7 Horrible Realities of Being Wolverine

Wolverine is one of the most popular superheroes ever and it’s been a long road to get here. James “Logan” Howlett started his superhero career battling the Hulk and Wendigo and got his big break joining the X-Men. He quickly jumped up the popularity ladder and since then has moved beyond comics, becoming popular in the greater pop culture thanks to the X-Men animated series and films. He’s one of the toughest heroes out there, his healing factor and adamantium skeleton allowing him to survive everything thrown at him. While he can get savage with the best of them, there’s a core of goodness to the character that shines through, even when he’s tearing through a bunch of lackeys.

Wolverine has built himself quite a life, creating a new family among the X-Men. He’s rose to the top of the superhero community and has forged some relationships that anyone would be jealous of. However, that doesn’t mean that everything in his life is all rosy. Logan’s had one of the most difficult lives imaginable, having gone through some of the most harrowing events you can imagine. Being Wolverine can be horrible, with these seven realities showing just how terrible things have gotten for the ol’Canucklehead.

7) He’s Spent Long Periods of His Life With No Memory

Logan had been a soldier for decades by the time that Cold War started, his mutant powers making him one of the most successful spies of the day. At some point, whether it’s because he’s kidnapped by Department H or because he volunteers in order to further secret plans he’s made with Romulus, Remus, and Sabretooth (both of which have been established at different times), he was taken by Weapon X and made into the perfect killing machine he is today. One of the things that they did was use memory implants to tailor his life and personality to what they wanted, completely screwing up his recollections of his real memories. However, the memory implants were just the beginning. It was revealed in Origin that his healing factor would “scab over” his bad memories, all in an attempt to heal him. While he’s often gotten some or all of his memories back over the decades, he’s had to live for years without knowing his own actual history. Can you imagine how terrible that would be? He had no idea who he really was for ages and that’s honestly terrifying.

6) Sabretooth

Wolverine and Sabretooth have an endless blood feud. The two of them have similar powers, with Victor Creed being stronger and faster, and are basically perfect opposites. Over the years, they’ve had a rather complicated relationship. They’ve been friends, uneasy allies, and hated foes, with Creed taking their grudge to the most terrible places imaginable. See, in every way that counts, Sabretooth is in love with Logan. He believes that the two of them are perfect together and wants the ol’Canucklehead to realize that they are the same and work together. Wolvie doesn’t want to be like Victor and constantly rejects him. This has led the villain to doing some truly reprehensible things to Wolverine. He’s tormented people that loved Logan, killing many of them, especially women. Every year, he’s done something terrible to Wolvie to “celebrate” his birthday. Logan knows that Victor is always somewhere, coming up with a way to do something terrible to him and the people he loves. Even killing ‘Tooth is just a stop gap measure, as he always returns ready to start tormenting Wolvie again.

5) His Mother Committed Suicide Because of His Actions

Fans wondered for years what Logan’s true origin was and Marvel gave them what they wanted in Origin. This book revealed that he was once James Howlett, a spoiled, sickly rich boy in 19th century Canada who was born of an affair between his mother and the groundskeeper Thomas Logan. Eventually, Thomas would decided that he wanted Elizabeth Howlett to himself, with him and his son Dog attacking the manor house with the intention of killing James and his “father” John. However, that night changed the Howletts forever for another reason. James’s powers manifested that night after Thomas killed John and he went into his first berserker rage, killing Thomas and scarring Dog. Elizabeth lost it after that, screaming like banshee and telling him to leave in no uncertain terms. James would escape the house with his nursemaid Rose, leaving his mother behind. In her despair, she ended up committing suicide. Wolvie wouldn’t learn this until his memories came back in House of M, cursing him with the knowledge that he basically killed his mother that night. Wolverine (Vol. 8) did a story about “her” return, with Logan’s guilt playing a big role in that plot.

4) He Mercy-Killed His Fiance to Save Her From Suffering

Wolverine has had many love interests, but few of them are as important to his life as Mariko Yashida. The daughter of a Yakuza boss, the two met during Logan’s early days with the X-Men. They were very different people and yet they hit it off immediately. She saw the tender man underneath the adamantium-clawed beast and they fell in love. Eventually, they got engaged after Logan killed her father, freeing her from a match with another crime boss, but their marriage wouldn’t happen thanks to the machinations of Mastermind, Viper, and Silver Samurai. Even after learning the whole thing was ended because of mind control, Mariko couldn’t handle the dishonor of her actions towards the man she loved. The two of them would remain close, with Mariko eventually asking Logan for help against Matsuo Tsurayaba and the Hand. Thanks to Wolvie and Gambit, the two sides agree to a truce, but Matsuo ended up poisoning Mariko with blowfish toxin. In order to save her from terrible pain, Wolverine killed her. She was his true love and he’s had to live with knowing that he caused her death. While she’s since been resurrected, the two of them have stayed separate, their actions against each other keeping them apart.

3) His Healing Factor Isn’t a No Pain Factor

Wolverine’s healing factor is what has made everything else possible. To begin with, it’s kept him hale and hearty for over a century, allowing him to gain the experience and skills he needs to be the superhero he is today. It’s healed every injury he’s had, kept him safe from disease and poison, even allowed him to drink and smoke as much as he wanted. It also allowed him to survive the adamantium-bonding process, giving him the unbreakable skeleton and claws that have allowed him to face off against foes like the Hulk and walk away, as well as fighting the adamantium slowly poisoning his system. However, just because his injuries heal quickly, it doesn’t mean that he doesn’t feel any pain. Logan’s healing factor isn’t also a pain-retardation factor. He still feels everything that happens to him, down to popping his claws. “Every injury hurts” is a no brainer, but it get even worse when you think about the kind of injuries that Logan invites on himself by being a superhero. Pain is a constant companion for the hero.

2) He Has to Fight for His Soul Every Time He Dies

Wolverine’s healing factor have kept him going through every battle, but that doesn’t mean he can’t die. Wolverine has actually died many times over the years; in fact, he basically dies every time he gets a bad enough injury, with his healing factor saving him as it knits together the damage. These moments of death do have an effect on him, one that stretches back to World War I. During this time, Logan ended up fighting Lazaer, who was actually the Angel of Death Azrael. Since that fight, every time Wolverine has died, he’s had to go back to that battlefield and battle Lazaer. If he wins, his healing factor brings him back to life and if he doesn’t, well, he’d stay dead. Logan has to fight for his soul every time he dies, which might seem cool but is actually kind of terrifying. While this hasn’t been referenced in years, it hasn’t been retconned either. So, remember, every time he dies, he ends up fighting an angel for the right to go back into his body.

1) He’ll Outlive Everyone Who Loves Him

We’ve already talked about the limits of Wolverine’s healing factor, but there’s one aspect of it that is basically an unfolding tragedy. We’ve gotten to see Logan at very far points in the future, even as far as the end of time, when he’s become the host of the Phoenix Force. He’s functionally immortal and that opens up a terrible reality for him – outliving all of the people he loves. Storm, Nightcrawler, Colossus, Kitty Pryde, Peter Parker, and so many of his other friends will all die of old age long before he does (Jean Grey is the Phoenix, so she’ll live forever, but she’s about it). He knows that every friend he makes, every new loved one that shows up in his life is going to leave it far before he does. Every relationship he’s ever had will end in pain for him. It’s a terrible reality to live with and he deals with it every day (possibly by drinking).

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