Let me start by saying that I am a huge fan of Cassandra Cain. She is my favorite Batgirl. In fact I like her better than any of the Robins. On the other hand I have never read anything featuring X-23. From what I read on her wiki she seems to be similar to Ms. Cain. They both had rough childhoods, both were born and trained to be weapons/fighters, and they both are younger female representations of their predecessors. Their predecessors also are DC's and Marvel's number one cash cows, Batman and Wolverine. My question is are they similar in personality as well? If not can anyone tell me the major differences. Also, am I just being vague in their similarities?
X-23
Character » X-23 appears in 2371 issues.
X-23 is a product of the Weapon X program, born from a damaged sample of Wolverine's DNA. She has recently aged up, being saved from the Vault.
Is X-23 Marvel's Cassandra Cain?
Nah, X-23 is X-23. She's not really like anyone else at all.
X-23 wasn't just raised to be a weapon: she was actually genetically designed, surgically implanted, and born to be a weapon. "Harsh" doesn't even begin to do her childhood -- or lack thereof -- justice. And her brutal conditioning more or less permanently crippled her ability to relate to other people or to appreciate herself. She's also nothing at all like Wolverine (who had the experimentation forced onto him later, but still had and has a personality beyond anything dealing with Weapon X.
I'd definitely recommend reading Innocence Lost, the six-issue mini (it's in a trade volume) to understand Laura's backstory.
To directly answer your question, yes, you're just being vague :P
@akbogert: First off thanks for the recommended reading. I will definitely pick that up. But Cassandra Cain although not surgically implanted was also born to a weapon. David Cain trained her from birth and selectively chose her mother for her abilities. And as for the "brutal conditioning" Cassandra Cain's training prevented her from speaking which also "cripples her ability to other people".
@MrShway88: Well, I confess to knowing nothing of Cain, so if there's a definitive story or arc I could look into to rectify that, let me know :)
That said (as you'll see), I sincerely doubt Cassie's upbringing matches the brutality of Laura's, though the non-speaking part suggests I may be wrong. Laura was forced to kill a great many people, including women and children, from elementary-school age. She was denied any outlet for that emotion as well. She was, quite literally, never considered a person by anyone in charge of her. But yeah...I don't know Cain, and you're planning to read about Laura now, so perhaps it's best to just wait until one or both of us has a proper frame of reference :)
Wolverine is not Marvels cash cow, and the only similarities they have are rough child hoods and being trained to kill. There are a multitude of female characters that have had bad child hoods in marvel, like Elektra and so on!
They're both:
- Laconic
- jr. female versions of a flagship character
- Weaponized persons trying to get over their conditioning/atone for past misdeeds
- Suffered mind control at various times
- Spent some time living on the streets and fending for themselves
That seems pretty similar until you realized how many other young characters it describes just as well. While they share many archetypes, they don't share all of them, and Cass is more sock-choppy than growly stabby claws mcgee.
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