The X-Men have no shortage of oddball mutants who wear goofy costumes. In fact, the entire conceit behind dressing up in spandex and shoulder pads to fight to protect people who might hate your guts has been a hallmark of the series since 1963. Every now and then, readers get a character who is almost laughably garish in their outfit choices. Sometimes they are products of their time, and the ‘90s and early '00s are especially rife with questionable design choices. Other times they are strange for the sake of being strange.
But costumes are not the only things that make you give certain X-Folk a second look. Sometimes how their mutant powers manifest can be off-putting or eye-rollingly goofy. And yes, this isn’t fair to the characters within the narrative of the comics. These mutants did not ask to be born like this. Not everyone can to control the weather and still look like a super-model. Often times, mutants get a bum rap in the looks department. Walking around with a bunch of eyes, feathers or scales covering your body pretty much screams “I'm a mutant!” to the world. And sadly, the world can be cruel. But just because an X-Man doesn’t look impressive, that doesn’t’ mean they aren’t powerful.
20 PIXIE
Megan Gwynn, the adorably cheerful mutant with rainbow fairy wings known as Pixie, was created by husband and wife writing team Nunzio DeFilippis and Christina Weir along with artist Michael Ryan (Mystique, New Excalibur). Pixie made her first appearance in New X-Men: Academy X #5 back in 2004. Her exuberant attitude towards her fellow classmates at the Xavier Institute earned the title of Xavier's “Friendliest Student.” Considering Pixie’s effervescent attitude and pink haired, iridescent-winged exterior, there's really no better candidate for the superlative. Even Jubilee, at her most jovial, was never as warm and welcoming as Pixie. But don't let her adorable veneer lead you astray. Megan Gwynn packs quite a punch.
Outside of her ability of flight (something she wore a helmet for when training), Pixie can also produce a hallucinogen, her "pixie dust,” that can incapacitate enemies. And through the tutelage of Magik, Pixie has a novice's understanding of the mystic arts, which allow her to teleport and utilize a “Souldagger.” And speaking of the Souldagger, now is a good time to mention that she used this weapon to kill Belasco, the demonic sorcerer, in order to save her friends. She would again use the weapon to blind and incapacitate the Hellfire Cult leader and noted jerk, Empath (to be fair, Empath and his crew viciously attacking her earlier, so it’s not like he didn’t have it coming). Basically, don’t mess with Pixie, or she will cut you... with magic.
19 TEMPUS
Eva Bell is a fairly new addition to the greater X-Men universe, making her first appearance in All-New X-Men #1 in 2013. She was arguably the most fascinating new mutant created by legendary comic scribe Brian Michael Bendis during his time writing X-Men books. Eva had all the trapping of the archetypical manic pixie dream girl. She was smart, snarky, beautiful and into cool music. And while her power set was not clearly defined when Cyclops first appeared to recruit her for his new team of X-Men, she would later surprise readers and her fellow teammates.
The time-traveling Eva Bell is one of the most powerful mutants the X-Men have ever encountered.
Taking up the codename Tempus, Eva utilizes her mutant power of chronokinesis, the ability to create time bubbles and travel through timelines and alternate realities, in an almost Omega-level capacity. During a two-part story arc in the pages of Uncanny X-Men Annual #1 and All-New X-Men Annual #1 (both illustrated by the brilliant Andrea Sorrentino), Eva travels through different timelines, meeting the team from the series X-Men 2099, the Rawhide Kid and myriad other characters who operate outside and within Marvel's main Earth-616 timeline. Eva goes on to experience years while in this time shift, going as far as to fall in love and mother a child, before finding herself back at the point from where she began her journey. For most characters, this would have driven them mad, but Tempus grew stronger.
18 CABLE
Look, no one in their right mind is going to argue that Cable doesn’t look tough. Strip away the armor and the impressive (and arguably excessive) arsenal, the guy is still a battle-ravaged warrior with cybernetic implants and biceps bigger than his head (and thighs bigger than his torso, depending on who’s drawing him.) When he first hit the comic scene in New Mutants #87 (as an adult, not the baby Nathan Summers from Uncanny X-Men #201, but to be fair, that baby grows up to be pretty awesome), he was a gruff military man who decided to whip a bunch of kids into shape in order to fight against the villainous Stryfe. He’s a no-nonsense sort of guy and is super intimidating on just about every level. But oddly enough, Cable’s powers make him even more terrifying.
While the level they operate on has varied over the years since they're usually being used to keep the Techno-Organic Virus ravaging his body at bay, Cable is gifted with an extremely powerful level of telekinesis and telepathy. When his telekinetic ability isn’t fighting the infection, he has performed such tasks as disassembling and reassembling entire buildings with his mind. With that level of power, a crazy futuristic laser gun doesn’t seem that scary. No level of armor or healing factor can withstand deconstruction on that level.
17 MORPH
Kevin Sydney is arguably one of the most ridiculous looking characters in the X-Men franchise. When he first appeared as the Changeling in The X-Men #35 way back in 1967, he donned a ridiculous purple helmet that didn’t seem to have any real function outside of being a gaudy distraction. Sydney would be reimaged in Fox’s Saturday morning cartoon series X-Men: The Animated Series, two and a half decades later as the X-Man Morph. He ended up being cannon fodder by the show's second episode, where he wore an unremarkable X-Men team jumpsuit (and a cool bomber jacket, because, you know…the ‘90s). Morph would later appear in the crossover “Age of Apocalypse” and would see a huge return to comics in Exiles #1 as part of a team of heroes from fractured times and realities.
Morph may look like a clown, but he’s dead serious when it’s time to be a hero.
While Morph looked silly in the pages of Exiles with his unnecessary cape (is any cape really necessary?) and goofy grin, he proved to be a pretty complex and determined character. Morph would go to bat for his fellow teammates at the drop of a hat. Despite being a bit unhinged at times, he was often seen as the moral heart of any team he was on. He’s also gone toe-to-toe with some pretty heavy-hitters in the Marvel Universe like Proteus, Mojo and even Ms. Marvel.
16 MAGGOTT
Maggott gets a bum rap for a good reason. Among the myriad members of the rotating X-Men team roster, Maggott is a mutant with a power set that is arguably one of the most bizarre and difficult gifts to really comprehend. Basically, he can consume any material and immediately turn that into energy that allows him to alter his size, speed and strength. His appearance only slightly explains it, and he also uses two semi-sentient slugs named Eany and Meany often act as gauntlets in battle. Oh, we forgot to mention that the slugs are what do all Maggott's matter-consuming.
To put it in practical terms, Maggott basically has a ridiculous digestive system and arguably the weirdest metabolism for any superhero. But Maggott’s dark and tragic past has made him a strong-willed and noble character, and he rejected Magneto’s militant zero-tolerance stance in order to reach “peace.” Maggott stuck around for quite some time during and after Scott Lobdell and Joe Madureira’s run on Uncanny X-Men, but sadly he has wound up being the butt of many jokes and is often referred to as one of the worst X-Men ever. But recently, Maggott has made a bit of a comeback as one of the new Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse in a vision of the future. While several mutants have been used as one of Apocalypse’ harbingers of doom, it goes to show Maggott might be a bit tougher than we all thought.
15 KID OMEGA
Quinten Quire is a bit of a twerp. He’s a loud-mouthed, spoiled rich kid with all the annoying trappings of a teenager in revolt. He sports cheeky anti-establishment t-shirts and has punk-inspired hair. If the happenings of the Xavier Institute played out like a cheap ‘80s high school comedy, Quinten would find himself stuffed into a locker or getting a swirly from some muscle-bound meathead. But here’s the thing, while people will step up to him from time to time, especially Wolverine, this particular mutant is not to be trifled with.
Quire, an Omega-level psychic mutant, gave himself the codename Kid Omega.
Quire is able to create pretty much any weapon he can think of out of energy on top of his telepathic and telekinetic abilities. He’s faced a plethora of X-Men villains (and heroes) and lived to tell the tale. While his prickly exterior is often seen as a front to the soft, heartfelt young man that he may truly be on the inside, it’s a good thing that he falls on the side of the X-Men more frequently than the groups who oppose them. Ever since his first appearance in New X-Men #134, he has been a character who challenges the status quo in X-books, but he's also evolved, even if he can’t seem to lose that chip on his shoulder.
14 PROFESSOR X
People who have disabilities often can have the same quality of life as someone without them. Medical treatment, better facilities and a more compassionate, well-educated understanding of people's needs, especially those in wheelchairs, is far more prevalent in society than it ever has been in the past. But when Professor Charles Xavier was first introduced over 50 years ago, compassion and understanding weren't so abundant. In fact, the notion that an elderly gentleman in a wheelchair could be the most powerful mutant alive was presented as an amazing contrast that seems a little outdated.
While there have been tons of debates regarding why Xavier doesn’t just use his resources to make himself walk again, it doesn’t take away from the fact that Professor X is tough as nails, even when confined to his wheelchair (which is strangely infrequent, all things considered.) During Joss Whedon and John Cassaday’s iconic run on Astonishing X-Men, the Danger Room became sentient and immediately wanted revenge against its designer. Well, Danger picked a fight with the wrong X-Man seeing as how she went toe to toe with the original X-Man. Xavier processed to battle Danger by running her down with a semi-truck before physically lopping the sentient A.I.’s head off with an axe. Professor X is a savage, and don’t you forget it.
13 M
Monet Yvette Clarisse Maria Therese St. Croix (boy, that’s a mouthful), or M for short, comes from an extremely wealthy aristocratic family and does have any chill when it comes to wearing this fact on her sleeve (literally). She tends to love designer brands and maintains her pristine, modelesque looks.
Don't let her slight stature fool you, Monet is one of the most physically strong X-Men.
M possesses superhuman strength, speed, reflexes, vision and hearing, and she also has the gifts of supersonic flight, telekinesis, telepathy, a healing factor and as if that wasn’t enough, a genius-level intellect. Basically, M is almost perfect in every conceivable way. She is as close to a Superman that the X-Men have. But this near-perfection is not without faults, and those faults are what make her so tough. M has some siblings, and they are not so beautiful or well put-together. In fact, her brother Marius, the villainous mutant-vampire Emplate, is her biggest foil. During the criminally underrated run on Generation X by Christina Strain and Amilcar Pinna, M has merged with her brother as M-Plate. After a confrontation, M is able to escape her parasitic brother’s grasp (with a little help from her friends) to return to her old self. This battle pretty much solidifies that there may not be another villain that could give M a run for her money.
12 DAZZLER
Alison Blaire made her first appearance in Uncanny X-Men #130 in 1980. Originally developed as a cross-platform promotional character between Casablanca Records and Marvel Comics, the mutant known as Dazzler has often been chided by comic fans as a joke. And when she first took to the pages in a stark white disco jumpsuit, disco ball high heels and a ridiculous wing-tipped mask, it was hard to blame them for making this assumption. The relationship between Marvel and Casablanca records quickly dissolved as the disco music genre was in its death throes by the time the deal with finished. So then, Marvel Comics had a character with a power set (the ability to convert sound into beams of light) that it wasn't entirely sure how to utilize after disco died out.
For quite some time after her initial adventures, Dazzler remained on the back burner in the X-Men universe, appearing infrequently. But that didn’t stop creators from giving the living, breathing disco ball of a character a new lease on life. Alison Blaire has come a long way, becoming an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. during Brian Michael Bendis’ run on Uncanny X-Men and All-New X-Men. She even went on to face Thanos during the Civil War II event, something that some of the more powerful heroes in the X-Men roster would think twice about doing.
11 TOAD
Is Toad the worst member of the Brotherhood of Mutants? No, that would probably be the Blob, but Mortimer Toynbee is often cited as a pretty close second. However, this estimation is actually pretty unfair. For all of his flaws, like that ridiculous jester costume and goofy bowl cut he used to sport, Toad is actually a rather complex character with some impressive powers. It’s easy to take one look at Toad and giggle. A guy who resembles a cross between a tree frog and a bridge troll doesn’t exactly evoke fear in an enemy. When squaring off with the X-Men, it would be easy to see why some members would scoff at the idea of Toad being any sort of threat.
Toad is one of the X-Men's oldest enemies and has some pretty gross powers.
Toad first appeared in The X-Men #4 in 1964 and has been a permanent fixture since then, and he also has some rather impressive skills that you would not want to be on the business end of. On top of having a healing factor, superhuman strength and agility, Toad also possess a paralyzing mucous secretion that can incapacitate his enemies. This, coupled with his insanely strong prehensile tongue, Toad should really have gone by a different codename, like something related to a deadly snake. Too bad somebody else took the name Cobra.
10 MONDO
Mondo was created by writer Scott Lobdell and artist Chris Bachalo and first appeared in Generation X #3…sort of. Technically, that was Mondo’s clone. The real character revealed himself years later in Generation X #60 because, you know, comics are weird. Regardless of the authenticity of the Mondo on the page, when this larger-than-life, good-natured Somoan mutant first showed up, he donned a big smile and extremely loud and colorful flower-print shirts. The guy was nothing short of being a loveable lug. But don’t let his smiley exterior fool you. Mondo is rather powerful and extremely dangerous, especially when the evil Mondo shows up fighting alongside Black Tom Cassidy and Juggernaut against the members of Generation X (he's an evil clone; what can you do?).
Mondo’s mutant power is not something to look down upon. He has the ability to absorb any organic or inorganic material on a cellular level, which allows him to take on that material’s properties. For example, if he touches Colossus’ organic steel exterior, his entire body, organs and all, presumably becomes it. This makes him someone you would want to watch your back in a fight. Sadly, Mondo has not really gotten the love he deserves. His sweet nature makes him a happy inclusion, and his powers make him both visually stunning and one of the X-Men’s heavy hitters.
9 EYE-BOY
Trevor Hawkins, or Eye-Boy, is certainly a visually striking character on the page, but just because he has a unique look, does not mean he appears to be tough. In fact, since he is literally covered in eyeballs (yes, those squishy things you see through), he looks as if you could incapacitate him with a few well-placed jabs with an index finger. When he first appeared in Wolverine and the X-Men #19 by Jason Aaron and Nick Bradshaw back in 2012, Eye-Boy’s demeanor did not do him any favors either. He was nervous and somewhat craven. Given the seemingly vulnerable (and kind of gross) body that Trevor grew into, you cannot blame him.
Eye-Boy can see anything, and everything, down to a cellular level.
But as the character developed in the aforementioned series and later in writer Christina Strain and artists Amilcar Pinna’s run on Generation X, Eye-Boy would prove to have the potential to become a powerful X-Man. In a few alternate future timeline moments in Wolverine and the X-Men, Trevor has become someone a militarized watcher for the X-Men, showing that he has some real fight in him after all. And in Generation X, once his powers start to mature, Trevor is revealed to have a gift that could give any X-Team the upper hand in the reconnaissance department with his ability to see things down to a cellular level.
8 GAMBIT
Okay, we know what you’re thinking: Gambit looks awesome. He is awesome, especially for kids who grew up reading Jim Lee-era X-Men books and watched Fox’s Saturday morning cartoon X-Men: The Animated Series. And Gambit doesn’t just look cool; his powers are cool, too. His ability to turn any object into raw kinetic energy makes him dangerous. This guy can be twirling a pen between his fingers one moment and then make that pen blast a hole in the side of a building the next. That’s nothing to sneeze at.
But what some fans do not realize is the extent to which Remy LeBeau’s powers can reach. It's a good thing that we have Apocalypse to show us just what the ol’ ragin’ Cajun can do. When Gambit succumbed to the will of En Sabah Nur, he was imbued with a massive power boost that ran far beyond being able to transfer kinetic energy. As the Horseman Death, Gambit was able to affect matter on a microscopic level and could turn the air around us into poisonous clouds. In fact, there wasn’t much time before Apocalypse gave him another upgrade to stop Gambit from charging the ground beneath his feet to leave a crater in the Earth. It’s actually somewhat frightening to think of what Gambit could really do if he put his mind to it.
7 DOOP
Doop is arguably the most strange X-Man to has ever grace the page. He isn’t just strange in terms of how he looks (which is like Slimer from Ghostbusters with an X on his belly), his powers are equally weird. It’s easy to write Doop off as silly, cartoonish character who is there just for comic relief. His bulbous green body and undecipherable word bubbles do not make him an easy character to take seriously. But outside of his obvious ability of flight, Doop pack quite a punch.
Beyond his obvious ability to fly, the odd-looking Doop packs quite a punch.
This pint-sized hero has an accelerated healing factor, superhuman strength and an extra-dimensional void within his body that can be used to store and transport any object, including his fellow X-Men. Doop is often the team’s ace in the hole in tight situations. He’s basically the mutant equivalent of a Swiss Army Knife, and his power is practically immeasurable. The fact that his so disarming in his appearance also gives him the benefit of getting the drop on enemies. Doop also is a busy guy. While he is often seen napping at administrative desks at the Xavier Institute during the day, at night and during his off time, he runs various missions and isn’t afraid to get his weird, little green hands dirty.
6 JUBILEE
Jubilation “Jubilee” Lee is the quintessential spunky teenage member of the X-Men. She’s brash, quick to jump into a fight with some of the most notorious villains the X-Men have ever faced and is a constant reliable hero. But her self-proclaimed mallrat fashion sense and seemingly silly, fireworks-like powers don’t necessarily convey how important or powerful she really is. Created by legendary X-Men scribe, Chris Claremont, and artist Mark Silvestri, Jubilee first appeared in Uncanny X-Men #244 in 1989, and she was certainly a product of the time. Jubilee spoke like a stereotypical late ‘80s teen and wore the neon colors and ostentatious clothing of the era.
But as the old adage goes, you can’t judge a book by its cover. Jubilee does more than just shoot fireworks from her fingertips. What she can actually do is generate pyrotechnic energy blasts, evade telepathic detection from the most powerful mutant telepaths and charge inanimate object so they turn into bombs. In recent years, Jubilee would eventually lose her powers before becoming a vampire. Her vampirism gives her all the standard blood-sucking fare. She had immortality, superhuman speed, strength and agility, and of course regeneration. While many fans were not pleased with Jubilee becoming a creature of the night, it only added to the dichotomy between her bratty teenage appearance and the powers she possesses.
5 ICEMAN
When Bobby Drake is first seen on the cover of X-Men #1 back in 1963 by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, he is seen as snowman throwing snowballs at Magneto, a villain who looked awesome, even back then. Needless to say, Iceman has come a long way from his start as a silly snowman. While even these days, he usually looks like a skinny man in cargo shorts who just happens to be made of ice, you know, the stuff that breaks and melts with minimum effort. But Bobby is one of the heaviest hitters the X-Men have ever had in their ranks.
Since his 1960s debut, Iceman has gotten progressively more powerful as his character evolved.
Since he is one of the original five team members of Professor Charles Xavier’s inaugural class, Iceman has been graced with the gift of longevity within the X-Men universe. There are times we've seen Bobby as a massive ice golem who is practically unstoppable or as a hulking, spiky ice brute that can freeze anything in his path. Bobby does not mess around, and he proves that ice is as tough as stone (well almost; he did get run over by Colossus during “Age of Apocalypse” and shattered into a million pieces). There is a good reason Iceman has stuck around for half a century. He’s tough, reliable and exemplifies what an X-Man can be.
4 HUSK
First appearing in Rom Annual #3 in 1984, Paige Guthrie is introduced as the kid sister to Cannonball. She is a girl from a Kentucky coal mining community who ostensibly poses no real threat. She’s petite, pretty and is a bit of an overachiever. When she was reintroduced later by writer Fabian Nicieza and artist Tony Daniel in X-Force #32 ten years later, she revealed to be a mutant like her big brother. But Paige’s power set is far different from her brother’s. As almost a strange metaphor for her desire to shed her “hayseed” persona, she is able to strip her skin (or husk) away to generate a different composition and shape for her body, usually revealing stone or some other tough substance as a new exterior.
While this may seem like a somewhat inapplicable power when in battle, Husk has time and time again proven herself a tough hero who can fight alongside the best. During her time as a resident in Utopia, she is possessed by Proteus, which leaves her powers (and her mental stability) extremely volatile. While she tries to acclimate to her new state of being after Proteus’ possession wore off, her powers developed in wild new ways. New versions of her skin produce kinetic energy and other strange powers. This makes Husk a wild card in the ranks of the X-Men, one that is extremely volatile.
3 CANNONBALL
Sam Guthrie was first introduced in The New Mutants graphic novel by Chris Claremont and Bob McLeod. While his heroism was instantly on display, the mutant who would adopt the codename Cannonball was a gangly kid from Kentucky who, at first glance, did not look like he had the moxie to become one of the most powerful heroes in the X-Men Universe. Sam’s strange costume choices later on after he graduated from the New Mutants to join Cable’s proactive mutant hit squad, X-Force, didn’t earn him any favors. His bomber jacket and flight goggles (which he never seemed to use!) made this once-skinny kid kind of look like an extra from a 1930s adventure.
Cannonball's powers make him a living mutant missile that's always ready to blast off.
Cannonball is a true force to be reckoned with since his mutant gift is one that makes him a literal weapon of mass destruction. In fact, the word “cannonball” does not really do justice to his fantastic abilities. Sam can travel at ridiculous speeds and is nearly indestructible when he's generating his “blast field” while in flight. He is a human bullet that can knock through steel barriers with ease. His brazed attitude and fearlessness make him an amazing leader, and he has the brawn to back up his commands.
2 CYPHER
Poor Doug Ramsey never stood a chance. As the mutant Cypher, he was often cited as the least popular member of the New Mutants. Artists hated to draw him due to the fact that his power was to be able to intrinsically understand and translate any language, written or spoken. When it came to combat, there wasn’t much for him to do other than to take cover and hope his teammates kept the threat at bay. Unless the New Mutants were battling a group of etymologists during a trivia night, Doug was pretty much useless. Eventually, after a decent amount of fan and creator outcry, Cypher met his demise in New Mutants #60, but that wasn’t the end for this human Rosetta Stone.
During the “Necrosha” storyline, Doug is resurrected through the Transmode Virus and has a better understanding of his mutant power, despite being dead for a couple decades. When Doug arrives at the doorstep of his old New Mutant teammates, he is met with a mix of open arms and trepidation. The reunion is brief and anything but sweet. Cypher takes out his entire team in hand-to-hand combat. It turns out that, aside from spoken and written language, Doug can read body language, which he uses this to turn the attacks of his former teammates against them. Basically, he fights like Neo from The Matrix, and it looks amazing on the page.
1 SHADOWCAT
Kitty Pryde is a bit of an icon these days, but when she first appeared in Uncanny X-Men #129 in 1980, she was a mousy, highly-intelligent 13-year-old girl. She became the flagship character for teenage mutant angst and was forever iconized in the amazing splash page in Uncanny X-Men # 168 in which she proclaims “Professor Xavier is a jerk!” To be fair, she isn’t exactly wrong. Xavier has done his fair share of dirt in the past (remember how Danger was created? Yeah, not cool. This kind of obstinate teenager outburst was what made Shadowcat such a relatable character. But just because a character is relatable doesn’t mean they are tough.
Kitty can phase through any solid object by making herself intangible.
Kitty’s mutant ability is pretty straightforward… well, kind of. Basically, she’s the master of “up high, down low, too slow” high-fives. But Kitty’s power set is actually quite impressive. During Joss Whedon and John Cassaday’s amazing run on Astonishing X-Men, she was able to make a bullet the size of a skyscraper phase through Earth, essentially saving all of humanity. Later, when she became the de facto leader of the Guardians of the Galaxy and takes on the moniker Star-Lord, she gives a stunning display of how her phasing ability can disrupt electrical devices, knocking spaceships out of orbit by floating through them. Kitty is simply awesome.