10 Most Powerful Villains Who Are Related to Cyclops

Cyclops is one of the most valuable and powerful members of the X-Men, but the same can’t be said about his family members. Born Scott Summers, Cyclops was gifted the mutant ability to release impactful optic energy blasts from his eyes. His mutant lineage goes back centuries, no doubt contributing to his Alpha-Level standing. His mutant ancestry has resulted in many powerful relatives, as well a number of formidable family members through his children and the many clones who have his or a descendant’s genetic material.

However, while Scott Summers is a heroic and expert team leader, he ironically has a slew of relatives who range from well-meaning but harmful to plain evil and sadistic. Having a number of villainous family members on his own, his marriage to Jean Grey adds some more relatives with a bad side to Cyclops’s family tree, ensuring no lack of villainous family members.

10

Gloria Dayne aka Fontanelle

Debuted in 1998’s Gambit (Vol. 3) #1 by Fabian Nicieza and Steve Skroce

A relative of Scott Summers through her mother, Amanda Müeller, Gloria Dayne is a telepath. An expert at seeing others’ dreams, she uses her abilities to the advantage of her employer, New Son. Also going by the alias Fontanelle, Gloria was tasked to use her abilities to see the memories of people close to Gambit for reasons she did not know but were definitely not for Gambit’s benefit. While certainly not at a Jean Grey level of telepathy, Gloria Dayne still offers a lot. Possessing mutant blood and abilities from her mother, she does not share any abilities with Cyclops and is arguably among the least powerful of his relatives.

9

Amanda Müeller aka Black Womb

Debuted in 2000’s Gambit (Vol. 3) #13 by Fabian Nicieza and Anthony Williams

Born in the 19th century, Amanda Müeller was an early mutant with immortality powers. Her mutant DNA fascinated scientist Dr. Nathaniel Essex, who later became Mister Sinister. Consequently, Amanda Müeller was the catalyst to Mister Sinister’s interference with the Summers’s gene pool that would continue for decades. Agreeing to Mister Sinister’s experiment of giving birth to mutant infants that Sinister could study and then claiming false miscarriages, she eventually got labeled the Black Womb Killer and stood on trial. It was during this trial that her husband, Daniel Summers, left her. As a result, Amanda Müeller is Cyclops’s ancestor and the originator of the link between the Summers family and Mister Sinister.

8

Cyclops’ Clone

Debuted in 2015’s Extraordinary X-Men #4 by Jeff Lemire and Humberto Ramos

Cyclops’s pseudo-clone-brother, the copy of Scott Summers has no name of his own. Made by Mister Sinister, Cyclops’s clone is made of Scott Summers’s DNA and Inhuman DNA, making him a rare hybrid. As a result, he has the powers of Cyclops with Inhuman physiology, making him a powerhouse to beat. Mister Sinister used the clone to defend himself against the X-Men. However, due to the clone’s Inhuman DNA, he became totally out of control and morphed into an unthinking monster, requiring all the X-Men’s strength and powers to destroy. In the end, it was the clone’s own body that ultimately destroyed itself after his physiology became so unstable that he exploded.

7

Madelyne Pryor aka Goblin Queen

Debuted in 1983’s Uncanny X-Men #168 by Chris Claremont and Paul Smith

The first wife of Cyclops, Madelyne Pryor aka the Goblin Queen is a clone of Scott’s first love, Jean Grey. Madelyne inherited a part of the Phoenix Force when Jean died, granting her a part of the immense cosmic power. Her abilities are vast, just a small fraction of which include telekinesis like her clone source, Jean Grey. She also possesses powers of dark magic and sorcery, reality warping, and psionic siphoning. To boot, she has her trusty weapon, the Scythe of Sorrows. Madelyne and Scott Summers were married for a time, giving birth to a son, Nathan Summers. However, Scott abandoned her and their son upon learning Jean had come back to life. This was the catalyst for her turn from an X-Men ally to enemy.

6

Tyler Dayspring aka Genesis

Debuted in 1990’s New Mutants #98 by Fabian Nicieza and Rob Liefeld

With the given name Tyler Dayspring, Genesis was born in the far future in the Earth-4935 reality. Said to be the son of Nathan Summers aka Cable, he has also been rumored to be the son of Cable’s clone Stryfe and Nathan to be his adoptive father. Whoever the father is, Genesis has gone by two names since his debut: Mister Tolliver and Genesis. Given his powerful father figure, Genesis packs quite the punch himself, bolstered by his exceptional ability to project memories as well as having experience in guerrilla warfare and military training. An enemy of Wolverine’s, Genesis once nearly took over Apocalypse’s position. Had it not been for Logan ultimately defeating him, Genesis would have had Apocalypse’s power.

5

Jonathan Reed Richards aka Hyperstorm

Debuted in 1995’s Fantastic Four #406 by Tom DeFalco and Paul Ryan

Hailing from the Earth-967 reality, Hyperstorm is the grandson of Cyclops via the union of Franklin Richards and Rachel Summers. While he may be the progeny of several superheroes, Hyperstorm rebelled and instead chose world domination. A despotic leader, he is a sadistic villain who is an evil mastermind. He has concocted elaborate plans just to toy with his own family, the Fantastic Four. Likewise, he has imprisoned Doctor Doom and sent Mister Fantastic (his grandfather) into an era with no technology. Anyone able to imprison the behemoth Doctor Doom has to be extremely powerful. Hyperstorm was too much for the Fantastic Four to defeat on their own, so they released Galactus to lure Hyperstorm and then sucked them both into the dimensional void.

4

Nate Grey aka X-Man

Debuted in 1995’s X-Man #1 by Jeph Loeb and Steve Skroce

A genetically engineered mutant made by Mister Sinister with the DNA of Scott Summers and Jean Grey in the Age of Apocalypse reality, X-Man is technically Cyclops’s son. Coming to the Earth-616 timeline thanks to the M’kraan Crystal, he has often meant well in his relationships with other supers, but he has been an antagonist to the X-Men as much as an ally. An Omega-Level threat, he ranks highly among the most powerful psionics, regardless of which reality he’s in. With the addition of the Life Seed, X-Man exceeded his Omega-Level power. Norman Osborn has even remarked on how powerful he thinks X-Man is, suggesting that he could defeat Sentry, which served as a litmus test for how powerful someone is for Osborn.

3

Alex Summers aka Havok

Debuted in 1969’s X-Men #54 by Arnold Drake and Don Heck

The middle child between big brother Cyclops and Vulcan, Havok is an Alpha-Level mutant who can absorb cosmic energy and generate it into plasma. His energy absorption powers are so immense that he has been able to withstand being trapped in a large star and use the power from the star to be victorious against Vulcan. Along with his physical superpowers, Havok has been a more than capable leader as seen in his leading X-Factor and the galactic Starjammers. Following his morality being flipped during the events of Axis, he became more extreme, both in his views and powers, teaming up with Emma Frost in the hopes of achieving total mutant world domination.

2

Gabriel Summers aka Vulcan

Debuted in 2005’s X-Men: Deadly Genesis #1 by Ed Brubaker and Trevor Hairsine

Cyclops’s little brother, Vulcan was born on the Shi’ar throneworld as a slave. When his powers came in, he came to Earth and was taken under the wing of Professor X, who put him on a secret X-Men team. The team’s mission went badly, however, and Vulcan ended up vowing revenge on the X-Men. As a result, he killed Banshee and nearly killed Wolverine while kidnapping his own brother. Gifted with the ability of energy manipulation, he also usurped the throne of the Shi’ar, adding bureaucratic power to an already Omega-Level mutant abilities. Actually, Professor X has been noted as saying that he believes that Vulcan is past Omega-Level, showing how powerful he is that someone like Charles Xavier would make such a bold statement.

1

Stryfe

Debuted in 1990’s New Mutants #87 by Louise Simonson and Rob Liefeld

A joint creation of Rob Liefeld and Louise Simonson, Stryfe is often regarded as Cyclops’s weird clone son. Created using the genetic material of Nathan Summers aka Cable, Stryfe has all the same powers as Cable and is thought to be an Omega-Level telekinetic. Moreover, Stryfe was raised by Apocalypse, which can only lead to bad things. With Apocalypse bolstering his natural arrogance and cruelty, Stryfe became a dangerous egomaniac, turning on the despot who raised him and defeating Apocalypse before usurping his power. Likewise, Stryfe formed the terrorist group, the Mutant Liberation Front, and tried to kill Professor X. Extremely naturally powerful, his lack of restraint and maniacal tendencies make Stryfe a villain who is willing to do anything to achieve his means. This makes him an extremely powerful and dangerous character, and the most deadly member of Cyclops‘ family tree.