X-Men The Original Team / Characters

The Original Team

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Professor X / X

Professor Charles Francis Xavier / Professor X / X

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/xavier00.jpg

Notable Aliases: Onslaught, Consort-Royal, Founder, Doctor X, Warlord, Entity, Prisoner M-13

Nationality: American, Krakoan

Species: Human mutant

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

The original founder of the X-Men. An idealist who believes that humans and mutants can live together in peace. He's pragmatic about it, though, considering he essentially runs a combat school. Lost the use of his legs during a fight with an alien called Lucifer who was planning an Alien Invasion, got it back after an intimate encounter with the Brood, was put back in his chair by the Shadow King, and is currently walking once again. Likes to keep secrets, thinking that redundant plans and safechecks are best for everyone, but this tends to bite him on the ass more often than not. Also tends to be obsessed about the cause to the detriment of his social life. Xavier is the world's most powerful telepath, being able to read and fully control the minds of large groups of people at a time.

See Marvel Comics: Professor X

Cyclops

Scott Summers / Cyclops

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/12c01324_52bc_4ffb_b2fb_e9f2b217d0d4.jpeg

Notable Aliases: Slim, Slym Dayspring, Eric the Red, Mutate #007, Phoenix, Dark Phoenix, Captain Krakoa

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.

See Marvel Comics: Cyclops

Iceman

Robert Louis "Bobby" Drake / Iceman

Fighting villains and personal demons for years has never stopped him cold.

Notable Aliases: Drake Roberts, Mister Friese, Frosty

Nationality: American, Krakoan

Species: Human mutant

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

"My name is Bobby Drake. Iceman. I've been an X-Man, an X...Factor-ian, a Defender, a Champion (don't ask). I've been a super hero since before I was old enough to shave. I've stood side by side with the toughest, most powerful heroes in the known universe and always held my own. But today... today I need to be something more. So go ahead, call me a joke if you want. Label me the X-Man with the lamest power ever. But a man of untapped potential? Don't you dare ever call me that again!"

As the youngest member of the original five X-Men, Bobby's abilities are mainly ice-related, but he can also manipulate temperature and moisture, making him one of very few omega-level mutants. His true power was unknown to him for quite some time, however, thanks in part to being riddled with insecurities — a product of growing up with his abusive father before being taken in by Charles Xavier. In spite of his rough upbringing, Bobby is known for his playfully sarcastic nature, if also being slightly guilty for his sensitive tendencies.

During the All-New, All-Different Marvel era, there were two Bobby Drakes populating the mainstream Marvel Universe: original Bobby, who's since grown into adulthood, and a time-displaced teenage Bobby, who (with his fellow original X-Men) was pulled from the 1960s into the present. Each served on a distinct faction of the X-Men: adult Bobby with the Extraordinary X-Men, teenage Bobby with the All-New X-Men. At the end of Extermination, however, the younger, time-displaced Bobby was returned back to his own time period and had his memories wiped.

Historically, he was also a member of The Defenders, the original X-Factor lineup, and the (much-maligned) Champions of Los Angeles.

Iceman is notable for being one of Marvel's most prominent —if not the most prominent— gay characters. While his sexuality was speculated (and joked about) for decades, he officially came out of the closet in 2015 — it went down about as well as you'd probably expect. Regardless, many were happy to see one of Marvel's oldest characters undergo such a reinvention, helping further the publisher's ongoing efforts to bolster diversity in their comic line.

He was portrayed by Canadian actor Shawn Ashmore in the original trilogy of the X-Men Film Series, as well as X-Men: Days of Future Past. Ashmore would also provide his voice in an episode of The Superhero Squad Show.

No relation to a certain Tom Kazansky.

Armored Closet Gay: After six hundred issues and years of intentional subtext, it was finally revealed (in a conversion with his younger self) that Iceman was gay. He said that he just wanted one part of his life in which he wouldn't be persecuted, so he decided to just pretend to be straight and, eventually, tried to be straight. But when Teen Iceman asks him if he thinks Angel is hot, he says, "God yes."
Beware the Nice Ones: Similar to his bros Spider-Man and The Human Torch, he's a pretty easygoing, goofball kind of guy for the most part. Make the mistake of screwing with his friends and teammates though, and you learn just how terrifying taking him on can be.
Bob from Accounting: Subverted. Bobby holds a college degree in accounting, but is a main character rather than throwaway one. He briefly worked in an accounting firm, but quit to become a full time member of X-Factor.
Brainwashed: He was brainwashed by Rampage/Stuart Clarke Spectacular Spider-Man #17-18 (April-May, 1978). He put on the Rampage costume and served as a new super-villain.
Crazy Jealous Guy: In regards to Polaris. He has been infatuated with her since they first met. He acts clingy towards her and rather hostile to her actual lover, Havok.
Deadpan Snarker: His humor has a tendency to fall in this category. An example from X-Men #31:
Bernard the Poet: Life is a yo-yo —- and mankind keeps tying knots in the string! Go up... go down... then call it progress!
Zelda Kurtzberg : What a groovy poem! And it's in free verse!
Iceman:It hadda be! Nobody'd be nutty enough to pay'im for it!
Death Is Cheap: In The Infinity Gauntlet #1 (July, 1991), Thanos wipes out of half the population of the Marvel Universe. In issue #2 (August, 1991), a list of "missing" (dead) heroes is read and Iceman was among them. Every casualty of the event was restored to life in issue #6 (December, 1991), Iceman included.
Did Not Get the Girl: Every time it looks like he might finally end up with Polaris, she ends up going back to Havok. While serving with the Champions, Iceman fell for fellow member Darkstar... who only viewed him as a friend. In the Defenders, he was in love with Cloud. The latter being a member with both a female and a male form. She/he had some feelings for Bobby, but was much more interested in Moondragon, another lady of the team. Most recently, he tried to get it on with Kitty Pryde, first stealing a big kiss from her after she broke up with Colossus and later going out on a date. In the end, both declared that they were both better off as friends, with Kitty going back to Colossus despite his outlaw status.
- Another instance is his relationship with Annie Ghazikhanian. In Uncanny X-Men #425 (August, 2003), Havok and Polaris are about to get married. This leaves Iceman and Annie brokenhearted, since Iceman still loves Polaris and Annie loves Havok. Iceman and Annie bond over their feelings of loss and kiss each other. This looked like a Pair the Spares situation. In the very next issue, Havok breaks up with Polaris and chooses Annie, who reciprocates his feelings.
- During the X-Factor days, Bobby had a brief romance with a woman named Opal Tanaka, whom he met late into the series. Opal had feelings for the cyber samurai Hiro even while she was dating Bobby, and she often felt that Bobby put her second to his superheroics. This came to a head when Bobby used her as bait to lure in his pursuers, which led to her dumping him early into the 90s Uncanny X-men series.
- This trope is directly acknowledged in Marjorie Liu’s Apocalypse Seed arc, in which it is explained that Bobby never felt honest in his relationships with these women, and felt like he had to wear a mask. Opal confirms this.
Does Not Like Shoes: Bobby is frequently barefoot, in contrast to most of his teammates except for Beast.
Dude, Not Funny!: Subverted. Bobby tells Judah there's another him, and warns him not to make any smutty jokes about it, particularly because his younger self is underage.
Elemental Shapeshifter: In his earliest appearances, Iceman covered his body with snow. He then changed to covering his body with ice. He later learned how to convert his body into organic ice.
Even the Guys Want Him: At least a homosexual guy. One subplot in Chuck Austen's Uncanny X-Men run was that Northstar had an unrequited crush on Iceman. Which manifested itself as protective behavior towards Iceman, and rescuing his life at least once. The pairing of the two has proved relatively popular with writers of Slash Fics.
Face–Heel Turn: Subverted. In Astonishing X-Men #62-65 (July-October, 2013). Iceman has been affected by the Apocalypse Seed and his powers manifest in new and more powerful ways. He acts increasingly evil and fights the X-Men and Thor. However, even when acting as a monster, Iceman manages to not kill any of his friends. He is simply having a temper tantrum over being unloved and unappreciated by his father and his past lovers. A talk with a "psychiatrist" calms him down.
Fantastic Racism: After a lifetime facing anti-mutant racism, Iceman himself displays anti-human prejudice in Chuck Austen's run of Uncanny X-Men.
Fire/Ice Duo: Outside of X-books, Iceman teamed up with the Human Torch many times. A memorable occasion had them fight Equinox, a villain with fire and ice powers. When meeting in the Days Of Future Present crossover, they lampshade this trope:
Iceman: Yo! Ice and fire...
Torch: The unbeatable combo!
Fire/Water Juxtaposition: The rogue mutant Pyro has a notorious rivalry with Bobby and is often considered his Arch-Enemy.
Forced Out of the Closet: When they are teenagers in the future (long story), Jean reads his mind and tells him he's gay, although it's in private. He calls her on it years later, when they are adults, claiming he thought he could get over it, but was proven wrong by a three-hundred-year-old version of himself from the future.
From a Single Cell: Was once vaporized by a Brainwashed and Crazy Northstar and Aurora and managed to reconstitute himself, before collapsing from the strain.
Fun Personified: In an early issue of X-Men: First Class, calls himself "The Bringer of Fun", and throughout the series generally acts like a lovable dork.
Gaydar: Averted. In Chuck Austen's run of Uncanny X-Men, Iceman fails to realize that his teammate Northstar is gay. In issue #425 (August, 2003), Annie Ghazikhanian finally tells him. His jaw drops, his eyes widen, and he asks: "Northstar is gay?" He then nervously states: “Well I-...how should I know? It’s not like we’re….I mean....Oh my god that’s so funny.”
- He's had quite a lot of Ho Yay moments, like having Northstar hit on him. Even appeared as a one-off gag on Family Guy.
Grand Theft Me: At one point, he had his body possessed by Emma Frost after the mansion was attacked by Sentinels. She used his powers in ways he never had before, such as traveling quickly through bodies of water and even adding the water to his body mass. Later on, he would ask Emma for help improving his powers.
Hair-Trigger Temper: When he was younger. Including some infighting with his fellow X-Men, particularly Angel.
Heroes Want Redheads: He was attracted to redhead Jean Grey in his teenage years. He was the only of the young X-Men to not fall for her upon meeting her. His reaction was saying: "A Girl... Big Deal". He started competing for her attention in X-Men (vol. 1) #3 (January, 1964).
- In Mike Carey's run on X-Men vol. 2, Iceman had a relationship with his redhead teammate Mystique. They slept together in issue #200 (August, 2007). But Mystique betrayed him, passing a neuro-inhibitor to him through skin-to-skin contact. This left him nearly powerless as the Marauders arrived to take down the X-Men.
Heterosexual Life-Partners: With Beast. In the 1960s, they spend most of their free time together. Iceman was dating Zelda Kurtzberg, Beast was dating Vera Cantor. All four typically went on double dates at Coffee A-Go-Go, a Greenwich Village coffee shop. Later they served together in The Defenders and X-Factor, continuing to be close friends. Some fans have interpreted their relationship as too close to be heterosexual, and they tend to be paired in Slash Fics.
- Also with Spider-Man and the Human Torch. Spider-Man and Iceman were best friends and housemates in Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends. In regular continuity, Spider-Man and Iceman have had their share of fights over the years. But grew closer when Spidey helped rescue a brainwashed Iceman in Spectacular Spider-Man #17-18 (April-May, 1978). His friendship with the Human Torch goes back to their teenage years, at least according to X-Men: First Class (vol. 2) #16 (November, 2008). Though they did break up a temporary partnership when the Torch dared to hit on Zelda Kurtzberg, Iceman's main love interest.
An Ice Person: He transforms into an organic ice form, and generates subzero energy to freeze his surroundings, cool and condense moisture in the atmosphere into ice, shaping it into various forms such as snowballs, battering rams, shields, solid blocks, columns, and ice slides.
An Ice Suit: Technically he's wearing clothes under his ice-body, but when he's iced up, he looks like he's pretty much in the buff.
- In the old days, he wasn't. Getting his ice coating broken or melted left him in his boxers. He doesn't get a proper costume until well into his stint with the Champions. As is common for X-characters suffering Clothing Damage, he doesn't get too embarrassed by it.
Informed Judaism: According to Iceman (vol. 1) #1 (December, 1984), Iceman has attended Hebrew school, the Jewish equivalent of Sunday school. "My dad's Irish-Catholic, my mom's Jewish. I was the only kid in Hebrew school who got off for St. Patrick's Day!" ... "Anyway... the Catholic kids used to ride me for being Jewish... the Jewish kids used to ride me for being Catholic... and that wasn't even my big problem!" That is largely ignored as the character is normally features as irreligious.
Intergenerational Friendship: With Wolverine. Wolvie was born in the 19th century and is old enough to be Iceman's ancestor.
The Lancer: In the earliest days, Bobby was loudmouthed, egotistical, and irreverent, and had a constant problem with Cyclops' leadership. He was still one of the best fighters in the team. In his first appearance, Iceman single-handedly took down most of Magneto's missiles.
Kid-Appeal Character: In the original team, Iceman was the jokester, the funnyman and surrogate kid-brother to his teammates. He was naturally the youngest member.
Jerkass: On occasion. Including the odd remark that the X-Men were better when there were just five of them.
Making a Splash: A story arc where his body was possessed by Emma Frost in the early 90s revealed that Bobby is capable of incredible feats of power involving bodies of water, such as traveling quickly through a river and utilizing the water to increase his body mass. After this event, Bobby would actually start converting his body into organic ice, rather than simply encasing himself in it.
May–December Romance: His brief relationship with Mystique fits this trope. She was born in the 19th century and is old enough to be his ancestor.
Mighty Whitey and Mellow Yellow: He had a tumultuous relationship with Japanese expatriate Opal Tanaka. He served as her protector against the plans of her villainous grandfather. His father William, bigoted against the Japanese, disapproved of the relationship.
Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Lashed out at Thunderbird on the guy's first day, which didn't help with his already-present anger issues.
Out of Focus: Of the five original X-Men, he gets by far the least focus. Though this has changed in recent times with his 2 solo series.
Physical God: It's been revealed he has the potential to be this, as his powers have over the years been redefined from "shoots ice" to "ability to do literally anything so long as it involves water." This is rarely actually seen, however, a notable exception being the first arc in Wolverine and the X-Men (Marvel Comics) where he creates an army of clones to defend the school from villains... from the school's sprinkler system.
Sad Clown: Bobby has had a difficult life since childhood; his parents smothered him initially but also had strict ideals of the "proper" son he was supposed to be, particularly his dad who would neglect him and belittle any "unmanly" interests he had. This caused Bobby to repress a lot of his feelings and to cover up his insecurities with a joke. Consequently, this impacted many of his personal dynamics; whether it be his identity, his relationships or his powers, but over the years he was able to embrace all of the things that made him different.
Self-Duplication: In recent years, Iceman has gained the ability to produce duplicates of himself. They usually do not demonstrate much intelligence or combat ability. Subverted in Astonishing X-Men #62-65 (July-October, 2013). Iceman has been affected by the Apocalypse Seed and his powers act out in erratic ways. Several Iceman duplicates are running around, acting independent of the original. A few attempt to kidnap Opal Tanaka and her son. Another allies himself with Mystique, and kidnaps Polaris and Annie Ghazikhanian. Another takes care of "their" father William Drake who has suffered a heart attack. Another takes a “psychiatrist” role and gives the original Iceman a much-needed therapy session. The "psychiatrist" saves the day, since Iceman regains control of himself and his powers. Ending the madness.
- Later, in All-New X-Men, it's revealed that one future version of The Brotherhood has one of the Iceman duplicates, who is a mindless raging snow giant controlled by Xavier's son.
- Expendable Clone. Neither Iceman nor anyone else seem overly concerned when the duplicate Icemen get destroyed in combat or otherwise terminated.
Sexy Shirt Switch: In an issue of Marauders Bobby is taking a cruise on Christian Frost's private submarine and wearing Christian's monogrammed bathrobe, subtly indicating that they slept together. Reinforced by the flirting.
Shapeshifter Mode Lock: In Chuck Austen's run of Uncanny X-Men, Iceman starts losing the ability to Voluntary Shapeshift. A wounded part of his body is stuck in ice form. In issue #415 (January, 2003), the ice covers part of his chest and stomach. It is his new secondary mutation. He is actually becoming ice and can’t change back. In issue #425 (August, 2003), Annie Ghazikhanian figures out why Iceman is so miserable with the change. He is used to passing as a regular human whenever he wants. If he turns to ice permanently, he will have to be a mutant 24/7.
Shout-Out:
- In the 2017-18 solo series.
  - Iceman calls a runaway student out on wanting to see the world at all costs, calling him Jasmine in the process.
  - While fighting some bad guy alongside his younger self, he references ABBA hit Knowing Me, Knowing You.
- Vol. 2 (2018-)
  - Issue #1 has a poster referencing ABBA's One Of Us.
    One of us is dying
    None of us are trying
Sizeshifter: In Astonishing X-Men #63 (August, 2013), Iceman's powers manifest in new ways due to his exposure to the Apocalypse Seed. At the finale of the issue, he increases his mass, towering over the skyscrapers of New York City.
Status Quo Is God: Frequently undergoes minor power-ups or character switches where he decides to take himself (and his work) more seriously. Generally, he's back to being an immature jokester with his standard powers in no time.
Stripperiffic: Much like Beast, he rarely ever wears a shirt with his uniforms. More recently he has taken to wearing bikini briefs and flip-flops.
Sixth Ranger: In Fantastic Four Vol 5. #24, it's revealed that Bobby joined the Fantastic Four after a humiliating experience in the Danger Room and Johnny Storm raced off in a hot-headed huff over his popularity. Johnny refuses to believe Bobby was a member at all. It takes a few years and Bobby suddenly showing up to drop Franklin off for Johnny to admit he was scared of being replaced on the family.
Took a Level in Badass: He's come a long way since his appearances and is the now the second most powerful of the original five X-Men after Jean.
Took a Level in Jerkass: In Chuck Austen's run of Uncanny X-Men, Iceman exhibits anti-human prejudice towards Annie Ghazikhanian and antagonizes several of his teammates. In issue #416 (February, 2003), he gives a little speech about him being a real X-Man and the others are not. "I mean, who is Stacy and why’s she hanging around us so much? All right, so she’s a mutant, but she’s not an X-Man. The X-Men are a group - a set group - a family even - not a club anyone can join just because they’ve got the right chromosome" He continues saying that nowadays "anyone who hangs out in the lobby for an hour thinks they’re an X-Man." He proclaims that the X-Men are Scott, Warren, himself, Hank and Jean - and that everyone else is just a Johnny-come-lately. He is saying all this to Nightcrawler who takes offense, since Iceman does not think of him as a real X-Man.
Trademark Favorite Food: Ice cream, in the earliest days. Yes, it's an awful attempt at punning.
The Trickster: On occasion, Iceman uses his powers for pranks.
Underwear of Power: Since he converts his body into organic ice, he has little need for clothing. His outfit usually consists of a pair of briefs and some boots.
Vitriolic Best Buds: With Beast. They are best friends, but that does not prevent them from taking shots at each other. Beast pointing that Iceman is not the brightest guy around: "meet my blundering associate – who's not such a bad idiot when you get to know him!"
Voluntary Shapeshifting: He controls his transformation from his human form to that of organic ice. His powers get a temporary upgrade in Astonishing X-Men #64 (September, 2013). He shapeshifts into a massive ice dragon and swallows The Mighty Thor.
"Well Done, Son" Guy: He wants the approval of his father William Drake, who is prejudiced against mutants. He was touched in X-Men (vol. 2) #58 (November, 1996) when his father had a change of heart and stood up for mutant rights. At the time his father was really pissed with the racist rhetoric of Graydon Creed. They attempted a reconciliation.
- Their relationship simply returned to being adversarial. An angry Iceman almost killed his father in Astonishing X-Men (vol. 3) #64 (September, 2013), by giving him a heart attack. William was being his usually loveable self, upon starting the conversation with: "What... the big super hero making time in his busy schedule to lend his old man a hand shoveling snow?"
Why Couldn't You Be Different?: His parents aren't wild about Mutants. They also don't like the idea of their son being a superhero, dreading the phone call telling them their son had been killed in battle. Now his sexuality has taken the top spot on their list. To the extent that they are unperturbed by him fighting Juggernaut — so long as it buys them time to catch a train back to Long Island after he comes out to them. His mother in particular wants to know why he can't just keep dating women.
With Great Power Comes Great Insanity: In Astonishing X-Men #62-65 (July-October, 2013), Iceman has temporary upgrades to his powers which make him a global threat. He is at his most powerful phase, but goes mentally unstable.
You Fight Like a Cow: Regularly uses Witty Banter in combat situations.

Angel / Archangel

Warren Kenneth Worthington III / Angel / Archangel

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

Notable Aliases: Avenging Angel, Dark Angel, Death, Master of the Seven Seeds

Nationality: American, Krakoan

Species: Human mutant

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

"Savior... killer... harbinger of hope or destruction. I am unsure who— or what— I am. But I'd like to find out."

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.

Affably Evil: As the Dark Angel version of Archangel, he's calm, polite to allies and enemies alike, even a potential rival to the throne of Apocalypse in the form of 616's Holocaust, who he takes under his metaphorical wing, and maintains an entirely reasonable demeanor. He's also planning to wipe out all life on Earth and when 616 Holocaust's mother protests that Archangel is turning his son into a monster, he kills her.
All-Loving Hero: The amnesiac Angel claims to love everyone (platonically) and is trying to perform miracles for them. This does not prevent him from getting involved in fights.
Alliterative Name: Warren Worthington. His middle name "Kenneth" is a later addition and is often left unmentioned.
- And an alliterative codename. According to his origin story, he was briefly a solo hero before joining the X-Men. His codename was Avenging Angel.
Amazing Technicolor Population: Notably had blue skin for many years, even after he had lost the metallic wings.
Amnesiacs are Innocent: The amnesiac Angel is no longer a vicious killer, instead showing love and care towards people he barely knows. Starting with Psylocke.
Anti-Hero: Type V in Apocalypse-engineered mode.
Arch-Enemy: Cameron Hodge, one of X-Factor's major foes, serves as one to Archangel. Highlights of his activities include the crossovers Extinction Agenda and Phalanx Covenant. Cameron has died a few times, but always seems to find a way to get Back from the Dead. Once through a Deal with the Devil, twice through the Phalanx's techno-organic virus restoring him.
Art Imitates Art: Text only use. In Wolverine and the X-Men (Marvel Comics) #10 (July, 2012), Rachel Grey describes the rapid learning the amnesiac Angel is displaying. He went from being unable to draw even a basic stick figure to producing a faithful recreation of the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel on the walls of his room.
Artificial Limbs: He has his naturally-occurring wings amputated and replaced with razor-edged metallic wings that can shoot blades. As the procedure is done by an evil mad scientist, there are some side effects.
Battle Couple: With Psylocke when they were together.
Betty and Veronica: Veronica for Jean in the early days. He was the rich, arrogant suitor in comparison to the poor, humble Cyclops. Then he became the Betty to Psylocke's Archie with Fantomex being the Veronica.
Black Gal on White Guy Drama: Averted. His lover Charlotte Jones is African-American, so this is a pairing of White Guy and a Black Gal. But neither of the two face derision and this is not played for drama.
Blood Knight: In Apocalypse-engineered mode. He actively sought combat and the death of his opponents.
Brainwashed: Even though he had willingly agreed to serve Apocalypse as Death, one of the Horsemen of the Apocalypse in exchange for new wings (bear in mind he was borderline suicidal at the time, and everyone thought he was dead), Apocalypse still programmed him to be loyal though, however. He stayed under his control from X-Factor #21 to #25(October, 1987 - February, 1988). It wasn't thorough enough, though, and after apparently killing Iceman, he snaps out of it and attacks Apocalypse. Fortunately, the Iceman he destroyed was only an ice statue of the original and Warren rejoined X-Factor.
Cast from Lifespan: Following his resurrection in 2012, Angel gained new energy powers. In Wolverine and the X-Men (Marvel Comics) #20 (January, 2013), Beast speculates that they come at a terrible price. Angel is using his own energy reserves to fight, and they are a limited resource. When they are exhausted, he will die.
Chick Magnet: He is a blonde-haired hunk of a man and regularly attracts ladies. This goes as far back as X-Men #2 (November, 1963). The X-Men have recently defeated Magneto and have become celebrities. Anti-mutant sentiment was not introduced yet. So there is a scene where the Angel has trouble escaping his adoring fangirls. He has went on to have romances with several notable women, the dates given are the duration of the relationship: Candy Southern (1967-1986), Dazzler (1982-1983), Charlotte Jones (1990-1991), Psylocke (1994-2001), and Husk (2002-2005).
- In Uncanny X-Men #169-170 (May, 1983), Angel was kidnapped by the Morlocks. Their leader Callisto wanted to have him as her consort, since he was “the most beautiful man in all the world.” In Excalibur vol. 3 #13 (July, 2005), both Callisto and Viper express their lust towards Archangel.
- His teammate Stacy X had an unrequited crush on him. In Uncanny X-Men #413 (November 2002), Stacy and Husk fight over their common attraction to Archangel.
- In Uncanny X-Men #415 (January, 2003), Warren attracts the attentions of the empath Josette. She tries to seduce him, and he turns her down.
- In X-Men: First Class #7 (May, 2007), Angel has a brief relationship with the Scarlet Witch.
- In Uncanny X-Force #16 (November, 2011), Archangel has sex with Pestilence/Ichisumi. He impregnates her and she goes on to give birth to their twin children: Uriel and Eimin.
- The younger version of Angel, displaced to Earth-616, has a relationship with X-23.
- In Thunderbolts, even as the team is fighting him, Songbird says that she has "never in [her] life seen a guy that good-looking!"
Clip Its Wings: Angel has large wings: during the Mutant Massacre storyline, his wings are mutilated and later develop gangrene so they're amputated. For a while, he uses artificial wings; later, real wings grow back.
Combo Platter Powers: He's got enhanced strength and endurance, healing blood, flight...
Crimefighting with Cash: He inherited a large fortune from his father, as well as the position of CEO of Worthington Industries.^noteVery loosely based on the real-life Worthington Industries and the similarly-named Worthington Corporation, both of which were well-established by the . The company is "an international conglomerate with holdings in advanced aviation technology, periodicals (at least one newspaper), experimental alternative fuels and fancy frozen yoghurts, with nearly uncountable net worth." He has used his fortune to bankroll the Defenders, X-Factor, and the X-Men.
- At one point, his old foe the Vanisher set up a company to sell drugs. Termed "designer genes," they were drugs distilled from mutants that gave their users temporary access to unique mutant powers. In Uncanny X-Men #409 (September, 2002), Archangel ended the threat by performing a hostile takeover of Vanisher's company.
Death Is Cheap: In X-Factor #15 (April, 1987), his wings were amputated. He escaped the hospital and took off on a private plane. The plane explodes in to ball of flames, and Angel was declared deceased. His funeral was held in issue #17 (June, 1987). In issue #18 (July, 1987), it is revealed that Angel was teleported out of the plane moments before the explosion. His rescuer was Apocalypse, who wanted to convert him to his cause.
- In The Infinity Gauntlet #1 (July, 1991), Thanos wipes out of half the population of the Marvel Universe. In issue #2 (August, 1991), a list of "missing" (dead) heroes is read and Archangel was among them. Every casualty of the event was restored to life in issue #6 (December, 1991), Archangel included.
- In Uncanny X-Force #18 (February, 2012), Archangel is killed by Psylocke, who uses the Life Seed to stab him. The death did not even last the issue. The Life Seed immediately resurrects him, but wipes out his memory.
Did Not Get the Girl: He was involved in a Love Triangle with Jean Grey and Cyclops. Both men wanted her, and Warren was more open about it. This subplot run for years in the original X-Men series. It was resolved in issue #31 (April, 1967), when Warren decided to drop the pursuit. He realized Jean was not returning his affection. That same issue introduced his Replacement Goldfish, Candy Southern.
Discard and Draw: Due to the limitations of his original abilities in combat, Warren's powers have gone through a number of changes over the decades to the point that he rivals Psylocke in this trope. Originally, Warren started out as simply having wings that allowed him to fly. After he suffered an injury to these wings, he was transformed into Apocalypse's Horseman and gained techno-organic wings which fired poison tipped Feather Flechettes. He regained his organic wings and gained the ability to heal himself and others by mixing his blood with theirs. After some time, his metallic wings and the Archangel persona resurfaced. Following Psylocke killing him, his organic wings and healing powers returned. He also gained the ability to fire energy blasts from his hands and manifest a Laser Blade.
Distressed Dude: Uncanny X-Men #169-170 (May, 1983), Angel was kidnapped by the Morlocks. Their leader Callisto wanted to have him as her consort, since he was "the most beautiful man in all the world." He spend both issues as a helpless captive, "silent and naked except for a loincloth, shackled, crucifixion-style, to a wall in Callisto's dungeon."
Doomed Upgrade: Superpowered version. Various writers continue trying to upgrade him beyond "lame old flight," but nobody can agree on what that upgrade should be, so his powers have gone through at least three major revamps. The longest-lasting of these was being stints as Archangel with razor-sharp metal wings (permanently locked into the form from 1988 to 1996, able to shift at will between Angel and Archangel from 2008 to present).
Dream Sequence: In Uncanny X-Force #18 (February, 2012), Archangel is dying and Psylocke uses her telepathy to give him an elaborate dream. In it, the two are a married couple, raising two daughters in Colorado. They grow old together, and Warren dies of natural causes. All those decades in a few minutes.
Even the Guys Want Him: Yes, he's THAT hot. His former friend Cameron Hodge was obsessed with Warren. In X-Factor #34 (November, 1988), Cameron killed Candy Southern, Warren's actual lover. He explains his reasons for killing her: "She loved you. And you loved her. You turned from me and loved her." The motivation of a Stalker with a Crush who has decided to Murder the Hypotenuse.
Evil Costume Switch: Angel, as Death of the Four Horsemen (he kept his costume after returning to X-Factor and becoming Archangel).
Evil Former Friend: Cameron Hodge used to be his friend before becoming his Archenemy. Warren trusted him enough to have him serve as the public relations director to X-Factor.
Evil Uncle: His paternal uncle Burtram "Burt" Worthington is the super-villain Dazzler. He killed first Warren's father and then his mother. All in an attempt to claim the family fortune. Unfortunately for him, Warren survived and became the actual heir. His appearances so far include Ka-Zar #2-3 (December, 1970 - March, 1971), Marvel Tales vol. 2 #30 (April, 1971), and X-Men: The Hidden Years #13-16 (December, 2000 - March, 2001).
Face–Heel Turn: Angel, after being brainwashed by Apocalypse into becoming the Horseman of Death; He eventually returned to the side of good though.
- It happens again when his Death persona takes over and he becomes the successor to Apocalypse. Setting of the Dark Angel Saga in the pages of Uncanny X-Force.
- His first Face Heel Turn occurred back in Tales of Suspense #49 (January, 1964). Following an accidental exposure to radiation, Angel becomes an "evil mutant." He heads right to the Xavier Mansion and announces his resignation from the X-Men. His teammates attempt to restrain him until the Professor arrives. Instead Angel easily knocks Beast and Cyclops off their feet, evading attacks by Iceman and Marvel Girl. He flies away just before Professor X arrives and casually ignores a mental command to return. Pointing he is no longer scared of Xavier. He then goes on trying to make contact with evil mutants. He instead gets into a fight with Iron Man. Iron Man fails to get the best of his opponent, but then tries another strategy. He pretends to fall out of the sky to his death. This snaps Angel out of his "evil mutant" persona and he goes to the rescue. He is a hero again and is welcomed by the X-Men.
The Favourite: Of Apocalypse, as implied many times after his initial transformation, and confirmed in the lead-up to X of Swords. The Horsemen of Apocalypse are all Replacement Goldfish for the original Horsemen, his children, and while he liked a few well enough, none of them really measured up... except for Warren, who Apocalypse both liked and respected, once calling him "the greatest of my Horsemen". Unsurprisingly, Warren's not so wild on the idea.
Feather Flechettes: In his Death/Archangel persona. Each flechette is tipped with a paralytic toxin that temporarily renders his victims immobile, physically "dead" and unable to access any conscious powers they may have.
Fiction 500: His personal wealth places him as one of the richest men in the United States. He can always cover the expenses of entire teams
Flight of Romance: This trope is taken to a extreme when Angel has sex with Husk in mid air in front of her mother, Nightcrawler, and several other people.
Friend to All Children: In Wolverine and the X-Men (Marvel Comics) #10 (July, 2012), Rachel Grey reveals that Angel devotes part of his day to children. Specifically he volunteers at the hospital and takes sick children on rides through the clouds.
Good Wings, Evil Wings: Angel has while feathery wings during his early incarnation. Later, he is grabbed by Apocalypse and experimented upon, and his wings become metallic and retractable. Later the metal wings mysteriously fall off and reveal the old feathered wings have returned, and still later Warren gains the ability to shift at will between the feather-winged Angel and metal-winged Archangel. And in the latter form he has to fight against the evil urges that have been imbued in him by Apocalypse, hence sticking with the weaker but entirely good Angel form whenever possible.
Hand Blast: Following his resurrection in 2012, Angel gained new energy powers, being able to blast energy from his hands. However, this ended up being a case of Cast from Lifespan.
Have We Met?: Amnesiac or not, Angel finds his teammate Genesis/Evan Sabahnur looks familiar and feels he should know more about him. Genesis is a clone of Apocalypse, Angel's former master.
Healing Factor: When Chuck Austen revamped Archangel's powers, one of the new ones was a healing factor. In Uncanny X-Men #415 (January, 2003), Warren is completely healed after being severely injured. Even his broken bones are repaired. Warren surprises Iceman with his "rapid healing." Iceman suggests that Warren is turning into a copy of Wolverine: "So what’s next? You pop claws out of your forearms, develop a taste for beer and mousse your hair all pointy on the sides?"
Healing Hands: Averted. While believing himself to be an actual Angel, Warren is convinced he has this power. In Wolverine and the X-Men (Marvel Comics) #8 (June, 2012), Warren tries to use this power on a paralyzed Wolverine. Nothing happens.
Hell Is That Sound: Archangel's wings make noise while he flies. Apparently it's not a pleasant one.
Heroes Prefer Swords: He briefly wielded a sword that he took from a battle he won with an alternate reality Illyana Rasputin. It hasn't really been seen in a while, though he's proved himself a competent fencer with his wings.
Heroes Want Redheads: He was a suitor to redhead Jean Grey. His one time love interest Scarlet Witch has auburn hair. "Auburn" being reddish-brown.
Honest Corporate Executive: He is the CEO of Worthington Industries and is not in favor of underhanded business methods or morally questionable investments. His board of directors, on the other hands, has invested money in the X-Ranch (a mutant brothel) and Lobo Technologies (a company illegally selling Stark Enterprises products under their logo).
I Believe I Can Fly: When Angel was introduced as a member of the X-Men, it was alongside the very flightless Cyclops and Beast, while Iceman's ice slides didn't offer the same level of maneuverability and Jean Grey couldn't levitate herself very far. But as the roster has expanded with characters who have flight as a side effect of their powers—Storm, Magneto, Rogue (after absorbing the right abilities), Mystique, Cannonball, Apocalypse, and so on—being stuck with huge feathered wings as a mutation must be annoying.
- In fairness, Angel has gained (and lost) a lot of powers over the years, such as vision on par with a hawk's, being physically capable of flight i.e. being both lighter and stronger than normal humans, and recently universal donor blood with regenerative properties that, for some, can heal otherwise-doomed characters from fatal damage. And even when his power of flight was more exclusive, he always made it look like a lot of fun, like every childhood daydream you've had but better.
Identity Amnesia: Following his resurrection in 2012, Angel lost all memories of his previous life. In Wolverine and the X-Men (Marvel Comics), Angel becomes just another student. He has to be taught the basics about being a mutant, doesn't answer to the name "Warren," and for a while believed he was an actual Angel.
Impoverished Patrician: Following his amnesia, Angel spends a period when his bank accounts were frozen. This started in Wolverine and the X-Men (Marvel Comics) #5 (April, 2012). He also lost control of his company to its board of directors: "It is painfully obvious to the board of directors that their longtime CEO has suffered a mental breakdown and thus at present must be considered mentally unfit to run this company. They have no choice but to strip Mr. Worthington of all authority in regards to this company and to implore him to seek the medical attention he so desperately needs." ... "He is being called before a judge to demonstrate mental competence."
I Hate You, Vampire Dad: Considered Apocalypse his worst enemy after the latter made him a horseman.
Intergenerational Friendship:
- With Genesis/Evan Sabahnur. Angel is a full adult, Genesis is little more than a newborn clone. Justified in that Angel himself is functionally a child following his resurrection.
Jerkass Has a Point: In X-Factor #24 (January, 1988), Warren serves as Death, a Horseman of the Apocalypse. He lists his reasons for his newfound hatred of humans: "They took away his wealth, beauty, name, pride, and even his wings." He is correct that hateful humans have caused his Trauma Conga Line, and his former teammates offer no argument against his reasoning.
- In Uncanny X-Men (2018), he reverts to his Archangel persona, being a Sociopathic Hero at best and flat out states that he is undecided on whether or not he is going to attack them or not. He also rips the X-Men a new one, because they are responsible for his reversion, as he'd been one of Nate Grey's 'Horsemen of Salvation' and they'd taken him out. However, as he pointed out, he'd been serving Nate more or less willingly, since Nate was helping him with the Archangel persona, and the X-Men had just returned him to his worst nightmare. Betsy - who was the one to do it - admits he's right.
Killed Off for Real: In the Ultimate Marvel universe, during Ultimatum
The Lancer: Full of himself, overconfident, and continued to contend with Scott for Jean long after Bobby and Hank lost interest.
Laser Blade: Following his resurrection in 2012, Angel gained new energy powers. In Wolverine and the X-Men (Marvel Comics) #20 (January, 2013), he manifests an energy sword and has a brief Sword Fight with the second Silver Samurai. He bests his opponent.
Laser-Guided Amnesia: Angel, after the Life Seed is used on him.
Last of His Kind: Chuck Austen's storylines hinted that Warren is the last member of the Cheyarafim, an ancient Mutant sub-species with angelic looks and powers. They were the archenemies of the demonic-looking Neyaphem, a Mutant sub-species which includes Nightcrawler. Warren's blood, which heals others, burns Nightcrawler when used on him. This has been quietly ignored ever since.
The Leader: Starting from Uncanny X-Men #395, the series featured a group of X-Men going on rescue missions. Under Joe Casey, the leader was Nightcrawler. Under Chuck Austen the leader was Archangel.
Legacy Character: When Uncanny X-Force killed Apocalypse, the mantle was passed on to Archangel. Cue Archangel becoming the new Apocalypse.
May–December Romance: His relationship to Husk firs the trope. She was said to be about 19 years old at the time. Archangel is in his 30s.
- His relationship with Pestilence/Ichisumi is a more extreme version. Her origin story in Uncanny X-Force #3 (February, 2011), depicts her as an adult in 1833. She is likely more than 150-years older than Archangel.
The Medic: A grisly version, since he can use his blood to heal others.
Mighty Whitey and Mellow Yellow: He had a brief relationship with Pestilence/Ichisumi, a Japanese woman, when he usurped Apocalypse's position. He was clearly the dominant partner, as she served his will.
Mission from God: In Wolverine and the X-Men (Marvel Comics) #8 (June, 2012), Angel goes on a space mission to find a device able to heal a paralyzed Wolverine. He declares it a Mission From God.
Mistaken for Cheating: In X-Factor #10 (November, 1986), Angel and Jean Grey bond for a while and embrace. His lover Candy Southern walks in on them and mistakes this for a lover's embrace. She chews them both out. Angel because this is not his first time philandering. Jean because her real powers are wrecking relationships, making men fall in love with her, and destroying the men who fall for her. She then dumps Warren, quits her job in Warren Industries, and walks out.
Muscles Are Meaningless: Warren has a slender figure and is not muscle-bound. However, his Handbook profiles list him as having "Peak Human Strength." "The Angel possesses greater physical strength than an ordinary human equal to him in body weight and can lift about 500 lbs (226,80 kilos)."
Napoleon Delusion: For several issues of Wolverine and the X-Men (Marvel Comics), Warren thought himself to be an actual Angel and an agent of God. In issue #10 (July, 2012), his delusion almost kills him. He tries to fly up to Heaven and flies to a height where there is not enough oxygen for him to breath. He falls from the sky and has to be rescued by Genesis/Evan Sabahnur. When he wakes up, Angel realizes he is a mutant after all.
Necromancer: Angel demonstrates new powers after his resurrection in 2012. One of them is the ability to bring back the recently deceased. In Wolverine and the X-Men (Marvel Comics) #4 (March, 2012), he first uses this power to a bring a dead dog back to life.
Never Learned to Read: As revealed by Rachel Grey in Wolverine and the X-Men (Marvel Comics) #10 (July, 2012), the amnesiac Angel "couldn’t read a word in any language." Due to his rapid learning, Angel goes from illiterate to having the highest marks among students of the Jean Grey School for Higher Learning, along with Quentin Quire.
Old Money: His family has been wealthy and socially prominent since the 18th century. X-Men: The Hellfire Club #2 (February, 2000), features his ancestor Major-General Wallace Worthington as a key figure in the late years of The American Revolution.
- Our Angels Are Different: Angel is explicitly stated from the beginning to be a mutant who just happens to have various flying mutations including big white fluffy wings. Except, of course, later developments made him a descendant of the Cheyarafim, along with Icarus (Joshua Guthrie), and added healing blood to his powers.
Power Loss Depression: Warren had his wings amputated after they were mutilated by Harpoon, one of Mr Sinister's Marauders. This resulted in him falling into emotional turmoil, which Apocalypse took advantage of by offering to give him new wings in exchange for becoming one of his Four Horsemen.
Preppy Name: He's from a wealthy family called Worthington, and is the third generation of the lineage to be named Warren.
Pretty Boy: He is a blonde-haired, blue-eyed man who looks like a model. Not every artist can pull it off, of course, but he is supposed to be unnaturally, ethereally beautiful, to the point that the wings aren't what you notice first if you're close enough to make out his features. This even continued when he was blue-skinned. Amusingly, his time-displaced teenaged self jokingly acknowledges this while on a date with X-23, making himself out to be prettier than Jean Grey.
Laura: Jean is prettier than me.
Warren: That's not true.
Laura: You're prettier than me.
Warren: That is true.
Razor Wings: As Archangel. His techno-organic wings can cut through flesh, and tend to be used for the mutilation or decapitation of his opponents.
Restart the World: During his Face–Heel Turn in Uncanny X-Force The intent of the newly ascendant Archangel intends to raze the world using Willaim Rolfson AKA Genocide to burn the earth to the ground and then use the energies of the Celestial Life seed coupled with the Year Outside, Hour Inside nature of The World to create gardens on earth each exploding with possibilities' untold. Pity everyone will have to die for that to happen.
Sociopathic Hero/Villain Protagonist in Apocalypse-engineered mode. When heroic, Archangel is still extremely violent and kills on instinct. When his dark side wins out, he becomes an outright villain. Which does not prevent him from being the co-protagonist of X-Factor and X-Force Uncanny X-Force]].
Super Senses: Following his resurrection in 2012, Angel gains new powers. One of them gives him a version of enhanced vision. He is able to see the true essence of whomever he looks upon. He uses it twice in Wolverine and the X-Men (Marvel Comics) #10 (July, 2012)When he looks at himself (in the mirror), Angel sees himself glowing. Which makes him believe that he is so much more than a mutant. When he sees Genesis/Evan Sabahnur, Angel sees the adult Apocalypse.
Superpowered Evil Side: Angel has Archangel, the persona he developed after being experimented on by Apocalypse. Warren usually has wings and average healing powers. Archangel has razor sharp, retractable wings that launch out metal feathers that are dipped in his natural poison. He is a killer. See Yo Yo Plot Point below.
The Smart Guy: Among the students of the Jean Grey School for Higher Learning. He gets the highest marks among them, along with Quentin Quire.
Token Flyer: Warren was this for the original team. As new members with flight (and other powers) were added, Warren's own powers had to be expanded in order to avoid redundancy.
Walking Shirtless Scene: You try getting a shirt on over those things on a regular basis.
The Worf Effect: It may seem absurd, considering that he was the weakest of all the X-Men, but back in the day when he wasn't QUITE so useless the first thing that would happen in most fights is that Angel would rush in and get his ass handed to him, after which he would either be totally taken out or have to retreat to be rescued by the others. In retrospective, his strength was somewhat justified in that one of the attempts to revamp his powers was to make him physically stronger due to his flight musculature.
Voluntary Shapeshifting: Starting from X-Force vol. 3 #7 (November, 2008), Warren could willingly change from his white-skinned, feather-winged Angel form to his blue-skinned, techno-organic Archangel form.
What Kind of Lame Power Is Heart, Anyway?: The utter redundance of "just flight" as a power in such a fully realized superhero universe has caused numerous attempts to revamp him into a more serious combat threat (though there was the time around 2000 when they tried to up his usefulness by just focusing him on rescue in hazardous areas and situations). The most common variant is, as Archangel, Razor Wings, but he's also displayed the ability to launch feather projectiles in that form (exploding ones in the '90s animated series and razor-sharp ones in Wolverine and the X-Men (2009)).
Winged Humanoid: He is a mutant with white feathered wings. He was later Retconned into having super-strength and unbreakable, ultra-light bones, to explain away the biological improbabilities (he also has eagle-keen vision, though no one seems to remember this). When transformed into the Horseman Death by Apocalypse, his previously amputated feathered wings were replaced by razor-sharp mechanical ones that shot poison-tipped feathers. His white-feathered wings returned eventually, having grown back underneath the metal ones.
- He can now switch between normal Angel and blue-skinned, metal-winged Archangel forms.
Willfully Weak: As much crap as he gets in and out of universe when he’s just a guy that can fly in a world where people have flying as part of a bigger powerset, Warren would much rather be the guy with feathered wings flying around and enjoying the sky. Despite the big power up it gives him, he hates the Archangel form and the baggage it brings. It’s very seldom his choice but he very often tries to resist the Archangel form so he can just be Angel.
Yo Yo Plot Point: The conflict between Warren and his Archangel persona. Every time it gets resolved and Warren either makes his peace or even rids himself of Archangel entirely, guaranteed a few months later it's going to be dragged back up again. This is lampshaded in Uncanny X-Men (2018), when Betsy 'frees' him of Nate Grey's control as a 'Horseman of Salvation', turning him into Archangel - again, something which he doesn't hesitate to call her out on (especially since he was voluntarily serving Nate, because Nate was helping him keep Archangel under control). It should be noted that a handful of other characters have been converted into Horsemen and besides Gambit none of them have shown a hint of relapsing - though that might have something to do with how deeply Apocalypse transformed him. Certainly, it's notable that aside from the original Horsemen (who were his children), he's by far Apocalypse's favourite.

Beast

Henry Philip "Hank" McCoy / Beast

Notable Aliases: Blue Gorilla, Kreature, Mutate #666

Nationality: American, Krakoan

Species: Human mutant

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

"Some of us prefer the spotlight of the melody... like a shrill, brilliant violin... or a fun, emotive sax. While others harmonize in the background. Some serve a necessary function by mindlessly beating drums and crashing cymbals... pleasuring in their violent rhythm. And there are those who are as versatile as a cello... able to play melody or harmony, to swing between the brightest and darkest notes. And I... I am their conductor."

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.

Introduced as one of the original five X-Men, Hank was a genius-level intellect whose mutation manifested itself in the form of gorilla-like physiology and enhanced strength, but remained otherwise human-looking. Because of his combined brains and brawn, he's often regarded as a trope codifier of the genius bruiser trope. It wasn't until nearly a decade later, however, that Hank would transform into a literal blue, furry beast man.

Despite his monstrous appearance, Hank remained upbeat and witty for years, and continued serving as a stalwart X-Man and professor at the Xavier Academy in the following decades. He also became known for his pro-mutant activism and accolades in the fields of genetics and biochemistry. However, after M-Day, Hank grew angry and frustrated at his failures to prevent or reverse the depowering of almost all mutants and had a severe falling out with Cyclops over the morality of X-Force and other issues. From there, he became convinced that only he had the intellect to solve the problems facing mutantkind, to the concern of the rest of the X-Men who called him out for his increasingly reckless and immoral actions. Upon the founding of Krakoa, little remained of the witty and kind Dr.McCoy, and Hank was appointed the head of the new X-Force to act as the new nation's "mutant CIA", wielding an large amount of unchecked power which he believed only he had the intellect, right, and ability to hold.

Beast is also notable for being one of the few Marvel characters to serve as an X-Man, Avenger, and Defender, while also spending a period of time with The Inhumans as well. He was specifically placed on The Avengers by Steve Englehart because of his light-hearted personality, serving as a foil to some of their more serious members.

Because of his status as a founding X-Man, Beast has appeared quite often in other media. He's been in every animated X-Men series to date, and even two anime featuring Marvel characters.

Beast also appears in most of the X-Men Film Series, portrayed by a number of actors throughout the franchise — most notably Nicholas Hoult and Kelsey Grammer as the younger and older incarnations of the character, respectively.

All for Nothing: The main reason he's had so many mutations over the years is that first dose of mutant growth hormone he had synthesized and then took himself to avoid it being taken by thieves. A few flashbacks to the backstories of contemporary characters show that MGH ended up on the streets soon after anyway.
All Love Is Unrequited: Hank, like practically everyone in the original X-Men (sans Bobby), had a crush on Jean Grey and he even stole a kiss but was never a contender for her affections between Scott and Warren. This only came up well after the fact when his past self is brought to the present and his love for Jean is explored, with their past versions even starting a relationship, but one that is ultimately broken off-panel.
Amazing Technicolor Population: The fur which covers out his body was grey when he had his own series in Amazing Adventures. It later changed to blue, which is his signature color.
Anti-Hero: Originally Hank was one of the nicest X-Men, but since not that long ago he seems to have gotten into this. Specifically one of his more questionable decisions is pulling out O5 from the past just to show Cyclops how Scott has changed since the team’s early days. And as of the present Krakoan Age he’s X-Force supervisor and by issue 6 his methods include torture, ordering to kill the creatures (that were once humans) and brainwashing, veering into Nominal Hero territory.
A Beast in Name and Nature: A rare heroic version; codenamed for his gorilla-like physique, enormous hands and feet, and (later) his blue fur and other animalistic attributes. In sharp contrast to his beastly appearance, Hank is commonly portrayed as a brilliant scientist and a gentleman. Even following his moral decline, his behaviour is less obviously beastly, more cold and clinically cruel.
Badass Bookworm: He has been constantly portrayed as a major bibliophile and has been integral to ending many world-destroying threats.
Became Their Own Antithesis: From the 60s to the mid-2000s, Beast was once a shining pillar of morality and a jovial and witty prankster who objected to ruthless and reckless acts and orders. Unfortunately, since M-Day bitterness and his belief that he failed mutantkind in the past, has gradually erased almost all of his standards he once held, and as of the present Krakoan Age,Beast now operates in a very clinical and often horrifying fashion, using his former friends and subordinates as pawns for plans he believes that only he can comprehend and direct to secure Krakoa and mutantkind's future.
Beware the Nice Ones: He was a very nice person, but push him too far and you would regret it. Sadly, the nice part of this trope no longer applies as he has fallen considerably from his once moral heights.
The Big Guy: The strongest and more physically imposing of the original X-Men, though he's gone a bit to seed in the Krakoa era/
Brought to You by the Letter "S": His initial Secret Avengers costume had a gigantic "A" on the chest, which is kind of odd for a guy who's on a secret team. Thankfully he's gone back to his normal X-Men costume.
Break the Cutie: He is widely known as an energetic and brainy sweetheart. But recently? It’s implied that M-Day and any tragedy that followed haven’t done any favors for his mental health.
Bruiser with a Soft Center: He frequently quotes poetry and literature, and is a very kind and warm man.
Catchphrase: "Oh my stars and garters!" and "Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent"—usually said right before he slugs someone.
Character Development: Zigzagged between this and Depending on the Writer. Since the aftermath of House of M, Beast's morals steadily circling the drain has been a frequent yet fluctuating motif for the character with Henry’s increasing God Complex, loss of accountability (see “Never My Fault” and other examples on this page), and propensity to assume that anyone disagreeing with him is simply too thick to understand the proper way to accomplish things or his reasonings. On the other hand, Ben Percy’s portrayal of Hank during the Krakoan Age leans toward the logical endpoint of this motif; and has been consistent since the beginning of the relaunch.
Characterization Marches On: He was originally written as a Dumb Muscle, but the third issue abruptly changed his characterization to Genius Bruiser, and it stayed that way.
Chick Magnet: At least before he took on a feline appearance (and after gaining his blue fur), quite a number of women displayed attraction for him, or at least when he was with The Avengers, as it was not a rare sight to see groups of women swooning over him. He has had longtime relationships with Vera Cantor (1966-1990) and Trish Tilby (1988-2001). More recently he has been dating Abigail Brand.
Deadpan Snarker: He was the main source of verbal humor in the original X-Men and this trait has remained defining for him.
Jubilee: Show-off! I was just about to do that!
Beast: I am certain. Fact is, I was sitting over there thinking, "What would Jubilee do in MY place?"
Death Is Cheap: In The Infinity Gauntlet #1 (July, 1991), Thanos wipes out of half the population of the Marvel Universe. In issue #2 (August, 1991), a list of "missing" (dead) heroes is read and Beast was among them. Every casualty of the event was restored to life in issue #6 (December, 1991), Beast included.
Evil Twin: All the X-Men have evil twins. Beast is notable because his Evil Twin (known as the Dark Beast, who is actually himself from the Age of Apocalypse timeline) has stuck around long-term, become a recurring villain, and even teamed up with Beast himself on occasion. It's a mark of how far Beast's Character Development has gone that Sinister himself has cheerfully remarked to Dark Beast (currently a head in a jar) that he's not even the Darkest Beast any more.
Expy: Beast (in his human form) is very similar to "Monk" Mayfair, sidekick of proto-superhero Doc Savage. Monk is a scientist (industrial chemist) who resembles a great ape. Beast is a scholar (later scientist) with apelike features and abilities. Monk loves a good brawl, and so does the Beast. Monk loves beautiful women, and so does the Beast.
- In the early issues of X-Men, he was basically an expy of The Thing. It wasn't until #4 that he started wearing glasses and doing higher math.
Eye Scream: In X-Force (2019) issue #24, he ripped out and crushed his own eye after realizing one of Xeno's nesting doll soldiers was inside it. Since then, he is depicted as missing his left eye.
Fatal Flaw: In recent years, Pride, to the point of Hubris, wherein he believes that he has the right to play God and that anyone objects to his actions are simply too thick to understand.
Genius Bruiser: Hank is super-strong (depends on the writer, but sometimes he is said to bench press 70 tons), agile, and Nobel-level intelligent (generally regarded as the preeminent biochemist in the Marvel Universe, and he gave himself the power upgrade that made him look like how he is today, only stronger than he was when he looked more human). As a bonus, he was played by Kelsey Grammer in X-Men: The Last Stand.
Jean Grey: His name's Henry McCoy, dipstick—he reads poetry, swings from trees, knows the square root of a million, and he's gonna kick your butt.
Beast: [cracks knuckles] Indubitably.
Gentleman and a Scholar: Before his God Complex clouded his judgement, his politeness and courtesy were on par with his renowned intellect; serving as the voice of reason on many occasions.
Handy Feet: One of his most notable powers is superhuman manual dexterity, even in his feet. He regularly uses them along with his hands to perform all kinds of tasks, sometimes seen typing with his feet alone. Some adaptations (and further mutations) go so far as to make his big toes opposable like a gorillas. This is generally when he actually has feet, instead of lion-like paws.
Hated by All: He wasn't this trope before, but by the time of the Hellfire Gala, his hypocrisy, smugness, and overall morally bankrupt actions have been nearing to a breaking point. He has lost almost all of the respect, care, and trust he had garnered throughout the years. Even his longtime allies and friends and his X-Force teammates have had enough. Hell, even Jean Grey, who has a kind word for practically everyone and formerly regarded Hank as a close, dear friend, has told him where to get off. Even worse, he rationalizes the hate as proof that he is more intelligent and righteous than they are.
- Its played with in regards to his metatextual innner monologue in X-Force 2019 issue #23, and a line of dialogue by Kate Pryde in Immortal X-Men #1; which elaborate and imply that despite abhorring what Hank is now, many characters in-Universe still have fond memories of who he was before.
Healing Factor: He has one, making him able to recover from non-fatal wounds at a much faster rate than normal humans.
The Heart: Throughout the majority of his appearances from the 60s to the mid-or-late 2000s, Hank would usually serve this role to the Avengers, Defenders, X-Men, etc. in general or as a backup version of this whenever it was already filled; using his down-to-earth friendliness to keep everyone in check.
Heroes Love Dogs: Before M-Day and Krakoa-as-a-Nation, when he was still an earnest, heroic figure, he adopted a small dog named Sassafras during his tenure within the New Defenders run by JM De Matteis. Whatever happened to Sassafras afterwards is anyone’s guess.
Heroes Want Redheads: He was attracted to redhead Jean Grey in his teenage years. Mind you, so was literally everyone who didn't later come out as gay.
Heterosexual Life-Partners: With Iceman, and later his Avengers teammate Wonder Man.
Hidden Depths: Before his "secondary mutation" kicked in, giving him cat-like paws, he was a talented guitar player. Something he revealed only after he lost the ability to do so. He later started learning how to the play drums.
Hoist by His Own Petard: He brings the O5 to the present to show mess with Cyclops by showing his younger self how far he had fallen. It works for Cyclops (though his younger self ends up admiring him) but it also works for young Beast. And unfortunately (and ironically), while the integration of their past selves' memories does wonders for Scott, it does absolutely nothing to Hank.
Hypocrite: Once accused Scott of forming X-Force as a black ops team to do all of his “dirty work”. In Dawn of X he himself became a supervisor of the Krakoan X-Force and his deeds involve torturing, brainwashing and giving direct orders to kill.
I Reject Your Reality: Pre-Schism, Henry McCoy was one of the most reasonable and sensible people in the Marvel Universe. Post-Schism, Hank’s developing habit of shirking accountability (See “Never My Fault”) was mainly due to pride and/or insecurity, with shades of this regarding the consequences of bringing the O5 to the future. However, since the the Krakoa relaunch, he appears to have completely graduated to this trope. No matter how much empirical evidence there is that his methods cause more harm than good or if his colleagues and peers have more valid points than he does, he will perpetually insist to himself that he is the only one who can do the right or smart things; and will compulsively shun his colleagues’ points to near-delusional levels.
Ignored Epiphany: His encounter with Uatu condemning him for his actions and destroying potential futures with mutant utopias caused Beast to reflect on his actions and wonder if he could fix them. However, he then proceeded to continue down his same self-righteous path and decide that only he could judge himself. It happens again when he integrates the memories of his younger self, as the other O5 do. All of the others? They have reason to think, and in Scott's case, it causes positive Character Development. Beast? Doesn't even think about it.
Insufferable Genius: Increasingly in recent years as he starts Jumping Off the Slippery Slope by bringing the Original Five to the present on false pretenses (he claimed that present day Cyclops was about to unleash mutant genocide) and refused to admit he'd done anything wrong - while the incident with Uatu suggests that it haunts him somewhat, he just continued to double down.
Intergenerational Friendship: With Wolverine. Wolvie was born in the 19th century and is old enough to be Beast's ancestor. Sadly, this friendship later becomes broken by Beast's moral decline and manipulations of Wolverine.
Jumping Off the Slippery Slope: Throughout the Krakoan Age, Beast slips further and further down the scale of morality and is repeatedly called out by his teammates and former friends. Beast insists everything he does is right and for the security of the nation, but grows increasingly frustrated and unhinged due to his critics, particularly Wolverine. He ultimately decides to eliminate that source of criticism by murdering Wolverine in secret and leaving him a mindless husk under Beast's sole control upon resurrection with no one else the wiser, utilizing him to murder Krakoa's "enemies", which include both legitimate threats and innocents, like a reporter who wrote a negative article about mutantkind.
Knight Templar: He was formerly open to admitting his mistakes and taking responsibility for his actions. Unfortunately, he has become so convinced of his own righteousness in the Krakoan Age that he will tolerate no criticism of his work or even consider he might be wrong in the brutal and monstrous actions he takes in the name of Krakoan security. It reaches the point where he begins to plan on excluding refugee mutants from the island behind the Quiet Council's back because he considers them undesirable and contributing nothing to the security of the nation.
Killed Off for Real: In the Ultimate Marvel universe, during Ultimatum
Lightning Bruiser: Not only is Hank strong, but he's also incredibly fast and agile.
Lovable Nerd: Before the Schism event, when he was portrayed as a genial character, his warmth towards his friends and allies was as infectious as his intellect was extraordinary. Later, there were still shades of it. By the Krakoan age? Officially Hated by All.
Loved by All: Before the Krakoan Era turned him into the skin-crawling opposite (see “Hated By All” above and “We Used To Be Friends” below) Hank was a downplayed, but significant example of this for the Marvel Universe (just not at the same level as Captain America or The Thing). He often served the role of a bridge between the Mutant groups and the non-Mutant groups; generally viewed (even by a large amount of baseline humans) as a respectable, trustworthy, endearing, and diligent individual from both a social and academic standpoint. Even his parents and (implicitly) his uncles cherished and supported Henry well after he grew mammalian traits and a blue pelt (though it did take his mother a little longer to warm up to him again) - a rarity for Mutants in the Marvel Universe. There were plenty of times where he would butt heads with his friends and allies, get on their nerves, or be in the wrong, but never to the point of receiving utter dislike from them. Even after his moral fracturing and loss of accountability after M-Day, he was still thought fondly of by a large portion of the superbeing world.
- The often gruff and surly Wolverine also expressed a brotherly soft spot for Hank on a handful of occasions (though that relationship has also turned sour very recently).
Mistaken for Gay: His girlfriend Trish Tilby once accused him of being gay... prompting him to admit to such in the media... despite not actually being gay. See, she gave him the idea that he could be a role model for mutants and gay people at the same time.
Monster Modesty: He started off looking reasonably normal. During this time, he was covered up almost completely. Once he turned into a furry monster, he stripped down to underwear. This is especially odd since the character is a very educated, polite individual who would normally be the type to dress in a dignified manner.
- Hank explained at least once, though it may not have been fully serious (or even canonical), that he dresses the way he does because all that fur got downright HOT when all covered up. When he DOES get fully dressed, he's about as dapper as a bulky, stocky man with bright blue fur all over his body can be.
Mutants: He is both a mutant and a mutate. He was born a mutant with ape-like features and abilities. He mutated himself by ingesting a chemical. It turned him into a new form with new powers. He grew gray fur over his entire body, his muscles expanded, ears became larger and pointed, claws sprouted, and his canine teeth became larger, resembling fangs. The serum further increased his superhuman agility, endurance, speed, and strength, as well as enhanced his senses, and granted him an extraordinary healing factor.
Natural Weapon: His fangs and claws are weapons.
Never My Fault: When the entirety of the current X-men and the O5 he brought to the present try to talk to him about tampering with time and space, for petty reasons and how his actions have affected others, all he can do is talk about how Scott Summers made him do it.
Nice Guy: Before his gradual and dramatic moral fall from M-Day to the present Krakoan Age obliterated this trait from him, he was genuinely this from the 60s to the mid-2000s. A kind, gregarious, playful, and very empathetic soul. However, even then, he did have his fair share of emotional and psychological baggage now and then. Even during the years before Krakoa-as-a-Nation, this friendly side of him popped up every once in a while to varying periods of time.
Nuclear Mutant: Stan Lee toyed the idea that Mutants were the result of exposures to radiation. Which is why the X-Men were the so-called "Children of the Atom." Beast's Origins Episode in X-Men #49 (October, 1968) reveals the reason for Beast's mutation. His father Norton McCoy worked in nuclear power plant. An accident exposed him to a massive dose of radiation. When Norton eventually had a son, this son was born with an obvious genetic mutation.
Omnidisciplinary Scientist: He had his brains undergo an inflation similar to Superman's powers going from Flying Brick in the Golden Age to almighty in the Silver Age. In the early days he was just the best and most studious of the school's students. By now he's a world-renowned expert in every science there is, and when it comes to solving the science-based problem of the week, be it a virus, a killer robot that doesn't respond to Eye Beams, etc. he'll be the one to do it. Officially Reed Richards is the smartest human in the Marvel Universe, but Beast really can stand up to him in the actual count of scientific day-saving moments. Need a device to make the godlike Dark Phoenix's butt temporarily kickable? He'll whip it up in an hour. The Big Bad is using an alien spaceship left behind by the Precursors? He'll pull up a chair and make it work for him in under an hour! Legacy Virus? Get on it, Hank. And somehow, even with the superhero-ing and research work in all fields of science, Hank also finds time to be a regular on the talk show circuit.
- Interestingly, he's less like this in his Avengers appearances: when you've got a team with Pym, Stark, and Banner you don't need another genius, so he's more of a Boisterous Bruiser with his (considerable) physical powers emphasized (which have also greatly increased since his days as one of the original X-Men; he once casually boasted about being able to bench press 70 tons and his agility has always been on par with Spider-Man). However, that was when he was first with the Avengers, during the interregnum between the original X-Men series and the "all new, all different" one that introduced Storm, Wolverine, etc. This many decades of being the X-Men's resident genius later, it's no longer possible to ignore the brains angle. He keeps his X-Men characterization during Secret Avengers, and in that series he's clearly on par with Pym.
  - The in-universe explanation (although never stated outright) was that this was the time where he started experimenting with pot.
- Dark Beast, the evil alternate Hank who arrived here from the Age of Apocalypse universe, once posed as "our" Hank and ended up complaining about all the things he was expected to know. Dark Beast is an expert on genetics, making him seriously bad news to have on the wrong side in this universe. However, genetics is his specialty while the prime Hank's specialty is "everything ever." At one point, that was prime Hank's specialty too, but he's branched out a lot since then, being a medical doctor in addition to having Ph.Ds in genetics and biochemistry and being a self-trained expert in everything else.
The Paranoiac: Not long ago, Hank was an amiable and fun-loving soul. Even after his disillusionment post-House of M, he found it in himself to maintain these two traits. Unfortunately, as of the Krakoa relaunch, he has, tragically, become a man who harbors a nigh-sociopathic fear of imminent doom, the unpredictable, or just being wrong; as exemplified with these instances:
- He has an obscenely high opinion of himself; proclaiming in his inner monologues and data pages that his role is the most vital compared to everyone else’s; that only he knows how to accomplish “the job” and everyone is too dim witted to make valuable contributions.
- Rationalizes cruelty and violence as the only solution to solving Mutantkind’s problems and defeating their “enemies”.
- Rarely holds himself accountable for any screw-ups that are tangibly his own fault.
- Expresses a grim outlook of the world; believing that everyone, including Mutants, are full of nasty tendencies (in X-Force 2019 issue #23); often deriding the Quiet Council’s work as “diplomatic nonsense” (behind their backs); having an accusatory outburst at Sage - suspecting her of sabotage (in Wolverine 2020 issue #13); and claiming his teammates are acting on “sickening optimism” when they agree on inducting Omega Red (in X-Force 2019 issue #27). He distrusts anyone else to do “the job” properly (like him) that he lies and keeps secrets on a regular basis.
- Expresses a fear of dying and being gene-edited or having his mind tweaked upon resurrection (in X-Force 2019 issue #23).
- Bristles or becomes agitated when someone (even professionally) calls him out on his B.S.
- Has installed a bio-technological surveillance network across the globe, even on Krakoa, in order to “protect” everyone.
- Plays the role of fear-monger in X-Force 2019 issue #12; rationalizing that instilling paranoia and terror in Krakoa’s residents will motivate them to be more vigilant.
- In Wolverine 2020 issue #27, he wants a band of Arakki pirates eliminated before they commit a crime in order to prevent a crime from happening.
Pillars of Moral Character: Originally. His heroism was duty-based, seeing it as his duty to save lives as both a hero and a scientist, driven by compassion, refusing to compromise his morals and attempting to act as a living conscience to others. That changed following M-Day.
- Undermined somewhat in recent years; while he still sees himself as this and tries to behave as such, he tends to behave in an increasingly reckless, self-righteous, and destructive manner - bringing the teenage Original 5 to the present and consequently screwing up the timeline in a hairbrained scheme to get Cyclops to 'see reason', for instance, nearly wound up retgonning Cyclops out of existence, increased the rate of the universe's decline and according to Uatu in a "Reason You Suck" Speech, destroyed multiple positively Utopian possible futures for the X-Men.
- Worse, when repeatedly confronted with his habit of defying the laws of nature with no regard to the consequences, even when called out for it by his own younger self, he refused to admit that he'd done anything wrong and his justification was basically 'I'm far too smart for you to understand anything I do, therefore you are in no position to judge me.' It gets to the point where Storm bluntly asks when he stopped knowing the difference between right and wrong.
- In the present Krakoan Age, it's only got even worse; he's now running an incarnation of X-Force - something he'd once condemned Cyclops for - and one that, if anything, made Cyclops' version look like fluffy bunnies. They, after all, only targeted direct threats to mutantkind. Beast's version is less discriminating... and he still believes, as ever, that he is right and no one is fit to morally judge him because they aren't smart enough. Even the eternally compassionate Jean Grey, the Original 5's other version of this (and unlike Beast, managed to largely stick to it), shuts him down because she's sick of his behaviour.
- And if THAT wasn’t bad enough, he THEN jumps off the slope by murdering Wolverine, keeping his skull as a memento, and having him resurrected as a mindless, mind-controlled husk that he points at anyone he deems an 'enemy' of Krakoa, even if they just wrote a negative article about mutants.
Pointy Ears: When he mutated himself, Beast gained pointy ears. He lost them when he changed to a new catlike form, then regained them when he started looking human again.
Power at a Price: During X-Factor he became infected by Pestilence with a disease that increased his strength at the cost of his intelligence the more he exerted himself.
Professor Guinea Pig: That is how Beast went from hairless gorilla to a furry form. While working for the Brand Corporation, discovered an hormonal extract that causes mutations in genetic structures. He then discovered a mission that would need him to be unrecognizable. Beast decided to use the chemical on himself to temporarily disguise his features. He would have an hour to complete his mission and take an antidote to change back. He missed that deadline and the furry form became permanent.
Psychologist Teacher: As a teacher, Beast tries to solve the problems of his students. Though, he is far from infallible in his role.
Queer Flowers: Invoked (but probably as Gay Bravado) in the case of Wonder Man and Beast. When Wonder Man returns from the dead again in the pages of the Busiek/Perez Avengers, Beast shows up with a bouquet of roses, tackles him, and gives him a sloppy kiss on the lips.◊ In an issue of Marvel's Alternate Universe Exiles, the team's Alterna-Beast chooses not to return to his own universe because, with his lover Wonder Man dead, there was nothing left for him there.
Self Made Super Powers: Henry McCoy (Earth-295), better known as Dark Beast, continuously experimented on himself and others and gained Super Strength, slowed aging, etc. The full extent of his capability remains unknown as he continuously changes them. He also received cybernetic enhancements from Mr. Sinister.
Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness: Easily the most verbose of the original X-Men and has a tendency to use "big words." It's just for the joy of wordplay — everyone he works with already knows he's a genius — though it undoubtedly has a side effect of convincing people he's never met before that even mutants who look like him can possess an enormous vocabulary.
- And he does it with insults too; "go suck eggs" becomes:
  Hank: Why don't you go orally extract embryonic fluid from a hen's egg?
Shoe Size Angst: His first mutation gave him enlarged hands and feet but his feet got the most attention, especially because of everything he could do with them.
The Smart Guy: Although he was probably more The Big Guy of the original team, since his intelligence was downplayed in those days. He is the resident genius.
Smart People Know Latin: In one issue, he converses with a Catholic nun in Latin.
Smart People Wear Glasses: He wears reading glasses and is a genius scientist. It's a little odd to see a big blue cat/ape thing wearing reading glasses, but it lets you know what you're in for.
Sophisticated as Hell: Always finds ways to make sophisticated references to literature, science, music, and science fiction. It's like a game for him, and it's his favorite one.
Status Quo Is God: Not as bad as the Hulk or the Thing, but he's never going to stay human-looking for long.
Stripperiffic: Less likely to wear a shirt than Iggy Pop. After mutating to his original furry form, he went around almost nude (see Monster Modesty above).
Suddenly Always Knew That: A strange case in that his time displaced younger self began dabbling in magic, and is seemingly possessed by a mystical artifact, and the nature of restoring the timeline means that technically Beast has been an Adept for years. This has yet to be followed up on in the present, especially the demonic transformation.
Super Strength: Has always had some level of super strength. As a teenager, Beast could lift 1 ton. His strength has since increased over the years.
Suspiciously Similar Substitute: With Dark Beast offstage, Hank’s recent characterization has been evoking more and more of his Age of Apocalypse counterpart to an uncanny degree with his terrifying actions reaching closer and closer to the same level of pointless unethicality as the grey-furred version - it gets to the point where Sinister cheerfully informs Dark Beast (now a head in a jar in his lab) that he's not even the Darkest Beast any more. In addition, this present characterization and its visual portrayals have echoes of Weapon X alums Dr. Abraham Cornelius and Professor Thornton from the Weapon Plus mythos; with their Scary Shiny Glasses aesthetic; their personalities as menacing science leaders who take themselves very seriously; their management of a government-sponsored black-ops group with nationalist vibes; their reliance on mind control, brain washing, and insanely sketchy experimentation; their goal to make the world a better place through borderline fascistic methods, and the styling of Hank’s facial fur is similar to Dr. Cornelius’s hair and beard combo. The similarities to Doctor Cornelius and Professor Thornton are elevated to a shocking degree when Henry develops a disturbing obsession with using and controlling Wolverine as a “perfect tool” to solving the world’s problems via assassinating the “enemies”.
Techno Wizard: He is an expert in electronics.
Took a Level in Jerkass: Although not impossible for him to recover from this trope, the beginnings of his recent moral fall set in after M-Day, when he was desperate to save mutantkind, but it got supercharged after the death of Charles Xavier, when he became increasingly reckless, self-righteous, and destructive. This doesn’t stop when Xavier returns - if anything, he just gets that much worse, to the point where Sinister considers him worse than his Evil Counterpart. See What the Hell, Hero? below.
Underwear of Power: His costume for most of The '70s and part of The '80s was just a pair of underwear-type bikini briefs.
The Unfettered: He was formerly the opposite. However, starting from the aftermath of House of M, when he was trying everything to seek a solution to the Decimation and teaming up with even the likes of Dark Beast, he steadily began to become this - exemplified by bringing the Original Five to the present on extremely spurious grounds. By the Krakoan Age, as the head of X-Force on Krakoa there are absolutely no lines that Beast will not cross to ensure the security of Krakoa. This includes murder, human experimentation, lying to his teammates and sending them to die as tests, and numerous other crimes. Whether or not he breaks away from this trope and gets restored to The Fettered in future books is uncertain.
Utopia Justifies the Means: As of the Krakoan Age he believes that any actions are justified, even ones that violate the nation's laws or hurt those closest to him. It’s uncertain whether he will or won’t be snapped out of this phase in the future.
Vitriolic Best Buds: With Iceman. They are best friends, but that does not prevent them from taking shots at each other. Beast pointing that Iceman is not the brightest guy around: "meet my blundering associate – who's not such a bad idiot when you get to know him!"
We Used to Be Friends: His fellow X-Men have all come to despise Beast by the Krakoan Age viewing him with disdain and only ever reluctantly working with him due to his brutal and corrupt nature. This is particularly notable with Scott, Jean Grey, and Logan. The former who he began to resent after the Decimation and the latter two who he recently fell out with during the Krakoan Age. Only time will tell if he makes a recovery from his moral fall and somehow (miraculously) rekindle these friendships in future books.
What the Hell, Hero?: He was on the delivering end of this to Cyclops but ended up taking their falling out to far and has since been on the reviewing end of this a number of times.
- When the Phoenix Force makes Cyclops kill Xavier, he brings younger versions of the original X-Men (himself, Scott, Jean, Bobby and Warren) to present day in order to torment him. Many people including the Watcher voice disgust in him for putting the whole Universe in danger just to mess with someone he hates, with even his younger self horrified at who he’s become. The X-Men eventually have an intervention in order to confront him about his actions telling him his hatred for Cyclops does not justify what he’s done. He just dismisses them all as not smart enough to see what he does. While he is haunted by the Watcher showing him all the Utopian futures he wiped out, and he has a breakdown when he achieves cosmic awareness and realizes he broke time, he arguably gets even worse.
- He joins the Illuminati in destroying alternate worlds in order to save their own, Captain America and the rest of the Avengers are horrified and they end up on run. When the end of their world comes anyway, he receives another “What the hell” from his younger self for bringing him to the present knowing the world was in danger instead of letting him live his life.
- When he teams up with the Inhumans in I.V.C, he received another from his former team when they come around to the fact that what the Royal Family was doing was wrong.
- In X-Force (2019), Jean calls out Hank on keeping secrets within X-Force, as they nearly ruined a whole country and made a threat to Krakoa, before walking off the team.
- Later in the book, when Krakoa comes into conflict with Russia, he starts rounding up Russian mutants for being potential moles, including longtime friend Colossus. To make it worse, Beast gathers Krakoan citizens to watch Colossus be arrested in a humiliating traitors parade. Both Domino and Wolverine voice how inappropriate and flat out messed up this is especially for someone as sweet and peaceful as Colossus. Wolverine even punches him in the stomach for this having had enough of his crap.
Wicked Cultured: "Beast turns evil" is kind of a much more common scenario than you'd think. See Grant Morrison's "Here Comes Tomorrow" arc in New X-Men for a quintessential one. Beast (under the influence of Sublime) attempts to destroy the X-Men (now led by a reformed clone of Cassandra Nova) once and for all.

Marvel Girl / Phoenix

Jean Elaine Grey / Marvel Girl / Phoenix

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/goddess_phoenix_i_7571.jpg

Notable Aliases: Jean Grey-Summers, Dark Phoenix, White Phoenix of the Crown, Redd Dayspring

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.

See Marvel Comics: Jean Grey

Characters / X-Men The Original Team
aka: Warren Worthington III

The Original Team

Professor Charles Francis Xavier / Professor X / X

Notable Aliases: Onslaught, Consort-Royal, Founder, Doctor X, Warlord, Entity, Prisoner M-13

Nationality: American, Krakoan

Species: Human mutant

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

Scott Summers / Cyclops

Notable Aliases: Slim, Slym Dayspring, Eric the Red, Mutate #007, Phoenix, Dark Phoenix, Captain Krakoa

Nationality: American, Krakoan

Species: Human mutant

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

Robert Louis "Bobby" Drake / Iceman

Notable Aliases: Drake Roberts, Mister Friese, Frosty

Nationality: American, Krakoan

Species: Human mutant

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

Warren Kenneth Worthington III / Angel / Archangel

Notable Aliases: Avenging Angel, Dark Angel, Death, Master of the Seven Seeds

Nationality: American, Krakoan

Species: Human mutant

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

Henry Philip "Hank" McCoy / Beast

Notable Aliases: Blue Gorilla, Kreature, Mutate #666

Nationality: American, Krakoan

Species: Human mutant

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

Jean Elaine Grey / Marvel Girl / Phoenix

Notable Aliases: Jean Grey-Summers, Dark Phoenix, White Phoenix of the Crown, Redd Dayspring

Nationality: American, Krakoan

Species: Human mutant

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

Alternative Title(s): Warren Worthington III, Beast, Beast Marvel Comics

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Characters / X-Men The Original Team aka: Warren Worthington III

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The Original Team

Professor Charles Francis Xavier / Professor X / X

Notable Aliases: Onslaught, Consort-Royal, Founder, Doctor X, Warlord, Entity, Prisoner M-13

Nationality: American, Krakoan

Species: Human mutant

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

Scott Summers / Cyclops

Notable Aliases: Slim, Slym Dayspring, Eric the Red, Mutate #007, Phoenix, Dark Phoenix, Captain Krakoa

Nationality: American, Krakoan

Species: Human mutant

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

Robert Louis "Bobby" Drake / Iceman

Notable Aliases: Drake Roberts, Mister Friese, Frosty

Nationality: American, Krakoan

Species: Human mutant

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

Warren Kenneth Worthington III / Angel / Archangel

Notable Aliases: Avenging Angel, Dark Angel, Death, Master of the Seven Seeds

Nationality: American, Krakoan

Species: Human mutant

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

Henry Philip "Hank" McCoy / Beast

Notable Aliases: Blue Gorilla, Kreature, Mutate #666

Nationality: American, Krakoan

Species: Human mutant

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

Jean Elaine Grey / Marvel Girl / Phoenix

Notable Aliases: Jean Grey-Summers, Dark Phoenix, White Phoenix of the Crown, Redd Dayspring

Nationality: American, Krakoan

Species: Human mutant

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

Alternative Title(s): Warren Worthington III, Beast, Beast Marvel Comics

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Characters / X-Men The Original Team
aka: Warren Worthington III