Daken

Today I get to debut a new X-Men character reading order for Patrons of CK! I’ve wanted to dig into making a guide for this character for years, because I’ve already read every issue he’s appeared in and I love them all! When I realized his newest fiery series is an ongoing rather than a limited series, I knew I couldn’t let another week of my Marvel New Releases posts go by without him having a full guide of his own. That’s right, it’s time for a page devoted to everyone’s favorite pansexual murder son – Guide to Daken – Akihiro, Son of Wolverine!

Guide to Daken – Akihiro, Son of Wolverine

As a new X-Men guide, this page is available exclusively to all levels of Patreon supporters! Thank you for helping me keep this site alive.

First, let’s clear something up about this character’s name.

This character’s given name is “Akihiro.” His code name “Daken” is an anglicization of “駄犬,” a slur about the character’s mixed-race parentage which means “mongrel” or “cur” – a dog of no clear breed. While the slur was assigned to him by others in his youth, he later took it on as his codename of his own accord – and it certainly mirrors his father’s noble-sounding codename of “Wolverine.”

(In a way, the fictional Akihiro’s choice to adopt a taunt as his chosen name is mirrored by how real life drag queen Trixie Mattel reclaimed “Trixie” from being a homophobic slur aimed at her in her youth).

As the character gained wider exposure and began to develop a familial relationship with his half-sister Laura Kinney, fans took exception with his name being a Japanese slur coined by a team of white writers. Increasingly, writers began to refer to him simply by his given name of Akihiro – although he has sometimes taken on other short-lived codenames such as “Fang.”

That said, to many fans this character is still known as Daken, which was how he was introduced and the title of his second ongoing series in 2010. To the best of my knowledge, the term “駄犬” is not a slur that’s an offensive word to simply speak or write – it’s only offensive used in the context of a person.

Furthermore, it is disingenuous to treat a fictional character’s previous name as if it is a real life “deadname” that can cause stress and even dysphoria to a person. Ultimately, people have always searched for “Daken” over “Akihiro,” so in the service of helping people find information about this character I will continue to refer to him by both of his names. [Read more…] about Guide to Daken AKA Akihiro (New For Patrons!)