10 Most Ironic Deaths In Comics History
3. The Death Of Jean Grey
Jean Grey is one of the most powerful mutants in the entire Marvel universe, partially due to her complicated history with the Phoenix Force. The latter, of which, began with her sacrificing her life to save her teammates.
It all starts with the X-Men being on a space station that is about to be hit with an incoming solar flare. Escaping this danger is then further complicated by the destruction of their auto-pilot, which wouldn't normally be a problem except that the pilot seat isn't protected by any kind of shield. Meaning that the only possibility of survival would be to have someone fly the ship manually, and risk dying as a result.
Jean, nevertheless, volunteers to do this using her telekinesis to fly the ship- where, of which, she is inevitably successful in saving her teammates. Jean herself nearly dies in doing all of this, though, and telekinetically calls out for help mid-flight. She's then subsequently answered by the Phoenix Force.
To save Jean's dying body, the Phoenix offers to encase it within a healing cocoon but asks in return that it be allowed to take her place as a new version of herself. Jean accepts this condition, and the Phoenix assumes her identity as a more powerful, though less human, version of Jean Grey.
Although no one is initially aware that this isn't really Jean, it slowly becomes glaringly apparent that this is someone else entirely. Jean's humanity is seemingly lost to the influence of the Phoenix, and this, in turn, leads to some serious consequences- like the total annihilation of an entire solar system.
Given how all of this started out as a heroic effort to save the X-Men, it's ironic to see how this ends with Jean endangering not just the X-Men, but humanity itself.