For those who grew up with the impression of Wolverine (James Howlett/Logan) as a gutsy and PG 6'1" Australian hunk, he might seem like a heroic character. However, the Fox films failed to portray the other side of Wolverine. That isn't surprising, really, given the X-Men films' track record. Wolverine in the comic books, for that matter, is not exactly a role model.
In fact, he has no shortage of negative traits, and those make him look out of place in Charles Xavier's charitable mutant collective. His behavior, attitude, and morals (or lack thereof) have often led to clashes with other good mutants. Even his own teammates in the X-Men can't stand some of what he does or who he is. Here are 10 of those negative traits that make Jackman's Wolverine look tame by comparison, bub.
10 HE'S NOT THE BRIGHTEST X-MAN
Wolverine, like all feral and animalistic mutants, is too stabby for his own good. If he were to have a motto, it would have been "stab first, ask questions later." That's how impulsive and blunt he is. Such a trait, while good in a scrap, doesn't exactly complement the other activities and advocacies of the X-Men well.
To that end, Wolverine is not a people person and team player. Sure, most mutants aren't, but Wolverine takes anti-social behavior to a higher level compared to the majority of them. To make matters worse, Logan is an aggressive loner who is more at home in the wilderness than in a mansion with civilized and polite people.
9 OBSESSION WITH JEAN GREY
The Wolverine in the comic books, despite being significantly shorter than Hugh Jackman, has had more luck with the ladies than he did. His list of relationships in the Marvel universe is quite long. Fortunate as he might be when it comes to love life, the only woman he ever chased persistently did not want him back: Jean Grey.
Jean Grey's official pair was Scott Summers (Cyclops), of course, and they better well together. That doesn't deter Wolverine one bit, though. He has stalked and even made advances with Jean Grey many times. So yes, he even becomes a creep in his attempts to try and yank Jean away from Scott. This has caused plenty of problems in the X-Men...
8 HATRED FOR CYCLOPS
Cyclops being no pushover, tends to confront Wolverine about his being creepy with Jean. As you can imagine with Wolverine's demeanor, he's not someone who says sorry a lot. Hence, the two of them occasionally fight it out in the X-Men comic books usually for Jean Grey. Other times, they simply fight because they have come to hate each others' guts.
Their tantrums range from infantile brawls to lethal mutant-power bouts where blood usually spills. As a result, Cyclops and Wolverine are two of the most irreconcilable meta-humans in Marvel. Their rivalry is likely on the same level as Iron Man and Captain America's, only more immature and less friendly. This can prove problematic for the X-Men especially if they're both on a team; at one time, he even left Cyclops to fall off a cliff and die just so he could woo Jean Grey in Ultimate X-Men #29.
7 BETRAYED THE X-MEN
An "Avengers vs. X-Men" story was bound to happen and it did. However, Wolverine picked the Avengers over the mutant collective who fed him, gave him a home, and treated him as a family despite his shortcomings. Granted, it wasn't against Professor X he chose to fight against; it was with Cyclops, he was the one leading the X-Men via separatist faction.
We did establish that Wolverine and Cyclops hated each other, right? This course of action from Logan, picking the Avengers, would have been understandable. However, there's also the fact that Wolverine was currently an Avenger at that time and was not aware of Cyclop's splinter group. Even so, he chose to fight against the X-Men.
6 SELF-DESTRUCTIVE TENDENCIES
Despite being immune to Earthly toxins including alcoholic beverages and other drugs, Logan loves to drink. Moreover, he also loves to smoke. That is to be expected since he has been through many wars and struggles. Even if he is highly evolved as a mutant, his mind and psyche are still very much human.
So, like some human beings who have had a traumatic past, Logan resorts to self-destruction as a defense mechanism. It would have been excusable if he kept it to himself, but he didn't. Again at one time, specifically in Uncanny X-Men #183, Logan invited Colossus (Piotr Rasputin) to a bar, got him drunk and sicced Juggernaut on him, effectively destroying the whole bar. That's more than a headache for Professor X.
5 HE'S A JERK AND A BULLY
Based on his disheveled and grumpy outward appearance alone, Wolverine is not someone you can talk to casually. Because once you hear him talk to you, he'll definitely strike a nerve or two. Wolverine even has no qualms on being a jerk and serial bully to some of his teammates in the X-Men, most especially to Scott Summers (unsurprisingly).
From the situationally condescending 'bub' to the verbal insults and cusses, Wolverine has plenty of rude ammunition to make even the calmest of telepaths flustered. That's to be expected given his bad childhood and harsh life experiences. One would think that his time at Xavier's mansion would have rehabilitated him, but eh, man's an animal and it seems he always will be.
4 A BAD TEAMMATE/FRIEND
Turns out, Wolverine's lack of manners and regard for the safety of some X-Men goes beyond Cyclops. One other teammate who has seemingly received the brunt of Logan's bad attitude is Storm (Ororo Munroe). Throughout the X-Men's exploits with both Storm and Wolverine included in a team, he has made her life difficult.
One such incident happened in Uncanny X-Men #215 where Wolverine knocked Storm out cold just to pursue and try to save Jean Grey. Storm got abducted because of this. Another time was in Uncanny X-Men #214 where Wolverine was willing to lethally stab Storm after sensing she has been possessed by Mister Sinister's minions. All in all, he's not someone you'd want watching your back.
3 HE DOESN'T TRUST THE X-MEN
It may not look like it but Wolverine is an alarming embodiment of anti-social behavior in Marvel or even in comic books. He's even more of a loner than Batman from DC-- at least Batman was a responsible parent to his adopted err, Robins. Wolverine, on the other hand, was still apprehensive of the majority of the X-Men even after several years of being with them.
In fact, the number of people he trusts can be counted with only one hand; they are Captain America (Steve Rogers), Nick Fury, Jean Grey, and Spider-Man (Peter Parker). Anyone else is likely fodder to him and don't matter much. What can you expect from someone who sided with the Avengers?
2 HE'S A SEX OFFENDER
Put down your pitchforks, guys, he technically really is a sex offender. At least, it was implied that Wolverine had a relationship with an underage Squirrel Girl. Moreover, when Emma Frost enters Logan's mind, she witnesses his fantasies involving a buxom Squirrel Girl. That right there transcends whatever psychotic snooping he does with Jean Grey. Did we also mention that Jean Grey has even vocally rejected Wolverine many times but he still keeps pushing himself on her? Even if she was already married?
Oh, let's also not forget the two comic book instances when Wolverine had sex without consent with a teenage Mary Jane and the mutant Pinch. With Mary Jane, Wolverine only got lucky since him and Peter Parker switched bodies; Logan immediately took advantage of MJ soon after. With Pinch, Logan lied about his identity just so he could sleep with her. If Emma Frost could find out about Wolverine's criminally deranged kinks, there's no way Professor X or Jean Grey couldn't (maybe that's why she didn't like him).
1 HE KILLS KIDS
There goes Wolverine's hero image. Apart from being a generally bad father, especially to the likes of X-23, Wolverine is also notorious among his X-Men teammates for proposing some really evil counter-plans against their enemies. Logan has at least tried to consciously kill or killed children four times throughout many issues of X-Men.
First, he wanted to kill the child clone of Apocalypse; then, he tried to kill the teenage Hope Summers after fearing her Phoenix powers. Additionally, he wanted to kill teenage Cyclops; finally, he successfully killed a child mutant after it accidentally killed people. It's not on the same level as Anakin Skywalker's pedicide after turning to the Sith, but it surely is against what the X-Men and the Avengers fought for.