X-Men: The 10 Most Powerful Members Of The Xavier Family, Ranked

As the founder of both the X-Men and the Xavier School For Gifted Youngsters, Professor Charles Xavier has set himself up as the savior of mutantkind, tasked with protecting the misunderstood mutants from a world that hates and fears them. Xavier has been working towards his dream for human/mutant harmony for decades, letting everything else in his life fall by the wayside.

Unfortunately, more often than not that means Charles Xavier’s dreams and goals take priority over the various family members he has assembled around him over the years. Considering that some of those family members are actually among the most powerful mutants in the Marvel Universe, Chuck might be better served trying to build better relationships with his kin. Today, we are going to take a close look at the various members of the Xavier family to see just who is the most powerful.

10 BRIAN XAVIER

The father of Charles Xavier doesn’t really match up in power levels to the rest of his family, but that doesn’t make him any less formidable in a different sense. Brian Xavier was a nuclear scientist who worked for the government in secret on the Black Womb Project, reporting directly to Dr. Nathan Milbury, who was really the diabolical Mister Sinister.

Brian allowed Dr. Milbury and the Black Womb project to run tests on his son, and the Black Womb project studied and performed experiments on mutant children that were kept in stasis pods. While Brian Xavier wasn’t revealed to be directly involved with the experimentation on mutants, his time with the Black Womb project definitely left a mark on young Charles.

9 LILANDRA NERAMANI

As if Xavier and the X-Men didn’t deal with enough trouble on Earth, they regularly found themselves in space, usually dealing with the Shi’ar Empire. The Shi’ar first appeared during the “Phoenix Saga,” with Xavier experiencing terrifying visions of an alien presence. As it turns out, that terrifying alien was actually Princess Lilandra Neramani, who was seeking help to stop her evil brother, Emperor D’Ken.

The X-Men stopped D’Ken, Lilandra was made Magestix of the Shi’ar Empire, and Xavier became her consort. Lilandra is stronger than most normal humans due to her alien physiology, and she is well trained in hand-to-hand combat while also possessing limited telepathic abilities that were largely undefined.

8 DEATHBIRD

Lilandra wasn’t the only sibling of D’Ken, and actually had an older sister who should have been the rightful heir to the throne after D’Ken. However, the woman who became known as Deathbird was something of a mutant herself, and she exhibited the overtly avian qualities of the Shi’ar’s ancestors, which was considered to be a “genetic throwback.”

Thus, Deathbird was stripped of her name and position as a member of the Neramani royal family, which resulted in her lifelong mission to kill her sister and take the throne she felt was rightfully hers. Not only is Deathbird stronger and faster than the average Shi’ar warrior, but she also possesses razor-sharp talons and wings that enable her to fly.

7 XANDRA

The final and most recent member of Xavier’s Shi’ar family is the newly discovered daughter of Charles Xavier and Lilandra Neramani, who took on the name Xandra. She was created using the DNA of her parents, as both were dead at the time of her conception.

When Xandra was first discovered, she was revealed to have the potential to be an Omega-class mutant like Xavier, though her psionic potential at her young age may not yet have reached maturity. As it stands, her mental powers allow her to telepathically create illusions that are nearly impossible to detect, which allows her to camouflage herself and others psionically.

6 MYSTIQUE

While Mystique in the X-Men’s cinematic universe is revealed to be something of an adopted sister of Xavier, the two have never shared a close relationship in the comics. Even though they do share a child together (more on him soon), she had shapeshifted into the form of Xavier’s closest friend, Moira MacTaggert.

That being said, Mystique still finds herself to be a part of Xavier’s family through the birth of their son, and she can definitely hold her own against the rest of her “family.” Not only has she mastered her shapeshifting abilities over an unknown number of years due to her being nearly immortal, but she is also a highly trained spy and assassin.

5 JUGGERNAUT

Cain Marko is actually the step-brother of Charles Xavier, and besides Xavier’s father, is the only non-mutant in the family. Brian Xavier worked with Cain’s father at the Black Womb project, and following Brian’s death in a lab explosion, Kurt Marko married Xavier’s mother and a new family was formed.

Cain hated his weak step-brother but, eventually, he would grow up and join the army. He discovered the mystical Crimson Gem of Cyttorak during a mission and became the unstoppable Juggernaut. If his main weakness wasn’t telepaths, he would undoubtedly be much higher on the list due to brute strength alone.

4 CHARLES XAVIER II

We previously mentioned the child of Charles Xavier and Mystique (who was disguised as Moira MacTaggert) that brought Mystique into the family, but there is quite a bit more to the young Charles Xavier II’s story. He was abandoned as a baby shortly after he was born and grew up on his own, with a chip on his shoulder and increasing mental abilities.

Disillusioned by his father’s X-Men in the future, Charlie would use his telepathy to control the minds of the X-Men and turn them into a new Brotherhood, which he used alongside his half-brother Raze (Mystique and Wolverine’s evil child) to attack the X-Men of the past. This is one apple that fell very far away from the tree.

3 CHARLES XAVIER

Professor Charles Xavier is largely considered one of the most powerful mutants on the face of the planet, an Omega-class mutant with unbelievable telepathic abilities. If some of the other members of Xavier’s family weren’t so insanely powerful, Xavier would be on top of this list.

Not only is Xavier one of the most powerful telepaths on the planet, but he is also extremely skilled in mental battle, having mastered the astral plane throughout numerous conflicts with other telepaths like the Shadow King. Xavier is also able to enhance abilities by working with the Cerebro/Cerebra device that amplifies his telepathy up to a global scale.

2 CASSANDRA NOVA

Cassandra Nova has one of the craziest origin stories around, but it begins in the womb alongside baby Charles Xavier. Cassandra developed as Xavier’s psychic twin, though he sensed her true nature even then and lashed out with his undeveloped psychic abilities to kill his “evil” twin in the womb.

Unfortunately, Cassandra did not die, and she matured into the powerful opposite of Xavier. However, as she was what was known by the Shi’ar as a Mummudrai, Cassandra Nova not only shared Charles’ telepathic gifts, but she received any other potential ability yet to develop within Charles, making her even more powerful than her “good” twin.

1 LEGION

David Haller, AKA Legion, is not only the most powerful member of his father Charles Xavier’s family, but he is arguably the most powerful and potentially most dangerous mutant on the planet. David was born and raised without his father’s knowledge, and a childhood incident resulted in David developing multiple personalities.

Of course, David was also an Omega-class mutant, and his abilities developed alongside his mental illness, resulting in each one of his fractured personalities developing their own unique and powerful ability. While Legion has made steps over the years to control both his split psyche and his random and dangerous powers, the unpredictability of his life and the levels of power he is working with make him incredibly deadly.

About The Author

Scoot Allan
(193 Articles Published)

Entertainment reporter, writer, and all-around geek, Scoot Allan has written for print and online media sources like Geek Magazine, GeekExchange, GrizzlyBomb, WhatCulture, RoguePlanet.tv and the Urban 30 before joining CBR, ScreenRant, GameRant and The Gamer as a staff writer. He enjoys salad but prefers french fries.

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