X-Factor is a group of
mutant superheroes appearing in
American comic books published by
Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics is a New York City–based comic book publishing, publisher, a property of the Walt Disney Company since December 31, 2009, and a subsidiary of Disney Publishing Worldwide since March 2023. Marvel was founded in 1939 by Martin G ...
.
Publication history
Original team (1986–1991)
''
X-Factor
''The X Factor'' is a television music competition franchise created by British producer Simon Cowell and his company Syco Entertainment. It originated in the United Kingdom, where it was devised as a replacement for '' Pop Idol'' (2001–200 ...
'' launched in 1986 featuring a team composed of the five original
X-Men
The X-Men are a superhero team in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer/editor Stan Lee and artist/co-plotter Jack Kirby, the team first appeared in Uncanny X-Men, ''The X-Men'' #1 (September 1963). Although initial ...
that debuted in ''X-Men'' #1 (1963):
*
Angel – A millionaire heir, capable of flight by means of two feathery wings extending from his back.
*
Beast – A brilliant scientist possessing bestial strength and agility.
*
Cyclops – Former X-Men team leader, with the ability to emit powerful "optic blasts" from his eyes.
*
Marvel Girl – The long-time love of Cyclops, possessing
telekinetic abilities.
*
Iceman – A brash jokester, gifted with
cryokinetic (the ability to lower temperature around him and form ice) abilities.
In the 1970s and early 1980s, Angel, Beast, and Iceman wandered through various superhero teams. By 1985, all three were members of the
Defenders. With the monthly ''
Defenders'' series already due to be cancelled, Angel, Beast, and Iceman were freed up for X-Factor.
A more difficult task was the return of Cyclops and Jean Grey. In 1980, Jean Grey was killed during the seminal ''
Dark Phoenix Saga'', and it was considered vital that the team have a female member.
In one of the most significant cases of
retroactive continuity
Retroactive continuity, or retcon for short, is a literary device in fictional story telling whereby facts and events established through the narrative itself are adjusted, ignored, supplemented, or contradicted by a subsequently published work ...
in comic book history, Jean Grey had never actually been the Phoenix. Instead, the Phoenix entity copied Grey's identity and form, keeping her safe in a cocoon-like structure beneath
Jamaica Bay.
At the beginning of X-Factor 1, Scott is having marriage troubles. When Scott goes to visit the newly awoken Jean, Cyclops’s wife
Madelyne Pryor, an Alaskan pilot who bore a strange resemblance to Grey, leaves him, taking their infant son
Nathan.
One of the largest misconceptions of this period is that Cyclops abandoned his wife for Jean. However, he did not make plans to stay away, and called home in issue 2. Unfortunately, the line was disconnected due to Madelyne leaving him and a plot by Mr. Sinister. He later returned to Alaska to search for her and his son, but Mr Sinister erased all traces of their existence, and planted a body to fake her death. Scott did not resume a relationship with Jean until after Madelyne Prior was presumed dead.
The original X-Men disassociate with the current team because Professor X had placed their old nemesis,
Magneto, as its leader. The five original members set up a business advertised as mutant-hunters for hire, headquartered in the
TriBeCa neighborhood of downtown
New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
,
posing as "normal" (non-superpowered) humans to their clients. The mutants that X-Factor capture are secretly trained to control their powers and reintegrated into society. Through their "mutant hunting" they recruit a group of young wards:
*
Artie Maddicks – A pink-skinned, mute child who could project hologram-like images of his thoughts.
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Tabitha Smith – A young woman who ran away from her abusive father, who can create handheld energy spheres that she can explode at will, which she calls "time bombs".
*
Rusty Collins
Russell "Rusty" Collins, formerly known as Firefist, is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics.
Firefist was portrayed in the 2018 film '' Deadpool 2'' by Julian Dennison and Sala Baker.
Publication history
...
– A former member of the
U.S. Navy whose
pyrokinesis first manifested uncontrollably, severely injuring a woman.
*
Leech
Leeches are segmented parasitism, parasitic or Predation, predatory worms that comprise the Class (biology), subclass Hirudinea within the phylum Annelida. They are closely related to the Oligochaeta, oligochaetes, which include the earthwor ...
– A green-skinned young boy, who can dampen the mutant powers of those around him.
*
Rictor – A Mexican teenager who can produce powerful seismic waves.
*
Skids – A runaway who could project a protective, frictionless force field around her body.
Eventually, the team decides that the "mutant hunter" ruse did more harm than good by inflaming hatred, and blames it on X-Factor's original business manager,
Cameron Hodge, who is revealed as a mutant-hating mastermind.
In ''X-Factor'' #6 (1986),
Louise Simonson introduced
Apocalypse, who would appear in
multiple issues and become X-Factor's nemesis.
In ''X-Factor'' #10, the
Marauders, a group of mutant mercenaries, severely injure Angel's wings, which are later amputated. Despondent, Angel attempts
suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death.
Risk factors for suicide include mental disorders, physical disorders, and substance abuse. Some suicides are impulsive acts driven by stress (such as from financial or ac ...
by detonating his airliner mid-flight, but Apocalypse rescues him and transforms him into Death, one of his
Four Horsemen, giving him metal wings and blue skin. Angel escaped Apocalypse's control, but these physical changes remain. He is renamed Archangel and rejoins the X-Men in issue #36. Angel's replacement on X-Factor,
Caliban, turns to Apocalypse for more power in issue #24, with Apocalypse leaving X-Factor his ship in return.
In the 1989
crossover ''
Inferno'', Madelyne Pryor is revealed to be a
clone of Jean Grey created by
Mister Sinister. Manipulated by demons and tormented by Scott's rejection of her, Madelyne becomes the Goblin Queen and fights X-Factor before kills herself in a
suicide attack on Jean.
In the last major storyline of the first ''X-Factor'' series, published in early 1991, Apocalypse kidnaps Nathan Summers, sensing that he would grow up to be a powerful mutant and possible threat. X-Factor rescue Nathan from Apocalypse's lunar base, but find him infected with a
techno-organic virus. A clan of rebels from the future, known as the Askani, send a representative to the present time to bring Nathan 2,000 years into the future to be treated. Fully grown, he returns to the 20th century as the
antihero, Cable.
X-Factor, the X-Men, and several minor characters team up to fight the telepathic
Shadow King in another crossover event, ''
The Muir Island Saga''. Afterward, the original members of X-Factor rejoin the X-Men and several characters from various X-Men-related series become founding members of a new X-Factor.
Government team (1991–1998)
X-Factor was recreated with new members, all of whom were already allies of the X-Men, and three of whom were involved in the ''Muir Island Saga''. The new X-Factor worked for
the Pentagon
The Pentagon is the headquarters building of the United States Department of Defense, in Arlington County, Virginia, across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C. The building was constructed on an accelerated schedule during World War II. As ...
, replacing
Freedom Force as the government's salaried mutant team.
Their relationship with their benefactors was often strained and complicated. The new X-Factor, debuting in issue #71, included:
*
Valerie Cooper – A U.S. government agent with history as both ally and adversary of the X-Men who becomes X-Factor's government liaison, carrying over from her duties as liaison to a prior government-sponsored team of mutants,
Freedom Force.
*
Havok – A former X-Man and brother of Cyclops who metabolizes cosmic rays to generate powerful, but hard to control, plasma waves. Havok serves as X-Factor's leader.
*
Multiple Man – He can create duplicates of himself on physical impact. He was previously offered X-Men membership, but he declined, opting instead to work at the
Muir Island research center.
*
Polaris
Polaris is a star in the northern circumpolar constellation of Ursa Minor. It is designated α Ursae Minoris (Latinisation of names, Latinized to ''Alpha Ursae Minoris'') and is commonly called the North Star or Pole Star. With an ...
– Havok's long-time lover, and also a former X-Man who can control magnetism. Later revealed to be Magneto's daughter.
*
Quicksilver – A long-running
Avengers character, and a former foe of the X-Men, who possesses super speed and a difficult temperament.
*
Strong Guy – A wise-cracking character who can re-channel
kinetic energy
In physics, the kinetic energy of an object is the form of energy that it possesses due to its motion.
In classical mechanics, the kinetic energy of a non-rotating object of mass ''m'' traveling at a speed ''v'' is \fracmv^2.Resnick, Rober ...
aimed at him, transforming it into muscular mass and power.
Lila Cheney's former bodyguard.
*
Wolfsbane – A
Scottish former New Mutant who can transform into a
wolf
The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the grey wolf or gray wolf, is a Canis, canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of Canis lupus, subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, includin ...
or a
werewolf
In folklore, a werewolf (), or occasionally lycanthrope (from Ancient Greek ), is an individual who can shapeshifting, shapeshift into a wolf, or especially in modern film, a Shapeshifting, therianthropic Hybrid beasts in folklore, hybrid wol ...
-like creature. Some artificial manipulation of her feelings causes her to love Havok, bringing her much conflict and frustration because she knows he loves Polaris.
Forge, a former government weapons contractor whose mutant power is an instinctive ability to invent advanced technology, was later added to the group; first replacing Cooper as their liaison after she had been compromised by one of Magneto's
Acolytes, and later as an active member. Cooper later becomes an active member as well, her marksmanship and athletic skills compensating for her lack of superhuman powers.
In a 1995 story, Multiple Man apparently dies of the
Legacy Virus, a deadly illness that attacks mutant genes, which is later revealed to have only killed one of his duplicates. Strong Guy is put into suspended animation after suffering a heart attack caused by the stress his extra mass put on his body. Wolfsbane, cured of her artificial love for Alex, transfers to the European mutant team
Excalibur. Havok leaves to infiltrate a mutant terrorist ring.
A new X-Factor line-up was introduced, consisting of Forge as the team's new leader, Polaris, Cooper, and several new recruits:
*
Mystique – A
shapeshifting
In mythology, folklore and speculative fiction, shapeshifting is the ability to physically transform oneself through unnatural means. The idea of shapeshifting is found in the oldest forms of totemism and shamanism, as well as the oldest existen ...
mutant criminal and master of espionage. Mystique is forced to join X-Factor following her capture by federal agents.
*
Sabretooth – A homicidal mutant criminal who possesses claws, heightened senses, and a
healing factor. Like Mystique, Sabretooth is a captive member that Forge uses special technology to control.
*
Shard – A
holographic computer program with the personality of the X-Man
Bishop
A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...
's deceased sister of the same name. Bishop is a time-traveler from a distant future, where he and Shard are members of
Xavier's Security Enforcers. The holographic Shard was brought to the 20th century with Bishop.
*
Wild Child – A former member of
Alpha Flight who possesses heightened senses, fangs, and claws.
The team later had a secession from government sponsorship. Multiple Man and Strong Guy appear again at the same time. Despite Forge managing to fix Strong Guy's problems, he does not rejoin the team. The popularity of ''X-Factor'' continued to dwindle and Mystique and Sabretooth, two popular X-Men villains, failed to draw in more readers. Wild Child mutates out of control, Mystique hunts down Sabretooth (who had kidnapped young Tyler Trevor Chase), and Forge breaks ties with X-Factor.
After various stories focusing on individual characters, a new team was gathered consisting of Havok, Multiple Man, Polaris, Shard, and other members of the X.S.E.: Fixx, and
Greystone, that are brought to the 20th century. However, this version of the team disbands in the same issue in which they debut. In that issue, #149 (1998), Greystone builds a
time machine meant to take him and his compatriots back to the future. However, the device explodes, killing Greystone and Havok. Afterward, X-Factor disbands.
The time machine's explosion transports Havok to a
parallel world, populated by twisted versions of Marvel characters. He explores this strange world in the series ''
Mutant X''.
Volume 2 (2002 miniseries)
A four-issue ''
X-Factor
''The X Factor'' is a television music competition franchise created by British producer Simon Cowell and his company Syco Entertainment. It originated in the United Kingdom, where it was devised as a replacement for '' Pop Idol'' (2001–200 ...
'' limited series was launched in 2002. This series focused on the government's new Mutant Civil Rights Task Force, which consisted of humans who investigated anti-mutant
hate crimes and inadvertently discovered an anti-mutant
conspiracy within their own ranks.
Volume 3 (2005–2013)
X-Factor Investigations is a detective agency run by
Jamie Madrox, also known as Multiple Man. The name is taken from the government-sponsored group the three founders previously served on. The initial staff consists of Madrox's best friend and special enforcer, Guido Carosella (Strong Guy), and former teammate Rahne Sinclair (Wolfsbane). Following the events of the "
House of M" storyline, Madrox's new-found wealth from winning a ''
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?''-style
game show
A game show (or gameshow) is a genre of broadcast viewing entertainment where contestants compete in a game for rewards. The shows are typically directed by a game show host, host, who explains the rules of the program as well as commentating a ...
allows him to recruit several of his former colleagues from the
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
branch of the now defunct
X-Corporation. New members include:
*
M (Monet St. Croix) – A wealthy ambassador's daughter with an array of superhuman powers.
*
Rictor (Julio Richter) – A Mexican mutant who can produce powerful seismic waves.
*
Siryn (Theresa Cassidy) – Banshee's daughter with similar sonic-based powers.
*
Layla Miller
Layla Rose Miller, also known as Butterfly, is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. She first appeared in ''House of M'' #4 (Sept. 2005), and was created by Brian Michael Bendis and Olivier Coipel. ...
– A young mutant who inserts herself into the group to keep them from discovering the truth behind the "
Decimation" storyline.
The new series opens with a suicide attempt by Rictor, who has lost his powers. The series deals with the group's attempt to unravel the truth behind the "Decimation" and its aftermath, fighting with Singularity Investigations, and dealing with Madrox's powers and their consequences.
During the "
Messiah Complex" storyline, Jamie and Layla travel to a dystopian future in which mutants are persecuted and imprisoned. Jamie escapes and returns to the early 21st century, but Layla is still trapped. Rahne fears (because of a glimpse she has had of the future) that she, while in her wolf shape, will murder Jamie and Layla. To prevent this, she quits the team and joins
X-Force. Rictor also quits. Jamie travels to the future with the help of an aged Layla Miller and helps a rebellion led by a cyborg Scott Summers and his daughter
Ruby
Ruby is a pinkish-red-to-blood-red-colored gemstone, a variety of the mineral corundum ( aluminium oxide). Ruby is one of the most popular traditional jewelry gems and is very durable. Other varieties of gem-quality corundum are called sapph ...
, while the rest of the team is in the present. After battling Arcade, who captured Rictor (who then rejoins), the team meets one of Jamie's duplicates, who calls himself Cortex and is joined by new members:
*
Longshot – A genetically created humanoid from Mojoverse with favorable probability outcomes.
*
Darwin (Armando Muñoz) – One of Moira's early recruit with reactive evolution powers.
*
Shatterstar (Gaveedra Seven) – founding X-Force member with that can open dimensional portals and channel vibratory shockwave through his swords.
''All-New X-Factor'' (2014–2015)
The next incarnation of the series was ''All-New X-Factor'', and depicts the corporation "Serval Industries" forming a new corporate-sponsored version of the team, which includes Polaris, Quicksilver,
Gambit,
Danger,
Cypher, and
Warlock.
Volume 4 (2020–2021)
''X-Factor'' was relaunched and the new team investigates cases of missing mutants and presumed deaths for Krakoa, confirming if they can be resurrected:
*
Northstar (Jean-Paul Beaubier) – Team leader and former Alpha Flight member with superhuman speed.
*
Polaris
Polaris is a star in the northern circumpolar constellation of Ursa Minor. It is designated α Ursae Minoris (Latinisation of names, Latinized to ''Alpha Ursae Minoris'') and is commonly called the North Star or Pole Star. With an ...
(Lorna Dane) – An X-Factor alumna who can control metal.
*
Prestige (Rachel Summers) – A telekinetic and telepathic mutant from a dystopian future.
*
Daken
Akihiro is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Akihiro was created by writer Daniel Way and artist Steve Dillon and first appeared in ''Wolverine: Origins'' #5
(August 2006).
Akihiro is the Mutant ...
(Akihiro) – Wolverine's son with similar powers to his father.
*
Eye-Boy (Trevor Hawkins) – A young mutant with multiple eyes all over his body.
*
Prodigy (David Alleyne) – A former
Young Avengers and Xavier Institute student that can mimic other skills and knowledge.
*
Aurora
An aurora ( aurorae or auroras),
also commonly known as the northern lights (aurora borealis) or southern lights (aurora australis), is a natural light display in Earth's sky, predominantly observed in high-latitude regions (around the Arc ...
(Jeanne-Marie Beaubier) – The twin sister of Northstar with the same power.
The team works closely with The Five, a circuit of mutants introduced in ''
House of X/Powers of X'' working in conjunction to resurrect fallen mutants:
*
Egg (Fabio Medina) – Produces a limitless amount of unviable biological eggs.
*
Proteus (Kevin MacTaggert) – Transforms the unviable egg into a viable one.
*
Elixir
An elixir is a sweet liquid used for medical purposes, to be taken orally and intended to cure one's illness. When used as a dosage form, pharmaceutical preparation, an elixir contains at least one active ingredient designed to be taken orall ...
(Joshua Foley) – Biologically kickstarts the process of life, initializing cell replication and husk growth.
*
Tempus (Eva Bell) – Matures the husk to a desired age.
*
Hope Summers – Enhances and synthesizes the other resurrection mutants' powers to ensure the success of each resurrection.
X-Factor members
The first team of X-Factor was founded by the five founding members of
X-Men
The X-Men are a superhero team in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer/editor Stan Lee and artist/co-plotter Jack Kirby, the team first appeared in Uncanny X-Men, ''The X-Men'' #1 (September 1963). Although initial ...
.
Other versions
Ultimate Marvel
In the "
Ultimate Marvel reality, X-Factor appears in ''
Ultimate War'' #4 as a U.S. operated mutant prison camp in
Cuba
Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...
.
X-Men '92
X-Factor appears in ''
X-Men '92'' as a peace keeping force that was formed following the X-Men's disappearance.
[''X-Men '92'' vol. 2 #6–10]
In other media
The second incarnation of X-Factor appears in ''
X-Men: The Animated Series'', consisting of
Forge,
Polaris
Polaris is a star in the northern circumpolar constellation of Ursa Minor. It is designated α Ursae Minoris (Latinisation of names, Latinized to ''Alpha Ursae Minoris'') and is commonly called the North Star or Pole Star. With an ...
,
Multiple Man,
Strong Guy,
Quicksilver,
Havok, and
Wolfsbane.
References
External links
X-Factorat ''
Marvel.com''
*
{{Authority control
Comics characters introduced in 1986
X-Men supporting characters