AkihiroDaken

The mutant Daken is an assassin who kills anything in his path, making him a more vicious version of his father, James Howlett/Logan, AKA Wolverine.

Killer, Born and Bred

Decades ago, the brainwashed KGB assassin James Buchanan “Bucky” Barnes, AKA Winter Soldier, kills Itsu—the pregnant, Japanese wife of Logan. Unbeknownst to Logan, his unborn baby is torn from Itsu’s womb—likely surviving due to his inherited mutant healing factor—and abducted by secretive manipulator Romulus. 

Near Sendai, Japan, Daken is taken in by a wealthy man named Akihira who raises him as his own. Named Akihiro, Daken is taunted for his heritage and called a mongrel by the servants. As a boy, Daken kills one of his tormentors, teaching the others to fear him. At eleven, his adoptive mother Natsumi gives birth to a son; recognizing the competition from a legitimate heir, Daken kills the baby justifying banishment by his father. Before he leaves, he kills Natsumi, releasing his claws apparently for the first time. After Akihira kills himself with a rifle, Daken is confronted by Romulus. Daken then undergoes training as an assassin.

Clawing His Way to the Top

Daken has superhuman reflexes, endurance, longevity and sensory acuity, and an advanced healing factor (the extent of which is yet to be determined). He possesses three retractable bone claws housed within each hand: two dorsal and one palmar below the wrist. 

Daken’s mutation allows him to control his pheromones enabling him to disguise his own scent (undetectable by even Wolverine’s hyper-senses) and cause fear or a false sense of security to the point where even Wolverine’s hyper-senses cannot detect him. 

Highly skilled in espionage, Daken is a trained assassin. He learns many forms of armed and unarmed combat from Cyber, and is an excellent tracker. He is also fluent in German, Italian, and Japanese, and can read Greek.

Complicated Foes

Daken has a complicated and violent relationship with his biological father, Wolverine. For most of his youth, Daken believed Wolverine responsible for his mother’s death but when he finally learns the truth, he sides with Wolverine. They still often end up as tenuous allies and frequently betray each other.

Romulus, who secretly manipulates Daken and raises him to be a ruthless figure, is responsible for Daken’s mother’s death. Romulus schemes to pit Daken and Wolverine against one another to replace him as leader of his secret criminal empire. While Daken desires only death for Romulus, Logan defeats him and removes Daken’s wrist claws to prevent him from becoming powerful enough to become the next Romulus.

Criminal Colleagues

Daken joins Norman Osborn, AKA Green Goblin’s Dark Avengers and plays the “Wolverine” type of the group, donning his costume and embodying the X-Man’s heroic visage, mostly wondering what it would be like to be his father. Though his time with the Dark Avengers takes a turn when the group’s arrested and he escapes before being captured.

Daken also allies himself with the Brotherhood of Mutants members Magneto, Raven Darkhölme, AKA Mystique, and Victor Creed, AKA Sabretooth, and even bands together a Brotherhood of his own. He also leads the criminal underworld in Madripoor and attempts to do so in Los Angeles but gets romantically involved with a drug dealer Marcus Roston, and becomes addicted to drugs.

A Violent History

When mutant telepath Emma Frost revealed to Wolverine she detected Daken’s mind, which was full of hate for him, Wolverine prepared for the inevitable confrontation. He sought the only weapon that could negate his son’s healing factor, the Carbonadium Synthesizer (“C-Synth”), held by Natasha Romanoff, AKA Black Widow. The transgovernmental intelligence agency S.H.I.E.L.D. captured Wolverine after a failed attempt to obtain the C-Synth in Brussels. Promised that he could someday confront Wolverine on open ground, Daken infiltrated a S.H.I.E.L.D. facility in Berlin to confront his parent. Finally face to face with his helpless, captive father, Daken eviscerated him, but stopped short of killing him. 

Daken returned to a student flat where he had been staying with an American girlfriend. Toying with her emotions, he allowed her to catch him “seducing” a strange gentleman whom he later savagely killed for his passport. Anticipating her every subsequent move, Daken secretly poisoned her wine with sleeping pills, and killed her purely for his own amusement.

In Potsdam, he received a message that his master was displeased with Daken neglecting his ultimate goal by seeking his father; Daken killed the messenger in reply. He next traveled to Brussels where Wolverine had broken into a bank vault to obtain the C-Synth. Daken defeated his father, slicing open Wolverine’s neck; however, Wolverine’s old foe Cyber—possessing the body of Milo Gunderson, a superhumanly strong, mentally challenged man—arrived seeking information on Daken’s master. Cyber subdued Daken, but Wolverine enabled his son to escape and Cyber then suffered a heart attack while battling Wolverine. 

With the C-Synth, Wolverine visited Phineas Mason, AKA Tinkerer, to aid Cyber in exchange for information. The Tinkerer also made Wolverine three rifle shells with Carbonadium slugs; Wolverine left the shells for the Winter Soldier, and threw the C-Synth into a river. Meanwhile, on a freight car in Eastern Europe, Daken was whipped with a steel cable by one of his master’s blind and mute slaves, while instructed to stay away from his father until his master was done manipulating Wolverine. Knowing Daken wanted to be the one to kill him, Wolverine arranged for Barnes to hire Wade Wilson, AKA Deadpool, to take him out instead. Daken was lured to San Francisco, where Deadpool nearly drowned Wolverine, and Barnes shot Daken in the head with the Carbonadium, slowing his healing factor. Wolverine took Daken to the lava tubes of Newell, California to attempt to redeem his son.

Though Claudine Renko, AKA Miss Sinister, and Sebastian Shaw had other plans for Daken—they intend to brainwash him to take over the Hellfire Club’s Inner Circle, but disguise their intentions with the promise of restoring his memories. Miss Sinister instead planted false memories to lure Charles Xavier, AKA Professor X, into a trap, but also discovered a psychic booby trap. Xavier subdued Sinister and delved into Daken’s mind which set off a psychic blast, knocking Xavier unconscious. Daken stabbed Sinister for the deception and Wolverine arrived just in time to prevent Daken from finishing off Xavier. With Xavier’s psychic intervention between the warring father and son, Daken learned the truth about how his mother died and the person to blame is Romulus. Wolverine and Daken set off on a quest for revenge but on their way they encountered Cyber who wanted Romulus dead as well. Cyber and Wolverine’s plans differ and Daken sided with Cyber, cutting his father’s throat in the process. Though Daken double crosses Cyber and left him to die to take on Romulus alone.

Daken then joined Norman Osborn’s Dark Avengers as the “Wolverine” member of the group. Daken, warned of an incoming attack by the X-Man Scott Summers, AKA Cyclops, ambushed him and the X-Men. However, Cyclops possessed the Muramasa blade, which had mystical properties that could disable Daken’s regenerative abilities and cut through adamantium. Logan interrupted the battle and in fighting Daken, the blade shattered, but Daken escaped with a piece of it. Daken then had the Tinkerer bond his claws to the metal of the Muramasa blade which he intended to use against Romulus. Logan again interrupted but with the bonding process completed, Daken stabbed his father and made his escape.

During his time with the Dark Avengers, he adapted to his teammates individual personalities, possibly as a form of manipulation. Daken battled Peter Parker, AKA Spider-Man, when the wall-crawler infiltrated Avengers Tower and manipulated his pheromones to confuse Spider-Man’s senses, but tasted defeat. For a short time, Daken joined the Osborn’s X-Men but returned to the Dark Avengers after Emma Frost defected. Osborn then tasked Daken to kill Frank Castle, AKA Punisher, with the help of H.A.M.M.E.R. troops. Daken defeated Punisher by decapitating him. When Daken battled Skaar, Bruce Banner, AKA Hulk’s son, Daken used his pheromones to calm him, forcing his human form to come forth. Skaar, ashamed of the damage he caused, asked Daken to kill him but Banner and Logan interrupted and they all battled each other. The fight ended when Banner said his son learned his lesson and Daken departed leaving his father.

After video footage of Daken surfaced of him slaughtering masked assailants in front of a grandmother and her grandson, Osborn fixated on correcting Daken’s public image by staging a stunt, which resulted in the deaths of dozens of innocents. Though shortly afterward, Daken saved a baby from a burning building full of planted terrorists, helping to restore his image of a hero. Though Daken’s time with the Dark Avengers came to an end when the group faced arrest. Daken escaped custody by killing and planting a replacement.

Daken joined with Wolverine to defeat Romulus once and for all but Romulus interrupted their plans to lure him out into the open, resulting in Daken helping Romulus escape. Though Wolverine caught up with them and stopped Daken from slaying Romulus, and with Tyrone Johnson, AKA Cloak’s help, he sent Romulus to the Darkforce Dimension. Daken fought his father but defeated, Wolverine broke his arms, stabbed him through the heart, and removed his Muramasa claws, burying them alongside the blade. Having not been able to get closure with the defeat of Romulus, Daken traveled to Rome and sunk into a depression. He realized after an encounter with a couple thieves, that they did nothing wrong, they were just trying to survive.

Daken then encountered the patchwork Punisher, FrankenCastle, who had been put back together after Daken killed him. He attempted to use a bloodstone to create the alien Exo-Mind, but abandoned it and the battle because the stone negatively affected his healing factor. He traveled to Milan and had a designer fashion him a new costume but killed them to protect his identity. He moved to San Francisco and decided he couldn’t be bothered with opposing sides on the Mutant Rights debate.

Daken later assisted the Red Right Hand in sending Wolverine’s soul to Hell. He informed Mystique of the details surrounding their plan and she in turn betrayed her affiliation with the group. The Red Right Hand ordered Daken to kill Mystique, and once the pair got together, they were interrupted by Hellverine who attempted to burn Daken alive. He survived but everyone thought he perished. Daken then stole technology from Fantastic Four’s Reed Richards, AKA Mister Fantastic, to hide his identity and remain dead to the world. He soon learned Bucky Barnes secret identity as the Winter Soldier.

Daken then became the leader of the criminal underworld in Madripoor and faced off with Laura Kinney, AKA X-23, Wolverine’s clone and adopted daughter. Impressed by her skills, he invited her to join him but she declined. Daken worked with Malcom Colcord to enhance his powers and allowed Colcord to capture X-23 so that he could learn more about her abilities. He then freed her and they battled Colcord’s experiments. Though Colcord planted a bomb in the facility and while it exploded, Daken and X-23 survived. They parted ways afterward. Colcord survived thanks to a healing serum he created though disfigured and suffering pain from the blast. Daken left him there without putting an end to his suffering.

In an attempt to remain in power in Madripoor, he had one criminal leader oppose him, Tan Kim Seng. Seng called Daken out on being a destroyer just like his father and though Daken killed him, the man’s words resonated with Daken. Shortly afterward, Daken confronted his father again at Avengers Tower but didn’t kill him. Instead, he moved to Los Angeles to start a new life. A new life that included taking over the criminal underworld. He used the drug Heat and ended up in a romantic relationship with the dealer, Marcus Roston. Meanwhile he evaded Donna Kiel, an FBI agent seeking to arrest him. Daken became addicted to Heat and experienced hallucinations. Because of his deteriorating mental and physical state, Donna caught up with him. Instead of arresting him, she interrogated him about some murders he had nothing to do with, informing him that he was being framed. They teamed up to solve the murders, and Daken faced off with Moon Knight who also thought him responsible. Daken was then officially framed by the real killer Roston who controlled Donna using the drug as well. Donna recovered somewhat from her drug addiction and thinking she was in love with Daken but betrayed him. She shot him, he sliced her hand off, and evaded capture. 

While dying, he traveled to New York and planted bombs all over the city, including some at Avengers and Fantastic Four’s headquarters. Daken asked his father for forgiveness and apologized for placing a bomb in the Jean grey School for Higher Learning, then blew himself up. Though he hadn’t placed a bomb in the school. Daken, not dead for long, returned and invited Super Villains to Madripoor where Sabretooth hosted a party. Wolverine interrupted the party and defeated Daken and everyone else at the party.

In secret, Daken formed a new Brotherhood of Evil Mutants with Sabretooth, Mystique, Blob from Earth-295, the Shadow King and Skinless Man as well as the Omega Clan. The group’s goal was to create a new Apocalypse by torturing Evan Sabahnur. After capturing Wolverine, Daken revealed that he planned to frame Wolverine’s black-ops group X-Force for his yet-to-be-enacted plan of destroying Wolverine’s school. Though Wolverine escaped thanks to Wade Wilson, AKA Deadpool, and Daken and Wolverine fought with Wolverine winning out and killing his son. Wolverine took his son’s body to Japan and buried him in Shirakawa-Go. Though, the Apocalypse Twins brought Daken back to life and made him their Horseman of Death. The Avengers Unity Division defeated them, except Daken escaped once more.

After the death of his father, Daken found an auction selling off Wolverine’s remains. He killed everyone in attendance, except Viper, Mystique, and Agent Kim. He then buried his father’s remains in Okinawa. Daken along with Sabretooth, Yuriko Oyama, AKA Lady Deathstrike, and X-23 are all kidnapped and eventually call themselves the Wolverines. They went up against the Wrecking Crew and Nathaniel Essex, AKA Mister Sinister, who promptly stole Wolverine’s remains along with Daken’s eye and arm. Saved by Sharp using a serum made by Dr. Cornelius, Daken survived only to go up against the Shi’ar’s Imperial Guard member, Fang. Despite things looking dire for Daken, he stabbed Fang in the head. Fang survived and ultimately, despite the efforts of the Wolverines to stop him, captured Daken and took him to Jotunheim and pitted him against a Frost Giant with the intention to make him and the other Wolverines suffer for the hell that they caused Logan while he was alive. Though the Wolverines defeated Fang, he escaped.

Daken later worked with Eric Brooks, AKA Blade, to defeat Siphon, though Laura realized Siphon was being controlled. She and Daken captured Siphon and rejoined the Wolverines. The team then battled Sinister’s army and Mystique sent the team through a portal to escape. Mystique betrayed the team, using Siphon to take away all their healing factors, and defeated them all when they tried to confront her. 

The Wolverines team disbanded, Daken later recovered his healing factor, his arm and eye regrown. He helped solve the crisis during an outbreak of the Laura Kinney Virus which landed Laura in a coma. Daken then went up against The Orphans of X who captured him. Escaping, he met up with his “sisters” Laura and Gabby and the three sought a solution to The Orphans of X Muramasa-made bullets which could kill them. They met with Muramasa, and in donating part of their spirits, they received a suit of armor that would protect them from the bullets. Daken defended his sisters against The Orphans of X and they survived after Laura negotiated a cessation of hostilities.

Daken later trained a Xavier Institute runaway and mutant, Zach, AKA Amp. Bobby Drake, AKA Iceman, caught wind of their relationship and tried to put a stop to it, defeating Daken, but Zach helped Daken make their escape. They eventually attacked the X-Mansion and retrieved the Death Seed from Iceman which endowed Daken with extra strength while Amp’s channeling abilities controlled the seed which coursed through Daken. Though the mutant Michaela Ladak stopped Zach from using his powers which weakened Daken. Iceman froze the seed inside of Daken before he escaped.

Daken later helped Max Eisenhardt, AKA Magneto, defeat the Mothervine virus led by Alex Summers, AKA Havok, and formed a team of X-Men with Lorna Dane, AKA Polaris, Shen Xorn, Earth-1610’s Jimmy Hudson, Earth-21710’s Ororo Munroe, AKA Bloodstorm, and Gazing Nightshade. After the crisis ended, Magneto ordered Daken to kill Jimmy Hudson who had been possessed by Poison from Earth-17952. The time-displaced X-Men stopped their fight.

Daken then joined Lady Deathstrike and Sabretooth to investigate Logan’s possible return. They found Logan’s adamantium signature in Maybelle, Arizona but they found themselves without their healing factors and amidst a horde of zombies. A kill team sent by the organization Soteira, who created the zombies, captured Daken, but he escaped their clutches. Daken reunited with Sabretooth and Lady Deathstrike and they tried to stop the Soteira’s zombification of the town, but their soldiers killed Daken. Though Soteira’s leader Persephone resurrected him as an undead killer. Though Daken is taken out by a returned Wolverine.

When Xavier, Magneto, and Moira MacTaggert formed the mutant nation-state of Krakoa, Daken entered the island through one of the portals, having been resurrected at some point.