He’s the best at what does, and he apparently does a lot. Wolverine from the X-Men is one of the most famous superheroes around. People around the world recognize his yellow spandex, and his razor sharp claws that extend out of his knuckles. Everyone knows that Wolverine’s main super power, besides his claws, is his healing factor. Unlike us normal humans, Wolverine is a mutant with the ability to recover from any wounds within mere seconds. These include generally very fatal wounds like being shot multiple times or getting stabbed. Whereas fatal injuries would be the end of us, for Wolverine they are more of an inconvenience really.

His healing factor and claws are well-documented things. Everyone knows Wolverine can heal quickly and that he has claws. However, not everyone knows the other super powers that Wolverine has. These extra powers range from being pure skill, to pretty mundane. For example, do you know that all of Wolverine’s senses are heighten and he can see in the dark? Other powers also range from the absurd. For instance, do you know that Wolverine actually has an extra, devolution form? This devolve form turns Logan into a feral creature, with the intelligence of an average animal. I don’t think that superpower will be making it into the films any time soon.

Logan has had a long life, there is still a lot we do not know about him. He is always keeping secrets, and some of these super powers deserve to be kept to a secret. With that said, I will be diving into the 22 Superpowers Wolverine Has That Are Kept Secret. Secrets are meant to be told, and I will be sharing 22 of Logan’s.

22 Master Life-Taker

What made Logan such a fascinating superhero when he first showed up is the fact that he was one of the only superheroes to openly and intentionally end enemies’ lives. Those razor sharp claws aren’t just for show. He doesn’t just threaten people with them; he has cut down so many villains over his long years being alive. He knows that there are threats that need to be cut away permanently, and he isn’t afraid to get his hands dirty. As superheroes become more modern and gritty, eventually many superheroes have ended up taking away villains’ lives.

Wolverine was simply ahead of the curve.

While Wolverine’s lack of hesitation when he eliminated foes was initially frowned upon by the X-Men, Cyclops actually saw a way to use these particular set of skills. To make a long story short, mutants were at one point at the edge of extinction. A few mutants were finally born after years of no mutants showing up. To ensure the survival of their kind, Cyclops set up a secret co-ops group made up of X-Men that are willing to cross a line that most won’t. Wolverine was in charge of the group, and his main goal was to make sure that the mutant race survives, no matter the cost. Wolverine’s X-Force was essentially Cyclops’ hit squad.

21 His Claws Are More Powerful Than Vibranium

Wolverine’s skeleton and Captain America’s shield are considered to be indestructible, or at least, very close to being unbreakable. However, they are both made out of two different types of metal. Wolverine’s skeleton is made up of Adamantium, whereas Captain America’s shield is often established as being mostly made up of Vibranium. Adamantium is generally described as being really durable metal, while Vibranium has other properties like absorbing kinetic energy. Both are extremely powerful in the Marvel universe, yet Adamantium is often labeled as the most powerful.

Despite Adamantium usually being stronger than Vibranium, Captain America’s shield is actually made up of a special kind of metal. Though Vibranium is the main component of the shield, there are traces of another kind of metal that is similar to Adamantium. The mixture of Vibranium and the unknown metal actually created a sort of Proto-Adamantium. The Proto-Adamantium was just as strong, if not stronger, than normal Adamantium. So whereas Wolverine’s claws generally can cut through Vibranium steel, they cannot cut through Cap’s shield because it is made with stuff that is stronger than normal Vibranium. This may make Wolverine’s Adamantium the inferior metal in comparison with Cap’s shield, yet ninety-nine times out of hundred, Wolverine has the superior steel.

20 Resistance To Adamantium Poisoning

Logan was chosen for the Weapon X program for a variety of reasons. His superhuman healing factor was arguably the main reason why Weapon X chose him over other mutants. His ability to almost instantaneous recover from any wound made him a prime subject for crafting Adamantium on his skeleton. Since he is immune to most kinds of injuries, it allowed the scientists to inject Adamantium into his body without ending his life.

Not only was Logan capable of surviving the procedure, but his healing factor also allowed him to live with Adamantium in his body.

You see, there is such a thing as Adamantium poisoning. Having too much Adamantium in your system apparently creates a toxin that will terminate you. Fortunately for everyone’s favorite X-Men, Logan’s healing factor is able to fight off the Adamantium poisoning. The bad news for him is that it isn’t a permanent solution. Even with his godly healing factor, Wolverine is not immortal. He grows old like the rest of us, and just like everything else, his body does begin to decay. When Wolverine becomes old enough, his healing factor will start losing its potency, and the Adamantium poisoning will eventually take its hold on Wolverine. The effects of Adamantium poisoning on an older Wolverine are shown in detail in the movie, Logan.

19 Can See In The Dark

Having claws and super healing are super powers that go well together. What would be the point of having claws shoot out of your knuckles if your body doesn’t instantly heal from the wounds caused by the claws? With the healing factor and claws, Logan also has heightened senses. This includes super hearing, sharp smelling, and being able to see in the dark. The latter is not often showcased as much as the others since they are a power some comic book writers seem to forget he has. If Wolverine can see in the dark, then how else can his enemies get one over him?

Making this list makes me realize how overpowered Wolverine had become over the decades. When he was first introduced, he was just a mutant that doesn’t get injured as easily as others and has claws. Over the years his healing factor has become crazier and crazier (which we will go over in future entries). His senses also make him keenly aware of his surroundings, making it difficult for anyone to get the upper hand on him. I’ve also mentioned his nasty habit of ending his enemies before they can become a legitimate threat, which makes going against Wolverine a ludicrous option for any villain.

18 Ladies' Man

Ever since Hugh Jackman started portraying Wolverine on the big screen, Logan’s physical appearance has somewhat changed in the comics. Comic book artist began drawing Logan to be more appealing when the films started releasing. Beforehand, Wolverine was known for how objectively unattractive he was. He was a short, furry man with crazy hair and sideburns. He also wore stupid clothes, like a cowboy outfit. He also had a short temper, and he had a hard time getting along with his teammates. He was, in general, a very unappealing person to be around, so it’s surprising that many objectively more attractive woman would fall for him.

We all know the love triangle Logan found himself in with Jean Grey and Cyclops.

The usually kind hearted Jean falling for Logan is some of the earliest moments that humanized Wolverine. Logan has also had relationships with fellow teammates Storm and Domino. He has had a very long and complicated love-hate relationship with Mystique. They’ve been enemies and lovers for about a century. They even have a child together in an alternate future. All these women are considered to be some of the most beautiful in the Marvel Universe. Logan proves that looks aren’t everything, and maybe you just need confidence. Or be a superhero, either or.

17 Have Lots Of Children (Superhuman Fertility!)

As I mention in the above entry, Logan gets around. He has dated a lot of the prettiest women in the Marvel universe. He is also someone who has lived since the late 1800s, which means he has had a century of loving all kinds of woman. With all that loving, he has received a fair amount of offspring.

Thanks to the movie Logan, cinema fans were introduced to arguably Logan’s most famous child, Laura. Laura, codename X-23, is actually Logan’s clone in the comics. He treats her as his daughter though, and compared to her other “siblings,” is probably the most well-adjusted Wolverine offspring. Laura herself also has a clone; a little sister named Gabby. Wolverine at one point married a Japanese woman name Itsu sometime in the 40s. They had a son named Daken, who would commonly serve as an antagonist for Wolverine over the years.

Once upon a time, there was an evil organization called the Red Right Hand. The organization was founded by a group of people who were wronged by Logan. After sending Wolverine to hell, he clawed his way back and began seeking revenge. After ending their mutant bodyguards, Logan was upset to find the members of the organization had taken their own lives. In a video message, they revealed that their mutant bodyguards were all his children; it was pretty messed up.

16 Immune To Diseases

Nothing is more of an inconvenience than getting sick. Not only are you feeling awful, but you also have to cancel all your plans for the day. Fortunately, I almost never got sick as a child; I would go years without getting ill. I imagine my immune system as a kid was akin to Wolverine’s immune system. His healing factor not only allows him to heal from wounds the moment he receives them, it also makes him immune to all illnesses.

His immune system doesn’t just prevent the common cold or fever.

Logan is also immune to poisonous gases, and other external poisons. Once he was sentenced to a concentration camp during World War II, and the gas chambers did nothing to him. His immune system can still be overwhelmed if too many diseases enter his body at once. In one of the arcs in the Uncanny X-Force comic book, Wolverine was attacked by a foe that was able to inject him with a series of deadly diseases. Though he was able to survive the attack, he was turned into a puffball filled with the world’s deadliest diseases. With how much Wolverine has become invulnerable over the years, it isn’t surprising that comic writers have to come up with different ways to put Wolverine in harm’s way. His immune system may be top notch, however, it still isn’t enough to fight off hundreds of diseases entering his body at once.

15 Super Strength

I don’t think it has been outright stated that Wolverine has super strength. However, you don’t just go toe-to-toe with the Hulk and survive without super strength. I feel like you would need to have some level of strength above a typical human to even keep up with the Hulk, and Wolverine has fought against the Hulk multiple of times. Wolverine made his first appearance ever in an Incredible Hulk comic, so the two share a lot of history. Hulk is without a doubt the strongest superhero out there, so it is odd to think that a character like Wolverine can constantly keep up with him with just super healing and indestructible claws.

The super healing does help to make sure Wolverine lives with his fights with the Hulk, but for him to do actual damage to the Hulk, Wolverine would need some super strength. It isn’t just against the Hulk that Logan has to showcase great feats of strength. He has always been an army of one kind of person, taking down legions of super villains at the same time. He would toss them around like rag dolls. Wolverine is never shown to be as strong as someone as the Hulk, or even Spider-Man. He still probably has some sort of super strength, though.

14 Memory Suppression

For the longest time, Wolverine’s past has been shrouded in mystery. No one knew where he came from, or what brought him to the Weapon X program, to begin with. Even Logan himself had a hard time remembering his past life. The Weapon X program was often the source of blame for Logan’s scrabbled memories since they did do some memory alterations on their test subjects. With the success of the original X-Men film in 2000, Marvel feared that the films will fabricate their own origin of the world’s most famous X-Men. Marvel decided to beat the films to the punch and created Origins, an origin story for Wolverine.

It is in Origins that it is revealed that Logan has been suffering from memory loss since he was a kid. Born James Howlett, Wolverine was the son of rich farm owners. He was forced to flee with his childhood friend Rose after his powers began sprouting. He took the name Logan, and after a few years, he’s forgotten his life as James. Rose theorizes that his mind works similar to his healing factor and that his brain is purposely blocking out his past trauma. After Logan accidentally stabs Rose, his memory suppression forced him to forget her, and he ran into the woods.

13 Slow Aging

James Howlett was born around the late 1880s. That would make Logan over 130 years old, yet doesn’t look older than… middle age? I don’t know, he looks like an older gentleman to me. So his healing factor doesn’t just heal his wounds, make him immune to diseases, and suppress his trauma; it also makes him age very slowly. In the before mentioned Origins comic book, Wolverine actually did age a lot when he was a kid.

As a young James Howlett, he was sickly and frail.

Once his powers began manifesting, he became more hardened and muscular. His hair started to become wilder, and his senses grew stronger as well. By the end of Origins, he looked closer to how he is now. However, he still looked like a young man by the end of the comic series. He wouldn’t start looking like what he does now until he began dating Silver Fox and meeting Sabertooth for the first time. The comic book series, Old Man Logan, is about an elderly Wolverine, meaning he is still aging. The movie Logan also shows an older Wolverine, though in the context of the film it is the Adamantium poisoning that is slowly degenerating his cells.

12 Wisdom

You accumulate a lot of knowledge as you grow older. You don’t necessarily get smarter, however, you do get wiser as you grow older. Wolverine has lived for over a century; he's accumulated lots of knowledge on the world. He’s also learned a lot of painful lessons. He may not look like an old man, spouting stories of his youth; he is very much older than nearly all of our grandpas. He can teach our grandparents some needed wisdom.

Logan served in both World War I and World War II. He even fought with Captain America before the latter was frozen. He would then travel to Japan, have a family, and subsequently lose that family in a traumatic conflict. Logan loses a lot of loved ones over the century, possibly explaining why he so bitter and cynical. Not long after having Adamantium crafted on his skeleton, he befriends Alpha Flight, a Canadian superhero team. He would then become one of Canada’s first superheroes. One of his first jobs as a Canadian superhero was to stop a conflict between Hulk and a Wendigo. During his time as a superhero for Canada, he was sent out to eliminate Charles Xavier. Xavier uses his telepathy to mind control Wolverine to join the X-Men (yeah, Xavier is kind of a jerk in the comics). He would bring his years-worth of wisdom to the X-Men, and the rest is history.

11 Multi-Lingual

When the X-Men first met Wolverine, they didn’t know much about him. He often pushed people away, and his short temper made him unpopular with his teammates. They didn’t even know his name was Logan for a while. When the X-Men found themselves in Japan, everyone was shocked to find that Wolverine was able to speak Japanese.

Logan knowing Japanese isn’t that insane to hear, especially considering his past with Japanese culture.

When he was a teen he was given a book about Samurais, honorable warriors that Wolverine would take inspiration from. He would later go to Japan in the 40s and even marry a Japanese woman. During his time in the X-Men, his most prominent love interest (besides Jean Grey) was a Japanese woman named Mariko Yashida, heiress to a criminal organization in Japan.

With his strong ties to Japan, it makes perfect sense for Wolverine to be fluent in their language. But odder still is that he can also speak fifteen other languages. Having lived as long as he has, I guess learning several different languages have helped him out a lot. Outside English and Japanese, he knows Spanish, Lakota, Russian, Chinese, Cheyenne, Arabic, Thai, Filipino, Italian, Persian, Korean, Vietnamese, French, German, and Portuguese. How fluent he is with all these languages ranges.

10 Skilled With A Sword

With his Adamantium claws, you would assume that Wolverine wouldn’t need to use any other weapon. His claws are indestructible as is, so it isn’t as if the claws can break or get dull. Despite that, there are situations where Wolverine needs to use other weapons to face off against his enemies. He used a gun in the movie Logan. He also used a machine gun to mow down a gang of Hulks from another dimension. The most prominent weapon he uses outside his Adamantium claws are probably swords, specifically katana swords. This is unsurprising given how much Logan admires Japanese culture, specifically the code of the Samurais.

In the 1990s comic, Fatal Attraction, Magneto pulls out the Adamantium from within Wolverine’s body. He was left Adamantium-less for most of the 90s. He carried around a katana that was given to him by the Yashida Clan as extra protection. One of the most prominent uses of the katana was when Logan used it to behead the villain Bloodscream, one of his main rivals in the 90s. Wolverine would later get his hands on the Muramasa Blade; a sword with magical properties that can cancel out a mutant’s healing powers. It’s the only blade that can end Wolverine. He used the sword to take down his enemies Omega Red and Sabertooth.

9 Strong Resistance Towards Psychic Attacks

While the existences of psychics in the real world are often called into question for their authenticities, psychics in the Marvel Universe are undoubtedly real. In fact, a good portion of the mutants in the world are psychics, including the X-Men. This includes Professor X, the founder of the X-Men. Jean Grey was initially believed to just have telekinesis powers until she began having psychic abilities herself. Rachel Grey, Jean Grey’s daughter from an alternate universe, is also a psychic and a common member of the X-Men.

With so many psychics around the world, it makes you wonder how villains can deceive any of them.

Apparently, several heroes in the Marvel Universe are often trained to protect themselves from psychic attacks and probing, Wolverine included. Charles Xavier even specifically gave Wolverine some psionic shields to help him be more resistant towards psychics. It’s not always a hundred percent efficient against attacks or probing, but it is a useful ability to carry around in the Marvel Universe. Even several villains have protection towards psychics. Both Magneto and Juggernaut have helmets on their heads to prevent Professor X from reading their mind. Heck, Red Skull ate Professor X’s brain and become a psychic himself. Comics are confusing like that.

8 Human Lie Detector

Logan’s keen sense of smell works similar to that of an animal. It is more potent than an average human's sense of smell. He can smell things from a great distance. His smelling has come in handy when he’s hunting down his enemies. His nose is also capable of smelling certain emotions from people, including fear. His sense of hearing is also just as good; he’s able to pick up noises that are far from where he is. He also able to hear softer noises that normal people are generally aren’t able to pick up.

With these two powers combined, Wolverine can use them in tangent to make himself a human lie detector. When Logan concentrates on a specific person, he can determine if that person is lying to him or not. He can smell the sweat they expel if they lie to him, and he uses his super hearing to focus on their heartbeat. He also concentrates on the tone of a person’s voice to see if there are any changes at all. I have to imagine lying to Logan must be one of the scariest things to do ever in the Marvel Universe, since, you know, he’s Wolverine and all. Godspeed to any of the poor souls who even dare try to lie to the Wolverine.

7 Possessed The Phoenix Force

When Jean Grey first became the Phoenix, it was initially believed that the Phoenix was just an alternate personality of Jean Grey that manifested when she gained Omni-potent powers. After Jean Grey ends her life at the finale of the seminal Dark Phoenix Saga, it was later retconned that the Phoenix was a powerful cosmic entity that simply took the appearance of Jean. The Phoenix Force is adept in possessing people, with Jean Grey being its preferred host.

The Phoenix has possessed many mutants over the years.

Rachel Grey, Jean Grey’s daughter from an alternate future, has been a prominent host of the Phoenix for years. Cyclops, Emma Frost, Colossus, Magik, and Namor were all possessed by the Phoenix Force at the same time and became the Phoenix Five. Wolverine would also be possessed by the Phoenix Force. During an adventure with Spider-Man, the pair traveled throughout time. In an apocalyptic future, Wolverine sacrifices himself to destroy a planet that had the conscience of Doctor Doom. He was able to destroy the planet with the Phoenix Gun. Spider-Man would quickly resurrect him with a Cosmic Cube. He later gets possessed by the Phoenix Force, but he was able to push it out with some motivation from Spider-Man.

6 His Mind Can Survive Going Back In Time

Even though superhero movies are based on the comics of whom the characters originated from, screenwriters would generally take a lot of liberties when adapting the work. Certain aspects don’t translate well into film, so changes need to be made. I don’t think Thanos would have worked as effectively as a villain in the Avengers films if the writers kept his obsession with Lady Death in them. The X-Men’s costumes were also seen as being completely un-filmable when the franchise began in 2000. That is why they stuck with black latex, which ironically has dated worse than the iconic outfits from the comics.

So when it came time to adapt the classic Days of Future Past arc into a movie, the writers decide to make big changes. While the skeleton of the comic version is in the movie, the film was still very different. The main difference is the switch of the main character. In the comics, it was the character Kitty Pryde that was sent to the past to save the future. In the movie it is Wolverine. In the movie, Kitty Pryde has developed the power to send a person’s mind back in time to their past body. The time travel causes damage to that person’s mind though. Wolverine, with his healing factor, was the only one capable of traveling to the past and surviving.

5 Ultimate Wolverine

In the very early 00s, Marvel began releasing new comics on classic Marvel heroes that took place in a more realistic world. After the success of the Ultimate Spider-Man comics, Ultimate X-Men was released soon afterward. The Ultimate X-Men more closely resemble the 2000 movie version than the classic heroes as portrayed in the comics and cartoons. This includes the latex black suits that the team wears in the movie.

All the characters are different from their traditional portrayals in the Ultimate Universe, including Wolverine.

Personality wise, Ultimate Wolverine was more of a jerk than normal Wolverine, who was already a big jerk. When it comes to superpowers, on the surface, they seem identical. Both versions of Logan have Adamantium claws and superhuman healing powers. Ultimate Wolverine’s healing power seems more effective than the classic version, however. He can survive decapitations and was able to even reattach his body after Ultimate Hulk pulled him apart. He is only finally taken care of when Ultimate Magneto vaporized every cell in his body. It is suggested that Ultimate Wolverine may not actually have a super healing factor after all. It’s been theorized that he may have super survivor ability, meaning his body instantly adapts to survive in environments normally grave for average humans. It helps differentiate Ultimate Wolverine with the classic variation that we are all accustomed to.

4 Can Survive A Nuclear Explosion

Wolverine is pretty much invincible. When his healing factor was first introduced, it was meant to explain away how he was able to recover quicker than other heroes. It also explains why he has so much stamina. His healing factor became more and more powerful over the decades, and now he can literally survive anything. When I say anything, I mean anything. That includes a NUCLEAR BOMB. Nothing but a cockroach can survive a nuclear bomb, not even our favorite Marvel superheroes can survive that type of explosion. Yet, somehow, Wolverine can survive a nuclear explosion and somehow walk away completely healed.

He even had his entire flesh and insides vaporized in a fight with the supervillain Nitro, a villain who can create large explosions akin to nuclear bombs. Despite literally just being a skeleton, he was able to fully grow back his organs, muscles, and skin with his healing factor.

This isn’t to say that Wolverine does not have any weaknesses. He can still drown; it just takes longer than most to do it. The Adamantium poisoning was slowly ending him in Logan, though that was decades after he had the Adamantium crafted onto his bones. In the main Marvel Universe, Logan finally perished in a very particular way. Molten Adamantium covered him, suffocating him once it hardened.

3 Berserker Rage

Most of the time, Wolverine is in complete control of himself. He may push people away and often antagonizes Cyclops, but he behaves like a normal human being most of the time.

Most of the time.

You see, Wolverine has a thing called Berserker Rage. Berserker Rage is when Logan gets so angry that he begins lashing out uncontrollably. He would lose himself and become a full-on animal. In his Berserker Rage, he becomes an almost unstoppable life-ending machine. He would cut foes left and right indiscriminately. The big downside to this mode is that Wolverine won’t be able to control himself, and at times won’t be able to recognize his own allies. He, at times, would harm his allies, sometimes doing something worse to them.

It’s an issue Logan has been dealing with since he was a child, which is why he often times push people away. He believes he will cause more harm to people than good. It is not to say the Berserker Rage hasn’t been needed in certain situations. Logan is constantly in Berserker Rage when he’s fighting against his nemesis Sabertooth. Wolverine has been in Berserker Rage several times in the movie franchise. This includes a very memorable scene where Wolverine slashes his enemies in the X-Mansion during X2.