JUST WANDERING

logically it should be iceman because he is an omega level mutant.

I cant believe that storm never reached the omega level stature. her powers have so many use.

@darthphoenix: because omega level is not a stature that can be reached its genetic. Bobby was born an omega level mutant and Storm was not, her body and how much power it can handle is limited. Bobby's limits like most omega level mutants are psychological as they usually subconsciously place mental blocks on their powers.

i'd say storm, she should be a beast. no pun intended.

This is about right. A mutant could have very useful powers, with multiple energy projection abilities, and still not be an Omega. Magneto, for example, is one of the most powerful mutants on the planet and isn't an Omega level mutant because his body has limits to how much power it can handle.

Well this is a hard choice....I will say Storm...NO Iceman...NO WAIT...Storm...NO NO WAIT Iceman...oh I don't know...lol.

Iceman for sure, though i like storm as well.

Iceman.

Iceman. His powers are unreal.

So is Storm's lol.

Going with Bobby. When he was getting ready to freeze the entire Earth, it scared Thor into thinking Ragnorak was beginning. I don't think Storm's done anything like that yet

If we are limiting them to their mutant powers only as they are nice then Iceman would have more over all potential by simply bring labeled omega level and Storm only being a potential omega mutant. Storm has still shown greater versatility to date but has limits vs Bobby's unlimited potential.

If we are talking over all potential for their full abilities for the characters and not just their mutant powers then it would be Storm, as her bloodline also has the potential to wield powerful magic.

Iceman, no contest.

this is a pointless question as there is no context.

Frankly potential as a character - Storm has shown so much more than Iceman. And she shows no sign of being limited in that respect. Bobby has almost never shown much more than his class-clown persona. It actually incredibly frustrating about Bobby that he is still in that role. So character-wise its Storm no contest.

From a power perspective... i'm going to argue against Iceman again. The belief that a mutant is born an omega hasn't been explicitly stated on page. And we've only ever had the rather vague "their powers have no known limits" or sometimes "unlimited potential" which is actually an almost contradiction. the very fact that on-page Storm was referred to as a potential omega - more than once - is a blatant contradiction to the "born with it" arguement. Given the ambiguity of both Omega Level's definition and Storm's Omega status... we have to go on shown feats. Storm has shown more than once abilities capable of affecting the whole planet (and other planets, and space). Bobby perhaps once... Storm has the greater potential - as she has shown herself willing to push her powers beyond what she could do normally. Iceman seems to refuse to, either not knowing how, being scared, or because he's just too lazy. Bobby can take the Wasted Potential title.

throw in Storm's magical potential - a potential so great that alternate versions of her ruled Limbo, training Magik in the use of her own powers.... and Bobby is lagging behind even more.

Iceman without powers = just a regular accountant

Storm without powers = still the leader of the X-men

oh how well said!

I wonder if there is something we've never seen from Iceman and his powers, or was it his limit in Astonishing "freeze the planet" arc?

Iceman

the thing with Iceman is, even without reaching the upper potential of his powers, his powers are still incredibly versatile and useful. And he seems to use them almost effortlessly, even from a young age. Because of that, there's never been a lot of need to push him, since he's already among the most powerful.

Storm's just had a weird life even besides her powers, and has experiences that give her a much more versatile skill-set beyond them. She's learned stealth from her childhood as a pickpocket and burglar, street fighting, piloting various aircraft, and survival skills from her time in the wild. Even without getting into her skills as a strategist and diplomat, she's already got a skill-set that rivals someone like Cat-woman. And all of that's even without looking at the versatility of her powers.

I like them both, but to me Storm's a main character and Iceman's more of a faithful sidekick in most situations.

I think Iceman does.

storm...yeah, in an alternate reality she became and elemental being just like bobby. I believe she has the potential to control all forms of nature. My opinion.

Storm

OK -Thinking back on this more and considering Devilsgrin81 and Oldnightcrawler's points...I think the over all greater potential,powers, skills, impact,etc. would go to Storm.

ICEMAN HAVE MORE POWAR

I have to go with Storm on this one. If Bobby wasn't portrayed so much as comic relief but more mature, it would be a harder decision.

Storm couldn't beat Ice Man when she was with the X-Men and the Avengers, so Ice Man.

id say that storm could one day be as powerful if not more powerful than iceman. no she isnt an omega level mutant yet but she like most of the other elemental/earth fundamental mutants can/will gain stronger elemental powers. in some futures we see storm able to take on an elemental form meaning she like iceman has been able to assume a form made out of her elemental powers. i could definitely see storm in an air, ice, or water form. i believe the same with magneto

energy form then?

@teerack: what -_- how in any way does that show who has more potential.

But anyway I think Storm has more potential over all with her powers. First of all Bobby would not be at the state he is without Emma. She is the one who unlocked his true potential. An Storm was the one who helped him harness his new power at that. Storm has show the be one of the most versatile superheros when it come to her power-set.

yup

storm has way more potential than iceman bobby,besides storm having planetary weather(hot to cold-cold to hot,flash freezing,blizzards, hurricanes,tornadoes,single lightening bolts to multi-lightening bolts,etc)..she also has the potential to wield strong magic and she has one of the strongest will power in the x-men team to possibly even the marvel universe and her marvel future is still yet to be seen.

Well seeing as how Bobby is immortal, I would probably go with Iceman....

@roddy010: when did this happen? (what issuse)

@darthphoenix: New Avengers #9

@marlexcabanilla: It depends on how you define potential. Are you talking about power development, or character development?

I give it to Iceman in both categories; there is an advantage to not having been as over-exposed, or in so many different story lines. It leaves more room for a character to develop.

I think this is irrelevant for the most part; I don't think Storm would hold the leadership position without powers with the current roster. Too many other fully powered leaders and senior members to risk having an unpowered person in that role. When she was the leader without her powers, the roster was much thinner and weaker than it is now. The difference between their roles has more to do with temperament than anything else - Dr. Strange wasn't a 'leader' at his most powerful, but he was much more powerful and had more potential than the majority of superheroes.

1. I think that's a matter of conjecture and overlooks both Storm's other skills and her dedication.

2. when she was the leader the first time that was mostly true (except for Rogue and Rachel, who lacked more in control than power, and that she also helped train the new mutants, essentially leading two teams at times), but she was also the leader of the gold team, which was almost over-powered for an X-men team; she may have had her powers then, but it's not like that's what made her a good leader.

3. my point was more that Storm's interesting enough to be a main character even without powers, whereas Iceman isn't all that interesting even with them. His personality's fun, but not especially distinct, and the most interesting thing about him kind of is his powers.

This. Storm just has so much more to offer.

@thunderbolt30: indeed she does from weather to her magical potential but iceman...not so much.

I remember a story arc where Storm had reached omega level status and was elemental like without body. An alternative future after Cyclops became Apocalypse I think.

@oldnightcrawler:

It depends on the writer, IMHO. Writers who are personally invested in a character will tend to do more with them. I found Storm more interesting and stable earlier in her career and during the Gold Strike Force era. She seems very self-involved and bipolar during the Mohawk Era and in the current stories. Iceman, on the other hand, has had a bit of a resurgence, and is getting to shine because snark and humor is more appreciated by many of the current writers. Morrisons' Emma, for example, was interesting even without her powers because he understood how to make that type of character interesting, while Bendis' Emma is just petty and bland.

but there's kind of the difference right there. Morrison's Emma was one of the main characters and Bendis' Emma is more in a supporting role, she has her own subplot going on, but it's just not a central part of the story. To me it's not that Bendis writes her worse, he just writes her in a less central role

So, basically I do agree that any character can be interesting or dull depending on who writes them, and how they use them; Personally I love Storm's punk period from the mid-80's because I just identified with her most then, how even while dealing with her own passionate conflicts of identity, she still rises above her own needs to try to do right by the characters who depend on her.

I liked her in the early days of the gold team, but that period didn't really last that long before the team sort of just became one big team with Xavier in charge, and Storm just stops being a central character despite ostensibly being one of the leaders. Iceman actually was more interesting than Storm in this period, as his traditional supporting role became more central to a team that seemed to need so much support, eventually even dealing with his own issues and power limits.

There are great stories in which Iceman is fairly central and interesting character (Astonishing X-Men #62-66 comes to mind), and there are lots of stories where both Storm and Iceman are kind of just hanging around in the background doing nothing; I just personally find Storm's character being more distinct and having more to offer to a central role. Maybe that is just a personal preference, but I do feel I can appreciate both characters and still find one more interesting than the other.

Ah OK - fair enough! It's all about preferences ultimately.

Sorry man, but this is ridiculous.

after being gone for so long, its time for jean to take on the spotlight and everyone be on supporting roles. the difference is, storm would not look bad with jean, she'd still shine. And emma...who?

that's beside the point, this thread is about iceman and storm, so going back...

storm can do more things with her powers but it would be limited because she's not omega level. she'd strain herself or wear out pushing herself.

while iceman...lets just just he can turn everything into ice if he wants. with morals off, he'd be deadly

@adamtrmm: what are you ridiculing now?

@oldnightcrawler:

Just that statement in that context. For now there are only 3 senior X-men on the team, and that's if you consider Magik as such, yet Emma Frost is a supporting role? Something isn't right here..

why not? a character can be a senior member of the team and not be the main character of the story; it just depends on what the story is. The measure of a story doesn't need to be which characters are central and which aren't.

Both with morals off would be extremely deadly.

@oldnightcrawler:

WOLVERINE and the X-men had a bigger cast yet many characters could be considered as leading. In Uncanny where new students are clearly supporting and excluding Emma, makes Cyclops and Magik the only main characters? Why? I say in 24 issues Bendis could've made even those children main cast as well, without overlooking someone pretty important like Emma. imo