7 Great Wolverine Villains Nobody Talks About

Wolverine graduated to solo adventures in 1982. Wolverine (Vol. 1) #1-4 pit Wolverine against a new threat, Shingen Yashida, a character he hadn’t battled in his X-Men adventures. This was the first unique Wolverine villain, but he would be far from the last. Wolverine’s solo ongoing book didn’t drop until 1988, and since then, the ol’Canucklehead has grown one of the coolest rogues galleries in the Marvel Universe. When most fans Wolverine villains, they usually jump right to Sabretooth, maybe Silver Samurai, but the hero has way more when it comes to villains, villains who fit his violent world to a tee.

Most of Wolverine’s best villains aren’t well-known outside of the more diehard portions of his fandom. These villains don’t have the brand-name recognition of the most well-known villains in the Marvel Universe, but they’re way cooler than they get credit for. These seven Wolverine villains are all amazing characters that nobody ever talks about.

7) Shiva

Wolverine stories in the ’90s, especially the early ’90s, were obsessed with Weapon X and the character’s past. Wolverine (Vol. 2) #48-50 saw him hunting down the remnants of the supersoldier program, and meeting the weapon made to destroy people like him. Shiva is a robot created to destroy the project’s creations, armed with weapons made to take advantage of the mental conditioning of Wolverine and others like him. Shiva was played up as a major threat to Wolverine, Sabretooth, Maverick, and others, but it almost completely disappeared after being unleashed. While Weapon X isn’t as big a deal as it was, it would be cool to see Shiva return, possibly under the control of another Wolverine villain.

6) Roughhouse

There have been some very interesting villains in Wolverine comics, with some of them being as mysterious as the hero himself. Roughhouse is one such villain. Roughhouse started out working with the vampire Bloodscream, and was the muscle of the duo. He was a generic strong guy who loved to fight. However, where the villain really gets interesting is the questions about his origin. There have been clues that Roughhouse is actually an Asgardian of some kind, particularly one of the race of Trolls. Roughhouse is the kind of villain who can show up in just about any comic and has the potential to be much more than he is now. Maybe one day he’ll have his big break.

5) Bloodscream

Bloodscream isn’t all that well-known, but he’s one of Wolverine’s most dangerous villains. Bloodscream is a vampire, cursed with immortality until he can drink the blood of another immortal. He’s been hunting Wolverine for decades, and in recent years has worked with Roughhouse as a mercenary. Vampires usually love their powers, but he hates them and wants nothing more than to just die, like he should have decades ago. That’s an interesting little wrinkle, and it gives creators an angle with the villain that can be explored in stories. Bloodscream hasn’t been heard from in a while, but he’s one of the coolest B-list Marvel villains ever. He can be pit against any immortal hero out there, and his past can be built up in ways that would make him even better than before, allowing him to become a more important Marvel villain.

4) Silver Samurai

Silver Samurai is one of the first villains that could be called a “Wolverine villain”. Kenuichio Harada was a scion of the Yashida clan, related to Wolverine’s girlfriend Mariko. The Silver Samurai is a mutant who can channel energy through his sword, allowing him to cut through anything but adamantium. The Silver Samurai and Wolverine have been enemies and allies, with Silver Samurai sometime working with the Hand and other times fighting against him. Silver Samurai can slot into just about any Wolverine story, his awesome armor designs over the decades helping make him a memorable villain.

3) Donald Pierce

Chris Claremont is the greatest X-Men writer, and played a huge role in making Wolverine the star he is now. Claremont created all of the best parts of the X-Men mythos, including the Hellfire Club. The Club is run by the Inner Circle, of which Donald Pierce was a member. Pierce wasn’t a mutant, but a powerful cyborg and leader of the Reavers. Pierce and the Reavers have been fighting Wolverine since the late ’80s, and Pierce has gone from an X-Men villain to a Wolverine one. Pierce and Wolverine hate each other, and the blood spilled between them is enough to make Pierce one of Wolverine’s best, yet unknown, villains.

2) Cyber

Cyber has been hunting Wolverine for decades. He is a telepathic mutant, able to affect minds and move his mind to other bodies, and has adamantium-bonded skin and superhuman strength. The villain helped train Wolverine back in the early 1900s, and has hated him ever since. Cyber and Wolverine had some hellacious battles over the years, with Cyber being the first person to break his claws when they were revealed to be bone. Cyber is honestly a villain on Sabretooth’s level in Wolverine’s life; the only reason he isn’t as popular is because he hasn’t been able to make the jump to fighting anyone but the ol’Canucklehead. This is a shame, as Cyber has all of the tools to be one of Marvel’s coolest villains.

1) Lady Deathstrike

Wolverine has some perfect villains for the MCU, and one of the coolest is Lady Deathstrike. Yuriko Oyama’s father created the adamantium-bonding process used by Weapon X. He was never given credit for his work, so she decided to take revenge against anyone it was used on, including Wolverine. Yuriko had her body cybernatically enhanced, allowing her to fight it out with the toughest heroes, including Captain America (check out Captain America (Vol. 3) #1 to see this excellent fight). Lady Deathstrike and Wolverine’s relationship has changed numerous times over the years; sometimes they’re allied, and other times they hate each other. They have a great dynamic, and she’s the kind of villain that can work in any story.

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