Daken

Publication history

Creation and Wolverine: Origins

Akihiro first appeared in Wolverine: Origins #10 (March 2007), created by writer Daniel Way and artist Steve Dillon. Regarding Akihiro's role in Wolverine: Origins and his relationship with his father, Way stated that whereas Logan is attempting to "take control of his destiny", Akihiro is heading down the opposite direction, "hacking, slashing and going nuts". He also stated that what Akihiro needs in his life is guidance, something that Logan is struggling to offer him. But in order to achieve that they first must kill Romulus. Additionally, Way revealed that Akihiro's role would increase in 2009 and that by the end of Wolverine: Origins, his past would intentionally remain open to provide a "fertile ground for years ... worth of stories". In addition to appearing in Origins, and the fourth volume of the definitive Wolverine title, Akihiro was also given a solo series, Daken: Dark Wolverine. The series ran for 23 issues.

Dark Avengers

Following the conclusion of his story arc in Wolverine: Origins and the events of Dark Reign, Akihiro became a member of Norman Osborn's Dark Avengers and took up the mantle Wolverine in Dark Avengers #1 (March 2009). Regarding his use of Akihiro on the team and the character's motivation for joining the Dark Avengers, Brian Michael Bendis said:Akihiro is one of the best things to come out of Origins, and what better way to piss off his father? He's an iconic and legacy character attached to a number of cool things in the Marvel Universe, but he really hasn't had a lot of face time with it. So we can really roll up our sleeves and see what we've got there and help create a character. I'm not taking anything away from Daniel Way, his creator, but I am saying once a character gets rolling it's interesting to see him interacting with different types of characters. You take him out of the Wolverine book to see what he's made of. It's much like with Wolverine, when you took him out of 'Hulk' [where he first appeared], he became something else.

During the Utopia crossover-event that lasted from June to September 2009, Osborn also assigned Akihiro as a member of the Dark X-Men. Matt Fraction, who wrote Akihiro in Dark Avengers / Uncanny X-Men: Utopia described Akihiro as erudite, cultured and flamboyant and as "the metrosexual Wolverine". Similarly to Bendis, Fraction stated that

Akihiro's reasons for joining the Dark X-Men is both because he loves the attention and because it makes "his dad's blood boil". Akihiro remained a member of Osborn's team until Dark Avengers #16 (July 2010), where he managed to avoid capture.

Dark Wolverine and characterization

In conjunction to his role on Dark Avengers, Akihiro also took over the starring role in the fourth volume of Wolverine starting with issue 75 (Aug. 2009), where it was retitled to Dark Wolverine. The series was co-written by Way and Marjorie Liu. Liu, who hadn't written Akihiro before, decided to work on the series after being asked by Way due to Akihiro being "slightly psychotic, highly intelligent, very manipulative and ha[ving] daddy issues", traits which she found interesting to work with as a writer. Way stated that while the Dark Avengers appear as supporting characters in the series, Dark Wolverine is about what Akihiro does while away from the team. He further described Dark Avengers as Akihiro's grand entry into the Marvel Universe and that while his joining the Avengers was not part of his original plan for the character, he feels that it fits with his initial plans of having Akihiro "get out into the world" and encounter other characters. Regarding the character's personal reasons for joining the team, Way stated that it allows Akihiro to pervert and destroy the legacy built by his father.

Regarding Akihiro's characterization, Liu described him as someone who is confident in his own abilities and superiority, despite never having actually tested them "on the world stage". But since taking up the mantle of Wolverine means being in the public eye, he gets to "live a little and spread his wings [and] face the fact that there are people just a bit better at the game than him". Way stated that Akihiro's goal is to not simply kill Romulus for the role he played in his mother's death but also to become the new Romulus. On whether Akihiro joining the Dark Avengers means he's being redeemed or not, Liu stated that in order for someone to want to achieve redemption, they first need to believe they've committed an act that requires atonement, and Akihiro doesn't feel any guilt for his past actions. She also described him as elegant, preferring to use his brains over his brawn. She further stated that Akihiro is unable to form meaningful relationships, with the ones he does form being based on how he can use the people around him. His father is the one exception, who manages to "ruffle his emotions".

All-New Wolverine and Iceman

Following the events of "Secret Wars", Akihiro made his first appearance in All-New Wolverine #25.

Krakoan Age, redemption and name changes

As part of the Krakoan Age of X-Men storyline, Akihiro was given a starring role in X-Factor during the "Dawn of X" relaunch, with X-Factor writer Leah Williams explaining that Akihiro's inclusion was due to the team needing a "fucky thot enforcer". After X-Factor's cancelation, Akihiro would later star in 2022's Marauders series during the "Destiny of X" relaunch.

X-Factor and Marauders showcased Akihiro overcoming his villainous past and carving a more heroic identity for himself, ultimately culminating in Akihiro making peace with his father and dropping the pejorative "Daken" in favor of the honorific "Fang". Marauders writer Steve Orlando, acknowledging the discomfort with the name "Daken" and the derivativeness of "Dark Wolverine", said of Akihiro's name change and character development:So he wanted to earn something. And as a character who, since Leah Williams had been working with him before, has sort of been trying to figure out how to rectify all that he's been through, all these toxic emotions, having a name that is really his, felt like the right moment. So it's a confluence as always of history and story, but also it's what felt right for the character. He doesn't want to be Wolverine's kid anymore. He doesn't want to be Wolverine's arch enemy. He needs something that is his own and making this an honorific within the Lupak culture just felt right. Specifically calling it honorific is something we did that was additive, but it's already been established that when someone in the Imperial Guard is killed, they get replaced by someone who suspiciously looks almost just like them. So what we did was build off what was there to give Akihiro something that was truly his own.

In 2023, Fang appeared in the Alpha Flight limited series, which was part of the "Fall of X" relaunch. In January 2024, Fang was killed off in Wolverine (vol. 7) #41, written by Victor LaValle and Benjamin Percy and drawn by Geoff Shaw and Cory Smith; Akihiro's death is used as a catalyst for the "Sabretooth War" storyline. Later that May, the first issue of the Hellverine miniseries written by Percy and drawn by Julius Ohta would reveal a resurrected Akihiro to be the true identity of the titular protagonist as a plot twist.

Hellverine and new solo series

After the Hellverine miniseries concluded in August 2024, it was announced that Hellverine would be starring in another self titled ongoing series beginning in December, with Percy returning as writer and Raffaele Ienco taking over for art. The new ongoing would focus on Akihiro embracing his new identity and struggling with his co-dependency with the demon Bagra-ghul while under the tutelage of Doctor Strange. Percy elaborated that moral complications would be the defining trait of the new series, which would delve into Akihiro's past history as a supervillain, and confirmed that Akihiro's love interest Aurora and other members of his friends and family and the supporting cast from the mini series would be making appearances along with hinting at Mephisto's involvement as a major antagonist.

Hellverine was intended to appear in the ongoing series Spirits of Violence in March 2025 until the series was canceled a month before its release. However, it was announced in July that Spirits of Violence would be revived as a five-issue limited series, set for an October release.

In October 2025, it was announced that Hellverine would appear in the ongoing series Inglorious X-Force as a new member of X-Force. Set for January 2026 release, the series will be written by Tim Seeley and illustrated by Michael Sta. Maria and will be part of the "Shadows of Tomorrow" event. Hellverine's inclusion to the book was done at the suggestion of Editor Mark Basso, which Steely was initially reluctant to do but relented after Jordan Blum and former Akihiro writers Orlando and Percy vouched for the character.

Sexual orientation

Akihiro has been portrayed as bisexual, having engaged in sexual situations with both men and women. Akihiro kissed a man in Wolverine: Origins #11; however the encounter also served to further toy with a woman he had been romantically seeing and later, Akihiro killed the man in question. In Dark Wolverine #75 it is vaguely suggested Akihiro has had a sexual encounter with a male employee of Norman Osborn, but this was also shown as a means to access top-secret files. Later in the same issue, Akihiro makes a pass at Mac Gargan, but the context is ambiguous, possibly facetious. In the same issue, Akihiro uses his pheromones to "engage" a female H.A.M.M.E.R. agent. In Dark Avengers #7, Akihiro humorously states how he "...always did like playing for both teams", a double entendre referencing bisexuality and his membership in both the Dark Avengers and Dark X-Men. In Dark Wolverine #76, Akihiro uses his pheromones in order to manipulate the Thing, goading him with homoerotic remarks. During the Siege of Asgard, Akihiro also made a flirtatious pass at Bullseye dressed as Hawkeye, and kisses him on-panel. In Dark Reign: Young Avengers #5, Akihiro attempts to uses his pheromones during a fight against Hulkling, a gay male superhero. Akihiro has also been shown on numerous occasions engaging in heterosexual behavior and sleeping with female characters. In X-Factor, Akihiro expresses romantic interest in his female teammate, Aurora, who eventually reciprocates and enters a relationship with him after realizing his feelings for her are genuine.

At the 2009 San Diego Comic-Con, Marjorie Liu, commenting on Akihiro's sexuality, stated that "[Akihiro] will do anyone and anything [to achieve his goals] and he's past that kind of identification. He's beyond it". Daniel Way added that Akihiro's sexuality will be addressed later on, but it's more about his personality. "He's no more homosexual than he is heterosexual. It's about control". Liu later confirmed Akihiro's bisexuality in a 2011 video interview with Newsarama.

Fictional character biography

Introduction and meeting his father: Wolverine: Origins (2007-2009)

In 1946 as Wolverine is living in Jasmine Falls, Japan with his pregnant wife Itsu, Romulus sends the Winter Soldier to kill Itsu. After Itsu's death, a mysterious man cuts the baby from his mother's womb, leaving her body lying on the floor. The infant survives this incident due to his mutant healing factor. Sometime in 1946, he is placed at the doorstep of Akihira and Natsumi, a wealthy young and traditional Japanese couple. They take his presence as an answer to their prayers and raise him as their own. Though he is named "Akihiro" by his father, the servants and other families of the province secretly refer to him as Daken (駄犬, "bastard dog" or "mongrel"), a slur on his obvious mixed heritage. As Akihiro grows, he is often teased by the other boys of the village. His harsh treatment over the years causes Akihiro to develop a very cold personality, directed at everyone except Akihira. One night, Natsumi confesses to Akihira that she does not love their adopted son and that, after long years of trying, she is pregnant. Akihiro overhears the talk and begins plotting. Within a year, after the birth of the baby, Akihiro confronts his mother and tells her that he has killed her son. Upon learning this, Akihira is furious and disowns Akihiro, who angrily responds that Akihiro is not his true name anyway. Natsumi suddenly appears and tries to run him through, triggering the unsheathing of his mutant claws. He waves his arm, accidentally slashing Natsumi. Akihira, unable to force himself to harm his son, commits suicide. Romulus then appears to the boy for the first time and tells him that he is what the boy will someday become; Akihiro embraces his childhood slur Daken as his own name. Akihiro is trained harshly, including nannies who show motherlike love to him before trying to kill him, forcing Akihiro to kill them ("After the third one I stopped falling for it", he says).

In the present, Akihiro disguises himself as a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent and infiltrates a facility where his father is imprisoned. He stabs Dum Dum Dugan and confronts his father for the first time. He slashes Logan across the stomach and leaves him to bleed on the floor, just as his mother was left many years before. Akihiro is revealed to have "aided" his father's escape, though not for benevolent reasons.

He is next seen in Berlin at the home of a woman with whom he has been cruelly, and romantically, toying. He allowed her to witness him kissing another man on a date, although unbeknownst to her, he later murdered the man to acquire a passport. Knowing that she would drink an entire bottle of burgundy, he secretly poisons it, resulting in her death, so that no loose ends are left to tie him to his crimes.

Dark Reign: Member of the Dark Avengers (2009-2010)

During the 2008–2009 "Dark Reign" storyline, Norman Osborn puts together the Dark Avengers, recruiting Akihiro as a version of Wolverine, letting him wear a version of his father's brown and tan costume. Cyclops sees him as a liability and plans to kill him with the Muramasa Blade to protect the image of the X-Men. It is revealed, however, that he agreed to join the Dark Avengers as a way to draw out Cyclops to take the Muramasa Blade from his possession. When the X-Men attack him, he takes a piece of the blade and brings it to the Tinkerer who then bonds the metal to the claws on his wrists. After that, he is seen alongside the other Dark Avengers fighting Morganna le Fay's demons.

When Spider-Man enters Avengers Tower pretending to be Mac Gargan, he is first ambushed by Akihiro who knew he was not Mac via scent. However, Akihiro is eventually incapacitated by Spider-Man after being pummeled and thrown into an electric generator.

In Dark Reign: Sinister Spider-Man, Akihiro and Bullseye are sent by Osborn to kill Gargan. However, Akihiro is beaten badly by Gargan who throws him through a building.

In Dark Reign: The List – Punisher after repeated failed attempts to kill Frank Castle, Osborn sends Akihiro and a platoon of H.A.M.M.E.R. troops to complete this mission. After a bloody round of hand-to-hand combat, Akihiro decapitates and butchers Castle into pieces, before kicking his remains off a rooftop. Castle's body parts are collected and spirited away by Moloids seemingly operating under the protection of Man-Thing, where Castle's body is put back together and revived as Franken-Castle.

In The Incredible Hulk vol. 2 #603, Bruce Banner lures his son Skaar into a fight between him and Akihiro. Akihiro uses his pheromones to calm Skaar down, reducing him to his human form. Skaar then asks Akihiro to kill him, as he was guilty of the destruction he has caused, but Wolverine and Banner intervene. The two father-son teams battle, but the fight is stopped when Banner says that Skaar has learned his lesson and Akihiro abruptly leaves Wolverine behind.

Akihiro becomes a member of Osborn's Dark X-Men while remaining on the Dark Avengers team, though he takes the Dark X-Men's side in their quarrel with the Dark Avengers. When Bullseye asks him which side he was on, he replies that he "always did like playing for both teams".

Solo adventures and death (2010-2012)

Akihiro turns on Romulus because he figures out that Romulus really wanted Wolverine to take over his operation and not Akihiro. Akihiro stabs Romulus with his wrist-claws, but before he can deliver the killing blow, Wolverine has Cloak teleport Romulus to the Dark Force dimension. Logan thinks about simply cutting his head as he did with Sabretooth, but instead decides to leave him stranded forever.

He then goes back to Akihiro. They start to fight, but Logan stays calm. He parries Akihiro's angry attacks, then stabs him through with his claws. While Akihiro is unconscious, Logan rips out his Muramasa wrist claws. He then buries the claws with the remains of the Muramasa Blade in a grave near the Howlett estate, and Akihiro is shown with scars running up the insides of his forearms.

Akihiro, later seen at a nightclub, is attacked by Franken-Castle who is seeking revenge. After a brutal fight, Akihiro is defeated but decides to hunt Franken-Castle to continue the fight and retrieve the Bloodstone integrated into Fraken-Castle's new physical form. After following Franken-Castle's trail, Akihiro encounters a series of devastating traps before meeting his foe again. After a second brutal hand-to-hand battle, Akihiro is severely injured and retreats. Franken-Castle finds him and, after damaging Akihiro even more, is about to throw him into a mass of concrete foundation (presumably to kill him). However, Franken-Castle is stabbed in the chest from behind by Wolverine who states he is intervening in his plans to kill his son.

Escaping as the two fight, Akihiro gains the upper hand by incapacitating the Punisher (ramming him with a truck) and takes the Bloodstone, giving him increased strength and speed. It unfortunately accelerated his healing factor, which would create tumors after healing him. He is ultimately defeated when the Punisher shoves a phosphorus grenade into his chest, turning him into a tumor ridden monstrosity, simultaneously informing Akihiro that his attempts to taunt him failed because Punisher built his own reputation from the ground up while Akihiro is riding his father's reputation rather than trying to create his own. Wolverine removes the stone and returns it to Frank, but before Frank can give the coup de grace, Akihiro cuts himself out of the tumor mass and disappears.

Akihiro has a brief alliance with X-23, the female clone of his father. They confront the murderous Malcolm Colcord, the former director of Weapon X.

Marvel NOW!: Uncanny Avengers, Death of Wolverine: The Logan Legacy and Wolverines (2013-2015)

The Apocalypse Twins resurrect Akihiro through the use of a Celestial Death Seed, and make him part of their new Horsemen of Death. He sends a worm creature to capture Wolverine, and confronts his father when the creature returns with him. After the Twins are defeated, Akihiro escapes with the Grim Reaper. He expresses shock at having returned to the realm of the living and states that despite having failed to kill Logan yet again, at least the sun will rise the following day.

Some time after the events of his father's death, Akihiro resurfaces at an auction house in Madripoor, where two of his fathers claws are being sold to the highest bidder. Akihiro proceeds to tell all present that he will not allow anyone to dishonor his father and whoever does so will be eliminated. After retrieving his father's claws, Akihiro proceeds to kill all of the bidders present with the exception of Madame Hydra, Mystique and one undercover Hydra scout, who was a former lover of Akihiro's.

Marvel Legacy: All-New Wolverine, Iceman and X-Men Blue (2017–2018)

Akihiro is persuaded to show up by S.H.I.E.L.D. to an isolated section of New York City. There, along with many other people with healing abilities, Akihiro draws a virus off of New Yorkers, willingly saving their lives. Akihiro shows compassion for Gabby, a clone of X-23, when Gabby is unable to save two citizens.

During the "Hunt for Wolverine" storyline, Akihiro is told that Wolverine may have survived. When they hear that Wolverine is sighted in Maybelle, Arizona, Sabretooth tells Akihiro that he will kill Wolverine again and then kill Akihiro. When the three of them arrive in Maybelle, Akihiro finds members of Soteira Killteam Nine there. Just then, Akihiro is attacked by Maybelle's citizens, who have been resurrected as zombies. Akihiro is captured by the Killteam, but manages to escape. When Akihiro catches up to them, Lady Deathstrike and Sabretooth are informed of a glowing green device in the power station that may be responsible for the zombie outbreak and that they must destroy the device before Maybelle is destroyed. In the ensuing battle, Akihiro is stabbed by Lord Dark Wind and dies. Soteira proceeds to acquire Akihiro's body and revive him to their cause.

Krakoan Age: X-Factor, Marauders, Alpha Flight, and Sabretooth War (2019–2024)

A fully resurrected Daken returns in the House of X series during the Dawn of X relaunch. Akihiro, along with several other villainous mutants led by Apocalypse, is welcomed to Krakoa by Charles Xavier, Magneto and Moira X and accepts Xavier's offer to join the new nation in order to heal mutantdom and start over a whole species together. During his time in Krakoa, Akihiro reconciles with Wolverine and is shown spending time with his father and "sister" Gabby in the Krakoan bar.

Akihiro offers his services when Northstar arrives on Krakoa for help in locating his missing sister Aurora. Despite a rocky start, Akihiro proves to be a valuable ally, and Northstar's team successfully recovers Aurora's body for resurrection by the Five on Krakoa. The Quiet Council of Krakoa approves the team's formation as X-Factor Investigations with Northstar chosen as leader and tasks them with assisting the Five in investigating missing mutants and locating the deceased for resurrection. Akihiro later takes up residence in X-Factor's new base of operations, naming it the Boneyeard. Akihiro begins romantically pursuing Aurora, who is reluctant to reciprocate his feelings despite her own growing attraction to him. In a later mission, Akihiro is tasked by Northstar in monitoring Siryn following her repeated suicides and uncooperative behavior after her resurrection on Krakoa. In reality, Siryn had been possessed by the Morrigan, who lures Akihiro into an abandoned Canadian village. Having earlier cut off his communication from the rest of X-Factor, the Morrigan brutally attacks Akihiro, taunting him for being abandoned by his teammates before impaling him on a wooden spike and leaving him for dead. Barely kept alive for days by his healing factor, Akihiro nearly succumbs to his wounds before being rescued by Northstar, who had just discovered the Morrigan's sabotage. Akihiro is visited by Aurora while he is recuperating and the two share their first kiss, consummating their relationship. When the Morrigan takes over the Boneyard and kills several members of X-Factor, Akihiro is killed during his second confrontation with the goddess and is promptly resurrected along with his teammates the following day. X-Factor launches a successful counterattack on the Morrigan, freeing Siryn from her control and de-haunting the Boneyard.

Akihiro and Aurora attend the Hellfire Gala as a couple, which leads to an altercation with Aurora's ex-boyfriend Wild Child. Akihiro reveals to Aurora that he knew about her split-personality and the circumstances surrounding her initial death and helps his teammates confront Prodigy's murderer and recovers his previously dead body. When Scarlet Witch's body is discovered near the end of the Gala, Akihiro and X-Factor investigate her death and along with the X-Men and X-Force conclude that Magneto is the prime suspect.

From the Ashes: Hellverine and Spirits of Violence (2024-2026)

Shortly after Akihiro's death to Sabretooth, the demon Bagra-ghul, who previously fought and briefly possessed Logan, flies to Akihiro's gravesite at the North Pole, having been drawn to Akihiro's similar presence as his father's. Bagra-ghul stitches Akihiro's body back together, resurrects and possesses him, transforming him into Hellverine. Having been influenced by Wolverine's altruistic thoughts during the brief period of possessing him, Bagra-ghul compels Hellverine into targeting and slaughtering sinners and evildoers throughout North America to sate the demon's bloodlust. Hellverine's activities lead to an encounter with the Destroyers, occult-powered and undead Super Soldiers created by Project Hellfire but have just broken free of their programming. The rampaging Warriors and Hellverine's appearance prompt Project director General Harms to seek out Logan, believing him to be Hellverine, but after reviewing the battle footage Logan deduces Hellverine's identity to be Akihiro after noticing his distinctive tattoo. When initially resurrected by Bagra-ghul, Akihiro was left amnesic and semi-catatonic, only reacting to presence of sinners. Akihiro begins regaining his memories and sense of self just as he senses of the presence of the remaining Destroyers making their way to Washington, D.C.

After Hellverine kills one Destroyer and gives chase to the surviving one, Harms shoots Hellverine with a holy-water laced bullet, gravely wounding him. Hellverine collapses mid-chase just as Logan tracks him down and comes to his son's aid. Logan willingly allows Bagra-ghul to possess him again, believing it would save Akihiro's life. Unbeknownst to Logan, Bagra-ghul's influence was actually keeping Akihiro alive and Akihiro's body begins to deteriorate as Bagra-ghul leaves him to reclaim his former host. Sympathizing with Bagra-ghul's attempts to change, Logan returns Bagra-ghul to Akihiro's body, which revives him and completely restores his memories. Against Logan's advice, Akihiro vows to put an end to Project Hellfire and the two team up to track down Harms, who has empowered himself with demonic energy. With some unexpected help from the surviving Destroyer and his former commanding officer, lieutenant colonel Leon Townsend, Hellverine kills Harms. To prevent Project Hellfire from going rogue again, Hellverine decides to leave it under the supervision of the Destroyers and its sympathetic head researcher Dr. Spivey. Hellverine parts ways with Logan before promising to meet up with him in the future.

Despite his best efforts, Akihiro struggles with keeping Bagra-ghul contained and continues hunting down evildoers as Hellverine. Hellverine seeks out Doctor Strange, who discovers that Bagra-ghul is a small part of a larger scheme concocted by Mephisto. Strange sends Hellverine back to the North Pole at the site where Bagra-ghul resurrected him as part of the first step to uncovering Mephisto's plans. Hellverine discovers that a portal to Hell had been created at the spot where he was resurrected and empowered by another monument of corpses, which Hellverine destroys. Strange arrives and informs Akihiro that the magic being summoned from Hell is targeting mutants. Revealing that every source of Hell magic on Earth is a site of Akihiro's past tragedy and that Mephisto is using Akihiro's suffering as conduit for his power, Strange tasks him with foiling Mephisto's plot by destroying Mephisto's monuments around the world. Following the origin of his own suffering, Akihiro returns to Jasmine Falls in Japan, where he discovers that his mother Istu has been resurrected as a demon by Mephisto and was kidnapping the village children. Hellverine kills Itsu to save the children and to put an end to her suffering and is gifted with an omamori by the village leader. Akihiro then travels to Genosha, where Wolverine had previously drowned him, and encounters Mephisto. Mephisto drags Akihiro to Hell and reveals his plan to corrupt mutankind into serving as his personal army on Earth and offers Akihiro the choice of either serving him as his loyal servant or to suffer eternal torture for his past sins. Akihiro casts a spell he learned from Strange that binds Bagra-ghul to his will, allowing him to completely resist Mephisto's influence and attacks him. Mephisto casts Akihiro from Hell and he finds himself back in Genosha, where Dr. Spivey is waiting for him. Spivey informs Hellverine that Project Hellfire needs his help again with another problem.

Shadows of Tomorrow: Inglorious X-Force (2026-present)

Hellverine is recruited by Cable into the newest incarnation of X-Force to prevent the future assassination of the first mutant President of the United States, who is revealed to be Kamala Khan. Unbeknownst to Hellverine and the rest of X-Force, Cable suspects him, Archangel or Boom-Boom to be the future assassin. Hellverine is instrumental during the team's first mission to stop the new weapon of the Blasphemy Cartel, due to his experience with the occult. The "weapon" is later revealed to be the captured angel Arielle, who privately allows Cable to request for one soul to be judged by her as a reward for saving her. Cable asks Arielle to judge Akihiro, who Arielle confirms is not Kamala's future murderer. Akihiro shares a mutual attraction with Boom-Boom which turns into a sexual relationship and develops a rivalry with Archangel, although the two gain a grudging respect for each other. When Archangel's loyalty is questioned by Cable after his Death persona begins emerging, Hellverine vouches for his innocence and uses his powers to locate the source of who could be controlling him; X-Force tracks it down to Mister Sinister. After Sinister is dealt with, Cable admits his true intentions of recruiting Hellverine and the others, but exonerates them after the moral character displayed in their missions proved their innocence, instead believing that the reformed Mutant Liberation Front to be behind the future assassination.

Powers and abilities

Akihiro has inherited a potential of mutant abilities from his father, although he possesses certain powers Wolverine does not have.

Akihiro's primary mutant power is a rapid healing factor that allows him to recover damaged or destroyed parts of his body faster and more extensively than a normal human. As an example of his effective healing factor, Akihiro once instantly healed from a serious beating from the Thing, recovered from a massive explosive inflicted by the Punisher, and regenerated a lost arm he suffered from Mister Sinister. His healing factor also is powerful enough to significantly enhance his natural physical abilities, augment his immunity to poisons or diseases, and increase his longevity.

However, Akihiro's healing factor is different from his father. While Wolverine heals in an automated nature, Akihiro heals in cognitive fashion, through sentient thought and emotional control. It was revealed in All-New Wolverine 28#, Muramasa claimed that Akihiro's guilt of not preventing his father's death is what slowed down his healing factor. Inner meditation was required for Akihiro to become whole, such as regenerating a missing arm.

Like his father, Akihiro possesses three retractable claws, contained within his forearms; two on the top of knuckles and one underneath his wrist. These claws are much tougher and thicker than normal human bone, sharp and strong enough to easily cuts through durable metals that is equivalent to the likes of Iron Man's armor. At one point, Akihiro had the claws underneath his wrists coated with a piece of the Muramasa blade. To protect himself from the blade's anti-healing properties, Akihiro had adamantium housings implanted in his wrists to act as sheathes for his Muramasa claws. After these claws were ripped out by Wolverine, Akihiro's normal claws grew back in their place. Through the use of the Death Seed, Akihiro's claws radiate a blue-colored energy, greatly increasing their lethality. These energized claws possess the same anti-healing abilities of his old Muramasa claws. Upon further channelling the Death Seed, Akihiro can produce multiple jet black razor sharp protrusions from his forearms in addition to his six claws.

Akihiro has animal-like senses of sight, hearing, and smell at superhuman level. These senses make him a dangerous tracker or hunter, allowing Akihiro to detect people or objects by scent alone, track a target despite its scent being diminished by time or weather, or detect anyone lying.

Reception

In 2018, CBR.com ranked Akihiro 10th (as worse than Wolverine) in their "8 X-Men Kids Cooler Than Their Parents (And 7 Who Are Way Worse)" list.

Other versions

Earth-138

In the Spider-Punk universe, Daken-Sama is a member of a Japanese biker gang called the Marauders.

Ultimate Universe

An alternate universe version of Akihiro appears in Ultimate X-Men. This version claims to be the first mutant and donated his blood to the Children of the Atom.

What If?

In What If? Wolverine: Father #1, Logan was present when his son was born and was able to save him from the people who would have raised him in the original course of events, taking him to live in seclusion in the mountains in the hope that he could raise John Howlett away from the kind of life he has lived himself. However, despite his attempts to ensure privacy by turning Professor X away when he came to recruit Logan to join the X-Men, Logan's attempts to suppress John's darker instincts failed when Sabretooth found them, revealing the truth about his father's past to John. Leaving his father, John became a brutal killer, roaming various cities and killing his opponents, proclaiming that Logan made him what he is by denying him his heritage. Concluding that he will never bring anything good into the world, Logan stabs John in the heart with the Muramasa Blade, subsequently impaling himself to end his own dark stain on the world.

In other media

Video games

Akihiro / Daken makes a cameo appearance in Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds.

Akihiro / Dark Wolverine appears as boss character in Marvel: Avengers Alliance. This version is a member of the Dark Avengers.

Several versions of Akihiro appear as unlockable playable characters Marvel Puzzle Quest. In addition to his original Daken appearance, an older alternate version called Samurai Daken appears as well. This version of Akihiro is sent back in time to Feudal Japan by the Muramasa Blade after murdering his father with it. A remorseful Akihiro takes his father's moniker Wolverine for himself and roams the country as a heroic wandering samurai to repent for his sins and develops his own style of iaido the combines his swordsmanship with his claws.

Akihiro / Daken and Hellverine appear as unlockable playable characters in Marvel Strike Force.

Akihiro / Daken appears as an unlockable playable character in Marvel Future Fight.

Akihiro / Daken appears in Marvel Duel.