History WesternAnimation / WolverineAndTheXMen

[[quoteright:236:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/xwolv_9660.png]]
[[caption-width-right:236: [[FanNickname Sniktbub]] [[MyFriendsAndZoidberg and some other guys.]]]]

''Wolverine and the X-Men'' is an AnimatedAdaptation of the ''Franchise/XMen'' franchise. It premiered in America in 2009 and everywhere else in the world in 2008.

The show begins with the destruction of the Xavier Institute and Professor Xavier and Jean Grey missing due to being apparently dead. A distraught Cyclops disbands the team, and everyone heads in their own directions. After a run-in with some token anti-mutant villains, ComicBook/{{Wolverine}} decides the X-Men must be reassembled, and begins locating the missing members.

[[WolverinePublicity As the title may have told you, this show heavily focuses on Wolverine,]] even becoming the leader of the X-Men. That said, there were more than enough ADayInTheLimelight episodes to prevent things from being too repetitive, and the show explores the "ComicBook/DaysOfFuturePast" storyline and "Genosha as Mutant Refuge" concept in more depth than any other adaptation. Forge and Emma Frost are made part of the main cast for the first time.

Despite early reports of plans for Season 2, [[http://marvel.toonzone.net/news.php?action=fullnews&id=518 it was canceled after just one season,]] joining ''WesternAnimation/TheSpectacularSpiderMan'', which was cancelled not too long before.

While the show itself didn't last very long, its legacy did live on in a very unusual way. Two years after the series' cancellation, Marvel launched a new [[ComicBook/WolverineAndTheXMenMarvelComics comic series of the same name,]] which again focused on Wolverine re-building the school and reluctantly assuming the leadership role of to a group of X-Men (albeit under different circumstances). While some characters have been know to make the jump [[CanonImmigrant from an adaptation to its source material]] before, this is one of the few times a source material has come to mirror the ''premise'' of its adaptation.

This series has multiple [[Characters/WolverineandtheXMen character pages]] that are under construction (help is needed please).
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!!In addition to all the usual ComicBook/XMen related tropes, this show contains examples of:

* AbandonedWarehouse: In the second episode, Avalanche levels an entire street of what the news conveniently announces as "empty warehouses".
* AbortedArc: A significant amount of plot points and storylines have not been resolved due to the show’s cancellation.
** The Age of Apocalypse storyline, which was going to be the main arc for the scrapped second season.
** Professor Xavier is still in a coma.
** Colossus never got the chance to rejoin the X-Men.
** [[spoiler:Angel is currently under Mister Sinister's control.]]
** Master Mold is still out there, [[spoiler:trapped in the body of a Sentinel.]]
** X-23 is still in Weapon X's custody.
** The MRD continue to pose a threat, even by the series' end.
** The X-Men are still rebuilding themselves, even after the X-Mansion incident.
** Due to the fact that the series was canceled, Cyclops had never received the opportunity of rising up and redeeming himself and becoming the hero we all know him to be. However, due to that [[spoiler: the cliffhanger showed Cyclops would have spent half the season working for the bad guys,]] it seems highly unlikely that Cyclops would have became the leader again had the series continued.
* AdaptationalBadass: [[ZigZaggedTrope Zigzagged]] with ComicBook/{{Magneto}}. While Magneto in the comics is a very powerful mutant who has the ability to generate and control magnetic fields, he has the tendency of having his powers decreased in innumerable adaptations (both animated and live action) and is never as powerful as his comic book counterpart through being restricted to hurling around girders as well as being unable to resist telepathic attacks for long periods of time without his helmet. In this adaptation, Magneto is just as powerful as his comic book counterpart and possesses more resistance toward telepathic attacks.
* AdaptationalJerkass: Nick Fury, while even in the comics and movies he's a [[IDidWhatIHadToDo "whatever it takes"]] kind of guy, he does have lines he won't cross. This version of him is an outright ManipulativeBastard who is not above emotional blackmail and using living people as weapons, this attitude [[MuggingTheMonster does eventually come back to haunt him]] [[spoiler:courtesy of the Hulk]].
* AdaptationDistillation: This adaptation drew from many of the elements of the ''ComicBook/XMen'' lore, particularly from both of the original (mainly through elements like the formation of the X-Men, the members of the original X-Men team that was founded by Professor Xavier had consisted of Cyclops, Jean Grey, Beast without fur, Angel and Iceman, etc) and modern (mainly through elements like most of the character designs, the disbanding of the X-Men, Genosha, etc) versions of the X-Men that are from the mainstream Marvel Universe as well as from the Ultimate (mainly through elements like Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver being raised by Magneto, Both Magneto and Quicksilver leading the Brotherhood of Mutants, Toad's design, Wolverine being taller, the event of a fleet of Sentinels being sent to Genosha to attack Magneto and the mutants living there, etc) version of the X-Men.
** The series also uses elements that were from the live action film series (mainly through elements like the use of the [[Film/XMenTheLastStand movie]] version of Warren Worthington II, the designs of Cerebro and the Xavier institute, the Father-Daughter relationship that was between Wolverine and Rogue, the fact that the voices of many of the characters such as Professor Xavier and Magneto appear to be inspired by the voices of the actors and actresses that portray the characters in the film series, etc).
* AdaptationDyeJob: In the comics, Iceman has brown hair. In this adaptation, he has blonde hair (just like he did in ''[[WesternAnimation/SpiderManandHisAmazingFriends Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends]]'') - and almost looks like he could be Angel's younger brother.
* AdaptationInducedPlotHole: The series features a PlotHole during a WholeEpisodeFlashback which shows UsefulNotes/{{the Silver Age|of Comic Books}} X-Men battling Magneto. Iceman is a teenager and significantly younger than the founding X-Men in the show, so it makes no sense for him to have been part of the team when they were all teens themselves. He'd have to have been a ''child'' when Xavier recruited him for any of that to make a lick of sense. What's worse, in the flashback he actually looked ''older''.
** Theoretically, it could be that this Iceman is an entirely separate character, explaining the "snowman" look and age discrepancy - after all, it's incredibly common for mutants to have similar powers/themes across all X-Men media. This, however, raises the question of why we never learn what happened to the original Iceman and no one ever mentions him.
* AdaptationalHeroism:
** In the comics, Nitro is a killer for hire in addition to the fact that he caused both the deaths of the Kree Captain Marvel and the Stamford Incident that killed about 700-ish people. In this adaptation, Nitro releases giant explosions of energy whenever he's stressed, or just when enough energy is stored up. He willingly submits to confinement so he doesn't harm others, and is used by the villains as a blunt instrument against his will.
** Emma Frost is portrayed in a more sympathetic light, completely turning her into a straight hero rather than a byronic one. [[spoiler:That said, this version of Frost also has AdaptationalVillainy, as she's TheMole and still the White Queen of the Inner Circle (and even kicks off the events of the series as it's revealed she is the one who attacked Jean and Professor Xavier, which in turn ended up destroying the mansion—albeit with the intention of taking out the Phoenix before she could be a threat).]]
* AdaptationalVillainy: For some odd reason, the series is FULL of these (possibly some of these characters would have returned as heroes had the second season been made):
** Domino is a member of the ComicBook/XForce and the ComicBook/XMen in the comics, but she is depicted as a terrorist and member of the Brotherhood of Mutants in the adaptation, which results in her basically being similar role to Mystique in all but her name, appearance, personality, and powers as Mystique herself is TheDragon to Magneto in some adaptations.
** Multiple Man is depicted in this adaptation as a member of Mr. Sinister's Marauders despite being a main character in ''ComicBook/XFactor'' since the 90's.
** Likewise, the Stepford Cuckoos are shown in this series as villainous members of the Inner Circle Club despite being students at the Xavier Institute in the comics.
** Psylocke is a heroic member of the X-Men in the comics. In this adaptation, she assists the Brotherhood in one episode (although she's shown to be a reluctant recruit who only helps out the group because [[YouOweMe she owes Quicksilver a favor]]).
** Blink was associated with ComicBook/GenerationX and was a member of the ComicBook/NewMutants. Her better-known alternate version rose from ComicBook/AgeOfApocalypse mainstay to leader and main hero of the Comicbook/{{Exiles}}. In this adaptation, she is a member of Magneto's Acolytes.
** Mercury was a member of the [[ComicBook/NewMutants New X-Men]] in the comics. In this adaptation, she is a member of ComicBook/{{Magneto}}'s Acolytes.
** In the comics, ComicBook/ScarletWitch and ComicBook/{{Quicksilver}} were former members of the Brotherhood of Mutants who abandoned Magneto very quickly and joined Comicbook/TheAvengers. In this adaptation, Quicksilver is still a member of the Brotherhood while Scarlet Witch is loyal to her dad (although it isn't until the finale that she finally realizes what a monster Magneto is and turns against him).
** Zig-zagged with Magneto himself. While he wasn't a villain in the comics at the time the show was released, there are over 3 decades (60's, 70's and 90's) of comics where he was the villain meaning the show wasn't exactly pulling its villainous portrayal of him out of its ass.
** Emma Frost. Just like Magneto, she ''used'' to be one hell of a foe (even being BigBad of ComicBook/NewMutants for a time) but comic fans know that that was a long time ago, at least in the main Franchise/MarvelUniverse. In this show, she's TheMole and still the White Queen of the Hellfire Club. However, she does sacrifice her life to contain the Phoenix in the series finale.
** ''The Phoenix.'' This is far from the first adaptation to do so, but it's worth mentioning that in the comics, Jean as Phoenix was good but AntiHero-ish, had to resist darker impulses but stayed in control (she was actually Phoenix for ''quite'' some time), and even saved the universe. It took the Hellfire/Inner Circle Club's interference to cause her to become Dark Phoenix. This adaptation uses TheThemeParkVersion where the Phoenix is a 100% Bad Thing. Of course, the Inner Circle Club ''was'' trying to control the Phoenix in this version, but it wasn't quite the same as [[TheIllusionist Jason Wyngarde]] and [[MindControl Emma Frost]] putting her under MoreThanMindControl and pretty much breaking down her self-control bit by bit until we get a monster.
** Gambit isn't even an X-man and all and seems to just be some kind of amoral mercenary type. Too be fair, we only see him for all of ''two'' episodes, so there could be more to him.
* AdaptationalWimp:
** Storm becomes more timid and prone to getting a TapOnTheHead to keep her from easily winning fights.
** [[ZigZaggedTrope Zigzagged]] with Jean, who is just as powerful as her comic book counterpart, but gets the [[NeverLiveItDown/ComicBooks sadly usual treatment]] of existing solely for the sake of the threat of Dark Phoenix and is reduced to living MacGuffin.
** In one episode, ''the entire team of X-Men'', except for Wolverine, are taken down in ''seconds'' by Silver Samurai and some {{ninja}}s.
* AdvertisedExtra: Angel for one. He appears in only a handful of episodes, but is prominently featured in the opening sequence's cast shot.
** Colossus was featured in some early promotional material - he even got an action figure! - but was PutOnABus in the pilot, never to be seen again. He was planned to return in the season two we never got.
* AfterTheEnd: The BadFuture Xavier is stuck in and the rest of the X-men are trying to prevent the Sentinel takeover from happening.
* AirVentPassageway: Averted and even lampshaded in “Thieves Gambit”, when Logan and Remy are sneaking into Bolivar Trask's warehouse.
-->'''Wolverine:''' What now? Airducts?\\
'''Gambit:''' Only in the world of cinema. In real life, they ''never'' hold.
* AllOfTheOtherReindeer: Anti-{{Mutant|s}} hysteria, obviously; it's '''Franchise/XMen'''.
* AntiHero: In this adaptation, Cyclops is more anti-heroic than Wolverine...
* AntiMagicalFaction: The Mutant Response Division (MRD) is this.
* BadassLongcoat: Cyclops and Gambit.
* BadassPacifist: Beast always offers his foes a chance to surrender.
* BadFuture: Xavier is [[spoiler:stuck in a future run by Sentinels]]. At the end of the first season, though, the X-Men [[spoiler:manage to change history and prevent the Sentinel uprising. Unfortunately, this merely creates a completely different BadFuture ruled by evil SocialDarwinist Apocalypse. It really sucks to be Charles Xavier.]]
* BatmanGambit: Gambit's plan to steal ComicBook/{{Magneto}}'s helmet [[spoiler: was to admit that he was sent there to steal Magneto's helmet so he could walk around freely thus he could have an easier time stealing Magneto's helmet. [[KansasCityShuffle Turns out the helmet was just misdirection]] so that he could cripple their infastructure with a few well-placed explosives.]]
* BeastAndBeauty: Kurt (Nightcrawler) and Wanda (ComicBook/ScarletWitch).
* BetaCouple: Possibly Kitty Pryde and Bobby Drake (Iceman).
** There was also Nightcrawler and Scarlet Witch
* BigBadEnsemble: [[AIIsACrapshoot Mastermold]] is the BigBad of the BadFuture Xavier is stuck in, while [[WellIntentionedExtremist Magneto]] and Senator Robert Kelly largely take the role among several long-term villains [[spoiler: Though the Inner Circle also has a pretty good claim on driving a lot of the plot]]. The SequelHook set up [[spoiler: Apocalypse]] as the BigBad for an aborted second season, although Sinister basically served as DragonInChief in this respect for the show.
* BookEnds: The show had a three-part premier called "Hindsight" and a three-part finale called "Foresight".
* BrainwashedAndCrazy: Mojo does this to Wolverine in an episode. Sinister does this to Angel in order to make him into Archangel. Although, it's not made clear if this is entirely the case at first certainly by the end of the series, he seems to be a mindless puppet of Sinister's.
* BreakTheCutie: Polaris, who saw her father, all her friends, her home, and her father's very dream wiped out in a sea of fire, and the last thing she saw was when her dad gave her his helmet and cape and dropped her down a shaft to shelter before the flames incinerated him.
* BrokenAesop: The series showcased Cyclops grieving over the disappearance of his beloved Jean Grey (who was actually introduced giving him a hard time about sucker-punching Wolverine in a fit of jealousy and then blows a kiss to his rival) and being annoyed at Professor Xavier demoting him while promoting Wolverine to leader. The series seemed to initially pitch the idea that Cyclops had to learn to let go of his resentments and move on with his life, including but no limited to hooking up with his then comic current girlfriend Emma Frost. 26 episodes later... he ended up back together with Jean anyway after waiting for the odds to change in his favor. Great moral for the kids - You shouldn't learn to move on from the loss of your loved ones. Instead, you should just [[LoveWillLeadYouBack sit around being depressed in the hopes that they'll eventually come back to you]].
** Not only that, but if someone you know who is kind of a friend or perhaps even practically family is clearly suffering severe emotional trauma, it's perfectly okay to ignore them and abandon them to their turmoil because they're inconveniencing you.
* BreakingTheFellowship: The first episode is about the team being split apart following what happens to Xavier and Jean.
* ButtMonkey: Poor Forge.
* CallingTheOldManOut: Warren Worthington III is ''not pleased'' that his father bankrolls the anti-mutant movement, and isn't afraid to say it to his face. [[spoiler:Scarlet Witch and Polaris give Magneto the same treatment after he crosses the MoralEventHorizon in the finale.]]
* CanonImmigrant: The Mutant Response Division (MRD) didn't exist in the comics before this show. They were later imported in 2010 and onwards, although their role hasn't been that huge.
* ChewToy: Forge, who has to constantly see his things broken, gets treated with no respect, and is generally shoved around by life.
* CoDragons:
** Colonel Moss and Warren Worthington II to Senator Robert Kelly are this.
** Scarlet Witch, Polaris and Quicksilver to Magneto.
* ComicBookFantasyCasting:
** Creator/JimWard's voice as Professor Xavier and Creator/TomKane's voice as Magneto were inspired by the [[Film/XMenFilmSeries live-action versions]] played by, respectively, Creator/PatrickStewart and Creator/IanMcKellen. Likewise, Creator/FredTatasciore's Beast seems patterned on Creator/KelseyGrammer's Beast from X3, Creator/JenniferHale as Jean Grey evokes the sound of her film actress counterpart Creator/FamkeJanssen while Creator/NolanNorth as Cyclops vaguely evokes his film counterpart Creator/JamesMarsden, Kieren van den Blink as Rogue evokes film actress Creator/AnnaPaquin, Creator/LiamOBrien's Nightcrawler was partially inspired by Creator/AlanCumming's portrayal from X2.
** On a non-''Film/XMenFilmSeries'' note, Creator/KevinMichaelRichardson's Shadow King sounds exactly like Creator/FrankWelker's voice for [[WesternAnimation/InspectorGadget Dr. Claw]], and [[Franchise/{{Transformers}} Soundwave]], and [[WesternAnimation/SuperFriends Darkseid]].
* TheComplainerIsAlwaysWrong: Because Logan is a perfectly level-headed leader that makes infallible decisions and always wins his fights and never puts the team at unacceptable risk, the dissenting troubled anti-hero Cyclops [[SarcasmMode must always be wrong.]]
** Comes up again in the following episode where Cyclops doubts Rogue's sincerity in coming to warn the X-Men of the Brotherhood's antics.
* CompositeCharacter:
** Arclight has the gender of the ComicBook/AgeOfApocalypse character and hence is a male, but the powers of the classic Arclight and sports a SpearCounterpart's version of her costume.
** Toad is basically the Mainstream version with the [[ComicBook/UltimateMarvel Ultimate]] look.
** Warren Worthington II is a combination of Cameron Hodge (CorruptCorporateExecutive who funds several anti-Mutant programs and [[spoiler:has Angel's wings amputated]]) and the [[Film/XMenTheLastStand movie]] version of Warren Worthington II (also funds Anti-Mutant program, such as a "cure" for mutants and believes what he did was best for [[spoiler:his son]], though in reality, was only serving himself; and [[spoiler:[[HeelRealization realizes the error of his way]], though in this case, it's too late to really do anything.]])
** Mystique, who's a mix of Mystique as we know her, and [[spoiler:Silver Fox, Wolverine's former love interest and fellow captive at Weapon X]].
** Marrow appears in the BadFuture, where she befriends Rover the Sentinel and takes on the role of Tom Skylark in the comic book BadFuture ''Here Comes Tomorrow'', only without the {{Technopath}}y that explained ''how'' Tom had made friends with a Sentinel. Instead, she was given it by Polaris.
** Master Mold is combined with Danger, the evil sentient [[ArtificialIntelligence A.I.]] from Creator/JossWhedon's run. Because of this, Master Mold [[GenderFlip is depicted as a]] {{Gynoid}}.
** Silver Samurai is merged with Noburu Hideki, Mariko's fiance from the original Creator/FrankMiller ''ComicBook/{{Wolverine}}'' mini-series. This causes a bit of {{Squick}}, [[BrotherSisterIncest since Silver Samurai is Mariko's BROTHER in the original comics]].
* TheComputerIsYourFriend: Master Mold in the BadFuture.
* ContinuitySnarl:
** According to WordOfGod, the ''Wolverine'' short of ''WesternAnimation/HulkVS'' takes place in the same universe as this show. That said, there are some things that in ''WesternAnimation/HulkVS Wolverine'' that contradict ''[=WatXM=]'' like [[spoiler:Wolverine remembering Weapon X and their members and meeting them again in the short when he has no idea who they are when he meets up with Sabretooth after years in the series. Also, Bruce Banner has no idea who Wolverine is in ''[=WatXM=]'', despite Wolverine being the reason for his two main Hulk-outs in the short and Wolvie first meeting Bruce Banner while he was Banner]].
** The MRD gets mentioned in one of the first episodes of ''WesternAnimation/TheAvengersEarthsMightiestHeroes'', and Wolverine himself appears in the second season, but the differences are far too great to link the two shows together meaningfully.
* CorruptCorporateExecutive:
** Mojo, as usual, with his focus on kidnapping mutants to be victims/gladiators in his televised {{Blood Sport}}s.
** Warren Worthington II (Warren Worthington III AKA Angel's father) finances senator Kelly's anti-mutant campaign platform, and provides the MRD's R&D and hardware as well; needless to say, [[CallingTheOldManOut his son disagrees vocally]]. Unfortunately, by the time [[HeelRealization he realizes he's being a gigantic dick]], it's too little too late, both to stop the anti-mutant movement from becoming a viable political and paramilitary force on its own and [[spoiler:to save his son from becoming Mister Sinister's brainwashed minion]], leaving him with nothing but now cold and empty financial and material comforts and a mountain of regrets. Karma's a bitch sometimes.
* CurseCutShort: "Wolverine vs. The Hulk" features this happening with Wolverine.
-->'''Wolverine:''' Oh, you gotta be kidding me, Fury. Mystical curse my a- * violently grabbed by Hulk*
* CutShort: Since the show was cancelled before a second season could air, the show ends on a cliffhanger where [[spoiler:the X-men must try and avert the ComicBook/AgeOfApocalypse.]]
* DarkIsEvil: The Shadow King, as might be expected from a guy called ''The Shadow King''.
* DarkIsNotEvil: Nightcrawler, [[YouShouldKnowThisAlready as always]].
* DefrostingIceQueen: When she was first introduced in the series, Emma acts pretty much like anyone familiar with the comics would expect. Compare that Emma with the one we see in the end. [[CharacterDevelopment Hoo boy]].
* DemonicPossession: The Shadow King's schtick due to being a disembodied psyche.
* DemotedToExtra:
** This happens to ComicBook/{{Storm}} of all people. She is a major character in the comics, one of the most recognizable members of the X-Men, and featured as one of the main cast members of nearly all the previous animated adaptations. In this adaptation, she's portrayed as a background character to give Wolvie a bigger role. In fact, there's no real reason for Storm's presence in this adaptation at all since she doesn't factor into any of the story lines and the episode where she rejoins the team has nothing to do with the overall plot. It's possible that the writers only threw her in because viewers are used to seeing her in the comics and other adaptations.
** To say nothing of Jean, who was reduced to nothing more than a plot device.
* DerailingLoveInterests: This happens to both Jean Grey and Emma Frost. Jean actually gets derailed right from the pilot when she's shown berating her boyfriend Cyclops for getting into a fight with Wolverine over her, which naturally casts her in a negative light (although, TheReveal of what happened in the flashback casts her in a significantly more sympathetic one). Jean is then MIA for most of the season while Emma Frost is around, trying to see if she can maybe get Cyclops on her side by being at least somewhat more sympathetic towards him (more so than most of the other X-Men anyway), only to [[spoiler:get blown up for her trouble at the end of the series, leaving Jean to have Cyclops all to herself.]]
** Not to mention Cyclops, who gets a total hatchet job in favor of Wolverine.
* DespairEventHorizon: Cyclops after losing Jean Grey.
* TheDeterminator: Cyclops is a very disturbing and unheroic (if not outright unsympathetic) example with his obsession with trying to find Jean Grey.
* DeusExitMachina:
** Jean Grey and Charles Xavier suffering from comas inflicted to them from a bomb in the pilot episode during the shows run kept major plots from being resolved far too quickly with their all-powerful telekinesis and telepathy respectively.
** Future!Polaris traveling with Bishop and Xavier's group of mutants would have reduced the Sentinels from major threats to cannon fodder due to her magnetism powers, so she has to stay behind in the same episode she was introduced. Justified due to her being a total BrokenBird who is so mentally scarred she can't bring herself to actively fight Master Mold, and she's too powerful for the "Future X-men" to seriously consider dragging her along by force.
* DishingOutDirt: Dust, namely [[ElementalShapeshifting she's the dirt]].
* DisproportionateRetribution: Two noteworthy examples include a PapaWolf mode Magneto throwing people in jail for simply kissing his youngest daughter Polaris, and a jealous Cyclops violently blasting Wolverine for implying he wasn't good enough for Jean.
* DistressedDude: Cyclops seems cursed with this even in flashbacks.
* DitzyGenius. Forge is the tech-wizard who keeps the X-men's more advanced gear running, including the Blackbird and the Danger Room, but he's also a total ditz.
* DownerEnding: Due to ExecutiveMeddling.
* DramaPreservingHandicap: Happens to Storm in the episodes in which she takes part in battles. She appears, makes a major power play, and is knocked out almost immediately. The writers even acknowledged that she was too powerful to work into their universe properly.
* EmpathyDollShot: A scene of two children running from Sentinels, and one dropping a teddy bear is in the opening theme.
* EnemyMine: [[spoiler:Senator Kelly and Magneto had a deal in which the MRD would deport all their captives to Genosha. The deal ended when Magneto learned that Kelly was secretly keeping the most powerful mutants under lock and key.]]
** The Brotherhood and the X-Men had this once, on Quicksilver's suggestion.
* FaceHeelTurn: [[spoiler:Rogue, after an apparent time as TheMole. Though ultimately revealed to be a double-TheMole.]] In the bad future, [[spoiler:Marrow]] has this, for some time.
* FamilyFriendlyFirearms: Some episodes used lasers, though in episode 18 the Brotherhood are attacked with firearms that resemble, and sound like, real life weaponry. The trope is immediately played straight again though, as Toad is caught in a net. However, when you think about it this makes more sense as the MRD's purpose is mainly to capture and not to kill. Despite this, ComicBook/{{Quicksilver}} is able to scavenge a handgun and use it to cause a Sentinel to fall down to its destruction.
* FantasticRacism: As per usual of the X-Men plot. Mutantkind are forced to deal with the racist acts against them by humans.
* FastballSpecial: However, because Colossus has hardly appeared, some interesting variations (like Wolverine being thrown by the Blob or propelled by one of Cyclops' laser blasts) have occurred instead.
* FatBastard: Mojo, as you'd expect, is a gigantic blob of pustulant yellow fat. Blob of the Brotherhood qualifies as well. The fatass in the first episode who sells Logan out to the MRD for being a mutant despite having saved a family from a train wreck.
* FirstGirlWins: [[spoiler: Thought that this would be the first Cyclops/Emma Frost coupling in animation? Ah-hah, no. Jean Grey turns out to be alive, and not only do she and Cyclops hook back up again, Emma Frost pulls a fatal HeroicSacrifice to ensure it happens.]]
* FluffyTheTerrible: Rover, a reprogrammed Sentinel. Although he's pretty nice to his TrueCompanions, and Marrow especially becomes very attached to him.
* GambitPileup: Let's see: Kelly's working an angle, Magneto's working an angle against him, the Inner Circle is working the X-Men, Xavier's working the X-Men too, and then there are people like Sinister and Weapon X, who were planning for the [[SequelHook second season that never happened.]]
* GenderFlip:
** Arclight was changed from a woman into a man for the show. According to the commentary for "eXcessive Force", this was done because the crew was uncomfortable with having Cyclops attacking a woman while looking for Mister Sinister.
** This show's version of [[spoiler:Master Mold]] is found to be female. Her design resembles Danger from the comics.
* GenghisGambit: [[spoiler:Magneto plans to have Genosha razed by Sentinels as a pretext to rally all of mutantkind to a war with humanity.]]
* GeniusBruiser: Beast, as usual.
* {{Goth}}: Domino's fashion style. She rocks the look.
** Nightcrawler's design here also has some Goth influence, but his personality couldn't be [[PerkyGoth further from the stereotype]].
* GratuitousJapanese: ''Code of Conduct'' is jarringly full of it. Some of Silver Samurai's lines are particularly bad.
-->'''Silver Samurai:''' *on the phone* ''Hora'', get everyone into the warehouse. ''Hayaku'' now!
* HarmlessFreezing: Iceman encases people in ice a few times, but they never have lasting effects from it.
* HeadTurningBeauty: Emma Frost. Her introduction into the series has practically every male at the X-Mansion (aside from Wolverine and Beast) gawking over her.
* HeartIsAnAwesomePower: One episode featured Nightcrawler teaching a groups of mutants with "useless" powers this.
* HeartBrokenBadass: Cyclops is supposed to be this.
* HeelFaceTurn: Semi-used. [[spoiler:Mid-season, Rogue reveals that she only joined the Brotherhood in order to infiltrate them, because she learned some unpleasant things from Toad's mind.]] And while [[spoiler:Emma may not have been working for the X-Men per-se, her goals were always good (stop the Phoenix). It's the Inner Circle who had a FaceHeelTurn when they decided to use the Phoenix as a tool for their own power.]]
* HeelRealization: Warren Worthington II has this epiphany right after he loses what he truly cared about most due to his own actions.
* HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler:Emma Frost. Had the second season happened, she would apparently have returned.]]
* HeterosexualLifePartners: Wolverine and Nightcrawler, just like the comics. Heck, after escaping from Genosha Nightcrawler is basically his NumberTwo.
* HighschoolSweethearts: Cyclops and Jean Grey are a very unromantic example.
* HonorBeforeReason: When Cyclops attacks Wolverine for hitting on Jean Grey the clawed one refuses to fight back simply because he promised Jean he wouldn't (granted, Wolverine brought this on himself since he hit on a woman who was already in a relationship). He also holds to promises he made to Mystique and Yuriko years earlier.
* HopeSpot: Congratulations, Nightcrawler. You performed a MultistageTeleport from Genosha all the way to the Institute. Why, one of your good friends is there to meet you and--oh, it's just Mystique in disguise.
** A terrified Jean was on the run from the MRD and gets cornered in a hospital. A nurse she knew finds her and [[FalseReassurance assures Jean that everything will be okay]]. Then the fat bitch calls out the MRD agents to their location moments later.
* HulkSpeak: The TropeNamer in his guest appearance, naturally.
* HumansAreTheRealMonsters: As much as normal humans like Senator Kelly claim to fear mutants, he and the MRD are the real oppressors and the ones causing more harm than the Mutant villains. It's Lampshaded when a non-mutant family is arrested and tortured by the MRD for harboring Wolverine even after he saved them; they tell them that that ''they're'' the ones people should watch out for, not the mutants. Furthermore, things like Project Wideawake are the equivalent of holocaust and genocide for Mutants.
* {{Hypocrite}}: Wolverine chews out Cyclops for running off by himself [[spoiler:to hunt for the missing Jean Grey amongst the cronies of Sinister and then the bad man himself]] instead of working with the team, and then goes off and does ''the exact same thing'' in the very next episode! This is repeatedly lampshaded, though, and Rogue straight up calls him out on it repeatedly.
** Jean Grey herself ultimately averts this. Her reaction to Cyclops losing it and blasting Wolverine in the back(hard enough to knock him over!) is pretty understandable, especially considering it was over a ''taunt'' and her being ''his'' girlfriend, he ought to know Wolvie doesn't have a shot. It also helps that she didn't know about the taunt, and that he didn't know about Wolverine's promise not to fight back. As for her reaction to Emma... making out with her ''unconscious'' boyfriend was several steps up from "she deserves better". Most people would be ''pretty'' darn pissed at Emma in her position...
** Xavier could also be considered this, at least in regards towards Cyclops. He pretty much ignored Cyclops's personal problems while always putting time aside for Wolverine.
* AnIcePerson: Bobby Drake/Iceman.
* InstantExpert: Rogue, but just temporary.
* InTheBlood: This is commented on by Gambit when he steals Magneto's helmet and breaks Polaris's heart (well, kinda) by revealing he was leaving without her. This, understandably, pisses off Polaris and she uses her powers to take back Magneto's helmet and almost sinks Gambit's boat.
-->'''Gambit:''' Of course, she got her daddy's power... and her sister's temper.
* IntangibleMan: Shadowcat's mutant ability is to phase through solid objects.
* JumpedAtTheCall: Iceman and Shadowcat; literally, in Shadowcat's case.
* KarmaHoudini: Many examples, given how the show got cancelled.
** The Brotherhood of Mutants ultimately get away without any comeuppance for their crimes. However, given how they were Magneto's shock troops, they took a lot of crap before the show ended.
** Weapon X ultimately fails to keep a hold of Maverick, but they and Sabretooth are free men by the end of it.
** [[spoiler:While the Stepford Cuckoos are probably in custody, the Inner Circle is still at large]].
** Probably the most annoying example is Sinister. He doesn't receive any comeuppance despite all the torment he put Cyclops, [[spoiler:Angel, and Jean Grey]] through. Owing to the show's cancellation, [[spoiler:he gets to be CoDragons with Cyclops to Apocalypse in a new BadFuture]] and that's the last we see of him.
* KickTheDog: Selene revealing that [[spoiler: Emma is the one who accidentally caused the explosion that broke up the team, and then stole Xavier's body so that she could plant it on Genosha and buy her way onto the team. All while Emma begs her not to say it.]] Plus, Selene is clearly enjoying it.
* KillerRobot: The Sentinels, which are created to track down Mutants.
* KnightTemplar: [[spoiler:Magneto. In order to let mutants roam free, he plans to have millions of mutants and humans alike killed.]]
** Senator Robert Kelly is also this.
* LaResistance: The future setting of the story involves Professor Xavier and some of the last surviving mutants as this against the Sentinels.
** Technically, the present-day X-men as well, since Senator Kelly makes it clear that they're no different to the Brotherhood of Mutants or Magneto's forces when it comes to being outside the law.
* LaserGuidedKarma:
** In "Hindsight, Part 1", a camper calls MRD about Wolverine, and then rats out on his neighbors just for showing kindness to him for saving their daughter. His RV ends up getting smashed by a MRD helicopter, thanks to Wolverine.
** Emma Frost forcing a kiss on an unconscious Cyclops gets her violently tied down when Jean catches her in the act.
** Nick Fury outright states that he intends to use whoever he wants as expendable assets as he see's fit and has no compunctions about doing so. Cue [[spoiler:Wolverine]] siccing an enraged [[spoiler:Hulk]] on him.
* TheLoad: Cyclops of all people is portrayed as this, even in flashbacks to his earlier years.
** Toad to the Brotherhood. He repeatedly gets captured and needing his teammates to break him out. They were actually going to let him rot in "Time Bomb" before he told them about Nitro.
* LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters: The X-Men cast in this series is large enough that some of them don't actually get anything to ''do.'' The series throws in villains and secondary characters so often that few of them get any buildup or development. Even some characters that are important to the plot aren't introduced until the very last minute (such as the [[spoiler:Inner Circle, who don't appear until the ''last'' three-parter]]), or appear to have monumental importance for a single episode before being relegated to extras (Tildie).
* LoveRedeems: [[spoiler:Emma Frost falls for Cyclops ''hard''; as mentioned elsewhere, [[HeroicSacrifice standard]] [[RedemptionEqualsDeath rules]] apply.]]
* LoveTriangle: Wolverine/Jean Grey/Cyclops and Emma Frost/Cyclops/Jean Grey.
* LovingAShadow: This seems to be the entire basis of Cyclops's relationship with Jean Grey.
* MagicPants: "Wolverine vs. The Hulk" has both Bruce Banner's magically expanding pants whenever he transforms from being the Hulk. Also featured in that episode were the S.H.I.E.L.D. operatives who were turned into wendigo beasts covered in fur mysteriously regaining their clothes when they are cured of their affliction.
* MaleGaze: There are a few shots where the camera angle is so that about 1/2 of the shot is a female character's buttocks while the other half is the background and the other characters in the scene.
* ManBehindTheMan: [[spoiler:Apocalypse to Sinister]], though if you're familiar with many other versions [[ItWasHisSled you probably guessed that]].
* ManipulativeBitch: Emma Frost, naturally. Jean Grey herself has a hint of this herself with the way she coaxed Cyclops via telepathy when they were teenagers.
* MeanwhileInTheFuture: Taken to a very, very, ridiculous degree. What happens in the past directly affects the future in real time. Even worse when you realize that [[TimeyWimeyBall the future affected the present that affects the future]].
* MechanicalEvolution: The future Sentinels begin copying the powers of captured mutants.
* TheMentor: In the BadFuture, Wolverine was this to Bishop.
* MindControlEyes: {{Lampshaded}}. ComicBook/ScarletWitch can't believe Nightcrawler is serious when he states that Wolverine is no longer under Mojo's control because of a change in his eyes.
* TheMole:
** [[spoiler:Emma Frost. After accidentally causing the explosion at the Xavier Institute, she stole Xavier's body so that she could buy her way onto the team and eventually have another chance to find Jean. Or more precisely, the Phoenix. Though she did have good intentions...]]
** Played with. [[spoiler: Initially, Rogue looks like this in ''Hindsight Part 2''. She pretends to join the Brotherhood, but is working with the X-Men against them. But this is all a ploy. She's really working with the Brotherhood to use the X-Men to help push the anti-mutant agenda, thus justifying further anti-human activities by the Brotherhood and pushing along the path to war.]]
** Later, [[spoiler: in ''Battle Lines'', Rogue reveals that ''all of that'' was part of her plan; she was on the X-Men's side all along. She read some disturbing things from Toad's mind, so she decided to hook up with them to keep an eye on them. She even tried to tell the X-Men about it once in a prior episode, but [[ParentalSubstitute Logan wasn't there]], which pissed her off enough to not bother.]]
* MoodMotif: The music from the three movies is threaded throughout the show's theme music.
* MoralEventHorizon: An InUniverse example is seen when [[spoiler: Magneto is revealed as having arranged for the Sentinels to be deployed against Genosha, planning on allowing them to slaughter thousands of Genoshan mutants before intervening, then taking control of them for use as a vanguard in a genocidal war on baseline humans. His own daughters, Lorna/Polaris and Wanda/Scarlet Witch [[CallingTheOldManOut disown and banish him from Genosha for his crimes, and the X-men certainly don't take it any better.]]]]
* MostCommonSuperpower: A significant amount of the women on this show have very impressive busts that are highlighted by their costumes.
* MsFanservice: Emma Frost, whose costume design has gone completely unchanged from one of her comic book counterpart’s design. And considering how she [[{{Stripperiffic}} usually dresses]]... they sure were lucky for being able to do so.
** Scarlet Witch is a very beautiful brunette who wears a skin-tight costume that has a corset.
** Jean Grey also gets a little bit of this when she gets an off camera wardrobe upgrade from her regular attire to a spiffy red dress.
** Mystique also fares well in this department.
* MultistageTeleport: One episode has Nightcrawler visit Genosha, Magneto's island for mutants. At the end of the episode, Nightcrawler has to flee Genosha, but he has no transport, so he has to teleport back to the mainland across the sea, rapidly enough to avoid falling into the sea. He eventually ends up at Prof Xavier's Institute, exhausted.
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: The one good thing to come out of "Guardian Angel" was [[spoiler:Warren Sr. realizing how badly he screwed up and severing his ties with Kelly]].
* MySisterIsOffLimits: Wanda does this to Gambit when she finds out Polaris kissed him. She even throws him in prison.
* MythologyGag:
** A lot of background mutants are cult favourites such as Dazzler.
*** The number of mutant cameos is frankly ridiculous(ly awesome). Seriously, there was a whole action sequence in one episode that was just dealing with ''Fever Pitch''.
*** And when the Marauders Blockbuster and Vertigo are first seen, they're harassing the Morlock Berserker, in reference to their part in the infamous Morlock Massacre storyline.
** Wolverine wearing his silly original costume in the flashback in the episode "Wolverine vs The Hulk".
** Kavita Rao appears for one scene, watching over Tildie Smoans. In the comics, Kavita used her Mutant Cure to permanently depower Tildie when her powers went out of control.
** Rover the Sentinel and his PokemonSpeak comes from the final arc of Grant Morrison's run, though with Tom Skylark replaced with Marrow.
* NoNameGiven: For whatever reason, the show goes out of its way to never specify which city it is the X-Men live nearest via only dubbing it "the city". Since this is a Marvel adaptation, it's almost certainly New York.
* NonActionGuy: Forge. He spends more time working on the X-Men's tech than in field missions. He is even conspicuously absent when the Brotherhood attacks the mansion, only showing up after the fight (Which Shadowcat calls him out on).
* TheNoseKnows: Wolverine's tracking mutant ability. The viewer even gets an inside perspective into it by seeing the imaginary scent track left by whoever Logan is trying to find.
* NotAsYouKnowThem: Not as prevalent as one would expect. Besides Cyclops and Wolverine's role swap, and Storm's DemotedToExtra, the rest of the cast is pretty much spot-on.
** Depending on which media you were introduced to them. Rogue and Kitty seem to be movie versions, Emma is the comics version, Forge is no version we've ever seen, Polaris is a DaddysGirl, etc.
** Angel is apparently good friends with Wolverine in the series, whereas the comic book Angel couldn't stand Wolverine and once quit the team because of it.
* NotBad: Logan's old sensei after giving him a lesson to restore his samurai skills...
-->Bah! He is terrible! A disgrace! But it no longer revolts me to observe him.
* NotMeThisTime: When Xavier's body turns up on Genosha, the X-Men assume this means that Magneto was behind the opening attack. Magneto insists he had nothing to do with it--saying he's merely been tending to his old friend after his mysteriously arrival onto the island.
* NotQuiteDead: The end of the "Hindsight" three-parter shows Xavier in the BadFuture passing by the team's headstones, including [[spoiler:Wolverine]]'s, but he turns up alive and well in the finale. This may be a deliberate fake-out or justified by the TimeyWimeyBall.
* NotWhatItLooksLike: Between Iceman and Shadowcat as they both rolled into each others arms just as Angel walks on them.
* ObliviousToLove: Nightcrawler seems to have no idea just how badly Scarlet Witch is into him. Similarly, Cyclops never seems to realize that Emma Frost is interested in him.
* OhCrap: Nightcrawler's reaction to Mojo sending a brainwashed [[spoiler: Wolverinie]] after him and Wanda. "Oh, dang."
** The X-men team's reaction when they see ''Juggernaut'' pounded unconscious in a crater.
-->'''Iceman:''' Wait a minute... Juggernaut? As in the ''unstoppable Juggernaut''? The ''totally invulnerable'' Juggernaut!?
-->'''Beast:''' That would be the one.
-->'''Shadowcat:''' So what could do this to him!? (cue giant monst emerging from the city) Never mind...
* OlderThanTheyLook: At first, it seems like Iceman is near the same age as Shadowcat (as he was in the movies and X-Men: Evolution) to the point that they may even be in a relationship, but a later episode shows that he's a founding X-Man, just like he is in the comics.
* OneWordVocabulary: Rover, a Sentinel that Polaris built out of scrap, only says the word "Destroy". [[spoiler:Before being destroyed, he says to Marrow, "Run."]]
* OverprotectiveDad: Magneto is this only to Lorna.
* PapaWolf: Magneto does ''not'' take Senator Kelly's hiring of Gambit to attack Genosha lightly.
* ParentalSubstitute: Rogue thinks of Logan as this. Or at least, as an absentee-version of it, since he keeps leaving for days or weeks at a time.
* PinkMeansFeminine: Flashbacks show Jean Grey wearing a pink shirt (with blue and purple hair bands) as a teenager. Also Kitty is seen wearing pink at least once.
* PoweredByAForsakenChild: One of Magneto's schemes involves having Mystique place some kind of power amplifying device on Tildie Smoans, making her powers go completely out of control. Fortunately, Rogue is able to find and break the device.
* PowerStrainBlackout: Christy faints after using her powers to save Wolverine and her father.
* PunchClockVillain: The MRD could be considered this, even though they aren't focused very much personally.
* ThePurge: During the first episode focusing on the BadFuture, Kamal mentions the Sentinels killed all the telepaths, save Charles.
* RebelliousPrincess: Polaris.
* ReedRichardsIsUseless: Zig-zagged. After leaving the X-Men, Storm goes off to Africa, using her mutant powers to transform vast swathes of the country into working farmland. And then the minute the Shadow King attacks she drops all this and goes back to the X-Men, to be of no more use whatsoever.
* RedemptionEqualsDeath: [[spoiler:Poor Emma Frost...]]
* RedOniBlueOni: Unlike the other types of X-men series, Wolverine is the blue oni to Cyclops' red oni.
* RevengeBeforeReason: [[spoiler: Marrow, who gets so distraught over Rover's destruction that she sells Professor Xavier out to Master Mold, completely forgetting that this will mean ''the total extinction of all mutantkind''.]]
* RippleEffectProofMemory: Xavier seems to have it. Or does he? As a telepath in contact with people from the past he can read from their minds what he told them to avert, even when it no longer happened.
* RobotBuddy: Rover serves the role as this for Marrow.
* SacrificialLamb: Jean Grey in the first episode. [[spoiler:At least, that's what they wanted us to believe.]]
* SayMyName: Cyclops: SINISTER!!!!!!!!
* SealedGoodInACan: Due to his teleportation abilities, Nightcrawler can't merely be locked in a cell on Genosha, so Magento sticks him in a special machine that negates his power.
* SecondLove:
** Emma Frost is set up to be this towards Cyclops but [[spoiler:her death makes the development null - made even more null by the series being cancelled]].
** Mariko is Wolverine's second love,[[spoiler: with Mystique being his first back when he worked for Weapon X]].
* SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong: Prof X sends them messages from the BadFuture, in the hope they can stop it.
* SheIsNotMyGirlfriend: Nightcrawler says this about the Scarlet Witch. She is visibly sad.
* ShipTease:
** Angel and Storm. We only get to see it in one episode, though, thanks to the show's cancellation. [[spoiler:And it's the episode where Angel is brainwashed and turned into Archangel, no less.]]
** They also teased the hell out of Nightcrawler and Scarlet Witch. See SheIsNotMyGirlfriend.
* ShoutOut:
** Logan calls Hank [[StarWars Chewie]] in the first episode.
** In the episode that focuses on Jean, there is a scene where Bobby Drake (Iceman) is clearly playing a RealLife ''Iron Man'' game. More specifically, the main console game based on the [[Film/IronMan first film]].
* SiblingSwitchSquick: Wolverine's former girlfriend Mariko Yashida was forced by her father to marry the Silver Samurai. In the comics Mariko and Silver Samurai are half-siblings, having the same father.
* SpiderTank: The Sentinel Prowler.
* SpotlightStealingTitle: '''''Wolverine''''' and the X-Men. You might not notice the second part at first on some posters.
* SpotlightStealingSquad: For a show called "Wolverine and the X-Men" Nightcrawler gets ''way'' more focus than anyone else (other than Wolverine, of course).
* SunglassesAtNight: Cyclops, as usual, to contain his otherwise-uncontrollable mutant powers.
* SupportingLeader: In the future it's Xavier, but in the present Magneto (oddly enough) cites Nightcrawler as one of these characters. One episode shows that he actually does have fantastic leadership skills and his time with the X-Men has made him well-respected in the mutant community.
* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome: In the episode "Tome Bomb" Toad is captured the MRD again, the rest of the Brotherhood decide to leave him, as it is not only the umpteenth time he has been but he is also weakest link of team. The only reason they break Toad out is because they need him to show them how find a powerful, yet unstable, mutant to help them do an impossible job they are trying to do.
* TeleportationSickness: In "Hunting Grounds", the Scarlet Witch when Nightcrawler teleports both of them repeatedly.
* TheEndOrIsIt: Toward the end of the series, the X-Men attack the Sentinel warehouse, destroying numerous Sentinels and working with the Brotherhood to destroy Master Mold. At the very end of the episode, it's shown Master Mold downloaded itself into a damaged Sentinel.
%% * ThisIsReality
* TimeyWimeyBall: The way time changes in the future from the present.
* TokenGoodTeammate: Domino, to the Brotherhood. [[spoiler:She's actually with Bishop's team in the BadFuture.]]
* TookALevelInBadass: Nightcrawler is decidedly more badass than he appears in other adaptations.
* TookALevelInDumbass:
** Quicksilver; though much of it is Magneto's complaints, the whole near-disaster with Nitro, where he didn't stop to think that maybe bringing a mutant whose uncontrollable power is ''blowing up'' onto his dad's precious mutant haven isn't such a good idea. Especially when the best he can do to try and control said mutant's power is to have an inexperienced telepath -- who even warns him she's never tried anything like this before -- tinker with the mutant's brain. If the X-men hadn't intervened, Quicksilver would have been personally responsible for the deaths of ''half the mutants on the planet''.
** Cyclops, who is so caught up in his despair over Jean's disappearance that he does things like go off to pick a fight with Mr. Sinister, which even ''Wolverine'' proclaims is a bad idea. Arguments about characterization aside, it's not so hard to consider why Professor Xavier might have considered Cyclops to not be in any shape to lead the team again.
* TooDumbToLive; Oh sure, Inner Circle, go ahead and try to probe Phoenix's mind without Emma Frost, the one who knows what she's doing. I'm sure nothing will go wrong.
** Cyclops ain't much smarter either.
** Marrow took the loss of [[spoiler:Rover]] a little too hard - and did something stupid.
* TruerToTheText: While the series may have had some flaws as well as the cases of AdaptationDistillation, AdaptationalHeroism, AdaptationalVillainy, AdaptationalWimp, CompositeCharacter, DemotedToExtra, and NotAsYouKnowThem, ''WesternAnimation/WolverineAndTheXMen2009'' is ''much'' more faithful to the source material than [[WesternAnimation/XMenEvolution one of it's predecessors]] and [[Film/XMenFilmSeries the live action film series]] combined mainly through the fact that it faithfully adapted storylines from the comics (such as the ''[[ComicBook/TheDarkPhoenixSaga The Phoenix Saga]]'', ''[[ComicBook/DaysofFuturePast The Days of Future Past]]'', etc. The series would have adapted the ''[[ComicBook/AgeofApocalypse Age of Apocalypse]]'' storyline if not for its cancellation) and used a ''premise'' that was identical to the source material.
** The series also portrayed the characters that were inaccurate to their comic book counterparts in both ''Evolution'' and the film series as being much more accurate to their comic book counterparts in the terms of their names, powers, physical appearances (as well their costumes), origins, motivations, alignments, and primarily the groups that they were associated with (for example, the characters, such as Magneto, Scarlet Witch, Gambit, etc, featured in ''WATXM'' are much more faithful to their comic book counterparts than they were portrayed in the film series and ''Evolution'').
** In fact, the show's faithfulness to the comics is almost identical to how ''[[WesternAnimation/XMen X-Men: The Animated Series]]'' was ''very'' faithful to the comics to the point of which they had to give the additional credit to the original writers of the comics through the episodes.
* TrojanPrisoner: Gambit is able to get onto Genosha by [[spoiler:admitting that Senator Kelly sent him there to steal Magneto's helmet. Turns out he's actually there to cripple their infrastructure and leave them open to invasion.]]
* UndyingLoyalty:
** Toad stands by the Brotherhood, no matter what. Even during the aforementioned battle with the Sentinels, he stayed with them.
** And also Quicksilver, to Magneto, even as Magneto outright tells him ''to his face'' that he considers Quicksilver a bungling incompetent and [[spoiler:the Scarlet Witch and Polaris desert him in the series finale]].
** And of course, Cyclops with his seemingly indestructible determination to hold out hope for Jean Grey's eventual return.
* VictoriousChildhoodFriend: Jean Grey may or may not count as this reclaiming Cyclops for herself at the end - though it may be more like Victorious Teenage Friend.
* TheUnFavourite: Magneto makes it ''very'' clear which of his three children he has the least regard for. [[spoiler:It's Quicksilver.]]
* TheVerse: WATXM is set in the same universe as ''WesternAnimation/TheAvengersEarthsMightiestHeroes''and the ''WesternAnimation/HulkVs'' movies.
* VillainWithGoodPublicity: [[spoiler:Apocalypse, of all people, has a massive crowd cheering at the sight of him in the last scene of the series.]]
* ViolentlyProtectiveGirlfriend: Teen Jean Grey going toe to toe with Magneto to save teen Cyclops may count, but probably even more so as an adult when she (justifiably)violently throws Emma Frost up against a wall and binds her there with pipes for kissing an unconscious Cyclops. And in between that briefly going into Phoenix mode when Cyclops almost gets knifed by Archangel.
* WeWillMeetAgain: At the end of his first appearance, Mojo declares, "This calls for a [[SequelEpisode sequel]]!"
* WellDoneSonGuy: Despite his best efforts, Quicksilver can never get daddy to cut him any slack, or even recognize he might be useful at anything. To be fair, though, he is a complete idiot.
* WellIntentionedExtremist:
** [[spoiler:Despite what she had done, Emma was never evil at all, and she was far from what you could call a villain. Everything she had done was in order to save the world from the Phoenix Force. Too bad the rest of the Inner Circle Club has [[TakeOverTheWorld other plans]]...]]
** Senator Kelly and Magneto, on opposite sides of the mutant conflict and both convinced the other will be the one to start the war. [[spoiler: Strangely enough, this does not stop them from working together on occasion albeit with the intention of stabbing the other in the back eventually]].
* WhatDoesSheSeeInHim: Evoked (though never outrightly asked by any of the cast) with Jean Grey and Emma Frost in regards to Cyclops, due mostly to the fact that Cyclops is not portrayed with any admirable traits. Wolverine makes a joke about to Cyclops's face in their first encounter (and suffers for it not long after).
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Colossus appeared in the first episode as a team member, but never returned after the rest of the team was reunited. He was supposed to in Season 2, however. Later on, Gambit - we don't know what happened to him after [[spoiler:Polaris sank the boat in which he was leaving Genosha]].
** X-23. She had a voiceless cameo in 'Stolen Lives', body-guarding Professor Thorton as he made his escape, and four of her helped Wolverine in the future in the final episodes. Future Logan states that he found them in a Weapon X facility in stasis, but given that that future won't happen, four of her seems unlikely now. So, what happened to her?
* WhatKindOfLamePowerIsHeartAnyway:
** Subverted in the episode where Nightcrawler saves a sinking ship with help from a bunch of mutants with marginal-seeming powers.
** Played straight with Marrow, if unintentionally. Hurling bone blades is pretty useless when you're fighting {{Giant Robot}}s and smaller robots with a HealingFactor. She cracks a Sentinel's chest-laser lens in one episode and... that's about it. Even the one time one of her blades comes in handy, knocking Polaris' helmet off, it's ''Domino'' who uses it for that purpose and not Marrow herself.
* WhatTheHellHero: In the Hulk episode, both Wolverine and Banner call shenanigans on Nick Fury for unleashing Hulk into the area in the first place. For his part, Fury [[ShutUpKirk defies their objections]], maintaining that SHIELD doesn't answer to them and if Fury decides to continue to use them both for his own ends, they won't get two words on the subject.
** This is pretty much Jean's reaction to Cyclops zapping Wolverine after Wolverine hit on her without knowing she made the clawed one promise her he wouldn't fight Cyclops.
** Jean has this reaction towards Cyclops again in the series finale when he tries to take on the Phoenix - though that time she was trying to save his life.
** Pretty much everyone has this reaction towards Cyclops throughout the series, since people who lose their loved ones apparently don't deserve sympathy.
* WhereTheHellIsSpringfield:
** The show goes out of its way to avoid specifying where pretty much ''anything'' is. Along with the aforementioned generic "city", it's incredibly mum on the subject of where Genosha's supposed to be. The only thing specified is that it either requires a plane or a weeks-long boat-trip to reach, and it's evidently across an ocean of some kind. In the comics, Genosha is usually off the southern tip of Africa.
** Likewise, the future seems to be astoundingly void of identifiers. The caves the future X-Men huddle in, the Sentinel camps, Master Mold's location... all in a generic futuristic wasteland which is ''probably'' North America.
* WildCard: Gambit's not above renegotiating his contracts under fire. [[spoiler: And then [[LovableTraitor bailing out]] once he gets what he wanted.]]
* WolverinePublicity: D'you ''think''? Not as bad as you would think, though, as plenty of episodes focused on other characters.
* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: In the BadFuture, Polaris is freakishly powerful, but also haunted by the deaths of her family.
* TheWorfEffect:
** [[TheJuggernaut Juggernaut]] only makes two appearances in the series. In the first he was clobbered to demonstrate how powerful another character was. His second sequence is barely a cameo, where he escapes entirely off-screen. He doesn't even get to say a word. Commented upon in his first appearance when he gets launched halfway across a city and knocked out cold.
--> '''Storm''': [[ThisIsGonnaSuck Oh... this is bad.]]
--> '''Wolverine''': Yeah. Juggernaut.
--> '''Iceman''': Wait a minute! Juggernaut as in ''The Unstoppable Juggernaut''? The '''totally invulnerable''' Juggernaut!?
--> '''Beast''': That'd be the one.
--> '''Shadowcat''': So ''what'' could ''do'' this to him?
--> ''(Giant red energy Kaiju-looking thing roars and bursts out of a building)''
--> '''Shadowcat''': ...Never mind.
** Wolverine, despite having his name in the title, is not slacking on his indestructible punching bag duties. Against anyone with a name he either loses, stalemates, or gets a beatdown before winning. The hazards of having blades as your main offense when you aren't allowed to cut anyone.
** The entire X-Men team gets kidnapped by ninjas just so Wolverine can rescue them. Our heroes, ladies and gentlemen...
* WorthIt: In the end of "Wolverine vs. Hulk", Wolverine gets angry when he found out he was used by Nick Fury to basically clean up one of his messes. He then purposely punches out Bruce Banner to bring out Hulk to troll Fury in response. Wolverine gets sent flying and crashing a distance away by Hulk, but still smirks as he can only imagine what Fury and the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents are going through with Hulk.
-->'''Wolverine:''' Have fun, Fury.
* WouldHurtAChild: Colonel Moss has no qualms doing this, whether or not the child is a mutant.
* WrongGenreSavvy: Cyclops is so certain that Sinister had something to do with Jean's disappearance, which is reasonable given the backstory, but he's actually innocent. It gets deconstructed, as Cyclops becomes so obsessed that he nearly gets himself killed.
* YoureInsane: Scott to Sinister in ''Shades of Grey.''
----

While the show itself didn't last very long, its legacy did live on in a very unusual way. Two years after the series' cancellation, Marvel launched a new [[ComicBook/WolverineAndTheXMen comic series of the same name,]] which again focused on Wolverine re-building the school and reluctantly assuming the leadership role of to a group of X-Men (albeit under different circumstances). While some characters have been know to make the jump [[CanonImmigrant from an adaptation to its source material]] before, this is one of the few times a source material has come to mirror the ''premise'' of its adaptation.

* TruerToTheText: While the series may have had some flaws as well as the cases of AdaptationDistillation, AdaptationalHeroism, AdaptationalVillainy, AdaptationalWimp, CompositeCharacter, DemotedToExtra, and NotAsYouKnowThem, ''WesternAnimation/WolverineAndTheXMen'' is ''much'' more faithful to the source material than [[WesternAnimation/XMenEvolution one of it's predecessors]] and [[Film/XMenFilmSeries the live action film series]] combined mainly through the fact that it faithfully adapted storylines from the comics (such as the ''[[ComicBook/TheDarkPhoenixSaga The Phoenix Saga]]'', ''[[ComicBook/DaysofFuturePast The Days of Future Past]]'', etc. The series would have adapted the ''[[ComicBook/AgeofApocalypse Age of Apocalypse]]'' storyline if not for its cancellation) and used a ''premise'' that was identical to the source material.

While the show itself didn't last very long, its legacy did live on in a very unusual way. Two years after the series' cancellation, Marvel launched a new [[ComicBook/WolverineAndTheXMen comic series of the same name,]] which again focused on Wolverine re-building the school and reluctantly assuming the leadership role of to a group of X-Men (albeit under different circumstances). While some character have been know to make the jump [[CanonImmigrant from an adaptation to its source material]] before, this is one of the few time a source material has come to mirror the ''premise'' of its adaptation.

* MsFanservice: Emma Frost, whose costume design has gone completely unchanged from one of her comic book counterpart’s design. And considering how she [[{{Stripperiffic}} usually dresses]]... they [[GettingCrapPastTheRadar sure were lucky for being able to do so]].

* FaceHeelTurn: [[spoiler:Rogue, after an apparent ReverseMole. Though ultimately revealed to be a double-ReverseMole.]] In the bad future, [[spoiler:Marrow]] has this, for some time.

* TheMole: [[spoiler:Emma Frost. After accidentally causing the explosion at the Xavier Institute, she stole Xavier's body so that she could buy her way onto the team and eventually have another chance to find Jean. Or more precisely, the Phoenix. Though she did have good intentions...]]

* ReverseMole: Played with. [[spoiler: Initially, Rogue looks like this in ''Hindsight Part 2''. She pretends to join the Brotherhood, but is working with the X-Men against them. But this is all a ploy. She's really working with the Brotherhood to use the X-Men to help push the anti-mutant agenda, thus justifying further anti-human activities by the Brotherhood and pushing along the path to war.]]
** Later, [[spoiler: in ''Battle Lines'', Rogue reveals that ''all of that'' was part of her plan; she was on the X-Men's side all along. She read some disturbing things from Toad's mind, so she decided to hook up with them to keep an eye on them. She even tried to tell the X-Men about it once in a prior episode, but [[ParentalSubstitute Logan wasn't there]], which pissed her off enough to not bother.]]

* AdaptationalJerkass: Nick Fury, while even in the comics and movies he's a [[IDidWhatIHadToDo "whatever it takes"]] kind of guy, this version of him is an outright ManipulativeBastard who is not above emotional blackmail and using living people as weapons, this attitude[[MuggingTheMonster does eventually come back to haunt him]] [[spoiler:courtesy of the Hulk]].

* LaserGuidedKarma: In "Hindsight, Part 1", a camper calls MRD about Wolverine, and then rats out on his neighbors just for showing kindness to him for saving their daughter. His RV ends up getting smashed by a MRD helicopter, thanks to Wolverine.

* BrokenAesop: The series showcased Cyclops grieving over the disappearance of his DesignatedLoveInterest Jean Grey (who was actually introduced giving him a hard time about sucker-punching Wolverine in a fit of jealousy and then blows a kiss to his rival) and being annoyed at Professor Xavier demoting him while promoting Wolverine to leader. The series seemed to initially pitch the idea that Cyclops had to learn to let go of his resentments and move on with his life, including but no limited to hooking up with his then comic current girlfriend Emma Frost. 26 episodes later... he ended up back together with Jean anyway after waiting for the odds to change in his favor. Great moral for the kids - You shouldn't learn to move on from the loss of your loved ones. Instead, you should just [[LoveWillLeadYouBack sit around being depressed in the hopes that they'll eventually come back to you]].

* DesignatedLoveInterest: Jean Grey to Cyclops (for the few minutes that she actually appears).

** Emma Frost is portrayed in a more sympathetic light, completely turning her into a straight hero rather than a byronic one. [[spoiler: hat said, this version of Frost also has AdaptationalVillainy, as she's TheMole and still the White Queen of the Inner Circle (and even kicks off the events of the series as it's revealed she is the one who attacked Jean and Professor Xavier, which in turn ended up destroying the mansion—albeit with the intention of taking out the Phoenix before she could be a threat).]]

* AnIcePerson: Bobby Drake/Iceman.

** The series also uses elements that were from the live action film series (mainly through elements like the use of the [[Film/XMenTheLastStand movie]] version of Warren Worthington II, the designs of Cereboro and the Xavier institute, the Father-Daughter relationship that was between Wolverine and Rogue, the fact that the voices of many of the characters such as Professor Xavier and Magneto appear to be inspired by the voices of the actors and actresses that portray the characters in the film series, etc).

** Emma Frost is portrayed in a more sympathetic light, completely turning her into a straight hero rather than a byronic one. [[spoiler: That said, this version of Frost also has AdaptationalVillainy, as she's The Mole and still the White Queen of the Inner Circle (and even kicks off the events of the series as it's revealed she is the one who attacked Jean and Professor Xavier, which in turn ended up destroying the mansion—albeit with the intention of taking out the Phoenix before she could be a threat).]]

* Gambit isn't even an X-man and all and seems to just be some kind of amoral mercenary type. Too be fair, we only see him for all of ''two'' episodes, so there could be more to him.

[[caption-width-right:236: [[FanNickname Sniktbub]] [[AndZoidberg and some other guys.]]]]

** Zig-zagged with Magneto himself. While he wasn't a villain in the comics at the time the show was released, there are over 3 decades (60's, 70's and 90's) of comics where he was the villain meaning the show wasn't exactly pulling its villainous portrayal of him out of its ass. That being said, this version of Magneto was willing to kill innocent mutants who had done nothing to him which even Eve of Destruction era Magneto (who straight up crucified Professor X) would frown upon.

** Magneto himself. In the comics, he's a WellIntentionedExtremist or an AntiHero depending on the [[HeelFaceRevolvingDoor decade]]. He was last wa-ha-ha evil in TheSeventies and the last time that he was an enemy was done in such an OutOfCharacterMoment that it was {{Retcon}}ned into being someone else ''immediately'', making a ''1993'' storyline the last time we saw him as anything but his normal portrayal (half the team wants to trust him, the other half says "yeah, but you don't know '''how''' bad he was when he was bad", and his WildCard moments don't make anybody any more comfortable, but in the end, his CharacterDevelopment ''does'' stick) and it's not like nobody provoked him then.[[hottip:*:Of course, he gave 'em plenty of reason to think they had to strike first... it's complicated.]] WATXM Magneto appears to be similar to comic Magneto at first but at heart is as monstrous as it gets, more like his comic book counterpart during the 1960s and Morrison eras along with the Ultimate incarnation.

* PokemonSpeak: Rover, a Sentinel that Polaris built out of scrap, only says the word "[[CrushKillDestroy Destroy]]". [[spoiler:Before being destroyed, he says to Marrow, "Run."]]

* HelloNurse: Emma Frost. Her introduction into the series has practically every male at the X-Mansion (aside from Wolverine and Beast) gawking over her.
** Jean Grey and Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch aren't too shabby either.
*** Wanda's costume includes ''[[OfCorsetsSexy a corset!]]''
*** Heck, in flashbacks Cyclops had a bit of a ''Hello Nurse'' reaction to Jean when they first met as teenagers.

* AdaptationalWimp: This adaptation did this to several characters who, in their portrayal in comics and most adaptations, would not allow Wolverine to steal the spotlight as completely as he does in this series.

** Cyclops loses all of his leadership and competent hero qualities from the comics and most adaptations in favor of {{Wangst}} and {{Jerkass}}ery.

** Basically, there are ''some'' moments of the members of the titular group being the X-Men you know and love, but they're sadly few and far between. This is a show about Godverine Almighty and those losers who can't do anything that he's always bailing out.

** Master Mold is combined with Danger, the evil sentient [[ArtificialIntelligence A.I.]] from Cretor/JossWhedon's run. Because of this, Master Mold [[GenderFlip is depicted as a]] {{Gynoid}}.

** Warren Worthington II [[CaptainObvious (Warren Worthington III AKA Angel's father)]] finances senator Kelly's anti-mutant campaign platform, and provides the MRD's R&D and hardware as well; needless to say, [[CallingTheOldManOut his son disagrees vocally]]. Unfortunately, by the time [[HeelRealization he realizes he's being a gigantic dick]], it's too little too late, both to stop the anti-mutant movement from becoming a viable political and paramilitary force on its own and [[spoiler:to save his son from becoming Mister Sinister's brainwashed minion]], leaving him with nothing but now cold and empty financial and material comforts and a mountain of regrets. Karma's a bitch sometimes.

* SpotlightStealingSquad: For a show called "Wolverine and the X-Men" Nightcrawler gets ''way'' more focus than anyone else ([[CaptainObvious other than Wolverine, of course]]).

** Magneto himself. In the comics, he's a WellIntentionedExtremist or an AntiHero depending on the [[HeelFaceRevolvingDoor decade]]. He was last wa-ha-ha evil in TheSeventies and the last time that he was an enemy was done in such an OutOfCharacterMoment that it was {{Retcon}}ned into being someone else ''immediately'', making a ''1993'' storyline the last time we saw him as anything but his normal portrayal (half the team wants to trust him, the other half says "yeah, but you don't know '''how''' bad he was when he was bad", and his WildCard moments don't make anybody any more comfortable) and it's not like nobody provoked him then.[[hottip:*:Of course, he gave 'em plenty of reason to think they had to strike first... it's complicated.]] WATXM Magneto appears to be similar to comic Magneto at first but at heart is as monstrous as it gets, more like his comic book counterpart during the 1960s and Morrison eras along with the Ultimate incarnation.

* AdaptationalWimp: This adaptation did this to several characters who in their portrayal in comics and most adaptations would not allow Wolverine to steal the spotlight as completely as he does in this series.

** Cyclops loses all of his leadership and competent hero qualities from the comics and most adaptations in favor of {{Wangst}}.
** In one episode, ''the entire team of X-Men'', except for Wolverine, are taken down in ''seconds'' by Silver Samurai and some {{ninja}}s. There are some moments of the members of the titular group being the X-Men you know and love, but they're sadly few and far between.

** Colossus was featured in some early promotional material - he even got an action figure! - but was PutOnABus in the pilot, never to be seen again.

** This show's version of [[spoiler:Master Mold]] is found to be female.

* RoleReprisal:
** In addition to Creator/SteveBlum as the titular Wolverine and Creator/FredTatasciore as the Hulk, Blum's ''VideoGame/XMenLegends'' co-star Peter Lurie reprises his role as ComicBook/{{Sabretooth}} and Creator/KeoneYoung reprises his ''VideoGame/XMenTheOfficialGame'' role as Silver Samurai.
** In the French dub, Cyclops, Rogue, Nightcrawler, Shadowcat, Jean Grey, Gambit, and Sabretooth are voiced by Philippe Allard, Alexandra Correa, Aurélien Ringelheim, Géraldine Frippiat, Laetitia Reva, Mathieu Moreau, and Robert Guilmard respectively, all of them reprising their roles from ''WesternAnimation/XMenEvolution''. Averted in the case of Wolverine, Professor Xavier, Storm, and Angel. While their XME voice actors (Robert Dubois, Jean-Marc Delhausse, Francine Laffineuse, and Bruno Bulte respectively) were part of the French dub for this show, they didn’t reprise their roles here and were instead given different characters (Quicksilver, Senator Kelly, Spiral, and Mister Sinister, again respectively).

* TheComplainerIsAlwaysWrong: Because Logan is a [[CanonSue perfectly level-headed leader that makes infallible decisions and always wins his fights and never puts the team at unacceptable risk]], the dissenting troubled anti-hero Cyclops [[SarcasmMode must always be wrong.]]

* NeverSayDie: Averted with a few uses of the word "kill", but most notably when in “Code of Conduct” when the theme is a duel to the death between Logan and the Silver Samurai. Other instances Kurt and Wanda run from a [[spoiler:mind controlled Wolverine]] and when Logan and Beast try getting Bobby to rejoin. In “Badlands”, [[spoiler:Polaris in the bad future explicitly refers to Magneto as dead, and we almost see the firewave rush over him and burn him to death]]. This trope can pretty much be considered averted.

* HulkSpeak: The Hulk in his guest appearance, naturally.

-->'''Gambit:''' Of course, she has her daddy's powers... and her sister's temper.