X-23

Cosplay of the character.

Laura Kinney, also known as X-23 is a fictional character and super-heroine that appears in Marvel Comics, in particular those featuring the X-Men. She was created by Marty Isenberg, Robert N. Skir and the late David Wise in her first appearance in the X-Men: Evolution animated TV series, and made her first comic appearance in NYX #3 in February of 2004.

Fictional character biography

X-23 is the daughter of Wolverine born through artificial insemination of his genetic code alongside the scientist Sarah Kinney. Kept in captivity in the facility, Sarah would assist her daughter in escaping at the cost of her own life. Once reaching her genetic father, X-23 became a member of the X-Men, and became a valuable member of the team and others such as X-Force and Avengers Academy.

Powers and abilities

X-23 has all the same mutant regenerative healing powers as her father, Logan, a.k.a Wolverine, and then some. When it comes to Marvel abilities, X-23 also possesses the superhuman strength, enhanced senses and reflexes, increased agility, and intense durability of Wolverine. Additionally, while Logan only has adamantium claws that extend from his hands, Laura Kinney also has claws that come out of her feet. Unlike Logan, however, X-23 only has two claws per hand, not three.

Another major difference in powers between Wolverine and X-23 comes in the amount of adamantium they have in their bodies. Wolverine has adamantium covering his whole skeleton. X-23, meanwhile, only has adamantium lacing her claws. Furthermore, X-23’s captors can activate a “trigger scent” in her that sends her into a berserker rage when they need her to kill multiple targets. Despite psychic tampering from X-Men like Charles Xavier and Emma Frost, it’s doubtful that trigger will ever fully go away.

In other media

Laura Kinney has been described as one of Marvel's most notable and powerful female heroes. In addition to comics, the character has appeared in various media, including animated movies, TV series and video games. Dafne Keen portrayed the character in the 2017 movie Logan and the 2024 Marvel Cinematic Universe movie Deadpool & Wolverine.