As “The Death of Wolverine” draws ever closer, the reality of the once thought near-immortal mutant’s mortality is beginning to sink in with his fans due to the events leading up to it.

Now we all know that Logan will be back (my guess is around the time of the next X-Men movie), but there is no doubt that his death will cause waves throughout most of, if not, the entire Marvel U.

Whether people care to acknowledge it or not, Wolverine has met and affected a lot of people in his very long lifespan. Whether it be for good or for ill he has meant something to a lot of characters in the Marvel Universe, so I made a list of 7 characters I believe will/should be affected the most by his untimely death (In no particular order).

Honorable Mention: Spider-Man

Peter and Logan have an interesting relationship, sort of like a jocky big brother/nerdy younger brother. They bicker a lot (mostly because Peter doesn’t know how to shut up) but they do respect one another and would even call one another friend (just not out loud). They even had their own miniseries together (Astonishing Wolverine & Spider-Man). Wolverine is also one of the few people who gives Spider-Man legitimate props about how heroic he is.

Honorable Mention: Armor

The newest of Wolverine’s “kids”, Hisako Ichiki AKA Armor and Logan share a sort of Sensei/Gakusei (student) relationship that was established in Astonishing X-Men, in fact their interactions are a mainstay in that series. Although their relationship can be more antagonistic than friendly at times.

7. Sabertooth

I thought I would start this list off right with one of the most obvious characters centric to Wolverine’s blood stained history, Sabertooth. The two have fought for years, each encounter more bloody than the last. It’s no secret that the two men loathe one another, but there also seems to be some sort of twisted form of honor between them. Sabertooth even told Wolverne to kill him at one point, which he did (but he was brought back).

Assuming he’s not responsible for Logan’s death, Victor Creed will have an interesting road to travel now that his favorite runt is no longer around to torment. I’m not saying he’ll become a good guy, far from it, but it will be an interesting read to see just where he would go from here.

6. Cyclops

While they haven’t always seen eye to eye (no pun intended), Scott and Logan have been known to get things accomplished over the years when they are on the same page. Despite fights over clashing ideologies (and a certain red headed telepath) Scott and Logan did trust one another to some degree, until Scott killed Charles. All that being said it would interesting to see how Scott would react to Logan’s passing, despite their differences I doubt he will be doing a happy dance.

5. Storm

Storm and Wolverine share a very respectful and trusting relationship with one another. Having teamed together for years and Storm being one of the few people not afraid to call Wolverine out on his crap. The two also share a mutual attraction, having flirted, gone on dates, and kissed (among other things) more than once over the years (Their closeness was even enough to make Black Panther jealous). While the nature of their relationship can be best described as “friends with benefits” there is no doubt that they both value and trust one another to the utmost degree.

4. Nightcrawler

Really isn’t much to say here. The two are best friends and teammates. Due to them both being misunderstood (albeit for different reasons), Kurt and Logan have an unbreakable bond that has endured over the years. We saw how distraught Logan was when Kurt died, so we can only guess how Nightcrawler will react to Wolverine’s upcoming fate.

3. X-23

Logan’s Clone/Daughter. Wolverine is a very important part of Laura’s life as he is one of the few, if not the only, person she can relate to due to their conditioning as weapons (and similar DNA). He hasn’t always made the best decisions when it came to dealing with her, but he’s been there when it counts. Laura was, and still is, very protective of Logan, so without him around she may become a radically different person.

2. Jubilee

The two have had a tight bond since Jubilee’s first appearance in the 80’s (she saved his life when they first met), which was only strengthened in the 90’s (partly because of the tv show). Logan has been a supportive father figure to Jubilee for years, and is one of the chief reasons her vampirism hasn’t completely consumed her. They don’t see one another much these days (mostly due to Logan’s various team affiliations), but there is no doubt Jubilee would be one of the ones hit hardest by his death.

1. Kitty Pryde

Now everyone knows that you can’t get into a discussion about Kitty Pryde without Wolverine popping up somewhere. She was his sidekick before Jubilee even entered the picture and they’ve had tons of adventures over the years (he even taught her kung fu). He was a large influence on her during her time in the X-Men, helping her gain self-confidence and self-reliance, and in turn she softened him up and showed him that it is still ok to have fun and enjoy life. Despite their falling out during the whole “Battle of the Atom” fiasco, the two still have a strong big brother/kid sister relationship that would only be tested when Logan dies.

I know there are many more characters that could have made the list, but I chose to focus on these seven (technically nine) because they have in one way or another have had the biggest impact on Wolverine as a character over the years.

Whether trying to kill him, or showing him what it means to be human, each person on this list has made Wolverine the gut-slicing, beer chugging, cigar smoking canuck that he is today, and each one would be affected in different ways when he finally takes his long awaited rest.

So what do you guys think? Is there anyone else who should be on the list? Do you even care?

Let us know in the comments below!