Romulus is a fictional comic book adversary that appears in Marvel Comics, particularly in Wolverine-related stories. He is the leader of the Lupines, a human-like species that he says evolved from canines rather than primates through biological evolution.
Logan, popularly known as Wolverine, has faced a host of foes over his long and exhausting life. He has almost always defeated his opponents, whether fighting them alone or with the help of fellow mutants, most commonly the X-Men. Although each of his opponents has been powerful in their own right, none has been as crafty and cruel as Romulus.
Romulus, who was born with superhuman abilities similar to Wolverine’s, played a long game with Logan, leading him down the wrong path for the majority of his life. He was unforgivably ruthless in various situations, murdering people Wolverine cared about on several occasions. Despite how much he influenced Wolverine, Romulus remained shrouded in mystery, making it difficult for Logan and the readers to properly know who he was and what his true goal was.
Romulus And The Roman Empire – The Origin Story
Romulus, as per himself, was born in the prehistoric era as a Lupine. The Lupines are a clan of savage humans speculated by the Black Panther to have perhaps evolved from canines instead of primates. Nevertheless, Remus confessed to Wolverine that this was all just a ruse that was designed to keep him occupied. At the same time, Romulus gathered Adamantium, along with the bones discovered in the elephant graveyard.
Daken was taken by Romulus from his mother’s womb after his mother passed away in the 1940s. He was raised to be a cold and cruel murderer. Wolverine was told by Nick Fury that Romulus had been manipulating people from his ancestral bloodline for many millennia. He also said that Daken was in line to become the Weapon X of the next generation. This was said to have been achieved by someone known as The Tinkerer, who used the metal from the Muramasa blade and bonded the sword’s blade to the inner claws of Daken.
Daken cryptically suggested that the only reason he allowed the process was because he wanted to fulfill his agenda. In present times, Romulus was the one who brought back Thorn and Feral’s feline looks, commanded that Cyber’s skin be bonded with Adamantium, supplemented Wild Child’s powers to a great extent, and wiped off all of humanity from Sabretooth, which caused his death at Wolverine’s hands.
The precise motivations for these crimes remained unknown. He seems to have connections with Russian officials since he arranges Omega Red’s relocation to an ordinary Russian jail in order to lay an ambush for Wolverine. After Wolverine momentarily subjugated Omega Red, he was kidnapped by Wild Child, who disclosed that Romulus had arranged for various villains to fight each other, with his purpose loosely defined as him requiring a successor.
Then Wild Child ran into Omega Red. Wolverine escaped, and Omega Red murdered a stunned Wild Child. Moments after Wolverine killed Omega Red with the Muramasa Blade, Romulus appeared in front of Logan, looking ready for war. Wolverine assaulted Romulus but was quickly defeated because he was just wielding the sword at this time.
As he revealed his schemes, Romulus sliced at Wolverine from the shadows and brutally attacked him as he told the unsuspecting Wolverine about all the incidents that had led up to this very moment. Wolverine was going to become like Romulus in the future. Romulus pushed Wolverine to his very limits before dropping his weapon and drawing his claws, much to his amusement.
Nevertheless, Romulus was given a tough fight by Wolverine as Wolverine fought back with ferocity before gaining the upper hand and slicing at Romulus’s hand, as he shattered it, much to his astonishment. Wolverine taunted Romulus as soon as he saw his claws were fake and said, “You’re not what I’m gonna become…
I’m what you’ve always wanted to be.” As soon as he heard this, Romulus spiraled into a rage and blindly attacked Wolverine with his claws, only to be sliced wide open before falling to his knees as the deep gashes on his stomach and chest bled profusely. Seeming to be defeated, Romulus informed Wolverine that even though he was at the very top of the food chain, by making Daken so very similar to himself, the scene had been set by him for an encounter between his son and Wolverine.
Only the one who was the cruelest and most vicious would survive. The survivor would be the one most similar to Romulus. Wolverine decided to let Romulus live for the time being and commented that he would be finishing the job on his own terms now that Romulus was at his mercy. Romulus used his mental superpowers to get into Wolverine’s head as he was walking away and created a realistic illusion of Itsu, his wife, as a means of distraction. He used the handle of his sword to hit Wolverine in the head as he turned and rendered him unconscious.
Romulus then struggled onto his feet and dropped his sword across Wolverine’s chest before saying that he would require it. With Deadpool’s help, Wolverine thought of a strategy to bring Romulus out in the open. With a fake Muramasa blade, Wolverine then stabbed Daken.
This caused Romulus to come out of his hiding spot to confirm if Daken was truly dead. Wolverine and Skaar and Romulus and Daken break into a sudden fight on the streets. Daken and Romulus manage to escape, and Romulus thinks he is safe the next day, but Daken betrays him and attempts to murder him. Just as he is about to deliver his final blow of death with his customized Muramasa claw, Romulus is suddenly teleported away. Romulus is now caged in the Darkforce Dimension by Cloak and Wolverine with no place and no hope of escape in sight.
Romulus In Comic Book Narratives
Romulus is first introduced in quite a few flashbacks experienced by Wolverine, which Wild Child later explains, are caused by Romulus with his superpowers. He is depicted as the one who leads Lupines in barbaric and prehistoric times, being a ruler in Ancient Rome and also the main force that is driving Weapon X.
Romulus is reported to have governed as Ruler for many years throughout the Roman Empire, and he frequently organized gladiatorial competitions, with the Lupines being the gladiators. During one tournament wherein the black and blonde-haired groups had to fight with tigers, the two groups looked at Romulus, awaiting his judgment after they had conquered the beasts; he reacted by showing them the thumbs down, forcing one of the groups of gladiators to behead the men in the other group. Because Remus stated that the Lupines did not exist, it is safe to assume that those events did not take place.
In present times, Romulus reinstated Thornn and Feral’s feline appearance after they were depowered on M-Day, considerably enhanced Wild Child’s capabilities, and appeared to have removed all humanity from Sabretooth; the reason he went to such lengths is to show himself to Wolverine.
After being stranded in the Dark Force dimension, owing to Sabretooth’s blackmailing Dagger’s life, Romulus is freed from the prison he is in. A peculiar, red-haired woman with long locks appears and informs Wolverine that all the answers he is looking for are in the facility where Weapon X is. After fighting all the Sabretooth clones, Wolverine sees the mysterious woman appear in front of him again.
She tells him that she is Remus and tells him that Romulus is actually her twin brother, in a shocking turn of events. She provides Wolverine with information regarding Romulus while also aiding him in his struggle against her twin brother. She also discloses that the claims Romulus made about some mutants evolving from canines, like the Lupines, as opposed to evolving from apes, are false, but Wolverine has guessed that already.
Divulging more information, she tells him that the whole “Lupine Sapiens” tale is all just a long-winded hoax by her twin that is meant to be a ploy for his real master plan of producing a superior race of natural mutants that have artificially been strengthened with a new form of Adamantium that is made using illegally derived vibranium from Wakanda, and with the intentions of using Wolverine as a template.
Wolverine then tracks Romulus down to Italy, where his stronghold is located, after which he viciously assaults and disables Sabretooth before moving on to confront Romulus. Wolverine finds Romulus submerged in a tank very reminiscent of the one he remembers being held captive in during the times of the Weapon X program. Proceeding to break open the tank savagely, Wolverine brutally attacks Romulus with his claws.
He cruelly scoops out a large part of the right side of Romulus’s face, only to see that the bones inside his face have been strengthened together by Adamantium. Wolverine proceeds to ask Romulus why he wants to become an imitation of him as Romulus gradually heals.
To this, Romulus responds that he is not the same as he was before and that he has “taken the best from both Wolverine and Sabretooth,” which suggests that his freakish animal-like powers are a copy of Sabretooth’s traits due to the fact that his twin has none of these powers and her only extraordinary power is a healing-factor. He also discloses that he now has four claws made of Adamantium on both his hands in precisely the same positions as the gauntlets he used to wear.
As he launched back into his attack, Romulus told Wolverine that having his memory erased and getting the Adamantium bonded to his skeleton was originally his idea and wasn’t something he was pressurized into enduring as Wolverine had believed for so long. This statement, however, remains ambiguous and unconfirmed. Wolverine and Romulus began fighting once again, and this ended with Wolverine finally coming out triumphant while Romulus was detained to the Raft.
What Makes Romulus So powerful?
Romulus is said to be the first example of “Lupus Sapiens,” an ancient species that developed from wolves rather than apes, but this is refuted in Wolverine Volume 2 #312 when Remus reveals that both that bogus narrative and the bones Romulus buried at the elephant burial were just diversions. Romulus possesses a variety of superhuman abilities as well as unique physiology.
Romulus has an enhanced recovery factor, sometimes also known as a regenerative healing factor, which allows him to entirely rebuild injured or destroyed bodily tissues and cells at a far faster and more efficient pace than regular people. The complete extent of Romulus’ healing abilities is unknown, although the general speed and efficiency at which he recovers seem to be determined by the severity of the damage. Romulus’ healing abilities also grant him the resilience to poisons and toxins, along with immunity to common ailments.
Romulus’ innate healing, also known as Foreign Chemical Immunity, grants him immunity to all toxins and the majority of medications. It’s practically impossible for him to get inebriated.
Romulus is resistant to all Earthly illnesses, infections, and ailments because of his very powerful immune system and has an immunity to diseases.
He also has Superhuman Longevity which means that his healing factor extends his life by reducing the symptoms of aging at a much slower rate than a typical person. While most of Romulus’s background is unknown, he has claimed to be living since primordial times, but Remus has proven that Romulus is just a few thousand years old. While he does display indications of age, such as his hair going nearly wholly white when it was formerly black, Romulus retains the physical vigor and general appearance of his prime.
Romulus is endowed with extraordinary strength. The true extent of his abilities is unknown, as is the case with many of his other skills. He has, however, displayed sufficient strength to effortlessly pick Wolverine’s wrist with ease off the ground and fling him across a room repeatedly with little apparent effort. His physical strength ranges from 800 pounds to 2 tonnes.
Romulus is also capable of moving at near-superhuman speeds. He can attack quicker than our vision can follow and can easily keep up with Wolverine. His fighting speed appears to be the most improved aspect of his abilities, as he has repeatedly caught up with other foes in combat and blitzed victims before they draw their trigger fingers.
Romulus has a very robust bone structure. Furthermore, his skin and muscular tissues have been enhanced to degrees that are far stronger and tougher than those of a regular human being. The same tissues are incredibly resistant to harm to an exceptional extent.
His body is also highly resistant to a few element extremes, notably cold temperatures, for extended periods of time without experiencing physiological damage.
Romulus’ mutant healing factor also protects him against lactic acid and other exhaustion toxins produced by his muscles, allowing him superhuman stamina, remarkable endurance, and an extraordinary lung capacity that enables him to hold his breath for up to 6 minutes underwater; in all physical activity. Romulus can operate at full efficiency for multiple days in a row.
His speed, stability, suppleness, agility, and muscular coordination are increased to levels exceeding that of an Olympic gold medalist’s natural physical limitations. He possesses the dexterity and athletic ability of the most skilled acrobats and circus aerialists. His agility is good enough for him to dodge many gunshots at a time, and he can even jump exceedingly high and dodge for several thousand yards as well.
Due to his supernaturally keen senses, his reflexes are similarly superhuman. They are boosted to levels that are above the normal and natural physical limitations of even the best human athletes.
Romulus has supernaturally sensitive senses akin to those of some animals. He can see more clearly and across longer distances than the average person. His eyesight goes into the infrared and ultraviolet portions of the electromagnetic spectrum, enabling him to view in near-total darkness with the same clarity. His hearing is also improved, allowing him to perceive sounds that normal humans cannot and at larger distances. Romulus has a highly advanced sense of smell as well. He can smell people and items and recognize them even if they are quite well disguised.
He can follow prey by scent with great effectiveness, even when weather and time conditions have significantly destroyed the smell. Romulus’ strong sense of smell may also be used to identify falsehoods caused by chemical changes in a person’s aroma.
Romulus has a singular, retracting claw at the very top of every finger. The claws have a cuttingly sharp blade and can cut through materials as tough as bone. His claws can likely cut through much stronger things as well, although that’s unknown at the present moment. He appears to have recently inserted four additional Adamantium claws in his backhands, which, due to their unbreakable nature, can cut through practically anything.
Very little is documented about Romulus or his complete range of capabilities. He has, however, been demonstrated to be extraordinarily brilliant, with several links to various nations and government projects. Later disclosures challenge the assertion that Romulus was primarily the driving force of the Weapon X Program. Romulus is a superb fighter, strategist, and tactician, given his longevity and the few incidents disclosed about his history.
Some lesser-known facts about Romulus
Romulus is obsessed with Logan’s family. His obsession with Wolverine wasn’t a coincidental thing. As Nick Fury told Logan one day at a tavern, he had been preying on folks from the Hudson family, which was Logan’s maternal family, for years. He exploited and utilized them for his purposes, then slaughtered them or compelled them to commit suicide because he no longer found them necessary. Logan’s existence was initially revealed to Romulus at the time he was being experimented on by Nathaniel Essex at the Ravencroft Institute. Logan managed to escape the torment there with the assistance of a doctor, but his ordeal at Romulus’s hands was far from over.
Romulus is also the one who initially introduces Logan to Seraph. When Romulus grabs Wolverine’s claws, he turns into a master puppeteer who can control the mutant in whatever direction he desires. He sends Logan out on missions, either to murder or intimidate, to obtain information, or simply to enjoy a moment of life and happiness, only to have it snatched away. He plays with Wolverine’s life, with his emotions, in such a manner that it has a profound effect on his psyche.
Romulus is the one that sends Logan to Japan and subsequently to Madripoor, where he meets the terrifying Seraph. In Madripoor, Seraph, the proprietor of the Princess Bar, flirts with Wolverine and instructs him on how to be a superior assassin. She also goes on to stay in his life and gives him Romulus’ orders, from World War I to World War II.
Romulus not only physically tortures Wolverine, and that too quite frequently, but he also ensures that he psychologically breaks him. He accomplishes this by providing the mutant with brief respites in which Wolverine believes all is right with the world, just to flip everything around one day and leave Logan in the very worst state possible.
He commits a particularly heinous deed by allowing Logan to live his life with Silver Fox for some time, only to send Sabretooth to pursue her and murder her. Wolverine is naturally distraught and filled with pain, while Romulus and Sabretooth coax him even more into hunting down an entire community in order to get retribution for his loved one’s murder.
Romulus has a sister called Remus as well. She and her brother’s names are derived from the fabled account of Rome’s fathers, Romulus and Remus, who were essential in the establishment of the ancient city.
Romulus understands that tales have a lot of power and that developing an atmosphere of secrecy and splendor is vital to seem threatening. And his narrative is legendary—he creates a history in which he claims to be the very first of the Lupus Sapiens, that he evolved from canines instead of apes, and that he was born in prehistoric times.
Regretfully for him, Romulus has a sister who knows the facts and tells everybody who will listen that Romulus’ past is a bunch of nonsense. As a result, when she is in Wolverine’s company, she informs him that all he thought he knew about Romulus’ origins was a lie.
Romulus is not invincible, despite his power and ambitious aspirations. He, too, may be overwhelmed and defeated, and he, too, can experience fear and choose to flee a tense environment rather than fight. But there is one thing, in particular, that may have a devastating effect on him.
The thing in question is, of course, the Muramasa blade, which itself is imbued with Wolverine’s spirit and blood and has the amazing ability to significantly slow down a person’s healing process. Even a powerful monster like Romulus would be unable to survive the impact or fight the effects of a few well-placed slashes and cuts.
Romulus’ only natural claws, as far as we understand, came from the tips of his fingers. Only afterward, artificially, did he add Adamantium claws. These new claws, and all four of them, emerged out of the back of his hands during the fight. Because they are Adamantium claws, they are sharper and more lethal than his normal claws.
In another tale, Romulus’ Adamantium claws were hooked to two deep, black-colored gloves that he donned while he was fighting. He also sported them when battling Wolverine.
Romulus has forced Wolverine to kill numerous people who have stood in his way throughout the course of his decades as a manipulative psychopath. It didn’t matter if the target was a rival or a spectator; they were all victims to Logan’s razor-sharp claws. He even dispatched Logan to locate the victims, acquire as much intel as possible, and then execute them covertly at the appropriate moment.
To carry out the same plot on Charles Xavier, Romulus orchestrated a large event in which Wolverine battled the Hulk in order to grab Professor X’s attention. Later, while in Charles’ presence, Wolverine attempted to assassinate the Professor, but the psychic superhero noticed and prevented Romulus from commanding Wolverine any longer.
Fans have yet to hear Romulus’ voice because he has only featured in comic books. His physique is on display for everyone to see. With his wolfish demeanor and sideburns that grow out like Wolverine and Sabretooth, it’s clear that all three of them are of the same species. In contrast, Romulus has silverish, usually white hair, while Wolverine and Sabretooth, on the other hand, typically have black hair.
His voice is even more distinctive. Perhaps it hints at his ancestry, or it is a deliberately crafted aspect of his image, similar to his fabricated past. Romulus has an accent that sounds half Italian and half Japanese, according to Wolverine.
In the midst of all of Romulus’ manipulation and tormenting of Logan, the most terrible thing he does is remove the wolfish mutant’s offspring from his mother’s womb. It’s a nasty and vicious deed, made all the worse by Romulus instilling hatred in the boy and turning him against his own father.
Logan’s kid, Daken, develops into a trained murderer and into a version of Weapon X whose mission in life, or the one Romulus instills in him, is to one day battle his biological father for survival.
In Conclusion
Romulus is a significant character in Wolverine’s story arc. He is powerful, highly intelligent, and very ambitious. He is an interesting character with his fictitious backstory and his need to control all that he can. He is most definitely one of the most fascinating supervillains in comics, and we hope that we can one day find out the truth about his past and see him on the big screen, hopefully starring in a movie that gives him the story and screen time that he is due.