This article is about Sabretooth, the comic book supervillain. For the sabretooth tiger, see smilodon. For the movie, see Sabretooth (movie). For the deep-sea fish, see sabertooth fish.

Sabretooth (Victor Creed) is a comic book supervillain in the Marvel Comics universe, and an arch-enemy of Wolverine. He was created by Chris Claremont and John Byrne, and first appeared in Iron Fist #14 (1977).

"Victor Creed" may or may not be his real name, but it is the street name he is best known by.

Character history

Victor Creed remembers little about his childhood. He remembers being chained up in the basement as a child by his father and being beaten but those memories could be planted by Weapon X. There is also a possibility that he could actually be Wolverine's childhood enemy, Dog, who killed Wolverine's (probably adoptive) father in Origin.  As an adult Dog was Sabretooth's height and build and was beginning to show signs of his mutation, such as superhuman strength and sharp claws, but did not yet possess a regenerative healing ability. It was implied in this story that Dog and James Howlett (Wolverine) were half brothers and that James was the illegitimate son of Dog's father, Thomas Logan, who happened to look exactly like Wolverine.  Thomas Logan did indeed physically abuse his son. These factors are significant because while James Howlett was raised in a wealthy household, Dog Logan lived a life of abject poverty as a servant causing resentment. Further, Wolverine's strong resemblence to the abusive father of Dog could be influencing Sabretooth's hatred of Wolverine. John Howlett III, who has been shown alive in an alternate future, also resembles Thomas Logan rather than his supposed father, John Howlett Jr. At one point, Sabretooth believed himself to be Wolverine's father, a situation that was intended by some writers, but this was disproved years later by genetic testing performed by SHIELD.

Sabretooth and the villainess, Mystique, had a child who grew up to be Graydon Creed, a normal human with no mutant powers. Graydon founded the Friends of Humanity, a Ku Klux Klan-like extremist group and ran for president on an anti-mutant platform. Graydon is now dead, having been assassinated by his own mother.

It has been theorized that the man known as Sabretooth might actually be a clone of the original. In Sabretooth's very first appearances as an Iron Fist and Luke Cage villain, he possessed an unspecified degree of superhuman strength, stamina, resistance to injury, and razor sharp claws, but there was no mention of accelerated healing factor or superhuman senses. During one issue of the Iron Fist and Power Man comic, Sabretooth wore a hood over his face and civilian street clothes and was running around the city slaughtering women. He was dubbed "The Slasher" by all the city's newspapers. During a confrontation with Misty Knight, who was setting herself up as a decoy in hopes of luring the serial killer out into the open, many of Sabretooth's ribs were broken after receiving a punch from Misty's cybernetic arm. These injuries took a period of several months to heal, about the same rate as it would take for an ordinary human. Several years later, Sabretooth was a member of the mutant team of mercenaries known as the Marauders, under the employment of Mr. Sinister. Sabretooth was reportedly killed a number of times while working for Sinister and Sinister himself said that he had in fact created genetically identical clones of Marauders that had fallen in battle. Since Sinister has always sought to "improve" the evolution of humanity, at least in his own twisted mind, it is possible that he improved upon the superhuman abilities of these clones, possibly even granted them powers that the originals didn't have, such as Sabretooth's enhanced healing powers. However, whether Sabretooth is a clone or not has never been revealed, nor is it likely to.

Powers and abilities

Sabretooth possesses several superhuman attributes, some due to genetic mutation and some due to surgical enhancement. These powers include a rapid healing factor, great strength, enhanced agility, and enhanced senses. Sabretooth's teeth and fingernails are sufficiently strong to rend or tear substances such as bone.

Sabretooth possesses an accelerated healing ability allowing his body to regenerate damaged or destroyed tissue at a rate far beyond that of an ordinary human. For instance, in the past, Sabretooth's healing powers enabled him to completely recover from a broken back within a few hours. He has survived having his throat torn out and his neck broken on many occasions. The Weapon X Program has performed many surgical procedures on Sabretooth that have, reportedly, enhanced his healing abilities to an even higher level. He is immune to toxins and poisons and his muscles generate considerably less lactic acids than the bodies of ordinary humans, granting him far greater physical stamina than an ordinary human. It has been theorized that Sabretooth could perform at peak capacity for a period of several days before fatigue would begin to impair his performance. The healing factor has also extended his longevity to an unrevealed extent. Like Wolverine, Sabretooth heals at an incredibly accelerated rate. It is possible that his healing powers have rendered him immune to aging, but this hasn't been verified. But at any rate, Sabretooth's body is in a constant state of cellular regeneration that causes him to age at a much slower rate than ordinary humans. The extent of Sabretooth's healing powers fluctuate like those of Wolverine's, depending upon the team working on the comic he appears in, artistic license and all. In some instances, Sabretooth will recover from devastating injuries, such as burns that result in massive tissue loss, within only a few moments. In others, much less severe wounds, such as bullet or knife wounds, will heal over an extended period of time. It was once theorized that Sabretooth's healing abilities were not as developed as those of Wolverines. However, due to the unrevealed surgical procedures he's been subjected to, evidence has been shown that Sabretooth's healing powers are on par with those of Wolverine's, possibly even more accelerated. It is known that all of Sabretooth's other superhuman abilities stem from, at least partially, from his enhanced healing powers.

Sabretooth possesses an unspecified degree of superhuman strength. In the past, he has demonstrated sufficient strength to lift(military press) at least 3 tons. Some of Sabretooth's more impressive displays of strength include twisting an iron barbell into a knot and tossing Wolverine, who weighs 300 pounds due to his Adamantium enforced skeleton, 60 feet into the air and through the roof of Xavier's mansion with only one hand. These feats mathematically require an axial load of at least 6,000 pounds. However,once again due to the various surgical procedures Sabretooth has undergone, some voluntary and some involuntary, Sabretooth has demonstrated a significant, and very noticable, increase in sheer power. The exact limit of his strength is currently unknown since Sabretooth usually relies on a combination of his fighting skills and sheer ferocity, rather than brute strength.

Sabretooth's reflexes and agility are enhanced somewhat beyond the range attainable for a normal human being, but not to the degree of say, Spider-Man. This entails being able to perform gymnastic and acrobatic feats superior to that of any Olympic athlete who has ever competed, but still in a somewhat comparable range.

Sabretooth has superhuman senses that are comparable to those of certain animals. His sense of sight, for example, is heightened to such a degree that he can see perfectly in near or total darkness, possibly due to him being able to see into the infra-red spectrum. Sabretooth is able to use his sense of smell to track his targets. His highly acute olfactory sense allows him to remember scents that he may not have smelled for years with perfect clarity. Sabretooth is able to identify different scents from objects that appear to be identical. For instance, he can detect the chemical differences in different brands, but supposedly identical scents, of products such as deodorant and cigarettes. Sabretooth's hearing has been enhanced in a similar manner. For example, he could detect the normal, steady heartbeat of a human male inside of a cave at a distance of 200 feet.

Sabretooth's skeletal structure has been bonded with the indestructible alloy known as Adamantium. Adamantium is an iron based artificial alloy that was created by Dr. Myron McClain that is practically invulnerable to harm. Sabretooth's bones have been rendered unbreakable. Sabretooth also possesses retractable claws at the tip of each finger, each of which have also been bonded with Adamantium. Sabretooth's claws are capable of slicing through any known material, with the probable exception of Adamantium itself.

Sabretooth is an extraordinary hand to hand combatant, having been trained by various organizations such as the C.I.A. and HYDRA. He is also an expert hunter and tracker, even without the use of his heightened senses.

Ultimate Sabretooth

In the Ultimate Marvel Universe, Sabretooth was a mutant soldier and commando for Weapon X, under the direction of a man by the name of Colonel Wraith. He appeared to be the only mutant in the program by choice, due to his high-ranking position, and his high authority in the operations. He was practically the same as the original Sabretooth of Earth 616, having accelerated healing and keen senses, with the exception that he had four additional adamantium claws released from the back of each of his hands, much like the adamantium claws that Wolverine possessed. He had a burning hatred for Wolverine, and also, as he stated to Wolverine, in the encounter with Wolverine at Weapon X, for the primitive Homo Sapiens. He felt that his cruel, psychotic, nature was a natural part of being a mutant.

His presence in the Ultimate Marvel Universe was very brief compared to that of his regular Marvel counterpart. He gave the cruel boast of how he murdered a wife and child of Wolverine's. He then commenced battle with Wolverine outside the Weapon X compound, initially holding the upper hand, but Wolverine managed to score a critical hit, followed by sending him off the edge of a cliff.

Following Sabretooth's loss to Wolverine, the Weapon X program was dismantled with Colonel Wraith being shot dead by Nick Fury Sabretooth did not die from his encounter with Wolverine, but rather returned as a high-ranking follower to Magneto in the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. His encounter with Wolverine while with the Brotherhood was his final, foolish, fatal, underestimation of Wolverine, as while following a boast that he could survive any wound or injury, and could always return to fight and haunt Wolverine, Wolverine gave a vicious answer: He decapitated Sabretooth on the spot.

Appearances in other media

Sabretooth was portrayed by Tyler Mane in the X-Men motion picture released in 2000. The character has also appeared in the X-Men and X-Men: Evolution animated series.