Wolverine is one of the greatest heroes in the Marvel Universe, but he's also had one tough life. His existence has been full of suffering in a way that can cause the most mentally resilient superheroes to lose it.
Logan has been through a lot of changes over the years, and while his life has gotten better, it's never become "great." The reality of being Wolverine has often remained extremely unpleasant.
Updated on June 19, 2022 by Scoot Allan: Wolverine is usually known as the best he is at what he does, though what he does isn't very nice. It's an intimidating saying that not only highlights his skills as Wolverine but also teases the dark realities of his character. It may seem like Wolverine's healing factor and slowed aging will make things pretty easy, but Logan's entire life has been filled with pain, manipulation, and lost love.
15 Everyone Expects Him To Be The Guy Who Does All The Killing
Wolverine has a reputation for being someone who has no qualms with killing. This is a fairly earned reputation, as Wolverine is uniquely equipped — physically and emotionally — to do so. The problem is that it's what everyone expects of him.
For every team Wolverine has been on, his role has always been to kill the bad guys who need killing. While Wolverine knows what his job is, there's a part of him that wishes he didn't have to do it anymore. Knowing all of his friends think he's a killing machine must wear on him.
14 His Reputation As A Killer Has Made His Relationship With Some Heroes Difficult
Although Wolverine has always been something of a loner, he does respect some heroes. But, for a long time, Wolverine's reputation as a killer made his relationships with other heroes — like Captain America and Spider-Man — very strenuous.
People who Wolverine respected turned around and treated him like dirt for years because of his past crimes. Over the years, these tensions strained his relationships with many people, including some of his X-Men teammates.
13 There's No Telling How Many Innocent People He's Killed In His Berzerker Rages
One of Wolverine's defining characteristics is his berserker rages. He'll lose all control of himself and basically become an animal, destroying everything in his path. Wolverine has learned to control it over the years, but in his pre-Weapon X days, he didn't understand what happened to him or how to manage it.
There's no telling how many innocent people died during those times, and Wolverine knows that. He lives with that guilt every day, and it's one of the reasons he fights so hard to keep control. Wolverine knows the consequences of his actions, even if he doesn't always remember them.
12 He Was Used As A Weapon By The U.S. And Canadian Government For Years
Wolverine was one of the foremost black ops specialists in the Marvel Universe. During the Cold War, he was a part of Team X, one of the CIA's most successful black ops teams. Doing the United States' dirty work during the Cold War, Wolverine, Sabretooth, and Maverick were little more than weapons in the struggle against the USSR.
Wolverine knew a significant portion of his life was devoted to assassination, sabotage, and destruction. He lived up to his Weapon X moniker when he was unleashed by both U.S. and Canadian governments to deal with their foes.
11 He Had No Memories Of Vast Portions Of His Life For Years
While Wolverine would eventually regain his memory, for many years he'd forgotten his own life story. He spent most of his time outside the X-Men hunting down clues to his past, and the ones he found were usually terrible.
Wolverine didn't know his parents' names or the name of his first love, and the things he did remember were often implanted lies. As memories are a significant part of being human, the massive holes in Wolverine's memory were probably terrifying. This loss wasn't just personally devastating but also affected others around him.
10 He Constantly Battles Adamantium Poisoning
Wolverine was given a huge upgrade during his Weapon X days, and his skeleton was coated with the unbreakable metal known as adamantium. This made his claws razor-sharp while also making it nearly impossible to break his bones. Unfortunately, the adamantium had another effect on his body that wasn't as productive.
Adamantium was actually lethal to the human body and would've killed Wolverine shortly after it was bonded to his skeleton. However, his healing factor constantly healed the damage from the adamantium poisoning. This meant if his powers were ever lost or negated, he'd be at risk of dying from the adamantium that had kept him alive for years.
9 He Could Mutate Into A Mindless Animal
The adamantium metal bonded to Wolverines' bones and claws has stunted his mutant development. Wolverine's feral senses which allow him to hunt are only a small potential of what his full mutant ability could do if he further mutated.
Wolverine got a taste of his true bestial form after the adamantium was ripped from his pores by Magneto and then forcibly reinserted by Tyler Dayspring/Genesis. Wolverine's body rejected the adamantium which triggered a bestial mutation, causing Wolverine's body to mutate into an animal. Without the adamantium, Wolverine would live with the fear of losing his humanity.
8 Just About All Of His Children Have Tried To Kill Him
Wolverine had a lot of children throughout his long life. Unfortunately, his memory loss caused him to forget they existed. His son Daken grew up hating his father for abandoning him after the Winter Soldier assassinated his mother. The Mongrels tried to kill Wolverine because he was never in their life, although he wasn't aware of their connection until it was too late.
Even Laura tries to kill Wolverine the first time she meets him, but that's more out of instinct than malice. Wolverine lives with the fact that all his children have hated him at one point or another, although he's tried to rebuild some of those relationships when possible.
7 He's Been Forced To Kill His Own Children
As if it wasn't bad enough to be hated by them, Wolverine was forced on more than one occasion to kill his own kids. A group known as the Red Right Hand assembled to get revenge on Wolverine. They gathered a few of Wolverine's unknown children and trained them into a mercenary unit known as the Mongrels.
Without knowing their connection, Wolverine killed all the Mongrels in battle. He was only told they were his children by the Red Right Hand after they killed themselves, robbing him of his own vengeance. Wolverine was also forced to kill his son Daken by drowning him in a puddle after his son assembled his own Brotherhood of Evil Mutants.
6 The Woman He Loved Most Was With Someone Else
Wolverine loved Jean Grey from the moment he met her. For years, however, she was in a relationship with his main rival Cyclops. Their love was mostly unrequited, but there were a few moments where they were able to express their feelings for each other.
While Wolverine's had other lovers over the years, the fact that Jean Grey never chose him hurt immensely. Thankfully, the trio found a new way to manage their combined feelings when they entered into a polyamorous relationship on Krakoa which has only brought them closer together.
5 His Mother Committed Suicide After He Killed Her Husband
Wolverine killed a lot of people in his berserker rages, but one of his first kills was his worst. On the night his powers manifested, the groundskeeper of his family’s estate came to kill the man he thought was his father. Young James Howlett went into a rage upon seeing his dead father and popped his claws for the first time. He killed the groundskeeper who was likely his real father.
James' mother thought her son was an abomination, and she committed suicide. James didn't remember this for many years, but when he regained his memory, it all came rushing back. Since then, Wolverine lived with the fact that his mother took her own life because of his powers.
4 He Killed His Lover Mariko To Spare Her The Pain Of Being Poisoned
Wolverine has had a lot of lovers, but the one he loved most was Mariko Yashida. The two of them would've gotten married if not for villainous intervention. She was poisoned by a rival in the Japanese underworld and asked Wolverine to put her out of her misery.
Wolverine did as Mariko asked, and it was something that wore on his soul forever afterward. While Mariko would return to life, and they'd briefly reunite, the fact Wolverine had to kill her was yet another harsh reality he had to carry every day.
3 His Entire Life Is Filled With Pain
Wolverine has one of the best healing factors in the Marvel Universe. It's his defining characteristic, as his ability to take damage is key to his fighting style. While he has a healing factor, he doesn't have a pain dampening factor.
For example, if Wolverine is set on fire, he feels that pain until his body goes into shock or his nervous system burns away. Every time he pops his claws, it hurts. Wolverine's entire life is all about taking incredible amounts of pain. It's one of the few constants of his existence.
2 He Has To Fight For His Soul Every Time He Dies
While Wolverine might seem immortal since his healing factor has brought him back from the brink of death many times, it's not as easy as it looks. Wolverine learned shortly after his first death on a battlefield that his soul wasn't as immortal as his body. Wolverine encountered the Angel of Death known as Laezer as the angel was collecting souls who were cut down in the war.
When Laezer tried to collect Logan soul, Logan fought him and won the right to return to life with his soul. This started an ongoing series of battles with Laezer every time Wolverine died. However, Wolverine was eventually forced to make a deal with Laezer that may have finally cost him his soul after The Death of Wolverine storyline.
1 He'll Outlive All Of His Closest Loved Ones
Logan's healing factor can repair his body from the most extreme injuries and wounds. However, it's slowed his aging nearly to the point of immortality. Wolverine's fought in multiple wars over the years, and he's already well over a hundred years old. Laura Kinney is the clone of Wolverine, and she survives for a hundred years in the timeless Vault without aging much at all.
This means Logan is likely going to outlive all of his closest friends and loved ones. Old Man Logan is a version of Wolverine from a post-apocalyptic future who's forced to move on after losing the X-Men. It's just one of the many future versions of Wolverine who are forced to carry on long after the death of their loved ones.