Who rules in the X-Men universe? We count down the ten best characters in the comic book series, throwing in a few curveballs along the way.
10. Nightcrawler
Comic book debut: Giant-Size X-Men #1 (May 1975)
Powers: Enhanced agility, night-vision, teleportation, prehensile tail
Played by Alan Cumming in X2, Nightcrawler’s big-screen incarnation shares a similar history to his papery progenitor, although his scenes with Mystique (his mother according X-lore) are ambiguous.
Another major difference between the comic book Nightcrawler and his film counterpart sees him clad in ordinary civilian clothing and not an X-Men uniform; here the peculiar-looking hero is an impish ally, rather than one of the X-Men proper.
9. Beast
Comic book debut: Uncanny X-Men #1 (September 1963)
Powers: Enhanced strength, incredible agility, prehensile feet
Despite his savage appearance, the blue furry Beast is a master of the arts and sciences the casting of Frasier’s Kelsey Grammar in X-Men: The Last Stand seems a perfect choice and a mutant political activist.
Fighting his bestial instincts and fears of social rejection, Beast dedicates his physical and mental gifts to the creation of a better world for man and mutant. Like Frasier, he also has a dry sense of humour.
8. Rogue
Comic book debut: Avengers Annual #10 (August 1981)
Powers: Absorb powers and memory through skin contact, flight
Rogue, played in the films by Anna Paquin, is frighteningly powerful, absorbing the powers and memories of whomever she touches. In X-lore she was born a villain, taking Ms. Marvel's powers before being brought to the X-Men by her surrogate mother, the ever bountiful Mystique.
She is a key player in the universe and tangible proof that Xavier's methods can keep his young charges safe from their powers.
7. Kitty Pryde
Comic book debut: Uncanny X-Men #129 (January 1980)
Powers: Phasing
Played in the X-Men films by Juno star Ellen Page, Kitty is widely regarded as the everyman X-Man, coming to Xavier as an innocent with the seemingly innocuous power to turn ‘intangible’.
During her early years, she is portrayed as a ‘kid sister’ to many older X-Men, filling the role of literary foil to the more established characters. Kitty certainly seems to have nine lives, however, surviving to become a mainstay of the X-Men world.
6. Jean Grey
Comic book debut: Uncanny X-Men #1 (September 1963)
Powers: Telekinesis, telepathy
Played by the ever-gorgeous Famke Janssen in the three X-Men movies, Grey is the host to the most powerful entity in the universe. She stands as one of the original X-Men, a harbinger of death and rebirth among the mutant population.
Choosing to die as a human rather than to live as a God, the flame-haired warrior woman has become an important part of the X-Men’s legacy.
The X-Men Trilogy Blu-ray Collection will be released on 20 April from Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment
So we have counted down from ten to six but take a look at the X-Men characters that have made the top five.
Tagged in X-Men