After the X-Men barely survive Messiah Complex, Wolverine hunts for Mystique and their secret past together is revealed.
For the first few years of their existence, Wolverine and Mystique didn’t have an extensive personal history with each other. Obviously, the two mutants were enemies, with Logan on the X-Men and Mystique often running with the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants.
Things got personal during the events of “Messiah Complex” when Raven stole Hope Summers, the first mutant since M-Day, leading the X-Men on a dangerous journey to retrieve the child. This struggle for Hope cost several mutant lives, almost killed Professor X, and even temporarily disbanded the X-Men. In the aftermath, Cyclops was out for blood, sending Wolverine to kill Mystique for her betrayal of the X-Men to the Marauders.
In “Get Mystique,” a storyline running through Wolverine #62-65, by Jason Aaron and Ron Garney, Logan scoured the Middle East in a hunt for Mystique, a mission which slowly unveiled his shared past with the villain. As it turned out, Logan and Raven met in the early ’20s, as the two were about to be executed by a firing squad. The two outlaws managed to free themselves at the last moment, taking out the guards and becoming fast friends. Mystique then took Wolverine to meet her gang in Kansas City. There, Raven explained to her new friend that they were planning a bank heist and asked for Logan’s help. Although initially reluctant, Wolverine was convinced to join and the two became lovers. This relationship was too good to be true, however, as Mystique betrayed Logan and her gang, calling the police and taking off with the money. When Wolverine caught up with Raven, he confronted her, although the shape-shifter managed to fool him again. As soon as Logan’s back was turned, Raven kicked him off a moving train.
In the present day, all of this bad blood came to a head, compounded by Mystique’s actions in “Messiah Complex.” Wolverine and Mystique came to vicious blows, in a violent fight that left Logan with a bullet in his brain and Raven with a mortal stab wound. Wolverine’s healing factor allowed him to recover, however, leaving Raven to die in the desert. The following years depicted Wolverine and Mystique’s relationship in a much more antagonistic light. Considering their newly unveiled past, the two enemies became personal rivals. Indeed, Mystique played a role in sending Wolverine to Hell, for which Logan finally killed her. Wolverine’s enemies, the Red Right Hand, later resurrected Mystique, who teamed up with Logan’s worst enemy of all: Sabretooth. Mystique and Sabretooth became lovers and partners in crime, starting a new Brotherhood of Mutants to fight Wolverine’s Uncanny X-Force.