Not all mutants are a part of the X-Men.
Some have other ambitions, and put other goals before mutant rights and equality.
Others simply get wrapped up in other teams, finding those teams to be more crucial to
their identity than that of their mutant heritage.
While Inhumans tend to eventually be taken in and recognized by their kind, not all mutants
are.
Some superheroes are even only considered mutants depending on who you talk to.
Today we’re going to take a look at some of these lesser knowns as we count down the
top 10 superheroes you didn’t know were mutants.
Be sure to stick around till the end of this list where I will have some bonus content
coming your way.
And if you love secret mutants as much as we do, and learning about them, consider smashing
that subscribe if you haven’t already.
So you can stay in the know about all things mutant.
Alright, let’s get counting.
10 Iron Man
Sort of.
Tony Stark’s mutant ability is that he is a technopath.
But this mutant ability has been specifically linked back to mutant genes within him.
It manifested as a result of Tony playing around with the Extremis virus.
However something that I find fascinating about the virus is we originally learn that
only certain genes can even become powered by it as the virus itself is deadly to most
people on the planet.
While I wouldn’t quite say that mutants are super rare on earth, I would argue they
are not common.
It’s not like everyone in Marvel is a mutant.
So while Tony might not be an X-gene mutant, there is something going on with his genetics
if he was able to take the Extremis virus and live.
I know he modified it but either way it seems like a pretty big gamble that too convincingly
paid off for me to not believe that there are some mutant genes hidden somewhere inside
Iron Man.
At the end of Civil War 2, Hank himself doesn’t even fully understand Tony’s insides anymore,
he’s experimented on himself so much, implying.
And if it can’t be understood by Hank McCoy then it’s possible we’ll never really
know if Iron Man is somewhat mutant or not.
9 Franklin Richards
Franklin Richards was born to Reed Richards and Sue Storm of the Fantastic Four.
While not mutants themselves, all the members of the Fantastic Four are considered mutates.
Their mutant X-genes activated during that fateful trip to space when they were exposed
to cosmic rays, aka radiation, and as a result mutated.
While they many not be mutants themselves, having those genes be active, especially in
both parents, gives them an almost guarantee that their children will be mutants too.
Thus when Franklin was born, no one was surprised that he exhibits some of the most insane mutant
powers from a young age, allowing him to change the very fabric of reality and build entire
universes all on his own.
It’s no wonder the X-Men are always so ready to welcome and invited Franklin into their
mutant family.
8 Valeria Richards
While this hasn’t been confirmed yet, I’m a little tired of Valeria getting snubbed
in the comics.
And it doesn’t really make sense that Franklin gets to be a mutant but Valeria doesn’t.
I’m more of the mind that her mutant abilities simply haven’t activated yet.
And although she might be a late bloomer when it comes to her powers they will be either
just as insane or maybe even more insane than her brothers.
Many fans speculated that Valeria actually was a mutant after Fantastic Four volume one,
issue 554 where we saw her with a shield surrounding her.
Many thought this could be proof that she would inherit her mother’s abilities.
However when asked about whether or not Valeria actually was a mutant, Tom Brevoort, an editor
at Marvel answered, “nope!”
Still that was in 2013 and it does not make a lot of sense if Franklin is but Valeria
isn’t.
Especially having the exact same super-powered parents.
7 Devil Dinosaur
Devil Dinosaur comes from the prehistoric past of earth 78411.
He is not just a mutant but also a devil beast from Dinosaur World.
His mutant gene activated after a traumatic experience with fire.
Fortunately he was saved from those who would harm him by Moon-Boy who befriended the beast.
Devil Dinosaur skin changed to red as a result of his mutation, making him a giant bright
red dinosaur, which honestly kind of makes me think of Clifford the big red dog.
Devil Dinosaur was partnered with Moon-Boy for quite some time until Moon-Boy’s death,
wherein a new character was introduced to work alongside Devil Dinosaur.
A girl with Inhuman genes known as Lunella Lafayette or Moon-Girl.
6 Abigail Brand
Abigail Brand is the head of SWORD, a division of SHIELD, specifically created to deal with
defending the earth from extraterrestrial threats.
Which despite what the MCU might have you believe wasn’t necessarily the main point
of the Avengers.
Alien’s were SWORD’s thing.
I feel like the Avengers are more about general super threats which sometimes ends up being
aliens but not if SWORD can beat them to it.
Abigail Brand is one we often forget when it comes to heroes who are mutants because
she is also an alien herself.
Part alien anyways.
Her dad was an alien and her mother was a human.
But her mother was also a mutant which is how Abigail herself ended with an active X-gene.
Her mutant ability allows her to emit a hot blue energy from her hands that burns through
most metals.
She also can speak most alien languages, even ones that human mouths can’t quite manage
to wrap their tongues around.
5 Great Lakes Avengers
Surprisingly many of the Great Lakes Avengers members are mutants.
Even member Deadpool has been connected to the mutants.
Making his first appearance in the New Mutant series.
Some consider Wade to be a mutant while others group him mutates.
Doorman is a bonafide mutant with an oddly specific power, portalling you into an adjacent
room.
Big Bertha is also a mutant.
And former member Squirrel Girl is also thought to be
a mutate.
4 Silhouette
Silhouette is actually a really awesome mutant.
She is one of the few mutants who retained her powers after M-Day and is known as a magical
or mystical mutant.
Her powers originate from the Universal Spring known as the Well of All Things.
She is the child of a Cambodian woman named Miyami and an American man named Andrew Chord.
Silhouette is but her alias and her birth name and she is believed to be part of a group
of descendents who were destined to have power and to unite the east and western ways of
the world.
After being partially paralyzed by a gunshot, Silhouette was forced to fight while using
crutches.
But this has never stopped her from kicking serious butt and using her mutant powers to
manipulate darkforce energy.
In fact as a teleporter, she is a dangerous superhero to mess with as she often uses her
crutches to reach through the portals she creates and smack her enemies senseless with
her martial arts skills.
3 Namor
Namor is an anti-hero that we tend to forget is a mutant.
Why?
Because he just has so much going on.
He was also a character who was created before the term mutant was popular in comics, as
the X-Men did not exist yet.
In fact, many people credit Namor as the first mutant.
Not in all of Marvel universe history but in Marvel comic book history.
Namor was first introduced in the comics in 1939, making him the first mutant to appear.
Although we didn’t know it yet.
In fact it wasn’t until the 90s that his full mutant status was recognized.
Before then he was often referred to a mutant hybrid by nerd-appointed Marvel universe mutant
experts, Professor Charles Xavier and Magneto.
Magneto even one time asked Namor to join the Brotherhood.
2 Moira MacTaggert
Moira is a superhero in her own right though for many years none of us suspected that she
had powers at all.
She has been known as a mutant ally throughout comics, often Charles Xavier's, ill-fated
lover.
And if you don’t think she’s a proper hero, let me remind you that she was the one
who figured out how to cure the legacy virus which makes her one in my books.
We found out Moira MacTaggert was a mutant recently in the comic series House of X.
We learned that she had done more than just die in the comics, we learned that her powers
allowed her to actually be reborn.
But not in the traditional sense of superpowers.
This isn’t a healing factor or resurrection, her powers allow her to relive her life again,
from birth to death, starting in the womb.
So she’s living the same years but can use her actions to alter history, making her an
odd but surprisingly powerful mutant.
1 Spider-Girl
So here’s the thing for a while everyone thought that Spider-man could be a mutant.
Why?
Because he had the mutant X-gene and it activated.
But this wasn’t an organic mutation, like most mutants.
Mutants generally have their mutant gene activate and start manifesting mutant powers during
puberty or when something traumatic happens to them or both.
Let’s be honest, puberty can be pretty traumatic.
Spider-man’s mutant gene instead was activated by a radioactive spider-bite.
In order to preserve itself, his body activated the X-gene, thereby giving him mutant abilities.
However Professor X never saw Peter Parker as a mutant while using cerebro, which means
to most of us, that Spider-man can’t be considered part of the mutant club.
However, being a mutate means that Spider-man’s children would be mutants as his mutant gene
being active would mean it would organically activate in his kids.
We see this happen on the alternate earth of 982 when MJ and Peter are reunited with
their baby that Norman Osborn stole away after convincing them it had been a stillborn.
This little girl is named May after Peter’s aunt, nicknamed Mayday and ends up seeing
her mutant powers, similar to her father’s manifest around the age of 15.
Right around puberty.
Coincidence?
I think not.
Thanks so much for watching, nerd squad.
I hope you found some of these surprise-mutants both shocking and interesting.
Who are some of your favourite lesser known superheroic mutants?
Do you agree or disagree with the likely suspects that I have listed here?
Do you agree that they are definitely mutants?
Or do you feel like we need to consult cerebro?
Let us know in the comments below.
And speaking of comments it’s time to turn some comments from one of our latest videos,
top 10 superpowers you never knew Shadow Cat had.
Bob is consumed comments, “Underrated fact: Kitty is one of the deadliest X-Men, if not
Marvel heroes.”
Agreed.
She’s untouchable and can kill you with just one hand.
By phasing that hand into your brain, but still.
Impressive.
Nathan Robinson says, “Would have picked having a pet dragon over lockpicking and language
fluency.”
I mean I guess possessing a pet alien dragon is like a power?
I thought that would be more of something to mention on a facts list about Shadowcat.
As I don’t like insinuating that she can use another being as her power.
You shouldn’t use other beings.
But Lockheed does make a rad little ally.
I will say that.
And that’s all the time we have for comments today.
Be sure to comment below for a chance to have your comments featured in a future list.
Until next time.
This has been top 10 nerd and I’m your host Amanda McKnight, reminding you to stay nerdy,
YouTube.