Wolverine Fact — November 4, 2026

Today's Fact

Logan has survived brainwashing before — this time the bill came due at the Xavier Institute, and a teammate paid it.

BRAINWASHED BY HYDRA AND THE HAND, WOLVERINE KILLED HIS OWN TEAMMATE NORTHSTAR — WHO WAS THEN RESURRECTED AS THEIR ASSASSIN!

The Featured Fact

In Wolverine Vol. 3 #20–25 (2004–2005), the Enemy of the State arc, the Hand lured Logan to Japan, overwhelmed him, and their champion the Gorgon killed him. The Hand's resurrection rites brought him back wrong: reprogrammed as an agent of the Hand and HYDRA, set loose on S.H.I.E.L.D., the Fantastic Four and his own school with a teleporter whisking him out of every trap.

The rampage peaked in Wolverine Vol. 3 #25 (2005). Smuggled into the Xavier Institute, Logan forced Rachel Summers toward a Cerebra assassination plot, then fought his way toward a stolen X-Jet. As the X-Men closed in he lunged at Kitty Pryde — she phased, exactly as instinct demanded — and his claws passed through her and impaled Northstar, Jean-Paul Beaubier, who had stepped into the line of the blow. Captain America finally knocked Logan out, but Northstar was dead.

Death was only HYDRA's halfway point. The Hand stole Northstar's body and resurrected him through the same rite, and the speedster re-emerged as a brainwashed assassin leading the mutant death cult called the Dawn of the White Light — the killers' business model in miniature: murder a hero, then invoice his corpse for further work. A captured, deprogrammed Logan later had to hunt Northstar down himself in Wolverine Vol. 3 #28 and talk the man he had killed back toward the light.

Why It's Obscure

Plenty of heroes have died and returned; far fewer were killed by a teammate's claws and then reissued to the other side as standard equipment.

The Gorgon

Killer first, employer second — Tomi Shishido murdered Logan in a Japanese cemetery precisely so the Hand could raise him as their weapon.

Kitty's phase

Instinct as a weapon — HYDRA's plan profited from the one defence Kitty Pryde could not switch off: phasing let the claws through to the man behind her.

Dawn of the White Light

Northstar's second career — Resurrected Jean-Paul Beaubier led HYDRA's mutant death cult and ran up a body count of his own before Logan reached him.

#28

The apology tour — Freed from programming, Logan tracked Northstar down and refused to simply gut him — conscience, he said, was the difference between them and animals.

Gallery

The arc's own covers, plus the teammate at the centre of it.

Cover of Wolverine issue 20, Enemy of the State part 1, Wolverine with claws out standing over fallen Hand ninjas — **Enemy of the State, part 1**The cover of Wolverine Vol. 3 #20 — Logan over a pile of Hand ninjas, at the start of the arc that would turn him into their weapon.

Collected edition cover of Wolverine Enemy of the State showing Wolverine crouched in the rain with claws extended — **The collected rampage**The trade cover for the Millar and Romita Jr. run — the brainwashing storyline gathered in one volume.

Northstar Jean-Paul Beaubier in his black and silver X-Men costume, full figure with a portrait inset — **Northstar**Jean-Paul Beaubier in his X-Men gear — the teammate Logan killed in issue #25 and then had to save from HYDRA's programming in issue #28.

Sources

Every fact on this page was checked against at least two independent sources before publication.

Bullpen Bulletins

Wolverine Vol. 3 #25 — Marvel Database Issue entry listing Northstar's death, HYDRA's plot through Rachel Summers, and Wolverine killing Northstar before Captain America stops him.
Wolverine (3rd series) #28 — uncannyxmen.net Synopsis confirming Northstar was killed by Wolverine in issue #25 and resurrected by the Hand and HYDRA, and Logan's attempt to talk him down.
Enemy of the State: What Happened — CBR Arc overview: the Hand brainwashes Wolverine, and fallen heroes including Northstar are revived as brainwashed HYDRA agents.