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 (, "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. Shadowing his father into a bank vault in Brussels that contains the
carbonadium synthesizer, Akihiro engages Wolverine in a bloody battle with Akihiro demonstrating great fighting prowess and similar speed and agility to his father. As Wolverine is hampered by his reluctance to kill his son and his fading belief that Akihiro can be redeemed, he quickly loses the upper hand despite his greater experience and training. Their fight is interrupted when Cyber breaks into the Vault and challenges Akihiro. It is then revealed that Akihiro trained under Cyber in the past. Cyber mentions that Akihiro is a better and faster fighter than he is, and was his finest student. However, Cyber's imperviousness and greater strength make that a moot point, as he later explains to Wolverine. Akihiro refuses to lead Cyber to his master and flees the fight, leaving his father and his mentor to deal with each other. Akihiro is then seen in the presence of
Wild Child, and a scarred, expressionless torturer who whips him with a gasoline soaked length of rope. He pleads for mercy, but receives only a warning from his "master" to stay away from his father. Akihiro returns and fights
Deadpool and Wolverine, managing to knock Deadpool unconscious after a long fight. Akihiro had spent the last couple of months being tortured under observation by Wild Child, who is acting on orders from their mutual master Romulus. Akihiro is then confronted by Wolverine, only to be shot in the back of the head by the Winter Soldier. Wolverine explains that he set up the entire scenario and leaves with the unconscious Akihiro, later revealed to have amnesia due to the bullet. However, Akihiro seemingly betrays Wolverine to Cyber afterward. It was later revealed it was all a plan to get to Cyber's secrets. After learning them, Akihiro apparently kills Cyber, leaving his body to Wolverine. During a conversation between Wolverine and
Nick Fury, Fury reveals that he believes Akihiro is going after the
Muramasa Blade that Wolverine left in
Cyclops's care. The sword has various mystical properties, including the ability to disable superhuman regenerative powers. Fury believes that Akihiro intends to take the sword and have the metal bonded to his bone claws after stating that the
Tinkerer would know how to do such a thing and had last been spotted in New York City.
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". However, Akihiro's loyalty to Osborn and true motives remain questionable, as Akihiro constantly mentions that "Osborn thinks I'm working for him". This puts him at odds with Bullseye and
Ares. He secretly assists the
Fantastic Four in helping them break into
Avengers Tower to steal incriminating evidence against Osborn while trying to clear their name against Osborn, but was foiled by Bullseye.
Ms. Marvel tries to psychoanalyze him and assuage her feelings for him, but Akihiro rebukes her and Osborn. When Osborn brings his Avengers to bear against the dispossessed
Olympians and their "Olympus Group" shell corporation, Akihiro encounters the god
Pluto and receives from him a prophecy of Akihiro's own impending death: ". . .sooner than you think. And it will be bloody". During Osborn's
Siege of
Asgard, it is revealed that Akihiro intends to turn on Osborn. Akihiro attempts to fight
Thor, who strikes him down with a massive bolt of lightning before the two can even face off. Once the Siege ends with the Void's death, the Dark Avengers are rounded up and arrested. Akihiro is the only one to escape, doing so by killing and disguising himself as an army soldier.
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. In the aftermath of the storyline "Collision" Akihiro is "cleaning up house" in
Madripoor by either getting the rest of the criminal underworld to agree to serve him, or eradicating his enemies. A man named Tan Kim Seng falls into the latter category. Akihiro kills all of Tan's finest killers, leaving only a British entrepreneur named Hunt and Tan left cornered in his office. Tan is having a final drink as Akihiro breaks into the room. Tan states that he only trades with business men, not "Awun", which is Taiwanese for God of Destruction. Tan states that he knows that Akihiro is Patch's (aka Wolverine) son, and when he looks in Akihiro's eyes he tells him that his soul is gone. He berates Akihiro further by comparing him to his father Wolverine. This ultimately leads to his demise by a gunshot to his forehead. Tan's final words weigh heavy in Akihiro's mind later throughout the night. Akihiro decides to pay a visit to the Avengers Tower. He sets up a scenario that makes it look like the Tower is under attack. Wolverine picks up on Akihiro's scent and is ambushed by Akihiro. Akihiro states that he knew what Wolverine was planning by having the team split up so no harm would come to them. Akihiro lets Wolverine know that he did not come to kill him, but to say that he was going be missing for a while, and is going to live outside of Wolverine's shadow. Wolverine questions what he meant, but when Wolverine turns around, Akihiro is gone. Akihiro having a vast amount of money from his exploits in Madripoor, decides to start a new empire in the city of Los Angeles. He enters an expensive house that belonged to a previous couple that is lying dead on the steps at the entrance of the home. Akihiro looks at a marvelous view of Los Angeles and narrates to himself that he is not going to destroy, but create. The story starts off with Akihiro wearing a Captain America mask, and is trying to pull off an "Italian Job" on the Los Angeles interstate 110 but is caught in a battle with the military. Akihiro makes it to the armored car, but begins to suffer withdrawal symptoms from a drug called "Heat". Akihiro promises to himself that he would not take the drug before the heist, but decides to take it anyway. Immediately after the drug is taken, he begins to hallucinate very heavily during the heist. Seven days earlier, Akihiro is at a party in Hollywood with actors, directors, musicians, agents, executives, and beautiful women. Despite the lavish ambiance, Akihiro is extremely bored with the Hollywood facade. Akihiro's true motive for being at the party is to find a lead to who secretly controls Hollywood so he can take over. He was under the impression that Los Angeles was wide open due to "
The Pride" losing control of the city. Akihiro was told by his fixer that the owner of the house and host of the party Marcus Roston, who also happens to be on Hollywood's A-List, has information as to who is pulling the strings in Hollywood. As Akihiro attempts to enter Roston's section, he is blocked by two bodyguards. Akihiro attempts to talk with one of them saying that he has a big deal. He is immediately disparaged by one of the guards. This causes Akihiro to attack him and break his nose. Immediately Akihiro is feeling the effects of the drug "Heat" and is disoriented even though his healing factor should have stopped it. He is knocked unconscious by the other bodyguard. In an undisclosed part of Los Angeles, there is an up-and-coming actor who is being chased by some kind of serial killer. The actor is murdered during the night. The next day, the LAPD is investigating the crime scene. Two detectives are making jokes when one of them warns the other of "
Narnia" approaching the scene. This happens to be F.B.I. agent Donna Kiel. Donna lets the detectives know as she is investigating the crime scene that she understands the not-so-subliminal joke, because she is ice cold like the witch in the children's story. Akihiro regains consciousness in front of the two bodyguards and Marcus Roston himself. Akihiro is surprised about the pills. Marcus confirms that he knows about them. He also berates Akihiro, stating that he is not a big deal due to the fact that he does not know him. As he threatens him, Akihiro dispatches his guards. Marcus attempts to bargain with Akihiro. Akihiro tells him that he not only wants money, but he also wants power and validation. Marcus pleads with him, saying that he will do anything for his life to be spared. Akihiro grabs Marcus by his head, engages in a kiss and seduces the celebrity. Akihiro only did this to suit his needs, get connections to who is controlling the Los Angeles underworld and to gain access to more of "The Heat". F.B.I. agent Donna Kiel confirms the identity of the victim of the serial killer, making a snide remark about one less actor in Hollywood. The victim was killed by wounds caused by claws. She walks back to her office and it shows numerous pictures of Akihiro on her wall, indicating that Akihiro is considered a prime suspect for the serial killings. Six days earlier, Akihiro and Marcus are watching a final cut from an upcoming movie that Marcus is starring in. Akihiro tells him that he feels the movie is simplistic. Marcus explains to Akihiro that the audience loves things that are simple. He does wish to do an indie film which is more personal, but he has to strike while his fame is on the rise as a leading man in movies. Akihiro insults Marcus by suggesting that he should be a queen. Marcus replies that if he comes "out of the closet" his acting career will suffer, and he says that if Akihiro cannot understand that, he does not understand the movie business. Akihiro shows his claws and threatens Marcus to tell him his dealer of the "heat pills". Marcus asks Akihiro why he loves the pills so much. Akihiro goes into a narration to the reader about the pills. As Akihiro is narrating, there are scenes of him in a state of euphoria as he meets up with Marcus's dealer, and shoots him twice in the thighs. The dealer gives up his supplier as Akihiro cuts him with his claws. Akihiro also states the supplier psychically told him the location of where the Los Angeles crime bosses are holding a secret meeting. Akihiro then goes to the nightclub where the dealer's supplier is enjoying a night out, and the situation worsens, but Akihiro does not care, because he loves the euphoria of the "heat pills". During an investigation, Akihiro has a confrontation with the hero
Moon Knight before he can discover the identity of the mysterious kingpin of Los Angeles. A beaten up and broken Akihiro discovers the properties of the heat pills are from non-human blood, confirming his suspicions that the blood belongs to a member of
the Pride. An angry Akihiro wonders how to kill a member of the Pride but realizes he does not know, so he seeks out the people who do - their children,
the Runaways. The Runaways, however, do not take lightly to his appearance and immediately attack him. Akihiro manages to talk them down, and reveals that he believes Roston to be an exiled member of The Pride. Chase confirms that he recognizes Roston as "Uncle Eli", a distant relative he had not seen in some time. Akihiro asks the Runaways to prepare to fight while he tracks down Roston. Akihiro meets Donna Kiel at a restaurant. Akihiro, attempting to make a joke, is stopped by a distressed and perturbed Donna. Donna forces Akihiro to admit why they are meeting, but Akihiro does not. An impatient Donna states to him that they were meeting up to find out if they are going to fall in love. Donna then calls him a coward, and a scared little boy due to him not saying this. Those comments anger Akihiro to the point of grabbing Donna and popping out his claws. Donna states that she was not part of the super hero, mutant, and clone club, and offered Akihiro a chance to admit who he truly is. She tells him that she is smart and Akihiro cannot hide himself from her. She says she does not want to be a cliché and wants to be real. Akihiro and Donna the share a long passionate kiss, before Donna stops the embrace. Akihiro questions why, and she tells him that he is a murderer, cop killer, and a monster. Akihiro laughs hysterically and then is smacked. Akihiro admits that this is who he is and has no compunctions regarding murder and sleeps well at night. Donna screams at him saying that he was not capable of feeling love, and just because they were both tortured by Roston and shared an addiction does not mean they should be together. She questions how she could ever fall in love with a man like that. Akihiro replies that she is the same as him. She denies this, saying that she has never killed anyone. Akihiro insists that Donna comes with him, so he can help her. He takes her to an underground basement. To Donna's surprise, she sees three men that are tied up and look like they have been tortured. Donna states that she is F.B.I. and that he is out of his mind. Akihiro says that she rationalizes her psychotic tendencies by catching other psychopaths. He gives her a gun and attempts to convince her to pull the trigger so she can release her repressed emotions and be free. Donna admits to Akihiro that this is true. Akihiro does achieve this goal, but not to the desired effect, as she points the gun towards Akihiro. She knows his healing factor is gone, and he can be killed. Before she can arrest him, Akihiro cuts off her hand in defense. Akihiro, in disbelief, asks her why she would do that. She replies that the world is better off without him. Akihiro covers her wound saying that she does not mean that, because she came back to save him and no one has ever done that for him. She says that she did not come back for him, but she was trying to stop a monster. Akihiro, in disbelief, turns and walks away after being rejected. As he enters the elevator, he makes a final attempt to gain her love by saying that he will change. She simply responds with "No you won't". Donna later walks to towards a police car asking for medical assistance. Akihiro had come to Los Angeles to build his empire, but after being rejected, lost his sense of self, purpose, and drive. Akihiro seeks out
Mister Fantastic who informs him that the Heat pills have destroyed his healing factor which will result in his death. He advises they could study Wolverine's healing factor to help but Akihiro refuses. Akihiro finds his father and doses him with Heat and sets off a chain of events that will bring his story to a brutal end. Akihiro went to Los Angeles to build something for himself. There, he tried to take over the city's criminal underworld becoming L.A.'s Kingpin. During his mission he meets and falls in love with FBI agent Donna Kiel, who shared some of the traits that made Akihiro unique, but he was rejected by her, and cut her arms. After months of trying, he fails at becoming the head of the underworld in Los Angeles, and he is defeated using the powerful drug Heat, which gave him hallucinations and burned down his healing factor. Dying, he returned to New York to "go out with a bang", drugging his father and taking him to watch his "show". He bombed the headquarters of the
Avengers and the Fantastic Four, installed bombs around the city and drugged and easily subdued Mister Fantastic. After a long battle with the heroes of the city and without a healing factor, he started to die. Akihiro asked for his father, hugged him and asked him to forgive him. But before Logan could say anything, Akihiro said he was actually sorry for putting a bomb at the Jean Grey School for Higher Learning and immolated himself with a bomb, leaving no body to bury. Wolverine rushed to his school to find nothing but a little doll of him, realizing that Akihiro's plan was just to leave him with nothing. Though it has yet to be disclosed how Akihiro turns up alive, he is revealed to be the secret mastermind behind the latest incarnation of the
Brotherhood of Mutants (consisting of
Sabretooth,
Mystique,
Shadow King, Skinless Man,
Blob of
Earth-295, and the
Omega Clan) in a plot to attack the members of
X-Force. Wolverine and Akihiro face off in an emotionally charged battle. During the fight, there are flashes of how Akihiro wished his life had played out with Wolverine like living happily together with Akihiro's mother Itsu. Akihiro finally meets his end when his father drowns him. Wolverine tells Akihiro that he blames himself and wishes he could have protected Akihiro more. The issue ends with Wolverine imagining the happy life they could have had.
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. Akihiro comes across the obituary of his former lover from 1967, Carl Valentino, a mutant with the ability to manipulate dreams. Realizing that Carl spent his whole life without publicly revealing his sexuality and mutation, Akihiro has him resurrected on Krakoa as his younger self to enjoy a second chance at life. Carl rechristens himself as
Somnus. Akihiro is captured and tortured by
Brimstone Love and is rescued by Aurora, Somnus and
Kate Pryde's
Marauders. Akihiro subsequently joins the team along with his former and current lovers and embarks with them to
Shi'ar space on a mission to uncover a two billion year mystery of missing mutants. When the Marauders come into conflict with the Kin Crimson, Akihiro kills the Chronicle, a turncoat Lupak, in combat. During the Marauders' victory celebration with the Shi'ar, Akihiro is rewarded by the
Imperial Guard with the attire, totems and title of
Fang for his actions, something his father previously failed to earn. During the "
A.X.E.: Judgment Day" storyline, Akihiro faces judgement from the
Celestial Progenitor, who lambasts him for "living out the names others put upon [him]." While recounting his judgement with
Birdy, Akihiro accepts his new moniker Fang as it was the only name that he earned rather than have forced upon him. Fang eventually tracks down Brimstone Love in Madripoor and defeats him with assistance from
Lockheed and
Johnny Dee. Fang attends the
Third Annual Hellfire Gala when it is attacked by the anti-mutant organization
Orchis. Fang and several other mutant survivors escape and are forced underground when Orchis' propaganda renews anti-mutant sentiment throughout the world. Fang subsequently joins
Alpha Flight to help protect mutant refugees from the Canadian government. Fang, along with Aurora and Northstar, travels to X-Force's new Arctic base, where he is reunited with Laura and Logan. While outside of the base, Fang is ambushed and killed by Sabretooth and
multiversal variants, who proceeds to spell out "Happy Birthday" with pieces of Fang's corpse to taunt Logan. After the Sabretooth Army is driven away from the Arctic Base but manage to slaughter many of its inhabitants and abduct Laura, Logan falls into despair and Aurora mourns Fang's death, which is rendered permanent as Krakoa's Resurrection Protocols are no longer an option. Akihiro's death is avenged when Wolverine kills Sabretooth at the end of the conflict.
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. 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. 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. Akihiro is taken back to the Pentangle, Project Hellfire's headquarters and meets their new
half demon chief analyst, Severith. Severith explains that sometime been Bagra-ghul's release and Akihiro's resurrection, the disembodied body parts of a demon called the Hell Hulk emerged throughout Earth and have been causing those within range of each piece to fall into uncontrollable rages and murder. Due to his ability to sense the Hell Hulk while resisting his influence, Hellverine works with the Destroyers into recovering the pieces of the Hell Hulk. After the Hell Hulk's body is reassembled-while his head is kept separated to prevent him from awakening-Akihiro attempts to read his memories but is left severely weakened after being exposed to the Hell Hulk's radiation for too long. While he recovers, Akihiro is ambushed by Severith, who reveals himself as the Hell Hulk's creator, and traps Akihiro within a magic prison to prevent him from interfering with the Hell Hulk's awakening. Akihiro manages to free himself but is too late to stop Severith and the Hell Hulk from destroying the Pentangle and leaving a wake of destruction across
Washington, D.C.. Due to the public fallout, the Pentagon threatens to shut down Project Hellfire and orders Hellverine to remain at the Pentangle. While investigating Severith's private quarters, Akihiro realizes that Severith plans to lure Mephisto to Earth—where he will be weaker—to kill him and usurp him as the new king of Hell. Akihiro is visited by Aurora and while discussing their relationship and recent events, Akihiro deduces that Severith is traveling to Hell's Backbone in
Utah—Project Hellfire's original site. Aurora leaves but when she fails to return, a worried Hellverine defies his orders and travels to Utah alone. Upon arriving, Hellverine discovers a pocket dimension between Hell and Earth and encounters Mephisto. Mephisto reveals that he captured Aurora and uses her as leverage to force Hellverine into working with him to stop Severith together. Hellverine and Mephisto confront Severith and the Hell Hulk, who have opened a gateway to hell and summoned a horde of demons. Although Hellverine manages to kill the demons, Severith uses his magic to restrain him while Mephisto is nearly overwhelmed by the Hell Hulk. Akihiro is nearly killed when Severith extracts Bagra-ghul from him, but is saved by the Destroyers and Aurora—whose capture was revealed to be a ruse. Mephisto drags the Hell Hulk to Hell with him while Hellverine re-absorbs Bagra-ghul and incinerates Severith to death with his hellfire. With the crisis averted, Akihiro celebrates this victory with his friends and accepts his identity as Hellverine. While hunting down a
drug cartel in
Culiacán Rosales, Hellverine is approached by
Vengeance, who warns him of the Spirit of Violence, but he rebuffs Vengeance's proposal for an alliance against the new threat. Nonetheless, Hellverine and Vengeance join forces with the other Ghost Riders in New York when the Spirit of Violence's creator Corruption sends the Spirit of Corruption and demonic robots after them. Hellverine and the others succeed in banishing Corruption in another dimension and destroying most of her forces, including the Spirit of Violence.
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. ==Powers and abilities==