Wolverine (Marvel)

Wolverine in Wolverine: Revenge v1 #1.

Wolverine is a male comic superhero who features in Marvel Comics.

Biography

Origin

Weapon X in Incredible Hulk v1 #181.

James Howlett was a male human Mutant born as the illegitimate son of Elizabeth Howlett and the family's groundskeeper Thomas Logan in the 19th century. His mother was actually married John Howlett whose family was quite rich, with James' grandfather Mr. Howlett being a self-made millionaire and his father John managing the family fortune well enough. As the owner of a large estate, John Howlett employed Thomas Logan to tend to the grounds. James was born the younger brother of John Howlett Jr. who had died mysteriously before his 13th birthday. Unknown to him, his wife had an affair with Thomas Logan and had his child which was unknown to her husband. As a boy, her son James was notably frail and prone to bouts of allergic attacks. He was largely neglected by his mother who had been institutionalised for a time following the death of her first son, John Jr. in 1897. Meanwhile, James constantly under pressure from his grandfather Mr. Howlett who believed that James required constant punishment by a strong hand in order to be raised properly. Mr. Howlett believed that a firm hand was a fair one which was used to justify abusive actions. (Wolverine: The Origin v1 #1)

Whilst in a drunken stupor, Thomas armed himself with a shotgun where he invaded the Howlett Estate with his son and attempted to take his former lover Elizabeth with him. John, Sr. attempted to stop him, and Thomas shot him in the head, in cold blood. James had just entered the room when this occurred and his mutation finally manifested: bone claws extended from the backs of his hands and he attacked the intruders with uncharacteristic ferocity, killing Thomas and scarring Dog's face with three claw marks. (Wolverine: The Origin v1 #2) Already an emotionally disturbed woman since the death of her first son, Elizabeth, completely unhinged, drove James away and took her life immediately afterward with a blast from Thomas' gun. Rose fled the estate with James in tow, hiding in a shed. James experienced his heightened senses for the first time telling Rose that he could smell apple dumplings. Dog falsely reported to the police and James' grandfather that Rose had murdered John, Sr. and Thomas. Rose led James to his grandfather's house, but Mr. Howlett simply ordered them to flee by train, with cold, cruel eyes, but still used his influence in town to help the pair escape, due to blood ties. Rose then fled the estate with James, who appeared to have been deeply traumatized and his healing factor had somehow driven the trauma from his memories, leaving him partially amnesiac. (Wolverine: The Origin v1 #3)

But as Logan accepted Rose's decision and made sure that both her and Smitty could leave the mine and live a peaceful life, someone from Logan's past came back looking for revenge: Dog. Dog attacked Logan and started to beat him up in front of Rose but in the midst of the fight, Logan finally remembered who Dog was and what happened on the night his father was killed. He then defeated Dog and was about to kill him with his claws, Rose tried to stop Logan, but she accidentally fell and was impaled on his claws which killed her. Shocked by what happened, Logan's mind shut down and he decided to abandon the civilized world and lived with the wolves. (Wolverine: The Origin v1 #6)

During the war, he came to find himself captured by the Japanese and interned at a military base at Hiroshima where he encountered a captive U.S. Army soldier named Ethan Warren. (Logan v1 #1)

Many years ago, he was wandering through Japanese-occupied Shanghai when he came upon two members of the Japanese Imperial Army picking on an elderly man and his young ward. Intervening, he easily based the two Japanese man whose captain killed them for their disgrace and looked to kill Logan for his defiance. However, he came to be impressed at Logan's defiance an out of respect allowed him to live. He instead offered to train Logan in the martial arts at the Ogun Ryu Dojo in Kanazawa before departing. It as then that the old man warned going down that path as he sensed in Logan the potential of learning the mysteries of the universe. Logan though had no interest at the time in either part where instead he wandered off to get drunk. (Wolverine v2 #113)

His sensei Ogun then bade Logan to travel to Jasmine Falls to seek redemption from Bando Suboro and underwent training by him. In this time, he met Itsu and fell in love the moment he saw her where he took her as his wife during his fourth year in training. Around this time, she became pregnant with Logan's son when he was ready for the next part of his training involved an age-old ceremony where he was supposed to fight multiple opponents without striking a killing blow using his bone claws. Logan was startled in his training when a blast came from the nearby volcano. Suboro told Logan that the explosion was the work of a famed immortal swordsmith Muramasa who used the souls of people to craft terrible weapons. The incident had caused him to pop his bones claws in the training and thus he dishonored himself as a result for losing control with him ready to depart the village until he redeemed himself once again. However, upon returning, he smelt blood from the village and found that Itsu had been murdered with this leaving Logan in grief over the death of his wife. He then abandoned any hope of being a better man and instead sought revenge where he went out seeking Muramasa at the top of the volcano. The swordsmith had been waiting for Logan and using the darkest parts of his soul yearning for revenge Muramasa began crafting the Muramasa blade. (Wolverine v3 #40)

Over his long life, he came to kill a number of people where their loved ones came to swear revenge against him. This led to one of them founding a group called the Red Right Hand that swore revenge against him though Logan was unaware of their existence. They came to track down a number of women who Logan had slept with where he was unaware that some of them had become pregnant with his child. These children were taken by the Red Right Hand who came to prepare them to fight their father as part of their long term revenge against Logan. (Wolverine v4 #14)

Team X

Working for friendly power, he came to work for the Agency on several missions where he was known as Agent Ten. He was sent to investigate the activities of Baroness Adelicia von Krupp who had Neo-Nazi sympathies but was captured on the mission. He though came to be rescued by agents Richard Parker and his wife Mary Parker. After the assignment, he came to thank the pair where he came to congratulate the couple after learning Mrs. Parker was pregnant. (Untold Tales of Spider-Man v1 #-1)

Years later, Langram was sought as an operative by the Hellfire Club, but he refused, and was then slain by Sabretooth, hired as a mercenary. Wolverine and Carol Danvers, a young US spy, investigated and infiltrated the Canadian Ministry of Defense, and more precisely a top-secret research and development agency which was in its early stage of growth, hidden in a sub-basement of a vast government complex: Department H. Within they discovered a list of several names called "The Mutant Agenda" and more troubling the names of both Logan and his dead partner Neil were on it. Logan and Carol then decided to track Dr. Perry Edwards, who wrote a book about the rise of superhumans and whose name was at the top of the list. The duo found him in New York and were able to save him from an assassination attempt, they then told him what they had found. He wasn't surprised and explained to them that he discovered the existence of genetically superior beings who were living amongst them: Mutants. But more importantly he also discovered that some of those mutants weren't benevolent and were planning to kill all the members of the inner circle of the Hellfire Club in their search for power, but to that end they needed to keep the existence of mutantkind a secret. After infiltrating the Hellfire Club in order to learn more, Logan and Carol were lured by Sebastian Shaw and Sabretooth to a Canadian Hellfire Club facility where Sabretooth confronted them. After discovering that Sabretooth killed Perry Edwards and several government officials to make sure the existence of mutantkind couldn't be revealed to the public, Sabretooth told Wolverine details of the Club's intent to guide a war between mutants and humans. Sabretooth tried to kill Logan, and during their fight he told Logan that it was time for him to admit the truth: he was a mutant just like him and that was why he was so obsessed with mutants. Logan, realizing that Sabretooth was the one who had killed Langram, proceeded to defeat his foe by stabbing him with his sword. Despite the severe injury, Sabretooth wasn't done, and he decided to bomb the facility, but Logan and Carol were able to escape in time. Sabretooth survived and also escaped later on. After this adventure, Logan and Carol parted ways, but after he started to talk about this conspiracy with the Ministry of Defense and after bursting in both Department H and the Hellfire Club during this adventure, Logan's reputation was now dirt in his country. As a result, he tried to forget about the mutant problem and decided to go to the Yukon. (Logan: Shadow Society v1 #1)

In that time, he was part of a Black Ops squad run that included Sabretooth, Silver Fox and Mastodon. (Wolverine v2 #49)

Weapon X

Weapon X in Return of Wolverine v1 #1.

To make things worse, Logan's natural mutation started to take its toll on his mind around that time, giving him nightmares and visions every night to the point of turning him crazy and feral. (Wolverine v2 #91) As a result, Logan started to abuse drugs and he became an alcoholic. This self-destructive behavior led Logan to accidentally shoot a fellow agent at a firing range one day and as a result he was dismissed from Department K and decided to leave Canada. (Marvel Comics Presents v1 #72) Prior to leaving Canada, Logan was pumped full of Thorazine, beaten, and kidnapped, by a group of armed men from the Weapon X Project. (Marvel Comics Presents v1 #73) Taken for experimentation, the Professor, Dr. Abraham Cornelius, and Dr. Carol Hines began to examine Logan while he floated in a containment tank. Doctor Cornelius observed there were trace remnants of the Tyrannosaurus symbiote in Logan's blood and began experimenting to see how they responded to various stimuli. These experiments caused the remnants of the Tyrannosaurus symbiote to regenerate into a Knullified duplicate, which took over Logan's body and attacked the scientist. Doctor Cornelius was able to escape and subdue the symbiote, and after determining it could not be tamed for weaponization, Doctor Cornelius purged the symbiote from Logan's body. (X Lives of Wolverine v1 #4) Logan's skeleton, including his claws, was then bonded with the indestructible metal known as Adamantium, making it unbreakable, and his personality was buried beneath the most intense brainwashing he had ever undergone. (Marvel Comics Presents v1 #74) Logan was then put under deep hypnosis, telling him that he was not a man or individual, and being a man disgusted him. (Marvel Comics Presents v1 #75) Reduced to a near-mindless state, Logan was apparently forced by Weapon X to slaughter every inhabitant of the small town of Roanoke as a test. (Weapon X v2 #24)

As a result of having his bones and claws laced with the adamantium, Wolverine's natural mutation which was slowly turning him feral was put into remission as the adamantium precipitated a chemical change within his body. (Wolverine v2 #91)

Unknown to Logan at the time, the Winter Soldier was apparently present and helped him escape from his captors. (Wolverine v3 #38) During his escape, he was noted to had killed a number of guards stationed at the site and slashed the face of an army private named Malcolm Colcord who survived the encounter but was disfigured as a result. (Wolverine v2 #166)

Driven into savagery by the experiment, Logan wandered the forests of the Canadian Rockies for months, living in a feral state. During this period, the feral Logan saved the lives of a young couple and their children from a pack of wolves while he was hunting. (Wolverine v2 #900) For an unknown length of time, he travelled the Canadian north trying to mentally cope with the trauma done to him. While he was out there, Logan encountered a near-mythical forest spirit known to the Blackfoot as the Hunter in Darkness, which had been caught in a bear-trap. Showing some semblance of humanity in his otherwise feral mind, Logan removed the trap and dragged it away from the Hunter, throwing the human trackers off the scent and letting the creature get away. (Wolverine v2 #34) He also spent at least some time living with another escapee from the Weapon X Program, a woman known as the Native. (Wolverine v3 #15)

Alpha Flight

A feral Logan wandered the woods when he came upon a young honeymooning couple in the Rockies with these being James Hudson and Heather Hudson. Attacking the pair, he pounced on James Hudson where in desperation his wife Heather took a gun and shot Logan. Wounded, the couple decided to take the man to their cabin so that he could heal. Heather came to tend to him until he awoken where Logan accidentally released his claws where he was shocked at seeing them and fell into despair. (Alpha Flight v1 #33)

Sometime after, the Canadian military mobilized to fight the Hulk, but Wolverine received orders from Romulus to attract an unidentified party's attention by fighting the Hulk. Wolverine started a battle with the Hulk and a Wendigo. ((Incredible Hulk v1 #180) Wolverine's speed and maneuverability proved to be a match for the two plodding powerhouses, but after realizing Hulk was a more formidable opponent, he changed tactics. Teaming up with Hulk to take out the Wendigo, Hulk threw the Wendigo into a patch of trees and Wolverine delivered the finishing blow. The Hulk and Wolverine kept on fighting, and as Hulk had by now grown so enraged that Wolverine's adamantium claws failed to penetrate his skin, he finally managed to temporarily knock Wolverine out. (Incredible Hulk v1 #181)

X-Men

He received a call to return to the secret government facility that served as headquarters where his superiors introduced him to Professor Charles Xavier. The man wanted to recruit Wolverine because he was a Mutant and had a desperate need of them. This saw him accepting the offer as he resigned as a government and joined the X-Men. (Giant-Size X-Men v1 #1)

When the X-Men traveled to Agarashima, Japan, Logan met Lady Mariko Yashida and aided her cousin, former X-Man Sunfire, in battling Moses Magnum. Although she was unable to reciprocate his feelings, Wolverine fell for Lady Mariko, heir to an extremely powerful Yakuza family in Tokyo. Initially frightened, Mariko was soon set at ease by Wolverine, who was attracted to her gentle demeanor, and both fell in love. (X-Men v1 #118)

Upon realizing his deceit, Logan took the fight directly to Shingen. After Yukio killed Mariko's husband, Wolverine was forced to kill Lady Mariko's father, Lord Shingen, in a duel. Afterward, Mariko gave Logan the Clan Yashida Masamune sword, stating he was worthy. Forged 800 years ago by the supreme swordsmith Masamune, the sacred blade represented everything that was best and most noble in the family and the samurai, the lord's champion, who wielded it. With the deaths of her father and husband, Mariko was named head of Clan Yashida. Logan stayed with her, and they later announced their engagement. (Wolverine v1 #4_

Before the wedding service, Viper and Mariko's half-brother Silver Samurai poisoned the X-Men and battled Logan to wrest control of the Clan Yashida from Mariko. At first enraged at seeing Rogue had joined the X-Men, she gained Logan's respect after saving the life of Mariko by jumping in front of a shot from Viper intended for her. Mariko and Logan became estranged, due to the honor customs of her family, as well as the manipulations of the villain Mastermind, and Logan returned the Masamune sword to her. (Uncanny X-Men v1 #175) After the X-Men defeated Mastermind, Mariko returned the honor sword to him and stated that she had to break her Clan's criminal connections. Mariko felt that she could not marry Wolverine until she did this. (Uncanny X-Men v1 #176)

Logan undertook a crash program in order to teach Kitty's body, just as Ogun had taught her mind, to become skillful enough in the Japanese martial arts to contend against Ogun and to help her overcome his evil. (Kitty Pryde and Wolverine v1 #4) Kitty went to face Ogun herself, who was attempting to kill Mariko and Amiko to punish Wolverine. After being defeated by Ogun, he offered Kitty, calling herself Shadowcat, to join him or die. At that time, Wolverine came to her rescue. (Kitty Pryde and Wolverine v1 #5) Sadly, Wolverine was also overwhelmed and the two of them sat helplessly at Ogun's mercy. In a turn of events, Kitty informed Wolverine that she was scared until he arrived and when he apologized, she stated that she did not want an apology, but life. At that moment, Wolverine turned the battle and defeated Ogun, and Kitty regained her innocence that Ogun had taken. After killing Ogun, although his spirit survived, Logan and Kitty became very close friends, with her as a near-foster daughter to him. (Kitty Pryde and Wolverine v1 #6)

Sometime after, Yuriko Oyama a.k.a. Lady Deathstrike tracked Logan, intending to kill him. Her father Lord Dark Wind invented the process that laced Logan's skeleton with adamantium but his work was stolen, and as a result she wanted Logan to return what she thought he had stolen from her father: his adamantium skeleton. (Alpha Flight v1 #34) After being defeated a first time, Yuriko swore to defeat Wolverine and avenge both her honor and the honor of her father, to that end she went to see Spiral to be augmented into a cyborg with superhuman strength and Adamantium claws. Three former Hellfire Club soldiers that were severely injured by Wolverine when he saved the X-Men from the Hellfire Club also swore revenge on Logan, and as a result they were also changed into cyborgs and became the Reavers. Lady Deathstrike and her Reavers attacked Wolverine and almost killed him. Logan was aided by Katie Power and with her help he was able to recover from his wounds and defeat the Reavers. Logan then confronted Lady Deathstrike and after a violent battle he defeated her and was horrified to discover what Yuriko did to herself in order have her revenge against him. Despite Yuriko begging Logan to kill her out of mercy, he refused and told her she had to earn it. (Uncanny X-Men v1 #205)

Soon after, another ghost from Logan's past appeared once again: Sabretooth. When the X-Men attempted to rescue the Morlocks after the Marauders began to indiscriminately massacre them, Wolverine was charged with bringing one of the Marauder as a prisoner. (Uncanny X-Men v1 #211) While hunting the Marauders, Logan was confronted by Sabretooth who was about to kill the Healer. Despite wanting to fight Sabretooth and kill him as a revenge for everything he did to him in the past, Logan decided that saving Healer was more important than his feud with his old foe. As a result, Logan managed to trap Sabretooth under a pile of rubble and helped the Healer get to safety. (Uncanny X-Men v1 #212)

Despite Sabretooth's psy-shields, Betsy succeeded, and after letting Logan and the X-Men know, the team decided to help Wolverine against his foe. Sabretooth, knowing that he was going to lose against both Wolverine and the rest of the X-Men, decided to dive into the lake near the Mansion, with Wolverine following after him. But in the end, Sabretooth managed to escape and not even Psylocke could detect him. (Uncanny X-Men v1 #213)

On the anniversary of his wedding to Mariko, the team was abducted by Horde who wanted to use them as his lackeys in order to retrieve the Crystal of Ultimate Vision, of which he wore a shard on his forehead. The X-Men were sent to the Citadel of Light and Shadow where the crystal was hidden. As the X-Men progressed through it, the citadel created illusions of each of their most powerful desires. Only Wolverine, Storm, and Psylocke were able to resist. Wolverine reached the Crystal, but Horde cut him down and killed him by removing his heart that he wanted to keep as a trophy. However, a lone drop of Logan's blood splattered on the Crystal, which gave out enough energy for Wolverine to be restored and reborn. Empowered to godhood, Wolverine plucked the crystal shard from Horde's forehead and the tyrant quickly aged and crumbled to dust within seconds. Wolverine rejected the godlike power and returned the X-Men and their friends' home, ensuring that the human race would be able to evolve to its full potential. (X-Men Annual v1 #11)

After the deaths of ex-KGB agents all over Manhattan, Logan was reminded of an old freelance operative from the Cold War, Charlemagne. The last time Logan had seen Charlie, she was working in West Berlin. It was a mission that Logan had protested, but Charlie insisted, and her handler double-crossed her. Charlie called for Logan's help, and he understood that it was serious. After fifty Soviet operatives couldn't take them down, they sent in KGB agents that had been undercover for years and Wolverine's berserker rage finished them all. After the slaughter, all that was left was a little heart-shaped pendant. After leaving the X-Men in a time of need, Logan traveled to Potsdamer Platz, West Berlin, where two KGB agents blew their cover by killing muggers and Charlemagne killed them while Logan's back was turned. hile in Kurfürstendamm, Logan got the scent of Spider-Man in civilian clothing and discerning his secret identity. Logan warned Spider-Man to stay away from Berlin and forget about Charlemagne, but when Spider-Man returned to his hotel, KGB agents killed Ned Leeds and were asking his involvement when Logan arrived and killed all of the agents, again warning Spider-Man to leave. Logan tracked Charlie to a steel mill just outside of East Berlin and the two stayed together for a while. When the couple went to dinner at The Ganymed on Friedrich Strasse, Spider-Man arrived to inform them that everyone in the restaurant was an agent wanting to kill Charlie, a fact that Charlemagne and Wolverine already knew, and a gunfight broke out. After losing Charlie in the fight, Wolverine and Spider-Man attempted to track her down by getting to her marks before she did but were always one step behind. After the pair split, Charlemagne called Wolverine to a Soviet cemetery at Treptow and he understood that she wanted him to end her life, so that the Soviets wouldn't have the chance to torture her. After flinching, Wolverine pulled too much, and Charlemagne was bleeding to death. At that time, Spider-Man arrived and attempted to stop Logan from killing her. A brutal fight broke out between the two. While on top of Spider-Man, Wolverine stated Spider-Man would have to use all of his strength to break Wolverine's neck, while he would just have to lash out his claws to kill Spider-Man. At that time, a government chopper arrived and the two split. In the confusion, Charlemagne snuck up on Spider-Man, aware that he was tense, and he gave a punch of super strength, killing her. Charlie died in Wolverine's arms and the agents left. After giving Spider-Man a fake passport, the pair returned home. (Spider-Man Versus Wolverine v1 #1)

Horseman of Apocalypse

The Horseman of Death in Astonishing X-Men v2 #3.

Later on, Wolverine joined the X-Men in a mission in space where they ended up on the Skrull homeworld where he came to be abducted by the shapeshifting aliens and replaced with a spy amongst their ranks. (Uncanny X-Men v1 #371) This was done so on behalf of Apocalypse who had the Skrull agent infiltrate the X-Men. Meanwhile, In the meantime, Logan was removed to Apocalypse's lair, where he was forced into single combat with Sabretooth. En Sabah Nur had decreed that one of them would receive augmentation at his hands, to becoming the next Horseman of Death. Reasoning that he couldn't let Creed become more powerful and more dangerous that he already was, Wolverine savagely beat his opponent and won the trial, praying that he could somehow restrain his actions and hopefully overcome the brainwashing if he were to become the Horseman instead of Sabretooth. Apocalypse then arranged for the adamantium Sabretooth had recently had installed in his skeleton to be sucked out and bonded to Wolverine's own bones, restoring his adamantium claws and unbreakable skeleton. Mindwarped into serving his new master, Logan adopted the identity and weaponry of Death, first among the Horsemen. (Wolverine v2 #145) As the horseman of Death, Wolverine completed several missions for Apocalypse and fought the Hulk. Meanwhile, the Skrull that replaced him tried to create a rift between the X-Men and their mentor but was slain by the real Wolverine under Apocalypse's orders. (Astonishing X-Men v2 #3)

This was seemingly done so to eliminate any loose ends but unknown to Apocalypse, it was Mister Sinister who came to provide the X-Men the means of uncovering the Skrull's duplicity after his death, and they learned Wolverine was merely missing and not dead. (Uncanny X-Men v1 #375) After discovering that their teammate had been a Skrull, the X-Men found out that the real Wolverine was Apocalypse's horseman and decided to help him. (X-Men v2 #95) On the run from a squad of X-Men comprised of his closest friends, Death fled into the Morlock Tunnels. With the help of Psylocke's telepathy, his friends reminded Logan of all he meant to them, and they managed to pierce through Apocalypse's conditioning and restore Wolverine's true personality to him. (Wolverine v2 #146) In the days that followed, the X-Men were successful in routing Apocalypse's plans for the High Lord Ascension, but only at the cost of Cyclops's life. Time passed, and Wolverine and the X-Men dealt with varied threats, including the High Evolutionary and Belasco. With Storm gone off on her own and Cyclops dead, Logan championed Rogue's advancement as the team's new field leader instead of rising to the position himself. (X-Men v2 #103) Unfortunately shortly after, Logan witnessed the death of his friend Colossus, who sacrificed his life in order to eradicate the Legacy Virus. (Uncanny X-Men v1 #390)

Enemy of the State

Sometime later, a young boy named Rikuto was kidnapped and in order to deal with the kidnapper the parents of the boy Ichiro who was Mariko's cousin and Fukuko asked for Wolverine's help. It turned out the kidnapping was a setup and Wolverine was ambushed by the Hand and killed by Gorgon who told him that they had already killed Rikuto. (Wolverine v3 #20)

Death of Wolverine

Eventually, a woman by the name of Persephone arrived who had the power of resurrecting people and turning them into her servants. With her powers, she resurrected Logan whose mind was a blank and she turned into an operative for her organization Soteira. In this role, he was dispatched on a number of assignments as she sought to kill everyone in the world and resurrect them as her followers. Over time, Logan eventually managed to break free from her control with this being attributed to his healing factor but his mind was a blank. Persephone then dispatched her agents with capturing him whilst Logan attempted to remember his past. He was eventually brought to Persephone's orbital headquarters where she intended to enact her plans for Earth. However, Logan regained his memorise whereupon he helped destroy her orbital satellites and caused her space station to crash to the surface. Once back on Earth, he decided to make his way to the Xavier School of Higher Learning to reunite with the X-Men. (Return of Wolverine v1 #5)

House of X

When Krakoa was declared a sovereign nation, the living island was made the homeland for all Mutants who were invited to reside on its surface. Wolverine came to join the other X-Men that had decided to relocate to the newly formed country. (House of X v1 #1)

Upon hearing the prophecy about the swords, Wolverine instantly knew that he was one of the champions selected for the upcoming tournament and that he had to find the destroyed Muramasa blade. Thus, he went out to find the swordsmith Muramasa himself but he came to learn that the man had been taken by the Hand where he had ended up in Hell. (Wolverine v7 #6) Thus, Logan had to journey into Hell into the lands held by the Beast where Muramasa had been enslaved to build the Hand an arsenal of weapons at their Hell Forge. Whilst there, he was captured but was freed by his Arrako opponent Solem who was similarly on a quest assigned to him where he was to find a Muramasa sword. The two decided to work together where they interrupted an unholy marriage among the Hand in honor of the Beast where the bride and groom were presented with newly forged Muramasa swords formed from the swordsmith's own soul. Wolverine and Solem thus battled the Hand to acquire the blades but Logan was nearly overwhelmed by the demonically empowered ninja warriors. Solem came to intervene despite having acquired the swords but he decided to part with one as he was looking forward to his fight with Wolverine with a favour being arranged between the two. (X-Force v6 #13)

Overview

Personality and attributes

He came to go by the name of Wolverine and showed a savagery similar to the animal. (Incredible Hulk v1 #181) As a secret agent, he was given the designation of Agent Ten when in the field. (Untold Tales of Spider-Man v1 #-1) As a government agent, he came to be known by the cipher of Weapon X. (Giant-Size X-Men v1 #1) During one of his missions, he was assigned a code name of Emilio Garra. (Wolverine v2 #49) At the Dunwich Sanitorium, he came to be known as Patient X. (Wolverine Weapon X v1 #6) To the Hand, he came to be known as the Eternal Nemesis of the Hand and as the Unkillable Ronin of the West. (Wolverine: Japan's Most Wanted: Infinite Comic v1 #5)

His remarkably strong constitution meant that he was a difficult foe to break through torture. (Untold Tales of Spider-Man v1 #-1)

He developed a fearsome reputation among the Hand where he became a bogeyman among them with it being considered an honour to be killed at his hands. (Wolverine: Japan's Most Wanted: Infinite Comic v1 #5)

James Howlett was born the son of an affair between the lady Elizabeth Howlett and Thomas Logan. He was raised though as the son of John Howlett who had been unaware of his wife's infidelity. He had an older brother from his family named John Howlett Jr. who had died in mysterious circumstances before he was 13 years old. (Wolverine: The Origin v1 #1)

His grandfather was Mr. Howlett who often disciplined James thinking that his grandson required a firm hand to raise him. This was used as justification for his abusive actions towards the young James. It was noted that Mr. Howlett was a self-made millionaire who had passed on his wealth to his son John Howlett. (Wolverine: The Origin v1 #1)

He had said that he had loved Itsu the moment he laid eyes on her. Logan had met her when he sought peace in Jasmine Falls where in his 4th year of training he married her. Shortly afterwards, she became pregnant with his child where on that day he considered himself to be the happiest man on Earth. Though his failure in attaining peace meant that he felt he was not worthy of raising his own child and that he had failed Itsu. During this period of doubt, he came to find that Itsu had been murdered alongside his unborn child. (Wolverine v3 #40)

Over the years, he was noted to had slept with a number of women where he was unaware that several of them became pregnant and bore his children. (Wolverine v4 #14)

He had greatly respected his sensei Ogun who came to admit that his student had surpassed him. (Kitty Pryde: Agent of SHIELD v1 #3)

Powers and abilities

Wolverine in Wolverine v7 #1.

Adamantium Armor in Wolverine v7 #49.

Wolverine was born a human mutant giving him superhuman traits. (Incredible Hulk v1 #181) Nick Fury's intel classified him as being Power Level 9. (Secret War: From the Files of Nick Fury v1 #1) O*N*E came to class him as being a Severe Threat. (X-Men: The 198 Files #1 #1)

Emma Frost said he was resistant to telepathic probing, from both level 9 psi-shields implanted by Professor Charles Xavier. (Wolverine v3 #46) In addition, his healing factor had created 'mental scar tissue' blocking telepathic attacks. (X-Men: Original Sin v1 #1)

Due to these enhanced senses, Wolverine claimed he could function in complete darkness as though it were daylight. (Wolverine v2 #4)

Daredevil once posited that Wolverine's sense of smell was slightly more developed than his own. (Infinity War v1 #2) His sense of taste also allowed him to distinguish individual ingredients in food or drink he consumes at a smaller part per volume than a normal person. (Uncanny X-Men v1 #172)

His superior sense of touch allowed him to be able to sense Cyclops's incoming power beam based on the shift in air pressure that precedes its arrival. (Uncanny X-Men v1 #211)

It was said that he was capable of astounding speed. (Incredible Hulk v1 #181)

The rate of regeneration was said to be proportional to the damage caused to him. (Wolverine: Weapon X Files v1 #1)

Despite his high tolerance, it was possible to make him drunk but it took extraordinary amounts of alcohol. (X-Men Annual v1 #11)

In fact, Wolverine was born sometime during the late 19th century. (Wolverine: The Origin v1 #1)

Wolverine's healing factor had even cured him of the mystical curse of lycanthropy after he had been bitten and turned into a werewolf. (Wolverine: First Class v1 #11)

The Adamantium bonding process which affected his bones effectively transformed them into a new alloy called Adamantium-Beta. (Wolverine v2 #80)

Ogun was noted to had served as Logan's sensei and taught him everything he knew about martial arts and sword fighting. (Kitty Pryde and Wolverine v1 #4)

In his time in Weapon X, the program came to place artificial implanted memories that hidden triggers. This meant that certain parts of his mind were sealed off and some of his perceived memories were in fact fake. Traps were placed to prevent telepaths from easily uncovering Logan's true memories. (Wolverine v2 #49)

He possessed claws that were forged of diamond-hard Adamantium. (Incredible Hulk v1 #181)

From the swordsmith Muramasa, he came to have a special katana forged for him known as the Muramasa Blade. Its creator used the souls of men to create powerful and terrible weapons capable of only destruction. In Logan's case, this sword was made for his desire for revenge following the death of his wife Itsu. (Wolverine v3 #40)

During the Krakoan Age, Wolverine asked Forge to build him a suit of armor made from Adamantium in case he would ever lose his powers or for other doomsday scenarios. After the armor was built, Wolverine had it stored in a special bunker, along with a Muramasa Blade, hidden in the Aleutian Islands that could only be accessed by a gate planted just for Wolverine. (Wolverine v7 #48)

Notes

• Wolverine was created by Roy Thomas, Len Wein and John Romita Sr. where he made his first appearance in Incredible Hulk v1 #181 (November, 1974).

Alternate Versions

• In X-Men v1 #141 (1980), an alternate version of Wolverine appeared in the Days of Future's Past reality that was designated as Earth-811 in the Multiverse.
• In Hulk: Future Imperfect v1 #1 (1992), an alternate version of Wolverine appeared in the Future Imperfect reality that was designated as Earth-9200 in the Multiverse.
• In X-Men: Alpha v1 #1 (1994), an alternate version of Wolverine appeared in the Age of Apocalypse reality that was designated as Earth-295 in the Multiverse.
• In Mutant X v1 #3 (1998), an alternate version of Wolverine appeared in the Mutant X reality that was designated as Earth-1298 in the Multiverse.
• In Earth X v1 #0 (1999), an alternate version of Wolverine appeared in the Earth X reality that was designated as Earth-9997 in the Multiverse.
• In Ultimate X-Men v1 #1 (2000), an alternate version of Wolverine appeared in the Ultimate Marvel reality that was designated as Earth-1610 in the Multiverse.
• In Wolverine: The End v1 #1 (2003), an alternate version of Wolverine appeared in The End reality that was designated as Earth-4011 in the Multiverse.
• In Weapon X: Days of Future Now v1 #1 (2005), an alternate version of Wolverine appeared in the Days of Future's Now reality that was designated as Earth-5700 in the Multiverse.
• In New X-Men v1 #151 (2004), an alternate version of Wolverine appeared in the Here Come's Tomorrow reality that was designated as Earth-15104 in the Multiverse.
• In Wolverine v3 #33 (2005), an alternate version of Wolverine appeared in the House of M reality that was designated as Earth-58163 in the Multiverse.
• In Fantastic Four (2008), an alternate version of Wolverine appeared known as the Hooded Man was shown to exist on an alternate Earth in the Multiverse. This world was further detailed in Wolverine v3 #66 (2008) where Old Man Logan was shown to operate on Earth-807128 that was dominated by the Wastelands. It was revealed that 50 years ago the Earth's supervillains launched a coordinated attack against the planet's superheroes with this involving Mysterio crafting an elaborate yet realistic illusion that even affected Wolverine's senses. This made him think that the X-Mansion was under attack by supervillains which he massacred only to realise that these were illusions and that the people he had killed were actually his friends in the X-Men. This led to him eventually becoming a pacifist as he vowed never to use his claws again even as Earth's heroes were slaughtered leading to the world being dominated by its supervillains.
• In Avengers v4 #12.1 (2011), an alternate version of Wolverine appeared in the Age of Ultron reality that was designated as Earth-61112 in the Multiverse.
• In Astonishing X-Men v3 #44 (2011), an alternate version of Wolverine named Logan appeared in a reality that was designated as Earth-12025 in the Multiverse.
• In Secret Avengers v1 #33 (2012), an alternate version of Wolverine appeared in a reality that was designated as Earth-666 in the Multiverse.
• In Spider-Gwen v2 #20 (2017), an alternate version of Logan appeared in the Spider-Gwen reality that was designated as Earth-65 in the Multiverse. Logan was a former samurai going by the name of Manji who operated in Japan where he came to be cursed by a witch to live as an immortal equivalent to the number of people he had killed in his life. Gwen Stacy came to refer to him as the Immortal Mr. Murderhands. This version of the character was seemingly based on Manji from Blade of the Immortal.
• In Women of Marvel v5 #1 (2024), an alternate female version of Wolverine named Jane Howlett appeared in a reality that was designated as Earth-1281 in the Multiverse.
• In Miguel O'Hara - Spider-Man 2099 v1 #4 (2024), an alternate version of Wolverine appeared in the new Marvel 2099 reality that was designated as Earth-2099 in the Multiverse.

In other media

Television

• In Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends, Wolverine appeared in the setting of the animated television series in the episode "A Firestar Is Born" where he was voiced by actor William Callaway.
• In X-Men: Pryde of the X-Men, Wolverine appeared in the setting of the 1989 animated television series pilot where he was voiced by actor Patrick Pinney in an Australian accent.
• In X-Men, Wolverine appeared in the setting of the 1990s animated television series where he was voiced by actor Cathal J. Dodd.
• In X-Men '97, Wolverine appeared in the setting of the revival animated television series where he was voiced once again by actor Cathal J. Dodd.
• In Spider-Man, Wolverine appeared in the setting of the 1990s animated television series where he was once more voiced by actor Cathal J. Dodd.
• In X-Men: Evolution, Wolverine appeared in the setting of the animated television series where he was voiced by actor Scott McNeil.
• In Wolverine and the X-Men, Wolverine appeared in the setting of the animated television series where he was voiced by actor Steve Blum.
• In The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes, Wolverine made a guest appearance in the setting of the animated television series voiced again by Steve Blum.

Films

• In X-Men, Wolverine appeared in the setting of the 2000 live-action film where he was portrayed by actor Hugh Jackman.
• In X2, Wolverine appeared in the setting of the 2003 live-action film where he was portrayed by actor Hugh Jackman.
• In X-Men: The Last Stand, Wolverine appeared in the setting of the 2006 live-action film where he was portrayed by actor Hugh Jackman.
• In X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Wolverine appeared in the setting of the live-action film where he was portrayed by actor Hugh Jackman.
• In The Wolverine, Wolverine appeared in the setting of the live-action film where he was portrayed by actor Hugh Jackman.
• In Hulk vs. Wolverine, Wolverine appeared in the setting of the animated film where he was voiced again by actor Steve Blum.
• In X-Men: Days of Future's Past, Wolverine appeared in the setting of the 2014 live-action film where he was portrayed by actor Hugh Jackman.
• In X-Men: Apocalypse, Wolverine appeared in the setting of the 2016 live-action film where he was portrayed by actor Hugh Jackman.
• In Logan, Wolverine appeared in the setting of the live-action film where he was portrayed by actor Hugh Jackman.
• In Deadpool & Wolverine, Wolverine appeared in the setting of the live-action film where he was once more portrayed by actor Hugh Jackman.

Video games

• In The Uncanny X-Men, Wolverine appeared as a playable character in the setting of the 1989 video game.
• In X-Men: Madness in Murderworld, Wolverine appeared as a playable character in the setting of the 1989 video game. He joined the X-Men in rescuing Professor X after he had been kidnapped by Magneto and Arcade.
• In X-Men II: The Fall of the Mutants, Wolverine appeared as a playable character in the setting of the 1990 video game. He was among the X-Men seeking their allies Forge and Storm who had been imprisoned by the Adversary. The demonic being came to alter reality creating the parallel world which the X-Men had to combat.
• In X2: Wolverine's Revenge, Wolverine appeared as a playable character in the setting of the video game where he was voiced by actor Mark Hamill.
• In X-Men Legends, Wolverine appeared as a playable character in the setting of the 2004 video game where he was voiced again by actor Steve Blum.
• In X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse, Wolverine appeared as a playable character in the setting of the 2005 video game where he was voiced again by Steve Blum.
• In Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, Wolverine appeared as a playable character in the setting of the 2006 video game where he was voiced again by Steve Blum.
• In X-Men: The Official Game, Wolverine appeared as a playable character in the setting of the 2006 video game where he was voiced by actor Hugh Jackman.
• In Spider-Man: Web of Shadows, Wolverine appeared as a boss and later assist character in the setting of the 2008 video game where he was voiced again by Steve Blum.
• In LittleBigPlanet, Wolverine appeared as a guest character in the setting of the 2008 video game and introduced through the "Marvel Costume Kit 3" DLC.
• In X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Wolverine appeared as a playable character in the setting of the 2009 video game where he was voiced by actor Hugh Jackman.
• In Marvel: Contest of Champions, Wolverine appeared as a playable character in the setting of the mobile video game.
• In Marvel: Future Fight, Wolverine appeared as a playable character in the setting of the mobile video game.
• In Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order, Wolverine appeared as a playable character in the setting of the video game where he was voiced once again by actor Steve Blum.

Appearances

• Incredible Hulk v1: (1974)
• Uncanny X-Men v1:
• Alpha Flight v1:
• Wolverine v1:
• Untold Tales of Spider-Man v1:
• Logan: Shadow Society v1:
• Spider-Man Versus Wolverine v1:
• Logan v1:
• New Avengers v1:
• X-Force:
• Wolverine Weapon X v1:
• Uncanny X-Force v1:
• Wolverine and the X-Men v1:
• Uncanny Avengers v1:
• Wolverine:
• Death of Wolverine v1:
• Thor:
• Return of Wolverine v1:
• Wolverine: Infinity Watch v1:
• House of X v1:
• Wolverine v7:
• X-Force v6:

External Links

• Marvel Database Entry
• Comicvine Entry
• Wikipedia Entry

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