Wolverineeasily ranks among Marvel’s greatest fighters, with his adamantium claws,his incredible healing factor, and his berserker-style rage turning him into a deadly flurry of slicing and dicing. He’s the prime example of good things coming in small packages, at least where comics are concerned. Now, not only has Logan put a number on his height, but he has also explained exactly why it gives him an advantage over his numerous larger opponents.
InWolverine #10, Logan comes face-to-face with a couple of ghosts of his past. As he’s forced to tangle with the apparitions of John Howlett and Thomas Logan, the two combine forces to try to take him down, giving Wolverine the perfect opportunity to demonstrate why being 5'3" is an advantage in a fight, not a liability.
In the same breath that he confirms his canon height, Logan notes that being on the smaller side means that he’s"damn good at breaking holds.“Wolverine will rarely ever have a size advantage over any opponent, but he has many other tricks.
Wolverine’s Canon Height Makes It Easy to Break Holds and Keep Fighting
Wolverine #10by writer Saladin Ahmed, artist Javier Pina, colorist Bryan Valenza, and letterer Cory Petit
Wolverine’s small stature is no great shockfor comic fans, as the clawed mutant has always been canonically short. There have been plenty of references and jokes made through the decades, and everyone is plenty aware that Logan stands considerably shorter than his X-Men teammates. While some heroes like Superman and Captain America may tower over their enemies, being short hasn’t stopped Wolverine becoming a grade-A badass. Over more than a century, Wolverine has learned how to utilize his powers and body, finding all the way that being 5'3” is an advantage.
Not only does being on the small side make Wolverine a harder target, especially when he’s going up against opponents many times his size like the towering Sentinels, but it also means he has a lower center of gravity. That makes him harder to topple than someone taller, and, as he points out in his fight against John and Thomas, allows him to break holds with greater ease. In short, he’s built perfectly for grappling. ConsideringWolverine’s claws are his main(and often only) weapon, he’s always going to engage in close combat, which is the perfect stage to display those skills.
Wolverine’s Height Makes Him One of Marvel’s Greatest Fighters
Logan Is the Patron Saint of Short Kings
Wolverine is the best there is at what he does, by his own proclamation, and that’s only possible by seizing every advantage. That’s precisely what he’s done with his height. While it might seem like being smaller than most of his opponents is a weakness in most cases, that couldn’t be further from the truth. Logan’s expertise on the battlefield (and anywhere else he might be fighting) allows him to know exactly how to turn his 5'3" self into a ball of fury that’s difficult to keep hold of. His string of victories speaks for itself.
Wolverine has studied his body and powers, finding unique ways to use them. For example,he can react at superspeedby deliberately burning out his muscles against his adamantium bones, confident in the knowledge they’ll heal quickly.
Wolverine has squared upagainst considerably larger opponents like Sabretooth, Colossus, Hulk, and many others. Even if it takes a few rounds for him to come out victorious, he’s beaten all of them at least once. Logan might not win every single fight he walks into, but he’d lose a lot more of them if he wasn’t so hyper aware of his body and how to use it to his advantage in every way possible.
Logan’s healing factor and claws are obviously the deciding factors in most fights, and that’s not up for dispute, but they’re not the only things he has going for him. Being short simply makes him a better fighter in the comics.Wolverine’scanon 5'3" height is a major boon in close-range combat, and he’s proven that he knows exactly how to use it to his advantage.
