How would changing the sex or race, or both, of an X-character change *them*?

[Gray Lensman]

If Cyclops was a female, it would change the dynamic between Cyclops and Wolverine and the relationship between Cyclops and Jean would be very controversial for the time. Now it might not be as bad of a problem.

That would change the love triangle from one person torn between two into probably all 3 people trying to figure out who they want to be with - Logan and Scott's tension had been characterized as BST (Belligerent Sexual Tension) for a while to the point Bendis even mentioned it on page during the close of Battle of the Atom. Jean's part would be a possible coming out story, Logan's would be does he want the Nice Girl or the Tsundere (Think either Sam and Diane or Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing if you aren't up on anime terms), and Scott/Scotia would probably have her jealousy over Jean misinterpreted as being over Logan - reading strong emotions isn't always accurate, especially when the person isn't fully trained AND it can be easily mined for drama.

Changing Scott's ethnicity, on the other hand, is unlikely to change much about him. Being both a military brat and orphaned before he could learn much about any heritage he had ("I have grandparents?") set his path, although it could lead to a story about him learning about said heritage.

[dkrook]

Interesting question, would Wolverine still be as beloved and popular if he was a black man.

[Krakoa]

Two characters that I think would change a lot with gender:

Rogue — feel like the connotations of her touch-related powers and struggles to be able to be intimate would be played real differently with a male character, especially at the time

Mystique - many interpretations of her lead into heavily sexualized, femme fatale territory. What would she look like as a male character

[Sutekh]

Changing Scott's ethnicity, on the other hand, is unlikely to change much about him. Being both a military brat and orphaned before he could learn much about any heritage he had ("I have grandparents?") set his path, although it could lead to a story about him learning about said heritage.

Yeah, he's so disconnected from family and traditions and any sort of culture or heritage, due to his upbringing, he could be literally any ethnicity. As a result, he could almost be the 'safest' character to have been a minority way back in the less-enlightened days, since he doesn't actually offer any real depth involving whatever ethnicity or culture he brings to the table, he's just another disconnected orphan with X-colored skin.

And also yeah to the above about a rule 63 O5 X-Men (male Jean, female Scott, Hank, Warren and Bobby) would be the first harem fic. And everyone would *still* be all about Jean.

Interesting question, would Wolverine still be as beloved and popular if he was a black man.

Sadly, no, he'd fall into all sorts of angry black man and 'black people are savages / violent' tropes, I fear. The sort of 'bad boy' antisocial behavior that's made him *beloved* by white male readers would be held up as 'scary' as a black man.

I do kinda wish Cable had been introduced as a black man, way back in the day (and the whole 'time-tossed son of Scott and Maddie' thing had never happened). Get a decade's jump on Bishop and sort of fuse the best elements of both 'gun-toting dudes from the future.' Maybe there could finally be a black X-character with his own book.

[Rift]

And also yeah to the above about a rule 63 O5 X-Men (male Jean, female Scott, Hank, Warren and Bobby) would be the first harem fic. And everyone would *still* be all about Jean.

Scott really does have that "first girl introduced, and main love interest to the main character" energy. If the X-Men were an dating game, he would be the canon love interest.

[Mercury]

Scott really does have that "first girl introduced, and main love interest to the main character" energy. If the X-Men were an dating game, he would be the canon love interest.

lmao! I can't...

[Wolverine12]

Play nice kids

[Mercury]

And then throw in all the girls hitting on the one guy in the school and the X-Men would be broken up within a week.

So true, lol. It's an interesting setup to imagine, though.

I don't like the idea or race/gender swaps on characters at all. Very rarely does it work. The rare time it worked for me was Ghost in Ant-Man and The Wasp. Taskmaster in Black Widow was an epic fail for me.

Just one fans opinion...but characters should stay as close to their comic book inspiration as much as possible.

However if it is OK to make a white character a person of color...the opposite should be OK as well.

I understand how you feel and I agree.

[Hunter]

People like Nightcrawler though would have no issue with race or gender in my opinion, except for the charming exclamations Claremont would do to try to remind us that this man is German. His fur is blue, so skin color will be an issue for him no matter his ethnicity.

We have a female Nightcrawler already: Nocturne. And we know from this that if his gender is changed he loses all his charisma and charm.

Speaking of Exiles, did you know Blink is from the Bahamas? I didn't. I saw it in another thread here and thought the guy was kidding. Changing the race really would change nothing about the character because it's been so irrelevant to her characterization, and how she is drawn.

[Kitty&Piotr<3]

Interesting question, would Wolverine still be as beloved and popular if he was a black man.

Judging based on history, he wouldn't have been used much besides if they wanted someone to try to kill a baby after shooting Prof X in the head.

And then throw in all the girls hitting on the one guy in the school and the X-Men would be broken up within a week.

Yikes.

[Su_Whisterfield]

If Kurt were a girl.... well.... Logan was never against the blue in a woman but see here he doesn't have to look over his shoulder with Kurt and they are heck of a lot more compatible.

If Kurt had been Gretchen, they would have been working on baby number three by now.

[Su_Whisterfield]

Whateves i guess my cousins parents are isrish too. Either way doesn't matter in america one drop ya black and that's where this particular product originates. so...Hey.

Recent research has found that the African genome is the richest and contains all possible human variants, including red hair. Let me find the article, I posted it on the Ororo thread a while back.

This isn’t the article I wanted but it’s a good precis.
https://www.ft.com/content/eed0555c-...b-339c2307bcd4

[marhawkman]

We have a female Nightcrawler already: Nocturne. And we know from this that if his gender is changed he loses all his charisma and charm.

Speaking of Exiles, did you know Blink is from the Bahamas? I didn't. I saw it in another thread here and thought the guy was kidding. Changing the race really would change nothing about the character because it's been so irrelevant to her characterization, and how she is drawn.

Well, Blink's also a descendant of Apocalypse via some British people.... soo... she's got a few things in her background. Also the woman(Sandra) that's her aunt living in the Bahamas... is someone she'd literally never met until after she was a grown woman. But yeah... in that issue, Blink mentions that her parents were from the Bahamas and that Sandra is her mom's sister.

Which is weird.... since we've literally never even seen a picture of her parents. The whole Bahamas thing is well... completely new(added in 2018) and feels like a retcon... since it changes the way Blink looks. The appearance change is seemingly to show it's not 616 Blink(295 instead)... but... this is a drastic change to her facial features anyways since AoA Blink didn't look like this either. Also... it's supposed to be a near double of the 616 Blink at least in terms of early life? So similar Sandra seemingly recognizes her? Thing is... this is supposed to be AoA Blink and not a new character. She's drastically different.

The fact that this characterization feels so off-the-wall... well... says a lot about how much this aspect of the character was actually defined as part of her... IE it wasn't even mentioned prior to 2018. Also..... 616 Blink is living... and... has never met Auntie Sandra. yeah.. the 2018 Exiles run seems to have no connection to... anything else and might as well be non-canon.

I saw this get brought up a while back because of the way Blink was depicted in the movie version.... Asian.... Honestly, Asian makes just as much sense in the context of the way the character was originally written back in the Phalanx story. Which came first? the movie did! :P Soo... yeah.... Canonicity of the Bahamas thing is... questionable.

[Gripstir]

Recent research has found that the African genome is the richest and contains all possible human variants, including red hair. Let me find the article, I posted it on the Ororo thread a while back.

This isn’t the article I wanted but it’s a good precis.
https://www.ft.com/content/eed0555c-...b-339c2307bcd4

The article itself is behind a paywall. I tried to look up the article title but I don't think the articles I found were covering what you were saying. So might need a different link.


As for the redhead gene in African it's yes and no. There are 3 ways for people of African decent to have red hair. 1 albinoism. Specifically rufous albinism. Which causes reddish Tint in hair, more copperish actually. 2. Deficiencies in certain nutrients. This is actually not specific to Africans as Hispanics and Arabs and others of dark complexion also have it. A lot of people don't know for PoC hair turning copperish is a sign you are not getting nurtrician you need. 3. Mixed ancestry causing s recessive gene.

The reason redheads in European countries are different is it has to do with producing more pheomelanin which creates reddish or orange pigmentation. It's a issue wih the Mr1c receptor that was developed in colder climates where skin did not need to worry so much about the sun. Due to the lack of sun and heat Europeans were able to develop certain traits that isn't possible in hotter climates. Red and blonde hair, blue eyes, fair skin etc etc.

I assume Europeans did in fact immigrate from Africa but due to millions of evolution changed into the white people we see today

[Shadowcat]

Unless the race or gender is intrinsically linked to that characters narrative, I don’t see the issue with race/gender swapping X-characters. A character doesn’t have to look like me, or have the same anatomy for me to identify with.