The 2000s were a particularly productive period for X-men comics with a ton of different series being released with a ton of new characters. While some characters from this decade are no longer around, others continue to appear in modern-day X-men comics. Two of these characters of noted popularity would be X-23 and Fantomex.
Both characters are mutants that have been altered to be the ultimate killing machine. Beyond that similarity, the characters' different powersets that make them threats for different reasons. These characters' different abilities and powers make good cases for either of them to be the deadliest mutant introduced in the 2000s. This article will examine five reasons why either character can be considered to be the deadliest mutant.
10 X-23: A More Agile Version of Wolverine
A lot of X-23's deadliness is the result of her being a clone of Wolverine. This fact can be easily seen by her claws being quite similar to Wolverine. She, however, has the claws in different positions with two coming out of each hand and one from each foot. These claws combine with her training as an assassin would already make her threat, but she has another aspect that makes her even deadlier.
What makes X-23 particularly deadly is that she has enhanced agility. This agility combined with her lighter body size makes her a quicker and more agile version of Wolverine, making her a particular deadly opponent to face off against.
9 Fantomex: His Nervous System Can Manifest Externally
Let's get this out of the way, Fantomex is a really weird character. While the concept of him being a genetically enhanced assassin with the personality of a pulp hero is easy to understand, he has some really weird powers and abilities.
A good example of his weird ability would that he can make his primary nervous system manifest as a techno-organic being called E.V.A. Not only can E.V.A serve as a weapon or vehicle that Fantomex can call upon at any time, but it can enhance Fantomex himself. That enhancement being that when Fantomex is separated from E.V.A he can no longer feel any pain.
8 X-23: Resistances To Psychic Powers
X-23 has displayed on several occasions a strong resistance to any effort to psychically probe her mind. This ability is of an unknown origin. While this ability is one that Wolverine had displayed on a couple of occasions, it is unclear if this power is a result of her natural mutant ability, training, or some sort of modification done to her.
This ability primarily manifests itself in powerful mental blocks that make even the world's most powerful telepath struggle to probe her mind. Not only does this allow her to avoid her mind being read easily, but it also protects her from telepathic attacks that could disarm her or knock her out.
7 Fantomex: Has Three Brains
Another part of Fatnomex's weird powerset is the fact he has three brains. This multi-brain state is a result of him having his brain enhanced through cybernetic. These three brains primarily serve as a way for Fantomex to process information at a faster rate than the average human and allow him to respond to events and attacks quicker. These three brains also grant him a genius-level intellect.
His multi-brain state also allows Fantomex to switch his main personality out with two other personalities that are proficient at different things. One personality is designed to be good at convincing people and misdirecting them. The other personality is good at being a ruthless hunter of Mutants.
6 X-23: Combat-Oriented Situational Awareness
Thanks to her training and enhancement, X-23 is a threat due to her ability to situational awareness. This ability was designed to allow her to quickly figure out when she enters a room, how to kill everybody in it. She can quickly determine threats and respond quickly to sudden changes in combat. It also gives her the ability to determine the odds of a precise situation.
While this ability can cause her problem as she unconsciously analyzes every situation as a potentially dangerous one, it does allow her to overcome dangerous situations on many occasions. It overall makes her an opponent that is dangerous to not take seriously or think she can simply be defeated by just being outnumbered.
5 Fantomex: Ruthless Personality
A clear area that Fantomex has the advantage over X-23 in being deadly is his personality. While X-23 has a long struggle with her urge to kill her opponents, Fantomex has fewer hang-ups about killing an opponent or even individuals that he perceived as a potential threat.
While this leads to Fantomex having less retention in the foes he comes across, it does make him a hard fit in a traditional superhero team. Even with a more ruthless team like X-Force, his ruthlessness can cause a problem like when he killed a young clone of Apocalypse in Uncanny X-Force leading him to nearly being kicked off the team.
4 X-23: Healing Factor
Another power that X-23 has thanks to her being a clone of Wolverine is her healing factor. This healing factor not only makes her a threatening opponent as it makes it harder for her to die, but it also allows her to push her body beyond the limits of the average human. The healing factor also works in ways differently than Wolverine that makes even more of a threat.
One difference is that due to her claws being the only part of her made out of Adamantium, her healing power is less taxed as her body does not have to heal from Adamantium poisoning. Another unique aspect of her healing factor is that when her bones and muscles heal they come back stronger making her even more durable.
3 Fantomex: Fluency In Body Language
Thanks to both his training as an assassin and his cybernetic brain, Fantomex is an expert at reading the body language of others. This talent is useful to him, both as a combatant and as a persuader.
In combat, the ability to read an opponent body's language allows Fantomex to predict his opponent's moves and come up with the perfect counter to them. This ability also allows him to learn techniques from simply looking at how a person moves their body to do it. It helps Fantomex when he needs to persuade someone as he can get a better sense of their mood by reading their body language.
2 X-23: Enhanced Senses
One of X-23's powerful abilities is that her senses, especially smell, have been enhanced to a high degree. X-23's sense of smell allows her to be an expert tracker, being able to tell track someone down by their scent even if they were at a place many hours ago. She can also memorize different scents allowing her to track down multiple targets.
Her other senses are also greatly enhanced. Her vision has been enhanced to the point that she can make out things at the nano-scale. Her hearing has also been enhanced so that she can hear things that ordinary people cannot hear. These enhanced senses make X-23 a deadly opponent in that her senses make her both a perceptive opponent and one that can easily locate you.
1 Fantomex: Charamastic
Fantomex is not only deadly in that he could kill you, but that he could turn you against your ally. This ability is thanks to both one of his personality is design to be a very convincing individual and that his body chemistry gives him a natural charisma. His natural charisma is a result of his brain being flushed by a fluid that makes him think that he is the greatest, most important person ever.
Fantomex's charisma is dangerous in that he so charismatic that he can convince opponents to believe that there something there to misdirect them from his or his allies' attacks. His charismatic presence also makes him an intimidating foe to take down as his presence can overwhelming weaker-will opponents.