to the plight of the oppressed, planting the seeds of her belief that Wakanda’s strength should be a force for global good—not hidden behind borders.

In the days before an undercover deployment to America, Zipporah and Prince T’Challa shared a night filled with quiet vulnerability—one that bound them more deeply than either realized at the time. She did not learn she was pregnant until after completing her mission. Faced with an impossible choice, she chose exile over return. In Oakland, California, she gave birth to a daughter—Imani—and raised her in secrecy under the legal name Sanaa Erikson, weaving a life of shadows laced with maternal warmth.

Keeping Wakanda from Imani was the hardest decision of her life. Zipporah longed to share the culture, history, and birthright of her people, but she knew too well what enemies would do for a drop of vibranium or a hint of Wakandan blood. The world was hungry, and her daughter’s safety was paramount. That silence also meant that T’Challa never knew he had a child—a truth Zipporah carried with both love and sorrow.

In 2016, after a quiet battle with cancer, Zipporah passed away at thirty-five, leaving behind a daughter on the verge of uncovering everything. In her final act of foresight and fierce hope, she sent Imani to Nigeria—a place where human trafficking had cast long shadows—believing that only by facing injustice firsthand could her daughter understand the world... and the fire she came from.

Biography[]

Zipporah was the daughter of Tuya and Azole, born of Wakandan, Egyptian, and Arabian lineage. A prodigious member of the War Dogs, she was known for her sharp instincts, cultural fluency, and a deep empathy cultivated through years spent on covert missions abroad. Her work revealed to her the many injustices suffered beyond Wakanda’s borders—experiences that shaped her core belief that the nation could no longer afford to stay silent or isolated.

Prior to a mission to the United States, Zipporah shared a fleeting but profound connection with Prince T’Challa. Though neither fully anticipated the consequences of that night, she would later discover that she was carrying his child. Instead of returning to Wakanda, Zipporah chose a path of quiet sacrifice—remaining in Oakland, California under the alias Aisha Erikson, where she gave birth to a daughter, Imani, and raised her under the legal name Sanaa Erikson.

Zipporah kept the truth of Wakanda and Imani’s heritage hidden, a decision made from necessity rather than shame. She feared the danger that could follow any whisper of vibranium—or royal blood—in foreign lands. This meant severing all contact with T’Challa and carrying the burden of truth alone.

She lived quietly, working within her community and maintaining a careful cover, but never abandoned her mission-oriented mindset. In her final years, Zipporah battled cancer in silence. Aware that her time was short, she orchestrated one last act of foresight: sending Imani to Nigeria, a country ravaged by trafficking, to witness the world’s pain firsthand—believing that knowledge, like fire, could forge purpose.

She passed away in 2016 at the age of 35. Her legacy endures through her daughter, and through the ideals she passed on in word, gesture, and silence.

Physical Appearance[]

Zipporah carried the striking beauty of a woman forged by three powerful legacies: Wakandan regality, Egyptian grace, and Arabian resilience. Her skin was a warm golden brown, kissed with undertones of sandstone and saffron, as if the sun itself had etched its memory into her complexion. Her face bore the proud geometry of her ancestry—high, sculpted cheekbones, a proud straight nose, and full lips that seldom smiled easily, but when they did, it was like the opening of a lotus at dawn: rare, deliberate, and breathtaking.

Her eyes, a vivid shade of emerald green and sharp like a falcon’s, glimmered with both mystery and resolve. They were the kind that could make a stranger confess a secret or stop a room mid-breath—eyes that held Wakanda’s secrets, Egypt’s deserts, and the silence of a woman who’d seen too much. They softened only when gazing at her daughter or watching the quiet resilience of others. Framed by long lashes and often lined with kohl, her stare could both command a room and vanish into a crowd when she needed it to.

Zipporah’s hair was thick and black as obsidian, usually worn in purposeful, elegant braids or loose waves depending on her mission. She often adorned it with fine gold-threaded beads or crescent-shaped pins that hinted at her Middle Eastern lineage. A rose-colored headwrap or silk scarf occasionally completed the look, nodding both to tradition and the covert elegance required of her War Dog duties.

Her wardrobe blended practicality with cultural pride—muted tones of desert rose, indigo, and deep emerald dominated her palette. Flowing tunics were layered beneath tactically adjusted cloaks, jewelry was minimal but meaningful: a pair of gold hoop earrings gifted by Tuya, a lapis pendant from Azole, and a vibranium-threaded armband tucked beneath her sleeve.

Personality[]

Zipporah was the embodiment of quiet fire. Poised, strategic, and impossibly introspective, she often seemed like a woman who carried entire histories in silence. A daughter of travelers, scholars, and warriors, she inherited the ability to blend into any culture without losing the rhythm of her own identity.

Compassion was her strongest compass—every mission, every detour from the palace life she might’ve had, was driven by her refusal to let injustice go unseen. She wasn’t loud in her rebellion, but she was precise. Choosing Oakland over Wakanda, raising her daughter alone, never telling T’Challa—each of these decisions was rooted in fierce love and a grief-tinged pragmatism. She knew the cost of visibility, and chose shadow not for herself, but for the one she loved most.

Still, her spirit was not joyless. She loved desert music, recited poems by candlelight, and taught Imani how to cook dishes that spanned Cairo to Jeddah. She believed that survival wasn’t enough without beauty, culture, and story.

Her presence lingers in the way Imani moves, in how she questions the world, in the moral fire she carries. Zipporah died young, but she was never lost—only passed forward.

Zipporah

Contents

Biography[]

Physical Appearance[]

Personality[]

Relationships[]

Family[]

Allies[]

Golden Tribe[]