Milestones have to be acknowledged. In this case, there’s Wolverine. Since his first fight with the Hulk (his first appearance was at the end of The Incredible Hulk No. 180 and they fought in the next issue), Logan’s lived by his phrase. "I'm the best there is at what I do, and what I do isn't very nice."
Wolverine’s had hundreds of fights over his century-long existence in the Marvel Comics universe. He may lose some, but he always leaves his enemies regretting their encounter. Whether it’s due to arrogance, a need to defeat him, or other reasons, they keep coming after him. Even worse, new enemies seem to pop up every year. In comic books, this is the mark of a great character.
Logan is one of Marvel’s biggest money-makers. Because of this, writers have to make sure he’s challenged. If you’re a fan of the X-Men, you know that's happened more times than most. If not, here are his 20 greatest enemies, rivals, and more.
20. Wendigo
Real name: Varies
Wendigos are created when one human consumes another in the forests of Northern Canada. It’s a curse that’s plagued the Great White North for eons. The worst part is they’re nearly impossible to kill. Even if you’re Wolverine.
There are a lot of villains on this list, but this is one that Logan barely beats alone. He’s also a big part of Logan’s origin. He was part of his first fight with the Hulk in 1974.
19. Mr. X
Real name: Unknown
Mr. X wanted the title, "The best there is." To do that, he had to beat Wolverine. He accomplished that and then made a mistake. He made Logan so mad that his berker rage came out. In that state, Mr. X couldn’t predict his moves and lost. Later, Mr. X started fighting animals to counter that. Logan had a counter to that. He just didn’t fight him. Without a real battle, Mr. X was defeated and Wolverine never threw a punch.
Ultimately, Mr. X was more of an annoyance than anything, but he still beat Logan. That's an accomplishment.
18. Cyber
Real name: Silas Burr
Silas Burr was tormenting Logan before he was encased in adamantium. He was Logan’s superior in the military and had one job; to make the animal come out of Logan. A job he did well. Once he became Cyber, he was physically unbreakable. However, Apocalypse and Daken proved that even the unbreakable can be killed.
17. Deadpool
Real name: Wade Wilson
Wade and Logan are friends now, but that wasn't the case. Once upon a time, Deadpool was evil and attacking Wolverine’s friends (usually X-Force). That left Wolverine and Deadpool fighting whenever they saw each other. They were so evenly matched that their battles took forever and left puddles of blood when it was over.
The only reason Wade isn’t higher is that they’ve been friends almost as long as they’ve been enemies. Wade even helped Wolverine with his plan to take down Romulus (Wolverine Origins: Seven the Hard Way). Hopefully it stays this way. They make better friends than enemies.
16. The Logans
Real name: Thomas and (First name unrevealed) Logan
BIronically, before he was Logan, he was a sickly kid named James Howlett. Logan was the name of the first people to hurt him. Ironically, it's the name he kept.
His biological father (Thomas Logan) killed the man who was raising him. His former friend and biological brother, “Dog” Logan was complicit in it as well. During their assault on his family, James used his claws for the first time. First, to cut Dog's face and then to kill Thomas.
After James and Rose escape to another part of Canada, Dog comes for revenge. This results in James killing the first person he’s loved, Rose.
15. The Hand
Real name: Various members
Since Logan's first stint in Japan, the Hand has hated and feared him. He's slayed hundreds of their ninjas and made it look easy. Because of this, their feud will continue until one of them is dead. It may carry on into Hell.
They may have had a hand (pun intended) in killing and resurrecting Wolverine (more on that next), but they don’t pose an actual threat to Logan. No matter how many ninjas they throw at him, he always cuts through them like a hot knife through butter.
14. Hydra
Real name: Various members
The Hand successfully killed Wolverine (Wolverine: Enemy of the State). Unlike most villains, it stuck. The only reason he came back was because the Hand wanted him alive as a weapon of Hydra.
For months Logan was a threat to the world. It was so bad superheroes were instructed to go out in pairs. If they were caught alone, Wolverine killed them so the Hand could bring them back. If that isn’t a top-tier villain, what is?
13. Charles Xavier
Real name: Charles Xavier
Charles Xavier isn’t a good person. He’s known to use people to serve his needs. Sure, a debate can be made that it’s for the greater good, but that doesn’t make it right. Especially when one of the people has been manipulated before.
Xavier knew that Logan was being controlled and didn’t care. He needed a weapon and Wolverine walked through the door. Charles erased Logan's memory and said, "You will remember you are an X-Man. And that is the only thing that matters."
Xavier continued to use Wolverine and never considered telling him the truth. What’s worse is Charles kept treating him like a weapon. Nevertheless, Logan helps him anyway.
12. Cyclops
Real name: Scott Summers
Scott Summers and Wolverine have been rivals since day. Sometimes it’s about Jean Grey other times it’s about what’s right for the X-Men. It’s gotten so heated that the claws and the optic blasts come out. In the end, they always find a way to work it out. For now, they've found a way to be brothers again. But they'll they’ll be at each other’s throats again at some point. The Fall of X is going to change everything.
Is Cyclops Logan’s enemy? Of course not. Their rivalry is so intense that it must be added.
11. The Hulk
Real name: Robert Bruce Banner
The Hulk and Wolverine have had epic fights. You’d think that Hulk would have the advantage, but Logan holds his own. He’s usually smart enough to cut and move away. Unfortunately, that doesn’t always work. For example, in their first fight, Hulk hit Wolverine so hard that he said it was like he left his body (Wolverine Origins: Original Sin by Daniel Way). There was also World War Hulk X-Men when Hulk beat Logan punch-drunk.
Wolverine has beaten the Hulk before. One time it wasn't even close. In Savage Wolverine No. 5, Logan easily defeats Hulk by stabbing him in the top and side of his head.
10. Omega Red
Real name: Arkady Rossovich
Omega Red could be Logan’s toughest opponent. His carbonadium tentacles provide two issues for Wolverine. First, they’re long. Unless Logan has a projectile weapon, he has to get close to Arkady to hit him. Second, carbonadium’s radioactivity slows Logan’s healing factor (read Wolverine Origins: Savior for more on that). This is why Wolverine usually needs more than one person to beat him.
In Arkady's defense, Logan had or knew where the Carbonadium Synthesizer was. Without that, the carbonadium in Omega Red left him in constant pain. If that was any of us, we’d be furious too. However, it’s not as if Arkady stopped going after Logan when he got it.
9. Gorgon
Real name: Tomi Shishido
Gorgon (not the Inhuman) hit the mutant power lottery. His speed, strength, and agility are enhanced. He’s also a telepath and can turn people to stone just by looking at them. It’s one thing to have those powers. It’s another to use them properly. He did so in his first appearance when he killed Wolverine for The Hand and Hydra (Wolverine: Enemy of the State).
Wolverine barely defeated Gorgon the first time they fought (Wolverine: Agent of Shield). He won by using Gorgon’s powers against him. Just like Perseus in Greek lore, Wolverine used Gorgon’s powers against him. He popped his claws and the reflection turned his foe into stone.
Logan and Gorgon patched up their animosity during House of X No. 6. Before that happened, Gorgon wanted to kill Wolverine for dishonoring him. Their rivalry will continue if history is reset after the Fall of the House of X.
8. Mystique
Real name: Raven Darkhölme
Fun fact for you. Wolverine and Mystique dated for a while. Considering they're both around a century old, it shouldn't shock you. As with most people who were around those two, innocent people died working with them. Not shocking since they were both playing different angles.
Eventually, Cyclops orders Wolverine to kill her (Wolverine: Get Mystique). Instead of following through, he let her live. This becomes one of his biggest mistakes. Raven helps the Red Right Hand set him up to go to Hell (more on that group later). Later, during Wovlerine’s Revenge, Logan pays Mystique back by killing her. She’s later brought back to life by the Hand.
7. Magneto
Real name: Max Eisenhart, Erik Magnus Lehnsherr
No matter how many times they fought or how brutal it got, Magneto respected Logan. He knew that there was honor behind the rage and claws. That didn’t stop him from ripping the adamantium from Logan’s bones.
That moment that changed the course of Wolveirne’s life forever. The fight left him unsure of himself. That insecurity made him leave the X-Men. For that alone, Magneto makes the top ten. Not even Sabretooth has physically hurt Wolverine this bad.
6. The Red Right Hand
Real name: Various members
The Red Right Hand’s entire purpose was to make Wolverine suffer. Each of their members had one thing in common. Logan killed someone they loved. With revenge in their hearts and no regard for their souls, they sent Wolverine to Hell. Knowing he’d escape, they took things a step further. They set Logan up to kill the kids he didn’t know he had.
There's one funny thing about the Red Right hand. All of the people they were avenging were deplorable. Even when Logan was brainwashed, the people he killed (except the S.H.I.E.L.D.) deserved what they got. It was clear when they met their loved ones in Hell.
5. Daken
Real name: Akihiro
Akihiro was never given a chance at a normal life. He was born in blood and ripped out of his dead mother’s dead body by Romulus (more on him later). From that moment on, Daken was fed lies like Logan killed his mother and he never wanted him. Even after finding out it wasn’t true, Daken was too far gone. His hatred was so bad that he joined the Red Right Hand.
The fact it’s his son makes his actions harsher. It's good that they got a chance to reconcile and be a family during the Age of Krakoa.
4. Weapon X
Real name: Various members
This is where Wolverine was born. The monstrous scientists at Weapon X didn’t see Logan as human. He was an animal born to be experimented on. They bonded adamantium to his bones and continued to use him as a guinea pig.
Later, Weapon X reformed and made him a puppet again (Wolverine: The Return of Weapon X). They reactivated his implants and forced him to hunt and kill for them. What’s worst is, at some point, they’ll go after Logan again.
3. Lady Deathstrike
Real name: Yuriko Oyama
There are levels of hatred that some people shouldn’t pass. Not only did Yuriko Oyama pass them, but she burned the levels as she left.
Yuriko thought that Logan stole her father’s adamantium process (depending on the writer, this is partly true). With vengeance in her heart, she dedicated more than her life to killing Wolverine. She became more machine than human to fight her nemesis. It's a sad story, but there's also a lesson in letting things go.
2. Romulus
Real name: Romulus
Romulus was pulling Logan’s strings before he was born. He made certain that Logan was born into the right family and kept track of his life since he breathed air. There wasn’t a moment in Logan's life that wasn’t being influenced by Romulus. Even his thoughts were determined by Romulus’ conditioning. It was a horrid life that no one should have to suffer.
There are a lot of monsters on this list, but Romulus is among the worst. His entire existence has been about controlling people and using his operatives to do his dirty work. During Romulus' rule, he’s created monsters like Nuke and Sabretooth. He's not above outsourcing either. He enlisted Winter Soldier to kill Logan’s wife.
1. Sabretooth
Real name: Victor Creed
Everyone on this list fails in comparison to Victor Creed. Most of the people mentioned have a reason to hate Wolverine whether it's petty or not. There’s always something behind it. Sabretooth's reasoning is, at best, jealousy and insecurity.
Victor Creed physically and emotionally tortures Logan because it makes him happy. He enjoys seeing his adversary hurt. During Wolverine: Sabretooth War, he killed Akihiro and used his body parts to spell “Happy Birthday.” Why? Because Sabretooth feels the need to make Logan’s birthday more ruthless than any other day. Sadly, that’s not even the worst thing he’s done and that says a lot.