X-Men

People are creatures of habit.  They only want and understand what they know and normally do not want anything to do with anything that can change that.  Whether it is a new place to live, a new way to live, or the worst thing of all to some: different people.  Different things are met with anger and frustration and in many cases hostility.  The last part holds true for the X-Men than many other characters.  The X-Men, who derived their name from the leader of their group, Professor Charles Xavier, are people who were born with genetic mutations that have given them abilities that regular people do not have.  The mutations were natural in most of the cases and not caused by radiation or scientific experiments.  Experiments had been done on the people with abilities, but in almost all cases they did not cause any mutations.

These people, dubbed mutants by those that fear and hate them, have been forced into lives of hiding trying to keep their powers hidden in fear of being arrested or shunned or even run out of town.  Being a mutant should have been a gift, not a curse and Charles Xavier set up his School for Gifted Youngsters to teach young mutants that.  He brought many of them under his wing and helped them learn to control their abilities and use them to help people and drive to reach his goal of a peaceful co-existence between both mutants and non mutants.

Over the years he had many students at the school that have gone on to try to spread this message and even developed a team of mutants to fight the other mutants, the ones that believe that mutants are superior to non mutants and is ready to destroy them to gain supremacy.  Led by Eric Lehnsherr (born Max Eisenhardt), also known as Magneto, these mutants constantly battle the X-Men in attempting to exterminate the non mutants and gain world control.  Professor Xavier and Magneto, like so many leaders on the good and bad sides, were friends as young men and were still friends in their advanced ages despite their extreme different views about the world of mutants and non mutants.  Magneto has an ability to control anything metal and that has made things difficult for the X-Men to conquer him and his followers, known as the Brotherhood of Mutants, because the modern world has so many things that are made of metal that Magneto can use as weapons or shields.

The X-Men have had many recruits and members over the years, but the original members will live on in forever by those that followed them.  Cyclops, who could shoot beams of energy from eyes, Jean Grey, who could use telekinesis to move objects and control minds, and Storm, who could control the weather, were some of the first members to join and take up Xavier’s cause.  Xavier himself has an extremely powerful ability of mind control and mind reading and an even more powerful form of telekinesis than Jean Grey.  They were the leaders of most missions against the Brotherhood and eventually came across a mutant named Wolverine, who was powerful and temperamental.

Wolverine became one of the most popular characters in the world of Marvel Comics.  His assertiveness and uncontrollable style was a result of living an adult life without many of his memories and a life of isolation.  Many times his rage and anger has caused as many problems for the X-Men as the Brotherhood has, but also on many occasions he has rescued them when they fell into traps or into a fight they were outnumbered in.  Wolverine has an ability to heal from every wound at an accelerated pace and has his entire skeleton laced with a powerful metal known as Adamantium, which has given him claws that release from his hands and are able to cut through almost any surface.  This metal has prevented him from taking on Magneto directly and been forced to join the other X-Men as a member of the team, which is not his normal style.

Magneto’s Brotherhood of Mutants consisted of members Quicksilver, who could run at incredible speeds, Scarlet Witch, who can use her hexes as a form of magic and is also sister to Quicksilver.  The two were later revealed to be children of Magneto.  Over the years the Brotherhood of Mutants has had many members and leaders including the sworn enemy and later revealed brother of Wolverine, Sabertooth.  His abilities were similar to Wolverine’s in the ability to heal and had superior strength.  He is able to grow his nails out long enough to use as knives and fight with them.  They can cut through many objects, but unlike Wolverine, he is not laced with Adamantium as he is not able to survive the procedure because his ability to heal is not a strong as Wolverine’s.  Later a very dangerous mutant known as Mystique, who has the ability to change shape and voice and disguise herself as anyone she wants, would be the leader of the Brotherhood.

There are many mutants in the Marvel world, all with many powers and abilities and followings.  As you explore this website in search of them and look for your favorites, keep in mind that even though the mutants were both good and bad in their ideals, they all were searching for something that we all search for in our own lives:  acceptance.

By: Tim Robbins