X-23

Origin

X-23 was the twenty-third attempt to clone the original Weapon X in female form. She was created by Dr. Sarah Kinney and molded into the ultimate killing machine by a mysterious organization known only as ' The Facility'.

Creation

X-23 was created by Craig Kyle and Christopher Yost for the X-Men: Evolution animated series. She made her first appearance in the eleventh episode of the third season, and was introduced as a more youthful version of Wolverine. Much like Harley Quinn, X-23 is a canon immigrant, initially introduced in tie-in, non-comics media, and assimilated into the main universe after proving popular. She made her first comic book appearance in 2004 in NYX#3, written by Joe Quesada and illustrated by Joshua Middleton. After her introduction into the comics universe her background was greatly expanded and numerous dark elements, such as her history as a prostitute or the extent of the mistreatment she endured as a child, were added or expanded upon.

Major Story Arcs

Innocence Lost

Laura as a child

X-23 is cloned as part of an attempt to replicate the program that grafted adamantium onto the skeleton of Wolverine. Conditioned to behave as the ultimate weapon, especially when exposed to a "trigger scent," X-23 is raised in a laboratory where she is frequently called upon to perform violent acts. She is physically and mentally abused, undergoing exceptionally painful surgical procedures without the use of anaesthetic and being forced to kill people who have shown her affection. She also spends much of her early life acting as an assassin, hired through the laboratory. After her surrogate mother, Sarah Kinney, is fired for using X-23 to rescue a kidnapped relative they make plans to flee. X-23 destroys the incubation pods containing other prospective clones, as well as killing the head of the program, Dr Zander Rice. However, an exposure to the trigger scent causes her to turn on her mother, killing her. With her dying breath, Kinney comforts X-23 and provides her with information about Charles Xavier. X-23 flees the Facility.

Target X

Now on her own, X-23, going by the name Laura, travels to the home of her mother's sister, where she takes up residence. It soon becomes apparent that her aunt's boyfriend is an agent of The Facility, and he attempts to force X-23 to murder her aunt and cousin using the trigger scent, but fails when he accidentally gets some of the scent on himself instead. X-23 murders him, and flees the house with her aunt and cousin, trapping othe

r Facility agents, including her former handler, Kimura, in the house and causing it to explode. She then tracks Wolverine to near the US- Canada border, and engages him in a violent fight, which she wins. The pair briefly discuss X-23's origins, but are prevented form discussing further by Captain America, who takes X-23 into custody. He and Daredevil interrogate her, ultimately causing her to describe the events leading up to her present imprisonment. They decide to set her free, due to her unwilling participation in the violence, as well as to prevent her from being exploited by SHIELD or any other agency.

NYX

Having been released from custody, X-23 finds herself on the streets. She turns to prostitution, specializing in bloodplay and masochistic patrons, and working for the pimp known as Zebra Daddy. She also begins to self-harm, and becomes effectively mute. She is drawn out of her self-destructive spiral by a meeting with two mutants, Kiden Nixon and Tatiana Caban, who convince her to flee her life as a prostitute. She does so, but is pursued by Zebra Daddy, who attacks her and her new friends. X-23 manages to kill him, saving her friends.

The Uncanny X-Men

Adrift again, X-23 finds work in a nightclub in Mutant Town, and soon establishes a friendship with Jade Parisi, the daughter of a mob boss. She defends her new friend when she is being harassed by a group of thugs, ultimately killing them. This draws the attention of the X-Men, as the similarity of her powers to Wolverine's makes the murders appear to be his doing. They locate and confront her, and she reacts violently to the presence of Wolverine, physically attacking him. She is eventually calmed, and aids the X-Men in locating Parisi, who was in hiding, as well as in defeating one of Don Parisi's enforcers. She flees, but later returns to aid the X-Men in rescuing victims of a car accident, and is soon enrolled at the Xavier Institute. There, she develops extremely protective feelings towards Wolverine. During this period she briefly teams up with Spider-Man, as well as travelling to the Savage Land, where she helps defeat the Hauk'ka.

Captain Universe

X-23 briefly becomes the host to the Uni-Power. In aid of the Uni-Power, she and a SHIELD agent, Scorpion, learn of a plot by AIM to use the Uni-Power for their own ends. The pair travels to an AIM base and learn more about their plans for the Power, before Scorpion is ordered to capture X-23. She disobeys the order, allowing X-23 to escape. Shortly after escaping the base, the Uni-Power leaves X-23.

Decimation

Following the events of House of M, X-23 retains her powers. One of the few to do so, she returns to the mansion from San Francisco at Wolverine's insistence. There, she participates in Danger Room exercises with other students who retained their powers, and begins to develop romantic feelings for fellow student Hellion. She experiences friction with Emma Frost, who does not like X-23 and makes numerous attempts to force her out of the school. Despite this, X-23 performs well in Frost's free-for-all brawl test, and was placed on the New X-Men team. A bus carrying a number of de-powered students is bombed by William Stryker, an attack which X-23 hears moments too late.

Crusade and Nimrod

Following the bomb-attacks on the schoolbus, X-23 manages to save her roommate, Dust, by taking her place and travelling to a trap at Stryker's compound, where she is shot. She survives this attack and returns to the mansion. There, she also rescues several team members from Purifiers who are attacking.

She and her fellow students confront Nimrod when Prodigy realizes that he is behind much of the problems that have recently plagued them. She aids in defeating Nimrod, cutting him open, which allows other team members to send him travelling back through time. During the attack she is caught in a shockweb and grievously wounded, beyond the ability of her healing factor to mend. She is rescued by Hellion, who manages to get her to Elixir in time.

Mercury Falling

X-23 and Hellion

X-23's dark past reasserts itself when her new friend Mercury is kidnapped by Facility members while the pair are out for coffee. She retrieves Hellion from the mansion and the pair go off in search of the Facility. During their search X-23 kills a captive, an action which does not sit well with her companion. They eventually locate Mercury in a Facility base, and are able to rescue her with the help of the Astonishing X-Men and the New X-Men. Together, they defeat all members of the Facility at the base. Later, Kimura attempts to assassinate X-23 but is stopped by Emma Frost, who psychically removes Kimura's only happy memory and forces her to begin hunting down members of the Facility.

Quest for Magik

X-23, along with a number of students, is imprisoned in Limbo by Belasco. There, she attempts to subvert the demon lord's power over the students and make good their escape. For her efforts she is reduced by Belasco to a skeleton, though she is soon resurrected. After being returned to life she spends some time being tortured by Belasco, and later helps to defeat him.

Children of X-Men

X-23 offers to cut off one of Anole's arms, the one that he did not lose in Limbo, in an effort to make it stronger like his newly-regrown limb. He refuses the offer. She later explains the extent of damage received by Prodigy in Limbo to Surge. She experiences extreme jealousy after Surge kisses Hellion, which causes her to lash out at her surroundings and herself, and professes her inability to understand or control such violent emotions.

Messiah Complex

X-23 joins her classmates in a search for the newborn mutant that ultimately results in Hellion receiving life-threatening wounds at the hands of Lady Deathstrike. Pixie teleports the team away, but they are all separated. Eventually returning to the mansion, X-23 helps protect it against an attacking Sentinel. She is then placed on a new incarnation of X-Force alongside a number of other mutants, including Wolverine. During X-Force's pursuit of the baby they encounter Lady Deathstrike, who X-23 apparently kills. In a later battle against the Marauders she saves Wolverine from Scrambler.

X-Force

X-23 remains with X-Force as it becomes a black-ops unit of the X-Men, performing missions that must be completed by any means necessary. Wolverine does not support her decision to join the team, but allows her to make her own decisions. Their first mission results in disaster, and Wolfsbane is kidnapped while X-23 behaves recklessly. She is admonished for this, and Wolverine tells her that they should die to protect their teammates. Later, when Angel changes into his Archangel form, she is wounded both by Wolfsbane, whom she refuses to attack due to Wolverine's earlier admonishment, and Angel. She later helps Elixir remove his memories of X-Force through the use of the Stepford Cuckoos. She also helps the team to recover the Legacy Virus, with which she becomes briefly infected.

Messiah War

X-23 travels to San Francisco where she encounters her friend Kiden, now being held and used to power a temporal anomaly that places the team in danger. Though Kiden pleads for death X-23 is unable to oblige. Domino takes the responsibility and kills Kiden instead. She later travels back in time alongside Domino and Proudstar, and is single-handedly responsible for saving Boom Boom.

Not Forgotten

After rescuing Boom Boom she is taken into custody by false HAMMER agents, who return her to the Facility. There her left arm is severed by Kimura. Agent Morales, a SHIELD agent who has been looking into X-23's past since early in her involvement with X-Force, rescues her, and the pair attempt to flee the building. The pair are trapped by soldiers, but exposure to the trigger scent causes X-23 to descend into an unstoppable rage that leaves all of the soldiers dead. Kimura attempts to frame X-23 for the death of the head of the Facility but is foiled by Morales, who sets her on fire. X-23 and Morales flee the building, which Morales then explodes. She returns home with the members of X-Force who arrive to collect her.

Necrosha

Along with the other members of X-Force, X-23 is caught in the crossfire of the events of Necrosha. She aids in the care of an injured Wolfsbane. She later joins the team in an assault on Selene's palace, killing Senyaka alongside Wolverine.

Second Coming

X-23 travels to the future alongside most of X-Force in an attempt to combat Nimrod's invasion. They are successful, but remain trapped in the future. X-23 tests a temporal portal that was not intended to be used by organic beings to see if it will return them to their time, but is horribly wounded in the process. Eventually the team is able to return through the portal, and she survives her injuries with no lasting damage. After this event she is removed from X-Force. She uses the opportunity to attempt to locate a former Weapon X scientist, and does so. However, she is prevented from doing anything further by the arrival of a number of soldiers, who spirit the man away.

The Killing Dream and Songs of the Orphan Child

X-23 becomes the target of a demon who wants her to reign alongside him in Hell. To this end, she is plagued by disturbing nightmares and apocalyptic visions, all of which drive a wedge between herself and her classmates, many of whom remain wary of her due to her association with X-Force. Eventually she is able to drive the demon from her mind, and leaves Utopia. Having left the X-Men, X-23 begins to wander in an effort to learn more about herself. She encounters a young girl named Alice, who she witness being murdered. The next day, however, Alice appears to be alive and well. She is joined by Gambit, and together they discover that Alice is a clone, one of several, who has been sent to lure X-23 to Miss Sinister. Miss Sinister claims to have information about X-23's mother, but this is revealed to be a lie; instead, she attempts to transfer her consciousness into X-23's body due to the impending death of her current body. Mister Sinister also attempts to transfer into her body, but X-23 is able to force them out through sheer force of will. She and Gambit flee.

Touching Darkness

X-23 and Gambit travel to Paris, where they attempt to track the current owner of the trigger scent, a person who also possesses the DNA of X-23 and Daken. During this mission Gambit discovers that X-23 has returned to self-harm, a fact which causes him to summon Wolverine, who attempts to comfort the girl. X-23 and Jubilee, who has arrived in Paris with Wolverine, go walking through the streets where they are harassed. After the men leave them alone X-23 slits her own throat, causing the vampiric Jubilee to attempt to drink her blood. She is stopped only by the extremely negative memories she experiences upon tasting X-23's blood. The pair bond over a shared feeling of being feared outcasts. Later they, along with Gambit and Wolverine, infiltrate a weapons auction where the trigger scent is being auctioned. X-23 is exposed to the scent and descends into a bloodlust which is only calmed by Gambit reminding her of her humanity.

Chaos Theory

X-23 and Gambit next travel to New York. She leaves an injured Gambit in the care of Cecilia Reyes and walks the city, encountering a strange symbol from her dreams numerous times. An earthquake occurs, and while assisting victims she encounters Spider-Man, who is revealed to be dreaming of the same symbol. She is found to be emitting a strange energy signature, as are Spider-Man and Susan Richards. This energy is due to the Uni-Power, and all three are transported to another dimension where they are confronted by the King of the Whirldemons, who was creating the earthquakes in an attempt to acquire the Uni-Power. X-23 allows the King to take possession of her body and is able to defeat him.

Misadventures in Babysitting

The long awaited kiss

X-23 is allowed to babysit the Richards' children. The children accidentally unleash a dragon, which X-23 attempts to defeat. Hellion arrives, and all four are teleported to a space junkyard where they are confronted by the Collector, who wishes to add X-23's claws to his collection. She and Hellion are able to rescue the children and defeat the Collector and arrive back at the Baxter Building before the Richards' notice anything is amiss. She finds that she no longer has feelings for Hellion, which confuses her. She returns home to find Jubilee, who tells her she must choose a side of the Schism.

X-Men Regenesis

Wolverine asks X-23 to join his faction, and X-23 is unsure if she actually has any real choice in the matter. Trying to make a decision she goes out with Jubilee, who explains her own reasoning for the side she chose. The pair are followed and attacked by an old associate of Zebra Daddy. They are rescued by Black Widow and a contingent of SHIELD agents. Black Widow offers X-23 the opportunity to join the Avengers Academy, which she readily accepts.

Avengers Academy

X-23 has recently joined the ranks of the Avengers Academy. X-23 settles in well as a student with the Academy, who quickly realize that she does not lack for combat training. Later she explains the difference between justified and unjustified homicide to fellow student Mettle.

Powers and Abilities

As a clone of Wolverine, X-23 possesses most of his mutant abilities at strength levels rivalling, or occasionally exceeding, his own. Notably, she possesses an accelerated healing factor that allows her to regenerate damaged tissue and has allowed her to regrow limbs in the past. Though theoretically mortal, her healing factor renders her exceptionally difficult to kill. It also renders her immune to most diseases and chemicals. A side-effect is her superhuman durability and endurance, as well as her longevity, which is expected to mirror that of Wolverine. She also possesses superhuman senses, which are sensitive to ranges much greater than those of baseline humans. Notable are her senses of vision, audition and olfaction. She is also superhumanly agile and has above average reflexes. Like Wolverine she has retractable bone claws which have been coated in adamantium. Unlike him she has two in each arm and one in each foot. Also unlike him the remainder of her bones are not coated in adamantium.

X-23 has received extensive training in armed and unarmed combat, and is an expert in a number of martial arts, as well as in the performance of black ops missions. She is an expert assassin, and has had espionage training. She possesses a facility for languages, and has displayed the ability to speak English, French, Japanese and Arabic with some degree of fluency. It is possible that she speaks other languages that have not yet been displayed.

Alternate Versions

GeNEXT

X-23 appears in this alternate future as Professor Kinney, who is responsible for training the next generation of X-Men. She is shown to be capable of overpowering them despite her size and the fact that there's only one of her. She appears relatively youthful, indicating that her aging has been slowed by her healing factor.

X-Men: The End

X-23 is an adult, and a prominent member of the X-Men. She helps the mutant team in locate and capture the renegade X.S.E. member, Sage and later, under orders from Cyclops, helps to locate Mister Sinister, Gambit, and both the Lebeau and Summers children. X-23 eventually joins the rest of the X-Men in the Shi'ar Empire where a massive battle ensues against Cassandra Nova and the Imperial Guard. She is one of the few X-Men present at this battle who survives the entire ordeal.

She-Vengers

In the New Amazonia Universe, X-23 is part of a female-only Avengers, where she uses the name "Wolverine" and fights alongside Ms. Fantastic, Spider-Woman, and the White Phoenix.

League of Losers

X-23 is a member of the C-list team known as the League of Losers, formed from a group of mutants who survived an attack by the villain Chronok. The team defeats Chronok, but is trapped in the future due to the effect of time travel on the time line.

Other Media

Animation

X-Men: Evolution

X-23 made her first ever appearance on this show, for which she was specially created. Her first appearance came in the episode "X23", which detailed her origin and featured her attempts to kill Wolverine, who she blames for her situation. After she subdues the entire X-Men team, Wolverine is able to defuse her anger and she leaves, fleeing from SHIELD and Hydra. She also appears in the episode "Target X", where she attempts to destroy Madame Hydra, who is responsible for her creation. She makes an unspeaking cameo appearance in the episode "Ascension Part 2" where she is portrayed as a future member of the X-Men. In her first appearance she is played by Andrea Libman. In her second appearance she is played by Brittney Irvin.

Wolverine and the X-Men

X-23 makes her first appearance in the episode "Stolen Lives" where she indicates a willingness to fight Wolverine that is stopped only be a need to escape. She also appears in the episodes "Foresight (Part Two)" and "Foresight (Part Three)" as a group of four clones in the future who were found frozen in a Weapon X facility and freed by Wolverine, who they aid in his fight against the Sentinels. She does not speak in her first appearance. In her subsequent two appearances she is voiced by Tara Strong.

The Super Hero Squad Show

Brief mention of X-23 is made in the episode "Double Negation at World's End!", where she is described as a past team-up of Wolverine's. She also makes a non-speaking cameo appearance in the episode "Too Many Wolverines!" where she is the only female in a sea of male clones.

Film

Hulk Vs.

X-23 makes a cameo appearance in Hulk vs Wolverine as a clone in a test tube in the Weapon X facility. Deadpool offers to kill her.

Video Games

X-Men: The Official Game

X-23 appears as a boss. She appears at the Alkali Lake facility as an amnesiac who misinterprets the intentions of the team. She is voiced by Grey DeLisle

Marvel vs Capcom

X-23 features as a playable character. She is voiced by Tara Strong