10 Most Tragic Deaths In X-Men History

5. Mastermind

Mastermind committed many bad deeds during his life. One of the original members of the Brotherhood of Mutants, he eventually was admitted into the Hellfire Club and joined leader Sebastian Shaw€™s inner circle. He then used his illusion powers to manipulate Jean Grey, who possessed the Phoenix powers at this time, and convince her she is living in a Victorian fantasy and married to Mastermind. Corrupted by the illusion, she becomes the Black Queen of the Hellfire Club and turned on the X-Men. When they tried to rescue her, Mastermind defeated and killed Cyclops in an astral battle. Seeing Scott€™s death in this astral world snapped Jean back to reality and as revenge for manipulating her, she expanded Mastermind€™s subconscious so that for one brief moment, he achieved godhood and experienced everything at once. Mastermind eventually regained consciousness and fought the X-Men several times, but years later he contracted the Legacy Virus which threw his powers out of control. Seeking redemption from the one woman he had ever truly cared about, Mastermind asked Jean Grey for forgiveness for what he had done to her at the Hellfire Club. At this point, we had learned that the Jean Grey he had mentally tormented was in fact the Phoenix entity posing as Jean, but the real Jean accepted his apology nonetheless, and he died at peace. Like Silver Fox, Mastermind wasn€™t the most redeeming of characters, but at least in his final moments of life he tried to make amends. The worst part about it though is that the woman he apologized to what even the person he had wronged. Part of me wishes I could have seen a reformed Mastermind work with the X-Men disease free, but unfortunately life doesn€™t always make deals like that.