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aka: X Factor 2020

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Characters that have appeared in the X-Factor series


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The Original X-Factor series

The Original X-Men, Reunited to carry on Charles Xavier's dream after he leaves the earth and puts their enemy Magneto in charge of the X-Men.

Main Cast

    Cast members on other pages 

Scott Summers / Cyclops

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Nationality: American, Krakoan

Species: Human mutant

First Appearance: X-Men #1 (September, 1963)

The first X-Man, Scott Summers possesses the mutant ability to draw ambient energy from another dimension through his eyes, which are actually portals to said dimension. Usually channeling this energy into concussive force blasts, he is visually distinctive for the ruby quartz visor he wears to control his devastating power. A born leader, Cyclops succeeded his mentor Professor X to command the X-Men.


Jean Grey / Marvel Girl

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Nationality: American, Krakoan

Species: Human mutant

First Appearance: X-Men #1 (September, 1963)

Jean Grey was one of the five original X-Men. An omega-level mutant telekinetic and telepath, Jean has gained near limitless powers as a recurrent host of the Phoenix Force. She is known for her many returns from death and as the deceased wife of Cyclops.


Dr. Henry McCoy / Beast

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Nationality: American, Krakoan

Species: Human mutant

First Appearance: X-Men #1 (September, 1963)

A brilliant scientist, athlete, and bibliophile, at first the only thing that indicated that Hank McCoy was a mutant were large hands and feet, and, later, an overall simian aesthetic. However, an experiment to enhance his already superhuman strength and agility transformed him into a blue-furred ape creature and later a blue lion man. Beast is a genius in genetics and biology and enjoys quoting Shakespeare. His even-handed and professorial attitude tend to keep the other members from panicking in situations. He's actually been in more teams than any other X-Man, having been a member of The Avengers and The Defenders before; accordingly, being in the public eye as a member of the high-profile Avengers has made him one of the most accepted mutants by society at large.


Warren Worthington III / Angel/Archangel

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Nationality: American, Krakoan

Species: Human mutant

First Appearance: X-Men #1 (September, 1963)

A beautiful, somewhat conceited wealthy young man who has wings which allow him to fly. Initially one of the proudest members of the group, became more and more progressively useless when several other mutants were introduced who could fly, as well as do many other useful things. Once lost his wings in a fight, which caused him to do a Face–Heel Turn to get cybernetic replacement wings. Sometime after that, he developed regenerative blood which caused anyone touching it (foremost himself, obviously) to heal from any injury. Recently, this wasn't seen as quite enough, so Angel was upgraded to have the ability to switch at will between feathered Angel and evil, razor-winged Archangel forms.


Bobby Drake / Iceman

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Nationality: American, Krakoan

Species: Human mutant

First Appearance: X-Men #1 (September, 1963)

Bobby Drake has the power to control moisture and temperature, as well as to transform his body into a living man made of ice, potentially making him one of the most powerful mutants in the world. This is belied by his incredibly deep insecurities, which hampers him both in his career as a superhero and in his personal life. Most of this stems from being raised by a critical, demanding, and mutant-hating father, who treated him shabbily before Bobby found out he was a mutant. It wasn't until he was possessed by Emma Frost that he started to realize just how much potential he really had. He tries to hide his insecurities by constantly attempting to get attention and recognition with a non-stop stream of verbal wise-assery.


Russell "Rusty" Collins / Firefist

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Nationality: American

Species: Human mutant

First Appearance: X-Factor #1 (February, 1986)

Russell "Rusty" Collins was a mutant who could create and manipulate heat and flame. He joined with many of the big mutant teams, however he didn't stay with any of them for too long. He shared a long-term relationship with fellow mutant Skids before his untimely death.


Arthur "Artie" Maddicks / Artie

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Nationality: American

Species: Human mutant

First Appearance: X-Factor #2 (March, 1986)

Artie is a mute mutant telepath who communicates by telepathically projecting images.


Leech

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Nationality: American

Species: Human mutant

First Appearance: Uncanny X-Men #179 (March, 1984)

A former Morlock and frequent friend of the X-Men. The green-skinned Leech was orphaned as a toddler. His parents left him to die when his mutations became apparent. He has the power to negate all superhuman abilities within 10 yards of him.


Sally Blevins / Skids

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Nationality: American

Species: Human mutant

First Appearance: X-Factor #7 (August, 1986)

Skids is a mutant who has the power to form force fields and has been romantically involved with the mutant Rusty Collins. She eventually ended up as an Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. sometime after M-Day.


Julio Esteban Richter / Rictor

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Nationality: Mexican

Species: Human mutant

First Appearance: X-Factor #17 (June, 1987)

A mutant with the power to create seismic vibrations, Rictor was a member of the New Mutants and X-Force. He attempted suicide after he lost his powers on M-Day, but joined X-Factor Investigations. He has since been repowered by Scarlet Witch and is romantically involved with fellow teammate, Shatterstar.


Tabitha "Tabby" Smith / Boom-Boom

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Nationality: American

Species: Human mutant

First Appearance: Secret Wars II #5 (November, 1985)

Tabitha is a mutant with the ability to create energy bombs of various sizes and intensity which explode upon impact. She ran away from home when her powers manifested and her abusive father tried to beat them out of her. Tabitha happened upon the Beyonder in his human form and bonded with him, and eventually wound up as a ward of X-Factor. She later joined the New Mutants and would go on to become a founding member of X-Force.


Takeshi "Taki" Matsuya / Wiz Kid

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Nationality: American

Species: Human mutant

First Appearance: X-Terminators #1 (October, 1988)

Dyslexic & aphasic, Wiz-Kid was a wheelchair-bound, mutant, technopath. Taki assisted in stopping N'astirh from fusing Limbo to Earth together forever during Inferno.


    Caliban 

Caliban

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Nationality: American

Species: Human mutant

First Appearance: Uncanny X-Men #148 (August, 1981)

Caliban is a mutant that can sense other mutants within a 25 mile radius of himself. He was a Morlock, a member of X-Factor and X-Force as well as Apocalypse's faithful hellhound.


Villains

    Cameron Hodge 

Cameron Hodge

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Nationality: American

Species: Human cyborg

First Appearance: X-Factor #1 (February, 1986)

Angel's jealous college roommate who later had his wings amputated. Archangel decapitated Hodge, who survived thanks to a pact with N'astirh. Hodge later became a cyborg and a part of the Phalanx.


    Frenzy 

Joanna Cargill / Frenzy

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Nationality: American

Species: Human mutant

First Appearance: X-Factor #4 (May, 1986)

A former enemy of the X-Men, devout Acolyte of Magneto, and one of Apocalypses' earlier minions, with the mutant power of being functionally invulnerable. She declared her intention to join the X-Men after the Age of X event, becoming a staff member of the newly reopened Jean Grey School for Higher Learning.

After the mutant nation of Krakoa was founded, Frenzy eventually joined S.W.O.R.D., reformed as a Krakoan space agency, as Earth's mutant ambassador due to the number of alien species that valued strength and fighting skills.


    Tower 

Edward Pasternak / Tower

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Nationality: American

Species: Human mutant

First Appearance: X-Factor #2 (March, 1986)

The size altering mutant known as Tower for the most part was a mercenary for hire, which led him to join the Alliance of Evil. He was later killed by the X-Cutioner.


    Stinger 

Wendy Sherman / Stinger

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Nationality: American

Species: Human mutant

First Appearance: X-Factor #5 (June, 1986)

A member of Apocalypse's Alliance of Evil, Stinger was a mutant terrorist and mercenary. However, she eventually mended her ways following M-Day, finding shelter on Utopia and later entering a relationship with the former X-Man Omerta. Their child was the first mutant baby born following the founding of Krakoa.


    Timeshadow 

Timeshadow

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Nationality: American

Species: Human mutant

First Appearance: X-Factor #5 (June, 1986)

Former soldier with the US Army, Timeshadow developed his mutant powers later in life and went on to become a member of Apocalypse's Alliance of Evil.


    Mister Sinister 

Dr. Nathaniel Essex / Mister Sinister

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Nationality: British

Species: Human mutant chimera

First Appearance: Uncanny X-Men #221 (September, 1987)

Mr. Sinister is a supervillain originating from Marvel Comics. Nathaniel Essex was a 19th Century scientist that was genetically mutated by Apocalypse, who shared his philosophy of Social Darwinism. Becoming the immortal Mr. Sinister, he is perhaps the greatest geneticist in the world; capable of cloning, creating, enhancing, and controlling mutant abilities. Sinister is one of the X-Men's most dangerous enemies.


    En Sabah Nur / Apocalypse 

En Sabah Nur / Apocalypse

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Nationality: Akkaban, Egyptian, Okkaran, Krakoan

Species: Human Mutant External turned Cyborg

First Appearance: X-Factor #5 (June, 1986)

One of the very first mutants, Apocalypse is both thousands of years old and a monstrous tyrant that has been a longtime foe of the X-Men. Apocalypse believes that only the strongest (whether mutant or superhuman) should survive. His body is a mix of organics and powerful celestial technology, boosting his shapeshifting and other powers to god-like levels.


X-Factor Government Team (X-Factor II, 1991-1998)

Main Cast

    Cast members on other pages 

Alexander "Alex" Summers/ Havok

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Nationality: American, Krakoan

Species: Human mutant

First Appearance: X-Men #54 (March, 1969)

Havok is the son of Corsair and brother of Cyclops, and Vulcan, and has led both the Brotherhood, of Mutants, and X-Factor. He also was part of Uncanny Avengers and Starjammers.


Lorna Dane / Polaris

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Nationality: American, Krakoan

Species: Human mutant

First Appearance: X-Men #49 (October, 1968)

A young woman with magnetic control powers and the second daughter of Magneto. Although conflicted, she initially wants to side with the villain until Iceman, who was romantically interested in her, provided apparently phony evidence that Lorna's real parents were dead. Her powers along with the eventual confirmation of her parentage as a daughter of Magneto have led her to be slightly mentally unstable. That, and the long string of horrific events that just keep happening to her.


Rahne Sinclair / Wolfsbane

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Nationality: Scottish

Species: Human mutant

First Appearance: Marvel Graphic Novel #4 (November, 1982)

The self-hating illegitimate daughter of a bigoted and abusive Presbyterian minister. Rahne was raised in a strict and abusive environment and mostly convinced she was damned to hell by the time she was 13. So she didn't exactly adapt very well when she found out she could turn into a wolf. Saved from a religious mob by Moira MacTaggart and taken to Xavier's where she became best friends with Mirage.


Pietro Maximoff / Quicksilver

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The son of Magneto who was separated from him and believed to be dead. Raised by gypsies, he developed a strong fixation on his sister, Wanda Maximoff. After Magneto saved Wanda from a anti-mutant mob, the two were indebted to him and were reluctantly part of the first incarnation of the Brotherhood of Mutants. After Magneto was abducted by aliens and the Brotherhood disbanded, Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch served for a long period as members of The Avengers, where they redeemed themselves. However, old habits and revelations about villainous heritages are hard to fight, and the two continue to bounce back and forth between good and evil and sane and insane. He's also the ex-husband of Crystal from The Inhumans and they have a daughter named Luna, but his relationship with them is... utterly troubled.


Forge

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Nationality: American, Krakoan

Species: Human mutant

First Appearance: Uncanny X-Men #184 (August, 1984)

A Cheyenne Indian, born to be a shaman. He ran from his responsibilities and joined the military, only to conjure up some badassery in Vietnam and releasing the Trickster. Then he worked for the US government as their gadget man, only to create the gun that stripped Storm (accidentally: it was meant to be Rogue) of her powers. He nursed her back to health, then got a What the Hell, Hero? for it when she found out he was at fault. Sacrificed the X-Men (at the time) with their permission to lock away the entity he had released, after it wreaked havoc in Dallas. He eventually joined the X-Men and wanted to marry Storm, but ultimately left her (and the team) for Mystique when he felt Ororo didn't love him. You can imagine how well that relationship went, and he regretted his actions when Storm went on to marry the Black Panther. It is theorized he'll become the founder of the X.U.E. (Xavier's Underground Enforcers) in Bishop's future.


Raven Darkholme / Mystique

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Nationality: American, Austrian, Krakoan

Species: Human Mutant

First Appearance: Ms. Marvel #18 (June, 1978)

True to her name, the shape shifting Mystique is an enigma. Is she a mutant terrorist determined to bring about the end of humanity, or a misguided mutant with a good heart?


Victor Creed / Sabretooth

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Nationality: Canadian, Krakoan

Species: Human Mutant

First Appearance: Iron Fist #14 (August, 1977)

Victor Creed is the feral mutant called Sabretooth. He was a member/subject of the Weapon X Project and is the arch-enemy of Wolverine. Unlike Wolverine, Sabretooth embraces his primal instincts, leaving death in his wake. Due to a spell gone wrong by Scarlet Witch, Sabretooth got inverted and became a more heroic person for a while.


    Multiple Man 

James Arthur "Jamie" Madrox / Multiple Man

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Nationality: American

Species: Human Mutant

First Appearance: Giant-Size Fantastic Four #4 (February, 1975)

Introduced as an adversary to the Fantastic Four, Jamie Madrox was quickly defeated and Reed Richards determined the young man was actually a mutant, prompting him to contact Professor Charles Xavier. Under Xavier's suggestion, Madrox was then sent to Muir Island, working with geneticist Moira McTaggert as her research assistant.

Though he declined an offer to join the X-Men, he was later recruited to the government-sponsored X-Factor, remaining with them for many years and becoming a stalwart member of the team. He would then join the extremist task force known as X-Corps, which ultimately didn't last very long.

Following the disbandment of both lineups, Madrox began working as a private detective in the New York City ghetto known as "Mutant Town". Here, he would form X-Factor Investigations, rounding up a group of fellow mutants whose uncanny abilities would prove a major asset for the job. After their eventual split, Madrox lingered in mutant-adjacent corners of the Marvel Universe.

Unfortunately for Madrox, he was one of the first mutants to succumb to the M-Pox while helping study its toxicity to mutantkind on Muir Island. Though Madrox Prime insisted he was the Multiple Man and not a dupenote  in his dying moments, the nature of his mutation leaves his fate ambiguous.

Outside of comic books, Multiple Man has appeared in other media. He's featured as a recurring character in the animated series X-Men: Evolution, and appeared in episodes of X-Men: The Animated Series and Wolverine and the X-Men (2009). He made his live-action debut in the 2006 film X-Men: The Last Stand, portrayed there by Eric Dane. In 2017, it was announced a film based on the character was in development by James Franco, who was also set to portray the character himself, but the purchase of 20th Century Fox by Disney has since halted development on the project.


  • Alternate Universe Reed Richards Is Awesome: One version of Jamie seen in X-Factor served as Doctor Strange's apprentice.
  • Ascended Fanboy: Jamie Madrox keeps attempting to treat his Mutant adventures as Noir Detective novels. He usually fails miserably.
  • Bad Future: He got sent off to one with Layla Miller at one point, and came back with an M tattoo over his eye ala Bishop.
  • Beard of Sorrow: He grows one after he involuntarily absorbs his and Siryn's son. He shaves it after he is reunited with Layla.
  • Black Sheep: He's something of a Black Sheep mutant, being classified as a "changeling", which is either predecessor or offshoot of mutantkind, something which makes his powers unusual, even compared to other mutants. Likely the biggest difference was that his powers manifested at birth, whereas most mutants gain them at puberty. Damien Tryp believes this is his classification too, but also believes he is not a mutant as a result.
  • Butt-Monkey: When written by Matthew Rosenberg, who seems to delight in writing Jamie as a brain-dead idiot who gets insulted and killed over and over again.
  • Clone Angst: For some time, his duplicateswere cool with being who they are. Then things started getting weird. One turns traitor and joins with the long-term X-Men enemy Mister Sinister. Another dies of the Legacy Virus. Jamie starts going around the bend because he's just too much people for one man. Later, he gets it together but his clones don't. All the thousands of aspects, idiotic or not, in the human mind tend to get manifested in his clones. He can and has created a clone to free him from a prison cell but it's possible the clone will be his sadness and be too depressed to move. Another is unpredictable and tries to kill an old ally. It is reabsorbed but indicates that it could pop out in any future clones and go try to kill again. He points this out with an argument against Cortex, who is one of his dupes sent to kill him.
    Madrox: You are at least the tenth dupe who has tried to kill me.
  • Driven to Suicide: Jamie is driven to shooting himself, after he involuntarily reabsorbs his and Siryn's son which causes her to hate him. Layla is able to talk him out of it.
  • Fun Personified: Under Peter David's writing. Or at least he tries to be.
  • Go Mad from the Isolation: His first appearance has him going on a mindless rampage through New York after spending six years on a farm alone after the death of his parents.
  • Handwave: Jamie's powers provide one of the easiest outs for dying of any character, since if he dies the next writer along can just say "it's a dupe".
  • Happily Married: With Layla, eventually. Then Death of X happened.
  • Jack of All Trades: An interesting perk/side effect of his powers. Due to years of sending his dupes out into the world to take different jobs, he's "been" everything from a soldier to a spy to a journalist. He's never mastered any of these professions, but he's acquired quite a range of them to call on in a pinch.
  • Literal Split Personality: Jamie's dupes represent pieces of his personality.
  • Me's a Crowd: With how large that crowd can be increasing over the year.
  • Mundane Utility: Jamie constantly uses his dupes like this, sending them out to learn and explore the world, creating them on the other side of locked doors, playing duets on piano and the super-babysitting. One frequent background gag is a bunch of dupes playing cards with each other.
  • My Suit Is Also Super: His initial suit was a Power Limiter to prevent involuntary duplication. When it breaks down after six years of neglect it's capable of general Energy Absorption and drains New York City's entire power grid along with delivering that power behind his movements, allowing him to go hand to hand with the Thing.
  • New Powers as the Plot Demands: The exact nature of his powers change from time to time. Once spent time in the body of an Alternate Self whose duplication power had the added benefit of literally that; each duplicate had a random superpower.
  • Power Perversion Potential: Siryn at one point wonders to Monet if Jamie used his powers for sex — more specifically to do a gangbang on someone. While Monet was her usual snobbish self, during the trio's days as part of X-Factor Investigation, she did end up wondering the same thing. Two of Jamie's dupes ended up his powers to have sex with Theresa and Monet at the same time, and later, Jamie did indeed have a three-way with Layla using his powers.
  • Psychic Glimpse of Death: Absorbing a dying dupe causes Jamie to experience some of their trauma and thoughts as they die.
  • Psychic Link: Jamie has a psychic link to his dupes which allows him to track them. It also causes him pain when they are hurt.
  • Sad Clown: Doc Samson's observation is that the isolation he suffered instilled a chronic need for company and attention, which he tries to acquire by being as upbeat and entertaining as often as he can.
  • Scars are Forever: Received an "M" tattoo on his face during the Messiah Complex crossover. Apparently it's written on his DNA, and therefore can't be removed.
  • Self-Duplication: Jamie has the power to create perfect copies of himself, which he calls "dupes", and all items on his person (clothing, weaponry, etc.). This process requires impact when he absorbs kinetic energy. Most of the time, this is caused by him snapping his fingers, stomping his foot, being struck, or collisions. Each of the duplicates has exactly the same power as Jamie himself, and has independent thought, though Madrox "Prime" is usually telepathically and empathically linked to the dupes.
  • Self-Harm–Induced Superpower: He can create duplicates of himself by making use of kinetic energy. The simplest way for him to create dupes is to just slap or punch himself.
  • Starfish Character: Jamie Madrox has a mutant power that creates duplicates of himself upon physical impact. Each tends to manifest some aspect of his personality.
  • Tele-Frag: At times, Madrox has some level of control as to where a duplicate will manifest. He uses this against one Nigh-Invulnerable mutant named Mellencamp at one point - he shoves his fist into Mellencamp's mouth, and his duplicate manifests right there. It was very messy, though his target had an Unexplained Recovery later.
  • Underestimating Badassery: Happens to him as a lot, as not many people stop to think through the implications of his mutant power. A Dirty Cop's reaction to his mutant power is pretty typical:
    Dirty Cop: Whoooa. A guy who can turn into a bunch of guys. I'm sooo scared.
  • Wrong Genre Savvy: In his X-Factor days, he tries treating everything like it's crime noir, forgetting he lives in a fantasy kitchen sink universe.

    Strong Guy 

Guido Carosella / Strong Guy

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Nationality: American

Species: Human mutant

First Appearance: New Mutants #29 (July, 1985)

The son of Italian immigrants, Guido Carosella had a tragic past that ultimately led to him being controlled by the Shadow King during the astral villain's takeover of Muir Island. When the Shadow King was defeated, Valerie Cooper recruited him into the new iteration of X-Force.


  • Back from the Dead: He's finally brought back to life after being dead for several years by the Five and now lives in Krakoa.
  • Bald Head of Toughness: Other than a small tuft of hair, Guido is completely bald and has superpowers of Super-Strength and Super-Toughness.
  • The Big Guy: As his moniker suggests, Strong Guy is huge, powerful, and the muscle of the team.
  • Blessed with Suck: Strong Guy's powers make him incredibly strong and tough, getting better the more kinetic energy he absorbs. The downside is that, one, he physically bulks up the more energy he absorbs, two, bulking up causes him pain the larger he gets, and three, he can't turn his kinetic absorption off. Even with his "baseline" level, he not only looks like a freak, but is in constant pain. Worse, the stress his bulked up body puts on his heart means he has to dispense energy as fast as he absorbs it, or it could kill him. This is how he dies; fighting the Hulk puts so much strain on his heart as he keeps absorbing the Hulk's super-strong blows that he ultimately has a fatal heart attack.
  • Body Horror: Most readers accept the... uniquely exaggerated... art-style of the 90s as being a dramatization of what the character actually look like. Strong Guy? He actually looks like that in-universe.
  • Boisterous Bruiser: He's a towering, hulking mass of muscle, enjoys a good brawl, and is almost always in jovial spirits about it all.
  • Came Back Wrong: As a result of being resurrected by Layla, he is much more ruthless and uncaring to the feelings of others. Also, James Brown no longer does anything for him.
  • Cool Shades: Guido is nearsighted and wears corrective glasses.
  • Dark and Troubled Past: A shy and skinny kid, Guido was orphaned when his parents were crushed in a freak accident involving fallen space debris. Although his loving aunt & uncle took him in, and he became wealthy from the settlement, this didn't stop him from being bullied terribly, until he was hit by a runaway bus and survived only by triggering his mutant power, which left him permanently deformed, in perpetual pain, and with a weakened heart from the strain. He ultimately lost most of his wealth and began bumming around as a bouncer, actor and stand-up comedian; whilst serving as a roadie to the mutant musician Lila Cheney, he was possessed by the Shadow King and made to fight other mutants for the monster's amusement.
  • Demon Lords And Arch Devils: Kills Rahne's demigod son to become the surprise winner in a contest between Hell Lords, becoming the overall ruler of Hell.
  • Dying Declaration of Love: Guido gives one to Monet after he's mortally injured by Ballistique.
  • Face–Heel Turn: Losing his soul eventually makes him turn on the team and even work with Lords of Hell.
  • Feed It with Fire: This is Strong Guy's power in a nutshell; he absorbs kinetic energy and converts it into strength and durability by rechanneling it through his body. In layman's terms, the more you hit him, the stronger and tougher he gets.
  • Fun Personified: Strong Guy is actually a professional stand-up comedian and multi-talented actor, and he's not shy about showing off this side of himself.
  • Genius Bruiser: Downplayed. He's never the brains of the team but he's no Dumb Muscle, either. Marvel's power grid lists his intelligence as "Learned," one tier above normal.
  • Manchurian Agent: At one point, Guido was captured by Singularity and hypnotized into being their sleeper agent with the trigger being a code word spoken whenever he received a phone call from them. They used him to kill Professor Buchanan when he tried to turn on Singularity.
  • My God, What Have I Done?: His murder of Rahne's son Tier weighs heavily on him after his soul is restored and he considers himself a monster for it.
  • Power Incontinence: Strong Guy has the power to absorb kinetic energy and redistribute it as super strength, but if he doesn't let it out soon enough, it has affects on his physiology - which is the reason for his... unique appearance.
  • Red Eyes, Take Warning: His Cool Shades have this effect, almost seeming to glow when he gets particularly pissed off. Some artists even forget they're shades entirely and just draw him with bright red eyes.
  • Sad Clown: Is almost always joking and smiling, but he's in near-constant physical pain because of his powers. He's reached the point where permanently absorbing any more kinetic energy without releasing it will give him a heart attack, since his body simply can't handle any more changes.
  • The Soulless: Is killed and resurrected by Layla Miller, whose mutant power restores physical life but does not return the dead person's soul to their body. Magik eventually managed to restore his soul, leaving Guido horrified by all the terrible things he did.
  • Stepford Smiler: Especially in the original X-Factor run, Strong Guy has a giant smile on his face some 80% of the time. That smile is hiding a lot of physical and emotional pain he's constantly going through.
  • Super-Strength: Even without a kinetic boost, Strong Guy is enormously strong, with official stats placing him in the "lift 50 tons" area. The more kinetic energy he's absorbed, the more powerful he is.
  • Super-Toughness: In part thanks to his kinetic absorption ability, Strong Guy can take an enormous amount of physical damage. In fact, kinetic-based attacks can't hurt him at all unless they're strong enough that he can't siphon off all of their energy, making him impossible to hurt with brute force by all save the strongest of beings, as he weakens or completely nullifies attacks. He also possesses superhuman stamina, and can officially exert himself for 24 hours of ceaseless activity before fatigue starts affecting him.
  • Top-Heavy Guy: To an almost scary level. It's a side-effect of his mutation; the stored kinetic energy results in his muscle-mass expanding to absurd levels and, well, the chest & arms have more muscles to stockpile that energy with than his legs do.
  • Would Hurt a Child: During the period in which he was soulless, he murders Rahne's son Tier to become the new king of hell.

    Dr. Valerie Cooper 

Dr. Valerie "Val" Cooper

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/valcooper.jpg

Nationality: American

Species: Human

First Appearance: Uncanny X-Men #176 (December, 1983)

Started as a subordinate to Senator Kelly and Agent Henry Peter Gyrich, later rose to become a kind of US government superpowers and mutant czar and one of the top people of the O*N*E. Served as government liaison to X-Factor for a long time and also appeared a few times in the third incarnation of the title as a government contact.


  • Badass Normal: The Shadow King once sent her to assassinate Mystique, but at the crunch she overcame his mind control enough to turn the gun on herself.
  • Brainwashed and Crazy: She winds up effortlessly brainwashed by the Shadow King in The Muir Island Saga. Unlike most of his victims, she's locked inside her own mind, aware of what's she's being made to do and unable to do a thing about it.
  • Deadpan Snarker: Very snarky. Especially when written by Peter David.
  • Hidden Depths: During the third volume of X-Factor, she reveals to Siryn she had a miscarriage once.
  • Horrible Judge of Character: Val is kind of completely awful with who she tends to trust. She happily works alongside Henry Gyrich even when he's frothing at the mouth about how much he hates superheroes, let John Walker be Captain America, thought Mystique was the right person for government wetwork, and allowed an openly racist man to be in charge of Sentinel Squad O*N*E.
  • No-Sell: She's completely immune to Siryn's Compelling Voice, which requires the afflicted to have some attraction to Terry. Val's strictly het.
  • Not That Kind of Doctor: She's a psychologist. Scary, given her track record of bad decisions.
  • Obstructive Bureaucrat:
    • She means well enough, most of the time, and she's not as personally abrasive as Gyrich, but her methods and execution tend to leave a lot to be desired.
    • She also once part of the panel that caused Steve Rogers to quit being Captain America.
  • Ship Tease: Christ Claremont's second run on Uncanny X-Men had a lot of hints that she and Bishop were getting cosy. Not to mention that Bishop looks quite similar to her ex-husband Edmond Atkinson. Then Bishop angrily denied it, before a change of writers meant he and she were unceremoniously removed from the title.
  • Shout-Out: In an X-Factor story written by Peter David, Val once mentioned her brother, an FBI agent who had been involved in a case concerning a dead girl wrapped in plastic. PAD also gave her an assistant called Baldrick.
  • Unwanted Assistance: During the Decimation period, Val meant well, unlike most of O*N*E, but her idea of assisting the X-Men involved turning the X-Manion into an internment camp guarded by Sentinels with the X-Men's every move monitored, and apparently no real vetting for who they employed. Somehow, she never got why the X-Men hated all this.

    Random 

Marshall Evan Stone III / Random

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/random_marvel_character.png

Nationality: American

Species: Human mutant

First Appearance: X-Factor #88 (March, 1993)

Random first appeared as a bounty hunter with the power to adapt his body to counteract any mutant power and to fire projectiles from his gun-morphed forearms.


  • Adaptive Ability: Random's main mutant power is adaptive shapeshifting. He can harden his skin when stabbed or reconstitute himself from protoplasmic goop when caught in an explosion. The guns are just his preferred form for combat.
  • Bad Powers, Good People: Random is a heroic guy whose unsettling power is to shoot you with guns.
    • Until recently, he was a Mook in the Marauders team.
      • Not exactly. Just like back in the days, when he had to fight X-Factor, he has doubts on his allegiance. Also, he's shown to be the more charitable of his team... suggesting to his foes that they're lucky having to fight him, because he's the nice one (and given he was working with people like Frenzy... yeah).
  • BFG
  • Cool Shades
  • Guns Akimbo
  • '90s Anti-Hero: Random is the nineties as far as comics are concerned.
    • It is worth noting that his musclebound antihero appearance was supposed to be the shapeshifters idea of what a badass looks like, not his actual appearance. Subsequent writers have forgotten this, and even when depowered he is depicted as uber-ninties.
  • Younger Than They Look: What justifies his overt Nineties Antihero-ness - he's actually a teenager.
  • Shapeshifter Weapon: He can turn his arms into guns. With dozens of barrels. You see what I mean about him being the nineties.

    Shard Bishop 

Shard Bishop

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/shard_sr.jpg

Nationality: American (Earth-1191)

Species: Human mutant

First Appearance: Uncanny X-Men #314 (July, 1994)

The little sister of Bishop, badly injured in a police raid gone wrong, her mind was uploaded into a holographic unit.


  • Awesome Aussie: Like Bishop, she was born in Australia, but moved to America when she was little.
  • Bad Future: She, like her brother Lucas Bishop, is from a post-apocalyptic future dominated by Sentinels.
  • Brain Uploading
  • Forgotten Fallen Friend: You'd think Bishop would think about his dead sister on occasion.
  • Killed Off for Real
  • Light 'em Up: Shard has the power to absorb ambient light particles from her environment to create a variety effects such as concussive blasts, laser beams and illumination.
  • Light Is Good: Shard is a hero with light-based powers.
  • Tangled Family Tree: Being as she is Bishop's sister, she's got the same snarl of a family tree as his, which has been at several points linked to Storm, Monet St. Croix, the third Thunderbird, and Gateway.
  • Virtual Ghost: She died before Bishop came back in time, but he brought a holographic projection of her back with him.

    Wild Child 

Kyle Gibney / Wild Child

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/wild_child.png

Nationality: Canadian

Species: Human mutant

First Appearance: Alpha Flight #1 (August, 1983)

Kyle Gibney is a mutant who manifested a feral mutation during puberty; this mutation granted him enhanced physical abilities and an increased rate of regeneration. He also suffered from a bestial freakish appearance, which prompted his parents to throw him out of their house. Living on the streets, he was kidnapped by the conspiratorial Secret Empire and subjected to mind- and body-altering experiments. The experiments had the consequence of making him psychologically unstable, and in particular prone to violent and animalistic behavior.

Wild Child is best known for being involved with Alpha Flight, X-Factor, and now the new Hellions.


  • Back from the Dead: Killed by Omega Red before being revived by The Five during Dawn of X.
  • Beast Man: Much like Sabretooth, he acts like a savage beast, with sharp teeth and claws.
  • Defeat Means Respect: After getting the crap beaten by Psylocke, he comes to see her as his alpha and now follows her like a dog.
  • Healing Factor: Just like Wolverine and Sabretooth, he has a healing factor that allows him to regenerate from most injuries.
  • Heel–Face Revolving Door: He has been part of Alpha Flight, X-Factor and now the Hellions.
  • Meaningful Name: Wild Child very much fits him as a codename.
  • Pointy Ears: Just like Victor Creed, his ears are sharp and pointy.
  • Progressively Prettier
  • Psychic Powers: Kyle has a limited form of zoopathy, the psionic ability to communicate with and control animals. His zoopathy only works on wolves.
  • Savage Wolves: He certainly evokes the imagery and the fact that he can control wolves.
  • With Friends Like These...: In Hellions, he decides that since Psylocke has been injured, he should attack her and become the pack leader.
  • Wolverine Wannabe: He's an Expy not only of Wolverine but of Sabretooth as well, with very similar powers and personality.

    Archer 

Archer

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/archer_5.jpg

Nationality: American (Earth-1191)

Species: Human mutant

First Appearance: X-Factor #140 (December, 1997)

Reigning from the distant future of Earth-1191, Archer was a member of the X.S.E. But unhappy and feeling that his beliefs differed from the X.S.E., he became a member of the X.U.E. to be more proactive.


    Fixx 

Fixx

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fixx_earth_1191_from_x_factor_vol_1_157.png

Nationality: American (Earth-1191)

Species: Human mutant

First Appearance: X-Factor #140 (December, 1997)

Reigning from the distant future of Earth #1191, Fixx was a commanding officer in the X.S.E. Unhappy that their beliefs differed from the original ones, she created the X.U.E. to be more proactive.


  • Fairy Companion: Fixx manifests psionic sprites from her mind as small fairy-shaped psychic projections that channel her powerful telepathic and psychokinetic abilities. They can relay messages, or cause immense mental pain by burrowing into the thoughts of another individual.
  • Only Known by Their Nickname: She's only known by her codename.
  • What Happened to the Mouse?: Neither she nor Archer have reappeared since the dissolution of X-Factor in 1998. An alternate version of her was seen during Secret Wars.

    Greystone 

Devlin Greystone

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/greystone.jpg

Nationality: New Zealander (Earth-1191)

Species: Human mutant

First Appearance: X-Factor #140 (December, 1997)

Reigning from the distant future of Earth-1191, Greystone first was a member of the X.S.E. Unhappy that their beliefs differed from the original ones, she created the X.U.E. to be more proactive.


X-Factor Investigations

A group consisted of a few old X-Factor members Multiple Man (leader), Strong Guy and Wolfsbane as well as the new members Siryn, Rictor, M and Layla Miller working in a detective style agency. The newest members included are Darwin, Longshot and Shatterstar. Wolfsbane, after a brief stint in X-Force, has returned.

Main Cast

    Cast members on other pages 

James Arthur "Jamie" Madrox / Multiple Man

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/x_factor_vol_3_47_page_00_james_madrox_earth_616.png

Nationality: American

Species: Human mutant

First Appearance: Giant-Size Fantastic Four #4 (February, 1975)

Jamie Madrox, also known as Multiple Man, is a mutant with the ability to create duplicates of himself through physical contact. These "dupes" can later be reabsorbed, along with all of their memories and experiences. Madrox runs X-Factor Investigations, a mutant detective agency.


See X-Factor Government Team Above

Guido Carosella / Strong Guy

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/strongguy_head.jpg

Nationality: American

Species: Human mutant

First Appearance: New Mutants #29 (July, 1985)

The son of Italian immigrants, Guido Carosella had a tragic past that ultimately led to him being controlled by the Shadow King during the astral villain's takeover of Muir Island. When the Shadow King was defeated, Valerie Cooper recruited him into the new iteration of X-Force.


See X-Factor Government Team Above

Theresa Cassidy / Siryn / Banshee

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/siryn_2.png

Nationality: Irish

Species: Human Mutant

First Appearance: Spider-Woman #37 (April, 1981)

Theresa Cassidy is a mutant with sonic-based powers inherited from her father, Sean Cassidy a.k.a. Banshee. In honor and memory of her father, she took the name of Banshee.


See X-Force

Monet St. Croix / M

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/monet.jpg

Nationality: French, Yugoslavian, Algerian, Monacan

Species: Human mutant

First Appearance: Generation X #40 (July, 1998)

Monet St. Croix possesses a wide variety of mutant powers which represent a near-perfect human being. Her powers include superhuman strength, superhuman speed, agility, endurance, reflexes, coordination, and balance; self-propelled flight; nigh-invulnerability; night vision and enhanced hearing; an enhanced healing factor and the ability to read minds and perceive mutant auras. She is also one of Marvel's first Muslim superheroes.


Julio Richter / Rictor

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rictor_richter_2.jpg

Nationality: Mexican

Species: Human mutant

First Appearance: X-Factor #17 (June, 1987)

A mutant with the power to create seismic vibrations, Rictor was a member of the New Mutants and X-Force. He attempted suicide after he lost his powers on M-Day, but joined X-Factor Investigations. He has since been repowered by Scarlet Witch and is romantically involved with fellow teammate, Shatterstar.


Longshot

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/longshot2_2.jpg

Nationality: Mojoworlder

Species: Mojoverse slave race (Freemen)

First Appearance: Longshot #1 (September, 1985)

A four-fingered slave, created by the Mojoverse to be a TV star. Supposedly the hero who would free the Mojoverse from its tyrannical despot, he's had some trouble with that over the years. First appearing as a naive, lucky fool (and in a love triangle against his will with Rogue and Dazzler), then becoming a less naive, not quite as lucky, hero. Friends of his tend to end up in the worst way: Ricochet Rita was turned into Spiral, Dazzler miscarried their child. It's worth noting that he was the second non-mutant to join the team.


Gaveedra Seven / Shatterstar

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/shatterstar_0.png

Nationality: Mojoworlder, Krakoan

Species: Human mutant / engineered mutant hybrid

First Appearance: New Mutants #99 (March, 1991)

A refugee from Mojoworld, Shatterstar came to earth and joined forces with Cable's New Mutants which soon transformed into X-Force. Also a key former member of X-Factor Investigations.


Lorna Dane / Polaris

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/614481_xmkngbr003_cov.jpg

Nationality: American, Krakoan

Species: Human mutant

First Appearance: X-Men #49 (October, 1968)

A young woman with magnetic control powers and the second daughter of Magneto. Although conflicted, she initially wants to side with the villain until Iceman, who was romantically interested in her, provided apparently phony evidence that Lorna's real parents were dead. Her powers along with the eventual confirmation of her parentage as a daughter of Magneto have led her to be slightly mentally unstable. That, and the long string of horrific events that just keep happening to her.


Alexander "Alex" Summers/ Havok

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/6827367_waruncannyxmen2.jpg

Nationality: American, Krakoan

Species: Human mutant

First Appearance: X-Men #54 (March, 1969)

Havok is the son of Corsair and brother of Cyclops, and Vulcan, and has led both the Brotherhood, of Mutants, and X-Factor. He also was part of Uncanny Avengers and Starjammers.


    Layla Miller 

Layla Rose Miller / Butterfly

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/layla_miller.jpg

Nationality: American

Species: Human mutant

First Appearance: House of M #4 (September, 2005)

A mysterious young woman who just appeared at X-Factor's door after M-Day and refused to leave. She knows stuff.


  • Butterfly of Death and Rebirth: Her codename invokes the idea.
  • Characterization Marches On: She was first introduced in House of M as a Living Macguffin, with no real personality, and the power to restore people's memories. X-Factor establishes her as a Creepy Child mixed with Manipulative Bastard who "knows stuff", and she's never looked back. Eventually, it's established the change in personality is because she downloaded eighty years worth of knowledge into her own brain.
  • Creepy Child: Until she received an age-up.
  • Deadly Force Field: In X-Factor issue #248, she uses her gauntlet's force field blow up a taxi cab she and Jamie are trapped in by a villain.
  • Deflector Shields: The gauntlet she wears can generate a force field powerful enough to withstand magma.
  • Facial Markings: Layla Miller has got the 'M' brand on her face as a result of visiting Bishop's future.
  • Fights Like a Normal: Layla's powers don't have any combat applications, so she relies on fighting skills and technology granted to her by Doctor Doom in battle.
  • The Friend Nobody Likes: Jamie and Shatterstar are the only ones on the team who tolerate her. Rictor doesn't trust her, and M outright despises her.
  • Guile Hero: Layla uses her knowledge of the future to crafty effect. In Issue #12, she causes a pile-up which causes some henchmen of Singularity Investigations to be stuck in traffic and frees Alix Buchanan from their grasp while they're distracted.
  • Married in the Future: With Jamie...
    • Happily Married: Which eventually comes to pass, and it's a decision Jamie's glad he took.
  • Oracular Urchin: Was a runaway and possesses foresight... kinda.
  • Phrase Catcher "I'm Layla Miller. I know stuff."
  • Plot-Relevant Age-Up: She grew into an adult after staying too long in Bishop's Bad Future timeline.
  • Power at a Price: Her "true" mutant power is the ability to bring things Back from the Dead. Unfortunately, they come back as Soulless Shell's.
  • Power Palms: Her gauntlet can fire energy blasts similar to Iron Man's repulsor rays.
  • Seers: Her power comes off this way. Until it's later revealed that all of her knowledge of the future are implanted memories of her future self, which is why there are so many holes in her knowledge.
  • Stable Time Loop: Layla's knowledge of the future was implanted by her future self, and after she grows up, she eventually goes back and does the same to her younger self.
  • The Stoic: Doesn't show much emotion. Can lead to cases of Comically Serious.
    • Not So Stoic: Has her moments. Notably, breaking down in tears when confronted by Cyclops in the Bad Future and asking him to kill her. Also, when Jamie dies.
  • Waif Prophet: When she was a child.
  • What Happened to the Mouse?: Jamie dies in Death of X, but Layla isn't mentioned. Later, she's said to be alive.

    Darwin 

Armando Muñoz / Darwin

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/darwin_8.jpg

Nationality: American

Species: Human mutant

First Appearance: X-Men: Deadly Genesis #2 (December, 2005)

Darwin is a mutant that evolves to survive anything, though it is involuntary. He left the X-Factor Investigations team after the battle with Hela in Las Vegas. He is trying to cope with his new acquired powers.


  • Abusive Parents: His father abandoned him when he was four due to his seeming physical deformities, declaring that Darwin couldn't be his. This led to his mother resenting and ignoring him, being happy when a boarding school took him off her hands. Even after he saved her life from a fire, she slapped and disowned him when Darwin realized he was a mutant and tried to talk with her about it.
  • Adaptive Ability: Will adapt to anything thrown at him. Fire, space, death gods. The only things that he won't adapt to are Giant Mecha and The Incredible Hulk. With them, he just teleports to safety.
  • Ascended Extra: Added to X-Factor because he was essentially a sacrificial X-Man that was demoted to extra status after Ed Brubaker's run, and thus had very little continuity baggage.
  • Batman Can Breathe in Space: Throw him into a vacuum and he'll just adapt to not need to breathe.
  • Beware the Nice Ones: Slow to anger, but when he does get mad? RUN. Very fast.
  • Body Horror: His powers allow him to evolve to survive, resulting in some horrifying transformations. Shot with a weapon that targets the nervous system, he becomes a sponge creature. Crushed beneath wreckage, he's reduced to an oozing mass that can speak. Decapitated by a headshot, a second head starts growing out of his torso, and so forth. Thankfully these are temporary changes, but made worse that he's got no control over what he'll become.
  • Driven to Suicide: Tried to kill himself by jumping off the roof of his school after his mother disowned him for being a mutant, but his abilities allowed him to easily land safely and he immediately regretted having made the attempt.
  • Genre Savvy: When Monet tries to seduce him, Armando refuses to believe she is genuinely interested in him and he is right: she is actually being controlled by Cortex.
  • Hopeless Suitor: He crushes on M, but she has absolutely no interest in him.
  • Logical Weakness: His power is quite useful if a little gross, but it has one problem that keeps it from being a Story-Breaker Power: it's Adapt to Survive, not Adapt to Deal With Situations in the Way Darwin Wants. He has no control over exactly what power he gets, only having the guarentee that it will result in him staying alive. So it could deal with the Hulk by making him completely invincible so Hulk can't hurt him, but what it does is involuntarily teleport him several states away to put him out of the Hulk's range... and also out of the fight he wanted to participate in.
  • Never Gets Drunk: Armando's powers evolve his metabolism to process alcohol faster than usual.
  • New Powers as the Plot Demands: Basically is his power.
  • Omniglot: His powers mean he can pick up languages pretty quick.
  • Race Lift: Lampshaped within X-Factor. Darwin's powers had turned him white in a primarily white community "to better survive", but once he gains some confidence he changes himself back to his original darker skin tone.
  • Sanity Slippage: Throwing him at a goddess of death wasn't Jamie's smartest move, but it's an encounter with a possible future version of Rahne's son that starts sending him over the deep end.
  • Skewed Priorities: At one point, when falling off a cliff, he fights his body trying to grow wings because it'd ruin his coat.
  • Took a Level in Jerkass: In his defense, he was trying to prevent the end of the world.
  • Would Hurt a Child: Chases after Tier, Rahne's son, with every intent to kill him. Ultimately, he can't bring himself to do it.

Villains

    Damian Tryp 

Dafydd ap Andras/Damian Tryp

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dafydd_ap_andras_earth_616_001.png

Nationality: Welsh

Species: Human mutant (Changeling)

First Appearance: X-Factor (Vol. 3) #2 (February, 2006)

The CEO of Singularity Investigations and the Big Bad for the first 17 issues of the Peter David run. Tryp is trying to prevent a Bad Future that the X-Factor team unintentionally creates.


  • Analogy Backfire: While trying to reassure Falcone that their plan will work, Tryp brings up Joan of Arc and Ghandi. Falcone responds that the martyr theme is not reassuring him in the slightest.
  • Beard of Evil: All three of the main Tryps have varying amounts of facial hair.
  • Blow You Away: Controlling the wind is one of his powers. He used this power to kill Jamie's parents.
  • Combo Platter Powers: Tryp is one of the most absurd examples of this trope in superhero comics. He possessed a connection to the Earth's elemental state which allows him to augment his strength, control the winds, erase people's memories and exist in multiple points in his lifetime.
  • Corrupt Corporate Executive: Tryp, Sr.
  • Evil Counterpart: To Jamie Madrox. Both are heads of investigation firms and possess the ability to be in multiple places at once due to being more than one person, but Tryp's power allows him to be in multiple timelines.
  • Evil Me Scares Me: Claims he has an enemy in a much less benevolent version of himself, far worse than anything Layla's seen.
  • Evil Old Folks: Tryp the Eldest.
  • Green and Mean: The Eldest wore green wizard robes.
  • The Man Behind the Man: He backs Falcone's attempt to kill the last remaining mutants in Bishop's future.
  • Me's a Crowd: Tryp exists in multiple points in time, making him a "true Multiple Man".
  • Well-Intentioned Extremist: In Tryp the Eldest's timeline, X-Factor was able to Re-Power the mutants who lost their powers during M-Day. Unfortunately, the mutants used their powers to wipe out humanity and then turned on each other with no one else to conquer. Tryp the Eldest's goal is to prevent this from happening.

    Doctor Leery 

Doctor Leery

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/doctor_leery_earth_616.png

Nationality: American

Species: Human mutant (Depowered)

First Appearance: X-Factor (Vol. 3) #5 (May, 2006)

A former mutant and ex-doctor who abducts Theresa after she is beaten up by Damian Tryp, Jr.. His goal is to force X-Factor to reveal the cause of M-Day and reverse it.


  • Ax-Crazy: He is quite clearly unstable.
  • Character Death: Julio kills him in order to save Terry.
  • De-power: Leery lost his powers during M-Day. It caused him to go mad and go to extreme lengths to get them back.
  • Eye Scream: Terry fires a sonic scream that shatters the lenses of his glasses and causes the shards to fly into his eyes.
  • Hair-Trigger Temper: He himself admits he always had an anger problem. His unknown Mutant powers were fueled by his anger.
  • Last-Name Basis: His first name was never revealed.
  • Mad Doctor: He used to be a doctor before his mutation kicked in.
  • Monster of the Week: In contrast to most of the other villains in X-Factor volume 3, Leery's role in the comic is very small and he only appears in one issue where he is killed off.
  • Noodle Incident: Leery mentions that his powers once caused him to do something really bad in the E.R. once but he never elaborates on what it was.
  • Punny Name: The name Leery sounds like the word "leery". Leery himself lampshades by pointing out he has been on the receiving end of jokes about his name.

    X-Cell 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/xcell_01.jpg

A terrorist group consisting of mutants who lost their powers during M-Day. They believe that the government is to blame.


  • De-power: All of them are mutants who lost their powers during M-Day.
  • Fantastic Terrorists: They're a terrorist group of de-powered mutants.
  • Entertainingly Wrong: X-Cell is under the mistaken belief that the Mutant Decimation was caused by the government. Given the long history of the government trying to wipe out mutants, this is actually not a totally unreasonable assumption to make. Which makes it all the more ironic that the true culprit behind M-Day is a mutant, and they're working for the guy who helped cause that.

Elijah Cross

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/elijah_cross.jpg

Nationality: American

Species: Human mutant (Depowered)

First Appearance: X-Factor (Vol. 3) #17 (May, 2007)

The leader of X-Cell. He has the ability to increase his density while retaining his ability to move.


  • Nigh-Invulnerability: His power is to increase his density while retaining his normal mobility. Jamie likens being hit by him to pins being hit by a bowling ball.
  • Pint-Sized Powerhouse: Elijah is six foot three. He mentions that a lot of people assumed he was an easy target because of his height before he proved them wrong.
  • Race Lift: When Elijah first appeared, he was drawn with caucasian skin and brown hair. His appearance in Issue #20, however, has him with black hair and a darker skin tone.
  • Spontaneous Human Combustion: How he dies as a result of Quicksilver's touch making his body unstable.

Fatale

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/4259190_fatale.jpg

Nationality: American

Species: Human mutant (Depowered)

First Appearance: X-Factor #112 (July, 1995)

An assassin with a history of enmity with the X-Men and X-Factor. She worked for Dark Beast for a time. She possesses the power to teleport and bend light around herself to alter her appearance or turn invisible.


  • Amazing Technicolor Population: She has green skin. She loses it after her powers are taken from her.
  • Ambiguously Brown: In her de-powered state.
  • Blade Below the Shoulder: She fights a Madrox dupe with a blade hidden in her gauntlet.
  • Brought Down to Badass: Losing her powers did not make Fatale any less dangerous. She still retains her skills as a martial artist and assassin and was even able to kill a Madrox dupe who was trained in martial arts despite suffering a broken arm.
  • Facial Markings: Has a lightning tattooed over her left eye.
  • Green and Mean: Fatale has green skin and is a villain.
  • Invisibility: She can bend light to make herself invisible to the naked eye.
  • Master of Illusion: She can bend light to alter her appearance. She used this ability to take on two aliases to deceive the X-Men and get close to Bishop.
  • Monochromatic Eyes: Her eyes have no irises or pupils, being completely white. They remain that way even after M-Day.
  • Most Common Superpower: She's rather busty.
  • Mysterious Past: Not much is known about Fatale before she came into Dark Beast's service, not even her real name.
  • Poisoned Weapons: The gauntlet blade she uses on a Madrox dupe was coated with poison and only needed a slight scratch to kill him.
  • Secondary Color Nemesis: Her outfit is a purple bodysuit and her skin used to be green.
  • Teleportation: One of her powers.

    Sheila DeSoto 

Sheila DeSoto

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/sheila_desoto_human.jpg
Click here to see her spider-form 

Nationality: American

Species: Human mutant

First Appearance: Madrox #2 (November, 2004)

Appearing in the Madrox series which served as a prelude to the 2006 X-Factor run, Sheila was a woman with designs on taking over the Chicago crime syndicate. To that end, she seduced and became engaged to Chicago mob boss, Eddie Vance, and used his connections and resources to track down and murder other crime lords with the intent of killing Eddie once she had no further use for him. She became intertwined with Jamie Madrox when she met and married one of his duplicates who was in Chicago and killed said duplicate after he had learned of her plans. Sheila was eventually killed by Vance after Jamie exposed her treachery.


    Eddie Vance 

Edward "Eddie" Vance

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/eddie_vance.jpg

Nationality: American

Species: Human

First Appearance: Madrox #3 (November, 2004)

A Chicago crime boss and Sheila's fiancée, who she married in order to take over his criminal empire.


  • Corrupt Corporate Executive: Vance is a multi-million dollar industrialist who is also an organized crime boss.
  • Emasculated Cuckold: He's extremely jealous once he finds out about Sheila's affair with the Madrox dupe.
  • Even Evil Has Standards: After killing Sheila, Vance lets Jamie live since the latter saved his life and exposed Sheila's duplicity.
  • Karma Houdini: He is able to keep control of his criminal empire with fewer rivals since Sheila killed all of them in her bid to take over.
  • Playing Possum: Jamie "shoots" Vance in the head after spilling the beans on everything Sheila was doing. It turns out that Jamie actually shot Vance with a paint gun and Vance, having caught on to what Jamie was really doing, was playing possum, while Sheila confessed to her treachery. Vance then shoots both Clay and Sheila In the Back.

    Clay 

Clay

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/clay_40.jpg

First Appearance: Madrox #2 (November, 2004)

An assassin-for-hire. He was paid to kill Jamie's duplicate and then the original Jamie by Sheila. He returned in "The Isolationist" arc.


  • Ambiguously Brown: Clay has dark skin but his actual race and ethnicity are never stated.
  • Bond Villain Stupidity: Clay stabs Jamie's duplicate and watches him get into a cab and drive, not bothering to follow him to make sure he dies. Later, when he has Jamie cornered, he lets Jamie bait him into revealing that Sheila is the true Big Bad and Jamie uses this knowledge to reveal Sheila's treachery to Eddie Vance who later kills her. One gets the feeling that Sheila's plans would have succeeded and she would still be alive had she hired someone more thorough and efficient than Clay.
  • Cold Sniper: A heartless assassin and a skilled sniper, killing one of Jamie's duplicates by sniping him in his office.
  • Cool Shades: He always wears them. They serve to hide his Monochromatic Eyes.
  • Evil Counterpart: To Jaime, being a evil assassin with Self-Duplication, although they only really face off each other in Madrox.
  • Foreshadowing: Clay's line to Jamie when he reveals his own power of Self-Duplication foreshadows Jamie's eventual clash with Damian Tryp in the proper X-Factor (2006) title.
    Clay: Did you think you were the only one? You don't know anything, Madrox... Least of all what you really are.
  • The Gunslinger: He's a skilled marksman with both revolvers and a sniper rifle.
  • Monochromatic Eyes: Issue #4 of Madrox reveals that his eyes are white with no visible irises or pupils.
  • Mysterious Past: It isn't clear if Clay is a Mutant or a changeling like Damian Tryp.
  • Not Quite Dead: He's assumed dead when shot In the Back by Vance at the end of Madrox but inexplicably survives and returns as a villain in X-Factor (2006).
  • Only One Name: It isn't clear if Clay is his actual name or just a nickname, but that's the name he answers to.
  • Professional Killer: He's an assassin-for-hire that works for Sheila DeSoto, the Purity Singers and the Assassins Guild.
  • Rules Lawyer: When Clay discovers that the Jamie Madrox he killed was actually a duplicate, he argues that he still completed his assignment to kill Jamie and that Sheila never specified that it had to be the original one. Sheila doesn't have any of it and orders Clay to complete the job.
  • Self-Duplication: Like Jamie, although the nature of his powers isn't given any details.
  • Tattooed Crook: Clay is a hitman-for-hire and has visible white tattoos on his arms and pecs.
  • Unexplained Recovery: He's seemingly killed at the end of Madrox but it's later revealed to be alive, though how he survived isn't explained, though give his Self-Duplication powers it could just have been ones of his dupes.
  • Worf Effect: He's unceremoniously killed off by The Hand in X-Force (2008) when trying to snipe Domino.

    The Isolationist 

Josef Huber / The Isolationst

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/josef_huber_earth_616_from_official_handbook_of_the_marvel_universe_a_z_update_vol_1_1_0001.jpg

Nationality: German

Species: Human mutant

First Appearance: X-Factor #89 (April, 1993)

Born to a wealthy German family, Josef Huber's mutation was a terrible curse to him. Not only could he hear the thoughts of every single person on the planet with no way of turning it off, but his mutant power to mimic the abilities of every known mutant in the world was always active, meaning his body was forever bombarded with powers he could not control. Using his family's wealth, Huber isolated himself in Antarctica and relied on special medications to deal with his telepathy. When the Scarlet Witch de-powered the majority of the world's mutant population, Huber saw this as an opportunity to rid himself of his condition by wiping out the remaining mutants of the world.


  • Affably Evil: Evil though he may be, Huber is still a well-spoken and relatively level-headed man. He disdains violence even if he has to use it to achieve his goals and he even felt somewhat fond of X-Factor.
  • And I Must Scream: Not only can Huber always hear the thoughts of
  • Anti-Villain: Given how horrific his mutation is, one can't help but feel a twinge of sympathy for Huber's plight.
  • Blessed with Suck: Telepathy and power mimicry would normally be cool powers. Unfortunately for Huber, he can't turn them off and has to take medication to deal with them.
  • Charm Person: He has a limited form of mind control.
  • The Chessmaster: See The Man Behind the Man below. He also set up Monet and Siryn's meeting with Nicole to have a mole within X-Factor to take out Layla Miller.
  • A God Am I: As he boasts, "God may move in mysterious ways but he has nothing on me. In fact, in a sense, I am [X-Factor's] god, and this is them simply meeting their maker."
  • Loophole Abuse: He can't kill mutants directly, but he can use his powers to manipulate them into fatal situations, ranging from encouraging a march that will lead the mutants to an area where he has planted bombs or teleporting a group of mutants to the Arctic where they will eventually freeze to death.
  • The Man Behind the Man: Huber had actually been manipulating events that X-Factor had been involved in for several months. He supplied X-Cell with weapons, was a silent partner in Singularity Investigations and arranged for Monet and Siryn, who were immune to his mind manipulation powers, to take the Purity Singer case so they would be away while he manipulated the rest of the team.
  • Power Copying: He has the ability to mimic the powers of every mutant on the planet. He has displayed the ability to use Cyclops' Eye Beams, Colossus' steel skin, Nightcrawler's teleportation and Forge's intuition for creating complex and highly advanced mechanical devices.
  • Power Incontinence: You think Cyclops and Rogue have it bad? They've got nothing on Huber. Not only is his telepathy always active and reading the thoughts of everyone on the planet, but his power mimicry is also always active and he can't control any of his powers. M-Day was actually a blessing for him because it meant less mutant powers to invade his body.
  • Telepathy: A separate power from his Power Copying.

    Nicole 

Nicole

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/nicole_robot_earth_616_from_x_factor_vol_3_21_001.jpg

Nationality: French

Species: Robot

First Appearance: X-Factor (Vol. 3) #16 (April, 2007)

A French orphan whose depowered mutant parents were killed by an anti-mutant hate group in Paris. Monet and Theresa take her in and bring her to the United States.

It is eventually revealed that Nicole isn't a mutant, but a robot created by Huber to infiltrate X-Factor and kill Layla Miller whose ability to foresee future events posed a potential threat to his plans.


  • Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: We get a glimpse of her true colors when she insults Layla behind her back. Her trying to kill Layla is what truly proves she is not the sweet little girl she appears to be.
  • Creepy Child: Layla, a Creepy Child herself, thinks so.
  • Man of Kryptonite: Nicole has a "chaotic randomizing generator" built into her which thwarted Layla's short-term precognitive abilities. However, it later turns out Layla's not an actual pre-cog anyhow.
  • Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: Not only does Nicole fail to kill Layla but her revealing Huber's name to Layla is also how Jamie finds out the Isolationist cannot be trusted.
  • Robotic Reveal: She is revealed as a robot when Layla trips her into the path of an oncoming train.
  • What Measure Is a Non-Human?: Once she turns out to be a robot, she's entirely forgotten about, with no-one even asking where she's gotten to, despite the fact that other than Layla nobody learns about the Robotic Reveal.

    Taylor 

Taylor

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/taylor_purifier_earth_616_001.jpg

Nationality: American

Species: Human

First Appearance: X-Factor (Vol. 3) #25 (January, 2008)

Introduced during the Bat Family Crossover arc Messiah Complex, Taylor was a high-ranking member of the anti-mutant terrorist group known as the Purifiers. When his cell was infiltrated and sabotaged from within by Rictor, Taylor was excommunicated from the Purifiers and he swore revenge on mutants kind as a whole.


  • Dead Man's Switch: Taylor and Arcade plant bombs across Mutant Town and rig them to detonate when Taylor's heart stops beating. After their initial plans to kill X-Factor fail, Taylor resorts to poisoning himself, detonating the bombs and destroying Mutant Town.
  • Desperately Looking for a Purpose in Life: Before he joined the Purifiers, Taylor was an aimless drug addict. Being excommunicated from the organization utterly shattered him.
  • Driven to Suicide: Implied. While his killing himself was part of the last resort to kill the denizens of Mutant Town, he also expressed that he had no reason to live since he was no longer being a Purifier.
  • Fantastic Terrorists: Taylor is — or rather, was — a member of the Purifiers, a terrorist organization dedicated to wiping out mutants.
  • How the Mighty Have Fallen: His view of himself after he the Purifiers kicked him out.
  • Only One Name: It's not clear if Taylor is his first or last name, but that's the only name he's known by.
  • Sympathy for the Devil: When they find him in issue #30, Taylor tells X-Factor they have no idea what it's like to feel lonely and without a purpose. Jamie thinks to himself that he does feel that way though he doesn't say it out loud.
  • Taking You with Me: Arcade set up bombs all across Mutant Town and rigged them to detonate when Taylor's heart stopped beating. Taylor poisons himself and the bombs go off devastating Mutant Town.

    The Talisman 

Nogor

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/nogor_28earth_61629_32.jpg

Nationality: Skrull Empire

Species: Skrull

A Skrull who impersonated Longshot.

    Mr. Maru 

Maru

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mr_maru_2.jpg

Nationality: ?

Species: Human

Mr. Maru is the head of the Karma Project, an organization interested in furthering humanity's evolution. He kidnaps Darwin to study his DNA.
  • Affably Evil: Maru conducts himself with grace and dignity at all times.
  • Arc Villain: Of the "Big Bang" arc.
  • Classy Cane: Maru walks with a cane and is a classy, rich guy.
  • Even Evil Has Standards: Has his guards knock out Darwin when he tries to escape but prevents them from hurting him more than is necessary. He is also sickened by Darwin's father selling him out for money.
  • Karma Houdini: He gets away with abducting Darwin and shooting his father.
  • Kick Them While They're Down: Does this to Darwin when the latter attacks him. As he tells Darwin, he has never believed in the saying, "never kick a man while he's down".
  • Know When to Fold 'Em: With X-Factor having found his base and his super soldiers having failed, Maru decides to cut his losses and releases Darwin.

    Anthony Falcone 

    Cortex 

Cortex

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/cortex_80.jpg

Nationality: American

Species: Human mutant

First Appearance: X-Factor (Vol. 3) #45 (June, 2009)

During the Messiah Complex storyline, it was discovered that after the birth of the firstborn mutant since M-Day, two new futures of mutantkind had been created. In order to explore these new futures, the X-Men called in Jamie and had him create two dupes to be sent into each new future and return with the knowledge they had acquired. One of those dupes was sent to Bishop's timeline alongside a stowaway Layla Miller. The other dupe attempted to return to his own timeline but was trapped in a vortex where time did not exist. It was here that he was captured by Tryp and Anthony Falcone, who transformed him into the cyborg known as Cortex.


  • And I Must Scream: Cortex was trapped in a time vortex where he experienced a hundred years per minute before he was retrieved and augmented by Tryp and Falcone.
  • And Your Little Dog, Too!:
    "Now to dispose of Lenore Wilkinson... and her offspring... and her little dog, too."
  • Antagonist Abilities: Regeneration, portal creation and mind control. The only reason he didn't accomplish his task sooner is because he was having too much fun playing with the heroes.
  • Beyond the Impossible: As a Doomlock, he's capable of breaking the typical laws of Marvel Universe time-travel (that you can't change your own timeline without just causing a splinter timeline), though it's not without some risks.
  • Cyborg
  • Deadpan Snarker: Something he retained from Jamie.
    Falcone: You were supposed to dispose of James Madrox. How could you fail to do that?
    Cortex: By not killing him?
  • Detachment Combat: He was able to maintain control of his arm after Rictor sliced it off and used it to strangle Rictor. It eventually re-attaches itself.
  • Disproportionate Retribution: Cortex incinerates some pigeons for roosting on a the corpse of a dead police officer. Not only is this action extremely unnecessary but Cortex was the one who killed the officer in the first place.
  • Even Evil Has Standards: Apparently if he pushes events too far, he will cause Reality Bleed, which is another reason he doesn't attack X-Factor directly.
  • Fantastic Racism: Cortex displays disgust for organic life.
  • Faux Affably Evil: Jamie's sense of humor, filtered through bitterness and insanity.
  • Hand Blast: His primary method of offense is discharging purple energy beams from his hands.
  • Healing Factor: He's survived punches from Monet and having a knife in the back of his neck.
  • Helping Hands: Shatterstar cuts off one of Cortex's hands. He still retains control of it and uses it to choke Shatterstar.
  • It Amused Me: Cortex admits that he could have gone back in time and accomplished his mission by killing Lenore's mother while she was still a child but didn't see any challenge in it.
  • Let's Get Dangerous!: Once he starts fighting seriously, Cortex comes within a hairsbreadth of annihilating the heroes and killing Lenore.
  • Lovecraftian Superpower: Cortex can transform his eyes into tentacles to infect people with his mind control.
  • Mind Manipulation: Cortex can gain control of individuals either through physical contact made with tentacle branches protruding from his eyes or from psychic contact through one of his already possessed minions.
  • Reforged into a Minion: Cortex is a dupe who was captured and cybernetically enhanced by Damian Tryp and Anthony Falcone, who programmed him to hunt down and kill the ancestors of the Summers Rebellion.
  • Something We Forgot: During Messiah Complex, Jamie sent him and another dupe into two different timelines to scout them out. The story followed one, but the second was completely forgotten until he reappeared as Cortex, and is not unreasonably a little pissed about how everyone forgot him.
  • Terminator Impersonator: Cortex is a cyborg with futuristic technology who is ordered by the bad guys to kill certain people from the present (such as Lenore Wilkinson, who is an ancestor of the Mutant Hecate) to prevent the rise of the Summers Rebellion in the future.
  • Thinking Up Portals: Cortex's technology also grants him the ability to open portals to travel to different locations.
  • Tron Lines: He has purple ones on his skin.
  • Villain Ball: Cortex is capable of time travel and is tasked with taking out X-Factor. Rather than going the most efficient route of killing them in the crib, he'd much rather leave them a fighting chance in the present because an easy victory is boring and he's sadistic. This bites him in the ass hard.
  • Villain Override: On rearriving in Bishop's future, that time's Doctor Doom effortlessly seizes control of his cybernetics and demands he kill all the Mutants. Cortex still has the ability to speak for himself, but doesn't enjoy it.
  • What Happened to the Mouse?: Last seen getting thrown into one of Trevor Fitzroy's time portals. Peter David had expressed a desire to bring him back at some point, but he never did before X-Factor finished.

    Dr. Doom of Earth-TRN143 

Victor von Doom

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/x_factor_vol_1_202_page_05_reed_richards_earth_trn143.jpg

Nationality: Latverian

Species: Human mutate

First Appearance: X-Factor #202 (February, 2010)

In an Alternate Universe, Victor von Doom conducted a science experiment that could bring back the dead just as his counterpart in the 616 universe. However, instead of being scarred, the Doom of the TRN143 had his mind transferred into the body of his universe's Reed Richards. After murdering the Ben Grimm of his universe, Doom would be involved in the fateful space voyage that granted Reed his powers. He would then travel to the main 616 universe, where he teamed up with that version of Dr. Doom in a scheme to kidnap the Invisible Woman.


  • Badass Bookworm: This is a given as he is an alternate universe version of Dr Doom and is in Reed Richards' body to boot.
  • Bed Trick: It is heavily implied he wanted to do this to Sue Storm. The Dr. Doom of 616 was so disgusted by this that he had her kidnapped solely for the purpose of saving her from this terrible fate.
  • Big Bad Duumvirate: He planned to combine resources with 616 Doom but fully intended to betray him later. 616 Doom was fully aware of this, however.
  • Evil Doppelgänger: He is a Dr. Doom who hopped into the body of his universe's Reed Richards. He looks like Reed but is nothing like him on the inside.
  • Evil Gloating: Just like his alternate universe counterpart. He was all too happy to divulge his entire backstory to Reed all the while gloating that his victory was assured.
  • For Want Of A Nail: Instead of being scarred by the accident, Doom was transferred into Reed's body. He then killed Ben Grimm.
  • Golf Clubbing: How he killed the Ben Grimm of his universe.
  • Grand Theft Me: The fateful accident transferred his mind into his Reed's body.
  • Hero Killer: Of his universe's Ben Grimm.
  • In Spite of a Nail: Even though he switched bodies with Reed when they were both in college, he still ended up with stretching powers later in life.
  • Off with His Head!: How he meats his demise. Guido punches his head in the direction of a portal opened up by Shatterstar. Layla distracts Shatterstar with a kiss causing the portal to collapse and decapitate TRN143 Doom.
  • Rubber Man: He has the elastic powers of Reed Richards.

    S.C.A.R.s 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/noelle_blanc_earth_616_and_rococo_earth_616_from_x_factor_vol_1_217_0001.jpg

Developed by General Sam Ryan, Dr. Young Soo Pock and J. Jonah Jameson as a cybernetic update to the Super-Soldier program, S.C.A.R.s (Strategic Capture And Retrieval) was a United States military black ops team.


Tropes applying to S.C.A.R.s as a whole.

Noelle Blanc/Ballistique

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/noelle_blanc_earth_616_from_x_factor_vol_1_217_0002.jpg

Nationality: American

Species: Human cyborg

First Appearance: X-Factor #210 (October, 2010)

Noelle Blanc went to Monet in order to seek help with her PTSD from the Iraq War. However, Monet unintentionally unlocked her true memories. Nicole then tracked down Rococo to restore her memories and together they set about finding their teammate, Sylvius.


  • Convenient Coma: Monet uses her telepathy to put Ballistique in a coma.
  • Fake Memories: Noelle had false memories of being an Iraq War veteran implanted in her mind.
  • Finger Firearms: She can fire "cyber-bullets" from her fingertips and has a tendency to mimick a gun with her hands. They're strong enough to penetrate Strong Guy's skin and even bulletproof windows. They also apparently disappear after hitting their target.
  • Fire-Breathing Weapon: Noelle attacks Rococo with a flamethrower. Not to kill her but to reveal her cybernetics and restore her memories.
  • Hero Killer: She's the one who fatally shot Guido.
  • Meaningful Name: "Noelle" is derived from Noël, the Old French word for "Christmas". "Blanc" means "White" in French. Her name basically means "White Christmas" in English. Given the significance of dreams in her story, it's possible it is a reference to the song, "White Christmas" by Irving Berlin which has the lyrics, "I'm dreaming of a white Christmas".
  • Mind Rape: Monet does this to her as retribution for killing Guido.
  • Roaring Rampage of Revenge: After she regains her memories, she starts to pursue every person that was connected to the S.C.A.R.s program.
  • Shell-Shocked Veteran: She suffers from PTSD that keeps her awake at night. She hires Monet to help them get rid of them, only to reveal her memories Iraq War veteran are Fake Memories, triggering her to remember the S.C.A.R.s program that really gave her PTSD.
  • Sleeps in the Nude: When she's introduced having a Catapult Nightmare, she's noticeably not wearing any clothes.
  • Small Role, Big Impact: She has a scant number of appearances in the comics, but her shooting Guido had severe consequences for the rest of the story.

Rococo

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rococo_earth_616_from_x_factor_vol_1_219_0002_2.jpg

Nationality: American

Species: Human cyborg

First Appearance: X-Factor #216 (March, 2011)

After her memories were wiped, Rococo was given the false identity of Nurse Cocoa until Noelle tracked her down and restored her memories.


  • Affably Evil: Rococo tells the Black Cat that she has no personal quarrel with her and even compliments the shape of her ass.
  • Ambiguously Gay: After knocking out the Black Cat, Rococo observes that she has the "sweetest little rump".
  • Atrocious Alias: Cocoa. At least as far Ballistique is concerned.
    Ballistique: I tried calling you "Cocoa" once. You nearly took my head off.
  • Barbie Doll Anatomy: The metallic alloy that covers Rococo's skins appears to have removed her nipples and vulva.
  • The Brute: The muscle of the team.
  • Chrome Champion: Rococo has skin consisting of a metallic granite or onyx material, making her impervious to attacks with fire or electricity.
  • Scary Black Woman: African-American and not a very stable person.

Sylvius

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/sylvius_earth_616_from_x_factor_vol_1_217_0002.jpg

Nationality: American

Species: Human cyborg

First Appearance: X-Factor #204 (April, 2010)

Sylvius is a member of the M.R.D. She is also a member of the S.C.A.R.s, aka, the deadliest team of women around.


  • Boyish Short Hair: Keeps her hair pretty short.
  • EMP: Due to to her cybernetic enhancements, Sylvius is able to emit a blast of EMP. Unfortunately, the recoil is pretty strong and tends to knock her off her feet.
  • Evil Redhead: She is the redhead of the trio.
  • Good Scars, Evil Scars: Now she has a scar on the right side of her face.
  • Only Sane Woman: Supposedly. Pock claims that she was the only one of the three who wasn't mentally unstable due to the cybernetics but that is rather questionable given she leads Rococo and Ballistique in their quest for revenge.
  • Technopath: Sylvius can hear electric signals. This is how she discovers the tracer the Black Cat put on Rococo.

    Vandella 

Vandella

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/vandella_marvel.jpg

Nationality: Ethiopian

Species: Demon

First Appearance: X-Factor #215 (February, 2011)

When her father was seemingly killed by a vampire, Adina Malcolm suspected her stepmother Nancy of foul play. In reality, the true culprit was the Vandella, a demonic, vampire spirit which possessed Adina in her sleep.


    Bloodbath 

Bloodbath

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/bloodbath_earth_616_from_x_factor_vol_1_227_cover.jpg

Nationality: Hell

Species: Demon

First Appearance: X-Factor #227 (November, 2011)

When Jason Roland aka the Hangman escaped from hell, the demon Bloodbath approached him with the task of collecting souls for him so Bloodbath could claim their "puissance", or energy. To make the Hangman comply, Bloodbath murdered the Hangman's ex-wife Sally and kidnapped their son Terry.


  • Blade Brake: Bloodbath breaks one of Shatterstar's swords.
  • Body Surf: Bloodbath has the ability to take control of a dead person's corpse. He does this to Sally Roland's corpse to intimidate X-Factor into staying out of his way and then to Jamie's corpse after he kills him.
  • Breaking the Fourth Wall: In the opening of Issue #227, Bloodbath corners Terry and jokes about whether or not he will kill the boy - "taking them from a pg 13 to a hard R" as he says - or if someone the scene will cut away. In Issue #228, he outright addresses the readers and recaps what occurred in the previous issue.
  • Faux Affably Evil: He has a twisted sense of humor and frequently makes film-related puns.
  • Good Weapon, Evil Weapon: Bloodbath uses a black sword with a curved blade.
  • Hero Killer: Of Jamie.
  • Names to Run Away from Really Fast: A guy named Bloodbath is not one to be trifled with.
  • No-Sell: Bloodbath can penetrate Layla's force field, something no one was ever able to do before.
  • Red and Black and Evil All Over: Bloodbath wears a black bodysuit with red stitching and red clothing over it.
  • "Take That!" Kiss: Bloodbath gives one to Layla whom he dubs his "new best friend" while possessing Sally Roland's corpse.
  • Trash Talk: During their fight, he tells Shatterstar that he may be strong and fast but he isn't very smart.

    Scattershot 

Scattershot

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/scattershot_mojoverse_from_x_factor_vol_1_235_001.jpg

Nationality: Mojoworld

Species: Mojoworlder

First Appearance: X-Factor #235 (May, 2012)

A denizen of Mojoworld, Scattershot drew X-Factor's attention when he began murdering amateur superheroes in Seattle. When confronted by Shatterstar, Scattershot revealed Mojo's intention to bring his "reality" shows to Earth.


  • Amazing Technicolor Population: His skin is grayish-purple.
  • Badass Bandolier: He wears a red bandolier.
  • BFG: Scattershot carries two large guns.
  • Evil Is Bigger: Scattershot is much larger than Shatterstar and arguably stronger than him as well.
  • Humans Are Bastards: When Shatterstar expresses disgust that Mojo wants to turn Earth into another reality t.v. show for his entertainment, Scattershot mockingly points out how Earth isn't all that different from Mojoworld in the first place.
    Scattershot: These people... these humans... They vote on the fates of talent contestants as if the whole world has become one huge arena giving a thumbs up or down. They treat the ongoing struggles and personal traumas of their celebrities as if they're unfolding for their entertainment. There's not even a sense of outrage anymore! It's the norm! You come here and try to tell yourself that Mojo and his entertainment-obsessed, other-dimensional world is just some observation? You thought you escaped the Mojoverse? Baby, you're soaking in it.
  • What Happened to the Mouse?: After being defeated by Shatterstar, Scattershot is "recalled" back to Mojoworld and is never seen again.
  • White Hair, Black Heart: Has white hair and is a ruthless enforcer of Mojo.

    Morrigan 

Morrigan

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/morrigan_earth_616_001.png

Nationality: Irish

Species: God

First Appearance: Black Knight (Vol. 2) #3 (August, 1990)

An Irish deity who goes on a murder spree in Ulster County for the purpose of drawing out Theresa.


    Deathlok of Earth-TRN193 

Steve Rogers

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/steven_rogers_earth_trn193.jpg

Nationality: American

Species: Human cyborg

First Appearance: X-Factor #231 (February, 2012)

While travelling the multiverse, Jamie Madrox wound up in Earth-TRN193, a universe where all but ten percent of the population was turned into monsters by the Scarlet Witch's spell. In that universe, Captain America had become his universe's version of Deathlok and was now dedicated to hunting and killing humans.

After Jamie's return to his own universe, Deathlok, Vanora Sinclair and Dormammu of Earth-TRN196 were brought to Earth-616.


  • Arm Cannon: His main weapon.
  • Beam-O-War: He got into one briefly with Alex Summers. It was during this that he revealed that and Alex fought on the same side in his universe.
  • Boom, Headshot!: Deathlok makes the mistake of attacking Alex which prompts Lorna Dane, Alex's Violently Protective Girlfriend, to make him shoot off his own head with his arm cannon.
  • Cyborg: A cyborg version of Steve Rogers from Earth-TRN 193, he's more machine than man.
  • Fallen Hero: This Deathlok is a version of Steve Rogers who became a villain.
  • Primary-Color Champion: Subverted. He has blue and red armor plating but is a villain.
  • Red Eyes, Take Warning: His left eye glows red.
  • Terminator Impersonator: Deathlok of Earth-TRN193 is a cyborg dedicated to hunting and killing humans.
  • Transhuman Treachery: After becoming a cyborg, this version of Steve Rogers is dedicated to exterminating the last of humanity in his universe.

All-New X-Factor

Brought to you by Serval Industries, Serval's CEO Harrison Snow bought the X-Factor name from Jamie Madrox with the goal of making the world's first corporate sponsored superhero team. The team is lead by Polaris and features Gambit, Quicksilver, Danger, Cypher, Warlock and newcomer Decay.

Main Cast

    Cast members on other pages 

Polaris

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/polaris_aka_lorna_dane_on_cover_of_all_new_x_factor_18.jpg

Gambit

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gambit_90.jpg

Quicksilver

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/qs_bigcostume8.jpg

Danger

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/danger_all_new_x_factor17_fire_irritates.jpg

See X-Club

Doug Ramsey / Cypher

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/cypher_2.jpg

Nationality: American

Species: Human mutant

First Appearance: New Mutants #13 (March, 1984)

With the cerebral ability to understand all languages, Cypher was considered to be one of the weakest New Mutants. He was best friends with Warlock, but was killed while defending Wolfsbane in battle. He was eventually resurrected by Selene during Necrosha, but was freed from her control thanks to the New Mutants. With the foundation of the mutant nation of Krakoa, Cypher became a key member of the new nation by helping craft a new mutant language and serving as an unoffical member of the Quiet Council as Krakoa's translator.


Warlock

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/warlock_2.jpg

Nationality: Technarch

Species: Technarch mutant

First Appearance: New Mutants #18 (August, 1984)

Warlock is a member of the Technarchy race of aliens. He is considered a mutant because he can experience emotions, something forbidden to his cold, ruthless species.

See his series that takes place after Warlock's death and reanimation as Douglock (originally thought to be the combination of previously killed New Mutant Douglas Ramsey and Warlock) and after his departure from Excalibur.

    Georgia Dakei / Decay 

Georgia Dakei / Decay

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/decay_1.jpg

Nationality: American

Species: Human mutant

First Appearance: All-New X-Factor #7 (May, 2014)

  • Beware the Nice Ones: A friendly girl who can kill a man in seconds.
  • Emo Teen: After the Trauma Conga Line below.
  • Gilded Cage: Was raised in the lap of luxury but wasn't allowed to interact with anyone else due to her father lying about her powers.
  • Mommy Had A Good Reason For Abandoning You: She truly did Georgia's biological father is a ruthless supervillain.
  • Sixth Ranger: Joined the team latest of any of them.
  • Token Minority: The only person of color on the team.
  • Trauma Conga Line: In the span of two days, her father abandons her, she finds out he wasn't her biological dad, and meets her biological mom Only to get kidnapped by her supervillian biological father, who ends up dying alongside her mother.

    Harrison Snow 

Harrison Snow

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/harrison_snow.png

Nationality: American

Species: Human

First Appearance: X-Factor #260 (August, 2013)

  • Ambiguously Evil: Performs some incredibly shady acts but as far as team can tell he's on the up and up. Turns out to be good in the end, building up X-Factor to take down Alchemax.
  • Fiction 500
  • I Have Your Wife: Tried on him during AXIS, with a sentinel pilot wanting to exchange her for the nuclear football stolen from the inverted president. Harrison refuses, though it's heavily implied he'd hope his team would go out to save her, which they do.
  • Set Right What Once Went Wrong: He's from the 2099 future and wants to topple Alchemax befor they start.

X-Factor (2020)

    Cast members on other pages 

    Eye Boy 

Trevor Hawkins / Eye Boy

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/5892573_generationx5.jpg

Nationality: American

Species: Human mutant

First Appearance: Wolverine and the X-Men #19 (December, 2012)

A young mutant covered in extra eyes who enrolled in Wolverine's school. Despite many of his fellow students thinking little of his powers, Trevor's ability has proven very useful and versatile in tracking or investigations. These talents led him to join the newest iteration of X-Factor Investigations on the island of Krakoa.


  • Aura Vision: He can see people's auras to a certain extent, including empathic connections between people. He can also see magical waves.
  • Combat Clairvoyance: There is suggestions in X-factor that his powers are evolving to making him a seer. In The Trial of Magneto, it's ambiguous whether he can react so fast to attacks due to his regal powers or a form of combat precognition.
  • Eye Beams: Complains that he can't do this early on. During his time with X-Factor, he develops the ability to do so, much to general surprise.
  • Eye Scream: Happens unfortunately often for him. Being covered in eyes makes them easy targets, not to mention just landing wrong when thrown by the frequent explosions that happen around the X-Men can be extra painful for him.
  • The Eeyore: Is very aware how unfortunate his power is, although he later starts to embrace it.
  • Eyes Do Not Belong There: He has eyes all over his body. Including his head, his fingers, and even his legs.
  • Future Badass: A potential future version of Trevor, known as Eye-Man, resides in a space-station in orbit of Earth watching hundreds of monitors and serving as mission control for X-Men all over the planet. Said future version also has no issue jumping out of the space station to fight vampires while falling through orbit.
  • Improbable Aiming Skills: His eyesight allows him to hit targets with perfect aim, alongside very quick reflexes to switch between targets quickly.
  • Long-Haired Pretty Boy: He's not bad looking even with all the eyes and has long hair.
  • Power Incontinence: When he first started being able to see through objects and clothing he couldn't control it and started to spend a lot of time staring at people's feet to avoid seeing them nude. He was eventually able to get better control of it and choose when to switch between his different modes of sight.
  • Sherlock Scan: His abilities allow him to do this increasing efficiency over time, making him an excellent investigator.
  • Super-Senses: His eyes can see things at a microscopic level and allow him to see for several miles away. They also allow him to pick up on body language and how people are feeling quite easily.
  • X-Ray Vision: Another ability his eyes give him is being able to see through walls.

Supporting Characters

Villains


Alternative Title(s): X Factor 2006, All New X Factor, Multiple Man, X Factor 2020, X Factor 1991

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