All month-long we'll be featuring top five lists about either the Avengers or the X-Men. Here is an archive of all the past top five lists!
In this installment, we take a look at the top five X-Men villains affected by the "team" effect. The "team" effect is how characters always end up getting de-powered (although not literally being de-powered) when they join a team.
Enjoy!
HONORABLE MENTION
Banshee was never REALLY a villain but he did fight the X-Men and at the time it was all "Holy shit, this dude is as powerful as Magneto!" Then he joins the X-Men and it is all "Faith and begorrah, me powers aren't effective at all!" Gambit once took him out in a fight just by cracking him in the jaw with a stick! Just cracked him in the jaw with a stick! Dude has a sonic scream that totally surrounds him and this other guy just waltzes up to him and cracks his jaw with a stick!
5. The Blob
The Blob is a minor example, since he is still a formidble foe, but when he debuted, he easily took on the entire X-Men team and now he's more of a side character.
4. Sauron
Sauron is an interesting one because he has managed to take the X-Men on recently, but still, he was definitely downgraded as a threat when he ended up as just one member of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants in X-Force. Especially when his team was one of the teams where TOAD was the leader. Blech!
3. Magneto
This one is tricky but I think it works. When he was a solo villain, Magneto could take on the whole world. Then he joined the X-Men and it should have been like, "Magneto and associates" but suddenly having Magneto on the team didn't mean an automatic win (as automatic wins are boring, naturally).
2. Exodus
This guy was all primed to be the next Magneto. A solo threat that could take on everybody. Then he disappeared for a while and when he came back he was just, like, guy #4 on the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants.
1. Post
This is the king of this effect, though. Post debuted in X-Men #50 taking on the entire X-Men team and more than holding his own. The whole concept of the story was "Holy shit, if this guy is just the SERVANT of Onslaught, how badass must Onslaught be?" He then took on X-Factor singlehandedly during Onslaught. But then after Onslaught was over, Post was still around and there wasn't much call for him in any of the X-Men titles, so they he showed up in the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants and he was just plain ol' pathetic. Walking, talking cannon fodder. He was taken out by PYRO, for crying out loud!