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The tragedy of Wolverine is one of the more important parts of who he is. Looking at the many Wolverine comics out there, some losses stand out more than others. These 10 losses cost Wolverine the most and have helped define who he is as a character.
10) Fall of Krakoa
The Krakoa Era was the X-Men’s most inventive era in years. While Krakoa ended very badly for everyone, there was a time when it was the hope of the mutant race: a home, one where they were finally safe. Wolverine was deeply affected by this shift, and even more affected when the era ended.
While he still went out and killed people to protect mutants, Krakoa gave Logan a feeling that he hadn’t had in years; the loss of Krakoa was a huge deal for a man who had never known peace in that way. Wolverine sequestered himself away from his friends in the days after Krakoa, trying to come to terms with the loss of a place that was a beloved home to him.
9) The Death of Rose
Origin told readers the stories of the beginning of Wolverine’s life, back when he was still James Howlett. James had a nursemaid, a red-haired woman named Rose O’Hara, and fell in love with her as a boy. After his mutant powers manifested, he killed his biological father (who had killed the man James thought was his father), an event which caused his mother’s suicide; Rose and James then ran off.
They ended up in a logging camp, and Rose fell in love with someone else. Eventually, James’ brother Dog found them. James and Dog fought, James went into a berserker rage, and stabbed Rose accidentally. Rose’s death caused Wolverine to go completely feral, and he ended up running off into the woods, losing himself to the animal inside. Rose’s death would stay with him even when he didn’t remember it, coloring his life forever (see: Jean Grey).
8) The War With the Red Right Hand
Wolverine has many dangerous enemies, whose attacks all damage him in some way. However, few of them were able to defeat Wolverine in the same way that the Red Right Hand was. The Red Right Hand was made up of the families of people that Wolverine killed, who banded together for revenge.
First, they found a way to have a demon take over Wolverine’s body, throwing his soul to Hell while the demon went after his friends in the X-Men. Wolverine overcame this, but then he was attacked by the Mongrels, a group of mercenaries whom Wolverine killed. Finally, the Red Right Hand commits group suicide and leaves behind a message — the Mongrels were illegitimate children of Wolverine. They made Wolverine kill his children and then killed themselves so he couldn’t take revenge. It was the most perfectly damaging attack on Wolverine ever.
7) The Death of Silver Fox
Wolverine (Vol. 2) #10 is one of the greatest Wolverine stories ever, and it gave readers one of Wolverine’s formative tragedies. The story took place in the Canadian outback. Wolverine was living his Blackfoot girlfriend Silver Fox. While he was out fishing on his birthday, Sabretooth went to his cabin and killed her.
Wolverine came home to the love of his life’s death and went wild, hunting Sabretooth down and attacking him. The tragedy of Silver Fox’s death stayed with Wolverine for the rest of his life, forever making his birthday a traumatic event – another terrible loss in a life full of them.
6) The Death of Mariko
The ’90s were a pivotal decade for Wolverine. Logan suffered some heavy losses in the ‘decade of extreme,’ but one of the first — and one of the worst — was the death of Mariko Yashida. Wolverine and Mariko fell in love in his early days with the X-Men, with Wolverine killing her Yakuza boss father. They almost married, but Mastermind, Viper, and Silver Samurai ruined the whole thing, using mind control to make Mariko step away from the alter.
Despite learning the truth, Mariko didn’t go back to Wolverine out of shame. Later, she asked him for help against the Hand, and was poisoned during a peace ceremony. Dying slowly, she begged Wolverine to put her out of her misery. He did so, killing the woman he loved to save her from pain. It was a terrible moment in Wolverine’s life, and he takes his rage out against her poisoner, Mat’suo Tsurayaba, every year.
5) The Death of Itsu & the Loss of His Son
Wolverine loves Japan and has spent a lot of time in the country. After World War II, he found himself back there, eventually marrying a woman named Itsu. Itsu got pregnant, and Wolverine was ready to live a quiet life with his family. However, the world wouldn’t leave the former soldier/spy alone, and The Winter Soldier came to his home to kill Itsu, while she was pregnant.
The Winter Soldier succeeded, as Wolverine arrived too late to intervene. Wolverine’s son, Akihiro, was cut from his mother’s corpse by Logan’s nemesis Romulus, and Wolverine lost his entire family in one fell swoop. This would lead to a rivalry between Wolverine and Akihiro (who took on the name “Daken,” or “mongrel”), giving Wolverine years of pain and even impersonating his father in Norman Osborn’s Dark Avengers.
