20 Of Our Favorite X-Men Characters

Cyclops (Image via Marvel)

18. Cyclops

Well, at least Cyclops isn’t a telepath. Instead, he just shoots terrifying laser beams out of his eyes. Much better.

Cyclops – also known as Scott Summers – may have the most insane backstory of the X-Men. Seriously. It’s so nuts that I don’t have the space or energy to fully write it out here. Highlights include: their family plane is overtaken by an alien spaceship. The Summers parents strap Scott and his younger brother, Alex, into a parachute and fling them out of the plane in a desperate attempt to save their lives. Scott sustains a brain injury which eventually makes it difficult to control his laser eyes later in life.

His dad eventually becomes a space pirate called Corsair, who has a humanoid cat girlfriend. There’s a surprise third Summers brother that shows up eventually. Scott gets amnesia and has to grow up in Nebraska. When he gets his nigh-uncontrollable laser powers, a frightened crowd nearly kills him. Thankfully, Professor X shows up and conveniently erases their memories. Eventually, Cyclops gets some special ruby-quartz glasses that filter his “optic blasts”.

In the first few decades of his appearances, Cyclops was a relatively uncomplicated hero. Sure, he had a complicated emotional life with Jean Grey/Phoenix, but he was rarely morally compromised. He often butted heads with anti heroes such as Wolverine.

However, recent developments have led him towards a more Magneto-like role. Cyclops has begun to become more radicalized and wary of humanity. Surprisingly, Wolverine has apparently stepped into the Professor X role.