For over 50 years, mutants have fuelled the pages of comic books and helped tell stories of love, loss, and violence. Made famous with the creation of the X-Men at the hands of Jack Kirby and Stan Lee in 1963, we have seen various characters grow up through the trials and tribulations of being Homo Superior, and start powerful families of their own along the way.
With so many different relationships formed across various storylines and comic events, some have stood the test of time and given us families that you would not want to mess with. Let's take a look at some of the strongest.
10 The Von Struckers
Baron Wolfgang von Strucker was once a Nazi officer, eventually moving to Hydra after he decided not to follow Red Skull's instructions. Whilst Baron Strucker isn’t a mutant himself, his twin children Andrea and Andreas are, and they played a pivitol role as the heads of Fenris International. The company was founded to give mutants an economical upper hand, at one point hiring Gambit to do their dirty work.
The twins also joined the Upstarts – a group of violent teen mutants who loved to kill other mutants and compete for power, but were rarely successful in their thirst for murder. They were both intelligent individuals, but their greatest strength was the bio-energy they could create when in contact with one and other.
9 The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
After a young boy drops his pet turtles into the sewers following a traffic accident on the streets above, a strange green goo coats their bodies and a rat named Splinter finds the four brothers and takes them to his lair. They soon begin to mutate into humanoid turtles, learning a range of martial arts from their sensei. The rest, as they say, is history.
Leonardo, Donatello, Raphael, and Michelangelo are a constant thorn in their enemy’s side, each wielding a different weapon to take out the various threats that co-creator Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird dreamt up over the years, including their biggest foe, Shredder.
8 The Braddock Family
In the early days of the Braddocks, Elizabeth ‘Betsy’ Braddock was more of a supporting character to her brother, Brian Braddock. When Brian became Captain Britain, Betsy was a mutant with the power of foresight, however, in 1986 she became Psylocke after taking over the body of a Japanese ninja known as Kwannon. But in doing so she became a skilled martial artist, eventually gaining the power of telekinesis.
As for Captain Britain, his special abilities were bestowed upon him by the historic magician Merlyn after sending Brian’s father James to Earth-616 to raise him as a protector of the multiverse.
7 Wolverine’s Pack
Whilst Wolverine’s DNA has been used in a variety of ways since his first appearance in The Incredible Hulk #181, his legitimate son is the assassin Daken. Apparently dead after his mother Itsu was murdered by the Winter Soldier, he survived thanks to his father’s regenerative abilities. Logan’s other child – albeit born ‘unnaturally' – X-23 was cloned thanks to scientist Sarah Kinney substituting her own chromosomes on the twenty-third attempt at cloning Wolverine’s DNA.
Wolverine was also once married to Viper, one of Hydra’s most famous mercenaries and members. She used his honor against him, making him fulfil an old debt when the two were trained on Mandripoor by Seraph.
6 Mystique’s Brood
There’s no doubt that shapeshifting mutant Mystique is an intelligent and formidable foe, but her family tree is also full of powerful players. Her son, Grayson Creed, was the result of an affair she had with Sabretooth during the Cold War. Not knowing who his parents were, he formed Friends of Humanity – a movement aimed at ridding the world of all mutants.
She’s also the mother of Kurt Darkholme, aka Nightcrawler, saving him once from being sacrificed in a ritual that would send him to hell, and a guardian to Rogue after she ran away from home at the age of four.
5 Colossus and the Rasputins
Piotr Rasputin, aka Colossus ,is a man of great strength. At a young age, he transformed into an indestructible metal being, perhaps the strongest of all the X-Men. His sister is the sorceress known as Magik, and when Piotr was young, it was during the act of saving her from an oncoming tractor that his powers manifested. In Colossus: Bloodline, it was also acknowledged that he is the descendant of 19th Century mystic, Grigori Rasputin.
He was also once married to Kitty Pride, a mutant that could move through walls and objects thanks to her mutation, eventually separating after Colossus began to have romantic feelings for an alien on Battleworld known as Zsaji.
4 The Xaviers
Charles Xavier is the smartest of all mutants, and his family is filled with some interesting characters. Whilst in his mother Sharon’s womb, a Mummurdai clung to him and forged its own body from his cells, creating a twin sister. Charles manages to kill his ‘twin,’ but after decades of solitude, the creature became Cassandra Nova – a constant threat to Charles and the X-Men, and murderer of thousands.
His half-brother is also the mutant brute known as Juggernaut, born to Sharon and Flint Marko, after Charles’ original father Brian Xavier died. Not only that, but his son is David Haller, aka Legion, the troubled mutant who uses his many personas to wreak havoc.
3 Namor and the Atlanteans
You don’t get much more powerful than an Atlantean mutant, and the Sub Mariner possesses super strength, flight, and the ability to breathe underwater amongst other things. His father, Leonard McKenzie, was on an expedition in the Antarctic when he met the Atlantean princess Fen. The two fell in love and Namor was the product of their affections. His grandfather is the Atlantean emperor Thakorr, and his cousin is Namora – another half-human, half-Atlantean who shares similar powers with him.
His power alone has often been a problem for the Avengers to deal with, being responsible for devastating attacks against New York City, but he would eventually team up with other superheroes to fight evil, as well as being part of an elite and important group of superheroes known as Illuminati.
2 Magneto and his Children
Erik Lensherr is the dreaded Magneto, and his lineage is one of the most powerful to ever exist. His first daughter, Polaris, shared the same abilities when it came to manipulating magnetic fields, making her first appearance in Uncanny X-Men #49. However, it took quite some time before their blood ties were confirmed.
Perhaps the most famous children Magneto fathered (after a hefty dose of retconning) were Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch. At first believed to be the children of Django and Marya Maximoff, it was after much deliberation in the comics that Magneto finally announced the twins to be his own. Scarlet Witch would also mother two powerful mutants with Vision, making their family one of the strongest.
1 The Summers/Grey Connection
Scott Summers and Jean Grey have quite the family tree. Scott’s younger brother is none other than Havok, who shares similar abilities with him. When Scott thought Jean Grey had died, he fell in love with a woman known as Madeline Pryor – a clone of Jean – who gave birth to Nathan Summers, better known as Cable. As a safety precaution, Nathan was transported 1000 years into the future after he became infected with a virus at the hands of Apocalypse.
In an alternate timeline, Scott and Jean have a daughter called Rachel Summers, who ends up possessing similar telekinesis and telepathic powers to her mother’s. As well as Rachel, Nate Grey (aka X-Man) was created from Scott and Jean’s DNA, who would eventually go on to battle Apocalypse and his Horsemen.