Characters / X-Men Film Series: New Mutants

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Other Timelines: Earth-17040 | Earth-17372

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Danielle Moonstar / Mirage

Danielle Moonstar / Mirage

"We can get out of this. Together."

Played By: Blu Hunt

Film Appearances: The New Mutants

A Native American mutant who has the power to create illusions drawn from the fears and desires of a person's mind.

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• Adaptational Sexuality: She wasn't an LGBT hero in the comics.^NoteThat said, under Chris Claremont, Dani and Rahne were all but confirmed as being in love with each other, regularly referring to one another as "soulmates". This ambiguity comes from Claremont's refusal to outright say it, and every other writer after him basically ignored it in favour of them both dating guys.
• Affectionate Nickname: Her dad calls her Dani, and so does Rahne and the rest of the New Mutants.
• Dark and Troubled Past: Dani accidentally conjured Demon Bear, who slaughtered her father and everyone else on their reservation.
• The Dreaded: It is implied that Essex wanted her dead because they feared her powers, considering them too dangerous and uncontrollable.
• The Empath: This is how Dani's power works, essentially. She is able to draw out a person's greatest fear and make it real. Her inability to control this power is what kicks off the plot of the movie.
• Idiot Ball: Even after becoming convinced that Reyes can't be trusted, Dani still allows the doctor to subject her to more tests, hoping to use her powers to find out more about Reyes' motives. The lapse in judgment nearly costs Dani her life.
• Interrupted Suicide: She tries to jump off the edge of the chapel clock tower not long after arriving at the hospital. Rahne manages to convince her not to jump, however.
• Lipstick Lesbian: Dani is pretty chapstick, with long hair but no particular femme traits (nor butch). She's just a very average girl in how she acts and dresses who happens to be a lesbian.
• Non Action Girl: Her brief confrontation with Illyana in Limbo aside, Dani is the only one of the New Mutants who doesn't end up fighting anyone or anything that had been conjured up by her power. Justified in the latter, as she is asleep, unconscious, drugged or otherwise incapacitated whenever her power flares up.
• Official Couple: With Rahne.
• Parental Abandonment: Her father appears in the film early but dies, while no mention is made of her mother.
• The Protagonist: She's the main viewpoint character of the movie though she's also unwillingly causing half the problems in the film through her inability to control her power.
• Reality Warper: Dani's powers cause her fears and those of others to manifest and become real. Her lack of control over her powers causes most of the problems in the movie and leads to Reyes' superiors ordering Dani's death.
• Run or Die: Her first scene in the movie is her and her father running away from the Demon Bear.
• Sole Survivor: According to Reyes, Dani was the only survivor of the tornado that destroyed her reservation. The devastation was actually caused by the Demon Bear, and, while Reyes turns out to be a less than reliable source, there's no indication that anyone other than Dani was spared.
• Survivor Guilt: Dani is devastated to have survived the destruction of her reservation when no one else, not even her father, did. She nearly takes her own life over it, but Rahne talks her out of it.
• Telepath: Not to the extent of, say, Professor X or Jean Grey, but her discovery of the hospital's true purpose she gleaned from Cecilia's mind and her ability to hear Rahne in her mind while unconscious when the Demon Bear attacks suggests at least some minor telepathic ability.
• Tragic Keepsake: A bear pendant she wears around her neck. The pendant was made by her dad.
• Twofer Token Minority: Dani is Native American (Cheyenne) and, we learn, also a lesbian.
• Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Dani has no control over her power (and doesn't even realize that she's using it since she is usually asleep at the time) and consequently is the cause of all the bad things that happen in the movie. She summoned the Demon Bear that killed her dad and everyone on her reservation; she summoned Reverend Craig, who then attacked and branded Rahne a second time, and she also summoned the Smiley Men that attacked Illyana and the rest of the New Mutants.

Rahne Sinclair / Wolfsbane

Rahne Sinclair / Wolfsbane

"Forgive me father, for I have sinned."

Played By: Maisie Williams, Chuck (wolf form)

Film Appearances: The New Mutants

A Scottish mutant struggling to reconcile her Christian beliefs with her power to turn into a wolf.

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• Adaptational Attractiveness: Kind of. When she is in the "transitional" stage of her wolf form it kind of gives her the Cute Monster Girl look, whereas her comic book counterpart appears more like a traditional werewolf.
• Adaptational Sexuality: She wasn't an LGBT hero in the comics and was actually violently homophobic when she found out Rictor had dated Shatterstar.^note That said, under Chris Claremont, Dani and Rahne were all but confirmed as being in love with each other, regularly referring to one another as "soulmates". This ambiguity comes from Claremont's refusal to outright say it, and every other writer after him basically ignoring it in favour of them both dating guys.
• Adaptational Wimp: Rahne in the comics has Super-Strength, and a Healing Factor in addition to her lycanthropy and Super-Senses, but she only appears to have the latter two powers in the movie.
• Air-Vent Passageway: Her first appearance is her watching Danielle from the air-vent above her, and when the girl wakes up she quickly leaves. The air vents become something of a Chekhov's Gun after Rahne uses them to rescue Dani from Reyes.
• Big Damn Heroes: She leaps from a vent to drive off Dr. Reyes just in time to save Dani's life.
• Burn the Witch!: It's more like beat and brand the witch, but Rahne was a victim of this nonetheless after her power began to manifest.
• Butch Lesbian: When you take her short hair and masculine clothing into account, Rahne definitely gives off this kind of vibe. This is downplayed though since she's otherwise not really butch.
• Covert Pervert: She sneaks a glance at Dani's body while the two are showering.
• Cute Monster Girl: Whenever she is in the "transitional" stage of her transformation into a wolf and stays there, her ears become pointed, her fingernails grow into claws and her eyes turn yellow with black sclera. Rahne becomes embarrassed for partially transforming after she kisses Dani for the first time, but Dani says her wolf eyes are beautiful.
• Dark and Troubled Past: When her powers first manifested at thirteen years old, Rahne went to Reverend Craig for guidance. Instead of guidance, Craig beat and branded her, accusing her of being a witch until she eventually wolfed out and tore Craig to shreds. Since then, Rahne has been trying to reconcile her mutation with her faith.
• Distinguishing Mark: She has a W-shaped brand scar on the back of her shoulder. This was given to her by Reverend Craig, the "W" presumably meaning "witch" (unless it's actually an "M", for "mutant"). Rahne receives another brand mark, this time on the side of her neck, after being attacked by an illusion of Reverend Craig brought out by Dani's mutant power. Due to its location, this one does end up looking like an 'M'.
• First Love: Dani is implied to be this for her after they kiss for the first time, based on this exchange:
  Rahne: I've never done this before.
  Dani: With a girl?
  Rahne: With anyone.
• Nice Girl: Despite her bleak backstory, Rahne is a sweet young woman who quickly warms up to Dani.
• Official Couple: With Dani.
• Our Werewolves Are Different: She can turn into a wolf and something in-between, although there are none of the supernatural elements associated with werewolves involved with her mutant power. She struggles with it throughout the movie.
• Pint-Sized Powerhouse: Rahne is the smallest out of the group, but when pushed far enough, she's a savage combatant.
• Survival Mantra: Whenever she is attacked by Dani's mutant power (although this is unintentional on Dani's part) and the Demon Bear: "Demons can't come in churches...! Demons can't come in churches...!"
• Talking Down the Suicidal: Rahne talks a distraught, Survivor Guilt ridden Dani out of jumping to her death early in the film.
• Token Religious Teammate: A great deal of Rahne's character revolves around her Catholic faith. Especially where she tries to reconcile her faith with her mutant power, and the horrific abuses she suffered at the hand of Reverend Craig when said power first manifested. She's the only member of the cast shown to be religious.
• Unrelated in the Adaptation: Reverend Craig is Rahne's biological father (although Rahne believed him to be her foster father instead) in the comics, whereas in the movie he was only her priest.
• Violently Protective Girlfriend: Although she spends much of the movie as a non action girl, if you try to hurt Dani then she doesn't care if you're a mutant or a demonic bear, this wolf will cut you.
• Wonderful Werewolf: She is a friendly young mutant and has the ability to transform into two forms, the first is fully into a wolf and the other is half-human half-wolf akin to humanoid depictions of werewolves.

Illyana Rasputin / Magik

Illyana Rasputin / Magik

"I killed 18 men. One by one."

Played By: Anya Taylor-Joy, Colbi Gannett (young)

Film Appearances: The New Mutants

A Russian mutant who can teleport by traversing a hellish dimension called Limbo, along with being able to summon and wield a mystical sword.

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• Action Girl: She's the most combat willing and combat capable member of the group (Dani's powers aren't physical, Sam and Roberto have little control over theirs, and Rahne lacks the strength to overcome larger opponents). She claims to have killed 18 men in the past and after getting over the initial trauma, carves her way through the Smiley Men. During the climax, she leads the charge against the Demon Bear, holding her own against the monster longer than the boys or Rahne.
• Adaptational Jerkass: While Illyana has always been the bitchy rebellious one in the comics, she was never racist or an outright bully like she is towards Dani. This is a marked departure from the comics, where Illyana was the awkward new girl and Dani was the first to befriend her since her culture respects sorcery, whereas the others instantly distrusted her.
• Adaptational Superpower Change: The Soulsword in the comics, at least originally, could only harm magical targets but otherwise had no effect on the physical world. Here, it is a real weapon in every way. It's shown that the Soulsword in the movie is an actual sword that she imbues with magic, rather than being made from magic entirely.
• Affectionate Nickname: Sam and Roberto call her "Illy".
• Ax-Crazy: She boasts of killing 18 men "one by one" and nearly does the same to Dani on two separate occasions.
• Berserk Button: Do yourself a favour and do not snatch Lockheed away from her. Dani made that mistake and if it wasn't for Cecilia's intervention then Illyana would have cleaved her in two with the Soulsword.
• BFS: Her Soulsword, when imbued with Illyana's powers, glows a bright blue and enlarges at least three times its original width.
• Blade Below the Shoulder: Technically. When Illyana activates her power, the Soulsword appears to emerge from the armoured metal plates that grow out of her arm, ending at her hand.
• Broken Bird: Her cold and antagonistic exterior hides a horribly dark and traumatic past. Being confronted by the Smiley Men sees her reduced to terrified sobbing until she manages to pull herself together.
• The Bully: She takes an instant dislike to Dani and spends much of her time antagonizing her. She is also something of a bully to Rahne as well.
• Clap Your Hands If You Believe: Limbo, the alternate dimension that Illyana can travel to, seems to exist because of this. Illyana describes Limbo as a safe space in her head that she went to as a child, but she went there so many times and for so long that it became a real place.
  • It's also implied that Lockheed is a real dragon because of this as well.
• Companion Cube: Lockheed, her hand puppet dragon she has had since she was a child. Only it really is a dragon.
• Consulting Mister Puppet: She is constantly talking to her Hand Puppet Lockheed.
• Dark and Troubled Past: Illyana's childhood was spent as a Sex Slave and terrified of the demonic creatures known as Smiley Men. These creatures haunted her so much that even after so many years frightened her like nothing else. There was also a point in her past where she killed eighteen people.
• Dark Is Not Evil: She comes off as rude to the others and dresses in dark clothes, but she does help the others escape and fight off the Demon Bear.
• Fire-Forged Friends: At first, Illyana and Dani do not get along, due in no small part to Illyana's belligerent attitude, but they start forming a friendship when Dani brings Lockheed to Illyana in solitary, and enduring the horrors of the Smiley Men, the Demon Bear, and Dr. Reyes together sees the two girls warm up to each other, to the point that Illyana leads the charge against the Demon Bear in Dani's defense.
• Freudian Excuse: Given Illyana's horrifying backstory makes it easy to see where her misanthropy and antagonistic personality came from.
• The Gadfly: She talks Dani into running headlong into Reyes' forcefield just for a giggle.
• Glowing Eyes of Doom: When she uses her powers her eyes start to glow.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Illyana is a misanthropic, anti-social bully with severe problems with authority, and who makes a number of racist comments towards Dani, but she has a major Freudian Excuse and once she warms up to the other teens, she drops a lot of her negative qualities and proves to be a fierce defender of her friends.
• Misanthrope Supreme: Reyes's file on Illyana describes her as having a "base hatred for humans," making her a prime candidate for whatever Reyes's superiors had planned for mutants like her. Given her past and her generally unpleasant attitude to everyone else, it's hard to disagree with that assessment.
• Murder Is the Best Solution: When she deduces that Dani is the cause of all the horrors that have been attacking the teens, Illyana's first response is to try and kill her. Once she's had a chance to calm down, however, she reconsiders and spends the climax fighting the Demon Bear to defend Dani.
• Not So Stoic: Illyana usually projects a cold, alpha bitch persona, but any appearance of the Smiley Men causes her to freak out.
• Pay Evil unto Evil: The implication is that the 18 men she killed were Russian mobsters who enslaved, abused, and raped her.
• Politically Incorrect Hero: She uses a number of racial epithets and stereotypes to taunt Dani.
• Psychopathic Manchild: She draws childish pictures with disturbing images, talks to a hand puppet as if it were a friend (which, as it turns out, it actually is), and smiles as she boasts of killing 18 men. Given what she's been through, it's no surprise that her emotional maturity isn't quite what it should be for her age.
• Rape as Backstory: She spent part of her childhood as a prisoner of Russian mobsters, who would do things to the young Illyana that made them smile and made her weep.
• Sex Slave: She was taken as a sex slave as a child. At some point in her life, Illyana killed eighteen of the men who... used her, prior to her arrival at the hospital.
• Teleportation: One of her many mutant powers.
• Unrelated in the Adaptation: In the comics she is the younger sister of Piotr Rasputin, but this is never mentioned in the film.
• Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: She is absolutely terrified of the Smiley Men, to the point where even Dani wearing a smiley mask is cause for her to scream in terror.

Sam Guthrie / Cannonball

Sam Guthrie / Cannonball

"I started panicking. People got hurt."

Played By: Charlie Heaton

Film Appearances: The New Mutants

A Kentuckian mutant who can propel himself into the air and is invulnerable while doing so.

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• Accidental Murder: Sam's powers manifested in a mine while he was suffering a claustrophobia-induced panic attack. The resulting collapse killed his father and a number of other miners. Reyes insists that the authorities are after Sam for it, but her credibility is shot at this point, and the film never establishes if she was telling the truth.
• Dark and Troubled Past: Sam, during a fit of claustrophobia, accidentally used his powers to trigger a mine collapse that killed his father and a number of other miners.
• Deep South: He's from there, assuming you count Kentucky as the Deep South.
• Human Cannonball: His mutant power allows him to become a literal version of this; Sam "blasts off", propelling himself into the air and making him invulnerable while doing so. He's pretty good at flying, but is still working on his landings (though Rahne suspects that his frequent crash landings are deliberate).
• My God, What Have I Done?: He's seemingly the most haunted by his past out of all the New Mutants, after he accidentally blasted off in an attack of claustrophobia and ended up killing a number of miners including his dad. His guilt is to the point where Rahne is convinced that Sam practices harnessing his power so that he can hurt himself rather than actually learn how to control it.
• Nice Guy: His understandable issues aside, Sam is a forthright, honest, friendly young man. He's notably the only teen who gets along fairly well with all of the others.
• Parental Abandonment: Sam killed his father by accident, but his mother is not mentioned or seen at all.
• Self-Harm: Rahne believes that this is Sam's purpose for practicing how to use his power rather than actually learning how to control it. And there is also a scene where Sam is shown punching himself in the face, so he is definitely harming himself either way.
• Tragic Keepsake: A small lump of coal, given to him by his dad before he passed. Sam throws it away at the end of the film as a sign that he's overcoming his grief and guilt.
• Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: He's claustrophobic, and being stuck down a mine is what causes him to manifest his powers for the first time. He ended up killing several people in the mine when this happened, including his father.

Roberto da Costa / Sunspot

Roberto da Costa / Sunspot

"I'm everybody's type."

For the version of the character featured in X-Men: Days of Future Past, see Free Mutants.

Played By: Henry Zaga

Film Appearances: The New Mutants

A Brazilian mutant with the ability to manipulate solar energy.

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• Adaptational Wimp: Roberto's comic book counterpart is capable of flight, has super strength and enhanced durability, self-combustion and flame projection. Whereas Roberto seems to only have the latter two powers in the movie.
• Affectionate Nickname: The other New Mutants often call him "Berto".
• Amazon Chaser: He has certain feelings for Illyana and later claims that he is going to marry her after seeing her battle with the Demon Bear.
  Roberto: (after Illyana takes out a stairwell full of Smiley Men) That was so hot.
• The Casanova: He claims to have been with many girls while he and the others are taking a lie detector test. Averted, as he is quickly shown to be lying. And there is also the fact that the last girlfriend he had he burned to a crisp, so there's that as well.
  Roberto: I'm everybody's type. ^NoteHe says to Rahne and Dani, the lesbian couple of the movie...
• Dark and Troubled Past: Roberto accidentally burned his girlfriend alive when he couldn't control his powers while aroused.
• Hidden Depths: For all his swagger and conceit, it is merely a protective cloak that Roberto uses to hide his fear of using his power and hurting someone. He eventually overcomes this fear and uses his power to help fight the Demon Bear.
• Mr. Fanservice: Roberto gets a number of scenes that show off his toned upper body, including one where he strips down to his underwear to go swimming.
• Playing with Fire: His mutant ability; he is capable of self-combustion and flame projection.
• Race Lift: Is Afro-Brazilian in the comics and he is played by Henry Zaga, who is of Spanish-Brazilian descent.
• Ship Tease: He's attracted to Illyana, who teases him about his love life (or lack thereof). The manifestation of his worst fear involves the possibility of burning her alive like he did with his previous girlfriend.
• Spoiled Brat: He was born into one of the richest families in Brazil, and because of this he feels he is above others and emphasises that he is rich at every opportunity, even going so far as to throw a shirt away simply because it was dirty. That being said, he is fairly nice to the others, and doesn't make any fuss about being on dishwashing duty.
• Wreathed in Flames: When unlocking his powers, he can cause fire to wrap around his body. He apparently accidentally burnt his girlfriend this way.

Dr. Cecilia Reyes (SPOILERS)

Cecelia Reyes

"All of you are dangerous. That's why you're here."

Played By: Alice Braga

Film Appearances: The New Mutants

A medical doctor who has the ability to generate a protective bio-field around herself, but also has more going on than she lets on. While technically not one of the five New Mutants, her character page is here for convenience sake.
See New Mutants Villains for more tropes about her.

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