40 Greatest X-Men Characters

Rogue

The X-Man: A shy young teen from Mississippi, Marie D'Ancanto is whisked off to the X-Mansion when she and Wolverine are attacked. She soon becomes an integral part of the X-Men.

Why They're Super: Not unlike Leech, Rogue can absorb other mutants' powers by touching their skin - but the process has the ability to kill her subject.

Are They Cooler In The Comics? Rogue's portrayed as a trouble teen in the movies, but the comics portray her as a serious badass with a close relationship with Mystique.

Angel Salvadore

The X-Man: We first meet angel in 1962, in X-Men: First Class . She's working as a stripper, but it's not long before she's recruited by Charles Xavier to join his band of mutants.

Why They're Super: Angel's natty back tattoos are actually her folded-up wings - yup, Angel can fly. As if that wasn't enough, she can also spit flaming acid.

Are They Cooler In The Comics? She gets more romance in the comics (hello, Beak) and eventually has a super-powered pregnancy, but she's still pretty cool in FC, not least when she's fighting an airborne Havok.

The X-Man: A young mutant with purple hair and bright green eyes, Blink appears in X-Men: Days Of Future Past, fighting against evil Sentinels.

Why They're Super:
Blink has the ability to open portals, through which people can jump to different locations.

Frankly, it's a power we wish we had every day - it'd definitely save time on the commute home from the office.

Are They Cooler In The Comics?
From what we see of her in DOFP (don't worry, no spoilers), she's awesome.

Bishop

The X-Man: Though his outfit (red cape etc) sort of makes him look like Thor, Bishop is a mutant, not a god, who fights terrifying Sentinels in X-Men: Days Of Future Past.

Why They're Super: Like a battery, Bishop can absorb any energy that's used against him - and he can then utilise that energy as an explosive weapon.

Are They Cooler In The Comics? He's a massive player in the comics, but he's very cool in DOFP , so here's hoping he sticks around for future big screen adventures.

Warpath

The X-Man: Another future mutant who appears in X-Men: Days Of Future Past , Warpath fights off deadly Sentinels alongside Blink, Bishop and Storm.

Why They're Super: On top of rocking some seriously cool eye shadow, Warpath boasts superhuman strength and super-speed, making him a formidable fighter.

Are They Cooler In The Comics? Warpath has a long, esteemed history in the comics.

Sadly his story comes secondary to the main plot of DOFP , but he's so cool (especially as played by Booboo Stewart) that we're hopeful he'll turn up in future X-flicks.

Azazel

The X-Man: Sort of resembling the Devil himself, Azazel is a Hellfire Club member who works for Sebastian Shaw. When Magneto enters frame, he soon becomes a part of the Brotherhood of Mutants.

Why They're Super: Like Nightcrawler (who, in the comics, is his son), Azazel has the ability to teleport - which he does in a pleasingly-spooky puff of red and black smoke.

Are They Cooler In The Comics? We get way more backstory in the comics, but that doesn't mean Azazel isn't one of the cooler, more memorable mutants in X-Men: First Class.

Bolivar Trask

The X-Man: Not a mutant, but a scientist on a mission. Concerned about the emergence of mutants in the 1970s, Trask (Peter Dinklage) starts experimenting on them in the hope of finding a way to destroy all mutants.

Why They're Super: Trask is responsible for creating the Sentinels, massive robot assassins that can spot a mutant in a crowd and destroy him or her.

Are They Cooler In The Comics?
Cooler than a character played by Peter Dinklage? Hardly.

Jason 143

The X-Man: The son of William Stryker, Jason 143 enrols at Xavier's School For Gifted Mutants, but when he's encouraged to embrace his mutant powers rather than suppress them, his father takes him away and turns him into a science experiment.

Why They're Super: Jason is also known as Mastermind, and for good reason - he can get inside peoples' heads and make them see anything he desires.

As a youngster, he was so good at it that his tormenting led to his mother killing herself.

Are They Cooler In The Comics?
In the comics, he's one of the coolest villains ever created, but he's still pretty formidable in X2 , not least when he's manipulating Charles in the form of a little girl…

Sabretooth

The X-Man: Variously played by Liev Schreiber and Tyler Mane, Sabretooth (aka Victor Creed) is Wolverine's half-brother, an animalistic mutant who enjoys fighting a bit too much.

Why They're Super: Like Wolverine, Sabretooth can self-heal at super-speed, and his animalistic abilities give him super-strength, speed and endurance.

Basically, he's like a human version of a wolf.

Are They Cooler In The Comics?
Schreiber was fantastic as Sabretooth in X-Men: Origins - Wolverine , but it's fair to say we still haven't seen anywhere near enough of Sabretooth's comic-book storylines in the movies.

Havok

The X-Man: Discovered in 1962 by Charles Xavier and Erik Lehnsherr, Havok (aka Alexander Summers) joins the X-Men, where a special suit helps him to quite literally harness his destructive abilities.

Why They're Super: Havok has the power to create plasma blasts that can destroy just about any substance. And what they don't destroy, they engulf in flame.

Are They Cooler In The Comics? Havok's cool on-screen, but we have a feeling there's even more coolness to come, especially with Fox planning an X-Factor movie, following the super-group that Havok becomes a part of in the comics…

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.