Winners and Losers of the Krakoa Era

[autbey]

Cypher has been very fortunate.

[Omega Alpha]

The three obvious losers in universe are Sabretooth, Nature Girl and Rockslide, though they are losers outside of it too.

Not in universe, but I would also add Beast into the losers category, and I'm surprised I'm the first. He had the perfect opportunity to start fresh and take a new path and attitude, but rather Percy and editorial doubled down on a characterization fans hate.

Winners: In universe, anyone that managed to get in the council, the Five or become a captain is an obvious winner. Became automatic elite in the world's new great superpower.

From a not in universe, in spite of the complaints of the "back in my day, even nostalgia was much better", Moira is an undeniable winner. From dead and irrelevant to a key part of the franchise, and her complexity increased considerably.

Emma was also a clear winner because it was pretty clear editorial and writers would be glad to have her turn into her 80's self added with "jilted ex" to it, but now she's being written by writers who clearly like her and gave her a key role, operating on a whole new level.

Storm also won by being given a new role that makes her essential in the MU and gives her a new leadership role. To think not that long ago she was giving up her X-men position to Kitty because she had flopped in the Inhumans non-sense.

Synch, Sunfire and the Hellions cast (except maybe for Havok) are all obvious winners too, gaining a lot more in popularity and importance.

And of course the Doug/Warlock duo. Who knew they would be perhaps the most important players in Krakoa?

[salarta]

I'd say Polaris is temporarily in the winner column due to winning the X-Men vote, and writing of her on the current X-Men book and Devil's Reign (at least the first issue, since the other two aren't out yet). Can't say overall yet since the Krakoa era isn't over. We don't know what's to come in the future. If this question was asked before July last year, I would've said she was in the losers column.

[Kingdom X]

I agree on Emma and QQ.

Emma’s been very important in many books, as entertaining as ever, acting on her own, and has surpassed Xavier as queen of the Mutants. She’s operating at a whole new level than she has before. Everything is going through her.

QQ was declared an omega then was promptly given to a writer who demonstrates how worthless he is every issue he’s in.

And I think Moira is a winner in that she went from dead, irrelevant, and forgotten to interesting and integral.

When you put it like that I feel like it would have been much more compelling if QQ's arc had been reconciling with the fact that he's not an Omega. You have Jean declared the TP/TK Omega and then QQ has to deal with the fact that he's based his entire idea around being this super powerful omega level mutant, so he's more insecure than ever and thus dying all the time. IMO that's more interesting than making him look weak for no reason and repeating his arc from WatX and GenX.

[jmc247]

I'd say Polaris is temporarily in the winner column due to winning the X-Men vote, and writing of her on the current X-Men book and Devil's Reign (at least the first issue, since the other two aren't out yet). Can't say overall yet since the Krakoa era isn't over. We don't know what's to come in the future. If this question was asked before July last year, I would've said she was in the losers column.

It's been a V shaped era so far for Lorna. She had an above average introduction for her in House of X and X-Men #1. Then went through a huge collapse in 2020 and by the end of the year I would have called the era to that point a real loser for her.

But, yes starting with the election result began rising again. Right now, the era has been more good than bad, but could easily become a W shaped era for her depending on what happens to her in the middle and end of the year.

Her lack of influence on the politics, defense, and trajectory of Krakoa itself is one of the bigger factors that has also so far dissociated her from the era. That could change, but what she has been doing she could be doing in any given X-Men era.

[Subliminally]

I agree on Emma and QQ.

Emma’s been very important in many books, as entertaining as ever, acting on her own, and has surpassed Xavier as queen of the Mutants. She’s operating at a whole new level than she has before. Everything is going through her.

QQ was declared an omega then was promptly given to a writer who demonstrates how worthless he is every issue he’s in.

And I think Moira is a winner in that she went from dead, irrelevant, and forgotten to interesting and integral.

Pretty much. She went from basically being a psychotic nutjob hell bent on destruction of the Inhumans to "Bring back my.... man" with Teen Scott to President of Krakoa.

[ARkadelphia]

Winner: Wanda!… The redeemer.

Loser: Krakoa!… At some point, he’s gonna be sick of all these other mutants living on his hide.

[Kitty&Piotr<3]

Winners: Emma Frost, Greycrow, Synch, Destiny and Raven, Kwannon, Goldballs, Apocalypse, Kitty, Forge, Doug, Sinister, Exodus, basically everyone who will have the privilege of being, written by Gillen. I'll throw Wolverin in here as well considering there is *actually* an event hyper-focused on him as opposed to people just *saying* every story is focused on him.

Losers: Rogue, Gambit, Betsy, Beast, X-23 (though presumably the thing with Synch will start to matter at some point), Jean.

[marhawkman]

Minor winners: a lot of old characters resurfaced and got used for the first time in years. not a BIG win, but they at least got in a book.

Major losers: the characters that editorial forgot about and didn't bother to bring around... like Ocean... seriously... she's one of the X-Statix character s who actually LIVED!

[thechronic92]

There are probably way more losers than winners. The Krakoa era has focused on only a few characters. Looking forward to seeing what Ewing has in store for Storm and Magneto in X-Men Red

[useridgoeshere]

I don’t consider people who were nowhere/forgotten/wallpaper before Krakoa and are still there as losers. They’ve just maintained their status quo. No one was going to feature them regardless of Krakoa.

Thunderbird is a winner. Finally back and getting a one-shot.

[RamaBird]

WINNERS:

Emma: She's become the Wolverine of the franchise in terms of being the go to character many writers use. She is becoming very complex due to all of this.

Storm. The era started out shaky for her but once she got to Mars, it all changed. Since then she's been a powerhouse in power displays and storyline.

Synch: He was once of the rare cases of a superhero dying and staying dead, so suddenly seeing him getting power displays and storylines over vets has been impressive.

Apocalypse: He had become a basic super villain yet this era redefined as more complex and set him up to be a threat once again.

Mr. Sinister: I don't really like this version of him too goofy but I can't deny his star power has grown in this era.

LOSERS:

Laura: She used to have her own solo and major motivations. Now she's just a bland version of a female Logan.

The New X-Men kids: Yeah sure a few got some minor stories and some were repowered but as a group they all remain ignored.

Rogue and Gambit. Has lots of story and books before this era and have become wallpapers in their books.

Bishop: Major character who does nothing and is used as background.

Iceman. Same as Rogue and Gambit and Bishop.

Colossus: What a fall this character has taken. He's basically a joke thanks to writers. I do think his downfall started before this era but this era has only made it worse.

[Askani's Flame]

With quality weighted against quantity some characters may have appeared more then before but they where better used before Krakoa.

Better: Synch. Jean. Cyclops. Emma. Roberto. Kwannon. Dakken. Hellions cast. Nate Grey(for escaping Age of X-man).

Loser: Gambit&Rogue. What a fall from Mr&Mrs X to this shadowy existence. Jubilee. Rictor(I used to like him but I can’t find much of that character in what we get now). Betsy. Warren. Monet. Madrox. Laura(Duggan is one beer away from erasing her personality).

Nate Grey did not escape Age of X-Man yet so he's still a loser.

For me the winners since House of X have been: Cypher, Moira, Storm, Jean Grey, Emma, adult Cable, Abigail Brand, Whiz Kid, Manifold, Polaris, Synch, Mystique, Destiny, Nightcrawler, the entire cast of Hellions, Cyclops, Rachel, Daken, Northstar, Eye Boy, Berto, Jamie Braddock, Meggan, Maggie Braddock, Mirage, Hope, Proteus, mutants that were resurrected

The losers: the entire cast of X-Force, Magneto, the cast of Excalibur through X of Swords, Warpath, Wolfsbane, Colossus, Siryn, the kids in New Mutants

Middle: Rogue, Xavier, Wolverine (Laura), Sam, Karma,

[sunofdarkchild]

It's hard to say because the hardcore fans of certain characters who at first glance seem to have done very well in this era still complain. Cable had his younger and older selves teamup then the older version took over for good and has been getting increasing focus, and it's still not enough it seems.

In terms of my fandom, I'll say Magik has been a winner. She hasn't been the focus of any stories yet, but that's going to change in April, and her appearances have overall been quite good. She's been elevated in importance to X-Men as a whole and has been transformed from an inherently tragic character into a hopeful one.

Nanny, Greycrow, and Kwannon from Hellions have been big winners. They have gone from nobodies to fan favorites almost overnight.

Cypher getting some actual development for the first time since the 80s and becoming a major player in Krakoan politics is a big win.

Colossus is the biggest loser. While other characters became wallpaper, he got saddled with an insulting storyline which was very overhyped by its writer and now looks like it'll be resolved in a Wolverine event. Though, to be fair, since his resurrection the only time Colossus has been interesting and not either boring, cringe, or a joke was when he was the Juggernaut and the immediate aftermath of that. He - and Kitty - would have been better off if they waited until Krakoa to bring him back.

[Brian B]

Winners: Orchis, Omega Sentinel, Nimrod, homo novissima and the Technarchy/Titans/Dominion.

Losers: The Krakoan nation, mutants and all the X-Men.



Hey, that’s what in-universe monologuing and futures past seem to reveal. Don’t shoot the messenger.