Scott, only because he's been with the X-Men since day one, so he knows what the X-Men need.

While Scott was going through his man pain period in New X-Men, Jean got sh*t done.

What did Jean get done? (That's not sarcasm I genuinely can't remember)

I would have to say Scott was and still is the best leader for the job. Yes Storm and Jean have more heart than the more ruthless types like Cyclops and Wolverine but that's why I rule them out. Wolverine and Cyclops accepted the reality of the situation they were facing after M-day and it led to the creation of X-Force. It was morally wrong, It created trust issues with the other X-men and put relationships under strain (Cyclops/Beast & Wolverine/Storm) But most of all it was necessary.

People love to say that if Storm/Jean were in charge things would have never gotten so bad but they never give examples. How would Second Coming have been handled if Storm were in charge? Would Jean have bolstered the X-mens ranks by accepting Magneto?

Cyclops and Wolverine are the leaders we need.

All have there ups and downs but Cyke is a good level above all the others, he simply has some of the best written periods of growth given to any X-men character during his time as the de facto leader of the mutants.

With Wolverine there trying but as with most of his problems he is horribly inconsistent throughout the books not to mention he himself can't follow orders for sh*t having attacked both Scott and Cap within a short period for the same reason but coming from the opposite side of the argument.

Storm was a leader under very bland circumstances and seems to run off when difficulties arise.

Xavier was a monster. JK as most of his problems have to do with the dodgy writing of the 60's,70's early 80's.

Osian2 made a good point, I only seem to remember Jean walking out the door a lot.

I pretty much agree with this assessment, except for two things:

1. I thought the period in which Storm became leader was one of (if not the) best periods of X-men. In her first story as leader (Days of Future Past) she gets Wolverine to obey her almost immediately, which Cyclops and even Xavier wouldn't accomplish for years. She also later defeats Cyclops for leadership, despite not having her powers, right after Xavier disappears and Magneto was left in charge of the school, none of which I would consider dull. Although you do make a good point that the team eventually fell apart under her leadership, I still think the time leading up to that is full of great examples of her being a great leader.
2. I don't think of dodgy writing as an excuse for characters. For me, how they are written through all of their stories, even the bad ones, is really what they are. So, if Wolverine or Xavier or whoever has been written inconsistently, it just makes me think of them as inconsistent people, which lots of people are.

I thought the period in which Storm became leader was one of (if not the) best periods of X-men. In her first story as leader (Days of Future Past) she gets Wolverine to obey her almost immediately, which Cyclops and even Xavier wouldn't accomplish for years. She also later defeats Cyclops for leadership, despite not having her powers, right after Xavier disappears and Magneto was left in charge of the school, none of which I would consider dull. Although you do make a good point that the team eventually fell apart under her leadership, I still think the time leading up to that is full of great examples of her being a great leader.

If getting Wolverine to obey you is the highlight of your career then that's not very impressive, as I've sort of highlighted Wolverine also has an antagonistic relationship with other alpha males. Beating someone in a fight does not equal good leadership qualities, also all she accomplished was knocking off his goggles a technical win only in that he did not wish to actually hurt her.

I don't think of dodgy writing as an excuse for characters. For me, how they are written through all of their stories, even the bad ones, is really what they are. So, if Wolverine or Xavier or whoever has been written inconsistently, it just makes me think of them as inconsistent people, which lots of people are.

Of course but in the case of Wolverine he suffers for it like no other.

It can be summed up but these 2 events: Cyclops I am going to blow up the island because I've suddenly changed my mind about children fighting and picked a really bad time to bring it up.

Sets up a school to keep the children out of harms way: Quentin your only 14 (really?) so I am going to send you on a mission with Cap where you will be shot at by Hydra agents despite being squishy, just so you know I recently attempted to stab this man in the face because he wouldn't let me stab a 16 year old girl in the face because of a theory I had.

Did you happen to miss Schism--or have you also only read Fraction's run on UXM ?

Fair enough. My main point was that I don't think of that period as dull, that's all.

You're right, I guess. But that seems to be the only thing left that keeps him from being predictable, which I think would be worse.

Anyway, I always liked Scott ass the field leader and Xavier as their moral leader.

MAGNETO!!!!!

okay, the collective posts on this thread have convinced me.

Even though Storm (who I voted for) is my favorite leader of the X-men, and even though I don't necessarily agree with everything Cyclops has done in the last few years, I have to concede that, overall, he may be the best leader of the X-men.

But I still regard Storm as a very close second, and she's still my favorite, so I'm glad she's leading the team while he's off doing his thing, which is actually more interesting than seeing him lead a more traditional team.

Wolverine was written poorly in schism and was forced by writers to go against Scott just so WatX could be made. Up until that point Wolverine and Cyclops were complete bros and agreed on everything.

I don't really get your point?

thats why i love you bro, your not completely closed minded and blindly bias like most people on this forum

haha! thanks! :D

I really just don't mind admitting when I'm wrong.

Cyclops no doubt, Everything he's done was for the benefit of Mutankind
Logan is not really leadership material and he's a hypocrite living in the past
Charles abandoned the X-men numerous times and he was no leader

@ageofhurricane: before and During morrison's run. Jean grey ran both the school and x-teams in the battle fields. I think storm was away with her x-treme x-men. She even created her own x-men neophytes

Cyclops

lots of necro post lately lol

@darthphoenix ONE ROGUE TO RULE THEM ALL

Edit: Whoa, why was this necro'd?

Cyclops. At the very least, one of the best tacticians/strategists/leaders in Marvel, most likely behind Cap. Hes even been leading at the age of a teenager. He's fairly good until his personal life causes professional problems. Other than the X-Force problem and schism, he did cause inferno and all of its consequences. Where he cuts out compassion for the team and just cares of getting the job done.

Given these are fictional characters with very different underlying motives; to the best of my knowledge, a universally accepted stance on who among the 5 is the best leader cannot be determine. In the word of a great scholar, when the underlying truth cannot be ascertained every interpretation is equally valid.

It ultimately boils down to who you prefer as a better leader. I, personally, prefer Professor X as an ideal leader and have always liked his idea of non-confrontation unless absolutely necessary.

Storm.

I don't know if she's the best leader, but she's my favorite.

@sprior93: when was jean a leader....she tried and failed miserable in was it eve of destruction? the only other time i think jean as a leader is when she died and went to the white hot room and was the leader/strongest phoenix host.....but that reminds off-panel

@hopesummersforthefuture: I don't remember Jean being a team leader /shrug

@sprior93: here it is shes says some people are not cut out to be leaders but her husband scott did

eve of destruction see post above

Xavier in my mind was never really that effective a leader, he was much more the inspiration for the real leaders. He was the one who gave the dream to both Ororo and Scott. But while Xavier is certainly able to inspire, and his dream is something all the various X-teams continue to fight for in one capacity or another....as an actual leader, whether in the field or just leading people...he never really struck me as effective.

Storm can inspire and motivate, but she can also lead the team in the field and make tough decisions...Scott can lead the team in the field and make tough decisions, but can also inspire and motivate (the San Francisco days, formation/early Utopia, and Astonishing id say are good examples of him inspiring people).

Both of them are more effective at one aspect of leadership than the other, but both are able to perform both roles as needed

imo...Scotts the person you want in charge when things are bad. For times when there is a world-ending threat and there is no time to question what to do. You need people united by a single vision and goal in those situations.

Otherwise you want Storm. A person who leads not only because of her experience and knowledge, but because people naturally look up to and respect her. A moral leader as well as an actual leader who simply naturally inspires the loyalty of those around her and makes them want to help.

Voted for Scott overall though. The X-men don't usually have to much time just to hang back and let things be, this is comics after all, there is always some disaster event that calls for a single leader to step up. Also considering how things were during Decimation, Scott was the only one who could have handled that situation. Right now Storm is right person for the job, but we'll see how she handles a similar extinction level threat with the Mists

@evilvegeta74 said:

@tomchu said:

He wins. Nuff Said.

The one true leader of the Xmen, Cyke!

amen !

i voted for cyclops but i betrayed jean grey dam it

You don't see the other panels, but she succeeded. She faked Magneto out coordinating a plan with Dazzler, freed Xavier, and saved the day.

Mutant Manners

They say that to appreciate comic book superheroes completely, we need to understand their nemeses, the super-villains.

The X-Men leader Cyclops represents focus, but we appreciate his gifts more when we think of his unusual nemeses --- i.e., Mister Sinister, Magneto, etc.

This is especially true when meditating on strength enhancement heroes (i.e., mutant superhumans), since they unnerve our sensibilities about what is physically attractive and impressive in terms of leadership.

Mister Fantastic, for example, is the leader of the Fantastic Four (Marvel Comics) and can stretch his body like a freak.

Maybe we should compare Cyclops to Mister Fantastic.

Jean was leader during morrison's run

Going with Xavier, since whenever he was in the building, everyone deferred to him while the others mostly stuck out as field leaders.

And I am not going to vote for Scott due to most of his modern tenure, he was in full on survival mode. Which may sound great and nessessary in a time of unparalled crisis as the post HoM world was to mutants, but it's worth remembering that a great leader also needs to be a diplomat and be able to unify disagreeing factions... and Scott couldn't manage either of those things as made evident when half the population of his Utopia left for Salem and that he wouldn't look beyond his own nose and pick a fight with Avengers on a gamble.

Xavier. Not necessarily flawless, but certainly the most definitive. That among how compelling of character he is, what many consider a "vilifications" of him, I think are aspects of bigger, complex character development.

Tech towards the end Even Xavier deferred to Scott, and also at the end of bendis run Scott proved he could be a diplomat and united the entire face once more in Washington as a sign of peace! So yea Scott > The rest mahahahaha

@oldnightcrawler: LOL

Which by many seems to regard as having been one of Bendis' biggest WTF moments.

This.

@outside_85: Scott had been the de-facto Mutant Leader since decimation, it wasn't Bendis who had Xavier or Magneto deferring to him. And other than how the hell he physically got such a large group of mutants to Washington I haven't seen anyone say the demonstration itself was bad...in fact considering the journey the character was on that was actually a VERY good place to end the Revolution story line

Problem was all the BS other story arcs and terrible pacing it took to get there

True, but then again; Xavier had already abandoned ship before House of M (and apparently done so in a very door-slamming fashion... but I dont know who actually wrote the departure). And after House of M, Magneto had no one else to fight for. It's not so much a sign of Scott's qualities as a leader and more a case of circumstances.

The problem, as I see it, is why Westchester decided to follow him there. Like Logan convinced half of Utopia to follow him rather than Scott, all but a tiny handful followed suit after AvX. The you had the 'revolution' itself, which often seemed to be a background thing that just kept SHIELD as a recurring threat to Scott's group. And then Scott shows up at the end where the X-Men had just taken a collective dump on Beast, and for some unexplained reason decides to follow him to Washington? I'll be honest; I don't understand why anyone at the JG Academy would follow him for an event that would make Scott look like MLK.

I'm more concerned with the scitzophrenic way handled individual motivation. Like that last issue just seemed to me to be Bendis airing his own personal dislike of Beast while showing his favoritism of Scott.
Like, what does it say of the writer when they have a notoriously mute character show up just to verbally hurl abuse at someone? And for what exactly? Doing something the X-Men have been doing for ages? Like if what Beast did is so horrible; why are no one doing the same at Kang, Cable or Bishop who all travel and manipulate time far more than Beast ever has?

Scott.