Why is Cyclops considered one of the most powerful mutants on the X-Men? He has no defensive powers...

Why is Cyclops considered one of the most powerful mutants on the X-Men? He has no defensive powers, he's not strong or agile, he can't fly. All he can do is hit you with a strong blast if your standing in front of him and can't dodge fast enough. That's about as effective as using a gun.

>standing in front of him
Read more comics

He can shoot blasts out of the back of his head? They go pretty wide but you still have to be in front of them.

His optic blasts come from another dimension

But which dimension?

>one of the most powerful mutants

Because a lot of the X-men are shitty.

He's just not an idiot most of the time.

He can also do Cap-shield style ridiculous ricochet beams and apparently has super angle-calculation as a secondary power
Which he also uses to cheat at pool

He can break every bone in your body and send you to Kingdom Come by giving you a stinky eye.

Non-sarcastic reply: the optic-force blasts can be bounced off of objects and Cyclops apparently is pretty good at gauging angles, so technically a blast could bounce around to hit something behind him.

Been a while since I read any X-Men, so I don't remember too clearly how he makes it bounce instead of just blasting through whatever's in front of him.

Beat me to it.

Well, there are a few reasons

1. His optic blasts are scary as fuck. He can level mountain ranges if he really lets go.
2. He's very accurate with them, with Captain America-tier angling.
3. He's a VERY competent strategist, leading the X-Men to victory from sure defeat many times.
4. Back in the old days, he had the support of the entire X-Men because he such a reliable leader and a kind, trustworthy person.
5. He's one of the most disciplined men in the world, with a will that's nearly impossible to break. This is the result of him having to learn to walk around and live with an uncontrollable mutation that could kill someone if he fucks up even once.
6. He's in very good shape and is a very competent combatant, thinks quick on his feet and has trained rigorously for the majority of his life.

They're punches. From the punch dimension

I'm not kidding

He also has to press his visor with his hand for it to work. He has no control of his beams. Just like a gun.

His brain has a mutation. Makes him super human at strategy. like these guys say he uses it for beams and leadership. Also keeps him from killing himself with those beams.

>4. Back in the old days, he had the support of the entire X-Men because he such a reliable leader and a kind, trustworthy person.
I'm not sure "he was the standard whitebread leader type for decades" is that good a point for him

He has an activation switch in his glove

>Also keeps him from killing himself with those beams.
He's actually immune to his own beams. Same deal as how his and Havok's powers don't work on each other.

also he emits a low mental frequency that causes telepaths to wet themselves.

Seriously the only one that I think didn't try to jump his bones is Rachel and they're related.

Why not? I don't think you'd wanna mess with a guy who could bring an entire population of mutants down on your head.

I'm sure Rachel considered it after Jean died

There really powerful beams

>standard whitebread leader type

Please go back to drawing fetishised black women, Bendis.

>Why is Cyclops considered one of the most powerful mutants on the X-Men?
I don't think he is.

writers invented the convenient concept of "omega-level mutants" to designate what you call "the most powerful mutants on the X-Men"

Newsflash, genius: Cyclops isn't on the list.

Ask the question about Iceman, now there's something to talk about.

Imagine a Batman tier strategist who could kill you by looking at you.

>Why is Cyclops considered one of the most powerful mutants on the X-Men?

Just read Claremont's run from the beginning and see for yourself. One of Cyclops's biggest badass moments comes in Uncanny 175, but to really appreciate that story you have to start with Giant-Size 1 because 175 is the climax of a slow-burn sequel to the Phoenix and Dark Phoenix stories.

>he's not strong or agile
>if your standing in front of him and can't dodge fast enough

As an X-Men casual, you're a fucking casual piece of shit, OP.

I said it before Ill keep saying it forever

YOU CAN'T PULL THIS SHIT AND THEN EXPECT US TO FEEL SAD FOR YOU WHEN PEOPLE ARE SCARED TO THE POINT OF VIOLENCE!


>Duuur Im cyclops I can destroy a city block if I take my glasses off. Hey why are you running away? racist.

He isn't even in the top 15 of most powerful X-men

But he's an excellent tactician and leader, and he makes great usage of his powers and skills

He's like Captain America with punch laser eyes

He's her father. "X-Men" is not set in Arkansas.

>with Captain America-tier angling
This. It's canon a part of his mutation.

How much power does the punch dimension have? What would happen if cyclopes kept his eyes open and never shut them

So it's light enough to bounce off concrete, but hard enough to concuss an opponent?

You see, he's called cyclops because one eye is for the bouncing punches and the other for the destructive punches. When he's using the glasses he can pick which punch use, and when he takes them off you get double punching power.

He isn't. He's got good leadership skills and his blasts are strong as fuck but he isn't even close to "one of the most powerful mutants on the X-Men".

Trigonometry bitch

Hmmm...Soh Cah Toa = BLAM you dead bitch

I don't think that is correct, user...

He's a one-trick pony that is afraid of using his one trick.
It's easy to see why he's considered weak.
There are good reasons for thinking of him as being so powerful:
It's not just that he can blast mountains into dust and vaporize heavy machinery with a glance (and there's issues with that stuff happening) but he also has amazing pinpoint accuracy and the ability to make impossible bankshots instinctively.
Given that he can, but never does, simply walk around zap-punching all his opponents and ending fights within seconds, he does look like a weakling.
But he could be baddass if he ever actually wanted to hurt someone...

>one of the most powerful mutants

literally nowhere does it ever say this unless they were talking about when he went dark phoenix

He was pretty bad ass during Whedon's run.

why are there not redneck mutants?
with all that inbreeding, some crazy weird shit must be there or West Virginia

Morrison had him breaking a leg from mid-air and upside-down while being thrown by an explosion attack ...
...because that's exacly what he warned the guy that was going to happen if they tried anything.

Cannonball, hell, his entire family including Husk and Wing, Glob Herman, The Morrison-run mutant student appropriately named "Redneck", and I've kinda always assumed Beast was too because "Oh my Stars and Garters" is a pretty damned hayseed thing to say.

Literally Captain America with lasers and the power of math

>1. His optic blasts are scary as fuck. He can level mountain ranges if he really lets go.
Back in Civil War somebody commented that he could crack a small planet if he stopped subconsciously holding back.

He overloaded Bishop in the same issue.

No. CA has comic-steroids.

Sounds about right. The only thing that would be more Morrison is if there was a reference to an obscure Golden Age comic and he also hit a reader with an optic blast.

...

holy shit

>comic-steroids
And what's the deal with testicular shrinkage?

As a cyclops fan, I can safely say he is not. He is one of the smarter ones.

So Cyclops has instinctive MIT level understanding of geometry?

Wow thats really convenient. I wish more mutants have instinctive knowledge on their powers.

Magik must have some instinctive ability to account for the movement of celestial bodies when teleports or else she would miss the earth every time she time travels

They do.
Forge instinctively knows how to built tech even when he doesn't know how it works.
Magneto and Polaris both can instictively identify differences in magnetic fields, they don't teach that sh*t anywhere.
Beast's reflexes and superhuman balance involves instinctual understanding of physics, weight distribution, momentum, and who knows what else.
Elixir found out he was a mutant when he first instinctively acted to use his healing abilities, same story with that Triage guy.
Storm and the weather... Colossus and triggering his metal form... etc... etc...

Cypher can understand any language - even dead ones with no common frame of reference, alien languages, and genetic codes.

Superman does it.

Here's a question: Why is Storm considered one of the most powerful mutants?
She's completely worthless in an enclosed environment.
I get that she can monsoon Kansas to death anytime she wants, always a useful skill, but her go-to attack is pansy-ass underpowered hand-lightning. Even her back-up move of a big gust of wind isn't going to win any battles.
Why the respect?
For Goddess's sake, the one time there's a weather-related (Inhuman-Death-Cloud) threat she still isn't useful to anyone.

Don't think it's instinctive, pretty sure it was drilled into him at the institute.

No, the geometry thing is a part of his powerset. That shit comes naturally.

Apparently she has the ability to control molecules or something. Also apparently she has a lot of feats of beating superior foes in H2H combat, so idk.

he fathered cable and thats all that matters.

like bouncing a basketball off the wall and into your face

Who's the most useless X-Man?

He'll fucc you up user

Glob Herman

That dude is flamable and it doesn't hurt him. And I'm pretty sure those bones and organs are just for show, he's all big walking blob of whatever guy, he's probably buttetproof.

>tfw no Gambit & Cyclops: Pool Hustlers

And she's Strange-tier mage.

She can't dissipate the terrigan cloud without pissing off all the Inhumans and redirecting it is dangerous as it makes her powers unstable by proximity. There was a recent X-Force where she does actually start redirecting it but the strain from doing so leaves her vulnerable to the enemies who knock her out so that she can't anymore.

As to power, she can use her lightning to alter molecules, and can generate enough power to make Herald level enemies take notice, see pic related.

That's Magik, not Storm. Also, no she's not. She has the potential to get up there but currently she is still being trained by Strange.

Sounds 100% legit

FYI, Gambit DOES hustle pool using his mutant abilities to manipulate kenetic energy.
For real, how else did you think he could throw a playingcard so accurately?

he's not. anyone could beat the shit out of him simply by wearing ruby quartz armor. the whole thing with his visor allowing him to have the blasts go through it by him "thinking about it" doesn't explain the energy traveling through his visor as a medium. it's kind of a dumb power. at least with beast it's plausible that genetics can advance someone physically and mentally, or with iceman it's already a power he has to bend the laws of thermodynamics. with cyclops it's "oh energy is blocked by inanimate ruby quarts but magically goes through ruby quartz when i want it to"

whoa source please. stardust and storm fighting is something that is relevant to my interests

>anyone could beat the shit out of him simply by wearing ruby quartz armor.
You act as if cyclops relies on his optic blast to win battles.
See pic related.

He can shoot through the quartz.
They've shown him shattering glasses and visors when he gets mad enough, and there's been text to back that up.
Also, he's been shown shooting optic beams through the lenses of his wrap-around glasses without destroying them.
(that could have been an artist's oversight though, then it gets repeated by others)

But... that's exactly why I want that to happen.
Bonus if it's done in vein of 90's movies, like Harley Davidson and Marlboro Man.
I thought he relies on child soldiers to win battles :^)

He's been listed as a black belt in Judo at least since Claremont's days.

Well no. He relied on Wolverine but Wolverine was sometimes to busy drinking to help, so that's why Cyke pulled a Kony.

Fantastic Four 546.

Also pic related has Storm manipulating the atoms of her clothing to create her costume on the fly. From her recent solo series if anyone's wondering.

beast or nightcrawler would beat the shit out of him if they were wearing ruby quartz armor. he would not stand a chance

>I thought he relies on child soldiers to win battles :^)
He knows that if you train them at a young age they'll follow you to their death. They do the same shit in American. Kill off villages and keep the young males to make them soldiers. I wish I was a smart as cyclops and had my own army of children to do my bidding.

thx user

that didn't work out so hot for Stick. DD and Electra hate his guts

All X men do, using child soldiers is a tradition that begun with prof X

You act as if cyclops couldn't predict their every move, you act as if cyclops would blast his surrounding to create obstructions and traps for them. He trained hope to learn to win without her powers, you think he wouldn't do them same for himself?

It'd be a tough battle but I'd still give it to cyke. If he can't blast you he's going to use the terrain. Beast and Nightcrawler even with additional protections are probably the worst people in the world to fight him. He knows both of them and knows exactly how they fight. He'll see every move coming before they think of it.

>the whole thing with his visor allowing him to have the blasts go through it by him "thinking about it"
But that's not how his visor works. At all.

lol "muh strategery" is not the same as spider sense.

if cyclops could do all that without powers, he would be a self sufficient team unto himself and would not need other mutants to carry out his goals.

Yes, how does he dare to lead team in team book.

Cyclops can fly too if he wants to.

are you kidding me? beast and nightcrawler always use the terrain in every fight they're in. nightcrawler crawls on walls and ceilings.

>they'll see every move

he won't see nightcrawler teleporting behind him but he WILL see beast's kicks but won't be fast enough to react because beast is faster. cyclops does not have advanced strength or agility.

Read the comics boyo. "muh strategy" is exactly how Scott has defeated the entire team before. Every time Scott fights a fellow X-Man he win based on his intimate knowledge of them as an individual. Optic blasts are the least part of his combat ability.

>if cyclops could do all that without powers, he would be a self sufficient team unto himself and would not need other mutants to carry out his goals

the scenario was beast or nightcrawler. He knows he needs a team to defeat the enemies that come against them that's why he is always leading a team. I nor anyone else said he could beat the entire marvel universe all at once or even one at a time.

Considering most folks in the marvel universe aren't bullet proof, being a walking gun seems good enough. His powers aren't what makes him dangerous though, it's his ability to get shit done.

Yeah, Cyclops once said that the reason he got so buff was because he figured the human-type body he has is as much a part of his natural mutant abilities as his optic blasts, or for that matter someone like Beast or Colossus' physical forms, and so there wasn't any sense in finding the limits of utilizing one aspect of his abilities if he didn't push the limits of them all.
If that sounds a bit obsessive, don't blame him, it's Xavier that put the thought into his head.

That's bullshit. Are they considering Storm a reality warper now?

see
he can't control the beams like that without his hand changing the concentration and power knob. there are not enough eye muscles for him to do it on his own. i like this diagram that touches on crystallography a whole fuckin lot, but it does not explain the the control of how the optic beam can widen the angle.

again, he can't control the power without using a hand to turn a knob on his head, and if he get his arm broken, immobilized, or even swatted away for a moment, game over.

Think of his eyes as a water main and his visor as the faucet. The more the visor opens, the wider the angle is.

Most writers don't really bother to think of how exactly this shit works while writing him anymore, but that's how it's supposed to be.

As for his visor controls, there's a manual one on the visor itself and a remote on his hand. That's how he's able to OPTIC BLAST people while his arms are restrained or whatever.