Wolverine's Claws

[Shikua]

Due to wolverine's healing powers his knuckles are constantly healing over the edge of his claws. The skin gets re-broken every time he extends or retracts them. Whether or not blood gets in depends on if the knuckles heal fast enough to form a seal around the edge of the claws as he retracts or if the new tissues damage prevents a seal during movement. Regardless, his healing factor seems to be able to every disease known to man so I don't think he has to worry about catching something. (Of course the tombstone, "here lies wolverine, he survived being nuked but died from AIDs that he got when he ripped some guys guts out", would be pretty funny).

One would think that once the claws were extended the holes would stay open like a piercing. But I guess those heal too...

 

[Knife]

What about all the times Wolverine caught an extra terrestrial or a supernatural virus... then after a while got better and then the entire X-men team used his blood as an antidote to counter that virus? Some blood infection seems meaningless and insignificant in comparison. It is clearly established that he has a super developed immune system as part of his super healing powers. His healing powers reverse aging for over a century and ressurected him countless times after mortal wounds that would end any other superhero's career, so even if he didn't have a crazy immune system he'd still be very much fine.
I'm guessing part of the blood stays on the outside some goes in, some is regenerated back in to the body as operational.

 

[Twilight_guy]

Due to wolverine's healing powers his knuckles are constantly healing over the edge of his claws. The skin gets re-broken every time he extends or retracts them. Whether or not blood gets in depends on if the knuckles heal fast enough to form a seal around the edge of the claws as he retracts or if the new tissues damage prevents a seal during movement. Regardless, his healing factor seems to be able to every disease known to man so I don't think he has to worry about catching something. (Of course the tombstone, "here lies wolverine, he survived being nuked but died from AIDs that he got when he ripped some guys guts out", would be pretty funny).

One would think that once the claws were extended the holes would stay open like a piercing. But I guess those heal too...

Piercings heal and additionally this is literately him splitting his knuckles, or at least tears soft flesh between bones. That heals pretty fast (although normal people might need stitches).

 

[WolfThomas]

A bigger q is how can cyclops fire lasers from his eyes without them melting.

Bear with me a moment, but they're not lasers they're beams of concussive force...from another universe, which his eyes are apetures to. That is the in universe explanation as silly as it is. That's why he can seemingly create energy out of no where and it doesn't obey newton's third law (i.e. his head gets torn off from recoil).

 

[arcstone]

What I've wondered about is if you were to split wolverine in half down the middle, then pulled the two halves away from one another before they knit back together, would each half generate another half?

Why has no one ever thought about this? Split him in half five hundred times and you'll have yourself an unstoppable army of wolverines.

 

[Dracowrath]

Looks like this question's been solved. Quickly, someone inform the folks at Unskippable!

 

[Dracowrath]

What I've wondered about is if you were to split wolverine in half down the middle, then pulled the two halves away from one another before they knit back together, would each half generate another half?

Why has no one ever thought about this? Split him in half five hundred times and you'll have yourself an unstoppable army of wolverines.

You would have to somehow slice through his adamantium skeleton. And, if you somehow managed that, you'd end up with wolverines who only have half a skeleton of metal and half plain bone and some that have no adamantium at all.

 

[arcstone]

What I've wondered about is if you were to split wolverine in half down the middle, then pulled the two halves away from one another before they knit back together, would each half generate another half?

Why has no one ever thought about this? Split him in half five hundred times and you'll have yourself an unstoppable army of wolverines.

You would have to somehow slice through his adamantium skeleton. And, if you somehow managed that, you'd end up with wolverines who only have half a skeleton of metal and half plain bone and some that have no adamantium at all.

Making them also killable, and therefore not a permanent plot element.
See this writers?
Take notes.

 

[EffingDeadpool]

I don't think any pathogen getting into Wolverine's body will have much if any effect on him, seeing as his healing factor would probably counter any damage to his body the disease would do. I do like the splitting him in half bit though, that would make an interesting storyline.

 

[Dracowrath]

Wolverines healing factor would easily negate any disease that the blood was carrying. And it likely does end up in his body.. albeit not for long.

The question I want answered is where do they go when retracted?

May sound stupid. But the claws are about the length of his forearm, which means they certainly don't stay in his hands.

Spoiler: claws to forearm ratio

They have to go to his forearm. But when you think about that for a second. That means that even the tips would have to be retracted way behind the wrist, or otherwise they'd lock his wrists up and he wouldn't be able to move his hands.

But that means each time he draws them out, they'd have to push through his wrist.... that's fucking stupid. Your wrists are comprised of a large compound of 8 tightly packed bones that the claws would have to cut through before reaching the gaps between your metacarpals that his claws come out of.

Spoiler: carpals

Then, how would they stay there? I mean claws in animals are held in by a series of muscles, which allow them to contract and eject[?]. So do these muscles pass through his carpal bones? Doubtful. That would mean the carpals don't heal, which would make his wrists fragile, even with the adamantium.

This is even dafter when you look at how they explain the presence of these muscles in the first place. Before the adamantium was added to his body, they made a story up about him having bone claws. But bone claws wouldn't be able to penetrate through the 8 carpal bones in his wrists. So the only option we have left is to say that his bone structure is different and that there are gaps in his wrist that allow this to happen. But that's silly, also, while we're at it, if they were a natural appendage the claws wouldn't have to break his skin to come out. They'd have slits in the skin that don't heal over, like cats do.

Wolverines claws are just full of logistical nightmares.

And yes, I do overthink just about everything in this manner. But that's why if I made comics, they'd be more accurate. :]

Comic book logic trumps your real world logic

 

[LoFr3Eq]

I think the real question about wolverines claws, is:

Can a lightsaber cut through them?

I think this question is like the paradox "could god make a rock so heavy that even he himself could not move it?"

I could imagine some sort of amazing tournament where all the OP sword weilders do battle. (Lightsabres, Keyblades, Zanpakto, Excalibur, Soul Sword, Blades of Olympus, Soul Edge/Blade etc.)

 

[SckizoBoy]

Good biological questions

Change the word 'logistical' to 'physiological' and I'm all with this guy.

Add the fact that without carpals, bending the wrist would be both difficult and probably painful. Moreover, one would've thought that the claws should extend parallel to the gaps between the metacarpal bones. However, in most pictures they're almost parallel with each other. Now, look the back your hand... the claws should splay out with their tips quite far apart particularly the two that originate between the index/middle fingers and middle/ring fingers.

 

[RussetRanger]

Suspension of disbelieve, thats the answer to pretty much any comic loophole that "might" be impossible, i mean your arguing the realism of somthing entirly fictional its not even nerdy or fanboyish thats just plain weird.

Best summary of that idea here.

Really, it's a cartoon/comic book. If there was something established initally about the claws yet it was inconsistent, then that would be worth discussing amongst fans. Anyways, he can probably just clean off the blood beforehand.

 

[marche45]

This is even dafter when you look at how they explain the presence of these muscles in the first place. Before the adamantium was added to his body, they made a story up about him having bone claws. But bone claws wouldn't be able to penetrate through the 8 carpal bones in his wrists. So the only option we have left is to say that his bone structure is different and that there are gaps in his wrist that allow this to happen. But that's silly, also, while we're at it, if they were a natural appendage the claws wouldn't have to break his skin to come out. They'd have slits in the skin that don't heal over, like cats do.

Well he IS a mutant,and his bone claws aren't actually made up of the same thing normal bones are.So no slits and a altered physiology would make sense.

 

[Kae]

First didn't always have metal bones (he's over hundred years old). Second adamantium (not sure correct spelling) is light weight and only a small coating is needed for the ultra-super-special never breaking effect. The other point is that wolverine has some degree of super strength; which I tend to see as being due to him being able to push his body past normal human limits and thus achieve a greater mass of muscle.

He's also much stronger and faster because of his healing factor or some crap, but in alot of the comics storylines this comes up is that he's generally shit in water with it weighing him down.



Also Deadpool once figured a way around his healing factor so he couldn't escape, tie him up, drop him in a body of water. No oxygen so no conciousness healing factor or no. Made sense to me.

Well I don't care for Marvel's excuses since it was supposed to be science it's stupid and he shouldn't be able to swim.

You are trying to apply actual physics and logic to a fictional universe where our physics and logic don't exist.

This is the only answer that makes sense to me, but I always thought he couldn't swim because I'd never seen him swim until I read some random comic in which he swam and I always thought it was a mistake or something, I guess I expected good wring where I cannot get it.

 

[DannyJBeckett]

This little dilemma tickled me a little while back;

If you cut off Wolverine's arm (I know it's not possible because of his unbreakable skeleton, but bear with me), would his body grow a new arm, or would his arm grow a new body?

 

[alrekr]

This little dilemma tickled me a little while back;

If you cut off Wolverine's arm (I know it's not possible because of his unbreakable skeleton, but bear with me), would his body grow a new arm, or would his arm grow a new body?

New arm. Two ways of explaining.

New arm is quickest one to regrow.

You have to see wolverine's brain as the centre and all regenerations stem from that centre. Other wise he could make a clone army by chopping his arm of off all the time. Also seeing as he has only had the metal bones a short while in his very long life (most of which spent in wars) this would have happened at some point.

I'm quite sure in fact that during his fereal years (after magneto tore the metal straight off of his bones) he would often break his claws and have large parts of his body torn off.

And another thing; His blades are longer than his hands, so how could he bend his hands back whilst they're retracted?

Well the lenght of his claws varies from comic to comic. This can be explained by saying due to his regen the length of the claws can vary; so long claws may in fact break upon rentering the body (bone claws were not that strong (but were sharp)). This can be shown by how his claws were longest in feral point.

 

[WolfThomas]

This is even dafter when you look at how they explain the presence of these muscles in the first place. Before the adamantium was added to his body, they made a story up about him having bone claws. But bone claws wouldn't be able to penetrate through the 8 carpal bones in his wrists. So the only option we have left is to say that his bone structure is different and that there are gaps in his wrist that allow this to happen. But that's silly, also, while we're at it, if they were a natural appendage the claws wouldn't have to break his skin to come out. They'd have slits in the skin that don't heal over, like cats do.

In the comics he is indeed been depicted with slits that they come in and out of. Also the claws come out higher and more superficially. Still silly but more workable than the films.

Spoiler: A bad JRJR picture which shows what I'm talking about

I think the real question about wolverines claws, is:

Can a lightsaber cut through them?

Unlikely, lightsabers cut by pure heat, right? They're plasma contained in a force field. Pure adamatium is frequently described as indestructable once forged (the rock form can be melted). It's also likely that Wolverine's skeleton would transfer the heat from the blade directly to his skin and body, which the healing factor would repair. Also adamantium has had some strang properties over it's time in comics, like being able to cut intangible enemies.

This little dilemma tickled me a little while back;

If you cut off Wolverine's arm (I know it's not possible because of his unbreakable skeleton, but bear with me), would his body grow a new arm, or would his arm grow a new body?

Grows from the trunk out, taking off the head would kill him if it wasn't near impossible due to the indestructible spine. That said he's probably like deadpool where he'd regrow if his head was put back on the torso quickly.

Well I don't care for Marvel's excuses since it was supposed to be science it's stupid and he shouldn't be able to swim.

I don't know what the others were getting their info from he has a lot of difficulty swimming. Heck even X23 his opposite sex clone (long story) who only has admantium on the claws in her hands and feet (they're awesome), commented how hard it was for her to swim recently. But he has been shown as being able to hold his breath for a long time and walk along the bottom of the water.

 

[WolfThomas]

That was more of an early 90's thing. I think the animated series made that popular. Most of the newer comics show it coming out of his skin.

Spoiler

Still, at least it makes a lick of sense. I think more recently they've been inspired by the movies.

Spoiler: Especially when you consider the original

 

[Dominic Burchnall]

I don't reckon it would, after all the claws are quite literally skin-tight to the joins bewteen his knuckles, so it would likely act as it would when swordsmen wiped a cloth over their sword after a battle to brevent it corroding to blade, and wipe the blood away from the claws.