The variety of villains in the X-Men has always been the most eclectic in comics. World breaking villains like Magneto, Apocalypse and the Dark Phoenix have nearly brought the team to their absolute destruction on several occasions. And then there is that sad tier of villains that don’t take more than minutes for Kitty Pryde’s dragon to handle.
Conversely, there are some villains that seem lame, but if one were to truly consider their powers and the ways that they could be utilized, these “lame’ villains become dangerous and terrifying.
10 Mammomax
At first glance, the idea of Mammomax is ridiculous. He is a humanoid bi-pedal elephant with hands. He has super strength, a thick hide that can withstand high caliber ammunition, laser blasts and can survive falls from great heights. Mammomax also has two sharp ivory tusks and can expel his highly corrosive stomach acid from his mouth.
What makes Mammomax truly dangerous is that he actually IS a bi-pedal elephant with hands! Drop this creature in a crowded place. Make him run. Allow him to rampage through at full speed. The devastation and loss of life alone would impress the Juggernaut himself!
9 Avalanche
Dominic Petros has the ability to create powerful seismic vibrational waves from his hands. But this Brotherhood of Evil Mutants mainstay has never reached his full potential. But applied strategically, Avalanche could be one of the most feared terrorists in the world. If Avalanche directed his powers at the base of a skyscraper, there is shocking real world evidence of what would happen.
And if Avalanche were to use his power to activate a fault line like the San Andres and start an earthquake or direct his powers at the ocean to create a huge tidal wave over a coastal population, the death toll could be incalculable.
8 Opul-Lun-Sat-Yr-9
Sat-Yr-9 was the dictator of her Earth-794 with her lover Kaptain Briton. Her power is to mentally force those with weak wills to submit to her every desire. But, when she went mad and began murdering her subjects, they rebelled. Sat-Yr-9 was forced to flee to Earth-616 (the main Marvel Universe).
She killed and assumed the life of her counterpart, Courtney Ross. There, she tries to seduce Captain Britain and gain power. Strength of will is a hard to quantify, but if Sat-Yr-9 decided to be a “kingmaker” and be the person that controls the people in power, she’d rule this new world.
7 Pyro
Australian born St. John Allerdyce couldn’t think of a way to make money off of his mutant power to manipulate, grow and solidify flame when it first emerged so he didn’t do anything with it. Until Mystique and the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants outfitted with a suit with built-in flame throwers. Pyro fought by their side but contracted the Legacy Virus, dying as more of a cautionary tale than anything else.
The truth of Pyro’s power is that nearly everything in this world is flammable. If Pyro “just wanted to watch the world burn,” he could quite literally do so.
6 Living Monolith
The Living Monolith should be one of the great cosmic beings of the universe. Egyptology professor Ahmet Abdol could absorb and manipulate vast amounts of cosmic energy and use it to emit concussive blasts through his eyes and increase his size, mass, strength and durability to uncalculated levels.
The man actually grew to the size of a planet once! Abdol’s biggest problem has always been patience. If Abdol could bide his time, taking people of power clandestinely instead of in grand and flamboyant actions to feed his need for power, he could achieve power levels near those of the Celestials.
5 Black Tom Cassidy
Black Tom Cassidy is the cousin of X-Man Banshee and the regular partner of the Juggernaut. Tom is able to bond with plant life and to generate and discharge concussive blast and heat through any wooden object. His choice is a traditional Irish fighting stick called a shillelagh. Black Tom’s life has been marred by petty vendettas against Banshee and his lack of vision for his powers.
If Black Tom can generate his power through all plant mediums, place Black Tom and the X-Men in Central Park and it becomes a firing range. A green house, a family farm, even most homes would be dangerous places in his hands.
4 Mesmero
Mesmero is a green skinned mutant with the ability to hypnotize and control the minds of others. At one point, Mesmero hypnotized members of the X-Men and made them believe that they were circus performers. A definite low point of his career is when he hypnotized Excalibur and was defeated by the dragon Lockheed and a class of school girls. It has been shown that Mesmero’s powers are affected by his confidence.
Mesmero has the ability to change anyone’s, even other telepaths’, memories and personalities. He could empty Fort Knox or control the leaders of the world if he simply believes that he could.
3 Belasco
Belasco is seemingly immortal and possesses immense mystical powers that were granted to him by the Elder Gods. He was charged to create a gateway for them to cross into the Earth dimension through a pentagram containing Five Bloodstones. He first kidnapped Shanna the She-Devil and, later, young Illyana Rasputin to create the Bloodstones but failed and was cast to a lower level of Hell by the disappointed gods.
Given the level of power that Belasco possesses, he should be one of the most formidable sorcerers alive. Instead of getting to the task of creating the Bloodstones, Belasco seemed more interested in fulfilling his baser urges: the seduction of Shanna, the conquest of Limbo, and the turning of Illyana. If Belasco could simply focus his efforts without succumbing to his urges, he could be a power to rival that of Mesphisto.
2 Mastermind
Jason Wyngarde is a mutant with the ability to create exceptionally realistic psionic illusions in the minds of his victims. He can even affect powerful telepaths like Professor Xavier and Jean Grey. Using a mind tap device, Mastermind made the Phoenix Force Jean Grey believe that he was a handsome Victorian gentleman and her lover. This drove the Phoenix insane and ultimately to planetary scale murder and suicide.
Wyngarde was always a very slight, not very attractive man with a very petty nature. These two character flaws limited him. If he were patient, Mastermind could have easily caused the deaths of nearly hero by carefully prepared illusions. He could have mesmerized any woman he wanted and have emptied any bank and made them think that the money was still there.
1 Arcade
Virtually nothing is known about the assassin Arcade other than he murdered his wealthy father and inherited his money. Arcade used that money to become the world’s most expensive assassin. At $1 million a victim, Arcade created elaborate “Murderworlds” amusement park like death traps.
He has subjected nearly every X-team to one of his death traps as well as other heroes. Arcade killed several young members of the Avengers Academy in the “Avengers Arena”. Arcade’s arrogance is often his undoing. He has always given his victims a slim chance. But, occasionally through boredom or because he doesn’t like the client, Arcade will just let the heroes go. There is no way to improve Arcade. He's enough trouble as is.