If I'm honest, I really liked Daken. . . during Dark Reign. So that was my expectation of the character. If I think about him ostensibly I'd think "this guys trolling", but he's actually doing it brilliantly.
He's an inversion of wolverine's masculinity, and his "moral" code, this guy shows up and makes EVERYONE question their sexuality with pheromone manipulation. His interactions with "Gorgon/Venom"; the "human torch";
and honestly even Ares was damned funny, hes served to keep everyone on edge, and was a master manipulator who was actually immune to telepathy so he couldn't get "cheated out" so to speak on his machinations.
Here you have character whose true power lies in "Out witting" everyone as well NOT just out fighting them (but he could do that too), inheritor of a rather insane legacy and whose prime motivator is power, who got a taste of power
being one of Earth's Mightiest Heroes for a year, and friends with the fantastic 4, PERFECT for being a big bad, Crime lord, or at least a major player in the Marvel universe....
Then dark reign ended.
They moved his characterization back to "whine about dad" to chase dads coat tails... silly stuff about Romulus, establish his "relationship" to the clone (which really... could have been done way better and in his favor)
Then the writers moved him to L.A. where he got hooked on "heat" a plot devices drug that beats healing factors... and really I lost interest after that.
I picked it up and scanned it, I'd follow it in previews, but the writer in my opinion didn't do the character justice but MORESO didn't understand that people following a character in that characters SOLO BOOK, overwhelmingly do so to
see the the character win or dare I say GROW. I picked up that solo and ... I remember my brother liked him and started picking up the book, but he said... "Damn, I'm not gonna keep paying to see a character I like get thrashed ever issue".
this in the wiki
Liu described him as someone who is confident in his own abilities and superiority, despite never having actually tested them "on the world stage". But since taking up the mantle of Wolverine means being in the public eye, he gets to "live a little and spread his wings [and] face the fact that there are people just a bit better at the game than him....
On whether Daken joining the Dark Avengers means he's being redeemed or not, Liu stated that in order for someone to want to achieve redemption, they first need to believe they've committed an act that requires atonement, and Daken doesn't feel any guilt for his past actions.[6] She also described him as elegant, preferring to use his brains over his brawn. She further stated that Daken is unable to form meaningful relationships, with the ones he does form being based on how he can use the people around him. His father is the one exception, who manages to "ruffle his emotions".[8]
"The first part translated to "Daken fails at everything after the dark avengers", the second in practice was "He never gets over his daddy issues, and transfers some of them to x-23 imho"
So he basically went from a guy poised to be super dangerous, essentially able to become the "Kingpin" at a minimum where ever he went, while pretending to be a hero to... well... a 3rd tier putz that almost everyone hates
Except for his sexuality for which he's loved, but critical analysis illustrates he's not really bi or pan or whatever his interest is power and control, he's a violent manipulative, brilliant...sociopath or psychopath. Sure he'll sleep with you but...
"You think I care? We're all just meat" -Black manta should have always been his secret position on things while he's accepting love and awards and playing the good guy.
The best way for him to defeat wolverine would have been to keep "winning" and doing bad things dressed as wolverine and all the while his response to both Wolverine AND X-23 should have been
"Dad... Sis, please get out of my office, the security for this building are all actual off duty police officers, and I'd hate to see you got to jail..."
and Not...
RAWR I'm gonna KILL YOU!!!!
Instead of fighting them hire a mutant bodyguard whose sole job is teleport melee guys away a (neo vanisher if you will), or hell have Mr.Fantastic design smart system that does just that, and have logan served with ACTUAL back child
support papers and require a DNA test if he wants to be trolling.
I have trouble selling you on a character that has suffered such a regression over the years. I like him, he lived the perfect "blueprint for a bastard" and he has potential but it was never really reached, he could have been a real player and IF YOU WANTED to read a book about an unrepentant bad guy then he would have been the perfect fit "If you want that" alot of people don't but then its what we say about different target audience all the time.
Daken was supposed to be Mordred + Christian Grey + Sabertooth...
... but instead they chose to drown him in a puddle. ymmv.