before the x-men movie was mystique protrayed.....

[killerbee]

.........as a highly skilled fighter? i'd looked at some old scans of mystiques ms marvel comic appearances and ms marvel seems to rough her up pretty good and i dont see mystique putting up much of a fight at all. mostly relying on her guns. even in the old x-men animated 90s cartoon i dont ever recall her throwing even a punch.

[Anduinel]

Mystique was skilled, but she was more an assassin type than a martial artist. Undeniably lethal, but most of her skill was using stealth and misdirection to get close enough for the kill.

[SpiderClops]

I think it's less to do with movies and more to do with "Everybody is a skilled H2H fighter in Marvel" these days.

[Outside_85]

.........as a highly skilled fighter? i'd looked at some old scans of mystiques ms marvel comic appearances and ms marvel seems to rough her up pretty good and i dont see mystique putting up much of a fight at all. mostly relying on her guns. even in the old x-men animated 90s cartoon i dont ever recall her throwing even a punch.

I would say that appearance would be affected by it being in a Ms Marvel book... and that it is Ms Marvel that Mystique is up against.

That said, I think the movies did indeed ramp up Mystique's h2h combat capabilities, since she rarely uses a gun in them and more often than not carry some in comics.

[Ricochet Rita]

This:

Mystique was skilled, but she was more an assassin type than a martial artist. Undeniably lethal, but most of her skill was using stealth and misdirection to get close enough for the kill.

AND this *yawn*:

I think it's less to do with movies and more to do with "Everybody is a skilled H2H fighter in Marvel" these days.

Actually, I think at the beginning she was conceived as an expert on weapons, her skull belt hiding a lot of them. That is, quite the opposite of a skilled H2H fighter.

[SpiderClops]

This:



AND this *yawn*:



Actually, I think at the beginning she was conceived as an expert on weapons, her skull belt hiding a lot of them. That is, quite the opposite of a skilled H2H fighter.

I said these days. Nearly every Avenger gets trained under Cap. Most new X-kids get trained under Wolverine. At some point in MU, almost everyone became skilled H2H fighter somehow, trained under someone, or just because.

[Ricochet Rita]

I said these days. Nearly every Avenger gets trained under Cap. Most new X-kids get trained under Wolverine. At some point in MU, almost everyone became skilled H2H fighter somehow, trained under someone, or just because.

These days, of course, I agree with you. That's why I yawn ;-)

Mystique fighting X-robots in UXM #177.

[Michael Watkins]

she was deadly with a knife. but she avoided physical combat. I'd say that she was a lot smarter prior to the movies. they made her an underling when (in the comics) she was always calling the shots.

[AbnormallyNormal]

she was deadly with a knife. but she avoided physical combat. I'd say that she was a lot smarter prior to the movies. they made her an underling when (in the comics) she was always calling the shots.

Good point about her being more of the mastermind or leader in comics , and a spy which is what her powerset was used for. However by the time of late Astonishing in 2012 or so Mystique's powerset has now evolved to not just resembling any person she wants but morphing her body into like weird shapes of varying durability even, so she can create weapons out of her own shape shifting now. This clearly makes her quite a lot more effective for combat regardless of "martial arts skills".

[killerbee]

These days, of course, I agree with you. That's why I yawn ;-)

Mystique fighting X-robots in UXM #177.

thanks for the scans and the info everyone

[Jaddor]

.........as a highly skilled fighter? i'd looked at some old scans of mystiques ms marvel comic appearances and ms marvel seems to rough her up pretty good and i dont see mystique putting up much of a fight at all. mostly relying on her guns. even in the old x-men animated 90s cartoon i dont ever recall her throwing even a punch.

she knew how to handle herself. she was a great assassin, so rightfully assume that been a highly skilled fighter was part of the whole package. I mean she thought Rogue almost everything and Rogue was a great villain and fighter.

[butterflykyss]

I think it's less to do with movies and more to do with "Everybody is a skilled H2H fighter in Marvel" these days.

which is why it's annoying to see jean go down this path as well.. sigh

[MarvelMaster616]

It's not an unreasonable observation. There is one issue that makes it hard to address, though. Mystique's past is still pretty much a big mystery. We know she's pretty old, her history going all the way back to the early 20th century where she crossed paths with Logan a number of times. However, to my knowledge, there aren't any details about where she came from, who her parents are, how she grew up, or even what she did during her teen years. She's always been an adult. I think without knowing those details, it's hard to really know what Mystique's skills entail or how she developed them.

[marhawkman]

We know she's well over 100 and spent a lot of her life wandering around basically homeless. Also her official powers include superhuman reflexes and agility.

[WhiteQueenEmmaFrost]

We know she's well over 100 and spent a lot of her life wandering around basically homeless. Also her official powers include superhuman reflexes and agility.

Homeless?

HA!

There are issues that show she has multiple penthouses and she used to have different identities (like actually being married to people!) of wealthy people.

The lady is smart and very skilled.