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Hey there Comic Attackers! If you’re like me you can never get enough of the X-Men. Yet, there are so many mutants out there that they’ve become incredibly hard to keep track of, let alone stay up to date on what their current power levels are. That’s why I have taken up the task to power rank all of the active X-Men post Messiah Complex from the very least to the top beast! There are 75 mutants in all to rank and today we Bamf our way to the Top 30!

So what are power rankings? Mostly used to rank sports teams on how well they are playing now, my power rankings are a list of X-Men based on what their power set is in current continuity (or most recent appearance). Other factors that determined a character’s ranking are: what their power potential is, what they’ve already proven they can do (so long as it is still relevant in current continuity), and their over all level of badassness. If you disagree with me that’s totally cool- please feel free to call me out and explain what your reasoning is. I don’t expect everyone to agree with me, and while I believe this list to be very solid in it’s numbering, I’m interested to hear what you have to say! Oh my stars and garters, this list is starting to get really good!

#33. Beast: Hank McCoy is one tough dude, falling nicely into his role as lead scientist/medic/researcher for the X-Men. He has recently put together a team of high profile scientists, dubbed The X-Club, who are looking for a solution to the effects of M-Day. However, things have come to a head with Hank and the X-Men’s leaders, as in Uncanny X-Men #511, he told Cyclops that he knows something is up with him and Emma, and announces that he is leaving the team. He claims that the two are keeping destructive secrets from everyone else (and they are: Cyclops with the mutant assassin team X-Force, and Emma with her former association Norman Osborn’s Dark Illuminati), and until the two leaders come clean he wants no part of the X-Men. For now though, that has mostly been all talk as Hank has been shuttling back and forth between the X-Men on Utopia and his girlfriend, Abigail Brand’s, S.W.O.R.D. HQ in outer space. With S.W.O.R.D. (Sentient World Observation and Response Department) Beast is helping Brand and her agents keep the Earth safe from alien threats. Beast earns this spot in the rankings because he is a key asset to the X-Men; working behind the scenes and keeping the team balanced. With him now gone, the X-Men are seriously lacking in their R & D department, and desperately need a resident medic.

Powers: Since evolving into his more feline form Beast has increased super strength that allows him to lift up to 10 tons, super human stamina, durability, dexterity, and agility, and he can run up to 40 mph. He also has an advanced healing factor that heals broken bones in a few days (so nothing like Wolverine or X-23’s healing factor), night vision, acute senses, and can release pheromones to attract members of the opposite sex to his furry blue wing wang. Beast also has razor sharp claws and fangs, and possesses a Genius-Level Intellect that has led him to become a world renowned bio-chemist with great insight into mutant genetics and evolutionary biology. His expertise extends to chemistry, physics, differential equations, electronics, nano-effusive devices, anatomy, philosophy, ancient cultures, art history, musicology, and literature. Hank is also a polyglot (someone who with a high level of fluency uses many languages). Without a doubt Beast was a very valuable member of the X-Men and the team is now lacking without him there on a regular basis.

First Appearance: X-Men #1, 1963.

#32. Warpath: James Proudstar is one of the most bad ass mother f’ers currently on an X-team. He is a member of X-Force, assassinating threats to mutant kind, and he recently took on the powerhouse villain, Stryfe in the Messiah War. During Messiah Complex he dropped a O*N*E Sentinel by himself armed only with his pair of vibranium knives, and has recently combated (and defeated) the Demon Bear alongside Ghost Rider. During the Messiah War, Warpath was captured by Stryfe but, through sheer force of will, he managed to break free of his restraints and punched the Cable clone in the face. It was awesome. That’s only a glimpse of his savagery and he’s a freakin’ Robin Hood when chucking his vibro-knives. Apparently James is into bestiality as he is in a relationship with the alien-feline-humanoid, Hepzibah, although they haven’t talked much recently (is Hepzibah even still with the X-Men?). If Warpath wasn’t so limited in his ranged attacks he’d be much higher on our list.

Powers: James possesses a multitude of super human attributes including, enhanced senses, stamina, durability, agility, and reflexes. He also has night vision, super strength (he can lift up to 25 tons), super speed up to 100 mph, and can fly by propelling himself into the air. Warpath is an expert hunter and tracker, and fights with two vibranium daggers that were given to him by Storm.

First Appearance: New Mutants #16, 1984.

#31. Nightcrawler: Like the Gambit and Rogue fans ranked before him, I’m expecting Nightcrawler fans to not be happy with my placement of the furry blue demon. Well, the reason why he’s so low is because Kurt Wagner has been nothing but a whiny little bitch lately. He spent most of Messiah Complex in an infirmary, and during Manifest Destiny he was featured in a one-shot where he left the X-Men. Pixie’s ability to teleport more people at a time and farther distances than he made Kurt doubt himself, his powers, and his usefulness with the team, so he headed back to Germany for some soul searching. Eventually Kurt returned to the X-Men, but since then we haven’t seen him do much of anything (aside from helping to convince Magik to rejoin the team); he was rather useless during the Utopia event, and now with the addition of Cloak to the X-Men, his power has become even more obsolete. So here he sits at number 31.

Powers: Nightcrawler has the ability of Teleportation. He teleports by displacing himself into the Brimstone Dimension, traveling through it, and then returning to our dimension at a different point from where he originally departed. He travels so quickly through the Brimstone Dimension that his mind is never able to register that he was ever there, and when he uses his ability, smoke that smells strongly of burnt brimstone is left behind. The longer the distance traveled by Kurt in this way the more tiring it is for him. He has been known to go as far as 3 miles in one jump, as his momentum is maintained throughout the teleportation process (meaning he reappears with as much as he left with), aiding him greatly in combat. When Nightcrawler teleports someone with him, the effect is usually exhausting for the passenger, which in a backwards way is beneficial during combat since multiple jumps usually knock the person out. Besides the limitations to distance, the other major weakness with Kurt’s ability is that he can only teleport to a place he can physically see. Well, he can jump blind, but he runs the risk of reappearing within a solid object which would most likely kill him. He has micro suction discs on his body that enable him to easily scale surfaces, as well as night vision, enhanced stamina and agility, and can blend in with shadows making him difficult to detect in low lighted areas. Kurt is also a highly trained swordsman, a pilot, and a devout Catholic.

First Appearance: Giant-Size X-Men #1, 1975.

The mutant judging continues soon, so stay tuned…

Andy Liegl
andy@comicattack.net