Original X-Men
[Appearance: X-Men #1 (1963) to Giant-Size X-Men #1 (1975)]
In his early adulthood, telepath Charles Xavier encountered Amahl Farouk, an alias for the malevolent psychic entity Shadow King. After Charles defeated Farouk, he realized the danger posed by Farouk's kind and dedicated his life to opposing evil mutants. He met and befriended Magnus, secretly a mutant with magnetic powers. Though they became good friends, Xavier believed that mutants and humans can coexist peacefully while Magnus believed that mutants should use force to protect themselves from persecution. After they revealed their powers to each other, Magnus realized the differences in their opinions and departed. Later, Charles was rendered paraplegic at the hands of the alien Lucifer in the Himalayas and telepathically called out to a young mutant mercenary Tessa, who brought him to civilization to convalesce. Returning to America, Charles renewed friendship with ex-girlfriend Moira MacTaggert, and the two of them began to discuss founding a school for mutants to train them to use their powers.
While Charles continued his mutation studies, he was approached by Professor John Grey, a friend from Bard College, with his young daughter, whose telepathy powers manifested when her best friend, Anne Richardson, was hit by a car. Charles telepathically erected mental blocks in Jean's mind, allowing time for her powers to develop naturally. Jean became Xavier's first student. Charles soon met with FBI agent Fred Duncan, who was investigating the growing number of mutants. After Charles explained his plans for a school, Duncan provided leads on potential mutants. With these leads, and using a computerized mutant-tracking system of Xavier's design called Cyberno (later Cerebro), Xavier recruited four teenage mutants into his Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters, housed in his familial mansion and estate in Salem Centre, approximately one hour from New York City. As Professor X, he began training the mutants as the team X-Men: optic-blasting Cyclops (Scott Summers); ice-manipulating Iceman (Bobby Drake); animal-like genius Beast (Hank McCoy); and the winged Angel (Warren Worthington). Jean Grey joined as Marvel Girl shortly after. Xavier also secretly recruited Tessa, sending her to infiltrate the Hellfire Club, a social club secretly ruled by a power-seeking mutant Inner Circle.
Xavier created the Danger Room, a mechanized training facility and put the X-Men through a rigorous training regime. The X-Men made their public debut when Magnus, now Magneto, tried to take over the Cape Citadel missile base in an attempt to turn its weaponry against humanity. Driving Magneto from the base, the X-Men were hailed as heroes. The X-Men went on to clash with other evil mutants such as the teleporting thief Vanisher and the obese Blob. They also fought Magneto again, now with his newly formed Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, including the illusion-casting Mastermind (Jason Wyngarde), the leaping Toad (Mortimer Toynbee), and twins Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch (Pietro and Wanda Maximoff). They took over the South American nation Santo Marco, threatening to destroy it with a nuclear device. A conscience-stricken Quicksilver aided the X-Men, disarming the bomb and foiling Magneto's plans. The X-Men fought the Brotherhood several times. They also fought the force-field wielding Unus the Untouchable, encountered the heroic Avengers and befriended Ka-Zar (Kevin Plunder) during their first visit to Antarctica's hidden prehistoric Savage Land. The X-Men then fought Xavier's stepbrother, the mystically-empowered unstoppable Juggernaut. The mutant-hating Boliver Trask used his considerable fortune to create giant robot Sentinels that would capture mutants. He unveiled the Sentinels during a televised debate with Charles Xavier. However, the Sentinels concluded that the best method of protecting humanity was by ruling it, rebelling against Trask's control. After the Sentinels departed with Trask, the X-Men tracked them to their fortress, and Xavier disrupted the Sentinel's operating systems using a crystal that interfered with their transmissions. Trask sacrificed himself to destroy the Sentinel's power source, base and their leader, the Master Mold.
The X-Men son met Calvin Rankin, the Mimic, a local bully who could duplicate the abilities of anyone within his vicinity. Jean Grey graduated from Xavier's and enrolled in Metro College, remaining an X-Man. The Mimic fell under the control of the Pupper Master and attacked the X-Men, joining the team after the Pupper Master was defeated. The X-Men next faced the sonic screaming Irish mutant Banshee (Sean Cassidy), who was forced to work with would-be world conquerors Factor Three through a remote control explosive headband until the X-Men freed him. Mimic was soon dispelled from the X-Men for disobeying orders. After the machinations of the Mutant Master, Factor Three's leader, left Xavier comatose, Factor Three abducted him to Europe. The X-Men followed, and with the aid of Banshee, exposed Mutant Master as an alien, thwarting his plan to eliminate humans.
Xavier announced the X-Men's graduation from his school. Learning of a planned invasion by the alien Z'nox, Xavier recruited former Factor Three operative, the shapeshifting Changeling, to impersonate him while he began preparations for defence in isolation.He informed only Jean of his plans. When the Changeling, as Xavier, died fighting Grotesk, Fred Duncan ordered the X-Men to disband. While in San Francisco, Iceman encountered Lorna Dane, a latent mutant hypnotized by the mutant Mesmero. Mesmero activated Lorna's magnetic powers and hypnotized her into believing herself Magneto's daughter, unaware that this was true. During battles with Mesmero and a Magneto android, Lorna was convinced she was not Magneto's daughter, and sided with the X-Men. After the X-Men returned to the Xavier mansion, they attended the college graduation of Cyclops' younger brother Alex, who was soon kidnapped by professor Ahmet Abdol, who wanted to stop Alex's DNA from inhibiting his own ability to absorb and redirect cosmic energy. Unknown to both, the immortal Apocalypse (En Sabah Nur) and the evil geneticist Mr. Sinister (Nathaniel Essex) had tampered with their DNA years before, granting both the same destructive powers. During the subsequent battle between the X-Men and Abdol (now the Living Pharoah), Alex's own powers were unleashed. Fearing that he would endanger others, Alex fled from the X-Men.
Bolivar Trask's son, Larry, unknowingly a mutant, soon rebuilt the Sentinels. He sent them to capture mutants worldwide, including Lorna and Alex. When Larry's mutant nature was revealed, the Sentinels went rogue, enacting plans to kill all mutants. Cyclops stopped the Sentinels by telling them that they should stop mutants by targeting the primary source of mutations, the Sun. The Sentinels flew to the Sun and were destroyed. Trask's memories of his powers were erased. The X-Men next encountered Dr. Karl Lykos, a mutant vampire that fed on others' vitality. Upon feeding on Alex, Karl became the pterodactyl-like Sauron. The X-men then returned to the Savage Land to face Magneto and the Savage Land Mutates that he had empowered. They returned to America to encounter the Japanese flame wielding mutant Sunfire (Shiro Yoshida), and were joined by Lorna (Polaris) and Alex (Havok). After discovering Xavier alive, the team helped him in repelling the Z'nox invasion. Xavier was rendered comatose in the process until a device created by Bruce Banner (Hulk) revived him.
Unknown to Xavier, his immense psychic feat in repelling the Z'nox invasion linked his link to the alien Shi'ar princess Lilandra in another galaxy. Iceman left the team, resenting Xavier's deceptions. The rest of the team encountered Magneto in the Savage Land again. The team then encountered the African weather-manipulating mutant Ororo Munroe (later known as Storm), helping her defeat Deluge (Mzungu). Iceman rejoined the team in time to face the Brotherhood once more, then worked with the Fantastic Four in battling an alliance between Magneto and the prince of Atlantis, Namor.
While Charles continued his mutation studies, he was approached by Professor John Grey, a friend from Bard College, with his young daughter, whose telepathy powers manifested when her best friend, Anne Richardson, was hit by a car. Charles telepathically erected mental blocks in Jean's mind, allowing time for her powers to develop naturally. Jean became Xavier's first student. Charles soon met with FBI agent Fred Duncan, who was investigating the growing number of mutants. After Charles explained his plans for a school, Duncan provided leads on potential mutants. With these leads, and using a computerized mutant-tracking system of Xavier's design called Cyberno (later Cerebro), Xavier recruited four teenage mutants into his Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters, housed in his familial mansion and estate in Salem Centre, approximately one hour from New York City. As Professor X, he began training the mutants as the team X-Men: optic-blasting Cyclops (Scott Summers); ice-manipulating Iceman (Bobby Drake); animal-like genius Beast (Hank McCoy); and the winged Angel (Warren Worthington). Jean Grey joined as Marvel Girl shortly after. Xavier also secretly recruited Tessa, sending her to infiltrate the Hellfire Club, a social club secretly ruled by a power-seeking mutant Inner Circle.
Xavier created the Danger Room, a mechanized training facility and put the X-Men through a rigorous training regime. The X-Men made their public debut when Magnus, now Magneto, tried to take over the Cape Citadel missile base in an attempt to turn its weaponry against humanity. Driving Magneto from the base, the X-Men were hailed as heroes. The X-Men went on to clash with other evil mutants such as the teleporting thief Vanisher and the obese Blob. They also fought Magneto again, now with his newly formed Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, including the illusion-casting Mastermind (Jason Wyngarde), the leaping Toad (Mortimer Toynbee), and twins Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch (Pietro and Wanda Maximoff). They took over the South American nation Santo Marco, threatening to destroy it with a nuclear device. A conscience-stricken Quicksilver aided the X-Men, disarming the bomb and foiling Magneto's plans. The X-Men fought the Brotherhood several times. They also fought the force-field wielding Unus the Untouchable, encountered the heroic Avengers and befriended Ka-Zar (Kevin Plunder) during their first visit to Antarctica's hidden prehistoric Savage Land. The X-Men then fought Xavier's stepbrother, the mystically-empowered unstoppable Juggernaut. The mutant-hating Boliver Trask used his considerable fortune to create giant robot Sentinels that would capture mutants. He unveiled the Sentinels during a televised debate with Charles Xavier. However, the Sentinels concluded that the best method of protecting humanity was by ruling it, rebelling against Trask's control. After the Sentinels departed with Trask, the X-Men tracked them to their fortress, and Xavier disrupted the Sentinel's operating systems using a crystal that interfered with their transmissions. Trask sacrificed himself to destroy the Sentinel's power source, base and their leader, the Master Mold.
The X-Men son met Calvin Rankin, the Mimic, a local bully who could duplicate the abilities of anyone within his vicinity. Jean Grey graduated from Xavier's and enrolled in Metro College, remaining an X-Man. The Mimic fell under the control of the Pupper Master and attacked the X-Men, joining the team after the Pupper Master was defeated. The X-Men next faced the sonic screaming Irish mutant Banshee (Sean Cassidy), who was forced to work with would-be world conquerors Factor Three through a remote control explosive headband until the X-Men freed him. Mimic was soon dispelled from the X-Men for disobeying orders. After the machinations of the Mutant Master, Factor Three's leader, left Xavier comatose, Factor Three abducted him to Europe. The X-Men followed, and with the aid of Banshee, exposed Mutant Master as an alien, thwarting his plan to eliminate humans.
Xavier announced the X-Men's graduation from his school. Learning of a planned invasion by the alien Z'nox, Xavier recruited former Factor Three operative, the shapeshifting Changeling, to impersonate him while he began preparations for defence in isolation.He informed only Jean of his plans. When the Changeling, as Xavier, died fighting Grotesk, Fred Duncan ordered the X-Men to disband. While in San Francisco, Iceman encountered Lorna Dane, a latent mutant hypnotized by the mutant Mesmero. Mesmero activated Lorna's magnetic powers and hypnotized her into believing herself Magneto's daughter, unaware that this was true. During battles with Mesmero and a Magneto android, Lorna was convinced she was not Magneto's daughter, and sided with the X-Men. After the X-Men returned to the Xavier mansion, they attended the college graduation of Cyclops' younger brother Alex, who was soon kidnapped by professor Ahmet Abdol, who wanted to stop Alex's DNA from inhibiting his own ability to absorb and redirect cosmic energy. Unknown to both, the immortal Apocalypse (En Sabah Nur) and the evil geneticist Mr. Sinister (Nathaniel Essex) had tampered with their DNA years before, granting both the same destructive powers. During the subsequent battle between the X-Men and Abdol (now the Living Pharoah), Alex's own powers were unleashed. Fearing that he would endanger others, Alex fled from the X-Men.
Bolivar Trask's son, Larry, unknowingly a mutant, soon rebuilt the Sentinels. He sent them to capture mutants worldwide, including Lorna and Alex. When Larry's mutant nature was revealed, the Sentinels went rogue, enacting plans to kill all mutants. Cyclops stopped the Sentinels by telling them that they should stop mutants by targeting the primary source of mutations, the Sun. The Sentinels flew to the Sun and were destroyed. Trask's memories of his powers were erased. The X-Men next encountered Dr. Karl Lykos, a mutant vampire that fed on others' vitality. Upon feeding on Alex, Karl became the pterodactyl-like Sauron. The X-men then returned to the Savage Land to face Magneto and the Savage Land Mutates that he had empowered. They returned to America to encounter the Japanese flame wielding mutant Sunfire (Shiro Yoshida), and were joined by Lorna (Polaris) and Alex (Havok). After discovering Xavier alive, the team helped him in repelling the Z'nox invasion. Xavier was rendered comatose in the process until a device created by Bruce Banner (Hulk) revived him.
Unknown to Xavier, his immense psychic feat in repelling the Z'nox invasion linked his link to the alien Shi'ar princess Lilandra in another galaxy. Iceman left the team, resenting Xavier's deceptions. The rest of the team encountered Magneto in the Savage Land again. The team then encountered the African weather-manipulating mutant Ororo Munroe (later known as Storm), helping her defeat Deluge (Mzungu). Iceman rejoined the team in time to face the Brotherhood once more, then worked with the Fantastic Four in battling an alliance between Magneto and the prince of Atlantis, Namor.
Xavier Secret Team[Appearance: X-Men: Deadly Genesis #4 (2006, flashback) to X-Men: Deadly Genesis #6 (2006, flashback) - Formed prior to Giant-Size X-Men #1 (1975)]
Xavier and MacTaggert began training a new group of students including the adaptable Darwin, earth-moving Petra, time-altering Sway and energy-manipulating Vulcan. After a training session between Cyclops and Vulcan, Xavier realized that they are brothers. Unknown to them, Vulcan was born after Cyclops' parents had been abducted by the Shi'ar years before. Xavier kept the identity of Vulcan secret. The Beast soon left the X-Men to pursue a career in genetics research.
Later, Xavier sent the X-Men to investigate a new mutant, which turned out to be the living island Krakoa, a rudimentary collective animal consciousness. After Krakoa captured the X-Men, Xavier recruited MacTaggert's students to rescue them. He telepathically provided months of training instantly and informed Vulcan of his relation to Cyclops. However, the mission turned into a disaster when the whole team was seemingly killed.
All-New, All-Different X-Men[Appearance: Giant-Size X-Men #1 (1975) to Uncanny X-Men #137 (1980)]
Using Cerebro, Xavier recruited mutants from around the world: the elf-like teleporter Nightcrawler; super strong and swift Native American Thunderbird; metal bodied Russian powerhouse Colossus; Banshee, Sunfire and Ororo Munroe, now known as Storm. He traveled to Canada to convince the animalistic Wolverine to quit his Canadian government position and join the X-Men. Wolverine tried to assassinate Xavier as per his mental programming by Romulus but Xavier was able to subdue and telepathically remove the programming from Wolverine's mind. The new team managed to rescue the original X-Men, after which they used their powers to hurl Krakoa into space. Unknown to them, Vulcan and Darwin had survived and laid in suspended animation in an island fragment now floating in orbit. Xavier erased Cyclops's memory of MacTaggert's students to protect him from the trauma.
Most of the original X-Men left, with only Cyclops remaining to help train the new recruits, minus Sunfire who resigned. The new team fought Count Luchino Nefaria and his Ani-Men, who had taken over the North American Air Defense (NORAD) at the Cheyenne Mountain. Thunderbird died in an explosion while trying to prevent Nefaria's escape. Later, Jean Grey, Banshee and Wolverine were kidnapped by Steven Lang's Sentinels and held captive in his orbital base. The X-Men rescued their members and defeated Lang. However, Jean Grey was exposed to massive radiation while piloting their damaged shuttle back to Earth, which seemingly transformed her into the far more powerful Phoenix. Unknown to all, the cosmic Phoenix Force was impersonating Jean to experience humanity, sending the real Jean to heal in suspended animation in New York's Jamaica Bay. The X-Men next faced Juggernaut and Banshee's cousin Black Tom Cassidy during a holiday trip to Banshee's home in Ireland, before fighting Magneto on MacTaggert's Muir Island facility off the coast of Scotland, freeing MacTaggert's son, the reality warping Kevin.
The Shi'ar princess Lilandra sought out Xavier via their psychic bond, requesting his aid against her mad brother and emperor, D'Ken. The X-Men traveled to the Shi'ar galaxy where they faced the super-powered Shi'ar Imperial Guard. The team successfully saved the universe by preventing D'Ken from using the ancient M'Krann crystal to unravel reality, after which D'Ken was rendered comatose by the crystal. Lilandra replaced him as Shi'ar ruler. The team returned to Earth to fight Magneto and were believed dead. A grief-stricken Xavier traveled to Shi'ar space to mourn. In actuality, the X-Men journeyed to the Savage Land, then Japan, where Banshee injured himself while saving Japan from Moses Magnum. On their way back to America, they were attacked by the Canadian superteam Alpha Flight, assigned to return Wolverine to Canadian service. Alpha Flight was unsuccessful but the two teams became allies. The X-Men went on to fight Kevin MacTaggert (Proteus) which ended with his seeming death at the hands of Colossus. The injured and powerless Banshee remained on Muir to recover and comfort Moira, whom he had a romantic interest in.
The X-Men were reunited with Xavier in America and were sent to investigate two new mutants, teenager Kitty Pryde, who can phase through solid matter, and light-manipulating singer, Dazzler. However, the Hellfire Club also tried to recruit them, clashing with the X-Men at both locations. Mastermind, the ex-Brotherhood member and now a Hellfire Club Inner Circle candidate, tried to seduce Phoenix using his illusions. He succeeded in bringing Phoenix into the Hellfire Club but it served to destabilized the Phoenix Force's sanity. Becoming the Dark Phoenix, it consumed a star, killing the D'bari star system's five billion inhabitants. Xavier telepathically helped Jean's will within the Dark Phoenix consciousness regain control. However, the Shi'ar empress Lilandra declared the Phoenix too dangerous to live. Xavier challenged the Shi'ar to a duel for Phoenix's life, pitting the X-Men against the Imperial Guard. During the duel, the Phoenix feared that her dark side would regain control, choosing to destroy its physical form, seemingly committing suicide. A grieving Cyclops left the team.
Post Phoenix-Saga
[Appearance: Uncanny X-Men #138 (1980) to Uncanny X-Men #200 (1985)]
With the departure of the grieving Cyclops, the team was joined by the returning Angel and the young mutant Kitty Pryde. Storm became the team leader and the team soon fought the shape-shifting Mystique and her Brotherhood. The X-Men prevented the Brotherhood from assassinating Senator Robert Kelly, whose death would have triggered the Days of Future Past future in which the robot Sentinels would have killed most mutants and super humans; and go on to control New York City. Angel quit the team after having issues with Wolverine's membership in the team and Cyclops returned in time to fight Magneto.
Angel was soon kidnapped by Callisto, the leader of a group of disenfranchised mutants called the Morlocks who wanted him to be her partner. Storm claimed leadership of the group, defeating Callisto in a duel to secure Angel's release. Brotherhood member Rogue came to Xavier, desperate for help in controlling her psyche-absorption powers. Xavier made Rogue an X-Man, much to the chagrin of the other members. Cyclops left the team to marry Madelyne Pryor (secretly a clone of Jean Grey created by evil geneticist Mr. Sinister). The X-Men, along with other super-heroes, were taken by the near-omnipotent Beyonder to fight in a contest against Earth villains on Battleworld. After they returned, Storm was accidentally struck by a depowering weapon meant for Rogue, removing her powers. She left the team to cope with the loss. Nightcrawler became leader and Rachel Summers, the daughter of Cyclops and Jean Grey in the Days of Future Past future timeline, joined the team, claiming the mantle of Phoenix. The X-Men soon entered into a conflict involving Alpha Flight and the Asgardian god of lies Loki. They journey to Asgard to rescue the New Mutants and Storm, who were kidnapped by Amora, the Enchantress.
Magneto's X-Men
[Appearance: Uncanny X-Men #201 (1986) to Uncanny X-Men #227 (1988)]
When the X-Men returned, they learnt that Xavier had left Earth for the Shi'ar galaxy to recover from a brutal beating at the hands of anti-mutant bigots. Xavier left a seemingly reformed Magneto as headmaster of the school. Magneto also joined the X-Men. A powerless Storm and Cyclops had a duel in the Danger Room for the leadership of the X-Men. Cyclops lost the duel, leaving the team to spend time with his wife Madelyne and their newborn son.
Rachel Summers soon had the intention of murdering Hellfire Club Inner Circle Black Queen Selene as revenge for the latter's evil deeds. However, she was stopped by Wolverine who injured her, leaving the team. Shortly after, the X-Men and the superhumanly lucky Longshot were turned into children by the invertebrate Mojo and his servant, the mystical Spiral (Rita Wayword). The New Mutants briefly graduated to X-Men status to rescue them. (check Ad-hoc X-Men) Meanwhile, the real Jean Grey was found by the Fantastic Four and the original X-Men came together to form X-Factor. X-Factor publicly posed as humans who claimed to capture dangerous mutants; in truth they rescued young mutants to protect and train them. X-Factor hired Cameron Hodge to handle public relations, unaware that he was actually generating media hype against mutants. X-Factor also covertly went into battle as the mutant X-Terminators, though their secret was eventually exposed by Mystique and Hodge's anti-mutant group, the Right. When Mr. Sinister's hit-team Marauders slaughtered the Morlocks, the X-Men fought to stop them losing Kitty Pryde, Nightcrawler and Colossus to severe injuries. (For more, check Mutant Massacre crossover) New recruits Dazzler, Longshot, Havok and British telepath Psylocke replaced them, with Colossus rejoining after healing from his injuries. Nightcrawler and Kitty Pryde eventually recovered from their injuries, joining the British-based Excalibur super-team. The team, without Magneto, and Madelyne Pryor - now abandoned by Cyclops - sacrificed their lives to defeat the Adversary, a sacrifice which was broadcast worldwide. (check Fall of the Mutants crossover).
Xtinction Agenda X-Men
[Appearance: Uncanny X-Men #273 (1990) to Uncanny X-Men #280 (1991)]
Various members of the team reunited when they worked with X-Factor and the New Mutants, now under the mentorship of time-traveling mutant Cable, to fight the continuing mutant-rights abuse of Genosha and cyborg mutant-hater Cameron Hodge. (check Xtinction Agenda)
A new team formed consisting of Storm, Wolverine, Psylocke (her psyche now transplanted into Japanese ninja Kwannon's body), Forge, Banshee, Wolverine's pyrotechnic sidekick Jubilee and Storm's energized projectile-tossing companion, Gambit, a Cajun thief. This team went to Shi'ar space to rescue Xavier from shape-shifting Skrulls who had assisted in Lilandra temporarily losing the throne. After defeating the Skrulls, the team returned with Xavier to Earth to fight the Shadow King alongside X-Factor. Xavier freed Muir Island from the Shadow King's control but the battle left Xavier paraplegic again. X-Factor ceased to operate, with its members returning to the X-Men. (check Muir Island Saga)
Following the defeat of Shadow King in Muir Island, there was a reorganization of titles. X-Men vol. 2 was published as a new on-going series and featured the Blue Team. Uncanny X-Men featured the Gold Team. On the part of secondary titles, New Mutants was cancelled and replaced with X-Force. X-Factor saw a major change in lineup. Excalibur continued as usual.
Government official Valerie Cooper approached several mutants to form a new government-sponsored X-Factor. Meanwhile, Cable turned the former New Mutants into a para-miliary unit called X-Force.
When the original X-Men (then members of X-Factor) returned following the battle against the Shadow King in Muir Island, the members were split into the Gold and Blue teams. Blue team consisted of Cyclops (leader), Beast, Psylocke, Wolverine, Rogue, Gambit and Jubilee. Gold team consisted of Storm (leader), Colossus, Jean Grey, Iceman and Archangel (Angel, now metal winged and blue skinned) and was soon joined by Bishop, a mutant policeman from an alternate future, stranded in the past while hunting fugitive mutants. Magneto soon returned to his aggressive methods, now followed by his own team, the Acolytes, who interfered in the Genoshan civil war, prompting the X-Men to intervene. Magneto captured and brainwashed the Blue Team but the Gold Team freed them, and Magneto seemingly died from nuclear explosions that caused his orbital base to fall from orbit.
Later, while delivering a mutant rights speech, Xavier was nearly assassinated by the future despot Stryfe, a clone of Cable (Nathan Summers), Cyclops' son who had reached adulthood in an alternate future, trying to foment chaos by implicating Cable in the act. A war erupted between the X-Men, a new government-backed X-Factor team now led by Havok, Cable's own paramilitary X-Force team, Mr. Sinister and Apocalypse's forces. (check X-Cutioner's Song) Stryfe's machinations cause the Legacy Virus to be unleashed, a fatal disease that initially targeted mutants, then humans. Colossus' sister, Illyana Rasputin was one of the first victims. Around this time, Psylocke's original body, now housing Kwannon's mind, returned to join the X-Men as Revanche.
When Magneto returned, he initiated a devastating electromagnetic pulse within Earth's atmosphere and recruited more followers, including a Colossus' grief-stricken with his sister's death. Xavier and the X-men attacked his orbital base but during the battle, Magneto viciously tore out the adamantium metal bonded to Wolverine's skeleton, almost killing him. In a moment of anger, Xavier shut down Magneto's mind. (check Fatal Attractions) Magneto's dark ego entered Xavier's consciousness, remaining there undetected while bonding with Xavier's own repressed negative emotions. Wolverine left the X-Men to recover. Soon after, Cyclops and Jean married. Kwannon soon revealed she contracted the Legacy Virus and left the team to die.
[X-Men vol. 2 #42/Uncanny X-Men #318 (1994) -]
The techno-organic alien Phalanx gradually began to infect Earth, and attacked the X-Men on multiple fronts. The Phalanx's plans were thwarted by multiple mutant teams, including an ad-hoc X-Men team comprising of Banshee, Jubilee, former Hellfire Club Inner Circle member telepathic Emma Frost and the feral Sabretooth. (check Ad-hoc X-Men and Phalanx Covenant) The Phalanx had captured several young mutants, who eventually joined to form the new student team Generation X. Banshee and the reformed Emma Frost became co-headmasters of the school. Jubilee joined Generation X. By then, the X-Men Gold and Blue Teams seemed to have merged into one team of X-Men.
Soon after, the mutant Legion (David Haller) tried to prevent the ideological war between his father Charles Xavier and Magneto by traveling back in time to kill Magneto. (check Legion Quest) However, Xavier intercepted the lethal blast meant for Magneto, preventing Legion's birth, and diverging reality to the 'Age of Apocalypse' in which the loss of Xavier prompted Magneto to embrace the dream of peaceful coexistence. Apocalypse had conquered much of North America. Eventually, Magneto's X-Men defeated Apocalypse. Bishop was sent to the past to save Xavier by killing Legion, which stabilized the X-Men's original time-stream. (Check Age of Apocalypse crossover and Age of Apocalypse information).Former New Mutant Cannonball was promoted to the X-Men, replacing Rogue who left the team to run from a truth she held in her subconscious, that Gambit, her teammate and romantic interest, as the former Sinister employee who led the Marauders to the Morlock massacre. Around this time, Beast was captured and replaced by his Age of Apocalypse counterpart Dark Beast.
Frustrated by growing anti-mutant hysteria, Legacy Virus deaths, and his own failures, Xavier began to release his long-repressed negative emotions. Combined with Magneto's dark ego - including his anger, grief and lust for vengeance - a powerful psychic entity called Onslaught gained sentience. Onslaught believed in Xavier's dream of peaceful coexistence but sought to eliminate independent thought by bonding all humanity into a single collective intelligence. Secretly recruiting and empowering soldiers in his quest and absorbing the abilities of other psychics including Franklin Richards and X-Man, his powers grew exponentially, threatening all reality. Onslaught was eventually defeated with the seeming sacrifice of Earth's heroes including the Avengers and Fantastic Four, stoking the public's anti-mutant animosity. Dark Beast's identity was discovered and Beast was rescued by Havok's X-Factor. Rogue returned, accompanied by Joseph, a Magneto clone who believed himself a younger Magneto. Following Onslaught's defeat, Xavier surrendered himself to the US government to make amends. (check Onslaught)
Iceman left the team to care for his father, who was beaten by anti-mutant thugs. Rogue, Gambit, Bishop, Beast and Joseph traveled to the Shi'ar galaxy to help prevent a Phalanx infestation. Bishop was kidnapped by Deathbird. Meanwhile, Cyclops, Jean (now Phoenix), Wolverine and Cannonball fought Operation: Zero Tolerance, an anti-mutant government program led by Bastion, a synthesis of Master Mold and Nimord, an advanced Sentinel from the Days of Future Past future timeline. Bastion's forces stripped the mansion and gravely wounded Cyclops. The government eventually shutdown the program, and Bastion was defeated by the X-Men. (check Operation Zero Tolerance)
[ - X-Men vol. 2 #71 (1997) -]
Following Operation: Zero Tolerance, new additions, the bone-generating Marrow; Maggott with a mutant digestive system; and force-field casting Cecilia Reyes joined the team. When the Shi'ar galaxy contingent returned, a disguised Magneto put Gambit on trial in Antarctica for his role in the mutant massacre, revealing the truth to the X-Men, who left Gambit behind. Cyclops and Phoenix left the team to help the former recover. Joseph left to learn of his true identity; Psylocke resigned after a battle with the Shadow King left her powerless with her lover Archangel following her; Cannonball left to take care of his sick mother; Cecilia quit to focus on her medical practice; and Beast left to focus on curing the Legacy Virus.
[- Uncanny X-Men #360/X-Men vol. 2 #80 (1998) - X-Men vol. 2 #99/Uncanny X-Men #380 (2000)]
Remaining members Storm, Wolverine, Marrow and Rogue were reunited with Colossus, Kitty Pryde and Nightcrawler, who returned to America after the dissolution of their European team Excalibur. Gambit soon rejoined the team. After a series of battles against a sentient Cerebro, the X-Men located Xavier, who rejoined the team. (check Hunt for Xavier) Meanwhile, Magneto constructed a North Pole base containing devices that enabled him to control Earth's bioelectric magnetosphere, then issued an ultimatum to the world: Cede authority to create a haven for mutants, or suffer a crippling global electromagnetic pulse. Following a failed UN nuclear attack against him, Magneto fought the X-Men and Joseph, who had learned his origins as the clone of Magneto. Joseph sacrificed himself to repair Magneto's damage to the atmosphere, and the UN granted Magneto sovereignty over Genosha in the hopes that the turmoil in the country would distract him from his world conquest ambitions. (check Magneto War)
The X-Men next had a mission which took them to outer space and back in time. While returning, the spacecraft was boarded and Wolverine was replaced by a shape-shifting Skrull while the team was in stasis. Back on Earth, Xavier suspected an infiltrator in the X-Men's ranks, driving part the team in an attempt to search him out. During this time, Cyclops and Jean gathered an ad-hoc team of X-Men to assist the genetically altered Mannites children. The team included Cable, Archangel, X-Man (Cable's counterpart from the Age of Apocalypse reality) and the Wolverine-impersonating Skrull. (check Ad-hoc X-Men) They faced Apocalypse's henchman Death, not knowing that Death was actually a brainwashed Wolverine. During the battle, the Skrull was killed and Wolverine was believed dead. The X-Men reunited after Xavier revealed the Skrull impersonation and explained his ruse to expose the Skrull. The team faced Apocalypse, who was gathering "the Twelve", a group of mutants he believed would give him omnipotence. Cyclops seemingly sacrificed himself to defeat him. (check Apocalype: The Twelve and Ages of Apocalypse)
Xavier subsequently departed Earth with Cadre K, Skrull mutants who aided the team against Apocalypse, to train them in using their powers and to find them a new home. Mr. Sinister then used the High Evolutionary's technology to briefly depower all mutants on Earth as an experiment but was eventually stopped by the X-Men. Following this, the Six Month Gap occurred.
Revolution X-Men[X-Men vol.2 #100/Uncanny X-Men #381 (2000)
- X-Men vol.2 #109/Uncanny X-Men #390 (2001)]
Once their powers were restored, the X-Men underwent many changes over the next six months. Kitty Pryde left to attend college in Chicago, and Marrow left the team under unrevealed circumstances; Cable, Phoenix, Psylocke and Beast rejoined; former New Mutant Dani Moonstar briefly joined, while new plasma-wielding recruit Neal Shaara joined as Thunderbird. The team is split into two squads led by Gambit and Rogue, and faced new threats such as the Neo, the Lost Soul and the Crimson Pirates.
Storm created a splinter team to search for the lost 13 diaries of the deceased precog Destiny. Jean and Cable managed to locate Cyclops and separate him from Apocalypse, returning him to the X-Men. However, he became a very troubled man, straining his marriage to Jean. With an army of Genoshan mutants at his disposal following the Legacy Virus' cure, Magneto declared war on humanity, kidnapping Xavier to Genosha. Jean Grey recruited an ad-hoc team of X-Men including Dazzler, superstrong former Acolyte Frenzy (Joanne Cargill), Alpha Flight's speedster Northstar, the invulnerable Omerta, Sunfire's atomic sister Sunpyre and the transparent Wraith. (check Ad-hoc X-Men) The team opposed Magneto with Wolverine severely injured Magneto during the ensuing fight. (check Eve of Destruction)
New X-Men (New X-Men (X-Men vol. 2))[Appearance: New X-Men #114 (2001) - New X-Men #150 (2003)]
Professor Xavier's evil twin sister Cassandra Nova emerged, sending Sentinels to obliterate Genosha's 16 million mutant population. Emma Frost, now able to turn to diamond, survived the attack, and was rescued by the X-Men, after which she joined the team. Cassandra attacked the X-mansion, and forcibly switched bodies with Xavier. In Charles' body, she publicly outed him as a mutant, opened the school to hundreds of mutant students, then left Earth to gain control of Lilandra and the Shi'ar Empire. Meanwhile, the X-Men recruited Xorn (Kuan-Yin Xorn), a Chinese mutant with a star for a brain and fought John Sublime, founder of the U-Men, a group of humans who grafted mutant body parts on themselves. Cassandra convinced Lilandra to order the Imperial Guard to destroy all mutants on Earth before casting the Empire into turmoil. Cyclop's team (home team), now also the Institute's teaching faculty, fought the Guard and freed Lilandra. Cyclops and Emma Frost became attracted to each other, beginning a psychic affair. Xavier soon established the X-Corporation out of the remnants of the militaristic X-Corps, a global mutant rights organization.
The home team dealt with a riot organized by the rebellious Kid Omega before Jean Grey discovered her husband's psychic affair. Cyclops left the team and joined Wolverine and Weapon Plus's Weapon XIII to infiltrate Weapon Plus's World base, discovering that John Sublime was also the director of Weapon Plus. Meanwhile, Emma Frost was shattered into pieces while in diamond form, prompting an investigation by Bishop and Sage from Storm's team. The culprit was revealed to be Emma's student Esme Cuckoo. Esme had joined Xorn, who came to believe himself to be Magneto. Addicted to the drug Kick, Xorn destroyed the Institute and launched a devastating attack on New York City that killed over 5000 people and caused billions in damage. Believing Xorn to be the real Magneto, Cyclops formed a "street-level" team of X-Men (check Ad-hoc X-Men) to oppose him until the various X-Men returned from various exile to fight him. During the final battle, Xorn caused a massive electromagnetic pulse that apparently killed Jean Grey, bonded to the Phoenix Force again after another near-death experience. The act shattered the Phoenix Force into billions of pieces. Wolverine subsequently decapitated Xorn. Xavier left the X-Men to rebuild Genosha along the true Magneto. Cyclops was filled with grief for the death of Jean and was unable to move on, triggering an alternate dystopian future. In this future, Jean was reborn and Sublime was revealed to be a sentient bacterium which took over a human body to oppose mutants. She subsequently used her powers to wipe out Sublime and psychically pushed Cyclops in the present to move on. Cyclops and Emma Frost formed a relationship, becoming co-headmasters of the rebuilt Institute.
[Appearance: Uncanny X-Men #395 (2001) - Uncanny X-Men #443 (2004)]
When the X-Men were split into teams, Nightcrawler took charge of the away team. They faced a mutant massacre in London before bringing in former Generation X member, the psionic energy battery Chamber as a new member. The team next recruited the pheromone-manipulating Stacy X from the X-Ranch before dealing with the international mutant militia X-Corps, created by a well-intending Banshee, who was grieving over the death of love Moira MacTaggert. Banshee recruited his former students in Generation X and brainwashed former villains into the X-Corp. Designed to self-police mutantkind, the Corps fell apart when Mystique infiltrated the group, liberating the villains and taking over, severely wounding Banshee. The X-Men defeated her and the remnants of the organization were converted by Xavier into the X-Corporation, a global mutant rights organization.
The team soon took in many members, including the epidermis shedding former Generation X member Husk, Northstar, former foe Juggernaut, Havok, Polaris and Jubilee. The team battled the Dominant Species lupin mutants clan and prevented an invasion by the demonic Azazel, revealed to be Nightcrawler's father, and his mutant Neyaphem clan.
Xtreme X-Men/Xtreme Sanctions Executive (XSE)
[Appearance: Xtreme X-Men #1 (2001) - Xtreme X-Men #46 (2004)]
Storm formed a splinter team to hunt down missing copies of the Destiny's Diaries, 13 diaries of the deceased precog Destiny. Leaving with Storm were Bishop, Beast, Rogue, Thunderbird, Psylocke and Tessa (who joined as Sage). The team fought Vargas, who was also seeking the Diaries. Psylocke was killed and Beast was severely injured, returning to the Xavier Institute to heal. The team recruited Gambit, along with mutant siblings Lifeguard and Slipstream before preventing an interdimensional invasion by the warlord Khan. The team ended the search for the Destiny's Diaries. Slipstream left the team after witnessing his sister Lifeguard become an alien Shi'ar hybrid. Lifeguard and her romantic interest Thunderbird left the team to search for him. Rogue and Gambit left the team to recuperate from injuries. Cannonball was recruited. The team became approved by the United Nations as Xtreme Sanctions Executive, a global mutant police force. Rogue and Gambit returned in time to help the team deal with the psychic predator Elias Bogan and rescue his captive Rachel Summers. Kitty Pryde and former New Mutants Magma and Sunspot also helped out. The team returned to the Xavier Institute after its destruction at the hands of Xorn.
Following the destruction of the Xavier Institute at the hands of Xorn, all the X-Men teams returned and members were reshuffled into 3 teams. A new title Astonishing X-Men was published and took on the cast of New X-Men (X-Men vol. 2). Xtreme X-Men was cancelled and its cast moved over to Uncanny X-Men. New X-Men regained its original title X-Men (vol. 2). New Mutants (vol. 2) was cancelled and replaced with New X-Men: Academy X.
[Appearance: Astonishing X-Men #1 (2004) - Astonishing X-Men #12 (2005)]
Cyclops' team learned of scientist Kavita Rao's claim to have created a cure for mutants, which was made possible by the extraterrestrial Ord, a Breakworld native who came to Earth to prevent a prophecy that an Earth mutant would destroy his planet. Ord originally wanted to declare war but made diplomatic arrangements with SWORD (Sentient Worlds Observation and Response Department), an intelligence agency charged with handling extraterrestrial matters. Ord stole Colossus' body, resurrecting him and experimenting on him. He discovered the cure for the Legacy Virus within Colossus's body and his findings resulted in Rao's cure. The X-Men investigated and found Colossus alive, defeating Ord, who was taken into custody by SWORD. The team then fought Danger, the sentient Danger Room consciousness that Xavier ignored years before. Danger manipulated the X-Men into freeing it from the mansion's confines, leaving to kill Xavier. The X-Men managed to stop Danger from killing Xavier but were horrified to learn that Xavier had held Danger captive for years. This caused a rift between Xavier and the team.
[Appearance: Uncanny X-Men #444 (2004) - Uncanny X-Men #474 (2006)]
Storm's team continued operating as the Xtreme Sanctions Executive. They fought the mass-murdering Fury simulacrum, crimelord Viper, Sebastian Shaw and the Hellfire Club and encountered X-23, the teenaged female clone of Wolverine. Psylocke returned, resurrected by her reality-manipulating brother, Jamie Braddock, then joined the team in an adventure in the Savage Land where they fought the saurian Hauk'ka. After M-Day (read below), Rachel Summers witnessed her extended family slaughtered by the Shi'ar Death Commandos under orders to terminate the Grey family line to prevent the Phoenix from returning in another Grey family member. The team then fought the Death Commandos in a rematch before helping Psylocke and Jamie Braddock against the cosmic Fallen One.
(Adjectiveless) X-Men
Storm's team continued operating as the Xtreme Sanctions Executive. They fought the mass-murdering Fury simulacrum, crimelord Viper, Sebastian Shaw and the Hellfire Club and encountered X-23, the teenaged female clone of Wolverine. Psylocke returned, resurrected by her reality-manipulating brother, Jamie Braddock, then joined the team in an adventure in the Savage Land where they fought the saurian Hauk'ka. After M-Day (read below), Rachel Summers witnessed her extended family slaughtered by the Shi'ar Death Commandos under orders to terminate the Grey family line to prevent the Phoenix from returning in another Grey family member. The team then fought the Death Commandos in a rematch before helping Psylocke and Jamie Braddock against the cosmic Fallen One.
[Appearance: X-Men vol. 2 #157 (2004) - #187 (2006)]
Havok's team traveled to China where they found Xorn's brother, Shen, who joined the team. The team fought the Brotherhood on mansion grounds and were defeated by Shen, who then left the team to contemplate his actions. The team then prevented an invasion of Earth by a swarm of psychic aliens called Golgothas. Rogue's foster mother Mystique infiltrated the mansion as a student Foxx, sowing dissension in the team before being discovered, then asking for X-Men membership. After a vote among all the X-Men, her membership was approved. The team next worked with Storm and her longtime friend, the Wakandan king Black Panther (T'Challa) to stop the horrific practices of Dr. Erich Paine, a former Genoshan geneticist, and his ally the Russian Red Ghost. Storm remained in Africa to safeguard mutants there, eventually married T'Challa to become Wakanda's queen.
After M-Day (read below), the team witnessed Polaris' lost of powers. Havok and Polaris left the team to help the latter cope her loss. Polaris was captured and along with former X-Men Gambit and Sunfire, were converted to Apocalypse's Horsemen. Polaris was liberated but Gambit and Sunfire departed before switching their allegiances to Mr. Sinister.
Havok's team traveled to China where they found Xorn's brother, Shen, who joined the team. The team fought the Brotherhood on mansion grounds and were defeated by Shen, who then left the team to contemplate his actions. The team then prevented an invasion of Earth by a swarm of psychic aliens called Golgothas. Rogue's foster mother Mystique infiltrated the mansion as a student Foxx, sowing dissension in the team before being discovered, then asking for X-Men membership. After a vote among all the X-Men, her membership was approved. The team next worked with Storm and her longtime friend, the Wakandan king Black Panther (T'Challa) to stop the horrific practices of Dr. Erich Paine, a former Genoshan geneticist, and his ally the Russian Red Ghost. Storm remained in Africa to safeguard mutants there, eventually married T'Challa to become Wakanda's queen.
After M-Day (read below), the team witnessed Polaris' lost of powers. Havok and Polaris left the team to help the latter cope her loss. Polaris was captured and along with former X-Men Gambit and Sunfire, were converted to Apocalypse's Horsemen. Polaris was liberated but Gambit and Sunfire departed before switching their allegiances to Mr. Sinister.
New X-Men: Academy X (2004 - 2006)
New X-Men (2006 - 2008)
New X-Men: Academy X replaced New Mutants (vol. 2) as the student title. The title featured the students in student groups. With #20 (2006), following the House of M crossover, the title was renamed New X-Men. (New X-Men: Academy X and New X-Men sections of Institute Student Body)
A group of Shi'ar forcibly reconstituted the Phoenix Force, intending to destroy it forever, but instead drove it insane. Injured, the Force fell to Earth, resurrecting Jean's body to house it. The X-Men fought the Phoenix Force and facing opposition from Jean Grey's spirit, possessed Emma Frost before it realized that Jean was one of its missing pieces. It bonded with Jean completely, their essences returning to the core of creation, the White Hot Room, to heal. (X-Men: Phoenix - Endsong miniseries)
The energy stripped from Earth's depowered mutants coalesced in space, contacting the orbiting Krakoa fragment. This energy woke up Vulcan, who sought vengeance on Xavier, now able to walk, and the X-Men. Banshee was killed in the process before Vulcan revealed to the X-Men how Xavier had concealed the existence of his team. Marvel Girl (Rachel Summers) separated Vulcan and Darwin, who had converted himself into energy to sustain Vulcan after the Krakoa attack. Vulcan then left Earth to seek revenge on the Shi'ar Empire, blaming them for his mother's murder years ago. (X-Men: Deadly Genesis miniseries)
X-Factor (vol. 3)
(2008 - Current)
Following the House of M crossover, Jamie Madrox recruited more members into his X-Factor Investigations. For more, check out X-Factor Investigations.
M-Day [House of M #1 - #8]
Some time later, the superhero team Avengers disbanded after its member Scarlet Witch suffered a mental breakdown and turned her reality-altering powers against them. Magneto took custody of her and tried to help her heal and recover. However, when the X-Men and the re-grouped Avengers met to discuss how to handle the immense threat posed the Witch, her brother Quicksilver feared for her life, pressuring her to alter reality, creating a world in which mutants were the dominant species and live openly without fear, with Magneto as the emperor. This became known as the House of M reality. Eventually, a group of heroes became aware of the reality alterations and fought Magneto's forces. When the Scarlet Witch restored reality, she stripped 90% of the mutant population of their powers. This event, known as M-Day, left only approximately 300 mutants on Earth, apparently stripping the X-gene from all other living or dead mutants, with no new mutant births occurring. Hundreds of Xavier's students and many X-Men and associates, including Polaris, were depowered along with Xavier and Magneto.
Decimation
To maintain order, the US government's Office of National Emergency posted a squad of human-piloted Sentinels around the Xavier Institute, making it a makeshift reservation for the world's remaining mutants. (Various Decimation miniseries) Despite the additional protection, over 40 depowered students were slaughtered while sent back to their homes, killed during an attack by anti-mutant religious zealot William Stryker and his Purifiers army. Cyclops and Emma instituted an "X-Men-in-Training" program, with selected students being trained to eventually become X-Men. (New X-Men section of Institute Student Body)
X-Factor (vol. 3)
(2008 - Current)
Following the House of M crossover, Jamie Madrox recruited more members into his X-Factor Investigations. For more, check out X-Factor Investigations.
X-Men in Space (Uncanny X-Men)
[Appearance: Uncanny X-Men #475 (2006) - Uncanny X-Men #486 (2007)]
With Vulcan on his way to Shi'ar space, Xavier recruited a team of X-Men to follow and stop him. Vulcan fell in love with Deathbird, who convinced him to restore D'Ken's mind. They married soon after D'Ken reclaimed the throne from Lilandra. However, Vulcan killed D'Ken to claim the Shi'ar throne, then killed his father Corsair, and threw Xavier into the M'Krann crystal, Xavier was saved by Darwin and regained his telepathy from the crystal's energies. Lilandra returned Xavier to Earth alongside Warpath, Darwin, Nightcrawler and the cat-like Starjammer, Hepzibah, who joined the team. Havok, Polaris and Marvel Girl were left behind and joined the Starjammers to oppose Vulcan. Together with Storm, the X-Men who returned from space formed a team that fought with rogue Morlocks led by Masque.
Rogue's team (Adjectiveless X-Men)[Apperance: X-Men vol. 2 #188 (2006) - X-Men vol. 2 #203 (2007)]
Rogue was asked by Cyclops to lead an emergency response team. She chose Cannonball, Iceman, Cable and former enemies, the enslaved Sabretooth, Mystique, Mastermind's daughter Lady Mastermind and the cyborg Omega Sentinel as her squad. The team dealt with threats like the Children of the Vault, Pandemic and Hecatomb. Sabretooth managed to escape from his forced services. This team, along with Cyclops' team, were attacked by Mr. Sinister's Marauders, which now included former X-Men Gambit and Sunfire, seeking Destiny's Diaries. Mystique and Lady Mastermind revealed their allegiances to Mr. Sinister and turned Omega Sentinel to their cause by allowing her to be possessed by the psychic Marauder Malice. Mystique successfully kidnapped Rogue with the warped intention of protecting her. The Marauders' campaign ended when Gambit destroyed the diaries.
Astonishing X-Men
[Appearance: Astonishing X-Men #13 (2006) - Giant-Sized Astonishing X-Men #1 (2008)]
Shortly after the Marauders situation (read above), Emma Frost turned on the team, creating life-like images of former Hellfire Club associate Sebastian Shaw; a younger version of her, Perfection; deceased former student Negasonic Teenage Warhead; and evil psychic Cassandra Nova, to attack her teammates. It turned out that Cassandra Nova made Emma a sleeper agent just before sending in Sentinels to destroy the mutant island Genosha. The team managed to deal with the threat and liberate Emma before being taken by SWORD to outer space, joined by student Armor. SWORD and the X-Men made their way to Breakworld in an attempt to stop Breakworld from destroying Earth. In the process, they learnt that Breakworld's doomsday prophecy was part of an elaborate scheme by Aghanne, an insane leader of a reformation cult seeking Breakworld's destruction. The team prevented Earth's destruction when Kitty Pryde bonded herself to a ten-mile bullet aimed at Earth by phasing it harmlessly through the planet. However, Earth's scientists and heroes were unable to free her.
A mutant activation is detected in Alaska and Cyclops and several X-Men investigate, discovering bodies of Purifiers and Marauders. After discovering the source of the battle was for possession of a newborn baby, the group returns home and Cyclops seizes control of the X-Men from Professor X as Predator X detects the newborn mutant, and devours the bodies of the dead Marauders present.
Cyclops creates an "assault team" (consisting of Wolverine, Storm, Colossus, Angel, and Nightcrawler) with the intent of locating the Marauders, who have a comatose Rogue captive. Cyclops sends X-Factor leader Multiple Man and member Layla Miller to visit Forge, and has member Rictor (who lost his powers on M-Day) pretend to join the Purifiers to see if they have the baby. Forge tells Madrox thatScarlet Witch's hex spell flatlined mutants across all realities until the baby's birth, which spawned two futures with mutants present. Madrox sends a duplicate to each timeline, and Layla Miller runs in the portal with the second dupe as Madrox falls comatose and Forge takes care of his body.
Rictor joins the Purifiers and discovers they are working with Lady Deathstrike and the Reavers, and that they do not have the baby, as a group of New X-Men attack the Purifiers base. In the fight, Hellion is wounded and in an escape, Pixie accidentally scatter-teleports Rictor and her friends. The assault team track the Marauders to Alaska and attack them with Emma Frost's assistance, until Hellion's wounding leads to the assault team's defeat and Nightcrawler's injury. In New York, the O*N*E* Sentinels are infected by nano-Sentinels and turn on the X-Men, but they are defeated when Iceman returns with the scattered New X-Men. When the assault team returns and Wolverine tells Cyclops he learned Cable has the baby, Cyclops assumes his son used the nano-Sentinels to attack them for some reason, so he dispatches a new X-Force (consisting of Wolverine, Hepzibah, Warpath, Caliban, X-23, and Wolfsbane) to locate him. Cable wanders Alaska with the baby while Predator X continues killing mutants, making his way to the X-Mansion when it loses the baby's scent.
In the future, Layla and Madrox discover there are mutant concentration camps, a result of mutant activity, and they get themselves locked in one and permanently marked with "M" DNA face tattoos. In present day, X-Force finds Cable, who is battling Deathstrike and the Reavers. X-23 defeats Deathstrike at the cost of Caliban's life, and Cable steals X-Force's Blackbird, making a path for Texas, where he goes to Forge's headquarters to use a time traveling device. Cable is hit from behind by X-Man Bishop, who in the future, Madrox and Layla discover would kill the mutant "messiah" since she killed a million people and lead to the camps' creation. Bishop is ambushed by the Marauders, who take the baby to Muir Island under Gambit's leadership. Once on Muir Island, it is revealed that Mister Sinister, who has the baby, is actually Mystique and that Mister Sinister is dead by her forcing him to touch Rogue.
Cerebra is repaired and used to track Gambit as Cyclops rescues X-Force, Bishop and Madrox. Bishop says Cable knocked Forge out and ran away after both him and Cable lost the baby. Cyclops sends Bishop and X-Force ahead to Muir Island in a faster O*N*E* ship. After they leave, Madrox reawakens after Layla uses a stolen grenade to kill his duplicate and send future Madrox's memories to Madrox Prime, now with the duplicate's M scar. He tells the group about Bishop. Predator X arrives at the X-Mansion and fights the New X-Men until Pixie teleports them to Muir Island, and Cable uses his stolen Blackbird to get Xavier to help him, explaining that in his future, the baby was a Messiah who united all of man and mutantkind.
Mystique explains to Gambit that Destiny, her former teacher, had told her about the baby and that it would heal Rogue. She holds the baby to Rogue's lips, and Gambit removes her hand, saying Rogue wouldn't want an innocent to die for her, as the Marauders and Acolytes battle X-Force and the newly arrived X-Men. Professor X interrupts Gambit, coming in with Cable, and when Cable gets the baby again, Bishop walks in along with Predator X, and the mutant killer bites Bishop's arm off, and is killed by Wolverine. Rogue awakens and disowns Mystique as punishment for risking a baby's life, then touches her before realizing that the baby wiped her memories away. She leaves Gambit, along with her and Mystique's memories. Cyclops demands that Cable hand over the child, and Professor X, in a sudden change, tells Cable to do it, so that Scott can see what everyone's been fighting for. Cyclops remembers what it was like to lose Nathan, and tells Cable to take the baby and give it the chance Cyclops never gave his own son. An infuriated Bishop takes Scalphunter's gun and shoots as Cable timeslides to the future, missing him and hitting Professor X. After Professor X is shot, his body is teleported away as Cyclops declares there are no X-Men.
More on Messiah CompleX...
Following Messiah Complex, Uncanny X-Men became the flagship title. X-Men vol. 2 was re-titled X-Men Legacy. A new series X-Force (vol. 3) was published. Young X-Men replaced New X-Men as the student book and was in turn replaced by New Mutants (vol. 3) after 12 issues. Astonishing X-Men continued as the title ideal for new readers.
After the events of Messiah Complex, Cyclops disbanded the X-Men and closed down the Xavier's Institute. The X-Men were soon reunited in San Francisco, where Cyclops and Emma invited the world's mutants to join them there, promising protection. Many mutants and former members of the X-Men accepted the invitation, and a number of new recruits joined the team, including the teleporting Pixie, Northstar's twin sister Aurora, the luck-manipulating Domino, time bomb generating Boom Boom and dimensional portal-creating Ariel. Cyclops also reinstated the trainee program under the care of former New Mutants Dani Moonstar and Sunspot. (Check Young X-Men section of Institute Student Body) Cyclops also secretly reinstated his X-Force, which gained as members the healer Elixir, Domino and the teleporting Vanisher as members, sending them on missions to eliminate mutantkind's enemies before they could harm mutants. (Check Third Series of X-Force) Beast and Angel
gathered a team of scientists including Dr. Nemesis, Madison Jeffries, Kavita Rao and Yuriko Takiguchi as the X-Club, devoted to restoring the mutant gene. Meanwhile, Professor Xavier was saved by Exodus, who wanted him to resume as leader of mutants. Professor X managed to leave and proceeded to embark on a journey to recover the memories he lost along with his injuries. (Check X-Men Legacy) The X-Men fought the mutant-hating Hellfire Cult, resisted the Skrull invasion of San Francisco, battled demonic forces in limbo to recover Colossus' resurrected sister Illyana Rasputin (X-Infernus miniseries) and assisted Storm in fighting the Shadow King's assault on Wakanda (Worlds Apart miniseries). The former New Mutants regrouped as a squad of X-Men (check New Mutants). The X-Men successfully defeated the surviving Madelyne Pryor and her Sisterhood of Mutants, who was trying to acquire Jean Grey's body as Pryor's new host. (check Uncanny X-Men) Around the same time, a team of X-Men comprising of Cyclops, Emma Frost, Beast, Storm, Wolverine and Armor encountered the Ghost Box, a interdimensional portal and fought rogue former X-Man Forge who created a new breed of mutants. The team also combated a new breed of Sentinels created by geneticist Kaga, using the DNA and bodies of deceased mutants, Krakoa and Brood. The team then traveled to Africa to investigate strange mutations caused by energies of another dimension, fighting a group of superhero-slaying simulacrum Fury. (check Astonishing X-Men)
When the anti-mutant Humanity Now! coalition introduced Proposition X, an initiative requiring all mutants to undergo chemical birth control, riots erupted in San Francisco between mutants and anti-mutant protestors. Norman Osborn, formerly the Green Goblin and now the head of the national peacekeeping agency HAMMER, sent his superhuman Avengers, who were secretly disguised villains, to quell the riots and establish order. Osborn also approached Emma Frost, who had a pact with Osborn to stay out of each other's business, to lead a group of 'X-Men' that would police the mutant community. Emma pretended to agree, going undercover in his organization, bringing Namor with her. Unknown to all, Beast, Xavier and many other captive mutants were being held prisoner in Alcatraz, guinea pigs in a project designed to negate mutant powers. Cyclops worked with the X-Club to raise Magneto's former orbital base from he ocean's floor, converting it into an island four miles off the coast of California, a nation for mutants, free from governmental interference. Cyclops also asked Moonstar, a former Asgardian Valkyrie, to barter a deal with the Asgardian goddess of Death, Hela for a temporary power boost to help her battle the Avengers' Ares, the Olympian God of War. While the X-Men's teleporters moved San Francisco's mutants to the island raised by the X-Club, X-Force freed the mutant prisoners in Alcatraz and confronted Osborn's X-Men. Emma and Namor turned on their team, bringing street vigilantes Cloak and Dagger with them. Cyclops then proclaimed mutantkind's emancipation to the world, establishing the island as a mutant sanctuary. The gathered mutants rallied against an attack by Osborn's Avengers, who left the battle once Osborn realized to continue fighting would result in televised killings of mutants. (Utopia crossover in Uncanny X-Men and Dark Avengers)
Gambit and Rogue rejoined the team, while Storm splitting her time between Utopia and Wakanda. Rogue became mentor to the students. (X-Men Legacy) Magneto, who regained his powers with the help of the High Evolutionary, arrived at Utopia and vowed his loyalty to Cyclops for accomplishing the mutant nation Magneto always dreamed of. As a gesture of goodwill, Magneto returned Kitty Pryde to Earth, even though she cannot regain tangibility. Magneto also worked with Namor to build a support for the sinking island, simultaneously giving Namor's Atlantean people a purpose and home. Danger as recruited as warden of the evil mutants in the X-Men's custody, working towards their rehabilitation. Utopia soon fought an invasion by mutant-killing Predator X creatures before Beast quit the team, angry at Cyclops for leaving him Osborn's torture chambers as long as he did and accepting Magneto into Utopia. (Uncanny X-Men)
Soon, the immortal sorceress Selene worked with techno-organic vampire Eli Bard to resurrect millions of deceased mutants to aid in her quest for godhood. Former New Mutants Warlock returned from outer space to turn a resurrected Cypher, former teammate, from his thrall under Selene. The X-Men fought Selene on Utopia and Muir Island before X-Force attacked her newly created kingdom of Necrosha on the devastated shores of Genosha, seemingly destroying her. (Necrosha crossover)
Shortly after, the return of the messiah child Hope and Cable prompted the super-sentinel Bastion to accelerate his plans to wipe out mutantkind. The X-Men and Bastion's forces fought to locate Hope. The X-Men got to her first, with X-Man Nightcrawler sacrificing his life to bring Hope back to Utopia. Bastion's forces launched an all-out assault on Utopia which ended when Hope destroyed Bastion. (Second Coming crossover)
Following the Second Coming crossover, X-Force (vol. 2) was cancelled and replaced with Uncanny X-Force. A new title Generation Hope was published. Shortly after, yet another X-Men title was published, X-Men (vol. 3).
Hope's return triggered the rise of new mutants, as five of them were located throughout the world by the X-Men's Cerebra system. The X-Men were split into teams to keep watch on these mutants called the "Five Lights". Their powers were only stabilized with the touch of Hope as she traveled across the globe to bring them in. These "Five Lights" became fiercely loyal to her as she forged them into a search-and-rescue team for new mutants. (Generation Hope)Cyclops disbanded X-Force following the victory over Bastion. However, both Archangel and Wolverine saw the need for a team of X-Force and assembled their own team. (Uncanny X-Force)
The X-Men soon suffered a mutant flu epidermic that robs them of their powers, created by Lobe of the Sublime Corp. Storm and Angel formed a team of healthy mutants including Dazzler, Northstar and Pixie to fight the Collective Man, who was trying to establish himself as leader of the triads in Chinatown, before defeating Sublime Corp. (Uncanny X-Men)
Around the same period, the X-Men fought off a vampiric invasion which resulted in former mutant Jubilee becoming a vampire. A team of X-Men led by Storm joined Spider Man in stopping the Dark Beast's experiments using the Lizard's DNA. All the X-Men on Utopia fought off an attack by the Evolutionaries, whose purpose is to massacre the mutant race and select the leader of the mutant race. A team of X-Men dealt with a demonic threat with the help of the Ghost Rider. Later, another team of X-Men, alongside the Future Foundation, help the native Kaddak of another world defeat the Scorpius occupiers. (X-Men vol. 3)
Cyclops took on refugees from the alien Breakworld, led by former Powerlord Krunn who was deposed by Colossus when the X-Men and S.W.O.R.D. had a mission of peace there. Krunn attempted to seek revenge on the X-Men but was stopped. In the process, Kitty Pryde regained her tangibility. (Uncanny X-Men)
With the events of Fear Itself, Juggernaut of the Worthy attacked San Francisco, turning the mutants and humans on each other. Cyclops attempted various strategies to stop him. One of the strategies involved Magik, Colossus and Kitty entering the realm of Cytorrak, Juggernaut's patron. Magik convinced Cytorrak that Juggernaut now served a new master in the Serpent. Colossus took Magik's place in become Cytorrak's newest avatar, gaining the powers of Juggernaut and ending the original Juggernaut's attack on San Francisco. (Uncanny X-Men)
The X-Men soon experienced a Schism. Cyclops and Wolverine attended an international arms conference to persuade nations to disable their Sentinels. However, rogue mutant Quentin Quire launched a psychic attack, triggering an international incident. Nations all over the world brought their Sentinels out of storage, many of them malfunctioning. X-Men were dispatched all over the world to stop the robots. Cyclops sent his most powerful team of X-Men to make an appearance at the opening of a mutant history museum in order to counter the onslaught of bigotry on the public relations front. However, all went according to the plan of Kade Kilgore, a twelve-year-old boy who became the Black King of the Hellfire Club. Kade led an attack on the museum and young Idie Okonkwo eventually killed members of the remaining Hellfire Club henchmen. A bomb went off and the debris formed itself into a gigantic Sentinel which attacked Utopia. Cyclops and Wolverine had disagreements throughout the events, including Cyclops' decision not to hand Quentin Quire to the authorities and Cyclops' request of Idie to kill the Hellfire Club henchmen. Things came to a head when Wolverine disagreed with Cyclops' decision to ask the younger mutants to defend Utopia in the absence of the older X-Men. The X-Men and young mutants managed to defeat the Sentinel but Wolverine decided to leave Utopia and establish a sanctuary for younger mutants. (Schism miniseries)
This reorganization is known as ReGenesis.
The long running title Uncanny X-Men was cancelled and relaunched with a new #1 as Uncanny X-Men vol. 2. The title was the flagship title for Cyclops' side. Other titles on Cyclops' side included X-Men vol. 3, New Mutants vol. 2 and Generation Hope. Generation Hope was cancelled shortly after. A new title X-Treme X-Men vol. 2 was published.
A new title Wolverine and the X-Men was launched as the flagship title for Wolverine's side. Other titles on Wolverine's side included X-Men Legacy, Uncanny X-Force and X-Factor (vol. 3).
[Check out the titles' individual pages for the history under ReGenesis.]
Cyclops formed the Extinction Team as one of the most powerful teams ever, knowing that it will strike fear into their enemies. The team defeated old threats such as Mr. Sinister and the alien Phalanx, as well as new threats such as the Apex Immortal Man of Tabula Rasa, a strange land that seems to progress millenniums in the span of hours, as well as Unit, a sentient machine who escaped prison in the orbital base of S.W.O.R.D. [Uncanny X-Men] Psylocke was selected by Cyclops to lead the Security Recon Team. The team joined War Machine to stop the Sentinels production in the eastern European country Puternicstan and also fought a variety of threats such as vampires and the alien Skrulls. Storm took over leadership of the team to deal with the discovery of a race of proto-mutants who lived on Earth hundred of years before modern mutants began to evolve. [X-Men vol. 3] The New Mutants X-Men squad moved into an apartment in San Francisco to have more contact with the real world. They found Blink and helped her release the band Diskhord from extra-terrestrial influence. They cured the Ani-Mates in Paradise Island of a virus plague and later freed the asgardians from a reality in which they forgot their identities. They also fought to prevent a reality in which Cypher became evil and helped freed Warlock's ward Tyro from Warlock's father Magus. [New Mutants vol. 3] Hope Summers' team found an amnesiac Sebastian Shaw in Pakistan and brought him back to Utopia island allowed him to join her team despite knowing about his villainous past. The team fought their own member Zero, who resented Hope, and Hope had no choice but to destroy him. [Generation Hope]
Wolverine set up the Jean Grey School for Higher Learning, recruiting X-Men as staff members and young mutants as students. The School ended off an attack by the new Hellfire Club led by Kade Kilgore. When Kitty Pryde's body was invaded by the alien Brood, the X-Men became miniaturized and entered her body to destroy the Brood. [Wolverine and the X-Men] In the meantime, the X-Men also fought the other-dimensional demons N'Garai and the mutant Exodus, who wanted to reunite the different mutant camps. The X-Men tried to help the mutant Weapon Omega cope with his out-of-control powers but had to place him in stasis. Rogue managed to persuade Weapon Omega's good friend Mimic to join the School as staff member. [X-Men Legacy] A team of X-Men faced Karma's half-sister Susan Hatchi and ended her plots to gain control of Madripoor and kill everyone in New York City. The X-Men witnessed the wedding of Northstar and Kyle Jinadu and defeated the anti-mutant Friends of Humanity who targeted the couple during their honeymoon in Paris. When AoA Nightcrawler and Dark Beast sought to return to their own reality (Age of Apocalypse), they unwittingly released three energy-consuming monsters known as the Exterminators. Along with the Exterminated team from the Age of Apocalypse reality and a reality-hopping transdimensional X-Men team led by Dazzler, they managed to trap the Exterminators in the AoA reality. In the process, Iceman was corrupted by a Apocalypse Death Seed. He soon blanketed the world with a new ice age before he was stopped by the X-Men. [Astonishing X-Men, X-Termination crossover]
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The aftermath of the event led to the Marvel Now initiative titles were relaunched and new titles were released to bring in new readers. Uncanny X-Men (vol. 2) was cancelled and relaunched as Uncanny X-Men (vol. 3). X-Men Legacy was relaunched as X-Men Legacy (vol. 2). X-Men (vol. 3) was relaunched as X-Men (vol. 4). Uncanny X-Force was relaunched as Uncanny X-Force (vol. 2). New titles launched include All New X-Men and Cable and X-Force. Wolverine and the X-Men, Astonishing X-Men and X-Factor were the only titles to maintain their numbering. New Mutants (vol. 2) was cancelled.
Cyclops escaped from incarceration and formed a new team of X-Men with Magneto and Magik. They later freed Emma Frost from incarceration and recruited her into the team. Due to the influence of the Phoenix Force, the mutants' powers were broken. They recruited new mutants Eva Bell, Christopher Muse and Benjamin Deeds. Unable to cope with yet another mutation, Beast realized he was going to die and decided that he want to attempt something to stop what he felt was an inevitable mutant-human war. He traveled to the past to convince the original X-Men to come to the present. He hoped that the presence of the original X-Men can persuade Cyclops to stop his mutant revolution. They returned to the Jean Grey School in time for young Beast to help the present day Beast stabilize his new mutation. Kitty Pryde volunteered to mentor the original X-Men. When Mystique had Lady Mastermind use her powers to create illusions of the original X-Men committing crimes, Wolverine and Kitty Pryde led the team to search for her. After a verbal confrontation with Havok's Avengers team which was seeking to capture the original X-Men for the crimes they were believed to have committed, they were allowed to leave. They located Mystique, Sabretooth and Lady Mastermind in Madripoor and managed to capture Mystique, though she escaped from prison shortly after [All-New X-Men] Storm took over Kitty Pryde as the new headmistress of the Jean Grey School. Wolverine led a field trip to the Savage Land for his problematic students and had to wrestle control of them back from his brother Dog who had traveled from the past to take on the students under his care to prove that he is the better brother. Wolverine's X-Men next fought to liberate several students from the Hellfire Academy. [Wolverine and the X-Men] Meanwhile, Cyclops set up the New Xavier School out of the old Weapon X facility. They fought and destroyed Sentinels while recruiting new mutant Fabio Medina. The team next fought Dormammu, who wanted to conquer the Limbo dimension and destroy its ruler, Magik. The team was able to defeat him and Magik absorbed the entire dimension into herself. When Fabio was returned home upon his request, he was taken in by Dazzler, the new S.H.I.E.L.D. mutant liaison. Cyclops' team rescued Fabio. Shortly after, Dazzler was knocked out and replaced by Mystique. [Uncanny X-Men] A team of all-female X-Men came together to help the formerly anti-mutant John Sublime fight his sister, the technological virus Arkea, who had taken control of Omega Sentinel. [X-Men vol. 4]
The X-Men were next involved in the Battle of the Atom crossover.
When the young Cyclops was apparently killed by Sentinels while on a mission, the older Cyclops disappeared. The young Cyclops was healed by the young mutant Triage and the older Cyclops reappeared. Wolverine's X-Men believed that it is dangerous for the young original X-Men to stay in the present and wanted to send them back. The future X-Men arrived and wanted to send the original X-Men back too. Young Cyclops and Jean Grey escaped from the Jean Grey School. The present and future X-Men hunted the two mutants down but with the distraction provided by Kitty Pryde and Rachel Grey who wanted the original X-Men to make their own choices, they escaped. They seek the help of older Cyclops' X-Men. Wolverine's X-Men and the future X-Men arrive and a fight ensued. Magik seek out young Iceman and Beast in the Jean Grey School and traveled to the future where they found the real X-Men. They convinced the future X-Men to travel to the present to help them stop the fake future X-Men, actually the future's Brotherhood.
In the present, with their cover about to be blown, the Brotherhood revealed their true natures and attacked the present X-Men. They managed to capture all the original X-Men and attempted to send them back. However, they discovered that something prevented the original X-Men from being returned to their proper time. Cyclops' X-Men and the real future X-Men aided Wolverine's X-Men. The Brotherhood traveled to Cape Citadel, where the original X-Men first fought Magneto. The combined forces of Wolverine and Cyclops' X-Men and the future X-Men fought the Brotherhood when S.H.I.E.L.D. arrived. Xorn, revealed to be the future Jean Grey, unleashed S.H.I.E.L.D.'s anti-mutant munitions and Sentinels. In the final fight against the original X-Men, Xorn unleashed her full power and was consumed by it. The X-Men escaped with Magik's teleportation powers while the surviving Brotherhood escaped in their own way. In the aftermath, the future X-Men returned to their own timeline with Kymera staying behind to hunt down the remaining Brotherhood.
For recent stories, check out the individual titles in All-New Marvel Now!
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