SHIV

Real Name: Unrevealed

Identity/Class: Human (apparently) bladed weapon user

Occupation: Mercenary

Group Membership: None

Affiliations: Mr. Bullfinch and his bodyguards, Mr. Kapeland

Enemies: Nick Fury, Wolverine (Logan/James Howlett), SHIELD (Strategic Hazard Intervention Espionage Logistics Directorate), Palo and his brother

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: Mobile

First Appearance: Wolverine: Bloody Choices (1991)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Powers/Abilities: Shiv was exceptional fast and strong and was a savage fighter. He was an expert with knives, throwing them with great accuracy. He also apparently carried a weapon on each wrist that could extend a blade that he could use in similar fashion to Wolverine's blades.

    Wolverine noted that his and Shiv's speed and stamina were comparable, and that their strength and prowess were identical.

    It's unclear whether he had any actual superhuman powers, though he did have pointed ears. He also wasn't seriously injured by having his head smashed through concrete.

Height: Approximately 6'2"
Weight: Approximately 225 lbs.
Eyes: Dark (Brown?)
Hair: Dark Brown to Black

 

 

 

 

 

 

History:
(Wolverine: Bloody Choices (fb) - BTS) - A mercenary, Shiv was employed as a bodyguard by the obese, drug dealing, pedophile Mr. Bullfinch.

(Wolverine: Bloody Choices) - Shiv was sharing dinner with Bullfinch and his lawyer Mr. Kapeland at a restaurant in Hawaii when a young boy (having escaped from Bullfinch's stock of young boys) rushed in and shot at Bullfinch. The boy missed, and Shiv was already on his feet throwing a knife at him; having followed the anxious boy there, Wolverine tackled the boy, and the knife only grazed the boy's shoulder. Shiv took off with Bullfinch and Kapeland while Bullfinch's other bodyguards forced Wolverine to flee under gunfire with the injured boy; the boy told Wolverine about Bullfinch and that he still had his brother, Palo.

    When Wolverine later sneaked onto a ship transporting smuggling cocaine for Bullfinch, Shiv and other bodyguards were there waiting for him, Shiv having suspected he'd show up. Both Wolverine and Shiv suspected they'd met before, and Shiv, correctly figuring that Wolverine wouldn't give up anything under interrogation, ordered the other men to kill him. As Shiv left the room, Wolverine slashed a hole in the side of the ship, jumping out as the water flooded in.

    Shortly thereafter, SHIELD director Nick Fury met with Wolverine, asking him to leave Bullfinch alone because they were using him to plan a major drug bust, but Wolverine decided he couldn't leave Palo in Bullfinch's custody. He broke into Bullfinch' estate and encountered Fury mere seconds before the young boy (Palo's brother, having been delivered back to Bullfinch by the corrupt Dr. Corbel) was hurled out a window, dying on impact. Wolverine and Fury rushed into the estate, and Bullfinch instructed Shiv to provide him and Kapeland to escape. Shiv waited for Wolverine and then attacked him; Wolverine deliberately took his first two punches to gauge his strength and prowess, but he was surprised by Shiv's piledrivers and he ended up taking a third punch as well. Shiv expressed his disappointment that Wolverine had folded so quickly, but Wolverine lunged into him and then punched him, knocking him to the ground. Wolverine asked who he was and where he'd come from, and Shiv told his name, punctuating it by stabbing Wolverine in the abdomen with his wrist blade. Shiv then rushed to the roof and caught the helicopter to escape, as Bullfinch had had them wait in order to avoid losing such a skilled bodyguard. Shiv believed Wolverine to have been eliminated.

    Wishing to retire from his life of crime into a life of idle luxury, Bullfinch had Kapeland arrange a deal with Fury for immunity from prosecution in exchange of sharing everything he knew about the Cartel; despite his disgust with Bullfinch's other activities, Fury agreed, and Bullfinch was taken into SHIELD protective custody. Considering taking over Bullfinch's role (or possibly selling off the position to another), Kapeland told Shiv that a man with his expertise would be in position to negotiate a very attractive benefits package. Shiv was interested in the offer, but then Wolverine arrived, and he sent Kapeland away. He confronted Wolverine, noting that he figured him fo a fast healer. When he further noted that there was more than a passing similarity between he and Wolverine and that they might be somehow related, Wolverine punched him away, determined to eliminate him. Shiv popped his wrist knives and stabbed Wolverine in the chest; Wolverine noted that he could have aimed for his heart but didn't, and further noted that he might have dodged Shiv's assault, but didn't. Wolverine allowed Shiv to toss him into the pool, correctly suspecting that Shiv wouldn't take the chance to escape but rather would leap in after him to try to kill him. As they fought, Wolverine's instincts told him that he and Shiv weren't brothers, just two men who shared physical characteristics and a similarity of lifestyle; he further concluded that the half-formed memories Shiv had evoked in him were merely the possibilities, the paths other, harsher choices might have taken him.

    After some struggle, Wolverine shattered Shiv's knives against his own claws and then punched him, knocking his head through the side of the pool wall. Refusing to be as dark as Shiv, Wolverine pulled him back to the surface, and the defeated Shiv offered to give him the location of Bullfinch (and Palo) in exchange for Wolverine setting him free.

    Wolverine eventually slew both Bullfinch and Kapeland, and Palo was rescued.

Comments: Created by Tom DeFalco and John Buscema.

    Shiv looked like a bigger version of Wolverine. The initial part of the story led you to believe that they shared common origins, but in the end Logan decided that they'd only had somewhat converging paths in life, arriving at similar points through dissimilar means. Then again, this was only what Wolverine decided; nothing was shown to prove anything one way or the other.

    Shiv had a stereotypical Southern accent.

Profile by Snood.

CLARIFICATIONS:
No KNOWN connections to:

images: (without ads)
Wolverine: Bloody Choices, p3, panel 4 (throwing knife)
    p18, panel 4 (face close-up)
    p19, panel 6 (with claw exposed)
    p34, panel 1 (full body, with Wolverine)
    p37, panel 5 (claws broken)

Appearances:
Wolverine: Bloody Choices (1991) - Tom DeFalco (writer), John Buscema (artist), Ralph Macchio (editor)

Last updated: 07/22/08

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