Polar Opposites Trivia Quiz

Answer:

The original "X-Men", launched in "X-Men #1" (1963), were created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby and, like most of the comics of their ilk at the time, their main focus was on good versus evil. By making these heroes and villains mutants, the writers gave themselves some fertile ground on which to create stories that strongly featured elements of alienation, prejudice and racism. Despite the "X-Men" working toward saving humanity, the humans both distrusted and feared them. On the other side of the fence was Magneto, Erik Lehnsherr, who, despite being a Holocaust survivor, displayed great hatred toward humanity and sought to wipe them from existence.

The original members of the X-Men were:
Cyclops (Scott Summers) who had the ability to emit power beams from his eyes and his only way to control this energy was through the use of special eyewear. He is the older brother of Alex (Havok), who first appears in "X-Men #54" (1969) and Gabriel (Vulcan) who first surfaces in "X-Men: Genesis #1" (2006).
Marvel Girl (Jean Grey) possesses the psionic powers of telekinesis and telepathy. She eventually becomes an Omega level mutant (those with the most powerful potential mutant abilities) and a physical manifestation of the Phoenix force. This opens the way to one of the franchise's best story arcs, "The Dark Phoenix Saga" ("X-Men #129 to 138, which commenced in January, 1980).
Beast (Hank McCoy) has ape-like strength and agility and is blessed with a genius intellect. In the initial series he is presented in human form, with giant hands, however, he eventually grows blue fur and develops both simian and feline features.
Angel (Warren Worthington III) has wings and the ability to fly. He comes from privilege and, as a consequence, is initially stereotyped as being self-absorbed and unable to deal with hardship. By the 1980s he changes into a darker, more brooding incarnation that becomes known as Archangel.
Iceman (Bobby Drake) manipulates ice and cold by transforming water vapour present in the atmosphere. His profile shifted substantially in 2015 when he was revealed as being a closet gay person in "All New X-Men #40" (2015).

The Brotherhood of Evil Mutants is led by Magneto. Though he is known as Erik Lehnsherr, he was born Max Eisenhardt. He has the power to create and control magnetic fields and, as implied above, he regards mutants as being evolutionary superior to humans and constantly rejects the notion that theirs should be a peaceful existence. Instead, he advocates human genocide. That said, through the years he will progress from being a super-villain to becoming an anti-hero and, eventually a superhero and occasional ally to the X-Men. He and Charles Xavier were, at one time, best friends.
Mastermind (Jason Wyngarde) also possesses psionic abilities and has the power to generate complex illusions. He will eventually manipulate Jean Grey (Marvel Girl) and plays a major part in the "Dark Phoenix Saga".
Quicksilver (Pietro Maximoff) first appears in "X-Men #4" (March, 1964) and can move at speed. In his first appearance it is indicated that his powers were innate, however, in an arc that commences in 2015 we are informed that he is the product of experiments conducted by the High Evolutionary (Herbert Wyndham), a scientist seeking to evolve new life forms known as "New Men". He is the older twin of the Scarlet Witch and later stories will reveal that he too becomes a superhero. Eventually it is also disclosed that he and his sister are the offspring of Magneto and a Romani woman named Magda.
The Scarlet Witch (Wanda Maximoff) is a reluctant supervillain who can alter probability and she eventually becomes a powerful sorceress. She is widely regarded as one of Marvel's most powerful beings.
Toad (Mortimer Toynbee) is originally shown as a hunchbacked being with superhuman leaping ability. He is a sniveling servant to Magneto, hence "Toady/Toad". He ultimately becomes the leader of a faction of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants where his main focus is crime and mutant liberation.

Mention must also be made of Charles Xavier, also known as Professor X, a mutant with powerful telepathic powers. Xavier is responsible for forming the original "X-Men" and setting up the Xavier School for Gifted Children, which becomes a safe haven for mutants to develop their powers away from the prying eyes and interference of non-mutants.

Despite being launched with great anticipation in 1963, the comic did not sell well and, in 1969, attempts were made to give the franchise a boost with the introduction of new characters. Without going into too many details, these included Havok, brother of Cyclops and Lorna Dane, who would eventually become known as Polaris. These failed to improve sales and, as a result, Marvel stopped creating new stories for the franchise in the early part of 1970.

Five years later, Marvel would take a fresh approach to the team. All bar Cyclops from the original set-up were put aside and replaced with a set of new and mature warriors, whose skills were already honed. The new members also had a decidedly foreign flavour which gave the writers a broader brush to paint with. New ethnicities also meant new cultures and philosophical beliefs which made for more diverse and complex storylines. The new members included Colossus from the Soviet Union, Wolverine, destined to become a breakout character for the franchise, from Canada, Banshee from Ireland, Sunfire from Japan, Storm, whose origins lay in Kenya, and a Native American from the Apache tribe called Thunderbird. The stays of both Sunfire and Thunderbird would be brief and they would be replaced by a re-vamped Jean Grey. Old members such as Beast, Angel, Iceman, Havok and Polaris would make regular guest appearances. This added both a link with the original series and continuity. The revived series received strong critical acclaim and, as a result, sales skyrocketed. By the early 1980s the "X-Men" had grown to become Marvel's biggest selling title.