When it comes to Marvel Comics mutants, most people think about the X-Men. The team has featured some of the most important and powerful mutants of all time, from Wolverine and Cyclops to Jean Grey, Storm, and more. However, while many people can count down their favorite mutants in the X-Men, there are several heroes that fans might have forgotten about when it comes to membership in the team that Professor Charles Xavier created. Some members died quickly and remain mostly footnotes in X-Men history, and there are others who are more famous for their roles on other mutant teams.
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From X-Men members who didn’t have a long stay with the team, and other members who are more known as villains, here are characters many readers might have forgotten who joined the big team.
10) Thunderbird
While X-Force fans know all about Warpath, his introduction into Marvel Comics saw him wanting revenge for his brother’s death, which he blamed on the X-Men. That is because his brother was one of the first new X-Men members when Xavier formed a new team with Storm, Wolverine, Colossus, Nightcrawler, and Cyclops. However, many readers might have forgotten about the sixth member of the team, the Native American mutant Thunderbird. However, after helping save the original X-Men team from the living island of Krakoa, Thunerbird died on their second mission against Count Nefaria.
9) Juggernaut
Juggernaut is Professor X’s brother, and while he is not a mutant, he has been a member of the X-Men on more than one occasion. Cain Marko got his powers from a ruby that grants him the power of the Crimson Bands of Cyttorak. He is a mythic hero and not a mutant, but he has still worked with both the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants and the X-Men. As a matter of fact, he was one of the most loyal members, trying to find retribution for his past actions, and was one of the best X-Men during his time with the team. The Quiet Council even welcomed Juggernaut to Krakoa as a relative of Professor X, even though he wasn’t a mutant.
8) Cannonball
Cannonball was one of the first members of the New Mutants. While some members of that team went on to join the X-Men, with Magik as the most obvious, and others even went bigger, such as when Sunspot started his own Avengers team, Cannonball has only been known for his role in the New Mutants and X-Force. With Cannonball becoming a little more militant thanks to Cable in X-Force, he was never on great terms with the X-Men; however, in some interesting trivia, after serving as the second-in-command field leader for X-Force, he was the first New Mutants member to graduate to the main X-Men team, although he wasn’t there for long. He was also part of Storm’s X-Treme X-Men and Rogue’s X-Men.
7) Xorn
It’s easy to forget that Xorn was a member of the X-Men because it’s easy to forget that Xorn even existed. He made his first appearance in 2001, and his mutant power was that he had a “star for a brain.” However, it later turned out that Xorn was Magneto in disguise. Marvel Comics later established him as a real character when he first appeared in the pages of Excalibur; however, with Marvel bringing back Magneto and Xorn, it just became too confusing. The character is still around, now existing as two brothers known as Xorn and Zorn.
6) Sabretooth
Sabretooth has always been one of the X-Men’s deadliest enemies, specifically because of his decades-long rivalry with Wolverine. He is known as one of the most powerful Brotherhood of Evil Mutants members. However, what many readers might have forgotten is that he has also been a member of the X-Men. In actuality, Victor Creed has been a member of more than one X-Men team over the years, and he was a member of Wolverine’s First X-Men before Xavier formed his team. He was also part of Rogue’s X-Men team when they found nano-sentinels to inject into him to keep him under control. However, no one could ever trust Sabretooth, and even when the mutants sought peace on Krakoa, he wouldn’t stop killing and ended up banished.
5) Namor
Namor is known as the First Mutant, but it is often easy to forget that he is a mutant in Marvel Comics because he doesn’t seem to care about that part of his lineage, preferring to live up to his Atlantian heritage. He is also someone who hates most other heroes, which is why it’s hard to remember that he was part of teams like the Avengers, Fantastic Four, Invaders, Defenders, and even the X-Men. Namor joined the X-Men in 2011 to help with the Curse of the Mutants and also for the Avengers vs. X-Men storyline. He was also a member of X-Men Red, after Jean Grey asked for his help.
4) Cloak & Dagger
The problem with Cloak & Dagger is that most readers don’t know if they are mutants or not because different writers have taken various stances on their powers. They gained their light and darkness abilities from drugs they were given, but it was also said that the drugs just activated their mutant powers, and one storyline posited that they were only chosen as test subjects because they were mutants. Norman Osborn recruited them as members of his Dark X-Men, but during the Utopia era, when Emma Frost offered them a chance to be real X-Men after betraying Osborn, they both instantly agreed.
3) Captain Marvel
It is very easy to forget that Captain Marvel was a member of the X-Men because she is not a mutant. However, Carol Danvers gained membership when they agreed to help her at her lowest point. This happened after Rogue used her powers on Carol for too long and stole her powers and memories before trying to kill her by throwing her in the San Francisco Bay. Spider-Woman saved her life, and she went to Professor Xavier and the X-Men for help. During her time with the X-Men, she went into the Pentagon and deleted all the government’s files on the X-Men and all records of herself to make a clean break, and then worked with the X-Men for several adventures, including battling the Brood.
2) Spider-Man
Spider-Man is an interesting case. He was a member of the X-Men, but not in the sense that he fought with them in the field or on missions. Instead, he was part of the X-Men team when it comes to the institute as a faculty member. This was an interesting time because he helped teach the young mutant students science, which was part of their ongoing education at the school. He was also someone who was still showing his moral compass, since he would call out the hypocrisy of the mutants showing prejudice against non-mutants, letting them know it was the same as the anti-mutant sentiments that he was also outspoken against.
1) ForgetMeNot
Easily, the most forgettable mutant in X-Men history is ForgetMeNot. This is because that is his power. No one remembers he exists or who he is once they stop looking at him. As a matter of fact, Professor X had to put a psychic reminder in his own brain to remind himself that ForgetMeNot is an X-Man and a mutant ally to his team. However, some mutants didn’t forget him, including Fantomex. Sadly, ForgetMeNot has died more than once to save his mutant allies, and no one ever remembered he existed, making his sacrifice forgettable.
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