There is nothing comic book fans like more than debating with their buddies about who the strongest character is within the fictional universes they love reading about. Who could beat who in a fight: Thor or Hulk? Who could lift more weight above their head: Spider-Man or Captain America? Who is stronger than who: Superman or Wonder Woman? It's also fun to rank these favorite characters based on their physical attributes because, let's be honest: who doesn't love a list? This list will look at the 20 most physically strong mutants in the Marvel Universe. We won't be including characters like Thor, Cap, Iron Man, Spider-Man or the like on this list -- they have to be characters designated as mutants. The X-Men comics and their various spin-offs have given us countless highly powered characters over the years, many of whom could rival members of the Avengers in a fist fight or test of strength.

However, keep in mind that this list is not a popularity contest. There are plenty of beloved X-Men characters who haven't made the line-up, like Cyclops, Jean Grey, Gambit, Storm, Kitty Pryde or Cable, and that's because they simply don't stack up with other lesser known characters from a physical strength perspective. There are also some genuinely iconic titans of Marvel comics whose positions on the ranking might surprise you. Oh, and fair warning: the unstoppable Juggernaut is not on the list because, despite being a longtime enemy of the X-Men, in the comic books he is not a mutant.

20 DEADPOOL

Deadpool Uncanny Avengers

Deadpool mightn't be the strongest mutant out there, physically, but he's still got enough power to make it onto the tail end of this list. Before becoming Deadpool, Wade Wilson was already in tip-top physical condition, akin to that of an Olympic athlete. His main superpower is his mutant healing factor, which makes him extremely hard to destroy, but it also means he can push his muscles beyond normal human limits and certain writers have shown him with the capability of lifting up to two tons.

In one issue of Cable & Deadpool it was said that he is able to hurt someone with only his thumb and forefinger. However, his superstrength can be pretty nebulous, with some stories leaning on it heavily and others not so much, so that's why he's at the bottom of this list.

19 WOLVERINE

Like Deadpool, Wolverine has a mutant healing factor which means he can heal quickly from almost any injury. He also has an unbreakable adamantium skeleton and a berserker rage that makes him one of the fiercest fighters in the Marvel Universe. In terms of his strength, it is thought that he gets stronger the angrier he gets, and he has been shown to be perfectly capable of throwing a 955-pound mutant across a room (Wolverine: First Class #8).

He has also uprooted trees and swung them like baseball bats and can break chains easily. However, like with Deadpool, his superhuman endurance and aptitude for combat that make him more dangerous to his opponents, rather than his strength, so that's why he's only made it to number 19 on the list.

18 SABRETOOTH

Sabretooth Axis Avengers

Wolverine's longtime arch-nemesis Victor Creed, aka Sabretooth, has a very similar powerset to the Canucklehead, but has always been depicted as physically stronger than Logan. Initially, he  possessed the ability to lift 800 pounds for short periods, which is slightly more than the greatest amount any human being could lift.

However, when he was captured by his son Graydon Creed and experimented on, his strength was increased to a level where he could lift two tons. He was augmented again by the Weapon X program in recent years, but it's unclear as to exactly how strong he is now. Whatever the case, Sabretooth isn't going to win any strength contests against the true heavyweights of the Marvel Universe, but his violent nature makes him no less deadly.

17 EMMA FROST

Emma Frost in X-Men Blue

Emma Frost makes it onto this list thanks to her secondary mutation, which gives her the ability to transform her body into a flexible, organic diamond form. In many ways it is similar to Colossus' steel form and she can only remain in this form for an unspecified period of time. If she is knocked unconscious she will revert to her normal form and while she is made of diamond she becomes (even more) cold and aloof, lacking empathy for others.

In her diamond form she can lift up to two tons and also has superhuman stamina. There are drawbacks to her diamond form, however. She can't access her usual telepathic abilities when made of diamond and if she is struck with the right force in the right place, she can shatter, just as a real diamond would.

16 TOAD

marvel toad prehensile tongue

This one might be a bit of a surprise, considering he's often been looked at as a lesser villain in the X-Men's pantheon, but Mortimer Toynbee, aka Toad, actually possesses a huge amount of superhuman strength in his legs and lower body. He is capable of leg-pressing three tons and also uses that strength to leap much higher and further than a normal human; he can vertically leap 24 feet in the air and has a horizontal leap of up to 36 feet.

His upper body also has some degree of superhuman strength, but nowhere near the level his legs display. Despite this strength and his long prehensile tongue (which can extend up to 25 feet), Toad has never really been much of a skilled fighter, which probably explains why he's not exactly feared by the X-Men.

15 THE BLOB

According to the Official Handbook Of The Marvel Universe, Fred Dukes, or the Blob, can lift up to five tons (which puts him in the same strength category as the likes of Ghost Rider and Kang the Conquerer)! This is a whole lot more than most mutants would ever be capable of lifting and this superstrength is due to his incredible body mass.

Blob might appear to be a morbidly obese man, but his 'fat' is actually very solid muscle and is highly durable. He is deceptively fast and agile for a big man, which catches a lot of opponents off-guard. Blob is impervious to heat and cold (sorry Pyro and Iceman). His skin can't be punctured and his body can recoil projectiles and other attacks; it's been known for opponents to simply bounce off of him when they attack!

14 BEAST

marvel beast

Despite his animalistic physical appearance and superhuman speed, agility and dexterity, superstrength would not be the first thing most fans think of when they discuss Hank McCoy aka Beast. Instead, he is mostly defined by his genius-level intellect, likability and kind nature. However, Beast is actually one of the strongest X-Men around, with the ability to lift up to 10 tons!

In his original form, he could lift a single ton but when he mutated into his ape-like simian form his strength was increased. This strength then increased yet again when his secondary mutation kicked in and he transformed into a more feline/lion-esque form. It is suspected that he could now lift up to 25 tons, but this has yet to be specified, which is why he isn't even higher up the list.

13 OMEGA RED

Omega Red by Jim Lee

Little is known about Arkady Gregorivich Rossovich except that he was once a criminal in Russia. He was captured by Interpol and turned over to the KGB, who wanted to create a super soldier akin to Captain America. His natural mutation is his 'death factor' -- he emits lethal spores from his body that can result in the demise of people in his vicinity.

The KGB experiments augmented his strength, giving him the ability to lift 10 tons under optimum conditions. They also implanted a retractable coil within each of his arms, made of carbonadium (the Soviets' attempt to recreate adamantium). He could wrap these tentacles around people and drain them of their life energy, which he did to keep his strength up, as the carbonadium was slowly poisoning him!

12 ARMOR

Hisako Ichiki - Armor from X-Men - powerful females

Hisako Ichiki has the ability to generate a psionic exoskeleton/armor that forms completely around her body and draws its power from her ancestors. The armor protects her from attacks and greatly increases her strength, although she can only keep it up for a limited period of time; when she tires, she has to release her hold on the armor.

When she began training with the X-Men she could lift up to 20 tons in her armored form, but has managed to increase that to between 30 and 50 tons. She can also shape her armor in interesting ways, such as when it took the form of claws when she was training with Wolverine. Hisako's potential power levels are almost limitless, should she gain better longevity when in her armored form. Time will tell.

11 M

Monet St Croix

If you can think of a mutant power, Monet St. Croix likely possesses it. She has superhuman strength, speed, agility, dexterity, reflexes, coordination, balance, vision, hearing, and endurance, genius level intellect, a healing factor, supersonic flight, and telekinesis and telepathy. All in all, she's pretty much a perfect being and her self-importance/arrogance comes from being raised as the daughter of an Ambassador to France.

In terms of her strength, it's been said that she can lift an incredible 85 tons. She has also been shown fighting She-Hulk to a standstill, which very few people in the Marvel Universe would be capable of. Her strength has been shown to be increasing as she gets older too, so there's no telling how much stronger she could potentially become.

10 DARWIN

Darwin looking concerned in X-Men comics

Darwin is a fairly recent creation, first debuting in X-Men: Deadly Genesis #2 in 2006. His mutant power is 'reactive evolution', which means his body automatically adapts to any situation or environment he is placed in. So, if he is in water, he will grow gills, his skin will become fire-proof if exposed to flame, he will develop night-vision if placed in the dark, and his body will no longer require oxygen to breathe if he is in space.

Theoretically, his strength knows no bounds, as he should become as strong as any situation entails. However, he is not at the top of this list because sometimes his power decides discretion is the better part of valor -- when faced with the Hulk his power simply transported him safely away, rather than enabling him to become as strong as Hulk!

9 MAGNETO

Under normal conditions, Magneto possesses the physical strength of a well-conditioned athlete and can certainly handle himself in hand-to-hand combat. However, his true superhuman strength comes from channelling vast amounts of magnetic energy through his body. The exact limits of this are unknown. Whatever those limits might be, he is ultimately able to lift far in excess of 100 tons with ease.

This makes him one of the most physically strong mutants in existence and he has displayed his prowess a number of times over the years. In Avengers Vs X-Men he was able to knock Red Hulk off course when Beast leaped at him. He then subdued him by wrapping him in metal and the insanely strong monster struggled to free himself.

8 GENESIS

Genesis X-Men Apocalypse

Like many characters in the X-Men's corner of the Marvel Universe, Genesis' origin story is convoluted and heavily steeped in continuity. The most important thing to know is that he is a clone of Apocalypse who was raised in a virtual reality world by Fantomex, as an experiment to see if he could make him a hero. He eventually wound up attending the Jean Grey School and became a member of the X-Men.

As a younger clone of En Sabah Nur, he possesses all of his powers, including his vast superstrength. He would be perfectly capable of lifting up to 100 tons. He can also shapeshift and size-shift, has a healing factor and can produce energy blasts. The only reason he isn't higher on the list is because of his youth; he will get even stronger as he gets older.

7 ROGUE

Rogue A-Force Dauterman

Rogue's mutant ability is, of course, power absorption, which she does through skin-to-skin contact. When she touches someone she can absorb their superpowers, memories, talents, personality and knowledge. She first gained her superstrength and the ability to fly whenever she held onto Carol Danvers, aka Ms Marvel, for too long.

She drained Carol almost completely and wound up with those powers permanently. She also later absorbed the powers of Wonder Man, who can lift up to 100 tons. All in all it's hard to measure Rogue's strength level conclusively, as she could theoretically become as powerful as anyone she touches. She generally tends to be depicted as one of the most powerful mutants around, so we reckon her place on the list is earned.

6 STRONG GUY

strong-guy

Guido Carosella has the mutant ability to absorb kinetic energy, which enhances his physical strength to superhuman levels. Hence the unimaginative, but undoubtedly accurate, name 'Strong Guy'. He can't store the energy in his body very long, though, so must expend it within 90 seconds to avoid permanent damage to his body.

He's superhumanly strong, but only for short bursts of time. His upper body is disproportionately muscular, which means he is in constant pain and even once suffered a heart attack when he absorbed too much energy. He once fought the Hulk but was forced to retreat due to fear of his heart failing if he absorbed the Hulk's punch. He is strong enough to lift 50 tons at a base level, and 100 tons with the right amount of energy channelled.

5 NAMOR

Namor fights for Team Cap during the Civil War

Namor has sometimes been known as the 'first mutant', although this doesn't really seem to add up with established Marvel continuity. Fans also tend to not readily associated him with being a mutant, but as a hybrid of human and Atlantean DNA, he definitely qualifies: it is thought that his human father possessed a latent X-gene.

When Namor is immersed in water, he is capable of lifting 100 tons, which makes him considerably stronger than other Atlanteans. He has even managed to knock the Hulk unconscious on a few occasions. However, the longer he is out of water, the more his strength diminishes; after a few hours on dry land he will only be capable of lifting 85 tons. Which, you know, is still stronger than most of the Marvel Universe's heroes and villains!

4 GENTLE

One mutant with a tragic similarity to Strong Guy is Nezhno Abidemi, aka Gentle. He suffers from the same affliction as Guido: using his powers causes him great physical strain and could one day kill him. Born in Wakanda, Nezhno was sent to the Xavier Institute to learn to control his mutant powers. He can temporarily increase the muscle mass of his body to extreme levels, to the point where he can easily lift 100 tons.

However, because of the strain on his body, he had vibranium tattoos inked on his skin; these help by stopping his powers getting out of control. When he uses his powers the tattoos glow. Jean Grey once said that she believed Gentle was capable of going toe-to-toe with the Hulk, but his pacifist beliefs likely limit the likelihood of that confrontation.

3 COLOSSUS

Colossus Adi Granov

One of the most popular and enduring X-Men is Piotr Rasputin, aka Colossus. He is likely to be the first name that comes to most fans' minds when they think of physically strong mutants. Piotr is, without doubt, the strongest heroic mutant in the world and when he is in his organic steel form he can lift around 100 tons. The reason he is higher on the list than the likes of Rogue or Namor is that there are fewer limits on his powers.

When he wills himself to change into his steel form, he can stay that way as long as he chooses; the longest he's stayed armored is a five-day period! He also doesn't physically degrade the longer he is in this form, like Strong Guy or Gentle do when they use their powers. As far as the X-Men go, Colossus is their strongest ever member.

2 APOCALYPSE

Apocalypse shapeshifter Marvel X-Men

Generally considered the world's first mutant (which Namor would probably dispute), En Sabah Nur, aka Apocalypse, was born thousands of years ago in Ancient Egypt. He is a virtually immortal shapeshifter, though his natural skin tone is gray and his lips are blue. This caused him to be abandoned by his family as an infant, as they had no idea what a mutant was.

He possesses superhuman strength which can be augmented by drawing upon outside energy sources. He is therefore capable of lifting in excess of 100 tons and has been shown to be capable of restraining an enraged Hulk. He believes in the Darwinian principal of 'survival of the fittest', which means he advocates taking out the weak members of humanity in order for the survivors to grow stronger.

1 ONSLAUGHT

Onslaught X-Men Marvel

Onslaught was a sentient psionic entity born from the consciousness of two of the world's most powerful mutants: Professor Xavier and Magneto. When Magneto ripped Wolverine's adamantium from his skeleton, Xavier lost control and used his telepathy to shut down Magneto's mind, rendering him catatonic. However, the darkest aspects of Magneto seeped into Xavier's subconscious, where it merged with Charles' own darker impulses and became Onslaught.

From a physical strength standpoint, Onslaught once punched Juggernaut so hard he flew from Canada to New Jersey! He also casually restrained Hulk, whose inhibitions had been taken away when Jean Grey removed the influence of Bruce Banner, who would subconsciously stop Hulk from going too far.