7 X-Men Who Have Been Both Hero and Villain, Ranked by Impact

Few superhero teams have members that switch sides as many times as the X-Men, where the deadliest Brotherhood of Evil Mutants character could become a hero and even an original X-Men founding member could lead mutants to certain doom. The X-Men’s lineup is a constant revolving door, with the Marvel Comics storylines of mutant-rights, persecution, radicalization, and rehabilitation leading heroes and villains to come and go from the team. In fact, the best parts of the mutant world are the redemption arcs and fall-from-grace storylines, from Chris Claremont’s groundbreaking stories to the Jonathan Hickman mythology on Krakoa where every mutant got a second chance.

With heroes turning into villains, and Krakoa allowing anyone to be a hero for a few years, here are seven X-Men who have been both heroes and villains, based on the impact of their heel and face turns.

7) Sabretooth

Sabretooth is one of the most complicated X-Men members in history because he has never really been a good guy. In fact, when the Krakoa era began, he still wouldn’t stop killing humans and breaking the main rules of the island, and he ended up banished into the island as punishment to keep him from continuing to make mutants look like monsters. There is also the fact that he hunts down Wolverine every year on Logan’s birthday to brutalize him.

However, he was a member of the X-Men when he ended up held prisoner at the X-Mansion in the early 1990s, and the mutants gave him a chance at rehabilitation. This was during Scott Lobdell’s run (Sabretooth was in Uncanny X-Men #309-328), but Sabretooth ended up ruining that chance when he gutted Psylocke. He did later serve on Wolverine’s X-Force team as he was mind-altered at the time and then he was on Magneto’s X-Men team in Cullem Brun’s Uncanny X-Men run in 2016.

6) Rogue

Rogue started her career as a villain. She made her first appearance in Avengers Annual #10 as a member of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants with Mystique, the woman who raised Rogue from childhood. This was when Rogue did the worst thing in her entire Marvel existence when she absorbed all of Carol Danvers’ powers and memories and almost killed the Avengers member. This drove Rogue over the edge and she ran away, going to Professor X for help.

Of all the former villains turned heroes in the X-Men, Rogue remains the best story in Marvel history. She ended up completely rehabilitated and became one of the X-Men’s greatest heroes, although there were people from her past who never did forgive her. During Chris Claremont’s run, Rogue rose up the ranks as one of the most popular mutants of the 80s and 90s, and she is the prototypical villain-to-hero redemption arc.

5) Cyclops

Cyclops was an interesting case, especially looking at his entire career as a member of the X-Men. In the beginning, he was always the X-Men member who was too good, someone that Wolverine perfectly counter-balanced with his bad boy persona. However, there where times where Cyclops showed his arrogance and conceit, such as when he fought to keep Storm from becoming the X-Men’s new leader.

His official heel turn came in Avengers Vs. X-Men when he was one of the five mutants who gained the Phoenix Force. While all the Phoenix Five did bad things, Cyclops stepped over the line when he murdered Professor X in cold blood. This shouldn’t have come as a surprise though, as Cyclops had become more radicalized over the years and became even more ruthless than Wolverine. Cyclops became a martyr when he surrendered and his image still hasn’t fully recovered.

4) Beast

Beast was the most shocking of the X-Men turning bad for old-school readers, but like Cyclops, this was a long time coming and his downfall played out for well over a decade in X-Men comics. As a hero, he was a member of the Avengers, and he was always the lovable jokester who kept everyone smiling and was a shining light in every way. However, he had a darkness within as he loathed himself and hated what he had become.

This led Beast to make the questionable decision to bring the time-displaced X-Men to the present and strand them there just to torment Cyclops. Beast was doing more and more bad things in the name of science, and he went over the line on Krakoa. Professor X put him in charge of X-Force, and eventually, Beast turned full villain and used this team to commit terrorist acts. It didn’t end until Beast sacrificed himself to save his friend, Wonder Man, and a resurrected clone with Beast’s former heroic personality replaced him.

3) Mystique

Mystique was a villain for many years, as she debuted in Ms. Marvel #16 in 1978 and then led the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants more than once. She was the reason the apocalyptic future in Days of Future Past happened when she attempted to kill Senator Kelly. She was the one who raised Rogue, so she was indirectly responsible for Carol Danvers’ traumatic moment when she lost her memory, powers, and almost died.

She started her road to becoming a hero when she led Freedom Force, which was a U.S. government-sponsored superhero team that consisted of former Brotherhood of Evil Mutants characters, but at heart, she was still a villain here. However, Mystique became an actual hero in Brian K. Vaughan and Sean McKeever’s Mystique series in 2003 as a Charles Xavier black ops agent.

2) Emma Frost

Emma Frost made her debut in Uncanny X-Men #129 in 1980 as the White Queen of the Hellfire Club’s Inner Circle. At this time, she ended up partially responsible for one of the worst moments in X-Men history when she helped break Jean Grey’s mind, leading her to slaughter an entire planet by destroying their star as the Dark Phoenix. She also mind-swapped Storm and created a young supervillain team known as the Hellions, who rivaled the New Mutants.

However, when the Hellions all died in a tragic moment, Emma Frost had a change of heart and realized Xavier was right. She became co-headmistress of the Xavier Institute and even dated Cyclops when Jean Grey was believed dead. She did show her antagonistic side later, especially during AvX and during the X-Men’s war with the Inhumans.

1) Magento

Magneto is the ultimate redemption story in Marvel Comics, and it has happened more than once. He was the first major X-Men villain and formed the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. He tried to conquer the world more than once, but he received his first chance at redemption after Professor X learned he was dying and had to leave Earth to get help. Magneto allowed himself to go on trial, and while the trial was not on the up and up, he was cleared of charges and became the new X-Men leader.

He turned evil again when he realized the world would never accept mutants and would always hunt them down. He stepped over the line when he ripped out Wolverine’s skeleton and ended up inadvertently causing the formation of Onslaught. He has since become a hero, a trusted ally of Professor X and Cyclops, and is a hero once again for the X-Men.

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