What Is The 'Killmonger Cut,' The 'Swoop' That Has Become A Controversial Staple Haircut In Video Games?

If you don't know what the Killmonger Cut is by name, you likely know what it is by sight: a Black character's hair in dreadlocks, sitting only atop their head after their sides are given a fade, flopping off to one side.

It's the haircut that was prominently sported by the villain in 2018's Black Panther, played by Michael B. Jordan. It's also become a controversial haircut in recent years after a deluge of Black characters in media seemed to all begin sporting the cut at once, sometimes over their previously established hairstyles.

Why Is The Killmonger Cut So Popular?

In 2018's Black Panther, Killmonger sported a haircut that had been sported by Black people before, but not as popularly in fiction. It seems to have left a strong impact among character designers because within five years, the haircut seemed to be appearing atop Black characters' heads incredibly often.

Writing in February 2024 about the sudden saturation of the haircut in media, IGN writer Trone Dowd chalked it up to the character's undeniable coolness.

The ruthless-but-oh-so-charismatic villain of the film was perceived as both antagonist and sympathetic anti-hero thanks to the character’s undeniable swagger. He wore power armor reminiscent of Dragonball’s Vegeta, and most importantly, rocked the coolest depiction of Black hair seen on film since Wesley Snipes’ Blade trilogy: a fade, with a bundle of short dreadlocks parted to one side.

The "coolness" of Killmonger proved to be an inspiration for character designers. Del Walker told IGN in the same piece that he experienced a feeling of everyone realizing they'd chosen the same haircut for one of their Black characters all at once.

"There was such a vacuum of cool people that look like us that after working in isolation for four to five years, by the time their first trailer comes out they're realizing that everyone else chose the same cut," he said.

What Characters Have The Killmonger Cut?

Social media started noticing the saturation of the haircut in media around mid-2023. On July 31st that year, a Redditor in /r/dreadlocks noticed that four characters had all recently been revealed to sport the haircut, including Phoenix from Valorant, Ekko from League of Legends, Lor-Zod from Young Justice and Miles Morales from Marvel's Spider-man 2.

Once social media became aware that the haircut was beginning to crop up atop Black characters' heads all over media, they were on heightened alert for any future characters that got it. The tipping point appeared to be the redesign of Tekken fighter Eddy Goro, who was announced as DLC for the recent installment of the game in January of 2024. Eddy had previously sported recognizable dreads in previous installments of Tekken, but this time around, he would have the "Killmonger Cut."

Other characters with the haircut include Ekko from Arcane and Sargon from Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown.

Why Is The Haircut Controversial?

The saturation of the Killmonger Cut has been cited as evidence that media companies, while wanting to champion diversity, still have a limited conception of how to create diverse characters. IGN writes that the cut was initially viewed as a departure from stereotypical "cornrows, afros and fades," but is itself becoming a new stereotype.

A similar phenomenon happened in the late 2010s when social media noticed the Asian Hair Streak, a name given to a haircut sported by Asian characters in media that were intended to be rebellious.

In both instances, it seems designers wanted to portray minority characters as strong, but inadvertently all called on the same design choice to signal that strength. In short, the good intentions of wanting to give minorities stronger representation in media led to the creation of yet another stereotype.

For the full history of the Killmonger Cut, be sure to check out Know Your Meme's encyclopedia entry for more information.