The X-Men are one of the most famous teams in comic book history. When Charles Xavier founded the group in 1963, the merry band of mutants became one of the building blocks for Marvel Comics. Xavier’s dreams of an inclusive society resonated with readers because the team’s stories constantly focused on real-world themes like racism, prejudice and equality. As a result, this team quickly grew into one of the most popular products in the comic book industry. Look no further than the '90s, when the X-Men almost single-handedly carried Marvel for a few years. There’s a reason the X-Men film universe has been so prominent for most of the 21st century -- fans love these characters. Some members of the X-Men are among the most notable characters in the Marvel Universe; Xavier’s crew has consistently counted icons like Wolverine, Storm and Jean Grey on their roster. As a result, being an X-Man is one of the highest honors a character can have.
Unfortunately, many members of the team don’t like up to the group’s prestigious reputation. Countless characters have been given the chance to be an X-Man, and many of them flopped miserably. Some of these characters are futile in battle with power sets that are completely pointless. Others are criminals or otherwise disgraceful choices to represent Xavier’s legacy. From Longneck to an ensemble of characters with exceptionally punny names, there are many X-Men that Charles Xavier, and every member of the team, should be ashamed of. Here’s a look at some of the most humiliating X-Men of all time.
15 CYPHER
Cyper, or Doug Ramsey, has one of the most flexible, and confusing, power sets in X-Men history. This mutant’s skills apply to anything that remotely involves language. Ramsey was initially created as a plot device to explain why aliens can speak human languages. Once the character outlived that purpose, writers quickly grew desperate in their efforts to give him a place on the team.
Cypher’s powers have extended to poker, hacking, architecture, body language and probably anything else you can think of. Ramsey has even turned evil under the belief that, because language is everything, Cypher is everything, too. Of all the power trips the X-Men have seen, Ramsey’s is one of the most bizzare, given the character’s long-running obscurity.
14 MAGGOTT
Many new X-Men characters debuted in the ‘90s and, unfortunately, few of them found any footing. Maggott is one of the team’s biggest recruitment failures. The character’s claim to fame was his worm-based digestive system. Worms painfully popped out of his skin and, upon feeding, they provided him with energy. Without the worms, Maggott is an ineffectual character. So, to have any value, he needs to recreate the chestburster scene of Alien. There may be more visually off-putting mutants, but Maggott’s a shameful X-Man for reasons beyond his nasty power, too.
Maggott, with a fairly useless ability, never found his place with the X-Men. He dropped through the ranks of X-teams before he was unceremoniously written off.
13 SKIN
What do you get when you take Reed Richards’ power set and remove everything remotely useful? You get Angelo Espinosa, or Skin, one of the worst X-Men ever. Skin’s mutant power allows him to control six feet of disgustingly droopy skin. When you stop and think about it, skin is one of the worst “weapons” imaginable because it’s prone to practically every method of harm known to man.
Beyond its flexibility, Skin’s elastic epidermis is normal. It can suffer everything from paper cuts to bullet wounds. As a result, Skin’s power makes him another futile fighter.
12 KYLUN
Kylun would fit in swimmingly as a Thundercat. As an X-Man, though, he sticks out like a sore thumb. To make matters worse, he just isn’t useful. Writers desperately tried to make the character more impactful, for better and for worse. Kylun ironically grew feral after spending more time in society, which doesn’t make any sense.
Other animal-based heroes usually have namesakes’ skills. Though Kylun looks like a lion, he doesn’t any of the animal’s beneficial abilities. Instead, Kylun’s power allows him to mimic any sound. While that’s a cool ability in theory, Kylun’s sound skills don’t get the X-Men any closer to beating Magento.
11 BEAK
It feels mean to include Beak on this list. After all, he might just be the finest example of the X-Men’s inclusive nature. Plenty of visually repulsive mutants have fought alongside the X-Men over the years. But, boy, Beak is hard to look at. Imagine Hawkman or other bird-based heroes, remove 99% of their physical humanity, and you get Beak.
Beak doesn't even have the cool powers most of his contemporaries do. He can barely fly and he’s beyond useless in battle. Beak’s biggest fault is his brilliant decision to attack the Master of Magnetism with a metal bat. Beak doesn’t have any notable redeeming characteristics, so he’s terrible all around.
10 X-CEPTIONAL/BAILEY
X-Ceptional is, quite literally, the worst X-Man of all time. He starred in the miniseries X-Men: Worst X-Man Ever. Bailey’s incredible power allows him to blow himself up exactly one time. Using that ability would end him, so he’s essentially powerless until he decides to self-detonate.
Ever the welcoming group, the X-Men allow Bailey to hang out with them. Bailey temps on some of the lower-echelon X-Teams as he desperately tries to find his place in the mutant world. X-Ceptional is a walking heroic sacrifice but, until he uses his power, he’s one of the most inadequate members in the history of the X-Men.
9 EL GUAPO
Many X-Men characters are tailored towards the audience. This approach is common in comics but it can often backfire. For example, El Guapo is an X-Man geared towards skater kids and the product isn’t pretty. Robert Rodriguez is like Venom; both have their powers as a result of a symbiotic relationship. Rather than an alien symbiote, though, Rodriguez is bound to a sentient skateboard.
El Guapo just can’t quit the skateboard; he literally needs it to stay alive. Rodriguez’s abilities are too limited for him to serve any real purpose on the team. Overall, El Guapo is one of many X-Men whose power set is borderline ludicrous.
8 X-MAN
You’d think a character named after the team would deserve that association. Unfortunately, X-Man doesn’t live up to the prestige of his name. Nate Grey is basically Cable -- he’s the offspring of Scott Summers and Jean Grey, but he’s free of Cable’s tech-virus. As a character from an alternate reality, Nate Grey works well. But, in the same universe as Nate Summers, he’s nothing special.
Nate Grey never found a place in the main Marvel universe because he’s a cookie-cutter copy of Cable. He’s best known for sleeping with Madelyne Pryor, who is a clone of his own mother. Grey’s taboo actions place him firmly on the list of the most shameful X-Men of all time.
7 X-TREME
Of all of the unsuccessful X-Men characters from the ‘90s, X-Treme may be the most glaring failure of them all. His name, Adam X the X-Treme, screams ‘90s and he is the physical embodiment of one of the worst decades in comic book history. He’s “edgy” because, back then, everything in the industry had to be.
So, Adam was given the ability to set people’s blood on fire. As a fun bonus, his own blood is acid. As a further reminder that he’s too cool for school, Adam rejects the X-Men’s invitation to join the team. His backwards baseball cap was the cherry on top of the absurd character of X-Treme. The X-Men should be ashamed they recruited Adam X in the first place.
6 JAZZ
The problem with Jazz, or John Zander, is that he doesn’t have any powers. His mutant ability gives him blue skin. That's it. Zander has no other abilities to speak of. Some investigation reveals that he has mediocre rapping skills. Boy, Mr. Sinister must be shaking in his boots at the thought of having to face Jazz.
To make matters worse, Zander is also a small-time criminal. He sells “Toad Juice,” which is made from Toad Boy’s secretions, as a substance. Yuck. For inexplicable reasons, writers chose Jazz to be one of the 198 mutants that kept their powers after M-Day. Of course, Jazz was written off shortly thereafter anyway, making his time as an X-Man even more dumbfounding.
5 ZEITGEIST
Practically everything about Zeitgeist is shameful, from his origin story to his utility as an X-Man. First, Axel Cluney discovered his powers when he projectile spews on a girl he’s kissing. Here, Zeitgeist, the mutant who can vomit acid, is born.
Weaponizing acidic vomit could theoretically be useful. But Cluney can't control his powers, so he has to wear a mouthguard at all times. Plus, his “projectile” puke is only effective in very close quarters, which negates the power’s usefulness in battle. There are plenty of mutants with disgusting abilities. Some of them are helpful because they can, at least, control their powers. Zeitgeist is definitely not in that group.
4 GENESIS
A few members of the X-Men are problematic for reasons out of their control. Genesis, or Evan Sabahnur, is a clone of Apocalypse. Automatically, that should set off alarm bells for X-Men fans. Genesis is a disaster waiting to happen. His evolution into Apocalypse, one of the most dangerous X-Men villains of all time, seems inevitable.
If nothing else, Genesis’ presence on the team is a constant, painful reminder of Apocalypse’s reign of terror. When team members look at Evan, they can’t help but think of all of the lives lost at Apocalypse’s hand. For that reason alone, the team can’t be proud to count Genesis among them.
3 JOSEPH
Like Genesis, Joseph is a clone of one of the X-Men’s most dangerous villains. In Joseph’s case, he’s a copy of the team’s archnemesis, Magento. Clones are prone to suspicion off the bat, but Joseph’s time as the X-Men’s resident “Mr. Steal Your Girl” sealed his fate among fans (he stole Rogue away from Gambit).
Like most unsuccessful X-Men, Joseph was written off. Of course, this means nothing in comics. So, this Magneto clone returned years later, ended a bunch of people and somewhat lived up to his source material’s villainy Joseph is a dark blemish on the X-Men’s legacy.
2 MYSTIQUE
The X-Men, more than any team in comics, value redemption and offer second chances to countless characters. However, time and again, Mystique, or Raven Darkhölme, has shown that she might be beyond saving. Mystique has stopped many people, and has repeatedly tried to end various members of the X-Men. Raven is also one of the most untrustworthy members of the X-Men in the history of the team.
Mystique always looks out for number one. She’ll betray anyone, including her children, X-Men members Rogue and Nightcrawler. Mystique has proven that she can’t be trusted, and her criminality seems to be an unshakable part of her character.
1 CYCLOPS
It seems strange to include Cyclops, a founding member of the X-Men, on this list. Scott Summers is often the leader of the team but he is also one of its most shameful members. He’s smashed Professor X and he gave X-23 a spot on X-Force, Summers’ sanctioned attack squad. Summers is also perpetually involved in a complicated love triangle with Emma Frost and Jean Grey.
Additionally, Summers is a terrible father to his time-displaced son, Cable. Most notably, Cyclops sends X-Force after Cable and explicitly tells the team to take out his son. For these reasons and more, Cyclops has devolved into one of the most hated members of the X-Men.