Plot

Plot

Season one

The first season introduced the core characters and laid the foundations for future storylines. Cyclops, Professor X, Wolverine, Storm and Jean Grey made up the original X-Men. As the season developed the ranks of the X-Men were bolstered by the appearance of Nightcrawler in the first episode, Shadowcat in the second, Spyke in the fifth and Rogue (who was part of the Brotherhood at first) in the seventh. In the later episodes of this season, Nightcrawler discovered the identity of his birth mother, Wolverine found answers to his past, Rogue switched sides to join the X-Men, and Xavier's half-brother Juggernaut is released from his prison.

Confrontations were typically with the Brotherhood, who vied for new recruits with the X-Men over the course of the season. Toad was the first to be introduced, followed by Avalanche, Blob and Quicksilver. The Brotherhood, apparently led by Mystique, were in fact being directed by a higher power, the identity of whom was revealed in the two-part season finale as being Magneto. After Cyclops discovered that his brother, Alex, survived the plane crash that killed their parents, they were both taken by Magneto into his "sanctuary" on Asteroid M. Magneto captured several X-Men and Brotherhood members in an attempt to amplify their mutant abilities and remove their emotions. Asteroid M was destroyed by Scott and Alex Summers, but not before two unidentified metal objects flew from the exploding rock.

Season two

The second season saw the addition of several new mutants, including Beast. During the course of the season it was revealed that the villains who supposedly perished on Asteroid M were in fact alive. Sabretooth, meanwhile, continued his pursuit of Wolverine, while Magneto continued to work his own agenda. Mystique posed as Risty Wilde, a high school student at Bayville High who befriends Rogue, and broke into the mansion, stealing Xavier's Cerebro files. Using the files, she recovered Wanda Maximoff, the Scarlet Witch, Magneto's daughter and Quicksilver's sister. The mentally unstable uber-mutant joined the Brotherhood upon Mystique's return, allowing them to defeat the X-Men in a battle at the Bayville mall. Before the finale, a pivotal episode aired featuring the telepath Mesmero opening one of three doors that would unleash a mutant known as Apocalypse.

In the season finale, Xavier rigorously trained his X-Men to face Magneto, pairing them with the Brotherhood. Cyclops, furious with having to work with his former adversaries, left the team. The mansion was later set to self-destruct with Cyclops and several students still inside. Magneto, meanwhile, recruited Sabretooth, Gambit, Pyro, and Colossus as his Acolytes to fight the X-Men/Brotherhood team. At the same time, Wolverine was captured by Bolivar Trask for use as a test subject for the anti-mutant weapon, the Sentinel. The Sentinel was unleashed onto the city, forcing the X-Men to use their powers in public. Wanda tracked down Magneto and attempted to crush him with the Sentinel. When the mutants who hadn't been captured by the Sentinel returned to the remains of the mansion, Cyclops and the students emerged from the explosion unharmed. Scott threw Xavier from his wheelchair and blamed him for blowing up the mansion. Xavier calmly stood up, transforming into Mystique.

Seasons three and four

By season three and four, the show notably begins to take a much more serious tone. After the battle with the Sentinel, the mutant race was no longer a secret. The public reaction was one of hostility. This brings the show into more traditional X-Men lore, with dealing with themes of prejudice, public misconception, and larger threats. As the season progressed, the real Xavier was found, Mystique defeated, the mansion rebuilt, and the X-Men allowed back into Bayville High. Wanda continued to search for Magneto (who was saved by his son, Quicksilver, at the last minute) until Magneto used the telepathic mutant Mastermind to change her childhood memories. Scott and Jean forged a deeper relationship, while the romance between Shadowcat and the Brotherhood member Avalanche ended. Also, Spyke left the X-Men when his power became uncontrollable, deciding to live with the sewer-dwelling deformities, the Morlocks.

As part of the series arc, Rogue loses control of her powers, leading to her hospitalization. During that time, she learned she was the adoptive daughter of Mystique. Mystique, through the visions of the mutant Destiny, foresaw that the fate of Rogue and herself lay in the hands of an ancient mutant that would be resurrected. The return of the long-awaited Apocalypse saga emerged in the season's final episodes. Mesmero manipulated Magneto into opening the second door, and used Mystique and Rogue to open the last, turning Mystique to stone in the process. Now released, Apocalypse easily defeated the combined strength of the X-Men, Magneto, the Acolytes, and the Brotherhood before escaping.

The final (and darker) season contained only nine episodes. In the season premiere, Apocalypse apparently killed Magneto while Rogue murdered Mystique by pushing her petrified figure off a cliff, leaving her distraught son, Nightcrawler, without closure. The Brotherhood became temporary do-gooders, Wolverine's teenage girl clone X-23 returned, Spyke and the Morlocks rose to the surface, Shadowcat discovered a mutant ghost, Rogue was kidnapped by Gambit and taken to Louisiana to help free his father, and Xavier attempted to defeat his evil son. The character Leech was also introduced as a young boy. In the finale, Apocalypse defeated Xavier and Storm, transforming them, along with Magneto and Mystique, as his Four Horsemen. Apocalypse instructed his Horsemen to protect his three domes and his 'base of operations', which would turn the entire world population into mutants. In the final battle, the Horsemen were returned to normal and Apocalypse was sent through time. Rogue and Nightcrawler refused the excuses of their mother, Shadowcat and Avalanche found love once again, Magneto reunited with Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch, as are Storm and her nephew Spyke and Xavier saw his students reunited as the X-Men.

Final moments

The series ends with a speech by Charles Xavier, who had caught a glimpse of the future while being controlled by Apocalypse. The following future scenarios were foreseen:

* Continued anti-mutant sentiment.
* A reformed Magneto teaching the New Mutants, including Jubilee and Wolfsbane.
* Jean Grey's possession by the Phoenix Force and her transformation into the Dark Phoenix.
* The future X-Men team consists of adult versions of Cyclops, Nightcrawler, X-23, Iceman, Beast, Shadowcat, Rogue (able to fly and not wearing gloves), Storm and Colossus. The uniforms these future X-Men wear look very much like the dark uniforms seen in the Ultimate X-Men comic.
* Adult versions of the Brotherhood and Pyro join S.H.I.E.L.D. to form Freedom Force.
* A fleet of Sentinels led by a Sentinel that resembles Nimrod.
* The last scene (see top picture) shows the entire cast, which includes the X-Men, the New Mutants, Gambit and Colossus (former Acolytes), Boom Boom (who rejoins in the third season), the previously unaligned Havok, Angel and X-23; along with the return of Jubilee, Spyke and Wolfsbane.