X-force members like Spiral, Puck, Deadpool, Fantomex, Marrow etc
X-factor members: Polaris, Havok, Monet, etc
Brotherhood: Mystique, Magneto, Toad, etc
Cyclops' Team: Cyclops, Emma, Magik etc
Random mutants such as Shaw, Blink, Legion, Callisto, Scarlet Witch, Quicksilver, Molly Hayes... etc

Separate entities that all fall under the X-umbrella?
Once an X-man always an X-man?
Too dynamic to categorize?
If your not on the main X-line up or apart of the student rooster, your not an X-men?

What.do.you.think?

Every time I think of this I think about Messiah Complex. Where pretty much every team came together, including X-Factor who at the time I felt was filled with people who didn't want to be X-Men or affiliated with them. At that point, to me at least, it became once an X-Man always an X-Man...unless you go evil.

Plus I think pretty much every time a character associated with the X-Men is in trouble you hear the phrase "He/She/They are one ours/us".
Except for Deadpool, nobody wants to claim him.

Well, to some degree, the term "X-Man" has come to be almost synonymous with "mutant". After Decimation, most of the remaining mutants of the world were folded into the X-Men, if for no other reason than to provide them with a safe haven.

I think you need to go back to the roots of the team to truly define who is, and isn't, an X-Man. Certainly I believe that an X-Man is someone who was indoctrinated in Charles Xavier's belief system. To believe in, and strive towards making his dream a reality. They also would have been trained by Xavier to serve as his soldiers, to aid in protecting mankind from those deemed "evil" mutants. Under this purview, Cyclops, Havok, Magik & Polaris are X-Men.

Magneto, as a peer and adversary of Xavier's, beholden to an opposing philosophy, can never really be considered an X-Man. There's always going to be that disconnect that forever sets him apart from the team. LIke Prince Namor, he may serve with them, but he will never be "of" them. The same can be said for Mystique, Sebastian Shaw, the Juggernaut ( who's not even a mutant), and Sabre-Tooth.

Legion has traditionally been portrayed as too damaged to ever be a part of any team, let alone a functioning member of any society. Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch are Avengers, having willfully isolated themselves from the greater mutant population for decades now.

I would argue that X-Force, in most of it's incarnations, is a separate entity from the X-Men. It's another team of mutants with a different mission statement. As different from the X-Men as the Defenders were to the Avengers. While there may be X-Men in X-Force, that doesn't make their entire membership X-Men. Same holds true for X-Factor.

I don't actually know who Molly Hayes is, & it's a bit late to be doing any research on her. If she's never been a part of the X-Men proper though, than no, she's not an X-Man.

All of this is just my opinion, of course, Nothing that I've said should be considered the gospel truth.

yes i agree with the above statement. but the main thing i figure that makes an x-man is the principals inwhich the teams follow. take x-factor. the original leader was cyclops who @ thetime was still following xavier's dream followed by a second leader who also came up under xavior & the leaders since have come up along with havok( second leader). x-force,original x-force was cable leading & training new mutants, became a team reestablished by cyclops to save hope then became a black op team to battle mutant threats. it doesnt matter if cyclops is good or bad, leading the main x-men or not. noone can deny cyclops claim to call his team x-men in my opinion. xavier & storm should be the only ones able to as well but hey wolverine too i guess. the original motto of the school was to give chances even to the enemy so if they wore an x, they are x-men but the traitors get handled too some u just cant keep down.

I think if they are following xaviers dream then they are xmen. And by xaviers dream i mean for a world where humans and mutants live together in peace. Both the JGS and Cyclops's team believe in the dream but they just have different ways of doing it

Good answers and good discussion people. I mostly agree withchalkshark

It's a bit of a gray area with many characters like X-23 and the ever changing Phoenix.

I still find Cyclops' team up for discussion. Sure they are all honorary X-men by default. But do they really stand for Xavier's dream? I as on still find Cyclops a murderer, not genuine, manipulative, and arrogant. I believe Cyclops has crafted his own dream that's separate form Xavier's. Honestly I consider his team something like Dark X-men.

And I think we all agree that just because one is a mutant, doesn't make you an X-men. I think there are a few human X-men such as Dr. Kavita Rao, Dr. Nemesis, Danger, Moira, and Karima. And as said before, Scarlet Witch, Daken, and Quicksilver aren't X-men.

I do like what was said about whoever embodies the Xavier dream and is apart of the X-men rooster or frequently appears in X-books is an X-man.

Question-- What mainly separates X-factor from X-men?

I consider Marrow to be an X-man, but not these others.

Havok, Polaris, and now Monet are X-men, but Madrox, Siryn, Guido, Wolfsbane, Rictor, and Shatterstar are not.

Magneto is an X-man, the others are not.

I think it should just go without saying that if you're on Cyclops' team, you're on the X-men.

I don't think it's quite as simple as a character identifying themselves as an X-man; Quire for example called his Omega Gang "the New X-Men", but generally, if a character has actually been on the team, been trained as, or and identifies as an X-man, then they are an X-man. And otherwise they are not.

In my mind Fantomex and Deadpool aren't X men.

is the goal of the team Human/Mutant co-existence, possibly with an emphasis on protecting mutants from persecution....but your not quite crossing that line that would lead into an X-force esque black-ops team? If yes, Your an X-man in my book

X-force in my mind should always be considered separate from the X-men proper due to their more heavy handed tactics, complete willingness to kill even if lives are not in immediate danger, and the fact that they often go after possible threats before the threat even emerges.

Scotts current team is closer to the line than most others, but imo he and his group are still X-men. Though Magneto is still a wildcard...when he joined Scott everyone thought the species was doomed, at that point Mags was mostly out to protect his race. He interacted relatively little with humans and we never really got to see if his opinions had changed. Now that the race has restarted we might see him fall back to old habits. Last issue of UXM he was attending a pro-mutant rights rally being run by some human college students.....but he was fantasizing about attacking everyone, disgusted with the idea that the Humans were calling mutants "brothers" and identifying with them. Scott was at the same type of rally a few issues earlier and sincerely thanked those attending for their support, and pledging to defend them as well if they needed it.

This leads me to think that while Scott, Magik, and Emma likely still have Xaviers dream in their heart...Magneto is more just along for the ride at this point and still doesn't think co-existence is possible. So I would not classify him as an x-man.

much of what you're saying is spot on.

I completely disagree re: Cyclops tho. He remains, in my mind, the only true proponent of Xavier's dream. Its a dream that's based in a more realistic sense, but its still Xavier's dream. Xavier was no saint, and many of his actions in pursuit of his dream were far worse than the simple brutality of murder. Cyclops imho can also only be called a murderer for his sanctioning of the X-Force assassination squad. Dark Phoenix killed Charles.

PADs X-Factor made certain to distance themselves from the X-Men, and indeed none of its line-up with only the later exceptions of Darwin, Havok and Polaris were ever X-Men. They were separate because Jamie was never an X-Man. His closest affiliations were with Moira and briefly the Havok led X-Factor. They were a private investigation agency not a band of "costumed freaks/heroes." Sure they had some rather heroic adventures, but they were more about the current client than the Utopian bull-spit coming from San Francisco.

That said i think all the Gen X kids and all the New Mutants most definitely qualify as X-Men. Cannonball and Jubilee most of all... but all the other too. The New Mutants were essentially x-men in training, and they were trained by Xavier directly. Gen X was similar, but Emma imho is a better teacher for children of the later generation. She's harsher, more challenging, and my gods is she fiercely protective. She, i think represents a point between Charles and Max's visions. She's all about the oligarchy of power, but she still sees value in humanity and has many times fought to save it as an X-Man.

As a elaboration... i feel Emma best represents the SUCCESS of the dream. Her goals were essentially world domination through Power, and the pursuit of ever more. She was for years counted amongst their deadliest adversaries. Even going so far as to assemble her own teen squad to fight the x-men. She fought them many times. Had her share of victories and defeats. She suffered catastrophic defeat, and when she woke from that coma, Emma Frost, the White Queen was never the same woman again. The murder of the Hellions changed her infinitely more than her other losses. She reluctantly joined with the House of Xavier, and even accepted Charles' trust by agreeing to instruct his next generation of students. Along the way, she became enamoured of the dream. She saw and supported its merits. She called out its flaws. Her personality remained. But her motivations shifted. First to the students. Then to supporting the Dream.

I think of them all as X-Men, although I'm not sure every character in-continuity would consider them all as such.