It should be pointed out that four of these (Charles, Logan, Ororo, and Hank) are considered instructors, not true X-men for some strange reason. However, to get an even 10 (hello multiples of 10) , I added those four onto the main teenage six.
I am not responsible for any spoilers you may run into while reading this article. Read with caution. Enter at your own risk.
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#10 - Charles Xavier (Professor X)
Probably not that big of a surprise that Charles is the last on this list, but really, what did he do? He used Cerebro to find mutants, flew the Blackbird a few times, nearly got killed all the time, and lied to his students. Oh, and he helped stop the Juggernaut's escape once.
I understand his intentions, which are usually for the best, but still. He's a bit of an annoying character in that his only real roles are as instructor and father/brother figure. Even though the X-men are his, he kinda sucks being one himself, and not just because of his paralysis.
#9 - Ororo Munroe (Storm)
I love how she retained her maternal role for the students and her relationship with Evan especially. I wish she would have had a bigger role than the one she had, but it could have been much worse. However, she was still used sparingly and when she was used it was usually as a mother to the other children rather than a badass Woman of X like in X-men : The Animated Series. I would have liked to have seen more of her in action, more powers to, and that is why she is at #9.
#8 - Evan Daniels (Spyke)
I believe the addition of a new character was a bold move and it seemed to pay off, at least a bit. Evan provided for a touch of humor and immaturity, seeming to be the annoying little brother to the X-men, which would make sense with his aunt being the mother figure for them. Perhaps the most important use of his character was when Evan left the X-men and join the Morlocks, acting as a sort of liaison between the two teams and providing adequate emotional support for him. It allowed the Morlocks an introduction which didn't seem villainous, but rather victimized.
Along with his immaturity, he didn't just annoy the X-men but also myself, at least some of the time. He reminded me of my little sister to be honest, with his actions irritating to others without either realizing it or caring. That led to a certain amount of dislike, but in the last season, he matured due to his exclusion from society and that pain was eased.
#7 - Henry McCoy (Beast)
This version of the Beast was more likable to me that than the others, as I have never been a huge fan of him. This one was a bit less intellectual, but more witty, which made him seem more...down to earth? I'm not sure of the right phrasing, but that was the closest I could think to describe it. Despite my lack of vocabulary, he seemed almost like that teacher we all wished to have in high school.
Still, I somehow always perceive Beast as a boring character, no matter how much of an awesome teacher he turned out to be. I'm not sure if it's a purely personal problem or if he really is sort of boring, but until I either receive some medication or they make him more interesting (whatever solution is needed), he will stay lower on my list.
#6 - Katherine "Kitty" Pryde (Shadowcat)
Now, I love Kitty, I really do. She's the more peppy, optimistic girl in the group who tries to keep everyone's spirits up, but where I run into problems with characters like this is their amount and show of peppiness. I am by nature a realist, so peppiness can get on my nerves faster than Pietro running from his sister. However, in characters it doesn't usually bother me as much as in real life, so I was able to deal with it and love the character nonetheless.
She was also an interesting character to watch on screen, being the little sister no one expects to hurt anything. Also, I absolutely adore the relationship between Logan and Kitty and how they used that to not only further both characters, but to add some humor to the story at times. In the episode "Mindbender", Logan even points out how he could never hurt her. Also, as much as I have grown to dislike the relationship between Lance and Kitty, it did add another dimension to both of their characters and added some interesting turns in the story.
#5 - Rogue
Despite how most of the X-men : Evolution fandom looks at her, I actually loved the goth part of her character. To me, it seemed in Evo they took parts of what made each character who they were in every form of media and intensified it. One of the biggest parts of what made Rogue who she is, was her complete inability to touch and her angst and sadness behind that. I feel her being transformed into a rebellious, gothic teenager really showcased that without having to emphasize it.
Also, I adore how she wasn't just automatically a Woman of X and that her trust had to be earned. The love triangle between her, Scott, and Jean not only was new, but allowed for a different one than the overused Wolvie, Cyke, Jeannie. Her relationship with Kurt and Kitty is, well, pretty adorable, and shows the sibling attitudes in the family of X. The inclusion of her relation to Mystique and Kurt was interesting to see in this new universe and gave another boost to her character.
All in all, I loved Rogue in this series. It may not be my absolute favorite portrayal of Rogue, but I still loved it.
#4 - Kurt Wagner (Nightcrawler)
Do chicks really dig the fuzzy dude? Well, this one does!
Kurt was the little brother I had always wanted. He was funny, caring, and pretty stinking cute! He seems to be an optimist, not quite up to par with Kitty, but in his own unique way of trying to ease the tension. Probably my favorite laughable Kurt moment was in episode "Mutant Crush" when he sticks his tongue out at Rogue when she compares him to an 'annoying little brother'. It's a small thing, but I laugh for a good five minutes and them played it over about fifteen times before I could move on.
Also, I love his worry over people seeing him for what he really is rather than his image induced self. This side of him really isn't exploited until Season 3, specifically episode "Mainstream", but when it is, it's beautiful. His reluctance to stand by his friends and be excluded shows precisely a human struggle which is often portrayed in solely teenagers. Do I stick by my friends and be ostracized for it, or do I act like I hate them to and lose the only real friends I had?
Just like with his "sister", Kurt's relationship with Mystique added so much more to his character. His...loyalty and love for a mom who essentially hated him is astounding, but what was more beautiful was when he and Rogue told her off as a team in the last episode. Talk about closure.
#3 - Logan (Wolverine)
ANYONE who meets me knows right off the bat that I am not a huge fan of Wolvie, however, this series proved to be so different from the X-men I was used to, I actually liked Wolverine. In fact, I didn't just like this version of Wolverine, I loved this version! He's got much more of an obvious caring nature toward the children, but is still every bit as badass as Logan should be.
That caring nature for the kids is what really did it for me. He's like an overprotective uncle or extremely close family friend. To some of them, he may even pass as a father figure. It may not be a new side to Logan, but it was certainly exploited in a new way. Wolverine giving driving lessons? Will he be ironing and making birthday cakes next?
Like I said earlier, his relationship with Kitty is just too cute, but it's not just Kitty he seems to have that with. He and Rogue seem to be close and care for each other, he seems to be close to Jean and took her with him to the monster truck rally to find Fred, obviously tries to be nice to X23, and seems to be friendly (but stern) with Scott, Kurt, and Bobby.
#2 - Scott Summers (Cyclops)
I know, I know, I can hear the groaning from here. Many people are not fans of Cyclops in the slightest, nor do they see why anyone else could be a fan.
Now, once again, if you've ever talked X with me, you know that I love Cyke from the start of things, but the main reason he is pushed so far on this list is because of the severe injustice he is given in most (all?) X-men cartoons. However, of all the series, I feel that this one didn't try to push anyone into the spotlight and make them the likeable characters (*cough, cough* Wolverine *cough, cough).
Given that, an actual character was able to develop and it was actually interesting to watch. This Scott made a good leader, but still made the young mistakes one would and should expect from a teenager. Seeing him be a teen was also interesting and sort of allowed for the audience to see that he may be the up and coming field leader for the X-men, but he is still a teen guy.
Am I the only one who enjoyed his rivalry with Duncan? It may just be because I enjoyed seeing Duncan get knocked down in the first episode and I enjoy a normal love triangle, but it gave another boost to the whole normal teen guy perspective.
I cannot express how much I love that they showed the sibling relationship between Alex and Scott! Family always seemed like a huge factor in the X-verse, and Scott seems to play a brother to nearly everyone, not just his own : Kurt, Kitty, Rogue (because he doesn't know about the crush), Evan, Bobby, Amara, the list goes on.
Oh, how I wish we could have seen the future X-men.
#1 - Jean Grey
*sigh* If there were groans for Scott, I'm pretty sure that banging I hear is all of the Jean=Bitch people headdesking. However, I am not one of those people. In fact, I am a hardcore Jean fan.
That being said, part of the reason she is #1 is the same as Scott. Does Marvel secretly hate them or something? They are hardly ever portrayed nicely. However, Scott has an advantage over Jean. People can deal with characters who act like pricks. What people don't like dealing with are people who come off as bitches.
I have another question for you all. Am I the only one who never got the bitch vibe from Jean in this? Did I miss a 'we all must hate Jean' memo that went out? I LOVE LOVE LOVE this character!
Jean portrays the girl I always wanted to be when I got up to high school (and failed miserably at). Maybe that's half the reason people hate her! Anyway, she's smart, beautiful, good at athletics, has friends, has awesome powers (when they're not spiraling out of control), etc. However, they also showcased some flaws, the biggest of which I perceived as a huge social barrier.
Being as good as she is will have it's downsides, and one of those is all of the jealousy people might feel toward her. This would cause some automatic problems in the social sector, but when you take into account that her boyfriend is a complete dick (I give her some flex on that because I don't know if he was always a jerk) and she has unstable telepathy and telekinesis, it's going to be hard to make friends.
She's my favorite, always will be. Another theory for Jean hate? The two people Marvel always seems to shove into the spotlight (Wolverine and Rogue) are usually two people at the crap corner of the love triangles involving her. Rogue was in this series for a bit and she seems to be everyone's favorite, despite how much they hate her gothic look.
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So there you have it folks. I hope you enjoyed another countdown I decided to dedicate days of my life to during my vacation since I can't find a freaking job. I hope you didn't hate it and stick around for more. If you have any suggestions for other countdowns I should do, please let me know in the comments below along with your own ideas on who your favorites are. I love hearing from you! Alycat4848, I hope this one was more positive for you. ;)
