Originally born as James Howlett at the beginning of the century, Wolverine became the last and only descendant of a very rich man when his brother died for unknown reasons. The kid was, however, weak and sick. Hence, he was educated at home. His father took an orphan girl named Rose to grow up with him and give him some company. He also became friends with the son of the land keeper, Logan. Logan was a violent drunkard who often hit his kid. James, however, was interested in poetry and art. Logan’s grandfather was a stern and angry person. His mother was distant. Only his father seemed to be kind and nice, but he had not what it took to rule the land. James did not know that his true father had been Logan, not John Howlett. At some point, young Logan’s behavior became dangerous and the Logans were asked to leave the propriety. However, Logan decided to take Elizabeth with him. When John found them quarreling, Logan killed him. He would have also killed James if his mutant power had not been revealed at that moment. Bone claws came out of his hands and impaled old Logan. After that, he escaped and Rose went with him to protect them. Both teenagers moved to Canada and James adopted the name of the man he had killed. He started to work in the mine and soon hardened. He became silent and tough but he was soon promoted because of his abilities and Smitty, the owner of the mine, cared for him as a son. Unfortunately, that got him many enemies. Also, he had fallen in love with Rose, but Smitty also wanted to marry her. She loved Logan as a brother, even though he did not accept it. During a struggle in the mine, though, he killed her by accident. Then, he went mad and escaped to live in the woods with the wolves.
Not much is known about Wolverine’s life after that. Somehow, he got involved in the Weapon X program. He was taken against his will and was experimented on by scientists that transformed him into Weapon X. They laced his skeleton with adamantium, which inadvertently laced his claws with adamantium also, and trained him to be a wild ferocious fighter with his animal instincts. They replaced most or all of his memories with implants so to this day he doesn’t know where he came from or how he got to the Weapon X program to begin with. He somehow escaped or was released by the scientists and met James and Heather Hudson for the first time. They helped him to recover some of his humanity and he joined Alpha Flight. He worked with Alpha Flight for a while and then left them to join the X-Men at professor Xavier’s request.
At this point he went off on his own for a little while and after being humiliated by Lord Shingen Harada, killed him and got engaged to be married to Mariko. Mariko called off the wedding because she was actually under the control of the Shadow King. He went on with his life and rescued Akiko, a young girl, then adopted her. He put her in a good foster home and departed. Eventually, he discovered that this home is not appropriate for the girl, so she finished in Yukio’s hands.
The next major chronological event in his life occurred when he went along with Shadowcat, and killed Ogun who was his former mentor. He went back to the X-Men and stayed with them, fighting the enemies of the X-Men and protecting the world from evil mutants. At the same time, he adopted the personality of Patch in Madripoor to live his own adventures.
He acquired many friends and enemies along the way and battled repeatedly with his arch-enemy Sabretooth who thought that he was Logan’s father, but that was recently proven false by a blood test performed on the two in a S.H.I.E.L.D. helicopter after a battle involving Sabretooth, Cable, and Elsie Dee. Elsie Dee is an android in the form of a little girl who became Wolverine’s friend even though she was sent to kill him. She worked with Albert, a cyborg who looked like Wolverine.
Omega Red was another one of Wolverine’s worst enemies. He had Carbonadium tentacles and a “death factor”. It has been revealed that he is somehow linked to Wolverine’s past, and that he has fought him before, but the details are sketchy at best. Cyber is yet another one of Wolverine’s worst enemies. His skin has been laced with Adamantium and he has claws on the tip of each finger filled with a specialized highly toxic hallucinogen. He has been described by Wolverine as “The only one that ever really beat me.” Presumably, in his past, they fought, and Cyber left him for dead.
Wolverine’s life changed drastically after the X-Men went into space to battle Magneto for the last time. Magneto had disrupted the Earth’s electro magnetic field and he had to be stopped. During their battle, Magneto ripped the Adamantium in Wolverine’s bones out through his skin. Professor X took Magneto’s mind away leaving him in a vegetative state. They tried to get Wolverine back to Earth so they could revive him. His healing factor could not keep up with such a grave wound. He was just on the verge of death, when Jean Grey was sucked out the hatch of the jet and almost died. Wolverine came back to life to save her. They got back to the X-mansion and after enough time, Wolverine healed.
Then, Wolverine decided to test himself in the danger room because he felt he was of no more use to the team. He was doing poorly, when the robots backed him into a corner, and it was revealed for the first time that Wolverine’s claws were originally bone. At this point he decided that leaving would be best for everyone, and he went away, leaving a touching letter to Jubilee. He had a few adventures on his own and fought Cyber. He then decided to return to the X-Men just in time to battle Sabretooth. He pinned him against the wall with two of his claws on either side of Sabretooth’s head. Sabretooth either didn’t believe Logan would do it, or had a death wish or maybe both. He threatened everyone close to Wolverine, and it seemed as if Wolverine popped the third claw, right before the Universe crystallized.
After the Age of Apocalypse finished, Wolverine eventually recovered his adamantium and went on fighting with the X Men.
Superhuman physical powers: Wolverine possesses a “fast healing” ability enabling him to regenerate damaged or destroyed areas of his cellular structure. This grants him virtual immunity to poisons and limited immunity to the fatigue poisons generated by his own body. It also retards his aging process. Wolverine possesses superhumanly acute senses of sight, smell, and hearing. Wolverine’s skeleton was laced with Adamantium, redering his bones virtually unbreakable. As of late, it has been ripped out through his skin by Magneto in the Fatal Attractions crossover series. He also has three claws on each hand which until recently were believed to be pure Adamantium. When, the Adamantium was removed, however, it was revealed that his claws were bone, and therefore he must have been born with them. The Adamantium had laced these too, giving them the appearance of metal and rendering them virtually unbreakable as well. Source of superhuman powers: Wolverine’s healing ability, superhuman senses, and bone claws were a result of mutation. The Adamantium was was a result of a top secret project called Weapon X, which has not yet been completely revealed. Wolverine has become even more feral after an experiment on him by Genesis.
Name: Logan. formerly James Howlett (other alliases, Patch, Weapon X)
Group: X-Men
Origin: Alberta, Canada
First appearance: Hulk#180
Known Relatives:
- Akiko (foster daughter)
- Thomas Logan (real father, deceased)
- James (grandfather, deceased)
- John (brother, deceased)
- John and Elizabeth Howlett (parents, deceased)
