Black Panther’s first published appearance had him invite the Fantastic Four to Wakanda. T’Challa ends up attacking and neutralizing each member to test himself to see if he's ready to fight his nemesis Klaw. It was the Marvel Universe’s introduction to the most technologically advanced nation in the world, and proved that Black Panther was much more than just a superhero; he was a force of nature. The chieftain of the Wakanda Panther Cult and king of Wakanda -- one of the wealthiest countries on the planet -- T’Challa has access to some of the most incredible technology. This includes his Black Panther suit.

The suit also referred to as the Panther Habit is a treasure trove of technological wonder which makes any of Tony Stark's suits pale in comparison. T'Challa has the same resources as Stark, but with superhuman abilities that allow him to fight someone like Bucky Barnes without his suit. However, Black Panther’s gear has many hidden tricks that have brought his foes to their knees in battle or allowed him to escape a fight he could not win. 

15 VIBRANIUM MICRO-WEAVE MESH

A close-up on Black Panther's costume as seen in the MCU, with a blurred out green backdrop

Vibranium is a metal in the Marvel Universe that is rare, versatile, and not bound by the laws of physics. The only place on Earth in the Marvel Universe that this substance can be found in is Wakanda. The nation has used it to advance their technology beyond what the rest of the world can do, so of course, Vibranium is one of the main elements used in Black Panther’s suit.

Specifically, it’s used in its micro-weave mesh. The mesh absorbs the momentum of any projectile fired at it to protect the person donning the Panther Habit. It also removes the possibility of any ricochet that could harm anyone nearby. The mesh is also stab-proof, but it can be cut if the attacker strikes along the suit’s grain. Its durability has even withstood some of the Hulk’s attacks!

14 SUIT MANIFESTATION

We have all seen Tony Stark’s suits mechanically wrap around parts of his body, but he’s always needed to have a relatively bulky object to do it in the films. In Iron Man 2, he needed a humongous suitcase to be able to put his suit on. In the Wakandan King’s case, he doesn’t need to carry around some bulbous thing in case he needs his suit in the middle of an emergency.

The Black Panther trailers have shown us that T’Challa’s Panther Habit can simply manifest itself around him. In one scene, T’Challa can be seen needing his suit in the middle of a chase, but without any time to do something as impractical as jumping into a phone booth to change, he simply has the suit manifest to chase down the culprit in question. 

13 ENERGY DAMPENING BOOTS

With a name like Black Panther, one has to assume that this superhero always lands on his feet. He has jumped from high altitudes and landed without injuring himself because of this addition to the Panther Habit. His energy dampening boots afford Black Panther the ability to do things that defy both gravity and physics. The soles of his boots are lined with Vibranium and energy regulators that create a field which enables him to land safely.

The boots also give T’Challa the ability to climb walls or walk on water given the proper amount of momentum behind them. He’s seen in the Black Panther movie walking across the side of a building before jumping onto a car because of these boots and his athleticism. The energy field in his boots can also brake objects or rob the momentum of an object that is thrown at him.

12 LENS CUTS GLARE AND MORE

The Black Panther helmet features lenses that give T'Challa a visual advantage against his enemies. It cuts glare from his vision as well as enhances his ability to see very well at night, much indeed like a Black Panther. This is of course an advantage when T’Challa is fighting off villains in low-light environments. Of course, the reason he can see in the dark far better than other heroes has much to do with his own enhanced abilities.

When T’Challa accepted the role as the chieftain of the Wakanda Panther Cult, he had to consume a heart-shaped herb that gave him enhanced senses. He has the ability to see in infrared on his own, but the lenses in the suit actually enhance that by cutting out any unnecessary light sources that could potentially disrupt his vision.

11 DIFFERENT SUIT TYPES

T’Challa has various types of his Black Panther suit, much like Iron Man does, which he switches around depending on the situation he finds himself in. For example, he has a suit that’s designated specifically for space travel, with the helmet featuring a Black Panther's face with its mouth in mid-roar that serves as a visor. He even has a suit similar to Tony Stark’s Hulkbuster that was used in Totally Awesome Hulk during the Civil War II event to fight the Green Goliath.

He also has a suit that he calls “Heavenly Armor,” which is lightweight and offers him other defenses and abilities than his regular suit. This one even allows him to fly if he reaches the right speed, which is quite the asset along with his enhanced strength. It also defends against attacks of a mystical nature, so when he’s fighting someone like Doctor Doom, it inhibits one of his enemies' most important skill sets.

10 CHANGES SHAPE

The versatility of vibranium allows the suit to take shape around whomever is wearing it at the time. This can be seen in the opening pages of Ta-Nehisi Coates and Brian Stelfreeze’s Black Panther run as it morphs around T’Challa’s head. It can even be seen in Black Panther’s version of the Hulkbuster as its chest area opens up to Black Panther for him to sit in and operate the machine.

The Black Panther film also demonstrates how the suits can take the shape of its wearer. T’Challa isn’t the only one wearing a Black Panther-style suit, as Killmonger, his nemesis in the movie, also has a similar suit that wraps around the entirety of his body. It isn’t a suit that is tailor-made to any specific wearer. 

9 ANTI-METAL CLAWS/ENERGY TIPS

While many fans know about Black Panther's claws, they only got to see a glimpse of how they worked in Captain America/Civil War. They function as a panther's claws, but they are made from a very specific type of metal known as Antarctic Vibranium, which can cut through any metal at the molecular level. That means that T'Challa's claws can do more damage than he did to Captain America's shield.

His claws also have the ability to generate a small amount of energy to further enhance the power of the Anti-Metal. The other feature of his claw's energy tips is that he can use them as projectiles to fire at an enemy. With the addition of the next feature of his suit on this list, it's only a matter of time until T'Challa shows this off in a future film.

8 CHARGES WITH KINETIC ENERGY

Since vibranium is able to protect Black Panther from bullets or punches from extremely powerful beings like the Incredible Hulk, it makes you wonder where all that energy actually goes. The absorbed kinetic energy is used to charge the suit and the many applications that run on it as a power source. It allows things like his boots to use energy regulators as well as being functional in other ways.

Assuming that it is this functionality that we are seeing, kinetic energy will be shown pulsing through the suit in the Black Panther film with a purple light. It radiates through the vibranium as it is stored away for later use. It differs from Iron Man’s suit in that way because it doesn’t need a battery source like an arc reactor, which makes it harder to render Black Panther’s suit inert.

7 ENERGY PULSE/WAVE

One of the ways that Black Panther uses the kinetic energy he absorbs is by creating an energy pulse or wave. He’s been seen in the recent Black Panther run by Ta-Nehisi Coates and Brian Stelfreeze to redirect this energy as a concussive force or just to expel the energy in a way to fight off an attacker.

In the Black Panther trailer, there is a scene where he’s clawed himself on top of an SUV and the purple light of his kinetic energy pulses into the car to flip it over. It’s a visually stunning scene that shows the audience the potential offensive uses of this energy pulse/wave. It has also been used to fight against Hulk in The Totally Awesome Hulk in a Civil War II tie-in issue.

6 SUPERCOMPUTER

Wakanda is one of the most technologically advanced societies ever formed in the Marvel Universe, which means their computing power far surpasses anything coming out of Silicon Valley. Black Panther’s suit is equipped with a PDA referred to as a Kimoyo Card. This powerful supercomputer gives Black Panther any information he needs while he’s on a mission.

The Kimoyo Card works similarly to the Avengers' communicards, but it does more than just serve as a means of direct communication. It is connected to several global positioning satellites that give the Wakandan King real-time information about what’s happening in any particular region of the world. It can also be used to alert him to dangers that could potentially arise. He’s even used it once to get the schematics of a jumbo jet’s cockpit controls to safely land it in a river.

Not anyone can just wear the Black Panther suit. It is a ceremonial regalia that is given to the chieftain of the Wakanda Panther Cult, the highest position in Wakanda, as that Chieftain must also serve as the King of the nation as well. Before one even gets to don the ceremonial Panther Habit, he or she must contend with the Panther Goddess, Bast.

T’Challa’s acceptance as the chieftain had come after the death of his childhood friend B’Tumba died shortly after helping the young Wakandan escape his own death. He then beat the Black Panther before him and took the heart-shaped herb that imbued him with his enhanced abilities. It links him to Bast before he is finally allowed to wear the ceremonial regalia to become the Black Panther.

4 CLOAKING TECHNOLOGY

T’Challa’s suit has the capability to disguise him if he so chooses or has the need to. In fact, most people wouldn’t even tell that T’Challa is wearing the Black Panther suit because it can rearrange itself to look like almost anything. He’s used the cloaking technology to pass off the costume as common street clothes. No civilian would ever realize that the young Wakandan King was walking among them.

The cloaking technology could also use the energy it charges kinetically to render Black Panther completely invisible. The coolest part is that T’Challa can accomplish these cloaking abilities through his thoughts. He's used it numerous times to sneak up on those who wish to do him or his loved ones harm. It also might be how he escaped after the fight in the airport hangar in Captain America: Civil War.

3 HARD-LIGHT SHIELD

With all the energy that Black Panther charges by constantly moving or having projectiles fired at him, he can use that energy to literally harden light into a shield. T’Challa can use this shield to protect anybody nearby or anyone who is allied with the Wakandan King. It is a handy little trick to have up his sleeve whenever a situation gets dicey enough that he has to protect himself and those around him.

Black Panther has been seen using these shields made out of hardened light in New Avengers #1. He conjured them at will to protect a trio of youngsters who solved a puzzle in an obstacle course that led them to an area near an incursion. A strike team started firing at them and while two did die from the initial attack, Black Panther managed to protect one before his shields were broken through.

2 ENERGY DAGGERS

Black Panther’s energy blades weren’t utilized in Captain America: Civil War since he was shown to use his claws a lot more often. It felt like a Black Panther that was keeping it pretty basic in his fight to find the man responsible for killing his father T’Chaka. But he’s been known to use them in combat all throughout the comics for years.

The handles or hilts are made of either an ivory or stone, with blades that are entirely made of energy. The energy blades can be set to either stun or kill, leaving whoever is on the receiving end of Black Panther’s fury unconscious or fatally wounded. The daggers can be used as a standard knife or shot off like darts. They also constantly regenerate. Since the blades are made of energy, they don’t have any specific shape and can turn into scythe or spear-like weapons.

1 TELEPORTATION DEVICE

T’Challa is a brilliant physicist, so it’s no surprise that he developed a teleportation device for his suit to get him into hard to reach places or for an easy exit. It has been used to teleport the Black Panther some short distances, but there is some compelling evidence that it might cover more ground than previously thought.

In New Avengers #1, he tries to teleport himself along with three other teenagers away from a dangerous situation. He tries to get to the Royal City in the Wakanda of his universe, but his device is disrupted by whatever was causing the space-time continuum to go on the fritz. If he thought it could teleport them that far, then the reach of his device must be huge. Unfortunately, his device failed him in that instant, but it did help him save one of the teens survive a bit longer before they died.