Gods of Wakanda refer to the various deities worshiped in the African country.

The pantheon of Wakanda is called The Orisha, the word orisha means spirit or deity in the Yoruba language, it is a name used for African Gods. Yoruba is one of the official languages of Wakanda.

• Bastet, the panther goddess is a Egyptian goddess, is Patron godness of Wakanda and her leader, the Black Panther.
• Thot, the god of light and reason, is a Egyptian god.
• Ptah, the Shaper, the god of metal alloys, mainly Vibranium, is a Egyptian god.
• Kokou, the god of war, is an orisha from Benin.
• Mujaji, the godness of hunger, a inspirated inspired by the rain queens of the Balobedu people of South Africa.

Eons ago the first vampire and demon Varnae steals vibranium ore, protected by Ptah, which he intends to forge a gate that will ascend him to godhood. One of the first Wakandans, a prisoner of Varnae, manages to steal the ore and flees the temple. She is killed by Varnae, but not before calling for Khonshu's aid, who bears witness to the act and manifests his physical form to investigate. There he is met by Bast, who also saw the crimes of Varnae but warns Khonshu that this land does not fall under the Ennead's protection. Khonshu protests that Varnae's plan is blasphemous, and his acts cruel and require immediate retaliation, but eventually listens to Bast's sage wisdom to call a meeting between the Eastern Ennead and the Western Orisha.

Khonshu calls the meeting between the night gods of the surrounding realms - himself, Bast, Ghekre, Ptah, and Eshu - to forewarn them of Varnae's transgressions and his planned force of justice. Ptah, Bast and Ghekre agree to confront Varnae before the Orisha of War Kokou interrupts the meeting of gods, insisting that he too join. Together the four African deities assault The Temple of First Blasphemy, where they free the mortals and punish Varnae for his crimes. Their mistake was not destroying him entirely, and allowing his temple to be washed away in the depths of Anuket's waters...

Thousands of years ago, the land that would become Wakanda had been dominated by the Originators, made up of several distinct species: Simbi (snake-like, descended from the Elder God Set, ruins of a cult of Set were located in Wakanda), Vanyan (ape-like, descended from Ghekre), Anansi (arachnid-like, associated with spiders, has the same name as an African god associated with spiders), Creeping Doom (similar to insects), Children of Olokun (sea-creatures, Olokun is an orisha of the waters.) and Ibeji, (two-headed humanoids, they have the same name as orisha represented by a pair of twins), they coexisted with humans, until they came into conflict, humans had help from the Gods and defeated the Originators.

The mutant Ororo Monroe, ex-wife of King T'Challa but known as Storm of the X-Men has been identified Hadari Yao ("Walker of Clouds" in ancient Alkamite, language spoken in Alkama Fields, a region of Wakanda), the goddess who preserves the balance of all natural things, Storm powers are weather related and are compared to those of the orisha Oya. Storm is a descendant of Ayesha of Balobedu, a Hyborian Age sorceress inspired by the rain queen of South Africa.

After apparent abandonment of the gods, a cult of Sefako was even created created by disaffected Wakandans. Sefako was responsible for freeing the Originators.

Other minor cults in Wakanda:

White Gorilla Cult: present at the Jabari Tribe. The cult to Ghekre (from the Baoulé people of Ivory Coast). Previously, the tribe had a cult to Ngi (from the Yaoundé people of Cameroon).

Lion Cult: Dedicated to Sekhmet, Bastet's sister.

Crocodile Cult: Dedicated to another Egyptian god, Sobek.

Other gods of Wakanda are the Bast's sister K'Liluna and Magba, both of whom opposed Bast in ancient times.

Creation

The first god of Wakanda featured in the Marvel Comics was the Panther God, also referred to as the Panther-Spirit.

In The Avengers #62 (March 1969), written by Roy Thomas, arise the Man-Ape and White Gorilla Cult, a cult of the Jabari Tribe that rivals the Panther Cult.

In The Avengers #112 (June 1973), written by Steve Englehart, features the Lion God, another rival to the Panther God.

In Black Panther vol. 3 #21, written by Christopher Priest, it was revealed that the Panther God was actually the Egyptian goddess Bastet, represented as a black cat, then other authors went on to identify the fictional gods of Wakanda with gods worshiped in real life, Lion God came to be identified as Sekhmet, the lioness goddess, sister of Bastet and the Gorilla God worshiped by the Jabari Tribe as being Ghekre (from the Baoulé people of Ivory Coast).

In Black Panther vol. 5 #3 (April 2009), written by Reginald Hudlin, featured the Cult of the Crocodile, dedicated to another Egyptian god, Sobek.

In Black Panther vol. 6 #13 (June 2017), written by Ta-Nehisi Coates, it was revealed that Bastet is part of the Wakandan pantheon known as The Orisha, alongside Thot, Ptah, Kokou and Mujaji.

Marvel Comics Presents Vol 3 #2 (April 2019), written by David Lapham and Maria Lapham, it is revealed the tribe that would become the Jabari Tribe worshiped another Gorilla God, Ngi, (from the Yaoundé people of Cameroon) who was responsible for the creation of Gorilla-Man.

Other Media

In the movie Captain America: Civil War, T'Challa tells the Black Widow.

In my culture, death is not the end. It's more of a stepping-off point. You reach out with both hands, and Bast and Sekhmet, they lead you into the green veld where you can run forever."

Bast appears in the film Black Panther (2018) as having a major role, as being responsible for the emergence of Bashenga, the first Black Panther. The Indian god Hanuman is the Gorilla God of the Jabari tribe.