THE X OF X: The Krakoa Era Romance Discussion Thread

[alanyoung909]

Here's something interesting we can discuss even as the Krakoa Era comes to an end - romance!
The soap-opera genre of the X-Men books generally means a cavalcade of relationships, and the Krakoa Era has been no exception.

I have tried to list down all the romantic relationships, implicationships & flings we've seen in this era so far.
I'm guaranteed to have missed something, so let me know so I can add it to the list.

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OKKARA / ARAKKO:
Revelation (En Sabah Nur) + Genesis / marriage
Isca the Unbeaten + Tarn the Uncaring / romantic relationship
White Sword (Blue) + Ironfire (Jon Ironfire)
Fisher King + Zsora of the Spirit Flame / marriage
Lodus Logos + Kobak Never-Held
Ororo of the Storm + Death of the First Horsemen / flirting
Ororo of the Storm + Dr. Craig Marshall / romantic relationship

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ANCIENT MUTANTS:
Exodus (Bennet du Paris) + Black Knight (Sir Eobar Garrington)
Destiny (Irene Adler) + Mystique (Raven Darkhölme) / marriage

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ORIGINAL X-MEN:
Cyclops (Scott Summers) + Phoenix (Jean Grey) + Wolverine (James Howlett) / polyamorous marriage
Iceman (Robert Drake) + Christian Frost
Iceman (Robert Drake) + Romeo / polyamorous romantic relationship
Beast (Henry McCoy) + Brand (Abigail Thanriaguiaxus)
Havok (Alexander Summers) + Goblin Queen (Madelyne Pryor) / romantic relationship

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GIANT-SIZE X-MEN:
Colossus (Piotr Rasputin) + Domino (Neena Thurman)
Colossus (Piotr Rasputin) + Kayla
Nightcrawler (Kurt Wagner) + Stacy X (Miranda Leevald)
Nightcrawler (Kurt Wagner) + Weaponless Zsen
Nightcrawler (Kurt Wagner) + Silver Sable (Silvija Sablinova) / relationship

I'll add Sunfire + Redroot the Forest to this list if we get something slightly more concrete.

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UNCANNY X-MEN:
Rogue (Anna Marie) + Gambit (Remy LeBeau) / marriage
Aurora (Jeanne-Marie Beaubier) + Fang (Akihiro) / romantic relationship
Box (Madison Jeffries) + Danger
Captain Avalon (Brian Braddock) + Gloriana (Meggan Puceanu) / marriage
Captain Britain (Elizabeth Braddock) + Askani (Rachel Grey-Summers) / romantic relationship
Dazzler (Alison Blaire) + Dr. Nemesis (James Bradley)
Forget-Me-Not (Xabi Gorostiaga) + Lost (Marinette)
Frenzy (Joanna Cargill) + Paibok the Power Skrull / romantic relationship
Jumbo Carnation + Mykines lighthouse keeper
Marrow (Sarah Rushman) + Feral (Maria Callasantos)
Multiple Man (James Madrox) + Butterfly (Layla Miller) / marriage
Northstar (Jean-Paul Beaubier) + Kyle Jinadu / marriage
Omertà (Paul Provenzano) + Stinger (Wendy Sherman) / marriage
Psylocke (Kwannon) + Greycrow (John Greycrow)
Somnus (Carl Valentino) + Neutron
Tempo (Heather Tucker) + Bouncer (Renata Da Lima)
Tempo (Heather Tucker) + Theia of Threshold
White Queen (Emma Frost) + Iron Man (Anthony Stark) / marriage

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NEW MUTANTS:
Cannonball (Samuel Guthrie) + Smasher (Isabel Kane) / marriage
Cypher (Douglas Ramsey) + Bei the Blood Moon / marriage
Karma (Mạnh Cao Xuân) + Galura (Gabrielle Diwa) / relationship
Rictor (Julio Richter) + Shatterstar (Gaveedra Seven) / relationship
Sunspot (Roberto Da Costa) + Deathbird (Cal'syee Neramani) / implied relationship

Hickman hinted at a possible future Wolfsbane + Xandra, but I won't add it until there's something concrete.

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GENERATION X:
Synch (Everett Thomas) + Talon (Laura Kinney) / relationship
Penance (Monet St. Croix) + Quicksilver (Pietro Maximoff) / relationship

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ACADEMY X:
Egg (Fabio Medina) + Proteus (Kevin MacTaggert) + Hope (Hope Summers) + Elixir (Joshua Foley) + Tempus (Eva Bell) / family unit
Beak (Barnell Bohusk) + Angel (Angel Salvadore) / marriage
Blindfold (Ruth Aldine) + Legion (David Haller) / relationship
Cerebella (Martha Johansson) + Escapade (Shela Sexton) / romantic relationship
Five-in-One (Phoebe Cuckoo) + Kid Omega (Quintavius Quire) / romantic relationship
Five-in-One (Esme Cuckoo) + Kid Cable (Nathan Grey-Summers)
Glob (Robert Herman) + Pixie (Megan Gywnn)
Graymalkin (Jonas Graymalkin) + Specter (Dallas Gibson) / romantic relationship
Loa (Alani Ryan) + Mercury (Cessily Kincaid) + Bling! (Roxanne Washington) / polyamorous romantic relationship
Prodigy (David Alleyne) + Speed (Thomas Shepherd)

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AKADEMOS HABITAT:
Feint (Carmen Cruz) + Cyclops-Lass (Beatrice Bartholomew) / romantic relationship
Explodey Boy + Arachnidor
Negasonic Teenage Warhead (Eloise Phimister) + Yuki Ohara / romantic relationship

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X-MEN AFFILIATED:
Corsair (Christopher Summers) + Hepzibah
Cloak (Tyrone Johnson) + Dagger (Tandy Bowen) / romantic relationship
Deadpool (Wade Wilson) + Valentine (Valentine Vuong) / romantic relationship

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VILLAINS:
Doctor Stasis (Nathaniel Essex) + Mother Righteous (Rebecca Essex)
Kingpin (Wilson Fisk) + Typhoid Mary (Mary Walker) / marriage
Captain Krakoa (Steven Rogers) + Fenris (Andrea von Strucker)

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So what do we think?

Which was your favorite new relationship? Which was your least favorite new relationship?
Which do you think is the best executed / best portrayed legacy relationship?

Which other characters do you think should enter romantic relationships in this era or the next?
Here are some big characters that never got into a stable relationship in this era:
Archangel, Armor, Polaris, Banshee, Bishop, Chamber, Colossus, Fantomex, Forge, Firestar, Jubilee, Juggernaut, Magik, Magma, Manifold, Mirage, Rasputin IV, Sage, Siryn, Shadowkat, Thunderbird, Wolfsbane, Xorn, Zorn

[davetvs]

Did I miss the 5 having orgies?

[Uncanny X-Man]

Did I miss the 5 having orgies?

It's an X-Men comic so they would be called "The Ultimate Intimacy".

[GoingGreen]

It's an X-Men comic so they would be called "The Ultimate Intimacy".

Everytime I see your avatar out of the corner of my eye, I think it's a Bjork album cover and I don't know why...

[Jackraow21]

What about Cable and Esme? Didn't they marry in the future, and he's actually living with the older version of her somewhere in the timestream? Duggan showed this at the end of his Cable run, but it's never been mentioned since. Not sure how that works exactly, unless resurrected adult Cable at some point goes and meets up with her grown up down the line a bit (in the future) and they marry there. Otherwise it doesn't work with his own wonky timeline.

[Rift]

Depressing how most of these are pre-Krakoa relationships, were off-screen or were established in backstroies. Here's how the list would look if you took those out, but kept pre-established relationships that came back together or got a revamp on-page.

Revelation (En Sabah Nur) + Genesis
White Sword (Blue) + Ironfire (Jon Ironfire)
Ororo of the Storm + Death of the First Horsemen
Ororo of the Storm + Dr. Craig Marshall (Lasted like 3 pages)
Cyclops (Scott Summers) + Phoenix (Jean Grey) + Wolverine (James Howlett)
Iceman (Robert Drake) + Christian Frost (Got together off-screen, never did much of anything before breaking up)
Iceman (Robert Drake) + Romeo
Havok (Alexander Summers) + Goblin Queen (Madelyne Pryor)
Colossus (Piotr Rasputin) + Domino (Neena Thurman) (I'm not reading X-Force so I don't know what they've been up to)
Colossus (Piotr Rasputin) + Kayla (See above.)
Nightcrawler (Kurt Wagner) + Weaponless Zsen
Nightcrawler (Kurt Wagner) + Silver Sable (Silvija Sablinova)
Shadowkat (Katherine Pryde) + Tattoo artists (One kiss and never spoke to again)
Aurora (Jeanne-Marie Beaubier) + Fang (Akihiro)
Captain Britain (Elizabeth Braddock) + Askani (Rachel Grey-Summers)
Dazzler (Alison Blaire) + Dr. Nemesis (James Bradley) (Got together quickly at the end of an issue, then did nothing until they broke up off-screen)
Forget-Me-Not (Xabi Gorostiaga) + Lost (Marinette) (Went on a date off-screen, he clearly likes her but she can't even remember him.)
Frenzy (Joanna Cargill) + Paibok the Power Skrull (Largely just flirting)
Jumbo Carnation + Mykines lighthouse keeper (Barely did anything beyond sharing a couple of flirty lines and dancing, also the lighthouse keeper is mine. Back off, Fat Boy.)
Marrow (Sarah Rushman) + Feral (Maria Callasantos) (Don't know anything about this one so I can't say anything about it)
Omertà (Paul Provenzano) + Stinger (Wendy Sherman) (Don't know anything about this one so I can't say anything about it, other than that it canonically happened)
Psylocke (Kwannon) + Greycrow (John Greycrow)
Tempo (Heather Tucker) + Theia of Threshold
White Queen (Emma Frost) + Iron Man (Anthony Stark)
Cypher (Douglas Ramsey) + Bei the Blood Moon (This is a weird one because it was intentionally sudden and rushed, which helped make it charming)
Karma (Mạnh Cao Xuân) + Galura (Gabrielle Diwa)
Sunspot (Roberto Da Costa) + Deathbird (Cal'syee Neramani)
Synch (Everett Thomas) + Talon (Laura Kinney)
Penance (Monet St. Croix) + Quicksilver (Pietro Maximoff)
Cerebella (Martha Johansson) + Escapade (Shela Sexton)
Five-in-One (Phoebe Cuckoo) + Kid Omega (Quintavius Quire) (You know this is OOC because no one could ever love Quentin Quire.)
Five-in-One (Esme Cuckoo) + Kid Cable (Nathan Grey-Summers)
Loa (Alani Ryan) + Mercury (Cessily Kincaid) + Bling! (Roxanne Washington) (MerLoa was pretty rushed and largely off-screen - all we saw was Loa spilling spaghetti about asking Mercury out, and then Mercury getting her hand messed up when she tried to touch Loa's underwater whirlpool. Mercling! was a pre-established relationship that was just sort of forgotten to make MerLoa happen.)
Feint (Carmen Cruz) + Cyclops-Lass (Beatrice Bartholomew) (If you're counting past relationships, IIRC she also dated Cherub before she realized she was a lesbian.)
Negasonic Teenage Warhead (Eloise Phimister) + Yuki Ohara
Deadpool (Wade Wilson) + Valentine (Valentine Vuong)
Doctor Stasis (Nathaniel Essex) + Mother Righteous (Rebecca Essex)
Captain Krakoa (Steven Rogers?) + Fenris (Andrea von Strucker) (Still developing, so we don't know what its whole deal even is.)

Now for the ones that got quite a bit of development during its formation, and/or got a decent amount of focus after the fact. (Not counting ones I don't know enough about, or are too new to tell.)

Revelation (En Sabah Nur) + Genesis
Ororo of the Storm + Death of the First Horsemen
Iceman (Robert Drake) + Romeo
Havok (Alexander Summers) + Goblin Queen (Madelyne Pryor)
Nightcrawler (Kurt Wagner) + Weaponless Zsen
Aurora (Jeanne-Marie Beaubier) + Fang (Akihiro)
Captain Britain (Elizabeth Braddock) + Askani (Rachel Grey-Summers)
Psylocke (Kwannon) + Greycrow (John Greycrow)
Tempo (Heather Tucker) + Theia of Threshold
Karma (Mạnh Cao Xuân) + Galura (Gabrielle Diwa)
Synch (Everett Thomas) + Talon (Laura Kinney) (Well, they keep bringing it up, at least)
Cerebella (Martha Johansson) + Escapade (Shela Sexton)
Deadpool (Wade Wilson) + Valentine (Valentine Vuong)

I'd also like to throw in Hellion + Wind Dancer. They weren't shown dating on-screen or anything, but Hellion called her "beautiful" (a pet term for her when they were together in New Mutants/New X-Men), and they both missed each other/loved each other after their break-up. It's very likely they both hooked up after Sofia's revival. It'd be another off-screen romance, but yeah.

Everytime I see your avatar out of the corner of my eye, I think it's a Bjork album cover and I don't know why...

Tbh, and I say this with no hate whatsoever, I keep mistaking it for Logan sniffing a butt and stabbing it.

[alanyoung909]

Did I miss the 5 having orgies?

Hickman strongly hinted at a relationship, though not necessarily a sexual one, when he introduced the concept of the Five in House of X 5.

hox5.jpg

It was around this time that he was also hinting at polyamory being an accepted cultural norm in Krakoa.

[BobbysWorld]

Hickman strongly hinted at a relationship, though not necessarily a sexual one, when he introduced the concept of the Five in House of X 5.

hox5.jpg

It was around this time that he was also hinting at polyamory being an accepted cultural norm in Krakoa.

Well yeah, but there's nothing inherently sexual about a family unit, because its a generic term that comprises all elements of a family, not just romantic/sexual partners. Think this one is a stretch for including here, but that's just me.

[KylunFan]

Great Idea for a thread.

Favourite New:

Kwannon & Greycrow was cute, in a I can't belive I'm shipping these two kind of way.

Karma & Galura. I'm glad Marvel let Karma kiss another woman. Let more New Mutants get partners Marvel.

Storm & Craig Marshall/ Frenzy & Paibok/ Ironfire & White Sword. Most of these have just been small teases but something about how Ewing writes them just makes it work.

Worst New

Betsy & Rachel - I really wanted to like these two but the writing was just bad. I'm sure these issues are from needing sign-off from editorial to 'out' characters etc... and then concerns on how many issues they'd have before cancellation but I was never sold on them as a couple.

I'm glad Rachel is finally out now but I would much prefer her with Kitty/Kate.

Synch & Talon - I'm glad other people are enjoying Krakoa-era Synch, but his only story beat since coming back has been simping over Laura and having a power boost. The relationship has done absolutley nothing for Laura either. Can we go back to having just the one Laura already? He's much more interesting alongside the other Gen X cast members. A Synch/ M couple in the Krakoan age would have been a much more interesting dynamic to explore.

Wait What? Couples I have mixed feelings on..

Tempo & Theia - Glad my girl Tempo can be an out Lesbian and has a partner but it's a bit unfortunate she's attatched to an utterly forgettable character from an utterly boring past mutant civilisation from an utterly forgettable series.

Doug & Bei - Doug has had great character development during Krakoa & Bei is one of the most enjoyable new Arraki characters. The pair have been oddly charming since their X of Swords wedding. But I'm sad it's sidelined Doug's (imo much more interesting) relationship with Warlock. Doug's unique and sometimes homoerotic/ robosexual friendship with Warlock is much more interesting than generic soft boy/Warrior woman dynamic.

I'm not sure any long-term relationships blossomed in Krakoa... Rogue & Gambit have at best tread water and Jean/Cyclops forced drama in X-Men has been a bit of a going thought the number plot point.

[Rift]

While romantic partners can be called a family unit... no one actually calls them that, because family units, and the word "family" in general, is almost always used for blood or platonic relations. Given that no one, not even Hickman, depicted or even hinted romantic or sexual interactions between the five, even calling them an implicationship is a stretch imo.

But while we're on implications, we gotta mention Scemma. Even Havok thinks it's weird how Scott wants Emma with him during his resurrections over Jean. There was that weird thing with Emma on the beach in X-Men #23. It's pretty clear they're not dating, and Scott and Jean are monogamous again, but there's something going on.

[shugahfree]

Apocalypse + Rictor needed to be slightly more concrete, but whatever they had was palpable. Though they're probably as concrete as Marrow/Feral, no?

Despite that, I do like Big A and his even bigger wife though that's a tragic (bad?) romance.

Favorites:
1. Mystique/Destiny
2. Kwannon/Greycrow
3. Penance/Quicksilver
4. White Sword/Ironfire
5. Frenzy/Paibok
6. Deadpool/Valentine
7. Karma/Galura
8. Rogue/Gambit (the era has been rough but I still enjoy them)
9. Negasonic/Yuki
10. Storm/Craig Marshall + Death

The monogamy of Jean/Scott seemed to signal the end of daring change and Synch/Talon feels pitiful. Otherwise been a fun era for romance that feels fun and at times poetic (mostly Mystique/Destiny).

[Braxxer]

Let’s be honest. The polygamy could never work out if their main representation was supposed to be scott/jean/logan. 90% of x-fans hates jogan. Jogan has become a canon only because Percy is a fan of that relationship. It was his idea to make them a canon. Another 70% don’t see how would Scott/logan could work after so many years of a bad blood. Especially when their coming out would happen off panel

Scemma? I’m sorry but marrying Tony Stark is better than Emma waiting x years for scott to acknowledge her existence.

Aurora and Fang? Please no. They’re cute but Fang being bi is a great way to give him a boyfriend instead of putting him in a hetero relationship.

Destiny and Mystique? Loved it until Mystique has become only Destiny’s girlfriend

Rogue and Gambit? I couldn’t believe they can make me hate them but somehow krakoa age did something impossible

[Uncanny X-Man]

Mystique and Destiny are the MVP's of the Krakoan era. So much narrative revolved around their relationship, their separation, their attempts to get back together and what happens when they lose each other. Also, as strange as it sounds, Krakoa is when they were first explicitly written as a couple (technically Mark Waid first referred to them as such in his History book) after literally decades of being "best friends".

[Rift]

Aurora and Fang? Please no. They’re cute but Fang being bi is a great way to give him a boyfriend instead of putting him in a hetero relationship.

Tbh we don't have many bisexuals in opposite-sex relationships, especially when the bisexual is male. During the Krakoa era, we've had Mystique/Destiny, Prodigy/Speed, Mercury/Loa, Julie Power/Girl Bucky, Rachel/Betsy (but this was Rachel's coming out story, so), and Rictor/Shatterstar. It's cool to have same-sex bisexual relationships (especially when a lot of media has a character say they're bi for fanservice, but then stick to the opposite sex), but I feel like it's a breath of fresh air to have some variation.

[LoganAlpha30X33]

Let’s be honest. The polygamy could never work out if their main representation was supposed to be scott/jean/logan. 90% of x-fans hates jogan. Jogan has become a canon only because Percy is a fan of that relationship. It was his idea to make them a canon. Another 70% don’t see how would Scott/logan could work after so many years of a bad blood. Especially when their coming out would happen off panel

Scemma? I’m sorry but marrying Tony Stark is better than Emma waiting x years for scott to acknowledge her existence.

Aurora and Fang? Please no. They’re cute but Fang being bi is a great way to give him a boyfriend instead of putting him in a hetero relationship.

Destiny and Mystique? Loved it until Mystique has become only Destiny’s girlfriend

Rogue and Gambit? I couldn’t believe they can make me hate them but somehow krakoa age did something impossible

The percentage of people that hate Logan and Jean together is nowhere near as high as 90 percent...