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Comic Book / X-Men: The Krakoan Age

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"History says that mutants conquered Death. Death is unconquered. We've entered into a polite agreement with it, true. An arrangement. An armistice. Death has chosen, in the face of our great cleverness, to turn away from us. That doesn't mean we won."
— Cable, Cable: Reloaded #1

The Krakoan Age is a Retool of the Marvel Comics in the X-Men franchise, initially pioneered by Jonathan Hickman.

Set in the shared Marvel Universe, it starts with two linked mini-series, House and Powers of X. After decades of mistreatment and hatred from humanity, the majority of mutantkind (heroic, villainous, and everything in between) gather together as a people to form the island nation of Krakoa, initially under the leadership of Magneto and Professor X, to ensure the future of their species. Krakoa ushers in a new era of prosperity for mutants, especially since they found a way to bring the dead back to life. However, Krakoa also holds some deep, dark secrets, especially concerning Moira MacTaggert.

The Krakoan age is separated into multiple mini-eras. Dawn of X set up the initial status quo, Reign of X allowed mutantkind to revel in their success, Destiny of X (which follows the Inferno series and Hickman's departure) brings old secrets and lies back to haunt Krakoa's founders, Fall of X, brings much of Krakoa's status quo crashing down, as the mutants' enemies strike against the new nation, launching a Darkest Hour arc and the final phase Fall of the House of X, which is continuation of Fall of X, sees the mutants strike back against their enemies, being a final conclusion to the entire Krakoan Era.

The whole X-Men line is relaunched again after the end of the Krakoan Age, this time (at least initially) under "From the Ashes" branding.

Main arcs and events within The Krakoan Age:

Comics released during The Krakoan Age:

    open/close all folders 

Dawn of X

    Prelude 
  • House of X — Throughout a single month, everything changes for mutants in the Marvel Universe, and a new mutant nation arises
  • Powers of X — New revelations about the history of mutantkind are uncovered across four time periods — with each year representing a factor of ten.

    Ongoing series 
  • Cable (2020) — 'Kid' Cable stars in his first series. Speak softly and carry a big $&%@ gun. Written by Gerry Duggan and drawn by Phil Noto.
  • Excalibur (2019) — A new connection forms between mutants, the magic of the world, and the Otherworld. Featuring Captain Britain III (Betsy Braddock), Gambit, Rogue, Jubilee, Marvel Comics: Apocalypse, and Rictor. Written by Tini Howard and drawn by Marcus To.
  • Fallen Angels (2019) — Not all belong in paradise. Kwannon finds herself in a new world for mutantkind and unsure of her place in it, and when a face from her past is killed, she seeks help to get vengeance. Featuring Psylocke II (Kwannon), Wolverine (Laura Kinney), Kid Cable, Husk, and Bling. Written by Bryan Hill and drawn by Szymon Kudranski. It ended after six issues.
  • Hellions — Mr. Sinister sets out to find a purpose for Krakoa's most dangerous mutants with Havok and Psylocke's help. Also featuring: Orphanmaker, Nanny, Empath, Greycrow, and Wild Child. Written by Zeb Wells and drawn by Stephen Segovia.
  • Marauders (2019) — Led by Captain Kate Pryde and funded by Emma Frost and the Hellfire Trading Company, this new team of Marauders sails the seas to protect those feared and hated. Featuring Kitty Pryde & Lockheed, Emma Frost, Storm, Iceman, Bishop, and Pyro. Written by Gerry Duggan and drawn by Matteo Lolli.
  • New Mutants (2019) — The New Mutants re-form and set out on a quest that takes to them to space! Featuring classic New Mutants Sunspot, Magik, Cypher (merged with Warlock), Mirage, Karma, and Wolfsbane, joined by Chamber and Mondo. Written by Jonathan Hickman & Ed Brisson and drawn by Rod Reis. At Issue #14, Vita Ayala takes over as writer and shifts the focus to the New Mutants as teachers to the younger generation.
  • Wolverine (2020) — Logan has found a new reality he can't quite understand: happiness. With Krakoa established as the mutant homeland, the world's greatest mutant killer now has to deal with threats to this fragile peace at the cost of his soul. Written by Benjamin Percy and drawn by Adam Kubert and Victor Bogdonavic.
  • X-Factor (2020) — Mutants have conquered death through The Five, but when a mutant dies, X-Factor is there to investigate the circumstances to follow the rules of resurrection. Featuring Polaris, Northstar, Daken, Prestige, Eye-Boy, and Prodigy. Written by Leah Williams and drawn by David Baldeón.
  • X-Force (2019) — The cost of the future isn't cheap, but X-Force is here to help. Featuring Marvel Girl, Wolverine I (Logan), Domino, Beast, Colossus, Black Tom Cassidy, Sage, and Kid Omega. Written by Benjamin Percy and drawn by Joshua Cassara.
  • X-Men (2019) — Described as the "hub world" of the new X-Men titles. Features Cyclops as a constant among a constantly changing cast of characters. Written by Jonathan Hickman and initially drawn by Leinil Francis Yu.

    Events 
  • Empyre: A Crisis Crossover in which Earth faces an alien invasion. Krakoa and the mutants aren't heavily involved, but it does cross into some titles (and gets its own X-Men limited series).

    Limited series 

    One-shots 

Reign of X

    Ongoing series 
  • Cable (2020) — Continued from Dawn of X. Kid Cable stars in his first series. Speak softly and carry a big $&%@ gun. Written by Gerry Duggan and drawn by Phil Noto.
  • Children of the Atomnote  — When did the X-Men get sidekicks?! A new team of "mouthy, sarcastic zoomers" explores new mutant culture. Written by Vita Ayala and drawn by Bernard Chang.
  • Excalibur (2019) — Continued from Dawn of X. A new connection forms between mutants, the magic of the world and the Otherworld. Featuring Captain Britain III (Betsy Braddock), Gambit, Rogue, Jubilee, Apocalypse, and Rictor. Written by Tini Howard and drawn by Marcus To.
  • Hellions — Continued from Dawn of X. Mr. Sinister sets out to find a purpose for Krakoa's most dangerous mutants with Havok and Psylocke's help. Also featuring: Orphanmaker, Nanny, Empath, Greycrow, and Wild Child. Written by Zeb Wells and drawn by Stephen Segovia.
  • Marauders (2019) — Continued from Dawn of X. Led by Captain Kate Pryde and funded by Emma Frost and the Hellfire Trading Company, this new team of Marauders sails the seas to protect those feared and hated. Featuring Kitty Pryde, Lockheed, Emma Frost, Storm, Iceman, Bishop, and Pyro. Written by Gerry Duggan and drawn by Matteo Lolli.
  • New Mutants (2019) — Continued from Dawn of X. The New Mutants re-form and set out on a quest that takes to them to space! Featuring classic New Mutants Sunspot, Magik, Cypher (merged with Warlock), Mirage, Karma, and Wolfsbane, joined by Chamber and Mondo. Written by Jonathan Hickman and Ed Brisson and drawn by Rod Reis. At issue 14, Vita Ayala takes over as writer and shifts the focus to the New Mutants as teachers to the younger generation.
  • S.W.O.R.D. (2020) - Following the dissolution of Alpha Flight, Abigail Brand enlists Magneto, Wiz Kid, Manifold, Frenzy, Kid Cable, Fabian Cortez, and more to protect the cosmos! Written by Al Ewing and drawn by Valerio Schiti.
  • Way of X — When Nightcrawler begins to create his mutant religion, he realizes there's something wrong in Krakoa and assembles a team to figure out the mystery. Written by Simon Spurrier and drawn by Bob Quinn.
  • Wolverine (2020) — Continued from Dawn of X. Written by Benjamin Percy and drawn by Adam Kubert and Victor Bogdonavic.
  • X-Corp — Mutandkind means business! The deals have been made and X-Corporation is here to take charge, with CXOs Monet St Croix and Warren Worthington III. But will X-Corp crash or soar? Written by Tini Howard and drawn by Alberto Foche.
  • X-Factor (2020) — Mutants have conquered death through The Five, but when a mutant dies, X-Factor is there to investigate the circumstances to follow the rules of resurrection. Featuring Northstar, Daken, Prestige, Eye-Boy, Prodigy, and Polaris. Written by Leah Williams and drawn by David Baldeón.
  • X-Force (2019) — Continued from Dawn of X. The cost of the future isn't cheap, but X-Force is here to help. Featuring Marvel Girl, Wolverine, Domino, Black Tom, Beast, Colossus, Sage, and Quentin Quire. Written by Benjamin Percy and drawn by Joshua Cassara.
  • X-Men (2019) — Continued from Dawn of X. Described as the "hub world" of the Krakoan X-Men titles. Features Cyclops as a constant among a constantly changing cast of characters. Written by Jonathan Hickman. The series ended midway through the Reign of X era.
  • X-Men (2021) — A new book about the Krakoan team of X-Men. Featuring Cyclops, Marvel Girl, Sunfire, Rogue, Wolverine, Synch, and Polaris. By Gerry Duggan and Pepe Larraz.
  • X-Men Unlimited (2021) — A Infinity Comics series exclusive to the Marvel Unlimited app, featuring stories from numerous creators. Initially began with the creative team of Jonathan Hickman and Declan Shalvey.

    Events 
  • The Death of Doctor Strange: A Bat Family Crossover prompted by the death of the titular Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme. With his death, Earth becomes vulnerable to a new range of occult foes. The only immediate impact on Krakoa is via the X-Men one-shot, but other elements reappear in Legion of X during Krakoa's Destiny of X phase.
  • Devil's Reign: A Bat Family Crossover centered on Daredevil, with villain Wilson Fisk (aka the Kingpin) now mayor of New York and acting against the city's costumed heroes. The only immediate impact on the X-Men books is via their crossover miniseries, but some plot threads reappear in Krakoa's Destiny of X phase.
  • King in Black: A Crisis Crossover in which Knull, a primordial god of darkness, threatens the Earth. The X-Men aren't a key part of the story, but it overlaps with Marauders (via a one-shot) and S.W.O.R.D. (via a crossover).
  • The Last Annihilation: A cosmic Bat Family Crossover in which occult forces attach the galaxy. The X-Men play a minor part in the event, via the Cable: Reloaded one-shot and a crossover with S.W.O.R.D..

    Limited series 

    One-shots 
  • Cable: Reloaded — The original, elder Cable is back in action in this one-shot, helping to save the galaxy from The Last Annihilation. By Al Ewing and Bob Quinn.
  • The Death of Doctor Strange: X-Men/Black Knight
  • King in Black: Marauders
  • Planet-Size X-Men — A double-sized one-shot exploring what happens during the Hellfire Gala and revealing Krakoa's brand-new team of X-Mennote . Written by Gerry Duggan and illustrated by Pepe Larraz.
  • Secret X-Men
  • X-Men: The Onslaught Revelation — A one-shot special finale for Way of X, as Nightcrawler finally confronts the being in the shadows, Onslaught. By Simon Spurrier and Bob Quinn.

Destiny of X

    Ongoing series 
  • Deadpool (2022) — Wade's now a member of Krakoa's X-Force team, but that won't stop him getting into even more trouble when they're not about. Such as trying to kill a well-known supervillain as an audition for a league of elite assassins. Written by Alyssa Wong with art by Martin Coccolo.
  • Immortal X-Men — The Quiet Council rules the Krakoan age, for better... or worse. Now, shaken by Inferno, they strive to hold together — no matter how much they want to tear each other apart. Featuring Professor X, Mystique, Storm, Emma Frost, Nightcrawler, Colossus, Kate Pryde, Sebastian Shaw, Destiny, Exodus, and Mister Sinister. Written by Kieron Gillen and drawn by Lukas Werneck.
  • Knights of X — A sequel to Excalibur (2019), Captain Britain III (Betsy Braddock) fights to reclaim Otherworld from the mutant-hating forces of Avalon. Also featuring Gambit and Prestige. Written by Tini Howard and drawn by Bob Quinn.
  • Legion of X — A sequel to Way of X, Nightcrawler and Legion have established the Legionnaires, a force to protect and cultivate "the Spark". Featuring Juggernaut, Pixie, Doctor Nemesis, Blindfold, and Dust. Written by Simon Spurrier and drawn by Jan Balzadua.
  • Love Unlimited (2022) — a Rotating Protagonist webcomic focusing on romance stories. Most issues are unrelated to the X-Men books, but Karma gets a story arc involving Krakoa, as does Gwenpool (Deadpool and Wolverine also get story arcs, but neither relates to Krakoa).
  • Marauders (2022): A relaunch of the previous Marauders series, with a new creative team. Led by Captain Kate Pryde and funded by Emma Frost and the Hellfire Trading Company, this new team of Marauders sails the seas to protect those feared and hated. Featuring Kate Pryde, Bishop, Psylocke, Daken, Aurora, Tempo, Somnus, and Cassandra Nova. Written by Steve Orlando and drawn by Eleonora Carlini.
  • Marvel’s Voices (2022) — a Rotating Protagonist webcomic. Most issues are unrelated to the X-Men books, but the first arc stars Iceman, a later arc stars the "Family Snikt" (the two Wolverines, Scout and Daken), and another stars Teenage Negasonic Warhead. All three are firmly part of the Krakoan Age.
  • New Mutants (2019), #25-33 — Continued from the previous Krakoan Age phases. Written by Vita Ayala and drawn by Rod Reis.
  • Wolverine (2020) — Continued from the previous Krakoan Age phases. Wolverine teams up with Deadpool to stop an existential threat to Krakoa. Written by Benjamin Percy and drawn by Adam Kubert.
  • X-Force (2019) — Continued from the previous Krakoan Age phases. Written by Benjamin Percy and drawn by Robert Gill.
  • X-Men (2021) — Continued from Reign of X. The X-Men have reformed, and they're living in New York again! Featuring Cyclops, Marvel Girl, Rogue, Wolverine II (Laura Kinney), Polaris, Synch, and Sunfire. Written by Gerry Duggan and drawn by Pepe Larraz.
  • X-Men Red (2022) — Continuing from the events of S.W.O.R.D. (2020), Planet Arakko (formerly known as Mars) needs something more than just a team of heroes to defend it. Who will rise to the challenge? Magneto, Storm and Sunspot form the first line of defence. Written by Al Ewing and drawn by Stefano Caselli.
  • X-Men Unlimited (2021) — A Infinity Comics series exclusive to the Marvel Unlimited app, featuring unrelated stories about a range of characters, from numerous creators. Continued from the previous Krakoan Age phases.

    Events 
  • A.X.E.: Judgment Day — a Crisis Crossover starring the X-Men, the Eternals and the Avengers. The Eternals now know about Krakoa's Resurrective Immortality, and their new leader - the manipulative Druig - thinks it makes a convenient pretext for a war that will strengthen his hold on power. Earth's oldest immortals are about to attack the newest, and the Avengers are caught in the middle. The X-Men are key characters in the main series, which also crosses over into most of the Destiny of X ongoing titles.
  • Dark Web — A Bat Family Crossover bringing the X-Men and the Spider-Man books together. Ben Reilly is a clone of Peter Parker, Spider-Man. Madelyne Pryor is a clone of the X-Men's founding member Jean Grey. Both of them have been manipulated and abandoned. Both have lost some of their memories. Now, working together, they think it's time to settle the score. The X-Men are mostly involved via a crossover miniseries.
  • Revenge of the Brood — Captain Marvel and the X-Men work together against a new threat from a common enemy: the alien Brood. A crossover between Captain Marvel and X-Men, not a comic of its own.
  • Sins of Sinister — A Bat Family Crossover between Immortal X-Men, X-Men Red and Legion of X. Mister Sinister's genetic database bought him a seat on Krakoa's Quiet Council, but nobody's ever trusted him. In Sins of Sinister, he finally makes his move against Krakoa's other leaders... and it immediately goes wrong. For everyone, including him. A thousand years of Bad Future awaits.

    Limited series 

    One-shots 
  • Giant-Size X-Men: Thunderbird — Written by Nyla Rose & Steve Orlando and drawn by David Cutler.
  • Secret X-Men — Written by Tini Howard and drawn by Francesco Mobili.
  • X-Men: Before the Fall — A quartet of one-shots serving as a prelude to Fall of X. The one-shots will tie up Krakoan-era loose ends going as far back as X of Swords while chronicling the lead-up to the third Hellfire Gala.
    • Heralds Of Apocalypse
    • Mutant First Strike
    • Sinister Four
    • Sons Of X

Fall of X

    Ongoing series 
  • Immortal X-Men: Xavier had a dream, but now he has nothing... as the Quiet Council is reduced to him and him alone! By Kieron Gillen and Lucas Werneck.
  • Invincible Iron Man (2022): Tony Stark’s war against Feilong continues as he builds an all-new stealth suit. By Gerry Duggan and Juan Frigeri.
  • Wolverine (2020): Wolverine crosses over with Ghost Rider in Weapons of Vengeance by Ben Percy and Geoff Shaw.
  • X-Force (2019): Colossus takes the reigns as the leader of X-Force. By Ben Percy and Robert Gill.
  • X-Men (2021): The Queen is Dead. Gerry Duggan’s run continues into the Fall of X with art by Joshua Cassara and Stefano Caselli.
  • X-Men Red (2022): Genesis returns and kickstarts a conflict that will remake the Red Planet! By Al Ewing and new series artist Yildiray Çinar.

    Limited series 
  • Alpha Flight (2023): The original Canadian superteam reunite as Guardian, Snowbird, Shaman and Puck must protect their homeland from whatever mutantkind might do... as well as a second Alpha Flight team composed of Nemesis, Northstar, Aurora and her beau Fang. Five issue limited series by Ed Brisson and Scott Godlewski.
  • Astonishing Iceman: Following the events of the Hellfire Gala, Iceman strikes out on his own as a solo hero. Written by Steve Orlando with art by Vincenzo Carratù
  • Children of the Vault: the Children of the Vault may be humanity’s salvation and mutantkind's doom - but how do Bishop and an Orchis-captured Cable factor into their plans? Four issue series by Deniz Camp and Luca Maresca.
  • Dark X-Men (2023): a new team (Goblin Queen, Havok, Gambit, Azazel, Zero, Archangel, Albert, Gimmick, and Emplate) will come together to fill the void left by the X-Men - but will they turn the tide for mutantkind, or make things worse? By Steve Foxe and Jonas Scharf.
  • Jean Grey (2023): The final founding member of the X-Men may be the key to mutantkind's salvation, but before she can save them, she must save herself.
  • Realm of X: Magik and Dani Moonstar must lead a team of mutants (Typhoid Mary, Curse, Dust, and Marrow) to explore mutant magic after getting stranded in Vanaheim. By Torunn Grønbekk and Diógenes Neves.
  • Ms. Marvel: The New Mutant: Resurrected after her death during The Amazing Spider-Man (2022), Kamala Khan now deals with a new label — being a mutant. Written by Iman Vellani (Kamala Khan/Ms. Marvel of Ms. Marvel (2022)) and Sabir Pirzada with art by Carlos Gomez and Adam Gorham.
  • Uncanny Avengers (2023): Gerry Duggan returns to Avengers Unity Squad (Captain America, Rogue, Deadpool, Penance, Quicksilver, and Psylocke) with artist Javier Garrón as they track down an imposter Captain Krakoa and stop him from starting a war.
  • Uncanny Spider-Man: In the aftermath of the Hellfire Gala, Nightcrawler returns to New York with a new wall-crawling identity. Five issue limited series by Si Spurrier and Lee Garbett.

    One-shots 
  • X-Men Blue: Origins: Nightcrawler and Mystique reunite to learn the true secret origin of everyone's favorite fuzzy blue elf. Written by Si Spurrier with art by Wilton Santos.

Fall of the House of X

    Ongoing Series 
  • Avengers (2023): Carol Danvers and the Avengers aid Tony in his fight against Orchis. Written by Jed MacKay with art by Francesco Mortarino.
  • Invincible Iron Man (2022): Tony Stark has bid his time. Now, it's time to take the fight to Feilong with the brand new Mysterium Armor. Written by Gerry Duggan with art by Juan Frigeri.
  • Wolverine (2020): For the first time in the Krakoan Age, Wolverine and Sabretooth face off against each other. Written by Benjamin Percy and Victor LaValle
  • X-Force (2019): The final battle against Beast begins. But the only one who can defeat Beast may be Beast himself. Written by Benjamin Percy with art by Robert Gill.
  • X-Men (2021): The X-Men (comprising of Synch, Talon, Shadowkat, Wolverine and Ms Marvel) form the resistance and make their move against Orchis. Written by Gerry Duggan with art by Phil Noto and Joshua Cassara.

    Limited Series 
  • Fall of the House of X: Mutantkind's last stand against Orchis begins here. Five issue mini series written by Gerry Duggan with art by Lucas Werneck.
  • Rise of the Powers of X: A team of X-Men from the future arrive in the present to undo their loss. Five issue mini series written by Kieron Gillen with art by R.B. Silva.
  • Cable (2024): Kid Cable and Cable team up to fight against a common enemy to save both the present and the future. Four issue mini series written by Fabian Nicieza with art by Scot Eaton.
  • Dead X-Men: During the 3rd Hellfire Gala, a new team of X-Men were formed before Nimrod brutally murdered them. Now, they've been revived for one final mission. Four issue mini series written by Steve Foxe and art by various artists.
  • Ms. Marvel: Mutant Menace: Ms. Marvel has revealed her status as a mutant to the world. Naturally, she runs into trouble because of it. Four issue mini series written by Iman Vellani (Kamala Khan in Ms. Marvel (2022)) and Sabir Pirzada with art by Carlos Gomez.
  • Resurrection of Magneto: To defeat Orchis, their greatest foe and ally must be revived. But does he want to? And if he does, enemies wait in the wings to spoil it. Four issue mini series written by Al Ewing with art by Luciano Vecchio.
  • X-Men: Forever (2024): How can you kill a digital god? What do you do when the Phoenix is bleeding out into nothing? Four issue mini series written by Kieron Gillen with art by Luca Maresca.

The Krakoan Age provides examples of the following tropes:

    The Krakoan Age as a whole 
  • All Your Powers Combined: A recurrent theme of the era is the notion of "mutant circuits", that is, mutants combining their powers to achieve new and unique results. One of the more important ones is the Five, five mutants that combine their powers to bring dead mutants back to life.
  • Ambiguously Evil:
    • Something isn't right with Charles Xavier. He already wasn't exactly a saint, doing some very repugnant acts for what he thought was the greater good, but now he's given up on his dream of human-mutant coexistence and seeks isolationism, also using some suspiciously smug and xenophobic wording and giving off the vibe that he wants mutants to rule the world. This, combined with other shady shit that he does, gives off the vibe that he's become a straight-up villain. It turns out that he was just faking it because he wanted to appear strong for the others and believed Krakoa was the only alternative to genocide.
      • Xavier faking his belief in mutant superiority was actually revealed as early as the House and Powers of X where Namor refused to join him on Krakoa because he could tell that Xavier didn't truly believe mutants are better and that humans hated them because of their superiority. Namor explicitly tells Xavier to leave and only come back when he really meant it.
    • Apocalypse develops this attitude as we finally get a Freudian Excuse for his Social Darwinist nature as see him achieve his lifelong ambition to reunite with his family. He turns into A Lighter Shade of Black as he sees so many of his former allies have become monsters.
  • And Man Grew Proud: This part of X-Men history all but begins with Magneto calling mutants mankind's new gods. They don't get much better from there, with human-mutant relations remaining just as bad if not becoming worse among civilians and even superheroes now that mutants have a seemingly invincible sovereign nation to call home so they don't have to be as nice or polite as they used to be. The Quiet Council's inability to wisely govern feeds into a number of calamitous events such as Dark Web and Judgment Day (Marvel Comics) before precipitating into the aptly titled Fall of X.
    Sue Storm: They're a nation that thinks they're better than everyone. They're helping people, for a price! Sabretooth has diplomatic immunity! Apocalypse is with them, for — They're not the people we once knew. They're not heroes.
  • Arc Number:
    • The number five has been recurrent, a Call-Back to the original five X-Men and how that grouping has repeated throughout the history of the team.
    • Ten (X in Roman numeral) and its multiples (100 and 1,000) also recur at some points during this era.
  • Arc Welding: Another general trend for the period is taking previous storylines and plot points and reconnect/reinterpret them to fit the new mutant status quo.
  • Audience Participation: Fans were encouraged to vote for characters who should join Krakoa's X-Men team, with the results mirrored in-universe by the Hellfire Gala elections. The editorial team have stated that this helped to shape some parts of the wider arc, as the chosen characters opened up new story opportunities.
  • Back from the Dead: The X-Men gaining Resurrective Immortality is a major plot point that effects all books and teams.
  • Bribing Your Way to Victory: Krakoa only gets as far as it does by the fact that it is producing vast numbers of life-saving drugs that it leverages against the rest of the world to recognize its sovereignty. The importance of the drugs to maintaining the country's position will remain an issue throughout.
  • The Bus Came Back: The Resurrection Protocols restore dead X-Men, students, and villains.
  • Continuity Porn: Much of the arc is a massive love letter to X-Men fandom across decades with hundreds of characters brought back from the dead or returning to prominence after extensive periods of being gone from any publication.
  • Crapsaccharine World: While not straightforwardly dystopic, critics such as Wolverine and Abigail Brand have expressed rightful revulsion towards the number of shortcuts, compromises, and foundational flaws of Krakoa. Formerly heroic characters like Hank McCoy have gone mad with pride, mutant separatist essentialism is tacitly encouraged, and the disquieting and supposedly "humane" prison it has not only fails to deter villains like Sinister from committing atrocities anyway, it's also prone to being corrupted and taken over by those held in it as seen with Sabretooth.
  • A Day in the Limelight: A lot of the characters ignored by the X-Men for a long time get prominent roles that they normally wouldn't have (usually because they were dead).
  • Death Is Cheap: A running theme for the residents of Krakoa who come to believe they are now immortal and can easily come back from the dead.
  • Devil in Plain Sight:
    • Mister Sinister remains this throughout the entire arc, being unambiguously evil but temporarilly (?) allied with the heroes. Finally averted by The Fall of X.
    • Sebastian Shaw is every bit the scheming Corrupt Corporate Executive that he always was.
  • Didn't Think This Through: Reading through all the comics it's kind of obvious that due to his desperation to avoid the genocides of Moira's past lives, Charles Xavier made decisions that he wouldn't have made with a clearer head and without her manipulations. These decisions include working with villainous mutants which ultimately only gives Krakoa's enemies ammunition, and skipping some vital steps in creating a nation such as ensuring they have a proper laws and a proper judicial system, both of which they essentially made up as they went along, creating a window for all kinds of abuse. Xavier really is smart enough to know better and both these things subsequently feed directly into Krakoa's collapse.
  • Dragon Ascendant: Mr. Sinister debuted in the 1980s and sporadically appeared as the Big Bad for some events, then was revealed in the 1990s to have been transformed into his eerie pale appearance by "bigger" bad Apocalypse. Come The Krakoan Age and Apocalypse turning a new leaf, Sinister's stock goes way up, becoming the secret threat in both Destiny of X and Fall of X, with the reveal of the existence of four Sinister clones and later of the original Nathaniel Essex becoming a Dominion, an überstructure/entity that exists beyond time and space, as explained in the dual mini-series House of X/Powers of X.
  • The Dreaded: The threat of Nimrod hangs over Krakoa as his activation is believed to be the beginning of The End of the World as We Know It.
  • Everybody Has Lots of Sex: As a consequence of having all their needs taken care of, Krakoa becomes this for the majority of mutants out of boredom as well as the tropical paradise-like atmosphere. Unfortunately, it leads to a lot of unwanted pregnancies.
  • Fantastic Racism: As always with the X-men, the rest of the world is full of hatred for mutants and this only grows moreso with the fact they've transformed themselves into their own superpower. Many nations that were ambivalent about mutants before have begun active wetworks operations against them because they fear the potential power that mutants can wield (that only grows after Mars is terraformed).
  • Feeling Oppressed by Their Existence: The Krakoa Arc puts in sharp relief just how many individuals will never tolerate mutants even existing as they almost all move to an island in the middle of the Pacific and disengage from the world save giving life-giving medicines. Nevertheless, they undergo constant attacks by outside forces determined to wipe them out.
  • Gambit Pileup: With mutants laid low during the third act, the various villains associated with Orchis and otherwise start turning on each other when it looks like victory is assured, giving the X-Men a chance to fight back in the chaos.
  • The Good Kingdom: Krakoa is a mutant realm ruled by the Quiet Council and meant to be their new homeland. It is under constant siege from the rest of the world who fear it is going to be The Empire.
  • Greater-Scope Villain: Orchis is a looming threat over Krakoa even as they deal with other threats like Annihilation or Homines Verendi. Orchis' creating Nimrod is considered by Moira to be an existential threat to mutantkind.
  • Hazy-Feel Turn: A great deal of the characterization of former X-villains deals with whether or not they are reformed or just temporarilly allied with Krakoa. This ranges from Apocalypse to former MLF members like Tempo. It turns out to be individualized as some are plotting against their fellow mutants, some are genuinely reformed, and some remain evil but are happy to ally with their former enemies.
  • Hypocrite: Despite having a strong tribalist stance to the point that portals to Krakoa won't even work for non-mutants without some tweaking, the Quiet Council is fine with certain individuals like Mister Sinister and the Juggernaut living on the island provided they behave, in spite of the fact that they're not mutants.
  • The Man Behind the Man: Krakoa's chief architect is not just Xavier, Magneto, or Apocalypse but Moira MacTaggert, who is actually a mutant with the ability to relive her life. She's pushed Xavier and Magneto to create Krakoa as an alternative to mutant genocide.
  • Moral Myopia: A recurring irony are people expressing disdain at racists, balking at working with Hydra in Orchis, while simultaneously rationalizing their belief that mutants are actually deserving of racial discrimination and genocide.
  • Naked on Revival: During this era, mutant resurrection works like this by the Five: the dead mutant's DNA is inserted into an egg-like cocoon, a Time Master ages the individual's body to their preferred age, the mutant cracks open the egg and leaves the coccon as a memoryless naked body, until a telepath "downloads" the dead person's memories on the new body.
  • Not-So-Omniscient Council of Bickering: The Quiet Council is made up of Magneto, Professor X, Mr. Sinister, Emma Frost, Sebastian Shaw, and a variety of other powerful mutants that have frequently been at each other's throats over the years. Despite the immense power they all wield, they're almost always voting against one another for petty spite.
  • Our Founder: Xavier and Magneto have the role as Krakoa's nation builders.
  • Serial Escalation: From Xavier's school to the reformed Genosha to Utopia, a sanctuary for mutants has been tried before but the Krakoan Age is a humongous swing at the concept as it sees the X-Men doing drastic things to establish it as a global superpower including allying themselves with former foes such as Mister Sinister and Apocalypse.
  • Textplosion: Played with, as from the very start of the relaunch, Jonathan Hickman accompanied the usual comic pages with 'data pages'. Some are pure text (e.g. emails, reports and diary entries). Some also use charts (e.g. the organization structure for Orchis). Many are Conveniently Interrupted Documents, with Classified Information redacted. Other writers followed Hickman's lead and this became a standard feature of Krakoan Age comics.
  • Villain with Good Publicity: Orchis remains in good standing despite threatening the rest of the world. This only increases drastically after Judgment Day, to Krakoa's chagrin.
  • We ARE Struggling Together: Zig-Zagged. The mutants have made significant overtures to their worst enemies and many of them have accepted an alliance. However, this doesn't prevent said enemies from pursuing their own agendas and frequently acting against the others.

    Dawn of X 
See Dawn of X for tropes that appear across multiple comics during this phase.

    Reign of X 
See Reign of X for tropes that appear across multiple comics during this phase.

    Destiny of X 
See Destiny of X for tropes that appear across multiple comics during this phase.

    Fall of X 
See Fall of X for tropes that appear across multiple comics during this phase.

    Fall of the House of X 
See Fall of the House of X for tropes that appear across multiple comics during this phase.
"People think I'm funny, but you mutants are the real crack-ups. All you do is lose."
— Deadpool, Uncanny Avengers (2023) #2

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