40 Greatest X-Men Characters

Spike

The X-Man: A member of Magneto's Brotherhood of Mutants in X-Men: The Last Stand, Spike's a bulky Omega (sewer-dwelling mutants) who likes to wear beanies and armless jackets.

Why They're Super: The reason for the armless jackets? He has the ability to produce lethal spikes, which emerge from his forearms.

Are They Cooler In The Comics?
Sadly, Spike barely gets a single line in the film, so we barely get to know him.

In the comics, he's a member of X-Statix, so maybe a spin-off down the line, eh?

Jubilee

The X-Man: Most recognisable in the comics thanks to her yellow trenchcoat, Jubilee makes cameo appearances in all three films in the original X trilogy - though notably sans trenchcoat.

Why They're Super: Jubilee can create energy plasmoids, which can be used to, basically, blow stuff up.

Are They Cooler In The Comics? Jubilee's not exactly a big player in the films, which means we've seen her do way cooler things in the comics.

Darwin

The X-Man: A young mutant who's recruited by Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) in X-Men: First Class to become part of his new mutant power-group.

Why They're Super: As the name suggests, Darwin can adapt his genetic make-up to suit any condition - if submerged in water, he grows gills; if he's being attacked, he can turn his skin into impenetrable armour.

Are They Cooler In The Comics? Darwin was more of a secondary player in the film, but what we saw of him was pretty amazing.

That said, in the comics Darwin DOES get to fight Hulk. Which is pretty flippin' cool.

Madrox

The X-Man: Also known as Multiple Man, Madrox is a member of Magneto's Brotherhood in X-Men: The Last Stand. Before that, he's an infamously difficult-to-catch bank robber.

Why They're Super:
Why's he so difficult to catch? Well, Mad can duplicate himself - which is to say, he can create numerous clones of himself. Nifty.

Are They Cooler In The Comics?
He's a cheeky chappy in TLS , and his powers are undeniably cool, but he definitely had more room to breathe in the comics.

In particular, his Legacy Virus storyline gives him great stuff to work with - not least when he's forced to kill Mellencamp by creating a dupe inside him.

Arclight

The X-Man: A funky-looking Omega, Arclight (aka Philippa Sontag) joins Magneto's Brotherhood alongside Callisto and numerous other Omegas in X-Men: TLS.

Why They're Super:
Arclight's a prime fighter thanks to her ability to create shock waves by clapping her hands together.

Are They Cooler In The Comics?
Arclight is badass both in the movie and in the comics, though naturally the comics had more time to develop her character.

Riptide

The X-Man: Janos Quested is a member of the Hellfire Club in 1962, working with Sebastian Shaw in his fight to make mutants the supreme race over humans.

Why They're Super: As well as looking pretty dapper in a tux, Riptide can create tornadoes - whether that's small, room-sized ones or tornadoes big enough to engulf a warship.

Are They Cooler In The Comics?
Not really - in the comics, he has his neck snapped by Colossus…

Plus, what's cooler than a mutant in a tux?

Leech

The X-Man: Known only as Jimmy and Leech, this mutant is kept under lock and key at Worthington Labs, where his powers could provide a 'cure' for mutants.

Why They're Super:
True to his name, Leech is able to drain a mutant's powers simply by touching him or her, rendering them as powerless as a human.

Are They Cooler In The Comics?
He's definitely, er different. His first appearance in the comics is as a Morlock - a massively deformed, sewer-dwelling mutant.

Angel

The X-Man: Warren Worthington III is the son of a wealthy industrialist who's horrified to discover that his son is actually a mutant.

Why They're Super: Warren's mutant name pretty much sums it up - he has huge, white wings growing out of his back, giving him the appearance of an Earth-bound angel.

Are They Cooler In The Comics? He's considerably more badass in the comics when he transforms into Archangel, a far less cuddly version of Angel.

Callisto

The X-Man: This X-Woman is another of the Omegas who allies herself with Magneto and his Brotherhood in X-Men: The Last Stand . She's higher-ranking than her brethren, possibly because she has serious 'tude.

Why They're Super: Like Quicksilver (keep reading), Callisto has the power of super-speed, which means she's almost impossible to catch. That is, unless she gets stuck in bad weather…

Are They Cooler In The Comics?
She definitely gets to do a lot more fighting in the comics - and she even becomes an X-Men ally.

Banshee

The X-Man: Banish all preconceptions of what a banshee is - this young chap, born Sean Cassidy, is a mutant who's brought into the X-Men fold by Charles Xavier and Erik Lehnsherr in 1962.

Why They're Super: The banshees of myth emit torturous cries, which is sort of Banshee's MO - he can produce sonic sound waves which, among other things, give him the ability to fly.

Are They Cooler In The Comics? He definitely gets more of a look-in in the comics - though Banshee forms a part of the X-Men in First Class , he's not in DOFP

Josh Winning has worn a lot of hats over the years. Contributing Editor at Total Film, writer for SFX, and senior film writer at the Radio Times. Josh has also penned a novel about mysteries and monsters, is the co-host of a movie podcast, and has a library of pretty phenomenal stories from visiting some of the biggest TV and film sets in the world. He would also like you to know that he "lives for cat videos..." Don't we all, Josh. Don't we all.