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about
STATS:
Height: 5'1"
Weight: 110 lbs (10 of that is the admantium claws... she is tiny)
Resident status: Unsettled.
Current residence: #015
BACKGROUND:
Born, bred, and raised in a lab, treated as a weapon for the first fourteen years of her life and sporadically used by the good guys after that (X-Force: not for children, except when they’re already “ruined”), in the two years since her escape from the facility, Laura has gone from child prostitution on the streets of NYC to mutant high school to participating in the X-Men’s death squad to adventuring with Gambit in Madripoor and Paris to fight-bonding with her brother Daken to making friends (and breaking up with friends) at Avengers Academy to discovering she has a soul and becoming an heir of Mephisto to fighting in Murderworld and then, in the latest All New X-Men, to Weapon X. She’s been through hell, and her biggest fight has been to define herself and her humanity while struggling against the well-intentioned who nonetheless seek to control or crush her (Logan)—and trying to stay alive with seemingly 99% of the Marvel Universe blowing up or warring at any one point. She’s finding her way, though—slowly but surely transitioning from the “X-23” to “Laura” and building her own identity.
A more detailed background can be found here: here.
PERSONALITY:
Laura is still figuring out who she is and who she wants to be—being raised in a lab and taught that she was nothing more than a weapon for the first fourteen years of her life have left some major scars and some even bigger identity issues. At the present, her central conflict is between two personas: “Laura Kinney,” the girl who wants to be human and connect with others, and “X-23,” Logan’s clone who is murderously efficient and truly the best there is at what she does (and it isn’t very nice). Establishing her identity and reconciling the two has been difficult, partially because many around her is still somewhat uncertain of how to identify her themselves. Some call her Laura, but most at heart consider her “X-23,” and this narrative of confusion and objectification has been consistent throughout Laura’s story. The other part of it is that “Laura” is still being defined—she’s only been out of The Facility for two years, and most of that time has been spent being used and abused by others just as she was used and abused for the first fourteen years of her life.
The pull between her own identity and the expectations laid upon her because of her conditioning as a weapon/object is a major conflict and vulnerability for Laura. She struggles with disconnection from the rest of humanity, both because of how she was raised—she doesn’t understand them well, doesn’t interact with them particularly successfully, and doesn’t always feel like one of them—and because of how others treat her. Most people still associate her with the weapon and treat her with that knowledge in mind. They’re uneasy, prejudiced, or greedy to use her for their own ends. She’s seldom treated just as Laura. “X-23” is always there, always ready to take over completely. To be all that anyone ever sees.
This confusion between her personhood and her abusive past has led to Laura setting a pass/fail value on human behaviors. She has a history of self-harm (including more than one attempt at suicide) brought on by both her past and the fact that she’s often felt as if she’s “failing” at human interaction and understanding why people do things. Uncertainty in those situations triggers her. More than that, she sometimes doesn’t know how to process people actually caring. Most of the times when she’s shown harming herself in canon are either when she’s put in a situation in which she doesn’t know the correct appropriate response, or when someone expresses concern or genuine caring for her. It doesn’t happen every time—usually when she’s already emotionally distressed and seeking to punish herself for something—but spending most of her life used and abused has made Laura just a little uneasy with caring and affection, even though she craves it.
That said, she’s made a lot of progress recently. One of her biggest fears has always been that, as a lab creation/clone, she isn’t human, doesn’t have a soul, and can never really be human, no matter how hard she tries. Canon recently taught her otherwise, and now that she knows that—and thanks to some seriously needed 1-1 time with Gambit/Jubilee and her previous friendship with Finesse—she’s begun to accept herself and to construct her own identity. She’s gotten better at navigating relationships and drawing her own boundaries, and is less self-doubting. The identity issues remain, but she’s determined to make herself into “Laura” as opposed to “X-23,” to be her own person, to make her own decisions and build her own future. She doesn’t want to be controlled anymore. Not by anyone.
Identity issues aside, she does still take a lot from Logan. She’s stubborn, tenacious, blunt, and often quiet, and when interacting with others, tends to be more of a STATEMENT than a questions person, and is far more focused on actions > words. She’ll often come out and say whatever without regard to how other people will react, is a bit of a grouch, has a deadpan sense of humor, and doesn’t believe in stepping around an issue. She likes being around people, but she’s private, reserved, and not especially charming or friendly. Similar to him, if she disagrees with how something is being handled, she’ll usually go behind that person’s back and do it her own way, especially when it involves protecting others. (And a good part of the time, it’s actually Logan she’s defying.) She’s decisive, assertive, well-aware of her skill sets/competence with those skills (basically everything but how do I people), and is capable of taking charge and strategizing when she needs to, although she generally doesn’t lead. She’s fiercely protective of those she cares about, and isn’t afraid to break the rules, kill, or even die to save them.
She’s also suspicious, prone to ultra-violence, and is even quicker than Logan to deal out death, damage, and destruction—especially if it comes to someone she believes deserves to die. Her morality is sketchy at best; although Gambit had been working with her on mercy, she’s still pretty far behind the curve—rather than decapitate a pimp, she’ll just castrate him instead. She tends to be more “ends justify the means” than Logan, with a few exceptions, and won’t hesitate to be judge, jury, and executioner. It’s only very recently that she’s begun to cut some breaks—when Finesse betrays her trust in Avengers Academy, Laura simply ends the friendship, rather than attempting to kill her.
Laura is a bit more cunning and runs a little colder than Logan. Part of this is due to her conditioning—her training from Weapon X is always with her, and assessing situations and people for weaknesses and analyzing the best ways to kill or harm them has been so deeply forced into her that it’s now as natural as breathing. She can’t turn off that mechanical, weaponized part of her. It’s part of what leads her to be somewhat controlled—the other part is the fact that she did grow up in a cage, and knows when to bide her time before striking. There are no “safe” places; all situations are dangerous until determined otherwise.
And this bothers her. On some level, Laura wants to be normal, and to not walk into a room and immediately think of twenty-seven ways to take down the couple by the door, to look at her friends and see every technique she can use to take them apart. Having that programming keeps her alienated, keeps her questioning, and whispers at her that maybe she is just a weapon. It’s something she still has to fight against, although she’s become more at peace with it lately. There’s also the fact that situations of ultra-violence—as in X-Force and when “hunting” with Daken in Madripoor—still feel like home. It’s easier, sometimes, to just be “X-23,” who doesn’t care about human emotions and lives for the kill.
Being controlled, used, and abused for the majority of her life have made all of the above major trigger points for her. Being forced into something without being consulted or against her will is guaranteed to piss her off and ensure rebellion and/or punishment. She’s not quick to befriend and not quick to forgive once someone fucks up; trust makes her vulnerable, and she’s been taught many, many times that it’s almost always misplaced. She isn’t that fond of seeing others used and abused, either (especially children and sex workers), and will often react violently against their abusers.
POWER:
Healing factor. Laura is immune to most toxins and diseases, can regrow limbs, survive being dumped into molten metal/blown up/ripped apart, heal gunshot and puncture wounds in a matter of minutes to seconds (depending on the writer), etc. Like Logan, her healing factor gives her heightened stamina and heightened durability, and she probably won’t age past her prime.
Heightened senses. Primarily a heightened sense of smell and hearing. She uses the former for tracking and the latter to eavesdrop.
Bone claws. Laura has two in each hand and one in each foot. They’ve been coated with adamantium, an unbreakable metal, and sharpened enough to be able to cut through almost anything. These claws retract into her forearms and feet.
All abilities canonical.