Fanfic / Spider-X

The Spider-X series by Agent-G is essentially a crossover between the X-Men: Evolution series and Spider-Man. Starting when Cyclops and Rogue are rescued from a mugging by Spider-Man during their time in New York, they go on to offer him a place at the Institute, where he forms particular friendships with Kurt and Kitty while falling in love with Rogue. Whether as a direct result of Peter’s presence or just interesting coincidences, several of Spider-Man’s villains and potential allies thus become involved in the events of Evolution, introducing new friends for the X-Men while also forcing them to face new problems.

The series currently consists of three stories- the titular "Spider-X", its immediate sequel "Return of Spider-X", and "Sensational Spider-X"- with the potential for further stories in the future.

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The Spider-X series contains examples of:

• Abhorrent Admirer: As in the original series, Toad fills this role for Wanda, and there is a certain hint at this in the symbiote’s feelings at being rejected by Peter (albeit when ‘translated’ by Rogue after she absorbed Venom to stop him, musing that comparing the symbiote’s feelings towards her to jealousy is the best analogy she can come up with).
• Abusive Parents: Magneto towards Wanda, Tabitha mentions her own bad family history, and Max Dillon’s father was rough on him as well (although even he didn’t deserve what his son did to him later on).
• Accidental Aiming Skills: When Spider-Man is fighting Venom in a church, he is saved when Cyclops blasts the door of the church down with an optic blast so that it strikes Venom and knocks him off, initially assuming that Jean gave him telepathic instructions on where to aim for maximum damage, before learning that Scott was actually just lucky.
• Adaptation Relationship Overhaul: In the comics, Peter Parker/Spider-Man is generally a casual ally of the X-Men, being friends with a few key members of the team but rarely interacting with them on a social level outside of mass team-ups. Here Spider-Man becomes a member of the X-Men as Peter and May move into the Xavier Institute, to the extent that Peter not only considers Kurt and Kitty in particular to be close friends, but even falls in love with Rogue.
• Adaptational Badass: Indirectly; May Parker was always a comparatively tough old woman, but being an official part of the staff at Xavier’s gives her a better chance to show it, to the point where she’s the only member of the staff who actually scolds Logan for smoking indoors.
• Adaptational Heroism: Tabitha and Lance were always the more tentative members of the Brotherhood in the show, but in this version they outright defect to Xavier’s side in order to save Wanda and escape Max.
• Adaptational Villainy:
  • While Gambit and Colossus are portrayed as being on Magneto’s side as they were in Evolution, a few Spidey-focused villains have undergone a comparative ‘upgrade’ in villainy;
    • In the comics Electro was powerful, but somewhat dim and fairly direct in his use of his abilities against active opponents, whereas this version is not only determined to prove himself intellectually, but is also outright abusive, beating his ‘girlfriend’ Tabitha when she starts defying him and rendering at least two people brain-dead.
    • Comes up a few times with Black Cat as the story unfolds; while she developed a flirtatious relationship with Spider-Man in the comics, in this version she soon abandons this interest due to his explicit rejection of her in favour of Rogue, to the point where she is now actively working for the Kingpin as a double agent in Magneto’s Brotherhood.
    • In the comics Eddie Brock was ‘justifiably’ angry at Spider-Man for indirectly ruining his career, but this version also has a racist attitude towards mutants, attributed to the suit being angry at Peter rejecting it in favour of the X-Men.
• All Women Are Prudes: Invoked for Rogue; when circumstances force her to steal clothing to help the rest of the team in a battle, she also steals a wig and mask so that she can wear what she considers an embarrassingly skimpy outfit without anyone knowing it’s her, creating the new identity of Ms Marvel.
• Almighty Mom: May takes on this role to the X-Men, to the point where she can actually tell Logan not to smoke inside. On a more affectionate note, Jean becomes comfortable enough with her to talk to May about her feelings for Scott when she’s trying to figure out if she’s in love with him or not.
• The Atoner: Peter’s efforts as a hero are all based on his desire to atone for the actions that led to his uncle’s death.
• Badass Normal: Black Cat and Bullseye hold their own against Spider-Man and the Bayville Sirens, respectively.
• Bash Brothers: Logan remembers having this with Captain America, and he also mentions having formed a good bond with the Parkers when he worked with them.
• Big Damn Kiss: Peter and Rogue's first kiss occurs when Rogue kisses Peter while he's wearing his mask, but after Peter gives Rogue the power nullifier, their subsequent make-out session is only interrupted when Kitty phases through the door to see what they're doing after waiting for a quarter of an hour.
• Birds of a Feather:
  • Peter Parker and Olivia ‘Ollie’ Osnick (AKA Spyder), as two characters with spider-themed powers, go on to form a sibling-esque dynamic (although there are hints that Spyder’s feelings are now becoming mixed with a confusing semi-crush as she gets older).
    • Sometimes Kurt is included in this group due to their shared ability to stick to surfaces, to the point where the three of them have developed a program in the Danger Room where they race against each other; during individual Danger Room training sessions, Kurt and Peter even face variants of the same test.
  • Cyclops and Rogue share this dynamic to some degree; as with Peter and Kurt, their individualized Danger Room training sessions are fairly similar, and they even have a weekly tennis match as the only two on a similar physical level (although they may abandon this tradition after Rogue’s physical enhancements reach a point where she could easily beat Scott).
• Blessed with Suck:
  • Cyclops, Rogue and Jamie all demonstrate this to varying degrees when it comes to their powers, until Peter develops a set of power nullifiers that allow the three of them turn off their powers when they aren’t wanted.
  • Observed by Wolverine when the team are searching the sewers for the Lizard, Logan musing to himself that the kids are lucky they don’t have his senses.
• Body Horror: Referenced when Curt Connors transforms into the Lizard and to a greater extent when Peter mutates into the Man-Spider.
• Broken Bird: Rogue and Wanda as in canon, but Spyder also gets this, considering that she was abandoned by her parents and witnessed her uncle’s death a few months ago; Peter helps Rogue and Spyder settle in better, and even plays a part in helping Wanda study.
• Brought Down to Normal: The only way to save Peter from his transformation into the Man-Spider is a variation of the serum used to cure Connors of his transformation into the Lizard, which initially seemingly removed Peter’s powers.
• Bunny-Ears Lawyer: Max Dillon is an abusive jerk who hits women, defies Mystique, and thinks he’s better than most of his ‘teammates’, but the Brotherhood tolerate him because of his raw power.
• But for Me, It Was Tuesday:
  • Peter only learns the day after he did it that he assisted the police in capturing a major serial killer (specifically, Cletus Kasady), arguing that he didn’t mention it at first because it didn’t seem like a big deal at the time.
  • Also applies when Peter learns that he is being framed for a series of crimes by Mysterio for ruining Quentin Beck's early attempt at revenge, as it takes him a few minutes to remember who Beck is even after unmasking him.
• Can't Have Sex, Ever: This naturally applies to Rogue at first, until Peter develops a power nullifier that blocks her powers as long as it's on, which leads to him and Rogue being subject to an embarrassing talk from Logan and May not to dive into anything too fast.
• Canon Immigrant: In a roundabout way, as the writer introduces another fanfic writer's character of Olivia 'Spyder' Osnick as another member of the New Mutants, as well as developing a little sister-esque relationship with Peter.
• Career-Ending Injury: Referenced for Doctor Connors and (in a sense) Hank McCoy/Beast; Connors was forced to leave his old research job at Oscorp because of the accident that cost him his arm, and McCoy left his old teaching job because his mutation accelerated to the point where he transformed into his blue state.
• Chronic Hero Syndrome: Peter, to such an extent that Xavier allows him to continue as Spider-Man despite his current desire to keep the existence of mutants secret.
• Clingy Jealous Girl: Black Cat is basically this towards Spider-Man, to the extent that she's actively jealous of Rogue even though Spider-Man never did anything to give her the idea that he was interested in her.
• Conspicuous Gloves: A part of Rogue's default attire, to the extent that she wears them even when lounging by the swimming pool. After Peter gives her the power nullifer, she immediately discards her gloves, and decides to even remove the mesh shirt she wears over her top just to show off her new ability to touch to the others.
• Contrived Coincidence: With no obvious sign that they were aware of the other, Xavier and Mystique each recruit their first ‘mutate’ (an artificially-enhanced human rather than a traditional mutant) at the same time, Xavier recruiting Spider-Man and Mystique enlisting Electro.
• Corrupt Corporate Executive: Norman Osborn serves this role, as he is interested in using mutants as test subjects for biological weapons projects, although he is sane enough in this adaption to keep it relatively discreet, publicly stating that he doesn’t mind if people are mutants or humans so long as their money’s green.
• Delayed Reaction: Rogue essentially has an inverted version of this; after Peter gives her the first power nullifier and asks her to close her eyes, Rogue immediately pulls back when she feels Peter's hand on her cheek to avoid hurting him, and only realises as she's talking to him that she actually didn't feel her power working on him.
• Demoted to Extra:
  • Mary Jane goes from being the focus of Peter's secret crush to just being an old friend after he relocates to the Xavier Institute and falls in love with Rogue.
  • Doctor Otto Octavius is one of Spider-Man’s greatest adversaries in canon, but in this storyline he has never even met the wall-crawler, his vendetta being focused on Norman Osborn for causing the accident that led to his arms being fused to him.
  • Gwen Stacy moves to Bayville in Sensational Spider-X, but while she has interacted with some of the New Mutants she has yet to meet Peter directly, and is unlikely to have the same relationship with him that she did in canon.
• Domestic Abuser: Max reaches this point in his relationship with Tabitha; she only tolerates it as long as she does because she was initially scared of what he’d do if she broke up with him, and later decides to stay on until she can get Wanda away from Mystique.
• Dumb Muscle: Fits the Rhino to a T; after Spider-Man attacks him and the Shocker as they attempt to steal a canister from a military base, when Spider-Man dives into the truck after it’s crashed to try and catch them, Rhino throws the truck into a nearby river, only to be informed by Shocker that the canister they were hired to steal was still in the truck as well.
• Elemental Shapeshifter: Features for Sandman and Hydro-Man after they join Magneto’s Acolytes and the Brotherhood respectively.
• Enemy Mine: A minor example; Shriek hates Mystique’s other children as potential competition, and thus has issues with those close to them such as Amanda and Peter. However, after Peter saves Mystique from Electro when the former Brotherhood member decides to leave the team, although Shriek had a chance to attack Peter while he was exhausted, she decides to let him go in acknowledgement that he saved her mother.
• Erotic Dream: Peter has a minor one about Rogue while he's visiting old friends in New York; the dream opens with the two of them out web-swinging, and as they pause on top of a building, Peter is woken up as dream-Rogue is about to take her top off.
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones:
  • Pietro’s sister might have joined Xavier, but he still risks his life to save Wanda from a Sentinel.
  • Although Harry discovers explicit evidence that his father was involved in the attack on the Xavier Institute and the subsequent abduction of Xavier, Jean, Peter and Tabitha, he claims that the work was actually carried out by a mole in the company to protect his father while allowing the team to save Peter.
• Even Evil Has Standards:
  • None of the Brotherhood are comfortable when they learn that Max was physically abusing Tabitha, although they tolerate his presence due to his raw power.
  • Another example is more like ‘even Jerkass has standards’; when Eddie Brock presents Jameson with photos of a robbery where he saw Spider-Man try to stop Shocker and Rhino stealing a truck, he initially only sells Jameson photos which support the idea that Spider-Man was helping the other two commit the crime and reports the situation as such. When other photos of the theft are sold to a different newspaper to give the true story (having been stolen by Spider-Man while he’s under the influence of the black suit), Jameson informs Brock that he might imply Spider-Man was involved in criminal activity, but he would never outright say that Spider-Man was a criminal unless all the evidence pointed in that direction.
• Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": The original Evolution series already inverted this trope, but the series takes the final step by having Rogue tell Peter her real name is Anna, although she makes it clear that he shouldn’t tell anyone else.
• Evil Counterpart:
  • Spider-Man=Electro, both serving as the first ‘mutate’ (ordinary human given powers through chance mutation) on their respective teams.
  • Rogue=Black Cat, as each are fairly evenly matched in their fights, coupled with their mutual interests in Spider-Man and their escalating abilities each time they meet in battle.
• Evil Is Petty: Electro; as in canon, Max Dillon has the power to be particularly dangerous, but while determined to apply himself at school, he makes it clear more than once that he is less interested in the Brotherhood’s long term agenda of war against the humans in favour of having fun with his abilities right now, such as going out and robbing ATMs. This can also be shown in his first actions when he realizes that he has his powers; what he did to his father was essentially an accident (albeit one he wasn't sorry about), but Dillon then proceeds to render his old school bully brain-dead.
• Failed a Spot Check: Probably an excusable oversight as he doesn’t spend much time with Rogue whatever side they’re both on, but Lance didn’t realise that Rogue was now able to touch people again for over a week before he officially ‘defected’ to live at the mansion, and only realised things had changed when he saw Scott without his glasses.
• Fantastic Racism: Obviously considering the anti-mutant prejudice, but this is particularly shown with Eddie Brock/Venom, who refers to Rogue as ‘Parker’s little hell spawned vampire’
• Fate Worse than Death:
  • After gaining his powers, Dillon subjected his abusive father to such a massive electric shock that it left the man brain-dead.
  • When Peter is mutated into the Man-Spider, Rogue speaks for Peter when she learns that the cure might take away his powers, affirming that he would rather be powerless than live in his current state.
• Fishbowl Helmet: Mysterio, naturally, but Lance also gets called on this; when he joins the X-Men and Wanda in going off to hunt for Logan (as part of Magneto and Mystique's plan to put them against the Sentinel), Scott's first 'order' is to tell Lance to take off his own fishbowl-esque helmet on the grounds that it looks ridiculous.
• Foreshadowing: Xavier mentions his past relationship with Gabrielle Heller to May, but makes it clear that he believes the relationship ended without any children.
• The Friends Who Never Hang: It is stated that Ororo is good friends with Martha Connors, the wife of the former Lizard, but they are never shown spending time together one-on-one.
• From Nobody to Nightmare: Used for Mysterio, who attempts to frame Spider-Man for a series of crimes based on Spider-Man previously foiling Quentin Beck's plan for revenge, to the point that Peter doesn’t even remember the original incident at first.
• Gadgeteer Genius: Peter may not do this as much as, say, Forge, but he still created his web-shooters before he even joined the X-Men, created the sedative stingers once he started training with them, and goes on to create portable power nullifiers so that Rogue, Scott and Jamie can turn their powers off.
• Genius Cripple: Doctor Connors, naturally; despite his lost arm and tarnished reputation, he swiftly forms a close friendship with Hank McCoy, and assists Hank in devising a cure when Peter mutates into the Man-Spider.
• Give Geeks a Chance: Peter ends up dating Rogue despite his geeky background, musing when talking with his old friends that he has no idea how he won her over.
• Given Name Reveal: Rogue- who always kept her real name secret in the original show- finally shares it with her boyfriend, Peter Parker/Spider-Man, telling him that her real name is Anna as they're about to have sex for the first time.
• Glad-to-Be-Alive Sex: Basically the reason Rogue approaches Peter about having sex after their escape from Oscorp (Jean had a similar reason for approaching Scott, but she also wanted to show Tabitha that she was willing to take chances).
• Green-Eyed Epiphany: Kitty realises that Rogue is developing feelings for Peter when she sees Rogue's reaction to Peter revealing that Black Cat kissed him the night before, Kitty guessing that Rogue is uncomfortable at the reminder that she can never have such a moment with Peter due to her powers.
• Groin Attack: Max receives one from Tabitha when she decides to leave him and go back to the mansion.
• Happily Adopted: Sandra, AKA Shriek, swiftly forms such a positive relationship with Mystique that she considered Mystique a mother figure even before Mystique officially adopted her.
• Heartwarming Moments:
  • After Peter gives Rogue the power nullifier, when she and Peter come down holding hands and Rogue explains what happened, everyone on the team eagerly moves in to give Rogue a hug, allowing her to enjoy the sensation of physical contact that she thought she'd never be able to experience again.
• Hero with Bad Publicity: Peter falls victim to this on a few occasions due to the Daily Bugle, and naturally the X-Men get dragged into it when they go public.
• Heroic Sacrifice: A comparatively minor example, but an important one; despite being currently trapped in an abusive relationship with Max Dillon, when Tabitha learns of Mystique’s plans to brainwash Wanda to join the Brotherhood, she immediately resolves to stay with the team long enough to get Wanda to trust her so that Tabitha can convince the other girl to join her in defecting to Xavier’s.
• Heroic Spirit: Peter, as always, to the point where he fought his way to safety despite being buried under a collapsed warehouse during a period when he had no powers, even trying to save Mystique in the process.
• Hoist by His Own Petard: During a prank war in the mansion, Bobby and Kitty get one over Peter by devising a machine that is programmed to build up a powerful electric charge that cuts out at the last minute and hiding it under Peter’s bed, with the result that his spider-sense is set off every hour without him being in actual danger.
• I Just Want to Be Loved: As Rogue starts to develop a crush on Peter, she is particularly upset after Peter reveals how Black Cat kissed him the night before, and is put out at Kitty trying to encourage Rogue to give it a shot. Even after she and Peter start dating, she is often upset when faced with other couples as she is reminded that she and Peter can't be so casual about physical contact with each other.
• "I Know You're in There Somewhere" Fight:
  • Rogue says this word-for-word when the symbiote starts to take Peter over
  • Peter gets a chance to return the favour when Rogue suffers a breakdown after her powers go haywire while absorbing Mystique
• I Never Said It Was Poison: Not explicitly invoked, but although Spider-Man tries to give the impression that he has no connection to the Xavier Institute when he is first confronted by Magneto, the fact that he specifically takes Magneto’s helmet off is enough to prove to Magneto that the wall-crawler knows his old friend as only Xavier’s students would know why his helmet is so important.
• I Work Alone: Acknowledged and subverted; while Peter started out as a solo hero, and sometimes has trouble adapting to a team environment, he has generally been shown to work well with the rest of the X-Men.
• In Spite of a Nail: Despite Peter's presence and the changes he introduces, Bolivar Trask still exposes the existence of mutants to the general public by forcing them into the open as they fight the prototype Sentinel, and the X-Men redeem their public reputation by defeating the Juggernaut as he attempts to destroy a dam.
• Indirect Kiss: Due to her powers, Rogue's first kiss with Peter is when she kisses him while he's wearing his mask (as opposed to how other love interests pull Peter's mask up and then kiss him in other adaptations).
• Insecure Love Interest: Rogue has this at various points as she comes to acknowledge her feelings for Peter, finding herself blushing when Peter makes it clear he finds her attractive when she's used to not being the type of girl boys generally pay attention to.
• It's All My Fault: In typical Spider-Man fashion, Peter sometimes wonders if he has caused more problems for the others than if he'd just stayed away from the Institute, considering the other threats the X-Men have faced that were explicitly after Spider-Man.
• Jerk Jock: Duncan Matthews and Flash Thompson demonstrate this; a lesser example occurs with Trent, who bullied Max Dillon at school until Max gained his powers and rendered Trent brain-dead as punishment.
• Jerkass Realization: A minor example; Scott reflects that he probably pushed Lance too hard during his previous attempt to join the students at Xavier’s after Lance and Tabitha return to Xavier's to get Wanda away from the Brotherhood's plans to brainwash her.
• Junior Counterpart: Olivia 'Spyder' Osnick technically fulfils this role towards Peter, as they both have spider-powers, although Spyder can only climb sheer surfaces and generate electric webbing.
• Keeping the Handicap: Although Peter's power nullifiers allow Scott to remove his glasses and see normally, after a particularly intense fight where his nullifier was broken, Scott decides to go back to ushing his glasses on a more regular basis and stop relying on the nullifier, as it's harder to adapt if he loses the nullifier while he's out in public and doesn't have his glasses available.
• Lethal Chef: Kitty’s cooking is so bad that Peter’s spider-sense went off when he was about to bite into a cookie she’d baked. May offers to help give Kitty some lessons, but characters all acknowledge that there’s only so much May can do, given how bad Kitty is.
• Logical Weakness: In the first confrontation with the Sentinel prototype, the Sentinel initially ignores Spider-Man as he isn’t a mutant, although it upgrades itself to accommodate him as a target once he does some damage to it.
• Love Confession: Rogue and Peter admitted their interest in each other after the Bayville Sirens, but they only explicitly tell the other "I love you" after Peter is saved from the symbiote.
• Love Triangle: There is the potential for one with Spider-Man/Rogue/Black Cat, but Peter’s feelings for Rogue and Black Cat’s criminal actions each become too intense too soon for him to seriously feel anything for Black Cat.
• Loves My Alter Ego: In a sense; Black Cat has demonstrated an attraction to Spider-Man, but Peter won’t give her the chance to really get to know him under the mask, both because of her criminal status and because he was developing feelings for Rogue before he even met Black Cat.
• Luke, I Am Your Father:
  • Sandra Deel, AKA Shriek, bluntly informs Kurt that she is now his adopted sister and she won’t ‘disappoint’ their mother like he did.
  • Mystique reveals her status as Rogue’s adoptive mother while Rogue is suffering a power overload
• Mad Scientist: Osborn, to the point that he is involved in the creation of the equivalent of the Spider-Slayers (although these versions are designed to go after the X-Men as a whole as well).
• Manipulative Bastard: Magneto, the Kingpin and Norman Osborn all show this to varying degrees, such as Magneto’s canon plan to pit the X-Men against the Sentinels and Osborn capturing some of the X-Men after the battle with the Sentinel to use for his biological weapons program.
• Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: The storyline sticks to the ‘bitten by radioactive spider’ origin for Peter, but his meeting with Madam Web hints at the more mystical elements that have become a part of his history in more recent storylines.
• Metaphorically True: Basically applies to Peter’s early interactions with the Brotherhood; after Tabitha reveals that the Brotherhood’s newest member controls electricity, Peter guesses that he’s already fought Max the night before, and so tells Tabitha that his power is ‘just’ super strength, which is essentially true but omits his other abilities.
• Monstrous Humanoid: Peter when he mutates into the Man-Spider.
• Motive Rant:
  • Magneto gives one to Spider-Man when he tries to convince the wall-crawler to join him.
  • Mysterio gets one when ranting about his reasons for trying to frame Spider-Man.
• Muggle Best Friend: Amanda forms a romantic version of this with Kurt, but Scott and Jean’s friends Paul and Taryn are also elevated to this after they decide to tell them the truth about mutants, the Connors family all form this kind of relationship with the team (Curt forms a bond as a fellow scientist with Hank McCoy, his wife Martha gets along well with Ororo, and his son Billy hits it off with Jamie and Spyder), and Mary Jane and Harry Osborn still consider Peter a friend even after learning that he didn't tell them about his powers (although Harry is lying about his father's role in the abduction of some of the team).
• My God, What Have I Done?: Peter has one after the symbiote is removed, when he realizes that he hit Rogue.
• My Skull Runneth Over: Rogue experiences this when her power overloads after absorbing Venom, things becoming worse when she absorbs Mystique by accident and starts shapeshifting into various people she's absorbed in the past, resulting in her being overwhelmed by their powers and personalities until Logan and Peter help her come back to herself.
• Mythology Gag:
  • Olivia ‘Ollie’ Osnick, aka Spyder, shares her name and spider theme with the main comics' Oliver ‘Ollie’ Osnick, aka the Steel Spider.
  • Gambit flirts with Rogue when he meets her, but Rogue scolds herself for being even briefly tempted as she already has someone.
  • A complex chain of events result in Rogue experiencing a power boost and taking on the identity of ‘Ms Marvel’ when she had to go into action in an improvised costume.
• Nerds Are Sexy: Peter often expresses his surprise that he ended up with Rogue, and his old (pre-Spider-Man) friends comment on this when they see her for the first time.
• Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: As in canon, the Juggernaut’s attempt to destroy a dam gives the X-Men a chance to prove themselves as heroes after mutants go public.
• Nightmare Fuel: Before the symbiote merged with Peter, its creators planned to bond it to X-23.
• No Name Given: Averted for Rogue, as she reveals her real name to Peter before they have sex.
• Noodle Incident:
  • Peter mentions an incident, from a point before he joined the team, when he stopped a mugger and the man subsequently threw up all over him.
  • While it was the subject of a whole episode in the series, Mesmero’s temporary brainwashing of certain X-Men is just skimmed over here, as Peter was absent from the whole experience because he was ill with a serious case of flu.
  • Logan worked with Richard and Mary Parker at some point before his amnesia, and remembers liking the two despite them working for different agencies.
• Not Good with Rejection: Basically the reason the Venom symbiote is lashing out at Peter and the X-Men, with its attention particularly focused on Rogue due to its warped 'feelings' for Peter.
• "Not Wearing Pants" Dream: When Rogue tells Peter that she had a dream about him the previous night, Peter briefly asks what he was wearing in the dream before Rogue clarifies that she was actually dreaming of his memory of Uncle Ben’s death.
• Odd Friendship: A few examples, but Tabitha and Wanda in particular, as Tabitha tries to help the socially awkward Wanda adjust to life as a regular teenager after spending the better part of her life locked up.
• Official Couple: Peter/Rogue is the main focus of the series, but Scott/Jean, Kurt/Amanda and Jamie/Spyder also have their moments.
• Oh, Crap!: Rogue and Peter each have a moment when Rogue realises that her power-nullifier has broken down while she’s at a crowded concert with too much bare skin, and then Peter has one when Rogue suffers a power glitch and starts turning into people she’s previously absorbed.
• One-Man Army: The Juggernaut holds his own against the entire team, including Spider-Man.
• One-Steve Limit: Defied when Doctor Connors’ wife calls for her husband while he’s talking to the students by the pool, causing both him and Nightcrawler to respond before they confirm who she’s talking to.
• Only Known by Their Nickname: Even as Rogue tells Peter her real name is Anna, she makes it clear that she doesn't want him to share it with anyone else.
• Papa Wolf: Logan fills this role as always, such as acting in a fatherly role for Rogue after learning that she and Peter had sex, not-quite-explicitly giving Peter the ‘hurt her and I’ll kill you’ warning.
• Parental Abandonment: Peter’s parents are deceased, Wanda was dumped in an asylum by Magneto, and Spyder notes that she was abandoned by her parents at a young age due to her obvious mutation.
• Parental Substitute: Along with the rest of the teaching staff at Xavier’s, May takes on this role after she starts working at the school, such as offering emotional support when Jean is trying to work out if she’s in love with Scott.
• Platonic Life-Partners: Peter develops a particularly close dynamic with Kurt as he spends time with the team due to their shared acrobatic abilities, although he also bonds with Kitty over their shared scientific expertise.
• Point of Divergence: Scott and Rogue run into Spider-Man by sheer chance as they're about to leave New York after travelling there to meet with Warren/the Angel, which leads to them tracking Peter down and inviting him to join the other students at the Institute. Peter's presence leads to a range of other changes, including;
  • Peter is able to devise a means of shutting down dangerous or uncontrollable mutant powers, allowing Rogue to touch others and Scott to take off his glasses.
  • Where Taryn rejected Scott and Jean after learning that they were mutants in canon, here she finds out about it before the big reveal and listens to Jean's explanation about the disadvantages of her powers.
  • When Mystique recruits Max Dillon/Electro to join the Brotherhood, Max's attitude ultimately promps Lance and Tabitha to defect to the X-Men, accompanied by Wanda after they overhear Mystique's plans to basically brainwash Wanda to forgive her father.
• Power Incontinence: Rogue suffers from a power overload after she absorbs Venom, due to the symbiote’s non-human nature disrupting her ability as she was never intended to absorb anything that wasn’t human or mutant.
• Pragmatic Villainy:
  • Kingpin pays particular attention to events in Bayville once the Sirens become active as even the implication of someone defying him could be bad for business, but doesn’t pay too much attention to the city once the Sirens stop.
  • Norman Osborn knows exactly who the X-Men are and what they can do, but once his initial attempt to capture some of them as test subjects is brought to an end, he leaves them alone even though none of the X-Men know that he was behind everything (Harry claimed that the facility was set up by someone inside the company misappropriating funds) and he could easily make similar arrangements.
• The Prankster: Bobby's attempts to figure out a way to prank Peter despite his spider-sense culminate in a mansion-spanning prank war, the students (save for Scott and Jean) becoming 'divided' between Peter and Bobby as they try to prank each other's side, such as Kitty dying Rogue's hair pink and Rogue applying Goth makeup to Kitty's face while she's asleep.
• Professor Guinea Pig: McCoy and Connors both regret their decision to do this to themselves, particularly since, unlike with Connors’, there is no way for Beast to reverse what he did to himself.
• Put on the Bus:
  • Mary Jane and Harry Osborn are no longer a regular part of Peter’s life after he moves to the Xavier Institute, but he still talks with them over the phone and meets them in person when the opportunity comes up.
  • Mystique’s ‘secret identity’ as Risty Wilde is exposed ahead of schedule thanks to Peter’s spider-sense; the revelation that he can somehow see through her disguises prompts Mystique to abandon her and Magneto’s future plan for her to infiltrate the Institute and pose as Xavier.
  • Curt Connors has retained a peripheral role as one of the few normal humans aware of the X-Men’s secrets even before mutants went public, but there is no indication that he will transform back into the Lizard.
  • Rahne and Jubilee still leave the school, but they are given an actual farewell party rather than just vanishing from the cast with no explanation.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Noted when Peter is possessed by the symbiote, as the X-Men are all concerned about his change in attitude even before they learn what happened.
• Rescue Romance: Peter and Rogue become an official couple after Peter helps save the Bayville Sirens from Bullseye.
• Role Swap AU: A minor example; in the comics Rogue becomes involved with Gambit while the Black Cat has a relationship with Spider-Man, but here Peter and Rogue form a serious relationship and Black Cat and Gambit hit it off instead, although Cat in particular expresses a private interest in having Spider-Man and Gambit rather than just one or the other.
• Rousing Speech: Peter gives one to Rogue when she questions if she’s strong enough to cope with her powers, Peter affirming that he’ll always be there for her even if she has trouble.
• Rogues' Gallery Transplant: Several characters who were uniquely foes of Spider-Man in the comics, such as Electro, Venom and the Green Goblin, now end up facing the X-Men (although a few foes such as Rhino, Shocker and Mysterio are still focused on the wall-crawler). Related to this, while Black Cat is generally Peter's ally in canon, here she and Rogue develop a particular vendetta against each other as Black Cat is basically jealous that Rogue won Spider-Man's attention even as Black Cat considers him the most interesting man she's ever met.
• Second Super-Identity:
  • In recognition of Peter’s refusal to abandon his role as Spider-Man, the X-Men provide him with a second costume to use when he’s fighting with the rest of the team (this version being a black one with X-Men-style shoulder-pads and a large white spider with the legs in the shape of an ‘X’ on his chest), known in the field as ‘Spider-X’.
    • After the X-Men’s identities go public, Peter is able to further protect his identity by setting up a chain of events to create the impression that ‘Spider-X’ is actually an android he created that can be controlled by remote.
  • When Rogue is captured and subjected to experiments that boost her powers to the point where she possesses superhuman strength, speed and flight, she uses the costume shop she has crash-landed in to create the new secret identity of ‘Ms Marvel’, wearing a wig and mask as her regular clothing was too damaged and she was too embarrassed by the comparatively skimpy outfit to wear it in a situation where everyone would know it was her.
• Secret Test of Character: While powerless after being ‘cured’ of the Man-Spider transformation, Peter is briefly visited by Madam Web, and it is implied that she arranges for him to regain his powers when he chooses to save Mystique when the two of them are trapped in a collapsed warehouse by Max, when it would be easier for Peter to just leave Mystique and focus on trying to get out by himself.
• Sequel Hook:
  • There are no immediate plans for more stories in this series, but the author has left potential for a few plot threads to be explored;
    • Nathaniel Essex and Miles Warren were part of the team Norman Osborn hired to examine Jean and Peter’s DNA.
    • Peter was involved in the capture of Cletus Kassidy while Kassidy was just a ‘regular’ serial killer.
    • Xavier's talk of his past relationship with Gabrielle Heller hints that David still exists in this series.
    • Apocalypse is still a potential future threat.
• Sensor Character: Peter fills this role due to his spider-sense, allowing him to quickly see through Mystique's disguise as Risty Wilde and thus ending Mystique and Magneto's plans for her to impersonate Xavier at some future date.
• Ship Sinking: While Gambit and Rogue are generally a couple in most adaptations, by the time they first meet in this series Rogue is in a committed relationship with Peter and immediately tells herself to stop staring.
• Shipper on Deck:
  • Kitty is quick to support the idea of Peter and Rogue as a couple, and Spyder joins Kitty in her efforts to encourage them to get together.
  • When Spyder mentions that Jamie gave her a brief kiss when he thought she was asleep, the other girls all encourage her to go for it.
• Shipper with an Agenda: Mystique favours a relationship between Tabitha/Boom-Boom and Max Dillon/Electro as she feels that it will encourage Tabitha to be loyal to the Brotherhood, particularly if the X-Men hurt her boyfriend in combat; this backfires when Max is revealed to be an abuser, driving Tabitha to defect back to the X-Men with Lance and Wanda.
• Shipping Torpedo: While Peter had a secret crush on Mary Jane back in New York, he never got the nerve to tell her how he felt before he was invited to join the Institute. By the time they meet again in person, although MJ reflects that her feelings for him were starting to change when he left New York, Peter is now explicitly dating Rogue.
• Shout-Out:
  • When Spyder first meets Hank, she observes "The Cookie Monster is real", prompting a barely-suppressed laugh from Ororo.
  • When Kingpin is musing on threats to his business, he thinks about (but doesn’t explicitly name) Daredevil, Moon Knight, Cloak and Dagger, and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
• Significant Green-Eyed Redhead: After Peter arrives in the manor and starts talking about his old friendship with and feelings for Mary Jane, Kurt jokes that he and Scott have something in common and introduces Peter to Jean. When Harry Osborn and Mary Jane later visit Peter and his new friends, Mary Jane is struck by the thought that she and Jean look superficially similar, although Jean is noticeably taller than Mary Jane. However, despite these similarities, Peter never thinks of Jean as anything more than a friend, with Rogue being the object of his affections instead.
• Sixth Ranger: Although the seventh member of the core X-Men team, Peter essentially fulfils this role after he joins the team due to his unique position as a mutate rather than a mutant.
• The Smurfette Principle: Subverted; after Tabitha and Wanda leave the Brotherhood, they are replaced by Delilah and Sandra Deel, AKA Shriek.
• Spanner in the Works: Peter’s presence throws off both Mystique’s immediate plan to spend time with Rogue as Risty and her and Magneto's more long-term plan to have her infiltrate the manor and pose as Xavier, as his spider-sense makes him aware of Mystique even when she isn’t explicitly doing anything dangerous (although Mystique doesn't actually know how he sensed her).
• Split-Personality Takeover:
  • Norman Osborn clearly doesn’t remember that he is the Green Goblin at this point, to the extent of wondering who stole the equipment used by the Goblin after he sees his alter ego on the news, but he is still pursuing his own criminal agenda as himself.
  • Rogue suffers a more temporary but significant example of this after she absorbs Mystique while already dealing with the side-effects of absorbing Venom, manifesting various people she’s absorbed before Peter and Wolverine talk her down.
• Stalker with a Crush: Referenced for Black Cat, but while she flirts with Spider-Man a few times and tries to convince him to leave with her, he never responds in a manner that would make her believe she has a chance.
• Suspiciously Similar Substitute: When the students at Xavier’s first get the chance to meet some of Peter’s old friends, various characters note that Flash Thompson and Mary Jane are remarkably similar on a superficial level to Duncan Matthews and Jean Grey respectively, although this isn’t a particularly big deal or even an explicit example as Peter rarely interacts with Duncan and has no romantic interest in Jean.
• Teen Genius: Used on several occasions for Peter, and Kitty shows signs of this as well, to the point that Peter is able to devise a means of harmlessly negating dangerous/uncontrollable mutant abilities that had never occurred to the likes of Forge or Professor X.
• Tempting Fate: After the first few times Spider-Man muses that it's a quiet night while he's on patrol and then something big happens, he starts telling himself not to even think it. Later on, Peter reaches the point where he wonders if he could 'trick' fate by expressing a wish for something to happen during a boring patrol while not wanting anything too serious.
• Their First Time: After Xavier, Jean, Peter and Tabitha are rescued from Oscorp, Jean and Rogue decide to approach Scott and Peter respectively about having sex as each decide they should stop holding back, Jean taking advantage of the opportunity when Scott finds her bathing and Rogue deliberately seeking Peter out.
• Token Human: May Parker serves as this for the X-Men as a whole when she starts working at the Xavier Institute; arguably Peter can be considered another example of this, as he is a member of the X-Men despite not being a mutant himself, but he is still an enhanced human.
• Took a Level in Badass:
  • Black Cat is physically enhanced by a machine Magneto has developed that gives regular humans mutant powers (others subjected to this process include characters who were members of Spider-Man’s Rogue’s Gallery, but Black Cat is the only one who never had any actual powers in the original storyline).
  • As a result of absorbing Venom to try and stop it, Rogue finds herself physically enhanced even in her default state, with later experiments enhancing her powers to the levels demonstrated by Carol Danvers in the comics.
• Took a Level in Jerkass: Duncan Matthews was just a jerk in the show, but here he explicitly tells Peter at one point that he’s only with Jean for the possibility of having sex with her. Later on, when he learns about mutants while witnessing the fight against the Sentinel, Duncan starts wondering if he could have ‘caught’ something from them as though it’s a disease.
• Tragic Monster: Used for Curt Connors as the Lizard and Peter when he mutates into the Man-Spider, the X-Men swiftly recognising that they're dealing with a victim of a terrible accident rather than a deliberate villain.
• Training from Hell: Logan demonstrates this on several occasions during Danger Room sessions.
• Unlucky Everydude: Subverted; Peter might still get some bad breaks, including his initial fears over expressing his feelings for Rogue, being infected by the Venom symbiote, captured by OsCorp, and mutating into the Man-Spider, but he has a far better support system to deal with them now that he’s on a team.
• The Unmasqued World: Spider-Man is initially "just" an urban legend to everyone but the people he saves until circumstances force Peter to don the suit in broad daylight to save a little girl from a burning building when there's no more subtle way to get her to safety. Later, as in canon, the existence of mutants goes public when the X-Men are confronted by the first Sentinel.
• Worf Had the Flu: A particularly literal example of this; Peter misses attending the carnival where most of the team were temporarily 'enslaved' by Mesmero because he had the flu and Rogue stayed behind to keep an eye on him, thus ensuring that Peter wouldn't get a spider-sense warning of the danger Mesmero posed and prevent the team falling victim to his efforts.
• Would Hit a Girl: Averted for Spider-Man, but more through lack of opportunity than an unwillingness to do so; in his confrontations with Black Cat, she either runs away rather than fight him, or she ends up fighting with Rogue when she gets involved in the fight.
• "X" Makes Anything Cool: Tabitha basically makes this observation when convincing Wanda to join her and Lance in defecting to the X-Men.

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