Hero Profile: X-23

Wolverine 2.0, all the same rage in a new package.

It’s tough living up to the legacy of one’s parents, but for Laura Kinney, it’s prove to be a living hell. Though, given her background it’s hard to imagine it being anything else. Before continuing I’d like to point out that X-23 is, to my knowledge, one of only a handful of characters made for a television adaptation of a comic series that was later added to the comic canon. The only other one that comes to mind is the Joker’s abused sidekick/girlfriend Harley Quinn. Now that that’s out of the way, on with the show.

After Wolverine’s bloody escape from the Weapon X program, the directors had a problem. On the one hand, Logan proved to be the perfect living weapon, but how could one control such a raging monster after being made virtually indestructible? A doctor by the name of Martin Sutter thought he’d come up with a brilliant solution, clone Wolverine, raise it and shape it to become the perfect killing machine. He hired a renowned mutant geneticist by the name of Sarah Kinney to do just that.

From the start the project had a major setback, that the only viable genetic sample of Wolverine they had was damaged. The X chromosome was okay, but the Y was unsalvageable. Kinney came up with the creative solution of replicating the X chromosome, so instead of a true clone of Logan they’d have his twin sister. Dr. Sutter and his top man Dr. Zander Rice both said no. To this Dr. Kinney secretly said, “Screw you guys, I’m doing it anyway.” After twenty two failed attempts she finally created a viable sample. Sutter was annoyed but intrigued by Kinney’s now useable idea, Rice was just infuriated. To get back at her for going against their orders, Rice forces Kinney to act as the surrogate mother for the new weapon. Which couldn’t possibly backfire, since as we all know, no woman ever grows attached to the humans they grow. It's why surrogate mother's never have an issue giving up the baby they carry for other people. Oh, the sarcasm of that one actually hurt. So yeah, stupid plan, but they did it anyway.

Really like this original design. The black leather is cool
and unlike a lot of women's costumes, it doesn't leave
her stomach or clevage exposed. Who knew making her
under 18 would have that benefit?

X-23 was born, and for a while things were okay. She was trained to be an assassin virtually from the cradle, but Dr. Kinney did her best to ensure her greatest creation still had a sense of humanity. She read to X-23, and treated her more like a daughter than an experiment. When X-23 turned seven, it hit the fan. That day, Rice, whom had a bitter hatred for Weapon X and took it out on the closest thing to Logan he had, took X-23 and repeatedly irradiated her to force her healing abilities to manifest. After that bit of child abuse proved fruitful, he forcibly removed the claws that also popped out, coated them in adamantium, and then reinserted them into her body. Oh, and this was all done without anesthetic. Worst birthday ever! Rice also created a “trigger scent,” an artificial chemical that would set X-23 into a murderous rage until it faded.

From then on, X-23 was used as a hired assassin. And like her dear old “dad,” she proved to be the best at what she does. She only failed to be extracted once, and that was because Rice intentionally left early, hoping she'd die. She didn't, though, and returned to base several days later.  Years later, Dr. Kinney’s niece, Megan, was kidnapped by a serial killer. Kinney smuggled X-23 out of the facility and used her to free Megan. Kinney was fired after this, and Rice then goes a little power mad. He forces X-23 to murder Dr. Sutter and his family, so Rice could take over the project. X-23 tells Kinney what she was forced to do as the good Doctor finished packing her things. This was kind of a double whammy, one, to hear how X-23 so brutally killed someone she knew, and two, because X-23 revealed that Sutter's son survived, thus reinforcing Kinney's belief that there was good in her creation. Deciding to just reveal everything, as crazy doctors are prone to do, Rice revealed to Kinney that he had clones of X-23 (labeled X-24-50) in incubation pods and planned on mass producing many more.  Kinney writes up a letter for X-23, and orders her to kill Rice and destroy the pods.

Being X-23, the destruction parts of the plan go well. Unfortunately, Kinney was exposed to the trigger scent, so when reunited with X-23, the living-weapon goes berserk and mortally wounds Kinney. Kinney gives X-23 her letter (which also contained a picture of Xavier, Wolverine and the Xavier Institute), her real name, Laura, and finally her love before dying.

Wolverine's son vs. his "daughter." This will only be
slightly less bloody than Deadpool vs Carnage.

Laura spent a little time with her “cousin” Megan and “Aunt” Debbie. Things go well until Laura finds out Debbie’s boyfriend worked for Rice and the Facility (the group that financed her creation), and was planning on forcing Laura to kill the other two women by using the trigger scent. Laura takes care of the problem. Permanently. Never threaten the people a Howlett (Logan's surname) loves. After that incident, she confronted Wolverine, whom she blames for her birth. She beats Wolverine using superior tactics and maneuverability, before giving him the “this is why I hate you” speech. Logan counters her by revealing Dr. Kinney sent him another letter explaining Laura's past, and that he very much wants to help her. Their heart to heart is interrupted by Captain America and SHIELD, who arrest Laura for the rather large list of deaths connected to her. Daredevil interrogates her, learns about her history and comes to the conclusion she’s a good person at heart. Captain America initially wants her to atone for her crimes, but decides to free her instead rather than let her be used by SHIELD. Laura eventually finds her way back to Wolverine and the X-men. My understanding is that she now goes by the code name Talon, but to me she'll always be X-23.

Whoo, that was a lot.

Her powers are virtually identical to Wolverine’s, but with a few variations. She only has two claws on her hands, but has an additional claw on her foot. She also only has adamantium on her claws, which while making her more vulnerable than Wolverine, makes her lighter and more maneuverable. She’s been trained as a master assassin nearly from birth. This combined with her animal senses and enhanced strength makes her a devastating hand to hand combatant. She also knows how to use a wide variety of firearms. Two more girls like her, and I don’t think, “You fight like a girl,” could ever be used as an insult again.

In case you're like me and wondered where the
toe claw came out of.

Laura’s initial appearance was in X-men: Evolution. Like most of the characters in this X-men themed show, she was younger than her later comic book incarnation. I don’t think they put a number on it, but she couldn’t have been more than 15. The main difference is that, the fact her “mother’s” name was Dr. Ristmen, HYDRA funded her creation and that she’s had adamantium laced through her entire skeleton like Wolverine. She appears in only two episodes, one where she takes out every X-man except Wolverine, and one where she attempts to destroy HYDRA for creating her. This version, for me at least, also seems to imply she’s more like Wolverine’s daughter than clone. Her coloring is a little too much like Dr. Ristmen and a little too unlike Wolverine’s to be a coincidence. But that’s just me, I’m probably way off on that.

She has a brief appearance in Wolverine and the X-men. Again, only appearing in two episodes. One where she was introduced and did nothing, and in the season finale where she and three other clones help destroy the Master Mold in the Sentinel controlled future. Four Wolverine clones, I shudder to think what the five of them could do.

Why is Laura awesome? Because she’s a badass. This isn’t a character that was created to be a female counterpart of Wolverine, or just a glorified piece of eye candy. Okay, she still a little too sexualized, but it's better than say Spider-woman. She’s a complete character who has received a lot of development despite only being about ten years old. It took Deadpool longer to get the same level of fame. She’s got the same emotional baggage of Wolverine, without the memory loss to protect her mind from the crueler aspects of her past. She’s doing her best to become something more than a living WMD, similar to Wolverine, but still unique to her. Given the imminent death of Wolverine, very soon she’ll be The Best at What She Does, no debate, no question. At least until Logan comes back. Next time, Captain Cold, the Flash’s Frozen Foe.

This can only end...some time. It'll probably be a while.

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X-23

 http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/5e/X23master.jpg

 http://marvel.wikia.com/X-23_Vol_3_9

 http://www.comicvine.com/x-23/4005-3560/forums/anyone-have-scan-of-her-bare-foot-1482923/

 http://www.maactioncinema.com/?p=781