Wolverine (Marvel)

Revision as of 14:03, 28 October 2022

Wolverine in Wolverine v7 #1.

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

Biography

Origin

James Howlett

Thomas, in a drunken stupor and armed with a shotgun, 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)

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)

Weapon X

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)

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)

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

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)

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)

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)

Schism

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)

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

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

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)

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 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 Spider-Gwen v2 #20 (2017), an alternate version of Logan appeared in the world of Spider-Gwen that was set on Earth-65. 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 other media

Television

• 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.

Films

• In X-Men, Wolverine appeared in the setting of the live-action film where he was portrayed by actor Hugh Jackman.

Video games

• 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 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.

Other

Appearances

• Incredible Hulk v1: (1974)
• Uncanny X-Men v1:
• Alpha Flight v1:
• Wolverine v1:
• Untold Tales of Spider-Man v1:
• Logan: Shadow Society 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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