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* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: Cyclops has been hit with a lot of this over the years, both by fans and by writers. DependingOnTheWriter he's either a kind, compassionate man who simply suffers from bad social skills or he's a stubborn {{Jerkass}} control freak who may or may not have developed some very bigoted disdain towards the humans who have persecuted him and his fellow mutants.
** In particular, a strong argument can be made that Scott's deepest relationship was not with either Jean Grey or Emma Frost...but with [[DivineDate the Phoenix Force]]. He and Jean dated in high school, but the deepest part of their early relationship was during a period when the real Jean was being [[CloningBlues impersonated by the Phoenix]]. WordOfGod is that that part of Jean was later reincarnated as Madelyne Pryor, which is something that Cyclops never quite put his finger on. This gives a tragic bent to his (arguably [[PoorCommunicationKills accidental]]) abandonment of Madelyne and return to a resurrected Jean — but, importantly, a Jean with no memory of how their relationship had evolved past "we were dating in high school". Notably, ''X-Men: The End'', Chris Claremont had Scott explain that the reason his and Jean's subsequent relationship never quite seemed right was because the parts of Jean that he truly fell in love with were the parts that had been reincarnated as Madelyne. This theory also puts his actions in ''ComicBook/AvengersVsXMen'' and Brian Michael Bendis's ''[[ComicBook/UncannyXMen2013 Uncanny X-Men]]'' into a slightly different light.
* BaseBreakingCharacter: Quite possibly the champion among X-Men characters and fans along with Wolverine, and it's not helped by the fact that ''the writers themselves'' are split on if they like him or not.
** Especially when he and his group of X-Men became wanted fugitives who are hunted by the Avengers, it led to a large split between fans who think he's making things worse by opposing SHIELD or if his intentions are well enough to justify his actions. It's telling, that whenever Cyclops gets into an argument with someone now, half the fanbase respond by complaining about what a dick the other person is being, while the other half complains about ''him'' instead.
** [[spoiler:The announcement that he's essentially responsible for about 50% of the bad situation that was affecting mutant kind (the other 50% is Terrigen Mists being now lethal to mutants, but ''they'' didn't pissed off humanity back to "Kill All Mutants" mode) had many people wanting the X-Men to find him so they can lynch him, and others wished to at least wait until he's found so he can give his defense... And then ''ComicBook/DeathOfX'' came out where it was revealed there was not one but two Terrigen clouds, one of which hit Muir Island and killed Jamie Madrox as well as all of his dupes, this being the first time any of the X-Men had seen M-Pox and being understandably horrified. Cyclops begins a plan to use a mutant named Alchemy to change the make up of one of the clouds and render it harmless to mutants which works although this leads to Alchemy's death, all with the Inhumans fighting him every step of the way. He's then executed by Black Bolt in front of the gathered X-Men and Inhumans. That leaves the reader to wonder just why, then, was he being talked about as having done something so irredeemably evil. Then ''ComicBook/InhumansVsXMen'' revealed that he died some time around the first issue of Death of X and all instances of Cyclops afterwards are Emma Frost's mental projections, meaning he didn't even do the crimes he was being accused of.]]
* BrokenBase: Scott's skull cap when in uniform, which he's had since the 60s though took a break from briefly in the 90s. For a lot of people, it's ''iconic'' and they consider it part of his look, but for others, they ''really'' dislike it, and prefer it when he has an open cowl like the 90s, or just his visor alone. What's not helped is that his hair-shape makes the skull cap look ''kinda'' like a condom (leading to a variety of unfortunate nicknames from his hatedom), while the open cowl/visor alone helps to emphasise what a PrettyBoy he is.
** None of this compared to the X-mask. For some, it was a cool update of his look, but to others, it was trying ''way'' too hard and came off as ridiculous. What isn't helped is artists would have trouble deciding how to draw it, leading to it either actually covering where his eyes are to completely missing them, making it a question on how it worked with his powers.
* CantUnHearIt: Odds are you'll read his comic dialogue (especially from the Creator/JimLee era) in the voice of the late Creator/NormSpencer.
* DesignatedVillain: Is frequently blamed for everything that goes wrong simply because he's the only one to step up to the plate and accept responsibility. [[spoiler: The fact that he and Emma kissed and made out on Jean's grave doesn't help his reputation amonst fans or amongst other heroes at all, although people tend to forget the context of that (to put it simply, they are reasons why he is listed among those male characters in comics where their own rape is not addressed.]]
* EnsembleDarkhorse: While Big Scott still counts as a BaseBreakingCharacter despite his large increase in popularity since [=AvX=], Young Scott's status as TheCutie and a BadassAdorable has managed to win around a large number of people to his side, even, strangely, a contingent of people who hate on his older self. The fact that his solo is amazingly drawn and written possibly helps too.
* FridgeHorror:
** Scott's relationship with Emma Frost becomes a ''lot'' less romantic when you remember that its foundation was built on rape and horrible things they both did (She convinced him having psychic sex was the best way to treat his PTSD while acting as his therapist and then they kissed and made out on Jean's grave. Unfortunately, these two things are just the tip of the iceberg).
** Out of Universe this has become far worse as of Uncanny X-Men #32. Where Scott refuses to get back together with Emma. Half the fandom is pissed off at him for wanting to remain out of a relationship that he might not have even consented to (due to Jean's manipulation of his mind) and arguably brought out the worst in him. To summarise: Scott is apparently a dick for not loving his rapist.
* GuileHero: Solidified in ''ComicBook/CurseOfTheMutants''. [[spoiler: To add some context, Utopia was surrounded by Vampires, fighting on every side and platform. Jubilee and Wolverine have both been turned, and the latter is standing only a few feet away, ready to cut his head off and turn the rest of the X-Men. Cyke's response? Pulling out a control to reactivate Wolverine's HealingFactor, turning him back. That's right, Scott discovered he was immune to vampirism and that the vampires wanted to turn him, so he deactivated his HealingFactor and allowed him to be turned, just so he could turn him back right when they were relying on him to lead their forces. The vampires, still in shock, are promptly slaughtered. Meanwhile, Scott's earlier plan, to bring back Dracula and have him take back the vampire horde, appeared to have failed and was forgotten...only for it to turnout Dracula had been tracking down Xarus all this time, and after curbstomping his son and taking back his place, Cyke warns him that he could kill him with the push of a button. Dracula claims that he knows he's bluffing, but still lets them leave in peace. In short, do NOT threaten the safety of Cyclops' people, and when he says that he will slaughter you, he means it.]]
* HarsherInHindsight: Prior to [=AvX=], Cyclops and Captain America actually had quite a positive working relationship, which included at least one story where they teamed-up that was ''filled'' with HoYay due to their mutual respect for one-another. The fact the two are NotSoDifferent actually makes this dynamic make a lot of sense, but sadly it's unlikely we'll ever see ''that'' shown again.
* HoYay: The fact that his younger self in ''ComicBook/AllNewXMen #20'' appears find Wolverine's female clone {{ComicBook/X23}} attractive has not gone unremarked upon, either within the book or by the fanbase.
* InformedWrongness: ''Oh boy''.
** Jason Aaron ''loves'' to have characters hate on Cyclops. In ''Schism'', Wolverine and mutants siding with him break off from Cyclops. Wolverine cites that children shouldn't be trained to fight... even though the X-Men have ''always'' trained kids to defend themselves, and that, at the time of ''Schism'', mutants were near-extinct, and anti-mutant violence was at an all-time high. It doesn't help that ''Wolverine himself'' makes a point of taking a teenage girl under his wing every decade or so. Especially mind-numbing is the fact that Wolverine's plan is essentially to run way and hope they escape, and to encourage them to run he rigs the whole island to explode. In the end, the students start fighting off the Sentinel while the two fight, and when they realize this, Wolverine abandons his plan to help do the exact thing Cyclops said they should... and yet in the end, instead of admitting Scott was right, he leaves, because Scott is making the students fight their battles (despite the fact that, if he doesn't let them fight, them and everyone else will die).
** In the aftermath of ''Avengers vs. X-Men'', Aaron makes it a point to have characters get angry at and insult Cyclops literally whenever they meet, even characters that don't hate him in other books, and regardless of the current situation. Characters have called out Cyclops for training his students to fight and taking them in his missions... Which the X-Men do fairly often. No matter what Cyclops' students are all college aged or older. Hell, after Cyclops shows concern for Wolverine and saves his life, [[UngratefulBastard Logan decides to be a dick to him]].
** In the ''ComicBook/AllNewAllDifferentMarvel'', Cyclops is thought to be dead, but before that did ''something'' that has made people hate mutants again. For a long while it wasn't explained ''what'' exactly it is that he did, as writers constantly avoided details beyond it having ''something'' to do with the Inhumans and the Terrigen Mists killing mutants Finally it came to light that the ''horrible, nauseating, EVIL'' thing Cyclops did was ''trying to save mutants from extinction'' at the hands of the Terrigen mist clouds that the Inhumans let loose on the world to transform people into Inhumans, and it just so happened to be absolutely lethal to mutants. Cyclops heinous action was to modify one of the clouds to make it harmless, which was treated by everyone in-universe as tantamount to something ''Hitler himself would do'' (he literally gets called Hitler). The big reveal at the end of it all was that Cyclops in fact died shortly after the beginning of the series due to the cloud and all of his oh-so-evil actions were in fact a psychic projection Emma Frost created in order to make the world believe Black Bolt had executed him.
* IronWoobie / StoicWoobie: Scott's gone through so much shit in his life its not a surprise he can come across as cold or uncaring sometimes. Still, his actions to protect what's left of the mutant race stem from the mutant race being the ''only thing he has left to fight for''.
** Both young and old Cyclops in ''ComicBook/AllNewXMen'' also become major woobies by the fifth issue. Old Cyclops has to deal with even his own team hating his guts, his former family hunting him, and the world at large wanting him dead, for actions he did while not in control of his own body, all the while he's trying to do good. Young Cyclops, however, has to deal with his friends giving him the cold shoulder, the fear that he's going to degenerate into a seemingly mess that killed his father figure, and all the present day X-Men looking at him with a contempt due to their hatred of his present self that he just does not understand. It does not help that as time goes on, he increasingly notes the glaring flaws in his detractor's philosophy, and the extenuating circumstances in his future counterpart.
* ItWasHisSled: His involvement in some (if not all) of the most prominent, memorable, and/or classic X-Men stories means that any one familiar with comics in the least probably knows a lot about him.
* LauncherOfAThousandShips: While not to the extent of Gambit or Nightcrawler, most forum discussions of him derail within a few hours to which of the characters he's interacted with recently he should date. The commonly appearing ships seem to be Jean, Emma, Angel, Wolverine and (on Tumblr) Captain America. The expanded list could probably expand the entire Marvel Universe.
** Teen-Scott even more so. An {{Adorkable}}, teenaged {{Woobie}} version of the guy already well know for having beautiful, talented women [[ChickMagnet hanging off him]], without any of Adult-Scott's baggage? You'd better believe every shipper was ready to pair him off with their current generation X-student of choice. The most popular ships appear to be Teen-Jean, Pixie, and X-23.
* MemeticLoser: The films unfortunately don't give him much room to earn respect, and combined with the [[WesternAnimation/XMen 90s cartoon]] and its overly dramatic characterization, there's a popular assumption that he's a whiny loser. Its almost ComicBook/{{Aquaman}} level bad.
* MemeticMutation:
** Flyclops and Cyclopalypse.
** And more recently, "Cyclops was Right", notably since Cyclops, in the hands of Kieron Gillen, actually mentioned it in-story. It came back even stronger with ''Death of X'' and ''Inhumans vs. X-Men''.
** "Punches! From the Punch Dimension!"[[note]]A mock explanation on how Cyclops' powers work. The official explanation is that Cyclop's eyes are a portal to a concussive force of energy from an non-Einsteinian dimension.[[/note]]
** [[SayMyName JEAAN!!!]]
** [[Music/{{DMX}} X Gon' Give It To Ya!]]
** Scott's hatred of ComicBook/CaptainAmerica.
* NeverLiveItDown: Scott can never take a break for his screw-ups that the writers had piled on him, which is the usual ammunition of his haters in favor of his clawed rival. Please note that most, if not all of these, are actually proven false or at least not as black and white by the context of the story.
** Abandoning his wife Madelyne Pryor and son Nathan Summers to be with the resurrected Jean Grey. Fans ignore that: he never intended to leave to reunite with Jean, he only wanted to confirm whether she was alive and Madelyne - who didn't even know why Angel needed to see him urgently - told him it was over if he walked out of their home's door; after confirming Jean was alive he meant to go back, even though X-Factor needed his leadership, but Madelyne had disappeared for then; he only got back together with Jean several months later when he thought Maddie was dead, and it was ''Jean'' who started it. And regarding Nathan, Cyclops actually spent twelve years in a hellish future raising him, which proves how far he's willing to for his son.
** Being in some kind of a psychic love affair with Emma while married to Jean, and later making out on her grave. Though opinions vary on how bad this is, since Emma ''claims'' it's therapy, and the two don't become actual lovers until after Jean's death (whose ghost pushed Scott and Emma together). Keep in mind that Emma being his therapist means that she takes advantage of Scott's vulnerable state and her own psychic powers to basically force him into the affair, that Jean herself was willing to have an affair with Logan shortly before Scott cheated on her, and finally, that Cyclops had to be ''psychically forced'' by Jean into starting a relationship with Emma after Jean died in order to prevent an apocalyptic future (which is what leads to the grave-makeout scene). In short, not only was he -nearly- cheated on, abused and brainwashed into a relationship with his abuser, he also gets all the bad rap for all that.
** Killing Charles Xavier during a psychotic rampage... when he was possessed by the Dark Phoenix. Other characters like Jean Grey, Charles Xavier and Scarlet Witch get a free pass for their terrible actions committed whilst possessed, he doesn't get the same privilege.
* RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap: While Cyke was always more of a BaseBreakingCharacter than a Scrappy, after both ''Schism'' and [=AvX=], he seems to have shot up in popularity, possibly usurping Wolverine (Going by recent sales, ''Uncanny'', Scott's book, had nearly double the sales ''WATXM'' has, which is after having solidly lead it prior to [=AvX=]). Due to the DesignatedVillain treatment he got, combined with his genuine attempts at helping people, apparently being the only one bothering to reach out and help any of the newly awakened mutants, and the fact he's the only one who tries to suggest peace rather than tossing insults and fighting whenever he runs into the people who currently dislike him, despite it being ''them'' we're apparently supposed to root for. Notably, when Cyclops popped up in ''WATXM'' to help Wolverine fight off sentinels, fans actually cheered Cyclops on and called for him to JustShootHim now that Wolverine's without his HealingFactor since Wolverine was being such a huge dick to him (which he did literally the second after Scott saved his life).
* RonTheDeathEater: While Cyclops may not be perfect and he makes his share of mistakes, but as an A-List superhero team leader, that's bound to happen. However, as far as some superheroes, Supervillains, writers, fans or [[RunningTheAsylum professional]] alike, are concerned, he's the most despicable person on the planet. [[ComicBook/AvengersVsXMen Despite being brainwashed at the time]], people are blaming him and solely him for the state mutants are post-Avengers vs X-Men, despite mutants always being in this kind of situation. Then there's the fans who complain about the fact he blames Wolverine and the Avengers, or the dark Phoenix, instead of accepting blame himself... despite the fact that he still accepted responsibility, and is the only one in the mess who's accepted any blame in the whole mess (except for Captain America, who at least admits he hasn't done enough to help mutants), while the opposing side hasn't and continue to blame him for everything.
* ShipSinking:
** Creator/GrantMorrison ''tried'' to sink Scott/Jean (or Jott) first by getting Scott behaving unusually cold, then getting him saying he and Jean had been "going through the motions" since [[ComicBook/TheDarkPhoenixSaga her death on the Moon]], and then cheating on Jean with Emma. It didn't work very well, though, partially due to Teen Scott and Teen Jean's ongoing WillTheyOrWontThey. Or ''ComicBook/PhoenixResurrection'' stating Scott never, ''ever'', got over Jean.
** Post-Morrison, other writers endeavored to sink Jott further and cement Scott/Emma (or Scemma). However, ''Avengers vs X-Men'' had Emma cheating on Scott with Namor of all people and Scott breaking up with her, and ''Phoenix resurrection'' confirmed he never got over Jean. Likewise, after the ''Inhumans vs X-Men'' crossover, Teen Scott declared Emma Frost "ruined his life and got away with it".
* ShipToShipCombat: Where to even start? Cyke/Jean vs. Cyke/Emma is probably the biggest battle in the fan base, the former being iconic while the latter some fans find far more interesting, and still others remember him fondly with Madelyne Prior. That's not even getting into HoYay with Angel and, of course, Wolverine. ''Now'' there's also the fact that some writers have decided that ''the Phoenix Force itself'' wants him. Then of course is [[FoeYay Mr. Sinister]], who has ''long'' displayed an unhealthy obsession with Cyclops within the books leading to quite a bit of subtext among fans. More recently, Uncanny has seen Tempus, Maria Hill and even Magik enter the fray. And that's not even including ''Teen''!Scott in ''All-New'', who is popularly linked both with the obligatory Jean Grey (in this case time-displaced O5 Teen!Jeen) and, thanks to Rule63 giving the fanbase an outlet for Adult!Scott's subtext with Logan, {{ComicBook/X23}}.
* UnintentionallySympathetic: While Scott used to bounce back and forth between this and UnintentionallyUnsympathetic DependingOnTheWriter, as of the new 10s, he is firmly stuck on this, mostly because certain writers (most prominently Jason Aaron) tried their utmost to vilify without bringing up any actual valid points against him. For example, they tried to portray him as bad for draging children into the conflict, when training mutant kids and preparing them for a world that hates them has been the X-Men's concept ''from the very beginning''.
** From 2006 onwards, Cyclops: learned that his father figure had lied to and betrayed him; was forced to fight a brother he never even knew he had; lost the love of his life; had his oldest and closest friends abandon him; killed said father figure while possessed and arguably in self-defense, and was treated as a cold blooded, remorseless murderer for it despite his obvious guilt; and essentially had his entire legacy stripped away and everything he ever worked for handed over on a silver platter to [[Franchise/{{Wolverine}} a guy]] whose only apparent qualification was being ''[[WolverinePublicity just so cool]]''. Even fans who disliked the character started to feel sorry for him because Marvel had so systematically tried to destroy the poor bastard that it was [[TheWoobie basically impossible not to]]. It didn’t help that many of the people opposing him (Scarlet Witch, Iron Man, Black Bolt, etc.) had previously done or were currently doing things as bad or worse than him and gotten a free pass, making it look like he was being singled out rather than getting what was coming to him.
* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: In 1986, writers tried to make Scott look sympathetic by turning Madelyne into a WetBlanketWife who started disapproving of his involvement with the X-Men, hoping to give Scott an acceptable reason to walk out on his wife and son to join up with the rest of the original X-Men (including a resurrected Jean) in ''ComicBook/XFactor''. Instead, it looked like abandoning his family to shack up with his ex, especially since he initially kept Madelyne and his son a secret from Jean. Many readers at the time turned on Scott for good, including fans who later became X-writers (see above). Scott later angsted about Madelyne and the baby disappearing, but it came off disingenuous since he'd walked out on them in the first place.
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* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: Cyclops has been hit with a lot of this over the years, both by fans and by writers. DependingOnTheWriter he's either a kind, compassionate man who simply suffers from bad social skills or he's a stubborn {{Jerkass}} control freak who may or may not have developed some very bigoted disdain towards the humans who have persecuted him and his fellow mutants.
** In particular, a strong argument can be made that Scott's deepest relationship was not with either Jean Grey or Emma Frost...but with [[DivineDate the Phoenix Force]]. He and Jean dated in high school, but the deepest part of their early relationship was during a period when the real Jean was being [[CloningBlues impersonated by the Phoenix]]. WordOfGod is that that part of Jean was later reincarnated as Madelyne Pryor, which is something that Cyclops never quite put his finger on. This gives a tragic bent to his (arguably [[PoorCommunicationKills accidental]]) abandonment of Madelyne and return to a resurrected Jean — but, importantly, a Jean with no memory of how their relationship had evolved past "we were dating in high school". Notably, ''X-Men: The End'', Chris Claremont had Scott explain that the reason his and Jean's subsequent relationship never quite seemed right was because the parts of Jean that he truly fell in love with were the parts that had been reincarnated as Madelyne. This theory also puts his actions in ''ComicBook/AvengersVsXMen'' and Brian Michael Bendis's ''[[ComicBook/UncannyXMen2013 Uncanny X-Men]]'' into a slightly different light.
* BaseBreakingCharacter: Quite possibly the champion among X-Men characters and fans along with Wolverine, and it's not helped by the fact that ''the writers themselves'' are split on if they like him or not.
** Especially when he and his group of X-Men became wanted fugitives who are hunted by the Avengers, it led to a large split between fans who think he's making things worse by opposing SHIELD or if his intentions are well enough to justify his actions. It's telling, that whenever Cyclops gets into an argument with someone now, half the fanbase respond by complaining about what a dick the other person is being, while the other half complains about ''him'' instead.
** [[spoiler:The announcement that he's essentially responsible for about 50% of the bad situation that was affecting mutant kind (the other 50% is Terrigen Mists being now lethal to mutants, but ''they'' didn't pissed off humanity back to "Kill All Mutants" mode) had many people wanting the X-Men to find him so they can lynch him, and others wished to at least wait until he's found so he can give his defense... And then ''ComicBook/DeathOfX'' came out where it was revealed there was not one but two Terrigen clouds, one of which hit Muir Island and killed Jamie Madrox as well as all of his dupes, this being the first time any of the X-Men had seen M-Pox and being understandably horrified. Cyclops begins a plan to use a mutant named Alchemy to change the make up of one of the clouds and render it harmless to mutants which works although this leads to Alchemy's death, all with the Inhumans fighting him every step of the way. He's then executed by Black Bolt in front of the gathered X-Men and Inhumans. That leaves the reader to wonder just why, then, was he being talked about as having done something so irredeemably evil. Then ''ComicBook/InhumansVsXMen'' revealed that he died some time around the first issue of Death of X and all instances of Cyclops afterwards are Emma Frost's mental projections, meaning he didn't even do the crimes he was being accused of.]]
* BrokenBase: Scott's skull cap when in uniform, which he's had since the 60s though took a break from briefly in the 90s. For a lot of people, it's ''iconic'' and they consider it part of his look, but for others, they ''really'' dislike it, and prefer it when he has an open cowl like the 90s, or just his visor alone. What's not helped is that his hair-shape makes the skull cap look ''kinda'' like a condom (leading to a variety of unfortunate nicknames from his hatedom), while the open cowl/visor alone helps to emphasise what a PrettyBoy he is.
** None of this compared to the X-mask. For some, it was a cool update of his look, but to others, it was trying ''way'' too hard and came off as ridiculous. What isn't helped is artists would have trouble deciding how to draw it, leading to it either actually covering where his eyes are to completely missing them, making it a question on how it worked with his powers.
* CantUnHearIt: Odds are you'll read his comic dialogue (especially from the Creator/JimLee era) in the voice of the late Creator/NormSpencer.
* DesignatedVillain: Is frequently blamed for everything that goes wrong simply because he's the only one to step up to the plate and accept responsibility. [[spoiler: The fact that he and Emma kissed and made out on Jean's grave doesn't help his reputation amonst fans or amongst other heroes at all, although people tend to forget the context of that (to put it simply, they are reasons why he is listed among those male characters in comics where their own rape is not addressed.]]
* EnsembleDarkhorse: While Big Scott still counts as a BaseBreakingCharacter despite his large increase in popularity since [=AvX=], Young Scott's status as TheCutie and a BadassAdorable has managed to win around a large number of people to his side, even, strangely, a contingent of people who hate on his older self. The fact that his solo is amazingly drawn and written possibly helps too.
* FridgeHorror:
** Scott's relationship with Emma Frost becomes a ''lot'' less romantic when you remember that its foundation was built on rape and horrible things they both did (She convinced him having psychic sex was the best way to treat his PTSD while acting as his therapist and then they kissed and made out on Jean's grave. Unfortunately, these two things are just the tip of the iceberg).
** Out of Universe this has become far worse as of Uncanny X-Men #32. Where Scott refuses to get back together with Emma. Half the fandom is pissed off at him for wanting to remain out of a relationship that he might not have even consented to (due to Jean's manipulation of his mind) and arguably brought out the worst in him. To summarise: Scott is apparently a dick for not loving his rapist.
* GuileHero: Solidified in ''ComicBook/CurseOfTheMutants''. [[spoiler: To add some context, Utopia was surrounded by Vampires, fighting on every side and platform. Jubilee and Wolverine have both been turned, and the latter is standing only a few feet away, ready to cut his head off and turn the rest of the X-Men. Cyke's response? Pulling out a control to reactivate Wolverine's HealingFactor, turning him back. That's right, Scott discovered he was immune to vampirism and that the vampires wanted to turn him, so he deactivated his HealingFactor and allowed him to be turned, just so he could turn him back right when they were relying on him to lead their forces. The vampires, still in shock, are promptly slaughtered. Meanwhile, Scott's earlier plan, to bring back Dracula and have him take back the vampire horde, appeared to have failed and was forgotten...only for it to turnout Dracula had been tracking down Xarus all this time, and after curbstomping his son and taking back his place, Cyke warns him that he could kill him with the push of a button. Dracula claims that he knows he's bluffing, but still lets them leave in peace. In short, do NOT threaten the safety of Cyclops' people, and when he says that he will slaughter you, he means it.]]
* HarsherInHindsight: Prior to [=AvX=], Cyclops and Captain America actually had quite a positive working relationship, which included at least one story where they teamed-up that was ''filled'' with HoYay due to their mutual respect for one-another. The fact the two are NotSoDifferent actually makes this dynamic make a lot of sense, but sadly it's unlikely we'll ever see ''that'' shown again.
* HoYay: The fact that his younger self in ''ComicBook/AllNewXMen #20'' appears find Wolverine's female clone {{ComicBook/X23}} attractive has not gone unremarked upon, either within the book or by the fanbase.
* InformedWrongness: ''Oh boy''.
** Jason Aaron ''loves'' to have characters hate on Cyclops. In ''Schism'', Wolverine and mutants siding with him break off from Cyclops. Wolverine cites that children shouldn't be trained to fight... even though the X-Men have ''always'' trained kids to defend themselves, and that, at the time of ''Schism'', mutants were near-extinct, and anti-mutant violence was at an all-time high. It doesn't help that ''Wolverine himself'' makes a point of taking a teenage girl under his wing every decade or so. Especially mind-numbing is the fact that Wolverine's plan is essentially to run way and hope they escape, and to encourage them to run he rigs the whole island to explode. In the end, the students start fighting off the Sentinel while the two fight, and when they realize this, Wolverine abandons his plan to help do the exact thing Cyclops said they should... and yet in the end, instead of admitting Scott was right, he leaves, because Scott is making the students fight their battles (despite the fact that, if he doesn't let them fight, them and everyone else will die).
** In the aftermath of ''Avengers vs. X-Men'', Aaron makes it a point to have characters get angry at and insult Cyclops literally whenever they meet, even characters that don't hate him in other books, and regardless of the current situation. Characters have called out Cyclops for training his students to fight and taking them in his missions... Which the X-Men do fairly often. No matter what Cyclops' students are all college aged or older. Hell, after Cyclops shows concern for Wolverine and saves his life, [[UngratefulBastard Logan decides to be a dick to him]].
** In the ''ComicBook/AllNewAllDifferentMarvel'', Cyclops is thought to be dead, but before that did ''something'' that has made people hate mutants again. For a long while it wasn't explained ''what'' exactly it is that he did, as writers constantly avoided details beyond it having ''something'' to do with the Inhumans and the Terrigen Mists killing mutants Finally it came to light that the ''horrible, nauseating, EVIL'' thing Cyclops did was ''trying to save mutants from extinction'' at the hands of the Terrigen mist clouds that the Inhumans let loose on the world to transform people into Inhumans, and it just so happened to be absolutely lethal to mutants. Cyclops heinous action was to modify one of the clouds to make it harmless, which was treated by everyone in-universe as tantamount to something ''Hitler himself would do'' (he literally gets called Hitler). The big reveal at the end of it all was that Cyclops in fact died shortly after the beginning of the series due to the cloud and all of his oh-so-evil actions were in fact a psychic projection Emma Frost created in order to make the world believe Black Bolt had executed him.
* IronWoobie / StoicWoobie: Scott's gone through so much shit in his life its not a surprise he can come across as cold or uncaring sometimes. Still, his actions to protect what's left of the mutant race stem from the mutant race being the ''only thing he has left to fight for''.
** Both young and old Cyclops in ''ComicBook/AllNewXMen'' also become major woobies by the fifth issue. Old Cyclops has to deal with even his own team hating his guts, his former family hunting him, and the world at large wanting him dead, for actions he did while not in control of his own body, all the while he's trying to do good. Young Cyclops, however, has to deal with his friends giving him the cold shoulder, the fear that he's going to degenerate into a seemingly mess that killed his father figure, and all the present day X-Men looking at him with a contempt due to their hatred of his present self that he just does not understand. It does not help that as time goes on, he increasingly notes the glaring flaws in his detractor's philosophy, and the extenuating circumstances in his future counterpart.
* ItWasHisSled: His involvement in some (if not all) of the most prominent, memorable, and/or classic X-Men stories means that any one familiar with comics in the least probably knows a lot about him.
* LauncherOfAThousandShips: While not to the extent of Gambit or Nightcrawler, most forum discussions of him derail within a few hours to which of the characters he's interacted with recently he should date. The commonly appearing ships seem to be Jean, Emma, Angel, Wolverine and (on Tumblr) Captain America. The expanded list could probably expand the entire Marvel Universe.
** Teen-Scott even more so. An {{Adorkable}}, teenaged {{Woobie}} version of the guy already well know for having beautiful, talented women [[ChickMagnet hanging off him]], without any of Adult-Scott's baggage? You'd better believe every shipper was ready to pair him off with their current generation X-student of choice. The most popular ships appear to be Teen-Jean, Pixie, and X-23.
* MemeticLoser: The films unfortunately don't give him much room to earn respect, and combined with the [[WesternAnimation/XMen 90s cartoon]] and its overly dramatic characterization, there's a popular assumption that he's a whiny loser. Its almost ComicBook/{{Aquaman}} level bad.
* MemeticMutation:
** Flyclops and Cyclopalypse.
** And more recently, "Cyclops was Right", notably since Cyclops, in the hands of Kieron Gillen, actually mentioned it in-story. It came back even stronger with ''Death of X'' and ''Inhumans vs. X-Men''.
** "Punches! From the Punch Dimension!"[[note]]A mock explanation on how Cyclops' powers work. The official explanation is that Cyclop's eyes are a portal to a concussive force of energy from an non-Einsteinian dimension.[[/note]]
** [[SayMyName JEAAN!!!]]
** [[Music/{{DMX}} X Gon' Give It To Ya!]]
** Scott's hatred of ComicBook/CaptainAmerica.
* NeverLiveItDown: Scott can never take a break for his screw-ups that the writers had piled on him, which is the usual ammunition of his haters in favor of his clawed rival. Please note that most, if not all of these, are actually proven false or at least not as black and white by the context of the story.
** Abandoning his wife Madelyne Pryor and son Nathan Summers to be with the resurrected Jean Grey. Fans ignore that: he never intended to leave to reunite with Jean, he only wanted to confirm whether she was alive and Madelyne - who didn't even know why Angel needed to see him urgently - told him it was over if he walked out of their home's door; after confirming Jean was alive he meant to go back, even though X-Factor needed his leadership, but Madelyne had disappeared for then; he only got back together with Jean several months later when he thought Maddie was dead, and it was ''Jean'' who started it. And regarding Nathan, Cyclops actually spent twelve years in a hellish future raising him, which proves how far he's willing to for his son.
** Being in some kind of a psychic love affair with Emma while married to Jean, and later making out on her grave. Though opinions vary on how bad this is, since Emma ''claims'' it's therapy, and the two don't become actual lovers until after Jean's death (whose ghost pushed Scott and Emma together). Keep in mind that Emma being his therapist means that she takes advantage of Scott's vulnerable state and her own psychic powers to basically force him into the affair, that Jean herself was willing to have an affair with Logan shortly before Scott cheated on her, and finally, that Cyclops had to be ''psychically forced'' by Jean into starting a relationship with Emma after Jean died in order to prevent an apocalyptic future (which is what leads to the grave-makeout scene). In short, not only was he -nearly- cheated on, abused and brainwashed into a relationship with his abuser, he also gets all the bad rap for all that.
** Killing Charles Xavier during a psychotic rampage... when he was possessed by the Dark Phoenix. Other characters like Jean Grey, Charles Xavier and Scarlet Witch get a free pass for their terrible actions committed whilst possessed, he doesn't get the same privilege.
* RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap: While Cyke was always more of a BaseBreakingCharacter than a Scrappy, after both ''Schism'' and [=AvX=], he seems to have shot up in popularity, possibly usurping Wolverine (Going by recent sales, ''Uncanny'', Scott's book, had nearly double the sales ''WATXM'' has, which is after having solidly lead it prior to [=AvX=]). Due to the DesignatedVillain treatment he got, combined with his genuine attempts at helping people, apparently being the only one bothering to reach out and help any of the newly awakened mutants, and the fact he's the only one who tries to suggest peace rather than tossing insults and fighting whenever he runs into the people who currently dislike him, despite it being ''them'' we're apparently supposed to root for. Notably, when Cyclops popped up in ''WATXM'' to help Wolverine fight off sentinels, fans actually cheered Cyclops on and called for him to JustShootHim now that Wolverine's without his HealingFactor since Wolverine was being such a huge dick to him (which he did literally the second after Scott saved his life).
* RonTheDeathEater: While Cyclops may not be perfect and he makes his share of mistakes, but as an A-List superhero team leader, that's bound to happen. However, as far as some superheroes, Supervillains, writers, fans or [[RunningTheAsylum professional]] alike, are concerned, he's the most despicable person on the planet. [[ComicBook/AvengersVsXMen Despite being brainwashed at the time]], people are blaming him and solely him for the state mutants are post-Avengers vs X-Men, despite mutants always being in this kind of situation. Then there's the fans who complain about the fact he blames Wolverine and the Avengers, or the dark Phoenix, instead of accepting blame himself... despite the fact that he still accepted responsibility, and is the only one in the mess who's accepted any blame in the whole mess (except for Captain America, who at least admits he hasn't done enough to help mutants), while the opposing side hasn't and continue to blame him for everything.
* ShipSinking:
** Creator/GrantMorrison ''tried'' to sink Scott/Jean (or Jott) first by getting Scott behaving unusually cold, then getting him saying he and Jean had been "going through the motions" since [[ComicBook/TheDarkPhoenixSaga her death on the Moon]], and then cheating on Jean with Emma. It didn't work very well, though, partially due to Teen Scott and Teen Jean's ongoing WillTheyOrWontThey. Or ''ComicBook/PhoenixResurrection'' stating Scott never, ''ever'', got over Jean.
** Post-Morrison, other writers endeavored to sink Jott further and cement Scott/Emma (or Scemma). However, ''Avengers vs X-Men'' had Emma cheating on Scott with Namor of all people and Scott breaking up with her, and ''Phoenix resurrection'' confirmed he never got over Jean. Likewise, after the ''Inhumans vs X-Men'' crossover, Teen Scott declared Emma Frost "ruined his life and got away with it".
* ShipToShipCombat: Where to even start? Cyke/Jean vs. Cyke/Emma is probably the biggest battle in the fan base, the former being iconic while the latter some fans find far more interesting, and still others remember him fondly with Madelyne Prior. That's not even getting into HoYay with Angel and, of course, Wolverine. ''Now'' there's also the fact that some writers have decided that ''the Phoenix Force itself'' wants him. Then of course is [[FoeYay Mr. Sinister]], who has ''long'' displayed an unhealthy obsession with Cyclops within the books leading to quite a bit of subtext among fans. More recently, Uncanny has seen Tempus, Maria Hill and even Magik enter the fray. And that's not even including ''Teen''!Scott in ''All-New'', who is popularly linked both with the obligatory Jean Grey (in this case time-displaced O5 Teen!Jeen) and, thanks to Rule63 giving the fanbase an outlet for Adult!Scott's subtext with Logan, {{ComicBook/X23}}.
* UnintentionallySympathetic: While Scott used to bounce back and forth between this and UnintentionallyUnsympathetic DependingOnTheWriter, as of the new 10s, he is firmly stuck on this, mostly because certain writers (most prominently Jason Aaron) tried their utmost to vilify without bringing up any actual valid points against him. For example, they tried to portray him as bad for draging children into the conflict, when training mutant kids and preparing them for a world that hates them has been the X-Men's concept ''from the very beginning''.
** From 2006 onwards, Cyclops: learned that his father figure had lied to and betrayed him; was forced to fight a brother he never even knew he had; lost the love of his life; had his oldest and closest friends abandon him; killed said father figure while possessed and arguably in self-defense, and was treated as a cold blooded, remorseless murderer for it despite his obvious guilt; and essentially had his entire legacy stripped away and everything he ever worked for handed over on a silver platter to [[Franchise/{{Wolverine}} a guy]] whose only apparent qualification was being ''[[WolverinePublicity just so cool]]''. Even fans who disliked the character started to feel sorry for him because Marvel had so systematically tried to destroy the poor bastard that it was [[TheWoobie basically impossible not to]]. It didn’t help that many of the people opposing him (Scarlet Witch, Iron Man, Black Bolt, etc.) had previously done or were currently doing things as bad or worse than him and gotten a free pass, making it look like he was being singled out rather than getting what was coming to him.
* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: In 1986, writers tried to make Scott look sympathetic by turning Madelyne into a WetBlanketWife who started disapproving of his involvement with the X-Men, hoping to give Scott an acceptable reason to walk out on his wife and son to join up with the rest of the original X-Men (including a resurrected Jean) in ''ComicBook/XFactor''. Instead, it looked like abandoning his family to shack up with his ex, especially since he initially kept Madelyne and his son a secret from Jean. Many readers at the time turned on Scott for good, including fans who later became X-writers (see above). Scott later angsted about Madelyne and the baby disappearing, but it came off disingenuous since he'd walked out on them in the first place.
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* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: Cyclops has been hit with a lot of this over the years, both by fans and by writers. DependingOnTheWriter he's either a kind, compassionate man who simply suffers from bad social skills or he's a stubborn {{Jerkass}} control freak who may or may not have developed some very bigoted disdain towards the humans who have persecuted him and his fellow mutants.
** In particular, a strong argument can be made that Scott's deepest relationship was not with either Jean Grey or Emma Frost...but with [[DivineDate the Phoenix Force]]. He and Jean dated in high school, but the deepest part of their early relationship was during a period when the real Jean was being [[CloningBlues impersonated by the Phoenix]]. WordOfGod is that that part of Jean was later reincarnated as Madelyne Pryor, which is something that Cyclops never quite put his finger on. This gives a tragic bent to his (arguably [[PoorCommunicationKills accidental]]) abandonment of Madelyne and return to a resurrected Jean — but, importantly, a Jean with no memory of how their relationship had evolved past "we were dating in high school". Notably, ''X-Men: The End'', Chris Claremont had Scott explain that the reason his and Jean's subsequent relationship never quite seemed right was because the parts of Jean that he truly fell in love with were the parts that had been reincarnated as Madelyne. This theory also puts his actions in ''ComicBook/AvengersVsXMen'' and Brian Michael Bendis's ''[[ComicBook/UncannyXMen2013 Uncanny X-Men]]'' into a slightly different light.
* BaseBreakingCharacter: Quite possibly the champion among X-Men characters and fans along with Wolverine, and it's not helped by the fact that ''the writers themselves'' are split on if they like him or not.
** Especially when he and his group of X-Men became wanted fugitives who are hunted by the Avengers, it led to a large split between fans who think he's making things worse by opposing SHIELD or if his intentions are well enough to justify his actions. It's telling, that whenever Cyclops gets into an argument with someone now, half the fanbase respond by complaining about what a dick the other person is being, while the other half complains about ''him'' instead.
** [[spoiler:The announcement that he's essentially responsible for about 50% of the bad situation that was affecting mutant kind (the other 50% is Terrigen Mists being now lethal to mutants, but ''they'' didn't pissed off humanity back to "Kill All Mutants" mode) had many people wanting the X-Men to find him so they can lynch him, and others wished to at least wait until he's found so he can give his defense... And then ''ComicBook/DeathOfX'' came out where it was revealed there was not one but two Terrigen clouds, one of which hit Muir Island and killed Jamie Madrox as well as all of his dupes, this being the first time any of the X-Men had seen M-Pox and being understandably horrified. Cyclops begins a plan to use a mutant named Alchemy to change the make up of one of the clouds and render it harmless to mutants which works although this leads to Alchemy's death, all with the Inhumans fighting him every step of the way. He's then executed by Black Bolt in front of the gathered X-Men and Inhumans. That leaves the reader to wonder just why, then, was he being talked about as having done something so irredeemably evil. Then ''ComicBook/InhumansVsXMen'' revealed that he died some time around the first issue of Death of X and all instances of Cyclops afterwards are Emma Frost's mental projections, meaning he didn't even do the crimes he was being accused of.]]
* BrokenBase: Scott's skull cap when in uniform, which he's had since the 60s though took a break from briefly in the 90s. For a lot of people, it's ''iconic'' and they consider it part of his look, but for others, they ''really'' dislike it, and prefer it when he has an open cowl like the 90s, or just his visor alone. What's not helped is that his hair-shape makes the skull cap look ''kinda'' like a condom (leading to a variety of unfortunate nicknames from his hatedom), while the open cowl/visor alone helps to emphasise what a PrettyBoy he is.
** None of this compared to the X-mask. For some, it was a cool update of his look, but to others, it was trying ''way'' too hard and came off as ridiculous. What isn't helped is artists would have trouble deciding how to draw it, leading to it either actually covering where his eyes are to completely missing them, making it a question on how it worked with his powers.
* CantUnHearIt: Odds are you'll read his comic dialogue (especially from the Creator/JimLee era) in the voice of the late Creator/NormSpencer.
* DesignatedVillain: Is frequently blamed for everything that goes wrong simply because he's the only one to step up to the plate and accept responsibility. [[spoiler: The fact that he and Emma kissed and made out on Jean's grave doesn't help his reputation amonst fans or amongst other heroes at all, although people tend to forget the context of that (to put it simply, they are reasons why he is listed among those male characters in comics where their own rape is not addressed.]]
* EnsembleDarkhorse: While Big Scott still counts as a BaseBreakingCharacter despite his large increase in popularity since [=AvX=], Young Scott's status as TheCutie and a BadassAdorable has managed to win around a large number of people to his side, even, strangely, a contingent of people who hate on his older self. The fact that his solo is amazingly drawn and written possibly helps too.
* FridgeHorror:
** Scott's relationship with Emma Frost becomes a ''lot'' less romantic when you remember that its foundation was built on rape and horrible things they both did (She convinced him having psychic sex was the best way to treat his PTSD while acting as his therapist and then they kissed and made out on Jean's grave. Unfortunately, these two things are just the tip of the iceberg).
** Out of Universe this has become far worse as of Uncanny X-Men #32. Where Scott refuses to get back together with Emma. Half the fandom is pissed off at him for wanting to remain out of a relationship that he might not have even consented to (due to Jean's manipulation of his mind) and arguably brought out the worst in him. To summarise: Scott is apparently a dick for not loving his rapist.
* GuileHero: Solidified in ''ComicBook/CurseOfTheMutants''. [[spoiler: To add some context, Utopia was surrounded by Vampires, fighting on every side and platform. Jubilee and Wolverine have both been turned, and the latter is standing only a few feet away, ready to cut his head off and turn the rest of the X-Men. Cyke's response? Pulling out a control to reactivate Wolverine's HealingFactor, turning him back. That's right, Scott discovered he was immune to vampirism and that the vampires wanted to turn him, so he deactivated his HealingFactor and allowed him to be turned, just so he could turn him back right when they were relying on him to lead their forces. The vampires, still in shock, are promptly slaughtered. Meanwhile, Scott's earlier plan, to bring back Dracula and have him take back the vampire horde, appeared to have failed and was forgotten...only for it to turnout Dracula had been tracking down Xarus all this time, and after curbstomping his son and taking back his place, Cyke warns him that he could kill him with the push of a button. Dracula claims that he knows he's bluffing, but still lets them leave in peace. In short, do NOT threaten the safety of Cyclops' people, and when he says that he will slaughter you, he means it.]]
* HarsherInHindsight: Prior to [=AvX=], Cyclops and Captain America actually had quite a positive working relationship, which included at least one story where they teamed-up that was ''filled'' with HoYay due to their mutual respect for one-another. The fact the two are NotSoDifferent actually makes this dynamic make a lot of sense, but sadly it's unlikely we'll ever see ''that'' shown again.
* HoYay: The fact that his younger self in ''ComicBook/AllNewXMen #20'' appears find Wolverine's female clone {{ComicBook/X23}} attractive has not gone unremarked upon, either within the book or by the fanbase.
* InformedWrongness: ''Oh boy''.
** Jason Aaron ''loves'' to have characters hate on Cyclops. In ''Schism'', Wolverine and mutants siding with him break off from Cyclops. Wolverine cites that children shouldn't be trained to fight... even though the X-Men have ''always'' trained kids to defend themselves, and that, at the time of ''Schism'', mutants were near-extinct, and anti-mutant violence was at an all-time high. It doesn't help that ''Wolverine himself'' makes a point of taking a teenage girl under his wing every decade or so. Especially mind-numbing is the fact that Wolverine's plan is essentially to run way and hope they escape, and to encourage them to run he rigs the whole island to explode. In the end, the students start fighting off the Sentinel while the two fight, and when they realize this, Wolverine abandons his plan to help do the exact thing Cyclops said they should... and yet in the end, instead of admitting Scott was right, he leaves, because Scott is making the students fight their battles (despite the fact that, if he doesn't let them fight, them and everyone else will die).
** In the aftermath of ''Avengers vs. X-Men'', Aaron makes it a point to have characters get angry at and insult Cyclops literally whenever they meet, even characters that don't hate him in other books, and regardless of the current situation. Characters have called out Cyclops for training his students to fight and taking them in his missions... Which the X-Men do fairly often. No matter what Cyclops' students are all college aged or older. Hell, after Cyclops shows concern for Wolverine and saves his life, [[UngratefulBastard Logan decides to be a dick to him]].
** In the ''ComicBook/AllNewAllDifferentMarvel'', Cyclops is thought to be dead, but before that did ''something'' that has made people hate mutants again. For a long while it wasn't explained ''what'' exactly it is that he did, as writers constantly avoided details beyond it having ''something'' to do with the Inhumans and the Terrigen Mists killing mutants Finally it came to light that the ''horrible, nauseating, EVIL'' thing Cyclops did was ''trying to save mutants from extinction'' at the hands of the Terrigen mist clouds that the Inhumans let loose on the world to transform people into Inhumans, and it just so happened to be absolutely lethal to mutants. Cyclops heinous action was to modify one of the clouds to make it harmless, which was treated by everyone in-universe as tantamount to something ''Hitler himself would do'' (he literally gets called Hitler). The big reveal at the end of it all was that Cyclops in fact died shortly after the beginning of the series due to the cloud and all of his oh-so-evil actions were in fact a psychic projection Emma Frost created in order to make the world believe Black Bolt had executed him.
* IronWoobie / StoicWoobie: Scott's gone through so much shit in his life its not a surprise he can come across as cold or uncaring sometimes. Still, his actions to protect what's left of the mutant race stem from the mutant race being the ''only thing he has left to fight for''.
** Both young and old Cyclops in ''ComicBook/AllNewXMen'' also become major woobies by the fifth issue. Old Cyclops has to deal with even his own team hating his guts, his former family hunting him, and the world at large wanting him dead, for actions he did while not in control of his own body, all the while he's trying to do good. Young Cyclops, however, has to deal with his friends giving him the cold shoulder, the fear that he's going to degenerate into a seemingly mess that killed his father figure, and all the present day X-Men looking at him with a contempt due to their hatred of his present self that he just does not understand. It does not help that as time goes on, he increasingly notes the glaring flaws in his detractor's philosophy, and the extenuating circumstances in his future counterpart.
* ItWasHisSled: His involvement in some (if not all) of the most prominent, memorable, and/or classic X-Men stories means that any one familiar with comics in the least probably knows a lot about him.
* LauncherOfAThousandShips: While not to the extent of Gambit or Nightcrawler, most forum discussions of him derail within a few hours to which of the characters he's interacted with recently he should date. The commonly appearing ships seem to be Jean, Emma, Angel, Wolverine and (on Tumblr) Captain America. The expanded list could probably expand the entire Marvel Universe.
** Teen-Scott even more so. An {{Adorkable}}, teenaged {{Woobie}} version of the guy already well know for having beautiful, talented women [[ChickMagnet hanging off him]], without any of Adult-Scott's baggage? You'd better believe every shipper was ready to pair him off with their current generation X-student of choice. The most popular ships appear to be Teen-Jean, Pixie, and X-23.
* MemeticLoser: The films unfortunately don't give him much room to earn respect, and combined with the [[WesternAnimation/XMen 90s cartoon]] and its overly dramatic characterization, there's a popular assumption that he's a whiny loser. Its almost ComicBook/{{Aquaman}} level bad.
* MemeticMutation:
** Flyclops and Cyclopalypse.
** And more recently, "Cyclops was Right", notably since Cyclops, in the hands of Kieron Gillen, actually mentioned it in-story. It came back even stronger with ''Death of X'' and ''Inhumans vs. X-Men''.
** "Punches! From the Punch Dimension!"[[note]]A mock explanation on how Cyclops' powers work. The official explanation is that Cyclop's eyes are a portal to a concussive force of energy from an non-Einsteinian dimension.[[/note]]
** [[SayMyName JEAAN!!!]]
** [[Music/{{DMX}} X Gon' Give It To Ya!]]
** Scott's hatred of ComicBook/CaptainAmerica.
* NeverLiveItDown: Scott can never take a break for his screw-ups that the writers had piled on him, which is the usual ammunition of his haters in favor of his clawed rival. Please note that most, if not all of these, are actually proven false or at least not as black and white by the context of the story.
** Abandoning his wife Madelyne Pryor and son Nathan Summers to be with the resurrected Jean Grey. Fans ignore that: he never intended to leave to reunite with Jean, he only wanted to confirm whether she was alive and Madelyne - who didn't even know why Angel needed to see him urgently - told him it was over if he walked out of their home's door; after confirming Jean was alive he meant to go back, even though X-Factor needed his leadership, but Madelyne had disappeared for then; he only got back together with Jean several months later when he thought Maddie was dead, and it was ''Jean'' who started it. And regarding Nathan, Cyclops actually spent twelve years in a hellish future raising him, which proves how far he's willing to for his son.
** Being in some kind of a psychic love affair with Emma while married to Jean, and later making out on her grave. Though opinions vary on how bad this is, since Emma ''claims'' it's therapy, and the two don't become actual lovers until after Jean's death (whose ghost pushed Scott and Emma together). Keep in mind that Emma being his therapist means that she takes advantage of Scott's vulnerable state and her own psychic powers to basically force him into the affair, that Jean herself was willing to have an affair with Logan shortly before Scott cheated on her, and finally, that Cyclops had to be ''psychically forced'' by Jean into starting a relationship with Emma after Jean died in order to prevent an apocalyptic future (which is what leads to the grave-makeout scene). In short, not only was he -nearly- cheated on, abused and brainwashed into a relationship with his abuser, he also gets all the bad rap for all that.
** Killing Charles Xavier during a psychotic rampage... when he was possessed by the Dark Phoenix. Other characters like Jean Grey, Charles Xavier and Scarlet Witch get a free pass for their terrible actions committed whilst possessed, he doesn't get the same privilege.
* RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap: While Cyke was always more of a BaseBreakingCharacter than a Scrappy, after both ''Schism'' and [=AvX=], he seems to have shot up in popularity, possibly usurping Wolverine (Going by recent sales, ''Uncanny'', Scott's book, had nearly double the sales ''WATXM'' has, which is after having solidly lead it prior to [=AvX=]). Due to the DesignatedVillain treatment he got, combined with his genuine attempts at helping people, apparently being the only one bothering to reach out and help any of the newly awakened mutants, and the fact he's the only one who tries to suggest peace rather than tossing insults and fighting whenever he runs into the people who currently dislike him, despite it being ''them'' we're apparently supposed to root for. Notably, when Cyclops popped up in ''WATXM'' to help Wolverine fight off sentinels, fans actually cheered Cyclops on and called for him to JustShootHim now that Wolverine's without his HealingFactor since Wolverine was being such a huge dick to him (which he did literally the second after Scott saved his life).
* RonTheDeathEater: While Cyclops may not be perfect and he makes his share of mistakes, but as an A-List superhero team leader, that's bound to happen. However, as far as some superheroes, Supervillains, writers, fans or [[RunningTheAsylum professional]] alike, are concerned, he's the most despicable person on the planet. [[ComicBook/AvengersVsXMen Despite being brainwashed at the time]], people are blaming him and solely him for the state mutants are post-Avengers vs X-Men, despite mutants always being in this kind of situation. Then there's the fans who complain about the fact he blames Wolverine and the Avengers, or the dark Phoenix, instead of accepting blame himself... despite the fact that he still accepted responsibility, and is the only one in the mess who's accepted any blame in the whole mess (except for Captain America, who at least admits he hasn't done enough to help mutants), while the opposing side hasn't and continue to blame him for everything.
* ShipSinking:
** Creator/GrantMorrison ''tried'' to sink Scott/Jean (or Jott) first by getting Scott behaving unusually cold, then getting him saying he and Jean had been "going through the motions" since [[ComicBook/TheDarkPhoenixSaga her death on the Moon]], and then cheating on Jean with Emma. It didn't work very well, though, partially due to Teen Scott and Teen Jean's ongoing WillTheyOrWontThey. Or ''ComicBook/PhoenixResurrection'' stating Scott never, ''ever'', got over Jean.
** Post-Morrison, other writers endeavored to sink Jott further and cement Scott/Emma (or Scemma). However, ''Avengers vs X-Men'' had Emma cheating on Scott with Namor of all people and Scott breaking up with her, and ''Phoenix resurrection'' confirmed he never got over Jean. Likewise, after the ''Inhumans vs X-Men'' crossover, Teen Scott declared Emma Frost "ruined his life and got away with it".
* ShipToShipCombat: Where to even start? Cyke/Jean vs. Cyke/Emma is probably the biggest battle in the fan base, the former being iconic while the latter some fans find far more interesting, and still others remember him fondly with Madelyne Prior. That's not even getting into HoYay with Angel and, of course, Wolverine. ''Now'' there's also the fact that some writers have decided that ''the Phoenix Force itself'' wants him. Then of course is [[FoeYay Mr. Sinister]], who has ''long'' displayed an unhealthy obsession with Cyclops within the books leading to quite a bit of subtext among fans. More recently, Uncanny has seen Tempus, Maria Hill and even Magik enter the fray. And that's not even including ''Teen''!Scott in ''All-New'', who is popularly linked both with the obligatory Jean Grey (in this case time-displaced O5 Teen!Jeen) and, thanks to Rule63 giving the fanbase an outlet for Adult!Scott's subtext with Logan, {{ComicBook/X23}}.
* UnintentionallySympathetic: While Scott used to bounce back and forth between this and UnintentionallyUnsympathetic DependingOnTheWriter, as of the new 10s, he is firmly stuck on this, mostly because certain writers (most prominently Jason Aaron) tried their utmost to vilify without bringing up any actual valid points against him. For example, they tried to portray him as bad for draging children into the conflict, when training mutant kids and preparing them for a world that hates them has been the X-Men's concept ''from the very beginning''.
** From 2006 onwards, Cyclops: learned that his father figure had lied to and betrayed him; was forced to fight a brother he never even knew he had; lost the love of his life; had his oldest and closest friends abandon him; killed said father figure while possessed and arguably in self-defense, and was treated as a cold blooded, remorseless murderer for it despite his obvious guilt; and essentially had his entire legacy stripped away and everything he ever worked for handed over on a silver platter to [[Franchise/{{Wolverine}} a guy]] whose only apparent qualification was being ''[[WolverinePublicity just so cool]]''. Even fans who disliked the character started to feel sorry for him because Marvel had so systematically tried to destroy the poor bastard that it was [[TheWoobie basically impossible not to]]. It didn’t help that many of the people opposing him (Scarlet Witch, Iron Man, Black Bolt, etc.) had previously done or were currently doing things as bad or worse than him and gotten a free pass, making it look like he was being singled out rather than getting what was coming to him.
* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: In 1986, writers tried to make Scott look sympathetic by turning Madelyne into a WetBlanketWife who started disapproving of his involvement with the X-Men, hoping to give Scott an acceptable reason to walk out on his wife and son to join up with the rest of the original X-Men (including a resurrected Jean) in ''ComicBook/XFactor''. Instead, it looked like abandoning his family to shack up with his ex, especially since he initially kept Madelyne and his son a secret from Jean. Many readers at the time turned on Scott for good, including fans who later became X-writers (see above). Scott later angsted about Madelyne and the baby disappearing, but it came off disingenuous since he'd walked out on them in the first place.
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Changed line(s) 26 (click to see context) from:
** Teen!Scott even more so. An {{Adorkable}}, teenaged {{Woobie}} version of the guy already well know for having beautiful, taented women [[ChickMagnet hanging off him]], without any of Adult!Scott's baggae? You'd better believe evry shipper was ready to pair him off with their current generation X-student of choice. The most popular ships appear to be Teen!Jean, Pixie and X-23.
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** Teen!Scott Teen-Scott even more so. An {{Adorkable}}, teenaged {{Woobie}} version of the guy already well know for having beautiful, taented talented women [[ChickMagnet hanging off him]], without any of Adult!Scott's baggae? Adult-Scott's baggage? You'd better believe evry every shipper was ready to pair him off with their current generation X-student of choice. The most popular ships appear to be Teen!Jean, Pixie Teen-Jean, Pixie, and X-23.
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** From 2006 onwards, Cyclops: learned that his father figure had lied to and betrayed him; was forced to fight a brother he never even knew he had; lost the love of his life; had his oldest and closest friends abandon him; killed said father figure while possessed and arguably in self defence, and was treated as a cold blooded, remorseless murderer for it despite his obvious guilt; and essentially had his entire legacy stripped away and everything he ever worked for handed over on a silver platter to [[Franchise/{{Wolverine}} a guy]] whose only apparent qualification was being ''[[WolverinePublicity just so cool]]''. Even fans who disliked the character started to feel sorry for him because Marvel had so systematically tried to destroy the poor bastard that it was [[TheWoobie basically impossible not to]]. It didn’t help that many of the people opposing him (Scarlet Witch, Iron Man, Black Bolt, etc.) had previously done or were currently doing things as bad or worse than him and gotten a free pass, making it look like he was being singled out rather than getting what was coming to him.
to:
** From 2006 onwards, Cyclops: learned that his father figure had lied to and betrayed him; was forced to fight a brother he never even knew he had; lost the love of his life; had his oldest and closest friends abandon him; killed said father figure while possessed and arguably in self defence, self-defense, and was treated as a cold blooded, remorseless murderer for it despite his obvious guilt; and essentially had his entire legacy stripped away and everything he ever worked for handed over on a silver platter to [[Franchise/{{Wolverine}} a guy]] whose only apparent qualification was being ''[[WolverinePublicity just so cool]]''. Even fans who disliked the character started to feel sorry for him because Marvel had so systematically tried to destroy the poor bastard that it was [[TheWoobie basically impossible not to]]. It didn’t help that many of the people opposing him (Scarlet Witch, Iron Man, Black Bolt, etc.) had previously done or were currently doing things as bad or worse than him and gotten a free pass, making it look like he was being singled out rather than getting what was coming to him.
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* HarsherInHindsight: Prior to [=AvX=], Cyclops and Captain America actually had quite a positive working relationship, which included at least one story where they teamed-up that was ''filled'' with HoYay due to their mutual respect for one-another. The fact the two are NotSoDifferent actually makes this dynamic make a lot of sense, but sadly it's unlikely we'll ever see ''that'' shown again.
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He's not though? Like, at all? He can be firm with Hope but he's never been abusive, at best he's just not overly warm to her. In fairness, Hope is also quite bratty and prone to being a jerk towards him, so it's more a case he's just not someone who lets her walk all over him. Also, trope misuse.
* BrokenBase: Scott's skull cap when in uniform, which he's had since the 60s though took a break from briefly in the 90s. For a lot of people, it's ''iconic'' and they consider it part of his look, but for others, they ''really'' dislike it, and prefer it when he has an open cowl like the 90s, or just his visor alone. What's not helped is that his hair-shape makes the skull cap look ''kinda'' like a condom (leading to a variety of unfortunate nicknames from his hatedom), while the open cowl/visor alone helps to emphasise what a PrettyBoy he is.
** None of this compared to the X-mask. For some, it was a cool update of his look, but to others, it was trying ''way'' too hard and came off as ridiculous. What isn't helped is artists would have trouble deciding how to draw it, leading to it either actually covering where his eyes are to completely missing them, making it a question on how it worked with his powers.
** None of this compared to the X-mask. For some, it was a cool update of his look, but to others, it was trying ''way'' too hard and came off as ridiculous. What isn't helped is artists would have trouble deciding how to draw it, leading to it either actually covering where his eyes are to completely missing them, making it a question on how it worked with his powers.
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** Being in some kind of a psychic love affair with Emma while married to Jean. Though opinions vary on how bad this is, since Emma ''claims'' it's therapy, and the two don't become actual lovers until after Jean's death (whose ghost pushed Scott and Emma together). Keep in mind that Emma being his therapist means that she takes advantage of Scott's vulnerable state and her own psychic powers to basically force him into the affair, that Jean herself was willing to have an affair with Logan shortly before Scott cheated on her, and finally, that Cyclops had to be ''psychically forced'' by Jean into starting a relationship with Emma after Jean died in order to prevent an apocalyptic future. In short, not only was he -nearly- cheated on, abused and brainwashed into a relationship with his abuser, he also gets all the bad rap for all that.
to:
** Being in some kind of a psychic love affair with Emma while married to Jean.Jean, and later making out on her grave. Though opinions vary on how bad this is, since Emma ''claims'' it's therapy, and the two don't become actual lovers until after Jean's death (whose ghost pushed Scott and Emma together). Keep in mind that Emma being his therapist means that she takes advantage of Scott's vulnerable state and her own psychic powers to basically force him into the affair, that Jean herself was willing to have an affair with Logan shortly before Scott cheated on her, and finally, that Cyclops had to be ''psychically forced'' by Jean into starting a relationship with Emma after Jean died in order to prevent an apocalyptic future.future (which is what leads to the grave-makeout scene). In short, not only was he -nearly- cheated on, abused and brainwashed into a relationship with his abuser, he also gets all the bad rap for all that.
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** Scott and Emma made out over Jean's grave after her death... which only happened due to Jean's telepathic tampering of Cyclops' mind in order to make him go back with Emma.
** Go ahead and try to find any Hope Summers or Cable fans who condone Cyclops being an abusive {{Jerkass}} to Hope, his freaking granddaughter.
* RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap: While Cyke was always more of a BaseBreakingCharacter than a Scrappy, Post-[=AvX=], he seems to have shot up in popularity, possibly usurping Wolverine (Going by recent sales, ''Uncanny'', Scott's book, has nearly double the sales ''WATXM'' has, though that might be due to Creator/BrianBendis writing and its lower issue count - Wolvie's series was in the 40s before relaunching). Due to the DesignatedVillain treatment he got and is still getting, combined with his genuine attempts at helping people and apparently being the only one bothering to reach out and help any of the newly awakened mutants, and the fact he's the only one who tries to suggest peace rather than tossing insults and fighting whenever he runs into the people who currently dislike him, despite it being ''them'' we're apparently supposed to root for. Notably, when Cyclops popped up in ''WATXM'' to help Wolverine fight off sentinels, fans actually cheered Cyclops on and called for him to JustShootHim now that Wolverine's without his HealingFactor since Wolverine was being such a huge dick to him (which he did literally the second after Scott saved his life).
** Go ahead and try to find any Hope Summers or Cable fans who condone Cyclops being an abusive {{Jerkass}} to Hope, his freaking granddaughter.
* RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap: While Cyke was always more of a BaseBreakingCharacter than a Scrappy, Post-[=AvX=], he seems to have shot up in popularity, possibly usurping Wolverine (Going by recent sales, ''Uncanny'', Scott's book, has nearly double the sales ''WATXM'' has, though that might be due to Creator/BrianBendis writing and its lower issue count - Wolvie's series was in the 40s before relaunching). Due to the DesignatedVillain treatment he got and is still getting, combined with his genuine attempts at helping people and apparently being the only one bothering to reach out and help any of the newly awakened mutants, and the fact he's the only one who tries to suggest peace rather than tossing insults and fighting whenever he runs into the people who currently dislike him, despite it being ''them'' we're apparently supposed to root for. Notably, when Cyclops popped up in ''WATXM'' to help Wolverine fight off sentinels, fans actually cheered Cyclops on and called for him to JustShootHim now that Wolverine's without his HealingFactor since Wolverine was being such a huge dick to him (which he did literally the second after Scott saved his life).
to:
** Go ahead and try to find any Hope Summers or Cable fans who condone Cyclops being an abusive {{Jerkass}} to Hope, his freaking granddaughter.
