Cyclops (comics)

Cyclops (Scott Summers, occasionally nicknamed "Slim") is a comic book superhero in the Marvel Comics universe, and a member of the X-Men. Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, he first appeared in X-Men #1 (1963).

Table of contents

1 Powers
2 History
3 Movies & Television

Powers

Cyclops is a mutant, possessing the power to project beams of concussive force from his eyes. Due to an injury suffered in his early years, these beams are always "on," and can only be impeded by either closing his eyes or with a barrier of ruby quartz, which is what his trademark sunglasses and visor are made of.

He is immune to the effects of his own powers, and those of his brother Alex. Apparently, Scott's optic blasts are the only effect that can significantly harm Mister Sinister.

History

When Scott was a boy growing up in Alaska, his father, USAF Major Christopher Summers, took the family for a flight in their airplane. It came under attack by an alien Shi'ar spaceship. As the plane went down in flames, Scott' parents fastened him and his younger brother Alex (later to be the hero Havok) into a parachute and pushed them off the plane, in hopes that they would survive. Unfortunately, the parachute caught fire, and Scott struck his head upon landing, which resulted in his inability to control his optic blasts, as well as prolonged amnesia about his childhood.

Scott spent most of his childhood in an orphanage in Nebraska, and subjected to batteries of tests and experiments by the orphanage's owner, Mr. Milbury (an alias for Mister Sinister). When he was sixteen, he was found by Charles Xavier, and became one of his students and the first official X-Man. He soon graduated to become the team's field leader, a position he would hold several times over the years.

As a member of the X-Men, Cyclops eventually met his father, now known as Corsair, leader of the Starjammers, a group of aliens opposing what they saw as the tyranny of the Shi'ar empire. It was nonetheless several more years before the two learned of each other's true identities.

Cyclops had an on-again/off-again relationship with Marvel Girl during their time in the X-Men, culminating in her tragic death as she tried to pilot a space shuttle through a solar flare, her rebirth as Phoenix II, and her suicide on the Moon. Cyclops left the X-Men for a while after this, drifting for several months until reunited with the team against Magneto. Not long after, Cyclops met Madelyne Pryor, an uncanny double of Marvel Girl, and they married.

Surprisingly, the original Marvel Girl was not dead; her Phoenix identity turned out to be an alien who replaced her while she lay in a coma at the bottom of the ocean. Revived by The Avengers and the Fantastic Four, she joined with Cyclops and the other original X-Men as X-Factor. It was eventually revealed that Pryor was a clone of Marvel Girl, created by the villain Mister Sinister. Together they had a son, Nathan Christopher Summers (see Cable). Eventually, Sinister's plans came crashing down, and Pryor became the villainous Goblyn Queen. This chain of events led to the death of Pryor and the apparent death of Mister Sinister.

Several years later, Cyclops and the real Marvel Girl eventually married.

In 2000, Cyclops merged with the villain Apocalypse, but Jean Grey (now Phoenix IV) and Cable tracked him down and separated them.

Mr. Sinister (perhaps intentionally) let it slip in conversation to Scott that he may have another brother besides Alex (Havok) that he doesn't know about. This is yet to be explained, but rumors abound that it may be Adam-X, illegitimate heir to the throne of the Shi'ar Empire. When Scott's parents were captured, his father was sent to the slave mines, and later escaped to lead the pirates known as the Starjammers. The Shi'ar Emperor D'Ken was smitten with Scott's mother, and held her in his personal court and presumably raped her several times. She was later killed in front of Christopher Summer's eyes by D'ken, who did it for his own amusement. Theory holds that a rape of Scott's mother by D'Ken resulted in pregnancy, leading to the birth of the human/Shi'ar hybrid Adam-X (Shi'ar look human but evolved from avians).

Movies & Television

In the X-Men film and its sequel, Cyclops was portrayed by James Marsden.