The X-Men have a long history of welcoming former enemies into the fold. Supervillains like Rogue, Magneto, Emma Frost, and even the Juggernaut have gone from bitter rivals to trusted members of the team before "Dawn of X" altered the status quo. Jonathan Hickman's reinvention of the X-Men saw Charles Xavier welcome all mutants to a new mutant nation with open arms. Previously unthinkable alliances with the likes of Apocalypse and Mister Sinister not only happened but saw them join the ruling Quiet Council. Despite that, the X-Men's biggest Krakoan redemption story might be the island nation itself.

Created by Len Wein and Dave Cockrum, Krakoa was introduced in Giant-Size X-Men #1, billed as "the island that walks like a man". As the villain of the story that began the X-Men's reinvention, it's always held a special place in their history. The original five X-Men, along with Havok and Polaris, were drawn to a small island in the pacific in search of a new mutant detected by Cerebro, unaware that the island was the mutant.

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Krakoa Giant-Size X-Men

When the team arrived, they were quickly captured and fed upon by the island. After Cyclops escaped, Professor Xavier recruited the "All-New" X-Men to accompany him on a rescue mission. The team --which included new characters Storm, Colossus, and Nightcrawler -- were successful in defeating the island's many challenges, including it taking on a humanoid form to fight them. With the original team freed, they teamed up with the new members to finish Krakoa off. After a combined assault from brothers Cyclops and Havok softened it up, Polaris dealt the finishing blow, an idea suggested by Chris Claremont before his legendary X-Men run began. With an electrically charged power-up from Storm, she used her magnetic powers to launch the island into space, the two generations of X-Men barely escaping on a makeshift iceboat.

Despite its role in the transition of one X-Men era to another, Krakoa's appearances following the story were understandably sparse. Nightcrawler encountered the island's "son," a spore that survived Krakoa's space launch when he was a member of Excalibur. The Young X-Men also battled a mysterious new Krakoa whose connection to the original was unclear but Krakoa's biggest impact on X-Men continuity was retroactive. In 2006's X-Men: Deadly Genesis by Ed Brubaker, Trevor Hairsine, Kris Justice, and Val Staples, it was revealed that the "All-New" team wasn't the first Professor Xavier drafted for the rescue mission. A secret team, which had been mentored by Moira MacTaggert, were the ones that actually got Cyclops off the island but unfortunately, their luck ran out there.

Team members Sway and Petra were killed quickly after Cyclops was sent back to the X-Mansion on the Blackbird. Darwin and Cyclops's brother, Kid Vulcan, survived. The trauma of the failed mission, along with Professor Xavier covering up his existence, led to a villainous turn for the third Summers brother. While Krakoa was a catalyst for huge events in X-Men history, its greatest role came in Jonathan Hickman, R.B. Silva, Marte Gracia, and Clayton Cowles' Powers of X #4. After Xavier made telepathic contact with the island, Cypher facilitated his plans to use the island as the home of a mutant nation. Using his linguistic skills to communicate with Krakoa, Cypher was able to put Xavier's ambition plans for the island into motion. He created a way for other mutants to communicate with Krakoa and systems for members of X-Force to run the island with.

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Krakoa does more than offer a sanctuary for mutant-kind. The pharmaceuticals made from its flowers are beneficial to humanity, expanding life spans by five years, among other things. That's made Krakoa an economic powerhouse, giving mutants leverage against a world that usually hates and fears them for the first time.

More than any other reformed supervillain, Krakoa's alliance with the X-Men has changed their fortunes for the better. Unlike any former enemy who's part of the new mutant society, it's not likely to betray the X-Men for its ambitions. It's come a long way, from nearly wiping them out entirely to becoming part of their salvation.

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