By the late 1980s, the Uncanny X-Men was easily the most popular franchise in comics. It's not surprising Marvel sought to try and make multiple new series to expand the brand and get more fans interested. But each new book had to have its own reason to exist.
With the New Mutants, it seemed as if the primary goal was introducing the next wave of mutants. They needed a new set of teenagers now that the X-Men largely consisted of people in their twenties and thirties. But rather than teach this group to be heroes, the goal for the New Mutants was to simply help them control their powers and hopefully let them have normal childhoods. Though that part didn't quite pan out, the New Mutants are one of the closest-knit super-teams the X-Men has.
9 Cypher Was Initially More Of A Problem Than An Addition
When Doug Ramsey was introduced, he was more of a problem than an addition. Writers had no idea what to do with him thanks to his power not being battle-oriented at all. Because of this, Professor Xavier didn’t even try to recruit him. But when Emma Frost recruited him instead and caused some havoc by stealing government information, they had no choice but to recruit Cypher and have him become a new member of the New Mutants.
8 Warlock Became The Tech Person & Armor To Protect Cypher
Warlock was a techno-organic being from another planet that landed on Earth after he refused to take part in his planet’s usual rite of children fighting their parents to earn their right to exist. Warlock wasn’t the same as everyone else because of his compassion, and as such, left to find a home on another planet. Landing on Earth, Warlock would become the New Mutants’ tech person and armor to protect Cypher, someone capable of communicating and merging with him.
7 Wolfsbane Began To Figure Out Her Werewolf Powers After Joining
Rahne Sinclair was a young Scottish child who was originally delivered by Moira MacTaggert, and her powers activated in a small town of extremely religious individuals. Believing Rahne was a demon when she transformed into a werewolf, they attempted to kill her.
Fortunately, Moira was able to save her from being killed and took her to Professor Xavier to help her understand her powers as Wolfsbane. She would be added to the team alongside Karma, with the Professor promising to help her figure out her abilities while she was part of the New Mutants.
6 Magma Learned The Ways Of The Modern World With The New Mutants
Magma was one of the first New Mutants added to the team after the initial graphic novel. The team met Amara in New Rome, where they ran into Selene, the Black Queen. Amara had the power to not only control the movement of tectonic plates but literally give herself a form of pure magma. After realizing she had mutant powers thanks to the New Mutants battle with Selene, she decided to go with the New Mutants to not only be instructed in the ways of the modern world, but learn how to use her abilities.
5 Karma Was Introduced To Xavier After Saving Her Kid Siblings
One of the first members of the New Mutants to meet Xavier, Xi’an Coy Manh made her first appearance in a Marvel Team-Up issue by Chris Claremont and Frank Miller. In this storyline, Xi’an fought her brother Tran who had the same powers of controlling someone’s body as her, trying to free her kid siblings from Tran and her uncle. With the help of Fantastic Four and Spider-Man, Xi’an managed to free her kid siblings and was introduced to Xavier, in the hopes of teaching her how to control her abilities.
4 Mirage Avenged Her Grandfather With Help From The New Mutants
Also known as Danielle Moonstar, Mirage was originally the grandchild of a Cheyenne village chief named Black Eagle. Black Eagle helped to raise her but wasn’t quite able to control her powers.
Realizing she would need to learn to control them, he asked for help from Professor Xavier, who agreed. However, before she could be recruited, Danielle saw her grandfather killed by a member of the Hellfire Club, leading to her wanting revenge for his passing. With the help of the New Mutants, she was able to bring him to justice before becoming another trainee.
3 Cannonball Turned On Donald Pierce & Instead Joined Xavier's Side
From a Southern Kentucky family, Sam Guthrie started out as a coal miner before his powers activated. While he was working, there was a cave-in and his powers activated, allowing him to save one of his fellow miners. He was recruited by Donald Pierce not long afterward and asked to help Pierce capture a group of other mutants including Xavier. But when asked if he would aid in killing them, Sam promptly turned him down and turned against Pierce. This lead to Xavier recruiting him into the team, making him into another member of Professor Xavier’s class of New Mutants.
2 Sunspot Activated His Powers After Facing Racism
Roberto Da Costa was the child of a millionaire who enjoyed a somewhat cushy life in Rio De Janeiro. There was just one problem—people hated him for being half-Brazilian, and he was actually attacked during a soccer match by people on the other team. After a brutal racist attack, Sunspot’s powers activated and caused him to push his opponents away easily with his incredible strength. Later, Sunspot’s girlfriend would get kidnapped by Donald Pierce’s lackeys, and it was only the interference of Xi’an and Danielle that saved Sunspot’s life. However, with Roberto’s girlfriend being killed, it caused him to seek revenge on Pierce and his club of villains.
1 Magik Joined The New Mutants To Hone Her Magical Abilities
Illyana was Colossus’ kid sister who was kidnapped by a demon and transported to Limbo. Though they attempted to save her, the X-Men didn’t understand how much time was different between Earth and Limbo, and she was aged to thirteen before she returned. Afterwards, she decided to join the New Mutants to learn how to use her abilities alongside everyone else. With her ability to teleport, and her magic powers, she became one of the more powerful members of the group and an even better X-Man.