The shape-shifting mutant Mystique once operated as Xavier’s secret agent, and those skills made her the most dangerous threat to the X-Men’s future.
Since her introduction to the Marvel Universe over four decades ago, Mystique has been an intriguing and captivating figure. Over the years she has been a supervillain, terrorist, vigilante, and assassin, often taking up these roles concurrently. At the moment, Mystique is playing the roles of stern diplomat, mourning widow and now a woman scorned with her interests tied into Krakoa’s Quiet Council. The road to where she is now, at odds with Charles Xavier, has been a long one, beginning nearly 20 years ago when he first asked her to be his personal secret operative.
Mystique was already well acquainted with Charles Xavier through her time with Magneto’s Brotherhood of Mutants at the time of his request. Even though Xavier saw Mystique as a cold-blooded killer, he realized that she was exactly what he needed for the missions he had in mind, and asked Forge to reach out to her on his behalf in 2003’s Mystique #1 by Brian K. Vaughan and Jorge Lucas. Xavier had been gathering a small number of black ops specialists who could operate without being tied to him or any of his more benevolent endeavors.
After Xavier’s top field agent was killed in the line of duty, he sought out Mystique to investigate her death and complete the mission, only to have to rescue Raven from a fervently anti-mutant government task force. After agreeing to take on the job, Mystique was sent to infiltrate the recommissioning of Sentinels within the Castro regime, as well as uncovering the mutant captives being forced to labor as part of the program. While Mystique’s initial success as a secret agent would drive her to continue fighting the good fight from the shadows, her time working with Xavier could never make up for his later slights against her.
Mystique’s initial career as a secret agent saw her take on mind-controlling preteens and corrupt corporate executives before culminating in unraveling the mystery behind the death of Xavier’s first agent. Sixteen years later, in the early days of the current Krakoan era, Mystique took on another clandestine operation on behalf of the professor. Unfortunately, this time it came with a soul-crushing caveat on top of already insurmountable odds.
Even though Mystique is part of the Quiet Council, that alone isn’t enough to bring back her beloved wife Destiny, who has long been banned from the Resurrection Protocols offered to nearly all of mutantkind. Xavier and Magneto offered Mystique a chance to see Destiny reborn pending her successful completion of the seemingly impossible feat of destroying an Orchis base housing the first Nimrod Sentinel.
In X-Men #20, by Jonathan Hickman and Francesco Mobili, Mystique undertakes the task, but the results are tragic. Not only does Mystique fail the mission and get killed in the process, but upon her resurrection she is met with a callous, even cruel response when the subject of Destiny comes up. It’s enough of a reason for her to want to see Xavier suffer, and he should already know better than to make an enemy of someone so capable.
There is no question that Mystique’s failed attempt to take down Orchis’ operation will be the last job she does at Xavier’s behest, although losing a talented operative should not be his only concern. Mystique has proven herself to be one of the most resilient and dedicated mutants in the Marvel Universe time and time again, and with her seat on the Quiet Council as well as her right to the Krakoan Resurrection Protocols there is little that Xavier could do if she decided to launch an outright assault on him or his station.
However, Mystique has never lashed out in such a way, and this may be an indication as to why Xavier has continued his blatant mistreatment of her. Xavier might be wiser to consider that although Mystique may not be the most powerful mutant in the Marvel Universe, her skill set makes her one of the worst people to have as an enemy.
About The Author
For all the latest Comics News Click Here
For the latest news and updates, follow us on Google News.
