Wolverine’s Claws Made Marvel History, And These 10 Kills Prove It

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Wolverine’s claws are arguably the most iconic aspect of his character, and they’re definitely the most recognizable. Truthfully, there’s little difference between Wolverine and the Punisher without Logan’s claws, and while Wolverine’s healing factor is probably his most useful power, his claws are his most badass. They make Wolverine unique among other antiheroes and stand as a fixture of a truly gnarly mutation. And, it almost goes without saying that they are insanely deadly.

Wolverine’s claws are a product of his natural mutation, as he had bone claws that manifested when he was a teenager. However, they wouldn’t reach their full potential until Wolverine had his bones coated in adamantium by the Weapon X Program. Sure, the process was torturous and Weapon X had Wolverine enslaved and brainwashed during that time as well, but the up-side was that Wolverine got a major upgrade (for the most part). All-in-all, it’s clear to see that Wolverine’s claws have made Marvel history many times due to how deadly, unique, and badass they are, and these 10 moments prove it.

10

Stopping Cyclops’ Rampage

Wolverine Ends Cyclops’ War Against Xavier with a Stab to the Gut

During one of X-Men‘s most recent storylines, Cyclops has completely lost faith in Charles Xavier. He can’t forgive Charles for the sins he committed during the Krakoan Age, and Cyclops believes Xavier needs to remain in jail to appease humanity, or else all mutants will be targeted. Practically the rest of the X-Men, however, disagree with Cyclops. They believe Charles should be free, and that he should be allowed to travel off-world with Lilandra to be with their sick daughter, Xandra. And one of those X-Men members is none other than Wolverine.

When Xavier makes it off-world (despite Cyclops’ best efforts to keep him on Earth), Cyclops absolutely loses it. His visor breaks and his powers go haywire, endangering everyone in his immediate area. So, Wolverine stabs Cyclops in the gut to both stop and save him in a truly brutal and utterly iconic manner.

9

Killing His Biological Father

Wolverine Uses His Bone Claws to Murder Thomas Logan

One of the most brutal instances of Wolverine using his claws was when he first got them. Before undergoing Weapon X experimentation to get adamantium-laced claws, Logan’s claws were bone; a natural part of his mutation. That mutation manifested in a moment of extreme stress, when his biological father, Thomas Logan, broke into Wolverine’s family home. Wolverine believed that his father was named Howlett (hence why Wolverine’s real name is James Howlett), but in fact, he’s actually a Logan.

Thomas became angry and resentful, and broke into the Howlett home to murder them. However, Thomas quickly found himself on the sharp-end of James’ bone claws, which popped out accidentally as James was trying to fight off his biological father. This moment was as brutal as it was impactful on Wolverine’s entire life.

8

Decapitating Sabretooth

Old Man Logan Cuts Off Sabretooth’s Head

Wolverine and Sabretooth’s rivalry is one that has raged in Marvel Comics for decades, but in the alternate universe of the Old Man Logan continuity, it came to a bloody and brutal end. When fans first entered the Old Man Logan continuity, all they knew was that the villains of that world succeeded in conquering the planet before splitting it up among them. Different parts of the United States, for instance, were broken into territories ruled over by certain villainous entities, with the Red Skull ruling as the ‘President’. However, one villain wasn’t so lucky.

As the world of Old Man Logan gets more fleshed out in Weapon X #16, it’s revealed exactly what happened between Wolverine and Sabretooth. Just like in the prime reality of Earth-616, this Sabretooth terrorizes Wolverine every year on his birthday. But, this time, Wolverine was ready to put Sabretooth in the grave once and for all, using his claws to decapitate his arch enemy.

7

Killing Jean Grey aka the Phoenix

Wolverine Kills His True Love in the Fox X-Men Film: The Last Stand

This particular kill was so impactful to the live-action version of Wolverine’s life, that it couldn’t be excluded from this list. In X-Men: The Last Stand, Wolverine had no choice but to kill Jean Grey with his claws after she became the Dark Phoenix. Jean was rampaging, killing everyone in her immediate area. Even the mutants she had aligned herself with, Magneto’s Brotherhood of Mutants, were being ripped apart by the raw power of the Phoenix. So, Wolverine had no choice but to end her life, and that action haunted him for years to come.

Multiple X-Men movies following The Last Stand highlighted how hard Wolverine was taking Jean Grey’s death, which was made even worse by the fact that he’s the one who killed her. Indeed, this was probably the most heart-wrenching and significant moment in the history of the live-action Wolverine’s life.

6

Stabbing a Murderer Through a Wall

Wolverine Kills a Man who Killed Dozens of People

In the “Coyote Crossing” storyline, Wolverine was given a chance to be gritty and grounded in a way that few Wolverine stories had done in the past. At the start of this fan-favorite arc, Wolverine happens upon a random gas station where a couple of guys driving a big-rig had pulled over to refuel, and one of them had killed the gas station attendant. Not only that, but both of them had allowed an entire truck full of people to die after they trusted them to get them sagely across the border. Men, women, and children were all dead in the back of this big truck, and when Wolverine sensed that, he showed no mercy.

Logan hid from the two men, and after sensing one of them on the other side of a wall, Wolverine punched his claws through the wall and stabbed him in the gut before entering the room he was in and watching him bleed to death. This moment might have fallen into obscurity among the countless ‘epic’ Wolverine stories in Marvel Comics, but it’s still one that sticks out as one of Wolverine’s all-time most brutal.

5

Going for the Kill Against Magneto

Wolverine Tries to Kill Magneto in the Iconic Story Arc: Fatal Attractions

One of the most memorable moments in all of X-Men history was during a story arc called Fatal Attractions, when Magneto threatened the safety of the entire planet, and Charles Xavier gave the X-Men the go-ahead to take him out permanently. So, Wolverine took that to heart, and he went for the ‘kill-shot’ against Magneto. After landing a blow that could have been fatal, Wolverine left Magneto with no choice but to deliver a ‘kill-shot’ of his own.

This iconic moment when Wolverine used his claws to try to actually kill Magneto gave life to one of the most memorable events in X-Men history: Magneto ripping the adamantium from Wolverine’s body. Wolverine using his claws is definitely overshadowed by Magneto’s counterattack, but it all started with that ‘kill-shot’.

4

Murdering Genesis with His Bone Claws

Feral Wolverine Brutally Murders Cable’s Villainous Son

In the coolest moment of Wolverine using his bone claws since killing his father, Logan rips Genesis to shreds after he reverts to a more feral state following the aforementioned event when Magneto removed the adamantium from his skeleton. Genesis (the evil son of Cable) was responsible for kick-starting Wolverine’s feral metamorphosis, and once Logan reverted to his more animalistic state, Wolverine mercilessly tore Genesis apart like he was nothing.

This murder was the first step in Wolverine’s most infamous era as Feral Wolverine. Most people look back on this era with a mixture of disdain and embarrassment, but one thing that cannot be argued is how utterly hardcore this moment was, especially when considering the kills Wolverine was responsible for with his claws.

3

Killing the Hulk from the Inside Out

Old Man Logan Uses His Adamantium Claws to Murder the Hulk

The history Wolverine has made with his claw-kills isn’t secluded in a single universe, but rather scattered across the entire Marvel multiverse. In one alternate reality separate from Earth-616, the reality of Old Man Logan, Wolverine used his claws to actually kill the Hulk, ripping him apart from the inside out. Not only that, but the entire comic issue leading up to this gruesome kill showed Wolverine slaughtering the Hulk’s entire family with his claws, one-by-one.

However, nothing Wolverine had done throughout the issue compared to what he did to the Hulk himself. During their fight, the Hulk ate Wolverine, only for Logan to heal inside the Hulk’s stomach and slice his way out of him. That injury proved enough to kill the Hulk for good, and stands as one of Wolverine’s most brutal kills.

2

Murdering Pierce in the Age of Apocalypse

Weapon X Popped His Claws from His Metal Stump to Kill the Leader of the Reavers

The version of Wolverine in the Age of Apocalypse (known as Weapon X) is one of the most hardcore versions of Wolverine in the multiverse, if not the most hardcore version. This is the post-apocalyptic Wolverine, the one who survived the neo-tech nightmare of the cyberpunk wasteland brought about by En Sabah Nur. Not only that, but this Wolverine was battle-worn, with a metal stub instead of a left hand proving as much. However, just because he didn’t have a hand on that arm didn’t mean he didn’t have his claws.

While fighting Pierce, the leader of the Reavers, Wolverine popped his claws from his metal stump for the first time in the Age of Apocalypse event. This moment was not only brutal, but it also showed that Wolverine did, in fact, still have his claws in that arm even without his hand, making this version of Wolverine even more hardcore.

1

Slaughtering the Hellfire Soldiers

Wolverine Killed the Hellfire Soldiers to Save the X-Men in His First Brutal Story

When Wolverine slaughtered the Hellfire Soldiers, he cemented himself as a truly badass X-Men hero. In fact, this moment was the first time Wolverine ever got the chance to shine as a member of the X-Men, as before that, he was just a forgettable and underutilized member. However, when Wolverine used his claws to kill these Hellfire Soldiers while breaking into the Hellfire Clubhouse all on his own, fans got the chance to see Wolverine in all his glory, paving the way for the version of the character fans know and love today.

There are few moments in Wolverine’s personal history that are more significant than this one in terms of developing Wolverine as a character. And that’s why this is one of the 10 best moments when Wolverine‘s claws made Marvel history.

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