What is it about Emma Frost?

[Mercury]

Scott and Emma was one of the first time the X-line did a ship that wasn’t absolutely horrible for one or both partners.

And I will always love that Jean was single-handedly responsible for it. Once again, she was able to look betrayal in the face, much like she did with Scott and the O5 regarding Madelyne, and transcend her own pain and anger to be selfless. #TranscendentQueen

[Mercury]

"Live, Scott..."







I suppose I don't get as bent out of shape about the telepathic affair because, in the end, Jean was able to accept and transcend it.

[Micabe]

I would agree with that. I noticed you didn't even include Lorna on that list. Marvel publishing itself can't decide if she should be a anti hero or green haired Jean and bounces back and forth on that question enough there is true character incoherence.

In Trial of Magneto who does it feel like the author likes more Jean or Emma? The archetype of Emma clearly allows writers to have a lot more fun.

Isn't there supposed to be five Frostitutes?

[dirtynun]

The fans of who are considered the core line up of X-Men used in films and other mediums such as Jean, Storm, Rogue, etc. at best can stray for two seconds from what are considered human friendly ideals before fans or other writers snap back. They know where their bread is buttered.

Emma Frost fans know her bread is buttered as a morally ambiguous hero or anti-villain. A critical mass of Polaris fans feel the same way. Her last two popular mediums outside of comics filled an anti-hero/anti-villain void. But, the comics haven't figured out how to thread the needle with the character.

Yh but that's the thing though storm is best when morally ambiguous or at least leaning to it. Her mowhawk era was a perfect example of this. Many have this idea that she is a being that can do no wrong and that is simply not true as she has done much that can be considered a big no no.

Emma is exactly as you said. But lorna was never written well if I am going to be honest. She always seemed to be a sounding board for other charachters especially her father or Alex. Now she is being given agency and that is wonderful.

[Jackraow21]

"Live, Scott..."







I suppose I don't get as bent out of shape about the telepathic affair because, in the end, Jean was able to accept and transcend it.

I agree. Always thought that was an awesome scene.

[DarkMagnus]

Emma is a "necesary risk" You cant have only one Wolverine.

If Emma didnt go nutty in Inhumans vs Xmen. There´s not Krakoa.

If Emma didnt "sided" with Osborn in Dark Reign. What could happen?

I like that her role equals in terms of leadership to Xavier and Mags. The thing is Emma is more honest about her sins that those two old timers.

[Kisinith]

I also don't think its accurate or fair to say that Emma's misdeeds got swept away under the rug, She's had plenty of people confront her over her past past, Kitty at the start of Krakoa, Rachel during Utopia, Kitty again during Astonishing, Jean during Morrison's Run, It came up all the time during Generation X... She isn't constantly being confronted about her past but it comes up pretty frequently (Other than for her heel turn in IvX, and I think everyone is generally thankful to try and forget everything about that). This is not to say she's faced a fair accounting for all of her actions, some of her earlier acts especially are pretty heinous, but if we were to hold everything everyone did against them forever... well there wouldn't be a lot of characters left to like.

Further she has also been a heroic character far longer at this point than she ever was as a villain. Emma was first introduced in 1979, fully a villain. By New Mutants #89/90 in 1986 she had become more of an anti-hero (starting from the point that she helped the New Mutants recover from being killed and the throughout the alliance between the X-Men and the Hellfire Club). In 1991 the Hellions were killed and she went into a coma, when she comes out she took responsibility for failing her students (1994) and this leads into Phalanx Covenant and Generation X. From Generation X on, with a few moments of backsliding she's been generally on the same side as the X-Men.

7 Years as a villain (1979-1986) Almost all of her truly evil acts occurred in this short span
6 years as an anti-hero (1986-1994)
6 Years on Generation X (1994-2000)
Off the books for a year, returning in Morrisons New X-Men
20 Years generally as an X-Man (2001-2021)

[MentalManipulator]

She brings it all: the snark, the brain, the power, the complexity and the glamour all wrapped in iconic look.

[RachelGrey]

She is allowed to be a true anti-hero unlike the vast majority of other x-women who Marvel enforces they be morally and ethically pure heroines or if they deviate from moral purity it be some brief arc where they learn the truth of their actions as bad and repent shortly after?

How many other x-women are allowed to be anything other then pure, chaste, heroic, Xaviterite?

I think this is why Emma Frost tends to be so popular. Sure the sex symbol thing is part of it, but I feel like the modern writers have done a good job of taming down her costume in the modern area to be more about high fashion. But the biggest part of Emma is that she has always been the pragmatist who stands in the middle between Charles and Eric. Just knowing Emma's history we all know that if pressed, she is much like Wolverine in that she will kill to protect her students. Emma started out as a more generic villain, but that has been flushed out over the years by several writers, include Claremont who went out of their way to make her more of an anti-hero. After Emma's second coma and return after the death of the Hellions, she has been an anti-hero ever since. Since the early 1990's Emma was completely separated from the Hellfire Club and she only returned to it in X-Men Black: Emma Frost, but what did Emma do after she took over from Sebastian, she legitimized the organization to support mutant rights through business investments and building school. On the day Emma was captured by the O.N.E. she was holding a business meeting with rich investors to build a new school for the gifted to replace the Xavier school that had been decimated by so many attacks.

I think writers enjoy using Emma Frost because she has a lot of attitude and it's fun to write someone like her. She cares about her students and can be a very good teacher, but at the same time she is ruthless at business, and absolutely ruthless in defending mutant rights and protecting mutant children. Does anyone have any doubt at all that if Emma Frost had been on the ship with Kate Pryde, she would have died to save Kate and stop Sebastian. Emma has shown that she is willing to throw her life down to protect people she cares about. In Genosha she tried to shield the children from the blast with her own body.

I liked how in Captain Marvel: The End, we never truly knew why Emma stayed in Diamond form until after she rescued Illyana, then we found out it was because Emma couldn't take all the loss of attachments, and because Magneto made her promise to stay alive to guide the survivors.

[RachelGrey]

Yeah, that's one advantage Emma has over the others (Jean and Ororo, particularly), is that Emma is allowed to do sketchy things, while the others get roasted alive if they act even a little bit human or flawed or morally conflicted about something. For the most part, Emma's fans know, and even revel in, the fact that Emma's not even a little bit perfect or 'girl next door' or above-it-all.

Rogue could have gone that way, but, IMO, was never really that well written, and her plotlines were inevitably saddled with that Gambit nonsense, which prevented her from ever really getting to shine as a character on her own. (As the relationship with Scott has stifled Jean's character, IMO, to an extent.)

You make a good point, I always liked Storm the most when she showed that she could be very violent when the need arises. Her depowered days were kind of fun, because she was a brutal hand to hand and knife fighter that was fun to see on panel. I like that they kept that part of Storm even she did get her powers back, she is still excellent at hand to hand combat and knife fighting.

[jmc247]

I think this is why Emma Frost tends to be so popular. Sure the sex symbol thing is part of it, but I feel like the modern writers have done a good job of taming down her costume in the modern area to be more about high fashion. But the biggest part of Emma is that she has always been the pragmatist who stands in the middle between Charles and Eric. Just knowing Emma's history we all know that if pressed, she is much like Wolverine in that she will kill to protect her students. Emma started out as a more generic villain, but that has been flushed out over the years by several writers, include Claremont who went out of their way to make her more of an anti-hero. After Emma's second coma and return after the death of the Hellions, she has been an anti-hero ever since. Since the early 1990's Emma was completely separated from the Hellfire Club and she only returned to it in X-Men Black: Emma Frost, but what did Emma do after she took over from Sebastian, she legitimized the organization to support mutant rights through business investments and building school. On the day Emma was captured by the O.N.E. she was holding a business meeting with rich investors to build a new school for the gifted to replace the Xavier school that had been decimated by so many attacks.

I think writers enjoy using Emma Frost because she has a lot of attitude and it's fun to write someone like her. She cares about her students and can be a very good teacher, but at the same time she is ruthless at business, and absolutely ruthless in defending mutant rights and protecting mutant children. Does anyone have any doubt at all that if Emma Frost had been on the ship with Kate Pryde, she would have died to save Kate and stop Sebastian. Emma has shown that she is willing to throw her life down to protect people she cares about. In Genosha she tried to shield the children from the blast with her own body.

I liked how in Captain Marvel: The End, we never truly knew why Emma stayed in Diamond form until after she rescued Illyana, then we found out it was because Emma couldn't take all the loss of attachments, and because Magneto made her promise to stay alive to guide the survivors.

Writers agree on the core to what motivates Emma and her persona too. Leah, Hickman, Duggan all on the exact same page and all have a kick ass Emma and generally agree on the core of the character.

Marvel has gone really really corporate as well so having their corporate designated heroines (and from what I have seen they do have a list of heroes, anti-heroes, and villains) knife someone to death may not even be allowable these days like it was once upon a time.

For the x-women Disney may want to promote in the next decade as heroines I think they really can't go anti-hero.

My message to them on that score in terms of my favorite Lorna has for some time been tens of millions have seen the most popular version of the character kill the entire Trask Industries board of directors. You have leeway even if you don't use it.

[Devaishwarya]

I cannot disagree with the last few posts above. Y'alls on point!

[placeholder]

She is the quintessential cigarette emoji magnet.

[Gray Lensman]

Everyone leave daddy (i.e., Bruce Wayne) out of this. It is my dream for him and Jean to pair up...

😭😭😭😭

That, I think, would be a terrible pairing. Bruce is a control freak of a level that makes Scott look the The Dude in comparison. I'd give it a few days before Jean decides to pull a telepathic breakup - "You never met me, and if we meet again you will have no attraction to me in any way." I know that's more of an Emma thing, but dealing with Bruce's tendencies might make Jean decide that every now and again such actions are justified.

[thechronic92]

At the end of Inferno, Magneto and Xavier should be allowed to play the "I did it for the kids" card to