To quote the credo of the podcast Jay & Miles X-Plain the X-Men, the ongoing saga of the band of beloved mutants is “comics’ greatest superhero soap opera.” And just like any soap opera, X-Men comics are rife with romance, heartbreak, bizarre hookups, and joyful reunions. Of course, unlike most soap operas, X-Men titles are also packed to the brim with time travel, alternate dimensions, magic, dinosaur men, and aliens, which makes them arguably better soapy dramas. Despite the craziness surrounding the characters populating the page, what has always drawn fans to keep reading, even if an issue nosedives right into a pool of insanity, is the relationships between the X-folk.

Whether it’s a long standing blood feud or a will they/won’t they romance, the ever-evolving nature of said connections between these heroes and villains keeps us coming back month after month and has been for half a century. We, as fans, want to see certain characters find love and happiness and we’re crushed when things fall apart for them or if one of the characters is presumed dead or stuck in space or whatever. However, there are relationships fans are a little less hip to -- sometimes the drama on the page is birthed from utter disdain.

20 BEST: KITTY PRYDE AND COLOSSUS

Few X-Men relationships have had the same impact and longevity as the one between Kitty Pryde and Piotr Rasputin. The sheer level of soapy drama these two have endured is a hallmark for why fans keep coming back to X-Men titles month after month for the last few decades. From deaths to jealous outbursts that nearly leave people dead to being presumed dead or just lost in space to dating someone like Star-Lord, Shadowcat and Colossus’ romance has survived it all, and is finally reaching its logical progression (at least for these two): matrimony.

Now, this isn’t to say the pulpy drama will come to an end. Oh, no. A marriage license does not bar these mutants from such things. If anything, the stakes have been raised. Hopefully the wedding event that will occur is a bit more exciting than the one from X-Men #30 in which Jean Grey and Scott Summers tied the knot (Jean’s dress was amazing, though, like, Royal Wedding amazing). The cool, righteousness of Colossus has always been the perfect yin to Kitty’s spunky, brash yang and we love them for it. Now, to be fair, the most recent reunion between these two has been met with a bit of head-scratching. Kitty and Pete getting back together seemed to face little resistance (think Anakin turning to the Dark Side in Episode III). But again, for a couple who have known each other for so long, their interactions are almost in short hand.

19 WORST: FANTOMEX AND PSYLOCKE

Rebound relationships that rise from the ashes of trauma are not always destined to fail, but more often than not, they do. During Rick Remender, Jerome Opeña, Greg Tocchini, and Phil Noto’s brilliant 35-issue run of Uncanny X-Force, a quintet of heavy-hitting mutant assassins are put through the wringer, both physically and emotionally. Wolverine, Psylocke, Archangel, Fantomex, and Deadpool (and AoA Nightcrawler and Deathlok later on) are sent on increasingly insane missions that test their moralities and their relationships with one another. Midway through the series, the team is forced to turn on one of their own when Archangel takes his doomed position as the new Apocalypse. Needless to say, this puts a pretty bad hampering on his relationship with Psylocke (turning into a genocidal demigod has that effect on couples).

After resolving what could have led to mass destruction, it left Warren Worthington III a shell of his former self, for better and way worse. With Betsy Braddock essentially losing the love of her life, she runs into the warm embrace of fellow teammate, Fantomex, who is a character who is pretty awesome when he’s cracking pop culture jokes and taking out baddies with dual pistols whilst wearing a white trench coat like a Matrix villain reject, but the guy is a crummy boyfriend. Basically Betsy left a beautiful billionaire for the X-Men's equivalent of Pepe Le Pew.

18 BEST: STORM AND WOLVERINE

Storm and Wolverine have seen some pretty rough times together. They have fought alongside one another as warriors and come out on the other side of some horrific situations broken, yet stronger than they were before. Logan is a Ronin warrior, doing the best one can do with his haunted past and fractured moral code. Ororo is a goddess who loves her fellow X-Man and will defend them with every ounce of her powers. These two, both hopeless romantics in their own way, have found love in the foxhole on more than one occasion. Their on again-off again relationship has been a staple of X-Men comics for decades. And no matter where their desires have taken them, they wind up finding each other once more.

There’s a sense of hero worship from each of them imprinted on the other. They see each other for what they truly are, a savage warrior and an altruistic goddess, and they accept their roles -- there is a certain poetry in this. Even the X-Men film franchise has tapped into this undying love, giving audiences a moment where Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine lovingly embraces Halle Berry’s Storm during X-Men: Days of Future Past. It’s a moment that seems to comes out of left field for viewers not familiar with the comic books, but for long-time fans, their on-screen kiss makes perfect sense.

17 WORST: ROGUE AND MAGNETO

When it comes to huge age gaps in relationships, some folks justify them by the old adage “age is just a number.” While, yes, this is technically true in a literal sense, credit scores and alcohol levels on a breathalyzer are also just numbers, but they have consequences and certain outcomes that might change your life for good or ill. One of the more disparate age gaps in X-Men couple history (besides with whoever Wolverine dates ever since the guy is over a century old) is between Rogue and Magneto. To be fair, age works on a sliding scale in comic books. Superman has been about 27 years old for nearly a century, after all.

Rogue and Magneto’s relationship has been pretty unorthodox, even for X-Men comics which but the X in unorthodox (we’ll be here all week, folks). During the Savage Land story in Uncanny X-Men #274 and 275, there is certainly some tension between the two, but it’s easy to chalk it up to two people being in a dire situation together. Nothing came to fruition between these two and any romantic feelings seemed to pretty one sided (coming from Rogue for the most part). It wasn’t until the massive X-Men event “Age of Apocalypse” that these characters made things creepy as this version of Magneto was pretty manipulative towards the younger Rogue… so yeah, hard pass.

16 BEST: CANNONBALL AND BOOM BOOM

Samuel Guthrie is a kind Southern boy from Kentucky, who spent his youth laboring away in a coal mine after losing his father. He would wind up saving the life of someone in that coal mine whilst revealing his true nature. Sam eventually learned to control his mutant abilities of jet propulsion and generating an impenetrable “blast field” while in the air to become the superhero known as Cannonball. A short time after this, the rebellions teenage mutant Tabitha Smith was living in Roanoke, Virginia with her abusive father. Once she had enough, she ran away from home and was welcomed to Xavier's Academy for Gifted Youngsters and would take on myriad monikers such as Time Bomb, Boomer, Meltdown and Boom Boom.

Soon after, these two Southern teenage heartthrobs fell in love with one another during their time as members of the New Mutants. Sam and Tabitha’s mutual affinity for rebellious behavior and living dangerously made them quite the match. Sadly, after several years, their relationship fell apart due to being assigned to separate teams and Cannonball constantly being gone on missions. Tabitha felt this distance the hardest despite trying to connect to Sam as often as possible. And despite how their relationship dissolved (which was in a very high school drama sort of way), fans still have a soft spot for their romance.

15 WORST: HUSK AND TOAD

There is only but so much borderline sycophantic behavior a relationship can withstand before it becomes utterly repulsive. The strange and rather unnerving romance (and we use that word loosely here) between Mortimer Toynbee (better known as the X-Men villain, Toad) and Paige Guthrie (known as Husk) in Wolverine and The X-Men never quite felt right with readers. Now, this notion is not relegated to the fact that Toad is arguably one of the worst X-Men villains ever to slink across the page or the fact that Husk’s judgement was not firing on all cylinders due to her powers going haywire. Even the obvious princess and the frog parallel wasn’t what made this relationship cringeworthy.

Why we, as a comic readers, never really bought into Husk and Toad’s relationship was the fact that is was birthed from a tragic sense of desperation. There’s nothing to really root for other than some minute sense of self-worth being discovered by these two. Toad, who was acting as a janitor at the Jean Grey School for Higher Learning when we first meet him in the series, never really grew as a character even when he joins the Hellfire Club in act of betrayal. He winds up just dipping right back into Groundskeeper Willie territory (only not as funny). And Husk never grows beyond the insulting “crazy girlfriend” archetype. Despite the satirical nature of this romance, we would have liked to see it develop into something more.

14 BEST: X-23 AND HELLION

One of the more predominate personality traits Laura Kinney shares with her genetic “father,” Logan is a penchant for flying off the handle (they aren’t called "Wolverine" for nothing). But much like Logan, Laura also has a tender heart when you peel back the layers of anger, layers that were shellacked on by copious amounts of tortuous experimenting and heartbreak (that sort of thing would turn anyone a bit enraged from time to time). And that tender heart gives rise to a reluctant hopeless romantic. Enter: Julian Keller (also known as Hellion), a young mutant student at the Xavier Institute with telekinetic abilities and Laura’s first crush.

Eventually Hellion reciprocated Laura’s love and the two went on to have quite the angsty teen romance, but with more carnage and weirdness than your average young adult novel. These two stuck together through lots of ups and downs. After Hellion lost his hands during the “Second Coming” event, Laura stayed with him during his recovery. And even after their relationship was broken off by Laura sometime later, Hellion still kept a watchful eye on her… but not like, in a creepy way. Julian just cares for her deeply as anyone does to some degree with regards to their first love. Fans have often cited echoes of the relationship between Jean Grey and Wolverine (the Logan one) when it comes to these two. Perhaps this is why fans were drawn to their romance. It was a classic love story for a new generation.

13 WORST: KITTY PRYDE AND ICEMAN

Some relationships are just snake bit from the get go. One such relationship is between Head Mistress of The Xavier Institute for Mutant Education and Outreach and X-Men team leader, Kitty Pryde (or Shadowcat if you’re feeling sassy) and original X-Man and owner of too many pairs of cargo shorts, Bobby Drake (also known as Iceman). The blossoming romance between these two never felt natural. Their interactions felt forced and awkward, especially in the pages of Wolverine and The X-Men. While you could chalk this up to the fact that Bobby Drake was repressing his own sexuality during this period of time, the revelation of Bobby embracing it wasn’t explored until much later.

Kitty Pryde has a well-documented history of being awkward in relationships, even when they’re with her soon-to-be husband Piotr "Peter" Nikolayevich Rasputin (the organic steel transforming mutant Colossus), but the awkwardness level when she was with Iceman was dialed up to 11. Even considering Bobby’s sexuality and Kitty’s inevitable betrothal to Colossus, there was zero chemistry between them, even in casual conversations. And fans felt this in a big way. Their relationship, while short-lived, had a lot of readers scratching their heads and wondering if it was just one of those "love in a foxhole" sort of situations.

12 BEST: FORGE AND STORM

Forge has always been a fantastic support character in the X-Men Universe. As man possessing the ability to intuitively invent pretty much anything he can think of, he has difficulty with maintaining a steady love life (you could say that love is the one thing that can’t be engineered). His love for Storm has seen blissful highs and soul-crushing lows. From having their relationship torn apart by long-lost enemies and dedication to duty over personal interest, the romance between Forge and Storm has taken some massive hits. These two have spent practically decades at a time apart and when they have reunions, they are often brief and rife with awkward tension between them.

But despite how these two have yet to rekindle the flame that made them fall for one another in the first place, there are moments that give fans hope that will find each other again. Storm has referred to Forge as her “rock,” the one man who was there for her during some of the most tumultuous times in X-Men history. Storm, being a woman of great strength, a goddess of sorts, recognizes that a man, who by comparison, is not on her level when it comes to power and dedication to Xavier’s dream, can mean the world to her. And this dichotomy between these characters makes their love endearing and one for the ages.

11 WORST: WOLVERINE AND JEAN GREY

Despite Ultimate X-Men being rather influential to the larger X-Men mythos, going so far as to give us great characters who still populate the main Marvel Comics universe (Jimmy Hudson to be specific), the series was a bit of a mixed bag. For every new and interesting turn the series took with already established characters, there was a choice that felt intrinsically off. One of the biggest transgression being how Ultimate X-Men handled Wolverine. While, yes, Logan was still a tough as nails brute who was the best at what he did (which wasn’t very nice), this version of the character was a bit of a jerk.

When he wasn’t being a brooding, homicidal brute, he was just plain creepy. And Wolverine’s relationship with the teenage Jean Grey only added to the less than desirable mythos surrounding this new version of Wolverine. One could argue that a character who is for all intents and purposes immortal doesn’t necessarily live by the same moral code that folks with a normal lifespan adopt makes sense (as much as X-Men comics make sense), his relationship with Marvel Girl was inherently wrong. Now to be fair, this wasn’t the most off putting relationship in the Ultimate Universe, it still tarnished the character of Logan and made us not feel too bad when he met his demise in Ultimatum.

10 BEST: RICTOR AND SHATTERSTAR

rictor shatterstar

Historically speaking, the LGBTQ community has been grossly underrepresented in comic books. Luckily, over the last decade or so, that has started to change. Long standing assumptions regarding certain characters’ sexualities have been confirmed while other characters have grown to be simply more open about their relationships with their partners. It’s refreshing to see and makes a huge shift in the comic paradigm. One such relationship that actually straddles the line between the two aforementioned realizations is between X-Force teammates Shatterstar and Rictor. For years, these two have been close. But in Peter David, Marco Santucci, and Valentine De Landro’s X-Factor #45 from 2009, these two put that closeness on full display with lip-locked romantic embrace.

The moment was historical. Fans who saw this coming (and who often refer to the relationship as RicStar, because the internet loves portmanteaus like this and RickChone when it comes to couples in pop culture) and rightfully vindicated in their assumptions. Sadly, the couple was casually dismissed for a spell in an issue of the solo Iceman series, which sort of cheapened things despite treating the relationship as the new norm as it should be. But perhaps Rictor hitting on Bobby Drake could present a new love triangle, which is pretty common in X-books.

9 WORST: AZAZEL AND MYSTIQUE

Chuck Austen’s run on Uncanny X-Men was… well, let’s just say it was uneven at best. The big storyline, “the Draco”, during his tenure as writer was rife with questionable character decisions (we’re looking at you She-Hulk and Juggernaut -- you know what you did, and it was kind of off-putting) and goofy revelations. One of the biggest “wait, what in the world is going on?” moments in Austen’s run involved Nightcrawler learning who his real father was: the demonic, immortal, philanderer Azazel. While it’s long been established that Raven Darkhölme (better known as the shape-shifting mutant Mystique) is Kurt Wagner’s biological mother, the identity of his real father was up in the air before this point (we had our money on Sabretooth for a long, long time).

As “The Draco” unpacks the romantic history between Mystique and Azazel, things just get weirder and weirder and not in the fun way that X-Men comics are known for. To make matters even more bizarre, the relationship between these two make Raven appear a bit more desperate and weak willed than we would have thought her to be before. Now, to be fair this relationship certainly helped create the shape-shifting tough cookie we know today, but man, it was not a fun experience. So unfun, in fact, it made Azazel’s appearance in the film X-Men: First Class almost cringeworthy.

8 BEST: PSYLOCKE AND ARCHANGEL

Boy oh boy, does Betsy Braddock like her men handsome and psychologically damaged. And none of her past lover interests have quite as handsome or psychologically damaged as Warren Worthington III, the X-Men’s residential Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Warren has had a tough go of things since he was firs introduced way back in 1963 in The X-Men #1. They guy has loved, loss, seen friends die and come back from the grave, been captured by a megalomaniacal mutant demigod who transformed him into the angel of death, and he’s probably hit some trees whilst flying every once and a while.

Even though their history goes much father back, as teammates during Uncanny X-Force, Psylocke and Warren shared a more than just a bed -- they shared a bond that was similar to one a doctor may share with a patient. Betsy helped Warren keep his murderous Archangel personality under control to some degree, letting the razor-winged death machine come out and play when things got hairy for the team. Warren felt that patient/physician connection with her as well and with his love came a certain level of reliance. Betsy was Warren’s rock, and she loved him because of it… or maybe in spite of it. There’s something to be said for doomed relationships in superhero comics -- we all know that they can’t last forever, but they sure are exciting while they last, which thankfully was for quite some time.

7 WORST: EMMA FROST AND CYCLOPS

In the first issue of writer Joss Whedon and artist John Cassaday’s 2004 run on Astonishing X-Men Wolverine slinks into the bedroom of Scott Summers and his new main squeeze Emma Frost to taunt Cyclops for “moving on” after the most recent death of Jean Grey (if death and resurrection what an Olympic sport, Jean Grey would have a gold medal). Not too pleased with Logan’s intrusion, Scott proceed to optic blast the runt out of a window and into the Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters lawn. The thing is, Logan’s concerns regarding Cyclops’ new girlfriend certainly echoed those of the readers.

Why was Scott shacking up with a woman who has been known to be manipulative and was once a villain? It was a huge departure from the tender heart of Jean Grey. In fact, other than the fact they are both female and have somewhat similar power sets, Emma Frost and Jean couldn’t be any more different in regards to demeanor and attitude. Maybe Cyclopes doesn’t have “a type.” Perhaps after getting hit such a tragic loss, he’d take whoever would have him. And while Emma’s real motives are revealed later in the series (for better and worse), Scott’s relationship with her slightly taints his boy scout persona (also for better and worse).

6 BEST: GAMBIT AND ROGUE

Rogue and Gambit from the X-Men

These two are simply perfect together. For all their differences and bickering, there might not be an X-Man fan on the face of the Earth who doesn’t want these two to make things work. Sure she’s a power-draining mutant who is practically incapable of physical contact, and yeah, he’s a smooth-talking Cajun con man who loves to live fast and lives to love fast. But when they are together, there is a certain energy that no other couple in the X-Men universe can duplicate -- the pure animalist attraction and the deep desire these two have for each other is palpable on the page.

Their relationship is so consistently popular that writer Kelly Thompson (Jem and the Holograms, Hawkeye) and artist Pere Perez (Deadpool Versus Punisher), have recently revised their relationship with a five-issue miniseries simply titled Rogue & Gambit, which was met with heaps of praise from longtime fans of X-Men. Arguably the biggest injustice fans have experiences so far is that these two have not been in a film together. In fact, the versions of both characters who have appeared in the X-Men films seem to exist in different timelines. Thankfully, the X-Men movies don’t seem to really care about continuity, so anything is possible. If the proposed Gambit solo film actually comes to fruition, perhaps we’ll get to see these two romantic titans cross paths in the flesh.

5 WORST: ANGEL AND HUSK

The soapy goodness of X-Men comics took a hard, sharp turn into “please stop doing this” territory in Chuck Austen, Salvador Larroca and Danny Miki’s “She Lies with Angels…” story arc from Uncanny X-Men #437-441. The title of the storyline takes its name from the William Shakespeare play Romeo and Juliet, which is pretty apropos because this comic run is all about some horribly dysfunctional romance that not just toys with the precipice of creepy, it does a running jump right off that cliff. The early aughts was a weird time for Uncanny X-Men. While an X-book like Joss Whedon and John Cassaday’s Astonishing X-Men was raising the bar for what an X-Men series could be, Uncanny was rolling under the bar like a drunken limbo dancer.

“She Lies with Angels…” focuses on the relationship between Warren Worthington III (the winged original X-Man, Angel) and Paige Guthrie (the skin-shedding mutant, Husk), and a lot of the angst and overblown emotional outbursts in it are so adolescent, they’d make a Twilight-obsessed tween roll their eyes. The relationship between Angel and Husk even manages to sneak in one of the most infamous moments in X-Men history where these tow star-crossed lovers engage in an intimate act while flying through the air… with family and team members watching. Yeah,we know…

4 BEST: NATURE GIRL AND EYE-BOY

Writer Christina Strain and artist Amilcar Pinna’s criminally underappreciated run on Generation X not only acts as a perfect continuation of the teen sitcom-esque dramedy that made Wolverine and the X-Men such an enjoyable book (it even takes a handful of those characters along for the ride), but it pretty much encapsulates the fascinating dichotomy of trying to be a good student while having aspirations to become a hero even if the powers you’re gifted with seem kind of lame. All the teen angst, cliques, and adjustment periods to going to a new school are present right up front. And so are the romances (or at least the pursuit of them).

One of the most adorable pairings in Generation X is between Trevor Hawkins (appropriately code named Eye-Boy) and Lin Li (who reluctantly takes on the name Nature Girl). These two are complete opposites in just about every possible way. Trevor is a bit awkward and it trying hard just to fit in and accept the fact he is literally covered in eyeballs, and Lin is a self-ostracized version of a Disney Princess who believes that animals she is able talk to are far more interesting than any of her fellow students. But Trevor has a thing for Lin. And while their relationship never blossoms into something bigger (due to the fact that the series was tragically cancelled after 12 issues), watching these to interact was great. Hopefully there’s a future for them in a different book.

3 WORST: ROGUE AND ICEMAN

It’s always upsetting when new versions of characters or relationships between them in comic books influence film adaptations and vice versa. One of the more recent critiques of a lot of Marvel Comics is that they act almost as testing grounds for things that will make their way into films. But this nothing new. In fact, this symbiotic relationship really starting to ramp up nearly 20 years ago with the release of the film X-Men and the launch of Marvel’s Ultimate Universe, an entire comic line that would also help launch the MCU to some capacity (just read The Ultimates and watch The Avengers back to back -- there is a ton of connective tissue there). Some of the flirting between Bobby Drake and Rogue in the 2000 film seemed to touch the comics to a degree as if since there is no Gambit, Iceman is fair game for this power-leaching Southern Belle.

While a lot of the characters in the Ultimate Universe (or Earth-1610) tried to upset the apple cart by giving readers something new and unpredictable from long-established superheroes, the choices the creators made wasn’t always great. The relationship between Bobby and Rogue just didn’t work for a lot of reader (probably because we all knew Gambit existed in this world and that love should transcend universes). Also, can we all agree Bobby’s skullcap thing was awful?

2 BEST: CYCLOPS AND JEAN GREY

Good old Red and Slim -- is there a more familiar love affair between two X-Men than that of Cyclops and Jean Grey? These two have been teammates since their teenage years as two of the first X-Men to ever grace the comic page way back in 1963. Jean Grey was the good girl who was grappling with her immense power, while Scott Summers was a young man, who knew he’d never be able to control his. Together, they found a bond that could only be broken by death (which actually happened on more than one occasion for both parties). Their romance was the stuff of legend that make comic books great.

In fact, when things were not tainted by death and destruction, their love was something out of a storybook. And no matter who interfered with their relationship (yeah, we’re looking at you Wolverine), they always managed to find each other with open arms… well, except for the younger versions of the characters in X-Men Blue, but who knows what’s going on there? Jean knows she dies and Hank McCoy has been hiding his love for her, and Scott is… well, he’s Scott and he grows up to become somewhat of a mutant terrorist or something -- the whole thing is nuts, but that doesn’t really matter. What matters is that these two are amazing together. ‘Nuff said.

1 WORST: SCARLET WITCH AND QUICKSILVER

Ultimate Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch

No. Just no. This is the worst. Plain and simple. Look, before we even address the hulking, massive elephant in the proverbial room, let’s talk about the less creepy aspects of this relationship, shall we. Let’s pretend that there isn’t anything inherently wrong with this union (which, boy oh boy, there sure is), and focus on the minutia of it. First, for fans of the primary Marvel Universe (Earth-616), we all know that Scarlet Witch falls in love with The Vision. And while, yes, there is an argument to be made that Vision is not an actual human being and there are logical fallacies that are intrinsic to proclaiming your love to what is essentially an artificial being are omnipresent in their relationship, it isn’t as horrific as the one Wanda Maximoff peruses in the Ultimate Universe (Earth-1610).

Quicksilver and Scarlett Witch are siblings. You got that? They are brother and sister. Need we say more? Fine, if we must. For whatever reason, in the series The Ultimates 3, writer Jeph Loeb, and artist Joe Madureira took it upon themselves to peruse the already creepy winks and nods to the relationship established between Quicksilver and Wands from the previous Ultimates volumes to the extreme. And while we won’t delve into the stomach-churning details here, let’s just say, it didn’t win over any new fans. Gross. Just plain gross.