It’s been a while, but Multiversity Comics Countdown is back! With this week, we decided to make a list based on something we’ve been talking a lot about around the offices – our favorite X-Men characters. The X-Men has a rather massive cast of characters, and while the overall number has dwindled post-M-Day, the general cast is still going strong in length and that doesn’t discredit years and years of great heroes.
However, with so many characters to choose from, is it possible that we at Multiversity could dwindle down a list to just 5 characters? We almost didn’t make it, but thanks to a last minute vote recount we were able to deliver to you the final list!
Check behind the cut for our top 5 X-Characters.
5. Nightcrawler
When Second Coming came and went, I was beside myself. Nightcrawler, one of my absolute favorite characters, fell at the hands of Bastion. Kurt was always an inspiration to me. He was always, to me, the personification of Xavier’s dream, and the nightmare of living as a mutant. You could TELL he was a mutant; there was no hiding it. Sure, you had your characters like Beast, who was covered in blue fur like Herr Wagner. But where Henry McCoy gained his hirsute features as a lab accident, Nightcrawler was born that way. He fought prejudices and hared his entire life, but never let it get him down.
As a practicing Catholic, he never had anything but love for the people who persecuted him, even going so far as to try and become a priest at one point. While he never actually became a priest due to outside interference, he always stood for the best aspects of faith. Love and acceptance were in every word Kurt said, even when he was fighting his enemies. In the end, it may have been his downfall, but at least he died fighting for something in which he believed. Kurt was a big loss to the team, and if Kitty was the heart, Kurt was the conscience. – Gilbert Short
4. TIE – Emma Frost and Jamie Madrox
A lot of people don’t like Emma. Neither do I. I loveEmma. Over the years, the character has taken a lot of turns, from her days as the scheming White Queen of the Hellfire Club in Claremont and Byrne’s legendary run on Uncanny, to her days as the dark, untrustworthy instructor of Generation X, to her current role as co-leader of the X-Men. Some people don’t accept that she’s a different character than she was in the 70s, and at them I thumb my nose. “What does she have that Jean Grey doesn’t?” you might ask. Character – something that Jean often lacks – and, of course, “top-class breeding.” So long as you’re familiar with Generation X, her character development was perfectly natural, and she’s always fun to read when she is well-written, making her my favorite X-Woman.
Jamie Madrox always had a pretty cool mutant power, but once he was placed in Peter David’s hands, he became one of the X-Men franchise’s most interesting characters. The way that his “dupes” represent different parts of Madrox’s personality is one of the more interesting ways any writer has used a superhero’s power as a part of their character – in fact, I would go so far as to call it the most interesting. He would be a bit higher on my list – above Emma and maybe even tied with Scott – were he not only cared about by Peter David and given attention by other writers. Still, I’m sure I’ll be able to settle with David writing Madrox and being great at it instead of everyone writing Jamie poorly. – Walter Richardson
Since his 1975 introduction in the now “historic” Giant Size X-Men #1, Piotr Nikolaievitch Rasputin has worn many hats over his nearly three and a half decade history. Be it hero, villain, artist or corpse, few mutants have made the rounds through the Marvel Universe quite like Colossus. I mean, find me another character that has been an X-Man, a member of Excalibur, an Acolyte AND a Defender, and I’ll buy you a coke. That said, I will also buy you a coke if you can find a better metaphor for the human condition wrapped into a super hero. Despite all his team memberships and identity changes, the core idea that encompasses the character has held strong: soft, artistic, loving core that turns distinctly violent as soon as he retreats into his super strong, unbreakable organic steel shell. Not quite a Jerkyl/Hyde situation, but not far off as Piotr has struggled to rationalize the decisions he’s made as his metallic alter ego almost since his inception (the most well known being the way in which he dealt with the villainous Proteus back in Uncanny X-Men #128), and it is this internal conflict that has brought us some of the best, most human stories told within the X-Verse (don’t believe me? Read Uncanny X-Men #390 and find out why its one of my most prized comics.) That said, he also has one of the coolest looks and general power sets amongst the other bruisers in the Marvel Universe, so that alone makes his inclusion on this list worth it. –Joshua MocleContinued below
Wolverine is the best there is at what he does. What does he do best? He sells comics! There is a good reason for this too. Since he was first introduced in Incredible Hulk #180 (with issue #181 being his first full on appearance) he’s had some of the industries best creators utilize him. Creators with the names of Wein, Claremont, Cockrum, Tieri, Morrison, Quietly, Aaron, Silvestri, Hama, Windsor- Smith, Yu and a whole hell of a lot more than that have made him one of the most dynamic characters in comics. They’ve all added layers that make him as fleshed out of character as you’re likely to find in comics.
While much has been said in recent years of the character being over utilized (which can be argued), what isn’t focused on is the “why.” The character clearly resonates with people or he wouldn’t be a selling point. Why does he resonate with people? I think it’s because the best creators to use him have focused on the torn nature of the character as he battles his internal demons while trying to live an honorable life in the process. I think most people can relate to that concept. While some of the more fantastic elements of the character obviously aren’t relatable, when you get to the core of him he’s the human struggle personified. He’s the best X-Men character because in a world of uncertainty and vulnerability he’s a character who is for the most part invulnerable and able to take on anything life throws at him. The X-Men are an analogy for striving to work for acceptance and understanding in a world that is prone to fear and hate, and Wolverine at his best encapsulates the idea of struggling to gain acceptance not only with the world around but also the world within.
While many characters are eligible for the coveted “heart and soul of the X-Men” award, I’m willing to bet that many would go out on a limb and say that Katherine Pryde takes the cake (or, if you want to get really punny, “is the cats meow”) for that particular designation. No matter the moniker, be it Sprite, Ariel, Shadowcat or simply Kitty, Pryde has been present for some of the highest and lowest points in X-History, never straying too far from the X-Verse for very long. However, if you ask me what truly makes her unique and beloved (which clearly you are), I’d have to go with her persistent positivity. No matter the darkness that surrounded her team, Kitty was always there with a smile to lighten the mood and make even the grumpiest of X-Men smile. Even during her low points (the death of her father and former lover), Pryde became a beacon of hope and steadfastness for the mutant race long before that spunky new red head showed up in Alaska, making her probably one of the most important mutant characters in Marvel history. – Joshua Mocle
1. Cyclops
What is there to say about Cyclops that we literally haven’t already said? For all intents and purposes, Cyclops was a character defined by his loyalty and his eagerness to perform, essentially being Xavier’s Golden Boy for the majority of X-Men stories up through the 90’s. It’s this attitude held by Scott that led many people to strongly dislike the character (due in part to his kiss ass nature), but the Scott we have now is an entirely different character. With incredibly strong writers like Grant Morrison and Joss Whedon, the character was allowed to break free from his roots and begin to truly evolve. It was only recently with Brubaker passing the reigns to Fraction that Cyclops, in the wake of Messiah CompleX, was able to truly achieve his destiny as a born leader, catapulting him above and beyond the same standards as the other characters into the true leader of the mutant race (all of them). There is no character that has to ask as many hard questions as Cyclops does, and the reverence that the writers have given to him in his new position post M-Day is not only what he has deserved all along but it’s the true reason he’s so great.
With Schism coming and the reported dissolution of the way things are (with the X-Men firmly dividing between Wolverine and Cyclops – reportedly), it’s possible that Cyclops is going to devolve as a character if it turns out all he’s fought for is only going to be unraveled. But until that time, the man has a medal hanging around his neck from the president for his service not only to mutant kind, but humanity as a whole. If there is a character who has come into their own in the X-Men more than Cyclops, you’d be hard pressed to find them. -Matthew Meylikhov
Original Lists
Brandon
1. Wolverine
2. Maggott
3. Doop
4. Anarchist
5. Bishop
Walt
1. Cyclops
2. Emma
3. Madrox
4. Kitty Pryde
5. Nightcrawler
Matthew
1. Cyclops
2. Magneto
3. Kitty Pryde
4. Fantomex
5. Sassypants Emma
Josh
1. Colossus
2. Iceman
3. Kitty Pryde
4. Nightcrawler
5. Beast
Gil
1. Cyclops
2. Psylocke
3. Colossus
4. Emma
5. Nightcrawler
David
1. Wolverine
2. Madrox
3. Gambit
4. Kitty
5. Nightcrawler
