The X-Men have often been described as a superhero soap opera, and what soap opera is complete without some seriously dramatic relationships? Love doesn't come easily when you're part of the X-Men.
There are many obstacles in the path of true love. Sometimes a hero's powers get in the way, or they accidentally marry a clone. X-Men have fallen in love with villains and inhuman constructs. Even some of the X-Men's most famous couples haven't been all that healthy in real-world terms. These couples all had their challenges, and some of them are just outright wrong.
10 Gambit And Rogue Are Always Breaking Up
Gambit and Rogue are one of the most on-again, off-again couples in comics. Their attraction to each other was apparent right from the start, but unfortunately, Rogue's powers caused problems for them. Rogue cannot touch anyone without absorbing their powers and memories. For a rake like Gambit, a relationship that can never be physical is not ideal.
Despite this, these two fell hard for each other. They've made up and broken up so many times now that most readers have lost count. They've been through Rogue gaining and losing control of her powers, and had their relationship rocked by Gambit's ex-wife. On one memorable occasion, Rogue absorbed Gambit's memories of his part in the Morlock massacre. Racked by Gambit's own guilt, she abandoned him in Antarctica, a capstone for a rocky relationship.
9 Colossus And Kitty Had An Uncomfortable Age Gap
As soon as Colossus and Kitty Pryde, then known as Shadowcat, met back in the 80s, they had an obvious spark. Kitty's crush on Colossus has often been seen by readers as very sweet, and they're a popular ship.
Their popularity soared in part thanks to the death of Jean Grey. Without Scott and Jean, there was room for a new X-Couple to take over. Unfortunately, Colossus was an adult, and Kitty was only 14. Her age is mentioned repeatedly, but it doesn't seem to be a problem for Colossus, or for any of the other X-Men. The characters are beloved but this wasn't okay.
8 Scott and Emma Had A Psychic Affair
Scott Summers's most famous love interest might be Jean Grey, but Scott has had his fair share of questionable romances. Some readers love the pairing of Scott and Emma Frost, feeling that Emma brought out a less uptight side of Cyclops. Plenty of readers, however, were never able to forgive these two for how their love came to be.
When Cyclop's and Frost's romance blossomed, Scott was still married to Jean. Emma acted as his therapist, seducing Scott, and embarking on a psychic affair. To make things worse, their antics even included a hook-up with Emma psychically dressed as the Dark Phoenix. After Jean died, Scott immediately married Emma, much to the fans' fury.
7 Kitty Loved A Man Named Peter
Kitty seems to have a real thing for men named Peter. She's dated several of them, including Rasputin, Quill, and Parker. The worst of her collection of Peters has to be Peter Wisdom. Wisdom was an MI-6 agent who worked with Excalibur during the 90s.
This chain-smoking, grizzled, miserly secret agent seemed like an odd choice for the vibrant, fun-loving Kitty. Even Kitty's dragon, Lockheed, was against the relationship. Luckily, this mismatched romance was short-lived.
6 Rogue Fell For The X-Men's Signature Foe
Age works strangely in comics, thanks to the way time often has to fluctuate, but age-gap romances still leave a bad taste in comic fans' mouths. When Rogue and Magneto got together, fans were turned off by the huge gap in their ages.
Their romance was hinted at during the Savage Land arc by Chris Claremont and Jim Lee but was then forgotten for a long time. In Age Of Apocalypse, the two are married, and even have a child together, named after Charles Xavier. This relationship is a complicated one, not least because of Magneto's role as a central antagonist to the X-Men.
5 Iceman Was Fooled By Mystique
Poor old Bobby Drake, the X-Men's Iceman, has not been lucky in love. Despite being one of the original X-Men, he still hasn't managed to have a healthy long-term relationship. One of his biggest romantic disasters was when he was tricked into falling for Mystique. It's always a risk to offer your heart to a shape-shifting villain, after all.
Going undercover for Mister Sinister, Mystique was able to infiltrate the X-Men and gain Iceman's trust. Their romance only lasted for 14 issues, but Bobby was still hurt when Mystique revealed that she had been working for the enemy all along. He was hurt a lot more literally when she disabled his powers, shot him, and severed his arm.
4 Husk Had A Not So Classic Teen Romance
Dating someone just to spite your parents never goes well, and this was certainly true for Husk. This, thankfully short-lived, romance with Angel was overdramatic and silly. Husk was largely interested in her older boyfriend to annoy her mother.
The arc wasn't great for either character, and it's probably for the best that it has largely been forgotten. As if this cliched teen drama wasn't bad enough, the two decided to get intimate in the sky right over Husk's parents' home. Her family and the X-Men watched from below, catching dropped clothing as it fell from above. How...romantic?
3 Mystique Dated The Devil
Most X-Men fans know that Mystique is Nightcrawler's mother, but the identity of his father was a mystery for a long time. Eventually, his father turned out to be Azazel, a demon who claimed to be the original Satan.
Azazel decided to romance Mystique in the hopes that she would conceive a child with mutant abilities that Azazel could use to escape his hell dimension. Mystique has had a lot of lovers, but she seemed to genuinely care deeply about Azazel. She was devastated to discover his pursuit of her hadn't been genuine. Their relationship ended badly, and fans hated the story.
2 Scott and Maddy's Marriage Was A Disaster
When his beloved Jean Grey died, Scott fell hard for her lookalike, Madelyne Pryor. Unfortunately, Maddy looked so much like Scott's dead girlfriend because she was her clone, created just for Scott by Mister Sinister.
Sinister wanted a child that combined Scott and Jean's DNA and used Scott and Maddy's marriage to get it. Poor Maddy had no idea that she was being used like this. When Jean returned from the dead, Scott promptly abandoned Maddy and their child. Apparently, looking like Jean was no longer enough to keep Scott around.
1 Scarlet Witch And Quicksilver Are Very Close
The Maximoff twins took a truly disturbing turn in the Ultimate Universe. In this alternate reality, the two are still siblings and are probably Wolverine's children, but they are also a couple. They make no attempts to hide the fact they're lovers during this bizarre arc, often openly flirting.
In one scene that will forever stay with readers, Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch were shown in the throes of passion in a garden. Their father, Ultimate Wolverine, kept an eye on things from inside a nearby hedge making a horrific situation even creepier.