| Table of contents |
|
2 Powers 3 Movies & Television 4 Vital Statistics 5 External Links |
The character who would later become Wolverine made his first appearance as a Canadian superhero fighting the anti-hero known as The Incredible Hulk. Wolverine was originally known as Weapon X. Since then, he has had a long and varied career, most notably as a member of the X-Men.
His first appearance was in The Incredible Hulk #180, though he only appeared in a single panel, not being fully introduced until the next issue. He was able to fight both the Hulk and the Wendigo to a virtual standstill in his first appearance, and his nature and powers remained vague.
Wolverine joined the X-Men in Giant Sized X-Men #1 (1975). It was here that it was revealed that he is a mutant with an ability to heal rapidly, who has a skeleton and retractable claws both laced with the unbreakable (fictional) metal adamantium. When working for the Canadian government he was supposed to become the leader of the incipient team of superhuman mutants who would later be known as Alpha Flight. However, Wolverine instead chose to join the X-Men and left the country. This decision would come to plague the X-Men as the Alpha Flight would fight the X-men in an effort to kidnap Wolverine and force him to fufill his contract with the Canadian government.
Logan has had some very complicated romantic entanglements. He had a romantic interest in Jean Grey (who shared the attraction), but as she was already in a relationship with the team leader, Cyclops, their love would go unrequited. This created tension between Wolverine and Cyclops, though the two shared a bond of mutual respect. Wolverine was engaged to Lady Mariko Yashida of a Japanese crime family, Clan Yashida, at one time. He was forced to kill her father, Shingen, in a duel and single-handedly destroyed Shingen's crime cartel. Mariko and Logan became estranged due to the strange honor customs of her family and once they were finally reunited she was poisoned by Reiko, an assassin for the Yakuza, (Japanese Mafia). She asked Logan to save her from the horrible death and he obeyed by using his claws to end her life. This changed Wolverine's character significantly making him more disciplined and emotionally distant.
At some point in the 1990s the adamantium in Wolverine's skeleton was forcibly removed by the villain Magneto. Following this, a character known as 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 this form Wolverine was physically more powerful than he had ever been before. Genesis did not survive his error and was dispatched by Logan in his savage manifestation. Finally, the mutant villain known as Apocalypse kidnapped Wolverine, brainwashed him, and had the adamantium rebonded to his skeleton successfully. Wolverine was able to escape Apocalypse's plans for him, however.
Wolverine is renowned for his gruffness and sheer feral savagery. He is one of the few X-Men who has no compunctions about killing when necessary, and has been frequently at odds with his fellow teammates as a result. Despite that fact, he does live by a code of honor and does respect life. He has a dark past that involves many secret organizations and even the Canadian government and its superhero team, Alpha Flight, and some of the X-Men's greatest foes. It has been revealed that Wolverine's memories have been tampered with extensively making very little of what he believes is his past credible.
Wolverine is a mutant with a number of enhancements to his physiology. Wolverine possesses heightened senses, making him capable of seeing things at a maximum distance greater than that of a normal human. His hearing is enhanced in a similar manner, and he is able to recognize people and objects by scent, even if that person or object is hidden. He can use these enhanced senses to track anyone, with an impressive degree of success.
Wolverine possesses retractable claws that are housed in his forearms. At will Wolverine can release these claws through his skin between the knuckles on each hand. The skin between the knuckles tears and bleeds, but bleeding is quickly halted by his healing factor. This allows Wolverine to be able to cut through almost any material without any fear of damage to the claws.
Wolverine possesses an accelerated healing factor based on his physiology. While most normal humans heal injuries over a long period of time, Wolverine's healing factor speeds up that natural process. Wolverine's natural healing has been advanced to the point where he can heal extensive injuries (such as broken limbs) in a matter of hours to days. This factor gives him a higher resistance to poisons and toxins, and he can recover from almost any injury. The more extensive the injury, the longer the healing time will be.
Despite Wolverine's chronological age, he is still as healthy and physically fit as a man in his prime. In fact, resulting from his mutation he is physically about as strong and agile as the hero known as Captain America.
His voice was provided by Cathal J. Dodd in the X-Men animated television series, and in a series of video games through the 1990s. In the animated television series X-Men: Evolution, his voice was provided by Scott McNeil.
In the movies, he was played by Hugh Jackman.
In the movie tie-in computer game X2: Wolverine's Revenge, his voice was provided by Mark Hamill.
History
Powers
Movies & Television
Vital Statistics
See Also Enemies:
External Links