The Many Faces of Mystique
Mystique: “Who am I? That, my dear, is an excellent question. Though not one easily answered.”
X-Factor #139 (1997)
The Department of Defense is on high alert. They’ve received intelligence that the shapeshifter Mystique has infiltrated the facility. A general watches several monitors and sees a janitor placing listening devices into crevices. She switches to another monitor. One of the Joint Chiefs exits a bathroom, adjusting his uniform top while a woman younger than his daughter slips his ID badge down her bra. A third monitor. A clerk is downloading state secrets while his coworker plays Fortnite.
They’re all taken into custody. HYDRA infiltrators, vampires, ooh, been a moment since they caught a Zodiac agent! The general frowns as her secretary enters with unrequested coffee. She walks behind the General and changes, her skin turning blue and hair red as her eyes blaze gold. The secretary draws a gun.
[BANG]
The secretary slumps against a wall, its mechanical heart pierced by an adamantium bullet. Safe in her General disguise, Mystique stows her gun and sips coffee. She chuckles at the choice of poison. “Everyone gets sloppy when I call in an infiltration threat.”
Mystique is the greatest infiltrator in Marvel comics. She can be anyone, anywhere, and sneak through the tightest security measures. So who is she? Where did she come from? What is her goal? Let’s find out.
A Scandal in Germany: Mystique’s Backstory
Mystique: “The game’s afoot, Irene. Our game.”
Immortal X-Men #8
Mystique debuted in Ms. Marvel #18 in 1978. She was created by Chris Claremont and Dave Cockrum, who named her after The Feminine Mystique.
No one knows where Raven Darkholme comes from. Her shapeshifting mutation activated when she was a child and she has alluded to an abusive father. She is at least a century old, kept in perfect condition by her powers.
Raven met the love of her life while living at 221B Baker Street. That’s right, she’s Sherlock Holmes and her partner in crime is Irene Adler, a precognitive Mutant called Destiny. Irene was blinded by overusing her powers to map out Mutantkind’s future and recruited Raven to help her.
Mystique parted from Destiny to prepare. She seduced an evil Mutant named Azazel and gave birth to a son named Kurt. Azazel learned that Mystique was plotting against him and stirred up an angry mob against her, claiming she’d killed a noble and birthed a demon. Kurt fell into a river, traumatizing Mystique because she couldn’t tell if it was an accident or attempted murder.
Shifting Allegiance: Mystique’s History
Mystique: “I am a shapeshifter, an outcast even among Mutants, trusted by no one! I don’t have a life of my own, I just steal little pieces from other people’s lives. But that’s how I survive!”
X-Men: The Animated Series “Bloodlines” (Season 4, Episode 14)
Mystique resurfaced in the modern day, openly committing terrorism to advance Mutantkind. She started her own chapter of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants consisting of herself, Destiny, and their adopted daughter Rogue. A battle with the Avengers cost them Rogue when she absorbed Captain Marvel’s memories and defected to the X-Men.
The Brotherhood reformed into Freedom Force, a U.S. government-controlled team dealing with Mutant crime in return for clemency and protection. Mystique quit after Destiny was murdered. Alone, she became more evil, while searching for a way to resurrect her. They married after she succeeded, and her son Kurt, now known as Nightcrawler, officiated the wedding.
Mystique recently discovered that she had false memories of abandoning Kurt. Destiny had foreseen him stopping Azazel from conquering the world. Mystique stole a sample of Azazel’s DNA, transformed into him and slept with Destiny to create Nightcrawler. Mystique is his father. Learning the truth allowed them to mend bridges, despite remaining enemies.
The Woman of 1,000 Faces: Mystique’s Powers and Personality
[Mystique has shapeshifted into Angel]
Wolverines #7
X-23: “Warren…”
Mystique: “Oh yes, Laura. Warren. Think of this moment the next time he wraps you in the warmth of his wings. Think…and wonder whose hands are actually touching you. Or perhaps I’ll make love to him as you…do the things he wants but is afraid to ask for, because of your… past.”
A century spent on the run taught Mystique many tricks. She’s an assassin, infiltrator, actor, polyglot, and was once known as the World’s Greatest Detective. Mystique has extensive experience leading teams that she inevitably betrays.
Shapeshifting is Mystique’s superpower and she does it better than most. She can flawlessly imitate anyone’s appearance, but not their powers. Constant shapeshifting makes her mind unreadable and stops her from aging. Mystique rarely wears clothes, shapeshifting her body into whatever she wants to look like.
Mystique is a sadist. She has tried to murder all three of her children and thinks nothing of seducing or killing anyone in her way. Destiny is her only blind spot and the one person she loves above all others. Adaptations often make Mystique Magneto’s second in command, but they rarely interact.
The Actors Who Play Her
Randall Carpenter – X-Men: the Animated Series, X-Men ‘97
Jennifer Dale – X-Men: the Animated Series
Colleen Wheeler and Nicole Oliver – X-Men: Evolution
Tamara Bernier – Wolverine and the X-Men
Lena Heady – The Super Hero Squad Show
Rebecca Romjin – X-Men, X2: X-Men United, Avengers: Doomsday
Jennifer Lawrence – X-Men: First Class, Days of Future Past, Dark Phoenix
Didya Get All That?
Even her allies rarely know what Mystique will do next.
Jared Bounacos has written for Movie Rewind since 2016.
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