I don't mean a field leader, I mean a Prof. X-esque leader, who sends the teams on missions. I'd personally say Beast, beacause although Storm may share the pacifist ideology of Xavier, Beast is at least 600x smarter and is less likely to get someone killed. Beast is also a pacifist.

I'd say Storm cos she has more experiences and knows the x-men members more

Storm.

Although Beast has been a bit of a turd lately I'll choose him. He's pretty much a genius and overall classy dude.

@papad1992 said:

@jhazzroucher said:

I'd say Storm cos she has more experiences and knows the x-men members more

Agreed!!

I also agree. It's a no-brainer-- Storm is one of the best leaders in Marvel.

Storm becuase she has led the x-men longer & because even thou she now has Avenger ties she is still loyal to the X-men & to mutants

Storm would do well in combat, but she's never been portrayed as remarkably intelligent. Beast has been with the Avengers, FAR longer than Storm, and has more sway with them. Storm has a bit of a temper, and doesn't have what it takes to be more than a field leader.

Tactical Intelligence and scientific genius are not the same. Sure for Iron Man, Dr. Doom and Black Panther have both. But Pym and Beast have never been potrayed as tactical masters. Captain America and Starlord are tactical masters but are not science geniuses.

Storm has actually led the X-men before. Beast never has.

Beast, for all his intelligence and experience, is a scientist and advisor at heart, not a leader. It is simply not what his talents are intended for, Storm is a better pick of the two.

@Nightcrawler23: They're kind of evenly matched to me, Beast is a better diplomat but Storm is better at taking control and putting her foot down!

both, together, Storm for the tactical decisions and beast for the diplomatic issues, they'd be an awesome team. But honestly If I had to choose, I'd pick hank, he's one of the original 5 x men, ice man, jean, angel, they are all unfit to lead. Cyclops is a good leader but he's been making some bad decisions as of late

@samuel_larson_10 said:

both, together, Storm for the tactical decisions and beast for the diplomatic issues, they'd be an awesome team. But honestly If I had to choose, I'd pick hank, he's one of the original 5 x men, ice man, jean, angel, they are all unfit to lead. Cyclops is a good leader but he's been making some bad decisions as of late

Yeah I don't see the point of special deference to the orginal 5. Sure they were first but before ANAD the X-men were going nowhere fast.

Beast, partly because of his intelligence but also because Storm irritates me.

@PhoenixoftheTides said:

@Skaddix said:

@samuel_larson_10 said:

both, together, Storm for the tactical decisions and beast for the diplomatic issues, they'd be an awesome team. But honestly If I had to choose, I'd pick hank, he's one of the original 5 x men, ice man, jean, angel, they are all unfit to lead. Cyclops is a good leader but he's been making some bad decisions as of late

Yeah I don't see the point of special deference to the orginal 5. Sure they were first but before ANAD the X-men were going nowhere fast.

For me, the difference is that the original team weren't action heroes to the point the ANAD were, and they often favored a more diplomatic approach. I give deference to Scott, Jean and Hank moreso than Warren and Bobby because they've lead a team, been co-leaders on other occasions and been team members before, so each is pretty well suited in a Professor X-type position having experienced being a leader as well as taking orders in a variety of roles outside of combat. As I said earlier, Storm is good for tactical leadership, but her record of setting a goal for the school isn't good - she had her reasons, but one of the marks against her was needing to abandon the students at the Mansion because enemies knew where the X-Men were. And when Charles had to choose a replacement to protect the school and his vision, he chose Magneto, partially because he needed someone with a vision larger than heroics to achieve his dream. If I had to put it another way, it's that Storm lacks vision because she is really focused on herself and more limited tasks, such as missions or combat training, whereas the leader of the school in a Professor X-type position should have other goals and interests - Beast is not only interested in science, but also education, diplomacy and team building. It is due to these factors that I think make him best suited to be a Professor X-type leader precisely because he is not limited to a warrior ethos. Even in New X-Men, when instructors were needed at the School, Emma, Jean and Hank were among them because their powers, experiences and educational background each made them a fit teacher. Hank just brings more to the table; it's like seeing a resume punctuated by impressive educational credentials, experience, interests, achievements and indicators of a well-developed personality and comparing it to another that has some experience but no other achievements outside of a certain role. It is like comparing the background of a professor (who actually has a few PhD's) to a bright but undeveloped student/graduate - the professor is just going to seem more fit to lead an educational/ethical institution like Prof.X's school while the graduate may be qualified to teach or assist in teaching a class or two. Bottom line: If you want the X-Men to be about achieving peace through all possible means, Beast seems to be the best leader. If you want the X-Men to be about combat effectiveness, Storm would be one of a few viable options.

I'd argue that the X-Men are in trouble now because their current leaders only present the most popular, combat effective and appealing options, and not the most logical choice. You can criticize Cyclops, but at the end of the day, he is still running the team as if it is multifaceted, with educational/training, strike team, scientific/research components all merged into a larger organization. Storm, at the end of the day, still favors being free to do what she wants and hasn't really stepped up to present a multifaceted vision of how they should evolve. I think Beast has presented this vision, but he defers to Scott out of respect for his record and strategic abilities. I'd like to see what he could do with the team as the overall visionary, and I feel that Storm has already passed up her opportunities to do the same because she basically doesn't want to. Any time the call went out to be teachers, educators or administrators (the hard, intellectual work behind running the X-Men as a school, movement or organization), Storm tends to back out and let others step up, but she has served as a mediator or ambassador (ie. representative functions) before. I like both characters but I just think Beast understands what Professor X was trying to achieve moreso than Storm, and he is just deferential enough to avoid calling out the current leader unless they start crossing major ethical lines. And I still think some posters are mistaking what the OP was talking about - this role would largely be sidelined and dealing with administrative and executive level business: If Storm were to take this role, she wouldn't be leading the vast majority of combat missions as it would be irresponsible for this type of leader to place themselves in danger for minor or needless reasons. Technically, someone like a Reed Richards would be ideal for this role; not a Captain America.

That's where you're somewhat wrong, and it baffles me as to why you've decided to re-inforce your point more than three times now. Yes, the OP asked for a Professor X-esque type of leader, who sent the team on missions. There was no mention of the "School" or for that matter "It's vision". I hope you're aware that Charles only stayed on the sidlines and did not get as much attention compared to the combat units, as you described, because of one reason, he was disabled.

I suppose you're quite right in that the 05 probably did take a more diplomatic approach to most of their...antagonists, but i don't see where you're going with, because they were both members of a team as well as leaders/co-leaders, they're suited for a Professor X-esque position ? I don't understand that, it'd be appreciated if you could elaborate on that, cause (from what i'm well aware of) he has openly been a leader from the get-go and i don't re-call him openly taking orders from anyone during his glory days (even though i'll get back to this subject), he started all this (and i'd prefer to not get redirected to some First X-Men articles).

As has been pointed out from a couple other users, Beast has never been put in the "leadership" position in comparison to Professor X and Storm, and if he has, it was never really noticable. Sure, he's co-head of The Jean Grey School For Higher Learning, but he didn't think twice about getting sent off on that space mission to apprehend the Phoenix. He didn't provide much to the team other than his smarts, and even that didn't save them. His vision for the school wasn't exactly evident in this case, either, if he wanted what was best for the students and the teachers there, he would have, and could have, stayed. He is, in someways, a sideline character himself, but that doesn't mean he never gets his hands dirty when the enemy comes, he has, many times, been placed as a field operative and took that role with open arms, he's not much of a guy who watches through the computer screens telling the other team-members what to do, he likes getting up-close and personal, from what i've seen anyways, so forgive me if i'm wrong (take Secret Avengers for example, he's almost always on the field, never being put in that type of positon, or WaTX where he prominently appears, almost always on the field, too. Have not read into much of his past appearances, so i'm probably wrong on a lot of points, still.)

As much as he supposedly possesses the skills and intelligence needed to carry out such a task, he has never taken on the initiative to do so. It was Wolverine's idea to set-up the school again, not his. That never even came to his mind, even though he's Professor Xavier Vol.2 as you think him so much to be.

Magneto's not much of a good example, yeah, he took care of the New Mutants, but how long did that last ? As soon as the going got tough, he left them. Something a Professor X-esque type visionary should not be doing, he did have a vision, but left it as soon as something went awry, and, in the end, went back to his villianous ways, so, not a good example.

The fact that Storm is a Queen, does at least give her some leewway, in that she doesn't always need to be with the X-Men, when the times were tough (HoM, Messiah CompleX, etc, etc.) it'd be understandable for her to not be there, though, now, you could definitely argue against all of that. It's not, completley, that she cares more about herself and is solely confined to limited tasks as a leader, but it's that she has(d) other priorities to attend to, which should be understandable. But i do somewhat agree with the "limited tasks" aspect of the character, she admitted herself that making long-term choices and the like weren't exactly her strong points, which were true, but some of the choices that she did make (faking their deaths to not draw any attention to the X-Men and the ones related to them, taking her own squad of X-Men which included Beast, to search for Destinies Diaries, creating the XSE while doing so) actually turned out for the best.

Even currently, she's dealing with matters that require assistance from the likes of Beast and such, but, because of the intricacies that follow, she's choosing not to. With the situation, she's not delving head-on because of her combat prowess, she's taking a good look at it, analysing it, seeing where her and her team should act and should not, then making her way to strike (i'm talking about Blank Generation, Brian Wood's X-Men #30 -#32.), to counteract the fact that you think she's solely a combat leader and not one to take a breather from things and take a look at it diplomatically, well, she's doing exactly that. She's not trying to overpower anything in this instance, she's just doing what Xavier would do (this was even done in Xenogenesis). Truthfully speaking.

Personally, i think the person who you're trying to describe is Scott Summers. He entirely fits that bill more than any other X-Leader and that is a definite given.

beast. overall better.

@Nightcrawler23 said:

Storm would do well in combat, but she's never been portrayed as remarkably intelligent. Beast has been with the Avengers, FAR longer than Storm, and has more sway with them. Storm has a bit of a temper, and doesn't have what it takes to be more than a field leader.

Oh ?

She's the Queen of Wakanda, MU's most techonlogically advanced nation. Is the (estranged) wife of the Black Panther, one of the MU's smartest men, and that's been stated. Just because she isn't getting on with her Masters, nor does she have a Ph.D next to her name, doesn't mean she isn't intelligent. She is nowhere near Beast's level of intelligence, but, i'm just saying.

Also, i don't see what being a member of Bendis'veng--the Avengers, has to do with this. She has what it takes and then some, trust me.

@Joygirl: I'm glad someone else can appreciate Hank's classy demeanor. If only he had a monocle.

No one. I want to leave behind the idea of one leader being in charge over all the teams.   I want them to separate the X-Books into their own entities. Kinda like X-Factor has been the entire time.

If I had to pick, it would be Storm. I feel she has more leadership qualities then Beast and can maybe act more as a mother for the group. I feel Beast is more of a hypocrite than a leader, his more into politics and diplomacy than leadership. I think he'd land X-men in more trouble than Storm would. But that's just me.

Beast would be a fine teacher and mentor for younger mutants but he is not leadership material. He is a follower plain and simple.

Ororo Munroe is the answer.

@jhazzroucher: Xavier looks like he's getting pissed on in the final panel.

This is about defending Xavier's dream. Not having bada$$ powers.

@PhoenixoftheTides said:

@AgeofHurricane: I felt it was important to reinforce the OP's original distinction because it seemed that certain responses were pretty vague as to what characteristics she'd bring to the position that didn't involve her tactical ability and might have missed the point that this position wouldn't bring Storm any more screen time necessarily. The best leaders often don't become the leaders for reasons of tradition or until the direction of creative teams change, and you see characters like Havok, Jamie Madrox or Rogue start to step up once they are given a chance. So, in many ways, I don't really see having prior leadership experience in the field as being completely relevant - in that case, we'd never see new characters in a leadership position because writers would always choose a default option. This is one of those questions where I'm really considering the merits and personalities of each character. Even when Professor X had gotten back the use of his legs, for example, he wasn't in the field that often and even without the ability to walk, due to Cerebro and the nature of his powers, his handicap wasn't really an impediment. Which is why I also had to say that this position has less to do with tactical ability and more to do with having multiple, complimentary set of skills. Ultimately, I'd like to see Best in this position more, and this is not a knock on Storm, but it's just that Beast represents so much from his very physical appearance, to his intelligence, sense of humor and ability to be in the field but also be an administrator - he's more of a representative of the mutant population then the prettier members of the X-Men are because he doesn't look like a model and can't easily hide amongst the general population. I have to mention degrees because at the end of the day, the X-Men were founded as a school with superheroics being a secondary function. So for me, there is always an element of training the next generation with these books. Storm is clearly intelligent; she doesn't have a degree, but she was taking college level courses at the School, and knows multiple languages besides being a great battlefield commander. Those things aside, there are certain aspects of her character that I think legitimately wouldn't work for this position - imagine Storm sitting back at the HQ monitoring their progress wearing a suit and tie having no intentions of getting personally involved if disaster strikes. It is almost ludicrous to me, because she has always been very hands on, and a big part of her imagery is seeing her fly in and do things whereas I think there is a lot of background in Hank's personality that could be built upon to justify a change in outlook without tossing out what his character is known for. And I don't think that her husband being king of a technologically advanced nation is really evidence of her own intelligence. Sue Storm is married to an incredibly creative genius, but despite her being very smart in her own right, she is not a genius herself because of her marriage.

I'm not entirely sure that Cyclops is the best fit for his current position nor do I think Beast is Prof.X version 2, by the way. I was hoping Jean's role would evolve to this, as in New X-Men, but alas she is stuck in the Phoenix Hot Room of Random Spinoffs/One Shots. But, as I always say, it's just my 1 cent worth of opinion, so even if I can justify it, I can't be 100% right to everyone else. Heck, I'd rather see Kitty do it because she has less baggage than both Hank and Ororo.

Alright, i get where you're coming from, there. I for one, think it's (personally) better to have prior leadership history, mainly because, if you're going to take on that type of role, you need to prepared for what's to come, prior leadership can be said for a lot of character who've been put in that position since before some of us were born, Storm for example, out of nowhere, she was chosen after Scott left. There was no sense of prior leadership for the character before that decision was made, but a we're talking now, where decades upon decades have passed and Beast has had no experience in that sector whatsoever, Storm on the other hand, has. Havok and Rogue have both had previous leadership positions prior to where they are now, not sure about Madrox, but those other two, have, Beast ? Has not, getting put in a leadership position right now in the midst of all things, would seem far too awkward, for him and for others.

Towards Charles getting his legs back, that's actually what i was going to talk about in my former post, but didn't. Mainly because, upon getting use of his legs back, he actually tried to wrest command and leadership over the X-Men from Storm, much to her annoyance. That shouldn't be up for debate or anything, but i'm just saying, backing up what i said before, in that Charles was a sidline man because he was disabled.

I agree with you in that, Beast actually does represent a lot with his outward appearance and such and his abilitiy to multi-task and not make it seem awkward looking.

Overall, i agree with the majority of points made for Beast, they're quite right and well-proven. To cut it very short, i, personally, feel like it's a bit of a stretch to have Beast better suited for this position just because of his smarts, disregarding whether or not he's had such experience.

@jhazzroucher said:

I'd say Storm cos she has more experiences and knows the x-men members more

mhhhmm.

I think both have the ability to fill the role, but I think Storm would be better suited due to her natural leadership ability, and years of actual leadership experience. I think Beast would be very capable as leader though. Both have remained strongly dedicated to the ideology that the X-Men have been built on.

Beast.

@mister number 10 man said:

I mean heck the team would be golden with either. The X-Men have been lead by everyone from Xaiver, Magneto, Cyclops, to Emma Frost (with Cyclops), and even Wolverine. These two would lead both in different ways but still uphold the X-Men name to what Charles would have wanted. From a field perspective I would hands down pick Storm. But when I think about how much behind the scenes planning and therapy work Xavier did with the students IDK. I guess I would give it to Storm, more field experience, has lead X-Men in the field, the Morlocks, and is already an ambassador in Africa and queen to her husband's people. She has more ties I feel like as a leader and powerhouse to marvel universe as well. I wouldn't be opposed to having Beast in second of command or co-leader maybe.

cosigned. : )

@jhazzroucher said:

I'd say Storm cos she has more experiences and knows the x-men members more

I'm confused. How in hell does Storm have more experience than Beast? Beast has been an X-Man longer than anyone besides the other original four. The guy also happens to be complete a genius.

I'd pick Beast, any day, every day.

@Onemoreposter said:

@jhazzroucher said:

I'd say Storm cos she has more experiences and knows the x-men members more

I'm confused. How in hell does Storm have more experience than Beast? Beast has been an X-Man longer than anyone besides the other original four. The guy also happens to be complete a genius.

I'd pick Beast, any day, every day.

Storm has more experiences as a leader than Beast