Kitty Pryde’s X-Men Name Change is Much Darker Than Fans Think

When Kitty Pryde decided to start going by the name Kate Pryde, it was a drastically darker move than most X-Men fans realize. The simple act of changing her name is bringing Kitty and her fellow mutants closer to a future where mutants and other superheroes are massacred.

Created by Chris Claremont and John Byrne in 1979, Kitty Pryde was introduced in The Uncanny X-Men #129. When she was just 13 years old, Kitty’s mutant powers manifested and she found herself able to phase through solid objects. Her powers becoming activated got Professor Xavier’s attention and led the X-Men to seek her out. She became the youngest member of the X-Men team. Though she was born Katherine Anne Pryde, she has always been known as Kitty until the recent Marauders series, when she started telling people to call her Kate. Though dropping the name Kitty might be seen as a decision on her part to take on a more adult identity, the change evokes a horrible fate the mutants could see.

The first time the name Kate Pryde is used is in the “Days Of Future Past” storyline in The Uncanny X-Men #141-142. This takes place in the X-Men’s future where mutants and other superhumans are hunted down and killed by Sentinels. In this future, almost all of the people that Kate loves have been killed. In a desperate plan to prevent this future from happening, Kate’s consciousness is sent to the past and changes places with the younger Kitty’s mind. Kate helps the present-day X-Men prevent Senator Robert Kelly from being killed, as that is believed to be the event that triggers Kate’s future. Afterward, Kate’s mind returns to the future and her younger self’s mind returns without any knowledge of what has happened.

Even though Kitty doesn’t remember the future Kate is from, she encounters it again in Excalibur #66-67. Rachel Summers, who is the daughter of an alternate Jean Grey and Cyclops from this same dark future, traveled to the past with the help of Kate Pryde. Kate hopes that Rachel will be able to live in a better world than the one in their present. Once she returns to the past, Rachel and Kitty grow to become best friends and join the team Excalibur together. Because they are best friends, Rachel tells Kitty about the future she comes from. The entire Excalibur team travels to the same future, where they are able to stop the Sentinels and bring peace to the future.

By knowing what the future holds, Kitty choosing to change her name to Kate could bring one of the worst possible futures one step closer. If she wanted to stop being called Kitty to acknowledge that she has grown up or even that she is tougher than ever, there are many other names that she could have chosen. She could have become Katherine, Kathy, Katie, Kat, or Katya as Colossus loves to call her. Kitty and the X-Men would do whatever it takes to make sure that Kate’s future is never a possibility.

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