Cyclops is one of the most loyal, committed X-Men, but he’s paid a high price for living a life so closely tied to the team. During Kitty Pryde’s earliest days of training, she reflected on what makes Scott Summers, such an effective leader while simultaneously causing his life to be so tragic. Beneath all the tactics and training, Cyclops’ life almost exclusively revolves around his contributions to the X-Men.
In Wolverine First Class #12 – by Fred Van Lente, Scott Koblish, Ulises Arreola – Charles Xavier sends Kitty out on a mission with Cyclops, after she’s spent some time training with Wolverine. After a rather harrowing experience, she approaches Xavier to make her case for continuing to train with Logan instead, noting that Cyclops has “a sadness about him. You can almost see it pressing down on him.”
Not only does Scott Summers carry the weight of the world on his shoulders, but he’s had precious few opportunities to step outside that. His greatest loves, losses, friendships, and failures are all somehow tied to his team.
Cyclops’ Life Has Been Defined By The X-Men
Scott Summers lived a turbulent life before becoming Charles Xavier’s first recruit. He lost his family in a plane crash, robbing him of both a “normal” childhood and control over his mutant ability. He became a ward of the mutant criminal, Jack Winters (or Jack O’Diamonds), who attempted to abuse and manipulate Scott into helping with his crimes. By that point, Scott was able to partly control his concussive blasts with ruby quartz lenses and attracted the attention of Xavier. Although he found a new home and formed relationships at Charles’ mansion, he also became intensely dedicated to proving himself and showing his dedication to Xavier and his cause.
That dedication turned him into a soldier, rather than the child he was at the time, and it steered the rest of his life. The X-Men became Scott’s job, his purpose, and the source of all of his relationships. His great love, Jean Grey, was one of the original five. His first and strongest friendships were forged with his teammates. On the few occasions that he attempted to leave the team, as when he married Madelyne Pryor, he was inevitably pulled back into its folds. Scott tells himself that the X-Men need him, but in truth, he needs the team most of all.
Leading the X-Men Requires Sacrifice
All of Scott’s major connections linked to the X-Men – and throughout the years, his continued involvement with the team has pushed him beyond his physical and emotional limits more than once. It reached such a crescendo that at one point, the long-building anger and resentment led him to kill Charles Xavier – while under the influence of the Phoenix Force – and drove a deep wedge into his marriage to Madelyne Pryor. He could never fully separate himself from the X-Men to live a private life, and the conflict continued to play out through Uncanny X-Men (1963) and X-Factor (1986).
His commitment to mutantkind follows Scott well beyond his time with Maddie. He’s been the scapegoat and martyr more than once and is now being set up by Orchis to be put to death, which unfortunately falls in line with so much of his experience. He is always willing to sacrifice his life and all that he is for the X-Men, because the team has long been how he defines himself. It’s little surprise that Kitty wouldn’t want to follow in those footsteps. The qualities that make Cyclops the X-Men’s greatest leader also warp him into a tragic, doomed figure, yet he will never stop fighting for them.
