POWER STATUS OVERVIEW (post House of M)

After the Scarlet Witch declared that there would be “no more mutants” at the end of the House of M crossover, the status quo of every mutant character in the Marvel Universe was thrown into disarray. The de-powering of the mutant population left massive uncertainties and the readers could do nothing else but keep an eye out for character appearances in the newly released issues in order to figure out the status of their favorite mutants.

However, as time passes and the power status of characters continue to change, it can be quite hard to keep up with everything. With so much speculation involved, sometimes misinformation is created as when incomplete, incorrect, unreliable or other dubious resources found on-line are being used to confirm a character’s status. Likewise, there is also some confusion on which characters are mutants and which aren’t. Scientifically speaking, a mutant would be someone being born with a trait that they couldn’t have inherited from either parent. This article, however, makes use of Marvel’s most common definition, namely that every human mutant carries the X-Gene in their genetic make-up.

The following lists include all mutants who have either been confirmed powered, de-powered or re-powered after M-Day with substantial evidence (as described below in each section), along with the issue number that contained this confirmation. Any character that has since died is marked in gray color, with an additional note describing the circumstances of their death. If you are looking for a specific mutant that does not appear on any of the lists, then the power status of this character has yet to be cleared up.

Finally, while some fans may consider Marvel’s series of Handbooks canon, they were not used for the purposes of this overview. Sometimes Handbooks include information never mentioned in the comics, and it is debatable if that information should be treated as canon or not. The following lists will only mention a mutant if he or she has had their status clarified in an actual comic. It may be considered a ‘conservative’ approach, but readers know that behind the scenes plans can change, so there is no harm or foul in waiting for a comic to come out to confirm what a Handbook says. The only exception would be The 198 Files as it was written as an in-continuity guide from the perspective of characters within in the Marvel Universe.

Powered The mutants listed below have either been specifically mentioned as powered, demonstrated their powers, or at the very least there is some general acknowledgment that they still carry the X-Gene. Keeping in mind that some de-powered mutants retained the physical markings of their mutation but were de-powered nonetheless, visual appearance alone can not be considered as sufficient proof of a character’s status.

De-Powered To be counted among the de-powered mutants, a character must have been specifically mentioned as a victim of M-Day or at least there was strong evidence indicating so. For example, it was only the still powered students of Xavier’s who participated in the student meeting in New X-Men (2nd series) #23, meaning every other student formerly attending the Institute must have been de-powered.

Re-Powered A few of the de-powered mutants have since been re-powered; some of them willingly, some by accident and some even against their will. The characters listed below have all undergone some sort of transformation, their bodies being altered in such a way that they once again display super-human abilities on a permanent basis. However, them being re-powered doesn’t necessarily mean that the characters have re-gained their X-Gene or that they would still be considered mutants. Not mentioned in this section are former mutants who are relying on technological equipment, weapons or armors, as they are still baseline humans. One such example would be Jubilee in her new identity as Wondra.

Not Present for M-Day For various reasons, the mutants listed below were not on Earth during M-Day, and as such they couldn’t have been affected by the Scarlet Witch's de-powering. Whereas some of them happened to be among the dead, others were residing in an alternate reality at the time.