There might not be anyone in comics as tragic as the X-Men. When Stan Lee and Jack Kirby created the X-Men, it was as a comic about people born with superpowers, and as a result, they had an entire world that hated and feared them. It was an allegory for bigotry towards people of other races, skin colors, and sexual orientations. This was a way for Marvel Comics to show people that it was okay to be who you are, but there was one other problem. The stories also showed how dangerous it was to be different, which means that the entire mutant nation has endured too many tragedies.
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From the death of beloved characters to entire massacres of countless innocent mutants, here is a look at the most tragic deaths in X-Men comics.
6) Wolverine Kills A Mutant Teen Named Jesse
Sometimes, a mutant that no one has ever heard of dies, and it still breaks a reader’s heart. That happened in 2004 in Ultimate X-Men #41 by Brian Michael Bendis and David Finch. The issue opened with a teenager named Jesse waking up for school. However, he finds his mom isn’t home, and the streets seem empty. Soon, he finds other people, but they all die around him, burning to death. This leads Wolverine to search for the teen, as he hides in a cave away from everyone else.
This is a tragic moment because Wolverine was sent there to kill the teen, and he brings some beer to share with the young man before he does it. The entire back half of the issue has Wolverine explain that Jesse is a mutant and there is no way to control his powers. This was an instance where a young mutant had nothing to do with his fate, and just being a mutant meant he had to die. When Jesse asks Wolverine to end things, it is heartbreaking.
5) Nightcrawler Sacrifices Himself to Save Hope
X-Force #26 was part of the Second Coming storyline in the X-Men comics in 2010. This was about Hope Summers, who was considered the Mutant Messiah and was fated to save the entire mutant race. The evil Sentinel Bastion had built up a lethal force of allies and was setting out to kill the young mutant. Through it all, Nightcrawler was exhausting himself by teleporting too far too many times to save his people. However, the last thing he does is leap between Bastion and Hope Summers, and Bastion kills Nightcrawler instead.
As his last act, Nightcrawler teleports Hope to safety and dies, telling her he believes in her. Nightcrawler has always been one of the most beloved mutants, and one who was always ready to help others. His death devastated the X-Men and readers alike.
4) Colossus Dies From the Legacy Virus
The Legacy Virus hurt a lot of mutants in Marvel Comics. It was a devastating plague that tore through the mutant population, killing hundreds. The most horrifying death came when Colossus’s little sister, Illyana, died, and the sight of this young child perishing was too much to handle. This made the end of the Legacy Virus such a special moment, but still tragic for a different reason.
In Uncanny X-Men #390 (2001), Beast discovered the cure for the Legacy Virus, but the person who took it would die while all other mutants would live. Colossus sacrificed his life to end the virus and save any other mutant from dying like his sister. The end saw Colossus admitting he would do it all again if he had to, and then showing one last second of fear before dying, a heartbreaking yet heroic death.
3) The Marauders Slaughter the Morlocks
The Mutant Massacre is one of the darkest X-Men storylines in Marvel Comics history. This was started by Mister Sinister when he sent his Marauders to the underground society where the Morlocks lived. These mutants were unable to live in the public, so most of them withdrew to the underground tunnels and lived in peace. That all changed when the Maurauders showed up there in Uncanny X-Men #211 and slaughtered the entire society.
Not even the X-Men, X-Factor, Thor, and the Fantastic Four could save them. Men, women, and children died, and it was proof that mutants had more to fear from humans than humans ever did from the mutants.
2) Jean Grey in the Dark Phoenix Saga
One of the first shocking hero deaths in Marvel Comics came in the pages of Uncanny X-Men #137 in 1980. While Jean Grey’s deaths have become a running joke in Marvel Comics, because they occur so often, the first time was still a very emotional moment. Readers knew that the Phoenix Force and Hellfire Club manipulated Jean, which caused her to massacre an entire planet when she consumed its star. However, Marvel editor-in-chief Jim Shooter said she had to pay for it with her life.
Seeing Jean sacrifice herself to save the X-Men from the attacking Imperial Guard of the Shi’ar Empire was heartbreaking and shocking for readers who were not used to hero deaths at this time in Marvel Comics history.
1) The Genosha Massacre
E For Extinction took place in 2001, and in New X-Men #115, the biggest massacre in mutant history occurred. Cassandra Nova sent Sentinels to attack the mutant population living peacefully on the island nation of Genosha. The attack happened without warning. There were 16,521,063 mutants living on the island when the attack occurred. By the last panel of the issue, there were 763.
The only survivor found in the next issue was Emma Frost, who developed a diamond form as a sudden second mutation, and she was traumatized, knowing that she had no way to save her students. The entire thing was terrifying, and Professor X stepped over the line when he murdered Cassandra Nova and then told the world he was a mutant. This was the X-Men comic that changed everything.
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