Weapon X. The Berserker. The Man with the Claws. The most famous X-Man.
The best there is at what he does.
The Wolverine comic books, published by Marvel Comics, are eponymously named for the main character, Wolverine. Wolverine's character page is here.
Wolverine (born James Howlett, also known as Logan, James Logan, and Weapon X) is a Marvel Comics superhero, known for his association with the X-Men; sharp, indestructible claws; berserker rages; managing to be in many places at once; having quite a few tropes named after him; and for being very, very popular. At times he's been the most popular Marvel Super Hero, which led to his tendency to... um... show up everywhere.
He first appeared in The Incredible Hulk #180 (October, 1974), making his true debut in the next issue as an adversary until the two teamed up to fight the Wendigo. Both issues were written by Len Wein and drawn by Herb Trimpe, though John Romita, Sr. is credited with the original design of the character. Wolverine would go on to join the X-Men the following year, with his true origins remaining ambiguously buried in a mishmash of false and real memories for decades, as his popularity skyrocketed. He would gain his own miniseries, and then his own title, and then spawned tonnes of characters based off of him, and then his own cartoon, then his own film trilogy, and even his very own anime. After that... well, then he was kind of everywhere... and still is. Even here on TV Tropes.
Please note that this page covers the Wolverine comics only, for tropes pertaining to all Wolverine media, and a list of comic storylines and other works in the franchise, see the franchise page.
Hey bub, ya prolly wanna check out the self-demonstratin' version of my page.
Wolverine provides examples of the following tropes:
Wolverine original and ongoing series:
- Annoying Arrows: In issue #41, Logan, needing to get a small child to safety through a bunch of archers, chose to block them with his body and keep going. It worked, though he wasn't in very good shape at the end.
- All Asians Know Martial Arts: Averted with a Lampshade Hanging in the storyline Goodbye Chinatown, when streetwise tagalong kid Yuen Yee ends up in the middle of a pitched battle between Wolvie, an ancient kung fu master, a talking gorilla, and a bunch of ninjas, yakuza thugs and giant dragons.Mook: You gonna show us your kung fu too, you little-
*Yuen draws a pistol and shoots him*
Yuen: Right. Because all Chinese know kung fu. You racist *#$@. - Escaped from Hell: In the first story arc Wolverine Goes to Hell, Wolverine has been sent to Hell. He managed to escape with the help of Alpha Flight member Puck, who was there for some reason. Puck ended up taking over Hell after he and Logan killed the Devil. He later gives up his position to get back to life and save his teammates.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Sabretooth delivered
◊ one◊ to him◊ in the last part of Killable. Even fans agreed it was one of the best Take That! moments a writer ever did indirectly, because much (if not everything) of the statement was absolutely true.
Wolverine mini-series and limited series:
- Backstab Backfire: In the final issue of the Kitty Pryde & Wolverine limited series, Logan defeats Ogun and brings him to his knees, but spares Ogun's life and starts to walk away alongside Kitty. Ogun produces a knife and rushes at the two of them from behind. Wolverine notices in time to tell Kitty to use her phasing power, causing the knife to pass harmlessly through her. He then stabs Ogun with his claws, killing the villain.
Wolverine one-shots:
- Small Town, Big Hell: The story is about the X-Man going to Brazil for vacation, where Wolverine's motorcycle is stolen by Street Urchins, one of them with a secret. All the story occurs inside the favelas, the ghetto section of Brazilian cities full of delinquence and poverty that work as separated towns inside the cities.
