The X-Men, under the leadership of Scott Summers, have saved the world and even the entire universe time and time again. The first member of Professor Charles Xavier’s mutant task force, Cyclops has lead the outlaw team since day one. Whether the threats come from killer robots, interstellar entities, or even other mutants, Cyclops has been there to lead his time to victory. With a flair for leadership only matched by the likes of Captain America, Cyclops has evolved as a tactician and a fighter over the years.

In spite of all that, Cyclops has made quite a name for himself on a number of occasions, and not necessarily for the best of reasons. While much of his career saw him as a reasonably well-tempered, emphasis on “reasonably”, the last decade or so really saw the character experience a dramatic and dark makeover. There are some who consider him a hero, while others see a dangerous fanatic. No longer is Cyclops considered the “boring” member of the team, but Cyclops and his actions is the fulcrum for which much the X-Men’s adventures stories revolve around nowadays. Today at CBR we’re looking at 15 dark facts about Cyclops, the leader of the X-Men.

15 MERGED WITH APOCALYPSE

The mutant Apocalypse is one of the X-Men’s deadliest and most powerful foes. Obsessed with the idea that only the strong should live, Apocalypse spends most of his time trying to end the world. Back during the X-Men crossover "The Twelve", the evil mutant was up to his regular shenanigans; he wanted to use the powers of 12 mutants to turn himself into an omnipotent being. After his plan failed, Apocalypse’s consciousness went into Cyclops’s body and they became a hybrid being in X-Men #97.

The Cyclops-Apocalypse hybrid tried to rewrite reality to complete his ascension.

That feels like something Cyclops would do anyway, seeing as he’s a jerk. Anyway, he failed, but reappeared months later and faced down Jean Grey and Cable; the two psychics forced Apocalypse out.

14 STARTED A NEW X-FORCE

With scores of enemies and people who wants to see mutants dead, Cyclops decided enough was enough and reformed a hit squad to systematically deal with those he thought needed to be taken off the playing board…permanently. Considering everything Scott Summers has been taught, this sudden shift was incredibly puzzling. Let it be said, forming a hit squad of mutant killers and having some of the team members be impressionable teens does not give you the moral ground.

Wolverine realized this and was furious when Scott revealed he’d put Laura Kinney, X-23, Wolverine’s young clone, on the team. This was a big deal since Laura was created as a human weapon and Wolverine had tried his best to make her see she was more than that. Cyclops undid all that hard work and put her back into the life she tried to escape.

13 ENDED PROFESSOR X

Leading up to and during Avengers vs. X-Men, Scott Summer made a lot of horrible decisions. Granted, some of it came when he was possessed by an all-powerful cosmic entity, but that doesn’t let you forgo all responsibility. While he was the Dark Phoenix, Cyclops killed Professor Xavier.

Professor Xavier’s death, along with all the chaos that Cyclops caused around the world, could have easily been prevented.

Upon realizing the Phoenix was headed to Earth, Cyclops lost his freaking mind and was willing to go any extremes to ensure mutants acquired the power. Rather than giving the Phoenix Force to Hope, Cyclops remained stubborn in thinking only he could help the mutant race survive. As Scott became consumed by power and his hubris, he killed Xavier. Though he cried about killing his mentor, Wolverine later mentioned he’d warned Scott about walking down such a precarious road; Scott walked it anyway.

12 KICKED PROFESSOR X OUT OF THE X-MANSION

Over the years, Professor Charles Xavier has committed some rather heinous and questionable deeds too. In Grant Morrison’s run on New X-Men and onwards, some of those actions came to light. One such revelation was that Xavier had trained another team of X-Men, which included Scott’s brother, Gabriel, and the team had died. To make matters worse, Charles erased all knowledge of this group from Cyclops’ memory, including the knowledge of his brother.

Understandably upset, Cyclops was finally on the receiving end of some harsh emotional treatment. Not one to be outdone, Cyclops let his emotions dictate his actions and he used his position as leader of the X-Men to make Xavier leave the Institute, forcing him to leave behind all the people that he cared about.

11 HAD A PSYCHIC AFFAIR WITH EMMA FROST

Cyclops’ relationship with Jean Grey has been a part of X-Men comics since the beginning. For decades, fans always believed Cyclops would remain faithful to her. Grant Morrison’s New X-Men proved to readers just how wrong they were.

While the scenario begins innocently enough, with Scott receiving some psychological counseling from teammate Emma Frost, it quickly evolves into something else entirely.

Showing little restraint, Scott engages in a psychic affair with Emma and the two start meeting up regularly. Jean discovers the affair and would like to have some words with the two of them. Scott actually has the gall to try and defend his actions, saying the infidelity wasn’t physical, but as usual, he misses the point. What really angered Jean, along with everything else, was how Scott violated her trust by opening up the entirety of his inner self to someone other than her.

10 LET IDIE TAKE A DARK PATH

After Cyclops put X-23 on his new X-Force team, he had no problem instigating a similar situation years later. Idie is a young mutant who believes her powers make her a monster. Wolverine, having realized Idie’s fragile state of mind, has been desperately trying to make her see she’s not. In X-Men: Schism #3, Idie’s trapped in a building with a bomb and several Hellfire Club members.

Wolverine is running to the scene and begs Scott to tell Idie to run away. Scott ignores Logan and tells Idie nobody’s coming to help her and she should “do what you feel like you have to.” And so Idie executes the Hellfire Club members. Wolverine is, again, enraged at Cyclops for putting a child in such a position. Idie believed her powers were only good for hurting good, and Scott didn’t help dissuade her of that notion.

9 TURNED HIS STUDENTS INTO CHILD SOLDIERS

In leading up to "Schism", and even afterwards, Cyclops started to take on the weight of the world. First Cyclops started up X-Force again, enlisting some of his teenage students to go out and slaughter those he perceived as threats. Then Cyclops felt like he needed to militarize all the X-Men, regardless of age or station. Of all people, Wolverine ended up being the voice of reason and thought the teenagers and kids needed to remain students and not become part of a militia; the X-Men splintered into two teams.

Following Avengers vs. X-Men, Cyclops was arrested, but escaped jail and began recruiting young mutants to his cause.

Fueled by the unhealthy obsession that his way was the only way, and mutants need to take an aggressive approach in cementing their place in the world, Cyclops made it his mission to turn his recruits into soldiers.

8 INTENTIONALLY TRIGGERED WOLVERINE'S PTSD

Cyclops and Wolverine are known for having one of the most adversarial relationships in comics. When Wolverine first joined the X-Men, neither Cyclops or the feral mutant made their displeasure of the other unknown, but Scott decided he’d give Wolverine a good reason to hate him. In Uncanny X-Men #126, the X-Men are reeling from a grueling fight with the mutant Proteus, who just so happened to briefly possessed Wolverine.

The six-clawed mutant is shaken, after dealing with such a traumatic experience, but Cyclops wants Wolverine to toughen up.

Cyclops humiliates Wolverine, mocking him about the experience and aggressively provoking his teammate’s PTSD. As you might expect, Wolverine, what with his long and grisly history of horrible experiences, does not take kindly to Cyclops’s humiliation. This is just another in a long line of instances where Cyclops didn’t care about his colleagues’ feelings, but wanted results, no matter the cost.

7 KISSED EMMA FROST ON JEAN'S GRAVE

Though this incident makes Cyclops looks like a jerk and is the very thing a jerk would do, there’s actually a ton of build-up to this moment. It was supposed to demonstrate the emotional conflict Cyclops was experiencing over his wife’s death and the feelings he felt towards Emma Frost. During his inner turmoil, Jean (despite being dead) contacts him from beyond the grave to help him move on.

Unfortunately the moment is ruined with the image of Cyclops locking lips with his former mistress on top of his wife’s grave. All in all, this incident serves as an apt metaphor for Cyclops and all the relationship disasters from over the years. From his refusal to commit to his inability to learn from any of his past mistakes are all on full display here, Scott sealing the deal by desecrating his former relationship, actually sounds just like him.

6 ABANDONED HIS FAMILY FOR X-FACTOR

It should be pretty obvious that Scott Summers is going to do whatever he wants with little regard as to the feelings of others. Back when he was married to Madelyne Pryor, Scott was happy with his wife and son…at least he until he learned Jean Grey was alive. Jean wants Scott to join her on X-Factor. At this moment, Cyclops can do one of two things: he can either stay with his family and build a life, or he can abandon the woman he claims to love, along with his baby, to go and fight criminals with his ex with zero explanation.

Scott Summers chose to take option two.

It’s pretty incredible, and not in a good way, how after all this time with having supposedly moved on from Jean, the moment she beckon, he answers. The two then begin their typical dysfunctional relationship.

5 LET THE AVENGERS BEAT UP HIS SON

Cable is the crazy old man who comes spouting gibberish about time travel and saving the future. Of course this crazy dude also comes with super massive guns. The son of Scott Summers and Madelyne Pryor, Cable/Nathan Summers was the brainchild of Mister Sinister to use as a weapon against Apocalypse. Through comic book hijinks, Cable was sent to the future until eventually returning to the present, years older than either of his parents.

Known for his adventures in time traveling, in the mini-series Avengers X-Sanction, Cable tries to off the Avengers. Thanks to a bizarre future prophecy, Cable systematically captures the Avengers one by one. Cyclops learns about his son’s kidnapping of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, frees the super team, and doesn’t lift a hand as he simply watches the Avengers beat up his only son.

4 DESTROYED ONE OF WOLVERINE'S HANDS

"Age of Apocalypse" was a separate reality that was created thanks to Xavier’s son, Legion. Utilizing his powers’ potential, Legion went back in time to kill Magneto, but accidentally killed Xavier. This created the "Age of Apocalypse" reality, where Apocalypse had taken over most of America and Magneto was leading the X-Men to rebel against him.

In this reality, Mr. Sinister raised Cyclops from a young age and he eventually rose high in the ranks of Apocalypse’s forces.

When we first run into this iteration of Cyclops, he only has one eye. This is because he fought Wolverine at some point in the past. During their battle, Cyclops completely destroyed one of Wolverine’s hands, adamantium and all, while Wolverine slashed out one of his eyes. Though mainstream Cyclops never demonstrated this level of power, some believe Sinister augmented Cyclops’s powers.

3 EXTERMINATED CANDRA OF THE EXTERNALS

Many superheroes don’t believe in killing. This is generally a good thing since you don’t want mountains of bodies littering the streets. Cyclops has proved time and again what he thinks about the rule. Some superheroes, like Wolverine, are more inclined to murder, but his teammates often try to find a non-lethal solution first. While the Avengers have a thing against killing, the X-Men don’t seem to, Cyclops especially.

In the ’90s, the X-Men faced a group of mutants known as Externals. Their mutant ability also granted them immortality. Candra was one of the Externals, but she was only immortal so long as a gem containing her life force was not destroyed. Well, you can guess what happened. Without thinking twice, as soon as he got a clear shot, Cyclops blasted her gem to pieces; just another victim in Scott’s long list of causalities.

2 MARRIED HIS DECEASED GIRLFRIEND'S CLONE

Among other things, Cyclops has a nasty habit of falling for women and then immediately finding ways to get over them through questionable means. In spite of all the good things he’s accomplished, when it comes to treating his love interests with a modicum of respect, Cyclops takes it more as a suggestion than a rule of thumb. Forever emotionally abusing women in relationships through a stunning series of lies and toxic decisions, a lot of it stems from when he married the clone of his ex-girlfriend.

His teammates repeatedly told him that dating a woman that looks exactly like the dead Jean Grey was a bad idea.

Scott ignored their advice and married Madelyne Pryor. Things got bad when Cyclops realized he was only projecting his love for Jean on her. Upon this epiphany, he tried to flee his marriage.

1 BLASTED CAPTAIN AMERICA OFF HIS ISLAND

Cyclops might be okay with acting like a numbskull to everyone he knows, but for the most part, there’s nothing he won’t do either for Jean Grey or the prospect of saving the mutant race. After trying things according to Professor Xavier, Scott Summers wanted to take a militaristic approach in making the world accept mutants.

Back in 2012, Marvel’s event Avengers vs. X-Men word got out that the cosmic entity known as the Phoenix was heading to Earth, and more specifically, to Hope Summers. Wolverine tells Captain America that Scott is liable to go crazy, what with the leader’s history with the Phoenix, and that they should take Hope into custody. Captain America agrees and goes to the meet Scott on the beach of Utopia, the X-Men’s island sanctuary. Captain America tries to reason with Cyclops, but Cyclops says heck with that, and blasts Captain America off his lawn.