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Magneto and Allies

Magneto

Magneto / Erik Lehnsherr / Magnus

Voiced by: David Hemblen (original series), Matthew Waterson (X-Men '97)

Erik "Magnus" Lehnsherr, also known as Magneto is a revolutionary who believes mutants are the next stage of evolution for humanity and are destined to take over the world, desiring to create an utopia for his species. He later unexpectedly took charge of Xavier's X-Men and school, following the Professor's departure from Earth.

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• Adaptational Heroism: Is an ally to the X-Men in most of his appearances. At the time in the comics, he'd been reformed for a decade or so (the comics just as the show started had tried to put him back to Heel, but it hadn't really stuck).
• Affably Evil: Magneto believes that humans and mutants cannot coexist peacefully and is prepared to go to any lengths to ensure mutants survive. When not carrying out an evil plot, he is a pleasant man who treats Xavier and the X-Men as friends.
• Age-Gap Romance: In '97, it's revealed that he has romantic history with Rogue despite being old enough to be her father.
• Always a Bigger Fish: Ends up being the bigger fish once he's released from Bastion's grasp, effortlessly defeating his entire Prime Sentinel army across the globe in the blink of an eye, although this is not at all a good thing as Magneto fully slips back into his villainous persona from hitting his breaking point following Genosha, leading to him declaring war on all of mankind by disabling the power for the entire globe simultaneously too.
• Ambiguously Jewish:
  • Magneto was stripped of his status as a Holocaust survivor, as World War II and the Nazis were not allowed due to the "moral code" of the animation producers (i.e. FOX). Instead, he was given a background as a boy from a more generic Eastern European country which was invaded and conquered in a more recent armed conflict, with his parents being killed during the invasion. Though not quite as horrific as the Holocaust, it still convinced him that using reason in the face of violence was a foolish gambit, and that humanity was far too brutal and warlike to make coexistence a possibility. '97 would implicate that he still might have gone through a similar event as the Holocaust during a traumatic flashback after watching numerous mutants die to the Tri-Sentinel in this continuity regardless.
    Magneto: When I was a child, my people talked while others prepared for war! They used reason when others used tanks, and they were destroyed for their troubles. I won't stand by and watch it happen again, I WON'T!
  • '97 makes this a moot point, as he declares that he's long since renounced religion after his fellow believers shunned him for being a mutant. However, his speech towards the UN heavily implies that this incarnation is Jewish:
    Magneto: As a boy, my people's homes were burned to ash because we dared to call God by another name.
  • In episode 8 of '97 it is finally made explicit by revealing the six digit number tattooed into his arm.
• Anti-Villain: His entire motivation is to ensure that mutants don't face genocide at the hands of humans, like his culture once did.
• Artistic License – History: If his comic backstory as a Holocaust survivor is canon for this Magneto, then he somewhat misrepresents the motivations of the Nazis in his speech to the UN in '97. The Nazis hated the Jews not because of their religion - that they "called God by another name" - but because of their race. This is why Nazi persecution of the Jews was more brutal than any other anti-Semitic violence prior or since - unlike in, say, the Spanish Empire or Tsarist Russia, there was no escape through conversion or assimilation, because one's blood was enough to be considered a "racial enemy" to Germany. Of course, given the context, it is possible Magneto himself made some artistic liberties in his speech, not the writers.
• Badass in Distress: Is held prisoner by Bastion after his seeming demise at the hands of the Tri-Sentinel in '97, tied up and gagged with a Mutant Suppression Collar on to make sure he doesn't go anywhere.
• Beard of Sorrow: Sports one during "The Phalanx Covenant" two-parter, due to the failure of his Asteroid M dream.
• Bowdlerise: His backstory as a survivor of The Holocaust is omitted, with him instead being a generic war refugee. Justified in that such a topic was taboo for children's entertainment at the time. In '97, he makes it more explicit that his people were a victim of religious persecution, all but stating that he's Jewish, though he still doesn't directly reference the Holocaust until episode 8 which reveals the identification tattoo on his left arm.
• Character Development: Magneto starts off as an antagonist who seeks to start an all out war with with humanity and dismisses the X-Men as fools, but as the series goes on, Magneto grows to respect the efforts of Charles and his team, even if he thinks co-existence between mutants and humans is still impossible, and switches his priorities to finding a safe haven for mutantkind.
• Characterization Marches On: He attempted to instigate a nuclear war in his debut appearance but would go on to openly abhor such extreme methods in later episodes. Granted, Xavier had been forced to subdue him by forcing him to relive his horrible childhood during said debut, so he likely had a Heel Realization, but the contrast is still quite jarring.
• Composite Character: Starting a trend that Ultimate X Men and X-Men: First Class would follow, the "Sanctuary" two-parter states that Magneto is the one to cripple Xavier instead of an alien named Lucifer.
• Compressed Hair: On the occasions he actually takes off that helmet, he's got a magnificent mane under there.
• Curb-Stomp Battle: Magneto dominates the X-Men in their first two encounters. They only survive the first because he lets them live, and he is only stopped in the second because of a Mind Rape from Xavier.
• Daddy Had a Good Reason for Abandoning You: Namely, not knowing his children even existed. If he had, he swears he would've done something sooner.
• Dark and Troubled Past: His flashback in "Deadly Reunions" shows him stuck in the middle of a warzone, with his father implied to have been outright killed and enemy soldiers soon capturing him. He later talks to Senator Kelly in "The Final Decision" about having witnessed the executions of men, women, and children.
• Deadpan Snarker: Occasionally, usually at Wolverine's expense.
• Determinator: In "Sanctuary", he seems to restore himself from being discorporated on sheer willpower.
• Drama-Preserving Handicap: Magneto is Brought Down to Normal while he and Xavier are trapped in the Savage Land thanks to Mr. Sinister's Power Nullifier. This keeps Magneto from single handedly defeating Sinister and the Nasty Boys like he previously did to the X-Men.
• Early-Installment Weirdness:
  • His debut in "Enter Magneto" portrays him as a villain, as do the opening credits. Pretty much all subsequent appearances have him more or less a good guy.
  • Unlike other iterations of Magneto, his helmet doesn't have a Psychic Block Defense. In their encounter, Xavier forces him to relive his painful childhood memories with his helmet on. Unless he got a new one made to defend against psychics.
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Magneto still considers Xavier a friend despite their differing views. When asked if he loves Xavier, he takes offense that someone would even feel the need to ask such a question.
• Even Evil Has Standards:
  • In "Beyond Good and Evil" where he only cooperated with Apocalypse thinking he would help create his utopia for mutantkind. Once he confirmed Apocalypse never cared to make a mutant paradise but rather planned to destroy the universe in order to remake it into his image, Magneto rebelled. He expressed disgust at Apocalypse's genocidal plans.
    Magneto: I call no one master! Especially not someone who would destroy the innocent along with the guilty!
  • In "Sanctuary" Magneto keeps an arsenal of nuclear missiles on his asteroid base but only keeps them as a weapon to deter aggression. He does not approve of Cortez firing them without provocation.
• Evil Sounds Deep: Courtesy of David Hemblen. Matthew Waterson replicates it quite admirably in '97, though it's more of a Baritone of Strength, as he's pulled a Heel–Face Turn.
• Evilutionary Biologist: At some point in the past, he did a little tampering in God's domain down in the Savage Land, creating the Mutates. This gives Sinister an extra bit of muscle later on.
• Final Boss: His efforts to start a war with humanity in the wake of the attack on Xavier make him the main antagonist for the finale of the original series.
• Freudian Excuse: The atrocities that befell his people motivate his desire to rally mutantkind for what he considers an inevitable war with normal humans. He believes that Xavier's dream of co-existence is idealistic nonsense, saying he witnessed his people attempt diplomacy in the face of an unmerciful enemy and suffer for it.
• Friendly Enemy: Consistently demonstrates respect for Xavier and considers him his equal. On those rare occasions he resorts to physical violence against him, he's an Apologetic Attacker and takes no pleasure in possibly eliminating the biggest obstacle to his agenda.
• Good Costume Switch: In '97, he discards the red and purple outfit for a purple number with an "m" going from the chest down to the legs.
• Heel–Face Turn: The First-Episode Twist of '97 sees Professor X bequeath command of the X-Men to his old friend Magneto. He comes off as sincere in his desire to uphold Charles' legacy, but only time will tell how it all pans out........and tragically, it doesn't, as Bastion's atrocities spurn Magneto to resume his plans for war.
• Helmets Are Hardly Heroic: Notably discards his helmet on joining the X-Men, as a symbol of his reformation.
• Hero with an F in Good: Even when he's trying to do right by Charles' dream, he's still pretty aggressive and temperamental, even if not without cause. At the very least, if not an "F" then at most a bare pass.
• I Owe You My Life: The X-Men found him Left for Dead by the Sentinels and brought him back to the mansion to receive medical treatment. When the team later headed out to save Senator Kelly from Master Mold, Magneto ended up joining them and saved Xavier's life to repay the debt.
• It's Personal: He has no regard for any of the more dangerous villains on the show, but Mr. Sinister is someone he deeply loathes following being one of his guinea pigs.
• The Killjoy: Not without justification, but he's against Jubilee going to the mall on her birthday, instead insisting she go through the Danger Room instead.
• Large Ham: Prone to making some grandiose speeches. His dressing down of the United Nations judge panel in X-Men '97 is so grand he even does it at high altitude to sell it harder.
• The Lost Lenore: He drove Magda away with the use of his powers, and has spent the two-and-a-bit decades since scouring the Earth for some sign, any sign of her. He's pretty heartbroken to learn she's dead.
• Luke, I Am Your Father: He and the Maximoffs are quite surprised to learn he's their father. More awkward since the High Evolutionary fills them in while they're his captives, not giving them the chance to talk it out.
• May–December Romance: He used to have something going on with Rogue and they apparently still have feelings for each other.
• Noble Demon: Even at his most antagonistic, Magneto is this. He genuinely wants to protect mutantkind from having to go through what he experienced during his childhood. Xavier notes in "Come the Apocalypse" that Magneto, for all his faults, can be reasoned with. This sets Magneto apart from the likes of Apocalypse, Sabretooth, and Mr. Sinister, all of whom he dislikes for their practices.
• No-Sell: Learns this the hard way during his first encounter with the Sentinels. Once the authorities became aware of him, they produced a line of Sentinels made of plastic materials, making it impossible for his magnetic powers to simply dispose of them.
• Offstage Villainy: Magneto is mentioned to have committed some serious crimes, and a rampage across the Savage Land that has left the locals absolutely pissed at him, but most of his worst deeds are kept offscreen or merely mentioned.
• Papa Wolf: What convinces him to snap out of his post-Asteroid M funk? Learning the Phalanx abducted Pietro.
• Properly Paranoid: As their team-up falls apart, Magneto reveals he knew Apocalypse would try to kill him once he was no longer needed. He cut a deal with Mystique to turn the tables and simply bided his time to learn the true extent of Apocalypse's plan.
• Silly Rabbit, Idealism Is for Kids!: The general gist of his interactions with Professor X and the X-Men.
• Superpower Lottery: Despite some Weaksauce Weakness in plastics and other synthetic materials, his magnetic powers let him do more than just manipulate metal as he can fly, create shields, and even use the planet's electromagnetic field to heal himself. Because of this, he's one of the most powerful mutants in the world with his only competition being powerful psychics like Xavier or god-like beings like Apocalypse.
• Then Let Me Be Evil: After trying so hard to redeem himself to follow Xavier's hopes for him, witnessing all the horror as a result of the Genosha massacre and Bastion ceaselessly torturing him with the extinction of mutantkind for his own amusement finally has Magneto just snap and be done with mankind for good, showing for the first time just how powerful he is as an Omega-level mutant by just... shutting off the entire planet with a massive EMP field, immediately superseding Bastion as the bigger threat as he declares war against all of mankind.
• Uncertain Doom: At the end of "Remember It" in X-Men '97, Magneto is shown caught in the explosion along with the the Morlocks he's attempting to protect. In episode 7 we find out he survived, but he's captured by Bastion.
• Villain Has a Point: This has always been a big part of Magneto's character. While he respects and understands Xavier's point of view, humanity's bigotry both big and small scale does nothing but prove him right time and again. In X-Men '97, he even points out the countless efforts that the X-Men have made for humanity, even saving humans from himself, but they are still met with criticism and hatred...and gesturing to their 'reward', as Storm breaks down in tears after her powers have been ripped away by an attack from the Friends of Humanity. Even Val Cooper, a human and former mole for Bastion, comes to understand Magneto's "truth": humans will never abandon their hatred and bigotry.
• Villain Respect: Outright refers to Xavier as a great man and his equal.
• The Worf Effect: Once Magneto joins the X-Men, he is one of the most powerful members. (Only Storm is his equal, which he tacitly acknowledges.) And at least twice, we see enemies prove their power by defeating him.
• Your Terrorists Are Our Freedom Fighters: Though widely condemned as a mutant terrorist by assorted governments and having an (at best) complicated relationship with the X-Men, Magneto is positively beloved by most mutants for his efforts to protect them from bigoted humans. The "Sanctuary" two-parter and "Graduation Day" demonstrate that an army's worth of mutants would do whatever he asked out of pure appreciation.

The Acolytes

• Adapted Out: While they're mostly based on the first batch of Acolytes, Anne-Marie Cortez and Nance are left out.
• Barrier Warrior: Unuscione's power is generating a green glowing barrier, which she generally shapes into giant hands for grabbing and swatting purposes.
• The Big Guy: Delgado, the biggest and strongest member of the team.
• Chemistry Can Do Anything: Chrome's ability is to transmute objects. His one use in combat is giving Delgado a power up.
• Demoted to Extra:
  • The team as a whole spent the 90s as Magneto's go-to-goons. Here, they're only in "Sanctuary".
  • Frenzy, who has a long career in the comics of being front and center in the Acolytes, and before that working for folk like Apocalypse. Here, she's entirely silent muscle usually in the background.
• La Résistance: They operate on Genosha... sorry, the Free Republic of Genosha, trying to liberate its mutant slaves. Magneto's arrival helps them.
• Spared by the Adaptation: In their debut in the comics, Chrome and Delgado were killed thanks to Cortez's treachery. Here, they get away with all the other inhabitants of Asteroid M.
• Two Girls to a Team: The two gals on the team are Unuscione and Frenzy.

Apocalypse and Minions

Apocalypse

Apocalypse

Voiced by: John Colicos, later replaced by James Blendick

• Adaptational Villainy: He's even worse than his comic book incarnation, as here he is a straight-up Omnicidal Maniac, rather than "just" a Social Darwinist.
• Ambiguous Robot: He is at least partially cybernetic in some way, evinced by the whirring and clanking that accompanies his every move, and he clearly didn't start that way, as the Apocalypse of the past looked very different, but exactly what that means isn't said.
• A God Am I: He regards himself as "As far beyond mutants as they are beyond you (humans)".
• Ancient Evil: Apocalypse is so old that nobody but he knows where he came from. He has wreaked havoc throughout history, with accounts of his attacks dating back to ancient Egypt, and he also boasts of having terrorized the Babylonians.
• Arch-Enemy: Becomes one to Archangel once the latter is freed from Apocalypse's control. He also has Cable, who as usual has traveled into the present to prevent the Bad Future Apocalypse has caused.
• Badass Boast: Every line he says.
  I am as far beyond mutants as they are beyond you. I am ETERNAL!
  You defeated my four horsemen once, but now NOTHING stops the Apocalypse!
  Evil? I am not malevolent! I simply AM!
• Bad Boss: He abandons his own loyal Horsemen if they fail him and tends to betray almost everybody who tries to ally with him. Most notably, when Fabian Cortez fails to secure a new host body for him, Apocalypse decides to possess Cortez himself.
• Balance Between Good and Evil: In 3999, he baits Cable into a trap to claim his time travel device and is poised to kill him, but he is given pause by Cable calling him evil and saying someone else will eventually take up the fight. Apocalypse realizes that he's been fighting opponents for thousands of years and never achieved his ultimate goal of ruling unchallenged, so he dreads having to "struggle with such filth" for all eternity. He sets about trying to destroy the universe and remake existence in his own image, but as a result of the storyline, he is killed. However, "The Fifth Horseman" shows the trope goes both ways, as his essence continues to linger in a void, and he is fully resurrected by the last scene.
• Beyond Redemption: It takes one look at this guy for Charles Xavier to decide he's too insane to bother reasoning with. The only difficulty is there's no way of stopping him.
• Big Bad: Apocalypse is the main antagonist of the show, being one of the most recurring and deadly enemies of the X-Men. He repeatedly attempts to conquer the world and wipe out nearly all human and mutant life out of self-proclaimed superiority over everything, making an appearance in every single season of the original series to consistently reaffirm the threat he poses. He especially takes prominence in the "Beyond Good and Evil" arc in season four, aiming to completely annihilate existence and remake it in his own image in what was originally intended to be the finale of the whole series.
• Black Eyes of Evil: Along with fangs for canine teeth, his revamped design for his appearance in the final five episodes of the original series gives his eyes black sclerae with red irises.
• Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: Any allegiance with Apocalypse is liable to end badly for the other party, either because they will outlive any use he might have for them, or because he never intended to keep his word in the first place.
• Crazy-Prepared: Had a whole second imitation of his Lazarus Chamber set up hidden in South America just on the off-chance anyone manages to destroy the original.
• Dark Lord on Life Support: He uses the Lazarus Chamber to elongate his life periodically. Without it, he'd die of old age.
• Decomposite Character: He's absent from the show's adaptation of Age of Apocalypse, with Master Mold instead taking his place as the ruler of a dystopian alternate timeline.
• Diabolus ex Nihilo: Apocalypse has no backstory or even a hint about his origin. The most that is learned about him is that he is an Ancient Evil who is implied to be the embodiment of evil itself.
• Evil Is Hammy: Prone to verbally Chewing the Scenery when fighting the X-Men.
• Evil Overlord: His ultimate goal is to become this for the entire planet. In Cable's future, he succeeds, with only a small resistance team opposing his rule.
• Evil Sounds Deep: He has a very deep and chilling voice that's impossible to forget.
• Evil Takes a Nap: He's been around since Babylonian times at least, but every hundred years goes into stasis to rejuvenate himself.
• Eviler than Thou: Tries to pull this on Magneto once he was no longer useful and launches a sneak attack. Magneto fully anticipated this and worked out a deal with Mystique to save him. Apocalypse still has the advantage in a fair fight, but Magneto is no pushover.
• Fangs Are Evil: His design for the post-Art Shift episodes of the original series involves pronounced canine teeth.
• Fantastic Racism: He's no more fond of mutants than their human enemies are, seeing himself as above and beyond them.
• Flight: Capable of flying via rocket-boots, though he doesn't tend to use it terribly much.
• Hannibal Lecture: He's prone to grandiose and long-winded rants, usually about how it's pointless to try to stop him.
• Hey, You!: Rarely addresses anyone he's trying to kill by name, as a show of how beneath him he thinks they are.
• I Lied: As Magneto and Deathbird both discover, don't trust Apocalypse's word. He even directly says this to Deathbird while leaving her high and dry.
  Magneto: You promised me a world where Mutants would rule, as I have always dreamed of!
  Apocalypse: And you were fool enough to believe me!
• Invincible Villain: Apocalypse is impervious to any known form of attack. The X-Men can thwart his plans but never defeat him. His battles with Cable in the future indicate he will outlive the X-Men and continue to plague humans and mutants alike for centuries.
• It Only Works Once: About any time anything seems to injure him, it's guaranteed it won't work twice. Cyclops's eye beams knock him over, and Cable's gun injures him, but the next time they try again they barely push him back.
• The Juggernaut: Apocalypse flattens the X-Men whenever they face him. Even centuries into the future, nobody has found a way to destroy him.
• Karma Houdini: Zizagged. He is killed at the end of "Beyond Good And Evil", which was originally gonna be the series finale. In the fifth season episode "The Fifth Horsemen" we learn that his spirit still exists but is trapped in the void, but can reenter the world if he has a vessel to possess. At the end he manages to possess Fabian Cortez. However, due to his Lazarus Chamber being destroyed, he will eventually die of old age and get stuck in the void again.
• Large Ham: Oh yes. Apocalypse is an egomaniac who fancies himself the supreme being in existence and lets that ooze into his dialogue while he chews the scenery.
• Madden Into Misanthropy: Judging by his motive rant in "Come the Apocalypse", his long life means he's seen history repeat itself over and over again, and in his eyes fail to make any significant change. So the obvious solution is kill mankind.
• Nepharious Pharaoh: How he looked in the Ancient Egypt days, before he became more cyborg.
• Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: His virus ultimately proves beneficial for mutantkind, which is why Cable goes back to make sure it works.
• No-Sell: Nothing physically harms Apocalypse, not even Wolverine's adamantium claws.
• Not-So-Well-Intentioned Extremist: He sells himself to Magneto as someone trying to create a utopia for mutants. Magneto quickly catches on that Apocalypse actually wants everyone bowing to him, even if he has to destroy and remake the universe in order to do it.
• Omnicidal Maniac: In "Time Fugitives" he tries to make the Legacy Virus in order to kill billions of people, mutant and human alike, and in "Beyond Good And Evil" (which was originally going to be the series finale) he plans to use the Axis Of Time to destroy the universe and make a new one where he's in charge.
• Puny Humans: Often refers to his opponents (even mutants as well) as such.
• Purple Is Powerful: He's a combination of blue and purple, and he's one of the most powerful villains on the show.
• Red Eyes, Take Warning: Pre-Art Shift for the final episodes, Apocalypse sports eyes with red sclerae. This is still in play post-Art Shift as his irises are red with black sclerae.
• Sizeshifter: Like most incarnations, he can increase his size. The upper limit for this isn't stated, although in one episode he grows almost as big as the Statue Of Liberty.
• Shrine to Self: His Lazarus Chamber has a massive likeness of his face.
• Time Abyss: He's lived since at least 3000 B.C or so, and "Time Fugitives" shows him still alive in the year 3999.
• Vocal Evolution: Blendick's rendition sounds quite different in his appearance in "Sanctuary, Part 2" compared to "Beyond Good and Evil".
• Voluntary Shapeshifting: This appears to be one of his main powers, and it's even more versatile than Morph's or Mystique's, as he's been shown changing in and out of his Shapeshifter Default Form of a purple robotic humanoid to impersonate other mutants or humans, alter his size, or generate weapons out of nowhere.
• With Great Power Comes Great Insanity: Professor X figures this is why he is the way he is; he's so powerful it's driven him mad.
• You Have Failed Me: When his horsemen are beaten in a fight, he declares them not worthy and leaves them behind.

Mystique

Mystique / Raven Darkholme

Voiced by: Randall Carpenter, later replaced by Jennifer Dale

• Abusive Parents: She never really bothered to be present in the lives of either of her sons and outright clashes with Nightcrawler several times. She's also an adoptive one to Rogue, teaching Rogue how to control her powers only to later use them for her own agenda.
• Action Girl: After joining with Magneto to fight Apocalypse and his Horsemen in "Beyond Good and Evil," she acknowledges that they can't handle all of them and tells him she'll buy some time while he frees Wolverine and the captured psychics. She proceeds to solo all four of the Horsemen on her own wielding only a laser gun, and is only taken down after turning her back to them for a second to acknowledge Wolverine.
• Adaptational Nice Guy: In the comics, her abandonment of Nightcrawler wasn't an accident. She very deliberately threw him off the bridge.
• All of the Other Reindeer: She bitterly notes in "Bloodlines" that even fellow mutants distrust her, due to her shape-shifting power.
• Bad Boss: She was willing to hand Pyro and Avalanche over to Apocalypse to see if he'd turn them into Horsemen, and later on says she's "eliminate" them if they fail her.
• Control Freak: She thought turning Rogue into a brainwashed Horseman of Apocalypse was a good way of getting her back under her control.
• Don't You Dare Pity Me!: Her reaction when Nightcrawler admits he feels sad for her.
• The Dragon: Apocalypse's chief minion in the first season, luring in subjects to turn into Horsemen and later trying to assassinate Kelly on his behalf.
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Rogue and to a lesser extent Nightcrawler.
• Even Evil Has Standards: Despite her history of working for Apocalypse, she cut a deal with Magneto to stop his plan for the Axis of Time.
• Evil Redhead: Just like in the comics and every other adaptation, Mystique has red hair and is evil.
• Manipulative Bitch: Even at her most sympathetic she just can't stop using people as pawns. While she does genuinely love Rogue she's outright willing to brainwash her to get her back and uses their relationship to get what she wants to the point Rogue gets fed up and disowns her.
• Moral Myopia: Happily willing to screw with Rogue's head and manipulate her, but acts like Rogue's betraying her when she has the gall to not want a damn thing to do with her.
• Trapped in Villainy: Zigzagged. In Apocalypse's first appearance, Mystique says she's only working for him because he will kill her if she doesn't, but after "Days of Future Past" she's still doing villainy, just now voluntarily, and has no intention of stopping.
• What You Are in the Dark: Nightcrawler's birth outed her as a mutant, ruining her chance for a rich lifestyle and causing her to be hounded by angry villagers. She had the opportunity to throw baby Nightcrawler off a waterfall, but she found she couldn't go through with it.

Horsemen of Apocalypse

War, Pestilence, Famine

• Amazing Technicolor Population: Side-effect of Horsmanification is that all their skins are turned yellowish green.
• Brainwashed and Crazy: One of the effects of Apocalypse's machine is putting its victims under the control of Apocalypse.
• Chekhov's Gunman: Plague appears a few episodes before she's made a Horseman.
• Fountain of Youth: Plague evidently gets a few years knocked off on becoming a Horseman.
• Four Is Death: The whole idea of them.
• Good Eyes, Evil Eyes: After being turned into Horsemen, the eyes of all three (War, Famine and Pestilence) are turned from regular to solid white Prophet Eyes.
• Reforged into a Minion: While in the comics their reforging was... more or less voluntary (Apocalypse approached each and asked them), here they're tricked into thinking they're being depowered.
• Snap Back: As Archangel shows, the process isn't absolutely permanent. Plague eventually reappears looking like she originally did.
• Spared by the Adaptation: Pestilence was killed in X-Factor, getting knocked off her flying horse. While Cyclops does the same here, the impact merely stuns her, and she's soon up and about again.
• Walking Wasteland: Famine gets her powers upgraded from Touch of Death to a beam that leaves her victims emaciated and in need of nourishment

Brotherhood of Evil Mutants

Brotherhood of Evil Mutants (Pyro, Blob, Avalanche)

• Adapted Out: Destiny isn't a member here, for... some reason.
• Adaptational Intelligence: Blob's thing in the comics is he's kind of loud and stupid. Here, he's a little more intelligent.
• Dumb Muscle: Blob, and to a lesser extent Avalanche. Neither are batting a high intellectual average.
• Evil Brit: Pyro, since the Retcon about his being an Aussie hadn't taken effect yet. He is very unmistakably British.
  Pyro: Lovely sentiment, ol' Blob! A spiffin' day for an assassination!
• Fat Bastard: Blob.
• Politically Incorrect Villain: Avalanche makes it clear he dislikes Pyro simply because of his Englishness.
• The Quiet One: Avalanche doesn't say as much as his compadres in "Days of Future Past".
• The Snack Is More Interesting: In "A Rogue's Tale," the Brotherhood attacks a fair to lure out the X-Men. Blob gets distracted by Ice Cream and starts gorging himself.
• Team Member in the Adaptation: Inverted, none of the founding members of the Brotherhood — Magneto, Mastermind, Quicksilver, the Scarlet Witch, and Toad — have anything to do with the group here.
• Unwitting Pawn: They're working for Mystique, who is following Apocalypse's agenda, but they don't seem to know that part.
• Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Their plan to assassinate Kelly helped lead directly into the creation of the Days of Future Past timeline.
• Villain: Exit, Stage Left: Outmatched by the X-Men, Pyro and Blob decide the best course of action is to leg it.
  Pyro: He who fights and runs away...
  Blob: Just shaddap and run!
• You Have Failed Me: A pre-emptive warning from Mystique is that if they don't succeed, she'll "eliminate" them.

Fabian Cortez

Fabian Cortez

• Adaptational Nationality: He's Genoshan in the animated series, unlike his mainstream counterpart who is Spanish.
• A God Am I: By his last appearance, he's gone so off his rocker he's started thinking of himself as a god.
• Asshole Victim: Ordinarily, a person being turned into a new body for the disembodied Apocalypse would be a Fate Worse than Death, but Cortez really has it coming.
• Bad Boss: He's pretty awful to work for, screaming and shouting his head off while doing none of the work himself, or using his powers to torture anyone who doesn't do what he says. Ironically, he ends up meeting his end at the hands of another Bad Boss.
• Chewing the Scenery: Guy gets very worked up when working for a crowd.
• Energy Absorption: Cortez can use his power to boost those other other mutants, and can also do so in reverse to drain their power, potentially outright killing them.
• Fantastic Racism: Pretty open in his hatred for humans, even using the slur "flatscan" openly, and turns on Magneto because he wants to wipe out humanity in total. There are also other Mutants he looks down on, being open in his contempt for Caliban for being a Morlock.
• Grand Theft Me: His final fate, courtesy of a disembodied Apocalypse.
• Laser-Guided Karma: After working for Apocalypse, he consistently mistreats Caliban, who eventually turns on him, leaving Fab to be crushed by rubble in his own temple, while the other Hounds run off. He presumes Apocalypse will save him, but instead Apocalypse just possesses him.
• More Despicable Minion: Somehow an Omnicidal Maniac like Apocalypse is less unpleasant than this guy.
• Nuke 'em: Proving that Cortez is a go big or go home kind of guy, he goes for this option in his Villainous Breakdown, attempting to wipe out all human life (and mutant life, for that matter) on Earth by launching Asteroid M's stolen nuclear missiles. Fortunately, the recovered Magneto turned up just in time and managed to stop the annihilation before getting his revenge on him.
• The Starscream: Cortez betrays Magneto so he can seize control of Asteroid M.
• Transformation of the Possessed: When Apocalypse takes over him, Cortez's body is immediately turned into his. Then again, one of Apocalypse's main abilities is Voluntary Shapeshifting, so he could just be using his standard powers rather than as a consequence of the possession itself.

The Inner Circle

In General

The Inner Circle

• Adaptation Name Change: Because "The Hellfire Club" wasn't going to get past the censors.
• Decomposite Character: In the comics, several of the guards Wolverine fought on his way to rescue the X-Men from the Hellfire Club went on to become the Reavers and seek revenge for the mutilation Logan inflicted upon on them. Here, thanks to the Reavers getting the Adaptational Early Appearance treatment and appearing before the Inner Circle, they clearly can't be the same people in this universe.
• Disc-One Final Boss: They're the main threats for the first half of the Dark Phoenix Saga, kidnapping Jean to turn the Phoenix to their own ends. However, the Phoenix's inability to be controlled soon leaves their plans in ruins.
• Early-Bird Cameo: Emma and Sebastian show up during "The Phoenix Saga, Part 4", Emma sensing Phoenix leaving Earth.
• It Must Be Mine!: Wyngarde goes after the Phoenix for the power. Emma Frost's motivation is she feels such power as the Phoenix wields should automatically belong to the Inner Circle.
• Mistreatment-Induced Betrayal:
  • Leland votes against Sebastian on account of his insulting him too often.
  • Emma turns on Sebastian along with everyone else when she feels Shaw's snubbing her for Jean/Phoenix.
  Emma: You wanted your new queen. Now you have her.
• No Celebrities Were Harmed: As they're drawn faithfully to John Byrne's art from the original stories, Emma Frost is designed after Diana Rigg and Leland after Orson Welles.
• Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: Pierce hates Leland, and Leland hates Pierce. He's also not fond of Shaw's constant insults, and even basic pragmatism can only keep them on the same page so long.
• Villain: Exit, Stage Left: When Mastermind loses control of the Phoenix, Emma, Shaw and Pierce run for it, vowing to get revenge another day. They're never seen again, apart from Emma's non-speaking cameo as one of Apocalypse's captured psychics.

Sebastian Shaw

Black King / Sebastian Shaw

• Energy Absorption: Shaw's powers allow him to absorb any energy used against him, as he helpfully explains to the X-Men. Means he can take a hit from Rogue and keep his teeth.
• Forgot About His Powers: Had he remembered his mutant ability of absorbing energy, or perhaps been caught less off-guard, Sebastian Shaw would have survived the Tri-Sentinel's beam attacks in its rampage on Genosha.
• Hazy-Feel Turn: Sebastian, alongside Emma, is a member of the Interim Council of Genosha that worked for the betterment of their mutant citizens but he retains his elitist attitude.
• Killed Off for Real: Sebastian Shaw is one of those confirmed to have been killed by the Tri-Sentinel in "Remember It".
• Logical Weakness: Beast, naturally, exploits a loophole in Shaw's powers - not actually hitting him, simply keeping him off-balance. Storm, meanwhile, just freezes him, which thanks to physics does the job as well.
• Sacrificial Lion: One of the highest-profile casualties of the attack on Genosha in the first season of X-Men '97.
• The Worf Effect: Gets this at the hands of the Tri-Sentinel during the attack on Genosha.

Emma Frost

White Queen / Emma Frost

• Badass in Distress: Emma is seen among the many psychics captured by Apocalypse.
• Carbon Skin: Like her comic counterpart, she gets her diamond skin powers after surviving a sentinel attack on Genosha.
• Decomposite Character: In New X-Men, Emma begins an affair with Cyclops. To simplify things in X-Men '97, while Scott still technically has an affair while still in a relationship with Jean, Emma's role is filled in by Madelyne Pryor, Jean's clone. Possibly as a nod to all this, Emma actually makes an amused comment to Madelyne regarding the whole situation.
• Hazy-Feel Turn: Emma, alongside Sebastian, is a member of the Interim Council of Genosha that worked for the betterment of their mutant citizens, but she retains her elitist attitude.
• Of Corsets Sexy: Unsurprisingly, Emma retains her suggestive costume from the comics.
• Sole Survivor: Downplayed. Emma Frost is by no means the only survivor from the Genoshan Massacre orchestrated by the Tri Sentinel in episode 5, but she is the only person found after days of searching the wreckage. She survived the crushing debris from the fallen citadel because her secondary mutation activated.
• Spared by the Adaptation: In the Dark Phoenix Saga, Emma was supposedly killed partway through in a fight with Phoenix. The fight never happens here and Emma remains alive and well (not that her "death" lasted in the comics, of course).

Harold "Harry" Leland

Harold Leland

• Didn't Think This Through: Leland tries using his gravity manipulating powers on Wolverine, as Wolverine's lunging at him. It sends them both through the floor.
• Fantastic Racism: Leland looks down on Pierce because he's a cyborg, and his powers prevent Donald from taking any retaliatory response.
• Fat Bastard: Harry Leland is a corpulent fella.
• Gravity Master: Leland's powers.

Donald Pierce

Donald Pierce

• Artificial Limbs: Both of Pierce's arms are cybernetic. It's unclear how much of the rest of him is machine, but his chest is capable of shrugging off Cyclops' energy beams with a loud clank.
• Stalker with a Crush: Pierce is introduced trying to abduct Dazzler. He claims he was trying to do so to bring her into the Inner Circle, but the others suggest he just wanted her for himself.

Mastermind

Mastermind / Jason Wyngarde

• Big Bad Wannabe: He tries to use the Phoenix to usurp control of the Inner Circle, but the Phoenix proves impossible to control and turns on him.
• Enemy Mine: In the alternate timeline featured in "One Man's Worth," Mastermind is a member of Magneto's resistance. He uses his powers to keep the resistance's base hidden from enemies.
• Evil Sorcerer: He may technically be a mutant, but his powers fit this to a tee.
• Hijacking Cthulhu: He, along with Emma Frost, manage to momentarily control the Phoenix. Needless to say, once it and Jean break free, it's pissed, and Jason learns the hard way this was damn stupid.
• Mind Rape: On the receiving end once Phoenix realizes it's been manipulated. It shows Jason what it really is, leaving him a drooling vegetable.
• The Starscream: He seeks to replace Shaw as the Chairman of the Inner Circle and to this end uses his control of Phoenix to get the rest of the Circle to side with him. With Shaw voted out, Jason tries to have Phoenix kill him.
• Ugly All Along: His handsome appearance turns out to be an illusion, as once Phoenix strips away his powers, he's revealed to be a rather homely man underneath.

The Assassins Guild

Bella Donna

Bella Donna Boudreaux

• Ambiguous Species: Its not certain whether she's a mutant or just a baseline human empowered by the X-Ternal
• Depower: Gambit ultimately has the X-Ternal depower her rather than just kill her.
• Hand Blasts: Has ones strong enough to send Rogue flying.
• Ragin' Cajun: With slightly more emphasis on the rage part.
• Southern Belle: Dresses more the part when she reunites with Gambit, fancy dress and all.
• Villain Ball: Her plan to wipe out the entirety of the Thieves Guild would have worked without a hitch... if she hadn't gotten Gambit involved.
• Woman Scorned: She and Gambit were supposed to be married to seal an alliance between the Assassins and the Thieves. She's upset that Gambit didn't bring her along when he left, and tries to force him to marry her when he comes back.

Unaffiliated

Sabretooth

Sabretooth / Graydon Creed Senior

Voiced by: Don Francks

• Abusive Parents:
  • He's implied to be this to Graydon Creed, which might be the whole reason Creed hates mutants in the first place.
  • "Weapon X, Lies and Video Tape" suggests he was on the receiving end of this, as he has a flashback of being chained up in the basement by his father and repeatedly abused for being full of wickedness (actually his developing mutant powers). It's not quite clear if it was real or just Fake Memories, but the mere thought of it completely breaks him and leavings him muttering "I'll be good" over and over again.
• Adaptation Name Change: Possibly to make it easier to explain that he's Graydon Creed's father, this version of Sabretooth had his real name altered to be "Graydon Creed Sr." In the comics, his first name is "Victor".
• Arch-Enemy: To Wolverine.
• Ax-Crazy: He's easily the most brutal and volatile of the evil mutants. Even Magneto trashes him, calling him an "unthinking animal".
• The Brute: For Apocalypse's Legion of Doom.
• The Dreaded: Especially to Graydon Creed, his own son, who he heavily abused.
• Establishing Character Moment: At the beginning of the first episode, Jubilee is watching the news and it shows Sabretooth going on a rampage, which the newscaster cites as an example of the danger mutants pose.
• Evil Counterpart: To Wolverine. While they have rather similar powers and flaws, Sabretooth is basically what Wolverine would be if he completely gave in to his bestial side and shed all his heroic qualities.
• Evil Is Bigger: He's about 7 feet tall, while Wolverine is normal human size.
• For the Evulz: He likes to betray and kill people just for the sheer fun of it.
• Not Quite Dead: His last fight with Wolverine in "Cold Comfort" results in a Disney Villain Death, with Wolvie outright hoping he stays gone for good this time. It's not until "Weapon X, Lies, And Video Tape" (over two years later) that it was confirmed he was still alive.
• Psycho for Hire: He's willing to hire himself out to people if it lets him cause chaos, or get at Wolverine.
• Sadist: He seems to really like terrifying and hurting people.
• Smart Ball: "Cold Comfort" is him at his smartest. While he's just as sadistic and brutal as ever, he's also far smarter in dealing with Wolverine by stalking him, laying ambushes, and planning ahead. He almost gets the better of Wolverine a couple times, as a result.
• We Used to Be Friends: Him and Wolverine were teammates in a black-ops unit until Sabretooth leaves two of their comrades (Maverick and Silver Fox) for dead against Omega Red. Wolverine has never forgiven him since (though given that they both turn up alive, it may be Fake Memories).
• Would Hurt a Child: He outright tries to murder Jubilee (who's just a teenager), at one point.

Omega Red

Omega Red

Voiced By: Len Doncheff

• Always Someone Better: To Wolverine. The first time they tangled, Wolverine barely managed to defeat him even with help. By the time Omega Red was thawed out, Wolverine had a couple extra decades under his belt and thus left at an even greater disadvantage. Wolverine loses every time they tangle and is only saved by the intervention of others.
• Arch-Enemy: Is this to Wolverine even more than Sabretooth.
• Combat Tentacles: He has two metallic tentacles he uses for most of his attacks.
• Dirty Communists: He wants to bring the Soviet Union back by capturing all the countries that split off when it collapsed.
• Evil Counterpart: A two-fer. A display screen in his origin flashback demonstrates he was meant to be the Soviet Union's answer to Captain America. More directly, he is this to Wolverine, due to being the product of a government experiment, being a ruthless fighter, and possessing some corresponding Combo Platter Powers. While Wolverine is ruthless in a fight, he's devoted to protecting innocent people, whereas Omega Red is a violent thug desiring to rule a vast empire with an iron fist.
• I Just Want to Be Normal: In "A Deal With The Devil," American soldiers get Omega Red to work with them with the promise that they can make him human again. Omega Red goes along with it at first, only to betray his handlers stating that he prefers being a living weapon.
• Meaningful Name: The "Red" both refers to his color scheme and him being pro-USSR.
• Moral Myopia: He calls some American "imperialists" as an insult, even though he explicitly wants to bring back the "Great Soviet Empire"
• Not Quite Dead: At the end of "Deal With The Devil", it is assumed that he drowned with the old Soviet submarine breached and rendered inoperable. But Wolverine suspects he's still alive, and viewers see that he's right.
• Nuke 'em: He plans to start a nuclear war in "A Deal With The Devil"
• Red Is Violent: His name is Omega Red, his costume is mostly red, and it doesn't get much more violent than trying to start a nuclear war.
• White and Red and Eerie All Over: his costume is mostly red, with a little white, his skin is stark white, and he's scary as fuck.
• White Hair, Black Heart: He has long white-blond hair, and is one of the evilest villains in the series.

Shadow King

Voiced by: Maurice Dean Wint

• Adaptational Attractiveness: His body when he meets Charles is based on Jacob Reisz, his comic counterpart's host during the Muir Island Saga, rather than Amhal Farouk's considerably more portly form.
• Adaptational Nice Guy: Very much downplayed, but he's not as sadistic and depraved as his comic counterpart, who delights in corrupting people and has... very unwholesome intentions for any woman who crosses his path. Also, his first encounter with Charles had him attacking him for no reason, something his animated counterpart doesn't do.
• Affably Evil: What he starts off as, politely introducing himself to the Professor and explaining who he is. Twenty years of isolation burn all of that out of him.
• And I Must Scream: Twenty years ago, his fight with Charles Xavier ended with him stranded on the Astral Plane, not quite alive or dead and unable to feel anything. Needless to say, two decades of that have made him pretty eager to get revenge on Charles.
• Ape Shall Never Kill Ape: Initially had a rule that he wouldn't use his powers on other mutants. His and Charles' fight changed that.
• Demonic Possession: In his first appearance, he possesses Storm's godson, then Storm herself. Next, he swaps minds with Charles, gloating that hosting his body makes it an effective hostage against the X-Men's reprisals.
• It's Personal: While his obsession with Storm is not quite as... creep-tastic as it is in the comics, there is history between the two; back when he was human, and Ororo a child living rough on the streets of Cairo, she had to answer to him. On his first getting free, he immediately goes after her godson.
• Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: It was the encounter with him that inspired Charles to form the X-Men, and after their rematch thanks Shadow King for reminding him that evil needs to be fought.
• Super Supremacist: Figured humans were his to do with as he wished, because he was a mutant.

Black Tom

Black Tom Cassidy

• Beard of Evil: Has an impressive beard, mustache and mutton chop combo, and is pretty evil.
• Cain and Abel: He and his brother Sean don't get on. Their Mutant powers cancel one another out, meaning they have to try things the old fashioned way, with their fists.
• Know When to Fold 'Em: On seeing Gladiator effortlessly toss Juggernaut over the horizon, he hands over Lilandra and steps out of the way.
• Only in It for the Money: Whereas Tom in the comic version of the story he's in went after Sean and the X-Men for sheer sadism, along with holding a lot of people hostage, here he's just in it for the large payment Erik the Red promised and nothing more.

Killgrave

Zebediah Killgrave

• Adaptational Superpower Change: Comic Killgrave's powers are a Compelling Voice. Here, it requires eye contact.
• Adaptation Species Change: Comics!Killgrave gained his powers and appereance after being exposed to a gas. Here, he's a mutant.
• Amazing Technicolor Population: His skin is naturally purple. He uses stage makeup to cover his face, and gloves to hide his hands.
• Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: He pretends to be a noble philantropist that gives orphaned mutants a home, but the truth is he's an enslaver that takes away the free will of children for his own ends.
• Comic-Book Movies Don't Use Codenames: He doesn't use the Purple Man alias from the comics, just his surname.
• Obviously Evil: With that name? He also goes around with a giant overcoat over his suit looking like he's wearing a cape. And yet no-one thinks so until he goes after Cyclops on TV.
• Rogues' Gallery Transplant: Typically, the Purple Man is one of Daredevil's foes, not an X-Men character. However, a Dartboard of Hate of DD can be seen in his office, suggesting he has some prior history with the vigilante.
• Super Supremacist: He's a mutant supremacist seeking to impose his ideology in the younger mutants he's adopted.
• Villain with Good Publicity: As far as anyone's concerned, Mr. Killgrave's a wealthy philanthropist who takes in orphans and gives them a home.
• Would Hurt a Child: Takes in Mutant children so he can forcibly brainwash them into an army of minions for his own agenda.

Trevor Fitzroy

• Adaptational Relationship Overhaul: Comic Fitzroy and Bishop have a very personal enmity, and it's Trevor who's part responsible for Bishop winding up trapped in the modern day to begin with. Here, there's no personal connection; Bishop's after him because his actions are threatening the future as a whole.
• Butterfly of Doom: He succeeds in killing Charles Xavier in the past. Really bad things ensue, and he's recruited to try and fix it again.
• Carpet of Virility: Wears a shirt with the chest open, showing off his hairy chest.
• Horrible Judge of Character: Fitzroy sells out mutantkind and helps create a future where Sentinels rule the world, and never once considered that when this was done the Sentinels might not need him anymore.
• The Quisling: Sold mutantkind out to the Sentinels.

Proteus

Proteus / Kevin MacTaggert

Voiced By: Stuart Stone

• Adaptational Late Appearance: Comic Proteus was fought just before The Dark Phoenix Saga. Here, he doesn't make an appearance until the whole Phoenix mess is long over.
• Adaptational Nice Guy: He's just a confused teenager here, rather than a psycho killer. His father, while still a jerkass, is reimagined as a greedy, selfish politician rather than the vicious rapist he was in the comics and they get to reconcile at the end of the two-parter.
• Blessed with Suck: He's spent his whole life in a lab due to his Power Incontinence. When Moira tries a new treatment to help him control it, he instead breaks free and gets to the mainland.
• Body Horror: He inflicts this on Wolverine, which first causes his claws to turn into snakes, and then makes his body split in two before he melts into a puddle. The pain is so intense not even Wolverine can stand it.
• Demonic Possession: His other power, aside from reality warping.
• Kryptonite Factor: Instead of metal, concentrated bursts of sound can stabilize him temporarily, but Moira's reluctant to crank up the volume for fear of potentially killing him.
• No Ontological Inertia: All of the objects he's warped with his powers go back to normal once he leaves the vicinity.
• Parent with New Paramour: His father walked out on Moira and Kevin when he was a toddler, and has long since remarried and had more kids. By the time Kevin escapes, Moira's taken up with Banshee, but Kevin seems to get on alright with him, at least.
• Psychopathic Manchild: He indeed is a seventeen-year-old with the mental age of schoolkid, has very little emotional regulation, and sees to have little idea of just how damaging his powers can be to people.
• Reality Warper: His main power is to warp the objects and creatures around him. He can even turn inanimate objects into monsters to fight for him.
• Spared by the Adaptation: Unlike the story his two-parter is based on, he doesn't die.
• What Is This Feeling?: Kevin's so shut-in and stunted he has no idea what paternal love even is. When he gets a glimpse second hand, it causes him to panic.
• Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds: As terrifying as he is, he's ultimately just a scared kid looking for his Disappeared Dad.

Silver Samurai

• Adaptational Wimp: Comic Samurai is a credible threat to Wolverine and anyone else he crosses paths with. This version is just some guy terrorizing a remote village.
• Bling of War: How he got his nom de guerre, his shiny silver armor.
• Bullying a Dragon: First appears to Logan to tell him not to get involved in his business. Wolverine didn't even know who he was, and was quietly minding his own.
• Pragmatic Villainy: When one of his biker underlings wants to Make an Example of Them with one defiant villager, he tells him to stand down, not wanting to create a martyr that will rouse all the other villagers.
• Villain Teleportation: He can zap around. Part of Wolverine's problem is figuring out how to counter that.

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