In Conversation: 25 of Marvel’s Omega-Level Mutants
Not every nerd shares in the delight of the comic-book world, and that’s okay. There’s a patience you have to have to endure what some might call the opposite of sensory overload. Where you stretch your imagination to fill in the dark spots that reality cannot provide. Where visuals become suggestions to a greater authority of the individual mind. It is tragic when fans in name cannot abide these simple truths of the difference in their experiences and yet still adopt the behavior of someone who knows everything.
This is shade.
The Origin of the Omega-Level Mutant
Some backstory might be needed since we are admitting that not everyone would be familiar with the X-Men’s new normal.
The Krakoan Era has become the golden age of X-Men comics. Following what many consider a frankly traumatic decade of storytelling (let’s never speak of Uncanny X-Men 2019 #15 and onward, ever), there has been a renaissance of stories deeply invested in not only depicting heroes who defend a world that hates and fears them but takes to task why the world thinks this is our responsibility at all. The X-Men made many radical changes to the lore. One of these changes includes re-drawing the lines of what is the highest honor for mutant kind: the Omega-level classification.
What is an Omega-Level Mutant?
At one point, Omega-level meant quite actually nothing. It was a badge of honor to make mutants such as Jean Grey seem all the more special for her impossible psychic acumen. Simply put, it is a mutant without a conceivable upper limit. Eventually, it grew to include other psychic mutants the narrative demanded, such as Cable, X-Man or
Exodus.
Soon, readers were introduced to powerful Reality Warpers like Franklin Richards (who has since been retconned as no longer an Omega-level mutant) and Mister M. The title branched often, creating terms like “Omega-level Telepath” to include Telepathic mutants of the highest quality, like Emma Frost. The term kept sliding even more. Now, mutants without basic telepathic abilities became Omega-level like Bobby Drake’s Iceman.
Is Storm an Omega-Level Mutant?
With the Krakoan Era, the writing staff decided to completely soft reboot the X-Men mythos in a similar vision to the M-Day event of House of M, a famously traumatic storyline and something Scarlet Witch fans despise bringing up. The first thing they fixed was the qualifications of the Omega-level Mutant. According to the “House of X”/”Powers of X” twin series (meant to be read together exploring the changes to mutant kind), an Omega-level Mutant is “a mutant whose dominant power is deemed to register — or reach — an indefinable upper limit of that power’s specific classification.”
Essentially, an Omega is a mutant with a specific power greater than any other of the genus. While there are many ice powers in Marvel’s Earth, only Iceman’s is registered to be as powerful and iconic. While there are many telepaths, only Jean Grey is the most renowned. Forge is the most powerful technopath mutant in the world, but there are many earth-based technicians who are better than him (Tony Stark and Reed Richards, to name a few).
As such, the list of who is and isn’t a mutant has become something of a fascination. Priorly, Storm wasn’t an Omega-level mutant to anyone except her fans. Now, she is definitely the HBIC of weather. Some suggest she could out-class Thor (I’m not going to argue against that ever). With the advent of Arakko, an entire planet of mutants lost to time and war with their own community of Omega-level mutants, the ranking of these beings is a very sensitive topic.
For my list, I invited my friends Showtime, Henry, and Vonte from @helloKRKARADIO, the X-men comics recap podcast for and by Black Queer Blerds.
Please note: Some mutants have been omitted for irrelevance, such as Maddie the Teleporter, a mutant only widely addressed in Deadpool comics or Matthew Molloy, who is a flop from South Carolina. Cable, X-Man, etc. being Alternate Universe selves and progeny of Omega-level mutants, means they cannot be considered currently in the canon’s listing, and Clones are somewhat removed here. Unnamed or Dishonored Arakki Omegas have been removed too.
Our votes were issued individually, and each ranking had a score. These results are what our observations allotted. Tiebreakers were done through debate.
25. Uqesh
Score: 2
Power: Ability to summon gods
Steven: Weird ass power.
Showtime: Can summon and control any god. Now he’s a disembodied head. No wonder he’s in last place.
Steven: And to be an Omega is to essentially be a god. That’s what Magneto said, and Storm supports. Even the lowest of this list have mythical-level feats in their wings.
Henry: Lodus and Uresh are “summoning” mutants with metal and actual gods, respectively. Even with the ability to summon gods, [Uqesh] wasn’t able to stop his own beheading. Lodus living and becoming a circuit with Magneto proves his usefulness over Uresh and keeps him a rank above.
Steven: Especially when you can accomplish the same thing with magic.
Henry: Tragic.
Steven: But hey, at least you’re Omega at all.
24. Lodus Logos
Power: Verbal Metallogenesis
Score: 2
Vonte: To be an Omega with the power to create metal out of his mouth, you would think he’d use it a bit more creatively and not think so small-minded.
Showtime: Love that for them. Not all that useful in and of itself.
Steven: It should be. You’d think he’d spit a bar about dropping a planet of metal on someone.
Vonte: That battle with Uranos was disappointing. I guess I can give him kudos for finally learning how to perform a mutant circuit with Magneto but other than that, I’m good.
23. Isca the Unbeaten
Power: Inability to Lose
Score: 12
Steven: Cursed to Win. History may be told by the victors, but so is shame.
Showtime: You’d think she’d be further up the list, but brown Bobby [Sunspot] showed us all that her power is just a trap for herself and can easily be exploited.
Steven: She cannot lose, not that she will always win. Her powers force the world to recalibrate so that she will not lose, which means all competition becomes a victim of her abilities.
Vonte: Now, I use to stan Isca, but lately, she’s been showing how untrustworthy she is in combat situations. She’s very unpredictable since she’ll defect to the winning side when her power kicks in.
22. Kid Omega
Power: Telepath
Score: 19
Everyone: What is it that you even do?!
Steven: Like there’s already an Omega Telepath and an Omega Telekinetic. And you can only have 1 Omega of a power set at a time.
Henry: Telepath, they said it in the comics.
Steven: That shit isn’t canon to have him included because what even does that mean when they established the rules already?
Henry: Plot hole?
Steven: I choose to believe his Omega ability is his Psychic Intelligence. “Thinking 10 million brilliant thoughts per second” and creating complex psychic AIs with his passive thoughts. That, and being a Reddit incel.
Showtime: Whatever it is, its unimpressive.
21. Idyll the Future Seer
Power: Precognition
Score: 23
Steven: Proof that an Omega-level status can be inherited if you prove yourself stronger or as strong as your kin: for better or worse.
Showtime: Knowing the absolute future and never being able to change it sounds boring. Love that for them both. I guess.
Henry: Destiny would never.
Steven: That’s the difference between future seers, though. One foresees and can plot. One knows and cannot avoid it. Side note, do you think she saw Tarn hitting mute on her ass? Or did you think she was gagging louder when she saw Isca hit her with that Queen of Hearts?
20. Iceman
Power: Negative Temperature Manipulation
Score: 28
Henry: Bobby!
Steven: We all know what he does.
Showtime: Bobby should be further up this list. Where are his feats? He’s been giving beautiful gowns for decades. I want better.
Steven: Nepotism and payola got him on the X-Men this year.
19. Ora Serrata the Witness
Power: Existence Erasure
Score: 29
Henry: Look, it’s a peep show!
Showtime: The ability to remove something from existence is incredibly powerful, but the folks higher up on the list would be better in a fight. The fight with Uranos proves this to be true.
Vonte: Arakki mutants have concepts for powers. Her existence erasure power only works on people who submit to the legal system she represents. If they adhere to a system and do not feel they have broken its merits…they’re fine.
Steven: A cute trick, but a trick is what it is.
18. Elixir
Power: Biokinesis
Vonte: I think Elixir would be the most preferable choice for a mutant healer if I needed one.
Showtime: The racist?
Steven: Former. Just like Kitty Pryde!
Vonte: An Omega-level Mutant with the power to manipulate a being’s biological structure, giving him the power to heal numerous amounts of people. However, he’s also capable of doing the opposite and using his power to infect people with diseases and illnesses. He may not be the best offensively, but he doesn’t come without some heat.
Steven: He has an auto-kill power. He just forgets about it.
Showtime: Beautiful Gowns.
17. Tarn the Uncaring
Power: Biomancy
Score: 38
Steven: “I don’t play with Demons/Tell her ‘Get thee behind’!” Notice his power is biopathy, not kinesis. He communes with cells and genomes and has also turned it into a kind of sorcery. Magic and Mutantdom working together. Not the only mutant on the list who does it, either.
Henry: A dirty fighter, too.
Showtime: A genetic mage and half-daemon mutant mulatto. Tarn’s death was welcomed across Arakko.
Vonte: I don’t know what mutant is seeing him, especially in the Omega-level department.
Steven: And yet, the only mutant on this list currently dead. And the only one I don’t think will stay dead for long.
16. Hope Summers/Messiah
Score: 39
Power: Power Manipulation
Steven: Another redhead.
Showtime: The Mutant Messiah is a power manipulator that can duplicate and boost other mutants’ powers. She’s capable of regulating others’ powers as well as her own when she duplicates their powers. Trained by Cable in the future and is the lynchpin to mutant resurrection.
Vonte: I’ve never been a Hope Summers fan. However, I can’t ignore the fact that she is one hell of a power mimicker.
Henry: I prefer Synch.
Steven: I prefer Chloe Bailey if we’re picking redheads.
15. Nameless the Shape-shifter Queen
Power: Appearance Alteration & Power Mimicry
Score: 39
Vonte: Nameless is what Mystique thinks she is, an Omega-level mutant with the power to take on someone’s form and powers and become that person in their prime. Her story was short-lived since she died in combat with Storm, but she deserved a little more time to showcase her talents.
Showtime: Nameless not only copies abilities but physically can become the person at their peak, including memories as well. Great for espionage. While defeated by Storm, a self-assured mutant, a less self-assured mutant could easily fall to Nameless. Edging Nameless out to Hope.
14. Xilo the First Defender
Score: 41
Power: Terraforming
Steven: We love non-human-looking mutant representation.
Showtime: Xilo is a hive of insect-like beings that have been defending the land of Arakko since the beginning.
Steven: To consume, categorize and generate or reshape whatever has been understood. He’s shown terrakinesis and terraforming and an immortality induced by asexual reproduction. Not to mention tentacles that let him eat things. He is also hard to kill even if his memory is not.
13. Vulcan
Score: 46
Power: Absolute Energy Manipulation
Showtime: The third Summers brother, Gabriel, is an energy manipulator of unmatched potential but is easily bested by energy manipulators such as Magneto and Storm, who have significantly more experience and aren’t plagued by childish fits of rage, but he’s certainly no slouch in a fight.
Vonte: This mf is the most powerful yet boring Summers brother there is. Vulcan’s power to absorb, redirect, and manipulate energy makes him the Omega-level energy manipulator he is. His power allows him to siphon off an opponent’s energy or even suppress their powers. He’s been able to hold off teams of X-Men, take on the imperial guard (most notably Gladiator) and incinerate Galactic Council members.
Steven: All while being an utter bore. However, when he was in his prime, he beat the breaks off Adam Warlock, and his power is truly without limit — whatever you think Captain Marvel is, he is better by miles. However, as Storm revealed, your strength as an Omega is matched by your will to be absolute in your tasks and his great power is dwarfed by so many issues that he can’t even touch Magneto.
12. Genesis of the Great Ring
Power: Chlorokinesis
Score: 48
Showtime: Ruler of the Arakki mutants.
Vonte: The wife of Apocalypse being more “bout it” than her husband because of her mutation is worthy of recognition, especially with Nur’s long-standing career in Marvel.
Steven: Also, maybe Storm’s ancestor? That’s just a theory. What isn’t is she’s Isca’s sister. Two omegas in one bloodline.
Vonte: Genesis is a powerful chlorokinetic, capable of manipulating all plant life within her vicinity.
Showtime: She is “more fit” than her husband to hold off the hordes of Amenthi daemons for centuries and held a seat upon the Great Ring before her sister Isca took it following her abdication of the seat post-X of Swords.
Henry: She held the Seat of Victory and also manhandled the council for centuries before she was the only worthy host of Annihilation due to her strength.
Steven: Yeah, her characterization during X of Swords and the flashbacks don’t paint her as a generous ruler, but the fact no one could beat her ass and take her seat says a lot. Just a mystery all around though, even if it’s full of unmistakable Power… abusive mother, though.
11. Exodus
Power: OP
Score: 53
Vonte: Zaddy Bennet du Paris. A character who has been beautifully characterized recently in the Hickman/Krakoan era.
Steven: Homosexual!
Showtime: A psionic of the highest order capable of using his Omega-level telekinesis for a huge variety of effects – teleportation, force fields, healing, tactile telekinesis, among a plethora of other abilities afforded to him from his other mutant gifts.
Steven: And he grows more powerful the more people believe in him. Kinda like Storm, except gayer and more Catholic.
Vonte: He’s been able to take on several of the world’s most powerful characters simultaneously and soloing the giant warrior eternals from the Hex.
Steven: Moving an entire island isn’t a small feat. He’s a very pretty gworl.
10. Sobunar of the Deep
Power: Ocean Blood
Score: 54
Vonte: Sobunar of the Depths is one of the most interesting Omegas I’ve read about. His power lies within his blood, releasing a whole marine biological system. He was able to assist several mutants with terraforming Mars by unleashing his blood to provide oceans to the planet. He’s also capable of suspending himself in the air through his oceanic blood by projecting currents downward.
Steven: Fifteen Slays per minute. Knuck if you buck personified. One of his unlisted powers is he is actually able to reproduce asexually and is both his other parent and will birth himself.
Vonte: Sobunar is an incredibly difficult opponent to best; even Isca the Unbeaten took a pretty bad beating by his legions of offspring.
9. Magneto
Power: Magnetokinesis
Score: 60
Showtime: The Master of Magnetism, Erik Lensherr, Max Eisenhart, Magnus, whatever name he’s going by, Magneto is one of the most powerful manipulators in existence. He’s powerful enough to manipulate metal and electromagnetic forces across the universe.
Vonte: He’s utilized massive EMPs that blanketed the entire planet, creating powerful force fields capable of withstanding a lot of marvel’s heavy hitters, raising islands, causing volcanos to erupt, moving mountains and pulling a metallic bullet light years from Earth. Magneto has (and still could) solo some of Marvel’s greatest superhero groups with his arsenal of power and skill.
Steven: …It’s implied. But you know what isn’t? Being an allegory for Malcolm X.
Henry: Yeah, that’s just a rumor.
8.
Power: Telepathy
Score: 69
Steven: The Phoenix Saga was so sad. Especially when that trauma led to that stilted shawl she called a dress.
Showtime: Jean doesn’t even need the Phoenix Force to be at her fullest potential and has defeated it single-handedly on top of defeating hell lords like Nightmare with just her own power.
Vonte: To be honest with you, Jean Grey has really grown on me as a character over the past few years. She’s really showing that she’s her own individual outside of the Phoenix Force, and I love that about her. From shutting down part of the Hulk’s mind to taking on Onslaught to ripping Apocalypse’s consciousness from a host, she’s displayed great feats with telepathy.
Steven: But the dress…
Henry: Move on from the dress, maybe?
Steven: First thing I see when I adjust my head is broccoli people in a supernova. Love the throuple I guess. Get it how you want it, Ms. Grey.
7. Storm
Power: Atmokinesis
Score: 70
Henry: Here goes Steven with his vogue chants—
Steven: Thunder thunder thunt c***–
Showtime: Ororo the Storm is the most powerful non-reality warping or matter-manipulating mutant. A literal goddess who can control the weather on any planet she finds herself on, as well as solar storms and the magical storm formerly within Mjolnir. What more needs to be said?
Vonte: The queen. The icon, the legend. The goddess. Hadari Yao. I’d rank her higher out of bias, but I want to be as realistic as possible with the ranking because sis would be number one.
Steven: Leader of the Brotherhood of Arakko. Double down on the godhood as Godhead Storm means she is more powerful with worship — when people put their faith in her, she rises in strength. Just thinking about her slays per minute is giving me whiplash. Her power encompasses every aspect of weather. Psychically, which is the big important factor for her ranking this high, and also physical, which is to say she has a bunch of micro-energy related power from waves to thermodynamics to chemistry. And the audacity to be a witch along with that and quiet as it’s kept, SLAY!
6. Legion
Power: Power Manifestation
Score: 76
Vonte: Having multiple personalities linked to various superpowers and mutations isn’t to be taken lightly.
Steven: Very powerful ability to manifest new abilities basically in reaction to traumatic stimulus. I kinda feel like his power is an advanced version of what Darwin’s adaptability is (Side eye to X-Men: First Class, as is tradition). I think some Disability writers would also like to have a word on what DID actually is—
Henry: Only limited by his level of control but by far the superior Xavier progeny. Full of psionic, temporal, and varying kinetic abilities. David Haller stays unmatched. I can only imagine what levels his power could reach if he was loved by his father.
Showtime: Legion’s usual MO when he’s in control is to be a very powerful psychic; in fact, he holds The Alter – a section of the astral plane as a psychic habit for mutants – within his mind and was previously responsible for a few world-level changes.
5. Proteus
Power: Reality Manipulation [Psionic]
Score: 79
Steven: Another Reality Warper. More in common with Lactuca than anyone else higher, honestly.
Showtime: Kevin MacTaggert is a psionic reality warper but is limited to a specific area that, while large, doesn’t make him as much of a threat as those higher up on the list who can impact the entire universe with their mutant gifts.
Steven: Body snatching is not a serve. Especially when your body can’t handle your warps. Like sis… do better. You’re flopping under the table.
Henry: The orange didn’t fall too far from the apple tree, honestly.
4. Lactuca
Power: Spatial Awareness (Cosmos)
Score: 81
Henry: Ah, one of the first Arakki to make it to the list. Imagine seeing all, knowing it all, and recalling it all at the same time. Omniscience is an understatement. Lactuca is everywhere and nowhere while unbothered; she can peer into the universe at a moment’s notice.
Showtime: Teleported Arakko, the living island, from Earth to Mars safely.
Vonte: We have to stan!
Steven: Everything we’ve seen Manifold do, she’s his superior. The fact her power makes her literally sing to the Universe and thus force it to remodel itself by speaking its language gives a flavor of the value of having a power that isn’t just physical but also psychic can do to your power level.
3. Mister M
Power: Matter Manipulation
Score: 93
Showtime: The mysterious Absolon Mercator, the current leader of the Otherworld kingdom of Mercator, home of the Siege Perilous, is a matter manipulator unmatched by all others on the list. Because his power requires him to manipulate existing matter, he’s not as powerful as the reality warpers further up on the list, but it makes him powerful enough to counter anything others could throw at him.
2. Monarch
Power: Reality Warper [Quantum]
Score: 93
Showtime: Eccentric older brother of twins Brian and Betsy Braddock – Captain Avalon and Captain Britain, respectively – Jamie Braddock is an incredibly powerful reality warper who uses quantum strings to alter the world around him.
Steven: And a sorcerer.
Henry: He is not only not in control but also needs more coaching in these abilities than any other reality warper.
Showtime: Being created when Jim Jaspers wasn’t available to use – makes him an incredibly dangerous opponent, only outmatched by one other by that happenstance.
1. Mad Jim Jaspers
Power: Reality Manipulation (Beyond Cosmic)
Score: 93
Vonte: Do you know how powerful of a being you have to be for the weakest version of yourself (238) to warp a universe beyond recognition, and the timeline had to be destroyed to stop the spread to other timelines? The weakest version??
Showtime: The 616 version of Jim Jaspers that we’ve seen leading The Crooked Market in Otherworld is actually more powerful than the 238 version that caused the Jaspers Warp. The Jaspers Warp was a cancer upon the multiverse and caused the Omniversal Majestor, Lord Mandragon, to destroy the 238 universe before it spread to other universes. [616] Mad Jim Jaspers is a reality warper on an entirely different tier than all others.
Henry: I voted for him to take second. He’s a nutjob whose exploits and arrogance got him captured in Otherworld.
Steven: My ranking is always despite similar power sets; how you do it and how encompassing your power is takes the edge. Mad Jim Jasper’s powers consume damn near every angle of conceptuality, and that’s actually too dangerous.
