SPOILER WARNING FOR FALCON AND THE WINTER SOLDIER, DO NOT READ THIS IF YOU HAVE NOT WATCHED EPISODE 3+4.

The Dora Milaje have officially made their first appearance in Marvel’s Phase 4, and once again got to show off their skills!

But, who exactly are the Dora Milaje? How do they differ from the comics? Find out all the answers to your questions down below!

Who Are The Dora Milaje?

The Dora Milaje are Wakanda’s special forces team – made entirely of women, the Dora work as the King’s personal guard, and for a while were also his potential Queens.

What Does Dora Milaje mean?

Dora Milaje means the ‘Adored Ones’.

What Do The Dora Milaje do?

Traditionally, the Dora Milaje were women picked from each Wakandan tribe, and were trained to be the King’s bodyguards. Also, they would also serve as his potential Queen – this was to ensure that every tribe had the chance to put forth a daughter for a position in the palace, and potentially, for the crown.

T’Challa changed this tradition, treating his two Dora, Okoye and Nakia, as more like his daughters than potential wives. Instead, the two act purely as his personal guard, as do every member who joined after them.

Who Are The Most Famous Members?

There are four notable members of the Dora Milaje – Okoye, Nakia, Ayo and Aneka. I go more into details about Ayo and Aneka in my Ayo Character Profile, so I won’t go into them here as well.

As for Okoye, not much is really known about her, either. She is loyal to T’Challa and Wakanda, and up until recently was usually leading the Dora on missions. T’Challa has recently promoted her to director of the Agents Of Wakanda, an intelligence-gathering team for the Avengers.

Nakia, on the other hand, has gone down a darker path in the comic universe. Raised to be a Dora from birth, Nakia grew an unhealthy obsession with T’Challa, certain that she would marry him. The obsession lead to her attempting to kill T’Challa’s girlfriend, before being dismissed from the Dora Milaje and all of Wakanda.

With the help of Killmonger, Nakia became Malice, where she carried out multiple acts of murder and mind control.

Where Can I Read More About The Dora Milaje?

The best place to start is with Christopher Priest’s Black Panther run from 1998, which is where the characters were first introduced. From there, I would recommend World Of Wakanda by Roxanne Gay from 2017 and then Wakanda Forever by Nnedie Okorafor from 2018.

And that’s your guide to the Dora Milaje, is there anything else you want to know? Leave a comment down below and I’ll do my best to answer!