With each passing decade, Marvel reveals ever-more powerful mutants. The original band of mutants from the early '60s debuted long before the classification 'Omega-Level Mutant' was coined. Nowadays, it seems like every other new mutant is of the Omega-Level caliber. These ultra-powerful new mutants are often the offsprings of pre-existing characters. On the other hand, not every new mutant is destined to shake the Marvel Universe to its core. We're taking a look at ten mutants more powerful than their parents and that are weaker.

The X-gene is dominant, which means the probability of new mutants increases with each new generation. In addition to the increasing population of mutants, it's been theorized that mutants are growing more powerful. In X-Men: Millenial Vision (Vol. 1) #2000, scientists suggested that second-generation mutants tend to have their own unique abilities compounded by those of their mutant parents. That's certainly the case in the largest mutant family in the MU, the Summers. Mutants like Cable, Rachel Summers, and Nate Grey -- all genetically linked to Jean Grey --express vast psychic abilities. The same goes for Wolverine, whose children tend to manifest lupine traits and abilities on par with their old man. But not every mutant has kids that could overpower them. When it comes to characters like Tyler Dayspring, Nemesis, and Kymera, they don't stand a chance in a battle with their parents. Then again, when their parents are Cable or Apocalypse, we can't blame them. Here are ten mutants more powerful than their parents and ten weaker.

20 WEAKER: DAKEN

An image of Wolverine fighting his son Daken in Marvel Comics

Daken was introduced in Wolverine: Origins (Vol. 1) #5, promising to be a major threat. It's been ten years and we think it's safe to say that Daken failed to live up to the title of 'son of Wolverine'. Daken has mostly acted as a B-list villain, acting at the behest of masterminds such as Romulus and Norman Osborn.

On most of the occasions that he's squared off against his father, Daken hasn't stood a chance. Though Daken and Wolverine may seem to have very similar abilities on the surface, most of the evidence points to Wolverine being more powerful. For one thing, Daken's healing factor doesn't even seem to be in the same league as Wolverine's.

19 STRONGER: CABLE

Cable is the son of Cyclops and Jean Grey's clone, Madelyne Prior. Although both of his parents are formidable mutants in their own right, Cable is an Omega-Level Mutant, destined from birth to destroy Apocalypse. At the height of his powers, Cable was the most powerful telepath on Earth. Though his powers have since burned out, Cable still possesses an assortment of telepathic and telekinetic abilities.

Also, because he was infected with the techno-organic virus at birth, Cable's body is virtually indestructible. Add all of Cable's mutant abilities to his indomitable will and commitment to preventing cataclysms from coming about, and you have one of Marvel's most legendary mutants.

18 WEAKER: NEMESIS

Holocaust From Age of Apocalypse standing pose

Nemesis, otherwise known as Holocaust, is the son of Apocalypse from the Age of Apocalypse timeline. Nemesis played a key part in his father's takeover of Earth, taking out the X-Men and destroying their home base, allowing for an all-out assault on Europe. Nemesis continued to serve his father faithfully throughout his reign and eliminated countless important members of the resistance.

Despite the enormity of Nemesis' power, he doesn't measure up to his father. Nemesis' main power is the ability to absorb the life-force of his enemies and appropriate the energy for himself. As useful as the ability is, Apocalypse outweighs his son with regard to the pure quantity of powers at his disposal.

17 STRONGER: RACHEL SUMMERS

Rachel Summers first appeared in X-Men (Vol. 1) #181 and was revealed to be the daughter of an alternate reality Cyclops and Phoenix. Like her mother, Rachel's telepathic powers are boundless. As a mutant with Omega Level telekinetic and telepathic powers, Rachel is an ideal host for the Phoenix Force and fulfilled that potential in Uncanny X-Men (Vol. 1) #199.

Though Rachel has since lost the Phoenix, her unenhanced powers remain more than enough to demolish any enemy that stands in her path. Just recently, after an encounter with the Sentinel known as Alpha, Rachel discovered an entirely new dimension to her powers.

16 WEAKER: GENESIS

In the late 37th century, Cable fathered Tyler Dayspring. Tyler grew up under the influence of his father's enemy, Styrfe, and displayed an array of psychic abilities, though to a much more limited degree than those of his father's. During a battle between Cable's crew and Stryfe's forces, further damage was done to Tyler's relationship to his father when Cable shot Tyler in order to save one of his freedom fighters.

Tyler would go by the names 'Mr. Tolliver' and 'Genesis' in his relentless effort to support the forces that Cable hated. Tyler faithfully served Apocalypse before finally being done in by Wolverine.

15 STRONGER: SCARLET WITCH

Scarlet Witch Nexus-Being

It was long accepted that Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver were the children of Magneto in the main Marvel Universe, though this has been cast into doubt in recent years. Regardless, in most of Marvel's alternate universes (including the Ultimate MU), Magneto is the father of Scarlet Witch.

And although Magneto's power is nothing to sneeze out, Scarlet Witch is on an entirely different level. We need not look past House of M (Vol. 1), the story that begins with Scarlet Witch singlehandedly altering the whole of reality and concluding with her eliminating the powers of most of the mutant population.

14 WEAKER: QUICKSILVER

Quicksilver can't measure up to Magneto's level of power in either the 616-MU or Ultimate MU. Over in the Ultimate MU, Magneto set into motion the events of Ultimatum, which resulted in the ends of countless superheroes. And although the 616 Magneto has yet to do something so drastic, he's shown time and time again to be a mutant that shouldn't be underestimated.

Quicksilver, on the other hand, may not even be the fastest character on Earth. His nephew, Speed, has already given Quicksilver a run for his money. Quicksilver would have to pick up the pace in order for us to consider the possibility of him overpowering Magneto.

13 STRONGER: RAZE

Raze, the son of an alternate reality Wolverine and Mystique, was introduced in All-New X-Men (Vol. 1) #17. Raze appears to have fully inherited both of his parents' sets of powers, and, according to Kymera, Raze's shape-shifting power is even more advanced than his mother's. This double threat was on full display when Raze first revealed himself.

The young mutant had been masquerading as Kitty Pryde in order to get close to Wolverine. The plan worked and Raze took Wolverine by surprise, plunging his claws into his father's parallel self. Ever since, Raze has proven to be a force to be reckoned with, at one point even plotting on a multiversal level.

12 WEAKER: SHATTERSTAR

shatterstar-header

Shatterstar is the offspring of the X-Men couple Longshot and Dazzler and was raised in Mojoworld as a warrior on Mojo's entertainment programs. When Shatterstar broke out of Mojoworld, he joined X-Force and put his many abilities to use against various mutant threats.

Shatterstar shares many of his father's powers, as well as teleportation and shockwave generation. However, even with all of Shatterstar's skills and powers, it's questionable if he can match up with his mother or father. Dazzler, for example, can use light projection in an array of creative ways to throw off her enemies. In terms of versatility, it looks like Dazzler has her son beat.

11 STRONGER: FRANKLIN RICHARDS

There's no doubt that Franklin Richards is more powerful than his parents, Mr. Fantastic and the Invisible Woman. In fact, he may be the most powerful mutant on the planet, if not in all of the multiverse. Franklin, still being young and incapable of consciously tapping into the vast reserves of his abilities, has been classified by the Celestials as being a Beyond Omega-Level Mutant.

A future version of Franklin has been shown to topple Celestials and make Galactus kneel before him. Among his many astounding abilities is the power to create pocket universes, time-travel, mind-control, and manipulate the structure of matter.

10 WEAKER: POLARIS

Polaris debuted in X-Men (Vol. 1) #49 displaying powers similar to the X-Men's archnemesis, Magneto. Sure enough, it was later revealed that Polaris was the illegitimate offspring of Magneto. Though, like her father, Polaris has the mutant ability of magnetic field manipulation, her capacity more limited.

Polaris was depowered as a result of M-day but regained her powers when Apocalypse exposed her to Celestial technology. However, even with the upgrade she received from Apocalypse, it's still doubtful that she could pull off the feats of magnetism that her father has proven capable of. Polaris hasn't ever, for instance, ripped the adamantium out of Wolverine.

9 STRONGER: X-23

X-23 All New Wolverine

Laura Kinney, aka X-23, was the most successful clone of Wolverine that Weapon X created. After being introduced in NYX (Vol. 1) #3, X-23 tracked down Wolverine, who she blamed for her transformation. X-23 confronts Logan at Xavier's mansion and defeats him. X-23 spares his life, and two lay the groundwork for a friendly relationship.

While it's questionable if Wolverine was holding back or not in this encounter, a win is a win. And it isn't out of the question to consider that X-23 could be deadlier than the original Weapon X. Unlike Logan, she's been trained to do it since she was a child.

8 WEAKER: WICCAN

Wiccan of the Young Avengers from Marvel Comics

Wiccan, the reincarnated son of Scarlet Witch and Vision, first appeared in Young Avengers (Vol. 1) #1. Like his mother, Wiccan possesses prodigious magical abilities. His abilities to warp reality, heal others and cast an assortment of creative spells befitting of the conflict make him one of the most promising young heroes in the Marvel Universe.

In fact, he's already been considered by Doctor Strange as a candidate to become the next Sorcerer Supreme. But, even with this all of this, can Wiccan outmatch his mother? While he has the potential to grow beyond her in the future, he's yet to do something on the scale of House of M as his mother has.

7 STRONGER: HOPE SUMMERS

Hope Summers, the mutant destined to revive the waning mutant population, is the adopted daughter of Cable. Following her birth, several forces desperately tried to get their hands on the baby and use Hope for their own purposes. Cable prevailed and took the baby into the future to raise her until she was ready to return to the present and fulfill her destiny.

As powerful as Cable is, Hope may just edge him out. Hope is an Omega Level Mutant with the ability to psychically duplicate the powers of others, among other psychic abilities. Her standout ability though is her power to activate dormant X-genes of thousands of mutants.

6 WEAKER: KYMERA

An image of Kymera from the futuristic X-Men, wielding a dagger

Kymera debuted in Wolverine and the X-Men (Vol. 1) #36 as the daughter of an alternate timeline's Storm and, presumably, Black Panther. Kymera helped the past and present X-Men during X-Men: Battle of the Atom (Vol. 1) when the future Brotherhood of Evil was launching their major attack. Following the event, Kymera stayed with the present X-Men to bond with her mother.

Kymera's main strength is as a superhuman hunter. Her mutation allows her to communicate with animals and pick-up the subtle scents of others. As helpful as these abilities are, they don't come close to her mother's capacity to manipulate the weather.

5 STRONGER: X-MAN

Nate Grey, aka X-Man, is the son of Cyclops and Jean Grey from the Age of Apocalypse reality. Like Cable, his birth was masterminded by Mister Sinister who was hoping to create a mutant that could overpower Apocalypse. Until recently when he lost most of his power in New Mutants (Vol. 3) #27, Nate was among one of the most powerful beings in the universe.

As a testament to Nate's level of psionic power, Moira MacTaggert compared his abilities to a Phoenix-empowered Jean Grey. At one point, Nate transformed into a pure psionic being. He shed his material body and resided as pure energy, capable of traveling between the astral and physical plane at will.

4 WEAKER: NIGHTCRAWLER

Nightcrawler was introduced as a second generation X-man in Giant-Size X-Men (Vol. 1) #1 and quickly became a fan-favorite. Nightcrawler met Mystique for the first time in Uncanny X-Men (Vol. 1) #141 during a conflict between the X-Men and Brotherhood of Evil, which precipitated the revelation that Mystique was Nightcrawler's birth mother.

While Mystique may not technically be more powerful than her son, her shape-shifting power definitely makes her more versatile. Mystique can duplicate any humanoid form that she wishes, and in recent years, has gained the ability to copy the scents of others, thus making her impervious to expert trackers like Wolverine.

3 STRONGER: MORRIGAN

Like her father, Banshee, Theresa Cassidy's voice packs a serious wallop. The mutant that would become Morrigan was introduced by the name of Siryn in Spider-Woman (Vol. 1) #37. Siryn displayed a set of powers much like Banshee's abilities, including sonic scream, flight, and sonar.

In X-Factor (Vol. 1) #244, Siryn received a huge power boost. The hero was transformed into the goddess Morrigan in order to help her teammate, Polaris. Upon becoming Morrigan, Theresa gained immortality and teleportation -- and likely more yet to be revealed abilities. After her ascension, Theresa left her fellow mutants and only appears in times of need.

2 WEAKER: NOCTURNE

Nocturne from the Exiles

Nocturne is the daughter of an alternate reality Nightcrawler and Scarlet Witch. The young mutant first appeared in X-Men: Millenial Visions #2000 and has since played a key role on various iterations of the Exiles.  Most commonly on display are her abilities to possess the bodies of others and generate Brimstone Hex Bolts.

In addition to her two primary abilities, Nocturne has a small degree of telepathy and night vision. As with another Wiccan, Nocturne is extremely powerful in her own right. But, when compared with Scarlet Witch who ranks among the most formidable superhumans in the universe, Nocturne is out of her league.

1 STRONGER: LEGION

Crazy Justice Legion

David Haller, the son of Charles Xavier, would grow up to become one of the most dangerous mutants on the planet. David first appeared in New Mutants (Vol. 1) #25, going by the name of Legion. Legion is an Omega Level Mutant. Some might say he's Omega-Level Mutants due to his plethora of ultra-powerful personalities, each spontaneously manifesting their own set of mutations.

If it weren't for the instability of his personalities, Legion could become Earth's most powerful hero -- or villain. At one point, Rogue entered into his mind and noticed that new powers and personalities were constantly being emerging within his subconscious.