Wolverine is the best there is at what he does, but his past is pretty confusing. Wolverine rose to prominence as the X-Men's mystery man, a hero with an opaque history that fans were dying to know more about. Over the years, creators have revealed more about his backstory, but that doesn't mean that every revelation makes a lot of sense.
One of the problems with comics in general is that creators don't always read everything and editors miss errors in scripts. Or, most distressingly for continuity obsessed readers, creators sometimes disregard the past to make their stories work. All of this has led to a lot of inconsistencies in Wolverine's history.
10 Keeping The Name Logan Makes Little Sense
Wolverine was born James Howlett, although John Howlett, the man who raised him, wasn't his biological father. His genetic father was Thomas Logan, a man who would go on to murder John and attempt to kill young James as well. Wolverine's powers kicked in and he killed Thomas Logan. He fled his home with his former nursemaid Rose and they made a life for themselves in the Canadian wilderness.
Taking the name Logan after this never really made any sense. Sure, James was technically a Logan, but he was raised and loved by the Howletts. Even though he was in hiding, James isn't exactly an uncommon name. It's one of the many problems with releasing a backstory decades after a character's history has been established.
9 How Did No One Know About His Bone Claws?
The reveal of Wolverine's bone claws in Wolverine (Vol. 2) #75 was a huge moment for Wolverine fans, but it raised as many questions as it did answer them. For example, fans always assumed that Logan's adamantium claws were implants from Weapon X. Assuming that Weapon X knew about his biological claws and Wolverine's memories were lies, why did no one else ever notice these built-in weapons?
Adamantium's unbreakable but nowhere in the metal's history has it blocked X-rays. Wolverine has been studied by doctors many times over the years. No one ever noticing this important mutation is a huge problem for this narrative.
8 Does He Remember His Past Or Not?
Wolverine's mysterious amnesia and unknowable past was a huge part of the character's appeal for years. It also let writers retcon things out of existence, writing off old revelations. However, the end of House Of M established that Logan had gotten his memories back, an idea that played into his solo books at the time, Wolverine and Wolverine Origins.
In the years since, writers have gone back and forth on what Wolverine actually remembers. Some use the older stories for his history, leaving holes in his memories, while others go with him knowing everything. It's a disjointed way of doing things that only adds to the confusion.
7 Why Didn't Captain America Or Black Widow Tell Him The Truth?
Wolverine has a long past with many of the older Marvel heroes, like Captain America and Black Widow. Wolverine respects Cap like few others and has a good relationship with Widow, yet neither of them ever opened up to him about their knowledge of his past. With Cap, it makes more sense because he knew little about Wolverine other than the fact that he lived through the Second World War, but Black Widow knew a lot.
Not only did Wolverine protect her when she was a child, but she had access to KGB files on him later in life and even knew about the Winter Soldier's missions against him in the Cold War. The fact that Black Widow never told him anything about this history has always been a glaring problem with his backstory.
6 The More We Know, The Less Sense Wolverine And Nick Fury's Relationship Makes
Nick Fury has gotten up to lots of dirty tricks over the years and Wolverine definitely helped him. The two have known each other for decades, working together while Fury was in the OSS, CIA, and S.H.I.E.L.D. Fury became Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., and eventually, Wolverine disappeared into Weapon X's clutches, ending their relationship for decades.
Fury never looking into Wolverine's past despite their friendship has always been messed up. Fury also somehow knew nothing about Weapon X, Weapon Plus, or Romulus's place in it, which seems odd for the top intelligence agent in the US.
5 When Did He Find Time To Learn To Fight?
Wolverine's fighting technique is almost peerless. He's mastered multiple Asian martial arts, especially Japanese ones like karate, judo, and ninjitsu, and multiple melee weapons as well. Wolverine is very old, but as his past gets filled in, it leaves less time for this kind of comprehensive training.
Wolverine spent the 1800s in Canada and his first appearances outside the country are in WWI. He was still part of the Canadian military in WWII, so he more than likely went back to Canada after the First World War. He spent the Cold War in black ops, some of which occurred while he lived in Japan, and was put into Weapon X at some point in the 60s or 70s, then later escaped into the wilderness for years. As a soldier, he received some combat training but there's little time for the decades of devotion required to master even one martial art.
4 Wolverine And Sabretooth's Relationship Just Keeps Getting More Complicated For No Reason
Sabretooth is Wolverine's most brutal enemy. Creators established their rivalry and twisted past and at various times, people thought Sabretooth was Wolverine's father, Wolverine's son, or Wolverine's brother before the truth was revealed. While Wolverine and Sabretooth were always linked by multiple events, their story just got more complicated.
Simple aspects of their rivalry like Sabretooth going after Wolverine on his birthdays, Sabretooth's murder of Silver Fox, and other established facts were muddied when writers kept changing Wolverine's past. Their deadly relationship started out simple and it needed to be simple but it's been needlessly complicated over time, so it's hard to tell what Logan and Victor Creed are to each other.
3 Why Didn't Akihiro Come After Wolverine Sooner?
Wolverine isn't exactly the best father, but he didn't really have a chance with Akihiro. Wolverine was off on a mission when Winter Soldier killed his pregnant wife Itsu and Romulus cut Akihiro from her corpse. Akihiro was raised to hate Wolverine and was eventually part of Romulus's plot to destroy Wolverine. However, why was that plot put on pause for so long?
Sabretooth worked for Romulus for a while before escaping him and he spent decades doing his own thing. Akihiro was just as skilled and smart as Sabretooth and could have executed a deadly plan if he hated his father so much, instead of just waiting in the shadows for Romulus's order.
2 Weapon X's Mind Control Abilities Are Wildly Inconsistent
Weapon X has created many of Marvel's greatest super soldiers, including Wolverine. They were able to not only give him his adamantium skeleton but also manufacture memories for him and wipe his mind of things they didn't want him to know. They weren't able to control him, though, which led to his eventual escape.
Even with Romulus right there overseeing everything and it being part of his, Remus, and Logan's plan, Weapon X still failed at controlling Wolverine after giving him his adamantium. It makes much more sense for Weapon X and Romulus to have failsafes in place, controlling the situation when they so desperately wanted to control Logan.
1 The Romulus And Remus Retcons Ruin Everything
Romulus factors into most of the points in Wolverine's backstory that don't make sense. Revealed as a shadowy manipulator in Wolverine's life, Romulus was behind nearly everything bad that ever happened to Logan. However, things only got more complicated when Marvel revealed that Wolverine was a willing participant in the villain's plans, throwing all of his previously established altruistic actions into doubt.
Adding Remus, Romulus's long-lived female sidekick, into the mix muddied the waters ever farther. Wolverine's origin was complicated enough without throwing in two more manipulators while also turning pre-Weapon X Logan into his own secret villain.