James Howlett and his two fathers
The Wolverine family tree starts long before the X-Men. Wolverine first appeared in The Incredible Hulk #180 in October 1974, but his family was not set out until the six-issue miniseries Origin in 2001.12
In Origin, Logan is born James Howlett near Cold Lake, Alberta, to the wealthy farm owners John Howlett and Elizabeth Howlett.1 His real father is the groundskeeper of the estate, Thomas Logan, who had an affair with Elizabeth.12 John Howlett believed James was his own son and raised him as one. Thomas Logan later killed him.2 Elizabeth turned James away and then took her own life, and Nick Fury later revealed that her maiden name was Hudson.2
James had an elder brother on each side. John Howlett Jr., the son of John and Elizabeth, was born in 1885 and died in 1897, and he returns as the White Ghost in Wolverine The End.2 Dog Logan, the son of Thomas, is his elder half-brother. James scarred him when they were young, and Dog later joined the Hellfire Academy.2 The sources do not name Dog’s mother, so the chart joins the two brothers with a blue half-brother line instead of a parent line from Thomas. The boy who became Wolverine took the name Logan from the groundskeeper who was his father.2
Origin also gives James his first love. Rose was his childhood friend, and he killed her by accident with his claws.1 She was not family, so the chart leaves her in the text.
Itsu, Daken and Romulus
The second branch belongs to Japan. Logan married Itsu, and they lived in Jasmine Falls. While she was pregnant and Logan was away, Romulus sent the Winter Soldier to kill her.14 A mysterious man cut the baby from her body, and the child survived because he had his father’s healing power.4
That child is Daken, whose name at birth was Akihiro. A couple named Akihira and Natsumi raised him in Japan, and Romulus raised him to be a ruthless killer.4 He was created by Daniel Way and Steve Dillon and first appeared in Wolverine Origins, with a glimpse in issue 5 in 2006 and his full entrance in issue 10.4 From 2009 he took over the Wolverine title, which was renamed Dark Wolverine.4
Daken turned against Romulus in the end, and Wolverine had Romulus sent into another dimension, the Dark Force.4 Romulus is no relative, so the chart gives his part to the people he harmed. Itsu carries the note of her murder, and Daken a state that reads raised as a weapon by Romulus until the Krakoa era.
Daken is not the only other child the comics give Logan. Wikipedia names the Mongrels, a group of his other children whom the Red Right Hand used to torture him.1 They are left off this Wolverine family tree, which keeps to the children whose mothers and births the sources set out.
Laura Kinney, Sarah Kinney and Gabby
Laura Kinney, called X-23, began outside the comics. Craig Kyle created her for an episode of the cartoon series X-Men Evolution in 2003, and she reached the comics in NYX #3 in February 2004.3 In her story the Facility, run by Dr Martin Sutter and Dr Zander Rice, engineered her as a clone of Wolverine.3
Her mother is Sarah Kinney, the geneticist who carried her as a surrogate. Later research showed that Laura is Wolverine’s biological daughter as well as his clone.3 The chart therefore draws two parent lines to Laura, a biological line from Logan and a birth line from Sarah, joined by a grey line that marks no couple, only the experiment that links them. Her aunt Debbie and her cousin Megan also appear in her story. The chart draws Debbie as Sarah’s sister and Megan as Debbie’s daughter, the plain reading of aunt and cousin.3
After Logan’s death Laura took the name Wolverine in All-New Wolverine, written by Tom Taylor from 2015.3 That series added Gabby, one of several clones that Alchemax made from Laura’s DNA. Gabby was the youngest and least hurt of the surviving clones, and Laura took her in as a sister. She also goes by Honey Badger.5 Wikipedia calls Daken the nearest thing that Laura has to a brother.3
In the Krakoa era the family comes together. Daken makes peace with his father and spends time with him and Gabby at a bar on the mutant island.4 Gabby is killed there by the Shadow King and brought back by the Five, who overrule a council that had barred clones from resurrection.5
The Wolverine family tree run by run
Each card gives the family as it stands after one run. Read each card after its run, since the later cards name deaths and returns.
From 2001
Origin
Spoiler note. The secret of James’s birth.
- James Howlett is the son of Elizabeth Howlett and the groundskeeper Thomas Logan.
- Thomas kills John Howlett, and Elizabeth takes her own life.
From 2004
NYX and X-23
Spoiler note. Laura’s parentage.
- Laura Kinney is made from Wolverine’s DNA and carried by Sarah Kinney.
- Her aunt Debbie and cousin Megan enter the story.
Sources3
From 2006
Wolverine Origins
Spoiler note. A son and a murder.
- Logan learns that his wife Itsu was killed on the orders of Romulus.
- Their son Daken survived and was raised as a killer.
From 2015
All-New Wolverine
Spoiler note. Logan has died.
- Laura takes the name Wolverine.
- She takes in Gabby, a younger clone, as her sister.
After All-New Wolverine
The Krakoa era
Spoiler note. Logan is back.
- Logan, Daken and Gabby spend time together on Krakoa.
- Gabby is killed and brought back.
How the films change the family
The films keep the secret of Logan’s birth but change the people around it, which is why the chart leaves them out. X-Men Origins, the Wolverine film released in 2009, opens in 1845 with James watching the groundskeeper Thomas Logan kill his father. Thomas then reveals that he is James’s real father.6 The film makes Victor Creed, who becomes Sabretooth, James’s elder half-brother and his companion in flight, a tie that the comics family does not have.6
Logan, released in 2017 and set in 2029, brings in Laura in a new form. In the film she is one of several children made from mutant DNA, and Charles Xavier tells Logan that she was made from his DNA and calls her his daughter.7 Dafne Keen played Laura and returned in Deadpool & Wolverine in 2024, which continues some of the story of Logan.73
How to read this Wolverine family tree
A square is a man and a circle is a woman. A double line is a marriage, and a dashed couple line is an affair, as between Thomas Logan and Elizabeth Howlett. The line from that affair leads down to Logan, so the chart shows his true father by blood. The grey dashed arrow from John Howlett is the legal father who raised him.
The story positions follow the order in which the comics revealed the family, not the order of birth. At the Origin position only the Howlett estate is drawn. The Kinneys arrive at the NYX position, Itsu and Daken at Wolverine Origins, and Gabby at All-New Wolverine, where Logan carries the state of his death. His cross appears there, with the words of his death under his name. At the Krakoa position he is alive again, so the cross turns faint with a return arrow after it, and Daken is reconciled with him.
Read this way, the Wolverine family tree holds three kinds of parent. Laura has a biological line from Logan and a birth line from Sarah Kinney. Gabby has no parent line at all, because she is a clone of Laura, and a teal double line joins the two as sisters. The dark outline marks the Howlett estate and the rust outline the Kinneys. To build a family tree of another hero, open this chart in the editor or start from the story charts. The symbols are set out in the genogram symbols.
Questions about the Wolverine family tree
Who is Wolverine’s real father
Thomas Logan, the groundskeeper of the Howlett estate. John Howlett, Elizabeth’s husband, was his legal father.21
Is X-23 Wolverine’s daughter
Yes. Laura Kinney was made as his clone, and later research showed that she is his biological daughter.3
Who is Daken’s mother
Itsu, Logan’s wife in Japan, who was killed while pregnant on the orders of Romulus.4
Is Sabretooth Wolverine’s brother
Only in X-Men Origins, the Wolverine film of 2009, which makes Victor Creed his elder half-brother. The comics family on this page does not.6
People and sources
A page of its own lists all 13 characters on the chart, each with a short note and the sources for it, and the seven numbered sources this article cites. It also gives the credits of the pictures and this page as a reference in the APA, MLA, Chicago and Harvard styles, ready to copy.