Originally Posted by
Sutekh
Random thoughts on creating a new X-Man;
I'd want to see something new, power wise. No more telepaths or telepath/telekinetics or force field users (Skids, Unuscione, Cecelia Reyes, Armor, Radius, Projecteur) or time manipulators (Tempo, Tempus, Timeslip, Kiden Nixon, Lacuna, Sway, Velocidad). Characters who turn into (or are) metals (Colossus, Mercury) or stone (Rockslide, Onyxx) or other earth/dirt/sand things (Dust) are kind of done, and even the 'turns into stuff' options we haven't seen as much of like people who turn into wood or bone or wind or water or ice or blood or bone, aren't all that original, as a concept. Animal-people, similarly, whether they have bird-powers or wolf-powers or cat-powers, are also pretty common.
I'd also not want whatever powerset is chosen to be 'a pre-existing X-character plus more stuff!', like Cipher, who can turn intangible, like Kitty, but *also* turn invisible, or Daken, who has all of Wolverine's powers *plus* pheromones.
An illusionist could be neat. It's a power set we've seen before, but generally only in villains like Mastermind and his daughters, not one that's common on hero teams. Being not a complete fool, an illusionist would benefit from a layer of deception, regarding their powers, so that everyone doesn't just say, 'Oh, it's illusion-meister, ignore him!' Choosing a 'hero' name like 'Skyfire,' and masking his illusions under the guise of weather control, just to pick one example, could allow him to support teammates by creating a pea soup fog that his teammates can see through clearly (it only seems to be a wispy fog to them, as he's able to choose who his illusions are affecting) but leaves enemies stumbling around totally blind, making them less of a threat and / or easy pickings for his teammates. He could also create what seems like a powerful windstorm, blowing enemies back (and including a very tactile sense of pressure, as well as howling winds that prevent communication between these enemies), but being perceptible to allies as only a weak breeze (more to let them know what he's doing, than anything else). And because his illusions are so clearly on-theme, enemies won't expect that their attacks aren't affecting him because he's not where he appears to be (hidden under an illusion, while the floating 'weather controller' target he's showing them is just an illusion). Similarly, they won't be expecting it at all when he mixes it up and introduces an element that has nothing to do with weather control, like a cop shouting 'hands up!' or a grenade rolling into view...
He can also cheat terribly by carrying a taser or hand-stunner, and his illusion of an electrical attack is backed up by a very real shock, or a flash-bang grenade that adds some very tangible punch to an illusory thunderbolt he's thrown down in the middle of the enemies. At first glance, he's got most people fooled into thinking he's the next Storm, a weather controlling mutant, but he's just doing what he can to obscure what he's really capable of, and Storm's his inspiration.
'Cause that's another thing I'd like to see more of in comic books, young men inspired by powerful women. There's enough Spider-Girls and Batgirls following in the footsteps of male heroes, time to switch that up, and Storm seems super-inspiring, more so than most of the male X-Men.