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

[Diammandis]

Emma has beaten Charles numerous times, so she's proven that she is at least as powerful as him, and likely more skilled than he is. And we know via word of god that Jean can beat Emma, largely in part to the fact that Jean is more powerful than Emma is (sledgehammer beats scalpel, from the mouth of Jordan D. White). So while I think that Charles used to be the world's most powerful heroic telepath, he's not anymore and hasn't been for quite some time. Exactly how powerful "X" ends up being though ultimately remains to be seen.

I know Emma beat Charles once with prep, and she has also stated that they are somewhat on the same level and has said that she was able to take Psi-shields off of Wolverine that Xavier himself placed.

[Star_Jammer]

Jean, Xavier, Casandra, Shadow King, and Legion should all be top 5. Exodus, Rachel, and Emma in the next tier, and then everyone else.

[Havok83]

Why do you ask? Is he not allowed to?...anyways,

After further consideration, and some insight from Harpsikord’s last post, think it may be a toss up between Emma and Jean.....Jean is more powerful and Emma has been alive a lot longer, so she is probably a bit more skilled. I’d say either of those.

Because I wanted to and the question aimed at you....anyways

[PsychoEFrost]

This is a pretty loaded question and I don't think that there's a singular answer to it. Instead, there are probably at least three of them: which of the X-Men's telepaths is the most powerful? Which of them is the most skilled? What about their villains? And then you have to consider how many telepaths have been featured in the books... and yeah, it's pretty messy.

I am going to answer the question broken down into the three that I came up with based on my own interpretation, and on who seems to fit the best and who is relevant in the books at the moment.

The most powerful telepath is Jean. She is full of raw strength and limitless potential, meaning that as she gets older and uses her powers more, they're just going to grow even stronger. Even during the nineties - though admittedly during the post-Onslaught era - Jean was classified as the most powerful psi on the planet, and I think everything that we've seen since the demonstrates that.

I think that Emma Frost is the most skilled telepath. She's done a lot of refining of her powers, and though she's more powerful than Charles (or perhaps simply more skilled), she doesn't come anywhere near Jean or Rachel in terms of raw strength - she's had the most intricate uses of this ability though.

As for the villain... I'm going to say Cassandra Nova. Exodus and Shadow King are no slouches, but Cassandra is as strong or stronger than Charles - on his best day when she's at her worst.

I can agree with this assessment.

[Killerbee911]

Xavier(Cassandra Nova)-Best skill and power combined. Cassandra Nova is functionally Xavier twin so I am guessing the same is applied to her

Jean- When Xavier is dead(and she is alive) she get promoted up to the most powerful and she is shown as one of the most skilled

Shadow King- Probably the most skilled Telepath imo known for taking control of other telepaths

Emma- The next most skilled telepath imo and makes up for the lack of raw power that other in front of her have with skill

Legion- Probably has to most raw power, You can stick Gabriel Sheppard and Franklin Richards right here as well. They could probably overpower people on the list in front of them but everyone on the list in front them could probably set up something clever to give them a chance

That is all who I am going to list because the rest of list has amazing flux. Psylocke has been written as the 2nd or 3rd best telepath a couple times but they can't seem to make up their mind what she is and her ninja stuff makes them want to use that angle. Cable without techno virus is shown to be probably the strongest or among the strongest(see Nate Grey or Styfe for examples) but like Psylocke, they like Cable shooting guns. Rachel also gets lined to be strongest when her mom or Xavier isn't around but before she can get cemented one of those guys come back or she is put in limbo. Exodus and Mr. Sinster have been written as big time in some stories but others stories especially Exodus has gotten chump in others. Quire has shown pretty nice flexibility but clearly lower down on the totem pool

Shoutouts
Moondragon, Mantis the two non-mutant telepaths who come to my mind.

Danielle Moonstar who they need to give her powers back so she can start showing up this list.

[kevlon]

I wonder if Monet is meant to be more skilled than she's perceived to be (she was trained by Emma, after all) but her TP takes a backseat when she's featured because she has so many other abilities (and there are so many other telepaths.)

M is pretty weak. She literally needs to stand next to the person for her tp to work. But she has lots of other powers that more than make up for this.

[kevlon]

Gamesmaster

I forgot about him. He's an Omnipath. Surely that must place him in the upper echelons.

[Jopi]

Jean. No question.

[Omegarogue]

Jean Grey and Xavier >>>>>>>>>>> others.

End of discussion.

[Sutekh]

After further consideration, and some insight from Harpsikord’s last post, think it may be a toss up between Emma and Jean.....Jean is more powerful and Emma has been alive a lot longer, so she is probably a bit more skilled. I’d say either of those.

In Astonishing, when Emma shut down Cyclops' eyebeams by messing with his brain, I remember thinking that neither Jean nor Xavier could have done that in the past (as they obviously didn't) not because they didn't care or they didn't try or they had some sinister agenda to keep Scott dependent upon them and unable to leave and have a normal life (as Emma implied about Xavier), but because Emma had the perfect combination of intimate knowledge of Scott's brain, and experience with (and willingness to embrace) messing with people's brains. Jean had the intimate connection to Scott, but less experience with just rewriting people's brains to suit her fancy (or willingness to risk damaging someone messing around in there). Xavier had the surgical nature and experience to go in there and change someone's brain, but doesn't do 'intimate' connections. Only Emma had both.

I like the idea that power and skill are different sides of the telepath coin. Xavier has both. Shadow King has both. Cassandra Nova I see as having lots of raw power, but being kind of a blunt instrument, compared to Xavier. Jean started out as a blunt instrument (heck, she wasn't even a telepath, originally!), but has earned the skill to go with that power, and, IMO, is just a hair behind Xavier (and Emma) in skill, and his better in power, hampered less by inexperience, and more by her nature shying away from the sort of cold-blooded manipulations and tinkering with other people's free will and sense of self, memories, hopes, dreams, fears, etc. that both Charles and Emma are capable of.

Other uber-telepaths, like Exodus, Moondragon and the Gamesmaster, IMO, are all raw power, with relatively little skill compared to people like Xavier, Emma and Jean (particularly since some of them, like Exodus and Moondragon, have a ton of other stuff going on, like teleportation and telekinesis, compared to a dude in a wheelchair who literally has nothing but telepathy).

[donpricetag]

Jean Grey and Xavier >>>>>>>>>>> others.

End of discussion.

Why will you not embrace the all-encompassing power of David Charles Haller aka Legion aka World Eater?!

[PrezValentine]

Without outside power boosts? Legion hands down. No one on this list has even begun to do what he's done on the level he's done it on. Basically untrained, at that. This is otherwise a popularity contest. Legion beat Jean one on one in Legion Quest, Emma was terrified of him in X-Men Legacy (aka Legion solo). Xavier has been overpowered by him on numerous occasions and he's bested both Psylocke and Rachel's guards by completely installing new personalities into their minds in AoX (along with EVERYONE on Utopia). The Cuckoos, like Emma, got put on time-out by him in the same story. Quire lost some of his power in Gen-X, I believe... Anyone else?

There was that time X-Man (Nate Grey) pulled Xavier's physical body through the astral plane and out into the physical world again. Not sure if that was more telekinesis or telepathy; perhaps a ridiculous mixture of both powers?

This is a pretty good answer. Spurrier's Legion was so terrifyingly powerful that writing him off continuity was the only way to go. You made some good and valid points.

[Omegarogue]

Why will you not embrace the all-encompassing power of David Charles Haller aka Legion aka World Eater?!

Yes, Legion has a legion of power, but if we compare his individual powers with the individual powers of many X-Men he is below the majority, for example He has a power to alter rerality, but Franklin surpasses it in that field, he has a power that is similar to Rogue's absorbing powers (he does not imitate powers but he extracts soul and vital force) and Rogue proved to be much more powerful than he is personality, so I have not seen Legion demonstrate super telepathic power Jean's, I say Jean when it is at its best.

Also that Legion can only access the powers of each personality one at a time I have always seen it as a disadvantage.

[donpricetag]

This is a pretty good answer. Spurrier's Legion was so terrifyingly powerful that writing him off continuity was the only way to go. You made some good and valid points.

[donpricetag]

Yes, Legion has a legion of power, but if we compare his individual powers with the individual powers of many X-Men he is below the majority, for example He has a power to alter rerality, but Franklin surpasses it in that field, he has a power that is similar to Rogue's absorbing powers (he does not imitate powers but he extracts soul and vital force) and Rogue proved to be much more powerful than he is personality, so I have not seen Legion demonstrate super telepathic power Jean's, I say Jean when it is at its best.

Also that Legion can only access the powers of each personality one at a time I have always seen it as a disadvantage.

Nope. Im talking about pure telepathic power. I didnt bring up all the other crap he can do. Don't make me quote myself again! He beat Jean in Legion Quest. Left her buried and unconscious in the desert. AND she had help from Psylocke, Iceman and Bishop. I've only made my arugment for his telepathic abilities. David trumps seasoned telepaths using brute force. He's got minimal training. If did suffer from psychosis and was taught all of those techniques Xavier, Emma and Jean utilize, he'd dominate all of existence IMO. He'd be a Onslaught level threat if he wanted, just based on his telepathic ability. I always wanted to see X-Man, Franklin Richards, Quitin Quire and Legion just hanging out screwing with the Cosmos lol.

And Legion doesn't do that, ripping soul thing... He's a high level psionic similar Franklin Richards in the way that he can bend reality. When you can bend reality you can do basically anything you want... such as give yourself a 1000 different powers, rip peoples minds out of them (what you described) and transplant them in new bodies generated by his own vast telekinetic abilties etc. This was covered in Si's Legacy. I belive in the last issue when he became "whole". =P