The X-Men might be Marvel's mightiest mutants, but that doesn't mean they have it easy. These
characters have suffered some of the worst traumas the Marvel universe could throw at a superhero —
and then some. From brutal backstories to chilling childhoods, these are the X-Men's tragic origins.
Born into privilege as the son of renowned nuclear scientist Brian Xavier,
Charles Xavier's life took an unexpected turn when his father died in an accident. Brian's
work partner, Kurt Marko, married Charles's mother Sharon, bringing his son, Cain, into the
family alongside him. This all seemed innocuous enough at first, but Charles's psychic abilities
made him aware of Marko's ulterior motives — namely, that he married Sharon for her money.
Kurt soon began to slip into alcoholism, abusing both Charles and Cain,
though Cain remained embittered toward his new step-brother. Charles attempted to learn more
about Cain through telepathy, but ultimately ended up furthering the chasm between them.
Cain eventually became Juggernaut, his deep antagonism acting as a constant
reminder to Charles that he failed to heal his stepbrother's trauma.
After serving in the Korean War and having his heart broken by his fiancée,
Moira MacTaggert, Charles decided to travel around the world. In the Himalayas, he disrupted
the plans of an alien calling himself Lucifer, who was intent on colonizing the earth. As punishment,
Lucifer dropped a stone onto Charles's legs, resulting in Charles using his signature
wheelchair. Regardless of these traumas, however, Charles understands the privileges
he has been given — and how to use them to make the world a better place for mutants.
"Sometimes we all need a little help."
Scott Summers is typically Professor Xavier's right-hand man, eventually succeeding the
telepathic founder as the headmaster of the School for Gifted Youngsters.
But aside from his angst over how difficult his laser-eyed mutant ability is to control,
Scott has a past and a present full to the brim with conflict.
Scott's childhood was torn apart by a deadly plane crash. His parents sacrificed themselves
for their sons' safety, equipping Scott and his brother Alexander with parachutes
and tossing them out of the aircraft. Though both boys lived, their lives were forever changed by
the event. Both became wards of the state, but Scott ran away after his powers began to manifest.
After years of mistreatment, Scott was taken in by Professor Xavier. The fickle nature of
Scott's mutant ability is, in some narratives, blamed on the brain damage he sustained in the
fall from the plane while other stories chalk it up to a mental block created by the trauma
of the ordeal. Couple this with his complicated on-again-off-again relationship with Jean Grey,
and Scott has been toting around a whole lot of baggage over the course of his life.
Though Scott ran away from the orphanage after his powers manifested,
Alexander Summers, his younger brother, was adopted fairly quickly. The Blandings family
took Alex in, in an effort to replace their son Todd, who had been tragically killed in
an accident years earlier. Alex did his best to live up to his new parents' expectations of him,
trying to become a carbon copy of Todd to help alleviate the pain of their loss.
The trauma of Todd's death grew even deeper, however, when Alex and his
foster sister Haley were kidnapped by the same boy responsible for Todd's death. This event
spurred Alex's plasma-based mutant powers into manifestation. To protect himself and Haley,
Alex ended up losing control, incinerating their kidnapper.
Heavy stuff, for sure, but the evil geneticist Mister Sinister "helped" Alex out by blocking
that memory for him — an interesting parallel to his brother Scott's own supposed mental block.
A powerful psychic, Jean Grey's abilities were honed with help from Professor X himself.
Meanwhile, Jean's romantic entanglements and her multiple deaths and reawakenings as the Phoenix
have given her plenty of dramatic allure. To some, her telepathy may not seem all that exciting in
comparison, but it is, in fact, a uniquely powerful talent with uniquely intense costs.
Jean's powers first manifested in childhood, when her best friend was killed in a car accident.
The young Jean reached out mentally and linked with her friend, nearly dying in the process
herself. She was awakened from her subsequent coma by Professor X, who sealed her abilities away
until she was old enough to control them. Though Jean's home life was a happy one, her incredible
mental powers, and the toll they take on her body and mind, set her apart from many of her fellow
mutants. And it was the sheer strength of those powers that so often became Jean's own undoing.
Wolverine is easily the most popular member of the X-Men, especially following Hugh
Jackman's stellar portrayal in the X-Men movies. But Logan, as he calls himself,
is a more complicated character than you might guess in just about every sense of the word.
"So this is what it feels like."
Born James Howlett in the 1880s, Logan has only scattered, vague memories of his past. What is
known is that he was born into a wealthy Canadian farm family, but was purportedly fathered by the
family's groundskeeper, Thomas Logan. Thomas wound up killing James' adoptive father, John Howlett,
as revenge for being thrown off the farm. It is at this moment that James' mutant powers first
manifested: Bone claws emerged from the backs of his hands, which he used to swiftly kill Thomas.
Terrified, James fled and adopted his slain father's surname. Decades followed in which
Logan worked in a mining colony, lived among wolves, and even traveled with a circus.
Eventually he was kidnapped by the Weapon X program, which fused adamantium to his bones.
Empowered by his healing factor, Logan is blessed with an extra-long life which he
sometimes considers more of a curse, as he is eternally haunted by his long and sordid past.
Is there any member of the X-Men who's quite as cool as Storm?
Not only are her powers seriously badass, but her intelligence,
battle savvy, and excellent hair make her one of the most beloved Marvel heroes of all time.
But Ororo Munroe's past is a tumultuous one, led by no small amount of grief and conflict.
Ororo is the daughter of a Kenyan tribal princess and an African-American photojournalist.
As a small child, Ororo lost her parents when a fighter jet crashed into their home during
the Suez Crisis, burying the young girl under the rubble. Being trapped like that
saw Ororo plagued by claustrophobia for years;
a terror that occasionally gets in the way of her work with the X-Men.
For a while, she was raised in an African village and worshiped as a goddess.
At some point in her youth, she met Prince T'Challa, later known as the Black Panther
and king of Wakanda. The two enjoyed an adolescent romance that, much later,
culminated in an on-again, off-again adult relationship. The adversity Ororo
faced growing up might have been intense, but she's all the stronger for having endured it.
Born Anna Marie, Rogue was raised in a Mississippi hippie commune. The members
of the commune attempted to use Native American mysticism to reach the so-called "Far Banks,"
but their failure to do so properly resulted in her mother's disappearance. Rogue was then cared
for by her Aunt Carrie, whose grief at the loss of her sister made her a strict disciplinarian.
Though Rogue loved her aunt, she was a rebellious teenager, and ultimately ran away from home.
Rogue grew close to a boy named Cody who, after impulsively kissing her,
was left in a permanent coma the first victim of her life-draining powers. The guilt
and the fear of what she had done weighed so heavily on Rogue that she adopted a completely
body-covering outfit that has since become one of the character's defining features.
She was eventually adopted by Mystique and began her mutant exploits with Magneto's Brotherhood
of Mutants, later joining the X-Men after absorbing Ms. Marvel's psyche along with her
Kree powers. Rogue's struggle with her superhuman abilities is a huge part of her character though
workarounds have been developed, she never quite gets to let her guard down entirely.
Some mutants are more obviously mutated than others and Kurt Wagner isn't able to hide his
differences quite as easily as some of his colleagues. Abandoned as an infant, Kurt was
found and raised by a sorceress working in a Bavarian circus. He enjoyed a happy childhood,
as the circus members held no prejudices towards mutants,
and his acrobatic abilities were popular with audiences. Though he has always had his unique
appearance, his powers of teleportation didn't make themselves known until he was a teenager.
These powers manifested because Kurt is actually the son of the shapeshifter Mystique
and the demonic warlord Azazel. His parents' less-than-savory reputations have marked him
his whole life, despite his own devout Catholicism. After a stint in the freak
show in an American circus, Kurt set out for Germany to find his foster brother, Stefan,
who he learned had apparently murdered several innocent children. The townspeople,
seeing Kurt's demonic appearance, assumed he was the murderer. Before they could enact vengeance,
however, Professor X stepped in to save him. Despite the complications of his origins and the
prejudice that his devilish form invokes, Kurt is frequently depicted as upbeat and friendly,
proving that some people can push through their own darkness — and emerge stronger for it.
"Who the hell is this?"
"Kurt Wagner. But in the Munich circus I was known as the incredible Nightcrawler."
"Yeah, save it. Storm."
"We're outta here."
Everyone loves a bad boy, and Remy LeBeau has been breaking hearts ever since his comic book debut
in 1990. Remy never had a chance at a "normal" life, however, having been kidnapped from the
hospital where he was born and subsequently raised by the LeBeau Clan Thieves' Guild.
He was rumored to be the prophesied child that would finally bring the opposing Thieves' and
Assassins' Guilds together. 10-year-old Remy proved that his time in the Thieves' Guild
was fruitful when he attempted to pick the pocket of the Guild's patriarch,
who then officially adopted him. The pint-sized criminal grew into a troubled teen,
working for the fiendish Mister Sinister for a time.
Remy went on to marry Bella Donna Boudreaux, the granddaughter of the head assassin of the
Assassins' Guild. This union of the two factions was short-lived, however, as Remy killed Bella
Donna's brother Julien in a duel immediately following the wedding. Remy had to make a break
for it, but his colorful past just won't leave him alone. Despite this, he remains a charming member
of the X-Men as Gambit, slinging his charged cards at enemies with considerable panache.
As any comic fan will tell you, some of the best heroes start out as villains and no one
exemplifies that better than the icy Emma Frost. Born into a wealthy Boston family,
Emma was emotionally neglected by her extensive family. Moreover, she was bullied at school
but when her psychic abilities manifested, she began a promising career as a teacher,
tutoring her peers with the support of her own mentor, a man named Ian Kendall.
Her father soundly rejected this pursuit, however, and was further angered by video footage of Emma
kissing Ian after she discovered, telepathically, that he found her attractive. The footage,
taken by Emma's sister, was intended to be used as evidence to get Ian fired,
but Emma decided to respond by blackmailing her father instead. Surprisingly, her father was
impressed with his daughter's strength of will, and offered her the family fortune. Emma refused,
choosing to make her own way in the world, away from the bonds of her stifling home environment.
Emma then entered a period of homelessness, which saw her become the White Queen of the
Hellfire Club, positioning herself directly opposite Professor X and his Academy.
Years later, however, she would become co-headmistress of Xavier's
school alongside Cyclops. And sure, Emma might be catty, aloof, and often judgmental,
but her difficult upbringing instilled in her an ironclad respect for hard work and responsibility.
She might not always be nice, but she's still one of the X-Men's most dedicated heroes.
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