I don’t know why I’m doing this article. I think it goes back to an article I came across jokingly asking readers of this site what would things be like if Marvel won the rights to Superman. I recalled someone referring to Supes having to turn slightly immoral and so on referring to the many personal demons Marvel characters struggle with.
My question here is who we, as readers, feel for the most. There are so many heroes I may have missed some (feel free to talk about who I’ve missed and why they belong here). And, yet, some are together as I will explain.
Keep the movies out of this. Purely base this on the comics. For me, it's eother # 13 0r # 17. i apologize if there are too many X-related characters but that's just how it work out when i compiled this list
1) Kitty and Colossus
Why:
Baggage aside, since almost every hero, and surely every mutant, comes with baggage, the Romeo and Juliet (fate holding them apart rather than warring parents) thing these 2 have going is insane. After the valiant death of Kitty’s true love, Peter, (note: his death saved all mutants from the Legacy Virus, an act inspired by the death of his sister) she walked away from the heroic lifestyle in which she grew up. After coming back to the X-Men she discovered that he was, in fact, not dead but held as a prisoner. Next, it would be his turn to watch as his “Katya” sacrificed herself to save the Earth (note: her body was “forever” fused to a bullet traveling through space)
Why not:
Leave the love story for the morning soaps
2) Marrow
Why:
Forced to live in the sewers as a grotesque mutant child, Sarah survived a brutal mutant massacre. Taken to another dimension by Mikhail Rasputin (the brother of 2 others on my list) and raised to survive at all costs (a twisted version of Social Darwinism on which I can write an entire article relating to comics). Her actions boil down to being that of a scared and lonely young girl trying to find a place to call home
Why not:
So what if she’s a product of her environment. Does society fell bad for serial killers because they were abused as children?
3) Hulk
Why:
Who’s in charge here? Bruce, Joe Fixit, Savage, or the intellectual Jade Giant… we all have to bite our tongue at times but this is “incredible”. Anyone with bipolar disorder knows how difficult this is, and upsetting an outburst can be.
Why not:
That bastard couldn’t leave well enough alone. He is the cause of most of his transformations and he just had to come back and get revenge.
4) Wolverine
Why:
Not remembering why you are what you are has to be a heavy burden.
Why not:
He’s near unstoppable and has figured out plenty.
5) Punisher
Why:
Do you do what you do because your wife and children were gunned down by criminals because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time? He does.
Why not:
Dude’s nuts; completely apeshit. How can one still feel sorrow from someone completely separated from normalcy?
6) Spiderman
Why:
His carelessness caused the death of his uncle. His secret has brought a spectacular amount of pain to his loved ones. He was a patsy for Stark in Civil War…
Why not:
Several of his sad situations were erased by Mephisto.
7) Beast
Why:
Devolving and Bestiality. Pretty much sums that up
Why not:
Curiosity killed the cat
8) Silver Surfer
Why: to preserve his planet and loved ones he became the herald of a world-devouring badass. Taken was his ability to feel emotion and given was his privilege to destroy zillions for his master’s nourishment.
Why not:
Open your freakin’ eyes tin man, you should’ve put your foot down a millennia ago
9) Black Bolt
Why:
SHHHH!!!! Don’t say anything
Why not:
People deal with disabilities every day and they are not glorified on a list and he should be no different.
10) Galactus (to me, he is not a villain, he’s a ‘tweener)
Why:
If you think Wolverine or Ra’s Al Gul have a hard time due to outliving people how about the guy that’s been around since before the Big Bang Theory.
Why Not: if he doesn’t care, should we?
11) Deadpool
Why:
He’s living in a fake world and he knows it. Talk about a feeling of being trapped
Why not:
The guy’s “nuttier than a squirrel turd” and finds humor in his predicament. We should be laughing with him
12) Cyclops
Why:
This guy makes Charlie brown look lucky. Plain crash/missing family: check. Uncontrollable mutant ability: double check. Leader of a minority hated by the majority (and save the lives of the ones who hate you): check. Dead/reincarnated/dead lover: check. Fall in love with the sluttiest X-Slut your team has ever encountered: check
Why not:
Ummm Jean Grey and Emma Frost: =) checkmate
13) Iron Man
Why:
He really was trying to do the right thing during the Civil War. He had the best intentions. He indirectly caused the death his best friend, the symbol of the nation, Captain America. For all he did, Osborne was the government’s go-to guy…
Why not:
It can be argued that he made all the wrong choices, choices he made on his own.
14) Quicksilver
Why:
His entire heroic career, all of his accolades, were done in order to either protect his sister (she went bonkers, so that’s a BIG fail) or to separate himself from his father, the master of magnetism, Magneto. Anyone reading this who feels remotely protective of their family OR wants to get out from under the shadow of someone else and be judged on his/her own merits should liken themselves to the begotten son
Why not:
His quick temper paints him more the type to do what’s best for himself than a self-sacrificing hero.
15) Magik
Why:
When she was six years old, Illyana was abducted. Shortly thereafter, Illyana was kidnapped again, this time to the Limbo dimension by Belasco and S'ym, inhabitants of this demon dimension. She was raised there and a portion of her essence/soul was corrupted by Belasco. During her battle with Belasco she magically developed horns, a tail and fangs. Not long afterwards, Illyana contracted the Legacy Virus, and finally succumbed to it and died. Belasco created a powerful spell to return Illyana to him after seeing her reappear during the House of M crossover event. The essence took shape and became the souless Darkchylde. Illyana then attempted to complete the process and reclaime Limbo's throne, that her next move is to reclaim her soul. Magik is the first to fall when trying to bring Hope and Cable to Utopia when she is drawn into the portal by a cluster of demonic tentacles.
Why not:
Rarely used in the comics, is she worth caring about? Has anyone invested emotionally in her?
16) Strong Guy
Why: Every time he uses his powers his body deforms. He is in constant pain. Anyone with arthritis, migraines, or any such pain can relate.
Why not: (see: Magik’s why not)
17) X-23
Why:
Think Logan’s got it hard? Try being his clone. After seven years, Rice subjects X-23 to radiation poisoning in order to activate her mutant gene. He extracts her claws, coats them with adamantium, and reinserts them back into her hands and feet - a procedure performed without affording the child any anesthetic. Rice creates a "trigger scent" that drives X-23 into a murderous rage when she detects it. Prior to his death, Rice exposed Kinney to the trigger scent; X-23 goes into a murderous frenzy and kills her mother. As she lies dying, Kinney tells X-23 that her name is Laura and that she loves her, and hands her the letter and pictures of Charles Xavier, Wolverine, and the Xavier Institute.
Why not:
Do we really need another clone (ask Spiderman that question)
18) Wonderman
Why: Bad costumes aside. Try being tricked into villainy, dependance on a drug in order to survive, sacrificing yourself in order to save your heroic enemies, being resurrected as an ionic being and seeing the woman you love in love with an andriod in use of your brain patterns.
Why not:
He’s an Avenger bench-warmer whose best days were with Beast; along time ago. Who cares about this guy?
19) Magneto (he was once a hero)
Why:
Similar to both the Punisher and Spiderman in that tragedy has created them. He’s the Punisher with a bit more people on whom to lash out. One can say he lives by the Spider-motto “Wth great Power…” This, to him, is his resposibilty.
Why not:
Once a hero means he IS a villain. One should not excuse his actions (see: Marrow’s Why not)
20) Rogue and Mrs. Marvel
Why:
You does one feel worse for? A young, confused girl who can not touch another person is cohersed into battle with an iconic hero and inevitably sucks the hero’s mind and soul into her own. Both were trapped. Both fought for supremacy
Why not:
They’ve moved on, shouldn’t we?