History VideoGame / XMenLegends

* BattleCouple: A DoubleDate team bonus goes to Cyclops & Jean Grey with Gambit & Rogue.

* CombatMedic: Rogue and Scarlet Witch are given party-wide healing powers in the second game.

* ElementalPowers: The game has four: [[FireIceLightning elemental]], energy, mental and radioactive.

* InstantArmor: Iceman and Magma can make instant armor based on their elemental abilities after getting the armor upgrade. Storm and Jean Grey get elemental/psychic shields that can be shared with the party.

* ShapedLikeItself: A combo between Gambit's Charged Card and Sunfire's Atomic Charge leads to message... Atomic Atom!

** The games were very similar to an earlier X-Men arcade game. It also provided the template for the ''Ultimate Alliance'' games and was the likely inspiration for much of ''Justice League: Heroes.''

* BadassBaritone: Magneto, courtesy of ''Creator/TonyJay'' (at least in the first game).

* HotterAndSexier: Jubilee. Her previous comic and animated incarnations were a fairly attractive teenage girl (though in the comics she'd once bemoaned not having the MostCommonSuperPower). When she appears in the game, she's got an "Ultimate" style costume consisting of black skintight long pants and [[BareYourMidriff tanktop]], black gloves, as well as her trademark shades and yellow jacket. She also seemed to have...filled out.

* BareYourMidriff: Almost every female outfit.

* ButtMonkey: Toad, starting from his introduction when the Brotherhood leave him behind to face the X-Men. Extends to the sequel where Toad joins with the X-Men but is still mistreated, even when [[CassandraTruth he constantly tries to help by warning of a traitor among their ranks predicted by Destiny.]][[spoiler:He's completely right and it ends up being Beast the whole time.]]

* {{DRM}}: The PC port of ''X-Men Legends II'' make use the Safedisk DRM. Years after the release, a Windows patch has made it impossible to play the game. This force players to either play the game on Windows XP or use a CD crack.

-->'''Magneto:''' I command you to play the game '''this instant!'''
* FlyingBrick: Rogue and [[spoiler:ComicBook/IronMan (if you enable the power up ability)]].

** Also when they level up, such as Scarlet Witch ("MORE POWAH!"), Storm. ("I FEEL AS STRONG AS A HURRICANE!"), and Magneto. ("YESH! MOAR POWAH!!!!")

* TheManBehindTheMan: The one who set Shadow King up to trap Xavier in his realm by kidnapping Illyana/Magik? Apocalypse.

* PermanentlyMissableContent: Just about everything in the first game since you cannot return to an area after finishing a mission, though most items are right out in the open. The second game is a bit better about it, but a few collectible items can still be missed.

A series of console video games developed by Raven Software and released by Activision. Two games were made, ''X-Men Legends'' (2004) and its sequel, ''X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse'' (2005). Both games featured [[MarvelUniverse Marvel]] Comics' ComicBook/XMen traveling all over the globe to save the world by defeating one of their most powerful [[BigBad villains]] - ComicBook/{{Magneto}} in the first game, ComicBook/{{Apocalypse}} in the sequel.

The second game abandons the POV character mechanic (which, in the first game, led to long stretches of Magma wandering around the [[HubLevel X-Mansion]] alone, giving only one player anything to do) and has the X-Men [[RivalsTeamUp teaming up]] with [[EnemyMine the Brotherhood]] to prevent the [[AncientEvil evil immortal]] mutant Apocalypse from becoming invincible.

!Playable X-Men in the first game

!Playable X-Men and Brotherhood members in the sequel
* X-Men: Wolverine, Cyclops, Storm, Jean Grey, Iceman, Rogue, Nightcrawler, Gambit, Colossus, Sunfire, Bishop
* Brotherhood of Mutants: {{ComicBook/Magneto}}, Toad, ComicBook/ScarletWitch, Juggernaut. Sabretooth and Pyro were PC exclusive.
* Unlockable characters: Professor X, [[spoiler: ComicBook/IronMan, ComicBook/{{Deadpool}}]]. ComicBook/XMan, {{ComicBook/Cable}}, Cannonball, and Dark Phoenix were PSP exclusives.

* AGodAmI: By way of Magneto's BlasphemousBoast in the first game as he covers the Earth in asteroids. No, seriously. The gravitas of Creator/TonyJay certainly help.

* AdaptationDistillation:
** The games liberally combine elements from decades of comics, the [[UltimateUniverse Ultimate]] line, the cartoon, and the movies, along with some things they just make up.
** Apocalypse's goal in ''II'' is just his plan from the late 90s storyline ''The Twelve'', condensed greatly, mixed in with some of ''Age of Apocalypse''.
* AdaptationalVillainy: The Stepford Cuckoos, who in the comics are with the X-Men, [[spoiler:despite having been made by Weapon Plus to kill all mutants]], here serve Apocalypse willingly out of revenge against Emma Frost for a FailureToSaveMurder that resulted in one of their fellow Cuckoos being killed during a mission.
* AllYourPowersCombined: Apocalypse's plan in ''X-Men Legends II'' is to kidnap and steal the powers of 4 mutants with harmonic DNA, which when placed in one individual amplify each other. The resulting combination combined with Apocalypse's own powers would make him effectively invincible. The mutants are [[MagnetismManipulation Polaris]], [[SuperSpeed Quicksilver]], [[MindOverMatter Emma Frost]], and [[GoodThingYouCanHeal Sabretooth.]]
* TheArtifact: In ''II'', Apocalypse's worshipers are called the Madri, which in ''Age of Apocalypse'' was because they were created from mass-cloning Jamie Madrox, the Multiple Man. Here, no such connection is even hinted at.

* AscendedExtra: Bishop has a cameo in New York as a small child in the first game, as is a playable character in the second game.

** Magneto gets abducted by Sentinels partway through X-Men Legends. He very quickly breaks free, but he's really angry.
** Xavier gets captured by the Shadow King, and the X-Men lack the ability to free him for most of the game.

* BadBoss: Apocalypse detonated an EMP bomb that fried both Genosha's aircrafts and his own fleet.
* BagOfSpilling: All of your levels and any powerful gear you might have collected are completely lost from the first game to the second game.
* BaitAndSwitchBoss: In the Infinite Factory, you're told that Sinister's super computer is in charge, and is implied that it will create a copy of Sinister to fight you. [[spoiler: Instead you're forced to fight four holographic generators that constantly spawn evil copies of Storm, Ice Man, Wolverine and Cyclops.]]

* BigBadEnsemble: The first game has ''three'' major villains, all of whom have their own goals separate from one another and all of whom are defeated in the final chapters: [[WellIntentionedExtremist Magneto]], [[GeneralRipper Gen.]] [[FantasticRacism William Kincaid]], and [[DarkIsEvil Shadow]] [[ArchEnemy King]]. In the end, [[spoiler: Kincaid is the storyline's primary and most despicable villain, and the FinalBoss to boot (using a Master Mold).]]
* BladeOnAStick: Several enemies from the second game are armed with polearms of various types.

* BonusBoss: Lady Deathstrike from the second game: if your main character is an X Man or if you have Wolverine in your party, she will attack you. If your main character is a member of the Brotherhood, he can just bribe her with money and let her go.
* BonusDungeon: In the second game, characters could gain access to an extra-dimensional prison from which they could free Iron Man, who would then become a playable character. Stryfe as well, since his level can be bypassed entirely and the players can beat the game without having to fight him.
* BoyishShortHair: Jean Grey in the first game, who has the hairstyle of her Ultimate incarnation.
* BrainwashedAndCrazy: In the second game, [[spoiler: Beast and Angel are captured by Apocalypse and brainwashed into helping him, resulting in the game's versions of Dark Beast (Beast's ''ComicBook/AgeOfApocalypse'' counterpart) and Archangel. However, defeating them also undoes the brainwashing.]]
* BrickJoke: In Act 1 of the second game, Mister Sinister muses on combining Nightcrawler's teleportation ability with Cyclops' Optic Blasts. One of the enemy types in Act 4 is the Optic Ghost, an enemy who can teleport and fire Optic Blasts.

* ChuckCunninghamSyndrome:
** Despite being the main character of the first game, Magma is nowhere to be found in the second.
** Psylocke and Jubilee flat-out don't even get mentioned in the second game.
** From the Brotherhood side, Avalanche is the only one in the first game not to return in the second.
* ColonyDrop: The first game ends with Asteroid M plunging towards Earth, and the X-Men trying to stop this because of the devastation it would cause.

** Magma from the first game is a composite of Magma's powers and physical appearance with Kitty Pryde's personality and general "newcomer to the X-Men" character type. Developers wanted to use Kitty Pryde as the viewpoint character for the first game, but her intangibility powers would have been difficult to provide an appropriate level of challenge for.
* CrisisCrossover: In ''Rise of Apocalypse'', where both X-Men and Brotherhood are forced to unite against the title villain, and Iron Man is a recruitable character.

* DamselInDistress: Illyana Rasputin in the first game, who's gone into a coma for mysterious reasons. Turns out Shadow King did it to lure Xavier into the astral plane.
* DarkestHour: The last third of the fist game is incredibly bleak for the X-Men. Professor Xavier has had his mind trapped in the Astral Plane by Shadow King, Magneto has blotted out the sun by surrounding the planet with asteroids, and a government black ops group led by an anti-mutant psychopath is kidnapping mutants to turn them into literal killing machines. Thankfully they get to turn it all around.
* DemotedToExtra:
** Emma Frost. Playable character in the first game, NPC in the second. Still, that's better than some other characters who were playable in the first game (such as Jubilee) who don't appear at all in the second game. Probably to make room for the Brotherhood characters.
** Beast himself suffered from this in the first act [[spoiler: until he's captured and BrainwashedAndCrazy, then returned to this after being defeated, which also undoes the brainwashing.]]
** Poor Magma only ever gets mentioned in a trivia question in the second game, despite being the main character from the first.
** Mystique goes from being one of the major villains and a recurring boss to just another NPC at hubs. Like Shadowcat, there was likely no way to interpret her shapeshifting powers in a beat-em-up game.
* DevelopersForesight: On occasion, in ''II'', bringing certain characters to missions will trigger unique dialogue. For example, Rogue and Mystique when the latter is met in the Savage Land.
* DreamLand: In the first game, the team has to enter Professor X's mind on the Astral Plane.

* EleventhHourRanger: Psylocke is the last character to join the party in the first game, doing so when there are only three levels left. Unfortunately, you won't get much use out of her, since two of the three remaining levels are populated by Sentinels, who resist mental damage, which is the type of damage Psylocke specializes in.
* EnemyMine: In the first game, [[spoiler:Magneto and the X-Men temporarily team up to defend themselves when the Xavier Institute is attacked by a squad of Sentinels.]] Additionally Havok, who's working for the Brotherhood, teams up with Cyclops and Wolverine to investigate the disappearances of several mutants at the old Weapon X grounds.
* EvilSoundsDeep: Magneto since he's voiced by ''Creator/TonyJay''. Also, Shadow King, General Kincaid, Juggernaut, Apocalypse...

* FlippingTheBird: Wolverine flips off Sabretooth with his middle claw in the opening of the second game.

* GameBreakingBug: The second half of ''X-Men Legends 2'' is prone to frequent crashing if the hero chest, used for storing unused equipment, is more than half full, since the levels get much larger from [[ChurchOfHappyology the Madri Temple]] onward. Worst case scenario, you will no longer be able to load your save file.

* GameWithinAGame:
** The characters could go to the Danger Room and play through several mini-game-like training scenarios.
** The PSP version of the second game added bonus levels based on classic issues of the comics that could be unlocked by finding comics in the levels. Playing some of these levels unlocked PSP exclusive characters such as Cable and Cannonball.
* GameplayAndStorySegregation:
** Pyro and Sabretooth are playable characters in the PC version of the second game. They appear as [=NPCs=], and are captured in the game by Apocalypse's forces. The problem is that the characters are still playable while they've been captured. In Pyro's case, the party breaks him out of prison during Act 1, though he is available before that, allowing the player to have Pyro rescue himself. More serious is Sabretooth's case, [[spoiler: since he is the fourth and final mutant with Harmonic DNA that Apocalypse captures for his evil plan.]]
** It's also possible to do this with [[spoiler: Deadpool]] once he has been unlocked, though it gets lampshaded this time given the kind of character he is. The two [[spoiler: Deadpools]] argue over which is the real one.

* TheGhost: Marrow, in the second game, after being a recurring villain in the first.
* GiantMecha: [[spoiler:Master Mold, the last boss of ''X-Men'' Legends, which is piloted by General Kincaid.]]
* GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere: A lot of bosses in the second game, which feels no real need to explain who they are.
* GovernmentAgencyOfFiction: GRSO, in X-Men Legends. They're apparently a weather research agency, but really, they're collecting data of Mutants.
* GuestFighter: The second game features two:
** [[spoiler:ComicBook/IronMan]] is unlocked by [[spoiler:finding all of his armor and bringing the pieces to his alter ego Tony Stark, who has been kidnapped by Apocalypse's forces and put in a cave, but unfortunately without [[MemeticMutation a box of scraps]]]].
** The second game also features [[spoiler:ComicBook/{{Deadpool}}]].
* GuestStarPartyMember: Professor X in the first game. He only appears for one mission and is ridiculously overpowered, and after that he's never in the party again [[spoiler: until near the very end where he briefly becomes playable in the form of "The Astral Gladiator" to take on the Shadow King in a 1-on-1 fight.]]
* HoistByHisOwnPetard: In the second game, during the final part of the boss battle against [[HumanoidAbomination Abyss]] he absorbs the characters inside his body... [[spoiler: where you can detonate the bombs left inside himself and defeat him for good.]]
* HorribleJudgeOfCharacter:
** Havok trusts Magneto.
** Blink is unable to recognize Sabretooth is a demented murder-maniac, even though he's not really making any attempt to hide it.
* HotterAndSexier: Jubilee in the first game. Her previous comic and animated incarnations were a fairly attractive teenage girl (though in the comics she'd once bemoaned not having the MostCommonSuperPower). When she appears in the game, she's got an "Ultimate" style costume consisting of black skintight long pants and [[BareYourMidriff tanktop]], black gloves, as well as her trademark shades and yellow jacket. She also seemed to have...filled out.
* HubLevel: The X-Mansion in the first game. The second game had the characters relocating their base of operations from one section of the game to the next, with locations like Genosha, Muir Island, and the Savage Land.

** [[AnIcePerson Iceman]] gets into full [[FilM/BatmanAndRobin Mr. Freeze]] mode ("I didn't think I could get any cooler!", "I'm too cool for school!" "X-Men, get over here or I'm toast!")

* InMediasRes: The second game begins with Professor X already having been captured by Apocalypse, and the X-Men and the Brotherhood working together.
* InnocentInnuendo: In the second game, Colossus compliments Scarlet Witch's intelligence and beauty. He's just being nice, but before he knows it Magneto is beaming at the thought of a powerful mutant that wants to be his future son-in-law. HilarityEnsues as he has to explain this mess to [[OneTruePairing Kitty Pryde]], still not sure exactly what he did wrong in the first place.

* InterfaceSpoiler: After you find the first '''secret items''' (dramatic emphasis) in the game, Professor X states that these are the key to locating a certain individual who will help the team greatly. He chooses not to reveal this individual's identity, leaving you to discover it for yourself once all the secret items are uncovered. So you look at the pause menu and it tells you how many [[spoiler:''Iron Man armour pieces'']] you have thus far...
* IShallTauntYou: Toad and Rogue have attacks goading enemies to attack them, with Toad's one even being called "Taunt".

** Apocalypse hams it up by just [[AcCENTUponTheWrongSylLABle his inflections]] and [[GutturalGrowler growly voice]], especially thanks to his long-winded speeches. He also apparently has NoIndoorVoice. ("YOU FOOLS. YOU SHOULD BE ''THANKING'' ME, NOT ''PURSUING'' ME. I'M THE ONE WHO SHOWED YOU THE X-MEN AND BROTHERHOOD COULD WORK TOGETHAH! YOU'RE STRONGER FOR-IT!")

* LoneWolfBoss: Sauron in the second game. He is encountered in the entrance of a Nuwali temple necessary to advance the plot, but straight up tells the heroes he has no interest in joining Apocalypse. He does attack them when he realizes they are friends (or in the Brotherhood's case "acquaintances") with his arch-enemy Ka-Zar.
* MacGuffinGirl: The four mutants that provide Harmonic DNA which will grant Apocalypse with ultimate power: [[spoiler:Polaris, Emma Frost, Sabretooth and Quicksilver]].

* MarathonLevel: In the first game the assault on the GRSO research labs where the X-Men finally come face to face with General Kincaid, the main human threat in the game. First you have to breach the compound, then you discover the depravity of Kincaid's human-sentinel hybrid experiments and ''then'' you chase Kincaid through multiple rooms while he taunts you, only for him to ultimately get away in the end.

* MirrorMatch: The Infinite Factory's level in the second game culminates in a boss fight with evil clones of the X-Men.

** During the boss battle with Sabretooth & Avalanche in the first game, including Wolverine in your team will result in the A.I. directing Sabretooth & Wolverine at one another until one dies.
** During the briefing on Blink in the second game, Magneto tells the X-Men that when sufficiently pushed, she can teleport as far as the Moon. In ''Age of Apocalypse'', she did just that.
* {{Nerf}}:
** In the first game, Magneto is the penultimate boss and has more than enough power to provide a challenge for your four-mutant team; in the second, Mags becomes a playable character, and his powers are toned down so he would not be a [[GameBreaker God-Tier character]]. Weirdly, this is an accurate representation of his powers in the comics. Whenever Magneto makes a HeelFaceTurn, it's always accompanied by him being powered down by some contrived plot device, simply so he doesn't curb stomp the rest of the X-Men's rogues gallery, few of whom even approach his normal power levels.
** Storm is also toned down a bit in the second game. For example, her lightning bolt comes directly from her and not the sky, meaning she can no longer hit enemies not in her line of sight.
** Jean Grey is also nerfed. No more clearing rooms with boosted Psychic Scream. At least not without the proper equipment.
** Inverted with Nightcrawler. In the first game, his greatest asset to the party is as a CPU-controlled character who can Leap of Faith members out of danger as his actual offense is really weak, based entirely around teleportation. In the second game, he has an incredibly useful dash attack, can use teleporting as a double jump, and his Master of Chaos super is very handy in boss fights with a lot of mooks. Master of Chaos is also THE single most effective boss killing Extreme in the game. Whereas other Extreme attacks are AoE blasts (or wide Cones in the case of Cyclops) Master of Chaos has Nightcrawler zapping around the field, attacking enemies. But if there is only one enemy on the screen....each and every single attack homes in on that enemy for HUGE damage.
* TheNightThatNeverEnds: In the first game, Magneto covers the entire world in asteroids, encasing it in complete darkness as a show of force to humans
* NoSell: Cyclops and Havok zap one another with their powers, but their powers don't effect one another.
* OffscreenVillainDarkMatter:
** Fresh from the destruction of Asteroid M, Magneto somehow managed to conquer Genosha between the first and the second game, built a city and beef up its defenses.
** Even though Apocalypse hasn't taken over America and reduced the rest of the world to ruins like in ''ComicBook/AgeOfApocalypse'', he boasts an impressive amount of resources and manpower such an massive army of [[PrivateMilitaryContractors mercenaries]], [[BadassArmy Infinites]], a fleet of ships and his own ReligionOfEvil in the form of the Church of Madri, and managing to invade Genosha, the Savage Land and ''New York''. This actually becomes a plot point in Act 3 when the X-Men and the Brotherhood must sabotage his factories in order to hinder his plans.

* OneManArmy:
** Storm. Jean Grey in the first game, though with more than a little GlassCannon. This is mitigated with their respective personal shields.
** Deadpool qualifies, if you play a NewGamePlus file - As he only unlocks ''after'' completing the game once, he's already as strong as the rest of the characters are at the end of the game, and as he's one of the few characters to feature a mix of close and long range attacks, you can play a large portion of the game ''with a party consisting of just Deadpool''.

* PapaWolf: Heartwarmingly enough, Magneto is this to Quicksilver in this version. He's livid when he finds out Apocalypse has kidnapped Quicksilver and is anxious to frantically fly off to save him later in the game.
-->'''Magneto:''' May the Gods help you if my son is harmed!

* PinataEnemy: The first game has Astral Fury in the Danger Room Scenario Graduating Exam 400. While the other enemies in that stage give 400xp per kill, it will give almost 300 TIMES that... and it's not much stronger than them! It makes the for an optimal area to grind on (especially if Cyclops and Storm are in the party, since they both grant leadership bonuses to exp).
* PlayableEpilogue: In the second game only, you can return to previous levels after defeating Apocalypse to explore any missing collectibles and fight a couple of enemies (bosses are gone however).

* PragmaticAdaptation:
** The first game is somewhat similar to the first ''Film/XMen1'' movie: a young mutant girl whose powers attract the attention of both the X-Men and the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. Magneto wants to use her powers for world domination, while the X-Men want to help her control her abilities.
** The second game is a loose adaptation of the ComicBook/AgeOfApocalypse mixed with ''The Twelve'', forgoing time travel and the death of Charles Xavier, basing some characters strictly on their A o A selves (Abyss and Colossus' brother, Mikhail Rasputin are lackeys of Apocalypse like in [=AoA=], as opposed to--respectively--a hero and a threat in his own right in the traditional Marvel Universe), basing others on their classic selves (Sebastian Shaw, Selene, Bastion) and [[spoiler: making Dark Beast a brainwashed Beast]].

* PurposelyOverpowered:
** In the first Astral Plane mission Professor X joins your team of Jean Grey and Emma Frost when he's at level 40, almost three times the rest of the characters' levels. When other characters do about 20-40 hit points with a single punch, he does about 240 points, over 700 if he gets a critical. This makes you feel nice and safe with such a powerful character, until you lose him halfway through the mission [[spoiler: when Shadow King abducts him.]]
** Legends II has the [[SecretCharacter Secret Characters]] [[spoiler:Deadpool and Iron Man]], unlocked after beating the game (or right before the final boss, in the case of the latter). The former is a OneManArmy for most of the game, and the latter can clear whole rooms on his own with his bolts or repulsors when his Boost is activated.
%%* PungeonMaster: Iceman.
* RedHerring:[[spoiler:Destiny foresees that someone within the X-Men or Brotherhood will betray the alliance. We are led to believe it's Angel, since he's captured and a cutscene shows him being turned into Archangel, the last Horseman of Apocalypse. In reality, there were ''two'' traitors, Destiny only foresaw one. The other traitor was Beast, who's been captured and rescued by your party, as part of Apocalypse's plan since he was brainwashed to be TheMole]].
* RememberTheNewGuy: A lot of characters in ''2'' are just sort of there, as if they'd always been.
* RivalsTeamUp: Magneto and the Brotherhood are the villains in the first game, playable characters in the second.
* SchmuckBait: How did Apocalypse capture [[spoiler:Iron Man]]? Turns out all he needed was a beautiful woman. [[spoiler:Tony]] fell for it.
* SecretCharacter: In the second game, [[spoiler: ComicBook/IronMan and ComicBook/{{Deadpool}}]].

* SkillPointReset: Available for increasingly steep prices in the second game.
* SmurfettePrinciple: In the sequel, Scarlet Witch is the only woman in the Brotherhood's side. Mystique and Destiny are also women in the Brotherhood, but they are not playable.

* TrashTheSet: Apocalypse destroys the X-Mansion in the second game. It is still used as the HubLevel during the fourth chapter, but is heavily damaged.
* {{Troll}}:
** Mystique's first appearance has her pretending to be Cyclops so she can punch Wolverine in the face.
** In the second game, Juggernaut frequently riles up the X-Men during the mission briefings with insulting or insensitive comments. He goes too far when he starts hitting on Jean Grey right in front of Cyclops, [[BerserkButton causing Cyclops to lose his temper and fire a warning laser at Juggernaut.]]
** Toad occasionally joins in, but he is much more weak-willed than Juggernaut and will stop when another character calls him out on it.

* {{ComicBook/Wolverine}}, {{ComicBook/Cyclops}}, [[ComicBook/NewMutants Magma]], {{ComicBook/Storm}}, ComicBook/JeanGrey, {{ComicBook/Iceman}}, {{ComicBook/Rogue}}, {{ComicBook/Beast}}, {{ComicBook/Nightcrawler}}, ComicBook/JubileeMarvelComics, {{ComicBook/Gambit}}, {{ComicBook/Colossus}}, ComicBook/EmmaFrost, {{ComicBook/Psylocke}}, ComicBook/ProfessorX

* AllYourPowersCombined: Apocalypse's plan in ''X-Men Legends II'' is to kidnap and steal the powers of 4 mutants with harmonic DNA, which when placed in one individual amplify each other. The mutants are Polaris, Quicksilver, Emma Frost, and Sabretooth.

* {{ComicBook/Wolverine}}, {{ComicBook/Cyclops}}, [[ComicBook/NewMutants Magma]], {{ComicBook/Storm}}, ComicBook/JeanGrey, {{ComicBook/Iceman}}, {{ComicBook/Rogue}}, {{ComicBook/Beast}}, {{ComicBook/Nightcrawler}}, {{ComicBook/Jubilee}}, {{ComicBook/Gambit}}, {{ComicBook/Colossus}}, ComicBook/EmmaFrost, {{ComicBook/Psylocke}}, ComicBook/ProfessorX

* AdaptationalVillainy: The Stepford Cuckoos, who in the comics are with the X-Men, [[spoiler:despite having been made by Weapon Plus to kill all mutants]], here serve Apocalypse willingly out of revenge against Emma Frost for a FailureToSaveMurder that resulted in one of their fellow Cuckoos dying.

* ButtMonkey: Toad, starting from his introduction when the Brotherhood leave him behind to face the X-Men. Extends to the sequel where Toad joins with the X-Men but is still mistreated, even when [[CassandraTruth he constantly tries to help by warning of a traitor among their ranks predicted by Destiny.]][[spoiler:He's completely right and it ends up being Dark Beast masquerading as Beast the whole time.]]

* AdaptationalVillainy: The Stepford Cuckoos, who in the comics are with the X-Men, [[spoiler:despite having been made by Weapon Plus to kill all mutants]], here serve Apocalypse willingly.

* ButtMonkey: Toad, starting from his introduction when the Brotherhood leave him behind to face the X-Men.

** Inverted with Nightcrawler. In the first game, his greatest asset to the party is as a CPU-controlled character who can Leap of Faith members out of danger as his actual offense is really weak, based entirely around teleportation. In the second game, he has an incredibly useful dash attack, can use teleporting as a double jump, and his Master of Chaos super is very handy in boss fights with a lot of mooks.

* DarkestHour: The last third of the fist game is incredibly bleak for the X-men. Professor Xavier has had his mind trapped in the Astral Plane by Shadow King, Magneto has blotted out the sun by surrounding the planet with asteroids, and a government black ops group led by an anti-mutant psychopath is kidnapping mutants to turn them into literal killing machines. Thankfully they get to turn it all around.

* EvilSoundsDeep: Magneto since he's voiced by ''Creator/TonyJay''.

* MarathonLevel: In the first game the assault on the GRSO research labs where the X-men finally come face to face with General Kincaid, the main human threat in the game. First you have to breach the compound, then you discover the depravity of Kincaid's human-sentinel hybrid experiments and ''then'' you chase Kincaid through multiple rooms while he taunts you, only for him to ultimately get away in the end.

* MovieSuperheroesWearBlack: Most characters wear black or other dark shades. The more colorful costumes from the comics are still featured as alternates (though even if the player changes a costume, [[GameplayAndStorySegregation it will not show up on the cutscenes]]).

* PinataEnemy: The first game has Astral Fury in the Danger Room Scenario Graduating Exam 400. While the other enemies in that stage give 400xp per kill, it will give almost 300 TIMES that... and it's not much stronger than them! It makes the for an optimal area to grind on.

** The second game is a loose adaptation of the ComicBook/AgeOfApocalypse, forgoing time travel and the death of Charles Xavier, basing some characters strictly on their A o A selves (Abyss and Colossus' brother, Mikhail Rasputin are lackeys of Apocalypse like in [=AoA=], as opposed to--respectively--a hero and a threat in his own right in the traditional Marvel Universe), basing others on their classic selves (Sebastian Shaw, Selene, Bastion) and [[spoiler: making Dark Beast a brainwashed Beast]].

* RedHerring:[[spoiler:Destiny foresee that someone within the X-Men or Brotherhood will betray the alliance. We are led to believe it's Angel, since he's being captured and a cutscene show him being turned into Archangel, the last Horseman of Apocalypse. In reality, there were ''two'' traitors, Destiny only foresaw one. The other traitor was Beast who's been captured and rescued by your party, as part of Apocalypse's plan since he was brainwashed to be TheMole]].

* BonusDungeon: In the second game, characters could gain access to an extra-dimensional prison from which they could free Iron Man, who would then become a playable character. (And no, Iron Man doesn't really have [[WTHCastingAgency anything]] to do with the X-Men). Stryfe as well, since his level can be bypassed entirely and the players can beat the game without having to fight him.

** Deadpool qualifies, if you play a New Game Plus file - As he only unlocks ''after'' completing the game once, he's already as strong as the rest of the characters are at the end of the game, and as he's one of the few characters to feature a mix of close and long range attacks, you can play a large portion of the game ''with a party consisting of just Deadpool''.

* HurricaneOfPuns: [[AnIcePerson Iceman]] gets into full [[FilM/BatmanAndRobin Mr. Freeze]] mode ("I didn't think I could get any cooler!", "I'm too cool for school!" "X-Men, get over here or I'm toast!")

* LargeHam: [[TheAnnouncer "COMBO!"]]

** Colossus' HuskyRussie talk can be very entertaining. ("YOU WEEL LOOSE!"}

* ArtificialStupidity: Team members follow the player-controlled character faithfully - which can result in disaster if the PC flies too carelessly over an open pit.

* BodyHorror: The cyborg Sentinels are humans with Sentinel bits surgically attached. They're seriously creepy.

* BoisterousBruiser: Colossus' insane Russian boasting can be very entertaining. Rogue gets in on the action too. "I'm large and in charge!"

* CompositeCharacter: Most of the playable characters in both games, a good deal of the Brotherhood, plus Apocalypse in the second game could be deemed as {{Composite Character}}s as they've combined the Ultimate looks, but the personalities, background, and powers of their classic selves, though there were quite a few exceptions. Sabretooth combines three different versions of his character as his powers and personality of his classic version, and yet in the second game, he cares for Blink ala the ''ComicBook/AgeOfApocalypse'' version.

* FantasticRacism: As always in X-Men. Some humans hate mutants, some mutants hate humans, and most of the Morlocks hate anyone who's not a Morlock.

* GameMod: ''Lots,'' though they're only available for the PC version. For starters, you can add in the characters that were playable in the first XL1, but not in the second game. This mean you can play as Beast, Jubilee, Emma Frost and Psylocke if you want. What's even more impressive though, is the sheer number of Character Mods, mostly for various X-Men and other X-Characters that didn't get a playable appearance in either of the XML games. (Though there's several other Marvel characters up for grabs also. You want to play as Shadowcat? Go ahead. Want to soar through the skies with Angel? You might eventually plummet to the ground via lack of energy at some point, but otherwise, feel free. Or perhaps you wished there were more villains to play around with? They got that covered too, with the likes of Mystique, Blob, Sebastian Shaw, and more. Everyone from the ''Marvel Ultimate Alliance'' games have been converted too, and if ''that'' wasn't enough, even ''The Joker's'' available! (But he's also the only finished DC character mod to date, so it's still mostly Marvel's playground.) The focus though, of course, is still on the X-characters, and there's still a ''lot'' of them; the only downside is that, due to limitations set by the Game-Engine, you can only have up to 21 playable characters in the game at a time, so if you want to use anyone else, you're going to have to swap part of the game's roster out. (Oh, and fun fact; there' so many mods, you can swap out the ''entire roster'' 3 or times over, if not more then that, and get a completely different roster each time.) However, there ''is'' a handy little program out there which supposedly makes choosing your roster easy, so long as you've downloaded the character you want. All in all, it's pretty darn impressive.

* RoleReprisal: Both X-Men Legends and its sequel featured Patrick Stewart of Star Trek: The Next Generation fame providing the voice of Professor Xavier. He originally played Professor X in the first X-Men movie in 2000.

* OffscreenVillainDarkMatter: Even though Apocalypse hasn't taken over America and reduced the rest of the world to ruins like in ''ComicBook/AgeOfApocalypse'', he boasts an impressive amount of resources and manpower such an massive army of [[PrivateMilitaryContractors mercenaries]], [[BadassArmy Infinites]], a fleet of ships and his own ReligionOfEvil in the form of the Church of Madri, and managing to invade Genosha, the Savage Land and ''New York''. This actually becomes a plot point in Act 3 when the X-Men and the Brotherhood must sabotage his factories in order to hinder his plans.

* ElementalPowers: The game four: [[FireIceLightning elemental]], energy, mental and radioactive.

* CelShading

* Brotherhood of Mutants: {{ComicBook/Magneto}}, Toad, {{ComicBook/Scarlet Witch}}, Juggernaut. Sabretooth and Pyro were PC exclusive
* Unlockable characters: Professor X, [[spoiler: ComicBook/IronMan, ComicBook/{{Deadpool}}]]. {{ComicBook/XMan}}, {{ComicBook/Cable}}, Cannonball, and Dark Phoenix were PSP exclusives