The series tells the definite origin of Logan, also known as Wolverine, long before the Weapon X program, before he joined the X-Men, and before he joined The Avengers.
The first issue was released October 01, 2001.
The series was used as the basis of X-Men Origins: Wolverine.
Origin provides examples of:
- Abusive Parents
- Elizabeth Howlett, James's mother, was for the most part neglectful (though she did spend time in an asylum after her first born son, John Howlett III's mutation occurred which led to her scarring) until the night when John Howlett was killed. Thomas Logan was killed by his biological son James whose mutant powers recently emerged after witnessing the death of his step father. Elizabeth's reaction was to call her distraught son an "animal" while hitting him across the face with Thomas' shotgun, making him and his caretaker Rose, flee the mansion. Afraid of history repeating itself and seeing her lover's body on the floor, she committed suicide.
- Thomas Logan was absolutely horrible to his son and Logan's half-brother Dog Logan, often yelling and hitting him as well as introducing him to drink at a young age and encouraging the boy's psychotic behaviour. In Hell, he was actually proud of Logan's massive death count, and it's hinted that the Logan bloodline followed similar mental instability as Thomas did.
- Mr. Howlett makes life for his son miserable, constantly berating him and telling him how ashamed he is of him. He's also convinced that John, Sr will wind up making young James weak.
- Accidental Murder: Logan accidently impales Rose on his claws when she trips while trying to break up the fight between him and Dog.
- Ambiguous Situation:
- Did John, Jr claw his mother on purpose, or was it an accident? Likewise, the way he died is unknown.
- Whether John, Jr was the legitimate son of John, Sr or the illegitimate spawn of Thomas Logan isn't made clear.
- Animal Motifs: Dogs for Dog, like his name.
- Ate His Gun: Elizabeth shoots herself in the head after her husband is murdered and Wolverine's mutant abilities manifest.
- Ax-Crazy: Thomas, thanks to a Hair-Trigger Temper.
- Bad People Abuse Animals: Dog kills little James Howlett's puppy right in front of him out of jealousy.
- Bait-and-Switch: The series has a great example of this, especially in its intial run. The first two issues are centered around the narrator Rose (caretaker of the Delicate and Sickly rich boy James in the manor) meeting and dealing with a troubled boy called Dog whose abusive father Thomas bears a strong resemblance to the titular berserker X-Man. Dog's iconoclastic troublemaker behavior and growing wild bad boy appearance
◊ seems to leave little doubt to the first time reader this is Wolverine as a boy. Except he's not, as the Plot Twist in Issue 2# shows James the Lonely Rich Kid is actually Wolverine! Popping his claws for the first time to slay Thomas after the latter killed his father John before doing the Death Wail.- The series then pulls a similar bait and switch with the identity of Wolverine's archenemy, Sabretooth. Twice. After the aforementioned reveal, Dog grows up to have lighter hair and a larger build that makes him look kind of like Sabretooth, seemingly implying that he's the villain in question in his youth and that he torments Logan out of vengeance over Thomas' death. But that reveal never happens and instead Logan later in life meets a man named Creed who looks even more like Sabretooth, developing a rivalry with him. It seems that rivalry is building towards Creed becoming Sabretooth... and then Creed dies. As the series closes, it seems we're not ever going to learn how the feud between Logan and Sabretooth started, until we switch perspectives to one Victor Creed as he learns that Logan just killed his little brother...
- Beard of Evil: Thomas has one, though it's a bit overshadowed by the Evil Sideburns.
- Beast Man: James increasingly preferred to hunt alongside a pack of wolves over spending time with other people as his powers developed and his memory worsened. After accidentally killing his First Love, Rose, the story ends with a naked Logan retreating into the wilderness with some wolves.
- Broken Bird: Losing her firstborn son John after he developed mutant powers and injured her broke Elizabeth emotionally.
- Cain and Abel: Dog Logan is the Cain and his half-brother James Howlett is the Abel.
- Covered with Scars: Elizabeth's back is covered in claw marks from her late firstborn son, John.
- Death of a Child: John, Jr died as a child after his mutant powers manifested.
- Does Not Know His Own Strength: James permanently disfigured his brother Dog when he slapped him in the face... not knowing he'd just gained some claws at the time.
- Downer Ending: After Rose and Logan find happiness at the quarry, every goes downhill when Rose is killed after Dog tracks them down, causing Logan to retreat from humanity and run off into the forest to live with the wolves.
- Driven to Suicide: Elizabeth's already fragile psyche shatters after Thomas Logan murders her husband and after witnessing her second son, James, develop mutant claws and stab Thomas to death, having already lost her first son after his claws came out. While James and his friend Rose escape the premises, Elizabeth shoots herself.
- Evil Counterpart: Dog, a son of Thomas Logan from the Howlett estate like James, demonstrates how his brother might have turned out if he had allowed his resentments and issues to consume him.
- Evil Former Friend: Dog and James were close friends, now Dog wants to kill James.
- Extreme Doormat: John, Sr to a degree. He gave Thomas Logan a chance, even though he was a nasty drunk who disrespected the family, beat his own son, and after that son tried assaulting their servant, Rose.
- To his wife too, since he put up with her affair.
- Freudian Excuse: Dog's a victim of abuse who went on to abuse others.
- Generation Xerox: Writer Paul Jenkins intentionally invoked characters from Logan's future.
- Rose, the Irish redhead who Logan develops a crush on, is blatantly supposed to be this to Jean Grey, and is even the catalyst for Logan liking Jean.
- Smitty, the guy in charge of a camp the two stay at, is a tough-but-fair no-nonsense leader who actually ends up with Rose, and while Logan doesn't like the guy, he respects him. Logan's relationship with Smitty mirrors his later relationship with Cyclops.
- And finally, Dog Logan, Logan's half-brother, is someone who nurses a deep, irrational grudge against Wolverine for an ungodly amount of time, and seeks him out for revenge and is larger than him, just like Sabretooth. This one was so spot-on that many readers thought Dog was supposed to be Sabretooth!
- Healing Factor: Seemingly averted, as John, Jr died sometime after developing claws.
- His Name Really Is "Barkeep": Dog's name really is Dog; his father Thomas Logan gave him that name.
- Historical Fiction: The series reveals Wolverine to have been born in the late 19th century.
- How Do I Shot Web?: The first time his claws come out, young James has no idea how to control them and is stuck for several hours with bleeding, painful pieces of bone sticking out of his hands, something that also freaks out everybody around him.
- Identical Grandson: James grows up to look exactly like his biological father Thomas Logan. This was used as a Red Herring, with readers initially being led to believe that Thomas' other son Dog was the young Wolverine.
- Identical Stranger: Dog bears an uncanny resemblance to Sabretooth.
- I Have No Son!: After James' mutation develops, his mother and grandfather disown him. James' grandfather comes to regret this on his deathbed, however, and sends Dog to retrieve him.
- Pet the Dog: Even while disowning James, his grandfather atleast has the courtesy to give him and Rose supplies to make it on their own, and makes sure the police won't arrest them as they leave.
- I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: While initially angry and heartbroken that Rose is planning on marrying Smitty, Logan eventually gets over it, as he just wants her to be happy, even throwing a fight so that Smitty and Rose can have the money they need to start a life together.
- Jerkass:
- Elizabeth cheated on her husband who’s clearly a good man and passed off her son by her lover as his.
- Jerkass is probably the nicest possible description of Thomas.
- Jerkass Has a Point: Insufferable as he is, Mr. Howlett is right in that John has been far too lenient with Thomas Logan by allowing him to stay on the grounds after Logan proved himself a violent drunk who constantly disrespected John and savagely beat his own son who would eventually try to force himself upon a member of their household, only kicking the Logans out after Dog kills James' dog.
- Nice Guy: John, Sr's a genuinely kind and patient man, in contrast to Thomas Logan as well as his own father.
- Noodle Incident: Whatever happened when John Jr's mutation manifested is unknown. All that is known is that Elizabeth ended up emotionally shattered, with claw marks all over her back, while John Jr. died shortly thereafter.
- Oh, No... Not Again!: Played for drama. The first time James Howlett's claws come out, his mother's response is this, implying that his brother John had claws, too.
- Origins Episode: The series is one for Wolverine.
- Rage Breaking Point: After Dog Logan kills James' dog, John, Sr finally has enough and angrily banishes the Logan family from the premises.
- Red Herring: The series initially led the readers to believe that young Dog, Thomas Logan's son, was the boy who would grow up into Wolverine. Until the Wham Shot at the end of second issue that reveals it's James Howlett instead. Then the story seemed to imply he might actually be Sabretooth instead (despite issues like him bearing scars vs Sabretooth's healing factor), but the writers just shrugged and it was ultimately ruled out.
- The Resenter:
- Thomas towards the Howletts.
- Dog towards his brother who has a better life than he does, particularly after he found out they were brothers.
- Rival Turned Evil: Dog starts out as James Howlett's friend and secret half-brother, but eventually they drift apart, and Dog even kills James' puppy. James eventually runs away from home after an incident causes the death of his parents and Dog's father, and Dog tells the locals it was James' fault. Years later, Dog is told to track James down so that James' grandfather can make amends, but instead Dog tries to kill James for taking his name (Logan).
- Scars Are Forever: Dog has three scars across his face, courtesy of Logan's claws. It's a bit downplayed currently compared to ''Origin' but his current facial hair helps in that regard.
- Sickly Child Grew Up Strong: As a child, young James Howlett was incredibly sickly and had to spend large parts of his childhood bedridden, though this quickly went away as soon as his mutant abilities started manifesting.
- Significant Green-Eyed Redhead: Rose, who is intended as a "proto-Jean Grey" in Wolverine's story, just as Dog is a "proto-Sabretooth".
- Strong Family Resemblance: James is a spitting image of his biological father, Thomas Logan. Further muddying the waters of Wolverine's heritage, Mr. Howlett looks quite similar to an older Logan, with wild muttonchops and bushy eyebrows.
- Super Powerful Genetics: Elizabeth herself wasn't a mutant, but both her sons are. Given that it's not known if John, Jr also was the product of her affair with Thomas Logan, not to mention the fact that neither Thomas, nor his other son Dog displayed any mutant abilities, it's implied that the mutant gene was passed down from her.
- Tame His Anger: James tries to do this. It seems to work while and Rose work at a mine in British Colombia, with James finding peace and tranquility. That peace is interrupted when Dog kills Rose.
- That Man Is Dead: James gradually loses all memory of his life before going on the run, and angrily rejects his friend Rose's offers to tell him about his childhood and family, outright telling her that he's Logan, not James Howlett.
- Throwing the Fight: Logan throws the cage match between him and Smitty so that Smitty can win the prize money and give Rose a good life.
- Trauma Conga Line: Elizabeth. First her oldest son grows claws, scars her and dies, then Thomas, her lover and the illegitimate father of her second son breaks in, murders her husband and attempts to kidnap her, after which said son also develops claws and stabs Thomas to death in a fit of rage.
- Two First Names: Logan is a common given name.
- Two Guys and a Girl: The main characters are James, Dog, and Rose.
- Uncle Pennybags: John Howlett is a millionaire who was genuinely a kind-hearted Nice Guy, and didn't see any reason to treat poor folk any less compassionately or differently than anyone else, a point of contention between him and his even richer Jerkass father. He gave Rose a dress on Christmas just like her mother would, and when he caught Dog Logan at the window, gave him the toy train intended for young James, who didn't notice as he was playing with his new puppy. Ironically, John's kindess and acts of charity to poor folk made Thomas Logan hate him even more.
- Used to Be a Sweet Kid: While "sweet" may be pushing it, Dog was a Jerk with a Heart of Gold at worst as a child.
- We Used to Be Friends: Growing up, James Howlett's best friend was the groundskeeper's son, Dog Logan, who was secretly his half-brother. However after everything that went down when they were teenagers, not to mention the fact that Dog hunted the now adult Logan down seeking revenge, which led to the accidental death of Wolverine's First Love Rose, Dog Logan's hatred for Wolverine is very much reciprocated.
- Who Names Their Kid "Dude"?: Who names their kid "Dog"? Thomas Logan, that's who.
- Wolverine Claws: Like his brother, John, Jr had the bone claws, the scars of which can be seen on their mother.
- You're Not My Father: In spite of being his biological father, James refuses to consider him his father, considering John Howlett to be his real dad and condemning Thomas for killing him.
