James Howlett (Earth-1610)

History

 

Wolverine was a mutant whose primary ability was an accelerated healing factor that enabled him to regenerate damaged or destroyed bodily tissue with far greater speed and efficiency than an ordinary human. Wolverine's healing factor may have greatly retarded his aging. Wolverine's entire skeleton was infused with a rare, artificially created alloy known as Adamantium. As a result, Wolverine's bones were rendered highly resistant to all forms of physical damage.

Early Years

Wolverine suffered from amnesia. As a result, what little was known about his early life was both suspect and unverifiable. It is believed that, at one point, Wolverine had a wife and child, but they were supposedly murdered by Sabretooth. As both Wolverine's and Sabretooth's memories had been tampered with in the past (most infamously by the Weapon X Project), this claim was highly suspect; however, Wolverine did own a wedding ring that served as his only link to his past.

His earliest known activities were as a paratrooper for the Canadian army during World War II. He was present at the invasion of Sicily, where he attempted to loot a house along with two American soldiers, Private Nicholas Fury and Private Fisk when they were interrupted by American MPs. Fisk was grazed by a bullet and all three were taken away, despite Howlett's protests that he was Canadian.

Later, he awakens inside the Weapon X complex under experimentation by Dr. Abraham Cornelius; who is working for the Canadian government assisting them in their attempts to create their own version of Captain America. James escapes the complex, but is shot as he nears freedom. His wounds miraculously heal and he is recaptured. Cornelius explains that, in their experiments, they accidentally discovered a genome that, when genetically altered, grants the person carrying it various abilities based on their DNA. He calls these altered humans "mutants"; and Howlett is dubbed "Mutant Zero". This genome was later released and spread around the world, resulting in the creation of the mutant race. Some time later, the young mutant son of two Weapon X scientists (Erik Lensherr), who was horrified by how James was being treated, killed his parents and set him free.

Weapon X

Wolverine was eventually recaptured by Col. John Wraith, a mutant-hating commando, and head of the Weapon X Project. His memory was erased and was given the fake name "Logan". It was during this time his skeletal structure was bonded with Adamantium. While with Weapon X, Howlett was often tortured and tormented by Wraith and his men. He developed a hatred for his fellow captive Victor Creed, who (unlike Howlett) enjoyed the violent nature of their work and worked with Wraith voluntarily.^[5]

While being deployed in the desert during the Gulf War, the vehicle he was in was ambushed, and Wolverine was set loose from his cage. He slaughtered the enemies and came across Nick Fury, the only other survivor, who was injured. Some part of Logan recognized Fury from the incident in Sicily nearly half a century before so, instead of killing him or leaving him, he carried him back to base; although he was then shot and caged once again. Wraith was surprised that his "living weapon" had still managed to retain some small part of his humanity.

A couple years later, Logan broke out of Weapon X with the help of Fury, who had also come to recognize Logan from the war and to repay him for saving his life earlier.

Wolverine joined Magneto's Brotherhood of Mutant Supremacy, and eventually became Magneto's elite assassin.

Joining the X-Men

Eighteen months later, Logan was assigned to infiltrate the X-Men and assassinate Professor Xavier. He was accepted into their ranks, and quickly seduced Jean Grey in order to further entrench himself within the team. However, Wolverine accidentally fell in love with Jean, and was devastated when she left him upon discovering his connection to the Brotherhood. Wolverine eventually betrayed Magneto, abandoning his initial mission and truly joined the X-Men after coming to understand and believe in Xavier's cause.^[6]

Seeking answers to Wolverine's past (and to liberate imprisoned mutant test subjects), the team traveled to the site of the Weapon X Project. There they encountered Wraith - and Sabretooth. Sabretooth burned the files on Wolverine - and thus destroyed the only record of his past - in front of his eyes, leading up to the first match-up between the two. At first, Sabretooth appeared to be winning, until Wolverine scored a dirty hit (slashing Sabretooth in the groin). The battle culminated with Sabretooth's plunge off of a cliff, and the complete dismantlement of the Weapon X Project.

Unfortunately, by this time, Jean had begun a relationship with Cyclops, leading to a deep rift growing between the two men. Their rivalry came to a head when Xavier sent the two of them on a mission to the Savage Land, hoping to end their enmity. However, the reverse occurred: Wolverine allowed Cyclops to fall to his death, believing he would then be able to continue his relationship with Jean.

Miraculously, Cyclops survived, and returned, revealing Wolverine's hand in his disappearance. Cyclops blasted Wolverine to the ground, and then shocked everyone by offering to let him remain on the team (his only chance of redemption).

This experience had a profound effect upon Logan. He realized how badly he had betrayed his friends, and ceased his antisocial, ruthless ways, and even developed a deep and abiding sense of responsibility. He also displayed a protective side for the younger X-Men, namely Rogue, and even eventually formed a bond of friendship - or at least mutual respect - with Cyclops.

Wolverine's nemesis was far from destroyed, as Sabretooth returned as a member of the Brotherhood of Mutant Supremacy, replacing Wolverine at Magneto's side. After a fierce battle, Sabretooth began to taunt Wolverine, saying that he could never be killed, could recover from any injury, and would always return to haunt Wolverine - to which Wolverine responded by decapitating him on the spot.

Wolverine later began a half-hearted relationship with Storm which he quickly ended. However, they both still harbored feelings for one another. On a later "date", the couple were attacked by a revived Sabretooth, who hadn't been seen since being decapitated by Wolverine (sporting a nice little scar around his neck).^[7]

Sabretooth began to explain how he managed to survive thanks to a few little threads Wolverine neglected to cut, but was rendered comatose for several months. He engaged Wolverine in a brief encounter, until Storm separated the two, inadvertently allowing Sabretooth to take her hostage.^[8] Sabretooth said he hadn't come to fight, and revealed that, since his resurrection, his original memories had begun to return. He had become able to determine which memories were fake, as well. He also made the claim that Wolverine was his biological father.^[9]

Ultimate Wolverine Vs. Hulk

Wolverine was contacted by Nick Fury, who was concerned that the Hulk may have survived S.H.I.E.L.D.'s attempt to execute him. Fury assigned Wolverine to find the Hulk, who S.H.I.E.L.D. believed to be in Tibet, and eliminate him. Wolverine tracked down the Hulk in Tibet, where he greeted him. The Hulk asked Wolverine if he would like some cocoa before a fight broke out. After a vicious exchange, the Hulk gained the upper hand and proceeded to rip Wolverine in half. Wolverine survived, and began the long climb up a mountainside to retrieve his legs.^[10]

Later, Logan went to the airport where Bruce was, got on the same plane, and sat next to him. Logan put a collar made by Forge on Bruce, telling him that if he turns into Hulk while the collar is on him, he will choke to death. Bruce asks why Logan simply won't just kill him and get it over with, and Logan says that he didn't want to kill Bruce, he wanted to kill the Hulk. Bruce said that he wouldn't change, and then jumped out of the airplane emergency exit in mid flight. ^[11]

Logan jumped out after him screaming at him to turn into the Hulk or the fall would kill him. Bruce said that he would only change if Logan would cut off the collar, or else Logan would have to deal with the fact that he simply let "Bruce," and not the "Hulk" fall to his death. Logan, not wanting to be responsible for Bruce's death, shows his moral side and unlocks the collar. Bruce transforms into the Hulk, holds Logan, and lands on his feet with no harm done to either of them.^[11]

Nick Fury showed up and told them that they were free to go. Hulk, confused and angry, grabbed Fury and threatened to kill him. Fury said that he is free, because they had She-Hulk in their possession, and are trying to reverse-engineer what she did to herself. But as long as they had Betty working for them, they knew that Bruce would not hurt them, and would always have an incentive to come back and work for SHIELD. Hulk let Fury go, who then left. Hulk and Logan talked calmly about how they were going to get back to civilization, since they were in the middle of nowhere.^[11]

Banshee

Wolverine found out that he was dosed with Banshee and went to Peter Parker for help. He discovered that he wasn't actually dosed, but that properties of the drug were derived from him.^[12]

Because certain members of the X-Men became Banshee addicts, the non-addicted members were forced to fight them and prevent them from using it. When Jean fell unconscious, he violently attacked Colossus, but soon cooled off. He then discovered that Xavier and Magneto were responsible for the creation of the power-enhancing drug and that Moira MacTaggert was distributing it. Moira fought him, though he destroyed the facility in which Banshee was produced.^[13]

Ultimatum and Death

Wolverine was forced to travel to the Savage Land to find the brainwashed Jamie Madrox and eventually kill him, to stop the waves of Madrox suicide bombers worldwide. He then vowed to do the same thing to Magneto. During the assault on Magneto's stronghold, Wolverine managed to injure Magneto all the while stating his resolve to kill him for the deaths he caused. As Wolverine charged towards his foe, Magneto managed to control Iron Man's repulsors and Cyclops' visor to incinerate Wolverine's flesh and tore the adamantium off of his skeleton, killing him.^[14]

Shadowcat returned to Triskelion to find Wolverine's fleshless arm. Shadowcat returned to the site of the mansion with Wolverine's arm and added it to the grave of fallen X-Men. According to S.H.I.E.L.D.'s files all of Wolverine's cells were destroyed by Magneto, and now he was incapable of being cloned, healed or resurrected.^[15]

Powers and Abilities

Powers

Wolverine possesses a variety of superhuman attributes similar to those possessed by his Earth-616 counterpart, though some of his powers aren't as developed.

Regenerative Healing Factor: Wolverine's primary mutant ability is an accelerated healing factor that enables him to regenerate damaged or destroyed bodily tissue with far greater speed and efficiency than an ordinary human. Wolverine is capable of healing from injuries that result in extensive tissue damage or loss such as multiple gunshot wounds, slashes, punctures, dismemberment, and severe burns within a matter of minutes to hours.^[16] However, body parts like eyes take more time to regenerate due to being more complex in nature in healing. Later it has been said that maybe he doesn't have a regenerative healing factor but instead a super advanced surviving ability, that modifies the body to survive in many different environments normally deadly for an usual human being. This is demonstrated when he managed to survive direct impact with a nuclear warhead and later survive having his head removed and put into stasis via his body adapting by absorbing oxygen through his skin and later going into stasis.^[17]

• Disease Resistances: Wolverine's healing factor has also extended to his immune system. He is immune to all known Earthly diseases and infections.
  

• Toxin Resistance: His body is also immune to most drugs and toxins. He can still be affected by some drugs, such as tranquilizers for example, but only if he's exposed to massive doses.
  

• Extended Longevity: The unique regenerative qualities of his healing factor has extended Wolverine's natural life span. He ages at a pace that is considerably slower than that of an ordinary human. It is known that he served during World War II and has the same appearance now as he did then. While he is of an advanced age, he retains the appearance and vitality of a man in his physical prime.
  

• Superhumanly Acute Senses: Wolverine possesses superhumanly acute senses that are comparable to those of certain animals. He is capable of seeing, with perfect clarity, at much greater distances than an ordinary human. He retains this same level of clarity even in near-total darkness. His sense of hearing is similarly enhanced, allowing him to detect sounds that ordinary humans can't and at great distances. His sense of smell is developed to the point that he can detect slight chemical differences in products that are said to have the same scent, such as being able to detect different brands of deodorant. He is able to fully remember the scents of people he has encountered, even if he hasn't detected their scent in years. He typically uses his heightened sense of smell to track a target with an impressive degree of success, even of the target's scent has been eroded somewhat by natural factors.
  

• Superhuman Strength: Wolverine's mutant healing factor enables him to exert his muscles to greater extremes than an ordinary human, enabling him to lift more weight than even the finest human athlete. That, coupled by having 100 pounds of adamantium bonded to his skeleton, grants him some degree of superhuman strength. While the exact limit isn't known, it is sufficient to lift in excess of 800 lbs .
  

• Superhuman Stamina: Wolverine's musculature, due to his healing powers, generate considerably less fatigue toxins than the musculature of an ordinary human during physical activity. He can exert himself physically at peak capacity for at least 24 hours before fatigue begins to impair him.
  

• Superhuman Agility: Wolverine's natural agility, balance, and bodily coordination are enhanced to levels that are beyond the natural physical limits of even the finest human athlete.
  

• Superhuman Reflexes: Wolverine's reaction time is enhanced to a level that is beyond the natural physical limits of even the finest human athlete.
  

Adamantium Laced Skeletal Structure: Wolverine's entire skeleton has been infused with a rare, artificially created alloy known as Adamantium. As a result, Wolverine's bones have been rendered highly resistant to all forms of physical damage. However, there is evidence to suggest that the Ultimate Marvel Universe's version of Adamantium isn't nearly as durable as its Earth-616 counterpart.

Retractable Claws: Housed within Wolverine's forearms are retractable claws that he is capable of releasing through the flesh between his knuckles at will. The claws rip through the flesh, tearing holes that are almost instantly healed by his healing factor. It became clear that the claws are bone laced with adamantium when it was discovered that Xavier temporarily developed them (as well as the rest of Wolverine's powers) when he used the first version of the drug Banshee, which was derived from Logan's DNA. The claws are as durable as the rest of his skeleton and are capable of cutting most known substances.

Abilities

Wolverine is an experienced hand-to-hand combatant and is an expert assassin.

Strength level

While the exact limit isn't known, Wolverine's strength is sufficient to lift around 800 lbs .

Paraphernalia

Transportation

X-Jet, motorcycle; formerly Brotherhood and Weapon X vehicles.

Weapons

Conventional Firearms

Notes

• Wolverine had been the only mutant who was able to escape from the Weapon X program before the X-Men, Brotherhood and Nick Fury closed Weapon X for good. It was also revealed that Wolverine wouldn't have escaped without Nick Fury's help.
• Wolverine's hair has changed with the artists, from a less extreme version of the classic "fork", to a complete grunge no-forking-whatsoever style, and everything in between.
• Also of note is the exact point at which he ceased physically aging. Adam Kubert originally had depicted Wolverine in his early-to-mid twenties, to tie in with the rest of the X-Men being teenagers. However, following artists have drawn Wolverine as being in his teens, twenties, thirties, and even almost middle aged (his main-continuity counterpart is often depicted as such). It is also mentioned in the Ultimate X-Men comics that Wolverine's Xiphoid process has not yet ossified (and as such represents a weakness) - if this is the case then he must have been younger than 30 when his skeleton was bonded with Adamantium.
• While not a consumer of the addictive super stimulant Banshee, it was found that his blood was the main proprietary ingredient for its manufacturing. This was the reason he was mistaken for being one of its abusers as his very DNA served as the source of the narcotic.
• In Ultimate Wolverine vs. Hulk it has been said that Wolverine's power may not be an advanced healing factor, but indeed some kind of surviving ability, such thought came from the scene where the head of a decapitated Wolverine is perfectly alive, and Nick Fury states that with just a healing factor he should be dead, because without his lungs it would be impossible for him to breathe, but he started breathing through his skin, and when his head was placed in vacuum his brain shut off so there would be no extensive damage.

Related Articles

• Jean Grey
• Cyclops
• Sabretooth
• Magneto
• Jimmy Hudson

Links and References

• 151 Appearances of James Howlett (Earth-1610)
• 7 Minor Appearances of James Howlett (Earth-1610)
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• 155 Images featuring James Howlett (Earth-1610)
• 15 Quotations by or about James Howlett (Earth-1610)
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