History ComicBook / Mystique

* DoubleStandardRapeSciFi: A frequent offender. She often uses her powers to impersonate people her victims are familiar with, and even gleefully threatens to do this to X-23.

* EvilIsPetty: There are a number of people she cares deeply about and there have been a number of occasions when she looked like she was reforming for good...and those times and those people have all been screwed over by the utterly ''horrible'' stuff she can do to someone who has earned her ire, or who happens to be in her way, or often, just for a good laugh. That this includes several heroes and innocent people is one reason she is still considered very much a villain.
* EvilMatriarch: She really does love her children, but Nightcrawler's the only one she hasn't stabbed or shot. Though to be fair, one of her kids was evil, but another was just trying to get Mystique out of jail, only for Mystique to break out and stick a knife in her gut for taking too long. Yes, really does love her children. In the most abusive way possible.
** Even Nightcrawler didn't escape unscathed. Only a few hours (at most) after he was born, she chucked him over a waterfall so that she could escape an angry mob without him weighing her down. Then again, the guilt over this incident is why she's probably not been as cruel to him as she's been to her other children.

* JerkJustifications: Claremont treated Mystique as made of this trope, and that comparatively trivial PetTheDog moments fully redeemed blowing up buildings of civilians and similar, but [[BrokenAesop beyond a certain point it simply turned extremely disturbing]], [[MisaimedFandom although it was done skillfully enough to drag along a large amount of readers]]. In the end, though she pretty much crossed the MoralEventHorizon when she disguised herself as [[ComicBook/MsMarvel Carol Danvers]] and beat the heroine's bystander boyfriend to death with an ecstatic smile on her face, while maintaining the disguise, just out of spite.

* DepravedBisexual: To an extreme degree. This was even touched upon in an old Marvel Fanfare issue featuring herself and Storm. Random flings in different genders, sometimes while looking like bastardizations of an acquaintance (such as a leather-Nazi Kitty Pryde... no seriously), is apparently very commonplace for her.

* ''WesternAnimation/XMen'' (1990s): Voiced by Randall Carpenter (Season1 and 2) and by Jennifer Dale (The rest of the series)

* AdaptationalHeroism: In ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast'', she's given a very realistic and sympathetic motivation for her StartOfDarkness moment, in contrast to her depiction in the comics. It goes so far as to establish that [[JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope prior to killing Bolivar Trask]], [[ThouShallNotKill she'd never taken a single life during one of her crimes]]. [[spoiler:And additionally, she pulls a HeelFaceTurn and not only spares Trask, but rescues the president from Magneto during the climax. Presumably, this negates her role as a villain in the original trilogy of the ''Film/XMenFilmSeries'' via CosmicRetcon]].
* ArchEnemy: Originally she was this to Carol aka Ms. Marvel now Captain Marvel, nowadays it's Rogue her adopted Daughter.

* BerserkButton: Messing with her kids, as Sinister [[NeckSnap found out the hard way]] (he got better).

* ReallyGetsAround: She has a long list of ex-husbands and an even longer list of people she has slept with. Her official stats page lists two sons (Kurt and Graydon) and two ex-husbands. Neither husband was the father of either child. And the one who could be considered as her true love without being manipulated by her is another bisexual woman, of all people, named Irene Adler, later known as Destiny.
** The reading of [[spoiler:Xavier]]'s will revealed that she was his wife at the time of the will's writing.

* ShapeshifterGuiltTrip: She tries this on her captors in ''Film/XMenTheLastStand''. She transforms into the President and threatens to have them all court-martialed if they do not release her, and then a little girl who begs and cries to be let out. She finally turns mockingly back into herself when one of the guards threatens to empty a can of pepper spray in her face if she doesn't knock it off.
** In the second movie, ''Film/X2XMenUnited'', while in an EnemyMine situation with the X-men, she tries to seduce ComicBook/{{Wolverine}} as ComicBook/JeanGrey, ComicBook/{{Rogue}}, and ComicBook/{{Storm}}. He gets wise when he sees the scars he left on her belly from [[Film/XMen1 the first movie]].

'''Raven Darkholme''', better known as '''Mystique''', is a Creator/MarvelComics {{mutant}} {{supervillain}}ess who mostly appears as an enemy of ComicBook/XMen and other associated comic books. She's introduced into Franchise/MarvelUniverse in ''ComicBook/MsMarvel'' #16 (May 1978). She's created by Dave Cockrum and Creator/ChrisClaremont.

* DoubleStandardRapeSci-Fi: A frequent offender. She often uses her powers to impersonate people her victims are familiar with, and even gleefully threatens to do this to X-23.

* DoubleStandardRapeSci-fi: A frequent offender. She often uses her powers to impersonate people her victims are familiar with, and even gleefully threatens to do this to X-23.

* DoubleStandardRape:Sci-fi: A frequent offender. She often uses her powers to impersonate people her victims are familiar with, and even gleefully threatens to do this to X-23.

* EvilIsPetty: There are a number of people she cares deeply about and there have been a number of occasions when she looked like she was reforming for good...and those times and those people have all been screwed over by the utterly ''horrible'' stuff she can do to someone who has earned her ire, or just happens to be in her way. That this includes several heroes and innocent people is one reason she is still considered very much a villain.

* JerkJustifications: Claremont treated Mystique as made of this trope, and that comparatively trivial PetTheDog moments fully redeemed blowing up buildings of civilians and similar, but [[BrokenAesop beyond a certain point it simply turned extremely disturbing]], [[MisaimedFandom although it was done skillfully enough to drag along a large amount of readers]]. However, she arguably crossed the MoralEventHorizon when she disguised herself as [[ComicBook/MsMarvel Carol Danvers]] and beat the heroine's bystander boyfriend to death with an ecstatic smile on her face, while maintaining the disguise, just out of spite.

* ShapeshiftingSquick: She uses her ability for seduction purposes a lot, in one case turning into a gorgeous young blonde that Wolverine considered so hot that he accepted her advances despite that he knew who she was. Later in the bedroom she turned into a copy of Jean Grey. One story in 2005 (Bizarre Love Triangle) has her try and do this to break up Rogue and ComicBook/{{Gambit}}, because she thinks he's not good enough for her daughter. She even turns ''into Rogue'' to try and succeed! And as noted above in GenderBender, it's also possible for her to shapeshift into a man and ''impregnate'' another woman.

* ChronicBackstabbingDisorder: In one issue, ComicBook/{{Cable}} (time-traveler from the future) even mentioned that in his time, "Mystique" was used in much the same way that "Judas" is used now.

* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: Destiny is one of very few people whom she genuinely loves. Sometimes, Rogue and Nightcrawler, too, when she's not becoming an EvilMatriarch to them. Just see the quote above.

* EvilMatriarch: She really does love her children, but Nightcrawler's the only one she hasn't stabbed or shot. Though to be fair, one of her kids was evil, but another was just trying to get Mystique out of jail, only for Mystique to break out and stick a knife in her gut for taking too long. Yes, really does love her children.

* EvilRedhead: Her default body is a combination of [[DarkSkinnedRedhead blue skin and red hair]].

* JerkJustifications: Claremont treated Mystique as made of this trope, and that comparatively trivial PetTheDog moments fully redeemed blowing up buldings of civilians and similar, but [[BrokenAesop beyond a certain point it simply turned extremely disturbing]], [[MisaimedFandom although it was done skillfully enough to drag along a large amount of readers]]. However, she arguably crossed the MoralEventHorizon when she disguised herself as [[ComicBook/MsMarvel Carol Danvers]] and beat up the heroine's bystander boyfriend to death and an ecstatic smile on her face, while maintaining the disguise, just out of spite.

* AbusiveParents: She has very little memory of her actual past, possibly as a result of assuming so many identities over the years, but one thing she ''does'' recall is that her father was... not very nice to her. "Don't let Papa get you" is her SurvivalMantra at one point.

* ''Film/XMen'' film series

* AdaptationalHeroism: In both ''Film/XMenFirstClass'' and ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast'' she is given a very realistic and sympathetic motivation for her StartOfDarkness moment, in contrast to her depiction in the comics. In fact, ''the latter movie'' goes so far as to establish that [[JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope prior to killing Bolivar Trask]], [[ThouShallNotKill she'd never taken a single life during one of her crimes]]. [[spoiler: And additionally, she pulls a HeelFaceTurn and not only spares Trask, but rescues the president from Magneto during the climax. Presumably this negates her role as a villain in the original ''Film/XMen'' trilogy via CosmicRetcon]].

* EvilIsPetty: There are a number of people she cares deeply about and there have been a number of occassions when she looked like she was reforming for good...and those times and those people have all been screwed over by the utterly ''horrible'' stuff she can do to someone who has earned her ire, or just happens to be in her way. That this includes several heroes and innocent people is one reason she is still considered very much a villain.

* GenderBender: while she's normally a woman, she can shapeshift into a man at will. In fact, her creator almost made her as Kurt's ''father'' with Destiny as the mother.

* MisterSeahorse: Inverted if you subscribe to the theory that she's Rogue's and/or Nightcrawler's FATHER.
* MyBelovedSmother: to Rogue in their earliest mother-daughter relationship. When Rogue left her to join X-Men because Rogue believed Xavier was the only person in the world who could help her control her powers where Mystique cannot, Mystique was ''not'' happy. Even after she reluctantly agreed to let Rogue stay with X-Men, she still continued to check in on Rogue from time to time. Then over the years, Mystique began to resent Xavier and the X-Men, believing that they had stolen one of the few special people in her life.

* OlderThanTheyLook: She reveals that she's over 80 years old but thanks to her powers she doesn't look older than 30.

* ReallyGetsAround: She has a long list of ex-husbands and an even longer list of people she has slept with. Her official stats page lists two sons (Kurt and Graydon) and two ex-husbands, neither husband was the father of either child. And the one who could be considered as her true love without being manipulated by her is another bisexual woman, of all people, named Irene Adler, later known as Destiny.

* ShapeshifterGuiltTrip: She tries this on her captors in ''Film/XMenTheLastStand''. She transforms into the President and threatens to have them all court martialed if they do not release her, and then a little girl who begs and cries to be let out. She finally turns mockingly back into herself when one of the guards threatens to empty a can of pepper spray in her face if she doesn't knock it off.

* ShapeshiftingSquick: Uses her ability for seduction purposes a lot. In one case turning into a gorgeous young blonde that Wolverine considered so hot that he accepted her advances despite that he knew who she was. Later in the bedroom she turned into a copy of Jean Grey. One story in 2005 (Bizarre Love Triangle) has her try and do this to break up Rogue and ComicBook/{{Gambit}}, because she thinks he's not good enough for her daughter. She even turns ''into Rogue'' to try and succeed! And as noted above in GenderBender, it's also possible for her to shapeshift into a man and ''impregnate'' another woman.

* WildCard: There's some contention of whether she belongs here or in HeelFaceRevolvingDoor, i.e., whether she's actually changing sides as the plot demands or just allying herself with whoever's convenient. Not that most of them are under any illusions.

** Seems to be dropped as a teacher in Hellfire Academy. She was hired as a DrillSergeantNasty by Kade Kilgore into his *school* and she threatened to torture and downright kill all those kids who weren't tough enough to graduate her "tests".

* JerkJustifications: Claremont treated Mystique as made of this trope, and that comparatively trivial PetTheDog moments fully redeemed blowing up buldings of civilians and similar, but [[BrokenAesop beyond a certain point it simply turned extremely disturbing]], [[MisaimedFandom although it was done skillfully enough to drag along a large amount of readers]]. However, she arguably crossed the MoralEventHorizon when she disguised herself as [[MsMarvel Carol Danvers]] and beat up the heroine's bystander boyfriend to death and an ecstatic smile on her face, while maintaining the disguise, just out of spite.

* RoguesGalleryTransplant: She was originally a MsMarvel villain and one of her deadliest enemies, before becoming more closely associated with the X-Men.

* ''WesternAnimation/XMen'' (1990s): Voiced by Creator/JenniferHale

Mystique is an 100-year old shapeshifting mutant. Originally, she could take on the appearance of any humanoid being by having complete control over the cells of her body, in addition to being able to morph the material in her clothes to suit any situation. She later got a superpower upgrade allowing her to produce [[ShapeshifterWeapon weapons by morphing her organs and such into wings and talons]]. For years she was involved in espionage, with her long-time romantic partner Destiny - a blind mutant precognitive. For a time, Destiny and Mystique separated for [[SecondActBreakup personal reasons]], and Mystique became romantically involved with Sabertooth and a German Baron, resulting in the birth of her two human sons - Graydon Creed and Kurt Wagner. Destiny and Mystique reunited, and depending on the writer - either adopted Rogue or conceived her via Mystique's shape shifting powers. After this, Destiny and Mystique revived the Brotherhood of Mutants to assassinate anti-mutant politicians and began their conflict with the X-Men. Mystique usually has her own personal goals she's fighting for, and is usually constantly involved in multiple webs of deception.

* ArchEnemy: Originally to Carol aka Ms. Marvel nowadays it's Rogue her adopted Daughter.

* JerkJustifications: Claremont treated Mystique as made of this trope, and that comparatively trivial PetTheDog moments fully redeemed blowing up buldings of civilians and similar, but [[BrokenAesop beyond a certain point it simply turned extremely disturbing]], [[MisaimedFandom although it was done skillfully enough to drag along a large amount of readers]]. However, she arguably crossed the MoralEventHorizon when she disguised herself as [[MsMarvel Carol Danvers]] and chopped up the heroine's bystander boyfriend with a butcher knife and an ecstatic smile on her face, while maintaining the disguise, just out of spite.

* AbsurdlyYouthfulMother: {{Justified}} because her power allows her to maintain youthful look.

* TechnicallyNakedShapeshifter: She usually forms clothing, including her trademark white dress with yellow skull-motif belt, out of herself when she changes form.

* ''ComicBook/CableAndDeadpool
''