James Howlett/History

James Howlett was born in 1887 in Alberta Canada, to John Howlett and his with Elizabeth (though it is quite likely that Logan was actually the son of the groundskeeper Thomas Logan, with whom Elizabeth had had an affair). James was a frail and sickly boy, and when he was young, his parents hired on a young Irish immigrant named Rose O'Hara to be his companion and caretaker. As children, he, Rose, and Thomas Logan's son "Dog" were inseparable friends, but as they grew into their teenage years, the class difference between James' family and Dog's coupled with both boys' growing attraction to Rose started to drive a wedge between them.
It came to a head when James was in his late teens, and Thomas Logan's resentment of his employer finally boiled over. Thomas attempted to rob John Howlett, but the plan went awry, and Thomas ended up killing James' father instead. The trauma led young James to unleash his claws for the first time, killing Thomas and slashing "Dog" (who had assisted in the robbery and assault) across the face. Rose escaped with James, and together they fled into the Canadian Wilderness, eventually coming across a mining camp run by a foreman named "Smitty." There, Rose gave James the false name of "Logan" and the pair were accepted into the camp.
Over the course of the next few years, James came to accept his new identity and settled into life in the camp. The frailty of his youth disappeared and he grew strong, eventually gaining the nickname "The Wolverine" among the miners for his relentless digging. He became very close friends with Smitty, almost like a son or younger brother to him, and came to realize that he was in love with Rose. Unfortunately, so was Smitty, and Rose returned the foreman's feelings while being unaware of Logan's. Though heartbroken, "Logan" did not interfere in their budding relationship (and later engagement). He did, however, take to wandering the woods alone, where eventually he came across a pack of wolves and inadvertently became their "alpha" after cowing their former pack leader. As months passed, he spent more and more time running with the pack, unbeknownst to Rose.
It all fell apart, however, when Dog reappeared, nursing a long-held grudge against James for the death of his father and the scarring of his face. He found them in the mining camp, and goaded Logan into a fight to the death. Tragically, during the battle Logan gave in to his bestial side, and when Rose rushed in to try to break up the battle, Logan unintentionally impaled her with his claws, killing her. Dog retreated, and Logan fled into the wilds, his mind blocking out the horror of what had transpired and surrendering fully to animal instinct as he ran with his pack. Not even the fervent pleas of Smitty (who did not blame Logan for Rose's death) could bring Logan back to himself.
Logan lived in the wilds for several months, becoming something of a legend in the region when he was occasionally spotted by woodsmen and hunters. Eventually, though, the "Wild Man" was captured, and sold to a travelling circus to be displayed as part of the freak show. However, the person that was placed in charge of Logan's care turned out to have more compassion than anticipated, and rather than treat Logan like an animal, she helped coax him back to humanity, though his memories of what had transpired at the mining camp remained unknown to him. The woman's name was Clara Creed, and she revealed to Logan that both she and her brother Saul shared unusual abilities much like Logan.
Over time, Logan and Clara fell in love, though Saul, who had and abusive relationship with Clara, resented that Logan was "stealing" Clara from him. Eventually the tensions boiled over, and Logan ended up killing Saul, thinking that he was protecting Clara. Sadly, she rejected him for the brutality he'd shown in killing her brother, and Logan was again left alone, though this time with his faculties intact. He also didn't know it yet, but he'd gained the enmity of a man destined to become his lifelong, most bitter foe: Victor Creed, who was Saul and Clara's eldest brother. Victor didn't hate Logan out of any desire for revenge...he hated Logan because Logan had killed someone that Victor believed was "his" to toy with as he pleased, and so Victor transferred that sense of ownership to Logan, and began stalking him across the years, torturing him physically and emotionally whenever the opportunity arose.
The first such example came in 1910, when Logan had taken up living with a young woman of the Blackfoot Indian tribe named Silver Fox. Victor Creed arrived on the day they were celebrating Logan's birthday, and not only killed Silver Fox but savagely beat Logan before leaving him to suffer the grief of his lover's death. It would be far from the last time Victor Creed and Logan would battle each other.
In 1914, Logan joined the Canadian Army as it prepared to enter World War I. He soon distinguished himself on the battlefield, and his regenerative capabilities became known to his superiors. As a result, Logan became one of the very first superhumans in government service, joining together with several other "unusual" individuals in what became known as "The Devil's Brigade." The "Devil" in question was Silas Burr, a sadistic mutant with exceptional combat skills and superhuman strength. The Devil's Brigade was tasked with several of the most dangerous, even suicidal missions of the war, but managed to accomplish their objectives even if they suffered many casualties, with Burr and Logan being the only two to consistently survive. Under Burr's command and tutelage, Logan's combat skills began to become more refined rather than the instinctive fighting he had done in the past, but the pair eventually had a falling out (due to Burr's psychoses) and Burr nearly killed Logan in the ensuing battle. Logan barely escaped, and Burr disappeared.
Logan remained to the Canadian Army though, and was eventually assigned to the island nation of Madripoor. Here he not only ended up a silent partner in the Princess Bar, but he also did some "odd jobs" for the mysterious "interdimensional holding firm" known as Landau, Luckman, and Lake. Logan's work with the organization earned him many favors from the group, which he would occasionally call upon later in life, though in return they sometimes asked further favors of him. He also became close friends with L,L, & L's chief representative on the island, Chang, as well as his daughter Rose. Madripoor was also where Logan would receive his first real exposure to Eastern Martial Arts, starting a lifelong fascination and study, albeit mostly in fits-and-starts.
Eventually the war came to a close, and though Logan stayed on Madripoor for a time, he eventually took up work as an itinerant sailor. While on a trip to Japan, he met the mysterious martial arts master known as Ogun, who saw the potential in Logan and offered to train him. At the time, Logan declined the offer, though Ogun made it clear that the offer stood should Logan change his mind. Logan's next destination took him to South America where he first encountered the mutant known as Mystique. After a narrow escape from death and a trip to America, she and Logan became lovers, and partners in a small criminal syndicate that Mystique founded. Things ended poorly though, when Mystique crossed a few too many lines for Logans' taste, and he turned informant, reporting on the syndicate's operations to the FBI. Suffice to say the breakup was more than a little violent, but Mystique escaped.
With the onset of World War II, Logan again found himself embroiled in the conflict (though perhaps more accurately he was drawn to it). Logan ended up working with Canadian Intelligence in the pre-war years under the alias "James Logan" (perhaps subconsciously recalling his original name), and would eventually join the OSS. During the War Years, he was called upon to teach the United States' new super soldier, Captain America, in wilderness survival and navigation techniques as well as assisting in his hand-to-hand combat skills. He would later work with Captain America "in the field" on a few occasions, where he became known as "Lucky Jim" for his seeming ability to avoid serious injury (actually his healing factor at work, but Cap and Bucky didn't quite catch on). "Lucky Jim" also accompanied Sgt. Nick Fury and the famous "Howling Commandos" on several missions, to the point where he was considered an honorary member of that organization. Most notably, Logan was involved in the series of events that led to Natasha Romanov's second recue by Nick Fury, and formed a strong bond with the girl in the very brief time they shared together, even teaching her a few handy combat maneuvers before she was placed in the hands of Ivan Petrovich.
By the end of the war, Logan had been reassigned to the Pacific theater, and actually ended up in Japan as a prisoner of war when the atomic bombs were dropped. In the course of those events, Logan saved the life of a Japanese Officer named Seigo Yashida, who in turn released Logan from his captivity (Yes, this was in fact Shingen's father and Mariko's grandfather). After an operation in which he stole the notes on a certain Kenji Oyama aka Lord Dark Wind's experimental process for bonding metal to bones and relayed it to the Canadian Government, Logan found his way to Ogun, where he took up the sensei's offer of training. For nearly the next 20 years Logan was deeply enmeshed in the code of Bushido, the martial arts of the samurai and ninja, and even further combat training in various fighting arts as Ogun himself was a nearly-immortal warrior who had mastered nearly all the martial arts. Logan found a measure of peace in the discipline of the martial arts and the philosophies that accompanied them, feeling like they helped him tame the beast he knew lurked just beneath his surface.
Sadly, Ogun and Logan would have a falling out in the early 60's, as Ogun had been using dark magics to keep himself alive. Logan objected to Ogun's attempt to transfer his persona into an unwilling host body that he may continue his eternal youth, and the two battled, with Logan emerging the victor (sadly, he had to surrender to "the beast" to achieve the feat, as Ogun was a superior combatant to him). Disillusioned and disappointed, Logan eventually returned to Canada, just in time for the world's first knowledge of just what mutantkind was to start to filter through government channels. With fairly extensive files and reports on Logan already in their possession due to his previous wartime service, he was quickly tapped by the newly-formed Department H to serve as a special agent for the Canadian government (of course they agreed to overlook that he'd basically been AWOL for 20 years). When he signed on the dotted line, though, he really didn't realize what he was getting himself into....
For about ten years, things went well enough. Logan served as a secret agent and operative for Department H and did his job well. During this time he occasionally allied with Nick Fury Sr. and the newly-formed SHIELD organization, established a separate identity known as "Patch" on the island of Madripoor, crossed paths with several individuals that would later rise to prominence in the superheroic world (though of course nobody knew that -then-) and generally established himself as one of the most dangerous and savvy "cold warriors" this side of the legendary Winter Soldier. Then, in the mid-80's, things started to go south with a vengeance.
Victor Creed was brought in to serve as a Department H operative. More so, Department H wanted Creed and Logan to work together. This would never have occurred under their own free will, and so the men began to be subjected to regular memory wipes and implants, forcing them into an awkward and uneasy friendship while their instincts kept telling them they should be killing each other. Still, the implants proved effective enough to let them work together, and they were soon grouped with several other mutant and metahuman operatives to form what came to be known as "Team X."
Team X was consistently assigned to the dirtiest, most difficult jobs that the Canadian Government could find. For Logan, even though he didn't fully remember that time of his life anymore it was like the Devil Brigade all over again. Aside from dealing with a high casualty rate for their missions, Logan and his teammates had to constantly try to rein in Victor Creed's savage tendencies, lest he turn every mission into an unwanted bloodbath. Couple that with the frequent memory overwriting that Department H was doing to Logan and it rapidly added up to a breakdown. Team X finally dissolved in the mid-80's after a major mission failure and a fight (with each other) that nearly left Logan and Creed dead. With the team dissolved, Logan was again cycled into solo work, but the Team X period had taken its' toll on the man, and he degenerated into a lifestyle of boozing it up and general degradation of his performance.
Little did Logan know that the entire Team X period had been a proving ground to find the best candidate for a new program, called Weapon X. The goal of the Weapon X project was to create the ultimate metahuman assassin. While nominally affiliated with Department H, Weapon X was actually run by an independent group, leaving the Canadian government with limited information on its' founders and operations. In any case, Logan had proven himself the preferred selectee for the Weapon X project, and soon found himself kidnapped and forced to endure a horrific experiment. Using the principles created by Kenji Oyama (the very same formulas and processes Logan had stolen in the late 40's), the Weapon X project adapted the procedure to the metal known as adamantium, and fused it with Logan's bones.
Suffice to say, the process was painful enough to drive most individuals completely mad. In Logan's case, it reverted him to a purely animalistic state, held in check only by potent mental-tampering technology (derived from the same technology they'd been using to implant false memories in him for years). For a brief period after the process was complete, Logan looked to be on the road to being the completely controllable killing machine they wanted. Then something happened. It's not yet clear whether someone tampered with the experiment or whether Logan simply managed to break free on his own, but it's clear that he did escape his imprisonment, and killed nearly everyone in the Weapon X facility in the process (though there were a handful of survivors). Still in a feral state, Logan fled into the wilderness.
Logan wandered the wilds of Manitoba for several months, occasionally drawing brief sightings that led to tales of a "wild man" in the woods. But eventually, he was found by a brilliant young engineer named James MacDonald Hudson and his new bride, Heather Macneil Hudson. The pair had been vacationing in a wooded cabin when Logan came upon them, and though his initial reactions were hostile, he was still actually recovering from the process of the adamantium-lacing, and thus James was able to subdue and restrain him. Over the next few weeks, Heather and James cared for Logan, and slowly...humanity and sense returned. Unfortunately when it did, it did not bring with it very much of Logan's memories. The entire Weapon X process was blocked out, along with much of his early life. He remembered the name "Logan" and had most of his memories from training under Ogun, as well as a scattering of unclear memories both genuine and false from his Team X days, and even fewer still from prior, but the rest seemed to be...gone.
Logan became good friends with James and Heather (while harboring a growing but unvoiced attraction to the latter), and when "Jimmy" discovered Logan's abilities beyond his metal claws, he suggested that he come to work for the same organization that he had recently taken to working with: Department H. To be clear, James' suggestion was made in innocence, as neither he nor Logan were aware that Logan had long been associated with Department H. The Department quickly cooked up the ruse to cover up Logan's prior work with them, and welcomed him as a "new" agent. After a period of training, Logan again began to work with Department H as one of its' agents. Meanwhile, James Hudson began putting together the initial stages of what would become Canada's premiere superhero team: Alpha Flight, but for now that was a few years away.
As the 90's began, Logan found himself throwing himself into his work, all the while hunting for ties to his past. He received one very unpleasant fragment of his past when he crossed paths with Victor Creed again. Creed very nearly killed Logan, all the while hinting at having considerable knowledge of "the runt's" past without giving any real concrete details. Left with only the promise that Creed would return, and that he'd be "watching" Logan grew more frustrated at his faulty memory. Given that Japan was one of the few places he still remembered clearly, when the opportunity to investigate some Yakuza activity in Vancouver arose, Logan leapt at the chance (the reason Logan got involved at all was because there was evidence of metahuman involvement. It would later be revealed that a young Keniuchio Harada aka the Silver Samurai had been dispatched to "deal with" an unruly sub-boss). Eventually the trail did in fact lead to Japan, and set in motion a series of events that would prove far more significant to Logan's future than his past. While on the trail of Keniuchio, Logan was approached by a woman named Yukio who would further introduce him to Mariko Yashida. While Logan and Yukio struck up a friendship almost immediately, he felt a powerful attraction to the young Mariko, who explained to him her family's place in the Yakuza. Further, she and Yukio actually worked with Logan to reveal that Mariko's father Shingen was on the verge of "selling out" his portion of the Japanese Yakuza to another organization (HYDRA, though this information managed to remain buried).
In his usual spectacularly violent fashion, Logan carved a swath through the Japanese Underworld, defeating Keniuchio Harada (though sparing his life at Mariko's insistence), battling countless members of The Hand and eventually coming face-to-face with Shingen himself. In their first battle, Logan tried to play by Shingen's rules, meeting him in an honorable duel between two Samurai. Shingen nearly killed him, proving himself a master of the Katana. After he recovered (with Yukio's assistance), and he avoided the multitude of assassination attempts Shingen sent to finish the job, Logan again confronted him...and this time Logan fought HIS way. Though the battle was brutal, Shingen didn't make it out alive, and Clan Yashida's honor remained intact.
Logan spent several months in Japan, recovering from his ordeal against Shingen and eventually becoming lovers with Mariko. James Macdonald Hudson pulled a few strings to make sure Logan was placed on "convalescent leave" for a time (though surely Department H was monitoring him). At first Mariko and Logan gave serious consideration to marrying each other, but as they considered the option, it became more and more clear that it was not likely a tenable situation in the long term. Marrying a gaijin would cause problems for Mariko's legitimate business interests, and her continued involvement with the Yakuza would make Logan's work with Department H...difficult should they and the Yakuza come to cross-purposes again. Eventually, though it was painful, they agreed to part ways, and Logan returned to Canada, having found only scant fragments of his past in Japan that gave him no real insight that he did not already possess. Before he left, Mariko entrusted him with the ancestral Katana of the Yashida Clan, effectively naming him her champion. Unbeknownst to Logan, he also left her with something: a few months later she discovered she was pregnant with their son, Daken Yashida. She kept this knowledge from Logan though, fearing that his enemies might use her and her family to strike at him.
Logan wasn't given much time to dwell on it, though, as James Hudson unveiled that Alpha Flight was ready to launch. Logan was given a costume and chose the code-name "Wolverine." At first, Hudson hoped Logan would lead the team, but Logan was ill-suited ot leading, and so James took up the mantle himself, becoming the hero known as Guardian. Logan operated with Alpha Flight for a few years, during which they encountered The Incredible Hulk and battled him inconclusively, though it would lead to a long-standing bout of ill-will between Logan and the Jade Giant. As the 90's came to a close, Logan first made the acquaintance of Charles Xavier, as he approached Logan about the possibility of joining his school. Logan, still loyal to James and not yet having reason to think ill of his Department H handlers, declined the invitation, though Charles made it clear it was a standing offer.
Over the next few years, relations between Logan and Department H began to strain, even as he continued operating both solo and as a member of Alpha Flight. He also again crossed paths with The Hand when they arrived to try to steal the Honor Sword of the Yashida Clan from him. The timely arrival of Yukio helped him dispatch the ninjas, and the pair shared an intimate night before parting...which once again resulted in a child that would be kept secret from Logan: Rina Yashida. Things with Department H came to a head when Logan discovered some of the hidden documentation that revealed his past association with Department H. James Hudson claimed (rightfully) ignorance, and together they pieced together that James' and Heather's encounter with him all those years back had not precisely been a happy coincidence, causing a bit of friction in their relationship. Enraged, Logan resigned from Department H, despite James' fervent pleas for him to stay so they could try to fix things from the inside. Department H wasn't inclined to just let Logan go, however, and actually sent Alpha Flight after him. After a long manhunt and several skirmishes where neither sides' hearts were in the fight, as well as one that was interrupted when a pair of Sentinels arrived to try to exterminate Wolverine, Logan and James (along with the rest of Alpha Flight) came up with a plan to fake Logan's death while "resisting arrest" and declared the hunt over.
Logan made his way south into the US, eventually traveling to the estate of Charles Xavier and offering his help in dealing with the growing Sentinel menace. He found an instant attraction to Jean Grey and an instant dislike for her boyfriend, Scott Summers. He began to operate in secret as Xavier's agent, while occasionally joining the X-Men on their missions as well. Indeed, over the next several years he found himself begrudgingly accepting Xavier's crew of mutant followers as his surrogate family. He formed particularly close bonds with the young Kitty Pryde and Jubilation Lee, becoming a mentor and paternal figure for them. He battled alongside the X-Men against several foes, crossed paths with Sabretooth multiple times, with neither truly gaining the upper hand, was reintroduced to Mystique, helped the team deal with the threat of the Phoenix and generally became fully embroiled in the battles of mutantkind.
Perhaps most significantly during this time, Logan would be among the few X-Men who would break (temporarily) from Xavier to lead an effort to rescue Alex Summers, Doug Ramsey, and Lorna Dane from the island nation of Genosha. In the course of the battle that would take place on the island, Logan and those that accompanied him would be forced to join forces with Magneto and his Acolytes and inadvertently became revolutionaries in the process. For Logan and the X-Men, the mission proved an immensely bitter harvest, as though Logan led his group effectively, it was not enough to prevent the deaths of Lorna and Doug, and of the original prisoners only Alex managed to return alive. To top matters off, Magneto ended up with his own country out of the deal. Not Logan's best day.
Indeed, following the Battle of Genosha, Logan found himself taking frequent leaves of absence from the X-Men. Sometimes these were accompanied by Kitty Pryde, Jubilee, Alex Summers, or even others, but more often they were solo affairs. He spent a good bit of time in Madripoor, another place he had more clear memories of, though he found little to unlock the full riddle of his identity, even when he renewed his loose association with Landau, Luckman, and Lake. He also came across his ersatz clone X-23 during this time as well, and though she initially tried to kill him, he eventually managed to calm her down, and begin a tenuous friendship with her. He did still find the time to fight alongside the X-Men on multiple occasions, but by and large spent almost as much time away from the team as with, at least up until the Merge.
While ultimately Logan's part in the Merge was inconsequential, it did have a major impact on Logan himself. For some reason perhaps known only to the Phoenix itself, as it seemingly sacrificed itself to help end the Merge, it also unlocked Logan's memories completely. Unfortunately, while this did provide many answers, it also left many questions, as this "unlocking" included both his true memories and the false implants that Department H had given him, with no real way to discern which was which. Logan returned to the X-Men full time, both having, in some strange way, completed his long quest to reclaim himself and his identity, and also felt he might need the X-Men's telepathic expertise to help sort out his now memory-flooded mind (he still occasionally suffers from "gaps" and has problems recalling certain memories...particularly his oldest ones). He also had a bit more reason to stay at the school when he convinced X-23 to join it as a student, having built up a relationship built on mutual trust over the previous year. He has since taken an active involvement in helping Laura assimilate to a more normal life, though he of all people certainly knows it may be the work of many years.
Hell, it ain't like he doesn't have the time...
Category:HIstories