Wolverine (X-Men)

Wolverine (birth name: James Howlett; alias: Logan and Weapon X) is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, often in association with the X-Men. He is a mutant with animal-keen senses, enhanced physical capabilities, a powerful regenerative ability known as a healing factor, a skeleton reinforced with the unbreakable fictional metal adamantium, significantly delayed aging and a prolonged lifespan and three retractable claws in each hand. In addition to the X-Men, Wolverine has been depicted as a member of X-Force, Alpha Flight, the Fantastic Four and the Avengers. The common depiction of Wolverine is multifaceted; he is portrayed at once as a gruff loner, susceptible to animalistic "berserker rages" despite his best efforts, while simultaneously being an incredibly knowledgeable and intelligent polyglot, strategist, and martial artist, partially due to his extended lifespan and expansive lived experiences. He has been featured in comic books, films, animation, and video games.

The character first appeared in the last panel of ''The Incredible Hulk'' #180 before having a larger role in #181 (cover-dated November 1974), in the Bronze Age of Comic Books. He was created by writer Len Wein and Marvel art director John Romita Sr. Romita designed the character's costume, but the character was first drawn for publication by Herb Trimpe. Since 2017, Marvel editor-in-chief Roy Thomas has also claimed co-creator credit.

Wolverine then joined a revamped version of the superhero team the X-Men; writer Chris Claremont, artist Dave Cockrum and artist-writer John Byrne would play significant roles in the character's development. In 1979, Wolverine featured in his first solo story, published in ''Marvel Comic'' #335 (UK). His position as a standalone character further advanced when artist Frank Miller collaborated with Claremont to revise Wolverine with a four-part eponymous limited series in 1982, which debuted Wolverine's catchphrase, "I'm the best there is at what I do, but what I do best isn't very nice." The subsequent 1991 Weapon X storyline by Barry Windsor-Smith established that Wolverine had received the adamantium grafted to his skeleton in a torturous process conducted by a secret government project intended to create a super soldier, and that this experience led to post-traumatic amnesia.

Wolverine is typical of the many tough antiheroes that emerged in American popular culture after the Vietnam War; his willingness to use deadly force and his brooding loner nature became standard characteristics for comic book antiheroes by the end of the 1980s. As a result, the character became a fan favorite of the increasingly popular ''X-Men'' franchise, and has been featured in his own solo ''Wolverine'' comic book series since 1988.

Wolverine has appeared in most X-Men media adaptations, including animated television series, video games and film. In live action, Hugh Jackman portrayed the character across ten installments of the ''X-Men'' film series produced by 20th Century Fox between 2000 and 2017, and reprised the role in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) film ''Deadpool & Wolverine'' (2024). Henry Cavill portrayed an alternate version of Wolverine dubbed "Cavillrine" in ''Deadpool & Wolverine''. Troye Sivan portrayed a young version of Logan in the 2009 film '' X-Men Origins: Wolverine''.

Publication history

Creation and development

Marvel Comics editor-in-chief Roy Thomas asked writer Len Wein to devise a character specifically named Wolverine, who was a Canadian of small stature and with a wolverine's fierce temper. John Romita Sr. designed the first Wolverine costume, and believes he introduced the retractable claws, saying, "When I make a design, I want it to be practical and functional. I thought, 'If a man has claws like that, how does he scratch his nose or tie his shoelaces?'" Wolverine first appeared in the final "teaser" panel of ''The Incredible Hulk'' #180 (cover-dated October 1974), written by Wein and penciled by Herb Trimpe. The character then appeared in a number of advertisements in various Marvel Comics publications before making his first major appearance in ''The Incredible Hulk'' #181 (November 1974), again by the Wein–Trimpe team. In 2009, Trimpe said he "distinctly remembers" Romita's sketch and that, "The way I see it, omita and Weinsewed the monster together and I shocked it to life! ... It was just one of those secondary or tertiary characters, actually, that we were using in that particular book with no particular notion of it going anywhere. We did characters in ''The ncredibleHulk'' all the time that were in articularissues and that was the end of them." Though often credited as co-creator, Trimpe denied having had any role in Wolverine's creation.

The character's introduction was ambiguous, revealing little beyond his being a superhuman agent of the Canadian government. In these appearances, he does not retract his claws, although Wein stated they had always been envisioned as retractable. He appears briefly in the finale to this story in ''The Incredible Hulk'' #182.

Wolverine's next appearance was in 1975's ''Giant-Size X-Men'' #1, written by Wein and penciled by Dave Cockrum, in which Wolverine is recruited for a new squad. Gil Kane illustrated the cover artwork but incorrectly drew Wolverine's mask with larger headpieces. Dave Cockrum liked Kane's accidental alteration (he thought the original was too similar to Batman's mask) and incorporated it into his own artwork for the actual story. Cockrum was also the first artist to draw Wolverine without his mask, and the distinctive hairstyle became a trademark of the character.

Chris Claremont took the name Logan from Canada's Mount Logan, stating that "the idea was the tallest mountain being the name of the shortest character".

Wolverine's first intended origin

Despite suggestions that co-creator Len Wein originally intended for Logan to be a mutated wolverine cub, evolved to humanoid form by an already established Marvel geneticist, the High Evolutionary, Wein denies this:

Wein said on the ''X-Men Origins: Wolverine'' Blu-ray special features that he has read "Ten things you did not know about Wolverine", which says the character was originally intended to be a mutated wolverine cub, and that this rekindled Wein's frustration. He again stated that he had "always known that Wolverine was a mutant."

In an article about the evolution of Wolverine included in a 1986 reprint of ''The Incredible Hulk'' #180–181, titled ''Incredible Hulk and Wolverine'', Cockrum said he considered having the High Evolutionary play a vital role in making Wolverine a human. Writer Wein wanted Wolverine to be the age of a young adult, with superhuman strength and agility similar to Spider-Man. This changed when Wein saw Cockrum's drawing of the unmasked Wolverine as a hairy 40-year-old. Wein originally intended the claws to be retractable and part of Wolverine's gloves, and both gloves and claws would be made of adamantium. Chris Claremont eventually revealed that they were an integrated part of Wolverine's anatomy in ''X-Men'' #98 (April 1976). Writer Jeph Loeb used a similar origin for Wolverine in the Marvel continuity, having feral mutants be an evolved lifeform.

Wolverine's second intended origin

John Byrne said, both in interviews and on his website, that he drew a possible face for Wolverine, but then learned that Dave Cockrum had already drawn him unmasked in ''X-Men'' #98 (April 1976), long before Byrne's run on the series. Later, Byrne used the drawing for the face of Sabretooth, an enemy of the martial artist superhero Iron Fist, whose stories Chris Claremont was writing. Byrne then conceived of the idea of Sabretooth being Wolverine's father. Together, Byrne and Claremont came up with Wolverine being about 60 years old and having served in World War II after escaping from Sabretooth, who was about 120 years old.

Chris Claremont era: 1970s and 1980s

A revival of ''X-Men'' followed ''Giant-Size X-Men'', beginning with ''X-Men'' #94 (August 1975), drawn by Cockrum and written by Chris Claremont. In ''X-Men'' and ''Uncanny X-Men'', Wolverine is initially overshadowed by the other characters, although he does create tension in the team as he is attracted to Cyclops' girlfriend, Jean Grey. As the series progressed, Claremont and Cockrum (who preferred Nightcrawler)''X-Men Companion'' considered dropping Wolverine from the series; Cockrum's successor, artist John Byrne, championed the character, later explaining, as a Canadian himself, he did not want to see a Canadian character dropped. Byrne modeled his rendition of Wolverine on actor Paul D'Amato, who played Dr. Hook in the 1977 sports film ''Slap Shot''. Byrne also created Alpha Flight, a group of Canadian superheroes who try to recapture Wolverine due to the expense their government incurred training him. Later stories gradually establish Wolverine's murky past and unstable nature, which he battles to keep in check. Byrne also designed a new brown-and-tan costume for Wolverine, but retained the distinctive Cockrum cowl. Cockrum had introduced a new costume for Wolverine (taken from his adversary Fang) in the final issue of his run, but it was dropped one issue into Byrne's run because he and Cockrum alike found it painfully difficult to draw. ''X-Men'' #100 introduces the fastball special, a combat maneuver in which the super-strong Colossus throws Wolverine at a distance as if he were a projectile weapon. This tactic recurs in many future battles.

In 1979, Wolverine featured in his first solo story, "At the Sign of a Lion", published in ''Marvel Comic'' #335 (UK). Written by Mary Jo Duffy, with pencils by Ken Landgraf and inks by George Pérez—marking Pérez's debut as an inker—the story centers on Wolverine as the protagonist. The narrative unfolds in a bar, where Wolverine, sitting alone, becomes embroiled in a fight with Hercules after the latter attempts to intimidate him. This story is notable for being Wolverine's first appearance as a standalone character, separate from the X-Men.

Following Byrne's departure, Wolverine remained as a prominent character in ''X-Men'', which later changed its name to ''Uncanny X-Men''. Cockrum returned for a longer, monthly run and afterwards Paul Smith, John Romita Jr., Marc Silvestri and Jim Lee were frequent artists on this series. He remained a significant protagonist in this series until Chris Claremont left the title to write the new '' X-Men (vol. 2)'' and Wolverine transitioned to this new series.

The character's growing popularity led to a solo, four-issue series, ''Wolverine'' (September–December 1982), by Claremont and Frank Miller. Elliott Serrano, a comic writer and commentator, argues that this series was particularly significant in establishing the character's popularity: "Before Claremont and Miller created the Wolverine series, Logan wasn't a key figure, but the creation of this series is when Wolverine became Marvel's Batman."

In this period, Wolverine's appearance and characterization were particularly influenced by the film roles of Clint Eastwood, particularly the Revisionist Western antihero films featuring the Man with No Name. Dialogue and scenes also present a direct homage to Eastwood's neo-noir detective film ''Dirty Harry''. This inspiration continued to be significant throughout the development of the character and his adaptations.

The mini-series was followed by the six-issue '' Kitty Pryde and Wolverine'' by Claremont and Al Milgrom (Nov. 1984 – April 1985). Marvel launched an ongoing solo book written by Claremont with art by John Buscema in November 1988. It ran for 189 issues. In 1989, Wolverine also featured in a crossover graphic novel with Nick Fury, written by Archie Goodwin with art by Howard Chaykin. He appeared in a second self-contained story taking place in the Savage Land written by Walter Simonson and illustrated by Mike Mignola the following year.

1990s

Larry Hama took over the ongoing series and had a seven-year run, from 1990 to 1997. In the first years of the 1990s, the series was usually illustrated by Marc Silvestri. Following Silvestri's departure in 1992, the series was often illustrated by Mark Texeira. Hama's run included a storyline inspired by Ernest Hemingway's ''For Whom the Bell Tolls''. The series was bimonthly from July 1991 to September 1992. Hama also introduced "Albert," a cyborg copy of Wolverine, and often featured Jubilee as Wolverine's sidekick. Hama also frequently delved into Wolverine's mysterious past in the Weapon X program, which was often highly convoluted and unreliable because of the false memories implanted by the program's designers. In 1992, Hama revisited the Japanese setting and characters of Claremont's and Miller's earlier limited series, ending the story with the poisoning of Mariko Yashida and her mercy killing at the hands of Wolverine. Hama credited the influence of Yakuza films as well as Ridley Scott's '' Black Rain''. Himself a Japanese American, Hama argued that his depiction was somewhat more authentic than previous American superhero stories told in Japan.

In 1991, Wolverine also appeared in a one-shot story written by Howard Mackie and penciled by John Romita Jr., co-starring with Punisher and Ghost Rider. John Romita Jr. acknowledged primarily commercial motivations, because, as he said at the time, these three "are the top characters, right now."

During this period, Wolverine also regularly appeared in cover stories for the anthology series ''Marvel Comics Presents''. Among these stories was "Weapon X", by writer-artist Barry Windsor-Smith, serialized in ''Marvel Comics Presents'' #72–84 (1991), which was an essential depiction of Wolverine's past and the event of adamantium grafted to his skeleton. Subsequent stories in this publication were often illustrated by Sam Kieth and had a more psychedelic aesthetic and storytelling style.

In 1993, the ''Wolverine'' ongoing series was often drawn by Dwayne Turner, Archie Goodwin, Erik Larsen, Frank Tieri, Greg Rucka, Mark Millar, and Gregg Hurwitz. Many artists have also worked on the series, including John Byrne, Gene Colan, Marc Silvestri, Mark Texeira, Adam Kubert, Leinil Francis Yu, Rob Liefeld, Sean Chen, Darick Robertson, John Romita Jr., Joe Madureira, and Humberto Ramos.

In the early 1990s, Wolverine featured as a prominent character in ''X-Men'' vol. 2, initially written by Chris Claremont and illustrated by Jim Lee. The first issue of this comic book series is the highest selling comic book in history. Following the departure of Claremont and Lee, Scott Lobdell and Fabian Nicieza usually wrote the title while Andy Kubert illustrated it.

In 1993, Wolverine's adamantium is ripped out by Magneto in ''X-Men'' (Vol 2) #25. Writers were inspired by a passing joke of Peter David's. It is revealed that Wolverine has natural bone claws, in contrast to previously established narrative continuity that his claws were entirely bionic. Wolverine himself is confused by this realization, and his healing factor is also greatly weakened by recovery from this extraordinary injury. He leaves the X-Men temporarily as a result. In 1994, the ''Wolverine'' ongoing series was usually drawn by Adam Kubert, the brother of the artist for ''X-Men''.

In 1995, all of the X-Men related comic books were temporarily replaced by a storyline in an alternate reality, named Age of Apocalypse. The Wolverine series was replaced by a series called ''Weapon X'' (not to be confused with the origin story published in 1991), in which Logan is generally referred to by this code name rather than as Wolverine.''X-Men Chronicles'' #1 (1995) In this reality, Logan still has his adamantium, and Magneto, now the leader of the X-Men, helps him to control his feral rages. Weapon X is also missing a hand. He and Jean Grey are lovers in this reality.''Weapon X'' #1-4 The series lasted four issues, before concluding and the return to the original name and numbering of the ''Wolverine'' series.

Following the return to the original timeline, a follower of Apocalypse captures Wolverine and attempts to bond adamantium to his skeleton a second time, with the goal of making him one of Apocalypse's warriors. However, Wolverine's healing factor and willpower reject the process; the ensuing stress leads him to regress into a bestial state. Stick, the former mentor of Daredevil, sends Elektra to re-train Wolverine, and heal his psyche. For a few issues, Wolverine remains in a bestial state in which he is less articulate and shrewd. In this period, Val Semeiks is usually the penciller.

2000s

Sales for X-Men comics declined somewhat at the turn of the 21st century, and Grant Morrison was hired to revive interest in the characters, including Wolverine, by means of the more experimental '' New X-Men''. Frank Quitely and Chris Bachalo drew many of these issues, as well as a returning Mark Silvestri. Subsequently, he featured in the ''Astonishing X-Men'' series initially written by Joss Whedon and illustrated by John Cassaday.

When the Ultimate Marvel imprint was created with reimagined versions of Marvel's characters, an alternate Wolverine appeared in 2001 with the Ultimate X-Men. The series was initially written by Mark Millar, who went on to write a number of other influential stories about Wolverine, in both mainstream continuity and alternate versions. This version of the character is significantly more aggressive and amoral.

Another publication expanded upon the character's past: ''Origin'', a six-issue limited series by co-writers Joe Quesada, Paul Jenkins, and Bill Jemas and artist Andy Kubert (Nov. 2001 – July 2002). This story first provided Wolverine's birth name (James Howlett) and fleshed out many details of his childhood and adolescence that were previously mysterious. Tom DeSanto, a writer and producer for the ''X-Men'' film franchise, indicates that Marvel felt the necessity to provide a definitive origin for Wolverine because of his success as a film character and concern that the films would begin to answer these questions if the comic books did not do so first. In 2004, Jenkins, who scripted ''Origin'', wrote ''Wolverine: The End'' as a bookend to the story. The story portrays the old age of a possible future Wolverine, resolving ideas and character arcs from the origin story. Other writers subsequently present other possible futures for Wolverine.

In 2003, Wolverine appeared in '' Wolverine: Snikt!'' by Tsutomu Nihei, which is an apocalyptic manga interpretation of the character.

Following Larry Hama's exit from the ''Wolverine'' solo title, Mark Millar became a particularly influential writer for the character. In 2004, Millar wrote the "Enemy of the State" storyline in ''Wolverine'' vol. 3, in which Wolverine is brainwashed by the ninja secret society the Hand. Before returning to consciousness, he kills numerous innocent people. As in his previous bestial state, Elektra helps him to recovery humanity, although the earlier storyline is not referenced. In 2008, Millar and artist Steve McNiven explored a possible future for Wolverine in an eight-issue story arc entitled "Old Man Logan" that debuted with ''Wolverine'' #66.

In 2005, at the conclusion of the ''House of M'' storyline, Wolverine regains the memories he had lost or repressed. The following year, a second solo series, ''Wolverine: Origins'', written by Daniel Way with art by Steve Dillon, ran concurrently with the second ''Wolverine'' solo series. In the series, Wolverine delves into the ramifications of his newly remembered past. The series introduces Akihiro (Marvel Comics), Daken, Wolverine's son, in issue #11 (April 2007). In the "Decimation (comics), Decimation" storyline, 90% of mutants lose their powers. Wolverine is among the List of the 198, 198 mutants who retain their powers."House of M" (2005) Marvel Comics

In 2007, Jason Aaron became a prominent writer for the character. In his tenure, he wrote issues for the ongoing series as well as a new miniseries titled ''Wolverine: Manifest Destiny'' and an ongoing series titled ''Wolverine: Weapon X''. Aaron's story arcs include more hallucinatory narratives, including an homage to ''One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (novel), One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest'', along with more conventional adventure stories. In Aaron's tenure, Wolverine begins a relationship with a non-superpowered woman, a reporter named Melita Garner.

In ''Uncanny X-Men'' #493 (February 2008), part of the ''X-Men: Messiah Complex, Messiah Complex'' storyline, Cyclops (Marvel Comics), Cyclops asks Wolverine to re-form and lead X-Force. This new, more militaristic sub-team of the X-Men initially includes X-23 (Wolverine's daughter), Warpath (comics), Warpath, Hepzibah (comics), Hepzibah, Caliban (Marvel Comics), Caliban, and Wolfsbane (character), Wolfsbane. The new team featured in its own ongoing series, written by Craig Kyle and Christopher Yost, from 2008 to 2010.

2010s

In the 2010s, Wolverine continues to lead X-Force. In the ''X-Force: Sex and Violence'' miniseries, written by Craig Kyle and Christopher Yost and illustrated by Gabriele Dell'Otto, he begins a romantic relationship with Domino (character), Domino. The series was revamped as ''Uncanny X-Force'', also in 2010, written by Rick Remender. This version of the team retained Wolverine as leader, and included Psylocke, Warren Worthington III, Fantomex, and Deadpool.

Jason Aaron continued writing Wolverine stories prolifically in this decade. In addition to multiple solo stories, Aaron wrote ''Wolverine and the X-Men (comics), Wolverine and the X-Men'', in which Wolverine becomes the headmaster of the Jean Grey School for Higher Learning and must mentor a younger generation of mutants as well as leading one of the X-Men teams. He also wrote ''Wolverine: Japan's Most Wanted'' in 2013.

Wolverine also joins the Avengers. He appears as a regular character throughout both the 2010–2013 ''Avengers'' series and the 2010–2013 ''The New Avengers (comics), New Avengers'' series. In the ''Avengers vs. X-Men'' storyline of 2012, Wolverine sides with the Avengers against his previous team. He describes his place in the group as "the lone killer on a team full a' heroes."''Savage Wolverine vol. 2: Hands on a Dead Body'', Marvel, 2014.

In 2013, he also appeared in ''Savage Wolverine'' first written by Frank Cho. This is an adventure story in the Savage Land co-starring Shanna the She-Devil. The second story arc, written by Zeb Wells, features another encounter with Elektra.

In 2014, Charles Soule wrote the ''Death of Wolverine'' storyline. In this story, Wolverine contracts a virus that disables his healing factor, allowing his enemies to finally kill him. He is eventually resurrected.

2019 begins a new era for the X-Men. Beginning in House of X and Powers of X, by Jonathan Hickman, the mutants found a new nation on the living island of Krakoa, where they are capable of regularly resurrecting mutants after their death. Wolverine reconciles with Cyclops and abandons their long-standing rivalry. Wolverine leads a new version of X-Force in a series written by Benjamin Percy, which now includes Domino, Beast (Marvel Comics), Beast, Black Tom Cassidy, Jean Grey, Quentin Quire, and Sage (Marvel Comics), Sage.

In 2019, Wolverine also features as part of the Savage Avengers, along with Punisher, Elektra, Venom (character), Venom, Brother Voodoo, and Conan the Barbarian.

2020s

Wolverine continued to appear in a number of series in this decade, both as a solo character and as part of multiple teams. As the Krakoa era continued for all of the X-Men characters, Benjamin Percy wrote a new ''Wolverine'' ongoing series beginning in 2020, along with his leadership role in the ''X-Force'' series.

Wolverine also featured in a new version of the Midnight Sons in a series that began in 2022.

Fictional character biography

Early life and backstory

Wolverine was born as James Howlett in northern Alberta, Canada (approximately near Cold Lake, Alberta, Cold Lake), during the late 19th century, purportedly to rich farm owners John and Elizabeth Howlett, though he is actually the illegitimate son of the Howletts' groundskeeper, Thomas Logan. After Thomas is thrown off the Howletts' property for an attempted rape perpetrated by his other son, named simply Dog Logan, Dog, he returns to the Howlett manor and kills John Howlett. In retaliation, young James kills Thomas with bone claws that emerge from the back of his hands, as his mutation manifests. He flees with his childhood companion, Rose, and grows into manhood on a mining colony in the Yukon, adopting the name "Logan". When Logan accidentally kills Rose with his claws, he flees the colony and lives in the wilderness among wolves, until he is captured and placed in a circus. Saul Creed, brother of Sabretooth (character), Victor Creed, frees Logan, but after he betrays Logan and Clara Creed to Mister Sinister, Nathaniel Essex, Logan drowns Creed in Essex's potion. Logan returns to civilization, residing with the Blackfoot people. Following the death of his Blackfoot lover, Silver Fox (comics), Silver Fox, at the hands of Victor Creed, now known as Sabretooth, he is ushered into the Canadian military during World War I.

During World War II, Logan teams up with Captain America and continues a career as a mercenary. He serves with the 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion during Normandy Landings, D-Day, and later with the Central Intelligence Agency, CIA before being recruited by Team X (comics), Team X, a black ops unit. Sometime after WWII and before joining Team X, Logan spends time in Madripoor before settling in Japan, where he marries Akihiro (Marvel Comics)#Introduction and meeting his father: Wolverine: Origins (2007-2009), Itsu. While Logan is away from home, Romulus (comics), Romulus sends the Bucky Barnes, Winter Soldier to kill the pregnant Itsu and has her baby taken from her womb; the boy would later become Akihiro (Marvel Comics), Daken. Logan believes his son to be dead for many years.

As a member of Team X (comics), Team X, Logan is given false memory implants. Eventually breaking free of this mental control, he joins the Canadian Defense Ministry. Logan is subsequently kidnapped by the Weapon X program, where he remains captive and experimented on, until he escapes. It is during his imprisonment by Weapon X#Original installment, Weapon X that he has adamantium forcibly fused onto his bones. Guardian (Marvel Comics), James and Vindicator (comics), Heather Hudson help him recover his humanity following his escape, and Logan begins work as an intelligence operative for the Canadian government's Department H.

1970s

He becomes Wolverine, one of Canada's first superheroes. In his first mission, he is dispatched to stop the destruction caused by a brawl between the Hulk and the Wendigo (comics), Wendigo. After the Canadian government fails to capture Hulk, Wolverine is forced to team-up with Living Diamond to infiltrate Brand Corporation, where they are briefly caught by Mesmero and a mysterious masked mutant named Wildlife. Wildlife is actually an amnesiac Beast (Marvel Comics), Beast, an X-Men member. Former Secret Empire (organization), Secret Empire agent Linda Donaldson recovers Beast's memories. Wolverine then kills Living Diamond for killing both Beast and Linda. Before taking Mesmero away, as Wolverine's old mask was heavily damaged, Wolverine takes Beast's Wildlife mask, which then becomes the iconic mask he uses through years.

Later, Professor X, Professor Charles Xavier recruits Wolverine to a new iteration of his superhero-mutant team, the X-Men, along with Banshee (character), Banshee, Storm (Marvel Comics), Storm, Nightcrawler, and Colossus (character), Colossus. He competes with Cyclops (Marvel Comics), Cyclops for the affection of Jean Grey. It was later revealed that Wolverine had been sent to assassinate Xavier, who wiped Logan's memories and forced him to join the X-Men.

1980s

In The Dark Phoenix Saga, Jean Grey apparently sacrifices herself after transforming into the Phoenix Force (comics), Phoenix Force, thereby temporarily ending the love triangle among herself, Wolverine, and Cyclops. While his teammates often distrust him, Wolverine is invaluable in rescuing the others and defeating their enemies, particularly in their conflict with the Hellfire Club (comics), Hellfire Club.

In this decade his new X-Men teammates included Longshot (Marvel Comics), Longshot, Dazzler (Marvel Comics), Dazzler, and Rogue (Marvel Comics), Rogue. He becomes engaged to Mariko Yashida and battles The Hand (comics), The Hand. However, the engagement is broken because of the intervention of a member of the Hellfire Club. He becomes a close defender and mentor for Kitty Pryde. He battles Sabretooth during the Mutant Massacre story line, though he later discovers that he had many previous interactions with Sabretooth that his traumatic amnesia concealed. Separate from the X-Men, he has adventures in Madripoor disguised as his alter ego "Patch."

1990s

He is a mentor for Jubilee (Marvel Comics), Jubilee. When the X-Men split into two different subgroups, he participates in the "Blue Team" along with Cyclops, Rogue, Beast (Marvel Comics), Beast, Gambit (Marvel Comics), Gambit, and Psylocke. Jean Grey had been resurrected by this point, leading to resumption of his rivalry with Cyclops.

He also discovers some aspects of the trauma and brainwashing he received from the Weapon X program, although his memories remain unreliable. He meets Maverick (Marvel Comics), Maverick, another former participant in the Weapon X project, and discovers that he had previously worked together with Sabretooth in a covert team subsequent to the project.

In ''X-Men'' #25 (1993), at the culmination of the "Fatal Attractions (comics), Fatal Attractions" storyline, the supervillain Magneto forcibly removes the adamantium from Wolverine's skeleton. This massive trauma causes his healing factor to burn out and also leads to the discovery that his claws are actually bone. Wolverine leaves the X-Men for a time, embarking on a series of adventures during which his healing factor returns. Feral by nature, Wolverine's mutation process will eventually cause him to degenerate physically into a more primitive, bestial state. Elektra helps him to recover his humanity.

After his return to the X-Men, Cable (comics), Cable's son Genesis (Marvel Comics), Genesis kidnaps Wolverine and attempts to re-bond adamantium to his skeleton. This is unsuccessful and causes Wolverine's mutation to accelerate out of control. He is temporarily changed into a semi-sentient beast-like form. Eventually, the villain Apocalypse (comics), Apocalypse captures Wolverine, brainwashes him into becoming the Horsemen of Apocalypse, Horseman Death, and successfully re-bonds adamantium to his skeleton. Wolverine overcomes Apocalypse's programming and returns to the X-Men.

2000s

Jean Grey becomes again possessed by the Phoenix Force, and Wolverine has no other choice but to kill her with his claws.

Wolverine learns about the existence of X-23. He initially believes her to be a clone, raised to be a perfect assassin.''X-23: Target X'' #6 X-23 later goes by the name Laura. She is eventually enrolled at the X-Mansion, Xavier Institute, with her true origin being kept secret as Logan's way of protecting her. Despite being introduced as Wolverine's "sister", she quickly accepts Wolverine as a father figure. She eventually learns that he is actually her biological father.

In the ''Enemy of the State'' story line, Wolverine is brainwashed by the Hand (comics), Hand. He battles Elektra, S.H.I.E.L.D., and the Fantastic Four. He also attacks the X-Mansion and kills Northstar (Marvel Comics), Northstar. Wolverine is captured by S.H.I.E.L.D. and submitted to VR reprogramming. He turns against the Hand.

In the ''House of M'' story line, Scarlet Witch drastically transforms reality. As a consequence, Wolverine is able to recall memories of his previous life, overcoming his previous traumatic amnesia.

In ''Wolverine: Origins'', the character's second solo series, Wolverine discovers that he has a son named Akihiro (Marvel Comics), Daken, who has been brainwashed and made a living weapon. Wolverine then makes it his mission to rescue Daken.

During the events of the "X-Men: Messiah Complex, Messiah Complex" storyline, Cyclops orders Wolverine to reform X-Force. Wolverine and the team (initially consisting of X-23, Warpath (comics), Warpath, and Wolfsbane (character), Wolfsbane) starred in a new monthly title. In the "Messiah War", Cyclops ends the X-Force program, but Wolverine continues a new Uncanny X-Force team in secrecy with Angel/Archangel, Psylocke, Deadpool and Fantomex.

Wolverine splits with Cyclops and opens a new school in Westchester County, New York, Westchester, New York, the "Wolverine and the X-Men (comics), Jean Grey School for Higher Learning". Around half of all the mutants on Utopia accompany Wolverine to Westchester to be a part of the new school. He appoints himself as the headmaster, Kitty Pryde as the co-headmistress, Beast (comics), Hank McCoy as the vice-principal, and various other characters are appointed as the school's staff.

2010s

In ''Avengers vs. X-Men'' the Phoenix Force returns to Earth and this produces conflict between the X-Men and the Avengers, and Wolverine takes the side of the Avengers. Cyclops becomes possessed by the Phoenix Force and kills Professor X. In ''Uncanny Avengers'' Wolverine gives a eulogy at the funeral of Professor X, in which he admits that he wanted to kill Cyclops. He becomes a member of the Avengers Unity Squad, a team created by Captain America in which X-Men and Avengers work together.

In the "Death of Wolverine" story line, a virus turns off Wolverine's healing factor. Wolverine determines that Abraham Cornelius, Doctor Abraham Cornelius, the founder of the Weapon X program, has placed a bounty on his head. Wolverine gets covered in adamantium after confronting him, and dies from suffocation. Wanting to possess Logan, Ogun (comics), Ogun finds his dead body.

The aftermath of Wolverine's death is explored in the series ''Wolverines''. The "Wolverines" (a team formed from the fallout of his death by Daken, Lady Deathstrike, Mystique, Sabretooth, and X-23) try to find Logan's adamantium-covered body, which is taken by Mister Sinister.

X-23 begins wearing a X-23#All-New Wolverine, variation of Wolverine's costume and adopts his codename.

In ''Marvel Legacy'' #1, the time-displaced Jean Grey discovers the adamantium shell in Wolverine's grave has been cracked open and is empty. The X-Men set up Wolverine's 'public' grave in the cabin and were able to get his body out of the adamantium shell by having Kitty phase his corpse out of it, subsequently burying him in a secret location in Canada while leaving the shell as a site for others to attend in memorial of him. The shell is cracked when the Reavers attempt to steal Wolverine's corpse and shortly after that attack, Kitty visits the 'real' grave and realizes that it is empty. Kitty contacts Daredevil and Tony Stark for help finding who took Wolverine, but all are left concerned at the questions of who would even know the location of the true grave- which was known only by a few key X-Men- and whether Wolverine was stolen or 'woke up' on his own as the X-Men also began their investigation, leaving the time-displaced Jean Grey alone in the cabin. At the same time, some of Wolverine's worst enemies hear what happened and join the hunt.

The ''Return of Wolverine'' miniseries focusing on Wolverine's resurrection opens with Wolverine having been brought back to life in an amnesic state by an unidentified force. He eventually realizes that he was brought back to life by Persephone.

Wolverine joins the X-Men to attack Orchis (comics), Orchis's Mother Mold solar orbiting space station. As Wolverine and Nightcrawler volunteer for a suicide mission to teleport into the vacuum of space. The two longtime friends then say their goodbyes to each other, with Nightcrawler assuring Wolverine that he will be welcomed into heaven. As Nightcrawler is disintegrated, Wolverine's body immediately ignites into flames and he and the Mother Mold are vaporized as they fall into the Sun.
Wolverine, along with the rest of the X-Men who perished in the attack on the Mother Mold space station, are then resurrected in the Arbor Magus' hatchery on the Pacific island of Krakoa using a new 48 hour cloning process. In this era, the X-Men have learned how to resurrect any mutant who has died. Forge (comics), Forge, using Krakoan-Phalanx (comics), Transmode cybernetics inside the island's arsenal, armory, provided the Adamantium and the skeletal bonding process.

2020s

Wolverine has been resurrected and equipped with an Adamantium skeleton no less than 10 times, having died in battle against Orchis's Nimrod at least 9 times, and has grudgingly allowed for one of his clones to be created without Cerebro's memory upload and to be genetically modified with phosphorescent blood to be fed upon by Dracula and his vampires.

During the "Hellfire Gala" storyline, Wolverine decides to spend time with his biological daughter Laura Kinney/X-23, and her clone Gabby/Scout, his biological son Daken, and also Kate Pryde and Jubilee. On the evening of the party, Wolverine and several members of X-Force (comics), X-Force are assigned positions as security. He and Domino (comics), Domino then suddenly find themselves in a fight against Deadpool, who attempts to Gate crashing, gatecrash the party. Meanwhile, Beast's telefloronic programming on the Terra Verdan ambassador is hacked and starts attacking the party.''Wolverine'' (vol. 7) #13–14. Marvel Comics.

In the ''X Lives of Wolverine and X Deaths of Wolverine'' story event, Wolverine travels in time to save the life of an important figure to the mutant race. In the midst of his travels, Wolverine will relive certain moments from his own long-forgotten past as well. Upon revisiting the past, is revealed that Wolverine was present during the birth of Charles Xavier and indirectly Cassandra Nova, having saved his family from an invading Omega Red, when the Russian mutant possessed some of Xavier family's butlers and nurse.

During the ''Judgment Day (Marvel Comics), Judgment Day'' storyline, Wolverine is with the Quiet Council when Jack of Knives leads the attack on Krakoa. After killing some opponents, Wolverine finds Egg badly wounded and takes an attack from Jack of Knives as he tells Jean Grey to have the Five protected. After the opponents retreat, Wolverine learns from Nightcrawler what Uranos the Undying did on Arrako.

Personality and themes

Animal and human nature

Chris Claremont indicates that one of the main themes of Wolverine's character is his struggle to maintain his humanity and to reconcile it with his wild, animal nature."The Mutant Report" vol. 3, ''Marvel Age'' 67, Oct. 1988, collected in ''Wolverine: Madripoor Nights'', 2022. This theme recurs through Wolverine stories, such as in the period in which he temporarily regresses into a bestial state. Claremont compared Wolverine to Hulk, because of his tendency to lapse into a "berserker rage" while in close combat. In this state, he lashes out with the intensity and aggression of an enraged animal and is even more resistant to psionic attack.''Wolverine'' vol. 2, #168 (Nov. 2001). Marvel Comics. Though he loathes it, he acknowledges that it has saved his life many times, it being most notably useful when he faced the telepathic "Mister X (Marvel Comics), Mister X", as X's ability to read his mind and predict his next move in a fight was useless as not even Wolverine knows what he will do next in his berserk state.

Military experience and samurai aspiration

Chris Claremont says that he drew some of his characterization of Wolverine from Conan the Barbarian, declaring that "Wolverine in his essence is a lot closer to Conan than any other Marvel hero we have." Like Conan, Wolverine is a perennial warrior. Various stories depict Wolverine's experiences in various historical and fictional wars (such as World War I, the Spanish Civil War, World War II, the Vietnam War, and various Cold War conflicts), as well as attempts to train him or brainwash him into a weapon to be controlled by larger institutions or entities. Despite his apparent ease at taking lives, he mournfully regrets and does not enjoy killing or giving in to his berserker rages. Logan adheres to a firm Bushido, code of personal honor and morality, and he generally only responds in a violent or deadly manner to enemies attacking him with deadly force. He often tries to restrict killing to a "last resort," though he will often respond to deadly force with deadly force.

Mental health struggles and psychological profile

Wolverine is frequently depicted as a gruff loner, often taking leave from the X-Men to deal with personal issues or problems. He is often irreverent and rebellious towards authority figures, though he is a reliable ally and capable leader, and has occasionally displayed a wry, sarcastic sense of humor. J. Andrew Deman points out that while Wolverine is commonly associated with hypermasculinity, at least in Claremont's characterization he also "consistently demonstrates an emotional intelligence and sense of empathy," to an extraordinary degree.

Psychologist Suzana E. Flores writes that Wolverine demonstrates clinical psychological symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, bipolar disorder, antisocial personality disorder, dissociative disorder, and even sociopathy, but does so in a way that can be understood and empathized. She interprets his origin story as a depiction of complex childhood trauma, and its effects of dissociative amnesia and hypervigilance.

Larry Yarbrough, a clinical psychologist and Navy veteran, says that some of Wolverine's personality traits are typical of combat veterans: "The violent/kind demeanor of vets who witnessed war is paradoxical. Logan has an extremely reactive temper, but he's also a kind person. The violent mood swings are a symptom of trauma, not a reflection of his character."

Yarbrough also observes Wolverine's habitual smoking and drinking, as coping mechanisms for this experience of trauma. In addition, Wolverine practices zazen sitting meditation to maintain self-control and restore mental health.

Canadian identity

Wolverine is the best known Canada, Canadian superhero. In civilian clothes, he usually dresses in Western wear characteristic of Saskatchewan and Alberta (one of the early Wolverine artists, John Byrne, was raised in the latter of these provinces). Vivian Zenari has written about Wolverine's Canadian patriotism: "Wolverine must have national pride, almost out of structural necessity, in order to justify the Canadianness that coalesces around him." His primary connection to Canada is his affinity for the wild outdoors. One of Wolverine's nicknames is "Ol' Canucklehead," a variation on a slang term for Canadians.

Powers and abilities

Wolverine is a mutant with a number of both natural and artificial improvements to his physiology.

Healing and defensive powers

Wolverine's primary mutant power is an accelerated healing process, typically referred to as his mutant Healing, healing factor, that regenerates damaged or destroyed tissues of his body far beyond that of normal humans. In addition to accelerated healing of physical traumas, Wolverine's healing factor makes him extraordinarily resistant to diseases, drugs and toxins. However, he can still suffer the immediate effects of such substances in massive quantities; he has been seen to become intoxicated after ingesting significant amounts of alcohol, and has been incapacitated on several occasions with large amounts of powerful drugs and poisons; S.H.I.E.L.D. once managed to keep Wolverine anesthetized by constantly pumping eighty milliliters of anesthetic a minute into his system.

His healing factor allowed him to survive the experimental surgical binding of the virtually indestructible metal adamantium to his bones and claws, to which he was subjected under the Weapon X program (in later comics called the Weapon Plus program). While the adamantium in his body prevents or reduces many injuries, such as broken bones and decapitation, his healing factor must also work constantly to prevent metal poisoning from killing him. When his healing powers were rendered inactive, Beast (Marvel Comics), Beast synthesized a drug to counteract the adamantium poisoning.

Wolverine's healing factor also dramatically affects his aging process, allowing him to live far beyond the normal lifespan of normal humans. Despite being born in the late 19th century, he has the appearance, conditioning, health and vitality of a man in his physical prime. While seemingly ageless, it is unknown exactly how greatly his healing factor extends his life expectancy.

Although Wolverine's body heals, the healing factor does not suppress the pain he endures while injured. Wolverine also admits to feeling phantom pains for weeks or months after healing from his injuries. He does not enjoy being hurt and sometimes has to work himself up for situations where extreme pain is certain. Wolverine, on occasion, has deliberately injured himself or allowed himself to be injured for varying reasons, including freeing himself from capture, intimidation, strategy, or simply indulging his feral nature. Though he now has all of his memories, his healing abilities can provide increased recovery from psychological trauma by suppressing memories in which he experiences profound distress.

Depictions of the speed and extent of injury to which Wolverine can heal vary due to a broad degree of artistic license employed by various comic book writers. Originally, this was portrayed as accelerated healing of minor wounds, though Chris Claremont, head writer of the X-Men comics from the mid-1970s to the early 1990s increased Wolverine's healing factor substantially, though not nearly as much as later writers would. During the 1980s, Wolverine's mutant healing factor is depicted as being able to heal massive levels of trauma, though his recovery time could extend to days, weeks or months before fully healing; often depending upon the severity of the injuries, their extent and the frequency with which they are inflicted.''Wolverine'' #2 (Oct. 1982). Marvel Comics. Wolverine has also stated that his body actually heals faster when the injury is grave or life-threatening. During the 1990s through the modern era, other writers have increased Wolverine's healing factor to the point that it could fully regenerate nearly any damaged or destroyed bodily tissues within seconds. Among the more extreme depictions of Wolverine's healing factor include fully healing after being caught near the center of an atomic explosion and the total regeneration of his soft body tissue, within a matter of minutes, after having it incinerated from his skeleton. An explanation is given in a recent mini-series starring Wolverine for the increase of his healing powers. In the series, Wolverine is referred to as an "adaptive self-healer" after undergoing numerous traumatic injuries to test the efficiency of his healing factor. Wolverine has endured so much trauma, and so frequently, that his healing factor has adapted, becoming faster and more efficient to cope with increasing levels of trauma. The Xavier Protocols, a series of profiles created by Xavier that lists the strengths and weaknesses of the X-Men, say that Wolverine's healing factor is increased to "incredible levels" and theorizes that the only way to stop him is to decapitation, decapitate him and remove his head from the vicinity of his body.

It is possible to suppress the efficiency of Wolverine's healing powers; for example, if an object composed of adamantium is inserted and remains lodged within his body, his healing powers are slowed dramatically. The Muramasa blade, a katana of mystic origins that can inflict wounds that nullify superhuman healing factors, can also suppress Wolverine's powers. It has also been noted that Wolverine needs protein for his healing factor to generate tissue, meaning that if he was seriously injured and malnourished, his body might not be able to repair itself. His healing factor has also been turned off using nanites. On one occasion, Wolverine finds himself temporarily deprived of his healing factor, with the scientist and X-Man Beast (Marvel Comics), Beast revealing that an "intelligent virus" originating from the Microverse had shut off Wolverine’s healing factor (though not before it purged his body of the virus), leaving him as susceptible to injury, disease, and aging as any ordinary human.

It has been suggested that Wolverine can be killed by drowning. He has said that he is not particularly fond of being in the water, due partially to the weight of his adamantium laced skeleton, and that he can die if held underwater long enough - his healing factor would only prolong the agony. The two-part story arc "Drowning Logan" finds Wolverine trapped underwater for an extensive period of time. The second part of the story arc hints that this experience weakens his healing factor and future health.

Due to a combination of Wolverine's healing factor and high-level Psionics, psionic shields implanted by Professor Xavier, Wolverine's mind is highly resistant to Telepathy, telepathic assault and probing. Wolverine's mind also possesses what he refers to as "mental scar tissue" created by the traumatic events of his life. It acts as a type of natural defense, even against a psychic as powerful as Emma Frost.

While it is not clear whether this is an actual canon event or simply a hallucination, ''Wolverine'' vol. 3, #57 reveals that, when Wolverine is injured so seriously that his body actually dies before his healing factor can repair the damage, he returns to life by fighting with Azrael, the Angel of Death, while trapped in Purgatory because Wolverine defeated Azrael in real-world combat during World War I. However, after Wolverine's resurrection and brainwashing by the Hand, he made a new deal with Azrael that repaired the damage to his soul, negated their previous arrangement, and weakened his healing factor slightly - and the next time Wolverine sustains death-inducing injuries, he will remain dead.

Other abilities

Wolverine's mutation also includes animal-like adaptations to his body - his superhuman senses; pronounced, sharp, fang-like canines; and three retractable claws housed within each forearm. While originally depicted as bionic implants created by the Weapon X program, the claws are later revealed to be a natural part of his body. The claws are not made of keratin, as claws tend to be in the animal kingdom, but extremely dense bone. Wolverine's hands do not have openings for the claws to move through: they cut through his flesh every time he extrudes them, with occasional references implying that he feels a brief moment of slight pain in his hands when he unsheathes them. During a talk to Jubilee, Wolverine reveals that there are channels inside his forearms through which the claws move when he extrudes them and that he unsheathes the claws a few times a day to keep the channels open, similar to pierced ears.

Wolverine's senses of sight, smell, and hearing are all superhumanly acute. He can see with perfect clarity at greater distances than an ordinary human, even in near-total darkness. His hearing is enhanced in a similar manner, allowing him to hear sounds ordinary humans cannot and also hear to greater distances. A perfect example is him being able to hear the heartbeats of hostile living things before conflict begins.

Wolverine is able to use his sense of smell to easily remember and track targets by scent, even if the scent has been eroded somewhat over time by natural factors. This sense also allows him to identify shapeshifting mutants despite other forms they may take.''Wolverine'' vol. 2, #51 (Feb. 1992). Marvel Comics. Through concentration, he is also able to use his senses of smell and hearing as a type of natural lie detector, such as detecting a faint change in a person's heartbeat and scent due to perspiration when a lie is told. Wolverine's sense of smell and hearing also allows him to detect danger from considerable distances by being able to smell any weapons being carried by other living things and machines at least within a block radius and to hear particular disturbances or indications of an impending attack prior to their occurrence. For instance, in many cases he has been depicted as smelling the gun oil, gun powder, smokeless powder, or specific metal scent emanating from a concealed or distant gun or other weapon prior to an attack, as well as hearing the increased heart rate and smelling the increased perspiration of an individual preparing to attack. On one occasion, he is made aware of several yakuza members waiting for him outside of a bar by picking up the scent of their gun oil, the smell of their tattoo ink, and the smell of the daikon they ate before arriving. On another occasion, his acute sense of smell even allows him to detect the presence of X-23 sneaking around the outside grounds of Xavier Institute, by way of the wind shifting - despite him being indoors.

On more than one occasion, Wolverine's entire skeleton, including his claws, has been molecularly infused with adamantium. Due to their coating, his claws can cut almost any known solid material, including most metals, wood, and some varieties of stone. The only known exceptions are adamantium itself and Captain America's Captain America's shield, shield, which is made out of a proto-adamantium-vibranium alloy. Wolverine's ability to slice completely through a substance depends upon both the amount of force he can exert and the thickness of the substance. His claws can also be used to block attacks or projectiles, as well as dig into surfaces allowing Wolverine to climb structures. The adamantium also adds weight to his blows, increasing the effectiveness of his offensive capabilities. However, his adamantium skeleton makes him highly susceptible to magnetic-based attacks. The full extent of this is revealed during a battle with Magneto, where the latter destabilizes the adamantium on a molecular level, and proceeds to rip it from his body. According to Mister Fantastic, Reed Richards, Wolverine would be unable to move without his enhanced strength due to the additional weight of the adamantium bonded to his skeleton.

Wolverine's healing factor also affects a number of his physical attributes by increasing them to superhuman levels. His stamina is sufficiently heightened to the point that he can exert himself for numerous hours, even after exposure to powerful tranquilizers. Wolverine's agility and reflexes are also enhanced to levels that are beyond the physical limits of the finest human athlete.''Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Wolverine 2004'' Due to his healing factor's constant regenerative qualities, he can push his muscles beyond the limits of the human body without injury.''Wolverine'' vol. 2, #1 (Nov. 1988. Marvel Comics. This, coupled with the constant demand placed on his muscles by over one hundred pounds of adamantium, grants him some degree of superhuman strength. Since the presence of the adamantium negates the natural structural limits of his bones, he can lift or move weight that would otherwise damage a human skeleton. He has been depicted breaking steel chains, lifting several men above his head with one arm and throwing them through a wall, lifting Ursa Major (comics), Ursa Major (in grizzly bear form) over his head before tossing him across a room, and hauling a piano, concert grand piano, and the platform it rests on, via a harness, while climbing a sheer cliff. Colossus and other allies use Wolverine's endurance and strength when throwing him at high speed in the Fastball Special.

During and after the ''Return of Wolverine'', he showcased a mysterious new ability where the adamantium in his claws can heat up to incredibly high, yet undisclosed, level of temperatures. The mechanics of this power have yet to be revealed; whether it is a Secondary Mutation, latent Weapon X faculty making itself known or a new power gained upon his resurrection is unclear. What is extent is that it is related to the berserker side of his persona, his Hot Claws as popularly noted being tied to Wolverine's rage. This new power comes with the drawback of weakening his healing factor, however, as after using them to ward off the X-Men who came looking for him, he lost consciousness for a few weeks time afterward.

Skills

During Wolverine's time in Japan and other countries, he became proficient in many forms of martial arts, with experience in many different fighting styles. He is proficient with most weaponry, including firearms, though he is partial to bladed weapons. He has demonstrated sufficient skills to defeat expert martial artist Shang-Chi and Captain America in single combat. He also has a wide knowledge of the body and pressure points. Like many of the X-Men, he is trained to pilot the group's SR-71 Blackbird supersonic plane. He is highly skilled in the field of espionage and covert operations.

In contrast to his brutish nature, Wolverine is extremely knowledgeable. Due in part to his longer lifespan, he has traveled around the world and amassed Polyglotism, extensive knowledge of foreign languages and cultures, being fluent or near fluent in Japanese language, Japanese, Russian language, Russian, Spanish language, Spanish, French language, French, Blackfoot language, Blackfoot, and German language, German, among other languages. He is particularly fluent in Japanese due in part to his significant time spent in Japan and his relationship with Mariko Yashida.

Supporting cast

Wolverine was originally introduced as an antagonist of the Hulk. Subsequently, he became a member of the X-Men and has had extensive interactions with all of them and their associates. In particular, he has a complex ambivalent relationship with Cyclops (Marvel Comics), Cyclops, for whom he was initially a rival for the affections of Jean Grey.

He has been a mentor and father figure to several younger women, especially Jubilee (comics), Jubilee, Kitty Pryde and X-23.

Enemies

Wolverine's prominent enemies include Sabretooth, the Hellfire Club (comics), Hellfire Club, Viper (Madame Hydra), and Lady Deathstrike.

Romantic interests

His first love was Rose O'Hara, a close friend who did not reciprocate his affection. She died accidentally at his hands when she intervened in Wolverine's adolescent fight with an adversary, Dog. Subsequently, he had a long relationship with Silver Fox (character), Silver Fox. He had an intimate relationship with Mariko Yashida and had a failed engagement to her. Mariko was eventually poisoned by The Hand (comics), The Hand and Wolverine had no choice but to kill her in order to spare her a long agony. He also had a mutual, but unfulfilled attraction to Jean Grey, leading to arguments with her boyfriend (and later husband), Cyclops (Marvel Comics), Scott Summers. He also married Viper (Madame Hydra), Viper as part of a debt, then later divorced her. It has also been implied that he and Squirrel Girl had a relationship at some point in the past. Wolverine has had an on-again, off-again romantic relationship with longtime teammate and friend, Storm (Marvel Comics), Storm. He also had romantic relationships with Yukio (comics), Yukio, Domino (character), Domino, Mystique (character), Mystique, and Elektra, all of whom are morally ambiguous warriors like himself. He describes Elektra in particular as a "kindred spirit."

Children

Wolverine has a number of children, most notably his daughter, X-23, Laura, and his son, Daken, Akihiro. He also fostered a young orphan, List of Marvel Comics characters: K#Amiko Kobayashi, Amiko. A group of his other children, the Mongrels, were used in a plot to torture him by the Red Right Hand. Laura has a number of other 'sisters' and clones, including List of Marvel Comics characters: K#Gabby Kinny, Gabby. He also has many children in other realities, such as Jimmy Hudson and Raze Darkhölme.

Other versions

A number of Multiverse (Marvel Comics), alternate universes and alternate timelines in Marvel Comics publications allow writers to introduce variations on Wolverine (character), Wolverine, in which the character's origins, behavior, and morality differ from the mainstream setting.

''Age of Apocalypse''

In the ''Age of Apocalypse'' story arc, the Wolverine/Logan character is again a member of the X-Men, this time using the code-name Weapon X rather than Wolverine. In this reality the events which saw the character's Adamantium ripped out have never occurred, and it is Magneto that helps him to control his feral rages. Most significantly, Weapon X is missing a hand, cut off by Cyclops (who in turn is missing an eye thanks to Weapon X). The claws on this hand still exist, however, which appear by piercing through the metal stump covering the break. Consistent with the main characterization, this version is also shown to be a loner, his back story presenting him as an unwilling recruit to the X-Men. He and Jean Grey are lovers in this reality.

''Age of X''

In the ''Age of X'' reality, Wolverine's powers have been virtually lost after he was forced to ingest a mutant 'cure' to dispose of it; although his healing factor can stop the cure totally affecting him, it is now so focused on fighting the cure and the adamantium poisoning of his metal skeleton that he cannot fight anymore, as any additional strain placed on his system could kill him.

Amalgam Comics

In the ''Amalgam Comics'' community, Wolverine was combined with Batman to create Dark Claw.

''Days of Future Past''

In the alternate reality ''Days of Future Past'' the X-Men fail to prevent the assassination of Robert Kelly (comics), Senator Robert Kelly, which results in Sentinel (comics), Sentinels ruling the United States, United States of America by 2013 AD. Mutants fall one by one at the hands of the Sentinels, until only Wolverine, Storm, Colossus and Kate Pryde are left. They are confronted by a group of Sentinels and Wolverine lunges at one, ready to slice off the Sentinel's head, but his flesh is burned off by the Sentinel's hand laser. Wolverine seemingly dies and his charred Adamantium skeleton falls onto the ground. Later on in the ''Earth X: Heralds'' storyline, Wolverine is revived by X-51's machine.

Old Man Logans

The Hooded Man

This version of Wolverine comes from hundreds of years into the future. He is part of a group called "The Last Defenders", who, led by a future version of Sue Storm, have come back in time to save the last of humanity. This future Logan later briefly encounters his younger self at the future Sue's funeral, telling him, "Don't even ask."

During the ''Fantastic Force'' mini-series, Logan briefly leads the team when they find themselves under attack from various enemies summoned by Gaea the living spirit of the Fantastic Force's now barren earth. Due to the abandonment of all life she has been driven insane and attempts to force them back in to their timeline. After several confrontations and fights, Logan elects to stay behind in the future and to aid Gaea in restoring herself by sharing his healing factor. The two are last seen tending to a garden with Gaea pregnant.

Old Man Logan

Old Man Logan is an alternative younger version of the Hooded Man depicted in an eight-issue story arc in the ''Wolverine'' ongoing series by writer Mark Millar and artist Steve McNiven. He debuted in ''Wolverine'' #66 in June 2008.

Old Man Phoenix

On Earth-14412 set during the reign of King Thor, an alternate version of Old Man Logan became possessed by the Phoenix Force and took on the alias of Old Man Phoenix. While he was bitter towards King Thor for disrupting the natural order of things, they are both confronted by Doctor Doom who is further empowered by the Starbrand, the "iron fist" move, as he plans to conquer Earth. Old Man Phoenix sacrifices himself so that King Thor can defeat Doctor Doom.

When the Council of Red attack Avengers Tower in the God Quarry, Old Man Phoenix is shown to be alive as he and the granddaughters of King Thor arrive and save Iron Man#Earth-818, Ant-Man, Moon Knight#Earth-818, Moon Knight, and Vision (Marvel Comics)#Earth-818, Vision from the Council of Red members who were burrowing towards the First Firmament. He then states to the remaining Council of Red members underground that he and his friends would like a word with them.

''Marvel Noir''

In ''X-Men Noir'', set in the Marvel Noir reality, "Captain" Logan is a heavily scarred bootlegger operating in Chinatown, Manhattan, Chinatown with his first mate Puck (comics), Eugene. Logan is and adept at defending himself with a Japanese ''neko de'' or metallic claw. He guides the X-Men to Madrippor at the end of the series once solving and cleared of Jean Grey's murder, as he was a former flame.

''Wolverine Noir'', which shows Logan's origin story, reveals that his full name is James "Jim" Howlett. He is presented as a Catholic private investigator along with Dog Logan, whom he claims is his brother. As a victim of parental abuse, Jim is an expert knife fighter and suffers from blackouts due to rage. They are hired by Mariko Yashida to advance the Yashida activates in the city and encounter a man named Creed. Both Mariko and Dog were killed by Logan's former friend Rose who was impaled by him for revenge using two katana knives.

''Predator vs. Wolverine''

In the 2023 ''Predator vs. Wolverine'' miniseries, set in its own continuity, one Yautja hunter, seeking the greatest prey in existence, elects to hunt the man who would become the Wolverine, from his early days in the blood-ridden Canadian wilderness to modern-day Madripor. On finally defeating the Yautja and taking its weaponry for himself, Wolverine finds among the Yakutia's possessions a spear made from the tail of a xenomorph.

''Spider-Gwen''

In the ''Spider-Gwen'' reality, Manji Logan (a parody/composite version of Manji (Blade of the Immortal), Manji from ''Blade of the Immortal'') was a Japanese samurai that was cursed by a witch to continue walking the Earth for as many lives as he has killed. Like his 616 counterpart, his memory is erased after joining the Weapon X program and gaining adamantium claws. He then decides to work for S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Black Ops department, where his fellow operatives have nicknamed him "Mr. Murderhands." Spider-Gwen nicknames him Wolverine after body swapping with the Earth 616 X-23 (who had the Wolverine identity at the time). He works closely with Shadowcat, as Kitty feels guilty for using her powers to aid the Weapon X Program.

Ultimate Marvel

Ultimate Wolverine is the Wolverine in the Ultimate Marvel universe. Initially, this Wolverine was a member of Magneto's Brotherhood but later changes his mind and joins the ''Ultimate X-Men''.

Ultimate Universe

An alternate universe variant of Wolverine from Earth-6160, with elements of the Bucky Barnes, Winter Soldier, appears in the Ultimate Universe imprint as the main character of ''Ultimate Wolverine''. This version is a servant of the Maker (character), Maker's council. Logan was brainwashed into serving the Rasputin Family (consisting of Colossus (character)#Ultimate Universe, Colossus, Magik#Ultimate Universe, Magik, and Omega Red#Ultimate Universe, Omega Red) who used the Jean Grey#Ultimate Universe, Phoenix Specimen to do the brainwashing. Flashbacks revealed that he was part of the Opposition before he was brainwashed.

''Wolverine: Snikt''

In this comic by Tsutomu Nihei, Wolverine is sent into an alternative future, year 2058 (Earth-3071), arriving there by the hand of the humans of that age in need of a weapon to fight against a race of engineered viruses that grow up to be sentient beings, and who can only be destroyed with adamantium.

Cultural impact and legacy

Status as anti-hero

Wolverine was groundbreaking among comic book superheroes in demonstrating the traits of an antihero. As Suzana Flores describes it, an antihero is "often psychologically damaged, simultaneously depicted as superior due to his superhuman abilities and inferior due to his impetuousness, irrationality, or lack of thoughtful evaluation." Subsequent to Wolverine's appearance, many more such antiheroes have become popular in comic books, such as Punisher, Marv (Sin City), Marv, Spawn (character), Spawn, and Deadpool.

Mental health analysis

Psychologist Suzana E. Flores has identified that Wolverine's extraordinary popularity partly stems from his illustration of various mental health challenges, particularly recovery from major trauma or psychological trauma. She argues that his first formative trauma was his poor relationship with his mother, who was unable to properly attach to him because she lost her first son. In adulthood, he also suffered the trauma of torture by the Weapon X program. While the character is usually physically invincible, he demonstrates emotional and psychological vulnerability. He exemplifies values and aspirations of resilience for his audience. His fan base is primarily men, and generally he exemplifies a masculine perspective on recovery from trauma. However, Flores says that she also found the character therapeutic in her own recovery from rape. Nnedi Okorafor, a Nigerian American science-fiction author, also writes that Wolverine was a therapeutic role model for her during her experience of paralysis following surgical treatment of scoliosis.

Queer appeal and fandom

While Wolverine is straight within the Earth-616 or main continuity of the comics, he has been depicted as being of differing sexual orientations in alternate timelines. Main continuity Wolverine's relationship with Cyclops had often been acknowledged as homoerotic in both the comics, and in media adaptations. According to David Caballero of Comic Book Resources, ''Comic Book Resources'' (''CBR''), the live-action film series "did a considerable yet unintentional job encouraging the ship", which is one of the most popular X-Men-related shipping (fandom), ships on the fanfiction website Archive of Our Own. It has been argued that one of the reasons for the pairing's popularity is that "enemies-to-lovers stories remain a popular source of romantic entertainment".

Outside of his relationship with Cyclops, ''Screen Rant''s Alex Schlesinger has argued that taking into account their history in comics, there is "some precedent set for Wolverine and Nightcrawler to be in an intimate relationship together". The ''X-Treme X-Men'' (2012–2013) series featured an alternate version of Wolverine who was in a relationship with Hercules, and the two characters shared an on-panel kiss in issue #10.

In 2012, ComicsAlliance assembled a panel consisting of various LGBT cartoonists, writers, editors, and journalists, to vote on which comics and characters had the biggest impact on them. As a group, the X-Men came in 13th place, with science fiction author and ''Doom Patrol'' writer Rachel Pollack stating that "the X-Men's themes are indelibly queer". Wolverine was one of the individual X-Men singled out by many panel members as being of great importance to them, with some of the reasons provided being that he is "inspirational", while for others being their "first crush" as young queer comic readers.

Writing for Bleeding Cool, comics writer and columnist Rich Johnston described Wolverine as a "gay icon amongst many", arguing that this was the case before Hugh Jackman first played the character in the live-action film series. Hannah Collins of ''CBR'' also described Wolverine as a gay icon and argued that his appeal to queer fans is "largely invisible to heterosexual fans". Collins also described Wolverine's muscular physique as similar to that of "the idealized men found [in] 'Bara (genre), Bara' manga". ''Bara'' is genre of Japanese manga focusing on male same-sex love, created primarily by gay men for a gay male audience, and typically features masculine men with varying degrees of muscle, body fat, and body hair. Echoing Collins' statement over the character's body, Ray Kampf described Wolverine in ''The Bear Handbook'' as an example of a bear (gay culture), bear in animation, with a contributor in the book who is gay admitting his attraction to the character growing up.

''Wolverine'' #6 (2003), written by Greg Rucka, features a cover drawn by Esad Ribić. The cover depicts Wolverine sitting on a chair, drinking beer, and staring at Nightcrawler. ''Screen Rant'' notes how Nightcrawler is depicted in the nude, and that Wolverine is suggestively staring at his penis, with ''CBR'' also noting that the beer he is holding resembling an erection. According to Rucka, Ribić intentionally made the cover suggestive. Collins described the cover as helping "bring [Wolverine's queer appeal] to mainstream attention". According to Rucka, Ribić intentionally made the cover "salacious", finding comedy in the fact that "nobody at Marvel noticed".

Accolades

* In 2008, Wizard (magazine), ''Wizard magazine'' ranked Wolverine 1st in their "200 Greatest Comic Book Characters of All Time" list.
* In 2008, ''Empire (magazine), Empire'' ranked Wolverine 4th in their "50 Greatest Comic Book Characters" list.
* In 2014, ''Entertainment Weekly'' ranked Wolverine 1st in their "Let's rank every X-Man ever" list.

In other media

Wolverine is one of the few X-Men characters appearing in every media adaptation of the ''X-Men'' franchise, including the 20th Century Fox X-Men (film series), ''X-Men'' films, television, computer and video games. Australian actor Hugh Jackman played Wolverine in the ''X-Men'' films and until December 2021 shared the Guinness World Record of the "longest career as a live-action Marvel superhero" with Patrick Stewart. Jackman would have regained that record in the 2024 film, ''Deadpool & Wolverine'', but for the fact that Wesley Snipes reprised his even earlier role as the half-vampire Blade (New Line franchise character), Blade in the same film.

Collected editions

References

Bibliography

* Deman, J. Andrew (2023). ''The Claremont Run: Subverting Gender in the X-Men''. University of Texas Press. .
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* Manning, Matthew K. (2009). ''Wolverine: Inside the World of the Living Weapon''. DK. .

External links

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