When people think of the X-Men, they think of two names- Wolverine and Cyclops. Wolverine's the tough as nails enforcer with a heart of gold and Cyclops is the stalwart leader. No matter what else the two characters do, they are X-Men through and through and perfect exemplars of Xavier's dream- a mutant killing machine turned into one of the world's greatest heroes and a mutant with uncontrollable powers that who has overcome that and become a great leader.
Without these two characters, the X-Men wouldn't be the same. Each brings something unique to the table and fans have been debating for years which one of more integral to the team. So, which X-Man is more important- Wolverine or Cyclops?
10 Wolverine: The Most Popular
Let's get this one out of the way immediately- Wolverine is way more popular than Cyclops. Wolverine has headlined his own ongoing series for most of the last thirty years and when he hasn't, as when he recently died, he was replaced by his clone daughter X-23 as Wolverine and had an older alternate universe version of himself with his own book.
Wolverine has starred in three solo movies and was arguably the star of every X-Men movie. Sure, people like Cyclops, but they love Wolverine.
9 Cyclops: Possibly The Best Team Leader In Comics
While Captain America gets all the glory for being the best team leader, on paper, Cyclops has done way more with much less. Nowadays the X-Men and the Avengers are more on par as far as power levels go, but for a very long time, the X-Men were very much behind Cap's team.
However, Cyclops was still leading his team against some of the most dangerous threats in the Marvel Universe and winning. Not only that, but he was responsible for training everyone and seeing as how most of the X-Men joined the team after years of normal lives with sometimes uncontrollable powers and a variety of mental foibles, that's a huge accomplishment.
8 Wolverine: The Tankiest Tank That Ever Tanked
While his healing factor has gone through massive upgrades over the years, Wolverine has always been one of the X-Men's greatest tanks, which is saying something on a team that boasted a guy whose entire power was turning into steel.
This allowed him to fight on long after other members of the team were done, often making the save at the most crucial times, such as when the Hellfire Club had just smacked the X-Men around when they went to rescue a Phoenix Force powered Jean Grey. Without Wolverine, the X-Men would have been dead years ago.
7 Cyclops: Don't Make Him Angry
People get Cyclops's powers wrong all the time. A lot of people think they're lasers, but they aren't- they're blasts of concussive force. While this sounds like it would be weaker than a laser, it isn't. Not only can he vary the force of his attacks but he can also widen the beams to truly awe-inspiring widths.
When Cyclops gets mad, he can fire blasts that have been known to tear apart entire buildings, reduce Sentinels to nothing, and ruin the days of just about anyone they hit. Power like that makes Cyclops one of the most dangerous heroes around.
6 Wolverine: Willing To Do The Dirty Work
Wolverine has done a lot of dirty work over the years. He's worked as a soldier, an assassin, and a spy. He has no problem killing and sometimes, that sort of work is needed. For years, it was a bone of contention between Wolverine and Cyclops but when things got bad for mutants, Cyclops put Wolverine's skills to use.
Sometimes, the only way to save the day is to send someone to end the threat in the most efficient way and Wolverine is willing to do that sort of thing for his friends.
5 Cyclops: An All-Around Threat
Most people look at Cyclops as just the guy who shoots blasts from his eyes, but his skills make him so much more than that. He can use his optics blasts as a method of propulsion and has the ability to perfectly calculate angles of attack, allowing him to reflect his shots off things and still hit a target.
He's also a superb hand-to-hand fighter and tactician. The amount of time Cyclops has spent training both with his team and by himself is kind of flabbergasting when it comes right down to it and has honed him into one of the most formidable heroes around, even without his powers.
4 Wolverine: A Surprisingly Good Leader
If members of the X-Men would have been told that one day Wolverine would not only lead his own team of X-Men but also become headmaster of his own mutant school, they would have scoffed at the notion... including Wolverine himself. However, in recent years, Wolverine has been thrust into a leadership role more and more.
It all began when Cyclops made him the leader of X-Force, a role he excelled at. Eventually, he and Cyclops would come to blows, splitting the mutant race in twain. Half would go with Wolverine and he would rebuild the Xavier Institute campus, rechristen it the Jean Grey School, and took over as headmaster, teaching students and leading the X-Men and being better at it than anyone thought.
3 Cyclops: Leader Of The Mutant Race
After Scarlet Witch depowered the vast majority of the mutant population, Cyclops stepped up and took over as leader, leading his people through some of the most dangerous times they had ever faced. There were less than two hundred mutants in the world and their enemies were circling like vultures with more than enough power to destroy them.
Cyclops not only kept things together but protected his people better than anyone could have imagined. If it wasn't for some Phoenix Force shenanigans, his time as leader would still be celebrated.
2 Wolverine: He's Got Connections
Because of his time as an Avenger, his many years of adventuring before joining the team, and many solo outings with all kinds of heroes, Wolverine has good connections with nearly everyone in the Marvel Universe. These friendships are an important connective tissue that mutants need.
The general public is still frightened of mutants and for their favorite heroes to be friends with a prominent mutant makes them look at mutants in a positive light. It also gives the X-Men alliances with all kinds of heroes they normally wouldn't associate with.
1 Cyclops: The Mutant Ideal
Cyclops is pretty much the epitome of Xavier's dream. He overcame a nearly uncontrollable mutant power and his own self-loathing to become the perfect soldier in the fight for mutant rights and exemplary example of just what every mutant can be if they worked hard enough.
Mentally and physically tough, there's no obstacle Cyclops can't overcome. He as close to perfect as any mutant can get and he's an inspiration for humans and mutants alike.