For more than 60 years, the X-Men’s ranks have climbed higher and higher. But with a team that is always expanding, that means that, of course, there are going to be X-Men that are forgotten about. Unfortunately, some of the X-men who have been largely forgotten or who are underrated are ones who should be on a much higher pedestal. How these characters aren’t more popular baffles. Thankfully, with three separate “main” X-Men books being written, hopefully there’s time to see them get their time to shine.
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While some of these X-Men may be familiar, they just don’t get their flowers enough. Here are seven X-Men that deserve way more recognition.
1) Forge
One of the smartest characters in all of Marvel comics, we have Forge. Being able to create anything he sees in his mind, Forge is a one-man arsenal. He’s created weapons against the X-Men as well as aided them in the past. Introduced first as a somewhat antagonist, he’s had an insane character arc. Now he’s one of the most useful members of the team.
As well as being a strong ally, Forge has also been a love interest for Storm on a number of occasions. Being star-crossed lovers in their own ways, the two have been one of the best couples in the X-Men. It would be really nice to see Forge get more appreciation — and time on the page.
2) Rachel Summers
The time-displaced daughter of Scott and Jean Summers. Rachel is a powerful psychic and even became the Phoenix in her mom’s place. Rachel was one of the beings to go toe-to-toe with The Beyonder and stood her ground. Founding the British mutant team Excalibur, she’s done a lot for mutants yet she never seems to get her laurels as one of the coolest members of the Summers family tree or the X-Men roster.
With the ability to wipe even the most terrifying enemies away, Rachel is a powerhouse. How she’s not a regular on any of the X-Men lineups is a real head-scratcher. She absolutly deserves the spot and praise.
3) Longshot
Often regarded as a precursor to Gambit, we have Longshot. Being an alien from Mojoworld with the ability of luck, he won’t back down. As one of the more fun members of the team during the Claremont days, Longshot has kept a low profile since then. He often provides a bright spark to any team he’s a part of with his luck based powers, it’s just sadly not something we get all that often.
Now he only seems to appear when Mojo is involved in a plot. Much like the other members listed so far he should be a regular member once again. The X-Men could really use more comic relief after all — or at least some bright spots.
4) Cypher
Rising to great power as Revelation, the heir to Apocalypse, we have Cypher. Originally believed to have the most useless powers among the New Mutants, Doug is a human cypher. He can translate any language and seemed to have limited abilities. Later he could hack computers as binary is a language he can speak and later learned body language. He slowly became unbelievably overpowered but he deserved it.
Thankfully it’s looking like he’s getting his respect. It seems he may be going dark soon with the “Age of Revelation” event. Whatever happens with Doug on the horizon will happen but it’s great to see him finally getting a chance to shine — or at least be much more prominent.
5) Madelyne Pryor
As much as fans love her character development as the Goblin Queen, Madelyne Pryor was a great X-Men member. During the Outback era, Madelyne stood out as the woman who looked exactly like Jean but wasn’t. Before “Inferno” she was an interesting character who just wanted her husband back and now she’s the Queen of Limbo. It’s been a wild transformation. If for nothing else, just having the character around more is something that would be interesting simply because of how convoluted and complicated her story has been — and it feels like there is just so much more to tell.
6) Juggernaut
It might seem a little bit strange to include Juggernaut on this list now that he is one of the best heavy hitters for the X-Men, but even with his current rise it just feels like he hasn’t really gotten the credit he deserves. For a lot of fans, he’s remembered as one of the X-Men’s toughest threats. Now, he’s been a hero now for almost 20 years as an X-Men but for many, the original perception remains.
His role in Jed McKay’s X-Men has been a delight to read. As often as we see hero’s turning into villains, it’s great to see the reverse — and hopefully it continues.
7) Xorn
Introduced in Grant Morrison’s New X-Men, Xorn is a fascinating character. Having a fractured mind due to a controversial beginning, Xorn is now one of the most compassionate X-Men. With a star in his head and healing powers, Xorn has become a fan favorite. His fan favorite status has saved him as a hero and retconned the Magneto debacle.
One of the standouts from New X-Men, Xorn remains a figure of hope. He’s appeared a few times in the McKay run but deserves more character work. Truly one of the best characters created post-2000 and we’d love to see more of him.
Who do you think are the most underrated X-Men? Let us know down in the comments.
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Courtesy of Crunchyroll
