TheWolverineis a feral beast, hardened by years of war, torturous experiments, and the frigid Canadian winds. While the founding X-Man’s retractable claws are often seen as his most dangerous asset, Wolverine is made of a bit more stuff than that. Other than his advanced healing factor and his adamantium-infused bone claws, Wolverine has had a few more powers than most people know of.
Wolverine, similar to Emma Frost or Nightcrawler, naturally possesses multiple mutations. His body evolved to be able to handle nearly anything thrown at it. That includes maintaining new power. Throughout the comics, Wolverine has adopted many different powers, each transforming the feral killer into another beast entirely. Some of the feats were instances, while others remained ambiguously permanent. While Wolverine has seen quite a few power-ups in his days,here are 10 Wolverine powers that transformed the X-Man into a deadlier threat.
1Omnipower
First Seen In:The Uncanny X-Men Annual #11by Chris Claremont, Alan Davis, and Paul Neary
During the heyday of the earlyUncanny X-Men,the X-Men found themselves the target of an alien mutant named Horde, who kidnapped the team so that he may claim theCrystal of Ultimate Vision.When Wolverine confronts the mutant, Horde rips out Logan’s heart. In that instance, a drop of Wolverine’s blood touches the crystal, regenerating an entirely new body. In doing so, Logan was connected to a force beyond nature, comparing himself toJean Grey’s time as the Phoenix.
Wolverine wasinstantly connected with every living mindin the universe, capable of controlling each of their actions. Even the minute particles that constitute reality were under Logan’s grasp. However, he quickly realizes that this omnipotent power is not for mortals to have. As quickly as he had had it, Wolverine shattered the Crystal, stopping any one person from gaining its immeasurable power.
2The Phoenix Force
While Earth-616’sWolverine has harnessed the powers of the Phoenix Forceon a few occasions, his Earth-14412 variant reigns supreme as the ultimate Phoenix Wolverine. In this reality, King Loki had completely destroyed humanity. Logan died in the process butwas resurrected by the Phoenix Force.
More modernly dubbed“Old Man Phoenix”after his role in staving off the First Firmament’s invasion of the Multiverse, Logan once again became a being of absolute cosmic power. This version of Logan remainedbonded to the Phoenix Force for eons, fully capable of maintaining his sense of mind despite its influence. As with all Phoenixes, Wolverine was imbued with precognizant powers, cosmic knowledge, self-resurrection, and the power to obliterate planets. Once again, while Prime Wolverine has had his ownuse for the Phoenix Force, Old Man Phoenix fully shows off what the gruff Canadian is capable of.
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3Chi Augmentation
First Seen In:The New Avengers #6by Brian Michael Bendis, Stuart Immonen, Wade Von Grawbadger, & Laura Martin
In a quickly mismatched fight against the world’s first Sorcerer Supreme, Agamotto, Wolverine is chosen to bear the weight of a transformative power. Doctor Voodoo magically enchanted Logan withthe Heart of the Dragon. Temporarily a true Iron Fist, Wolverine could utilizeIron Fist’s full spectrum of chimanipulation powers.
In addition to the general array of durability enhancements, Wolverine was also capable ofusing the Iron Fist’s hypnotic and mind-fusing powers.Additionally, Logan’s senses become attuned to chi, granting him the ability to absorb, detect, and manipulate energy. No longer needing his own healing factor, the Heart of the Dragon temporarily makesWolverine resistant to pain and injury.Together, Doctor Voodoo and Wolverine muster enough power to defeat Agamotto.
4The Hell-Mark
First Seen In:The New Avengers #6by Brian Michael Bendis, Stuart Immonen, Wade von Grawbadger, & Laura Martin
In the same event that imbued Wolverine with the Heart of the Dragon, Logan was also given Daimon Hellstrom’s Hell-Mark. Hell-Marks are sigils in the shape of a pentagram that are bestowed upon souls withthe potential to become a Hell Lord.People like Daimon naturally earn them, whereas Wolverineproves his strength in a time of need.
As a wielder of a Hell-Mark, Logan would be capable of harnessing the full powers of Hell. Hell-Mark wielders like Wolverine can summon demons and demonic artifacts to serve their bidding. Most obviously, they can harnessthe terrifying might of hellfire. While it may look like a common flame, hellfire burns through a being’s soul, making it a deadly weapon against all foes. Alongside his use of Iron Fist’s powers,Wolverine and Doctor Voodoo defeat Agamottobefore Logan is forced to return his borrowed abilities. However, it’s unknown whether Loganstill carries a Hell-Markof his own.
5The Spirit of Vengeance
First Seen In:Ghost Rider / Wolverine: Weapons of Vengeanceby Benjamin Percy, Geoff Shaw, & Rain Beredo
After millennia of watching humanity make the same miserable mistakes, Mephisto grew bored with his toys andcreated the demon Bagra-ghulfor entertainment. Bagra-ghul was initially grafted onto the soul of a young boy until the demon was freed and forced into Wolverine. As the Hellverine, Logan obtained the full near-limitless potential of the Spirits of Vengeance.
Traditionally, Spirits of Vengeanceare creatures of infinite power, only held back by their users. Bonded to the wild beast that Logan is, Hellverine was a hulking beast forged from hellfire and primal rage. His adamantium claws werecoated in ethereal flames, turning the already lethal weapons into murder machines for the living and the dead. His most impressive feat proved to be hiscontrol over the Spirit. Logan was able to call back his fiery other when it attempted to enter another soul. When Logan finally reunited with his son, he later gave Akihirothe Hellverine’s Spirit of Vengeance.
6The Powers of the Symbiotes
First Seen In:Venom #10by Daniel Way, Paco Medina, & Juan Vlasco
Just as frequently as he has wielded hellfire and the Phoenix Force, Wolverine has also been bonded with a symbiote on multiple occasions. Chronologically, Logan first encountered Grendal spawns during the Vietnam War. However, Logan’s most memorable symbiotic bond was witha clone of the Venom symbiote.
Forcibly grafted onto Wolverine, Logan had no control against the whims of the symbiote. This monstrously resulted in a terrifying fusion that would putthe traditional Venom formto shame. Wolverine hulks over anyone near him, with his claws nearly as long as an entire person. Even his fists were larger than the average person’s upper body. On top of his personal augmentations, Wolverine also possesses thegeneral range of spider-like powersthat Venom has imbued all of his modern hosts with. Fortunately for Logan, and not so much the Venom clone, the symbiote still possessed an extreme weakness to sonic sounds. Wolverine was eventually freed, but it hasleft fans waiting for more feral symbiotic action.
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7Odin-Blessed Claws
First Seen In:Fear Itself #7by Matt Fraction, Stuart Immonen, Wade von Grawbadger, & Dexter Vines
During the terror oftheFear Itselfevent, Wolverine and the Avengers were augmented by pieces of the Odin-Force. With the power of an ancient god flowing through his body, every ounce of Wolverine’s body carried the vigor of the divine. His claws, now resonating with the Odin-Force, took on an infernal glow that radiated godly energy.
Alongside his augmented claws, Wolverine was encased in hardened metal and stone. Unlike the other Avengers, his entire body is transformed, covering him with Asgardian armor forged from the same metal as Thor’s hammer. Where his allies wielded their Asgardian weapons in hand, his entire adamantium skeleton became a weapon in and of itself. His power was so magnificently great that his claws easily penetrated through an Odin-Force-infused Juggernaut.
8Midnight Claws
First Seen In:Midnight Suns #3- by Ethan Sacks, Luigi Zagaria, & Antonio Fabela
As part of a promotion for theMidnight Sunsvideo game, Marvel released a new miniseries designed to follow a similar plot. To help stop the oncoming apocalyptic demon threat, a variant of Tony Stark who had become Sorcerer Supreme helped the heroes forge new sets of armor and weapons. His new crimson-red magical claws were powerful enough to slice through massive demons made of stone.
The power of his magically enhanced claws wasimmediately noticed by Wolverine, who cast a mischievous glare at his enemies. Wolverine, with or without his enchantments, was able to persist through the demon’s “piercing gaze,” said to test the willpower of its victim. Instead, Logan held his place, calling the demon’s might little more than a nuisance.
9Hot Claws
First Seen In:Return of Wolverine #1by Charles Soule, Steve McNiven, Jay Leisten, & Laura Martin
Shockingly enough, when Wolverine dies he always ends up in Hell. After his most recent death, Wolverine is resurrected by the criminal mutant Persephone. At first, Logan was nothing but a puppet as Persephone segregated Wolverine’s past identities from a new beast imbued with fiery claws.
These new claws, which Wolverine could still use today, ignite by thousands of degrees in a matter of seconds. This power seems to work equivalently to Wolverine’s feral rage. While his claws are extremely lethal, if Logan ever finds himself wielding them, it most likely spells tragic amounts of death in the near future. Unlike his other mystical enchantments, the Hot Claws are entirely part of his own biology. It’s unknown just how hot they can become, but as Wolverine’s berserker rage seems bottomless in nature, so too must his claws’ heat.
10Cyclops-Wolverine
First Seen In:Sins of Sinister #1
In theSins of Sinisterarc, Mister Sinister created countless clones of Moira MacTaggert. Abusing their time-resetting powers, Sinister created just as many countless realities that he could manipulate to his heart’s desire. In one of these realities, Sinister developed the early prototypes of his Chimera mutants.
By splicing together at least two X-Genes, Sinister could create cloned mutants possessing all the powers of their genetic predecessors. One of the earliest Chimeras, a perfect genetic fusion of Cyclops and Wolverine, had both X-Men’s powers.In one hand, Wolverine bore his signature claws. However, in the other, Cyclops’s Punch Dimension conduits were affixed to his knuckles. This Wolverine maintained all of his original terrifying might while also wielding a concussive force that could give the Chimera mutant an upper hand in both short and long-range combat. Additionally, this Wolverine did not use his eyes, most likely significantly augmenting his other senses.
