The X-Men have had a lot of members over the years. A LOT. Especially when you consider all of the spin-off teams, like the New Mutants, X-Factor, X-Force, and Excalibur. There have to be around 100, maybe more. But if you aren’t overly versed in X-Men history, how are you to know your Josephs from your Rogues? Your Skins from your Storms? Well, I’ll help you out a bit and give you the 25 best members of the X-Men and their ancillary teams.

 

25. X-23/Wolverine

 

 

 

 

 

 

Real Name: Laura Kinney

First Apperance: NYX #3 (appeared before that in an episode of X-Men Evolution animated series)

Powers: Adamantium skeleton, claws in hands/feet, enhanced senses, healing factor

Why She Makes the List: An idea that on paper sounds like it shouldn’t work, the female clone/daughter of Logan quickly established herself as a total badass. After suffering through a worse existence than even her ‘dad’, she proved herself first with the New X-Men students at the Xavier School, and then on Cyclops’ X-Force kill squad. After Logan’s death she became the new Wolverine, and is currently with the time-displaced original team in ‘All-New X-Men’, as well as establishing herself as the best there is at what she does.

 

24. Magneto

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Real Name: Max Eisenhardt (aka Erik Lensherr aka Magnus)

First Appearance: Uncanny X-Men #1

Powers: Magnetic field manipulation

Why He Makes the List: Magneto is so cool that we makes both the list for best X-Men members and best X-Men villains. He had spent time at the Xavier Institute in the past, leading the neophyte New Mutants while Xavier was out getting alien booty in space. But it’s his time since joining Cyclops’ X-Men army on Utopia that earns him a spot on the list. Never one for Xavier’s ‘let’s all get along’ rhetoric, it wasn’t until the X-Men began fighting for the survival of the mutant race that he joined up. But Magneto will go to any lengths necessary to protect his people and his teammates.

 

23. Bishop

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Real Name: Lucas Bishop

First Appearance: Uncanny X-Men #282

Powers: Energy absorption/redirection

Why He Makes the List: One of the X-Men poster children of the 1990’s, Bishop easily could have quickly faded into obscurity. Instead he became a mainstay of the title for 20 years. His story is a bit convoluted, sure, but it also ties into a classic X-Men trope of the horrible dystopian future, a la “Days of Future Past”. His power set, able to absorb energy and redirect it through his body, coupled with his militaristic training and the toughness that comes with growing up in a Sentinel concentration camp and seeing everyone he cared about killed, makes him one of the most dangerous and formidable X-Men. Granted, he’s not on the team anymore after the whole ‘betray the team and hunt Cable and an innocent girl throughout time to kill her’ thing, but his presence is actually missed.

 

22. Polaris

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Real Name: Lorna Dane

First Appearance: Uncanny X-Men #49

Powers: Magnetic field manipulation

Why She Makes the List: The mistress of magnetism shares a power set with Magneto, which is no coincidence since she is his daughter. The first full-time new member to join the original team, Polaris has been around forever. She’s been through the ringer, too, having been possessed by Malice and used to attack her teammates and friends, losing her powers on M-Day, and getting them back after being turned into the horseman Pestilence by Apocalypse. Also, being held captive and tortured by the Shi’Ar during Vulcan’s rule. The long-time on again, off again romantic partner of Havok, Polaris has been a crucial member of the X-Men and multiple incarnations of X-Factor.

 

 

21. Cable

 

 

 

 

 

Real Name: Nathan Christopher Charles Summers (aka Nathan Dayspring Askani’son)

First Appearance: Uncanny X-Men #201 (as baby), New Mutants #87 (as Cable)

Powers: Telepathy, Telekinesis, Technopathy

Why He Makes the List: Holy convoluted backstories, Batman! Cable was born the son of Cyclops and the clone of Jean Grey, Madelyne Pryor. When Apocalypse pulled the ultimate ‘fuck you, Cyclops’ move and infected baby Cable with the techno-organic virus, Cyclops was forced to send his only child into the future where there was a chance he could be saved. There he was raised to be the ultimate badass for the war against Apocalypse (who is still kicking more than a thousand years in the future!). He eventually used his time travel technology to come to the present, where he took Xavier’s New Mutants team and militarized them into X-Force. His immense psychic abilities are constantly being used to keep the techno-organic virus from taking over his body, otherwise he’d be the most unstoppable mutant alive. Even so, good luck stopping this ultimate badass. If he can’t shoot you to death he might just beat you to death. Cable has also spent time as a member of the X-Men, and is currently a member of the Uncanny Avengers alongside his best buddy (just don’t tell him) Deadpool.

 

20. Marvel Girl

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Real Name: Rachel Grey Summers

First Appearance: Uncanny X-Men #141

Powers: Telepathy, Telekinesis, Temporal Astral Projection

Why She Makes the List: Another Summers with a jacked up backstory, Rachel is the daughter of Cyclops and Phoenix from the ‘Days of Future Past’ timeline. Her youth was spent as a Hound (a mutant enslaved and forced to help hunt other mutants) for Ahab. Her psychic powers, inherited from her mother, joined her telepathically to her victims, so he felt every bit of pain, fear, and despair. Unable to take anymore she attacked her master, who put her in a concentration camp where she befriended the surviving X-Men. She sent Kitty Pryde’s consciousness to the past to try to change the timeline, and although Kitty succeeded in her mission, nothing changed for them. So Rachel tried to send her own consciousness back to figure out why nothing changed, where she encountered and bonded with the Phoenix Force, which sent her back to the present day. She joined up with her father’s X-Men and has never really looked back. A founding member of Excalibur and a long-time member of the X-Men, Rachel is one of the most reliable and most powerful X-Men ever. She has her mother’s insane power levels and her father’s resiliency and conviction, and is definitely someone you want in your corner.

 

 

 

19. Banshee

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Real Name: Sean Cassidy

First Appearance: Uncanny X-Men #28

Powers: Sonic scream, flight

Why He Makes the List: Probably the most overlooked of the ‘giant sized’ era of the team (well, maybe Thunderbird), Banshee was awesome. It just took the creators a while to realize it. He had some nice moments here and there, like during the Jim Lee era when he and Forge were trying to gather the X-Men after they had been scattered across the globe, but especially starting with the Phalanx Covenant, where he really came into his own as a leader and a badass. He and the worst team ever (Jubilee, Emma Frost, and a muzzled Sabretooth) destroyed a bunch of Phalanx, blew up the Xavier Institute to protect the X-Men’s secrets from the Phalanx, and then rescued the next generation of mutants from Phalanx experimentation. He then went on to become the Professor X, if you will, to the kids of Generation X. He later took up leading the X-Corps, an international search and rescue team. Mystique, who was posing as a member of his squad, snuck up on him and cut his throat, severely damaging his sonic scream and damn near killing him. That job would fall to Gabriel Summers, Vulcan, who crashed a damn airplane straight into him. Banshee was resurrected by the Apocalypse Twins as one of their horsemen. He was defeated and captured by the Unity Squad of Avengers, and while there is a chance he can be cured of his current condition, don’t expect to see him back in action any time soon.

 

18. Cannonball

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Real Name: Samuel Guthrie

First Appearance: Marvel Graphic Novel #4: The New Mutants

Powers: Flight, ability to create impenetrable ‘blast field’

Why He Makes the List: Some of the early characterizations and speech patterns given to him made him rather easy to dismiss, but Cannonball is a total badass. One of the original New Mutants, he was recruited by Xavier, but was trained more by Magneto when he was put in charge of the school, and finally militarized by Cable in the late New Mutants/early X-Force days. He quickly exceeded all of their training, and took leadership of X-Force when Cable was thought dead. Sam’s leadership had the team running smoother than they ever did under Cable (partly because some of the team hated Cable’s guts). He has also been a member of the X-Men and later was being groomed by Cyclops to be his replacement in the event of his death, and led his old New Mutants friends in a new incarnation of the team that was pretty freaking badass. He and his buddy Sunspot were recruited by Captain America and Iron Man to join the Avengers, and both acclimated themselves well. Sam’s powers make him pretty impossible to kill (and actually straight up impossible, if you believe early 90’s X-Force comics), but his good nature, compassion, intelligence, toughness, and sheer balls to the wall not giving a shit bravery are what really makes him effective as one of the best leaders in all of mutantkind.

 

 

17. Multiple Man

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Real Name: Jamie Madrox

First Appearance: Giant Size Fantastic Four #4

Powers: Self duplication

Why He (They?) Makes the List: Jamie Madrox started out as a rather forgettable character with weird, albeit cool, powers. It really wasn’t until Peter David got a hold of him that he became even remotely awesome. Then when David got to write a mini-series titled ‘Madrox’ and it’s follow up ongoing series X-Factor vol 2, Madrox became one of the most compelling characters in the entire X-Men pantheon. David revealed that each of Madrox’s duplicates, or ‘dupes’, have one of his personality traits as their dominant trait. So there are overly brave dupes, overly sarcastic dupes, cowardly dupes, sex-crazed dupes, evil dupes, scheming dupes, etc. Madrox is able to make a bunch of different duplicates, send them out into the world, and recall them later, retaining the knowledge and life experiences of each. He started up X-Factor Investigations and was able to lead them through some really difficult times, such as M-Day, the superhuman Civil War, the Skrull invasion, demons coming to Earth, Bastion’s forces attacking all mutants, and betrayals from within his own team. He was able to find some much deserved happiness with his new wife, Layla Miller, and has been laying low pretty much ever since.

 

 

16. Havok

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Real Name: Alex Summers

First Apperance: Uncanny X-Men #54

Powers: Absorption of cosmic energy, energy blasts

Why He Makes the List: One of the perennially underrated X-Men, Havok is also one of the best and most powerful. The younger brother of Cyclops, Havok has kind of lived in his brother’s shadow his entire adult life. It wasn’t until fairly recently, when he was appointed leader of an Avengers squad, that he started to act without thinking about what his brother would do, or thinking is brother would do better, which is a little strange considering Havok has been a member of the X-Men for nearly as long (although not as consistently), and has led more than one team before (most notably X-Factor). Like his brother, he absorbs ambient solar energy and converts it to ridiculously strong energy discharges, and like his brother he has struggled with control over his power, often needing  containment suit to keep from blowing everyone around him to dust. Recently Havok led the Avengers Unity Squad against the Red Skull and the Apocalypse Twins.

 

 

15. Gambit

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Real Name: Remy Lebeau

First Appearance: Uncanny X-Men #266

Powers: Kinetic energy control/manipulation; can charge kinetic energy in objects

Why He Makes the List: Even though he is one of the poster children for ’90’s X-Men’, Gambit is still cool, dammit! Sure, he has a ridiculous costume and terrible accent, but he has kick ass powers, is a terrific hand-to-hand fighter, and is a master thief. Also, he’s smoother than an ice baby’s bottom. He’s probably never been cooler than he was in the 1990-1993 era, but that is because Jim Lee made him look and move like a total badass. He has had some rough patches of late, for sure, but still has a rabid fan base, and I have a feeling that as more children of the 90’s become accomplished comic book writers, we will see more and more focus on Mr. Lebeau, and not just ‘will he and Rogue ever get together?’ (no) or ‘is he still being affected by the Death persona from his time as one of Apocalypse’s horsemen?’ (please no).

 

 

14. Archangel

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Real Name: Warren Worthington III

First Appearance: Uncanny X-Men #1 (as Angel), X-Factor #23 (as Archangel)

Powers: Flight, able to fire neurotoxin laced knives from wings

Why He Makes the List: When Warren Worthington helped found the X-Men as the high-flying Angel, he was cool. He might not have had a huge fan base, but he was tough, smart, fearless, and could fly fast as shit. But when Louise and Walter Simonson took over X-Factor in the 80’s and had Warren lose his wings after a fight with the Marauders, which led to his apparent suicide, it looked like it was all over for him. Of course, Apocalypse had other ideas, and genetically replaced his lost feather wings with super crazy mega badass metal wings (that can cut steel) made of poisoned tipped knives that he could fling out at hundreds of miles per hour, and some good old fashioned brain washing that gave him an aggressive streak a mile wide (not to mention Batman-level brooding). Reborn as Archangel, Warren became someone who was not only barely in control of his powers (like many of Xavier’s students), but barely in control of himself. While his character languished for quite a while after the mid-90’s, the Craig Kyle/Christopher Yost X-Force brought him back to prominence, and the phenomenal Rick Remender-penned Uncanny X-Force made him a truly scary force to be reckoned with.

 

13. Psylocke

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Real Name: Elizabeth “Betsy” Braddock

First Appearance: New Mutants Annual #2

Powers: Telekinesis, Telepathy, Psychic katana and knife

Why She Makes the List: Psylocke is so cool that her crazy ass history is completely overlooked, because, hey, hot ninja telepath, you guys! Before she was a hot Asian telepath she was a hot British telepath, just with a lot less ninja. When the X-Men had to go through the Siege Perilous (a magic door that screwed all of them up) she ended up in the hands of Spiral (from the Mojoverse) and her Body Shoppe, who swapped her mind with Kwannon, a telepathic assassin for the Hand, because comics! She has been a stalwart of the X-titles ever since.

 

 

12. Emma Frost

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Real Name: Emma Frost

First Appearance: Uncanny X-Men #129

Powers: Telepathy, Diamond form

Why She Makes the List: Probably the best example of a villain turned team member, Emma spent her early appearances working as the White Queen of the Hellfire Club, and was part of the group’s first (and best) confrontation with the X-Men and a party to the corruption of Jean Grey and the birth of the Dark Phoenix. She later reformed and helped start the Massachusetts branch of Xavier’s school and was a leader and teacher of the Generation X team. She joined the X-Men officially in Grant Morrison’s New X-Men and quickly became a fan favorite, despite her role in breaking up mutantkind’s power couple: Cyclops and Phoenix. Emma and Cyclops spent a few years leading the team through tough times until Cyclops died in the Death of X series. This loss pushed Emma back to her old role, and she started a war with the Inhumans for revenge. She is currently off the team, but you never know…

 

11. Iceman

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Real Name: Robert “Bobby” Drake

First Appearance: Uncanny X-Men #1

Powers: Temerature control, ice generation, able to convert body to pure ice

Why He Makes the List: One of the original and most dangerous X-Men, he is also one of the most overlooked and marginalized, which is a shame. Too often writers seem to forget what Bobby is actually capable of. He has been around since the very beginning (he was the first member recruited after Cyclops) and has proven himself time and again as a founder of the X-Men, the Champions, and X-Factor, but is often relegated to making ice slides and cracking jokes. In more recent years he has been given more of a spotlight thanks to writers like Mike Carey, and currently stars in his own solo series.

 

10. Phoenix

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Real Name: Jean Grey Summers

First Appearance: Uncanny X-Men #1

Powers: Telepathy, Telekinesis

Why She Makes the List: The most powerful member of the X-Men, Jean was another of Xavier’s original students. Her story is very complicated and convoluted, even for hardcore X fans, but simply put she is host to an insanely powerful cosmic entity known as the Phoenix force. She has spent nearly as much time dead as alive since she first appeared over 50 years ago, but has had as big an impact on the mythos as anyone. She has telepathic abilities on par with Xavier himself and telekinetic abilities precise enough to rearrange molecules. She has died twice; once at her own hand because she was terrified of what she was capable of, and once at the hand of a mutant named Xorn who was disguised as Magneto (don’t ask).  She is rumored to be returning soon, which will probably spell bad news for the X-Men at some point.

 

9. Beast

 

 

 

 

 

 

Real Name: Henry “Hank” McCoy

First Appearance: Uncanny X-Men #1

Powers: Animalistic physiology, enhanced senses, strength, agility

Why He Makes the List: Few X-Men embody the difficulty facing mutants more than Henry McCoy. Whether he’s blue or gray, or cat or ape-like, his mutation is blatantly obvious and in your face and there’s precious little he can do about it. The real tragedy is, despite McCoy being a brilliant biologist, engineer, pathologist, and about 100 other ‘ologists’, he actually did this to himself. His original mutation was abnormally limbs, hands and feet (almost gorilla-like), which gave him away as a mutant to some but at least allowed him to blend in to regular people relatively easily. But he, like all good scientists, drank an untested, experimental formula which turned him into the clawed, hairy Beast we know and love. In recent years his loyalty to the X-Men has wavered as he has had a hard time reconciling some of the impossible choices they (and Cyclops, in particular) had to make when facing extinction with his conscience. He has spent the majority of his time of late with the Avengers (with whom he has long been associated) and the Inhumans. But when the chips are down, the X-Men can count on the old furball being in their corner.

 

8. Colossus

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Real Name: Piotr “Peter” Rasputin

First Appearance: Giant Size X-Men #1

Powers: can transform body into organic steel, gives him superhuman strength, endurance

Why He Makes the List: Come on, who doesn’t love the resident strong guy on super hero teams? And besides the Thing, is there any token strong guy more beloved than Colossus? The answer, of course, is yes, Superman, but shut up.

Few X-Men have had a tougher road than Colossus (and that’s saying something). He’s had numerous life-threating injuries, has had such a hard time holding onto Xavier’s ideology at times that he’s quit the team (even switched sides!), has been possessed by both Cyttorak and the Phoenix force, and has lost his parents, his brother, and his beloved little sister (she got better). But through it all, he always comes back stronger and more determined to protect his friends and family in the X-Men. His organic steel form allows him to deal a lot of damage and absorb even more, which he has proven in fights with monsters like the Hulk, Gladiator, and the Juggernaut.

 

 

 

7. Shadowcat

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Real Name: Katherine “Kitty” Pryde

First Appearance: Uncanny X-Men #129

Powers: Intangibility

Why She Makes the List: While the original X-Men were introduced as the strangest teens of all, they grew up pretty quickly (and had to). But Kitty was the first time readers really got to grow up with a character in X-Men. She was introduced as a bratty 13 year old know it all with a really interesting power, and has grown to become one of the most dependable and capable X-Men ever. When Cyclops re-opened the Xavier School in Astonishing X-Men she was one of his choices not just for his X-Men unit, but to teach the new generation. When Wolverine opened his Jean Grey School she was one of the people he tasked with running the school. Hell, she currently runs the school and the entire team of X-Men!

Not only does Kitty have awesome powers, but she is actually a trained ninja! She also has some of the most interesting dynamics with the other X-Men of anyone. She’s a part of the old guard inner circle (Cyclops, Wolverine, Storm, Nightcrawler, Colossus, etc), but she also is very much a part of the next generation of X-Men, including Prestige, the original New Mutants, etc, and is looked up to by the newer students.

Plus her best friend is a dragon.

 

 

6. Rogue

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Real Name: Anna Marie

First Appearance: Avengers Annual #10

Powers: Absorption of powers, memories, skills by touch

Why She Makes the List: Rogue has been through more changes in her history than just about any character in all of Marvel, and has gone through damn near all of them as a member of the X-Men. One of a long list of former villains turned heroes, Rogue just may be the poster child for how it’s done correctly (along with the ‘Cap’s Kooky Quartet’ Avengers). She’s come a long way since she was Mystique’s quiet, brow-beaten mouse of a ‘foster daughter’ that nearly murdered Captain Marvel/Ms. Marvel.

She’s been a team leader on more than one occasion and always goes above and beyond to protect her teammates and ensure mission success, and was often the one Cyclops would turn to to protect the students during the daily end of the world crisis the X-Men faced during the ‘Utopia’ era. She was one of Captain America’s first choices to join the Uncanny Avengers, and remains a member of the team to this day. She is the embodiment of Charles Xavier’s dream. Her interesting power makes her someone to watch in any given situation.

 

 

5. Nightcrawler

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Real Name: Kurt Wagner

First Appearance: Giant Size X-Men #1

Powers: Enhanced agility, Night vision, teleportation, prehensile tail, can stick to walls and blend into shadows

Why He Makes the List: Since he first joined the team way back when, Nightcrawler has been a staple of the X-books. His super sweet power set, his awesome costume, and the originality of his look have all played a major role in his popularity and longevity, but his personality is what really made him stick. A demonic presence masks the face of a devout Catholic who is genuinely a good, caring person. He is fiercely loyal and determined, and is about as hardcore as you can get when the moment asks for it. He has sacrificed himself for his friends and teammates on numerous occasions, even going so far as to lose his life protecting Hope Summers from that asshole Sentinel, Bastion. Since returning to the land of the living and the X-Men, he has undergone some changes. For one, he was rejected from Heaven and is barred from re-entering. So, if he dies, which he’s done more than once since his return, he just comes right back. The only way to really get rid of him at this point would be to tarnish his soul so that death would send him to Hell. But good luck with that; the old fuzzy elf is a lot tougher than he looks.

 

4. Professor X

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Real Name: Charles Xavier

First Appearance: Uncanny X-Men #1

Powers: Telepathy

Why He Makes the List: Come on, man. He’s the founder of the whole thing, the o.g., the most badass man on the planet who also happens to be a pacifist humanitarian (thank God). If he wanted to he could be the most unstoppable villain around. This guy can go one on one with the Phoenix force on the telepathic plane. You know how Jean Grey, Betsy Braddock, and Rachel Summers are three of the most talented telepaths the world has seen? This dude taught them. While he was teaching dozens of others. He’s directly and indirectly responsible for everything the X-Men and their offshoot teams have ever done. I mean, sure, he’s also where Onslaught came from and has had some really shitty secrets exposed over the years, but the dude’s bald AND crippled. Cut him some slack, you animal.

 

3. Storm

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Real Name: Ororo Munroe

First Appearance: Giant Size X-Men #1

Powers: Weather control

Why She Makes the List: If you really consider what she is capable of, Storm should be the scariest member of any version of the X-Men. Have you ever been in a hurricane? Or even in a really strong windstorm? Or been caught outside when it’s raining so hard you can barely see and there’s lightning going off every few seconds and making you pee yourself? She can make all of that happen with HER MIND. At the same time. While flying. She can create ball lightning, tornadoes, you name it. Mother nature is the scariest thing around. We forget sometimes as we get caught up in our daily lives, but ask anyone that’s lived through a major weather event and they’ll tell you that is some scary shit. Even when she’s portrayed as a strong, powerful badass, I still feel like Storm never gets her real due. Oh, and she’s also one of the major X-Men leaders, one of the Giant-Sized members, one of the first black main characters in a major super hero book (much less black female) that was taken very seriously, and was probably the first woman to lead one of those teams.

 

2. Wolverine

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Real Name: James Howlett aka Logan

First Appearance: Incredible Hulk #181 (cameo in #180)

Powers: enhanced senses, healing factor, claws, adamantium skeleton

Why He Makes the List: I know a lot of people would put him at number one, and it’s certainly an arguable point. No X-Men member has come close to the popularity he has (he’s been the most popular member since the Byrne days). Lately Marvel has made him an overwhelmingly large part of the Marvel mythos, and he has ties to everyone it seems. He’s been an Avenger, headmaster of a school, all kinds of stuff. But to me he works best, by far, when he’s the loner renegade who spends time with the misfit X-Men because they don’t quite fit in, either, and they were the first ones to ever adopt him into their lives without an ulterior motive. He’s almost been a victim of his own popularity in a lot of ways. But there’s no doubting his importance to the team.

Putting aside the commercial side of it, he’s been in the X-Men (barring when he’s been dead, like the last couple of years- sigh…comics) since he first joined, through thick and thin. He’ll put himself through hell to save his teammates, even if he doesn’t like them (or vice versa. Usually it’s both). He’s obviously the ultimate fighter to have on your team since he pretty much can’t be killed and excels at killing things, what with the knives in his hands and everything. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, it’s a little weird that the most popular character is a short, hairy Canadian (he really has got to smell awful) that loves cigars and cheap beer, but what are you gonna do? He’s got a really great power set and a cool costume and the mystery of his origins was great until Marvel had to reveal every detail of everything that ever happened to him. He’s world famous, a movie star, and on every piece of merchandise with an X on it you can find. But the best, to me, is still…

 

 

1. Cyclops

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Real Name: Scott Summers

First Appearance: Uncanny X-Men #1

Powers: Optic energy blasts

Why He Tops the List: Come on, man, he’s the coolest. He might not have always been portrayed that way (thanks very much, 90’s X-Men cartoon and crappy 90’s writers), but the best writers know what’s up. From the big ‘heavyweight’ writers like Grant Morrison, Mark Millar, Joss Whedon, and Chris Claremont to the maybe lesser-known (but still awesome) writers like Louise Simonson and Kieron Gillen, Cyclops is portrayed as a total badass. Maybe repressed and stiff at times, but if you had to keep a localized atom bomb from going off every time you opened your eyes without your fancy glasses you’d probably be a little uptight, too. Also, the guy has had more responsibility dropped in his lap than imaginable. He had a shit childhood and then suddenly he’s the leader of the X-Men and is fighting Magneto and the Juggernaut and Sentinels and oh yeah he’s 16 years old. But there’s a reason Magneto never crushed humanity, and there’s a reason we’re not in the age of Apocalypse, and there’s a reason the Master Mold sentinel didn’t destroy all the mutants, and there’s a reason Sinister couldn’t complete his Inferno, and there’s a reason… you get the idea. That reason’s name is Cyclops, bitch.