This page is about the character. Click here for pages for the film, the series, and the comic.
"Because wherever there's injustice, wrongs to be righted, innocents to be defended, Black Dynamite will be there delivering ass-whoopings. And I will not hesitate to lay the hammer down on any clown that comes around. Because if they wanna fight, they best come see me, because I'm Black Dynamite."
— Black Dynamite
Black Dynamite is a black martial artist and former CIA operative turned anti-hero vigilante. He is a part-time pimp who runs a whorephanage, a combination brothel and orphanage. He is also a black revolutionary who enjoys kicking ass and taking on missions to ensure justice or sticking it to "The Man".
Description[]
Black Dynamite is often portrayed as a near (or completely) invincible, serious, angry, caring and some what short-tempered. He cares about the orphans and whores in his care, although his sometimes questionable methods of raising the orphans doesn't make him too likable to them and often talks about himself in third person.
His weapon of choice is the Smith & Wesson Model 629 Classic or nunchuks.
History[]
Black Dynamite was born to Daddy Dynamite and his mother. When he was 2 years old, his younger brother Jimmy was born. One Halloween, toddler Black Dynamite went trick-or-treating unsupervised, where he was accosted by a cross-dressing prostitute who offered to "Suck That Dick." This deeply traumatized toddler Black Dynamite, making him anxious about leaving children unsupervised on Halloween later in life.
When Black Dynamite was 8, his father left the family; the young Black Dynamite found solace in the educational show The Puppet Show and its star That Frog Kurtis. He blamed his mother for his dad's departure, believing that she had done something to drive him away, and never forgave her for it. At age ten, Black Dynamite lost a spelling bee to O.J. Simpson when he spelled the word "white" as "H-O-N-K-Y."
Two years later, his mother passed away from unspecified causes. On her deathbed, she made 12-year-old Black Dynamite promise that he would protect his brother Jimmy and keep him clean from drugs. It's unclear who took custody of Black Dynamite and Jimmy following their mother's death, but they maintained a close relationship with their Aunt Billy. Black Dynamite was mocked by classmates for being an orphan, causing him to retaliate against them with Kung Fu and throw them through a window. This traumatic experience led to him forming a special sympathy for orphans.
When he was 18, Black Dynamite found out that his younger brother Jimmy had become a drug addict. The two later drifted apart. Black Dynamite went on to attend the University of Southern California, playing for the Trojans football team alongside running back O.J. Simpson. Black Dynamite's excessively violent blocking allowed OJ to rush down the field unopposed, but Simpson was the only one who was lauded by the press.
After graduating from college, Black Dynamite was recruited by the Central Intelligence Agency, where he met agents like Dennis Flynn and George Washington Carver III. For a time, he briefly worked with the Navy SEALs to fight Fiendish Doctor Wu, destroying an underwater base full of ninjas with a rocket launcher. Black Dynamite was deployed to Vietnam to assist in the war effort, and he served in Bravo Company alongside O'Leary and Larry Tureaud, the latter of whom was assumed dead and left behind. However, Black Dynamite became increasingly disturbed and disgusted by what he saw, such as the development of the N-Bomb, and when he saw a little Vietnamese boy's legs get blown off. Eventually, on a mission in Vietnam, O'Leary and the rest of his unit left Black Dynamite for dead, but he survived and successfully escaped.
After returning to America, Black Dynamite quit the CIA, becoming a pimp and opening the Whorephanage. He got numerous whores in his employ, like Honeybee, Euphoria, and Fatback Taffy, and befriended the pimps Bullhorn and Cream Corn. He also briefly worked as a porn star, but quit and refused offers to rejoin the industry.
In 1972, Black Dynamite investigated the mysterious death of basketball star Paul "the Pole" Monroe, discovering that he was murdered by Chuck Taylor and Jack Purcell to maintain white dominance over the celebrity-sponsored athletic shoe market. He killed Taylor and Purcell, but destroyed all the stocks of Monroe's shoes, fearing what they would do to the black community if they were widely released.
Events of the Series[]
Full article: Black Dynamite (series)
Black Dynamite has numerous adventures throughout the 1970s, such as stopping a plot by That Frog Kurtis to brainwash America's children into robbing their parents, stopping Michael Jackson from taking over the Earth, defeating a Ku Klux Klan/Black Puma plot to kill interracial porn stars, helping Richard Pryor get to the Sunset Strip, travelling to the Moon for Christmas gifts, saving the Player's ball express from Leroy Van Nuys, covering up Elvis Presley's apparent death from Richard Nixon, reuniting with Larry Tureaud in Vietnam, rescuing Honeybee from Honky Kong, winning the Race War, defeating and reconciling with That Bastard Kurtis, abolishing Al Sharpton's white slavery, defeating Black Jaws, clearing his name in the murder of Rip Tayles, escaping an army of sex-crazed zombies, stopping Bill Cosby from ruining blaxploitation films, rescuing kids from a rogue Mister Rogers, saving Soul Train from going off the air, busting an orphan battle royale, and having to end his stay-cation after an informative and empowering dream.
Events of the Film[]
Full article: Black Dynamite (film)
After having sex with multiple women at once and collecting money from debtors, Black Dynamite learns of the damage the heroin epidemic is wreaking on his community and vows to end it. He also gets word from his Aunt Billy that his younger brother Jimmy was killed in a drug deal.
After reuniting with Bullhorn and Cream Corn, Black Dynamite goes about killing the drug dealer Chicago Wind, rejoining the CIA, and seducing black revolutionary Gloria Gray. He kills mob boss Vincent Rafelli and proves his ties to Congressman James. However, in doing so, he uncovers Operation Code Kansas, a scheme to shrink black men's dicks with drugged malt liquor. He kills O'Leary after discovering that he put the kill order on Jimmy, and travels to Kung Fu Island to kill Fiendish Doctor Wu. There, he finds documents that prove the conspiracy leads all the way to the top. He travels to the White House, where he beats Richard Nixon with Kung Fu and makes him promise to stop attacking the black community.
Events of the Comics[]
Full Article: Black Dynamite (comic)
After defeating Richard Nixon, Black Dynamite teamed up with Alex Haley to investigate and destroy Slave Island, a small island where antebellum-style black chattel slavery never ended.
However, with Black Dynamite's reputation growing, he gets continually challenged by villains like Willy Scorch, Craps, and Two Swole, and their battles end in widespread destruction. Haley convinces Black Dynamite that he's causing more harm than good by staying in the black community, a sentiment that many community members soundly agree with. He becomes a drifter for the next two years, wandering North America before getting targeted and apprehended by The Illuminati in Cuba. Their leader, The Man, tries to recruit him, but Black Dynamite refuses and joins the Rebel Alliance. He later saves a Tibetan monastery from an invasion of man-beasts to stop the Illuminati from furthering their plans.
Trivia[]
- Black Dynamite is fluent in Chinese, as evidenced by arguing with Fiendish Doctor Wu in Chinese. However, he has difficulty telling Asians and their languages apart, often referring to them all as "Chinese."
- According to the film's official trailer, the (fictional) 1970s actor playing Black Dynamite is Ferrante Jones, a former all-star running back for the Baltimore Colts. His football career was cut short by a neck injury, which is why Black Dynamite doesn't always turn his neck all the way in the film.
- Both the character of Black Dynamite and the fictional actor behind him were inspired by several prominent blaxploitation stars, such as Fred Williamson (That Man Bolt), Jim Brown (Slaughter), Richard Roundtree (Shaft), Jim Kelly (Enter the Dragon and Black Belt Jones), and Rudy Ray Moore (Dolemite).
- The fictional actor Ferrante Jones was also based on Williamson and Brown, both of whom are former professional football players.
Gallery[]
