Ranking The X-Men’s First 10 Villains By Power

The X-Men have several powerful enemies, and their first 10 villains include several that remain iconic today, alongside a few more obscure names. Professor X and his X-Men roared into Marvel Comics in their own comic in 1963 from the creative team of Sten Lee and Jack Kirby. While the team eventually became known as a metaphor for racism and bigotry in the world, it was originally just about heroes born with powers (mutants) battling other mutants who were using their powers for evil. However, this also means that many of the first villains the X-Men fought in comics ended up as iconic villains and heroes who are still important in the Marvel Universe.

Here is a look at the first ten mutants the X-Men fought in comics, ranked by power.

10) Maa-Gor

One bit of trivia that not a lot of people know is that Ka-Zar actually showed up for the first time in X-Men comics. The X-Men went to the Savage Land in X-Men #10 and encountered Ka-Zar and Zabu, and after a quick fight between them, they teamed up to battle Maa-Gor, the last surviving member of the Man-Apes in the Savage Land. He was a dangerous beast, determined to make the sabertooth tigers extinct, and he killed Zabu’s mate. He has no real powers, but as a caveman, he is very strong and dangerous.

9) Vanisher

Vanisher is a joke character for fans of the X-Men movie world. This is the villain who appeared in Deadpool 2, who was invisible and was only seen when he died, which was a huge moment since it ended up being Brad Pitt. However, he deserves a little more respect than that because he was the very second villain the X-Men ever faced, debuting in X-Men #2. He is a mutant who can transport himself across almost any distance instantly and take almost anything with him. He once threatened to teleport away with Wolferine’s heart, but it is unclear if he can really do this.

8) Lucifer

This is not the demonic Lucifer from Marvel Comics, but is instead an alien named Lucifer who arrived on the planet as part of a planned invasion. Lucifer does have one notable thing that makes him memorable. When he first arrived on Earth, Charles Xavier was a younger man, and he stopped him, so Lucifer got revenge by dropping a stone block on Xavier’s legs, crushing them. Lucifer is the reason that Professor X was in a wheelchair. Lucifer can manipulate ionic energy, which is what gives him his strength and powers.

7) Unus the Untouchable

Unus the Untouchable made his first appearance in X-Men #8, and he was a mutant whom the X-Men battled at the time. His powersallowed him to create a repulsion field, which is an invisible psionic field he puts around him that can deflect weapons attacking him and also push people or things. He first used it as a high school bully and then as a small-time criminal. He gained his name when he used his powers to become a professional wrestler. He was an early member of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants and later became close friends with Blob. He died when battling the Inhumans, but returned in time for the Krakoa storyline.

6) The Stranger

The Stranger is a cosmic being who made his first appearance in X-Men #11. He first approached Magneto and his Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, and he was antagonistic toward the mutants. He isn’t really a bad guy, but he is amoral and very curious, conducting experiments on the oddities of the universe in Laboratory World. As a cosmic being, he has cosmic and psionic abilities and is considered an omnipotent being. However, he comes below other X-Men villains since he is not much of a fighter and mainly stood by as a side character in this battle.

5) The Blob

The Blob is a villain who made his first appearance in X-Men #3, but, honestly, this was a case where the X-Men turned him into a villain. The mutant heroes came across terribly in this issue. Professor X used his powers to recognize that a mutant was close, and he sent his X-Men to recruit them. When Blob said he wasn’t interested, the X-Men attacked him and let him know he didn’t have a choice. Blob could have moved on and lived his life, but the X-Men’s aggressive attitude pushed Blob to join up with Magneto in X-Men #7. Blob is an unmovable object, and it takes trickery and skill to even take him off his feet, much less beat him.

4) Sentinels

The Sentinels made their first appearance in X-Men #14, although they were nothing like they would one day become. These Sentinels were only double the size of humans and were just robots attacking the X-Men. This was also Dr. Boliver Trask’s first appearance as the robots’ creator. This was when the idea of the population fearing mutants began, and the Sentinels were created to “protect” humans from the “mutant threat.” These Sentinels were not that dangerous, but over time, there wasn’t anything much deadlier than the Sentinels, who killed more mutants than almost anything.

3) Juggernaut

The Juggernaut arrived for the first time in X-Men #12 and was so powerful that it took the mutants two issues to finally stop him. Juggernaut is Professor X’s stepbrother, and when he first appeared, Xavier told his students that Cain was even more powerful than he is, which put a bright light on him when he showed up, and he didn’t disappoint. With the Crimson Bands of Cyttorak, Juggernaut has de,onic empowerment which gives him superhuman strength, stamina, and invulnerability. He also has a regenerative healing factor, and it is almost impossible to slow him down, much less beat him.

2) The Brotherhood of Evil Mutants (4, 5, 6, 7)

The X-Men fought Magneto in their first issue, but they battled his team of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants four times after that in the first year. Magneto put his team together in issues four, five, six, and seven. These villains included Toad, Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch, and Mastermind. They also got help from Namor, the Sub-Mariner, and then Blob finally joined them in X-Men #7. Over the years, there wasn’t a more persistent and dangerous group of villains in the X-Men’s world than the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants.

1) Magneto

Magneto was the first villain the X-Men ever fought in X-Men #1. He was the man who put together the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. He was also the most powerful mutant in comics other than Professor Xavier. Over the years, there wasn’t a more dangerous villain than the man who could control magnetism. He shut down the entire Earth once with his powers and actually ripped out Wolverine’s skeleton. Magneto has been a hero for a very long time now, but when he was a villain, no one was more dangerous, which is why he played such a big role in all the X-Men movies as well.

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