10 Unluckiest Comic Book Characters
3. X-23
The root of X-23’s misfortune is the perception of her as
less than human, which prevents her from having a normal life.
X-23 was created by splicing a sample of Weapon X’s Y chromosome with the genetic material of Dr. Sarah Kinney. As Sarah did this without permission, Martin Sutter, the head of the Facility, forced her to give birth to X-23.
Sarah made efforts to treat X-23 as a child. However, it was futile, as her Facility colleagues saw her as a lethal weapon and a lab rat. This othering was used to validate subjecting her to radiation poisoning and agonising experimentation.
Her humanity was further erased by conditioning her to a trigger scent, which caused her to become an animalistic killer. This was used to force X-23 to blindly kill Sarah. The final act of X-23’s mother was to name her Laura.
She escaped and found the normality she sought in a new life with her mother’s sisters. However, the Facility again tried to manipulate Laura using the trigger scent. She was able to save her new family, but realised staying put their lives in danger.
After a harrowing life in New York as a homeless prostitute,
Laura ultimately sided with the X-Men. However, her trauma still haunts her.