Are Polaris and Rachel two potential Omega Level mutants in waiting?

[Will Evans]

Reading all this.
Maybe they should have an Alpha List with Polaris, Rachel, Xavier, Magma, Mikhail, etc

[salarta]

Reading all this.
Maybe they should have an Alpha List with Polaris, Rachel, Xavier, Magma, Mikhail, etc

I still stand by the things I've said before regarding Lorna's history and how it says she should be Omega based on its definition and Magneto being considered Omega. I think Lorna on an Alpha list would only really apply if it stood for characters who could/will become Omega in the future. Or else if the Omega definition was changed/clarified in a way that makes her not being on it make sense, or the list is purely the biases of an in-universe character playing out.

[Devaishwarya]

But they were...because it's a designation of potential/undefined upper limits...not just a measure of current capability

I don't think so...because that would make every mutant with said potential/undefined upper limits like Magma, and Nature Girl eg. Omegas.
And it dies not take into account someone like Jean who has both TK and TP but is only an Omega in one aspect. Technically, by your reasoning she should be an Omega in both.

[Brian B]

But they were...because it's a designation of potential/undefined upper limits...not just a measure of current capability

I don't think so...because that would make every mutant with said potential/undefined upper limits like Magma, and Nature Girl eg. Omegas.
And it dies not take into account someone like Jean who has both TK and TP but is only an Omega in one aspect. Technically, by your reasoning she should be an Omega in both.

Omega_DCD isn’t wrong, though, Devaishwarya. And you are not really wrong, either, Devaishwarya. And therein lies part of the problem with “Omega Level.”

Omega_DCD is right that in the books that is part of the stated definition of “Omega Level” mutants.

And you, Devaishwarya, are correct that it makes no flipping sense.

My other problem with “Omega Level” is it is used as a convenient excuse to level up some favored character to godlike powers, which is also crud.

My final problem with “Omega Level” is whatever writer declared Bobby Drake to be “Omega Level” was clearly trolling us X fans. Was it Claremont? Lobdell? Dixon? Mike Carey? Whoever it was cleary was having fun at fandom’s expense.

[Devaishwarya]

Personally, I don't ever get my knickers bunched and twisted over things that don't makes sense because this is comics...nothing ever males any sense if you think on it too long and hard.
If you tell me Jean is OL in only her telepathy despite also being a teke...well...I'm just going to go with that, despite my reservations.
At the end of the day, for me, OL feats is way down on my list of tings I appreciate about my favourite characters and how they're written.

[salarta]

For me it wouldn't matter too much either if it didn't come bundled with implications of what kinds of stories and relationships could be pursued, and how they can be told. Saying "Magneto is Omega but Polaris isn't, and by our definition never can be, even though past work says she should be Omega" de facto means usage of her powers must always be determined from a foundation of what Magneto can do only less. It also undermines the concept of her as Magneto's heir, because it says she'll never be able to reach his level no matter what she does or how long she lives.

In our real world perspective, grounding it purely in character popularity and nothing else, sure. It makes sense. Lorna will never be as popular as, or more popular than, Magneto. That's a given. But from an in-universe perspective, it kills a key component of Lorna's dynamic with her father and suggests she's not really capable of being his heir. It's like saying the son can never surpass their father. Like the son of a famous actor must always live in his father's shadow. It's not like there are multiple varieties of Omega, where maybe they're each better at different aspects of acting. There's just the one measure.

It also goes against stories from the 90s and 00s that proposed Lorna as a "check" or "counterbalance" to Magneto. From a government agency on X-Factor wanting to control her as a weapon, to the two fighting on Genosha in Dark Seduction. How could Lorna serve that role if she's incapable of giving her father any serious challenge?

I've said many times that the whole classification concept should be binned because it artificially limits what stories can be told and how. This situation is frankly perfect proof of the point. Hence, if Marvel's determined to keep it a thing, I'm going to keep noting that Lorna should be considered Omega too until either the classification's gone or it's tweaked to no longer be an obstacle to stories that can be told with her.

[jmc247]

I have been avoiding this thread like the plague, but will stick my head to give my two cents.

Lorna has been compared tons of times power wise to Magneto over the decades. If Xavier came up with the new Omega chart he has contradicted himself on the issue if Omega means power potential.



If it means power today that is something very different which enables characters the possibility to grow and further themselves.

That being said I also have little doubt parts of Lorna’s story which are held back many ways by the fact Magneto is alive, all over the x-books, and is busy enjoying his hobbies like terraforming Mars would receive a second look if/when Magneto one day bites it again.

Her classification would be among the things probably given a second look among other parts of the character unnecessary toned down or removed since Decimation.

[Lucyinthesky]

Magneto was classified as Alpha until recently and he was called the master of magnetism not by power alone but by the skills he showed in fight, like when he used them so subdue Proteus, who was created as a beyond the charts mutants from the beggining, so with this perspective Lorna can develop the same skills over time, so it´s not really neccesary for Magneto to bit it XD, more like she needs to have her own stories exploring and developing her powers.

Rachel joined with the phoenix and it´s a very skilled telephath already so with time and effort I could see her just getting better and better, she once fought off the Beyonder back in the day when she had the phoenix.

The Omega title means unlimited, out of the charts potential but without training some of that potential can be left unrealized and become even a danger to the person with it because they can´t control their powers or go mad because of them like the case of Legion and Proteus. This is why Xavier is still a pretty powerful and fearful person despite not being an Omega, he was able to tackle Phoenix Jean and Scott on skill alone. I think it would be interesting to bring back the difference training does for the skills of the characters.

[Subliminal]

Both Lorna and Rachel have varied and effective displays of power that have kept them in the most powerful/dangerous and resourceful list of mutants. There is definitely some cognitive dissonance happening with fans who know the canon regarding their power stunts and then seeing their omission from the 'omega' list. Some say its a confidence issue, anti-nepotism or a skill issue, but its still an arbitrary glass ceiling that the dudes at Marvel have placed. Both these ladies have consistently been written to be less than their parents or mind-controlled, even when they are also executing some incredible feats. Why did Lorna have to be naked in Genosha and whimper about her daddy? Why does Rachel have to be 're-hounded' and cry for her mom? Creators should continue to fix that dated view of these resilient women and LET them reach their potential.

Also it's exhausting to read that Rachel wasn't the first Omega because of semantics. The intent was still the same, to identify a mutant with an unknown upper-limit to their capabilities. Or is it because it came from Nimrod?

[Devaishwarya]

In the grand scheme of X-things it really doesn't matter. It's not as though Jean, Magneto, Storm and the others are going to be terraforming planets on a daily basis. Omega power displays are usually very few and very far between and only if the plot calls for them. Otherwise, it's the usual Alpha Level displays for everyone.