X-Men: 10 Most Brutal Defeats By The 5 Founding Members

Since the debut of 1963’s The X-Men #1, Marvel’s Merry Mutants have beaten countless enemies and supervillains. However, even throughout all their victories, the original five X-Men first trained by Professor X have also suffered many tragic defeats.

The Xavier School’s founding students – Jean Grey, Warren Worthington III, Scott Summers, Bobby Drake, and Hank McCoy – have remained iconic X-Men characters since their introduction, fighting for decades against monsters like Mister Sinister, Cassandra Nova, and more recently the anti-mutant agency Orchis. While Jean Grey, Angel, Cyclops, Iceman, and Beast have all had tremendous triumphs against their foes, all of them have been brutally beaten, and below are 10 of their worst defeats:

10 Angel Was Almost Murdered By The Marauders

X-Factor Vol. 1 (1986) #10

Since the heroic high-flying Angel was recruited by Xavier, the wealthy playboy has become a major X-Men hero, saving the world many times, but has also had some of the lowest lows of the original X-Men. One of Angel’s most horrific defeats was during the devastating Mutant Massacre event, where Mister Sinister’s Marauders massacred the Morlock mutants. Working with X-Factor at the time, Angel attempted to save the young mutant Artie when he was pinned to the wall by Harpoon after Blockbuster and Vertigo beat him, which eventually led to his wings being amputated and pushing him directly into the arms of Apocalypse.

9 Cyclops Was Defeated In A Duel By A Powerless Storm

Uncanny X-Men Vol. 1 (1963) #201

Cyclops’ is one of Marvel’s most famous heroes, and the eye-blasting Summers has an amazing track record of defeating heroes and villains who are in many ways stronger than him. Often acting as a leader of the X-Men, Cyclops was incredibly embarrassed when he was outsmarted and defeated by his teammate Storm, while she was powerless and unable to use her weather manipulation. Dueling to see who would be the definitive leader of the X-Men team, Ororo was about to defeat Scott by swiftly removing his protective visor, forcing him to admit defeat, leading to his retirement from the team.

8 Jean Grey Is Brutally Knocked Unconscious By Psylocke

X-Men Vol. 2 (1991) #20

The X-Men’s Jean Grey is a true icon of the Mutant Mythos, famous as much for her many deaths as she is for her intense connection to the cosmic Phoenix Force. While Jean is an Omega-level telepath she is still, tragically, a human mutant. She is immensely empathic and sensitive, and in one situation her jealousy and anger blinded her to a threat. Psylocke was attempting to seduce Jean’s partner Scott. After confronting Betsy, Jean screams at her to tell her the truth, and Psylocke uses her vicious psychic blade to render Jean unconscious, shockingly defeating her with a simple move.

7 Iceman Was Nearly Killed By North Star And Aurora

X-Men Vol. 2 (1991) #189

The X-Men’s Iceman is one of the franchise’s most powerful mutants of all time, referred to as “Omega Number 2” by Nimrod, after Jean Grey. The wise-cracking Bobby Drake is a highest-order elemental hero who perhaps holds the record for the least defeats out of the original five X-Men. However, during the X-Men’s first confrontation with the dangerous Children of the Vault, Iceman was nearly murdered. A brainwashed North Star and Aurora blasted Bobby with her intense shared power, seemingly obliterating him entirely. Thankfully, Iceman was able to – for the first time – remake his body from the environment’s vapors, saving himself.

6 Beast Was Put In A Coma By Beak And Cassandra Nova

New X-Men (2001) #117

The bouncing Beast was known as the most intelligent, and perhaps kindest, member of the original X-Men when he first debuted. With an eclectic heroic career, particularly his time spent with the Avengers, Beast is an adept fighter but has also been beaten various times. One of Hank’s most shocking defeats came at the hands of a surprising X-Men student, the outcast Beak. After Beast discovers Cassandra Nova’s possession of Charles Xavier she must act swiftly to take him down, psychically forcing poor Beak into beating Hank with a bat so severely that Beast remained in a coma for several heart-wrenching issues.

5 Angel Has His Precious Wings Ripped Off By Wolfsbane

X-Force Vol. 3 (2008) #4

Even though Warren’s angelic wings have become intrinsic to his identity and heroism, they have also been a source of great pain and trauma. After being “saved” by Apocalypse years before and given a Celestial upgrade, and giving him vicious techno-organic wings as Archangel, Angel’s terrifying switches between his regular personality and his murderous Archangel one have happened often. After rescuing a kidnapped Wolfsbane, it was revealed that Rahne had been brainwashed by the Purifiers and her biological father Reverend Craig. Rahne brutally ripped Warren’s wings off, nearly killing him once again, and leading to him take another dark turn as his alter ego Archangel.

4 Cyclops Was Murdered By Thanos With Barely Any Effort

Infinity Gauntlet (1991) #4

During the iconic Marvel crossover event Infinity Gauntlet, the infamous Thanos managed to get his hands on all the Infinity Gems and place them in his gauntlet, giving him near-unstoppable power. Thanos single-handedly beat nearly every Marvel hero with the gauntlet, but Cyclops’ murder at the hands of Thanos was perhaps the most brutal. Using the gauntlet, Thanos placed a force field around Scott’s head, slowly suffocating the X-Men hero to death. While Thanos killed countless heroes, and all the other X-Men, Cyclops’ horrifically slow death stands out as one of the most disturbing, even though Scott and the other heroes were eventually brought back to life.

3 Jean Grey Was Tragically Killed By Xorn

New X-Men (2001) #150

Grant Morrison’s New X-Men run is one of the most iconic and beloved runs of X-Men ever published, with the Omega-level Jean Grey re-establishing her connection to the Phoenix Force while battling against a mad “Magneto.” Determined to stop this false Magneto – later retconned to have been Xorn the entire time – from enslaving humanity, Jean Grey attacks Xorn and succeeds in her mission. Sadly, she succumbs to a powerful EMP blast that Xorn attacks her with, dying on the spot. Another in a long line of infamous Jean deaths, her murder at the hands of Xorn was shocking and tragic and had reverberations on X-Men stories for years after.

2 Iceman Was Stabbed By Dark Beast With The Death Seed

X-Termination (2013) #2

At the conclusion of the X-Termination event, the Dark Beast – a monstrous Hank McCoy from the Age of Apocalypse – was able to store a Celestial Death Seed within Iceman’s core. The Death Seed did not “harm” Bobby Drake per se, but Dark Beast’s actions caused Iceman to almost destroy the world and murder his loved ones. Becoming twisted due to the Seed’s influence, Iceman eventually froze the entire planet, growing so powerful he defeated Thor when the God of Thunder attempted to stop his freezing reign. While Bobby was eventually saved, Dark Beast’s actions turned Iceman into a terrifying villain, a tragic turn for the compassionate hero.

1 Beast Was Recently Defeated By X-Force

Wolverine (2020) #35

Out of all of Xavier’s original five X-Men, Hank McCoy has fallen the furthest, becoming an outright villain during the Krakoan Era, convincing himself his horrific actions as leader of X-Force have been for “the greater good.” Finally, realizing he had to work “alone,” Beast broke off from Krakoa and created an army of cloned Beasts and Wolverines, called the “Weapons of X.” After weeks of tracking and skirmishes, Wolverine and Beast’s former X-Force teammates were able to defeat the former hero, with Hank escaping mortally wounded but still alive after being attacked by Deadpool. Embarrassed, brutalized, and wonderfully beaten, Beast has an almost impossible path to redemption in front of him.

Charles Xavier’s original five X-Men students were trained for years to master their abilities, become brilliant strategists, and build up their resiliency in a fight. Even though Cyclops, Jean Grey, Iceman, Beast, and Angel have all faced impossible odds and won, defeating countless foes over the years, they are far from infallible or unbeatable, with all five iconic heroes learning as much from their brutal defeats as from their iconic successes.