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T’Challa was in love with someone completely different before he married Storm, and Black Panther’s marriage to Ororo broke the young woman’s heart.
Sometimes there are characters who don’t get remembered as much as they should, either because they were made for a specific story or the stories they were made for did not age well. Monica Lynne was one such example of this, her story being one of heartbreak in the wake of her romance with T’Challa, the Black Panther. She was his first real love and would have been his queen had events not conspired against them.
And from there, Monica’s life slowly fell apart — even more so after T’Challa found a new wife in Storm.
Monica Lynne debuted in Avengers #73 by Roy Thomas, Frank Giacoia and Herb Trimpe. An American woman who grew up in Georgia, Monica moved to New York as an adult where she stumbled across the Black Panther and saved him from drowning. He, in turn, kept her safe from a violent racist plot orchestrated by the Sons of the Serpent. From there, the relationship between these two would develop into a romantic one, being equal part lovers and friends. Monica had no powers of her own, but it was her courage and boldness that drew T’Challa’s attention.
Their relationship continued to grow close until Monica eventually moved in with T’Challa, living in his palace in Wakanda. Things only became more serious when T’Challa proposed to her, which she accepted. She had gone from middle-class American to future queen of Wakanda in the span of a few months. But the happy times were not meant to last, unfortunately. T’Challa’s mother was not in favor of the marriage, but the couple was determined to follow through. That is, until T’Challa broke off the engagement with no explanation. Monica left Wakanda shortly after, wishing to find a life for herself outside of T’Challa’s world.
But once drawn into a superhero’s life, there is rarely any getting out of it for good. Monica was brought back within T’Challa’s purview when she was kidnapped by his enemy Achebe, who wanted to interrupt a state dinner held in T’Challa’s honor. Her former fiancé rescued her, but Monica was then ejected from the Talon fighter they were flying in by a very jealous Nakia. Ironically, Monica was then rescued by another enemy of the Black Panther: Erik Killmonger. She became a pawn in his rivalry with T’Challa, but eventually managed to extricate herself from that battle.
T’Challa attempted to rekindle their romance, but Monica decided to end it for good, not wishing to be drawn into the problems of his life again. A while after, when T’Challa announced to the world his intention to marry Storm of the X-Men, Monica was seen performing a sad song at a sold-out concert, crying as she sang the lyrics. Despite having ended the relationship on her terms, Monica still loved T’Challa and was devastated that he intended to marry another woman.
Things would only get worse for Monica from there. Shortly after T’Challa and Ororo’s marriage, Monica developed terminal cancer. Her illness brought her back into T’Challa’s life one last time in a story by Don McGreggor and Daniel Acuna in 2018’s Black Panther Annual #1. Still harboring feelings for her, T’Challa tried to get one of Wakanda’s heart-shaped herbs to her, hoping that the same properties that gave him the strength of the Black Panther would save her life. Tragically, the herb did no such thing and Monica succumbed to her illness, but she passed receiving one last kindness from her former love.
Monica is a unique example of how interacting with a hero, let alone having a romantic relationship with them, can be turbulent. She was T’Challa’s first true love and could have had a wonderful future with him, but circumstances prevented the two from being together. In the end, the only thing they were left with was the idea of “What if?”
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