Mystique is one of the most infamous X-Men villains, famed for her ability to change her appearance and become anybody. However, a new story has revealed that Raven Darkholme is far more powerful than previously believed. Indeed, the term “shape-shifter” may not be entirely accurate, nor adequate, to describe her power.
The true nature of Mystique’s power was revealed in X-Men Blue: Origins #1. Written by Si Spurrier and illustrated by Wilton Santos, Oren Junior, and Marcus To, the story finds Nightcrawler aiding a traumatized Raven Darkholme. Lost in her memories, Raven frantically searches for a missing baby Nightcrawler presumes is his infant self.
The story that unfolds challenges everything Nightcrawler thought he knew about his birth and parentage. Beyond not truly being abandoned by Raven Darkholme as a baby, Nightcrawler learns that his father was not the immortal mutant called Azazel. Instead, Nightcrawler’s father was Mystique, who used her powers to replicate Azazel’s DNA while impregnating her wife, the mutant prophet Destiny. This also confirmed Destiny as Nightcrawler’s birth mother.
Mystique is a gene-shaper, not a shape-shifter
Beyond Mystique’s assertion that she has “lived for years as sapiens males,” her powers are also clarified by Doctor Nemesis. In a memo to the Quiet Council of Krakoa included in the comic, Doctor Nemesis discusses his analysis of Raven Darkholme’s genetics. His conclusion is that Mystique is far more powerful than she lets on.
Doctor Nemesis confirms that Mystique’s so-called “shape-shifting” is achieved through instantaneous genetic mapping and alteration. He notes that this requires a manipulation of information that no supercomputer he knows of can manage. In short, Mystique’s impersonations of other people are more than skin deep. She literally becomes other people on a genetic level.
There is one thing that stops Doctor Nemesis from labeling Mystique as an Omega Level mutant. Namely, that if she is a gene-shaper, there should be nothing stopping her from replicating the X-Gene powers of other mutants. Thus far, she’s shown no ability to do this. However, given what Mystique has accomplished with her limited understanding of the science behind her powers, Doctor Nemesis speculates it is probably best for the world she remain ignorant of her potential.
X-Men Blue: Origins (2023) #1 is now available at comic shops everywhere.
