The X-Men
The Original Team | '60s Members | '70s Members | '80s Members| 90s Members | 2000s Members | 2010s Members | 2020s Members
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Children of the Atom | Excalibur | Generation Hope | Generation X | New Mutants | New X-Men: Academy X | S.W.O.R.D. | X-Club | X-Corp | X-Factor | X-Force | X-Statix | X-Terminators
Antagonists
Rogues Gallery A to I | Rogues Gallery J to R | Rogues Gallery S to Z | Villainous Organizations | Acolytes | Arakko | Brotherhood of Mutants | Clan Akkaba | Children of the Vault | Externals | Hellfire Club | The Hellions | Marauders | Mojoverse | Morlocks | MLF | Orchis | Sentinels
Other Characters
Supporting Characters | Mutants | Xavier Institute | Krakoans | The Savage Land | Shi'ar | The Starjammers | NYX | Cable's supporting cast | Deadpool's supporting cast | Wolverine's supporting cast
X-Men '90s Members
Remy Etienne LeBeau / Gambit
Notable Aliases: Le Diable Blanc, Robert Lord, Dirge, Death, Gumbo, Cajun, Loverbayou, Swamp Rat, Clint Barton, "Gamby Baby", Sir Anthony Ellis
Nationality: American, Krakoan
Species: Human mutant
First Appearance: Uncanny X-Men #266 (August, 1990)
A charming master thief and skilled martial artist who became a member of the X-Men, Gambit possesses the mutant ability to change potential energy in inanimate objects into kinetic energy which causes them to explode (in fact, his signature move is throwing kinetically-charged playing cards at his opponents).
Jubilation Lee / Jubilee
Nationality: American, Krakoan
Species: Human mutant, former Vampire
First Appearance: Uncanny X-Men #244 (May 1989)
Jubilee started out as a peppy Chinese-American teenager who, following the death of her parents, discovered her mutant power of creating energy blasts from her fingers and was eventually welcomed by the X-Men. She was intended to do for the new fans of the 1990s what Kitty Pryde did in the 1980s — serve as a viewpoint character for teenagers. As such, she became Wolverine's kid sidekick, and spent several years following him around, swinging between sarcastic mockery of his '90s Anti-Hero excesses and mortal terror expressed through Totally Radical dialogue. Then she got transferred to the junior team, Generation X, where over time she became the Genius Ditz team strategist.
Lucas Bishop
Notable Aliases: Red Bishop, Archbishop, Bish, Sergeant, Major
Nationality: American, Krakoan
Species: Human Mutant; Formerly a Cyborg
First Appearance: Uncanny X-Men #282 (November, 1991)
Bishop, full name Lucas Bishop, is a time-traveling cop from the future who found himself stuck in the past after chasing a mutant criminal by the name of Trevor Fitzroy through a time portal. Determined to 'Sanction' Fitzroy and his band of rebels, the task proved difficult and he ended up clashing with the X-Men in the process. It was then revealed that he comes from a post-dystopic future in which humans and mutants joined forces to stop a Sentinel takeover, after which a special force named Xavier's Security Enforcers was created to police the mutant population. Stranded in the past, Bishop realized he had a chance to prevent such a Bad Future from ever unfolding, and became an X-Man, lending his big guns, energy manipulation abilities, and military training to their cause.
Post-Decimation he underwent a rather drastic Face–Heel Turn and turned into an Evil Counterpart to Cable, losing an arm along the way to strengthen the resemblance, and dividing his time between time travel, scheming, and attempting to shoot Cable with very large guns. And a cheeky bit of global-scale genocide. After Avengers Vs. X-Men, he returned to the modern day, where his true allegiances were hard to pin down for quite some time until the Krakoan Age, where he solidified his status as a committed soldier for the mutant cause, serving as one of the island nation's Great Captains and later its Captain Commander.
He got four limited series including the self-titled Bishop series, where he tracked and fought Mountjoy; XSE, which showcased his past (future); and its sequel — Bishop: Xavier's Security Enforcers. He also teamed up with Gambit to oppose Stryfe in Gambit and Bishop: Sons of the Atom, where he ended up being possessed by a Phoenix-like cosmic entity named Bete Noir. He also starred in the series Bishop: The Last X-Man from 1999 to 2001, in which he was trapped in another alternate timeline. He appeared regularly in District X from 2004 to 2005, a police procedural set in a mutant ghetto in New York City. Finally, He also starred in the House of M tie-in, Mutopia.
He is portrayed by Omar Sy in X-Men: Days of Future Past.
- '90s Anti-Hero: A solid one on the trail of Cable: a big, rugged vigilante with large weapons and hailing from a dark future. Unlike Cable, however, Bishop is actually more of an early Deconstruction of the trope, as his violent methods only caused him trouble both in and out of the X-Men after he came to present time. Also, he is a downplayed example, as while Cable was a professional warzone survivor, Bishop was just a hardcore police officer and never quite went into outright Sociopathic Hero territory. In recent years this has been downplayed in favor of emphasizing a more professional soldier-like demeanor.
- The Ace: Was this during his X.S.E (Xavier Security Enforcers — the mutant policing force created after the Summers’ Rebellion) days as he was the youngest cadet ever (until his sister Shard broke his record the following year) admitted on the force. He was also in charge of a three man unit that was considered the best on the force. He’s appointed War Captain and eventually Captain Commander during the Krakoan age as his soldier expertise is greatly respected.
- Anti-Climax: For years he was convinced Gambit would betray and destroy the X-Men. As it turns out, the culprit in Bishop's future was Onslaught. The two patched things up with a simple apology from Bishop, and actually became Fire-Forged Friends after the fact.
- Anti-Hero: Started out more as Unscrupulous Hero, and softened to Pragmatic Hero over the years before his Face–Heel Turn. Now he's back to being an Anti-Hero.
- The Apprentice: Was put under Storm's tutelage. Although it was more of a formality, as Bishop was quite trained already, he appreciated it much.
- Arch-Enemy: Trevor Fitzroy and Cable during his Face–Heel Turn in the 2000s.
- Artificial Limbs: Gained (or more accurately, stole) a mechanical arm after losing his left arm to the mutant-eating monster Predator X.
- Awesome Aussie: His parents were Australian (his mom was an Australian Aborigine) and he was conceived there. (By the time he was born, the entire continent was a radioactive wasteland. We did mention he was from a Crapsack Future, yes?) He is also very badass (when he's not trying to kill children).
- Ax-Crazy: After his Face–Heel Turn, he more or less dropped any pretense of heroism and became a really, really nasty piece of work.
- Bad Future: Actually a post-bad future, as Bishop's native timeline was a society that had successfully rebuilt itself after a war against the Sentinels. However, it wasn't exactly a utopia either, as the need for an elite mutant police with big guns can attest.
- Bash Brothers: With Gambit after their reconciliation.
- BFG: Bishop's powers aren't obvious at first glance, so like Cable, readers might think that his gigantic weapons are his power.
- Big Brother Instinct: He is (or, more accurately, was) very protective of his little sister, Shard.
- The Big Guy: He developed into this role after joining X-Men. It helps that he's one of the physically biggest members (one of his earliest appearances has him at least a head taller than the already pretty tall Cyclops and Gambit, and Colossus is notably not an entire head taller than him).
- The Bus Came Back: He returned after Avengers Vs. X-Men.
- Charles Atlas Superpower: He's so huge and muscled that Colossus of all people in his armored form has trouble restraining him — though that might have something to do with how he can translate absorbed energy to Super-Strength.
- Chess Motifs: Not overtly, but the issue that introduced Bishop had Professor X playing chess with Forge and winning by checkmate with a bishop...
- The Chew Toy: He has the particularly nasty Running Gag of being often possessed by bad guys: first by Mountjoy, later by Bete Noir, then by the Demon Bear, and finally by Cassandra Nova (and that without counting a psychic virus created by the Shadow King).
- Combat Tentacles: His artificial arm could deploy several tiny tentacles.
- Continuity Snarl: His Face–Heel Turn was the result of this as Messiah Complex stating that Hope was responsible for his state of his Bad Future—which flew right in the face of what was established, which was one of the X-Men themselves (Professor X by way of Onslaught) losing their shit, killing most of the X-Mennote , and attacking the world.
- Cowboy Cop: As he comes from the dystopian future, he started off as a brash mutant cop who had difficulty with adjusting the X-Men before finally settling down until his Face–Heel Turn. Also deconstructed, as in his own time, he was a By-the-Book Cop — it's just that the book was so different, that in this time, he came off as an Ax-Crazy Vigilante Man. As he's adjusted to the present day, he's edged ever closer to what we would consider a By-the-Book Cop (another way that he serves as a foil to Cable, whose Cowboy-ness waxes and wanes, but never disappears).
- Demonic Possession: Has been possessed many times, but Bete Noir and the Demon Bear are the only examples that qualify as demonic.
- Determinator: One thing that is frequently noted about him, including by Cable (a starring example of this in his own right), is that he just. Does. Not. Give. Up. Ever.
- Destructive Savior: Shortly after joining the X-men, he decides to explore the city Manhattan to get himself accustomed to the present. While doing so he spots one of the escaped prisoners, Styglut, from the future and recklessly engages in a battle with him. While he is able to kill the prisoner, many civilians were injured as collateral damage; something that would not have happened in his timeline as the civilians in his era not to clear the area when the X.S.E are patrolling the area for criminals. To signify that he has much to learn, notably toning down his aggression, he gives Storm his X.S.E command insignia.
- Divergent Character Evolution: Inverted with his thematical relationship to the other 90's X-Man antihero, Cable. Although Bishop started as a mild deconstruction of everything Cable represented, he ended up taking a lot of traits from him when he became bent on chasing Cable and Hope. This includes an artificial arm (which was actually reverse-engineered by Forge after Cable's), a shiny eye (both of his eyes are, but artists of this period liked to draw him with a single eye glowing red a la Terminator) and a much darker personality (to the extent he did much worse things than Cable would have even considered).
- Enemy Mine: Bishop and Gambit are forced to ally with Stryfe to try to stop the Bete Noir, which is finally accomplished by Stryfe's Heroic Sacrifice. This continues after he's revealed to have survived, as Bishop needed some help in his task of killing Hope, but he ends up betraying Stryfe when their goals divert.
- Energy Absorption: His power allows him to absorb several kinds of energy, including psychic energy, as well as redirect it in the form of laser blasts.
- Evil Counterpart: Of Cable during his villain run. Before that, he was somewhat like Cable's civilized counterpart.
- Face–Heel Turn: For a time. His attempt to kill Hope turned him against the rest of the X-Men.
- Facial Markings: As he comes from the Bad Future, he has an 'M' (for Mutant) branded on his right eye (it's apparently a genetically engineered disease "branded to his DNA", and can't be removed by anything).
- Fights Like a Normal: Subverted. He does use his powers when fighting, but he doesn't bother to if he can solve it with his gun.
- Fish out of Temporal Water: Being from a Bad Future, he had serious problems with the whole "don't kill people" thing for a time.
- Future Badass: Subverted in that he has not been born yet in this era, but he's a badass from the future nonetheless.
- Genius Bruiser: Bishop is The Big Guy with an unending array of BFGs...but he also plays chess in his head with Charles Xavier, is a homicide detective who frequently investigates cases involving mutants, and is, in general, a well–read, sensitive gentleman and a surprisingly good cook. ...when he isn't angry and shooting you.
- Glowing Eyes of Doom: When using his powers, his eyes glow red.
- Graceful Loser: After getting stranded in an apocalyptic future by Cable, thus losing all his chances to kill Hope (and being, you know, in an apocalyptic future, presumably forever), Lucas just sits down and muses "well played, Nathan" with a melancholic smile.
- Guile Hero: Deceived one of the Morlocks into blasting him with an energetic ray, which only added to Bishop's energy reserves, by making the mook believe he would be screwed if hit.
- Heel Realization: After failing in his mission to kill Hope and getting stranded in a lost future, Bishop ponders his own role in shaping her and for the first time wonders whether he was really doing the best thing. We don't get to see what comes out of those thoughts, as the next time we see Bishop he's possessed by the Demon Bear, and the very next he is left in a coma after getting his mind scrambled.
- Heroic Build: His physique puts most X-Men's to shame.
- Hot-Blooded: His powers are not the only energetic thing on him.
- Important Haircut: When he was introduced (Uncanny X-Men #282), he sported a long mane of 1990s hair. He only changes his hairdo after the traumatic experiences of the Age of Apocalypse, in X-Men #48 (1996).
- Inspector Javert:
- To Gambit, who he suspected of being the X-Men's traitor (it turned out to be Onslaught), which he apologised for.
- Briefly to Nate Grey, because Nate was an unknown factor as someone who wasn't from his past, having hopped over from the Age of Apocalypse timeline. The fact that Nate was also a Person of Mass Destruction with an attitude problem and an unfortunate habit of Power Incontinence, while Bishop was a former cop precisely specialized in delinquent mutants who abused their powers, didn't help at all. This was stopped in its tracks by Rogue, who cussed them both out for being macho idiots, and had the advantage of being someone who Nate was at least grudgingly willing to listen to.
- Irony:
- Part of the reason he stayed in the "present" was to prevent a member of the X-Men betraying them, only to later turn traitor himself.
- During Decimation, when the X-Mansion was placed under armed guard sedASpot.
- Last-Name Basis: Over the years, Bishop didn't have a first name until one X-Treme X-Men issue revealed it to be Lucas. Until then, there was even ambiguity about whether "Bishop" was meant to be a surname or a codename (in one issue, where Storm asked him to call her Ororo, Bishop expressed confusion at the concept and said that she could call him...Bishop). It didn't help that his sister Shard Bishop had the opposite case and was referred in a First-Name Basis.
- Leave No Survivors: During his first appearance he and his team enter a time portal that takes him to the present in order to pursue the escaped prisoners. When he attempts to force one of the prisoners back into the time port, the criminal desintegrates. Realizing he is stuck in the present with many dangerous criminals and no way to secure them all, he orders of kill sweep of all the prisoners. He and his team manage to kill most of them, but his partners Malcolm and Randall die in the process.
- My Greatest Failure: The situation that led to the death of his sister Shard in the future, as well as the one that ended up with his partners Randall and Malcolm dead in the present.
- No Social Skills: He acknowledges himself he’s not good with people and laments that the XSE didn’t include a course on it.
- Once More, with Clarity: A major part of Bishop's backstory is discovering a garbled tape of Jean Grey talking about a traitor within the X-Men's ranks. As a result of it being garbled, Bishop had assumed that Professor X was among the first to die and Jean was saying that the team shouldn't have trusted one of their own (Bishop suspected Gambit as a man called the Witness, who was the last person to see the X-Men alive, resembled and acted like him). The crossover, Onslaught, incorporated this into the Onslaught: X-Men one-shot that kicked off the crossover, revealing that Jean was really talking about Xavier's dark side becoming the titular villain, that she suspected Juggernaut had died in Onslaught's rampage (he hadn't), that they should have realized that Xavier's mindwipe of Magneto in the Fatal Attractions crossover might come back to haunt them (which it did, given it gave way to Onslaught), and that Jean wasn't actually killed when the tape ended.
- Phlebotinum Overload: Bishop can be overloaded given enough time and fuel... this usually results in a fairly splashy explosion, though he himself is rarely injured from it (except maybe his uniform).
- Principles Zealot: a) Mutants must be officially policed (if possible, by mutants too) and b) Violence Really Is the Answer and toning it down is just a matter of PR.
- Prophet Eyes: When using his powers, his eyes would turn either this or Red Eyes, Take Warning.
- Put on a Bus: When Cable and Hope had enough of him chasing them through different timelines, Cable managed to scramble Bishop's time-traveling teleportation device which stranded him in a very deserted distant future.
- Reformed, but Rejected: Since he's returned from the future. However, as of 2017, he has returned to working with the X-men with no evidence of mistrust or resentment. It is possible his actions regarding Hope most likely have been erased thanks to a certain cosmic reset.
- Scary Black Man: After he turned into a baby-hunting villain in the 2000s Cable series. His artificial left arm doesn't seem to help either.
- Sealed Evil in a Can: The Bete Noir when it possessed Bishop.
- Ship Tease:
- With Storm. Jubilee even asked him if they were dating, and Bishop's answer was he wasn't very sure about it.
- With Sage. He clearly began to develop feelings for her, but whether she returned them was never made clear, and neither ever acted on it in any case.
- Briefly, during Decimation, it was hinted he and Val Cooper were developing a relationship, though Bishop bristled when the others asked him about it. This was Cut Short by his Face–Heel Turn.
- During the late-1990s, there was something going on between him and renegade Shi'ar princess Deathbird, so much so that Chris Claremont, in the alternate continuity of X-Men: The End, canonizes a daughter to their relationship that becomes the Shi'ar Majestrix in that reality.
- Super Cop: Was one, and hasn't yet shaken it out of his system.
- Superhero Packing Heat: A defender of this idea, the biggest in X-Men only behind Cable.
- Taking the Bullet: He saved the entire team from Onslaught by taking his psychic blast.
- Tangled Family Tree: Throughout his history, he's been shown and implied to be related in one way or another to Gateway, Storm, M, and Neal Shaara. (Who are Australian, Kenyan-American, Algerian-Monacan, and Indian, respectively.)
- Took a Level in Jerkass: Went from being one of the more level-headed X-Men to a brutal hunter willing to maim or kill anyone who stood in the way of his mission of killing Hope Summers.
- Tragic Time Traveler: It starts with him being a denizen in a Sentinel-dominated future, where the X-Men have died to due to a traitor, and follows a time traveling bad guy only to realize he can't travel back, and it only gets worse from there.
- Troubling Unchildlike Behaviour: A time-traveling Madrox and Layla Miller once met Bishop as a pre-teen. He was scornful of any Mutant who claimed to be the next evolutionary step, and outright told them he wished he had a chance at killing Hope Summers. Several years later, when he was somewhere in his early teens, he told Hecat'e he'd kill her if she messed with Shard.
- Undying Loyalty: To Storm.
- Virtual Sidekick: For a time, Bishop was accompanied on his adventures by a holographic version of his deceased sister, Shard.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist:
- In his timeline, Hope grew up to kill thousands of humans in seconds, which was what led to mutants being placed into concentration camps. He wanted to kill Hope to ensure history wouldn't repeat itself.
- A little more Downplayed when he starts his War College on Krakoa. He’s quite rough on his recruits and is even called out on it by Dani Moonstar but he’s also lived the worst case scenario for mutants and wants to avoid the events of his timeline at all costs.
- Would Hurt a Child: Zig-zagged. The impetus of his Face–Heel Turn was trying to kill Hope Summers before she became a threat, even when she was no more than a few weeks old, but the few times he had her in his sights, he never actually managed to pull the trigger.
Kwannon / Revanche / Psylocke II
Notable Aliases: Butterfly, Nothing (English translation of codename), Mercy (English translation of codename), Revenge (English translation of codename)
Nationality: Japanese, Krakoan
Species: Human Mutant
First Appearance: Uncanny X-Men #256 (December, 1989) note ; X-Men Vol 2 #21 (June, 1993) note ; Fallen Angels Vol 2 #1 (January, 2020) note
Kwannon is a former assassin from Japan, raised by the Hand. She worked for the crime lord Nyoirin.
For most of her history, her body was well-known, but she was not. Revanche is the body that Betsy Braddock was transplanted into, and thus making her one of Marvel's most iconic femme fatales for a long time. Revanche, in the body of Betsy Braddock, was eventually killed at her request by her lover Matsu'o, as she did not want to die of the Legacy Virus. This ensured that Betsy would remain in her body for many years. Kwannon got better, and eventually came back, and she and Betsy finally reverted bodies at long last during Hunt for Wolverine: Mystery in Madripoor.
Kwannon would see an increase in prominence as a Legacy Character to Betsy as Psylocke, first using the name Revanche when Betsy was missing and worked as an uneasy ally of the X-Men and then later taking up the Psylocke identity once Betsy took up the mantle of Captain Britain. She formed a new team, who took it upon themselves to do whatever it takes to protect the world, for both mutants and humans.
After making a deal with Mister Sinister to augment her powers in order to defeat the threat known as Apoth, Kwannon became indebted to him... especially once he salvaged the DNA of her deceased daughter, whom the Hand had taken away from her. On his orders, and the request of the Quiet Council of Krakoa, Kwannon became the handler for and field leader of Sinister's new strikeforce, the Hellions, a group of dangerous anti-social mutants whose innate capacity for harm has made them ill-fit to live peaceful lives on the mutant nation.
Samuel Zachery "Sam" Guthrie /Cannonball
Notable Aliases: The Boy High Lord, Farmboy, Hayseed, Hick-A-Billy, Kentucky, Mason-Dixon, Sam, Sammy, Sammy Boy, Samson Guthry, Samuel Zachary, (possibly misspelled) Starshine
Nationality: American, Krakoan
Species: Human mutant
First Appearance: Marvel Graphic Novel #4 (November, 1982)
Cannonball is a mutant with the ability to propel himself through the air like a human rocket. Over the years, Sam has grown from a New Mutant, to the leader of the original X-Force, to a full-fledged X-Man. He's currently a U.S.Avenger.
Joseph
Notable Aliases: Max Eisenhardt, Erik Magnus Lehnsherr, Joey, Mags, Joe
Species: Human mutant clone
First Appearance: X-Men Vol 2 #46 (November, 1995)
Joseph was a younger clone of Magneto, created by Astra. He sacrificed himself to repair Earth's magnetosphere, which had been altered by Magneto. He has recently returned to cause trouble for the redemptive Magneto.
See Here
Doctor Cecilia "Cel" Reyes
Notable Aliases: Forcefield (S.W.O.R.D. code name), "Cecelia" (presumably misspelled), "Doc Reyes", "Doc", 'Celia, "Mutie doctor"
Nationality: American
Species: Human mutant
First Appearance: X-Men Vol 2 #65 (June, 1997)
A hard-working New York doctor who definitely did not want to be a superhero, at all, ever. Unfortunately for her, the bad guys didn't care. She quit as soon as possible, but not before having a neat love triangle with Beast and Iceman. Cecilia has since served as a recurring ally of the X-Men while attempting to maintain her normal medical career, but with the founding of Krakoa she joined the new mutant nation as a doctor in the Healing Gardens.
- Barrier Warrior: Her forcefield powers make her near-invulnerable, but are seldom used offensively.
- The Call Knows Where You Live: Justified, not only were all mutants being targeted during Operation Zero Tolerance by the Sentinels, Xavier kept track on where potential recruits for his X-men lived and Iceman took it upon himself to check up on her. Cecilia wasn’t just outed as a mutant to her mutant-hating coworkers, Iceman took her with him on an adventure to face the leader of Zero Tolerance.
- Going Cold Turkey: She was briefly hooked on a drug that boosted her powers, Professor X helped her kick the addiction.
- Hospital Hottie: She's a doctor and plenty good looking.
- I Just Want to Be Normal: She prefers to work as a normal doctor than to work in a superhero team. When the mutant nation of Krakoa is founded, she seemingly has abandoned this desire and now lives on Krakoa as one of the leading doctors of the island's healing gardens.
- The Medic: She still serves this role for the X-Men on occasion, including patching up Magneto after he brought Kitty Pryde back from space.
- Sassy Black Woman: Though ironically she is a Puerto Rican; but then again, she was raised in the Bronx.
- Secret Public Identity: Due to the whole 'not wanting to be a superhero at all ever' thing, she refuses to take one.
- Slashed Throat: While performing an autopsy on several biologically enhanced soldiers killed by Krakoa's X-Force, she is caught off-guard by a smaller version of the soldier emerging from inside the corpse which slits her throat. Cecilia bleeds out, but Sage notes that due to her importance she will be bumped up to the top of the Five's resurrection list.
- Spell My Name With An S: Her name was consistently misspelled as "Cecelia" in Chris Claremont's return to the X-books. This occasionally pops up again afterwards.
- Twofer Token Minority: She's of African-American and Puerto Rican descent.
Sarah / Marrow
Notable Aliases: Sarah Rushman, the bony little lass
Nationality: American, Krakoan
Species: Human mutant
First Appearance: Cable #15 (September, 1994)
A former mutant terrorist. Originally created by a writer with the intention to die in a one on one fight with Storm, she was later revealed to have survived. Later she was picked up again as one of three new and unusual recruits to join the X-Men after a crossover (the others were Cecilia Reyes and Maggot).
At first a troublemaker for the other X-Men, she managed to become a stable and accepted part of the team. However, after some failed attempts by writers and artist to make her more appealing, she mysteriously disappeared from one issue to another, without any explanation ever given.
Afterwards she reappeared in a one-shot as SHIELD sleeper agent, was part of the ill-fated Weapon X series and finally got depowered on M-Day while keeping her mutated appearance. After a brief appearance as enemy in X-factor she was once again absent for several years. She then returned in the 2014 X-Force series as a core cast member.
- All Love Is Unrequited: Poor Marrow, whomever she’s crushing on is either not interested in her or has a girlfriend already (both aren’t unheard of though). Averted when she was brainwashed however, as she went on a date with Spider-Man, but that didn’t last either.
- And Show It to You: Subverted, Marrow was on the receiving end of this trope courtesy of Storm, who tore out Marrows’ heart after she’d rigged it to a bomb.
- Anti-Hero: Nominal Hero originally. She had mutant supremacist leanings and was the loose cannon on a team with Wolverine, but eventually healed and reformed during Alan Davis' run, at the end of which, she probably didn't qualify for more than Classical Anti-Hero. After that she turned to downright villain and finally back to her original form.
- Davis' attempt was seen as Character Development by many readers.
- Bad with the Bone: Thanks to her powers, Marrow is literally made of this trope, though she often favors knives over blunt weaponry. Depending on her level of control at the time, this can extend into other kinds of projectiles, such as spikes/needles, or boneshards straight out of her body.
- Basement-Dweller: In the first few weeks as an X-man, Marrow lived in their basement, specifically in the Danger Room. Justified since her people, the Morlocks, normally lives in the sewer, so it comes naturally to her.
- Blood Knight: Before Davis' got a hold on her. Back again after she disappeared. In X-force she openly states she is just there to have "fun".
- Body Horror: Her power, by the by, was to grow bones out of her body, usually in the form of outward jutting spines or claws.
- Brainwashed and Crazy: Courtesy of SHIELD, her Blood Knight tendencies were turned up to eleven and she developed a split personality.
- Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: Mixed with being Put on a Bus. She disappeared two issues without explanation and has only reappeared in satellite titles, she was never shown or mentioned again in the core titles.
- Dark Age of Supernames: Subverted, for someone who comes from the 90's, has the power to grow knives out of the body and was more anti than hero, she has a surprising soft and normal codename.
- This was almost played straight, as her codename was originally "Sheath," but this was rejected by the editors for sounding too sexual.
- A Day in the Limelight: Randomly was chosen as a fighter in Marvel vs. Capcom 2. Her only appearance in the Vs Series.
- Dual Wielding: Default combat style.
- Freudian Excuse: Well, if you'd been born with bones sticking out all over your body and had the only people who ever cared for you massacred before your eyes as a child, how well-adjusted would you be?
- The Friend No One Likes: This happens on several teams, often justified given Marrows’ confrontational attitude and parttime Jerkass behavior, but her teammates aren’t completely without fault either.
- Averted in her Gene Nation days, justified since she was the leader.
- When she was part of the X-Men, Marrow didn’t interact well with the other members, either by being extremely confrontational, eating like a pig or just being intentionally creepy. Storms’ solution to Marrow’s attitude and temper problems is to let her get private lessons from Wolverine. Cue beatings and verbal put downs, which resulted in Marrow planting a bone dagger in Wolverine’s throat. Marrow would’ve died from Wolverine’s berserker-rage if Cannonball hadn’t bullrushed him.
- While Marrow was a member of X-Force, consisting of Meme, Fantomex, Cable, Domino and Doctor Nemesis, she suffered heavily from mental instability from the trauma of losing her child, which manifested in childish behavior, lack of respect/personal boundaries and even more frequent bouts of aggression. Though the rest of the team had their own issues which they dealt with, such as a general lack of trust in their teammates.
- Healing Factor: The other reason why she survived the heart removal, and how she can remove the bones from her body without bleeding to death. Strangely not official part of her powerset.
- Heel–Face Revolving Door: Good grief, Marrow’s moral alignment practically changes with each new recurring appearance! She started out as a Nice Girl amongst the Morlocks, then grew into a terrorist leader, who then joined the X-Men and helped save the earth. She was later brainwashed by SHIELD to act as an assassin, who then went rogue killing Life Model Decoys. After that she joined Weapon X where she committed several murders and took part in imprisoning numerous mutants in concentration camps, including some she knew. Then she joined a mutant resistance group against Weapon X, which she subsequently took control over and reformed into a terrorist organization, killing numerous civilians aside from Weapon X personnel. Her next stint at “heroics” was with X-Force to act as mutant SWAT team killing any threats to the mutant nation. Her latest appearance has seen Marrow become a member of the villainous Helllfire Club under Emma Frost.
- Lighter and Softer: Her development under Davis.
- Lovecraftian Superpower: Her Body Horror powers also give her some serious advantages like superhuman endurance, pain resistance, healing and strength.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Her reaction to finding out she volunteered for dangerous experiments to regain her super powers while being pregnant and having been told the risk.
- No Social Skills: Marrow is extremely confrontational and has difficulty connecting to people emotionally — or even understanding herself. Of course, living in the sewers for most of your early childhood with a bunch of other maladjusted freaks and spending your teenage years fighting for your survival in a horrible pocket dimension does that to you. Archangel was the only one for whom she showed a soft spot, due to viewing him as a Messianic Archetype.
- Odd Friendship: While in X-Force Marrow seemed to eventually develop one with Doctor Nemesis, based on their mutual love of Coffee.
- Only One Name: Her first name is Sarah and that's how she's known when she's not referred to as Marrow. If she even has a last name is unknown.
- Plot-Relevant Age-Up: Her first appearance was as a bald little girl before this happened to her.
- Progressively Prettier: Prime example of the trope. Part of it was deliberate in-universe: as she learned to control her powers better, there was less of the whole "bones jutting out of her at random" thing. With effort, she can maintain Cute Monster Girl status (the pink hair and the horns aren't going anywhere.) Of course, Depending on the Artist kicks in, and you can even have her looking like her Body Horror day-one self in one comic and her "cute girl with horns" look in another though both stories take place and are released around the same time.
- Remember the New Guy?: An early Retcon established her as a survivor of the Morlock Massacre storyline.
- Required Secondary Powers: Her main power is to grow badass bone knives out of her body and throw them at people. Her other powers include surviving pulling the bones out, regrowing new ones, and superhuman pain tolerance.
- Sir Swears-a-Lot: For a time, Marrow spat as many curse words as was possible into her sentences during her X-Force days. Psylocke messed with her mind so it came out as utter gibberish/kiddie friendly expletives, to the entertainment of the rest of the team.
- Slasher Smile: Can pull that off towards civilians and mooks, doesn't work on actual heroes or villains though.
- Smarter Than You Look: She was able to memorize the entire subway and sewer tunnel system under New York as a 5 or 6 year old child. Likewise, having the time table of all subway trains in her mind. Also her short stint as sleeper agent showed that she is capable of learning and understanding scientific theories. It seems only her violent upbringing and resulting personality stops her from showing/using her intelligence openly.
- Sole Survivor: She’s the only member of Gene Nation who hasn’t died.
- Spike Shooter: She can shoot the spikes that form from her body.
- Suicide by Cop: In the fourth X-Force volume, the mutant slaver Volga (the man responsible for the loss of her unborn baby) provokes her into doing this to him following his capture and torture by the team, knowing his goose was cooked either way. This earns her a What the Hell, Hero? from Cable.
- Super-Toughness: Her bones grant her an improved amount of durability, she’s been rammed into concrete walls and gotten back up, fought a feral Wolverine and could walk away and not once, but twice has jumped from the top of the Brooklyn Bridge and landed in the water without injury. Short version: Girl’s tough.
- Unskilled, but Strong: Her combat style is simply to overpower the enemy with strength and/or speed, as she learned during her childhood. However, missing any kind of formal training she is all but useless against people who can balance this out with skill as Storm quickly demonstrated.
- Vague Age: Seemingly in her late teens to early twenties, but due to having grown up in another dimension where time passes differently, even Marrow doesn’t know her own age.
- Wolverine Claws: With enough control over her powers, she can produce these in bone form.
- Wolverine Wannabe: Marrow is a less straight example, where instead of Wolverine Claws she's able to grow bone protrusions out of anywhere from her body, which she can then break off and use as handheld blades. Though much like Wolverine, she possesses a Healing Factor that seals wounds made from said breaking of her bones off.
Japheth / Maggott
Nationality: South African, Krakoan
Species: Human mutant
First Appearance: Uncanny X-Men #345 (June, 1997)
A South African teenager from a poor family. As a child, his family thought he was dying from stomach cancer because his abdomen constantly bulged and he was constantly hungry. Actually, he was going through a mutation in which his stomach turned into a pair of semi-autonomous slugs. To feed, Japheth had to have the slugs burst out of his stomach, feed on any substance, then return, giving him a burst of superstrength. Japheth joined the X-Men for only a short time before vanishing and reappearing years later to be killed in a Canadian concentration camp for mutants. However, he eventually returned but has had little involvement in any major (or minor) events.
- Amazing Technicolor Population: His skin is blue and his hair is silver.
- Back from the Dead: He was revived by the techno-organic virus and used as a soldier by Selene during the Necrosha story. He seems to be one of the few mutants who was permanently brought back from that, as he is seen several times afterwards in various gatherings of numerous mutants.
- Blessed with Suck: His powers, not only can he not control his slugs, when they have to give back the energy from what they’ve devoured, the eat their way back into him (a very painful process for him).
- Casanova Wannabe: Big time, when he was an X-Man he hit on any women on the team, doesn’t matter if they’re hostile or married.
- Cool Shades: Really likes wearing these.
- Extreme Omnivore: The slugs within his body sure can eat.
- Fluffy the Terrible: He calls the slugs Eany and Meany.
- Healing Factor: Played with, Maggott himself cannot heal injuries, but whenever his slugs needs to return, they eat their way into him and somehow closes the wounds behind.
- Jive Turkey: It's South African slang, but it's often completely impenetrable.
- Lovecraftian Superpower: These seemed to be going around in the late 90s X-Books.
- Older Alter Ego: Originally Maggott is just a skinny teenager with normal skin complexion, but when he powers up by his digestive matter-eating slugs, his skin turns blue and becomes musclebound to fight.
- Shoo Out the New Guy: To a point that you'd think the Trope Namer is a Shout-Out to him! He was only with the X-Men for a brief time before joining Generation-X for two issues before leaving.
- Super-Strength: What his extreme digestive system gave him.
- Totally Radical: Speaks in South African slang all the time.
Nathan Christopher Charles Summers / Cable
Notable Aliases: Nathan Winters, Nathan Dayspring, Askani'son, Soldier X, Chosen One, Traveler
Nationality: American
Species: Human mutant
First Appearance: New Mutants #86 (1990)
The once-mysterious Cable (a.k.a. Nathan Summers) is Cyclops' time-traveling son who was infected with the deadly techno-organic virus during his infancy, which he keeps at bay using his advanced psionic powers. At one time a founding member and leader of the militant team called X-Force, previously known as the New Mutants, Cable takes the aimless youths under his wing and whips them into fighting shape in order to prepare them for future threats.
Nathaniel 'Nate' Grey / X-Man
Notable Aliases: X-Man, Mutant X, Greyspawn, Summerseed, Destroyer of Worlds, Second Coming, Shaman, Manhattan Marvel, World-Walker
Nationality: American
Species: Human mutant
First Appearance: X-Man #1 (1995)
A survivor of the Age of Apocalypse, Nate Grey was created from the DNA of Scott Summers and Jean Grey by that reality's Mister Sinister as a weapon against Apocalypse. He was also designed with a genetic flaw that meant his powers often turned against him and would ultimately kill him, meaning he wouldn't remain as a threat to Sinister. Emerging at the physical age of 17 with all the vast psionic power that his half-brother Cable should have had and then some, he turned on his creator, defeated Apocalypse with Magneto's aid, and survived the collapse of the timeline. Afterward, hopeful but mistrustful and mistrusted thanks to his vast power and Hair-Trigger Temper, he spent a lot of time looking for somewhere to fit in and a cure for his condition, including bonding with his alternate reality parents - particularly his mother. A loner by nature, he briefly joined the X-Men to help the Mannites, before once again going their separate ways. He would eventually be a member of the X-Men again in his new reality, the Age of X-Man.
