Post by amxfiles on Oct 22, 2005 1:30:26 GMT -5
Real name Logan (born James Howlett)
Status Active
Affiliations X-Men
Avengers,
X-Treme Sanctions Executive,
Previous affiliations Secret Defenders, Devil's Brigade, Four Horsemen, Alpha Flight, Weapon X, Canadian Parachute Battalion, Department H, Team X, Central Intelligence Agency, Hydra
Notable aliases Death, Patch, Weapon X, Agent Ten, Canada, Hand of God, Mai'Keth, Emilio Garra
Notable relatives Elizabeth Howlett (mother, deceased), John Howlett (implied adoptive father, deceased), Thomas Logan (implied biological father, deceased), Dog Logan (implied half-brother), John Howlett, Jr. (brother, presume deceased), Amiko (adopted daughter), X-23 (clone), Viper (ex-wife; marriage of convenience)
Notable powers Regenerative healing factor, decreased aging, Adamantium-laced skeleton & claws, enhanced senses, agility, and endurance
Wolverine (Logan, later revealed to have been born James Howlett) is a fictional character, a Marvel Comics superhero, and member of the X-Men. The character first appeared on the last page of Incredible Hulk #180 (October, 1974), with a full introduction in the following issue, Hulk #181 (November, 1974). In the 1980s and 1990s, he rose from relative obscurity to become a household name; he may be Marvel Comics' second most-popular character, after Spider-Man.
A mutant, Wolverine heals quickly, possesses animal-like senses and reflexes, and has three claws the length of each forearm on each hand that retract into his forearms. The claws -- and his entire skeleton -- are laced with the unbreakable metal alloy adamantium. The character is an unparalleled master of combat who will not hesitate to meet lethal force in kind.
Wolverine's fierce nature helped forge the mould for comic book anti-heroes. His willingness to use deadly force, his efforts to come to terms with his questionable past and his angst-filled inner conflicts have become standard for anti-heroes.
Wolverine was created by Len Wein and John Romita Sr., with some additional influence by Herb Trimpe. The character was further developed by the celebrated creative duo of Chris Claremont and John Byrne, popularly remembered for their work on the X-Men. Frank Miller, usually remembered for his revitalization of Daredevil and redefinition of Batman, deserves credit for establishing important nuances in the Wolverine limited series he co-wrote with Claremont, such as the memorable catch phrase, "I'm the best there is at what I do, and what I do best ain't pretty." (Sometimes quoted as "...And what I do isn't very nice.")
Wolverine joined the X-Men roster in 1975 and has been featured in his own solo series since 1988. He has been a central character in the various X-Men animated series and films.
Due to his massive popularity Wolverine has become one of the most overexposed characters in comics. It has even become a tridition of sorts over the last several years that every roster of the X-Men include Wolverine in it. Currently, Wolverine is an active member on all three teams of X-Men across the three main X-books and is a member of the recently formed New Avengers, along with continuing his solo adventures in his own book and making frequent guest appearances in many other books across the Marvel Universe. This habit of seemingly being everywhere at once has been noted in the comics and jokingly explained as an example of him "being the best at what he does."
Character history
Wolverine first appeared as a Canadian superhero and government agent fighting The Incredible Hulk and the Wendigo, in order to halt the destruction in the wake of their battle. His speed and maneuverability proved to be a match for the two plodding powerhouses of vast superhuman strength, and he was able to fight both creatures to a standstill.
Soon Professor X recruited him to join a new team of X-Men, and he resigned from his position in Canada, disregarding his superiors' objections. Over the following year, Wolverine was revealed to be a mutant whose skeleton had been laced with the unbreakable metal adamantium. Initially misanthropic and a loner, Wolverine often clashed with the X-Men's leader Cyclops. Given to berserker rages in combat, he slowly learned how to control his feral instincts. However, Wolverine is the X-Man most likely to permanently deal with adversaries who dispense lethal force. Despite his quick temperament, he has been described as a warrior poet with an iron will.
Various writers have subsequently fleshed out and revised Wolverine's once mysterious past. Within the current continuity of Wolverine's background, it has been revealed that he joined Nick Fury, Captain America, and the Black Widow fighting the Nazis in Madripoor during World War II and afterward, he joined the Canadian Army and participated in D-Day and the liberation of Holland. He may have also been a spy for the allies and it was recently revealed that he may have been captured and spent time in the Sobibor concentration camp. What is for certain about his past is that he was part of a project called Weapon X; it was this project which added the adamantium to his body. He was then adopted by James and Heather Hudson and co-opted into their superhero work with the Canadian government, which eventually became Alpha Flight. There was an intention for Wolverine to lead this team, and his abrupt departure from the team precipitated James Hudson's adoption of the identity of Weapon Alpha (later Vindicator and then Guardian), and saw a number of typically hostile confrontations in which Alpha Flight tried to bring Wolverine back to Canada, whilst Wolverine attempted to retain his freedom. Wolverine would eventually make peace with Hudson and Alpha Flight, while remaining a member of the X-Men. He was also on a government Black-Ops team which consisted of him, Maverick, Sabretooth, and Silver Fox. The team was apparently disbanded after a botched mission concerning Omega Red.
Claremont and other writers have added layers of complexity to the character over time; it was revealed that he could read and speak Japanese; that he had a strong sense of personal honour; and the character was also shown developing a close friendship with his teammate Nightcrawler, a character whose personality was written as somewhat diametrically opposed to Wolverine, as well as developing a father-like relationship with the character Jubilee who is regarded as his unofficial sidekick.
As mentioned previously, early in their run together on The Uncanny X-Men Claremont and Byrne created a subplot wherein Wolverine became interested in Jean Grey. However this interest was never consummated, and it was unclear as to whether Wolverine's feelings were reciprocated by Grey. Eventually a new love interest was introduced, with Wolverine becoming engaged to Lady Mariko Yashida, a daughter of a Japanese crime family. He was forced to kill her father in a duel and single-handedly destroyed his crime cartel. Mariko and Logan became estranged due to the strange honour customs of her family, and the manipulations of the villain Mastermind. Once they were finally reunited she was poisoned by Reiko, an assassin for the Yakuza. She requested Wolverine end her life quickly rather than let her die a slow and painful death from the toxin, and he obeyed. This changed Wolverine's character significantly, making him more disciplined and emotionally distant. In X-Men #25 (1993), at the culmination of the "Fatal Attractions" crossover, the adamantium in Wolverine's skeleton was forcibly removed by the supervillain Magneto. The act inflicted devastating injuries to Wolverine's body, so devastating that his mutant healing factor burned itself out in order to keep him alive. As a result, many of Wolverine's other natural mutant abilities, such as his heightened senses, strength, stamina, and agility, were burned out. In the Weapon X serial, then in Wolverine Vol. 2 issue 75 and the Origin mini-series, it was revealed that Wolverine's claws were actually made of bone and part of his mutant powers, and not created by the Weapon X program.
However, it was revealed in Wolverine Vol. 2 issue 91 that after sufficient time had passed enabling his body to recover from this severe trauma his mutation actually began to accelerate and as a consequence Wolverine not only regained his superhuman abilities, they actually increased from what they had been when he had the adamantium in his skeleton. Unfortunately, this also made Wolverine more feral.
Some time later, in Wolverine #100, another maniac, Genesis, kidnapped Wolverine and attempted to re-bond the metal to his skeleton. This was unsuccessful and caused Wolverine's mutation to accelerate out of control. He was temporarily changed into a semi-sentient beast-like form in which he knew greater physical power than ever before, at the price of part of his humanity. Genesis did not survive the battle following his failed experiment. Wolverine found a way to reverse his form to what it had been just previous to the time when Genesis captured him.
After several years of continuing to exist without the benefit of the adamantium to reinforce his skeletal structure, Wolverine was kidnapped by the villain Apocalypse, who set up a contest between Wolverine and his arch nemesis, Sabretooth, with the victor to become one of Apocalypse's new group of Horsemen. Wolverine barely emerged victorious, and as a result Apocalypse extracted the adamantium from Sabretooth and had it bonded to Wolverine. Although initially brainwashed into serving Apocalypse, Wolverine eventually overcame Apocalypse's programming and returned to the X-Men.
Recently, Wolverine was recaptured by the Weapon-X program, which is under new leadership. It was then revealed that the mental implants installed by the original Weapon-X program were still functional, because the new director had used Wolverine as a sleeper agent to track down and eliminate the old members of the Weapon-X program. However, we are told that during his assassination of Senator Drexel Walsh (the previous director of the Weapon-X program), the mental implants were destroyed under the stress. It was in this incident that we were introduced to the Shiver Man and Mauvais. Hints in this series point towards the opinion that Origin is in fact the true story of Wolverine's past.
Today, Wolverine remains an integral part of the X-Men, He is also an officer of the mutant law enforcement agency the X-Treme Sanctions Executive (XSE), and he recently joined the reformed Avengers alongside other famous Marvel Comics heroes such as Captain America, Iron Man, and Spider-Man.
Early life
Wolverine's early life has been revealed gradually over time. Wolverine's time as a captive and subject of the Weapon X project has been revealed as a period when he was entirely at the mercy of feral instincts due to severe physical and psychological trauma inflicted upon him by the program. He was their agent, their ultimate weapon, along with his future archnemesis Sabretooth. Next, Wolverine lived on a Native American reservation with his former girlfriend Silver Fox, whom he thought had been killed by his enemy.
Finally, the story of his childhood was told in the miniseries Origin. He was born James Howlett, the son of wealthy Canadians John and Elizabeth Howlett. In 19th century Alberta, the frail boy was raised by the red-haired Rose, his companion and tutor which bore more than a passing resemblance to Jean Grey, since his mother was distant and remote. Elizabeth's first son had an untimely death and she took solace by having an affair with the Howletts' groundskeeper Thomas Logan. Logan, who resembled the adult Wolverine, had a son named Dog Logan. The boy would grow to attack Rose and Thomas Logan was then fired. However, John Howlett later found Logan with his wife. Thomas had returned to get his lover. In a twist of fate, Logan killed John. Wolverine's mutant powers -particularly his claws - chose this traumatic moment to emerge. With his new powers, James Howlett killed Logan and scarred Dog. Elizabeth lost both husband and lover. She chose to commit suicide.
Due to his alleged killing of his parents, James was exiled by his grandfather and became a nomad. He was brought to a British Columbia mining colony, where he grew into a strong and ferocious lad. Three years later, Dog tracked him down. Wolverine won the resulting battle but failed to kill Dog. Rose attempted to prevent the killing and was impaled by the claws of her mutant charge. Wracked with grief over the death of his true love, Wolverine spent more time in the woods with wolves, where he feels more at home. Whether or not the miniseries Origin should be part of official Marvel canon is apparently disputed by some Marvel editors.
Much of Wolverine's origin still remains a mystery. It is unclear how much Wolverine recalls about his past, as his memories have been extensively tampered with, both by the Weapon X program and his healing powers.
Recently, Logan has remembered slivers of his old life like the name "James" and images of Rose.
In 2005, writer Brian Michael Bendis helmed the House of M Marvel miniseries, a crossover event starring Joss Whedon's Astonishing X-Men and the Avengers and potentially affecting the entire Marvel universe. The story revolves around the creation of an alternate reality where Magneto and other Marvel heroes are granted their greatest desires by a mentally unstable Scarlet Witch. In issue 3, Wolverine states that his greatest desire was to remember his past in detail. It is uncertain exactly how this has affected his memories.
Skrull impostor
A Skrull working for Apocalypse briefly replaced the real Wolverine to allow the real one to be kidnapped and brainwashed. Due to mental programming to allow him to take the place of the real Wolverine without alerting the X-Men's telepaths, he believed himself to actually be Wolverine.
The Skrull impostor of Wolverine was initially created as part of a program initiated by the Skrulls to impersonate Earth's heroes en masse, at the cost of the shapeshifting abilities of those used - instead they would be physically locked into the forms they were imitating, in addition to mental programming designed to make them believe they were the hero in question. Due to the limitations of the process and their technology, however, they could not duplicate most of the respective abilities (e.g., the fake "Nightcrawler" could only pretend to teleport by becoming invisible). After the Skrull homeworld was destroyed by Galactus, Apocalypse found some skrulls and put them to use, including using this process on one of them to cover while they kidnapped the real Wolverine. The limitations meant, however, that "Skrullverine" had no "healing factor" or enhanced senses.
The impostor took on Wolverine's heroic qualities and saved several members of the X-Men and the Mannites (super powered children) from being eliminated by Apocalypse's acolyte of Death. The Skrull impostor was killed by the acolyte of Death (who turned out to be the real Wolverine who had been brainwashed). His death was noble and heroic.
Ultimate Marvel version
In the Ultimate Marvel universe, Wolverine first appeared as an assassin who worked for Magneto's Brotherhood of Mutants, who was sent to infiltrate the X-Men in order to assassinate Charles Xavier. In this continuity, he quickly seduced Jean Grey, ultimately falling in love with her. Grey later left him upon discovering his connections to the Brotherhood of Mutants and his intention to assassinate Xavier. At this point Wolverine changed sides and abandoned his original mission.
Wolverine then allowed Cyclops, a rival for Grey's affections, to seemingly fall to his death, thinking it would allow him to continue his relationship with Jean Grey. However Cyclops survived the fall and when Grey learned of this she once again spurned Wolverine. The character is now currently in exile from the X-Men, accompanied by Storm.
This version of Wolverine has all of the abilities of the Wolverine in the normal continuity. However, a major plot point in this continuity is the creation of adamantium as a highly sought after alloy. The formula for the metal is a government secret, with the process for creating the substance next to impossible to duplicate, leading to numerous criminals seeking to obtain Wolverine's adamantium for their own purposes. The adamantium in Wolverine's skull also prevents telepaths from reading his mind. This principle is also used for the helmets of Magneto and the Juggernaut (metal seems to work as a deterrant to telepathy.)
Other changes in the new continuity involve Sabretooth, Wolverine's archnemesis, who now became a high ranking officer of the Weapon X program. Wolverine killed Sabretooth by decapitation whilst battling at their arctic head quarters, after watching Sabretooth burn all records of his past.
Wolverine's origin is also slightly different. According to Captain America, Wolverine was James Howlett, a Canadian paratrooper with whom the Captain had made several jumps with during World War II. Sabretooth had also claimed Wolverine to have had a wife and child, proudly claiming responsibility for killing them. Whether or not he was telling the truth remains to be seen, but a wedding ring that belonged to Wolverine is the only remaining piece of his past.
Powers and abilities
Wolverine is a mutant with a number of both natural and artificial improvements to his physiology.
Wolverine's primary mutant ability is an accelerated "healing factor" that enables him to regenerate damaged or destroyed areas of his body to a degree far beyond that of an ordinary human. Injuries that result in massive tissue and blood loss(bullet wounds, punctures, slashes, severe burns) will heal completely within moments. His natural healing is developed to such a degree, he has proven able to regenerate missing organs, such as eyes. It's theorized that he could, potentially, regenerate entire limbs, but this remains unproven since he's never lost a limb.
This "healing factor" also grants immunity to most toxins and all known Earthly diseases and infections. A side-effect of Wolverine's healing powers is the fact that his body is in a state of constant cellular regeneration that causes him to age at a much slower pace than ordinary human beings. He is well over 100 years of age, yet he retains the appearance and vitality of a man in the physical prime of his life. Wolverine has aged little, if at all, since the 1940's. However, writers have suggested that the healing factor is also the cause of his amnesia, explained at one point by Sabertooth to have the added ability to 'scab over' potentially damaging memories and experiences and prevent deterioration of his mental health. This does not, however, seem to give him any added protection against psionics. All of Wolverine's natural mutant abilities stem from, at least partially, his "healing factor".
Wolverine possesses superhumanly acute senses that are comparable to those possessed by certain animals. Wolverine is able to see objects at a much greater distance, and with perfect clarity, than an ordinary human being. He is able to see with the same clarity in near, or total darkness. This means that Wolverine can, possibly, see into the infra-red spectrum. Wolverine's sense of hearing operates to such a level that he is able to detect the rhythm of a normal heartbeat at a distance of 200 feet. Arguably, Wolverine's most developed sense is his superhumanly acute sense of smell. His heightened sense of smell is slightly more developed than that of Daredevil. Wolverine is able to recognize and track objects by their scent, much in the same way as a Bloodhound. Wolverine can detect an object's scent, even if the scent has been exposed to the elements for an extended period of time.
Wolverine possesses three retractable claws housed within each forearm. Wolverine releases the claws through the tissues of his knuckles, tearing the flesh which is instantly healed. The claws are made of bone, unlike the claws of normal mammals, which are made of keratin. The shape of the claws provides them with a natural edge that is razor sharp and can rend most conventional materials including bone, wood, and even some types of metals.
Wolverine's claws and skeleton have been molecularly laced with the virtually indestructible metal Adamantium. As a result, Wolverine's entire skeletal system has been rendered invulnerable to injury. The Adamantium coating keeps the claws sharp and mean that his ability to cut through things is limited by his strength, not the claws. However, Wolverine's claws have proven capable of at least cutting every known solid material, with the exception of Adamantium itself. The tensile strength and additional weight of his skeleton combined with his constant cellular regeneration grants him great physical strength as his body is able to withstand higher levels physical pressure than a normal human. His exact level of physical strength has been depicted with some degree of contradiction, depending on the writer. However, it is generally accepted by fans and writers alike that Wolverine's strength is, at least, at the pinacle of human development and can lift at least 800 pounds, which is the most amount of weight a person can lift within the Marvel Universe without being classified as superhuman. His blows are weighted (similar to using brass knuckles) due to the presence of this metal.
Another effect of Wolverine's "healing factor" is the augmentation of a number of Wolverine's physical attributes. Wolverine possesses superhuman levels of stamina in all physial activities. This is due to the fact that his musculature generates considerably less lactic acids than that of an ordinary human. Theoretically, Wolverine can exert himself at peak capacity for several days before fatigue would begin to impair his performance. Wolverine's agility and reflexes have been heightened to levels beyond the natural limits of the human body. Although not as advanced as Spider-Man, Wolverine could top the feats of any Olympic level gymnast that has ever competed.
Skills
Though seemingly brutish, Wolverine is extremely intelligent with great knowledge and expertise in a variety of areas including poetry, history, and philosophy. Due to his increased lifespan, he has been able to travel around the world and amass an intimate knowledge of many foreign languages, customs, and cultures. Due to his his years in Japan, and time spent in various intelligence services, Wolverine is an excellent hand to hand combatant. He is highly skilled and experienced with virtually every known fighting style on Earth. He can use most weapons, long or close-range. He is also an accomplished pilot extremely well trained in espionage and covert operations.
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Okay, CLEARLY Logan had to be Hero of the Day soon. So why not now as opposed to later. Knock him out of the way fast, and leave room for some of the other guys.
Logan is one of my personal favorites, as is most other people. He's the one who's "career" I've followed closest. I have damn near EVERY issue of his comic series.
