The X-Men are more than just another superhero team in the Marvel Universe. While they are a legitimate long-lasting team that stands alongside The Avengers and Fantastic Four, they are also the home of Marvel's mutants. Xavier created the X-Men to protect humanity in the name of mutant-kind, but he also created the Xavier Institute to bring in young mutants and teach them in a safe environment.
Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters is not only a school to teach mutants how to use their powers but also a school that teaches regular classes, from math and science to English and more. The best thing is that many of the teachers are classic X-Men characters, from Wolverine and Storm to Kitty Pryde and more. Here is a look at the 10 best teachers from Xavier's school.
10 10. GAMBIT
Gambit has enjoyed an up and down career with the X-Men. He was responsible for the genocide of the Morlocks, was a member of the X-Men as the lover of Rogue, was a member of the Horsemen of Apocalypse and was, yes, a teacher at Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters.
In X-Men Vol. 2 #171, Gambit became a teacher under Emma Frost and was in charge of his own team of students. He didn't get off to a good start. He was manipulated by the alien Golgotha but soon became a reliable teacher until Mystique infiltrated his class and ruined his relationship with Rogue. Gambit was better served as a team leader with the Marauders than as a teacher in the end.
9 9. THE BEAST
The biggest problem with Hank McCoy as a teacher at Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters is that he is way too analytical and emotional and lets those two contrasting qualities cloud his judgment. That is disappointing, as McCoy is brilliant and could have produced some of the brightest students in Xavier school history.
His best role for a time was as the guidance counselor, but he lost a lot of other faculty members trust when he considered taking the mutant cure and had a fight with Wolverine in front of students in the school.
8 8. WOLVERINE
Wolverine and Cyclops have never seen eye to eye. This rift grew during Schism when Cyclops turned the mutants in his care into soldiers, preparing for war. When Cyclops convinced a young mutant named Oya to murder a dozen people, Wolverine knew Scott crossed the line.
Wolverine quit the X-Men and took a handful of teenage mutants with him back to New York and opened the new Jean Grey School for Higher Learning, changing the name of Xavier's school. Logan then reopened the school with himself in charge and began to teach young mutants the right way.
7 7. STORM
When looking at the best leaders of the X-Men, the three that stand at the top is Professor X, Cyclops, and Storm. When looking at teachers, all three are top of the line as well, but Storm falls a bit lower as she was always a better leader than an instructor.
Her most important time as a teacher at the school came after the events of Avengers vs. X-Men. Professor X fell in that battle to Cyclops and Storm found herself single when Black Panther annulled their marriage. Storm returned to the school and became a teacher at that time, moving quickly up into the role of Headmistress.
6 6. MAGNETO
Magneto was one of the X-Men's most dangerous villains for many years. When Professor X left Earth, he begged Magneto to take over his role as the headmaster at Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters, and Magneto accepted.
He not only worked as a member of the X-Men, but Magneto took it upon himself to personally work with and teach the young mutants that were known as the New Mutants. Over time, Magneto became a caring and essential teacher when it came to teaching the young mutant students how to control their emotions and powers. It seemed Xavier knew what he was doing when he asked Magneto for this favor, after all.
5 5. EMMA FROST
Emma Frost was one of the most controlling headmistresses, and she had the experience to back it up. Before she ever took control of the Xavier school, she had students known as the Hellions at her own school, a group of young mutants that rivaled Xavier's New Mutants.
Her school ended up merging with Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters, a rapidly expanding institute. It was at this time that she took back over control of her school, working with Banshee to train a new young class of mutants known as Generation X. She also served as a teacher in Genosha before the attack of the island killed almost all mutants there. Following this, she returned to Xavier's school and began teaching again.
4 4. SCOTT SUMMERS
Cyclops is a natural-born leader, one of the best in X-Men history. He is also charismatic and proved himself quite the cult leader, shown when he developed followers after the Avengers vs. X-Men war turned him into a martyr. As a teacher, he is brilliant, but he is also manipulative and often errs on the side of aggressive behavior.
Scott's first real role as a leader at the school came after the events of Onslaught. Professor X was left powerless, and Scott and Jean became co-headmasters of Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters. After the events of Avengers Vs. X-Men, Scott started the New Charles Xavier's School for the Gifted and started teaching young mutants his team rescued.
3 3. CHARLES XAVIER
Charles Xavier could have been number one on this list at one time. However, there are things that Professor X has done that lower him somewhat on this list. For one thing, Xavier has manipulated mutants for years. Yes, he teaches them how to control their powers and set up Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters to offer a haven for mutants.
However, Xavier gathered all these children to turn them into soldiers for his cause. He messed with a teenage Jean Grey's mind and almost destroyed the world as a result. He brainwashed Wolverine to make him a loyal soldier. Xavier's teachings turned Scott into a psychopath more than nearly anything. However, this is his school, and what resulted has to be given respect.
2 2. JEAN GREY
It speaks volumes that Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters was renamed the Jean Grey School for Gifted Youngsters. Before this ever happened, though, Jean and Scott became headmasters at Xavier's school following the events of Onslaught when Professor X lost his powers and ended up arrested for his crimes.
Later, the New X-Men formed, and Jean became the sole headmistress of the school. She poured all her attention into teaching the new students, putting a strain on her relationship with Scott. The only thing holding her back was her constant deaths, and a little thing called the Phoenix Force interpreting any life she attempts to have.
1 1. KITTY PRYDE
Kitty Pryde is one of the best character arcs in comic books. When readers first met Pryde, she was a child brought in to the X-Men, the youngest member of the team in history. Through the years, Kitty went from being an immature child that helped the team on occasion to a powerful mutant in her own right and the moral backbone of the team.
When Wolverine quit the X-Men and returned to New York, Kitty Pryde became the new headmistress of the Jean Grey School for Gifted Youngsters. When others in the school would not trust her decisions, she quit and joined the New Charles Xavier School for Mutants with Cyclops. Most recently, she restarted the Xavier School in New York as the headmistress there, bringing the X-Men out of hiding.