The Dark Side of the X-Men
The X-men are known for their moral complexity, and one Cosplay has brought together some of their darkest members for an amazing team featuring Emma Frost, Magik and Psylocke. These three characters have a long history of shifting between heroism and villainy, showcasing why the X-Men franchise thrives on complicated stories full of twists and turns.
MindFall Media (@mindfallmedia) has shared their photography of this incredible cosplay which brings three of the X-men’s most complex heroines to life.
- As Emma Frost, cosplayer @odfel is wearing a modified version of Chris Bachalo’s costume designed for Uncanny X-Men vol 3.
- Meanwhile, @sulkysiren also uses Bachalo’s design from that same series for their Illyana Rasputin, Magik, complete with her signature glowing Soulsword.
- And finally, @lilmoonnn stuns as classic Psylocke, rocking Jim Lee’s iconic ‘90s design for the character and holding up her trademark psychic knife.
Special credit is also given to @patloikaphotoworks, whose editing enhances the piece’s ambience and brings the heroes’ powers to life.
Psylocke: A Killer Turned Hero?
Psylocke, Kwannon, has a complicated history with morality. She was originally an assassin, but became a reluctant ally to the X-Men during her initial stint in the 1990s when she swapped bodies with Betsy Braddock. It wasn't until the recent Krakoan era that Kwannon gained more depth, especially in Zeb Wells' Hellions, which established her as a hero in her own right.
Many fans still associate Psylocke with the heroism of Betsy Braddock, who was body-swapped with Kwannon throughout the '90s, the 2000s and the majority of the 2010s. Even Betsy has had a complex relationship with morality. Alongside Wolverine, she fit the "cool hero who isn’t afraid to kill" mold that defined the 1990s, and was always a little more brutal than many of her X-Men counterparts. The cosplay by @lilmoonnn perfectly captures Psylocke’s most famous look from her '90s appearances, and whichever version is being cosplayed, they’re still a dark hero.
Emma Frost: From Villain to (Mostly) Hero
Emma Frost started as a straight-up villain. As the Hellfire Club’s White Queen, she played a key role in the Dark Phoenix Saga, and it took years of evolution for her to become a fully-fledged hero. In New Mutants vol 1, Emma was the villainous counterpart to the New Mutants’ leaders, leading her own team of students, the Hellions. After the Hellions’ deaths, Emma became more nuanced as teacher co-leader in Generation X vol 1. However, it took till the 2000s, in Grant Morrison’s New X-Men, for her to fully join the X-Men, after she experienced the genocide of Genosha.
Since then, Emma’s walked a fine line depending on the writers’ and editors’ feelings towards her, and the tone of each book. Sometimes she’s a straight-up hero who’s trusted by her teammates, and other times she’s still somewhat untrustworthy, a former villain who’s a step away from going back to the dark side if given the right motivation. @odfel’s Emma, sporting her Bachalo heroic look but also her classic evil era hairdo from her time in the Hellfire Club, perfectly captures this complexity.
Magik: A Constant Struggle with the Dark Side
Magik has had an even more complicated relationship with morality. In her New Mutants vol 1 appearances, she struggled with the demonic corruption of the hell dimension Limbo, which acted as a metaphor for the abuse inflicted upon her. She was constantly fighting her inner demonic self, the Darkchylde. This conflict was the driving force behind the mega-event Inferno. That event ended with her self-sacrifice and rebirth as an innocent child version of herself, who would also tragically die of the Legacy Virus several years later.
Magik remained dead for years, but when she came back in the 2000s, she was even more complicated ethically. When she returned, she had no sense of morality, a fact she hid from her teammates, who were simply overjoyed to see their old friend. However, this darker characterization fell away between multiple creative team shifts and her massive jump in popularity that happened with her inclusion in Uncanny X-Men vol 3. For that reason, it’s ironic that @sulkysiren is sporting her Bachalo costume from that series, though it’s undeniably one of her most iconic and stunning looks.
The Nuances of Long-Running Comics Characters
The histories of these characters show that trying to define their morality with absolutes is a losing battle. It would be hard enough if there was only one creative team over the characters’ long histories, but it becomes nearly impossible to draw a straight line when each character has been written by dozens of creators with different interpretations and mandates over multiple decades. Each character could easily fit into a more heroic, anti-heroic, or even villainous role based on a story’s needs but could then flip in the other direction just as quickly.
This doesn’t mean that examining characters deeper is futile, nor that you can’t still explain each character’s evolution as a larger character arc. However, it’s important to acknowledge the nuance and allow for deviations. No-one’s favorite hero will ever be consistently written, and the convoluted snare of inconsistency, whether it be fascinating or frustrating, is part of the experience of being a comics fan. Characters like Magik, Psylocke and Emma Frost remain so popular because they mean different things to different fans; fans like all those involved in this jaw-dropping X-Men cosplay.
