The Most X-Cellent Female X-Men Characters
Anyone on the lookout for X-quisite female superheroes and villains will find more than enough to sate them in the X-Men franchise.
With over 60 years since its inception, the series has collected a huge number of fantastic female characters. Even run-of-the-mill humans can appreciate this list of the best female X-Men to ever join the team.
1. Storm (Ororo Munroe)
Storm has towered as a pillar of the X-Men for nearly fifty years. Her mutation gives her the power to control the weather, elevating her to such a power that even the mighty Thor takes notice.
Following the breakup between Wolverine and Cyclops, she became the headmistress of the Jean Grey School for Higher Learning, chosen personally by Kitty Pryde. She also had a brief reign as the Queen of Wakanda, which she severed during the Avengers vs. X-Men storyline.
2. Rogue (Anna Marie LeBeau)
With the ability to absorb the superpowers, skills, and memories of anyone she touches, Rogue has one of the most potent mutations in the franchise. However, the absorption can cause tremendous pain to the person she touches. When touching a foe, this works out well. But for a friend, not so much.
This double-edged sword lends itself to complex emotional stories with Rogue, as her power makes it difficult to get close to the people she cares for.
3. Mystique (Raven Darkhölme)
This shapeshifting mutant has been one of the X-Men’s most prominent foes for decades. In X-Men: Evolution, she secretly posed as the Bayville High School principal to spy on the X-Men and recruit delinquent students to join the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants.
She, alongside Professor Xavier and Magneto, holds an important spot as an older generation of mutant who laid the groundwork for the world the X-Men live in.
4. Shadowcat (Kitty Pryde)
This fan-favorite mutant has had a long journey. She began as one of the younger members of the team but stuck with the them for so long that she eventually gathered the age and experience to become a teacher at the Jean Grey School.
Her adventures extend beyond X-Men, as for some time, she served as a member of the Guardians of the Galaxy while in a relationship with Star-Lord. Weezer fans will also remember the shout-out she and Nightcrawler got in the song “In the Garage” from the band’s debut album.
5. Hope Summers
After Scarlet Witch brought mutant-kind to its knees following the House of M storyline, Hope became a shimmering beacon for the species’ revival. Born in the present but raised in the future by Cable for her own protection, she returned to find The Lights and play a pivotal role in Avengers vs. X-Men.
She proudly took the responsibility of picking up mutant-kind from its needs by gathering and leading the first group of mutants to manifest after Scarlet Witch’s curse.
6. Rachel Summers
Rachel Summers hails from both Scott Summers and Jean Grey in the Days of Future Past continuity. She takes heavily from her mother’s side through inheriting Jean Grey’s telepathy, telekinesis, and connection to the Phoenix Force.
Even Galactus has a hard time keeping up with her onslaught of psionic energy she has at her disposal when channeling the Phoenix Force. No wonder she has become one of the most prominent female X-Men.
7. Scarlet Witch (Wanda Maximoff)
Leave it to the daughter of Magneto (except when she’s not; it’s a long story) to hold power that dwarfs nearly any other entity in the entire Marvel universe. Her mental instability makes her strength even more dangerous. The House of M storyline saw her rewrite all of reality, first to create a world where mutants outnumbered humans. Afterward, she uttered, “No more mutants.” to nearly wipe mutation off the face of the Earth.
With her appearances in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the character found a whole new fan following. While technically not a mutant for most of her time in the franchise, expect to see more developments now that the Fox X-Men cinematic universe begins to tie in with the MCU.
8. Danger
For decades, the X-Men have honed their combat abilities in the training facility known as the Danger Room. The Danger Room had such advanced capabilities that it eventually evolved into a sentient intelligence. That intelligence manifested in a physical body which joined the X-Men in their fight for mutant-kind.
She held such high regard within the team that Cyclops selected her to join his Extinction Team. Mutant or machine, she fights alongside them just the same.
9. Oya (Idie Okonkwo)
The people in Oya’s village burned her at the stake, but her mutation kept her safe. Even after being taken in by the X-Men, she still battled the self-hatred inflicted upon her by her people who saw her as a demon.
She stood as a central figure in the Schism storyline that saw Wolverine splitting off from Cyclops’ X-Men to found the Jean Grey School for Higher Learning. A situation where she had little choice but to kill Hellfire members in self defense highlighted the different philosophies in Cyclops and Wolverine’s leadership.
10. X-23 (Laura Kinney)
X-23 made her debut in the animated series X-Men: Evolution and eventually found her way into the comics canon. As a clone made from Wolverine’s DNA, she’s always walked the line between keeping a bond with him and finding her own identity. She once served on the covert strike team version of X-Force and took on Wolverine’s mantle after his death.
X-23 reached her highest prominence for her role in the 2017 movie Logan, as portrayed by Dafne Keen. She helped make the final (at the time, but not anymore) goodbye to Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine memorable.
11. Jean Grey
One of the defining female X-Men, Jean Grey has been around longer than anyone else on this list. First appearing in the very first issue of the franchise as Marvel Girl, her continuous death and rebirth persists in shaping the series. Her connection with the cosmic Phoenix Force made her one of the most powerful mutants of all time and has extended into several other characters highlighted here.
The Dark Phoenix Saga built a foundation that the X-Men comics and their adaptations still build on today.
12. Spiral (Rita Wayword)
Rita Wayword spent years as Mojo’s prisoner before getting tortured and modified into the six-armed killing machine known as Spiral. The transformation made her into a bloodthirsty bruiser with enough combat prowess to take on an entire squad of X-Men at once.
She also holds responsibility for turning Betsy Braddock into Psylocke through body-swapping her mind with Kwannon.
13. Surge (Noriko “Nori” Ashida)
Surge overcame the difficulties of running away from home, immigrating to the US, and suffering from homelessness and addiction. Once she learned to control her powers, she proved herself worthy enough for Emma Frost to choose her as the leader of the New X-Men team.
The team led by Surge, featuring heroes including Prodigy and Hellion, deserves to see some action in an animated adaptation sometime soon.
14. Emma Frost
Emma Frost can go toe-to-toe with the franchise’s most powerful telepaths, but she has the advantage of holding both mind and body strength. Her secondary mutation allows her to transform her body into an indestructible diamond-like material.
Like many X-Men characters, she made the switch from villain to hero. She spent time in a leadership position with the X-Men and even absorbed some of the Phoenix Force’s power to become one of the Phoenix Five.
15. Magik (Illyana Rasputin)
Don’t just think of her as Colossus’ little sister. Magik’s time trapped in Limbo granted her a mastery of sorcery to supplement her natural mutant teleportation abilities.
Cyclops hand-picked her as part of his Extinction Team, a group made of the X-Men so powerful they could sway the world to both fear and depend on them.
16. The Stepford Cuckoos (Celeste, Esme, Irma, Phoebe, and Sophie Cuckoo)
One telepath can already cause a lot of trouble, so how about five? These quintuplet girls entered the X-Men under the wing of fellow psychic Emma Frost. The combined psionic force makes them extremely dangerous, especially when they feel like playing a prank.
Even after the deaths of Esme and Sophie, the remaining three stick together as sisters should.
17. Cerebella (Martha Johansson)
Stripped of her body and forced to exist as nothing but a brain in a jar, Martha Johansson has had a more challenging life than most X-Men. Nevertheless, she persisted and made a place for herself with the X-Men as No-Girl.
Eventually, she got a new body on Krakoa and took on the new mutant name Cerebella.
18. Boom-Boom (Tabitha Smith)
Boom-Boom has a perfect name that gets right to the point. She can manifest small explosive orbs that come in handy, whether in the heat of combat or for more subtle uses like destroying door locks.
In X-Men: Evolution, her party-girl demeanor doesn’t fit in with the X-Men, so she finds it much more fun to defect to the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants.
19. Dazzler (Alison “Ali” Blaire)
Dazzler has the skills and style to balance a superhero career with her pop star life. Her powers allow her to convert sound vibrations into light pretty enough to dazzle a stadium of adoring fans or blind a hostile supervillain.
For some time, there existed plans for an animated series featuring Dazzler alongside Tigra. Unfortunately, this project didn’t survive and got scrapped.
20. Domino (Neena Thurman)
Domino has the unique mutation to manipulate probability. Or, to put it simply, she has the power of good luck on her side. This advantage serves her well as a mercenary who frequently teams up with warriors on the wild side like Deadpool, Wolverine, and Cable.
She entered the live-action space in the Deadpool films, as portrayed by Zazie Beetz.
21. Jubilee (Jubilation Lee)
Anyone looking for some razzle dazzle needs to look no further than Jubilee. Her iconic yellow jacket and pink sunglasses made her a stylish symbol of the 90s X-Men. She had a great run on the cartoon.
Fun fact: she got turned into a vampire for a while before being cured by Quentin Quire.
22. Psylocke (Betsy Braddock)
Initially known for her association with her brother, Captain Britain, Betsy Braddock soon found herself a staple member of the X-Men.
She has the most fun psychic powers of all the women on this list. Her signature move involves channeling mental energy into swords that can scramble the brains of her foes.
