What is it about Emma Frost?

[OmegaStorm87]

It's interesting just how far the character has come since her breakthrough under Morrison. Over the last 20 years she's remained a central figure in each era.

Even now, she probably appears more across the Xbooks than any single character and is consistently being used in the wider MU by writers, second only to Wolverine and maybe even more so recently.

At this stage given just how much she appears you could argue that she is now the X-Men's leading lady. Who's even come close to her in the last 15 years if we take them as a whole?

What is it about the character that has allowed her to break through like this, and why are so many creators drawn to her?

[Zelena]

I think… well, first, it’s a sex symbol.

Second, she has been many women through the years: callous, victim, tender, fragile, clever, domeering, perceptive… She can be the woman the author wants her to be contrary to Jean Grey that is less malleable.

[jmc247]

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?

[Vegeta]

From a writing perspective I would guess a character than is an anti-hero is more appealing then a bona-fide goody goody is because they are more willing to go places and cross lines that a regular hero would not. They also usually have a dark and/or mysterious past than the writer can play with. You can't imagine Jean Gray having made a deal with the Kingpin in the past and it coming back to bite her, but it seems perfectly in line with Emma Frost's original m.o.

Plus, Emma brings the funny. (Her snarky comments will fit in quite well with the MCU films if she ever makes the leap to the franchise.)

[OmegaStorm87]

I think… well, first, it’s a sex symbol.

Second, she has been many women through the years: callous, victim, tender, fragile, clever, domeering, perceptive… She can be the woman the author wants her to be contrary to Jean Grey that is less malleable.

So you're saying she's a more complex character than Jean? And because of that writers find her dynamic and are more drawn to writing her compared to Jean.

[Psy-lock]

Snarky, morally dubious characters are fun to write (and read). In many ways she's the Wolverine of the x-women. Or Marvel's answer to Harley Quinn.

[Omega Alpha]

She's one of the few more morally gray, but not outright evil female mutants, so she can play the anti-hero role. The other ones are Betsy, but she has too much of a convoluted story, and Magik, who also has increased exponentially in popularity in the last 10 years. The others fall square into hero (Storm, Jean Grey, Kitty, Rogue, Moonstar, etc) or villain (Selene, Mystique, etc) camps.

Also, Storm who was usually the premier X-lady, ended up suffering from not being allowed to be used by Morrison and Whedon, and later the stupid BP marriage. Most recently, I think writers are afraid of doing stuff with her that doesn't paint her in the best possible light for fear of internet outcry of racism/sexism, which means she's either wallpaper or portrayed as the invincible badass of badasses, which just is annoying to anyone who's not already a stan (even Al Ewing fell into that trap).

[Zelena]

So you're saying she's a more complex character than Jean? And because of that writers find her dynamic and are more drawn to writing her compared to Jean.

You can say she is more complex as a character, but you can also say that she lacks coherence.

Anyway, authors love characters that can be their creature, everything can be said about Emma, it’s a character who can do almost anything because… everything has already been done. A bit like Magneto.

[Big Joe]

I think Lobdell's work on Generation X set a bit of a template for how to use her. Obviously she's been taken further since,but I think that's where she started to come into her own as a chatacter.

[jmc247]

She's one of the few more morally gray, but not outright evil female mutants, so she can play the anti-hero role. The other ones are Betsy, but she has too much of a convoluted story, and Magik, who also has increased exponentially in popularity in the last 10 years. The others fall square into hero (Storm, Jean Grey, Kitty, Rogue, Moonstar, etc) or villain (Selene, Mystique, etc) camps.

Also, Storm who was usually the premier X-lady, ended up suffering from not being allowed to be used by Morrison and Whedon, and later the stupid BP marriage. Most recently, I think writers are afraid of doing stuff with her that doesn't paint her in the best possible light for fear of internet outcry of racism/sexism, which means she's either wallpaper or portrayed as the invincible badass of badasses, which just is annoying to anyone who's not already a stan (even Al Ewing fell into that trap).

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.

[Lukmendes]

Plus, Emma brings the funny. (Her snarky comments will fit in quite well with the MCU films if she ever makes the leap to the franchise.)

Emma with generic MCU snarking is just gonna look wrong lol.

Snarky, morally dubious characters are fun to write (and read). In many ways she's the Wolverine of the x-women. Or Marvel's answer to Harley Quinn.

Good thing she's not half as obnoxious as Harley .

But yeah, as pointed out, the way she doesn't care that much about morals means there are a lot of roles for her, doing shady bullshit and still being more or less a good guy, and the telepathy only helps with that, plus she's hot and likes showing off her body in ridiculous costumes, so that's another reason to have her around.

[Spiderfan001]

1)Morally grey
2)Personality
3)Attractive, because it's fiction.It is what it is

And it's not just readers, writers love her.Everyone from Duggan to Leah to Hickman to Chip(in his recent AMA and question was about X-men in general so it's more she's his fav X-men) said/shows they love her character.Writers loving her mean they write her in a way that readers will as well

[davetvs]

She's that bitch. A well-rounded, complex, morally gray, powerful but not OP, and visually interesting character.

[Gray Lensman]

So you're saying she's a more complex character than Jean? And because of that writers find her dynamic and are more drawn to writing her compared to Jean.

I wouldn't say that, but Emma is easier to write that way. Jean's complexity is far more nuanced than Emma's, so a lesser writer can pull it off for Ms Frost (and the audience can see it more easily) whereas with Jean it takes more effort to make those nuances come across, especially in the time allowed in a single film that also has to do stuff with other characters as well.

I think the X-Men would probably be better served with a high end streaming show than with a movie when I think about it. But films are where the real money is typically made so it's a movie we'll get....eventually.

[Mercury]

A few posters have already made some astute observations regarding her "popularity." She seems to be more of a favorite of specific writers than a fan favorite. For example, her thread on here hasn't generated as much interest as Storm's or Jean's threads.

In either case, the fact that her past misdeeds/crimes are overlooked or swept under the rug has benefitted her greatly. Something like the telepathic affair with Scott means nothing to me (I consider him more responsible due to his willingness to engage in it). However, acts such as helping Mastermind psychically and physically rape the Phoenix clone, taking over Storm's body and using it in a sexual manner, killing an animal to manipulate its owner, trying to seduce and mind-control a teenage Scott, and projecting lewd sex scenes into the mind of a teenage Jean to make her jealous/angry are acts I can't get over so easily simply because they haven't been properly addressed.

Compare how little these acts are mentioned to the perpetual criticism and judgment Jean gets because a clone of her unintentionally destroyed a planet or because Scott left his wife to be near her - a fact it took him and the team nearly a year to tell Jean about - and the disparity is stark and clear. Jean is by far perfect, but she is altruistic and selfless at heart. However, I've noticed this tendency, especially amongst certain Emma fans, to try and sully Jean's reputation by painting her as a covert mean girl. It would be annoying if it weren't so transparently disingenuous.

As for Emma, I would find her an infinitely more interesting character if they actually delved into her past misdeeds and crimes more realistically. As it stands, her Real Housewives elitist mean girl schtick doesn't really draw me in. Quite frankly, her presence in every other X-book seems forced.