X-23 (
Laura Kinney) is a
fictional comic book
superheroine appearing in books published by
Marvel Comics, in particular those featuring the
X-Men. X-23 is a female
clone of
Wolverine.
Cloned from a damaged copy of Wolverine's genome, X-23 was created to be the perfect killing machine. For years, she proved herself a notable assassin, though a series of tragedies eventually led her to Wolverine and the X-Men, with whom she now seeks to turn her life around.
Publication history
X-23 was created for the ''
X-Men: Evolution'' animated television series before being brought into comics. X-23 first appears in episode #40 (season 3, episode 10) of the program (titled "X-23"). The character's first comic book appearance is in ''
NYX'' #3 in
2004.
Her comic debut was in the series ''NYX'', where her history and past were never divulged but her abilities were showcased. In ''X-23'', her first miniseries, her origin was fully explained. She became part of the X-Men supporting cast in ''Uncanny X-Men'' #450.
X-23 was created by Craig Kyle. He and Christopher Yost were the writers of the two episodes of ''X-Men: Evolution'' in which X-23 appears ("X-23" and "Target X"). Kyle and Yost also scripted ''X-23: Innocence Lost'', a six issue miniseries that details the character's origin, as well as ''X-23: Target X'', a six issue miniseries that covers the character's experiences between her origin story and her appearance in ''NYX''. They continued to write X-23 into their runs on New X-Men and X-Force as a member of the teams.
X-23 received an ongoing comic book series in 2010, written by Marjorie Liu.
Fictional character biography
X-23: Innocence Lost
A top-secret program is tasked to replicate the original
Weapon X experiment that bonded adamantium to the skeleton of
Wolverine. The project is taken in a new direction: Doctor Martin Sutter recruits renowned mutant geneticist Doctor Sarah Kinney to develop a clone of Wolverine.
Since the only genetic sample from Weapon X is damaged, Kinney is unable to salvage the Y chromosome. Kinney proposes the creation of a female genetic twin; her request is denied. Sutter's protégé Doctor Zander Rice, whom he has raised after Rice's father was killed by the original Weapon X, is opposed to the idea. After 22 failed attempts at reconstituting the DNA using a duplicate X chromosome, the 23rd sample yields a viable sample to combine with an embryo. Although Kinney is allowed to proceed, Rice exacts revenge for her insubordination by forcing her to act as the surrogate mother of the specimen. For nine months, Kinney's every move is monitored; finally, she gives birth to "X-23".
After seven years, Rice subjects X-23 to radiation poisoning in order to activate her mutant gene. He extracts her claws, coats them with adamantium, and reinserts them back into her hands and feet - a procedure performed without affording the child any anesthetic. Rice creates a "trigger scent" that drives X-23 into a murderous rage when she detects it. She defends Jade Parisi, daughter of mob boss Don Parisi, against some thugs who berate her for having a mutant boyfriend. X-23 kills some of the thugs and helps Jade escape and go into hiding. The deaths inadvertently implicate Wolverine, prompting his teammates to investigate. X-23 attacks Wolverine on sight, but he eventually calms her down, and she leads the X-Men to Parisi's daughter. After aiding the X-Men against Parisi's mutant enforcer Geech, X-23 flees the scene. This encounter is later revealed to be partially arranged between X-23 and Wolverine in order for her to encounter and ally with the X-Men without revealing her past.
She later returns to help the X-Men save victims of a car accident, after which she is enrolled at the Xavier Institute and assigned a room with Rachel Summers and Kitty Pryde. X-23 behaves protectively towards Wolverine, observing him on the mansion's security monitors and even attacking his teammate Bishop after he floors Wolverine during a training session.
During one of her sessions at the mansion's monitors, an anomalous energy spike prompts X-23 to investigate. She encounters Spider-Man at the source of the signal; mistaking him for an enemy, she attacks him. The pair ultimately team up to save the young mutant Paul Patterson from an alternate reality version of Iron Man known as Iron Maniac. The arrival of Captain America and the super-spy Black Widow help turn the tide, with Spider-Man and X-23 destroying Iron Maniac's equipment using their own version of the classic Fastball Special.
X-23 secretly follows Wolverine on his investigation of strange activity in the Canadian Rockies. Ambushed by the Hauk'ka, evolved Saurians from the Savage Land, X-23 manages to escape and alert the X-Men. Traveling to the Savage Land, X-23 and the X-Men team-up with the Savage Land's lord Ka-Zar and his allies, the Savage Land Mutates, to prevent the Hauk'ka from destroying human civilization by exerting control over the weather-manipulating X-Man, Storm.
Captain Universe
X-23 is empowered by the cosmic
Uni-Power to become Captain Universe. She quickly learns that
A.I.M. is seeking the Uni-Power in hopes of using it against their enemies. She agrees to help the Uni-Power, and travels with a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent called the
Scorpion to a secret A.I.M. hideout. There, they discover information on the Uni-Power that is being transferred to another facility. The Scorpion attempts to copy the information, but is stopped by X-23. The Scorpion is then ordered to take her in to custody, but covers for her instead and allows X-23 to escape. At the close of the issue, the Uni-Power bids farewell to X-23, and parts ways with her.
Decimation
After the events of ''House of M'' and ''Decimation'', X-23 was one of the few mutants to retain her powers. X-23, having previously left the institute off-panel, returns to the X-Mansion at Wolverine's insistence. Laura is assigned a room with fellow mutant student Sooraya Qadir. She begins to develop an attraction towards Julian Keller, aka Hellion, protecting him while participating in holographic combat simulations created for members of the student body by David Alleyne, formerly a mutant codenamed Prodigy.
After Jay Guthrie appears bloodied and beaten on the doorstep of the institute, Emma Frost has the powered students compete in a free-for-all brawl, with those deemed to be the best performers assigned to a new team of trainee X-Men. Despite Frost's attempts to omit her, X-23 is among those students who excel during the exercise, and also receives unexpected aid from Hellion, whom Frost has instructed to take out X-23 from the battle first. She is placed on the team with Mercury, Dust, Hellion, Elixir, Rockslide, and team leader Surge by Cyclops, who defeats Frost's attempts to keep her off the team by pulling rank.
As the depowered students and staff are leaving the school, their bus is bombed by anti-mutant religious zealot Reverend William Stryker. X-23 overhears Dust talking to Icarus, who had fled the Mansion. Dust intends to meet Jay, but Laura warns her that it's a trap, and takes Dust's place. Donning Dust's burqa, X-23 is shot upon arriving at Stryker's compound. Laura returns to the Mansion and singlehandedly kills three Purifiers who have incapacitated Surge, Hellion, and Emma Frost.
When Surge receives a distress call from Forge, X-23 accompanies the New X-Men. Although the team disables the Nimrod unit, X-23 is grievously wounded and is unable to heal herself. In order to save X-23, Hellion convinces Emma Frost to unlock his telekinetic potential, increasing his powers (and thus, his speed) to a level thought impossible by a O.N.E. sentinel guard. This allows them to fly back to the mansion in time for Laura to be healed by Elixir.
Mercury Falling
While bonding over coffee with
Cessily, the cafe is attacked by
Kimura and her minions, who in turn capture Cessily. After Laura returns to the school, she and Hellion go off to locate the Facility's whereabouts. X-23 interrogates a man at gun point, and upon securing the information, shoots him in the head. Hellion informs her that killing will no longer be a part of their interrogation technique.
X-23 and Hellion infiltrate the Facility and after an encounter with Kimura, the two soon find Cessily in liquid form, barely able to compose herself. They are attacked by Predator X, who has absorbed Cessily's liquid mercury skin; X-23 and Hellion decide to fall back, but are pursued by the Predators. The group is once again ambushed, only to be rescued by the Astonishing X-Men and New X-Men. The two teams turn the tables on the attackers, and defeat the remaining facility troops. During the shuffle, the remaining Predator escapes.
Sometime later, Emma Frost finds Kimura trying to assassinate X-23, and confronts her, erasing the one happy moment in Kimura's life from her memory, and psychically suggesting that Kimura's assignment now is to hunt down the remaining members of the Facility and kill them.
Quest for Magik
Searching for
Magik, the demon lord
Belasco brings the students to Limbo. X-23 is one of the students that are trapped there; she is seen trying to fight off her restraints. Her enhanced sight enables her to see the Institute and she tells
Trance to use her astral projection powers to go to the Institute. She tells Elixir that Belasco plans to kill
David, Dust, and Mercury. Afterwards, she urges Mercury and Dust to fight Belasco. The demon lord is not impressed by her attacks, and, as he declares her soul not worth taking, reduces X-23 to nothing but bones and adamantium claws with an energy blast. He later uses his magic to resurrect her, but then proceeds to torture X-23, claiming he will kill and resurrect as many of the students as he desires until Magik is brought to him. She is then revived by Elixir and at David's instructions, frees the
Stepford Cuckoos before slowing Belasco's stride.
World War Hulk
X-23 goes up against the
Hulk. With several other students, she pins him down, but is knocked away when he regains his strength. Attacking him a second time, she manages to blind him with the claw in her foot. However, the Hulk recovers, grabs X-23, and hurls her into the mansion, stating in what may have been a grimly sarcastic manner that he hopes she heals like Wolverine.
Children of X-Men
X-23 and Rockslide were trying to convince
Anole to cut off his other arm so it would grow back stronger. After Anole tells them no, she is later seen being interviewed by Surge about what happened to Prodigy in Limbo.
Later, the students of the Xavier Institute are trying to find out which one of them is the youngest mutant on the planet. During the meeting, Surge kisses Hellion, which upsets X-23 and she runs away. Mercury finds her in the girl’s restroom, having cut herself and trashed the restroom in a fit of rage. She wonders what is happening and doesn't understand what she is feeling. Mercury hugs her and tries to reassure her that she isn’t alone anymore. In the end, she is seen lying on the floor laughing and relaxing with Mercury and Dust.
Messiah Complex
Some of the
New X-Men decide to launch a preemptive strike against the
Purifiers. While spying on the Purifiers, X-23 manages to impress
Armor with her senses. They are ambushed by the Reavers, whose leader,
Lady Deathstrike mortally wounds Hellion and after a brief fight,
Pixie manages to teleport the team out and are spread between Washington and the Institute.
After Iceman picks up the New X-Men, the mansion is attacked by Sentinels. He and X-23 take them out. Cyclops, realizing he has to up the stakes and get the child no matter what, decides it is time to assemble the X-Force which features her, Wolverine, Wolfsbane, Caliban, Warpath, and Hepzibah.
While in pursuit of Cable and the mutant newborn, X-Force battles Lady Deathstrike and her new Reavers. Wolverine sets X-23 against Deathstrike, who wants revenge for her nearly killing Hellion, and seemingly kills her after crippling her cybernetic systems and her healing factor. Later, she traveled with X-Force to Eagle Plaza in Dallas and then to Muir Island, the Marauders' new base. During the heavy battle between the X-Men and the Marauders, X-23 saves Wolverine's life, killing Scrambler just before he scrambled Wolverine's healing factor.
X-Force
After the events of ''Messiah Complex'',
Cyclops decides to form a black ops incarnation of
X-Force that would be able to use any means necessary, including lethal force, to preemptively deal with the threats that would be too dangerous or unsavory for the X-Men to handle normally. X-23 is the first member to join the team as she is drafted by Cyclops due to her inherent tracking skills as well as assassination training. Wolverine is later approached to lead the team, and although he accepts, he becomes angry and disappointed to find out that Cyclops had drafted Laura without consulting him first, and that Laura had agreed to join an operation that would expose her to the same types of brutality and ruthlessness that he had been trying to remove her from in the first place.
Wolverine asks her to reconsider taking part in the operation, since he feels that she does not understand what she is giving up and stating that if she continues down this path she will not be Laura anymore, but X-23 once again. When Laura does not step down, Wolverine concedes "Fine. Your life."
The team's first mission has them investigating the theft of Bastion's cyborg head from a S.H.I.E.L.D. base. However, the mission is a failure and Matthew Risman, the leader of the Purifiers, escapes from what is left of the building ruthlessly blown up by X-23, holding Wolfsbane as his hostage.
When X-Force regroups later, Wolverine admonishes Laura for being so reckless with the lives of her teammates and for letting Rahne get kidnapped. Laura remorselessly replies to both accusations by coldly remarking "they survived" and "saving Wolfsbane was not my mission." When X-Force retrieves Elixir so that he can heal Wolfsbane, Laura is seen approaching Wolverine outside. Laura remarks that Rahne should have known better. Her comment made Wolverine angry and he admonishes her, telling her that Rahne is the person they should die for. This confuses Laura, and she is seen alone in the forest, mutilating herself with her claws. She then catches the scent of Elixir and Angel's blood respectively, and runs off to help them. She reaches the room just in time to see Wolfsbane standing above Warren with his wings in her jaws. Laura prepares to attack Wolfsbane, but remembers what Wolverine said to her earlier about Wolfsbane being the one they should die for, and instead allows Wolfsbane to slash her open.
X-23 stays by Elixir's side as they both watch Wolverine and Warpath attack Angel -who has turned into his archangel form- and witness Archangel wound Wolverine. Laura is then wounded by Archangel.
After the group manages to defeat (or rather delay) Bastion's evil plans, the X-Men attempt to understand what has happened to Wolfsbane and Angel, and also decide what to do with Elixir, who unfortunately knows too much about X-Force. X-23 believes the easiest thing to do would be to kill Josh, but she knows that would not be allowed. Instead, she goes behind everyone's back and contacts the Stepford Cuckoos, who are loyal to Cyclops and would keep X-Force's existence a secret. X-23 and Josh request that the Three-in-One erase Josh's memories of X-Force, thus allowing him to return home without being a risk to the team.
Around this time, a S.H.I.E.L.D. member known as Agent Morales begins looking into X-23's past when she comes across images of the Purifier massacre.
When the team is joined by Domino, X-23 also doesn't trust her, even having her claws out when Domino is in the same room with her.
When Vanisher comes to Angel's mansion, demanding to know what they have done to him, X-23 confronts him with the rest of the team. When Archangel says that clones "aren't real", X-23 doesn't appear to care. She takes part in retrieving the Legacy Virus that Vanisher left behind. X-23 also attacks the Marauders' clones that attack them, killing them with very little hesitation. X-23 then tells Elixir not to "hold back" against the Marauders' clones. When X-23 tries to kill herself due to becoming infected with the Legacy Virus, Elixir stops her and gets rid of the Legacy Virus.
Messiah War
X-23 later moves with the X-Men to San Francisco, where they are accepted as heroes by the mayor, having rejected the
Fifty State Initiative. X-23 was roomed with
Armor and
Pixie. Laura left behind a towel covered with blood, which the latter brought to
Emma Frost. Frost stated that it wasn't Laura's blood and later brought this matter to the
Cabal.
In ''Cable'' #15, X-23 is finally reunited with Kiden Nixon, who herself makes her first appearance outside the NYX series. Sadly this future version of Kiden is hooked up to several machines and is used as a generator in order to create a temporal anomaly that disrupts time travel technology, essentially trapping X-Force (which is lethal for them if they don't return within 33.5 hours), Cable and Hope in this era. While X-23 agonizes over killing Kiden or not (Kiden herself asks for death) the matter is taken out of her hands when Domino shoots and kills her.
X-23, Domino, and Proudstar are dispatched back in order to save Boom Boom, however both Domino and Proudstar fall ill due to the time travel. Feeling grateful for saving her friend and ending her suffering, X-23 disables the time travel devices on the other two and goes back in time in order to save Boom Boom herself.
Not forgotten
She arrives just in time to stop the
Leper Queen before she could kill Boom Boom out of spite for X-Force not killing her. X-23 then collapses in exhaustion.
H.A.M.M.E.R. agents then storm the building, giving medical care, while they take X-23 in for questioning. However it turns out the agents take her back to the Facility (for whom they are actually employed, as they are not really H.A.M.M.E.R. agents), much to the surprise of Agent Morales. There Laura is reunited with Kimura, who saws off her left arm. Agent Morales arrives and helps Laura to escape. Kimura is trapped under a blast door while Laura and Agent Morales find themselves in a room containing large tanks filled with the Trigger Scent. While inside the room, Laura cuts the claws out of her severed arm and gives them to Morales for safekeeping. She lights a Molotov cocktail of sorts which sets the sprinkler system off. The Facility soldiers finish cutting through to Laura just as Kimura realizes the sprinklers are spraying the Trigger Scent everywhere. X-23 goes feral and kills all the soldiers in her way. She gets to the Facility head's office just as the sprinklers start spraying water, washing away the scent. Kimura manages to club Laura from behind and then kills the Facility head, planning on framing Laura for it. Agent Morales arrives and sets Kimura on fire to distract her while she and Laura make her escape. Morales reveals she rigged the place to explode and they get out in time. The rest of X-Force arrives and takes Laura and her severed claws home, leading into the events of Necrosha.
It was revealed that she will be the subject of a one-shot comic called ''X-23'', which deals with her reuniting with her friends from the NYX series.
Second Coming
X-23 is shown to be part of Cyclops' "Alpha Roster" in the course of Second Coming event arc. Laura, along with the most of X-Force, accompany Cable and Cypher to the future in an attempt to shut down the Nimrod invasion. Following Cypher successfully over-riding the programming, Laura attempts to return through the temporal portal, only to sustain horrific injuries. The portal prevents any organic matter travelling through it. This leads Cable to sacrifice himself, allowing his techno-organic virus to overwhelm him, forcing the portal open and making it possible for the team to return to Utopia.
In the fall-out of the Second Coming, Wolverine cuts X-23 from the team, citing she's been following orders all her life, from the Facility, Weapon Plus and the X-Men. He tells her it's time she made her own choices and follow her own path.
X-23 (ongoing series)
''The Killing Dream''
X-23 begins having apocalyptic nightmares involving a demonic Wolverine asking her to be his "right hand in hell." Due to this, she sleeps outside as not to cause any alarm among her roommates. However, this causes the rift between her and her former teammates, who are now wary of her due to her having been a part of X-Force. The only ones who side with her are Dust and Hellion, the latter of whom she tells that she has missed causing Hellion to be pleasantly surprised as the two share a brief moment. However, Surge's antagonizing of Laura forces Cyclops to intervene. He then tells her to visit a halfway house in San Francisco for former mutants who are trying to live normal lives, however, as she steps into the building, she suddenly experiences a vision similar to her dreams with the building on fire and her surrounded by dismembered corpses.
A flashback opening the second chapter of "The Killing Dream" shows Wolverine and X-23 at a theme park. While they are preparing for the roller coaster to launch, Wolverine states he's adopting her as his daughter. When brought back to the present, the fire was implied to be started by the devil possessing Wolverine. He meets X-23 in the hospital and seemingly "kills" Hellion before diving into her mind. He tries to convince her to join him as his queen in Hell. X-23 finds her inner "light" and banishes him from her mind. She awakes to find that there is blood everywhere but she and Hellion are fine. She also notices a symbol on her hand (Marjorie Liu promises that the symbol will be a long mystery). The X-Men are perplexed about her situation and want her to stay so that they can "fix" her, but Gambit convinces them otherwise. X-23 silently visits Hellion's room (unaware that he knows she's there) before she leaves Utopia.
''Songs Of The Orphan Child''
X-23 begins her journey towards self discovery.
''Collision''
X-23 and Gambit arrive in Madripoor in pursuit of Malcolm Concord, a man that wants to revive the Weapon X program that created Wolverine.
''Touching Darkness''
X-23 and Gambit travel to Paris after the events of Collision, in pursuit of the person that has bought the Trigger Scent that sends her into a berserk rage, and the genetic DNA of X-23 and Daken. Gambit has discovered that X-23 still causes bodily harm to herself. His paternal instincts causes him to call Wolverine to Paris to help console X-23.
Wolverine arrives at X-23 and Gambit's hotel room, with Jubilee as company, which X-23 nearly attacks her because of the scent of a vampire on her. Wolverine and X-23 converse on top of the hotel roof about her mental state and gives her advice about filling her heart with better memories. Gambit questions Wolverine about why he never treated X-23 with the same compassion as Jubilee. Wolverine admits that he didn't make the right decisions with X-23 and is going to make attempts to rectify it for both X-23 and Jubilee.
X-23 and Jubilee are walking on the streets of Paris, and are harassed by a group of men. Jubilee manages to get the group to leave them alone. X-23 then slits her own neck, thereby arousing Jubilee's vampire instincts and attempts to gorge her fangs into her. Jubilee tastes X-23 blood with her tongue and witnesses the violent visions of X-23's memories. This causes Jubilee to fight her temptation and overcome the blood lust.
Jubilee questions X-23 if her offering her blood a twisted joke and attempts to hit her in anger, but the punch is stopped due to X-23's reflexes. Jubilee explains that despite being a predator, she wants to keep the remaining shards of her humanity intact. She decided to leave Utopia because the people she once considered friends are now afraid of her, to the point of wanting to kill her. X-23 empathizes with her due to the fact that she was born and raised to be a killer, and murder is the only way she knows she's alive. X-23 left because she couldn't just become someone new that easily, especially with the others watching and judging. Jubilee questions why X-23 offered her blood, and her reply was to see if Jubilee would give in to her predatory impulses, but there was a hidden agenda in her answer.
Gambit receives a call from a Paris criminal underworld contact about an arms auction in Paris that is selling a trigger scent. Later in the night, X-23, Gambit, Jubilee, and Wolverine infiltrate the weapons auction. They are unable to find the woman in charge of the auction. X-23 picks up a scent and runs towards an elevator, and shuts it before Jubilee can get in. A mysterious voice that X-23 recognizes and is a person on her kill list is speaking to her via intercom. The voice says to her that the scent has been upgraded and now anyone can be affected by it, but X-23 rages are special. X-23 becomes affected by the scent as the elevator arrives at a subway. Before X-23 starts a killing spree on the civilians, Jubilee crashes in on an attempt to subdue her, but to no avail as X-23 attempts to kill her. Jubilee pushes X-23 onto the train tracks just as a subway car is coming towards both of them at full speed.
Jubilee at the last seconds leaps and tackles X-23 from the speeding train. X-23's leg was ran over, but she bends in back in position and attempts to continue her assault on Jubilee. Gambit and Wolverine intervene to calm X-23's rage. Wolverine takes the full impact of her blows stating that he is not going to give up on her. Gambit manages to get X-23 to remember who really cares about her. X-23's rage disappears and she apologizes to the group.
''Chaos Theory''
While having a dream of a mysterious symbol, X-23 woke up in a cab as she and Gambit are in New York. The two later met with Cecilia Reyes, as Gambit was bleeding from his groin, and left him in Cecilia's care while X-23 went in search for Alex Cimini for information. As she found him in a lab on a University Physics Department, she instead left him alone and left, while unknown to her a bright light appeared in the lab Alex is in. While walking on the street, X-23 saw the same symbol from her dream in the sky and on a man as a building near her collapsed. As X-23 was helping an elderly woman from a few stores floor, Spider-Man appeared and help brought them down, but the two later saw the symbol appearing in the sky as both X-23 and Spider-Man realise they have been dreaming the same symbol. After the two helped save civilians from the collapsed building, X-23 and Spider-Man were approched by Reed Richards, Susan Storm and Ben Grimm.
Powers and abilities
X-23 is a female clone created from
Wolverine's genetic material. Consequently, her mutant powers are similar to his. Like Wolverine, X-23's primary mutant ability is an accelerated healing factor that allows her to regenerate damaged or destroyed tissues with far greater speed and efficiency than an ordinary human. Injuries such as gunshot wounds, slashes, and puncture wounds completely heal within a matter of minutes. Her healing factor is developed to such a degree that she can reattach severed limbs. She has also been shown to be able to regrow limbs; for example, she regrew her arm in time after Kimura had severed it from her body. She severs her own hand to escape the restraints placed on her by
Kimura. The effects of her accelerated healing powers extend to her body's
immune system, rendering her immune to disease and infection. She is also immune to most drugs and toxins, although she can be affected by certain drugs if given sufficient dosage.
X-23's mutant healing factor heightened her physical senses, strength, stamina, agility, and reflexes to superhuman levels. Like Wolverine, X-23 possesses retractable claws sheathed within her forearms. She releases the claws through the tissue of her knuckles, leaving small wounds which are healed by her healing factor. Unlike Wolverine, however, X-23 has only two claws that emerge from her fists. She possesses a single, retractable claw housed within each foot. These claws are actually made of bone and were forcefully extracted by Zander Rice, sharpened, coated with adamantium, and reinserted into her body. Also unlike Wolverine, X-23 escaped before the procedure to fuse her entire skeleton with adamantium could be performed. X-23 is a highly trained and skilled combatant; she is able to kill dozens of heavily armed opponents during a single encounter.
X-23's mother, Dr. Sarah Kinney, did her best to ensure the child retained some semblance of humanity, but her efforts appeared to be in vain. X-23 rarely spoke, or expressed much interest in her mother, who was forced to reject any emotional advance the girl might make, such as laying her head in her mother's lap, because of the Facility. Despite the upbringing X-23 received, she has always shown signs of humanity. In one particular mission when X-23 was assigned to assassinate Martin Sutter and his family, she killed Sutter and his wife without hesitation, but she spared their young son, Henry. She became a student at the Xavier Institute, found friends in Dust and Mercury, and developed apparent romantic feelings towards Hellion. Being a central part of a team helped her adjust to the world. However, she still retains the cold, no-nonsense attitude that was evident in the ''Mercury Falling'' arc which, along with the ''Children of X-Men'' arc, showed that Laura also has trouble comprehending and expressing the many new emotions she has been experiencing for the very first time.
Relationships
In ''X-23: Target X'', she had a close friendship with her cousin, Megan, and received a locket from her, containing her mother's
passport picture and a picture of Megan, which X-23 wears throughout the ''New X-Men'' run.
During the events of ''NYX'', X-23 befriends a number of mutant runaways. By the first time she comes to live at the Xavier Institute, she has regressed to sullen silence and snarls, which are a ploy to keep people away for their own safety. She has developed bonds with roommates Kitty Pryde and Rachel Summers, and has formed a solid bond with Psylocke, due to their mutual love of battle.
X-23 has found common ground with the cosmic being known as Captain Universe who, like X-23, has been hunted relentlessly by terrorists who wish to use his power for their own selfish ends. Although their meeting was brief, the two formed an intimate and intricate bond that is common amongst most Uni-Power recipients.
When she returns to the school, X-23 is met with much apprehension from headmistress Emma Frost. Emma does, however, come to appreciate her as a valuable member of the New X-Men team. The other students become more receptive of her, especially following her major role in countering Stryker's attack. Subsequently, she bonds with her teammates; she and Sooraya develop a mutual respect for each other. She is also good friends with Mercury, whom she saved on two different occasions. Cessily is one of the first people to instantly show respect to her and she treats her with kindness, especially chiding Santo for calling her clone and says firmly her name is Laura. She also ran after Laura after Nori kissed Julian and she hugged her tightly. Laura was even willing to sacrifice her life to protect her and Julian.
The first time Laura and Julian meet each other, Julian is harsh to her, mostly due to the fact that his ex-girlfriend Sophia stopped talking to him because of an underhanded remark he made about depowered individuals being useless. Hellion takes out his pent up frustration out on her while Laura, completely silent, takes an instant fascination to him. This is shown when in the Danger Cave, Julian gets attacked by dinosaurs and she constantly saves him. However, he treats her like a dog and tells her to shoo. When Hellion gets injured while checking the bus that exploded, he subsequently appears at the funeral where Laura is shown to be watching him walk by.
During the New X-Men's battle with Nimrod in Texas, Laura helped Surge and Mercury deliver the finishing blow by jumping directly on the android and slicing open its armor. Though the attack is successful, Laura ends up taking the full brunt of Nimrod's energy attacks which incinerated her body past the limits of her healing abilities. With the team crippled and seriously wounded, Julian compels Emma to unlock the mental block that controls his powers so that he can fly X-23 back to the mansion at hypersonic speeds. Hellion manages to bring Laura to the mansion in the nick of time, but the strain of his uncontrolled powers and the previous battle causes him to pass out and fall asleep for a few days. Laura stood over Julian for a long time, just watching him but when he said "Sophia" in his sleep, she was visibly upset and left the room. She even watches over him when he does his training with Beast, causing Emma Frost to reveal that she had been following Hellion around. Cessily eventually overhears and asks about her liking Julian, but Laura merely responds "I do not wish to talk about this," smiling a little.
When Cessily is captured, Laura gets ready to go after her, until Hellion walks in and demands to go with her. She refuses, mostly out of concern for his safety, but he forces her to take him by flying them both. This caused her to blush a little. When she kills a man in front of him, he freaks out and tells her to stop killing. This upsets her greatly. Also twice in this arc, Julian is referred to as "your boyfriend."
During the Quest for Magik, Nori and Julian end up having a talk about what happened, and Hellion states that X-23 is seriously "messed up."
In the ''Children of X-Men'' arc, Surge unexpectedly kisses Julian in front of the whole school to upset Prodigy enough so he'd leave the institute. When Laura sees this, she simply unsheathes her claws and appears to storm off. Cessily later finds a bloodied Laura sitting against the wall of a bathroom she had just completely demolished. Laura tells her that she doesn't understand all these emotions she has been feeling and is afraid she might hurt someone. Meanwhile, Julian admits to Dust that he's confused about romance and "he can't stop thinking about a girl that literally scares him."
In the ''Messiah Complex'' event, Julian is seriously wounded by Lady Deathstrike. When Laura fights and apparently kills Deathstrike later, she says that Deathstrike was "dead the moment she touched Julian Keller."
During ''X-Force'' Wolverine regrets giving out the names of the captives, noting that among them is Julian at which he notes: "I could smell it on her. Her whole body lit up when I said Keller's name." She also says before passing out "Have..to get..to Julian."
Also, during ''Second Coming'' when Julian is critically injured, she can be seen visiting him with sadness in her face before going on X-Force's assumed suicide mission.
When Laura met the X-Kids after ''Second Coming'', Surge was relentlessly bullying her about her involvement in X-Force. Hellion states that he was happy to see her, as it was different when she wasn't getting him in trouble. He was going to say something when out of the blue, Laura says that she had missed him. This shocks Julian, who says that she has never said that to him before. "You know I am not good with words."
After Hellverine reveals himself to Laura, she attacks him but Julian walks in at the same time, thinking Laura has gone crazy and restrains her with TK. She tells him he's making a mistake but he says he's doing this because she's his best friend. When Hellverine stabs Hellion, Laura offers her soul in exchange for reviving Hellion.
In hell, Hellverine taunts her, saying that they're all scared of her, and "are they still worth it?" He points out Julian, whom she knows to herself that he is worth saving. This turns out to be all in her mind but it visibly has an effect on her and causes her to want to leave the X-Men. Before she leaves, she tries to say goodbye to Hellion but thinking he is asleep, she just stares at him and walks away. Unknown to her, he was never asleep.
Laura has also developed a somewhat antagonistic relationship with Jubilee. This seems to stem from the latter's amicable relationship with Wolverine, who both girls see as a father figure. While meeting up in Paris with both girls in tow, Gambit tells Wolverine not to pretend that "it doesn't make it hard for her when she sees the difference in how [he] treat Jubilee."
Other versions
X-Men: The End
In the future presented in the ''
X-Men: The End'' series of books, X-23 is an adult, and a prominent member of the X-Men and the
X.S.E. X-23,
M, and
Iceman are sent to
Hong Kong to locate and capture the renegade X.S.E. member,
Sage. However, Sage uses her considerable espionage skills to ambush X-23, attaching a mysterious collar to her neck that temporarily overwhelms X-23. Sage removes the collar and attempts to flee just as Iceman arrives and freezes her in ice, allowing the group to safely take her into custody.
X-23, Marvel Girl, M, and Wolverine are sent by Cyclops to locate the whereabouts of Mister Sinister, Gambit, and the missing Summers and LeBeau children. The group finds Sinister's hidden base but are immediately immobilized by an attack from the Ladies Mastermind. The team members live out fantasy existences until Wolverine breaks them free of the mind control. Charging deeper into the base, the group fights against Sinister's marauders to save the children. Later, X-23 and the X-Men travel to Shi'ar space, and a massive battle ensues. She is one of the very few X-Men who survive and is seen attending to Kitty Pryde's speech at the end of the story (see ''X-Men: The End'').
In this reality, it is shown that she is in love with Fantomex, and it is revealed during an illusion caused by the Ladies Mastermind, that her dream is for them to be with married as a normal suburban couple with a daughter.
Age of Apocalypse
In the 2005 miniseries ''
X-Men: Age of Apocalypse'', a version of X-23 was revealed to exist in the
Age of Apocalypse, going by the name
Kirika. She was found in one of
Mister Sinister's labs after it was liberated by
Magneto. At the end of the miniseries, it was revealed that she was the daughter of
Weapon X (Wolverine) and
Mariko Yashida. Unlike her
Earth-616 counterpart, she has three claws on her hands; the metal was grafted on by Magneto, and he did so on her request.
Marvel Team-Up: League of Losers
X-23 features in an arc of
Robert Kirkman's ''
Marvel Team-Up'' (vol. 3), featuring a group of C-list heroes dubbed "The League of Losers". A group of heroes including X-23,
Darkhawk,
Dagger,
Araña,
Gravity,
Sleepwalker,
Speedball, and
Terror (although Araña dies along the way) go to the future to prevent the villain Chronok from stealing
Reed Richards' time machine; Chronok came to the present after already having killed all of Marvel's major heroes.
It's revealed Chronok is from the same time period as Kirkman's Mutant 2099; the group stays with him and his mentor Reed Richards to wait for Chronok, and during this time X-23 sparks a relationship with Gravity. They defeat Chronok, but at the end of the story, Richards reveals they cannot go back to their present, due to time travel and alternate timelines. The group decides to stay in the future, satisfied with the impact they made, however unnoticed. Mutant 2099 suggests reforming the Avengers or the "Fantastic Nine".
Due to the Marvel Universe's method for resolving time travel paradoxes, this story occurred in an alternate universe.
In other media
Television
X-23 first appeared in ''X-Men: Evolution'' episode number 41 (titled "X-23"), where she was voiced by Andrea Libman in Episode "X23" and by Brittney Irvin in Episode "Target X". Wolverine discovered through S.H.I.E.L.D. that Dr. Deborah Risman, working for HYDRA, had created a female clone of him. The clone possessed two retractable claws in each hand (instead of three like Wolverine) and one similarly retractable claw in each foot (something Wolverine lacks). The clone was identified only by the codename X-23 - the first success after 22 failures. Denied the life of a normal child, X-23 was lonely and violent. She had almost no companions and had been under observation her entire life. She had to spend most of her time training to hone her skills. When she was 12, her entire skeleton was infused with adamantium.Upon learning about her genetic origins and raiding a S.H.I.E.L.D. facility to get information about his whereabouts, X-23 angrily decided to get revenge on Wolverine, whom she held responsible for her creation. She invaded the X-Mansion and handily defeated the other X-Men and New Mutants inside. When Wolverine confronted her, he calmed her by pointing out that he knew what she was going through, and instead of turning her over to S.H.I.E.L.D. like Nick Fury wanted, he let her go.Later, Wolverine would encounter X-23 again, on the run from Hydra's agents as well as S.H.I.E.L.D. She allowed herself and Wolverine to be captured, with the intention of using this as a way into Hydra's mobile HQ. She succeeded in destroying the craft, apparently perishing in the act, but Wolverine catches a scent, a hint to him that she was still alive. In the final episode of ''X-Men: Evolution'', X-23 was briefly shown as a future member of the X-Men in a vision of Professor Xavier.
X-23 appears in the Season 1 episode "Stolen Lives" of ''Wolverine and the X-Men''. She wanted to fight Wolverine, but Professor Thornton tells her that she will fight Wolverine another time as they escape. She also appears in the Episodes 25-26 in the future as four cloned girls, fighting alongside Wolverine to help Professor X against the Sentinels. Wolverine apparently found them frozen in a Weapon X facility. While in "Stolen Lives", X-23 doesn't speak, in the later episodes she is voiced by Tara Strong.
X-23 was briefly mentioned in ''The Super Hero Squad Show'' episode, "Double Negation at the World's End!". She later made a non-speaking appearance in the episode "Too Many Wolverines!"
Film
In ''Hulk vs. Wolverine'', X-23 appeared as a baby in cameo among hundreds of clones in the Weapon X research facility, who Deadpool wanted to kill for fun. This film is later linked to the television series ''Wolverine and the X-Men'', through both a second battle between Wolverine and the Hulk which references this film, as well as the eventual appearance of X-23.
Video games
X-23 appears in the Game Boy Advance version of ''X-Men: The Official Game'' as a boss. She appears in the Alkali Lake facility and runs into the X-Men in the same room in which Wolverine & Lady Deathstrike dueled in X2. This version of X-23 has no memory of her past and is there trying to remember who she is. She mistakes the X-Men's intentions of trying to help as trying to kidnap her. After she is defeated, Wolverine declares that X-23 will be fine on her own, and they part ways friendly. It is unknown if this version of X-23 has just her claws imbued with adamantium, or changed to have her entire skeleton laced similar to Lady Deathstrike.
X-23 appears in the crossover fighting game ''Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds'' as a playable character. Tara Strong reprises her role.
Popular culture references
X-23 is referenced in the
Mc chris song "Nrrrd Grrrl": "X-23 and Hellion, odd couple, to be kind"
Collected Edtions
''X-23: Target X'' (X-23: Target X #1-6)
''X-23: Innocence Lost'' (X-23 Vol. 1 #1-6)
''X-23'' Vol. 1: The Killing Dream (X-23 Vol. 3 #1-7)
''X-23/ Daken: Collision'' (X-23 Vol. 3 #8-9, Daken: Dark Wolverine #8-9)
''X-23'' Vol. 2 (X-23 Vol. 3 #10-16)
References
External links
X-23 at Marvel.com
Category:Comics characters introduced in 2003
Category:Fictional assassins
Category:Marvel Comics characters who can move at superhuman speeds
Category:Marvel Comics characters with accelerated healing
Category:Fictional clones
Category:Fictional prostitutes
Category:Fictional murderers
Category:Fictional orphans
Category:Marvel Comics martial artists
Category:Marvel Comics mutants
Category:Marvel Comics superheroes
Category:X-Men: Evolution characters
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