X-Men’s First 20 Members Of Marvel’s First Mutant Team In Chronological Order

Long before the X-Men became one of Marvel’s biggest franchises, they were a surprisingly small group of gifted young people studying at an unusual school in Westchester. Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, the X-Men debuted in 1963 with a premise that separated them from most of Marvel’s other superhero teams: their greatest danger was not simply supervillains, but a society that feared them for being born different.

That idea gave Marvel an excuse to tell superhero stories with a little more bite. The X-Men weren’t merely fighting Magneto, Sentinels or mysterious monsters; they were regularly defending the same humans who wanted nothing to do with them. Even more interestingly, the team didn’t stay static for very long. New recruits arrived, old members left, identities changed, and later stories retroactively revealed that Xavier’s plans were even more complicated than anyone realized.

Counting the team’s earliest recruits therefore gets surprisingly messy. Some characters were introduced decades after their supposed adventures took place, while others appeared in the 1960s before eventually becoming official X-Men. Then came Giant-Size X-Men #1, which completely transformed the franchise by surrounding Cyclops with an international roster. Here are the first 20 members in chronological order, with plenty of wonderfully weird Marvel history along the way.

1

Professor X (AKA Charles Xavier)

Marvel Comics

While the X-Men debuted in X-Men #1, the team already existed as students, studying under Professor Charles Xavier. The team’s origin didn’t play out until four years later in bonus stories, starting in X-Men #38 by Roy Thomas and Werner Roth.

The man who formed the team was Professor X. Xavier got his start by going to the FBI and offering to hunt down the mutants for them, but his goal was to shelter and teach them. Since that introduction, Xavier became the face of the team’s attempt to become heroes.

2

Cyclops (AKA Scott Summers)

The first person who Professor X recruited to join his X-Men was Cyclops. In X-Men #39, Cyclops was hiding from people trying to hurt him after he saved their lives because he was a mutant. Scott Summers was in an orphanage and ended up on the run after his heroic act backfired on him.

While an evil mutant named Jack Winters tried to recruit him, Cyclops joined the X-Men instead. He ended up as one of the team’s most important members, a leader more times than not. Cyclops was a respected, feared, and powerful mutant at different points throughout his life. While his very first comics established Cyclops’ eyes shoot concussive force, not heat or thermal energy, writer Stan Lee would mistake them for Superman-esque ‘heat vision’ almost immediately.

3

Iceman (AKA Robert “Bobby” Drake)

With Cyclops on the team as the eventual leader, Professor X then brought in Bobby Drake, the youngest member of the original X-Men. In X-Men #44 by Gary Friedrich and George Tuska, Ice-Man made his first appearance. He saved a girl by using his powers and found himself in peril from a society that thought he was dangerous.

Ice-Man was just a young teenager who lived with his parents, and Xavier sent Cyclops to free him. After a fight with the townspeople, Professor X convinced Bobby’s parents to let him go with the X-Men to learn how to control his powers.

4

Angel (AKA Warren Worthington III)

In X-Men #54 by Arnold Drake and Werner Roth, it was time for the true origin of Angel joining the X-Men to be told. Warren Worthington III was the son of a wealthy businessperson and, when he became a teenager, he grew wings out of his back.

Unlike Cyclops and Ice-Man, Angel began operating as a superhero on his own before joining the X-Men. He didn’t want to join at first, but eventually did, and Angel became the third student for Xavier and the X-Men.

5

Beast (AKA Dr. Henry “Hank” McCoy)

While told out of order in the comics, the fourth member of the X-Men was Beast, and his origin played out in X-Men #51-53 by Arnold Drake and Werner Roth. Hank McCoy was a star football player, beloved by everyone. However, when The Conquistador kidnapped him, the X-Men showed up to rescue him.

Professor X ended up wiping the townspeople’s memories of Hank’s amazing feats, and he joined the X-Men. This was a human-looking Beast with enormous hands and feet, as he didn’t turn blue and furry until later in his life. He was also a beloved X-Men member that fans have grown to hate over recent years.

6

Marvel Girl (AKA Jean Grey)

In X-Men #1 by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, the X-Men made their first appearance and the core members were already on the team. In that issue, the fifth student joined them, the first girl — Jean Grey, whom Professor X dubbed Marvel Girl.

She showed up and joined the team, with Jean Grey finding that all the original X-Men had feelings for her. eventually getting thrown right into the fire as they battled Magneto right after she showed up. Jean Grey became one of the most respected members of the X-Men and even had the school named after her at one point.

7

Mimic (AKA Calvin Rankin)

The least talked about ‘new member’ of the X-Men is forgotten for a reason, since the origin and early superhero career of Mimic is the last thing any fans would expect l. For starters, Mimic isn’t even technically a mutant, but was granted his ability to copy others’ gifts through a chemical accident. It was a gift and a curse, isolating Calvin from his community… until he accidentally copied the superhuman powers of the X-Men, and saw exactly how he could turn his temporary power mimicry into something permanent.

His plan to acquire all the X-Men’s mutations was a total disaster, and Xavier erased his memories and powers. But when they inevitably returned, it just so happened that the X-Men needed additional backup. Xavier made Mimic the first recruit beyond the original roster in X-Men #27 by Roy Thomas and Werner Roth. And while his time on the team was brief (due mainly to his grating personality) Calvin did prove to have heroic potential, despite where his desires would lead him in the future.

8

Changeling (AKA Kevin Sydney)

Kevin Sydney, the mutant codenamed Changeling (later reintroduced as Morph) holds a special place in X-Men history as the first official member of the team to sacrifice their life in pursuit of a mutant future. The twist? He didn’t actually die as himself, but in disguise as Professor Charles Xavier (allowing Marvel to deliver a bombshell death, but avoid killing off a Marvel icon in just his first years of publication).

The full story was eventually revealed, with Changeling informing Xavier of his terminal illness shortly after making the jump to the ‘hero’ side. As a result, Changeling actually portrayed Xavier in the comics with no one the wiser, right up to his aforementioned death. Thankfully Xavier returned when his own clandestine mission was completed, so Sydney’s sacrifice could be honored. And it has remained, since the version of Sydney who later returned as Morph for X-Men: The Animated Series was from an alternate universe.

9

Polaris (AKA Dr. Lorna Sally Dane)

As the illegitimate daughter of Magneto blessed with his same power of magentism, Lorna Dane entered the world of Marvel Comics in the last way anyone would expect. Not as an adversary to the X-Men, or even a recruit, but a young woman who crossed paths with Bobby Drake completely by accident. Sure, she was being mind-controlled by a cult of Magneto worshippers who craved her power, but Bobby didn’t know that.

With said cult unlocking Lorna’s powers in hopes she would possess her father’s villainy, a new mutant was unleashed upon the X-Men. Thanks to the strong bonds of friendship she had already formed (and her innate heroism), Lorna accompanied the X-Men back to their school for the gifted, and enrolled. Before long she would become an official member of the team, even if her own ambitions would lead to her departure (and an incredibly complicated future with her absent father, Magneto).

10

Havok (AKA Alexander Summers)

When Alex and Scott Summers were pushed from an airplane by their mother to avoid being taken prisoner in a Shi’ar attack (we’ll get back to that shortly), the duo parachuted safely to the ground, and into an orphanage side-by-side. With his brother Scott’s amazing mutation already showing potential, Alex was adopted so the villainous Mister Sinister could keep a closer watch on Cyclops’ development. It wasn’t until Alex’s own mutation emerged that he was placed on a collision course with his older brother’s secret identity, as leader of the X-Men.

Alex’s ability to absorb cosmic radiation and unleash it in hard-to-control plasma blasts made him into a weapon, and the X-Men’s defeat of his puppet master set the stage for his enrollment in the Xavier School. Not only would he learn to control his powers and join the X-Men as Havok, but Alex would also fall in love with fellow recruit Polaris, confirming his future with the X-Men would provide endless arcs of family drama.