The Summers family is full of some of the most powerful and important X-Men, including Cyclops and Jean Grey, but it was one of the younger members that at one point was seen as the savior of mutantkind. Hope Summers was the first mutant child born after the devastating M-Day and was seen as a messiah by many mutants and eventually helped save the entire species from extinction on two occasions.
However, following those events, Hope faded into obscurity for several years. However, the Dawn of X relaunch has again put her in a key position with her powers playing an instrumental part in the mutants' newfound immortality.
Created by Mike Carey and Chris Bachalo, Hope first appeared in 2007's X-Men #205, part of the "Messiah Complex" crossover which followed M-Day, the aftermath of Marvel's "House of M" when Scarlet Witch uttered the infamous words "no more mutants". Her reality-altering powers granted her wish, removing the powers of all but 200 of the world's mutants. There were also no new mutants born after this, making them an endangered species, until a baby with the X-Gene was born in Alaska. When various mutant and mutant-hating factions detected this they scrambled to find the baby, starting a bloody war. Villainous forces massacred the Alaskan town but Cable got to the child first, keeping it safe from harm. At the end of "Messiah Complex", Cyclops told Cable to take her into the future to keep her safe, but the former X-Man Bishop followed them, intent on killing her.
Hope co-starred in a subsequent Cable ongoing series, where she grew up with him protecting her. After confrontations with Bishop, Cyclops sent the black-ops X-Force team into the future to protect Hope and Cable, leading to "Messiah War." When Hope was ready, she and Cable returned to the present in the final crossover in the Messiah Trilogy, "Second Coming". They arrived at the X-Men's darkest hour, as the advanced Sentinel Bastion led many of the team's greatest enemies in a campaign to eliminate mutants and kill Hope. Many X-Men, including Nightcrawler, died fighting to secure her safety, and after Cable sacrificed himself to strike a blow against Bastion Hope's rage, her powers manifested stronger than before. Hope is an Omega-level mutant able to copy the abilities of other mutants she is near, often in manners much more extreme than they can, and battled Bastion by mimicking the abilities of many of the nearby X-Men. At the end of "Second Coming", Emma Frost noticed that Hope, who bears a striking resemblance to Jean Grey, was surrounded by a discreet manifestation of the Phoenix Force. Following the battle, Cerebro detects five new mutants, referred to as the Five Lights.
In the series Generation Hope by James Asmus, Timothy Green II, Takeshi Miyazawa, and Ibraim Roberson, Hope gathered and led the new mutants. She would discover that she's also capable of jump-starting the powers of new mutants. She remained an important player in the X-Men for several years until the "Avengers vs. X-Men" event. The Phoenix Force was targeting Hope to be its host, and debate over what to do eventually led to conflict between the two teams. Eventually, with the help of the Scarlet Witch, Iron Fist, and Spider-Man she hid in K'un-Lun and trained to control the power when the time came. She confronts Cyclops, now the Dark Phoenix, and takes the power, using it to fully restore the mutant race before giving it up. It was believed that this essentially fulfilled her messianic destiny, and the character gradually fell out of the spotlight, although she made occasional appearances, usually alongside a revived Cable.
The Dawn of X relaunch returned Hope to prominence. She serves as a member of the Five, the team responsible for bringing dead mutants back to life. Hope can use her powers to control and regulate those of others, allowing her to oversee the other members' efforts. As such she is one of the most important parts of the new mutant society.
However, the X of Swords crossover has revealed a weakness in the resurrection process, once again putting mutants in danger. Given this, Hope's life could be in for some major changes depending on what happens at the end of the event.