He is a mutant with animal-keen senses, enhanced physical capabilities, a powerful regenerative ability known as a healing factor, a skeleton reinforced with the unbreakable fictional metal adamantium, significantly delayed aging and a prolonged lifespan and three retractable claws in each hand.

The common depiction of Wolverine is multifaceted; he is portrayed at once as a gruff loner, susceptible to animalistic "berserker rages" despite his best efforts, while simultaneously being an incredibly knowledgeable and intelligent polyglot, strategist, and martial artist, partially due to his extended lifespan and expansive lived experiences.

[3] Wolverine then joined a revamped version of the superhero team the X-Men; writer Chris Claremont, artist Dave Cockrum and artist-writer John Byrne would play significant roles in the character's development.

The subsequent 1991 Weapon X storyline by Barry Windsor-Smith established that Wolverine had received the adamantium grafted to his skeleton in a torturous process conducted by a secret government project intended to create a super soldier, and that this experience led to post-traumatic amnesia.

Cockrum returned for a longer, monthly run and afterwards Paul Smith, John Romita Jr., Marc Silvestri and Jim Lee were frequent artists on this series.

He appeared in a second self-contained story taking place in the Savage Land written by Walter Simonson and illustrated by Mike Mignola the following year.

[36] In 1992, Hama revisited the Japanese setting and characters of Claremont's and Miller's earlier limited series, ending the story with the poisoning of Mariko Yashida and her mercy killing at the hands of Wolverine.

Among these stories was "Weapon X", by writer-artist Barry Windsor-Smith, serialized in Marvel Comics Presents #72–84 (1991), which was an essential depiction of Wolverine's past and the event of adamantium grafted to his skeleton.

Other writers who wrote for the Wolverine ongoing series include Peter David, Archie Goodwin, Erik Larsen, Frank Tieri, Greg Rucka, Mark Millar, and Gregg Hurwitz.

Another publication expanded upon the character's past: Origin, a six-issue limited series by co-writers Joe Quesada, Paul Jenkins, and Bill Jemas and artist Andy Kubert (Nov. 2001 – July 2002).

In the X-Force: Sex and Violence miniseries, written by Craig Kyle and Christopher Yost and illustrated by Gabriele Dell'Otto, he begins a romantic relationship with Domino.

[66] Wolverine leads a new version of X-Force in a series written by Benjamin Percy, which now includes Domino, Beast, Black Tom Cassidy, Jean Grey, Quentin Quire, and Sage.

James and Heather Hudson help him recover his humanity following his escape, and Logan begins work as an intelligence operative for the Canadian government's Department H. He becomes Wolverine, one of Canada's first superheroes.

[82] After the Canadian government fails to capture Hulk, Wolverine is forced to team-up with Living Diamond to infiltrate Brand Corporation, where they are briefly caught by Mesmero and a mysterious masked mutant named Wildlife.

[116] The "Wolverines" (a team formed from the fallout of his death by Daken, Lady Deathstrike, Mystique, Sabretooth, and X-23) try to find Logan's adamantium-covered body, which is taken by Mister Sinister.

[123] Wolverine, along with the rest of the X-Men who perished in the attack on the Mother Mold space station, are then resurrected in the Arbor Magus' hatchery on the Pacific island of Krakoa using a new 48 hour cloning process.

[134] Though he loathes it, he acknowledges that it has saved his life many times, it being most notably useful when he faced the telepathic "Mister X", as X's ability to read his mind and predict his next move in a fight was useless as not even Wolverine knows what he will do next in his berserk state.

J. Andrew Deman points out that while Wolverine is commonly associated with hypermasculinity, at least in Claremont's characterization he also "consistently demonstrates an emotional intelligence and sense of empathy," to an extraordinary degree.

[160] Depictions of the speed and extent of injury to which Wolverine can heal vary due to a broad degree of artistic license employed by various comic book writers.

[177] He has said that he is not particularly fond of being in the water, due partially to the weight of his adamantium laced skeleton, and that he can die if held underwater long enough - his healing factor would only prolong the agony.

[184] Wolverine's mutation also includes animal-like adaptations to his body - his superhuman senses; pronounced, sharp, fang-like canines; and three retractable claws housed within each forearm.

[193] On another occasion, his acute sense of smell even allows him to detect the presence of X-23 sneaking around the outside grounds of Xavier Institute, by way of the wind shifting - despite him being indoors.

[240] Nnedi Okorafor, a Nigerian American science-fiction author, also writes that Wolverine was a therapeutic role model for her during her experience of paralysis following surgical treatment of scoliosis.

[250] Writing for Bleeding Cool, comics writer and columnist Rich Johnston described Wolverine as a "gay icon amongst many",[251] arguing that this was the case before Hugh Jackman first played the character in the live-action film series.

He also intended to do the same to Jean Grey, by turning her into the Horseman of Death, but his efforts were prevented by the Uncanny X-Force from the Main Reality, who had traveled to the Age of Apocalypse seeking a celestial life seed.

[279] In the alternate reality Days of Future Past the X-Men fail to prevent the assassination of Senator Robert Kelly, which results in Sentinels ruling the United States of America by 2013 AD.

[284] In the "Here Comes Tomorrow" story arc, set 150 years in an alternative future, Wolverine is still alive and part of group fighting against a version of Beast possessed by Sublime.

[297] Old Man Logan is an alternative character depicted in an eight-issue story arc in the Wolverine ongoing series by writer Mark Millar and artist Steve McNiven.

While he was bitter towards King Thor for disrupting the natural order of things, they are both confronted by Doctor Doom who is further empowered by the Starbrand, the "iron fist" move, as he plans to conquer Earth.

Australian actor Hugh Jackman played Wolverine in the X-Men films and until December 2021 shared the Guinness World Record of the "longest career as a live-action Marvel superhero" with Patrick Stewart.