Wolverine

Wolverine is a fictional character who appears in Marvel Comics' American comic books, mostly in association with the X-Men. He is an animal-like mutant with heightened physical powers, a tremendous regenerative ability known as a healing factor, and three retractable claws in each hand. Wolverine has been portrayed as a member of the X-Men, X-Force, Alpha Flight, the Fantastic Four, and The Avengers, among others.

Marvel editor-in-chief Roy Thomas, writer Len Wein, and Marvel art director John Romita Sr. created the character. Romita designed the character's attire, but Herb Trimpe created the character for publishing. Wolverine then joined a redesigned version of the X-Men, where writers Chris Claremont, Dave Cockrum, and artist-writer John Byrne would later play key roles in the character's growth. From September to December 1982, artist Frank Miller teamed with Claremont and helped redesign the character in a four-part eponymous limited series.

Wolverine is representative of the many fierce antiheroes who arose in American popular culture; his readiness to employ lethal force and his brooding loner attitude became standard qualities for comic book antiheroes by the end of the 1980s. As a result, the character became a fan favorite of the growing X-Men franchise, and he has appeared in his own solo Wolverine comic book series since 1988.

Wolverine, one of the best comic book characters of all time, has appeared in most X-Men adaptations, including animated television programs, video games, and Hugh Jackman's live-action 20th Century Fox X-Men film series. In the 2009 film X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Troye Sivan played a younger version of Wolverine. The character is placed first in Wizard magazine's 2008 Top 200 Comic Book Characters, fourth in Empire's 2008 Greatest Comic Characters, and fourth in IGN's 2011 Top 100 Comic Book Heroes.

Publisher: Marvel Comics
First appearance: The Incredible Hulk #181
Created by: Roy Thomas, Len Wein, John Romita Sr.