The X-Men have one of the toughest battles in superhero comics. The team battles against some of the most dangerous villains in the entire universe, as well as having to deal with a public that is always seemingly one step away from supporting genocide, AND has to battle against their fellow heroes, who often protect a racist status quo. Being an X-Man isn’t like being an Avenger or a member of the Fantastic Four. It takes a different kind of hero to be a member of the team, and it’s led to them becoming one of the toughest teams in the Marvel Universe. They are physically and mentally tough, able to survive basically anything thrown at them.
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The X-Men have been put in some of the most difficult situations imaginable and have come through the other side because of how tough they are. They have amazing powers and can survive anything thrown at them. These ten X-Men are the toughest members of the team, roughnecks who can take anything and smile.
10) Cyclops
The X-Men are an amazing team and it starts at the top. Cyclops has been proving that he’s one of the toughest heroes on the planet since he first put on his costume. He is physically a normal person, but he never stops. No injury is enough to keep him down, and he’s been faced with some of the worst things imaginable and has been able to keep going. His metal toughness is off the charts. He’s led the mutant race through its hardest time, and has faced off against the entire world, refusing to blink. Cyclops is unbreakable, and that’s played as a huge a role in his success as his powers and tactical abilities.
9) Psylocke II
Kwannon was a Hand assassin, trained to be the ultimate ninja killer. She lost her body when her lover Matsuo Tsurayaba decided to have Psylocke’s mind put in her’s, and returned in Elizabeth Braddock’s body as Revanche, before dying of the Legacy Virus. She’s since returned, gotten her original body back, and has taken the name Psylocke, and has been proving how tough she is. She was able to ride herd on the Hellions, a team full of mentally unbalanced mutants with Sinister in charge, without losing a step and is an integral part of Cyclops’s team of militant X-Men. She’s a truly unflappable warrior, and has proven to be one of the X-Men’s toughest members.
8) Storm
Storm is an X-Men legend, and has long been praised as one of the most powerful mutants on Earth. However, she’s also one of the toughest. She survived the loss of her parents on the streets of Cairo, doing everything she could to keep going another day. She led the X-Men through some of their toughest times, and has been able to defeat everything thrown at her. She’s even been able to overcome trauma-induced claustrophobia, beating her own mind in order to soar. She’s had the worst things happen to her, lost her faith and everything she loved, and still is one of the greatest superheroes of all time, soldiering on like nothing happened.
7) Phoenix
Jean Grey is one of Marvel’s most overpowered characters, but she’s also easily one of the toughest. As a child, Jean watched her best friend die, the stress causing her powers to ignite, forcing her into a coma. With the help of Xavier, she was able to beat this, and has since beat everything in front of her. Like most of the team, she’s survived all kinds of terrible things, but the one that really shows how tough she can be is her current relationship with the Phoenix Force. She’s been able to defeat the temptations of the godlike power, showing that the power itself isn’t the problem, but the people wielding it. Nothing holds her down, and it’s why she’s been able to soar so high.
6) Bishop
Bishop grew up in a terrible dystopian future, learning to survive and battle for mutant rights. He’s one of the greatest mutant soldiers of them all because he’s one of the toughest around. His powers allow him absorb the energy of his foes’ attacks, making him physically tough, but his mental toughness is also off the charts. He’s willing to make the toughest choices in order to keep the horrors of his future from happening. This has led him to make some terrible choices (like going after Hope Summers because he believed she was one of the reasons for his future), but also shows how tough he can be. He will be hated if he thinks it will save the world.
5) Cable
Cable was born Nathan Summers, the son of Cyclops and Madelyne Pryor, Jean Grey’s clone. He only exists because Mister Sinister wanted a Summers/Grey child to use as a psionic weapon, and has had one of the toughest lives imaginable. He was infected with a techno-organic virus as a toddler, and was taken to the future where he could learn how to deal with the virus. This future was ruled by Apocalypse, and he had to learn to survive in a terrible world. He proved his toughness by becoming the greatest mutant soldiers of all time. Nothing can keep Cable down, he never stops, and is more than powerful enough to take down anyone in front of him.
4) Rogue
The X-Men have always boasted powerful women, and Rogue is easily one of the greatest. Her powers have developed into something great now that she can control them, but that definitely wasn’t always the case, which is part of what has made her so tough. For years, she lived a life without touching anyone, facing the world without the physical reassurance that makes it all easier, and this had made her one of the toughest heroes on Earth. Anyone else in her situation would have broke down constantly, but she didn’t. She kept going, and no matter what failures happened to her, she never stopped trying to make herself better. She didn’t give up, even when no one would have blamed her, becoming the tenacious hero everyone loves today.
3) Kitty Pryde
Kitty Pryde’s phasing powers make her extremely difficult to hurt, but that’s not why she’s so tough. Kitty became a superhero at the age of 13, and has experienced so much since then. She’s always bounced back from everything; she’s tried to quit the superhero game so many times, but has always come back. Kitty is the kind of person who wants to be able to quit the fight, but she can’t. She can’t let other people suffer like she has, and that’s what keeps her going. She grew up in the toughest situations imaginable, and it has molded her into one of the toughest people on Earth.
2) Colossus
A big part of Colossus’s toughness is his mutant power. His organic steel body has proven to be extremely durable, and have allowed him to become one of the most potent members of the X-Men. However, he’s just as mentally strong as he is physically. He’s dealt with some of the worst tragedies anyone can and kept going (he did become an Acolyte for a short time, but he didn’t actually become a villain during this era). He’s bounced back from some of the most terrible things, and is always there for his friends and the team. He’s always had an artist’s soul, but there’s steel under it, and that’s made all the difference in his life.
1) Wolverine
Wolverine is the best there is at what he does, and what he does is survive. Logan’s healing factor and adamantium skeleton make him basically unstoppable, but it’s his mental toughness that has made him a legend. Since his mutant powers manifested, he’s had to survive the most terrible things imaginable. He’s been made into a beast, has hurt people he loved both because of the monster inside of him (and mind control), and faced off against enemies who love to mess with his brain. Nothing has ever stopped him from fighting evil; he’s even been able to break mind control just with his mental toughness. He’s the toughest X-Man of them all, and anyone who doubts it has never read any Wolverine comics.
Who do you think is the toughest X-Man? Leave a comment in the comment section below and join the conversation on the ComicBook Forums!
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