Top 100 X-Men: #1-5

This is it!  We’ve finally come to the end of the countdown!

#5: Wolverine
X-Men, X-Force
That’s right.  Number five.  Four others ahead of him.  There wasn’t much to Wolverine when he was recruited to the second team of X-Men in Giant Size X-Men #1.  He was a minor character from an issue of Incredible Hulk who had little personality beyond being grumpy.  But little by little, things began to change for the pint-size psychopath.  He began warming to his teammates, confused about how to express his friendship.  His claws, originally written to be a part of his gloves, became an extension of his skeleton, also metal, which opened up a past of government manipulation.  He settled down and actually became a beloved member of the X-Men, and even a paternal figure of sorts to Kitty Pryde, the newest and youngest recruit.

Despite his popularity, Wolverine has only been actual leader of the X-Men once, and only for a short span of issues while Storm was away on a personal quest.  But during that time he proved his worth by uniting a ragtag group of replacement X-Men into a proper team themselves.  He was well aware of his limitations, though, and happily gave the spot up as soon as the team was reunited with Storm.  The two became the elders of the team, wholeheartedly engrossed in Professor Xavier’s dream, even with Xavier’s extended absence in space.  And that is what ranks Wolverine so highly on the list.  He went from joining the X-Men as a free ticket out of service to the Canadian government and became one of the most devout soldiers in Xavier’s forces.

But beyond his personal beliefs, his unique skill sets and talents make him a valued asset to the X-Men.  Despite having a healing factor that goes beyond even suspension of disbelief sometimes, it’s Wolverine’s willingness to go over the line to get the job done that has proved, as of late, to be his biggest aide to the team.  Leading X-Force (reluctantly), he has taken down numerous threats to the endangered mutant populace, even though he was forced to put those close to him in danger (most notably X-23).  But Wolverine understands the needs of the X-Men and doesn’t often disobey the orders of Cyclops, who even from their rocky beginnings have become the best of friends.

In all of the years since Wolverine’s debut, he has most certainly earned his place time and time again as one of the greatest X-Men ever.

Top 100 X-Men: #6-10

Cool.

#10: Iceman
X-Men, X-Factor
The original ‘kid member’ of the X-Men, Iceman has been around since day one yet still has never managed to shake the immature reputation.  Not that he seems to be particularly trying.  Iceman seems to be a character of endless potential, being that every few years a creator will do a ‘Iceman not reaching his potential’ story.  So many of these have been done that he seems to have Proteus-level abilities…if only he could live up to his potential.  At least he doesn’t wear the clunky power belt anymore.

But that doesn’t change that Iceman has dedicated nearly his entire adult life to Charles Xavier’s dream and has stuck with the X-Men through both thick and thin.  He had a brief time of inactivity, but he came back and went on a love tryst, nailing the dreaded Nurse Annie, Polaris and even Mystique all within a couple years.  He’s been a little out of focus lately, but mainly because he’s been busy providing nearly the entire mutant race with drinkable water.  I think he’s doing pretty well.

Go ahead. She's safe now.

#9: Rogue
X-Men
Rogue had the distinction of being the first major villain to switch sides and join the X-Men.  Sure, the Changeling technically beat her by a couple decades, but he was hardly major.  Rogue took on the entire Avengers team by herself and did pretty well, taking out Ms. Marvel, Captain America and Thor single handedly.  Intriguing in both her inability to control her powers as well as her enigmatic past (we still don’t know her full name), Rogue has become one of the most popular X-Men specifically based on characterization…and being a hot southern belle.

For far too long, she became embroiled in a relationship with Gambit that overshadowed any other aspect of her character, but recently she has managed to break free from that and become her own character once again.  Now in full control of her powers (with an excellent explanation as to why she lacked it before) she has become the main teacher/advisor of the younger mutants amongst the X-Men and she has really taken to the role.  And since gaining control of her powers, she seems to average at least two completely bad ass moments a month.  You simply cannot say that Rogue is not awesome.

Don't let the cuteness fool you. She will f your world.

#8: Shadowcat
X-Men, Excalibur
Joining the X-Men at the tender age of 13 would not be easy for anyone, but Kitty Pryde not only made it work, but shined in the role.  Cute as a button, an intellectual genius and skilled with ninja prowess, Kitty has been the heart and soul of the X-Men world for decades.  We’ve watched her grow up from the innocent little girl who just wanted her own X-Men costume into a true hero that has nearly sacrificed herself numerous times to protect her friends and even the entire world.  And she finally hooked up with Colossus after an editorial mandate broke them up years earlier.

She tends to steal any scene she appears in and has a larger than life personality.  Her mere presence puts even the ice cold Emma Frost on edge and she has stared down the likes of Mojo and even Loki successfully.  She was a mainstay of Excalibur in an effort to keep Professor Xavier’s dream alive while the X-Men were seemingly dead, and has stuck with various teams ever since.  Fans and villains agree – Shadowcat is one character who deserves respect.  And she has a pet dragon.  You wish you did.

Bamf!

#7: Nightcrawler
X-Men, Excalibur
He’s a blue and furry, religious swashbuckler who just happens to be the son of the devil…and that label can apply to both his father and his mother.  But that doesn’t keep Nightcrawler’s spirits down as he come through great adversity to find inner peace within himself.  He was a priest, but we’re really not even going to get into just how that ended.  What’s more important is his love for adventure, the respect he’s earned from his friends and the inability to shake him of his core values despite what is thrown at him.

Being almost murdered specifically because of his appearance, Nightcrawler had every reason not to fight for Xavier’s dream, but instead he embraced it wholeheartedly and has been fighting for it ever since.  He was the heart of the X-Men for years before becoming the concience and voice of reason to the insanity of the original Excalibur, eventually taking the spot of leader for a great amount of time.  Serving still as concience of the new mutant society of Utopia, Nightcrawler gave his life to protect the life of Hope, possibly the last chance of mutantkind’s survival.  In death, he showed that he was willing to give all that he was and more to protect the dream he so believed in.

He'll wine and dine you then decapitate you for being unfit.

#6: Archangel
X-Men, X-Factor, X-Force
Life has not been kind to Warren Worthington III.  The millionaire playboy became a founding member of both the X-Men and X-Factor, but his high flying days were cut short when his wings were amputated after severe injuries suffered during the Mutant Massacre.  From there he was mutated by Apocalypse to become the Horseman of Death, only to break free and eventually rejoin his friends…albeit with blue skin and metal wings.  Slowly, he overcame murderous tendencies and a staggering case of gloominess to eventually recapture his former humanity and eventually regained both his feathered wings and his caucasian complexsion.

Archangel’s story has been one of redemption, all the while staying a member of the X-Men (and being their financial backer) as well as running his own company.  Losing his wings again revealed that Apocalypse’s influence had not been lost on him, and he now can transform back to the metal-winged Death, complete with homicidal urges, at will.  He’s become an unlikely member of X-Force while still remaining the charming, charismatic Angel in his downtime.  How’s that for messed up?

Check here for the entire list thus far! 

It’s almost over!  Check back Friday for the final five members of the Top 100 X-Men list!  You can probably guess who they are – but can you guess what order they’ll be in?

Top 100 X-Men: 11-15

Shown here nigh invulnerable, blasting.

#15: Cannonball
X-Men, New Mutants, X-Force
While getting an auspicious start as a goon for Donald Pierce, Cannonball quickly joined the New Mutants and became one of the two leaders of the team.  Unlike his teammates, Cannonball stuck with the group from beginning to end and became a founding member of X-Force.  Under Cable’s guidance, he became a natural fit for team leader, protecting his friends and making excellent battlefield decisions.  On top of all of that, he’s got a heart of gold. 

Cannonball has struggled throughout his career with numerous setbacks.  First it was that he couldn’t control his powers as well as the other New Mutants.  After that was doubts about his leadership due to losses on the team.  Then he had a semi-disastrous term as a proper X-Man, largely in part to bad writing a lack of confidence.  But each time, he went back and fixed his issues and came back better than ever, now once again serving as leader of the original New Mutants.  He also may or may not be immortal, so that’s pretty cool too. 

Rob Liefeld thinks he's awesome.

#14: Cable
X-Men, X-Force
When Cable debuted as the newfound leader of the New Mutants, it was doubtful that creators Louise Simonson or Rob Liefeld had any idea of what he was going to become.  He was originally merely a veteran soldier.  Over the years he became a ridiculously powerful psi who just happens to be the son of Cyclops and Madelyne Pryor returned from the future.  And he uses guns!  Big, big guns! 

But from his shaky beginnings of distrust from nearly everyone who wore the ‘X’, Cable has become a valued member of the X-Men family.  He’s served as an X-Man, created a paradise island of his own, nearly sacrificed himself to preserve it, and finally has spent the last 16 years of his life in an apocalyptic future raising Hope, who may or may not be the only hope Mutantkind has in the present.  Certainly a far cry from the overly muscled, half robot, shoulder pad wearing soldier he originally showed up as, huh? 

You wish you could pull this look off.

#13: Magneto
X-Men, New Mutants (Headmaster)
Oh, come on!  It’s fricking Magneto!  Tell me he’s not awesome!  So sure, he’s spent a large part of nearly 50 years trying to kill the X-Men, but that’s why he doesn’t break the top 10.  Once a raving villain typical of the Silver Age, Magneto developed into the opposite side of Charles Xavier’s dream, also wanting peace for mutants but unconvinced that humans will ever accept them.  Over time, he decided his means would never succeed and he joined up with his former arch-enemy Xavier, becoming headmaster of the school.  But, since the New Mutants were a bunch of jerks, that didn’t last. 

Magneto honestly believes what he has done was the best course for mutantkind, though he did go a little batty now and again in the process.  He’s been both sinner and saint, often both at the same time, but has recently joined back up with the X-Men in the hopes of protecting what is left of mutantkind and hopefully being able to restore that which his daughter Scarlet Witch had taken away from them.  He’s also made the bucket helmet and a purple/red color scheme look cool since 1963. 

Take your time. I can wait.

#12: Emma Frost
X-Men, Generation X, New X-Men (Hellions Advisor)
Who could have anticipated what Emma Frost would end up being – co-headmaster of the Xavier Institute as well as banger of Cyclops.  Quite a long way she’s come since she was trying to kill the X-Men for the Hellfire Club.  Serving as primary protagonist for the New Mutants, we saw the Emma wasn’t so much evil as she was willing to do whatever was needed to get ahead.  As time went on, she became less ‘kill you and rule the world’ and more ‘step on you to achieve my goals’.  Her redemption came when she spent a few years in a coma before popping back up and becoming the co-leader of Generation X. 

She came to the X-Men after the destruction of Genosha complete with a new diamond form second mutation, which mirrored her ice cold demeanor.  She took to Cyclops immediately and even managed to come between him and Jean Grey - a feat only even attempted once before (by Psylocke).  Upon Jean’s death, Emma made her move and got Cyke in the sack and became actually quite proud of her role as a head of the school.  She’s made some questionable decisions, but she really has shined in her role with the team, and not simply because her skin reflects the sunlight. 

How does he move? Simple: "organic steel".

#11: Colossus
X-Men, Excalibur
You really have to feel bad for this guy.  Few people on this list have suffered like he has.  Both of his parents were killed for no particular reason due to bad writing a government plot, his sister succumbed to the Legacy Virus, he joined the Acolytes because of a head trauma, he returned to his beloved Shadowcat only to find her snogging with nasty brit Pete Wisdom, and eventually he just went and killed himself to cure the disease that took his sister.  That pretty much sucks. 

But despite all of those hardships, Colossus is still with the X-Men, still believes in their goals, and still remains one of the more important members of the organization.  Both he and his sister returned from the dead and he finally hooked up with Kitty (causing her to phase through her floor while…you know).  Once the most doubtful of his place on the team, Colossus has become the cornerstone of the X-Men, and not simply because he’s the only one who can hold them all up for an extended amount of time. 

Check here for the entire list thus far! 

Check back Wednesday for #6-10!  Almost there!

Top 100 X-Men: 16-20

The 'M' stands for 'Messed Up.' Or 'Mexico'.

#20: Bishop
X-Men
When Bishop debuted in Uncanny X-Men, he practically screamed ‘early 90′s hero’.  He had loose morals, huge guns (both arms and weapons) and a mullet you could set your watch to.  His point was quite simple: he was an X-Man of the 90′s future which meant killing was perfectly fine.  The prerequisite misunderstanding sent him off on his own for a few issues before he was brought into the team, and actually fit in quite well over time.  The biggest factor in making him work: playing down his being from the future.  Over time, he stopped his monthly mentions of being from the future (after other X-Men began making fun of him about it) and he became a soldier of the present X-Men.  And then he got lost in space and banged Deathbird.  Great.

Almost ruined during a point where the X-Men were trying to get ‘back to basics’, he eventually was brought back for Chris Claremont’s return to the book, and the creator took to him pretty well, which is odd for a character not actually created by Claremont himself.  Bishop became a detective (something he mentioned three times an issue) and took the veteran role on a team made up of veterans.  He stuck around for a while in this role until Messiah CompleX in which he went crazy and tried to kill a baby.  And once that baby escaped, he gunned down Professor X, got a metal arm and blew up the future.  Ok, so now his character has been pretty much ruined beyond repair, but over the nearly two decades before it got to that point, Bishop was a fantastic character and invaluable member of the X-Men.

Watch your drooling, please.

#19: Psylocke
X-Men, Exiles
Quick – explain to me Psylocke’s origin in one paragraph or less, while still including ‘Revanche’.  Now go get some aspirin for that headache.  Originally debuting as a supporting character in the UK Captain Britain comics, Betsy Braddock was brought across the pond and thrown into the X-Men’s supporting cast before becoming a full member of the team during the roster shakeup of the Mutant Massacre.  There had been telepaths in the X-Men before, but unlike Jean Grey or Professor X, none of the X-Men particularly trusted Psylocke to use her powers morally.  She had been quick to suggesting killing if she deemed it necessary, even suggesting to kill Havok to keep the X-Men safe from potential threats.  This mistrust ended up being well placed when Psylocke forced the remaining X-Men – Colossus, Havok and Dazzler – to disband and send themselves through the Siege Perilous portal.

And that move started a move in confusion that still hasn’t been completely cleaned up.  Psylocke was transformed into an Asian ninja (which led to more mistrust) and rejoined the team at the behest of Wolverine.  It was as simple as that at first, but then someone decided to add in another body, mixed up memories, and a whole big mess which bogged her down until she finally just called bullocks to the whole thing and began shacking up with Archangel and finally made herself work again.  And then came the Crimson Dawn…but enough.  Over time, Psylocke has established herself as an awesome X-Man, then forced to re-establish herself when creators repeatedly muck her up.  That she still is a beloved X-Man says something about her.  After all: sexy ninja with a British accent.  What’s not to love?

He's really beside himself. Ha!

#18: Multiple Man
X-Factor
Introduced in the 70′s, Jamie Madrox seemed doomed to forever be stuck in the role of background supporting character, remaining on Muir Island as an assistant for Moira MacTaggert for over a decade.  But in 1991, Multiple Man got a pardon and escaped to X-Factor where he became a jovial trickster and a beloved member of the team.  His duo with Strong Guy was a crucial part of what made that book so much fun.  So, of course, when victims were needed to prove the the threat of the Legacy Virus, Multiple Man was put on the block and killed off for the anniversary issue X-Factor #100.  Fortunately in later issues, creators were looking for anything to get X-Factor back on track, which brought Madrox back to life.  Back to obscurity he went.

So why is he #18?  A mini-series redefined the character and launched a new X-Factor series in which Madrox created a private investigation company staffed by numerous B-list characters.  In this agency, Madrox was established to be as influential and well meaning as Cyclops, just in a much more realistic view.  Madrox doesn’t agree with the Utopia idea, thinking that mutants should stick to trying to live amongst regular humans and just do their own thing.  He’s become a leader that neither he nor anyone else thought he could be and he’s one of the biggest characters of the X-Men line.  Not bad for a perenial supporting character, huh?

I never did get the point of the open-hair mask.

#17: Havok
X-Men, X-Factor
Being the little brother of Cyclops isn’t all that it’s cut out to be.  Just ask Havok who for four decades has been fighting to get out of his brother’s shadow.  It also doesn’t help to have your character tied to the rather terrible villain the Living Monolith, but Havok managed to make it work – slowly but surely.  He wasn’t with the X-Men for long before leaving to try to live his own life, even after being kidnapped and forced to fight his former teammates.  It wasn’t until after the Mutant Massacre that Havok felt that he could no longer sit on the sidelines and joined the team officially.  He had control issues with his powers and his failure to live up to his potential frustrated teammates.

But after leaving the team, he was forced to reach that potential when he was put in charge of the government-based team X-Factor.  Though constantly second-guessing himself, he came through more often than not and found himself loved by his fellow teammates.  A horrid attempt to make him a villain didn’t particularly work and was eventually dropped and he was shunted off to an equally horrid alternate reality series Mutant X.  But finally, he got back and rejoined the X-Men.  After the death of his father Corsair at the hands of his previously unknown younger brother, Havok decided to take up the leadership of the Starjammers.  That’s one thing Havok has on his resume that Cyclops doesn’t – interstellar pirate.  Eat it, Cyke.

Only Oirishmen get to stand so dramatically.

#16: Banshee
X-Men, Generation X
It’s easy to forget that Banshee debuted as a strange looking villain during the 60′s, complete with pointed ears.  The relaunched 1975 X-Men redefined his character, making him a former member of Interpol and the NYPD before joining the X-Men.  He served as second-in-command to Cyclops, actually leading the team briefly in the leader’s absence.  Unfortunately, his newfound role came to a grinding halt when he was stripped of his powers, pulled from the team and shuffled off to Muir Island for several years.  Eventually, he came back to the X-Men, but largely served in a backup role.

Banshee really hit his stride when he became the headmaster of the relocated Professor Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters, serving alongside Emma Frost as the leader of Generation X.  His natural leadership style flowed forth, giving a father figure and guiding direction to the kids for 75 issues.  Unfortunately, his beloved Moira MacTaggert went and died on him, leading him briefly to alcoholism, then to create a paramilitary unit called X-Corps which went badly.  He redeemed himself by trying to save a plane full of people from being destroyed – an effort that cost him his life.  Banshee is remembered as one of the greatest members of the X-Men, despite his relatively short tenure as an official member of the team.

Check here for the entire list thus far!

On Friday, we’ll be looking at #11-15!

Top X-Men: 21-30

Cute. Evil. Russian. What's not to love?

#30: Magik
New Mutants
Life has not been kind to Illyana Rasputin.  Kidnapped by demons and left in Limbo for six years, Illyana went from an innocent child to a jaded part-demon girl with trust issues.  She became a valued member of the New Mutants while constantly dealing with her dark side, until finally she sacrificed herself to stop Inferno, restoring herself to childhood.  Then she died of the Legacy Virus.  She recently was brought back, albeit without her soul, and has become the most wicked member of the restored New Mutants, and a pure joy to keep up with.  Colossus still likes her, too.

She's a screamer.

#29: Siryn
X-Force, X-Factor
The daughter of Banshee, Siryn has come a long way since being the criminal accomplice to her uncle Black Tom Cassidy.  She stayed with her father on Muir Island for a while before joining up with X-Force and becoming a longtime, cherished member of the team.  She joined up with X-Factor Investigations despite her rather shady past with leader Jamie Madrox and eventually fell in love with him (after getting knocked up).  That kind of fell apart when Madrox absorbed the baby into himself, as it had pretty much been a baby dupe.  She’s kind of crazy now, but still an important part of the team and takes care of herself and her friends.

Imperius Mother F*cking Rex!

#28: Namor
X-Men
It was a surprise when Namor joined up with the X-Men upon abandoning Norman Osbourn’s team of “dark” X-Men, but it’s more of a surprise that the X-Men haven’t had more encounters with him.  Widely considered to be one of the first mutants ever, Namor has dealt with much of the same hatred and persecution that the X-Men have because he’s from Atlantis, and even has to serve as a king and think of his people first.  He’s made an excellent figure to the team, not least because he’s constantly butting heads with Cyclops over proper leadership and has the hots for Emma Frost.  I guess it’s something about taken blondes.

At least 20 times cooler than you.

#27: Mirage
New Mutants, X-Force
Find another example of a depowered mutant who has made as much of an impact of late as Dani Moonstar.  Go ahead and try.  Originally able to project inner thoughts, Mirage was co-leader of the New Mutants for most of its run, even becoming a Valkyrie in the process.  Eventually she left the team for Asgard, but eventually came back and began working undercover for SHIELD as a member of the Mutant Liberation Front.  She rejoined her friends in X-Force before returning to Xavier’s school as a teacher.  She led the New Mutants squad before being booted from the school for losing her powers.  But then she came back and managed to beat up Ares.  Yeah, THAT Ares.

See? She's supposed to be Chinese!

#26: Jubilee
X-Men, Generation X
Though pretty annoying at times, Jubilee was a breath of fresh air to the often stale doom and gloom of early 90′s X-Men.  After losing her mentor Wolverine for a while, she struck up an unlikely closeness with Professor X which benefitted both parties heavily before eventually leaving the team to join with kids her own age in Generation X.  There, she served as an unlikely veteran presence, while still being a jovial trickster of sorts, loved by her teammates.  She hasn’t done much since losing her powers (besides with the oft-forgotten New Warriors) but it looks like she’s about due to return.  Fans of the 90′s X-Men cartoon can start rejoicing.

Bad. Ass.

#25: Warpath
X-Force, X-Men
A virtual clone of his brother Thunderbird, Warpath originally joined up with Emma Frost’s Hellions in order to avenge his brother’s death.  Strangely enough, though, he went after Banshee and the X-Men rather than Count Nefaria, who actually killed him.  Warpath was recruited by Cable into X-Force and stayed with the team through its entire run.  At one point, he dropped his brother’s legacy and developed the power to fly, but since that was actually really stupid, it’s been ignored since.  He was recruited to the X-Men by Professor Xavier and has stuck with the team since.  Wolverine brought him into X-Force where he warmed up to killing, but eventually dropped it when he finally avenged the murder of his tribesmen.

Willing to kill you for your own good.

#24: Danger
X-Men
As a sentient being, Danger is relatively new, but being that she was the A.I. of the Danger Room, she’s been an important part of the X-Men’s lives for longer than half of the characters around today.  Through the use of advanced technology, she gained sentience but was quieted by Professor X who needed the Danger Room for his students.  She became free of the program by successfully killing a student, but failed to kill Xavier and the other X-Men before coming to terms with herself as well as them and joining the team.  She now runs the X-Men’s brig, holding numerous villains with great ease.  And she’s got a bitter wit too.

Continuity headache in human form.

#23: Marvel Girl (Rachel Summers)
X-Men, Excalibur
The daughter of Cyclops and Jean Grey from an alternate future, Rachel became inheritor of the Phoenix Force and returned to the present, only to find that the present wasn’t on path to make her future.  That drove her a little batty, and she was ended up leaving the team after Wolverine had to stop her from killing Selene by putting three claws into her chest.  Eventually she turned back up as a mainstay of Excalibur before getting launched into the future, founding the group that raised Cable, then dying, being found alive again, then returned to the present.  She joined back up with the X-Men for a while, but ended up staying with Havok and Polaris as a member of the Starjammers.  She no longer has the Phoenix, either.  So that’s a plus.

Not crazy. Just daddy issues.

#22: Polaris
X-Men, X-Factor
The daughter, then not daughter, then daughter again of Magneto, Polaris has had her head screwed with more times than anyone, yet still has made a fantastic member of the X-Men family.  Leaving the X-Men, she was forced to serve Eric the Red, then possessed by Malice and forced to join the Marauders, then given super strength for some reason, Polaris finally settled down and joined the government sponsored X-Factor, where she did quite well, despite some body issues.  Losing Havok made her join up with the Acolytes (though not whole-heartedly), but she returned to the X-Men after Genosha’s destruction.  She then lost her powers and was forced to become a Horseman of Apocalypse (restoring her powers) and eventually joined the Starjammers with her beloved.  And you think you’ve had it bad, Magik.

Hands off, ladies.

#21: Gambit
X-Men
The rajun cajun of the X-Men, Gambit was recruited by Storm and stuck with the team largely due to his infatuation with Rogue.  Unfortunately, he neglected to tell them about his past, in which he recruited the Marauders for Mr. Sinister to launch the Mutant Massacre.  Whoops.  Despite that tidbit, he did remain a valued member of the team, using his thievin’ abilities and charm to overcome the downfalls of his past.  Well, that is until he became the latest in the line of X-Men to become Apocalypse’s Horseman of Death, and then joined up with the Marauders again.  But really, it was all done for Rogue, so I guess that’s ok.  The Death thing is going to come back though.  That won’t be good.

Check here for the entire list thus far!

Now that we’re down to the top 20, we’ll be going five per day rather than ten starting on Wednesday.  Be back for #16-20!

Top X-Men 31-40

What she knows is how to be awesome.

#40: Layla Miller
X-Factor
It’s hard enough to be a forced deus ex machina for a summer cross over, but it’s even harder to try to redeem yourself as a viable character once said crossover has ended.  Layla Miller took the challenge and thouroughly decimated it.  With the simple description of “I know stuff”, Layla has very quickly become a cherished member of the X-Teams and brings delight to any story she appears in.  It doesn’t matter how or why Layla does the things she does - it’s just that she does them.  Hopefully this one will be sticking around for quite some time.

You're not worth being looked at, peon.

#39: Quicksilver
X-Factor
Starting out by being forced into the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants by his father (a fact he was not aware of at the time) and having to fight the X-Men, Quicksilver has not been a poster child of good decisions, but he really does mean well.  It’s just that he’s a complete jerk – but in fairness, you would be too if the rest of the world moved at a snail’s pace to you.  Avoiding the X-Teams for the better part of two decades, he finally joined up with the government-sponsored X-Factor for no particular reason.  He may be a little too close to his sister sometimes, but as long as Jeph Loeb doesn’t write him, nothing should really come of it.

Struck in the eye by lightning. Ouch.

#38: X-Man
(Astonishing) X-Men
For having the assumed title of ‘X-Man’, Nate Grey certainly hasn’t spent much time with the team.  One of 4 Age of Apocalypse survivors to make it out of the event, he was the only one who was worth any particular interest, and he managed to keep a solo book going longer than anyone could have anticipated.  It wasn’t until the end, when he became a mutant shaman, that he really became awesome.  But of course, once that happened, the book got axed.  Nate recently popped up in Dark X-Men and was quite awesome in it, sparking interest in the character once again.  He looks to be coming to the team in July – and it’s about time.

Before being ruined by bad writing.

#37: Wolfsbane
New Mutants, X-Factor, Excalibur, X-Force
Cute as a button, shy and Catholic to a fault, Wolfsbane served as the voice of logic and reason to the New Mutants, though she was often politely dismissed.  Being captured by Genoshans changed her both physically and mentally, putting her at odds between her new situation and her beliefs, but she still remained morally decent, especially by the time she joined up with Excalibur.  After spending some time as the voice of reason on X-Factor, she was shoehorned into X-Force and wasted for a few years, nearly ruining the character in the process.  She’s psychotically killed and is now pregnant with an Asgardian child.  Let’s see if anyone touches that.

Pulling off the mustache and headband since 1988.

#36: Forge
X-Men, X-Factor
Talk about a rough history: Forge first showed up by giving the government a mutant power neutralizer which stripped Storm of her powers for some time.  Then it turned out that he accidentally unleashed a demon that took the deaths of the X-Men to stop.  He then led Freedom Force on a mission that took the lives of two of its members, including Mystique’s beloved Destiny.  His stay with the X-Men was short-lived as he became disgusted with Storm’s lack of dedication to their relationship.  So why does Forge rank so high?  Because when he was on, he nailed it.  He rebuilt the X-Men Blackbird single-handedly and upgraded almost all of their tech.  He landed as leader of X-Factor and did a fine job in the position, before returning to support the X-Men.  Eventually, he went completely mad, but he was quickly killed off to do away with it.

Behold your god.

#35: Sage
X-Treme X-Men, Excalibur, Exiles
For someone who debuted as a John Byrne-drawn servant girl simply delivering Sebastian Shaw’s robe, Sage is the very definition of how over-retconning can make a character.  By the time Chris Claremont was done with her, Sage had become a part of Professor X’s origin story, a student dating back to the original X-Men, a spy for the X-Men in the Hellfire Club (who failed to tell them of the Dark Phoenix plot) and having a list of powers involving some kind of telepathy, a computer-like brain, and the power to manifest the abilities of latent and actual mutants alike.  Oh, and she inherited the powers of a god and eventually became one with a crystal palace.  I seriously doubt we’ll ever be seeing Sage again with the X-Men, but she was sort of cool while she lasted.

I feel like I've already made a gay joke...

#34: Karma
New Mutants, X-Men
Despite the longevity of the character, Karma at one point was seen as possibly the most uninteresting member of the New Mutants (Cypher notwithstanding), which is likely why that when she left the book as Chris Claremont stopped writing it, no one bothered to finish up her story (it was closed up in a Beast mini-series about a decade later).  She popped up in X-Force a couple of times sporting a buzzed pink hairdo and suddenly revealing herself to be a lesbian, yet still didn’t have much staying power.  Finally, she was restored (mostly) to her old self with some of the new stuff remaining to balance the character, and she’s once more become a staple of the New Mutants.  She’s actually gotten a lot cooler since working with the X-Men and letting herself go for once – of course, it may have something to do with the odd disappearance of her young siblings, but I really don’t mind.

Well aware of how badly you want her.

#33: M
Generation X, X-Factor
She’s super smart, super powerful, super beautiful and lord does she know it.  That simple premise gave us Monet St. Croix, the most uppity member of whatever team she’s ever been on.  She was given a horrific origin of having twin sisters merge and take her place, but every writer since have politely ignored that and just used her exactly as she was intended – good at everything and stuck up about it.  Like many characters of her type, Monet’s hard exterior hides her insecurities, and when they are brought forward – like when she was seduced by and slept with a Madrox duplicate – she usually responds in a violent manner.  But even then, she still catches the eye of pretty much every guy around her and she knows it – she’s a telepath.

Whatever he's yelling, it's hilarious.

#32: Strong Guy
X-Factor
Originally an oddly drawn bodyguard for “intergalactic rockstar” Lila Cheney, Guido was tossed into the supporting cast of X-Men for no particular reason, then picked up by X-Factor when the various side-characters were being divied out for a linewide relaunch.  It was there that he was allowed to shine, showing a wicked sense of humor, an actually tragic power set, and one of the most ridiculous (purposely so) codenames ever.  When his best friend Multiple Man was given his own series, it was a sure bet that Strong Guy would be back in the mix too, and he’s regained his spot as one of the best characters of any of the X-Teams…though he really can’t be used outside of a humor-based book.

Forte, mas não invulnerável.

#31: Sunspot
New Mutants, X-Force, X-Treme X-Men, Young X-Men
You have to give Sunspot one thing – he’s pretty much done it all.  A soccer star in Brazil, a longtime New Mutant, duped into joining an evil-doers group, a member of X-Force, a psychotic villain, a member of the Hellfire Club, leader of the Hellfire Club, and now back pretty much to where he started back with his New Mutant friends.  He may or may not have been the sinister Reignfire (lord knows I can’t figure out that god forsaken story), but if he was it can probably be assumed that it came from hearing ‘You’re strong but not invulnerable’ every day of his life.  At one time he could fly and shoot energy blasts, but we won’t even bother asking what happened to that.  Just take him as the charming cassanova of his team (or so he thinks) and you’ll be fine.

Check here for the entire list thus far!

Check back on Friday for numbers 21-30!

Top 100 X-Men: 71-80

Creepy.

80. Blindfold
Young X-Men
She’s blind, she’s enigmatic and she speaks in riddles, but when Blindfold speaks everyone needs to listen up.  Correctly predicting the loss of Kitty Pryde in the Breakworld, the attack on the mansion during Messiah CompleX and the death of Wolfcub at the hands of Donald Pierce, Blindfold is a pretty accurate view to the future…if anyone can deduce just what message she’s trying to convey.  She took something of a more active role on the Young X-Men before relegating back to a support role, but she remains an important figure amongst the mutants on Utopia island.

I dare you to say "bucket head" to his face.

79. Juggernaut
X-Men, Excalibur
So sure, Juggernaut did join the X-Men with the thought of betraying them to Exodus’s Brotherhood, but thanks to the kindness of a kid with the  face of a fish, he decided to betray his villainous allies and join the X-Men proper.  The downside?  He didn’t turn quickly enough to keep Black Tom Cassidy from snapping Squidboy into little fish bits.  And then Juggernaut let his hatred for his stepbrother get the best of him and returned to his misdeeds.  But during his time with the X-Men, he was the shining example of longtime villain redemption.

Far more gross than cool.

78. Maggott
X-Men
Probably one of the least interesting X-Men, Maggott originally came upon the team due to a debt to Magneto, but had so much fun, he decided to stick around.  Of all the X-Men, he had one of the grossest powers ever – his digestive system, in the form of two slugs, lived outside of his body until feeding, in which they burrowed back in – but he did make an interesting addition to the forgotten era of the team (post-Operation: Zero Tolerance).  He was apparently supposed to head over to Generation X after leaving the team, but he never made it.  Instead, he showed up in the mutant death camps in Weapon X and was killed off.

An emo kid's wet dream.

77. Icarus
New X-Men (Hellions and New Mutants squads)
One of the countless mutants amongst the Guthrie family, Jay was sent to the Institute and was not particularly happy about it, especially when he got lumped in with the Hellions.  He eventually traded over to the New Mutants, and largely served as the peace keeper of the group.  He was also hyper-charged, with three separate mutant powers (hypnotic singing voice, wings, healing factor), the latter two added in to make a bad story even worse (She Lies with Angels).  His belief in God caused his downfall when M-Day led him to William Stryker thinking that he could save his friends.  Stryker cut his wings off, then shot him in the head.

Psychopathic tendencies not shown.

76. Wallflower
New X-Men (New Mutants squad)
Word to the wise: don’t piss of a girl who can control your emotions.  Such was the lesson of Wallflower who finally broke out of her shell only to get her heart trampled on by Elixir while pssing off Prodigy and breaking the heart of Wither (which led to him becoming a murderous psychopath).  We were told several times that she had the potential to become a ravenous lunatic and even met her seemingly evil father, but unfortunately her potential was ended with a sniper bullet to the head, care of William Stryker.

The waste of her character blows.

75. Wind Dancer
New X-Men (New Mutants squad)
Speaking of lost potential, what ever happened to Wind Dancer?  She was the central figure in the relaunched New Mutants (which later became New X-Men) and was co-squad leader of the New Mutants squad.  She was cheerful and naive, but serious when she had to be  and did more interesting things with her wind abilities than Storm had in years.  But with M-Day, she lost her powers and left the book with barely a whimper, ending her romance with Hellion (who rebounded with X-23).  She appeared in the post-Civil War New Warriors but was written so out of character, it was difficult to recognize her.

Insert "rainbow powers" joke here.

74. Synch
Generation X
Forced into the X-Men family by being targeted by the Phalanx, Synch took to the role whole heartedly, becoming the heart of the new team of Generation X.  He was the one that almost all of the team leaned on, from Skin to M, and even had flirtations with both Jubilee and M.  Not so well-defined, however, were his his powers which included a rainbow-colored field that could synch up with other’s abilities…though no one really bothered to tell how.  Was he like the Mimic?  Something else?  Who knows?  Synch was the first of the Generation X kids to die when he sacrificed himself to save some anti-mutant kids from a bomb set by Emma Frost’s sister…and there was no better way for him to go out.

Not yet pretty enough for the X-Men.

73. Marrow
X-Men
Remember that redemption role that Juggernaut had going for a while?  Marrow totally did it better.  Originally the mass-murdering leader of the Morlock off-shoot Gene Nation, someone on the X-Men thought it would be a good idea to have her join the team.  After all, she stopped being ugly, so why not?  And I mean that literally – without explanation, writers/artists reintroduced the formerly killed off Marrow with a far different look from earlier appearances, proving that you just can’t have ugly people amongst your cast.  She left the X-Men without anyone bothering to tell how/why, and eventually became a villain (and ugly) again before becoming something of a de-powered anti-hero after M-Day.  Quite possibly the biggest waste of a character in X-Men lore, after the amount of time spent developing her character.

Seriously, he's gay. Gay, gay, gay.

72. Northstar
X-Men, Alpha Flight
You probably already know this, but Northstar is gay.  In case you had forgotten, pretty much every story he’s in will remind you at least once.  It’s actually a rather unimportant part of his character, far less than his moodiness, his superiority complex or his strange closeness with his sister, but writers are always hung up on it.  He made a good fit with the X-Men when invited until Wolverine kind of killed him…but he got better.  He’s back on the team filling the speedster role, and is as jerkish as ever before…no pun intended.

And this is the "young" version.

71. Joseph
X-Men
Originally intended to bring back the brain dead Magneto, somewhere along the line someone decided they didn’t want him redeemed with the X-Men, so they sent in the clones.  But to Joseph’s benefit, most of his early appearances were written as if he truly was Magneto, so he actually came off as quite important, forming a love triangle with Rogue (to Gambit’s chagrin) and serving in the battle and aftermath of Onslaught.  Unfortunately, once it was decided that the real Magneto would be coming back, Joseph slipped off the radar and eventually had his cloney origin told just before being killed off.

Check here for the entire list thus far!

Check back on Friday for numbers 61-70!

Top 100 X-Men Characters: 91-100

Surfer with surfing powers. Convenient!

#100: Slipstream
X-Treme X-Men 
Davis Cameron was determined to save his kidnapped sister (Lifeguard) so he had Sage jumpstart his latent mutant abilities and became a surfer who just happened to have surfing-based teleportation powers.  Convenient.  Slipstream only served as an X-Man for a single storyline and promptly left the team when he learned that his sister had transformed due to her Shi’ar heritage.  His reasoning?  His sister had been beautiful and now she was a freak.  Not exactly the type of attitude that will get you very far on a team like the X-Men.  Since his departure he has not reappeared, though it seems that he lost his powers on M-Day, so it seems that we will never be forced to see him again.  Which is a good thing.

Just like Wolfsbane, but a cat!

#99: Feral
X-Force, X-Corporation
Sure, Feral was a founding member of X-Force, but really she only joined because she wanted protection from the rather insane Morlocks who wanted her back for no particular reason.  She accomplished two major feats on the team – gutting Cannonball during a training exercise and defecting to the Mutant Liberation Front.  You can understand why she didn’t rank higher on this list.  She showed back up inexplicably as a member of the X-Corporation along with her sister Thornn (whom she hated) and all seemed to be forgiven.  That is, until she got depowered and killed during a god-awful Jeph Loeb Wolverine run.  But that’s a story for another day.

Being a mutant whore makes me so EMOtional.

#98: Stacy X
X-Men, New Warriors
Nothing screams X-Man quite like ‘mutant prostitute with scales’.  Stacy X didn’t get much spotlight outside of hitting on Archangel, telling off Husk and getting naked for Nightcrawler.  Oh, what could have been.  She actually had a useful set of powers (pheromone control) and would have had a fitting name with X-Stacy had editorial not screwed it up.  She was gone as soon as the writer who created her left.  After being depowered, she showed up in the post-Civil War New Warriors and was killed off.  She didn’t even pop back up in Necrosha.  Crying shame.

I got nothing.

#97: Tag
New X-Men (Hellions Squad)
One of the most obscure powers ever, Brian Cruz could leave a psychic imprint on people, making them ‘It’ and having everyone run away from them.  Seriously.  He was the weak link in an otherwise awesome squad of Hellions, and was the only member of the squad de-powered…and then blown up real good by a missile in the post-M-Day blood bath of New X-Men.  We miss him.

Dude, nice shades.

#96: Mimic
X-Men, Dark X-Men
True, Mimic was the first new member of the X-Men, but he really only did it because he wanted their powers.  He died a heroic death helping Beast, except that he later turned up alive and helped Onslaught for a while.  Mimic is the definition of a damaged character, which is actually part of his character now as a member of the ‘Dark’ X-Men.  No explanation was given as to why he still has the original X-Men’s powers.

This kid will f'ing kill you.

#95: Wither
New X-Men (New Mutants, Hellions Squads)
No one has gotten quite the raw deal that Wither got during his time at the Xavier Institute.  With his death touch, he got yelled at by Dani Moonstar and ran away, then was recruited to come back only to be alienated from his friends and eventually run off by Emma Frost for carelessly harming Wallflower.  His path to redemption got sidetracked when he was seduced by Selene and became one of her top agents.  He killed Onyxx and then got himself killed by Elixir.  And that’s that.

Big. Glowing. X.

#94: Jesse Bedlam
X-Force
Jesse Aaronson was a character created for the Age of Apocalypse, so it was only a matter of time before he was brought into the real world.  He showed up with X-Force when they moved to California and hung around because he had nowhere else to go, but eventually got into their way of thinking and stuck around until the end of the series.  He reappeared to get killed off in an issue of Uncanny X-Men, so no huge loss there.  He was a cool character while he lasted.

Easter hat.

#93: Changeling
X-Men
Sure, Changeling only had one storyline appearance as a villain and then killed off to retcon the death of Professor X, but if you ignore that, he goes down as the first X-Man to die in battle.  Sure, if this was Morph – the character that this one ended up being in an alternate universe – he would have ranked a lot higher, but Changeling sort of holds a treasured spot in X-Men mythos…except not at all, really.  How he used telepathy while disguised as Professor X is something we had all better just not think about.

That's hot. Get it?

#92: Sunfire
X-Men, X-Corporation
Originally debuting as a one-issue villain, Sunfire was recruited on the second team of X-Men but only lasted an issue and three pages, quitting twice in that span.  He has since popped back up as a supporting cast member, turning the douchebag factor down as he went before getting his legs chopped off and handing his powers over to Rogue before not-really dying and going all evil with Apocalypse.  But so did Gambit, who ranks high, so I suppose I can’t count that against him in all fairness.

Buffalo!

#91: Thunderbird (John Proudstar)
X-Men
Thunderbird has actually been a long lasting legacy character despite only making it three issues before being killed off, mainly thanks to the fact that the character of Warpath is basically a clone of him.  Thunderbird’s story of proving himself through sacrifice doesn’t really work since his death was completely pointless…and the point was yelled to him while he was doing it.  He is still fondly remembered by the X-Men, despite being a hot-headed jerk in his three live appearances with the team.

Check back on Friday for #81-90!