Villain Profile: Daken

The sins of the father are to be laid upon the child, an old saying, and one that Akihiro Logan embraces with a passion. I’ve mentioned him a few times by his alias, Daken. Honestly not sure if it’s pronounced Daken or Dah-ken, dealer’s choice I guess. Logan’s son has all of his father’s rage, but none of Logan’s qualms about killing. Part of that is nurture, but I wonder how much is nature? Something to ponder if nothing else. Well, let’s get on with it.

I'm sure they'll hug it out.

In 1946 Wolverine’s life was relatively happy. He was married to a nice woman named Itsu, they were expecting a baby, and for once nobody was trying to kill him. This all changed when, you guessed it, someone decided to try and kill him. The Winter Soldier was contracted by a fella named Romulas to kill Wolverine’s wife. Okay, so it wasn't to kill him, but it was to kill someone close to him to make him miserable. It's pretty much the same thing. Winter Soldier does what he does best and puts an end to Wolverine’s happiness. A short time later a mysterious man, later revealed to be Romulas, cut the baby from Itsu’s corpse. Apparently the healing powers that Wolverine always seems to pass on to his kids kept the baby alive despite it being at least several weeks before its due date. Aren't healing powers grand?

The baby is left on the doorstep of a wealthy Japanese couple named Akihira and Natsumi. Akihira took a shine to the boy and named him Akihiro. The servants, neighbors, and Natsumi were less happy with the boy, and got into the habit of calling him Daken, which means Mongrel in Japanese. An obvious slur against the obviously mixed race boy. Harassment by the other children of the province, his adopted mother’s disdain and the cold servants helped foster a cold and bitter hatred in the young man. He detested them all, save his father. A few years later Natsumi tells her husband how much she detests Akihiro, and that she was pregnant with a child of their own. Akihiro hears this, and responds…poorly. And if you've seen how many times I've made the sarcastic "responds" joke, you'll understand how poorly I mean.

A master assassin with beast powers vs.
a master assassin that copies fighting styles
This could take a while...

About a year later he renounced his name in favor of Daken, kills the new addition, “accidentally” skewers his mother on his newly unsheathed claws, and watches while his father commits suicide. With his father died any sense of decency that Daken had. Romulas later appears and offers to train the boy.

Years later he confronts Wolverine for the first time. Wolverine was under SHIELD custody at the time. Daken finds his father bound to a steel table, unable to defend himself. Daken takes this to his advantage and slashed his father across the stomach before cutting him down, leaving him bleeding on the floor like Itsu was left decades before. Romulas had told Daken that it was Wolverine that had killed his mother, so obviously Daken had a pretty serious hard spot where his father was concerned.

He tails Wolverine for a time after that, taunting his father, torturing him, and generally making his life miserable. That is until it is revealed that Romulas was the one that orchestrated Itsu's death as part of an elaborate scheme involving both Logans. Wolverine and Daken teamed up to stop the monster, but that was honestly the last good thing Daken did. He has since turned into the Sabertooth to Laura Kinney’s Wolverine. He has no real disdain for his sister(?)/aunt(?), he hunts and fights her because he thinks it’s fun. Think The Most Dangerous Game by Richard Connell, but instead of a human hunting another human it’s more like if a Dire-Wolf decided to hunt a puma. In the end he is a predator, as vicious as his father without anything stopping him from indulging in killing.

See the family resemblance?

Daken has the same powers as Wolverine and X-23. Healing factor that keeps him young and strong despite the fact he’s well into his sixties. He heals from most damage almost instantly. Animalistic senses that let him see farther and his hearing more sensitive. Like Laura he has a different claw set up than Wolverine. He has two claws between his knuckles, plus a third that comes from his beneath his wrist. His claws also are naturally ferrous, heavy in metals, which makes them stronger than Wolverine’s pre-adamantium claws, but weaker than the adamantium coated version. He is a master hand to hand, and hand to claw, combatant with years of training as an assassin. What is with Wolverine’s kids being turned into assassins?

One power that seems unique to Daken is an ability to manipulate pheromones. He can use this power to repress his own scent, or to manipulate the emotions of others. With a slight thought he can release pheromones that fill someone with a psychotic rage, or an insatiable lust. Pretty awful power for a sociopath to have, just saying.

For once, this character hasn’t really been in anything outside the comic universe. Granted, he was only created seven years ago, but then again Laura Kinney was created ten years ago and she keeps popping up in things.

Part of this might be due to some peoples discomfort on Daken’s sexuality. He is bisexual in the sense that he has slept with men and women. But, to say he’s attracted to either is inaccurate. Marjorie M. Liu, a chief writer for Daken’s various storylines, describes him as a man that uses sex to further his own ends. In the end, it doesn’t matter if it’s a man or a woman, what matters is that Daken can manipulate someone and give himself power over that person. He’s a predator in more ways than one.

Or it could be just because no one wants to cover a story that makes Wolverine look like a less than adequate dad. I'm just speculating.

 

The Logan family, if things were simpler.

I’ve mentioned that I’d like to see Daken to appear in a Wolverine movie at some point in the future. It feels like the natural conclusion to Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine, to battle his distorted, broken mirror. I have no idea who could play him, so surprise me Hollywood.

Wolverine and Daken’s relationship is a truly sad one. I don’t know how much Wolverine remembers about his time with Itsu, but even if it is just a single day of the joy he must have felt in the time leading up to her death it would be almost unbearably horrible to see how twisted their son has become. Wolverine has tried on a number of occasions to reach out to Daken and help him let go of his hate but it’s like asking a wolf not to bite. I imagine Thanksgiving at the Logan household would just about always end in a brawl after three hours of uncomfortable silence which had only been broken by Daken making a pass at Jubilee. Makes just about anyone else’s holiday sound a million times better, doesn’t it?

Daken is an interesting character. He is Wolverine without any restraint, a moral compass, or mercy. He is a perfect predator, willing to do anything and everything to further his goals. He’s not above using his pheromone control powers on anyone, and I mean anyone, so long as it gives him the advantage in the long run. The sad thing is that even now, after many in universe years, he really is just an angry child lashing out at the world. He mourns the mother he never had by causing pain to anyone and everyone he sees. It’s sad really. Next time, Ocean Master, Aquaman's "I'm-sure-he's-not-compencating-for-something" brother.

 http://www.comicvine.com/images/1300-632292

 http://www.comicvine.com/forums/battles-7/taskmaster-and-daken-vs-deathstroke-and-constantin-689199/

 http://www.comicvine.com/forums/battles-7/wolverine-family-vs-spiderman-villains-1601168/

 http://www.webstoodstupid.com/altogethernow-aaaaawmackenzie-honeybee-draws-comic-book-babies/