Most frequently appearing mutants.

[Electricmastro]

Was curious to know what the most frequently appearing mutants are and, at least according to Marvel Database, it seems to be these. Accurate enough, no?:

3,409 appearances - Wolverine (1974)

2,215 appearances - Cyclops (1963)

2,146 appearances - Beast (1963)

1,882 appearances - Storm (1975)

1,707 appearances - Sub-Mariner (1939)

1,506 appearances - Iceman (1963)

1,435 appearances - Angel (1963)

1,373 appearances - Jean Grey (1963)

1,315 appearances - Colossus (1975)

1,308 appearances - Professor X (1963)

1,253 appearances - Nightcrawler (1975)

1,115 appearances - Kitty Pryde (1980)

1,068 appearances - Rogue (1981)

999 appearances - Emma Frost (1980)

934 appearances - Magneto (1963)

824 appearances - Psylocke (1976)

779 appearances - Cannonball (1982)

761 appearances - Gambit (1990)

728 appearances - Cable (1986)

623 appearances - Havok (1969)

589 appearances - Franklin Richards (1968)

577 appearances - Sunspot (1982)

559 appearances - Magik (1975)

554 appearances - Sabretooth (1977)

537 appearances - Rachel Grey (1981)

532 appearances - Jubilee (1989)

503 appearances - Polaris (1968)

497 appearances - X-23 (2004)

491 appearances - Wolfsbane (1982)

489 appearances - Bishop (1991)

487 appearances - Mystique (1978)

442 appearances - Domino (1992)

439 appearances - Moonstar (1982)

425 appearances - Dazzler (1980)

401 appearances - Warpath (1984)

397 appearances - Banshee (1967)

363 appearances - Boom-Boom (1985)

360 appearances - Firestar (1985)

360 appearances - Northstar (1979)

347 appearances - Forge (1984)

317 appearances - Rockslide (2003)

315 appearances - Justice (1975)

295 appearances - Namorita (1972)

288 appearances - Multiple Man (1975)

285 appearances - Siryn (1981)

283 appearances - M (1994)

280 appearances - Strong Guy (1985)

272 appearances - Pixie (2004)

268 appearances - Moira MacTaggert (1975)

266 appearances - Rictor (1987)

258 appearances - Karma (1980)

258 appearances - Magma (1983)

258 appearances - Meggan (1983)

254 appearances - Anole (2003)

252 appearances - Aurora (1979)

252 appearances - Toad (1964)

248 appearances - Hope Summers (2008)

246 appearances - Daken (2006)

236 appearances - Apocalypse (1986)

236 appearances - Husk (1986)

232 appearances - Blob (1964)

231 appearances - Chamber (1994)

223 appearances - Celeste Cuckoo (2001)

222 appearances - Mindee Cuckoo (2001)

217 appearances - Phoebe Cuckoo (2001)

214 appearances - Sebastion Shaw (1980)

212 appearances - Cypher (1984)

209 appearances - Armor (2004)

208 appearances - Sunfire (1970)

206 appearances - Madison Jeffries (1983)

199 appearances - Hellion (2003)

198 appearances - Quentin Quire (2003)

195 appearances - X-Man (1995)

190 appearances - Sage (1980)

180 appearances - Wiccan (2005)

178 appearances - Major Victory (1969)

174 appearances - Dr. Nemesis (1993)

172 appearances - Leech (1984)

168 appearances - Surge (2004)

166 appearances - Glob Herman (2001)

157 appearances - Mercury (2003)

155 appearances - Oya (2010)

150 appearances - Artie Maddicks (1986)

150 appearances - Dust (2002)

150 appearances - Fantomex (2002)

148 appearances - Namora (1947)

147 appearances - Madelyne Pryor (1983)

147 appearances - Wild Child (1983)

143 appearances - Abigail Brand (2004)

143 appearances - Genesis (2011)

142 appearances - Pete Wisdom (1995)

140 appearances - Marrow (1994)

138 appearances - Typhoid Mary (1988)

138 appearances - Whirlwind (1963)

136 appearances - Prodigy (2003)

133 appearances - Frenzy (1986)

132 appearances - Mastermind (1964)

131 appearances - Caliban (1981)

129 appearances - Blink (1995)

123 appearances - Pyro (1981)

121 appearances - Molly Hayes (2003)

120 appearances - Elixir (2003)

120 appearances - Legion (1985)

118 appearances - Callisto (1983)

117 appearances - Silhouette (1990)

117 appearances - Skin (1994)

115 appearances - Avalanche (1981)

115 appearances - Selene (1983)

115 appearances - Stryfe (1990)

114 appearances - Bling! (2005)

114 appearances - Layla Miller (2005)

114 appearances - Whizzer (1941)

108 appearances - Blindfold (2005)

108 appearances - Synch (1994)

107 appearances - Darkstar (1976)

105 appearances - Omega Red (1992)

100 appearances - Cecilia Reyes (1997)

[Revolutionary_Jack]

There was a thread at Marvel Comics board which dealt with this:
https://community.cbr.com/showthread...st-appearances

The parameters of what counts as appearance (i.e. 616 only or all continuities), reprints or original issues only, make any list like this needing an (*) to qualify its stats.

The interesting thing about Storm is that she's actually the Marvel female character with most appearances. In fact if you look at Marvel's top appearing female characters:

1) Storm - 1756
2) Invisible Woman - 1663
3) Carol Danvers - 1273
4) Scarlet Witch - 1273
5) Black Widow - 1173
6) Wasp - 1140
7) She-Hulk - 1118
8) Jean Grey - 1102
9) Mary Jane - 1072
10) Kitty Pryde - 1063

Three are X-Women. Likewise, Carol Danvers owes a lot to the X-Men for her early boost in popularity which shows how much Chris Claremont did in increasing representation all around.

In terms of top-appearing villains:
https://community.cbr.com/showthread...=1#post4603986

1) Doctor Doom - 835 Appearances
2) Magneto - 816 Appearances.
3) Green Goblin/Norman Osborn - 597 Appearances
4) Kingpin - 533 Appearances
5) Sabretooth - 499 Appearances
6) Loki - 493 Appearances
7) Galactus - 458 Appearances
8) Mystique - 456 Appearances
9) Doctor Octopus - 440 Appearances
10) Thanos - 411 Appearances
11) Mephisto - 376 Appearances
12) Red Skull - 358 Appearances
13) Baron Zemo - 250 Appearances
14) Ultron - 203 Appearances

I have made 200 a kind of cut off point. The following characters haven't made it to 200 -- The Mandarin (171 Appearances), Mr. Sinister (194 Appearances), Apocalypse (193 Appearances), Mole Man, Puppetmaster, Dormammu, and many classic Ditko Spidey rogues.

If we consider groups then,
The Sentinels (589 Appearances)
HYDRA (280 Appearances)
AIM (214 Appearances)

Magneto and Doom are so close that sometimes one's on top, and then the other's on top, so they both have a tie for #1 over distant third place, Green Goblin. Sabretooth, Mystique are also in the top 10 list of X-Men bad guys, while as a group Sentinels are Fourth place after Osborn.

[mugiwara]

317 appearances - Rockslide (2003)

254 appearances - Anole (2003)

They seem to appear a lot, but unfortunately, most of the time, it's juts to fill the background, because they look weird and are easily recognizable.

[Glio]

Beast is an Avenger apart from an X-Men but much of his presence is due to the fact that the mutants seem to have no other scientist or doctor. He appears in virtually all mutant series for it.

[Ambaryerno]

I think it's more telling if you account for rate of appearance rather than simply the number, because naturally older characters are going to be considerably higher than newer ones. I think this is a better sense of who is ACTUALLY appearing more often.

Consider X-23 vs. Magneto. Magneto has made roughly twice as many appearances as X-23, But Laura appears nearly twice as often per year (approximately 30 appearances per year vs. 16 for Mags). Logan appears in a whopping 75 books per year.

Of course as mugiwara points out, this still doesn't account for the nature of appearance. Like how many appearances for Logan were cameos and walk-ons for publicity? Do the numbers for the O5 include the time-displaced O5? What about AUs? To use his own example, how many appearances for the NXM or New Mutants were simply as panel filler?

[Revolutionary_Jack]

Consider X-23 vs. Magneto. Magneto has made roughly twice as many appearances as X-23, But Laura appears nearly twice as often per year (approximately 30 appearances per year vs. 16 for Mags).

Magneto is also a villain. Right now he's an X-Man but historically he's been a villain/anti-hero. Villains as a rule appear far less often than heroes do, and need to be ranked separately. So it's not a fair comparison between X23 and Magneto anyway.

Though your point about rate-of-appearances is valid.

Some characters like Jean Grey suffer because she was "Dead" for extended stretches. A short one in the 80s and then a decade plus between 2004-2017, which is several times bigger than the first time. That Jean is still in the top list is pretty impressive.

[Heroine Addict]

Including predominantly X-only female characters, eXclusively, here are the TOP:

1. 1,882 appearances - Storm (1975)
2. 1,373 appearances - Jean Grey (1963)
3. 1,115 appearances - Kitty Pryde (1980)
4. 1,068 appearances - Rogue (1981)
5. 999 appearances - Emma Frost (1980)
6. 824 appearances - Psylocke (1976)
7. 559 appearances - Magik (1975)
8. 537 appearances - Rachel Grey (1981)
9. 532 appearances - Jubilee (1989)
10. 503 appearances - Polaris (1968)
11. 497 appearances - X-23 (2004)
12. 491 appearances - Wolfsbane (1982)
13. 487 appearances - Mystique (1978)
14. 442 appearances - Domino (1992)
15. 439 appearances - Moonstar (1982)
16. 425 appearances - Dazzler (1980)
17. 363 appearances - Boom-Boom (1985)
18. 285 appearances - Siryn (1981)
19. 283 appearances - M (1994)
20. 272 appearances - Pixie (2004)
21. 268 appearances - Moira MacTaggert (1975)
22. 258 appearances - Karma (1980)
23. 258 appearances - Magma (1983)
24. 258 appearances - Meggan (1983)
25. 252 appearances - Aurora (1979)

[AbnormallyNormal]

Kind of interesting stats I guess. I notice Sabretooth being a lot higher than I'd expect and Apocalypse a bit lower. Cuckoos also kind of low.

^ Wow thanks for the picture Heroine. I love that! Like how each character's outfit and general posture/expression reflects their personality.

[jwatson]

Imagine how high Storm would be if she wasn't taken out of the books or if Jean wasn't dead for so long.

[mugiwara]

Please, Marvel: "characters with over 1000 appearances are relegated to the background for the next 10 years" challenge

[Su_Whisterfield]

This is fab, I was going to say I love Kitty in it, particularly the Lockheed sweater, but I love all of them!

[NewMutant]

EMMA HAS APPEARED MORE THAN MAGNETO!?!?! Someone start pouring drinks, a toast needs to be made!

[Mr.B]

First 10 or 12 would make a good team.

[Heroine Addict]

… ^ Wow thanks for the picture Heroine. I love that! Like how each character's outfit and general posture/expression reflects their personality.

This is fab, I was going to say I love Kitty in it, particularly the Lockheed sweater, but I love all of them!

The artist did a GREAT job defining & differentiating each of them, as distinct individuals. And that's eXactly why I chose it to REPRESENT, all our AWESOME X-ladies!

[Revolutionary_Jack]

EMMA HAS APPEARED MORE THAN MAGNETO!?!?! Someone start pouring drinks, a toast needs to be made!

Emma Frost was upgraded to lead heroine from Grant Morrison's run onwards, so that gave her a boost. She's not a villainess anymore and if you compare the years she was a villain (80-to-mid-90s), and the years she's been a pure hero (2000-ongoing), the latter exceeds the former.

Villains or Antagonists as a rule appear far less often than the heroes and protagonists and supporting characters do. So it's not fair to hold them by the same standard. Overall, Magneto and Doom are Marvel's top two villains in terms of appearances.

The reason is in a long serial story having the X-men fight Magneto all the time is boring, so sometimes they fight sentinels, the Juggernaut, Apocalypse, Purifiers, Mister Sinister and so on and so forth.