When Professor Charles Xavier first brought together the New Mutants, it was under the assumption that he was training the next generation of the X-Men. However, the New Mutants found their own path when they joined with Cable to become the mutant strike-team known as X-Force.
However, the New Mutants would remain a tight-knit group and eventually return to work with the X-Men, though a few of the team's members never managed to find a place with the X-Men. Today we are going to take a look at those New Mutants who never managed to graduate officially to the X-Men, even though they deserved a spot on Marvel's premiere mutant team.
10 BLINK
We've seen a couple of versions of Blink over the years, however, the original Clarice Ferguson only joined with the New Mutants after she was returned to life during the Necrosha event, after apparently sacrificing herself to save Generation X during the Phalanx Covenant.
Blink's powerful teleportation abilities would prove to be an asset to the X-Men, and she has proven time and time again that she has what it takes to be a member of the team if they ever send her an invite. The Age of Apocalypse version of the character is an active member of the Exiles, and she was a valued member of that reality's X-Men.
9 FERAL
Maria Callasantos was a mutant whose body had undergone a feline transformation that forced her to live underground with the Morlocks. She would eventually join with Cable as he reassembled the New Mutants into X-Force.
Unfortunately, her traumatic childhood left its scars in Feral's mind and she left the team after it was revealed she had murdered her family. Feral might have been able to overcome her issues if she had been brought to the X-Men instead of placed on a tense militaristic strike-force, so hopefully, her Krakoa resurrection sets her on a better path.
8 GOSAMYR
The young alien Gosamyr may not technically be a mutant, and she may have only joined the New Mutants under orders to infiltrate and break them apart, but after the team helped free her and her parents from an intergalactic villain, Gosamyr would officially join the roster.
Unfortunately, due to her uncontrollable abilities and her fate as a transformed giant monster capable of wiping out planets, she was forced to leave Earth. She could have been a great asset to the X-Men with her abilities, despite having the potential for a Dark Phoenix-type corruption.
7 MONDO
Mondo has an unusual beginning with Marvel's mutants, as a cloned plant version of him first joined Generation X in order to bring down the team for Black Tom Cassidy. The real Mondo recently started hanging out with the New Mutants on Krakoa, and he quickly earned his spot on their roster.
Mondo's unique earth-based transformative powers also give him a unique connection to Krakoa that was partially explored by Doug Ramsey/Cypher, which could lead to a bigger future with the X-Men than Mondo might be expecting.
6 SKIDS
Sally Blevins has a frictionless force field that earned her the name Skids, and she has joined with almost every mutant team in the Marvel Universe except the X-Men over the years. She was first a member of the X-Terminators after she spent some time training with the original X-Men during their time as X-Factor.
She would find herself sucked into the various schemes of the Mutant Liberation Front and Magneto's Acolytes before joining X-Corp. Skids has been a pawn for others to use for years, and it's about time she finally found a home with the X-Men.
5 RICTOR
Rictor was another former trainee of X-Factor who joined the X-Terminators briefly before they were absorbed into the New Mutants. However, when Cable took over the team, Rictor left and found himself with the Vanisher's Fallen Angels before returning to X-Force.
Rictor would spend some time working with other X-related teams like X-Factor Investigations and more recently Excalibur, though he has never actually officially graduated to the X-Men despite working alongside them for years.
4 NATE GREY
Nate Grey is an alternate-reality version of Cable from the Age of Apocalypse reality who found himself exiled in the mainstream 616 reality. Nate Grey had a few run-ins with the X-Men and X-Force and began to develop a relationship with his "parents" Cyclops and Jean Grey, though he never officially joined either team.
Grey would briefly join with the New Mutants after they left Utopia, though his eventual return as a misguided villain shows he definitely could have used more of the X-Men's guidance as an official member.
3 STRONG GUY
Guido Carosella/Strong Guy was technically a member of the Muir Island X-Men during their confrontation with the Shadow King, though he would quickly join Alex Summers/Havok and his government-sponsored X-Factor team.
Guido would stay with the team when it transformed into X-Factor Investigations and would only recently join the New Mutants when they were led by Karma and Magik during New Mutants: Dead Souls. Guido has been seen resurrected on Krakoa, yet he hasn't officially joined a team despite years of earning his spot.
2 BOOM-BOOM
Tabitha Smith/Boom-Boom/Boomer/Meltdown is another New Mutant who got her start with the X-Terminators and the Fallen Angels before she officially found her place alongside the rest of X-Force.
Unfortunately, Tabitha has never been welcomed on to the X-Men officially, which could have arguably saved Tabitha from a lot of troubles she encountered with teams like Nextwave and Weapon X. Most recently she rejoined both X-Force and the New Mutants, so maybe the X-Men are the next step for Boom-Boom.
1 SUNSPOT
While he was part of the first class of New Mutants assembled by Professor Xavier, Roberto da Costa/Sunspot initially struggled to find a place alongside his friends in X-Force, which caused him to join the first version of the Fallen Angels.
Sunspot would work with the Hellfire Club, X-Corp, and again with the New Mutants on Utopia before he was called up to work alongside Cannonball with the Avengers. Bobby has recently rejoined the New Mutants on Krakoa and his resume certainly doesn't need it, but Sunspot has more than earned an official place on the X-Men's roster.