Characters / X-Men Film Series: Hellfire Club

Main Character Index
Main Characters: X-Men | Professor X | Magneto | Wolverine | Mystique | Jean Grey | Deadpool
Original Timeline: X-Men | Free Mutants | Other Mutants | Brotherhood | Weapon X | Humans | Hellfire Club
New Timeline: X-Men | New Mutants | X-Force | Apocalypse and His Followers | Transigen | Other Mutants | Humans | Weapon X | D'Bari | New Mutants Villains
Other Timelines: Earth-17040 | Earth-17372

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Hellfire Club

Film Appearances: X-Men: First Class

A group of mutants that was active at the height of the Cold War in the 1960s and led by Sebastian Shaw. Their objective is to secretly incite a war amidst the world's nuclear powers and then claim the ashes in the name of mutantkind. Chronologically, the group serves as the very first antagonistic group in the film series. Indirectly, the group also serves as predecessor for Magneto's Brotherhood because of its similar goal: mutant supremacy.

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In General

• Badass in a Nice Suit: This almost seems like a requirement for all male members of the Club, as each and every one of them is decked out in expensive suits, from evening tuxedos to Azazel's nehru suit and Riptide's grey three-piece. Naturally, Shaw's are the most expensive and stylish.
• Predecessor Villain: Collectively to Magneto's Brotherhood of Mutants. They share similar goals of Mutant supremacy over normal humans, and the first members to join Erik in the Brotherhood aside from some of the first X-Men happen to be members of the defunct Hellfire Club after Shaw's death.
• Team Member in the Adaptation: Shaw and Frost are the only members of the comic book Hellfire Club that are also members of this one. Everyone else in the film version is not tied to the comic version. Additionally, once Magneto takes over, everyone but Angel is this for the Brotherhood that formed afterward.

Dr. Klaus Schmidt / Sebastian Shaw

Dr. Klaus Schmidt / Sebastian Shaw

"You and me... we're going to have a lot of fun together."

Played By: Kevin Bacon

Voiced By: Sergio Gutiérrez (Latin-American Spanish)

Film Appearances: X-Men: First Class

"We are the children of the atom. Radiation gave birth to mutants. What will kill the humans, will only make us stronger."

A former Nazi scientist and the leader of the Hellfire Club, a secret society bent on taking over the world. He has the power of absorbing and redirecting kinetic and radiated energy.

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• Adaptational Attractiveness: Although he's never ugly in a conventional sense, the comic book version of Sebastian Shaw noticeably lacks the stylized physique and poise of Kevin Bacon's potrayal. This extends to his powers, as in the comics they give him large muscles and a monstruous look when powering up, while in the film they manifest more artistically in the form of shining energy coming out of his body.
• Adaptational Badass: Canon Shaw is no slouch, but he was mostly restricted to absorbing kinetic energy and turning it into super strength. This version has far greater scope in what he can absorb and what he can do with the power that he has absorbed, including energy attacks, physical invulnerability and suppressed aging.
• Age Lift: Even without getting into this version being a Nazi, this Shaw is older than the comics version, by virtue of First Class ignoring Comic-Book Time.
• The Ageless: He can use the energy he absorbes to keep young, possibly eternally.
• Alliterative Name: Sebastian Shaw.
• And I Must Scream: He is helpless as Charles telepathically freezes his body and Erik runs a coin through his brain. However, Charles feels his pain and screams for him.
• Ape Shall Never Kill Ape: He lightly scolds Emma, after she punts Erik off their yacht, that, "We don't hurt our own kind." Later, however, he kills Darwin, and his team later go all-out to hurt/kill the X-Men; and of course, he beats up Erik on the sub, while trying to convince him to change sides.
• Asshole Victim: Considering how much of an irredeemable bastard he is, seeing Erik push a coin through his forehead is a satisfying sight to behold.
• Bad Boss: Exclaims with delight as Erik kills his guards in the flashback.
• The Bad Guy Wins: Although Erik kills him and foils his nuclear war plot, Shaw did succeed his goal in corrupting the former into becoming a mutant tyrant when he forms the remnants of the Hellfire Club into his very first Brotherhood of Mutants. They even share the same helmet.
  Erik: Everything you did made me stronger, made me the weapon I am today. It's the truth; I've known it all along. You are my creator.
• Been There, Shaped History: The Cuban Missile Crisis was actually a plot by him to start World War III.
• Big Bad: Of X-Men: First Class. He intends to start World War III by stirring the conflict between the US and the USSR, which leads to the X-Men joining together to put an end to his plan. However, once he goes down, Magneto takes his place as the antagonist.
• Boom, Headshot!: Shaw is executed by Magneto, who pushes a coin through his forehead.
• Comic-Book Movies Don't Use Codenames: Despite his position in the Hellfire Club, this version of Shaw never calls himself "Black King."
• Composite Character:
  • He mixes character traits associated with the comics version of Sebastian Shaw (a wealthy Diabolical Mastermind with Energy Absorption powers) with those associated with fellow X-villain Mr. Sinister (a seemingly-immortal Evilutionary Biologist who experimented on Magneto in a Nazi concentration camp and believes that mutants are the key to world conquest). Similarly, his plot to manipulate the United States and the Soviet Union into nuclear war may have been taken from the Mutant Master, an obscure villain from the Silver Age.
  • While the outline of his powers fits loosely Sebastian Shaw's, its expanded variety of effects, techniques and manifestations are more reminiscent of Bishop, another known mutant with Energy Absorption powers. In the comics, Shaw could absorb only kinetic energy and use it to physically hulk out, but Bishop could absorb much more kinds of energy (kinetic was originally an exception, but he later mastered it a bit too) and do more things with it, like gaining Super-Strength, sustaining his body and throwing energy blasts, just like the film version of Shaw. Also, Bishop manifested it as glowing energy going through his body, not as enlarged muscles, which makes film!Shaw resemble Bishop more than his own comic counterpart.
• The Corrupter: He is responsible more than any other figure in the movie-verse for Magneto's Start of Darkness.
• Cruel and Unusual Death: While Charles has Shaw mentally frozen and rendered unable to do anything, Magneto kills him by slowly pushing a coin through his forehead until it perforates his brain.
• Diabolical Mastermind: Shaw's Hellfire Club has been working behind the scenes during the Cold War to manipulate both the US and the Soviet Union. His threats and blackmail leave him immune from any reprisal, making the X-Men the only force capable of opposing him.
• Energy Absorption: Any energy, even the kinetic force propelling bullets, is something he can fully absorb into his body, and it is stated that this is how he was able to retain a youthful body. However, retaining his youth is literally the least he can do with it, as he is capable of sending the energy right at someone or something. His absorption skills are potent enough to also absorb the entire explosive output equivalent to that of a nuclear bomb.
• Establishing Character Moment: Any ounce of likability you had towards Klaus Schmidt is pretty much gone after he murders Erik's mother before his introduction is even over.
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Ultimately subverted. At first it seems like he genuinely cares for Emma, but he has no problem abandoning her to the authorities when she gets captured by Erik and Xavier. He even replaces her with Angel when she joins him.
• Evil Mentor: Towards Erik, who eventually took up Shaw's mutant supremacy ideology. A truly evil one at that, as Shaw killed his new student's mother in front of him to unleash the boy's powers and performed horrifying medical experiments on Erik.
• Evilutionary Biologist: Believes that mutants are further along the evolutionary chain than ordinary humans, therefore they should inherit the earth.
• Faux Affably Evil: He is impeccably polite even when he's going to kill your mom. When he murders people who have slighted him, it's based more on principle than any outright anger.
• Foil: He serves as one to Xavier. Both are doctors of genetics who are interested in maximizing Lehnsherr's potential, but whereas Shaw uses torture to uncover his raw power, Charles utilizes emotional intimacy to give Erik greater control. Erik grows to love Charles as a brother, but vehemently opposes the latter's peaceful approach to human-mutant relations. Magneto wholly embraces Shaw's mutant supremacist views, but loathes the man for murdering his mother.
• Greater-Scope Villain: Of the entire X-Men film franchise. His actions cause Magneto's Start of Darkness and his Hellfire Club is salvaged by Magneto as the original Brotherhood of Mutants. Furthermore, his actions in the Cuban Missile Crisis first exposed humanity to the idea that mutants are real and not just theory, which would spur the actions of individuals like William Stryker and Bolivar Trask that made them villains as well. In short, everything that happens in the franchise happened because of Shaw.
• Hero Killer: Shaw kills Darwin by shoving an extremely powerful ball of plasma energy into his mouth and down his throat.
• Hypocrite: Chastises Emma when she throws Erik off his ship, saying mutants shouldn't hurt other mutants. Yet later in the film, he kills Darwin when he attempts to recruit the kids to his cause.
• Implacable Man: Most notably in the scene where he invades a CIA base to try to recruit the mutants being housed there. Getting repeatedly hit by volleys of machine gun fire doesn't even muss up his suit. He No Sells an energy blast that's later shown slicing through the walls of a nuclear fallout shelter like butter. The only thing they can hit him with that even slows him down is a bazooka, and then only because it takes him a couple of seconds to absorb the blast.
• Karmic Death: Magneto kills him by telemagnetically pushing a coin through his brain. It was the very same coin that Erik was commanded to move as a child to prevent Schmidt from killing his mother; Erik failed and Shaw shot his mother. Magneto even gives an Ironic Echo of what Schmidt said to taunt his victim.
• Lack of Empathy: While he professes to act on behalf of other mutants, he has little (if any) regard for his "colleagues" in the Hellfire Club whom he views as expendable assets for his plot to trigger a nuclear holocaust and seize power over what remains for himself. This is most prominent when he abandons Emma and replaces her with Angel. Likewise, he shows no regret whatsoever for his crimes against other mutants such as Erik (aka Magneto) and Darwin.
• The Law of Diminishing Defensive Effort: When Magneto sends a storm of metal at him, he doesn't even seem to notice it as all the metal harmlessly bounces off him.
• Leitmotif: "La Vie en Rose."
• Living Battery: Capable of storing the energy equivalent to a nuclear detonation.
• Logical Weakness: As potent as his energy absorption ability is, there is one catch to it that can be used to hurt him. As shown during his death, if an object is projected at Shaw with no energy source or momentum, the object can and will damage him. The coin used to kill him was being moved by Erik at a very slow speed, thus, since no kinetic energy was generated Shaw had none to absorb and he couldn't protect himself from it when it passed through his head.
• Mad Scientist: As Klaus Schmidt, he ran scientific experiments on a Nazi concentration camp, including testing a young Erik Lehnsherr's budding mutant powers by traumatizing him.
• Manipulative Bastard: In addition to being an extremely powerful mutant, he is very adept at seducing other mutants to his cause with promises of liberation and the opportunity to tap into powers beyond their wildest dreams. However, he's not quite as good at it with normal humans; while he manipulates U.S. and Soviet military officers into helping him, simple persuasion on his part fails miserably, so Shaw falls back on old fashioned threats and intimidation.
• Man of Wealth and Taste: He is Faux Affably Evil and always wears stylish clothes (with the exception of his anti-telepathy helmet), camouflages his submarine under a luxury yacht, and serves excellent champagne to the officials he's trying to manipulate into causing World War III.
• A Nazi by Any Other Name: He (who really was a Nazi during the second World War, going under the name "Klaus Schmidt") envisions his mutant-dominated society much as if it were he ruling over 1940s Germany. Ironically, his most scarred victim as a Nazi scientist, Erik "Magneto" Lehnsherr, finds Shaw's mutant supremacy views to be compatible with his own, despite the fact he spends the entire movie chasing the man in an effort to get revenge for killing his mother.
• Nazi Grandpa: He is a former Nazi and is much older than he looks, but his mutant powers ensure he doesn't look like anybody's grandpa.
• Nigh-Invulnerability: He can absorb pretty much everything that is thrown at him, especially explosions. It takes Charles Xavier's mental freezing and a coin thrusted through his head by Magneto to kill him.
• Older Than They Look: He looks to be in his late forties or early fifties when Erik first meets him in 1944. He looks more or less the same, or perhaps slightly younger, when they meet again in 1962, a fact that he credits to his Energy Absorption powers. He could be even older, as we never learn his true age.
• Person of Mass Destruction: Explicitly emphasized as his primary power—he can absorb energy... all kinds of energy. This makes him effectively bullet-proof, rocket and grenade-proof, and immune to punches, no matter how strong they are. In return, he can use his absorbed energy to cause a person to explode on the spot, launch people into the air with a single tap, or fire extremely powerful energy blasts that blow up a whole room of people. He also states that he is effectively immortal. Finally, he can absorb enough energy to simulate a nuclear bomb blast... and presumably come out the other side unharmed.
• Playing Both Sides: He cunningly manipulates both the USA and the USSR, exploiting the vices and vanity of their military elite to provoke World War III.
• Pragmatic Adaptation: Given that in the comics his power is depicted by having Shaw growing and the film's producers though it was too Hulk-like, the VFX artists instead did it in a rather unique way: when Shaw absorbs energy, his bodyparts starts bifurcating into multiple swirling copies, before merging back together when Shaw finishes absorbing the energy. For instance, when Shaw absorbs a grenade explosion with his two arms, his arms apparently explode into six arms (looking something like a static version of Rapid-Fire Fisticuffs) holding a single fireball, before the arms merge back into two and the fireball disappears.
• Predecessor Villain: Shaw's death kickstarts Erik/Magneto's rise to villainy, as the latter sought revenge against the former, but had embraced his enemy's philosophies by then.
• Satanic Archetype: His club is literally called Hellfire, he's an exceptional corrupter and manipulator, he has zero moments of genuine compassion or kindness, and his ultimate goal is to turn the world into a barren wasteland so his kind can conquer the world.
• Sharp-Dressed Man: He pretty much always wears a fancy suit.
• Smug Super: His extremely powerful ability effectively make him invincible and he loves flaunting it in front of others. This results in his downfall as he wastes time asserting dominance over Erik instead of killing him instantly.
• So Proud of You: Towards Erik in the climax, whom he congratulates for finally becoming a superpowerful mutant. It's pretty goddamn creepy, considering Shaw is an ex-Nazi Mad Scientist who destroyed most of Erik's life to motivate him to become what Shaw always dreamed Erik would be.
• Soft-Spoken Sadist: He's Faux Affably Evil for sure, but most of the time you can actually see him smiling at his own atrocities. For example, after murdering Erik's mother, he chuckles in amusement when the young lad wrecks his office and kills two Nazi soldiers, shouting out compliments like "Wunderbar!" and "Großartig!"
• The Sociopath: Shaw's own actor referred to him as one in an interview, and his superficial charm, lack of empathy, manipulation of both humans and mutants to serve his own agenda, and barely-concealed amusement when committing some of his atrocities more than back up that claim.
• Superpower Lottery: Rivals Jean Grey and En Sabur Nur as one of the most powerful mutants in the films. His base ability of Energy Absorption is set so high and is so versatile that he's a One-Man Army even among mutants. He can shrug off gunfire, explosions, punches, and even energy blasts with not a scratch on him afterward, and do all of it at point-blank range if it comes to it. Then on the offense he can release the stored energy in the form of controlled explosive blasts, orbs of explosive energy, Super-Strength, or just tap things to make them explode. The same energy absorption renders him effectively immortal. Furthermore, his Soviet-made helmet blocks out telepaths like Charles.
• Those Wacky Nazis: "Klaus Schmidt" is a mixture of cultured and mad doctor; he tells young Erik that he is not like the Nazis, and mocks their obsession with genetics—or at least, blue eyes and blonde hair. Bring mutants into the equation and it's a whole different ball game.
• Visionary Villain: He talks of a world where mutants will be the dominant species once he executes his nuclear strike plan. However reading between his words it's not really in the interest of mutant domination but simply so he can rule the world himself. His influence on Erik Lehnsherr allows Erik to adopt a similar point of view but with less of the megalomaniac slant.
• Wealthy Yacht Owner: He has a yacht (and a submarine) that he keeps in Miami harbor.
• We Can Rule Together:
  • In the climax of X-Men: First Class, he offers Magneto a chance to join him so that together they can ensure mutant supremacy, a goal that Magneto actually agrees with. Unfortunately, Shaw was the one who killed Magneto's mother in the concentration camp, so Magneto kills him and takes up his "mutant vs. human" crusade himself.
  • When he introduces himself to the kids this is his main pitch.
• Wicked Cultured: In the opening of X-Men: First Class. He assures a terrified boy (who would grow up to be Magneto) that he doesn't share the ridiculous Nazi prejudice against Jews. For some reason, the boy doesn't seem to be reassured. Later in the scene, the camera shifts, and we see that Shaw's office includes a torture chamber...
• With Us or Against Us: He expresses this sentiment:
  If you're not with us, then you are, by definition, against us.
• Worthy Opponent: Downplayed with regards to how he views Xavier. They never have a face-to-face confrontation, but Sebastian recognizes that Charles is a formidable foe, hence Shaw's commission of the telepathy-blocking helmet and his hope to recruit Xavier when he infiltrates the CIA facility. Moreover, after Charles mind-controls a Soviet officer to fire upon the Aral Sea to avert World War III, Sebastian utters in admiration, "That telepath is powerful."
• Would Hit a Girl: He heartlessly shoots Erik's mother dead in front of the boy's eyes.
• Would Hurt a Child: He physically tortured and experimented on Erik while the boy was growing up.

Emma Frost

Emma Frost

"You can stop trying to read my mind, sugar."

Played By: January Jones

Voiced By: Rosalba Sotelo (Latin-American Spanish)

Film Appearances: X-Men: First Class

A telepath who can also change her body into diamond form, and is a member of the Hellfire Club.

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• Adaptational Villainy: Downplayed. Emma debuted in the comics as a perverse villainess, but eventually pulled a Heel–Face Turn and joined the X-Men. Film Emma never achieves redemption, as she is last seen joining Magneto's Brotherhood.
• Age Lift: By virtue of First Class avoiding Comic-Book Time, she's older than many characters, like Cyclops, Jean Grey and Storm, whereas her comics counterpart is the same age as them.
• Almighty Janitor: She plays Shaw's second-in-command despite the fact that her psychic powers alone make her superior in their natural state. However, up to the moment in which Shaw gains his anti-telepath helmet, she is never shown to have any intention to hijack his role as Hellfire Club's leader.
• Barbie Doll Anatomy: Emma Frost's diamond form has no visible nipples.
• Bright Is Not Good: (Scantily) clad in white and able to turn her body into a mass of shining diamonds, but she has no discernible morals.
• Bus Crash: She died (and her body was used in experiments by Trask) during the Time Skip between X-Men: First Class and X-Men: Days of Future Past.
• Carbon Skin: She can transform her skin into diamond. She is also immune to telepathy in this form.
• Color-Coded Characters: Her wardrobe consists exclusively of white clothing.
• Combo Platter Powers: Unlike most mutants, she enjoys two completely different and thematically unrelated sets of superpowers: telepathy and the ability to transform herself into an organic diamond form. In a case of Adaptation-Induced Plot Hole, it is explained in the comic books by the concept of "secondary mutations", but as this is never brought up in the films, it is left to assume as just a mutant oddity.
• Decomposite Character: There already was a version of Emma Frost played by Tahyna Tozzi in X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Though only her first name was mentioned so Word of God later said she was an unrelated mutant called Emma who had similar powers.
• The Dragon: Subverted. She initially appears to be Sebastian Shaw's second-in-command, but is defeated by Erik and Xavier fairly early on and doesn't play a significant role for the rest of the film.
• Emotionless Girl: She has a frosty temperament, so her surname is appropriate.
• Everyone Loves Blondes: Emma has blond hair and can effortlessly seduce most men thanks to the combination of her naturally good looks and her trademark telepathy. She exploits this to lure influential people into the Hellfire Club's grasp.
• Fur and Loathing: She is an antagonist and her default outfit is a mink.
• Implied Love Interest: To Sebastian Shaw; his term of endearment for her is "love," and he calls her "the most exquisite thing I've ever seen in my life." There's also this line:
  Emma Frost: If that telepath gets inside your head, he won't be as much fun as I am.
• Ms. Fanservice: Her main costume looks rather like something a stripper would wear, and she actually strips clothes a few times during X-Men: First Class.
• Non-Indicative Name: She has crystal-like (and anti-psychic) powers, not ice powers.
• No-Sell: Charles' mind reading doesn't work on her when she's crystalline. During her battle against Xavier, Erik is forced to use his powers to weaken her.
• Psychic Powers: One of her powers is telepathy, which she can use to read people's minds, cause severe headaches and project illusions.
• Sixth Ranger: As she is imprisoned for most of the film's final act, she is the last member of the Hellfire Club to join Magneto's original Brotherhood.
• Sudden Sequel Death Syndrome: Listed among the mutants who died between X-Men: First Class and X-Men: Days of Future Past by Magneto.
• Voluntary Shapeshifting: Into a crystalline form of herself that is immune to psychic influence.

Azazel

Azazel

Played By: Jason Flemyng

Voiced By: Ricardo Tejedo (Latin-American Spanish)

Film Appearances: X-Men: First Class | Deadpool & Wolverine

A mutant who has the ability to teleport, and is also a member of the Hellfire Club.

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• Adaptational Nationality: Born of Mesopotamia, possibly Babylonian, in the comics, Soviet in the films.
• Adaptation Species Change: Sort of. In the comics he belongs to a demonic subspecies if mutants called the Neyaphem. Here, he seems to be a regular mutant.
• Adaptational Superpower Change: In the film, Azazel's only powers are the ability to teleport and a prehensile tail that doubles as a sting. In the comics, he is also immortal, can fire paralyzing beams, has access to hypnosis and is able to cast magic spells.
• Badass in a Nice Suit: Azazel wears a dark suit, looks like a demon and is a really powerful mutant.
• Bright Is Not Good: His skin is vivid red, but he is an antagonist with no redeeming qualities.
• Bus Crash: Mystique discovers that Azazel died (and his body was used in experiments by Trask) during the Time Skip between X-Men: First Class and X-Men: Days of Future Past.
• Combat Pragmatist: His initial tactic when breaching the CIA compound is simply teleport next to an enemy, grab hold of him, teleport himself and his target hundreds of feet into the air, let go of his target and teleport away, letting gravity do the rest.
• Creepy Blue Eyes: Has light blue eyes, which contrast with his red skin.
• Dark Is Evil: The all black wearing Satan lookalike is one of the bad guys.
• Evil Counterpart: To Nightcrawler, despite the two not appearing in the same film. Their powers are identical and they have similar physical appearances, but Nightcrawler is a deeply moral man, whereas Azazel is sadistic and has no redeeming qualities.
• Evil Wears Black: His regular outfit is a dark suit, which somehow accentuates his ominous appearance.
• Good Scars, Evil Scars: Has a vertical scar across his left eye. And, of course, works for the Big Bad.
• Killed Offscreen: Marketing for X-Men: Days of Future Past reveals he and Angel were shot by the CIA between X-Men: First Class and the JFK assassination.
• Lethal Harmless Powers: He teleports hundreds of feet up with his foes, then teleports back down without them. Gravity does the rest.
• Master Swordsman: During the assault on the C.I.A., Azazel slays multiple agents by teleporting next to them and stabbing them with his swords.
• Names to Run Away from Really Fast: Azazel takes his name from a fallen angel in Christian faith.
• Obviously Evil: He's designed like mainstream depictions of Satan.
• Prehensile Tail: His tail strong enough to lift a person and sharp enough to stab them.
• Red and Black and Evil All Over: He wears black, has naturally red skin and is a cold-blooded killer.
• Related in the Adaptation: Director, Simon Kinberg says Azazel is Mystique's father in the movie universe. This is in contrast to the comics, where Mytique was instead his lover and both of them are Nightcrawler's biological parents.
• Sharp-Dressed Man: Always wearing a black suit.
• The Siege: He takes out virtually every guard in a secret CIA complex on his own in various awesome ways.
• Teleport Spam: His main power is teleportation, which he employs in creative ways to take down his enemies; with a favored tactic being to simply transport his victim high up in the air and drop them to their death.
• Unrelated in the Adaptation: The films never establish any direct connection between Azazel and Nightcrawler. They are seemingly just two unrelated mutants who coincidentally share vaguely similar physical appearances and the same powerset. When the films were made, Azazel was actually Nightcrawler's biological father in the comics (a later retcon would reveal that his parents were Mystique and Destiny, who doesn't exist in the film continuity).
• Villain Teleportation: He is the only teleporter in X-Men: First Class, and works for the Big Bad.
• Weaponized Teleportation: His deadly attack on the CIA facility, which included teleporting enemies up high and leaving them to fall.

Janos Quested / Riptide

Janos Quested / Riptide

Played By: Álex González

Film Appearances: X-Men: First Class

Shaw's former muscle in the Hellfire Club. A mutant with the ability to create powerful whirlwinds from his hands and body.

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• Adaptational Superpower Change: The original Riptide can spin his body at high speeds to generate projectiles made of calcium, which are then launched at his opponents from many different angles. The film version is an aerokinetic who can create small tornados from his hands or a larger, much more destructive one by rapidly spinning in place.
• Age Lift: By virtue of First Class avoiding Comic-Book Time, he's older than many characters, like Cyclops, Jean Grey and Storm, whereas his comics counterpart is closer in age to them.
• Badass in a Nice Suit: As per the custom of the Hellfire Club, he's always immaculately well dressed, even as he casually uses his powers to destroy everything around him.
• Blow You Away: Can create strong winds.
• The Brute: Though not as physical as Azazel, he acts as Shaw's primary muscle and intimidation tactic. Considering he can make tornados, he's like a Storm Lite.
• Flat Character: He and Azazel have less prominent roles than the other villains; but while the latter is given a lot of personality, as shown when he sadistically murders countless people with a devilish grin on his face, Riptide's entire character can be summed up as "bad guy who stands in place shooting mini-tornados out of his hand".
• No Name Given: His real name and mutant name are never mentioned in X-Men: First Class.
• Out of Focus: Very little attention is given to Riptide and his involvement in the film's plot. He has no lines, no scenes focusing exclusively on him, and goes down in a matter of seconds once the final battle begins.
• What Happened to the Mouse?: Magneto doesn't mention his death alongside the other deceased Brotherhood members nor is his autopsy file shown when Mystique infiltrates Bolivar Trask's office in X-Men: Days of Future Past.
• The Voiceless: Other than a few grunts and yells, he never spoke through out the film.

Angel Salvadore / Angel

Angel Salvadore / Angel

"My stage name is Angel... and it kind of fits."

Played By: Zoë Kravitz

Voiced By: Analiz Sánchez (Latin-American Spanish)

Film Appearances: X-Men: First Class

A mutant with dragonfly wings and acidic saliva.

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• Adaptational Early Appearance: While her comics counterpart didn't debut until the early 2000s, this version not only first appears in The '60s, but is also one of the founding X-Men of this continuity.
• Adaptational Villainy: While her comic counterpart was part of Magneto's Brotherhood in the penultimate arc of New X-Men, she had a Heel Realization about how insane he was and turned against him. In First Class, she unashamedly helps Shaw and never regrets her actions.
• Age Lift: By virtue of First Class avoiding Comic-Book Time, she's older than several characters, whereas her comics counterpart is younger than Kitty Pryde and Jubilee.
• All of the Other Reindeer: Part of Angel's motivation for joining Shaw:
  Angel: We don't belong here. And that's nothing to be ashamed of.
• Breath Weapon: Not quite breath, but she can spit Hollywood Acid.
• Chekhov's Gunman: Sharp-eyed viewers might notice her in the first strip club scene as the only non-white stripper there.
• Dark Feminine Light Feminine: In the first movie she is the Dark to Raven/Mystique's Light.
• Even Evil Has Standards: Subverted. When she defected and witnessed Shaw's brutal murder of Darwin, she was briefly shown to be shocked and somewhat disturbed at what he did. However, she gets over it fairly quickly and has no problem working for him for the rest of the film.
• Face–Heel Turn: She joins the Hellfire Club when Shaw kills every human in the CIA building.
• Hooker with a Heart of Gold: Subverted. She's friendly with the rest of the group, but is the first to join Shaw (albeit for morally ambiguous reasons).
• Killed Offscreen: The Viral Marketing for X-Men: Days of Future Past reveals she and Azazel were shot by the CIA between X-Men: First Class and the JFK assassination. In the actual movie, Magneto lists her among some mutants who died. Later her wings are seen stored in a government vault.
• Mistreatment-Induced Betrayal: She grows sick of the CIA grunts mocking her and her teammates for being mutants (enough to say that men gawking at her in her former job at a strip club was better), so she figured that she might as well defect to the Hellfire Club since at least they had some respect for her mutant abilities.
• Ms. Fanservice: Justified, as she used to work as a stripper prior to joining the X-Men and she needs her back open to use her wings.
• One-Steve Limit: Averted, as she shares her name with one of the original X-Men from the comics, a completely different character who eventually appeared in the movies as a supporting character in X-Men: The Last Stand.
• Reluctant Fanservice Girl: Although she says that she's used to men staring at her without clothes on and not so used to them staring at her with clothes on.
• Sexy Backless Outfit: A necessity due to the wings on her back.
• Winged Humanoid: Her most obvious mutation is insectoid wings, though she's able to disguise them as tattoos.

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