History Characters / XMenFilmSeriesLaura

'''[[center: [- [[Characters/XmenFilmSeries Main Character Index]] -]]]'''
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!![[Comicbook/{{X 23}} Laura / X23-23]]
[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/laura1.png]]
[[caption-width-right:300:''"I've hurt people, too...They were bad people."'']]
[[caption-width-right:300:[[labelnote:Click here to see her with her adamantium claws]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/laura.jpg[[/labelnote]]]]
!!!'''Played by:''' Creator/DafneKeen
!!!'''Voiced by:''' Constanza García U. (Latin-American Spanish), Clara Quilichini (French)
!!!'''Film Appearances:''' ''Film/{{Logan}}''

-->''"A man has to be what he is, Joey. Can't break the mold. There's no living with a killing. There's no going back. Right or wrong, it's a brand. A brand that sticks. Now you run on home to your mother, and tell her... everything's all right. There are no more guns in the valley."''
--->-- '''Laura''', quoting ''Film/{{Shane}}''

A young mutant girl born in the alternate future where mutants have all but died off. Said by Charles Xavier to be [[DistaffCounterpart "very much like" Logan]], she's the first new mutant either have encountered in at least twenty years. Pursued by Pierce and his Reavers, Laura may help provide the key to the survival of the vanishing mutant race.
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[[folder:A-D]]
* ActionGirl: Considerably younger than most examples, but it doesn't stop her from being utterly ''terrifying'' in combat.
* AdaptationDyeJob: Black haired and green-eyed in the comics, while Keen's eyes and hair are both brown. Although in X-23's [[WesternAnimation/XMenEvolution original appearance]], [[TruerToTheText she really did have brown hair]].
* AdaptationalModesty: In the comics Laura is usually (one of) the residential MsFanservice(s) of whatever team she's on. She first appeared in ''Comicbook/{{NYX}}'' as a teen prostitute very much dressing the part, and her costumes frequently involve BareYourMidriff. However Keen was cast deliberately with an eye towards avoiding the expected "20-something actress in a hot outfit," leading to a much more modest appearance appropriate for an 11 year-old girl in the film. Though, like with her AdaptationDyeJob, [[TruerToTheText this does bring her closer to her original incarnation.]]
* AdaptationNameChange: Since X-23 in the films refers to a project consisting of several subjects as opposed to an individual cloning attempt, her serial number is X23-23 as opposed to just X-23. Furthermore, as Sarah Kinney was AdaptedOut, there's no one to give her comics surname. The closest she's given to a last name in the film is "Howlett," when Logan introduces her as his daughter to the Munsons.
* AgeLift: Averted. X-23 was created for ''WesternAnimation/XMenEvolution'' who became a CanonImmigrant and was indeed a little kid there, unlike the teenager she was when introduced to the comics and other later incarnations.
* AllGirlsLikePonies: Laura demonstrates a fascination with horses at several points in the film. She rides a coin-op pony at the convenience store right after the first fight with the Reavers, can be seen clutching a toy horse while she sleeps in the limo, and later in the film is drawn to the Munson family's herd. She also has a unicorn on the shirt she wears throughout the second half of the film.
* ArmedLegs: As is her comics counterpart, she's "armed" with another claw in each foot.
* [[AscendedFanboy Ascended Fangirl]]: She read the ''X-Men'' [[RecursiveFiction comics]] in her spare time, and she ends up going on an adventure with the real Professor X and Wolverine.
* AttackAttackAttack: Laura has two settings in combat: "kill everything that moves" and "tactical withdrawal". Unless it's a potentially lethal injury or she's at a major disadvantage, she will not stop until she's standing in the middle of a field of dead bodies and severed limbs.
* BadassAdorable: Laura is tiny and cute. She's also fully capable of unleashing a ''world'' of hurt on grown men twice her size, and was even able to put up a good fight against [[spoiler:[[TheHeavy X-24]]]].
* BadassAndChildDuo: With Wolverine, but given she's adapting X-23 from the comics, she is as deadly as Logan himself, if not even more so due to the bad shape he's in at the time.
* BerserkButton: There's very little that ''doesn't'' set her off, particularly early in the film when she's in an almost constant state of fight or flight, and ready to respond with violence to any perceived threat. Even something as innocuous as a store clerk trying to relieve her of food she was eating without paying for is responded to with lethal force.
* TheBerserker: She is capable of casing the situation and applying basic tactics to compensate for her own physical shortcomings before she attacks, but as soon as actual combat breaks out, Laura turns into a screaming hurricane of blades, blood, and destruction that will stop at nothing until the threat has been neutralized. Shoot her, beat her, toss her around like a ragdoll -- it doesn't even slow her down. Injure her badly enough or gain the upper hand and she may retreat, but if you follow her, you die. Her fighting style, while horrifically deadly, is even more aggressive and feral than Logan's, and that's saying something.
* BewareTheQuietOnes: Laura doesn't speak much, and not at all for the first half of the film. She's also a highly-trained ball of murderous fury when [[BerserkButton she's set off]], fully capable of cutting through heavily armed grown men like tissue paper.
* BigEater: If dinner with the Munsons is anything to go by. She starts by [[JabbaTableManners shoveling mashed potatoes into her mouth with her bare hands]] before Logan corrects her, and then proceeds to dish out ''enormous'' scoops of corn onto her plate before Logan takes the bowl and spoon away. After dinner her face positively ''lights up'' when Kathryn Munson asks if she wants dessert, and when Logan is on his way out the door to help Will fix the water he has to stop her when she tries to go back for ''more'' pie after everything has been cleared away. Earlier in the film she wolfs down the Corn Flakes when she first meets Charles (and even continues eating when the Reavers arrive to take her into custody), and one of the first things she does following that fight, (after her ride on the coin-op pony) is to raid a convenience store for a snack. Justified: Not only is she a growing child who barely had a decent meal in at ''least'' two days, but the common interpretations is that her HealingFactor comes with a heightened metabolism ''requiring'' more calories to begin with.
* BilingualBonus: She can speak Spanish and chooses not to speak English to Logan because he kept insulting her so she decided to be quiet and get back at him by speaking in a language he doesn't understand. During the initial shooting of that scene, she apparently called Logan a "cunt".
* BizarreSexualDimorphism: Xavier posits that the arrangement of Laura's claws are this, likening her to a lioness: The front claws are for hunting, the rear claws for defense. As noted under MythologyGag below, this was actually the intent of Chris Yost and Craig Kyle, and Xavier's lecture is drawn from their own remarks on the matter.
* BreakoutCharacter: Her role in the film is a bit larger than is typical for the trope, being intended from the start as the "third leg of the table," in Mangold's words. However the universal acclaim for Dafne Keen's performance has made her this, with many critics lauding her as the best part of the film and stealing every scene she's in (even ''more'' impressive considering the caliber of actors she's working with). Even before ''Logan'' released director Mangold and producer Simon Kinberg began discussing an interest in continuing the character in her own spinoff film.
* BreakTheCutie: Laura has been through a ''lot'' throughout the film, but the ultimate kicker is when [[spoiler:she watches her biological father Logan die]].
* BrokenBird: Although not to the same extent as her comics counterpart, Laura is nonetheless an emotionally damaged young girl. It's most evident in her conversation with Logan while he's recuperating in Eden and the fact that people have hurt her.
* ChildByRape: Zander Rice and Donald Pierce had several Mexican girls [[MedicalRapeAndImpregnate impregnated with embryos against their will]], causing them to give birth to Laura and her mutant friends at [[EvilInc Transigen]].
* CombatParkour: Practices this extensively, using the terrain, furniture, vehicles and even [[ColossusClimb other mooks]] to ''reach'' targets that are on average twice her size. Considering she's a tiny eleven year old girl and thus not able to absorb the same level of punishment as Logan, she also uses it to just plain ''not get hit'', flipping, cartwheeling, and somersaulting through return fire. Her acrobatics also help her bring her foot claws into play, turning her into a whirling, adamantium-coated human blender.
* CombatPragmatist: Although she's a highly skilled fighter, she has to be this because her small size puts her at a significant disadvantage in a straight fight. Laura has no problems attacking knees, groins, throats, or any other target. This might be considered "dirty fighting", but it allows her to make up for her lack of strength and durability. She'll drag {{Mooks}} into areas with plenty of cover where she can ambush and pick them off one-by-one, and will strike InTheBack if the opportunity presents itself. [[spoiler:She ''twice'' attacks X-24 while he's occupied, gaining a sizable initial advantage that allows her to inflict a significant amount of damage before he finally throws her off, and has no compunctions against grabbing a gun and adamantium bullet to finish him off.]]
* ComicBookMoviesDontUseCodenames: She's never once referred to as X-23 or X23-23 in dialogue, and the designation appears on-screen only once, when Logan skims over Transigen's files. She's simply called Laura throughout the film.
* ConstantlyCurious: Having been born and raised in a lab, Laura has a severely limited understanding of the world outside of Transigen. As a result, she tends to regard new situations either as a threat, or this, studying them closely and with great interest. She's particularly fascinated by Nick Munson, as he's the first normal child she has ever met. Laura can be seen staring at him closely several times throughout the dinner scene, and is fascinated by his music player.
* CoolShades: She swipes a pair of pink and blue sunglasses covered in winking pink cupcakes[[note]]Toys/{{Shopkins}} [[https://www.amazon.com/SHOPKINS-CUPCAKE-Shatter-Resistant-Sunglasses/dp/B01DRCCV22?tag=cdiyg-20 Cupcake sunglasses]], in fact[[/note]] from a convenience store, and can be seen wearing them at various points throughout the film. And despite being pink-and-blue kiddie shades, she ''still'' [[https://images.moviepilot.com/images/c_limit,q_auto,w_710/uusjuevz3k1bjikpysqs/logan-credit-fox.jpg makes them look bad ass]].
* CreepyChild: Laura can be very unnerving. Early in the film she's skittish, cagey, and is constantly analyzing her surroundings, like an animal in unfamiliar territory. It's not helped by the fact she [[TheQuietOne doesn't talk]] for much of the film. Even after she ''does'' begin to speak, and her more human behaviors begin to show through as she relaxes her guard around Logan, she never quite abandons her more animal-like traits.
* CuteButCacophonic: Laura doesn't speak much (see below). Yet however tiny and adorable she is, her screams in combat can be positively ''chilling''.
* CuteMute: Played with. She's positively adorable, and doesn't speak a word for the first half of the film, giving one the impression that she's unable to speak. After [[spoiler:Charles' death]] she reveals she ''can'' talk after all, though an initial angry rant in Spanish aside she still tends not to speak at length.
* DecapitationPresentation: She throws the head of one of Donald Pierce's {{Mooks}} at him before showing Logan that she's an incredibly dangerous mutant.
* DecompositeCharacter: After a fashion. She is depicted as one subject of the X-23 project instead of a single person named "X-23."
* DeconstructedCharacterArchetype:
** Mangold deliberately made her mute the first half of the film to subvert the sardonic KidHero trope, while also choosing to cast a young child rather than the older "hot" actress in a sexy costume that has become so prevalent in the genre.
** Laura is pretty much what you'd ''actually'' get if you tried to train a child into an emotionless killing machine. When introduced she's virtually feral, responds violently when she feels threatened, and all but panics at the sound of a passing locomotive. Laura also shows extensive signs of stunted emotional development, evidenced by many behaviors, such as punching every button on an elevator, ordinarily associated with a child much younger than her age. And while she's certainly a highly-skilled and frighteningly efficient killer, she's ''still'' just an eleven year-old girl fighting grown men twice or more her size; Laura can be subdued by sheer weight of numbers, and when an opponent ''does'' land a solid hit on her ([[spoiler:Such as X-24 throwing her against a wall]]) she goes down hard (though God help you once she gets back up).
* {{Determinator}}: No matter what you do to her, Laura ''does. Not. Stop.'' Shoot her with a harpoon, overwhelm her with sheer numbers, blast her with a painful psychic wave, or even put her up against a ruthless emotionless killing machine more than twice her size, and she ''will'' continue to fight until either everything around her is dead, or she finally takes a strong enough hit to put her down. Exaggerated even ''further'' by the fact she's an ''eleven-year-old girl''.
* {{Deuteragonist}}: Laura straddles the line between this and tritagonist in ''Logan'', with Mangold directly describing her as the "third leg of the table." While she is the instigator of the pain Logan and Charles endure over the course of the film,[[note]][[spoiler:Logan's involvement with her brings him into conflict with Pierce and Transigen, which leads to the deaths of Caliban, Charles, the Munson family, and ultimately himself]][[/note]] unlike the classical tritagonist she's perhaps the ''most'' sympathetic character because of her lack of intent, and the fact she's as much a victim (if not more so) of the events as the others. However the size of her role and significance to the plot, particularly during the film's second half, also leans much more towards her being the deuteragonist. Particularly as without Laura, there ''is'' no story.
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[[folder:F-O]]
* FragileSpeedster: She's incredibly fast and small making her hard to hit. Despite her incredible endurance, she's still an eleven year old girl who can't take hits the way Logan can and a few men can easily hold her down if they're given the opportunity and/or overpower her in sheer strength.
* GirlyBruiser: She likes ponies and the color pink, has an adorable-sounding voice, and '''''will rip your fucking head off''''' if you cross her.
* GoneHorriblyRight: As far as Pierce and Zander Rice are concerned. Transigen wanted to make a HumanWeapon killing machine. While the other X-23 kids largely failed to live up to this (see ChildrenAreInnocent under the general section above), with Laura they succeeded. [[MookHorrorShow Unfortunately]] [[ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice for]] [[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown them]].
* GroinAttack: Given her CombatPragmatist tendencies and the fact that the people she faces are mostly men she gives plenty of these usually with her knees or the claws in her feet.
* HairTriggerTemper: Of all the Transigen kids she's the quickest to respond violently if threatened. It's InTheBlood.
* HeroWorshipper: Implied when Logan finds that she owns comic books based on the X-Men's adventures.
* HowlOfSorrow: She gives an incredibly broken and angered one after [[spoiler: witnessing Charles die.]]
* HumanityEnsues: Early in the film Laura is skittish and very shy, often behaving like an animal in unfamiliar territory. Over the course of the film, and through her contact with Logan and Charles, her human traits become much more evident.
* HumanityIsInfectious: At the beginning of the film, Laura acts more like a wild animal than a person, and her relative obedience with Logan and Xavier can probably be chalked up to her pack mentality and obeying those above her in the hierarchy. It's only through prolonged exposure to them that she actually starts to act like a child.
* ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice: Pierce shoots Laura in the back with a spear gun in the fight at the industrial yard in the beginning. The projectile penetrates so deeply it punches all the way through her body, with a solid foot of it emerging from her chest. She shrugs it off thanks to her HealingFactor, and goes right back to kicking ass once she can cut herself free.
* InTheBlood: ChildrenAreInnocent aside, she's nonetheless got the most vicious temper and is quickest to respond to violence when threatened of the X-23 experiments. She ''is'' Logan's daughter, after all.
* TheIngenue: In a FreezeFrameBonus, Laura's Transigen records give her an emotional IQ of between 70-78 months, suggesting she's emotionally on par with a 6 year old child. This is supported by the film itself, in which Laura demonstrates some behavior more appropriate for a much younger child than her 11 years.
* JabbaTableManners: The kid does ''not'' know how to eat with polite company. When dining with the Munsons she stuffs fistfuls of mashed potatoes in her mouth until Logan corrects her, and scoops big helpings of corn from the bowl as it's passed around the table.
* KillerRabbit: She's as cute as a button, but she's also fully capable (and willing) of disemboweling entire battalions of armed soldiers.
* KubrickStare: Laura delivers a positively ''withering'' one to Pierce at Logan's hideout when she heads towards him and tosses the head of one of his Reavers at his feet. The fact it's being delivered with aplomb by an ''eleven-year-old girl'' just makes it even ''more'' chilling.
* LighterAndSofter: Just a tad, as she is still a cute little murder machine, but Laura in the comics was well into her teens by the time she met up with Logan: before that she had lived a hard life on the streets and had even been a prostitute. In fact, most of Laura's backstory in the movie is a [[AdaptationDistillation watered down]] and "nicer" version then the pure hell she went through in the source material. Point in fact she only kills bad guys in the film, while comic Laura was forced to kill hundreds of innocent people, including children.
* LittleMissBadass: She's less than half of the size of the heavily armed {{cyborg}}s she rips to shreds in [[{{Gorn}} visceral]] MookHorrorShow glory. She also gives one hell of a fight to [[spoiler:X-24]]. However RealityEnsues at several points in the movie: For all her training Laura is ''still'' just a child. When she doesn't have room to maneuver or the element of surprise, or is simply weighed down by sheer numbers she's all but helpless against a grown man. And if an opponent ''does'' get a hit in, she usually goes down hard.
* LivingMacGuffin: A substantial part of ''Logan's'' plot is driven by Pierce and the Reavers attempting to recapture her.
* LukeYouAreMyFather: Xavier casually reveals that she's Logan's "daughter" right after they escape from the border with her.
* MadnessMantra: Averted. When she starts naming all of her friends who were waiting for her, Logan asks her in annoyance who they were but she continues to repeat their names.
* MagicPants: She has claws on both her hands and legs. Still, her shoes do not seem to have noticeable big holes or otherwise be damaged after she uses the latter ones.
* MenacingStroll: She pulls an ''epic'' one combined with DecapitationPresentation, TheGlovesComeOff, and KubrickStare. After Pierce sends a couple mooks into Logan's home to retrieve her, Laura emerges alone and tosses the head of one of the Reavers at Pierce's feet. Then she throws away the cuffs the guy had been carrying. And casts aside her backpack. ''Then'' the claws come out. All while stalking towards Pierce and an army of men ''twice her size'' with murder in her eyes. It's made even ''more'' badass by the fact it's being done by an ''eleven year-old girl'', and Keen ''completely sells it''.
* MissingMom: Unlike her comics counterpart, the identity of Laura's mother is never revealed and isn't particularly significant to the story. It's implied that after the impregnated women gave birth [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness they were disposed of]].
* MookHorrorShow: She wasn't just cutting through the Reavers in a blind rage like Logan was when they invaded his hideout; no, she was methodically hunting them, further underscoring her strongly predatory vibes.
* MysteriousWaif: Charles tasks Logan to safeguard her from the nebulous organization that wishes to capture her and use her for their own ends.
* MythologyGag:
** In ''Logan'', all of the Transigen children are part of a series of genetically-engineered mutants with a serial number beginning X-23. Laura's serial number is X-23-23, as a nod to the fact that Laura is ''the'' X-23 in the comics.
** When Xavier gives his rambling InfoDump about Laura's claw arrangement he's using Kyle and Yost's own words on the matter, by comparing her to a lioness, and explaining the purpose of the foot claws.
** Laura is shown experimentally cutting herself with her newly-bonded adamantium claws on Gabriela's video. When she first appeared in the comics, Laura regularly practiced SelfHarm by cutting herself with her claws in times of emotional duress.
* NoHoldsBarredBeatdown: Gives one to [[spoiler:X-24 in the forest]] battle and is probably one of the most brutal examples in media where she constantly slashes and [[ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice impales him]] with blood going everywhere as [[spoiler:X-24]] can't do anything to her. Just when it seems it's over after he finally gets her off him [[spoiler:he later gets shot with an Adamantium Bullet that blows most of his head off.]]
* NoSocialSkills: She's barely able to function in civilized society at the start and doesn't grasp simple concepts like "pay for goods if they are for sale" or "don't violently attack people who reprimand you". Even after she starts to act like a person instead of a wild animal, she is still incredibly immature and displays behaviors that you would expect from a preschool-aged child, not a preteen. Given the harshness of her institutionalized upbringing and the hell Transigen put her through, it's a wonder she's ''this'' normal.
* OlderThanTheyLook: Downplayed, but while Laura is 11, you'd be forgiven for ''thinking'' she's even younger because of her diminutive height, and behavior and mannerisms much more appropriate for a child half her age. And as with Logan himself, eventually she'll play this trope much straighter as she grows up.
* OneWomanArmy: It's very clear once she shows her powers that no one is a match for her except X-24. She rips apart most of Transigen's troops in a couple of minutes.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:P-Y]]
* ParentsInDistress: [[spoiler:When X-24 kills Charles, Laura, who came to view him as a surrogate grandfather, gets ''violent'' and furiously leaps on his back with claws flashing, even though he's twice her size. He's only able to defeat and subdue her because she has no room to maneuver. Later in the film she does it ''again'' to protect her ''actual'' father, Logan, and this time subjects him to a positively brutal NoHoldsBarredBeatdown. X-24 only manages to shake her off when he lands a lucky blow (she ''is'' only eleven years old). She ultimately delivers the fatal blow via an adamantium bullet to his noggin when he tries to finish off the mortally wounded Logan.]]
* PintSizedPowerhouse: At a mere 4' she is ''tiny'', yet she has no trouble throwing around guys almost twice her size.
* TheQuietOne: She doesn't speak very much, particularly in the first half of the movie, to the point Logan assumes that she can't talk at all and freaks out when she actually talks in Spanglish two-thirds of the way through the movie.
* RaceLift: Subdued example: In ''WesternAnimation/XMenEvolution'' she's AmbiguouslyBrown, whereas her comics version is Caucasian. Dafne Keen is Caucasian of Anglo-Spaniard descent. Whereas in the comics she's an OppositeSexClone of Logan, in the film she's the result of Transigen using his genetic material to impregnate an unknown Mexican woman. This is emphasized by her Mexican accent. Obviously she picked it up from the nurses rather than it being genetic, but the symbolism is still clear.
* RealityEnsues: As noted under DeconstructedCharacterArchetype above, for all her skills as a fighter, Laura is ''still'' just a child fighting grown men twice or more her size. When she gets hit she goes down ''hard'', and can be overwhelmed without room to maneuver or the element of surprise.
* SacrificedBasicSkillForAwesomeTraining: Despite being only 11, Laura is a highly-skilled fighter and ruthless killer when pressed, and is fully capable of operating a vehicle and properly using firearms. Unfortunately, it's left her social development and skills ''severely'' lacking: She aggressively defends herself against a store clerk who tries to take away food she's eating without paying for (and probably would have violently attacked the pissed-off hotel employee had Gabriela not managed to talk their way out of it), starts pushing all the buttons on a hotel elevator as would be expected of a child much younger than her, and [[JabbaTableManners simply can't eat in polite company]].
* ScreamingWarrior: In spite of her quiet demeanor, Laura is a ''fierce'' screamer when the claws come out.
* SecurityBlanket: Laura's backpack has shades of this. She carries it with her in almost every scene, and gets very clingy and protective of it when Logan tries to nose through it without permission.
* SelfHarm: She is seen on a video recording cutting herself and [[HealingFactor watching the injuries heal]] while she's an experimental subject in a Transigen lab.
* ShadowArchetype: What was supposed to have become and what she still would have become to Logan had she remained on the run without Logan and Xavier's influence: a bestial killer with a completely inhuman thought process who views people either as prey to slaughter or as nuisances to avoid if they stay out of her way or eliminate if they hinder her progress.
* SuddenlyVoiced: She spends a good half of the film completely silent, aside from grunts and screams when she fights. She suddenly speaks after, as Logan put it, "2000 fucking miles", and lays a lot of Spanish on Logan to which he gets annoyed. Then she's revealed she does speak a bit of English, but not too well.
* SuperStrength: Not as noticeable as Logan's, given that she's only 11, but Laura is still strong enough to flip and knock down grown men when she fights.
* TroublingUnchildlikeBehavior: It would be more accurate to describe Laura as an animal that walks on two legs than as a child. A pretty accurate look at what you'd actually get if you raised someone with a bestial mutation (which may or may not explain some of her animal-like behavior) as a weapon and deprived them of basic human nurturing: an utterly merciless killer motivated solely by survival who is in a permanent state of fight-or-flight and reacts violently to perceived threats. That unnerving gaze that she always seems to have? That's her monitoring her environment for threats, sizing them up, and coming up with plans of action in case they disturb her.
* TrueBlueFemininity: Laura's primary color palette throughout the film is blue: When Logan meets her she's wearing a pale blue hoody (initially under a pink jacket, which she loses during the first fight with the Reavers), and she later gets a blue denim jacket and jeans paired with a rainbow unicorn shirt. Even the CoolShades she shoplifts at the convenience store have lots of blue, with pink added in for good measure, and the robe she briefly wears while cleaning up at the casino hotel is also blue. It all helps lend her a little more of a girlish look to her otherwise rather {{tomboy}}ish costuming.
* TruerToTheText: This version of Laura is closer to the AmbiguouslyBrown little girl with brown hair from ''WesternAnimation/XMenEvolution'', as opposed to the black-haired, clearly Caucasian teenager the comics introduced.
* TurnedAgainstTheirMasters: Transigen bred her to be a HumanWeapon. They also abused and mistreated her quite severely. By the time Gabriela frees her Laura has no compunction against slaughtering any Transigen {{mook|s}} within claw's reach, to the point of finishing off one wounded by Logan that doesn't even present a threat.
* TheVoiceless: She appears to be a CuteMute for the first half of the movie, though Charles Xavier is apparently communicating with her via telepathy. After Charles dies, Logan gets a shock when Laura throws a diatribe of Spanglish at him. According to WordOfGod, her silence was to avoid the character becoming the usual sardonic KidSidekick. Additionally, if you speak Spanish or have access to a translation of her first rant, it's revealed that Laura ''chose'' to remain silent around Logan; when she blows up at him she pointedly asks why he expects her to talk to him, when all he's done the entire film is yell at her, insult her, or try to abandon her.
* WaifFu: Owing to her small size and youth, Laura relies on her speed, agility, and skills in a fight rather than raw power, dancing around her opponents, crippling them with precise strikes, with a very acrobatic fighting style often incorporating ColossusClimb to contend with threats larger than her. While she is significantly stronger than an average 11 year-old of her size and stature, that can likely be owed to a mix of her healing factor and the sheer amount of adrenaline rushing through her system.
* WeakButSkilled: Laura is a very skilled fighter, fully capable of taking down grown men almost twice her size and briefly managing to overwhelm [[spoiler:X-24]]. While she's not weak by any given stretch, she's ''still'' just an 11-year-old girl who is slightly stronger than someone her age. She relies either on having enough room to maneuver that she can't get pinned down, or an environment where she can use the terrain to her advantage to [[MookHorrorShow pick them off one-by-one]]. Once her opponents' superior strength comes into play she's much more vulnerable.
* WhenSheSmiles: Laura is very serious and dour throughout the movie, and even playing with her ball or riding on the coin-op pony can't elicit so much as a giggle out of her. However the small smile she gives Xavier the first time she sees the big city lights and neon signs makes her face positively ''light up'', and she gives another one (along with some laughter) when they have dinner with the Munsons; both of these instances serve to show the little girl she never got the chance to be.
* WildChild: She's just as vicious as Logan during a fight, and her reaction to a store clerk trying to take the things she wasn't paying for was to flip him over and very nearly kill him. She's all but feral early in the film and gives off distinctly predatory vibes, and doesn't even speak until [[spoiler:after Charles is killed by X-24]].
* WiseBeyondTheirYears: Laura zig-zags the trope throughout the film. She can go from casually gutting a mercenary one moment, to punching every button in an elevator like you would expect from a child a third of her age in the next. The extent of her training by Transigen is unclear, but at the very least she's fully capable of safely operating a vehicle and using firearms; on the other hand, her emotional development took a backseat, and she is by far and large shockingly immature in social situations.
* WolverineClaws: She packs two small claws in both hands, along with one in each of her feet.
* WolverineWannabe: Like her comics counterpart, Laura possesses Logan's HealingFactor, claws, and (implied) enhanced senses, agility, and strength. ''Un''like her, however, this iteration may be even ''more'' feral than Logan himself, as she responds violently to even ''perceived'' threats, including a hapless store clerk who simply tried to keep her from shoplifting food.
* WrestlerInAllOfUs: Her fighting scenes through the film feature at least a Lou Thesz press and a flying armbar, along with many cartwheels and takedowns.
* YouAreBetterThanYouThinkYouAre: While not in those exact words, the spirit of the trope comes up twice:
** The first time Charles chides Logan when he swears in front of Laura. When Logan points out that she had just slaughtered several heavily-armed soldiers so should be able to handle a few curse words, Charles retorts that she can learn to be ''better'' than that.
--->'''Logan:''' Better than me?\\
'''Charles:''' Actually, yes!
** The second time is [[spoiler:Logan's dying message to Laura. He tells her "Don't be what they made you," implying she can be a better person than the cold-hearted killer Transigen wanted her to be]].
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* LighterAndSofter: Just a tad, as she is still a cute little murder machine, but Laura in the comics was well into her teens by the time she met up with Logan, before that she had lived a hard life on the streets and had even been a prostitute. In fact most of Laura's backstory in the movie is a [[AdaptationDistillation watered down]] and "nicer" version then the pure hell she went through in the comics. Point in fact she only kills bad guys in the movie while comic Laura was forced to kill hundreds of innocent people, including children.

* InTheBlood: ChildrenAreInnocent aside, she's nonetheless got the most vicious temper and is quickest to respond to violence when threatened of the X-23 experiments. She ''is'' Logan's daughter, after all.

* FragileSpeedster: She's incredibly fast and small making her hard to hit. Despite her incredible endurance, she's still an eleven year old girl who can't take hits the way Logan can and a few men can easily hold her down if they're given the opportunity or overpower her in sheer strength.

* ComicBookMoviesDontUseCodenames: She's never once referred to as X-23 or X23-23 in dialogue, and it appears on-screen only once, when Logan skims over Transigen's files. She's simply called Laura throughout the film.

* BrokenBird: Although not to the same extent as her comics counterpart, Laura is nonetheless an emotionally damaged young girl. It's most evident in her conversation with Logan while he's recuperating in Eden about his adamantium bullet, and the fact that people have hurt her.

* CombatParkour: Practices this extensively, using the terrain, her own acrobatics skills, and even [[ColossusClimb other mooks]] just to ''reach'' targets that are on average twice her size. Considering she's a tiny eleven year old girl and thus not able to sustain the same level of punishment as Logan, she also uses it to just plain ''not get hit'', flipping, cartwheeling, and somersaulting through return fire. Her acrobatics also help her bring her foot claws into play, turning her into a whirling, adamantium-coated human blender.
* CombatPragmatist: Although she's a highly skilled fighter, she has to be this because her small size puts her at a significant disadvantage in a straight fight. Laura has no problems attacking knees, groins, throats, or any other target that might be dirty, but allows her to make up for her lack of strength. She'll drag {{Mooks}} into areas with plenty of cover where she can ambush and pick them off one-by-one, and will strike InTheBack if the opportunity presents itself. [[spoiler:She ''twice'' attacks X-24 while he's occupied, gaining a sizable initial advantage that allows her to inflict a significant amount of damage before he finally throws her off, and has no compunctions against grabbing a gun and adamantium bullet to finish him off.]]

* AdaptationalModesty: In the comics Laura is usually (one of) the residential MsFanservice(s) of whatever team she's on. She first appeared in ''Comicbook/{{NYX}}'' as a teen prostitute very much dressing the part, and her costumes frequently involve BareYourMidriff. However Keen was cast deliberately with an eye towards avoiding the expected "20-something actress in a hot outfit," leading to a much more modest appearance appropriate for an 11 year-old girl in the film.

* BilingualBonus: She can speak Spanish and chooses not to speak Enlgish because he kept insulting her so she decided to be quiet and get back at him by speaking a language he doesn't understand. During the initial shooting of that scene, she apparently called Logan a "cunt".

* FragileSpeedster: She's incredibly fast and hard to hit, but the problem is that she is still an eleven year old girl. Despite her incredible endurance, she can't take hits the way Logan can and a few men can easily hold her down if they're given the opportunity.

* FragileSpeedster: She's incredibly fast and hard to hit, but the problem is that she is still an eleven year old girl. Despite her incredibly endurance, she can't take hits the way Logan can and a few men can easily hold her down if they're given the opportunity.

[[folder:G-O]]

* BerserkButton: There's very little that ''doesn't'' set her off, particularly early in the film when she's in an almost constant state of fight or flight, and ready to respond with violence to any perceived threat. However as the story unfolds a couple specific buttons take shape:
** She shows clear hatred for the Reavers and treats them as kill-on-sight, notably executing one who was already severely injured by Logan and lying helpless in a pool of blood. To say nothing of the one whose [[DecapitationPresentation severed head she throws at Pierce]] to make her displeasure clear when they try to recapture her at Logan's hideout.
** She does ''not'' take it well when [[spoiler:X-24 mortally wounds Charles, and attacks him ''viciously''. X-24 is only able to subdue her by throwing her against a wall and knocking her cold. When she later sees his dead body during her and Logan's escape from the Munson farm she falls into an angry screaming fit, and thrashes against the restraints X-24 had put her in]].
** Hurting Logan is also a good way to piss her off. [[spoiler:She tears into X-24 with a vengeance once again when he has Logan down, utterly ''shredding'' him with her claws for a good couple minutes. After he manages to shake her loose, she [[BoomHeadShot blows half his head off with an adamantium bullet when he tries to finish Logan off.]]]]

* AgeLift: In Target X she was around 13-15, and 15 when she first met Wolverine, but here she is 11.

[[caption-width-right:300:[[labelnote:Click here to see her with her adamantium claws]][[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/laura.jpg]] [[/labelnote]]]]

* ChildByRape: Zander Rice had several Mexican girls [[MedicalRapeAndImpregnate impregnated with embryos against their will]], causing them all to give birth to Laura and her friends at [[EvilInc Transigen]].

!!Laura / [[Comicbook/{{X 23}} X23-23]]