X-Men: The 11 greatest characters of all time
9. Mystique
Mystique makes the cut despite not truly being part of the team of X-Men like a number of other mutants in the list. Although, Fox has done their best to exploit the popularity of Jennifer Lawrence by making her more of a protagonist and member of the team than she has ever been in the comics. Still, it doesn’t take away from the popularity of Mystique. In the rebooted X-Men movie franchise, Mystique grew up with Professor Charles Xavier and together they formed the First Class of X-Men. However, Mystique’s past is much more convoluted. The only known thing about Mystique is that she was born in Austria and her real name is Raven Darkholme, though that’s not a certainty either. Mystique has the ability to shape-shift, mimic other mutant abilities, excellent combat skills, and possesses an anti-aging gene. One of the coolest things about Mystique, however, is her connection with other X-Men.
Mystique and Wolverine we’re lovers, the two met when the latter was hired to be part of a group of thieves she led in the 1920s After pushing Wolverine from a moving train she would get into a relationship with Sabertooth, and the two would conceive a child, Victor Creed who she would assassinate. Much later in her life, she conceived a child after cheating on her husband with Azazel. Nightcrawler’s birth physical mutation scared the villagers who thought they were demons. Afraid for her child’s life, she dumped him in the river. The abandoning of Nightcrawler hurt her, but thanks to her lover, Destiny she would adopt a daughter Ann Marie to somewhat fill the void.
Mystique would semi-retire her mutant appearance in favor of a new persona where she would work her way up the political latter. As a member of the US Department of Defense, Mystique would exploit her political prowess and became the US most notorious terrorist. Mystique created the team of mutants, The Brotherhood to further her fiendish ways. Mystique trained her daughter, and gave her the nickname Rogue and permitted her to join the Brotherhood. The group of mutants was tough, under Mystique‘s guidance they successfully defeated the Avengers in large part due to Rogue absorbing Ms. Marvel’s abilities. After Rogue departed to join the X-Men Mystique became begrudgingly angry at the team despite understanding why Rogue needed them. Mystique would play a major role in Days of Future Past as she assigned her team to kill Senator Kelly.
After Legion kills Destiny, Mystique would become a target of the Shadow King with hell of the X-Men. In fact, Mystique would save Professor X’s life during the fray. Despite being a villain Mystique does a number of things to protect Rogue including killing Sinister. There’s enough material for a movie, but there has yet to be a true depiction of a character who has dominated the X-Men for years.