In the Marvel Universe, mutants are like one big super-powered family, but the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants probably won't get an invitation to the X-Men's next cookout. While the X-Men fight for Charles Xavier's dream of equality, Magneto formed the Brotherhood to fight for his vision of mutant supremacy. Although the team eventually dropped the "Evil" from its name and reformed as the Sisterhood a few times, that vision of mutant dominance has been the Brotherhood's driving factor since it debuted in Stan Lee and Jack Kirby's X-Men #4. Since then, the Brotherhood has recruited dozens of members, from famous villains like Sabretooth and Mystique to heroes like Havok and Professor X. In the pages of Cullen Bunn and Marcus To's X-Men: Blue, Magneto just formed a new Brotherhood that's brought some of Marvel's most powerful mutants into the fold.
Now, CBR is counting down the strongest members of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. For this list, we'll be considering any character who ever willingly joined any incarnation of the Brotherhood. We'll primarily be ranking them according to their raw mutant power and looking at their most notable achievements. That means we won't be including characters like Psylocke or Magma, who were brainwashed into joining the group. We also won't be dealing with versions of the Brotherhood from alternate dimensions or parallel timelines, even if they ended up in the main Marvel Universe. Even if some of these characters are usually good guys, they still spent some time rolling with Marvel's most dangerous mutants.
25 PYRO
Even though he never naturally generated fire, Pyro could turn the smallest ember into "living flames" that could become anything. With his fire-controlling mutant power, St. John Allerdyce could use any flame to create raging infernos or Green Lantern-esque constructs and creatures.
Created by Chris Claremont and John Byrne in 1981's X-Men #141, Pyro joined Mystique's Brotherhood in the 1980s and stayed with it after it transformed into the government-sponsored Freedom Force. After a few more stints with the Brotherhood, he contracted the Legacy Virus, defeated Post and gave his life trying to save the anti-mutant politician Robert Kelly.
24 ESME CUCKOO
As one of the Stepford Cuckoos, Esme is a genetic clone of the ultra-powerful telepath Emma Frost. While she's not on Emma's level, Esme was still one of the Xavier Institute's most powerful students when she was introduced in Grant Morrison and Ethan van Sciver's New X-Men #118.
As the bad seed of the Cuckoos, Esme began using Kick, which increased her telepathic powers at the cost of her stability. This drove Esme to join Xorn's Brotherhood, shortly before she perished. Like her sisters, Esme probably had the ability to turn into diamond, but she perished before discovering that power.
23 SAURON
What do you get when you cross a dinosaur with a vampire? The high-flying X-villain Sauron. After being bitten by a pterodactyl, Karl Lykos developed the need to absorb the life-force of other creatures. When he drained a mutant's life-force for the first time, Lykos transformed in the dinosaur-esque Sauron in Roy Thomas and Neal Adams' X-Men #60.
In his dino form, Sauron has considerable hypnotic abilities, can breathe fire and can also create energy blasts. While he usually lives in the Savage Land, Sauron joined Toad's Brotherhood and seriously injured Cannonball during a brutal battle with the first X-Force.
22 POST
While he already had some natural mutant super-strength, Post developed most of his powers after getting a blood transfusion from Cable. Thanks to the mutated Techno-Organic Virus in Cable's blood and the powerful villain Onslaught, Kevin Tremain developed cybernetic "power pods" that could generate weapons, turn invisible and teleport.
Thanks to his super-genius and adaptive abilities, Post was able to hold his own against a team of X-Men during his debut in 1996's X-Men #50, by Scott Lobdell and Andy Kubert. After helping Onslaught attack the Marvel Universe, Post joined Professor X's Brotherhood until Pyro snuffed him out.
21 AURORA
Like her twin brother Northstar, Aurora gained fame as a member of the Canadian superhero team Alpha Flight. While her powers have changed some over the years, Jeanne-Marie Beaubier can usually generate bright blasts of light and fly at supersonic speeds. At her fastest, Aurora could've theoretically flown at the speed of light.
After debuting in Chris Claremont and John Byrne's X-Men #120, Aurora used those abilities as a hero in Alpha Flight. She briefly joined Havok's Brotherhood, mainly to find a treatment for her mental instability. Eventually, Aurora rejoined Alpha Flight after floating between various heroic and villainous groups.
20 QUICKSILVER
Before he joined the Avengers, Quicksilver debuted as a member of Magneto's first Brotherhood in 1964's X-Men #4. Although he ran circles around the X-Men, Pietro Maximoff was a reluctant recruit who only joined the team to repay Magneto for saving his sister, the Scarlet Witch. After a quick stint as Evil Mutants, Quicksilver and his sister left for superhero careers with the Avengers.
Originally, Quicksilver could run well above the speed of sound. While the upper limits of his powers aren't known, he's fast enough to outrun Thor's lightning and has accidentally run into the future on occasion.
19 MIMIC
Shortly after the original X-Men formed, Mimic had the honor of being the team's first new recruit in Stan Lee and Jack Kirby's X-Men #19. After being experimented on, Calvin Rankin developed the ability to replicate the skills and powers of anyone around him. Since Mimic spent so much time around the founding Professor X, Cyclops, Jean Grey, Beast, Iceman and Angel, he permanently copied all of their powers.
Despite his numerous powers, Mimic never really found a home. After serving on Professor X's short-lived Brotherhood team, Mimic bounced around bad guy teams before ending up back with the X-Men.
18 MADELYNE PRYOR
When Madelyne Pryor was introduced by Chris Claremont and Paul Smith in Uncanny X-Men #168, she just seemed like a regular human being. She didn't seem like the kind of person who was secretly a clone of Jean Grey, but unfortunately, she was. As a clone, Madelyne inherited Jean's considerable telepathic and telekinetic powers and link to the Phoenix Force.
After using her mystical knowledge to take over New York, Madelyne became a kind of psychic ghost. While searching for a new host body, she formed a Sisterhood of Mutants and served on another Sisterhood before retreating into the shadows.
17 ROGUE
While the power-absorbing Rogue might be one of the X-Men's greatest members today, she didn't start out that war. When Rogue debuted in Chris Claremont and Michael Golden's Avengers Annual #10, she was a villain in the Brotherhood alongside her adoptive parents, Mystique and Destiny. By the time she debuted, Rogue had already semi-permanently absorbed the abilities of Carol Danvers, the future Captain Marvel.
When Rogue had trouble handling those abilities, she left for the X-Men and never looked back. While she eventually lost Danvers' abilities, Rogue still has absorption powers and, currently, Wonder Man's flight, super-strength and invulnerability.
16 RANDOM
Whether he's fighting the X-Men or working alongside them, Random has some of the grossest powers in the Marvel Universe. By controlling his "protoplasm," Marshall Stone can shape-shift any part of his body, and he usually uses that power to transform his arms into cannons that shoot "biomatter" projectiles. He also has the natural power to adapt and create counters to any other mutant's powers.
Random started out as a villain in Peter David and Joe Quesada's X-Factor #88, and he eventually joined Havok's short-lived Brotherhood. Despite his formidable adaptive abilities, Random has floated between underachieving mutant teams since then.
15 HAVOK
Since he debuted in Arnold Drake and Don Heck's X-Men #54, the X-Men's Havok has acted like a villain with alarming regularity. Thanks to his mutant power to absorb and discharge vast amounts of cosmic energy, he's a formidable opponent who's been strong enough to knock out the Hulk and survive inside a star.
After being seemingly brainwashed by the evil scientist Dark Beast, Alex Summers joined Beast's Brotherhood in the mid-1990s. After Dark Beast left the group, Havok took the Brotherhood over and revealed that he had secretly been spying on it for the X-Men all along.
14 MESMERO
On the surface, Mesmero is a lot like the Purple Man, Jessica Jones' Kilgrave. After being created by Arnold Drake and Don Heck in X-Men #49, Mesmero used his hypnotic abilities to go toe-to-toe with the Spider-Man and Alpha Flight and briefly turned the X-Men into a circus sideshow.
After getting a power boost from the Weapon X Program, Mesmero was able to manipulate large crowds with a single glance. Although he briefly lost his powers, Mesmero was hired by an anti-mutant politician to form a new Brotherhood by bringing several mind-controlled mutants together before he was apprehended.
13 SELENE
While the White Queen, Emma Frost, eventually joined the X-Men, Selene, the longtime Black Queen of the Hellfire Club, never turned over a new leaf. Since Chris Claremont and Sal Buscema introduced her in New Mutants #9, this ancient mutant sorceress has been a major thorn in the X-Men's side.
Beyond her immense magical knowledge, Selene is a psychic vampire who can drain the life-force of others to extend her life and fuel her powers like telepathy, telekinesis and super-strength. After resurrecting millions of fallen mutants in the X-Necrosha crossover, Selene briefly returned to join Lady Deathstrike's Sisterhood before vanishing.
12 XORN
With the power of a star inside his head, Xorn is one of the most unusual, and powerful, mutants in the Marvel Universe. After debuting in Grant Morrison and Leinil Yu's New X-Men Annual 2001, Xorn joined the X-Men and formed a new Brotherhood from the Xavier Institute's student body. While posing as Magneto, Xorn launched a devastating attack on Manhattan before Wolverine finished him off.
Thanks to the blindingly bright star in his head, Kuan-Yin Xorn had an array of vast mutant powers. He could also manipulate electromagnetic gravitational energy and turn his head into a black hole.
11 ENCHANTRESS
The Enchantress is an Asgardian sorceress who usually tangles with Thor. While she battled the X-Men's Dazzler a few times, Amora never really had any qualms with the X-Men. Still, she briefly joined Lady Deathstrike's Sisterhood to break a curse that was keeping her from accessing her powers in 2013.
Like most Asgardian villains, Enchantress has vacillated between heroism and villainy since her debut in Stan Lee and Jack Kirby's Journey Into Mystery #103. In addition to her standard Asgardian abilities like super-strength and immortality, Amora is one of the most skilled magic users in the Marvel Universe.
10 JUGGERNAUT
Supposedly, nothing can stop the Juggernaut. While the X-Men and others have proven that theory wrong numerous times, Cain Marko has been punching his way through (and sometimes with) Marvel's mutants since Stan Lee and Jack Kirby created him in X-Men #12. While he was spying for the X-Men, Juggernaut joined Exodus' short-lived Brotherhood.
After finding the Crimson Gem of Cyttorak, Marko, who's also Professor X's stepbrother, became one of the strongest characters in the Marvel Universe. At the peak of his powers, Juggernaut can tear through reality itself, but he can still knock out the Hulk with his usual strength level.
9 EXODUS
Bennet du Paris, or Exodus, is one of Marvel's oldest, most powerful mutants. After Apocalypse activated his powers and trapped him in a cave for lifetimes, he worked closely with Magneto before forming his own Brotherhood in the mid-2000s.
Since he was created by Scott Lobdell and Joe Quesada in X-Factor #92, Exodus has shown a haw-dropping slew of powers that make him one of the most psychics in the world. Between his telekinesis, telepathy, electromagnetic energy blasts and considerable healing abilities, it's easy to see why the X-Men and the Avengers had to team up to take him down.
8 JOSEPH
You can never have too many Magnetos. At least, that's what the minor villain Astra thought when she cloned Magneto in the mid-1990s. In Scott Lobdell and Roger Cruz's Uncanny X-Men #327, that ultra-powerful, amnesiac clone took the name Joseph. After joining the X-Men, Joseph sacrificed his life to defeat Magneto and repair Earth's magnetic field.
While Joseph had Magneto's raw powers and electromagnetic abilities, he didn't have Magneto's training and struggled with his powers at peak strength. Although he lived as a hero, Astra revived him as a villain and gave him a new Brotherhood full of cloned mutants.
7 ELIXIR
Life hasn't been easy for Joshua Foley. After discovering his mutant healing abilities in Nunzio DeFilippis, Christina Weir and Mark Robinson's New Mutants #5, Josh was kicked out of his anti-mutant household and reluctantly joined Xavier's Institute. Taking the name Elixir, Josh became an invaluable member of the New X-Men and X-Force before joining Magneto's newest Brotherhood.
Elixir is a hyper-powerful Omega-level mutant. Beyond healing injuries and diseases, Elixir can resurrect the fallen and could potentially revive 16 million mutants simultaneously. He could also use his powers for devastating attacks that have taken a heavy toll on his emotional state.
6 SHADOW KING
Even though he doesn't have a body of his own, that hasn't kept the Shadow King from being one of the X-Men's most menacing foes. This vicious psychic entity was created by Chris Claremont and John Byrne in X-Men #117. While he usually goes after Professor X and the X-Men alone, the Shadow King helped Wolverine's son Daken form a new Brotherhood to battle X-Force.
After Charles Xavier, the Shadow King might be the most powerful telepath in the Marvel Universe. He's easily taken control of entire teams of X-Men and can only really be defeated by other high-level telepaths.