Why did he need secret agents and what other secrets is he hiding?
We've all heard those famous words that pretty much sum up Charles Xavier, "Professor X is a jerk!" To me, from the very first time I saw him, I was creeped out a little. I'm not saying Professor X is a bad guy. He's done a lot of good things. His whole mission of trying to create a world where mutants and humans could live in harmony is something to be admired. He dedicated his life and family fortune to creating a school for gifted youngsters. He helped troubled and confused children learn to control their newfound abilities so they wouldn't hurt themselves or others. If they happened to have cool enough powers to become a member of his team of X-Men, it was an added bonus.
But Professor X is far from an honest man. He has had so many secrets revealed and I wonder how many more he has locked away. He faked his death early on, had a secret crush on his student Jean Grey, was a deadbeat father to Legion after promising to always be there for him, manipulated Magneto's personality (which lead to the birth of Onslaught), knew the Danger Room became a sentient being and still kept it enslaved and erased Cyclops' memories of his brother Vulcan when it looked like he died on an ill-prepared mission.
All of these are pretty bad things but what I've been thinking about is another secret he's kept for many years (no, I'm not referring to his possession of an Infinity Gem with the Illuminati). Why did Professor X employ Mystiqueand others before her as his secret agents? == TEASER == Agent 16 is dead. In the 2003 series, Mystique, it was revealed that Professor X had a mutant named Prudence Leighton as his secret agent sent on who knows what sort of missions. He needed agents he could send out and if they were caught or compromised, Xavier or the X-Men wouldn't get the blame.
I can understand his reasoning for this but it's still a big secret to keep from those closest to him. Make that another big secret.
Shhhh.... She was the best around and no one was gonna keep her down. Not only did Mystique become his new secret agent, he also employed another mutant, Shortpack, as her handler. Throughout the series, Mystique was sent on missions to Cuba, North Korea, Africa, Brazil and Sweden. As far as I know, this secret never really came out or was discussed. The X-Men were pissed when they found out about Cyclops sanctioning X-Force, how would they feel about Xavier using a killer/terrorist like Mystique?
An argument could be that he was just using Mystique for a greater good. She was expendable. He tried getting her to use non-lethal weapons (Forge was her gadget maker) but come on, this is Mystique we're talking about.
Mystique is questioning Xavier's ethics? That's not good, Chuck. Besides just using Mystique as his secret agent, Xavier did have other agents. Prudence's field name was Agent 16. Were there at least fifteen other agents out there? There was even mention of a mutant cleaner in Germany that would take care of any messes left behind. We saw the few missions that Mystique was assigned to. What other missions did Xavier send agents on? What other secrets did he have? How long did he employ these agents? He even spoke to Mystique telepathically during other X-Men/Xavier Institute activities. This says that he could have been doing this or still be doing it.
It's a cool idea. I wish we could've seen more of Xavier's secret spy organization. Maybe after working with Mystique he decided to put a stop to his secret shenanigans. The events of M-Day could have reduced the available agents or maybe he's still employing them. Who knows if we'll ever find out more about what missions he had and what information he gathered. So does this secret add another layer to him being a jerk or does it make him a little bit cooler?
@A_O_N: X-23 wasn't hired. I don't think Cyclops even had to order her something. I think Laura understood the danger perfectly and wanted to stop all anti-mutants the only way she knew. Putting her assassin's skills to good use (unlike Vulcan, Petra, Sway and Darwin, sent by Professor to rescue the first X-Men team on Krakoa - they weren't ready for the mission).
I have this solo series. In fact, I've had it for about a year & still haven't got around to reading it (I even considered giving it away as a future Contest prize).
It doesn't sound like one of Xavier's darkest secrets. The fact he kept Vulcan a secret from Cyclops is worse, but even that I don't really care about (primarily because I don't like Vulcan & he turned out to be an A1 A-hole).
The last few years have been pretty rough for the Professor. It's easy to see why, since he's been the all-mighty mutant messiah & answer to all X-prayers for the best part of 30 years. Given these more grittier & darker times, it seems only natural that there was a creative backlash to knock him off the mutant pedestal.
But I have to admit, I'm a little tired of it. Xavier's actions aren't that bad when you consider that Wolverine was ready to execute the Scarlet Witch purely for having a mental breakdown, or that Cyclops recruited teenaged girls in his team of assassins. I'm glad that Xavier is going to be back in X-Men: Legacy. At least Mike Carey can continue his development & character redemption.
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I don't know if anyone else addressed this since I got to your post and just had to comment but.....it was anything but a normal mental breakdown....she eliminated 99% of a race...she nearly committed genocide....it's reasonable that Wolverine would want to kill her to prevent it from happening again...who knows what could happen if Wanda and her easily manipulated fragile psyche were to fall into the wrong hands....it's a question of the greater good "
Agreed! She has murdered many and can easily do so again at her own whim or someone else's whim. She should be put down for the good of mankind!
Cyclops has made a way better leader. He has done questionable things to some, but when you are in war you have to make the tough decisions. Decitions Proff X never made because he was never delt with the extinction of his entire race before. Cyclops has united mutantkind, something proff x never did. Proff X did bad shit to, especially to cyclops. If my mentor/father hide the fact i had a brother from me I would be just as pissed off. Proff x almost runned mutant kind into the ground, it took cyclops to reunite and hold the race together. "
I agree with everything you said....lets not forget that they had the greatest psychic mind on the planet trying to help Wanda and all it took was her brother coming along and saying "You know what you should do?" and she rewrote reality....she's had her chance at redemption and she failed at it miserably
and again I agree....Cyclops has succeeded where both Xavier and Magneto have failed and he's done it during the hardest time for mutants yet....sure he's had to make some tough decisions but he did those things to protect the already dwindling mutant race
I have this solo series. In fact, I've had it for about a year & still haven't got around to reading it (I even considered giving it away as a future Contest prize).
It doesn't sound like one of Xavier's darkest secrets. The fact he kept Vulcan a secret from Cyclops is worse, but even that I don't really care about (primarily because I don't like Vulcan & he turned out to be an A1 A-hole).
The last few years have been pretty rough for the Professor. It's easy to see why, since he's been the all-mighty mutant messiah & answer to all X-prayers for the best part of 30 years. Given these more grittier & darker times, it seems only natural that there was a creative backlash to knock him off the mutant pedestal.
But I have to admit, I'm a little tired of it. Xavier's actions aren't that bad when you consider that Wolverine was ready to execute the Scarlet Witch purely for having a mental breakdown, or that Cyclops recruited teenaged girls in his team of assassins. I'm glad that Xavier is going to be back in X-Men: Legacy. At least Mike Carey can continue his development & character redemption.
"
I don't know if anyone else addressed this since I got to your post and just had to comment but.....it was anything but a normal mental breakdown....she eliminated 99% of a race...she nearly committed genocide....it's reasonable that Wolverine would want to kill her to prevent it from happening again...who knows what could happen if Wanda and her easily manipulated fragile psyche were to fall into the wrong hands....it's a question of the greater good "
Agreed! She has murdered many and can easily do so again at her own whim or someone else's whim. She should be put down for the good of mankind!
Cyclops has made a way better leader. He has done questionable things to some, but when you are in war you have to make the tough decisions. Decitions Proff X never made because he was never delt with the extinction of his entire race before. Cyclops has united mutantkind, something proff x never did. Proff X did bad shit to, especially to cyclops. If my mentor/father hide the fact i had a brother from me I would be just as pissed off. Proff x almost runned mutant kind into the ground, it took cyclops to reunite and hold the race together.
I have this solo series. In fact, I've had it for about a year & still haven't got around to reading it (I even considered giving it away as a future Contest prize).
It doesn't sound like one of Xavier's darkest secrets. The fact he kept Vulcan a secret from Cyclops is worse, but even that I don't really care about (primarily because I don't like Vulcan & he turned out to be an A1 A-hole).
The last few years have been pretty rough for the Professor. It's easy to see why, since he's been the all-mighty mutant messiah & answer to all X-prayers for the best part of 30 years. Given these more grittier & darker times, it seems only natural that there was a creative backlash to knock him off the mutant pedestal.
But I have to admit, I'm a little tired of it. Xavier's actions aren't that bad when you consider that Wolverine was ready to execute the Scarlet Witch purely for having a mental breakdown, or that Cyclops recruited teenaged girls in his team of assassins. I'm glad that Xavier is going to be back in X-Men: Legacy. At least Mike Carey can continue his development & character redemption.
"
I don't know if anyone else addressed this since I got to your post and just had to comment but.....it was anything but a normal mental breakdown....she eliminated 99% of a race...she nearly committed genocide....it's reasonable that Wolverine would want to kill her to prevent it from happening again...who knows what could happen if Wanda and her easily manipulated fragile psyche were to fall into the wrong hands....it's a question of the greater good
I stopped backing the prof after I learned that the danger room called out to him and he ignored it. That was messed up to no end.
I don't know, I really worried for the X-men. They aren't a group of heros anymore as much as a group of people fighting for their own agenda. And all the leadership as of late (ProfX, Cyclops, Emma) has been far too Machiavellian for my tastes. I'm surprised others didn't have the sense of morality to leave like Beast did.
@Sticky_Venom: The Mystique series was fricken awesome, best solo series I ever read.
But anyways, what makes Scott different than Xavier is that he was aware of Xavier's deceptions (mostly), he was personally affected by them which caused him to kick Xavier out of the institute. So then why in the hell does he have people like Laura working as his secret agent? A teenager who's deeply traumatized and dangerous suddenly is good criteria for a private assassin? And that's what they were assassins.
Xavier sent Mystique out with a tranq gun to do work that was actually helping people, Scott was attacking his enemies in the same fashion they would attack him.
Not to mention he's banging a telepathic violator like Emma left and right who, by her own admission, has destroyed people's minds.
He's a hypocrite. Xavier may be one too but he never rose to power to combat the last leader's hypocrisy. It makes Scott doubly worse.
If you're going to play hardball with the world, you've got to get your hands dirty. Also, that Mystique series was pretty damn cool. Kinda wish they would have added on to it.
@G-Man:Xavier working with his son...?As far as I know, Chuck is going to be in the post-Age of X X-Men: Legacy when the title turns into more of a team book, but that wont be for another couple of months.
But you know how deceptive covers & promos can be. But it'd be nice if Mike Carey did pick up on some of those loose ends. Especially as he was taking interesting steps with Charles's powers... and his relationship with Erik before they both ended up on Utopia.
" I just wanna know if we'll ever find out more about his numerous secret agents. "
Possibly. After all the Professor is going to feature more in X-Men: Legacy & Mike Carey doesn't like to leave plot threads dangling... He may use this hidden resource. "
That means I'll have to actually start reading Legacy instead of just flipping through it before we record the podcast.
I think it makes him cool! I am still new to the comics & now finding out that Prof.X isnt as squeaky clean as he's made out to be is sooo crazy! Whoa! He had a secret crush on Jean?!, Enslaving a sentiel being! Prof X you are awesome.
Dose anyone know WHY he made the x men? I mean I know to protect the world against mutant/human threats but the real reason and how dose he get ALL those gagets, funding, ect for the mansion I know hes rich but from what I see theres more $$$ goin OUT then IN.
@JonesDeini: This oooorrrr, He's been a secret undercover agent this entire time... Remember he was originally recruited from Alpha Flight...... NEVER TRUST CANADIANS
@Iron_Lad: like i stated before. I don't think he is getting juggernauts powers, just the helmet. My theory is so he can battle a Telepath my guess is either Emma or Xavier.
" @JonesDeini: like i said I have no clue cause i haven't read X-Men in years. But i saw this the other day. and then read this blog so it made a lot of sense at least to me. since Juggy's helmet can block telepaths. that's all I was going off of. "
What the heck is this all about?! The unstoppable Colossus? Hmmm, interesting......very interesting.
@JonesDeini: Prof X has a lot of tolerance for his pupils, but Wolverine his done waaaay to much, and has used the "I do what I want card" waaaayyy to much, for even Prof X to honestly handle...
@Caligula: Yup, yup!!! as a guy who's been reading X-Men consistently for only a little over a year now, I can say without a doubt I'm sick of seeing Scott & Emma so much. Glad that other characters will be focused on again. I was actually gonna drop Uncanny depending on how Fraction/Gillen's Quarantine arc ends up, but I'm gonna at least hold off that decision till I read the first two issues of Gillen's run.
" @Caligula: Hmm based on that solicit and this article I can see the source of your interpretation. When Gillen takes over Uncanny with issue 535 he's going to have a ship from Break World play a big role in the story. from the solicits for the issue (and cover) it seems like it's going focus on Kitty & Colossus. "
Yeah I'm totally going to give Uncanny a new chance, after being so turned off by the X-Men stories of late. I'm looking forward to Kitty and Colossus action.
So you at least see where I was coming from now saying that Colossus appears to be looking like he is going to take on at least some telepath, I assumed with all of the dark stuff going on with Xavier and the Caption in the solicit that it may be a show-down between Colossus and Xavier. but anything X-Men these days is out of my range of knowledge.
@Caligula: Hmm based on that solicit and this article I can see the source of your interpretation. When Gillen takes over Uncanny with issue 535 he's going to have a ship from Break World play a big role in the story. from the solicits for the issue (and cover) it seems like it's going focus on Kitty & Colossus.
@JonesDeini: like i said I have no clue cause i haven't read X-Men in years. But i saw this the other day. and then read this blog so it made a lot of sense at least to me. since Juggy's helmet can block telepaths. that's all I was going off of.
" @G-Man: Maybe this sheds some light on the image of Colossus donning Juggernauts helmet. Maybe he has found out and is going to confront Xavier. Or even Kill him. the Solicit does say "I will do what must be done" or something like that I think. I could be entirely wrong because i haven't read any x-men books in at least 5 years or more. Do you think the Colossus Juggernaut solicit may be implying this? "
Ummm...nothing I've read recently would lead me to this interpretation.
@G-Man: Maybe this sheds some light on the image of Colossus donning Juggernauts helmet. Maybe he has found out and is going to confront Xavier. Or even Kill him. the Solicit does say "I will do what must be done" or something like that I think.
I could be entirely wrong because i haven't read any x-men books in at least 5 years or more. Do you think the Colossus Juggernaut solicit may be implying this?
This whole idea of having more secret agents is intriguing! I have to say though, I have never liked Proff. X, he grates my nerves, my eyes frequently glaze over whenever I turn a page and am forced to read his dialogue. Egads, I have to concentrate hard to NOT just flip the pages to find someone who won't bore me silly. I have to have super self control to make it though any Prof X storyline.
@Chane: I really enjoyed that Mystique run also. I picked up the entire series and started off expecting just to learn a little more about Mystique. I never expected that I would get hooked on the first issue and read them bang bang bang one after another. I wanted more. I still want more hahahhah.
I believe the idea is solid, Prof X to me has always been a sketchy character. Ever since I found out who him and Magneto were based on, I knew their views were just. But the difference being how they went about handling a situation. In the public eye, they played their roles. Pacifist and Extremist. Even the most passive leaders have done extremist. Just my view. Love the article.
" I just wanna know if we'll ever find out more about his numerous secret agents. "
Possibly. After all the Professor is going to feature more in X-Men: Legacy & Mike Carey doesn't like to leave plot threads dangling... He may use this hidden resource.
" I'm seriously wondering if Marvel don't try to bring back the old "nineties anti-heroes" feelings... The X-men are becoming something that I really don't like : Cyclops is a underhanded magnificient jerkass with good publicity, Emma Frost is her main cheerleader and the rest of the team is the chorus and now we learned through various retcon that Prof. X is a bastard manipulator. (Tough some of te things that's been stated in the article are partially out of context.) Something stink in the realm of Marvel, I guess it's the cadaver of a good writing... "
I see your angle but I like the over all direction of marvel's mutant universe (aside form the vampire bujou in X-Men). Uncanny as a series has always had an up and down nature, and post Messiah Complex I will be the first to admit that the stories haven't been up to snuff. Second Coming got me to give X-Men a chance again and I did and have been more or less satisfied. I dumped Uncanny during the 5 Lights arc, and got back on with Quarantine, which has been very solid. I love Matt Fraction, but I'll be the first to say that he has no real grasp of who the X-Men are and what they're about, but he has his moments. And since Kieron Gillen has been co-writing, I've seen marked improvements in his Uncanny Issues. Hopefully Gillen's takeover with 535 in April.
I also feel that Cyclops, Emma,& Professor X overall are behaving in a realistic manner given their situation and the present state of mutant. All three of them have made morally questionable decisions, but most of the times (at least for Emma & Scott) they were the most logical and necessary ones.
@Baddamdog: Oh yeah, I forgot about that. Probaly because I always hated that retcon. Tessa was a strong woman in her own right a a non-mutant associate to the Hellfire Club & PA to Sebastian Shaw. They should have just created a separate character called Sage instead of retconning her.
I wish the X-writers would find a new horse to flog as this one has been dead for about 15 years. Yes, Professor X had to do some shady things to help further his cause (although to me that's just bad writing, but to each his own I guess.) It just seems that whenever a writer runs out of ideas they'll go back to the classic: Look kids! Here's another bad thing that Charlie has done and kept secret! Yay! Seriously, stop demonizing one of the few people in the Marvel Universe who was actually trying to do some good instead of just parading around. To me the more interesting approach would have been to try to model Xavier on someone like Marting Luther King Jr. of Gandhi. But then again, how would that mesh with the strike team he's assembled? Hmm... Anyone else think Charlie might be going about this the wrong way?
@Meteorite: Agree, folk. But can't say I disagree with that characterization. A lot of his secrets I don't think he should've kept. But a few like his inifinity gem, the illuminati, and his spies are cool by me
One of the few things that I enjoyed what Ultimate X-men brought to the table was the compromised ethics you could tell Prof. X immediately got involved in, as he had covert mutants as well (around the same years too, hm...). It's hard because I feel like he's a shell of the great man he once was, but at the same time it'd be unrealistic for him to be some shining, perfect example.
I'm seriously wondering if Marvel don't try to bring back the old "nineties anti-heroes" feelings...
The X-men are becoming something that I really don't like : Cyclops is a underhanded magnificient jerkass with good publicity, Emma Frost is her main cheerleader and the rest of the team is the chorus and now we learned through various retcon that Prof. X is a bastard manipulator. (Tough some of te things that's been stated in the article are partially out of context.)
Something stink in the realm of Marvel, I guess it's the cadaver of a good writing...
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