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X Men Film Series / Tropes M to O

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Tropes beginning with the letters M to O for the X-Men Film Series.

  • MacGuffin Super-Person:
    • X2: X-Men United: William Stryker kidnaps Professor X in order to force the latter to commit genocide against mutants. Once Magneto gains the upper-hand, he modifies the settings of Dark Cerebro so that it targets humans instead.
    • X-Men: First Class: Sebastian Shaw wants Xavier to join the Hellfire Club because the latter is a more advanced telepath than Shaw's Dragon Emma Frost.
    • X-Men: Apocalypse: The titular villain desires Charles' ability for his own because it's "the answer" to Apocalypse's quest for divinity.
      Apocalypse: For the first time in a thousand lifetimes, I have you. For all my gifts, I have yet to possess the one I needed most. To be everywhere. To be everyone.
  • Machiavelli Was Wrong: The core message of X-Men: Apocalypse is that ruling through love (as represented by Professor X) is more effective than ruling through fear (as personified by Apocalypse) because the former inspires loyalty while the latter encourages betrayal. The X-Men win the Final Battle because they're united, unlike Apocalypse, who has no one on his side in the end. This even forms the basis of Charles' Badass Boast when Apocalypse is about to "crush" his mind.
    Xavier: You will never win.
    Apocalypse: And why is that?
    Xavier: Because you're alone, and I am NOT!
  • Made of Iron: Made of adamantium to be exact in the case of Wolverine. Also, the Juggernaut and Mystique are really hard to kill.
  • Magic Pants:
    • Averted with Mystique, who does all her shapeshifting nude and forms the clothing of her disguises with her body.
    • Played straight with Wolverine as Phoenix's attacks destroy all the rest of his clothes, as well as skin and muscle, but his pants remain. The same thing happens in The Wolverine when he shields Ichiro after the atomic bomb is dropped.
  • Magnetic Hero: Professor X is exceptionally charismatic because he's gifted with the uncanny skill to influence people (without the use of his psychic ability) who hardly know him to risk their lives for him and/or uphold his philosophy against his enemies. In the time span of no more than a year (with some breaks, as Logan was digging around for his past at Alkali Lake, and later was "passing through"), Wolverine goes from mocking the Professor's paraplegia ("What do they call you, Wheels?") to being "tamed" by him. In X-Men: First Class, Charles is a very attentive and earnest coach who is able to shape the adolescent Ragtag Bunch of Misfits that he has recruited into an effective paramilitary group within a short period of time, and his new team is strong enough to withstand the more experienced Hellfire Club. In X-Men: Apocalypse, Cyclops, Quicksilver and Nightcrawler endanger themselves to rescue Xavier, whom they had only met once (or in the case of Kurt, he didn't even get the chance to talk to the Professor before the latter was captured), and they all elect to become full-fledged members of the X-Men.
  • Male Gaze: In X-Men: Apocalypse, the way the camera moves when we first see Mystique in her cleavage-exposing dress evokes this.
  • Manchild:
    • X-Men: Days of Future Past: The younger Charles rejects all adult responsibilities after he succumbs to depression, and McCoy has to look after him.
    • X-Men: Apocalypse: At the age of 27, Quicksilver still isn't an independent adult because he continues to reside in his mother's basement, although his living space is a lot less cluttered than it was in Days of Future Past, which implies that his kleptomania has toned down in the past decade. He cracks a joke about his mother wanting him to get out of the house, and Peter acknowledges his Basement-Dweller status on the X-Jet.
  • Manly Tears:
    • X2: X-Men United:
      • When Scott realizes that he has no way to save Jean, he cries and begs her not to do it.
    • X-Men: First Class:
      • Both Charles Xavier and Erik Lehnsherr do this in a rather touching scene where the latter is learning to control his powers through something other than rage. By telepathically finding one of Erik's happiest childhood memories, Charles helps him to see that true focus lies between "rage and serenity." Cue the tears as they both experience a bittersweet memory of Erik's long-dead mother on welcoming in their Sabbath.
      • After Charles gets shot, there is a particularly heartbreaking moment when he has to tell Erik that no, they do not want the same things when it comes to mutants and humans. Cue the Manly Tears on his part. It's an indicator of how the two men have grown apart that Erik's face just blanks of emotion in response.
    • X-Men: Apocalypse:
      • Erik openly sobs when he cradles his wife's and daughter's lifeless bodies.
      • Professor X sheds a tear while he's using Cerebro to communicate with Magneto because he's able to feel the latter's grief over the deaths of Magda and Nina.
      • Scott weeps when he learns that his brother Alex is dead.
  • Marquee Alter Ego:
    • Mystique's default normal human form in the original trilogy is... Rebecca Romijn.
    • In First Class, it's Jennifer Lawrence. But when Magneto says he might sleep with her "in a few years," she briefly becomes Romijn.
  • Masculine Girl, Feminine Boy: A foster siblings variation with Raven and Charles in X-Men: Apocalypse. Both are mutant activists, but they use different methods when saving the world one mutant life at a time—the sister is more "active" and the brother is more "passive." Mystique is a forthright Action Girl who travels around the globe and regularly employs violence to free mutants who are in physical danger; she tells Caliban that she doesn't care what they do with their newfound liberty. Professor Xavier, on the other hand, is a sweet Non-Action Guy who remains at his home/school and coaches his mutant students on how to master their inherently hazardous abilities so that they're no longer a threat to themselves or to others, while at the same time nurturing them as individuals. In the final scene, Raven assumes a stern, no-nonsense approach when training the X-Men for combat, whereas Charles will continue to educate their minds and provide emotional support.
  • Meaningful Echo: Between two movies, highlighting the difference between the Xavier School and Magneto's views on mutants. In a deleted scene from the first movie, Bobby asks Rogue her name, she says "Rogue," and he says "What's your real name?" She tells him "Marie." Then in X2, on the plane, Magneto has a conversation with Pyro:
    Magneto: What's your name?
    Pyro: John.
    Magneto: What's your real name, John?
    Pyro: Pyro.
  • Meaningful Look:
    • X-Men: First Class:
      • Charles and Erik exchange numerous glances throughout the movie, which are indicative of their closeness.
      • After Raven insinuates that Alex's manhood may be small in response to the latter's mocking of Hank's feet, Raven and Hank look at each other; the former silently says, "I'm on your side," while the latter quietly expresses his gratitude.
    • X-Men: Days of Future Past:
      • Kitty Pryde and Bobby Drake share one as they cross paths during their battle against the Sentinels, and this may allude to them being in a relationship.
      • Mystique, disguised as a colonel, winks at Alex in a reassuring manner which says, "Don't worry, I'll get you out of this." Alex is unaware that the colonel is his former friend, though, so the wink confuses him.
      • Hank and Charles exchange an amused "Why am I not surprised?" glance (the former even adds a raised eyebrow) after Peter Maximoff asks them, "I saw your flight plan in the cockpit; why are you going to Paris?"
    • X-Men: Apocalypse: Alex, who is mortified by his ex-mentor's prolonged ogling of Moira, calls out to the Professor and silently conveys with his eyes, "You're here to ask her about Cairo, remember?", which finally snaps Charles out of his reverie.
  • Meaningful Name:
    • Wolverine was born as James Howlett; his surname is a nod to his animalistic nature.
    • Professor X's middle name and surname form the name of a saint (Francis Xavier), so they hint at the character's "saintly" personality.
    • Erik means "ruler" and Lehnsherr can be roughly translated as "feudal lord" (lehn = fief, herr = master). Magneto's birth name betrays his ambition to rule over humans.
    • Raven Darkholme. When de-powered in X-Men: The Last Stand, she's seen with Raven Hair, Ivory Skin.
    • William Stryker "strikes" at mutants.
    • Warren Worthington III's code name Angel refers to his angelic looks, which include large, white wings and blond curls. (This applies to both Ben Foster's and Ben Hardy's portrayals.) In the case of the latter, he becomes Apocalypse's "angel of death" in X-Men: Apocalypse.
      Ben Hardy: Angel is pretty angry, and he casts a shadow of death across the land.
    • Remy must be handsome, because his last name (LeBeau) directly translates as the masculine form of "The beautiful."
    • Emma Frost has a frosty temperament, as her surname suggests.
    • Viper's alias as Yashida's doctor is "Green," and she frequently wears green clothing. "Viper" also alludes to the classic fable "The Farmer and the Viper", which perfectly describes Logan's relationship with her master.
    • In Real Life, En Sabah Nur means "The morning light" (he represents the dawn of mutantkind), but the comics translate it as "The first one."
    • It's no accident that Jubilee's given name is Jubilation because she carries a sunny disposition.
  • Mêlée à Trois: A constant thread to the film series is that humans fear mutantkind and want to neutralize them before they grow out of hand (either by depowering or simply eliminating them entirely). Such thinking presses Magneto to engage them at their own game, demanding that humans accept mutant superiority or face destruction (largely motivated by the horrors he had to witness in Nazi-controlled Europe and given form by Sebastian Shaw's influence). Straddling the line is Professor X and his school, who believe that there is no extreme that must be taken in either direction and that society simply must accept the world as it is and respect one another's differences. This enduring friction frequently comes to blows on all sides.
  • Mentor Archetype:
  • Messianic Archetype: Professor X's role in the movie-verse is somewhat reminiscent of Christ. Xavier is an All-Loving Hero who suffers greatly to be a savior of mutants and humans alike, even though the latter persecute him. He is the leader of his True Companions, who live by and defend his philosophy, and he is betrayed by one his followers.note  Charles is literally resurrected in The Stinger of X-Men: The Last Stand. This association also extends to imagery, where he takes Jesus' position in a Pietà Plagiarism (X-Men: First Class), is briefly given a Holy Backlight and a Crucified Hero Shot (X-Men: Days of Future Past). When he has a beard and lets his hair grow long, he even Looks Like Jesus. For X-Men: Apocalypse (which deals directly with religious themes), Bryan Singer has made a reference to a figurative resurrection in this snapshot by calling it "Xavier reborn." The director explicitly says that Professor X is analogous to Christ in the franchise.
    "I've gotten to explore Professor X when he was an older, bald, wise man, when he's insecure, when he's defenseless, when he's powerful. He's more of a Christ figure. He chooses to be a teacher. He could go inside Cerebro and rule the world, but he chooses not to. He chooses to teach and preach and hope that people follow his message: peace and unity. And I've gotten to see him as a drug addict and a loser, and in this movie, you're going to get to see him prosperous and almost blindly optimistic, and how he changes."
    • James McAvoy was asked in this interview to boil down his character to only three essential elements, and the actor answered, "Empathetic, generous, and slightly suffering from a messianic complex. [...] He thinks he's the Second Coming of Christ, he thinks he's gonna save the world."
  • Mess of Woe: In 1973, Charles' neglect of his mansion is a reflection of how utterly forlorn he is. His bedroom and study are extremely cluttered, plus the grass on his estate is overgrown. Hank does his best to clean up some of the mess that Xavier carelessly leaves behind (at one point we see McCoy picking up empty liquor bottles).
  • Messy Hair: 1973 Charles doesn't bother with his grooming because he's too depressed to care.
  • Metal Detector Checkpoint:
    • X-Men: The X-Men pass through one of these while entering a museum. Wolverine, naturally, sets it off, and then destroys it.
    • The Wolverine:
      • When Logan is scanned by Ichirō's security guards, he explains away the constant beeping of their devices as his hip replacement.
      • Logan requests a pat-down rather than have to deal with the inevitable difficulties that would arise from trying to go through one of these at the airport.
    • X-Men: Days of Future Past: There is one on the White House lawn; it beeps when Xavier passes through because of his wheelchair, and when it's Wolverine's turn... nothing happens because his 1973 body is adamantium-free.
  • A Mind Is a Terrible Thing to Read:
    • X-Men: Days of Future Past: When Charles was in between 9 and 12 years old, he was Hearing Voices and wasn't aware that he was telepathic, so he had assumed that he was going mad from an acute mental illness. His past self in is so broken that it's torture for him to be bombarded by the thoughts of others, and he uses a serum designed by Hank to block out the ceaseless "chatter" in his head. In order to visit his future self, Xavier has to go through Wolverine's mind, which is full of traumatic memories; it's a pretty shocking experience for him. Likewise, when he attempts to use Cerebro, all he can sense is people crying out all over the world in loneliness and pain.
    • X-Men: Apocalypse: Jean loathes being "trapped inside [her] own head" because of her telepathy, and Xavier understands her anguish because he was also haunted by other people's suffering, pain and secrets in the past. When Scott asks Jean, "How do you know what [Alex] felt?", her face is somber when she gloomily replies, "I know how everybody feels." Professor X momentarily stuns Apocalypse on the astral plane by letting his enemy hear the inner voices of hundreds of minds that are within Charles' psychic range.
  • Mind over Manners:
    • Jean Grey has similar rules as Professor X because he's her mentor.
    • X-Men: First Class: The much younger, less disciplined Xavier had no problem using his powers on anyone whenever it was convenient for him. That being said, he did promise Raven that he wouldn't read her mind, and he did ask for Erik's permission before searching for the brightest corner of his friend's memory system.
  • A Minor Kidroduction:
    • X-Men starts with Magneto as a boy in a concentration camp.
    • X-Men: The Last Stand begins with a middle-aged Professor X and Magneto visiting Jean Grey as a child. We also see a young Warren Worthington III.
    • X-Men Origins: Wolverine starts with Wolverine and Sabretooth as children.
    • X-Men: First Class begins with Charles Xavier and Raven Darkholme as children, and recaps a young Erik Lehnsherr in the concentration camp.
  • Misery Builds Character:
    • This is Charles' journey throughout the First Class trilogy; he must suffer a great deal in order to gain the necessary experience and wisdom to become an effective leader of mutants. When his life runs smoothly for too long, he can get complacent and fail to recognize that he's being harmfully paternalistic (such as his overprotectiveness towards Raven), or he doesn't anticipate a looming threat before it's too late (despite Hank's insistence, Xavier doesn't believe that the X-Men is required after the events of 1973). Because the hardships he had to endure in the Alternate Timeline are different than in the original timeline, his Icy Blue Eyes at the end of X-Men: Apocalypse indicate that James McAvoy's Professor X will be more resilient and proactive.
    • Deadpool: Negasonic Teenage Warhead asks her mentor Colossus what the perks of being with the X-Men are, considering the mansion gets completely destroyed every couple of years. Colossus then cheerfully responds that "House blowing up builds character."
  • Mission Control:
    • X-Men: First Class: When the proto X-Men clash against the Hellfire Club, Charles stays by the wreckage of the Blackbird and orders Raven to guard him. He's the only mutant who can restrain Sebastian Shaw (psychically or otherwise), so it's imperative for the mission that Xavier survives. He also gives instructions to Erik as the latter searches for their target.
    • X-Men: Days of Future Past: In The Rogue Cut, the older Professor X telepathically guides Magneto and Iceman through the mansion's secret corridors from the relative safety of the X-Jet.
  • Monster Progenitor: En Sabah Nur is the world's first mutant and the most powerful one. Over the millennia, he accumulates the abilities of all of his mutant hosts, so he's virtually god-like.
  • Monumental Damage: The Statue of Liberty in the original, Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz Island in The Last Stand, Three Mile Island in X-Men Origins, and both RFK Stadium and the White House in Days of Future Past.
  • The Morality/Mortality Equation:
    • X-Men: First Class opens with Erik losing his parents in the Holocaust while Charles gains a foster sister in his comfy estate.
    • By X-Men: Days of Future Past, Magneto has lost four members of his Brotherhood to Dr. Bolivar Trask's medical experiments and ends up stuck in jail, while Xavier has lost only one student to Trask and still maintains his mansion.
    • Played for Drama in X-Men: Apocalypse, where after Erik's wife and daughter are killed while Professor X teaches at his prosperous school, Lehnsherr screams towards the heavens in agony, asking God why He always seems to take the people he's closest to. The X-Men suffers one casualty.
  • Motor Mouth:
  • Movie Superheroes Wear Black:
    • X-Men: Producer Tom DeSanto thought about the original costumes, but eventually decided they would look silly and changed to leather ones (something Stan Lee and Chris Claremont approved). Lauren Shuler Donner added that the costumes helped the X-Men "blend into the night."
    • X-Men: First Class: Averted; the 1960s founding members of the team wear blue and yellow combat uniforms which are similar to their first appearance in the '60s comics.
    • The Wolverine: There were plans for Wolverine's yellow costume and mask to make a Continuity Cameo, but this was scrapped. The scene can be seen in the alternate ending on the Blu-Ray.
    • Averted in Deadpool (2016). The title character wears his trademark red costume from the comics, and Negasonic Teenage Warhead wears a yellow X-Men uniform that looks like a modernized take on the outfits from First Class. The two main villains are even mocked for playing this straight.
    • X-Men: Apocalypse:
      • Played straight with the X-Men, who don battle versions of the original trilogy's black outfits. Ditto for Storm, whose Horseman armour is mostly black with a few silver highlights. Later averted with the second set of uniforms,◊ which still contain some black, but it's no longer the primary colour.
      • Averted with Magneto, Archangel and Psylocke, who wear red, silver/grey and purple respectively; the latter's outfit in particular is quite similar to the comics.
  • Mr. Fanservice: The most objectified male character in the franchise is Wolverine, who is briefly naked in a few movies and has numerous Shirtless Scenes.
    • X2: X-Men United: Colossus spends most of his screen time running around shirtless.
    • X-Men: The Last Stand: Warren is bare-chested in one scene.
    • The Wolverine:
      • Logan reluctantly takes a bath as he is vigorously scrubbed by two female attendants, so much of his skin is on display.
      • Noburo Mori is in nice shape and gets an underwear scene.
    • X-Men: Days of Future Past provides a nude Wolverine and a shirtless young Magneto.
    • Deadpool (2016): Before Wade is disfigured, he's naked eye candy during his bed scenes.
    • X-Men: Apocalypse:
      • Oscar Isaac is covered only in a loincloth when he's lying on a slab during an Ancient Egyptian ceremony.
      • Angel is shirtless when Apocalypse tries to recruit him.
  • Ms. Fanservice: The most objectified female character in the franchise is Mystique, who is nude when she's in her natural blue form.
    • X-Men: First Class: All of the women (Mystique, Angel, Emma and Moira) get at least one scene where they're wearing little or nothing. For Emma and Angel, it's their regular attire.
    • The Wolverine:
      • Viper's wardrobe is made up solely of skin-tight garments.
      • Jean Grey is only seen in a low-cut silk nightgown.
    • Deadpool (2016): Vanessa is naked during her bed scenes with Wade, and she wears a skimpy outfit while working as a waitress at a strip club.
    • X-Men: Apocalypse:
  • Mundane Utility:
    • X2: X-Men United: When Logan wants a cold drink, he gives a Dr. Pepper to Bobby "Iceman," who uses his powers to chill it.
    • X-Men Origins: Wolverine: Bradley, who can power electrics, has a job as a carney after he quits Team X.
      "Turn the light off, get a prize. Three tries for a buck."
    • X-Men: First Class: Shaw orders Emma Frost to use her ability to turn into a diamond to chip off an ice cube for his drink.
    • X-Men: Days of Future Past:
      • Quicksilver uses his super speed to play ping-pong with himself.
      • Magneto uses his metal-controlling powers to stitch his head wound and to raise the volume control knob on the television set.
  • My Beloved Smother:
    • Although Charles is Raven's foster brother in X-Men: First Class, he tends to behave more like her Parental Substitute (this is confirmed in X-Men: Days of Future Past when he tells Erik that he had "raised" her). Xavier is so overprotective of his sister that it had stifled Raven's psychological growth as an adult, and she resents his pushiness to the point where they become estranged. Erik reminds Charles that the latter "...grew up with her. She couldn't stay a little girl forever, that's why she left." By the end of Days of Future Past, Xavier finally accepts that Raven is her own person and stops trying to influence her.
    • In a more general sense, Professor X doesn't encourage those who are closest to him to be fully independent as adults. Although most of his students eventually leave the school after graduation and assimilate into human society, those who are part of the X-Men never "leave the nest," so to speak. They stay together as a surrogate family while living under Xavier's roof, working as teachers, and Charles continues to exert his paternal authority over them even when they're roughly 57 years old (as shown with Jean Grey, Cyclops and Storm in the Alternate Timeline 2023 scene of Days of Future Past—heck, Beast would be around 80!).
    • X-Men: Apocalypse: Although Xavier is wiser in the Alternate Timeline and knows that he shouldn't "cage the beast" when it comes to the Phoenix, he still keeps his daughter figure Jean on a tight leash by the way he nurtures her. His goal is to placate as much as possible the "fire" within her before it consumes everything and everyone in its path. To borrow a theme from First Class, Charles carefully molds the emotional comfort he offers to Jean as the "serenity" which can quell to some degree the "rage" of her wild "flames." His manipulation of her is so well-crafted that he dictates when the Phoenix—a force of nature—is free to spread its wings. Jean is now a "goddess" in comparison to Professor X, yet she remains subservient to her surrogate father, and it's implied that they're closer in the new timeline than in the old one. While there's no denying that he controls her with love, it does bring about the best outcome Xavier can hope for in terms of Jean being wholly in charge of the Phoenix, and not vice-versa. In this instance, his coddling is portrayed as having a positive impact on her psychological maturation. Bryan Singer outlines in his commentary the sway Charles has over Jean:
      Singer: 'It was just a dream' [...] He lies to her. Because he knows, because he's such a powerful psychic, [...] the power of Phoenix is growing inside her, and it's going to become out of control. And she's terrified of it, but doesn't understand it. And he does understand it. And he can't let on to her that he understands it because it would be too frightening, and she would run away. So this scene is all about control. All about keeping that power, and keeping it all under control. And only at the end of the movie does he give her permission [...] to explore her power.
  • Mystical White Hair:
    • Storm is a white-haired woman with weather manipulation/summoning powers.
    • Silver hair in Quicksilver's case. And while he is fond of breaking the law, he's not much of a White Hair, Black Heart like in the comics.
  • Mythology Gag:
    • X-Men:
      • Wolverine complains about the uniforms; Cyclops then asks, "What would you prefer, yellow Spandex?"
      • The explanation for how Rogue acquired the signature strands of white hair.
      • Allusions to Wolverine's past.
    • X2: X-Men United:
      • Magneto says "When will these people learn to fly?", referring to the fact that some of the X-men can fly in the comics.
      • There is a brief exchange between Nightcrawler and Mystique, who are mother and son in the comics.
      • The way Mystique approaches Wolverine disguised as Storm–-and how he identified her–-is very similar to a scene from The Dark Phoenix Saga, where a Skrull named Raksor, also impersonating Storm, tried the same trick on Logan, with a similar result.
    • X-Men: First Class:
      • Banshee's wings are striped only to resemble the comics counterpart.
      • The uniforms are yellow and blue bodysuits, and Havok's reaction is "Do we really have to wear these?"
      • The helmet Erik seizes from Shaw and the repainted version in the final scene of the film resemble his helmet in the comics much more than the helmet worn by Ian McKellen.
      • Given that the movie is set in 1962, Xavier opened his school the following year... when the actual comic first debuted in 1963.
  • New Era Speech:
    • X-Men: Days of Future Past: 1973 Magneto proclaims a new era of mutant supremacy to the American leadership and the entire world. However, as he does, the audience is treated to the future scene of Sentinels wiping out the last of the Free Mutants, showing the fate his new era truly leads to.
      Magneto: You built these weapons to destroy us. Why? Because you are afraid of our gifts. Because we are different. Humanity has always feared that which is different. Well, I'm here to tell you, to tell the world: you're right to fear us. We are the future! We are the ones who will inherit this Earth! And anyone who stands in our way will suffer the same fate as these men you see before you. Today was meant to be a display of your power. Instead, I give you a glimpse of the devastation my race can unleash upon yours. Let this be a warning to the world, and to my mutant brothers and sisters out there, I say this: no more hiding. No more suffering. You have lived in the shadows in shame and fear for too long. Come out! Join me! Fight together in a Brotherhood of our kind. A new tomorrow... that starts today.
    • X-Men: Apocalypse:
      • The eponymous villain's declaration, "EVERYTHING THEY'VE BUILT WILL FALL!!! AND FROM THE ASHES OF THEIR WORLD, WE'LL BUILD A BETTER ONE!"
      • Thanks to Xavier's powers, Apocalypse sends his own to all the people in the world about how he'll tear down everything that humanity has ever built in order to usher in a new world order. Charles changes the ending to "those with the greatest power, protect those without."
        Hear me, inhabitants of this world. This is a message, a message to every man, woman and mutant. You have lost your way, but I have returned. The day of reckoning is here. All your buildings, all of your towers and temples will fall. And the dawn of a new age will rise, for there is nothing you can do to stop what is coming. This message is for one reason alone: to tell the strongest among you, those with the greatest power, this Earth will be yours.
  • Nice Guy:
    • Professor X opens his heart and his home to mutants who feel persecuted by the outside world.
      Logan: There's not many people that will understand what you're going through, but I think this guy Xavier is one of them. He seems to genuinely want to help you, and that's a rare thing for people like us.
    • Hank McCoy is very friendly, prefers to avoid conflict, and truly comes out of his shell when in his comfort zones, such as discussing science or assisting with the other students.
    • Darwin is polite, friendly, and when things get rough he can be seen immediately moving to make himself a human shield for the other kids.
    • Colossus is easily the most polite character in Deadpool (2016), trying to encourage the title character to become a hero and acting as a Parental Substitute to Negasonic Teenage Warhead. Angel Dust responds to his gentlemanly behaviour towards her with, "Aww, how sweet."
    • X-Men: Apocalypse:
      • When Scott unintentionally wreaks Professor X's favourite tree on the estate—an irreplaceable family heirloom because it was planted by Xavier's grandfather when he was five years old—the teen assumes that he must have pissed off Charles and is worried that he'll be kicked out. Instead, the Professor chuckles and warmly welcomes Scott to his school. Jean, who had witnessed the entire event, smiles at Xavier's benevolence and forgiveness.
      • Played with in Scott Summers' case, who is initially rude and snarky to everyone around him. After his brother Alex dies, he veers towards his classic characterization of a "boy scout."
  • Not Even Bothering with the Accent:
    • Xavier keeps Patrick Stewart's English accent. James McAvoy tries to copy it, but at times the actor's Scottishness slips through.
    • Gambit doesn't sound remotely Cajun (in fact, he almost sounds like he's from Texas).
      • Somewhat justified in Gambit's case, as Louisiana and Texas, being right next to each other, share a significant degree of dialect between them.
    • While Halle Berry attempts some sort of accent in the first film, by the third she's not even trying anymore.
    • Same with Anna Paquin and Rogue, who has a slight Mississippi accent in the first movie which disappears in the sequels. Somewhat justified with Rogue as she's a teenager and growing to fit in with her classmates.
    • The North Albertan bartender in X-Men Origins: Wolverine seems to be from Tennessee for some reason.
    • First Class de-accentizes Banshee and Moira (though the latter goes from Scottish to American).
      • Basically, if you're not Nightcrawler, you WILL lose your trademark speech pattern in the movieverse. (However, it's less glaring than you think in some cases—in the original comics, after being taught English telepathically, the X-Men are noted on-panel to have no accents. It's just that we hear that once ever, characters' talk is positively filled with random words from their own languages, and every adaptation ever keeps the accent.)
  • Nothing but Hits:
    • X-Men: Days of Future Past: All your favorite tunes from the The '70s. The first thing Wolverine hears in 1973 is Roberta Flack's "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face"; Quicksilver listens to Alice Cooper's "Hello Hooray" and Jim Croce's "Time in a Bottle"; the disco in Paris is playing Claude François' '70s hit "Stop au nom de l'amour."
    • X-Men: Apocalypse: The song selection leaves no doubt that the story is set in The '80s. Metallica's "Four Horsemen" plays when Archangel is "born," and the Eurythmics' most famous song, "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)," is heard during Quicksilver's rescue of Xavier's students. Both were released in 1983. An Egyptian cover of A Flock of Seagulls' "I Ran (So Far Away)," a smash hit in 1982, is blaring from a boombox at the Cairo market. Men Without Hats' "The Safety Dance," another classic from that year, accompanies the deleted mall scene.
  • Not-So-Well-Intentioned Extremist: Magneto, due to his experiences in the Holocaust, believes that it is imperative to protect mutants from the possibility of persecution by humans, and towards that end engages in various extreme actions such as attempting to kill a mutant child whose blood can be weaponized to supress the "X-gene", or to forcibly transform world leaders into mutants. However, as Wolverine points out in the first film, Magneto is hardly selfless enough to not kidnap Rogue to power his device, and if he truly believed in his utopia, he would have gladly sacrificed his own life. Magneto also becomes something of a Social Darwinist by the third film, throwing away "lesser" mutant lives during his attack on Alcatraz island while keeping himself and his inner circle away from the front lines.
  • Novelization: The first three films have novelizations, with the ones for the second and third films being written by Chris Claremont. The one for the third film shows a lot more of what's going on in Jean's head than the movie is able to, appropriate from the man who wrote the Dark Phoenix Saga.
  • Oddly Named Sequel 2: Electric Boogaloo: X2: X-Men United is the only X-Men film which has a number in its title.
  • Official Couple:
    • X-Men: While not explicitly mentioned in the movie, Jean Grey and Scott Summers are described as each other's fiancé(e) in promotional materials.
    • X2: X-Men United: Rogue and Bobby Drake are in the early stages of a romantic relationship, and their challenge is dealing with her mutant ability, as she can kill someone with a prolonged touch.
    • X-Men: Days of Future Past: Iceman and Kitty Pryde in The Rogue Cut. In the Alternate Timeline, that seems to have been erased because Bobby is with Rogue again, and Kitty is presumably with Colossus.
    • Deadpool (2016): Wade Wilson and Vanessa Carlysle are engaged.
    • X-Men: Apocalypse: Erik and Magda are married.
  • Offing the Offspring:
    • X-Men: The Last Stand: Mystique vehemently tells the FBI interrogator that her parents tried to murder her.
    • X-Men Origins: Wolverine: Thomas Logan nearly shoots his son James Howlett when the kid is charging at him with newly sprouted bone claws, but Elizabeth Howlett manages to grab the hunting rifle before Thomas could do so.
    • The Wolverine: Shingen planned to kill his daughter so that he would inherit his father's company.
  • Old Flame:
    • In The Rogue Cut, Mystique and Beast definitely still have feelings for each other despite being separated for over a decade. Mystique was even romantically involved with Magneto before he was incarcerated, but her first choice back in 1962 was Hank.
    • X-Men: Apocalypse: Charles and Hank still carry torches for Moira and Raven, respectively.
  • Old Money:
    • X-Men Origins: Wolverine: Judging by the refined manners of John Howlett and the grandeur of the mansion, James Howlett was born into wealth. However, he learns when he was around 13 years old that his mother Elizabeth had an affair with Thomas Logan, his family's groundskeeper, and is their illegitimate child. After the death of both his legal father and biological father, James runs away from home, and he has been scratching a living ever since.
    • X-Men: First Class: Charles Xavier was born with a silver spoon in his mouth. He lives in a very Big Fancy House, there are servants (a maid is mentioned), and his mother is a snobby British Socialite who thinks so highly of herself that she never enters the kitchen of her own home. Charles' taste in material goods is often expressed in classic, Simple, yet Opulent ways, in contrast to the gaudy Conspicuous Consumption that we normally associate with the Nouveau Riche.
    • X-Men: Days of Future Past: Past Charles can afford not to work for a decade because he can simply mooch off his inherited wealth. The Xavier family crest on the tail of his personal plane, his plane's elegantly decorated interior, and even the design of the chess set he brings along for the trip are a visual cue to the audience that he is this trope, and not the tacky (or so the stereotype goes) Nouveau Riche.
    • X-Men: Apocalypse: This detailed look at Xavier's mansion practically screams this trope. The narrator introduces it as, "In its near 300 years of service, this estate has been the primary residence for New York's elite society." She later adds, "...every effort has been made to preserve its historical and architectural integrity of the above-ground structure." It is estimated to be worth◊ $75,850,000 USD (2016)! Charles owns a collection of beautiful vintage cars which are in pristine working condition, and that takes a lot of coin to maintain.
  • Once per Episode:
    • Magneto always has one big scene featuring him lifting/moving an extremely large object with his powers.
  • One of the Kids:
    • X2: X-Men United: Nightcrawler was excluded from the planning session along with the younger X-Men.
    • X-Men: First Class: Raven would rather hang out with the adolescent mutants than with Charles and Erik even though her age is much closer to the two men's.
  • One-Steve Limit: There are a few aversions.
  • Only Friend:
    • X-Men: First Class:
      • Near the beginning, Raven points out to Charles that she is his only friend. Presumably an affable fellow like Xavier would have numerous acquaintances, but his sister figure is the sole person he fully trusts.
      • Charles becomes this to Erik because the latter has spent his life on the hunt. Lehnsherr hasn't met anyone who could empathize with him since his mother died.
    • The Wolverine: While Logan is hiding out in the Yukon woods, his sole companion is a grizzly bear that lives nearby.
    • X-Men: Days of Future Past: After Past Charles isolates himself from the outside world due to his severe depression, Hank becomes his sole companion. Hank also doesn't seem to have a social circle, as he has taken it upon himself to be Charles' caretaker, which appears to be something of a full-time job.
  • Only in It for the Money:
    • The Wolverine:
      • Shingen Yashida's big objective is to gain his father's inheritance.
      • Viper describes herself as a capitalist.
      • Noburo Mori is only marrying Mariko for the power and money that comes with such a connection to Shingen.
    • X-Men: Apocalypse: Mystique accuses Caliban of caring only about money.
  • Only Known by Their Nickname:
    • Ororo Munroe is regularly referred to as Storm.
    • Everyone calls Rogue by her code name. Marie is only used twice in the entire franchise.
    • X-Men: Apocalypse: Psylocke and Angel are only called by their code names. Jubilation Lee goes by her nickname Jubilee in promotional materials.
  • O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Before X-Men: Apocalypse, Professor X had never condoned the slaying of a Big Bad. The worst it ever got was when he reluctantly became an accessory to murder in X-Men: First Class; he had held Sebastian Shaw motionless with his telepathy while pleading with Erik not to kill the man. When Charles is in a Battle in the Center of the Mind with Apocalypse, he isn't strong enough to subdue the god-like mutant, so he implores Jean Grey to summon her Phoenix powers, knowing full well that she will annihilate his enemy. In the Alternate Timeline, Xavier is a touch more aggressive, and this marks a major change for his character going forwards.
  • Ooh, Me Accent's Slipping:
    • Occasionally Hugh Jackman simply can't hide that he's Australian.
    • Michael Fassbender also lapses into his Irish origins in First Class.
      • It's somewhat unavoidably noticeable if he was speaking German the moment before and he's meant to be from the Eastern bloc.
      • Handwaveable with Magneto as he's spent years living all over Europe and learned at least four whole languages (Polish, German, French and English). It's quite possible he spent some time in the Emerald Isle and picked up a few tics.
    • James McAvoy's English accent is very good, but he reverts to his native Scottish whenever he shouts or cries.
    • The English Nicholas Hoult's American accent is consistent, but he frequently messes up on the word "professor."
  • Opening Monologue: All are voiced by Professor X.
    • X-Men: "Mutation: it is the key to our evolution. It has enabled us to evolve from a single-celled organism into the dominant species on the planet. This process is slow, and normally taking thousands and thousands of years. But every few hundred millennia, evolution leaps forward."
    • X2: X-Men United: "Mutants. Since their discovery, they have been regarded with fear, suspicion, even hatred. Across the planet, debate rages. Are mutants the next link in the evolutionary chain, or simply a new species of humanity, fighting for their share of the world? Either way, it is an historical fact: sharing the world has never been humanity's defining attribute."
    • X-Men: Days of Future Past: "The future: a dark, desolate world, a world of war, suffering, loss on both sides. Mutants, and the humans who dared to help them, fighting an enemy we cannot defeat. Are we destined down this path, destined to destroy ourselves like so many species before us? Or can we evolve fast enough to change ourselves, change our fate? Is the future truly set?"
      • It's paired with a closing monologue: "The past: a new and uncertain world, a world of endless possibilities and infinite outcomes. Countless choices define our fate; each choice, each moment, a ripple in the river of time. Enough ripples, and you change the tide, for the future is never truly set."
    • X-Men: Apocalypse: "Mutants, born with extraordinary abilities, and yet still, they are children, stumbling in the dark, searching for guidance. A gift can often be a curse. Give someone wings, and they may fly too close to the sun. Give them the power of prophecy, and they may live in fear of the future. Give them the greatest gift of all, powers beyond imagination, and they may think they are meant to rule the world."
  • Opposed Mentors: Pyro in the second X-Men movie had the choice between Magneto or Xavier. This is often the case with some characters in the comics too.
  • Organic Bra: When not shapeshifted, Mystique has scaly parts over her naughty bits.
  • Origins Episode:
    • The title X-Men Origins: Wolverine is self-evident.
    • X-Men: First Class is specifically for Magneto, Professor X, Mystique and Beast. This adventure is before the X-Men, before the Brotherhood, before the world at large knew about mutants. This is where it all started.
    • Deadpool (2016) explores Wade Wilson's transformation into the titular character.
    • X-Men: Apocalypse delves into the lives of Cyclops, Jean Grey, Storm and Nightcrawler in the Alternate Timeline before they became members of the X-Men.
  • Out-of-Character Alert:
    • X-Men: For the audience at least, "Bobby Drake's" stern demeanour when he tells Rogue that she should go is at odds with his introduction as a Nice Guy. As it turns out, Mystique had impersonated him.
    • X-Men: First Class: How kid Xavier pierces kid Raven's disguise at the beginning of the film. She looks like his mother, but acts nothing like her. He confirms it with telepathy.
    • X-Men: Days of Future Past: Dr. Bolivar Trask's secretary is surprised when he compliments her scarf, which is something he doesn't normally do. We learn a few seconds later that "Trask" was actually Mystique, who hasn't quite mastered gender roles yet.

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