The 10 WORST X-Men Characters of All Time

by George Marston, Newsarama Contributor and <a href=http://www.newsarama.com/>Newsarama Staff</a> In nearly 50 years, the X-Men and their various spinoff squads X-Force, X-Factor, Excalibur, etc. have yielded a lot of characters, and included many mutants with their rosters. Some of them are great, and among the most popular characters in comic book history. And then there's, well... the rest. Thus the list, looking at 10 X-Men that have been deemed "worst" either for their power set, personality, history or a combination of all of the above. With a lot of new X-Men series coming including, it looks like, <a href=http://www.newsarama.com/comics/marvel-now-teasers-november.html>a new version of Uncanny X-Men</a> Marvel is likely pulling some mutants off the bench, but they might want to give it some serious thought before they give any of these characters the nod. For 10 of the worst X-Men of all time, click "start here" in the upper-left corner to begin the countdown. <a href=http://www.newsarama.com/comics/worst-justice-league-members-120215.html>The 10 WORST Justice League Members of All Time</a> <a href=http://www.newsarama.com/comics/10-worst-batman-villains-all-time.html>The 10 Worst BATMAN Villains of ALL TIME!</a> <a href=http://www.newsarama.com/comics/10-worst-marvel-universe-vacation-spots.html>The Marvel Universe's 10 WORST Summer Vacation Spots</a> Got a comment? There's lots of conversation on Newsarama's <a href=http://www.facebook.com/Newsarama>FACEBOOK</a> and <a href=http://twitter.com/newsarama>TWITTER</a>!

CYPHER

Doug Ramsey gets a lot of grief for his power, both on and off the page. With the innate ability to understand any language of any kind, his power is only slightly above that of anyone with access to Google Translate. Writers who like Doug can easily be picked out, because they find some way to make him useful in battles. Whether it's reading body language or hacking an alien computer, Doug does get to use his abilities on occasion, but it didn't save him from being killed; 'cause you know, speaking French really well doesn't block a sword or a bullet or a claw or a laser.

CALLISTO

When Callisto was leader of the Morlocks, her most defining traits were her tactical ingenuity and her trademark eye patch. After all, enhanced senses aren't exactly a visual ability. When she was actively working with the X-Men, specifically with Charles Xavier himself, however, you couldn't miss her. She had tentacles for arms. Callisto never got her due again after having tentacle arms, possibly because no one could do anything but note the fact that she had tentacle arms. Also, tentacle arms. She has since lost those and her other powers.

JOSEPH

Originally thought to be a somehow youthful, amnesiac version of Magneto, Joseph was in fact a clone, which, in the world of Marvel Comics, causes some eyebrows to be raised. Joseph had all the power of Magneto, and all the attitude of Don Henley. Somehow, this guy managed to woo prime X-Babe Rogue away from her longtime paramour Gambit, probably by playing her "The Heart of the Matter" on his acoustic guitar. Joseph was the comic book equivalent of a douchey, one-off boyfriend on 90210, who you find out is actually cheating on Brenda at the end of the episode. He's a "really nice guy" except that, years later, he returns from the dead and murders a bunch of people (as he did in the 2011 Magneto: Not A Hero miniseries), not bothering to even remain consistent with his previous, laid-back approach. Thanks for trying, Joe.

SKIN

Generally speaking, if your superhero name is named after a body part, you're doing it wrong (more on that later). As a member of Generation X, Skin aka Angelo Espinosa, added some diversity to the young mutant lineup, and his abrasive cockiness actually made him a lot of fans. But that power... the power to control your excess skin in a twisted b-horror version of Mr. Fantastic... it's just gross, people. Six feet of extra skin isn't a power it's a prerequisite for Ripley's Believe it or Not. Skin didn't last long, meeting a rather grisly death at the hands of the Church of Humanity.

SHATTERSTAR

Shatterstar may be seeing renewed popularity now that he's appearing in Peter David's acclaimed X-Factor series, but long before he showed up there, he was just another mullet-bearing, pirate-shirt-wearing stack of 20 years of unresolved plot threads and impractical weaponry. Created by the other-dimensional mound of egg-pudding known as Mojo, Shatterstar is a genetically bred gladiator who was raised with the express purpose of jumping and crouching while holding his swords incorrectly. In addition to the longest recorded independent ponytail of all time, Shatterstar had a pair of teleporting, double-bladed swords and a totally boss Jazzercise leotard complete with sleeves large enough to house every other member of X-Force and still have room for a lifetime's supply of Vidal Sassoon hair care products. The failed (or abandoned) attempts to explain Shatterstar's origins are almost too numerous to list, but the most popular theory for years was that he was the son of Dazzler and Longshot, who someone decided needed to breed with each other. It's a theory that's since been discounted, but that would go a really long way to explaining the mullet/disco look that he long sported.

STACY X

Stacy X's inclusion on this list is not meant to besmirch her as a character. A product of Joe Casey's run on Uncanny X-Men, there's definitely something about a mutant prostitute-turned-X-Man with scales and pheromone powers that's novel. However, in terms of actually being a productive contributor to the X-Men's mission, Stacy X didn't add much. She spent much of her time trying to use her wiles to win over Archangel and the highly religious Nightcrawler, and ended up leaving because the former chose to be with Husk instead which itself was a surprising development given the significant age difference between the two. Luckily, the outcome of "The Dark Angel Saga" in Uncanny X-Force means that Warren Worthington has no memory of any of that happening, and though Stacy X died in New Warriors, she returned in the Casey-written Vengeance miniseries. So things worked out for everyone, kind of.

MARROW

She hates the world, but just wants to live in it, accepted for who she is. She's proud of being a mutant, but hates how she looks. After all, she has bones protruding from all over her body, which she pulls out to use as weapons. You'd probably not be too fond of mirrors in that case, either. The bigger problem with Marrow than her kinda gross power, however, was what a one-note wonder she was. Several writers tried to give her a little more depth, and even tried to give her a little happiness so she wasn't just always complaining in woe is me mode. Unfortunately, none of them were very successful (or just didn't seem to like her very much), and she was usually returned back to whiny one-noter in no time at all. She actually found herself associated for a time with Callisto, and wound up teaming with her in the terrorist group X-Cell after losing her powers on M-Day.

MAGGOTT

Maggott is one of those characters who seemed cool on paper, but then when he was actually on well, paper it quickly became obvious that instead of being a thoughtful, non-violent man with an incredibly brutal mutation, he was really just a dude whose digestive tract could crawl around and turn his skin blue. Also, he spoke in a barely understandable patois of South African slang. After a fairly brief stint as an X-Man, he was sent down to the minors as a member of Generation X. Unfortunately, not even they wanted him, and he only hung around for a single issue before disappearing. Sadly, he later resurfaced in a mutant concentration camp where he was eventually killed, which isn't really funny at all. He is survived by one of his intestinal "slugs," though whether it's the one called "Eany" or "Meany" is unknown.

X-MAN

At first glance, it looks like X-Man is a pretty cool character. He's like Cable, but without the leash of the techno-organic virus holding him back. Hailing from the Age of Apocalypse universe, this test-tube baby is the genetic child of Scott Summers and Jean Grey. it's when X-Man came to the 616 that everything went to crap. Now you have an unleashed Cable in the same universe as Cable, automatically restricting both of them. Then came the romantic relationship with Madelyne Pryor. Madelyne, if you'll recall, is a clone of Jean Grey. That means Nate had a thing with his mom, plain and simple, genetically speaking. Recently a member of a proper X-Team (the New Mutants), Nate's problems have continued. Now the character whose coolest point was that he was everything Nathan Christopher Charles Summers Dayspring Askani'Son could have been has been basically neutered. Nate has recently had trouble lifting a basketball with telekinesis. But at least he's no longer dating his mom.

X-TREME

Adam X the X-Treme is 10 pounds of '90's cliches in a 5 pound backwards baseball cap. Born as Adam Neramani, he was created for people who thought that the "breakout characters" from DC's Bloodlines event were too subtle. As if simply being a walking rat-tail wasn't enough of a super-power, Neramani has the grim'n'gritty power to set fire to people's blood. Also, his own blood is acid. So, rather than be confined by the typical '90's naming conventions and calling himself "Bloodlaunch," or "Firesquirt," or even something like "The Hemogoblin," he decided to grab life by the surfboard and just name himself "X-Treme," forever sealing his own fate as the avatar of '90's comics. Clad in the aforementioned backwards cap and a motorcycle suit littered with not only pouches and straps but also straight-up razorblades, X-Treme may in fact be the lamest mutant ever to refuse to join the X-Men. That's right they offered him membership, and he refused. He was originally rumored to be the fabled "third Summers brother," but was later revealed to be the son of the Shi'ar despot D'Ken, which kind of explains the rad corpse paint, but can never explain how one character managed to so perfectly embody the ideals of '90's excess.