Wolverine’s Real Name Was Revealed By a Leprechaun (Yes, Really)

Longtime comic fans will know that the real birth name of the X-Men’s Wolverine is actually James Howlett, while casual fans may think of him as Logan. But either way, what many may not know is that the first time the Logan moniker was revealed to the world was from the lips of an actual leprechaun in the pages of X-Men #103.

Opening in Ireland, in the ancestral estate of then-team-member Banshee, the team has lost what seemed to be an epic battle with Juggernaut and Black Tom. While almost all of the X-Men have been taken prisoner, the book’s first page finds an unconscious Nightcrawler being carried away to safety by a horde of the mythical Irish imps. After he wakes up, Nightcrawler is for some reason astounded to learn that, in a world chock full of weather-controlling and teleporting mutants, leprechauns can somehow also exist. Also news to Nightcrawler – as he’s apparently never been in a dark room before – is an apparently newfound ability to turn literally invisible whenever he’s covered by a shadow, even to himself. After learning his compatriots are in a lab being sapped of their powers by the villains, Nightcrawler BAMFs his way into the room, using his image inducer to impersonate Professor X and interrupt the proceedings.

Nightcrawler frees Storm, Wolverine, and Colossus. However Juggernaut and Tom still have Banshee, so the freed heroes mount an attack on the castle while being bombarded by its automated defenses. Meanwhile, Nightcrawler is somehow again unconscious among the lab’s wreckage and again has to be saved by the leprechauns. It’s back outside in the chaos of battle that yet another leprechaun shows up, offering assistance to Wolverine, and calling him Logan for the first time in the character’s history. Confused as to how he knows his name the leprechaun, Padraic simply explains it away: “We little people know a lot o’ things.” Furthering his confusion is the fact that Wolverine also apparently doesn’t believe in leprechauns, despite the fact that he’s currently fighting alongside a seven-foot-tall man made of metal. A revived Nightcrawler frees Banshee (because remember he can turn invisible now) and eventually the heroes triumph.

But that’s it with the whole Logan thing. There’s no followup questions, no further explanation and it isn’t mentioned again for the remainder of the book. Just one single panel changed the history of one of comics’ most iconic characters – thanks to a leprechaun.

Most avid comic readers have seen enough to not even bat an eye at the idea of a leprechaun existing in the X-Men universe, but for our first proper introduction to Wolverine as Logan to come from a leprechaun is undeniably kooky. And there’s other fun to be had with this book, especially the back and forth between Wolverine and Juggernaut, which ends with the latter throwing the former over a castle for calling Storm a “broad” as well as a pretty epic clash between Banshee and Black Tom. But besides all that, next time Logan pops up on TV, remember that title comes courtesy of a leprechaun named Padraic in X-Men #103.

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