For me, independantly from Hickman's run or anything, I want the X-Men and the mutants in general to have a more hopeful situation. Maybe some law passed to help them for once, a little recognition, a better era. Then you can jeopardize it.
Because all those years without hope (hope, not Hope!) are wearing on my reader's empathy.
All those conflicts, all those deaths of characters I cared for. It will end making me totally insensitive to the X-Men future.
Of course, we need stakes, but if the X-Men never win at least a little, why should we care?
I find it interesting how the immediate assumption is that Hickman will make certain characters no longer omega level, rather than considering that he might be expanding the list, or creating new characters that are omega, or completely redefining the concept of omega.
I can also be reached on BlueSky and Tumblr. Avatar by kahlart.
Ghosts of Genosha minicomic focused on Polaris, written by me and drawn by Fin_NoMore.
Polaris 50th anniversary minicomic written by me and drawn by Mlad!
Gallery of Polaris commissions (without NSFW or minicomics)
Probably most of them Omega doesn't mean anything unless it is rare.Guys like Legion or Franklin(Shepherd and Mr M too) would be Omega everyone else would be below that. There is no logical way to compare Iceman and Elixir to other "omegas". Hickman seems like a logic guy so the measure sticking would probably be the ability to do mass destruction or(and) multiple powers. I think scale of the power is going to play a part but if you are trying to make things neat. 2nd generation powered person with multiple mutant powers who has the ability to do massive damage to the planet. Something like that I guess would happen
They need to just go with the Threat Level scale.
T-Minus: Non factor, unable to do much of anything under their own power.
T-0: Below average for normal person standards
T:1: Average person
T-2: Above average, or powered with weak powers
T:3: (Street): Capable of handling most humans, with mid level strength powers (Husk, Goldballs)
T:4: (City): Strong powers, capable of handing large groups of normal humans, or small groups of powered individuals (Gambit, Chamber)
T:5: (Army-Breaker): Strong powers, capable of handing large numbers of military trained individuals (Wolverine, Juggernaut)
T:6: (Country-Breaker): Easily capable of widespread devastation, non-powered individuals stand no chance, large group of powered individuals needed) (Magneto, Apocalypse)
T:7: (Planet-Breaker): Capable of destroying single planets with large effort, beyond the level of even most powered individuals (Silver Surfer, Hulk)
T:8: (Galaxy-Breaker): Near force of nature with almost no known weakness. Combat is now solely about simply surviving an encounter with them (Phoenix, Galactus)
T:9: (Universe-Breaker): A virtual god. No hope of beating them by any conventional means (The Celestial Order)
T:10+ (Reality-Breaker): A being for which reality is shaped by their hand. (Franklin Richards, Mad Jim Jaspers)
T:MAX (Fourth-Wall): A being that decides the fate of the universe by existing outside it. (One Above All)
I don't think Storm was ever said to be an Omega Level Mutant, and Emma definitely isn't. Only Omegas can host the full Phoenix Force and it started to burn her out when it tried to possess her in Phoenix Emdsong. People got confused because Emma described herself and Charles as Omega Level Telepaths during Fraction's run, but that's not the same thing. Fraction just muddled things by not bothering to come up with a different word to describe top tier telepaths.
Anyway, Franklin Richards, Kid Omega and Vulcan are also supposed to be Omega Level Mutants, and probably Stryfe, too.
I've always gone by the definition that Omega Level Mutants are basically some kind of energy manipulators with potentially near limitless potential. Based on that though, I think the list should also include mutants like Storm, Magneto, Polaris, Exodus, and the Scarlet Witch.
There is something sinister in which we use a mutant classification system created by fucking Apocalypse.
The problem with Omega-level mutants is laziness. When writers want to create a big threat, they just wave their hands and say "Oh, it's an Omega-level mutant" and don't even give somewhat defined powers. It reached the worst in X-Men Gold when Guggenheim decided to make a one-shot character an Omega-level mutant for the finale of X-Men Gold. A one-shot character. Not a story arc antagonist or new hero. A one-shot character. Conversely, there are clear Omega-level mutants who are not named but are rather obvious due to actually showing and not telling like Hyperstorm. I never said he was a good villain. He just showed rather than told.
The concept of omega mutant is pretty much useless and I'd be happy if it didn't take us to a point where the franchise is like an online game, where balance patches, nerfs and reworks have to be used on characters powersets instead of putting them on new scenarios and fighting different adversaries, while developing their skills instead of how much they can stretch their energy/TK/TP wangs.
The concept Omega Level mutant isn't useless, and it should be simple, a mutant that is a threat for all life on planet earth/for the planet, someone who can end life on earth or destroy planet earth by himself/herself without any enhancement.
edit:
Xorn should be considered Omega Level because with a black hole he can destroy the planet
Magneto who has similar electromagnetic based powers, isn't Omega, can't destroy the planet that way. The most he can do is inversion of the magnetic poles, and in Morrison's run he would have to drug himself to achieve that kind of power.
Last edited by lurkerforyears; 06-25-2019 at 07:27 AM.