20 Comic Characters That Are Total Rip-Offs‏

13. Ripclaw

The early nineties saw the beginnings of the Image revolution, as a cadre of the industry's biggest hitters left the Big Two publishers in order to gain some creative freedom (and make lots of lovely money of the sort they could only dream with on freelance contracts with no creator ownership). And by creative freedom, in the early days that mainly meant they could do all the stuff the mainstream publishers wouldn't let them with their precious characters.

Ripclaw, created by Marc and Eric Silvestri, was part of the Cyberforce team, was notable for his sideburns, metal claws and animalistic tendencies.

Totally a rip-off of: Wolverine

Wolverine is the best there is at what he does, and what he does is very similar to what Ripclaw does. The Cyberforce team were all takes on various X-Men, but Ripclaw seems to be the worst offender in that he's a rubbish version of the original. Logan is an essential part of the mutant heroes, with a crazy backstory full of romance, tragedy, and fighting in the US Civil War. He often struggles with his berserker instincts, a tension which fuels a lot of the better takes on the character. He has had at least five super cool costumes.

Ripclaw, meanwhile, is a pale imitation, literally and figuratively. He didn't have the mysterious and/or tumultuous past, the tension, or even the decent costumes. He's just the twin to Wolverine on a very superficial level, with the claws and all, divorced from anything that makes the character interesting. Which is probably why Hugh Jackman hasn't played him in any movies.