The best superhero aliases and codenames are often short, sweet, and simple; there's no mystery surrounding Spider-Man's powers and abilities because his name says it all. On the other hand, we have the Wolverine - a mutant who doesn't remotely resemble the creature he's named after, yet whose name is one of the most well-known and beloved in the history of comic books.
But we're not going to discuss the best mutant codenames today. On the contrary, we're going to examine ten aliases that have rubbed us the wrong way for years. Plenty of cool characters have lame names, however, so remember that we're not trying to pick on anyone's favorite heroes.
10 Boom-Boom
We normally like codenames that tell us what a mutant's powers and abilities are. However, Boom-Boom sounds like something that a grade-schooler came up with. Tabitha Smith first hit the scene in 1985, in Secret Wars II #5. Smith has explosive abilities and wanted her codename to reflect that - hence the alias Boom-Boom.
Over the years, Tabitha tried on other names like Meltdown, Boomer, Time Bomb, and Firecracker. Honestly, we prefer almost any other name than Boom-Boom. We're not sure if Marvel's writers knew, but Boom-Boom is also slang for baby poop! We guess they don't, as Tabitha still uses this codename in the Modern Age of comics.
9 Lady Mastermind
The codename Boom-Boom loses points for sounding juvenile. However, you can see what Jim Shooter and Al Milgrim were going for when they created Tabitha in 1985 - they tried to give her a sleek name that rolls off the tongue and reflects her powerset. Chis Claremont and Salvador Larroca, on the other hand, took the opposite approach when they created Lady Mastermind.
Regan Wyngarde's mutant codename is inelegant and clunky, but it does reflect her telepathic powers. It also screams "I'm a traitor who'll backstab you the first chance I get," which is Regan's MO. The worst thing about Lady Mastermind's name is the fact that any of the X-Men have ever trusted her.
8 Doctor Nemesis
Speaking of codenames that lack elegance, we present Doctor Nemesis - a mutant who describes himself as "self-evolved intellect." First debuting in 1993m in Invaders Vol 2 #1, James Bradley tried to establish himself as a hero during WWII. We'll say that again - Bradley tried to fight crime under the codename Doctor Nemesis.
We don't care if Bradley was trying to be poetic with that name, giving yourself an ominous alias is a surefire way to have a short crime-fighting career. It's like if the police called themselves "people beaters" - because they occasionally get physical with bad people - and got upset when citizens didn't trust them. With a name like Doctor Nemesis, Bradley put himself on track to become a future villain later on down the line.
7 Box
Madison Jeffries has one of the most underrated powers in the history of comic books - the ability to transform inorganic material into anything he can think of! Jeffries can transform debris and wreckage into life-boats and emergency shelters. He can also create things based on mental blueprints that he pulls from other people's minds, as well as communicate with and possess technology telepathically!
So readers, what sort of codename do you think a technopathic mutant with the ability to reshape most forms of matter would call himself? Alchemist? Builder? How about Box? Well, it's Box because it's based on an Iron Man-like robotic suit that Jeffries merges with.
6 Diamond Lil
It ought to be a hard rule in the mutant codename handbook to never use your real name in your alias. There also ought to be such a thing as a mutant codename handbook, to prevent new heroes from making the same mistakes their predecessors did. Jean Grey's one of the main offenders for this imaginary rule, but even she's taken to using aliases like Phoenix or Marvel Girl in recent years.
Lillian Crawley, however, didn't get the memo when she named herself Diamond Lil. Lil also stands out - she's 6'4" tall - making it easy for a criminal to search for women that look like her and have the name Lil, Lily, or Lillian.
5 Fantomex
Charlie Cluster-7 must have intercepted whatever memo Lillian Crawley was supposed to receive. When it came time to create a codename, Charlie knew not to put his real name in his alias. Instead, he created a codename that sounds like a cheap brand of laundry detergent.
Fantomex's name also doesn't reveal anything about his powerset; Charlie's not a ghost or phantom of any kind. He's essentially a cyborg with a slew of strange abilities that need an article of their own to explain. Fanto's one of the newer characters on the block, so we hope that he'll create a better name in the future.
4 Daken
Everyone knows that Wolverine gets around - that, killing people, and being extremely hairy are some of Logan's defining characteristics. Most of the time, Wolverine's love affairs stay within the confines of the bedroom. Occasionally, Marvel writers will put some "effect" on Logan's "causes," introducing more and more of his offspring overtime.
Daken is the codename of the child that Wolverine fathered with his Itsu, a Japanese woman Logan was married to before she tragically died (as per usual with Wolverine's love interests.) Unlike Fantomex, Daken isn't a made-up word - it's Japanese for "mongrel." However, knowing the meaning behind the name doesn't make it sound any less like "bacon."
3 Sunspot
Sunspot's a fan favorite mutant, thanks to his fiery powerset and lovable personality. When he briefly showed up in X-Men: Days of Future Past, we were bummed out to see him go out so easily. We're also disappointed that Roberto da Costa hasn't come up with a better codename than the one he created in 1982!
RELATED: 10 Best Undead Marvel & DC Villains In Comics
Sunspot might sound like a cool name to a young mutant who doesn't know much about the world, but it's one that doesn't work as well the older Bobby gets. Bobby might be down for the count as of War of the Realms: Uncanny X-Men #3, but he may return someday - hopefully with a better codename.
2 Cable
Cable's another extremely popular mutant whose name doesn't make much sense. At least Roberto was a solar-powered mutant. Nathan Summers, on the other hand, is a psychic cyborg with a gun fetish! How does the name Cable represent any of that?
In many ways, Cable is the poster boy for the Dark Age of comics - he's a big angry guy with a predilection for ultra-violence. He was also co-created by the notorious Rob Liefeld, a man who's known for writing by the seat of his pants. We love Cable, truly, but his name is random as Hell.
1 Jubilee
Jubilee is something of a missed opportunity in our opinion - she's one of the few mutants of South East Asian heritage to make it into the main team's lineup, even appearing in the famous X-Men animated series, but the average person is probably none the wiser.
It's not fair to say that Jubilation (yes, her that's her genuine first name,) Lee isn't as popular as she ought to be purely because of her codename. But we'll ask you this, what sounds catchier - Iceman or Jubilee? Storm, or Jubilee? Toad, or Jubilee? This girl needs a new alias ASAP.