After seeing Rachel Grey and all of the X-Men save Emma basically "No-Sell" the death of Cyclops i though up this:

Because so often line ups change and the X-Men relationship dynamics go into flux (and also because there's no X-Books this week and we need something to argue about ;D) i though it would be cool to take a look at a few characters and how important they are to each other.


Basically pick a character and give the top 5 character in terms of relationship importance to them. (Be prepared to give reasons and argue over order)

I'll start of with a few.

Cyclops-
1. Jean Grey- (Obviously) Dead or alive every turning point this character has had involves her and for years was his closest confidant and driving force behind his actions.
2. Charles Xavier- Cyclops has daddy issues for sure, but it's pretty much a given that everything he is is because of Xavier and his entire belief system and heroic character is because of him. Cyclops knows this and hold Xavier on a pedestal
3. Emma Frost- Cyclops current closest confidant. She proactively assist his leadership while at the same time provides an outside perspective to the dynamic that he has with the other X-Men and comments on the realities of it. She's arguably his best friend because of it.
4. Wolverine- Never holds his tongue. Always supportive, yet not afraid to go to war over a disagreement. They balance eachother's effect on the X-Verse and they seemingly know and respect that.
5. Cable- His son. No matter how grey Cable's hair gets Cyke still goes into daddy mode over him. It's weird, but it's also one of the few people Cyclops shows high amounts of emotion for.

Rachel Grey-
1. Jean Grey- Strange considering they've had 3 conversations in their history that I recall... but Rachel is entirely dedicated to Jean, Jean's memory and finding any way of connecting to her. Getting violent in defense of her is actually the norm for her.
2. Kitty- The two share a very close relationship and it's arguable that sometimes she's subbed in for Magik. But in terms of friends they've got the longest history of closeness among Rachel's relationships.
3. Nightcrawler- Idk. They've got about the same history as her and Kitty and he is arguably the only male she really interacts with on a friendly level. Also Claremont seems to ship these too.....(blasphemy)
4. Psylocke- They've gone on a few adventures, have a very interesting dynamic and continue to act as the most familiar duo in the XX-Men book despite the Psylocke/Storm friendship.
5. Storm- They may not share the same politics on mutants when you dig into them, but i'd say that if Rachel had to pick a leader for a team she's on she'd vote Storm. Rachel seem's to support her and they've got years of working together to fall back on. There's definitely a level of confidence in Storm's abilities that shows a closeness.

I'll give it a try, I'm assume we are only using other X-men as far as the top 5

You know I'm starting with my girl lol

Jean Grey

1.) Scott - Jean and Scott had a connection that predates them even meeting. Death told Jean that it was this connection that eventually led to them falling in love as if they were meant to be together. There is nobody that knows her better, not even Xavier.

2.) Xavier - Although Jean had a loving father and one of the most normal family life, next to Beast, her bond with Xavier cannot be questioned. He took her under his wing from a young age even when that family thought they had lost her. She was fiercely loyal to him because she believed not only in him, but his dream, which gave her the strength to fight for a better tomorrow.

3.) Beast - we often hear that Storm was Jeans best friend, but sometimes I feel that Hank and Jean seemed a little closer just based on them knowing each other longer. He has always had a soft spot for her and she has always had his back even when he felt his mutation was causing him to become less human.

4.) Storm - the sister that Jean chose. They were both among the first woman of the team and at times the most powerful X-men in most roosters. They have a bond that started early when Storm was trying to fit into American life.

5.)Cable - regardless of his origins, Jean has always thought of him as her son. She is one of the few people that he has had genuine heart to hearts with about his father and their relationship, because for all intents and purposes she is his mother as she did raise him and teach how to control his powers as a child.

Emma Frost

1.) I'm going to say Banshee. Even though she was connected to the X-men during Gen X, she still was not well liked. Banshee is one of the first X-men to embrace her and see the change happening in her, and IMO was a more fitting love interest than Scott.

2.)Cuckoos - Emma loves these girls and even though they at one point were mad enough at her to sic Jean Grey on her they are loyal to her and respect her and her teachings whether they remember Warsong and them being her actual daughters or not. I feel they love her, but have learned from her to hide such feelings very well behind snark and eye rolling.

3.) Beast - Beast is another example of an X-man that overlooked Frosts past and enjoyed her presence and how cultured she is.

4.) Scott, - he is low only because she loved that man with all her heart and he betrayed her at every turn even in his thoughts another woman was always present. I don't doubt he had love for her I just don't think she was the love of his life, while he was the love of hers. Considering he only really chose her due to the tampering of his ex-wife from her cosmic nest, one will never know.

5.)Magneto - the two of them have always had respect for each other due to him being the White King of the Hell Fire Club. When he was headmaster of the institute and his students needed help, he trusted Emma enough to do psychic surgery on them. He knows what it is like to be the odd man out among the X-men and although they are not best friend I think there is mutual respect there that has existed for years.

I think Rachel is closer to Cyclops and Cable than Jean or Storm.

My list for Rachel is:

1. Kitty

2. Nightcrawler

3.Cable

4. Psylocke

5.Cyclops

Rachel doesn't see in Jean only a friend, but her mother because Jean is really the mother's Rachel, even if Rachel is born in another timeline.

Rachel

on scott, jean and cable:

Kitty said, Rachel would turn into a 7 year old whenever she sees Scott and Jean. I really don't think Rachel considers Jean and Scott her friends or even cable. Why didn't she cry when she heard that scott died? I guess she knew someone would bring him back soon.

on storm: Her relationship with storm is like forced but understandable. In all new x-men she said it herself that she loves storm. after their rift, they just keep on talking to each other. someone might turn lesbo here.

Psylocke: I think psylocke looks after her like a little sister. I'm not sure if this is just because Kitty asked her to look after Rachel for her. Did she make friends with her because jean trained her and Psylocke got jean's tk?

On Rogue: I think they've gone close too.

On Nightcrawler: Friendship tainted with lust or Romance which is very normal for Rachel.

Rachel's got the weirdest taste in Men: Young Ahab, Nightcrawler, Ancient Bacteria-Sublime, Alien Korvus

EMMA

Did the cuckoos really get mad at her? I Thought only one got mad at her simply because she didn't want to be like her.

was any of her students close to her?

I think the only people who digs her are scott and mags. Scott really dig-ged her though.

ICEMAN and BEAST

After their rift or being on opposite sides of AVX, I don't think the writers ever explored their friendship again...and where the hell is warren?!

CABLE:

I think he's friends with Domino for the longest time

WOLVERINE AND NIGHTCRAWLER

I think aside from having the same taste in women, storm or red heads, I think this two are also best buds.

NIGHTCRAWLER: If there is someone who'd replace jean as heart of the x-men, I think it would be him

In my opinion?

Bendis wanted emphasize the Emma's sorrow, so he focused all the scene on her and describe also the Rachel's sorrow, would have subtracted space to Emma.

It Isn't the first time that Bendis does something to similar. For example in the end of Battle of Atom, Rachel didn't left the Jean Grey School with Kitty and the Original 5, although she has helped Teen Scott and Teen Jean to escape. Why she didn't join her father in the New Xavier School, instead to stay with Storm, Logan and Beast, even if her ideas were opposite to them?

It's simply: Rachel is a main character of "adjectiveless" X-Men, so she couldn't leave the Jean Grey School. This is the real reason of that, but the writers didn't give us also a narrative explanation.

@ec2277: @Rhino999 again its there "most important relationships" that I tried to emphasize. I mean finding a relationship she has that invokes the same emotion as the scene with her and Jean from Excalibur or the "maybe you'll be born in this time line" scene from Scott and Jean's wedding....its impossible. Even with almost no interactions that Rachel remembers since then she's still ready to rip Xorna's head off when she sees her in BotA. In my opinion she just cherishes that relationship more then anything else.

And while she was angsting over Scott early on, I doubt there's a single scene between them set after her return to this timeline where she seems to care at all about him. Even her and Cable who are perpetually set on opposite sides of the X-Verse are closer in their interactions then anything from her and Scott who spend years in the same setting without speaking.

I'd consider moving Cable to four and Psylocke to 5, but even ignoring the recent issue and whatever was going on there, Rachel's Never been a daddy's girl.

@koays: Remember avx? she sided with scott. she secretly communicated with scott behind wolvie and her team's back. they also had a talk when scott was already phoenix and scott said that the phoenix force loves rachel. I think that's the last conversation they had.

I think scott and rachel had more interactions than what she had with jean because scott and rachel were on the same team for a time. she also asked for scott's help when she was trapped in space

@koays said:

Oh my God!

You are right: I've forgotten an only in my post; I'm sorry.

@ec2277 said:

Unfortunately I don't find the scene where Rachel bursts into tears, when she listen the Madelyne's voice, thinking it is the voice of Jean or the scene where she sneaks in the house of Jean's parents, to see where her mother lived and became Phoenix. They are two scene that explain very well how Rachel is attached to her mother.

If I remember well the Claremont's stories, it seems that Rachel sees her mother like her model, her paragon of virtue and originally she was as much attached to her father, as her mother.

@darthphoenix: Yea but that conversation as the Phoenix with Rachel didn't show any closeness and he wasn't completely sane at the time.

The thing that really gets me is that despite having moments in Wolverine in the X-Men where she basically goes militant in terms of explaining why she trains students and the future she wants to prevent....she still never has an opinion for or against Scott's current position.

I think the space thing doesn't say much since Polaris and Havok were there too and he wasn't going to just leave them either. But her disembodied projection calling him "Daddy",and him promising to bring her home is arguably the closest moment they've shared. Tied maybe with when he and Jean were leaving the Askani timeline....where he admits to kind of ignoring her.

Scott didn't find out she was his daughter until long after they'd both left the X-Men. And even then she takes off depressed because Jean rejected her.

@ec2277: Initially she was hung up on both of them your right. But by the time Jean was alive again things had shifted and by early 2000's it was all about Jean. Though arguably her depression over Scott and Emma caused a lot more holding up of Jean.

@koays: oh i know one thats new its emma frost and teen jean, lol. ........but it happened off-panel cause bendis doesnt really know whats he doing, lol XP

seriously storm and jean at the beginning but died down towards the end

storm and emma

emma and rogue- liked how they were best friends in x-men the end, they became mommy's together and looked out for each other

Storm

Wolverine - The Rock - does it need to be said - lover, friend, comrade in arms. Aside from Jean initially, only Wolverine is as close to Storm. Many of her physical prowess comes to his training, and thanks to this and his other support, Storm was able became the warrior we know and had the support needed to accept the role of the leader they follow.

Psylocke/Yukio - the Action Junkie Side-Kick - Bringing out the wild side in the Storm we know and love. But also in Psylocke's case, a warrior-in-arms, a reliable person at her back. And a true friend who tells it like it is. Yukio's recent semi-betrayal has soured their friendship.

Gambit - The Partner in Crime. She is the best friend he's ever had. He is the most fun She's ever had - except for Yukio. For no-one else could Gambit be called reliable (not even Rogue). But for Stormy... he'd be there. She changed his life for the better.

Colossus - The Little Brother - The first person we see Storm forming an if-not-maternal role, but a big sister's role. Their bond is truly strained atm, thanks to Peter's choices and Storm's intolerance to his attitude problems. But these two have been and will always be like family. Storm's connection with Magik is notable... Storm gave the eulogy when Illyana died of the Legacy Virus... that was touching. And actually the very first issue of an X-Men comic i ever read.

Jean - the Bestie... well once upon a time they seemed to be. their friendship later became a case of informed rather than shown. But the strength of their bond earns Jean a spot here.

Honourable mentions to Emma Frost, Sage, Nightcrawler, and of course Shadowcat.

I think Rogue and Rachel were close too. Remember when Rachel was forcing Rogue to make closure with mags? I think the conversation they had was kinda sweet.

what stuck me the most in the jean and storm moments were when they had a sisterly chat in x-tinction agenda and the one where jean communicated through tp when they were REALLY far apart, just because jean missed their time together.

Kitty was also once close to doug. I dont get it why they dont communicate anymore. She even cried so much when he died.

I really hate how the psylocke -archangel relationship ended. I dont like him to end up with bishop

Colossus:

1. Magik(maybe not anymore)

2. Shadowcat

3. Nightcrawler

4. Wolverine

5. Storm

Shout-out to Marrow and Domino.

@darthphoenix:

Did the cuckoos really get mad at her? I Thought only one got mad at her simply because she didn't want to be like her.

Yeah they got mad at her, they blamed her for the death of their sister during the riots and were directly responsible for Jean beating Emma up, because they told Jean about the affair to get back at Emma after they dismissed her and called her an old woman.

did jean got to train the cuckoos?

@darthphoenix: Its implied that they were very familiar with her, but supposedly Emma latched on to them early on...maybe subconsciously considering their origins.

I don't think the storm and Jean relationship was discarded, they were shown to be close when xfactor reunited with the xmen in 90s, throughout Revolution, and xtreme xmen , Phoenix endsong, classic xmen retcons. They've had really close moments and consider each other as sisters

My top 5 X-Buddies:

Beast & Iceman: Always joking around together

Colossus & Nightcrawler: Both in pursuit of peace

Wolverine & Psylocke: Warriors with mutual respect

Shadowcat & Magik: Friends forever, no matter what age or dimension

Storm & Rachel: I dunno, i picked Rachel, but Storm is close to everyone

The best friendship is Kitty and Magik.

Fixed

Katya always knew deep down who Magik really was, this "friendship" yet another continuity crisis from the Maestro.

I think it was in BOTA when kitty asked Magik....and who trusts you? then she ends up rekindling their friendship because she thought wolvie's team ganged up on her and that she could not trust anyone in JGS. It was just weird because Rachel stuck with her all the way. It was even Rachel's idea to rescue scott and jean.

@darthphoenix:

I really don't remember any friendly interaction from Magik and Kitty before she left the school and then it was revealed that all of a sudden they renewed their hugging at some point for no good reason.

she only thanked Magik for fetching her and the o5 up.

@adamtrmm said:

@teerack said:

The best friendship is Kitty and Magik.

Katya always knew deep down who Magik really was, this "friendship" yet another continuity crisis from the Maestro.

I don't understand the point of your post and fail to see any relevance to my comment.

@teerack:

That this friendship has a bad continuity pattern, for being best. Of course it's subjective, I just wanted to start a conversation :) I was bored.

.... uh.... you know what continuity is right? >.< None of those scans support what you're saying...

@teerack:

The way Kitty talks about Illyana? They do, even though it's somewhat indirectly.

But, there's a new continuity now, that's true.

Magik didn't have her soul and hadn't been acting like herself so it makes sense she wouldn't like her when she wasn't herself, but since then has proven to be the girl she used to be friends with.

The X-Men and Marvel haven not changed continuity.

@teerack:

Just a question before we get into details, do you know what Magik did to Colossus?

@adamtrmm: Yeah she let him struggle with being the Juggernaut when she could have freed him from it at any time to teach him a lesson. What ever her relationship with her brother is it doesn't mean anything for her relationship with kitty. Kitty is even dating someone else.

@teerack:

Now I understand why you didn't get the context of these scans.

What ever her relationship with her brother is it doesn't mean anything for her relationship with kitty. Kitty is even dating someone else.

Right especially when Magik forced him into this position where Kitty and Peter finally broke up. The last scan even shows how she thinks of Illyana as the first person to blame.

What do you think should happen when Kitty finds out what Magik did to Colossus? This friendship is a lie.

Magik didn't have her soul and hadn't been acting like herself so it makes sense she wouldn't like her when she wasn't herself, but since then has proven to be the girl she used to be friends with.

Magik already regained her soul at that moment. What do you think Kitty's point was when she brought up "vengeance that consumed her personality" argument? It was Magik's Legion vs. Elder Gods shenanigans that she didn't care who she was endangering. Once again, Kitty points that out. Kitty knows who Magik is now, her actions with soul or without it were absolutely the same.

The X-Men and Marvel haven not changed continuity.

They are changing it every time, and Kitty's apparent unawareness of Illayana's nature is yet another change.

@teerack: He does make a point. The entire relationship is based on a lie. I think that's a reason Colossus hasn't shown up in the Bendis books as there's no logical way to out the plot twist and keep the two together.

You don't seem to understand how relationships work. >.< A good Friendship =/= never having conflict or fighting. What makes a friendship great is staying friends despite it all.

If I had to chose a second best friendship I would say Cyclops and Wolverine. The two had ever reason to hate each other, but under all of their bull**** the two of them still cared about each other and would have eventually made up if Logan didn't die.

Marvel has not changed continuity. That is an absolute fact that you can look up. If you think they have then you are not grasping the concept.

Bendis already said he wasn't interested in writing Colossus just out of preference. Which is a great thing because usually when writers don't like a character they aren't responsible enough to not use them and instead opt to writing them poorly. You want writers to tell stories they want to tell.

@teerack:

You don't seem to understand how relationships work. >.<

emm.. I assume you were talking about comic books. Because it takes one helluva psychotherapist to really judge those psychos.

Not at the very top, but I'd say I'm up there as well haha

A good Friendship =/= never having conflict or fighting.

Yeah and sometimes even closest friends become strangers. Talking about understanding of relationships.

What makes a friendship great is staying friends despite it all.

And trust, and truth, and above that, cohesion. These scans show something different.

Kitty's concerns of Magik proved themselves RIGHT. This is the only truth right here.

If I had to chose a second best friendship I would say Cyclops and Wolverine. The two had ever reason to hate each other, but under all of their bull**** the two of them still cared about each other and would have eventually made up if Logan didn't die.

Well I don't think I'll add anything here.

Marvel has not changed continuity. That is an absolute fact that you can look up. If you think they have then you are not grasping the concept.

I don't understand the point of that sentence. That Marvel's continuity is a one big cohesive and sensible streamline? Really?

My thoughts exactly. He wants his token friendship to last as long as it possible, and let other writers clean up his messes after him cause we know that Bendis knows how to drag on.

*hopefully foretastes Gillen's takeover and his hardcore resolution to this little mess - jimmies will be rustled*

Yes.

Favorites:

Beast/Emma

Kitty/Wolverine

Monet/Siryn

Chamber/Jubilee

Kitty/Karma

Madrox/Rictor

lets bump a thread

Wow, seeing those "Colossonaut" images from the Land! days really brings me back to when I thought X-Men comics couldn't get any worse.

Boy, was I wrong.

@cattlebattle: When was the last time you were satisfied with an X-Men comic?

Cheers!

Ill do an odd character most people dont care about to get things started

Chamber!

- Jubilee: Good friends, potential love interest in the last Gen X comic.

- Husk: His first Love, lots of back and fourth with these two

- M: Former Team Mate, showed he still cared about her welfare in the Latest Gen X

- Banshee: his mentor during Gen X, he proved some what loyal to him as he worked in X Corp when Banshee was running that after Gen X

-Penance or Hollow, he showed to be one of the only people who could get through to her in Gen X.

Now I didnt add dead people or Synch and Skin would or been high on the list, also despite him being trained by emma the whole Gen X / Emma relationship seemed to be completely ignored mostly and at the end they all kind of blamed her for Synch death so

Juggerlossus was amazing. And I totally won that debate.

Haha. Probably Remender's X-Force

Their friendship wasn't boring in the 80s.

Ororo Munroe's bestfriends

1. Ororo Munroe and Wolverine - they're pretty, pretty close, more than friends actually.

2. Ororo Munroe and Yukio - I love the concept of Storm and Yukio's friendship. "freedom". It's like Storm, who is a woman who would wear something nice and clean, but because of Yukio, Storm went punk, going mohawk, wearing something like tattered pants, black jacket, perhaps get a tattoo ( and I'm glad they didn't have her do that as well as drinking and smoking ) and not always think about protecting people, about her duties and responsibilities as an x-man.

I may actually drop Storm for Cable the more I think.

@koays: And Possibly Jean If things continue on this path.