X-Men (Team)

No place to hide, no place to run! The mutant age has now begun! And in this dark and dangerous era of mutants, there is only one group that you can dare to trust. And that is...

And this is their page with everyone who has ever been an X-Men in their respective universe.

X-Men

Official Name

The X-Men

Nicknames / Aliases

The Uncanny X-Men, Children of the Atom

Motto

"To Me, My X-Men!"

General Data

Type

Superhero Team

Main Purpose

To defend and uphold the civil rights of all mutants and from the bigotry of anti-mutant racists; to serve as a bridge and example between mutants and humanity's ability to coexist with one another; to protect humanity from the abuse of mutants

Core Membership

Professor X, Cyclops, Jean Grey, Beast, Storm, Wolverine, Iceman, Kitty Pryde, Nightcrawler, Colossus, Rogue, Jubilee

Base of Operations

Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters

Paraphernalia

The Blackbird, Cerebro

Franchises / Series

Marvel Franchise / X-Men Franchise

Associations

Major Affiliations / Subgroups

Xavier's Gifted Youngsters;

New Mutants;

X-Force

Allies / Associates

Spider-Man;

Amazing Friends;

Avengers;

Fantastic Four

Major Enemies

Magneto, the Brotherhood of Mutants, the Hellfire Club, the Sentinels, Apocalypse, the Horsemen of Apocalypse, Mr. Sinister, the Marauders, the Juggernaut

Overview[]

The X-Men are a fictional team of superheroes who are fiercely dedicated to the ideals of peace and equality between both humans and mutants from a world that both hates and fears them!

One of Marvel Comics' premiere superhero teams and most popular media franchises; the X-Men have been one of the most successful and recognizable groups under their numerous publications and varied spin-off series. They have also been frequently adapted in multiple incarnations in numerous television and film series over the decades of their existence.

Background[]

Uncanny-xmen comic-cover-1-1963 — *The X-Men Vol.1 #1 (Sep. 1963)*

The X-Men are a major and incredibly popular comic book superhero team that are published by Marvel Comics. They first debuting in X-Men #1, published in September of 1963 which coincidentally was in the same month and year as their rival flagship team, the Avengers.

The Uncanny X-Men were co-created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby; the well known and incredibly prolific and formidable writer/artist team collaborated and co-created many other Marvel heroes such as the Fantastic Four; Iron Man; the Incredible Hulk; the Black Panther; and the Mighty Thor among numerous others. Reputedly, Lee felt that "I couldn't have everybody bitten by a radioactive spider or exposed to a gamma ray explosion," and took the lazy way out, "... they're mutants. They're born that way."

Kirby came up with the concept that with such a mundane origin meant that literally anyone could be a mutant and that they would need to be taught to control their abilities. This resulted in the need for a teacher and a school-like atmosphere. Their proposed name of "The Mutants" was quickly shoot down by their editor who protested that "no one would know what a mutant was" and instead, they were labeled "The X-Men" after "mutants being simply human beings with an eX-tra power".

The original X-Men were a group of young teenagers consisting of Cyclops; Marvel Girl; Iceman; the Beast; and the Angel. They were all boarding students at a very exclusive institute run by Professor Charles Xavier who was a mutant himself and a powerful telepath who was paralyzed from the waist down. Xavier helped his students master their abilities and began sending the eclectic group on missions akin to school field trips while grading them for their performance.

While originally following the standard superhero genre, the X-Men quickly became embroiled with the controversial concepts of racism and minority subculture; with one of the most popular and long-time X-Men scribes on the late 70s to early 90s; Chris Claremont admitting that he paralleled Professor Charles Xaxier after real life civil rights minority champion Martin Luther King, Jr. and his enemy, Magneto after King's rival and more militant counterpart, Malcolm X.

Originally lagging behind their more conventional and popular comic book counterparts such as the Avengers and Spider-Man to the point where the series was simply reprinted previous stories from 1970 to 1975―the X-Men underwent a massive shift in 1975 with a new set of writers who revived the team with an older and much more diverse core membership from other countries including Germany, Russia, Canada, Africa, and Ireland consisting of Nightcrawler; Colossus; Wolverine; Storm; and Banshee who would all go on to serve extensive tours of membership with the team over the ensuing decades.

Xmen-characters jim-lee-poster e11eb47 — *The Ever Mutating X-People of the X-Men*!

The X-Men's membership has composed almost exclusively of mutants; a subspecies of humanity who are born with an "x-gene" that causes them to develop superhuman powers and abilities, the X-Men believe that understanding and tolerance must be worked towards in lessening the racial divide between them.

To that ends; they have used their powers to defending the civil rights of mutants everywhere from extreme anti-mutant bigotry from normal humans who hate and fear them for their gifts and have often found themselves opposing such government sponsored forces such as the Sentinels; anti-mutant robots and Project Wideawake; spearheaded by Henry Gyrich and anti-mutant bigots and hate groups such as the Right and the Friends of Humanity who have attempted ethnic cleansing and genocidal pogroms against mutants.

On the reverse, they have also stood to shield and protect humans from common and petty mutant criminals such as the Vanisher who seek to abuse their gifts to more extremists who believe in their "superiority" over normal humans including mutant supremacists such as Magneto and his terrorist cabals of the Brotherhood of Mutants and the Acolytes; to the mad geneticist Mr. Sinister; and even the ancient mutant overlord known as Apocalypse.

They have also mutated into a number of splinter groups including the New Mutants; X-Force; X-Factor; Excalibur; the Fallen Angels; the X-Terminators; Generation X; and the X-Treme Sanctions Executive (XSE) over the ensuing years.

They have also faced such mundane problems as struggling to create normal lives living among normal humans as well as confronting other cataclysmic genocidal and extinction-level events ranging from the Legacy Virus; a deadly genetically created plague that infected only mutants and would slowly kill them; and the "Decimation" when the Scarlet Witch driven insane by her mutant powers deliberately removed the powers of over 90% of all mutants on the face of the planet.

The X-Men have also had a friendly rivalry with the Avengers superhero organization as well; the Avengers being more mainstream and accepted by the general public while the X-Men have remained more reclusive and inclusive being primarily consisting of mutants. Despite this, a number of longtime X-Men such as the Beast, Wolverine, Havok, Rogue, and Cannonball have also served extensive tours of membership with the Avengers as well―solidifying the ties between the two groups despite them occasionally clashing on certain issues.

Because of their continuing struggles for acceptance and the controversial racial divide between mutants and humans, the X-Men have over the decades; emerged as one of the most popular, recognizable, and successful comic titles of Marvel Comics with the fierce antihero character of the Wolverine aka Logan becoming one of the most popular and fan favorite of the X-Men characters as well, becoming one of their mascot and representative to the world at large.

They have frequently appeared in both cameos and major supporting roles in various Marvel Comics cartoons, animated films, and live action feature films as one of the most prominent hero teams of the Marvel-verse.