X-Men

__** X-Men **__

(See here for the X-Men's current roster)

Under a cloud of increasing anti-mutant sentiment, Professor Xavier created a safe haven at his Westchester mansion where he could train young mutants to use their powers for the betterment of mankind. Aided by F.B.I. agent Fred Duncan, Xavier spent months recruiting his early students (code-named Cyclops, Iceman, Angel, Beast and Marvel Girl), dubbing them "X-Men" because each possessed an "extra" ability normal humans lacked. The X-Men made their public debut by thwarting Magneto's seizure of the Cape Citadel missile base. The U.S. military was grateful, and the youngsters were initially regarded as heroes. Magneto would battle the X-Men repeatedly over the years, sometimes leading his Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. The X-Men also battled such threats as the immovable Blob, the untouchable Unus, the alien Lucifer, the savage Swamp Men, the enigmatic Stranger, the unstoppable Juggernaut, and the giant mutant-hunting Sentinel robots.

When the sentient island Krakoa captured most of his students, Xavier hastily assembled a second squad of X-Men. Traveling the world, he recruited Nightcrawler in Germany, Wolverine in Canada, Banshee in Ireland, Storm in Kenya, Sunfire in Japan, Colossus in Russia, and Thunderbird in America. Led by Cyclops, these all-new, all-different X-Men were able to rescue their predecessors. Except for Cyclops, the previous members all quit the expanded team. Sunfire also left the group, and Thunderbird died battling Count Nefaria and his Ani-Men during an attempted takeover of the N.O.R.A.D. facility in Cheyenne Mountain.

The X-Men soon welcomed more new members, including Kitty Pryde, Rogue, and Rachel Summers. When the X-Men were believed dead after an encounter with the alien Brood, Xavier formed a new team of students dubbed the New Mutants. After the X-Men returned, Xavier continued to mentor both teams. The New Mutants even served temporarily as X-Men to save the team from interdimensional media mogul Mojo.

The real Jean Grey eventually revived and was reunited with the original X-Men members. Together they established X-Factor, supposedly a business dedicated to hunting and capturing dangerous mutants, but secretly a group formed to protect, recruit and mentor mutants in need of guidance, like Xavier before them. At the same time, the X-Factor group moonlighted as an openly mutant super-hero team, the X-Terminators.

When Magneto nearly killed Wolverine by forcibly extracting the Adamantium implants from his skeleton, Xavier retaliated by telepathically lobotomizing Magneto; but Xavier paid a high price for this action. Tainted by Magneto's essence, Xavier unwittingly created the evil psionic entity Onslaught, which seemingly slew most of New York's major super heroes before being defeated. The heroes eventually returned, but not before Xavier was arrested for his part in the creation of Onslaught. Incarcerated, Xavier was interrogated by the hybrid Sentinel Bastion, who used the information he gained to launch an assault on the X-Men under the guise of the government-sponsored Operation: Zero Tolerance program.

Magneto soon resurfaced, holding the planet hostage with its own magnetic field, and convinced the world's leaders to grant him sovereignty over Genosha, an island nation near South Africa where humans once enslaved mutants. At first forced to cope with civil war and the effects of the lethal Legacy Virus, Magneto gained the might of a unified nation when a cure for the mutant plague was released into the atmosphere. Magneto proclaimed his intended dominance over mankind, standing ready to unleash an entire nation of mutates upon the planet. With the aid of a hastily-assembled interim team, the X-Men narrowly averted the would-be conqueror's ultimate offensive.

When Xavier and the X-Men were publicly outed as mutants by Xavier's genetic twin, Cassandra Nova, the Xavier Institute was overwhelmed with an influx of young mutants seeking safety and education. To cope with the large student body, Xavier recruited several new faculty members into the Institute, including former Alpha Flight member Northstar and a reformed Juggernaut. Xavier also formed the X-Corporation, a global search-and-rescue unit for oppressed mutants. The X-Corporation boasts headquarters around the world, with numerous mutants from the various splinter teams rallying to join the cause.

Following an all-out assault on Manhattan by a mutant posing as Magneto, Xavier left the X-Men to help the true Magneto rebuild Genosha after it was devastated by a Sentinel attack. Cyclops and Emma Frost became co-headmasters of the Institute and reorganized the X-Men into three separate teams, leading one team themselves in an effort to improve the X-Men's standing with the public. A second team was led by Cyclops' brother Havok, while the third, the X-Treme Sanctions Executive led by Storm, acted as a global mutant police force until its license was revoked in the wake of "M Day".

After a secret invasion of the earth by the Skrulls and the superhero Civil War, the X-Men have returned to one team. They have dealt with a sentient Danger Room (“Dangerous”), an alien threat from the Breakworld (“Unstoppable”), an incursion from an alternate dimension (“Ghost Boxes”), and giant monsters in Japan (“Monstrous”). They are still based out of the Westchester school.