This only occurred to me when watching the series but I always wondered why Mister Sinister was so pale and gross in the comics, then I realized he was supposed to represent the idea of a vampire.
In the opening sequence, Warpath is grouped with Magneto and the villains, despite being a long-serving member of X-Force in the comics. At first this appears to be a careless mistake...but in fact, he was originally introduced as an antagonist in the comics, out for revenge against the X-Men over the death of his brother Thunderbird.
Still doesn't have much sense from the show's perspective, since Warpath appears in the series proper only once, without any lines and, most importantly, fighting on the side of X-Men (during the liberation of the mutant concentration camp).
It's not irrational to theorize that was an Enemy Mine situation, since some of said concentration camp's mutants were villains.
No doubt his lack of plot-relevant villainy is why he's removed from the opening sequence in X-Men '97.
Upon reading about some of the character's origins and re-watching episodes: Brilliance - The (originally) cartoon-only character Morph is based off the (616) comic character "Changeling", who was Killed Off for Real many years ago...except for the time he was brought Back from the Dead as a zombie by Black Talon, whose control he resisted due to his sense of loyalty. After becoming unexpectedly popular, Morph is brought back from the dead, in a zombie-like form, by Mr. Sinister, whose control he resisted due to his loyalty to the X-Men. (His return as a zombie occurred in She-Hulk in 1992, season 2 of the cartoon began in October of 1993.)
In "Slave Island" Jubilee is thrown into a sweat box for trying to escape the island. We later see her sweating and complaining about the heat, but she's still wearing her jacket.
More of an IJBM than Fridge, methinks.
Rogue blindsiding Gladiator in their second encounter, after he'd previously resisted her attacks. Moments before, Gladiator had just seen his boss, whom he's sworn to obey no matter what, break his word. And Gladiator's powers are fuelled by his self-confidence. Rogue didn't just get a lucky shot in; Gladiator was conflicted and it was making him weaker.
At face value, having Sinister conveniently present for the X-Men's raid on the facility seems like a Hand Wave to explain how Morph is alive. But when you consider Sinister's stated goals throughout season 2 (specifically, to create a superior species of mutants under his control) and his habit of trying to collect DNA from the heroes for such purposes, it's a fairly simple step in logic to determine that Morph was not the reason he was there. In fact, he was there for the same thing the X-Men were, the registration files. Giving someone like Sinister a register of possibly thousands of mutants, including where they live and what they can do....it's just as well the X-Men got there first and destroyed them. No wonder Sinister was pissed off with them.
What you have to keep in mind is that up until and including the second season two-parter "Time Fugitives", Apocalypse's has been all about pursuing his agenda of the strong dominating the weak through evolution and survival. To that end, his schemes have been centered on instigating war and mistrust, enslaving and/or manipulating others and just sowing chaos and wholesale destruction. If anyone, including the X-Men, opposed him, Apocalypse would have no problem taking them out, but it should be noted that destroying the X-Men has never been an objective of his plans per se. Yet at the end of Pt. 1 of the aforementioned episode, which saw our heroes foil En Sabah Nur's latest scheme involving the unleashing of a catastrophically deadly virus, leaving the conqueror standing among the flaming ruins. Apocalypse becomes so incensed that he immediately grows to skyscraper height, smashing through the roof of a building, and when the group turn in shock and horror, he unleashes a tremendous energy blast (disintegration beam?) that wipes out every last X-Man, Rogue and Wolverine included. Let the above sink in. Apocalypse had the power to do this at any time. He never bothered to because the X-Men were so beneath his notice (at least in the beginning) that they weren't worth the expenditure of energy. But in this latest instance where these miserable interlopers spoil his hard work once again, Apocalypse gets fed up, decides enough is enough and just erases them from existence. So the mightiest mutant team on the planet is eradicated in a flash because APOCALYPSE LOST HIS SHIT.
At one point, Xavier enters Magneto's mind, even though he's wearing his helmet. I thought the whole point of the helmet was that it blocks mental assault?
That trait was only added in the movies, which came out well after the cartoon ended.
