Who is the top Telepath? the best telepath there is in the X-books?

[Havok83]

I loved E is for Extinction. Cassandra Nova was pretty creepy. That combined with the new cinematic, dark tone of the book really sold itself. I wasn't too thrilled with Frank Quitely's rendition of Jean, but his storytelling abilities were good. One thing I'm grateful for from Morrison is that he was very creative in the various uses of telepathic abilities. He had Charles, Jean, Emma, and the Stepford Cuckoos all in one book and yet no one felt redundant.

And yes, the strength of will, skill, and finesse is important regarding telepaths.

I mean he rarely had them all together. When I look back at that run, I hate how isolated Jean felt. She and Charles spent alot of time on that world tour. Morrison wrote a cast but not so much a team. The New X-men "team" of Cyclops, Emma, Wolverine, Beast and Jean was barely featured together in that run

[ExodusCloak]

Yeah. Emma admitted that Rachel had more raw power but lacked the skill and finesse which is why Emma was able to defeat her. Rachel hasnt really shown that she's improved all that much since then. She has alot of power but fails to use it effectively

Again that is false, Emma said absolutely nothing. Rachel is the one who said her power is off the charts. Emma said power isn't the only thing and finnese etc is key then goes on to say All of which she has in abundance. Emma in fact did not compare power levels at all. Rachel was using all her power Emma barely worked up a sweat and used a fraction

So I don't know why people keep repeating that falsehood.

[Tmacaoni]

Again that is false, Emma said absolutely nothing. Rachel is the one who said her power is off the charts. Emma said power isn't the only thing and finnese etc is key then goes on to say All of which she has in abundance. Emma in fact did not compare power levels at all. Rachel was using all her power Emma barely worked up a sweat and used a fraction

So I don't know why people keep repeating that falsehood.

You're correct. There was no point in the story that Emma said Rachel was more powerful. Rachel didn't say it either though, she said that her mother owned her and it was time she did so as well or something to that affect. Before that fight though, Rachel was a complete novice. Not even understanding the telepathic cloak ability used on a hellfire receptionist.

Also I'm going to throw in that just because she fell under the sway of Mesmero doesn't mean shes weak. Mesmero is different than some telepath and I consider him more of a Mastermind Sister type of power. Where they can sneak past a telepaths defenses and make them think something they are seeing is real. Regan beat Emma twice with this ability so I'm sure that doesn't mean that Regan owns Emma now does it? I say Martinique should be in the running because unlike Regan she had become a full blown telepath after M-day. Which should've made her a bit more threatening given her amnesia. I was hoping she'd join the X-Men and be better, but I guess the upgrade was for naught. She still has it though and she still took over San Fran and anyone that entered its vicinity. So much so that Emma had to cloak her and Cyclops and still couldn't pinpoint Martinique's location. Something she should've easily done.

[Alphaxman]

Not counting the god-mutants, like Legion and Franklin, I think Professor X has the most powerful mind but Emma has the most finesse. Jean & Rachel both have great potential but their record, minus the Phoenix, is spotty at best. Cable shown greater levels of telekinesis minus T/O Virus than telepathy. And from my understanding, Nate has loss most of his strength.

I would love to see Charles go up against an out of control Moondragon. The only time they even came close to interacting was during the Infinity Wars crossover. And she had the Mind Stone then.

[darkalamator]

I wonder if Emma will end up with the Mind Stone.. there is chance provided her future involvment in the Infinity issue. I´d like to see her with that. Possibly she will use it in ways never used before.

[LordAllMIghty]

Latest issue of Astonishing X-Men pretty much just established the pecking order of telepaths in Marvel. Well when it comes to Professor "X" and Jean Grey.

spoilers:

Xavier time fighting the Shadow King on the astral plane must have really increased his power level, as he casually erased 2 days from the O4 memories...which included Jean Grey.

end of spoilers

[nightw1ng]

Latest issue of Astonishing X-Men pretty much just established the pecking order of telepaths in Marvel. Well when it comes to Professor "X" and Jean Grey.

spoilers:

Xavier time fighting the Shadow King on the astral plane must have really increased his power level, as he casually erased 2 days from the O4 memories...which included Jean Grey.

end of spoilers

When it comes to the O5 and Prof. X, they are a special circumstance. He's been manipulating them since the beginning and could have placed backdoors into their minds to make connecting to them easier. Prof. X especially knows Jean's mind inside and out. I'm not surprised he could catch her unaware, despite her raw power.

[yogaflame]

Xavier.

[GrandEleven]

So from my point of view:

Xavier is the gold standard here, IMHO. No mtter the circumstances, when the Professor rolls up you know it's going down.

Jean + Phoenix is the absolute peak that got so popular the phoenix force has been passed around like a telepathic bong that everyone gets to take a drag from. Because of that I don't think measuring anyone by what they did while possessed means anything anymore. It's just a big "over 9000!" plot point. That separation of Jean and the Phoenix reduces her power significantly IMO, as it does for others.

So ... I'm going to go path less traveled here and suggest the 5-in-1 Stepford Cuckoos are the peak (as well as arguably 1 entity). Emma knockoffs true, and while they do have their fare share of phoenix central stories, they are always written in a way to imply that together their hive mind makes for a telekinetic juggernaut to be reckoned with. Basically they are a very rare thing in the x-landscape: a telepathic force in their own right even without the fiery bird (unlike say Quintin Quire). So that deserves some respect and the top slot.

Ill also nod that in thier current 3-in-1 state they are decidedly less powerful ... but we'll see how X-23 plays that out

[rutog98]

You're correct. There was no point in the story that Emma said Rachel was more powerful. Rachel didn't say it either though, she said that her mother owned her and it was time she did so as well or something to that affect. Before that fight though, Rachel was a complete novice. Not even understanding the telepathic cloak ability used on a hellfire receptionist.

Also I'm going to throw in that just because she fell under the sway of Mesmero doesn't mean shes weak. Mesmero is different than some telepath and I consider him more of a Mastermind Sister type of power. Where they can sneak past a telepaths defenses and make them think something they are seeing is real. Regan beat Emma twice with this ability so I'm sure that doesn't mean that Regan owns Emma now does it? I say Martinique should be in the running because unlike Regan she had become a full blown telepath after M-day. Which should've made her a bit more threatening given her amnesia. I was hoping she'd join the X-Men and be better, but I guess the upgrade was for naught. She still has it though and she still took over San Fran and anyone that entered its vicinity. So much so that Emma had to cloak her and Cyclops and still couldn't pinpoint Martinique's location. Something she should've easily done.

Actually, I would say Mesmero's powers are more like Sauron's abilities than Mastermind's. Emma easily bested Sauron's mind telepathically while Rachel lost badly to Mesmero repeatedly.

Furthermore, I think it would be worth to note that I believe Rachel's powers were boosted by a portion of the Phoenix Force when Emma beat her which just goes to show how powerful and skilled the White Queen really is. During that time, Rachel had Phoenix Effects and a shadow form. She was clearly boosted.

Let's not forget Rachel's track record without the PF when she goes up against other telepaths either:

Rachel lost to Selene 3x. The two times she beat the Black Queen, Rachel was boosted by the PF.
Rachel lost to Mesmero.
Rachel lost to a Dinosaur telepath.
Rachel lost to Emma Frost (Emma barely broke a sweat while Rachel got serious, plus Rachel was boosted)
Rachel got creamed by Bogan.
Rachel lost to Exodus telepathically even when she had like 5 or 6 other characters helping her fight him.
Even Martha got the better of Rachel.

[rutog98]

Not counting the god-mutants, like Legion and Franklin, I think Professor X has the most powerful mind but Emma has the most finesse. Jean & Rachel both have great potential but their record, minus the Phoenix, is spotty at best. Cable shown greater levels of telekinesis minus T/O Virus than telepathy. And from my understanding, Nate has loss most of his strength.

I would love to see Charles go up against an out of control Moondragon. The only time they even came close to interacting was during the Infinity Wars crossover. And she had the Mind Stone then.

Xavier would annihilate Heather to be honest.

[rutog98]

One more thing I wanted to add to the Emma/Rachel discussion:

When Emma fought Exodus telepathically, he could not use his powers to attack any of the X-Men since fighting her required everything he had. On the other hand, when he fought Rachel psychically, he was still able to battle like 5 other X-Men at the same time.

[DDM]

X is still top dog, the perfect marriage of skill + power. No one else comes close tbh, except his sister.

Regarding Mesmero he’s a hypnotist. It’s amusing to see him used as evidence to degrade Rachel’s status when he’s also controlled both Jean and Rachel when they were each Phoenix. I don’t think there’s any real question in the Rachel/Emma matchup, Rachel smokes her in raw power but Emma still has an advantage in skill and experience.

[Drey]

Actually, I would say Mesmero's powers are more like Sauron's abilities than Mastermind's. Emma easily bested Sauron's mind telepathically while Rachel lost badly to Mesmero repeatedly.

Furthermore, I think it would be worth to note that I believe Rachel's powers were boosted by a portion of the Phoenix Force when Emma beat her which just goes to show how powerful and skilled the White Queen really is. During that time, Rachel had Phoenix Effects and a shadow form. She was clearly boosted.

Let's not forget Rachel's track record without the PF when she goes up against other telepaths either:

Rachel lost to Selene 3x. The two times she beat the Black Queen, Rachel was boosted by the PF.
Rachel lost to Mesmero.
Rachel lost to a Dinosaur telepath.
Rachel lost to Emma Frost (Emma barely broke a sweat while Rachel got serious, plus Rachel was boosted)
Rachel got creamed by Bogan.
Rachel lost to Exodus telepathically even when she had like 5 or 6 other characters helping her fight him.
Even Martha got the better of Rachel.

I like Rachel, but I'm gonna add Madelyne Pryor to the list. She easily took down Rachel with a new psychic bomb/explosion power she came up with after her resurrection by Arkea.

[DDM]

Rachel beat Selene without the Phoenix during the Reload era. Same arc Emma beat her in.

Rachel’s a clumsy as **** TP, and obviously a masochist, but her non-Phoenix FEATZ basically demolish everyone but Xavier. Emma doesn’t come remotely close. Neither do Betsy or Jean tbh.