Born not with a name but a designation, X-23 was raised in a facility to become nothing more than a weapon. With the help of her mother, Laura was finally given a name and a chance at a real life. Finding her way to the X-Men and Logan, the man known as the Wolverine, Laura found a home.
After the death of Logan, Laura took on his mantle and became Wolverine, finding sisters of her own. The youngest, Gabby, came to live with Laura. Gabby and Laura lived together and became closer to their brother Akihiro. Laura has been both thrust into the role of mentor and sister, finding the family she lacked for most of her life.
The somewhat rare instance of a character appearing first in a cartoon series, Laura was created by writer Craig Kyle and debuted in an episode of X-Men Evolution in 2003. She made her comic debut in the mini-series NYX in 2004… Honestly, the less said about that, the better.
While having the same base powerset of claws, healing factor, and enhanced senses as her father, Laura has a few key differences. Her arms store 2 claws instead of 3. A singular claw can be found within each of her feet, much to Taskmaster’s chagrin.
Unlike Logan, who has adamantium coating across all of his bones, Laura only has adamantium coating on her claws. This allows her to be lighter, faster, and have a healing factor that can spend less time dealing with adamantium poisoning.
She’s appeared on many teams as both an X-Man and as part of Avenger’s Academy. Most recently, she was elected to Krakoa’s first team of X-Men.
In a medium where characters tend to get caught in never-ending cycles of perpetuity, Laura is the rare instance of a major comic character who has been allowed to experience lasting character growth.
She has been able to come to terms with the trauma of her life without letting it define her. She is also not bogged down in the years of backstory retcons and genre tropes that have been heaped on Logan.
While she is just as, if not more capable then Logan, using a fighting style of precision and speed over the brutality of her father, she also does not feel tied down into the idea of needing to be alone. She has grown and has a network of family and friends to support her.
