Cyclops (Marvel Comics)
| Cyclops | |
|---|---|
| File:Cyclopsjc.jpg Cyclops by John Cassaday. | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| First appearance | X-Men #1 (Sep 1963) |
| Created by | Stan Lee Jack Kirby |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Scott Summers |
| Species | Human Mutant |
| Team affiliations | X-Men, Xavier Institute For Higher Learning, X-Factor, The Twelve |
| Notable aliases | Cyke, Eric the Red, Mutate #007, Slim, Slym Dayspring |
| Abilities | - Uncontrollable Optic Blasts - Hand-to-hand combat training - Immunity to Havok's energy blasts |
Cyclops (Scott Summers) is a fictional character who exists in the
, a superhero who is the field leader of the X-Men. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist/co-writer Jack Kirby, he first appeared in X-Men #1 (September 1963) and was originally dubbed Slim Summers. By #3, his name was changed to Scott and Slim was referred as a nickname. A mutant, Cyclops produces powerful "optic blasts" from his eyes, forcing him to wear specialized glasses at all times and a specialized visor in combat. His powers may have led to his inhibited, meticulous character. These same qualities, however, make him an ideal field leader for the X-Men and even teammates such as Wolverine, who has deemed him an 'overgrown Boy Scout', admire his leadership skills.
The first student recruited by Charles Xavier and one of the original five X-Men, Cyclops has had a large presence in X-Men-related comics since their inception. He has been featured in almost every animation and video game adaptation of the team. James Marsden plays him in the recent film series.
Publication history
Cyclops has been a mainstay character of the X-Men since the character was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby and seen in X-Men vol. 1 #1. Summers has also been a regular in the first series of X-Factor and can currently be seen in the third series of Astonishing X-Men. Over the years, Cyclops has appeared in a few limited series including Adventures of Cyclops & Phoenix, Further Adventures of Cyclops & Phoenix, the second series of Astonishing X-Men, X-Men: The Search for Cyclops and his own self-titled series Cyclops.
Fictional character biography
Youth
When Scott was a boy growing up in Anchorage, Alaska, United States, his father, USAF Major Christopher Summers, takes the family for a flight in their de Havilland Mosquito. It comes under attack by an alien Shi'ar spaceship. As the plane goes down in flames, Scott's parents fasten him and his younger brother Alex into a parachute and push them off the plane, in hopes that they would survive. Unfortunately, the parachute catches fire and Scott strikes his head upon landing. This causes brain damage to Scott, which is supposedly responsible for his inability to control his optic blasts, as well as prolonged amnesia about his childhood. Parts of his memory return when he is unexpectedly attacked by D'Spayre while on a leave of absence after Jean Grey's death. [1]
Scott spends most of his childhood in an orphanage in Omaha, Nebraska and is subjected to batteries of tests and experiments by the orphanage's owner, Mr. Milbury, an alias for the geneticist Mister Sinister.
The X-Men
When Scott is sixteen, he is found by Charles Xavier and becomes one of the Professor's students and the first official X-Man. He soon becomes the team's field leader, a position he will traditionally hold over the years. When the other original X-Men (Angel, Beast, Iceman, Jean Grey, and later additions Havok (his own brother) and Polaris) decide to leave in light of the arrival of the new X-Men, which include Storm, Colossus, Nightcrawler and Wolverine, Cyclops stays, feeling that he will never be able to lead a normal life because of the uncontrollable nature of his powers.
At first, Scott believes that his parents died in the plane accident and is unaware that they, in fact, had been captured and sold into slavery by the Shi'ar. As an adult member of the X-Men, Cyclops meets his father, now known as Corsair, leader of the Starjammers, a group of aliens opposing what they see as the tyranny of the Shi'ar empire. Several more years pass before the two learn of each other's true identities. He later comes into contact with his grandparents, who he learns are still alive and own a shipping company in Canada.
Cyclops has a relationship with Jean Grey during their time in the "original" X-Men. For a long time, he refuses to admit, even to himself, that he has feelings for her, afraid he would be hurt again or that his optic blasts would hurt her - or anyone else he cared about for that matter - and also because he feels he is no match for his wealthy teammate Warren Worthington III, a.k.a. Angel, who is at first also romantically interested in Jean. What Scott doen't know is that Jean actually has a crush on him, but is too shy to make a move. Finally, on Bobby Drake's 16th birthday[2], they reveal their passion for each other and begin to date.
Cyclops privately questions their relationship after Jean dies trying to pilot a space shuttle through a solar flare, and then is reborn as Phoenix, feeling that this reborn Jean was not the same Jean he had loved. But when he thinks her dead for an extended period of time after a battle in the Savage Land, Scott is not able to mourn her, and believes this meant he didn't really love her anymore. He briefly dates Colleen Wing. However, when Scott and Jean are reunited on Muir Island to fight Proteus, he rediscovers his love for her, and they share a passionate kiss on the way home[3]. A few days before Jean dies, Scott psychically proposes, and she accepts. After her death, he quits the X-Men, unsure of what to do anymore. He signs on as crew of a fishing boat, captained by Lee Forrester. After an adventure in which Lee's father is possessed by D'Spayre, the two find themselves shipwrecked in the Bermuda Triangle, where they stumble upon Magneto's new base of operations. Eventually Scott marries Madelyne Pryor, a woman who bears a strong resemblance to Jean, and she bears him a son, Nathan.
X-Factor and Inferno
Shortly after the birth of Nathan, it is revealed that Jean is not dead. The Phoenix is revealed to be a cosmic entity who had supplanted Jean, placing her in a healing pod at the bottom of Jamaica Bay, to be eventually revived by the Avengers and the Fantastic Four. Cyclops leaves his wife and son and returns to Jean, although Warren moves in on the now single woman. Jean joins with Cyclops and the other original X-Men as X-Factor, who pose as mutant hunters but in reality are trying to help their genetic brethren. Meanwhile, Pryor goes on to be an assisting member of the X-Men, apparently sacrificing her life during the Fall of the Mutants with her teammates, although she was left with feelings of despair over the loss of Scott.
No longer married, Cyclops moves on. During an adventure, his teammate Warren, the angel, loses his wings. Bitter, Angel is transformed by a villain the team recently encountered, immortal mutant Apocalypse, into Death, general of his Horsemen. Iceman manages to bring Warren back, who becomes Archangel.
The demons S'ym and N'astirh corrupt Madelyne's feelings of self-despair, transforming her into the Goblin Queen. Madelyne seeks revenge on Cyclops for leaving her. When it is revealed that she is a clone created by geneticist Mr. Sinister, essentially for the purpose of becoming a brood mare, Madelyne can't take it any more and kills herself. Scott kills Sinister with an optic blast, and pursues a romance with Jean, reclaiming his son.
Along the way, he re-encounters Apocalypse, who decides to infect Nathan with a techno-organic virus. Distraught, the couple sends their son into the future where he can be cured, although it costs the two their relationship for a second time.
Next, Xavier's psionic enemy, Shadow King, returns to combat the X-Men and X-Factor. After his defeat, Cyclops and X-Factor rejoin the X-Men team, and Scott is named leader of a newly created "Blue Team".
X-Man again
After Cyclops' return as field leader, much of the Blue team is kidnapped by Omega Red and the ninjas of The Hand. After the captured teammates' rescue, a reborn Apocalypse sends Caliban, a former X-Factor member, to kidnap Cyclops and Jean for Stryfe, a madman and rival to Cable, both time-lost mutants. Stryfe tells the two that he is Nathan, sent to the future and abandoned. In a fight, Cable and Stryfe apparently die. Afterwards, the team battles Omega Red again, and fellow teammate and telepath Psylocke tries to lure Cyclops into an affair behind Jean's back. Ultimately, Jean Grey defeats Psylocke in a telepathic battle and claims Cyclops as her boyfriend alone.
Magneto makes a triumphant return, horribly wounding Wolverine, and is mindwiped by Xavier in retaliation. Cable returns as well and reveals to Cyclops that he is the real Nathan Christopher Summers.
Marriage
Scott Summers and Jean Grey finally marry. During their honeymoon, they are brought into the future where they raise Cable for the first 12 years of his life during the Adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix miniseries. After helping Cable defeat the future version of Apocalypse, they are sent back to the past. At the request of Rachel Summers, Jean assumes the Phoenix identity. Mister Sinister, involved with the machinations of Apocalypse and Stryfe and still alive, tells Cyclops that there is another Summers brother, and leaves him wondering.
As Cyclops deals with the fact that his son is now old enough to be his grandfather, the X-Men are forced to battle their mentor when Professor Xavier is transformed into the evil Onslaught as a result of mindwiping Magneto. Although the X-Men defeat the evil entity and free Xavier, most of Earth's heroes are lost for a time. Xavier, who is left powerless after Onslaught's defeat, is arrested for his part, leaving Scott and Jean as leaders and co-headmasters of the school. However, the pair go into retirement following a battle against Operation: Zero Tolerance, in which Cyclops is gravely injured when a bomb is placed in his chest.
Merging with Evil
Scott and Jean return to the X-Men some time after at the request of Storm, when she grows concerned about the mental well-being of Professor X (who had returned sometime prior). Their return then leads to the events of The Twelve; in which Apocalypse locates twelve mutants which can power a machine to allow him to take the body of Nate Grey, the X-Man. In order to save Nate, Cyclops willingly merges with the villain Apocalypse. He is believed lost until Jean and Cable track him down to Egypt and separate him from Apocalypse, killing Apocalypse's spirit in the process.
New X-Men
Upon Cyclops' return to the X-Men following his possession, there is a rather drastic change in his personality, as a result of being bonded with Apocalypse. This change causes a rift to develop between Jean and himself, and he claims Apocalypse made him question not only their relationship, but his life as a whole. He is instrumental in preventing the mutant Xorn's suicide and in recruiting the powerful mutant to the X-Men. Surprisingly, the two establish a close friendship, which is almost unprecedented in Cyclops' personal history; similarly, repeated missions with Wolverine result in the growth of a tentative friendship between the two veteran X-Men.
When Jean begins to show signs of the Phoenix Force again, the distance between the two grows larger and Scott begains what others would dub his "celibacy kick." Jean attempts several times to confront Cyclops but he continues to push her away claiming that Apocalypse had changed him too much on the inside. When Xavier leaves Earth while under the control of Cassandra Nova, Jean is left as Headmistress of the school. Her new responsibilities along with her growing powers, force Jean to put her attention elsewhere leaving Scott feeling ignored. Instead of attempting to reconcile with his estranged-wife, Scott turns to Emma Frost, a former villain who had reformed, been the headmistress of Generation X, and eventually joined the X-Men. Their relationship ostensibly begins as a series of psychic therapy sessions, but Emma takes advantage of this situation to get closer to Scott. Under the guise of counseling him, she instigates a telepathic affair.
When Phoenix discovers the affair, Cyclops claims he and Emma shared only thoughts and thus had done nothing wrong. Meanwhile, Emma's snide and mocking jeers provoke a hurt and angry Jean to psychically confront her. She forces Emma to admit her true feelings for Scott, and also come to terms with her many failures, sins and personal demons. Furious at both himself and Jean, Scott confronts her and demands she read his mind; Jean finally complies, only to discover that Scott and Emma never actually engaged in any physical contact though Emma had offered it. Yet, despite the fact that the affair was not a physical one, to a telepath such as Jean (who for years shared an intimate psychic rapport with Scott) the incident is just as bad if not worse.
Unable to fully confront everyone about his actions, Scott runs away from the Xavier Institute just after Emma is been shattered in her diamond form and supposedly killed. He soon finds himself at Hellfire Club which had been turned into a sleazy strip club and tries to get drunk off white wine while generally trying to escape the responsibilities, expectations and demands he feels are unjustly placed on him by the X-Men. He then accompanies Wolverine and Fantomex to the government-created time-pocket called The World and then Asteroid M. During his time with Wolverine, Scott reveales that he feels his relationship with Jean is stagnant and that the two of them had not progressed romantically since their initial teenage romance. He also confesses that he feels that Jean is so concerned with the School and her new powers that he and she no longer communicate like before and that he feels left behind due to Jean once again being connected to the Phoenix Force. When he finally returns to the X-Men, their new teammate Xorn, who pretends to have been their mortal enemy Magneto in disguise, attacks the X-Men. Having at last reached full Phoenix power, Jean confronts Xorn-Magneto and is killed in the process. As she is dying, Scott admits how wrong he was to hurt her and begs her to forgive him. Jean however pushes aside his apology telling him that she understands and then urges Cyclops to live on.
Headmaster
Scott, however, felt devastated by the death of his wife, and considered leaving the X-Men once more. It was revealed in the "Here Comes Tomorrow" storyline that, had he done so, it would have led to an apocalyptic alternate future. To prevent this, a resurrected, future-version of Jean used her powers as the White Phoenix of the Crown and telepathically nudged Cyclops into a real relationship with Emma, reaching out to him from this alternate future. Together, the pair rebuilt the Xavier Institute as co-headmasters.
The new relationship between Emma and Scott has led to problems between them and the rest of the X-Men, all of whom believe that the pair are doing Jean's memory a disservice. Rachel Summers in particular has felt hurt and angry by her father's lack of remorse for the psychic affair that hurt Jean before her death, and took on the last name of Grey in place of Summers. Even long-time friends such as Beast stated "I don't like you very much right now" when he discovered Scott and Emma kissing on Jean's grave. Scott and Rachel eventually reconciled somewhat after the tragic End of Greys extermination that killed Scott's former in-laws. He was especially hurt by the death of Elaine Grey after finding her body.
Deciding that the X-Men need to play more of a role in emergency rescue and aid, and thus garner attention on mutants in a more positive light where mutant abilities are used for the good of people, Cyclops has hand-picked a team in order to get out into the world more. This team recently faced an alien named Ord of the Breakworld. The team subdued Ord, but not before learning that one of their own will be responsible for the destruction of Ord's homeworld in the coming year. Not long after, the X-Men's Danger Room took on a sentience of its own, and after the apparent defeat of the lifeform, Danger, the X-Men abandoned Xavier, when it was revealed that he knew about its sentience for some time already.
Cyclops also tutors a squad at the institute called The Corsairs, named after Cyclops’ father. The team consists of Dryad, Quill, Specter and the three remaining Stepford Cuckoos.
After the events of House of M, nearly all mutants were left powerless, and Xavier was missing. In the series X-Men: Deadly Genesis, a mysterious villain attacked and easily defeated several members of the team, including Cyclops and his alternate-reality daughter, Rachel. The two were captured and taken to an undisclosed location, which Cyclops vaguely remembered visiting in the past. Eventually managing to free themselves, Cyclops and Rachel attempted to escape, only to run into their captor (revealed to be named Vulcan), who informed Cyclops that he was the X-Man's younger brother. A powerless Professor Xavier confirmed this information in the final book of the mini-series. This new information has left Cyclops resentful towards his mentor and has gone so far as to demand that Xavier leave the school as it is no longer 'his.'
In Astonishing X-Men #14, during an impromptu telepathic "therapy session", Emma Frost presented Cyclops with the possibility that his lack of control over his optic blasts actually stems not from physical brain damage, but from a sort of mental block that the young Scott imposed upon himself after the combined traumas of the loss of his parents, separation from his brother, and shocking manifestation of his powers; this is seen as a coping mechanism, giving Scott something to focus on and try to maintain some sort of control over at a time when events completely out of his control had effectively shattered the life he had led up to that point.
Surprisingly, Scott seems to admit that this theory is the truth of the matter, further admitting that he had even blocked making this decision out of his memory, to preserve the fallacy in his own mind and prevent others from discovering his "secret." The issue ends with Scott apparently in a catatonic state, with his eyes uncovered and displaying their natural shade of brown, with no evidence of his powers manifesting.
Art by John Cassaday.
Apparently Emma was right: a fully recovered Cyclops rose in the issue 17 from his catatonic state to shoot Perfection in the back with a pistol. However it has not been established in the comic yet whether Cyclops has full control of his power or has been rendered completely powerless. In an interview with Joss Whedon in the Wizard 182, when asked if Cyclops didn't have his powers any more after Emma psychically manipulated him, Whedon replied that "No, he doesn't have his powers. Well, he had a choice to either be completely out of control or bury them. He can't use them. That's pretty much it. But the thing that would be fun is that, with no powers, he's going to be the best that he's ever been. That's what the arc is about. [Cyclops has] been the team leader and the team washout in terms of popularity. He was defined by Jean so much, and I just think that this guy is so interesting in his struggle against mediocrity. Then, when it's all laid on the line, when you find out the thing that's been holding him back from being just a complete bad ass has been himself all his life, that he's been lying to everyone, including himself, about who he is-that should be freeing. The Scott we're going to see is going to be a little bit different. This guy is either completely out of control or in control of something we're not used to. I wanted him to be an unabashed tough guy. He is shooting people and turning very much into a leader. Not everyone is going to like it."
At the end of the arc Cyclops states when he was in a catatonic state he was still fully conscious and saw the fight between Colossus and Shaw - revealing that Colossus wasn't really fighting anyone but Emma's own disordered mind. He also attempted to help Emma get over her survivor's guilt, speculated by Scott as being the basis for the recent manifestations of the Hellfire Club.
Civil War
Cyclops, along with the other surviving original X-Men, declare neutrality on the subject of Civil War, reasoning that the X-Men sympathised too much with Captain America's side- who, like the X-Men, were prosecuted for wanting to do the right thing- but believed that the mutant race had suffered too great a loss recently to take a side either way due to the recent de-powerment of so many mutants. When Bishop leaves the team to join the Registration supporters and locate the escaped 198, Cyclops eventually helps the futuristic X-Man in recovering them.
Post-Civil War
Scott, along with Emma, Colossus, Wolverine, Beast, Shadowcat, Hisako, Ord, and Danger, were taken to deep space by S.W.O.R.D. and Agent Brand. The psychics on the S.W.O.R.D. ship did not detect Cassandra Nova in Emma's shattered psyche, effectively proving Emma's loyalty to the X-Men by her refusal to allow Nova into Hisako. Though emotionally wounded, Emma recovered fast enough to be present for the team's departure to the Breakworld. Separated, Emma, Scott, Beast, and Agent Brand discovered the temple of Attur-Hei ("The Palace of the Corpse.") Joined by teammates Wolverine and Hisako (now titled "Armor"), Emma conceded to Agent Brand's plan of separation. She and Scott left Attur-Hei on a single S.W.O.R.D. armed jet to rendezvous with the rest of the S.W.O.R.D. operatives on the Breakworld.
While flying, several Breakworld fighter jets approached, attempting to knock Emma and Scott out of the air. The couple successfully repelled the Breakworld onslaught, exchanging heated words in the process. Amidst Emma's protestations that Scott was "acting as though [he knew] what [she's] been through," he finally professed his true love for Emma. Stunned, Emma could barely speak, except to utter an apology. Before her reasons behind apologizing were discussed, Scott noticed a blip on their radar. Danger appeared, utterly decimating the S.W.O.R.D. cruiser. Switching to diamond form in the nick of time, Emma was spared, however Scott was injured. Cradling Scott in her arms, Emma shed a tear for the man who truly loves her.
World War Hulk
Cyclops is listed at IGN.com as a target on Hulk's "Hit List" of characters. [4] He is seen fighting The Hulk in World War Hulk: X-Men #1 and in issue #2, he uses a full beam blast to stop the Hulk. While it peels off some of the Hulk's skin, he was able to walk towards Cyclops and clench his entire face, effectively containing the blast.
X-Men: Messiah Complex
Cyclops will play a crucial role in the upcoming X-Men: Messiah Complex crossover. It is suspected among fans that he is the Messiah for the Mutant Race, particularly since preview information has stated that he will unite the X-Men in a way that they haven't been united for years.[citation needed]
Relationships
Although being type-cast as the sensible, stiff loner, Cyclops has had several serious relationships. Unfortunately, most if not all of them have ended poorly. One striking feature is the fact that he seems attracted to women with telepathic abilities. He was married to both Jean Grey and her clone Madelyne Pryor, who both proved to have very strong telepathy; his latest girlfriend, Emma Frost, is a telepath as well. Psylocke, another psi talent, once blatantly tried to seduce him, although this could have been due to the subtle influences of the ninja assassin Revanche's personality that were still in her mind at the time.
He has also dated non-mutant women. Cyclops (during a time in which he thought Jean was dead) went on a date with Colleen Wing and then he briefly dated Lee Forrester prior to meeting Madelyne Pryor.
When he married Madelyne Pryor, Scott had thought he had found a replacement for Jean. Over time however, he realized that while Maddie looked like Jean, it was not her emotionally. Scott then began to emotionally distance himself, while fixating unhealthily on Jean. Scott would later leave Maddie and their child, upon hearing of Jean's return.
When Cyclops married Jean Grey, fans assumed that Cyclops had reached a happy ending. However, following his brief period possessed by Apocalypse, Cyclops returned to the X-Men, feeling that his long-time love/obsession with Jean was a lie. In the same manner as he did with Madelyne, Scott began to distance himself from Jean both emotionally and physically. Then, using Jean's expanding mental powers as an excuse, Cyclops began having sexual therapy sessions with Emma Frost, and that led to a telepathic affair between the two. When Jean confronted Scott, he made the claim that it had only been thoughts which they shared and thus he had done nothing wrong, knowing full well however that to a telepath, thoughts could be just as real as the physical actions. Scott then left the X-Men for a time to understand his own conflicting feelings. He returned to tell Emma that he had made a decision between her and Jean, but Jean was killed by Magneto before it was revealed which woman he had picked. A dying Jean told Scott that she understood and urged him to live.
Following Jean's death, Scott considered leaving the X-Men, having been disillusioned with Xavier's dream. This outcome would have led to an apocalyptic future. To avoid it, Jean, using her Phoenix Powers, pushed Scott past the guilt he felt over her death. Scott then accepted Emma's offer of reopening the school with her. The two have since been together, however there have been many problems with their relationship, particularly in light of the recent House of M storyline in which Emma has alienated herself from many people by completely reformating the school's workings and the events involving the Hellfire Club's return.
Skills
Cyclops seems to possess an uncanny sense of geometry, in this sense used to describe his observation of objects around himself and the angles found between surfaces of these objects. Cyclops has repeatedly demonstrated the ability to cause his optic blasts to ricochet and/or reflect off those objects in a trajectory to his liking. This is commonly called a "banked shot" when applied to this talent. Cyclops has been observed causing beams to reflect from over a dozen surfaces in the course of one blast, and still hit his intended target accurately. It is possible he may possess a sense of superhumanly enhanced spatial awareness that allows him to perform these feats as well.
Cyclops is an expert pilot of fixed-wing aircraft, a skill he appears to have inherited from his father. It has also been implied that his trigonometric sense improves his abilities in the air.
A master strategist and tactician, Cyclops has spent most of his superhero career as the leader of either the X-Men or X-Factor and has developed exceptional leadership skills. It is notable that regardless of their general attitude towards him, all of the X-Men tend to obey his orders in battle - because they know that he's usually right. Even Sebastian Shaw acknowledges Cyclops' talents, noting during the Dark Phoenix saga that Cyclops is a born leader, identifying a weakness in the Hellfire Club's defences and rapidly exploiting it. Further evidence of this is seen during the House of M storyline, where the gathered heroes accept Cyclops as the field leader, again without argument. His talents at leadership are also underscored when Emma Frost alludes to the fact that Charles Xavier only made Cyclops a team leader as an anchor for which Scott could gain some sort of stability in his life. Citing that Scott was not the type of natural leader that others like Captain America are, and his defeat to a non-powered Storm for leadership of the X-Men (though this was later revealed to be the subconscious doing of the Goblin Queen), Emma does affirm that Cyclops has proven to be an excellent leader. During his twelve years raising Cable in the distant future, Cyclops and Phoenix, under the aliases of Slym and Redd Dayspring, helped organize a resistance to Apocalypse's rule, with Cyclops/Slym becoming one of the leaders of the Clan Rebellion.
Cyclops also has extensive training in martial arts and unarmed combat, holding black belts in judo and aikido. His level of skill is sufficient to defeat six normal men with his eyes closed, and he has in the past held his own against even Wolverine, although Wolverine was in a weakened state at the time.
Feats and Accomplishments
While rarely displayed, Cyclops' versatility in the use of his abilities is quite astounding. Below is a list of impressive feats accomplished by Cyclops (with issue numbers for verification).
- Uncanny X-Men #93: Cyclops battles Quicksilver, and Quicksilver himself remarks that only his speed saved him from being hit by Cyclops. This alone demonstrates an impressive combination of quick reflexes and incredible accuracy.
- Uncanny X-Men #124: While trapped in Murderworld (controlled by the villain Arcade), Cyclops saves Nightcrawler by clearing out a room of attacking robots with just one blast that reflects from enemy to enemy, eventually destroying a total of eight attackers.
- Uncanny X-Men #144: While playing pool, he uses one pinpoint optic blast to strike the cue ball, sinking every ball on the table.
- Uncanny X-Men #152: He deflects his blast off three surfaces to hit Sebastian Shaw, and pushes him towards the waiting Colossus. This shows an impressive level of intelligence (given Shaw's power to absorb kinetic energy), to adapt his strategy accordingly.
- Uncanny X-Men #170: While trying to explain his mutancy to Madelyne Pryor, he flips a coin, and blasts the center out of it, leaving the outer edge intact.
- Uncanny X-Men #175: When the X-Men are hypnotized into thinking Cyclops is the Dark Phoenix, they try to hunt him down. After defeating Colossus, Nightcrawler and Storm in quick succession, he flees to the Danger Room. Inside, he creates a jungle environment in which to hide from his fellow X-Men. They attempt to hunt him down, but he outwits them, defeating Wolverine, Colossus, Storm and Rogue, all the while suffering from broken ribs.
- X-Men (vol. 2) #112: While infiltrating Genosha with Wolverine, he fires a blast, deflecting it around two corners to take out two waiting enemies. Wolverine later remarked that it was the first time he'd ever seen Cyclops 'showing off'. In the same comic, while battling Magneto, he fires past Magneto (who he had just blasted through a wall), hitting Magneto's fallen helmet, which rebounds and strikes Magneto in the head. In the same comic yet again, he and Wolverine come up against a force of armed guards. Cyclops uses several small blasts to disable the weapon of each one of his enemies before they even fire a shot. Lastly, although it isn't shown on panel, Wolverine recounts a memory in which Cyclops opened a car door-lock using only his blasts.
- New X-Men #137: During the 'Riot at Xavier's' storyline, he is one of the X-Men who faces off against Quentin Quire's Omega Gang. When Redneck challenges him, he fires one blast accurate enough to break Redneck's nose without causing any other damage. During the ensuing fight, he fires (while doing a cartwheel) a second blast that breaks Radian's leg.
- Two examples of the extent of his power were displayed in issues of Uncanny X-Men and Astonishing X-Men. In Uncanny X-Men #336, while battling the evil being known as Onslaught, Cyclops took off his visor, releasing a huge blast that blew a hole in Onslaught's armor. Then, in Astonishing X-Men #8, while the Xavier Institute was being attacked by a damaged Sentinel, Cyclops again removed his visor, unleashing a blast that blasted the Sentinel back across the lawn, and completely leveled a large part of the forest in front of him. After this, Wolverine stats that the blast he just unleashed was the reason he was the leader of the X-Men for so long.
Art by Whilce Portacio.
- In Civil War: X-Men In #3, he shoots Bishop, overloading him with power, and in #4, while trying to blast through a reinforced door, Cyclops powers up Bishop, and Iron Man measures the power at nearly two gigawatts. Two gigawatts is the equivalent to the output of a large nuclear reactor.
- In Uncanny X-Men annual #3, Cyclops channeled Storm's lightning and unleashed a white optic blast.
- In X-Factor#50, while Jean acts as the vessel to the souls of all the people gathered, Cyclops acted as the lens to channel that power and release an optic blast that decimated a Celestials 's hand. (He speculated afterward that the Celestials may have allowed this to happen.)
- In X-Factor #68, in the battle against Apocalypse, Cyclops, somehow empowered through his wife and son, released an unusual large optic blast that defeated Apocalypse.
- In X-Factor # 25, knowing that his optic blast would ricochet off War's mechanical horse's armor, Cyclops flipped himself off a statue in a graveyard to reach War's steed, and fired an optic blast directly into the mouth to destroy War's horse, the demonstrating impressive agility and tactical ability.
- In X-Factor #14, Cyclops encountered Master Mold, who was searching for the Twelve. Taking advantage of the battlefield which was near an oil refinery, by provoking Master Mold he caused the robot to blast the oil tanks, setting off an explosion, while he used his optic blast to create a trench and shielded himself with one of Master Mold's hands which he had blasted off.
- In the X-Men: Phoenix - Endsong storyline, the Phoenix Force uses Cyclops' optic blasts to regain its lost strength and power after being split into pieces. Beast commented that Cyclops seems to be releasing an unlimited amount of energy that is feeding the Phoenix force's unlimited hunger.
- In the Cyclops mini-series, which sees Cyclops on a trip to his home state of Alaska he is attacked by the Juggernaut and Black Tom Cassidy. Cyclops defeats the Juggernaut by leading him on a frozen lake and blasting his feet out from underneath him, leaving the Juggernaut with a few hours walk on the bottom of a frozen lake.
Alternate Reality
- In Age of Apocalypse: Weapon X #1: It is revealed that Wolverine has lost his left hand from Cyclops' optic blast. While this took place in an alternate timeline, it shows that Cyclops is potentially powerful enough to break one of the most indestructible objects in the Marvel Universe: Adamantium (Note that this happened at a joint, where the bones could be merely held together by ligament and muscle).
- In Ultimate X-Men: While being held at gun-point, Cyclops uses Colossus's organic steel body to ricochet an optic blast, and hit his attacker.
Other versions
1602
In the continuity of the miniseries Marvel 1602, Scott is known as "Scotius Sumerisle." He is the leader of the original five X-Men, who are united under Carlos Javier (Professor X) and are known as "witchbreed" instead of mutants. His powers in Marvel 1602 are identical to his powers in normal Marvel continuity, though he wears a ruby visor instead of a ruby-quartz visor to block his optic blasts. Possessively in love with Jean Grey (who is disguised as a man under the name "John Grey"), he becomes jealous of her friendship with Werner (Angel).
Age of Apocalypse
In the Age of Apocalypse, Scott is a villain who fights against the X-Men. Just like in the normal timeline, Scott and his brother Alex were separated from their parents when their plane was attacked by a Shi'ar spaceship. The two would end up in an orphanage ran by Sinister, though in this timeline, both brothers were kept by him and raised as his foster children. Unbeknownst to them, their father Christopher Summers eventually makes his way back to earth, only to be found by Sinister and given over to the Beast (also a villain) for medical experimentation.
Both Alpha mutants, and both holding the rank of Prelate, Scott and Alex Summers dominate the new mutant aristocracy in Apocalypse's America. Sinister employs the brothers to operate his breeding pens, act as security, and sometimes perform as special ops unit. Scott's ability to show emotional restraint in battle earns him Sinister's favor over Alex, fuelling a dangerous rivalry between the brothers. This rivalry worsens when the brothers reunite with their real father - Christopher Summers - but are forced to fight him.
Sinister's preference for Scott over Alex also spills over into his genetic experimentation, as with Scott's DNA Sinister plans to create a super-mutant strong enough to oppose Apocalypse. After capturing the X-Man Jean Grey, Sinister believes that he has found Scott's genetic match, and uses their combined DNA to produce a child, Nate Grey.
Despite an initial belief in the doctrine of mutant superiority and even being considered by Apocalypse as a candidate for Horseman, Scott has reservations about the ethics surrounding his work, primarily in terms of excess. These concerns grow substantially once he meets and becomes enthralled with Jean Grey, a prisoner and "race traitor". Though Scott plans to release her on his own time, Grey's husband, Weapon X, breaks in and liberates her himself. Scott fights back against Weapon X, severing Weapon X's hand but losing an eye in the process. Jean escapes with Weapon X, who remains an enemy of Scott.
In the meantime, Scott increasingly finds himself questioning the treatment of prisoners, and secretly starts releasing them. This does not go unnoticed by his brother Alex, who still harbors hostility against him. Alex re-captures Jean in order to use her against Scott, successfully exposing his brother as a traitor. Although Jean has no love for either brother, she decides to trust Scott and they attempt to escape together. Along the way the two meet Nate Grey, their genetically engineered son, though they remain oblivious to the truth of their connection to him. Eventually, Alex tracks down Jean and Scott then kills them both. In retribution for Jean's death, Weapon X kills Alex by revealing that while Scott blew off Logan's hand, his claws were retracted at the time.
Note: In the 2005 AoA One-Shot, a video screen in Magneto's office months after the events of X-Men: Omega shows the status of ten seemingly random mutants. While Jean Grey (who is later resurrected) and Havok are listed as dead, Scott is listed as incarcerated. The reason for this was an editorial error in X-Men: Omega as Scott was supposed to have been shot to death by Alex. This is confirmed further as there is a "blam" gunshot sound effect in the panel where Scott "dies". Instead, he is supposedly killed by Havok's plasma blast, which is impossible as the two brothers are genetically immune to each other's powers.
House of M
During the House of M, where the main involved heroes' fondest wishes were granted, Scott was married to Emma Frost, and Scott was a Pilot for Mutair airlines.
Shadow-X
New Excalibur battles an evil counterpart of Cyclops, who is a member of the Shadow-X, the X-Men of an alternate reality in which Professor X was possessed by the Shadow King. They are brought to Earth-616 as a result of M-Day. He was later beheaded by Sage.
Ultimate Cyclops
In the Ultimate Marvel continuity, Scott is introduced as the straight-laced field leader of the X-Men. His parents died in a plane crash, and he is estranged from his older brother Alex, to whom he hasn't spoken since joining the X-Men. Before becoming part of Xavier's dream, Scott dated a young woman named Lorna Dane. Scott is unable to ask his crush Jean Grey on a date, and when she sleeps with Wolverine, Scott leaves the X-Men and joins Magneto. Magneto considers Scott a potential heir and urges him to pursue a relationship with his daughter. It is later revealed that Cyclops joined the Brotherhood to infiltrate Magneto's group.
During the Weapon X storyline, when agents of Weapon X are trying to take in members of the X-Men Cyclops is the last X-Man standing, causing serious problems for the ground forces attempting to lay siege to Xavier's Institute.
When Jean dumps Wolverine and begins a relationship with Cyclops, the two men argue over whom Jean loves and fight. Xavier sends the two on a mission to the Savage Land to resolve the rivalry. Scott falls into a chasm and catches himself on a ledge. Wolverine catches him, but allows Scott to fall. Cyclops survives, but is severely injured and unable to stand. He survives by eating insects until he is found by a Brotherhood rescue group in search of mutant survivors of a previous Sentinel attack. Cyclops recovers just as the doctors recognize him and when one doctor asks "Don't you know who this is?!" Cyclops blasts the two of them and utters the classic line "Cyclops baby, don't wear it out." After recovering Cyclops contacts the X-Men and proceeds to attack Magneto all alone in only his underwear until the X-Men arrive. After Magneto is defeated Cyclops and Wolverine seem poised for another fight, Cyclops angry over Wolverine's betrayal. Wolverine is taken out by Cyclops very quickly as Cyclops takes off his visor and severely blasts him. Cyclops then kicks Wolverine off the team. Later Cyclops finds Wolverine and offers him to return to the X-Men believing that the school was set up to help mutants and someone like Wolverine needed the help that the school had to offer.
While trying to stop Alex from proceeding to the Triskelion to save Lorna Dane, he is hit with a tire iron. Alex claims Cyclops allowed him to do it, because he wants Lorna saved as much as he does.
A few months later, the X-Men are challenged by a new and powerful foe: Cable, who came from the future to kill Charles Xavier. After defeating all the X-men in the X-mansion and seriously injuring Kitty Pryde, Cable escapes to Finland with a kidnapped Jean. Scott and the Professor stay in the mansion while the rest of the team travel to Europe with help of Bishop, another time-traveler who wishes to stop Cable. The X-Men engage Cable's bodyguards, the Six-Pack. Frustrated by being left behind, Cyclops confronts Xavier, who confess to his pupil that he is in love with Jean. After this confession, both Cyclops and the Professor rush to Finland. A battle between Cyclops and Cable then occurs with neither able to gain an upper hand, until the Professor distracts Cable so that Cyclops can hit Cable in the neck with an optic blast. Cable then detonates some form of hand grenade, while Charles uses his telekinesis to get Cyclops out of the range of the explosion. After the explosion, all that remains is a skeleton that is believed to be the Professor, while Cable is nowhere to be found.
Cyclops, Storm, and Jean are left everything that Professor Xavier owned. Cyclops makes sure that the school will still exist, but since (according to him) Xavier's dream died with him, Cyclops has chosen to disband the X-Men and turn the school into just a school. When Bishop challenges Scott's decision, Cyclops tells him to form his own team of X-Men.
X-Men: Fairy Tales
Cyclops appears as the main character in the first and third short-story installations of a four-part X-Men: Fairy Tales limited series.
- Issue #1
This issue is based around the Japanese fairy tale of Momotarō, only with Cyclops being the boy born out of the peach. He is named Hitome, which can mean "one eye" in Japanese. However, his optic blasts come from only one eye, and are stopped by the pit of the peach he was born from.
Until he is around the age when he joined the X-Men in the regular comics, he lives with the old couple who found the large peach, working as a woodcutter, using his blasts to cut down trees instead of an axe.
When an old monk (Professor X) comes running through the woods, chased by thieves, Hitome comes to his aid. The old monk tells a tale of how he is gathering a group of special people like Hitome in order to rescue the Emperor's daughter (Jean Grey), from a group of demons (The Brotherhood of Mutants: Magneto, Scarlet Witch, Quicksilver, Toad).
Along the way, Hitome and the monk gather a team of comrades, some by Hitome's cunning, others by his offers of friendship.
- Issue #3
This issue's story draws elements from Snow White and stories involving witches.
Scott is a poor blind tailor who discovers a beautiful red-haired woman (Jean Grey) sleeping in a glass coffin in the woods. He awakens her with a kiss and takes her back to the village. Logan, a local butcher, confronts Scott and warns him that the woman is more than she appears to be, and that she presents a threat now that she's awake.
In other media
Television
TV Appearances
Cyclops made his first ever animated appearance on the 1966 Marvel Super Heroes episode of The Sub-Mariner with the original X-Men line-up (Angel, Beast, Iceman, and Jean Grey). [5] Cyclops's appeared in several episodes of the animated television series Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends. He appears in the episodes, "The Origin of Iceman", "A Firestar is Born", "The Education of a Superhero" and "The X-Men Adventure". George DiCenzo provided Cyclops' voice in "The X-Men Adventure" while Neil Ross provided Cyclops's voice in " A Firestar is Born". Cyclops appeared in the Pryde of the X-Men animated pilot. Michael Bell provided Cyclops' voice.
X-Men
In the X-Men animated series, Cyclops was voiced by Norm Spencer. In this version, Scott was the established team leader and was in a relationship with Jean Grey from the beginning of the series, acting more or less as his mainstream counterpart would. The writers on this show seemed to have a decent grasp on the character, including the excellent characterization during the "Night of the Sentinels" storyarc. Throughout the series, Scott also discovered that his father was the space-pirate Corsair. During a battle with the government team known as X-Factor, Scott had to fight his brother Alex, a.k.a. Havok. Neither of the two seemed aware that they were brothers, and their powers seemed to have no effect on each other. When the series ended, Scott and Alex never had the chance to discover they are related.
X-Men: Evolution
In a later animated series, X-Men Evolution, Cyclops was voiced by Kirby Morrow. Here, Scott Summers is the X-Men's field leader. In contrast to his mainstream version, this version of Scott is a confident and self-assured leader with a much more extroverted personality; his teammates all look up to him, especially since he was Xavier's original recruit; Rogue even appears to have a crush on him. He has a slightly rockier, almost love/hate relationship with Jean Grey in this version for a time, although they later admitted their feelings after Scott was separated from the X-Men, lacking his glasses, and was discovered by Jean during a battle with Mystique. After graduating from Bayville High, he has become an instructor at Xavier's Institute for Gifted Children and is currently romantically involved with Jean. He also shares a close big-brother/little brother relationship with Nightcrawler. In this series, Scott later learned that Alex, his brother, was still alive, and they often shared conversation by either telephone or actually meeting up with each other, although Alex declined full-time X-Men membership. The fate of their parents is unclear in this series, though.
Films
- In the feature film X-Men and its sequels X2: X-Men United (2003) and X-Men: The Last Stand (2006), Cyclops is portrayed by James Marsden. Although an important figure and leader in the films, his role seems to be greatly overshadowed in favor of Wolverine, especially in the sequels.
Reception
Fans of the character were generally disappointed by the handling of the character and according to an IGN.com article about the X-Men in Film: "Cyclops was misunderstood, miswritten, misdirected and generally mismanaged in this series. Sure, he's the leader of the team, they got that much right, but there's so much more to Cyclops than that. Unfortunately many comic book writers portray him poorly as well, so we're not surprised that Scott Summers was neglected in two movies and then quickly killed off in the third. We understand why the writers in X3 felt it necessary to kill Scott- his death developed the threat of the Phoenix- but even that emotional note wasn't exploited after the fact. It's really a shame. The Cyclops we wanted to see is basically a force unto himself. He's quiet and reserved but effectively is the hammer that Charles Xavier uses to exert his will."
X-Men
In the first movie Cyclops is the X-Men leader and a teacher at the school. He has a long-term relationship with Jean Grey. He has many minor arguments with Logan, mostly due to the fact the two men compete for Jean's affections, but nevertheless effectively takes charge after Professor X is knocked out due to sabotage of Cerebro, coordinating a plan to stop Magneto's attempt to turn world leaders into mutants via a device on the Statue of Liberty.
X-Men 2: United
In beginning of X2, Jean tells Scott (Cyclops) that she has a bad feeling that something terrible will occur, but Scott says he will not let anything happen to her. Cyclops accompanies Professor X to Magneto (who is locked up in a plastic prison). While waiting for Professor X, Lady Deathstrike and the guards attack Cyclops. Cyclops is captured along with Professor X. After William Stryker brainwashes Cyclops, Stryker has him waiting for the X-Men, ready to ambush them. The battle between Cyclops and Jean before Jean can break the brainwashing cracks the dam they are fighting under, setting up the film's ending, where Jean seemingly gives her life to stop the water hitting the Blackbird.
X-Men 3: The Last Stand
Cyclops had very little screentime in The Last Stand due to Marsden's filming of Superman Returns. About 30 minutes into the film, he encounters the resurrected Jean Grey who - lacking complete control over the Phoenix - kills him, although his death is not shown on-screen, which cause fans to say that he is not dead.
On a sidenote, the character of Cyclops in the X-Men movies is one of the mutants spoofed in the movie Epic Movie.
Video games
Video Game Appearances
Cyclops is a playable character in many X-Men games Marvel's X-Men, X-Men, X-Men, X-Men 2: Clone Wars, Spider-Man and the X-Men: Arcade's Revenge, X-Men 3: Mojo World, Marvel vs. Capcom series. Most recently, he has appeared in X-Men: Mutant Apocalypse, X-Men Mutant Academy, X-Men: Mutant Academy 2 and X-Men Next Dimension.
X-Men Legends Series
He appeared in X-Men Legends and its sequel X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse, where he was a very powerful character. He was voiced by Robin Atkin Downes (who also voiced Pyro) in X-Men Legends and by Josh Keaton in its sequel.
Marvel Ultimate Alliance
Cyclops also has an appearance in Marvel: Ultimate Alliance where Robin Atkin Downes reprises his role. He first appears in a cinematic detailing the failed attempt by the X-Men, Magneto and The Hulk to stop Dr. Doom from conquering Earth. He later appears in Doom's castle, having been corrupted into an evil version of himself that fights the heroes. Cyclops is one of the playable heroes available exclusively to the Xbox 360 version of the game, with the Marvel: Ultimate Heroes and Villains expansion pack. He is more powerful than he was in the X-Men Legends games and has many different optic blast powers. If you have Cyclops on your team in Doom's Castle in the final level, he has a conversation with himself that explains that the evil Cyclops is a clone made by Dr. Doom.[6]
Trivia
 | This article contains a list of miscellaneous information. (June 2007) |
- In Amazing Spider-Man Annual #1, the villain Mysterio creates a team of robot X-Men to battle Spider-Man. Of the three robots, Cyclops proves the most difficult to defeat. It is interesting to note that the optic beam of the robotic Cyclops clearly generates heat rather than concussive force, as indicated by the fact that it sets the floor on fire.
- As many important characters introduced in early Marvel comic books, Cyclops has the same first and last initials (SS). Other examples in Marvel are Warren Worthington (Angel), Reed Richards (Mr. Fantastic), Bruce Banner (the Hulk), Susan Storm (Invisible Woman), Peter Parker (Spider-Man), J. Jonah Jameson, Betty Brant, Pepper Potts, Bucky Barnes, Matt Murdock (Daredevil), Otto Octavius (Doctor Octopus) and Stephen Strange (Dr. Strange). Prolific writer/creator Stan Lee used this device to help him remember his characters' names.
- Cyclops' optic force blasts contain a marked physical improbability: according to Newton's third law (of reciprocal actions), when Scott releases his optic blasts his neck should be thrust backward with equal force, which would be enough to snap his neck several times over.
References
External links
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