20 Of Our Favorite X-Men Characters

Kitty Pryde (Image via Marvel)

5. Kitty Pryde

Quick, how many Jewish superheroes can you name? There’s Magneto, of course, who has one of the worst backstories thanks to his childhood in 1930s Germany. Then, there’s also Kitty Pryde, known variously as “Sprite”, “Ariel”, and “Shadowcat”. However, she has a relatively stable home life, though it takes some telepathic shenanigans to get her parents to send Kitty to Professor X’s school.

When Kitty’s powers emerged, she was approached by not one, but two different schools for mutants. So, in addition to receiving a brochure from Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters, Kitty likely got one hell of a pitch to join the Massachusetts Academy, run by fellow mutant Emma Frost. Ultimately, however, she got along best with the X-Men and decided to join their school. After all, when Storm is your de-facto admissions counselor, it’s hard to say no.

Kitty’s particular powers center on “phasing”, the ability to pass through solid materials at will. She can also phase people or objects that are in physical contact with her, having transported up to six people at a time.

But, like many of the best X-Men, Kitty’s appeal isn’t based entirely on her powers. She’s also astoundingly intelligent. She’s practically a genius when it comes to computer science and applied engineering. Kitty is also a skilled pilot and polyglot, fluently speaking three human languages and at least a couple alien ones. She also has a pet dragon named Lockheed, so extra points for cool animal companions.