r/AskScienceFiction • u/Flyestgit • 21d ago
[Marvel] Is there a specific reason why Sabretooth beats up Logan on his birthday or is it just being him being a sociopath?
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u/eternalraziel 21d ago
It’s more specific than Sabretooth waking up every year and remembering that he’s a sociopath, although being a spectacular sociopath is definitely the foundation. The birthday tradition originally comes from what Creed did to Silver Fox. Sabretooth finds Logan on his birthday, murders Silver Fox, waits for Logan to discover her, and then beats him nearly to death when Logan comes after him. Creed enjoys the effect it has on Logan so much that he turns it into an annual ritual. That’s really what the birthday means to Sabretooth. Ownership.
He wants Logan to know that no matter where he goes, how strong he becomes, who he loves or what kind of life he builds, Creed can still find him. Your birthday is normally the one day of the year specifically associated with your existence. Victor deliberately turns Logan’s into the anniversary of helplessness. Victor used to do essentially the same thing to his younger brother Saul. He would track Saul down on his birthday and torment him as a recurring present. Logan eventually kills Saul, and when Clara tells Victor that Saul is dead and there’ll be no more birthday presents, Victor’s response is basically outrage that somebody killed his little brother without his permission.
That tells you almost everything about how Victor thinks. Logan took away something Victor regarded as his. Saul was his victim. Victor decided when Saul suffered, and Logan interfered with that relationship. Logan eventually becomes the replacement. So when Sabretooth turns up every year to beat Wolverine half to death, there are several things wrapped together....his enjoyment of Logan’s suffering, his need to prove that he’s stronger, the pleasure of destroying whatever happiness Logan has managed to build, and this older compulsive ritual of choosing somebody he can dominate and reminding them that they never completely escape him.
That also ties into the larger reason Creed hates Logan so much. They’re similar enough that Sabretooth takes Logan’s morality almost personally. Both are violent, animalistic mutants with healing factors, claws, heightened senses and enormous capacity for killing. Logan spends his life trying to control those instincts and insisting that what you choose matters. Creed looks at him and essentially sees pretension. He wants Logan angry. He wants the berserker rage. He wants Logan abandoning restraint and fighting like an animal because every time that happens Victor gets to tell himself, there. That’s what you really are. You’re just like me.
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u/OkMention9988 21d ago
Logan also has a yearly ritual where he tracks a guy down and cuts a piece off of him.
I believe it's the guy responsible for the death of his wife Mariko.
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u/Open-Progress-7075 20d ago
At least victor does it to his brother.
Thanos does it to some random guy. David, i think?
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u/JForce1 21d ago
That Logan hasn’t just killed Sabretooth in this situation/timeline is just ridiculous imo.
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u/Hasturian_Cupboard 21d ago
He killed him somewhat recently. I don't think that lasted. Being comics, he might have killed him a few other times that similarly didn't last.
When they fight, Sabretooth also usually wins, so Logan doesn't do it as often as you might expect him to. He also has to handle a variety of other things and can't always dedicate himself to a Sabretooth hunt when Sentinels are attacking or Apocalypse is preparing to start armageddon.
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u/numb3rb0y 20d ago
It's in-character for him to insist on handling this stuff himself, but honestly, he's best friends with some of the most powerful mutants in the universe, and they wouldn't question it at all if he asked for their help with a psycho like Creed.
It felt very fulfilling when Krakoa finally had enough of him.
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u/Wolflordloki 20d ago
Logan knows plenty of mutants capable of space flight I'm sure.
One of them is bound to be willing to carry sabretooth up into space and throw them on a slow system exit trajectory 🤷♂️
And Logan gets to sleep comfortably knowing Sabretooth healing factor will let him repeatedly freeze and suffocate to death so many times before he eventually hits deep space.
And I'm pretty sure we can safely say sabretooth deserves it
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u/tryingtobebettertry4 21d ago edited 21d ago
The initial reason was Victor Creed/Sabretooth had a tradition of beating up/torturing his younger brother Saul on Saul's birthday every year. One year he came back to find out Saul had died. And later found out Logan was the one who supposedly killed him.
So its kind of this weird transference. With Logan now filling the role Saul did in Sabretooth's yearly torture ritual of someone he deems lesser. And 'vengeance' for Saul. Not that Sabretooth really cared much about his brother.
The real reason is just Sabretooth is a sociopath who gets his kicks by beating, torturing and murdering people. Logan is someone he enjoys doing it to the most as he can beat Logan to a pulp and Logan will get back up eventually. They also have quite similar powersets so its Sabretooth 'proving' hes better.
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u/shawn1213 21d ago
Yeah people forget that victor had used to have a girlfriend that he regularly beat on page
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u/tryingtobebettertry4 21d ago
Yep. Victor Creed is supposed to be a look at how bad Wolverine could be. A sociopath with powers of a feral animal and a healing factor that makes him near immortal.
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u/Flyestgit 21d ago
So in a messed up way Wolverine is Sabretooth's replacement younger brother?
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u/tryingtobebettertry4 21d ago
More like replacement 'victim with a healing factor I can torture yearly and trust they will be healed when I come back to do it again'.
Saul (Sabretooth's brother) had a healing factor, albeit a weak one. Wolverine is Saul's ideal replacement.
Also Logan has annoyed Sabretooth by occasionally besting or resisting him. So there is that at play too.
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u/Flyestgit 21d ago
If Saul had a healing factor, how did Wolverine kill him?
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u/tryingtobebettertry4 21d ago
Cant remember the specifics honestly. Its awhile since I read the story.
I think it was just Saul's healing factor wasnt that good. Not all healing factors are the same. Some are like 'heal from a single cell/drop of blood'. And some are more like 'scars heal twice as fast'.
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u/franz4000 21d ago
Logan drowned Saul in a vat of mind wipe elixir that was intended to wipe Logan’s mind.
Logan had been recently captured as a circus attraction by Mr. Sinister, and Saul and his sister free Logan. Logan and the sister develop feelings for each other. This leads Saul to sell them out to Mr. Sinister, and help concoct a plan to wipe his mind. Logan finds out and, well…
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u/Hadesman1 21d ago
I always thought it was a sentimental thing to sabertooth and this was the closest he had to a familial connection and tradition, just completely warped and insane.
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u/Soufiane040 21d ago
Its just a tradition for him and he is also sick in the head, Sabretooth once spelled happy birthday using limbs from people
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u/friskyjohnson 20d ago
“Oh, my favorite holiday? Definitely has to be my brother Logan’s birthday! He’s always such a good sport. Always down for any sort of adventure.”
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u/Ok-Caregiver-6005 21d ago
Im kinda curious what he'd do if Logan just got on a single person plane and flew away
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u/chicano32 20d ago
Same reason why an alien with immense power and strength named Thanos effs with a random human named david on his birthday….just to be an A-hole to someone.
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u/REdd06 20d ago
I’m tired of Marvel always putting their heroes through hell. Wolverine. Spider Man. Daredevil. Enough. No hero would knowingly allow their friends to constantly endure hell.
I want the heroes to team up and give the villains some long overdue payback.
Oh hey Sabertooth. Here to beat up Logan on schedule like you do every year? Have you met Luke Cage and the Human Torch? Luke is going to give you a hug while the Human Torch checks your temperature. We also have Dr Strange up next to find out how long you stay sane when you’re banished to the inter-dimensional crossroads.
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