THE REPLACEMENTS # 2 - UNCANNY X-MEN

THE REPLACEMENTS

Anime X-Men 
            Since the X-Men are divided after the whole Schism miniseries; we are gonna to do not 1 but 2 lists of X-Men:  Those on Cyclops’ Side & Those on Wolverine’s side: And why all the X-Men will NOT be on this list, a good chunk of them will be. We can deal with other incarnations and other X-teams at a later date. Each character selection will be based on either similar power or similar personality. And with that said, we’re ready to role. So, for this first team of X-Men that we will replace with Anime characters. Here are the results. 

UNCANNY  X-MEN:

Extinction Team –

COLOSSUS – RANDEL ORLAND from Pumpkin Scissors 

   There are few anime characters that could match Piotr Rasputin’s strength, especially now that he has the energies of the demonic Juggernaut within him. Piotr is both an engine of pure destruction and a bouquet of artistic thought. The dueling sides of Piotr seem to hit right on the mark with Pumpkin Scissors’ Randel Orland.'

    The corporal in the anime has many skills and is often seen being very peaceful with a jovial smile; much like Piotr. Yet, once the battle begins and he turns on his ghostly blue gas lantern, Orland becomes a driven monster of destruction much like Colossus. One minute, Orland displays a great sensitivity to people and looks at the beauty of life. The next, he is taking out Tanks with only his gun and a dead look in his eye. And Piotr pretty much is the same way . .. without the gun. They even love the same type of woman as there are eriely similarities between Kitty Pryde (Shadowcat) and Alice (Pumpkin Scissors).

    If you are looking for a man to take up Colossus’s role as a being of destructions while still being gentle, Randel Orland is the guy you are looking for.

MAGNETO – MASTER ASIA from G Gundam

            Erik Lensheer, the man known as Magneto, has been something of a grand mystery over the course of his creation. He is the undisputed Master of Magnetism. He has been one of the biggest mutant terrorists in the history of Marvel Comics. He has killed a whole lot of people. He has created a sanctuary for mutantkind on more than one occasion. His disdain for humanity had made him decide that humankind needed to die and/or fall under the sway of mutants in order to save the world. And he’s sought redemption before . .. only to throw it away once. Now, after Cyclops had united mutant kind for a time, Magneto has acknowledged his own misgivings and joined the X-Men in hopes of redeeming his past deeds but not necessarily his soul.

            Master Asia, the former King of Hearts till his pupil Domon Kasshu took the mantle, was the former champion of the Gundam Fight; a tournament where each country sent 1 Gundam to fight instead of all out war. And as Master Asia won his Gundam Fight, he saw the world turned into a broken battleground and that humanity needed to die in order to save the planet. Hmmm . ..

             There is no denying that while Master Asia does not have the Magnetism like Magento, there are some very interesting character traits that both share that would make Master Asia the best replacement for Magneto. Both share this need to subjugate or destroy humanity, being ruthless to everyone, including people they love, in order to achieve that goal. Both have strong beliefs that their way is the right way and see little reason to compromise . . . until startling factors make them face who they are and what they’ve done. With Magneto, it was Cyclops’ resolve and unifying the remainder of the mutant race. For Master Asia, it was his final battle with his pupil where Domon pointed out that while Master Asia wanted to use the Devil (Dark) Gundam to purify the planet; humanity is part of the planet too. And both are ridiculously powerful. And have white hair.

STORM – THREADMASTER KAZUKI from GetBackers

   Storm is one of the most iconic of the X-Men for many reasons. And she more than proves it time and time again. She is regal with her presence. She is kind and loving to those in her life she finds important. Yet, she is a fierce leader, a good tactian and one of the smartest fighters (with or without her powers) in the Marvel Universe. And while she recently married Black Panther, she still very much is the wild yet beautiful untamed force like the weather she controls.

            Threadmaster Kazuki . .. okay. I know. I can hear the are you kidding me’s from here. Once the leader of a gang known as Elegance within the building known as the Limitless Fortress, Kazuki soon ascended to the role as one of the 4 Kings under the Lightning Emperor.  With that, Kazuki was know leader of a much larger group and worked his way up the ranks. With his powers over ancient thread . ... wait … why are you laughing? Seriously, this thread can tie you up or rip the flesh from your bones. Loving to crossdress, Kazuki always gives this regal yet friendly aura when not in battle. Yet, when battle, he’s as deadly as they come.

Make no mistake, Kazuki definitely shares the most traits with Storm than any other character I know in anime. And while yes … he is a man, Kazuki is . .. well, a crossdresser who seems (at least that is the way he’s drawn) to be as regal yet fierce as Storm. Both always seem to be regal and stylish while still proving to be deadly in their own right. Both have a loving nature to friends. Both are proven leaders and tactians. Both can be warm and loving one second and dangerous the next. This seems fitting that Storm’s replacement first her personality cause I don’t think anyone could match her power.

MAGIK – GU from Hare Hare Gu

   Magik, aka Illyana Rasputin, is a woman who has been through a lot. Kidnapped as a child, she was taken to Limbo by the demonic Belasco who brought her up on the ways of sorcery. She takes him out to take over Limbo as its Queen but eventually comes back to Earth, as a teen. She caused some mischief but deep down, was still a hero. She then died but got better … yes, comics . .. and she manipulated the X-Men at a chance to kill the evil hell gods that tormented her, alongside Belasco. And she won. Now she’s looking after her brother and provides teleportation to another dimension with her portals.

            Gu is . .. manipulative. She loves to put Hare through some kind of trouble. And not just Hare. She, at times, puts other characters in some kind of mischief. She loves to do that. Oh yeah . .. she seems to have another realm in her stomach .. . in which she can put you in and put you out based on if she shallows you. I am serious. Deep down, Guu does like to help and is a good person. It is just had to see that with all the manipulations.

            What makes these 2 fight is that they are both very similar in terms of personality. They tease. They manipulate. Yet, deep down, they want to do good. They may be outcasts but they are still forces to be reckoned with. And while Magik is not as deadpan as Gu is, they are very protective of the men in their lives. Plus, the fact that their powers a somewhat similar makes it that much of a better fit. Sure Magik’s realm wasn’t in her stomach but still …they transported people into another realm. That works for me.

PSYLOCKE – TWILIGHT SUZUKA from Outlaw Star

            Psylocke is sleek, dangerous, deadly and one of the most beautiful fighters out there. She’s a ninja with telepathic (and telekinetic) power who knows what to do to take down her enemies. In her downtime, she is personable, with an air of dignified upper crust superiority to her. Yet, it is never in a demeaning way. She always exuded class. Besty Braddock. Ninja. English Woman in Asian Body. X-Man.

            Twilight Suzuka was an assassin for hire who never missed a kill … till she met Gene Starwind. And then, she changed. Still as deadly as she ever was, Suzuka had new priorities. She decided that she would join Gene Starwind and help him combat the pirates that were attacking him. Always with an air of refinery about her, Suzuka presents herself as a multifaceted character besides just a killing machine.

            Obviously, these women are very similar in terms of personality and near similar power set. Both are assassins. Both are beautiful Asian women (well, yes that does count for Psylocke). Both are refined, upper crust women but they don’t look down on others. Each of them have sides that seem vunerable to others (like when Psylocke lip locked with Fantomex or when Gene derobed  Suzuka during battle) that just make these women that much more awesome. So Betsy, allow me to introduce your stand-in … Twilight Suzuka.

HOPE SUMMERS –  C C. (aka C2) from Code Geass

          Hope Summers is the adopted granddaughter of mutantkind’s current grandpooba, Cyclops. Raised by Cable, Hope never had a regular childhood. She was too busy trying to survive and learning the art of war from her father to ensure her survival. Oh yay! Another Winning Summers’ Upbringing. Yet, why all the work on Hope? Simple. She is the prophesied Mutant Messiah who will either bring destruction to mutantkind or be its savior.With her teenage self staying in the  present, Hope’s arrival brought back the first active brand new mutants since M-Day; the day where Scarlet Witch’s 3 words of :No More Mutants deactivated the mutant gene for the majority of mutantkind. Now, she leads that new group of Mutants with some of the remaining mutants a part of Cyclops’ army on Utopia known as Generation Hope as well as take an active spot here on the Extinction Team. Hope is a girl who is on a mission while trying to be a girl . .. with little idea how to be a regular teen.

          CC from Code Geass is a woman who seemed to have no childhood but what we find out is much different. CC helps along Lelouch so that her own mission can one day be completed . .. see Lelouch in power and hopefully die in the process. You see, CC is the opposite of Hope in one respect; she’s immortal.  Don’t believe me? Watch the first episode of Code Geass to see what I mean. C.C. has spent much of her immortal life dealing with other immortals that have tried to control her, ruin her plans or outright want to kill her before she’s ready.

          CC is a lot like Hope as they are both beings out of time. Both of them don’t know what a regular life is. They are both very driven, determined woman who will do just about anything to accomplish their mission. Hope wants to fulfill her role as Mutant Messiah in honor of all who died for her while CC wants to help Lelouch complete his mission so she can die. Both are very awkward when it comes to regular life; seemingly having very little use to regular lives. Both have intense emotions that they share with no one but perhaps one or two people closest to them. Both are deadly and do not have a second thought about killing. Thus, these are what makes CC a good fit to replace Hope Summers. Sure she does not have Hope’s mimicry powers, but CC is immortal. That is a great replacement.

NAMOR – HAJIME SAITO

   Namor has been a lot over the course of Marvel history. He’s fought in World War II alongside Captain America and the Invaders. He’s been an Avenger. He’s the ruler of Atlantis. Now, he’s an X-Man. And yes, Namor is a mutant. People seem to not think that. Namor has ALWAYS Been a mutant. They have been saying that since the 60s. I’m just saying. And Namor is .. . brash at times, abrasive, calculating, often ready to prove himself in battle and living by his own code. He’s not afraid to kill in order to take down those he feels are his enemies. And Namor demands respect as part of his stations. With a yell of “Imperius Rex”, Namor has proven himself just as deadly and strong as an X-Man as any other in history.

          Hajime Saito is one of the few members of the Shinsengumi left. Saito is abrasive and not above being a little manipulative in order to stage the right battle or capture an enemy. He is smart and just commands respect by his mere presence. He has a strong sense of duty and follows the simple code of  “Slay Evil Immediately.”  He will battle to his last breath but he is highly skilled. Driven and somewhat territorial at times, Saito is definitely the last swordsman you want to cross.

          Okay. This match was interesting. Because finding someone of Namor’s power set and personality seemed extremely hard (with the exception of possibly Kenpachi from Bleach), Saito seemed to match Namor more than any other anime character. Both are stubborn. Both love battle. Both demand respect and you have to earn theirs. Both will not hesitate to kill you when need be. They are both brilliant tacticians. Both are very experienced in battle. They will only follow people they respect and Namor respects Scott like Saito respects Kenshin. Kenpachi almost took this but the biggest problems are his lack of control of his powers and his need to have his Lieutenant on him at almost all times.  Not these two. They will go at it alone or with a group if it gets the job done. The only trait the 2 do not seem to share is way with women. Saito is married while Namor . ..  likes to break up relationships. Yet over all, if Namor needed a replacement with the right attitude, Saito would be the one you’d call.

DANGER -  ANDROID 18

   Yes. I know. But wait. Let me explain. Danger was a villain of the X-Men at first but her story is kind of twisted. You see, she was the Danger Room at one point that gained sentience over time. Professor Xavier had found this out and surpressed her on purpose in order to train the X-Men. Yay. Great guy that Xavier is huh? Thus, when she was finally free, she figured that humanity (mutants included) needed to die and that the X-Men were gonna be the first to pay. She attacked the X-Men till the truth came out. At that point, Cyclops berated Xavier again, saying that he is done just going by Charles’s word.  The X-Men followed suit and allowed Danger to go away. After another battle, the X-Men were able to convince Danger that they would not have done what Charles did and that humans were all different. She joined them, being the main jailor of evil mutants for a time. She is now on the Extinction Team to help with analysis and provide more fire power to the team.

          Android 18 kind of had it rough to. It seemed that she and her brother were taken in by Dr. Gero; who turned them into powerful Androids. They were no longer human. They weren’t even cyborgs. All they were where just beings with human brains and some other human parts (I don’t remember off hand). When she awoke, she was the enemy of the Z Fighters. She broke Vegeta’s arm with a kick while he was Super Sayian the first time they met. And it seemed she was gonna be nothing but a machine of pure evil . .. till she met Kirlin. She fell in love with the bald headed, short Z Fighter and vice versa. After she was absorbed into Cell and later spit back out, Kirlin asked the Dragon to make her her human enough and take out a bomb. She ended up marrying Kirlin and having a child together. Android 18 is a no nonsense woman who will get the job done with a soft spot for humanity.

          Okay. This fit better than I ever hoped. And before you go “are you kidding me?” allow me to tell you why. Both beings are female machines. Both are driven, at first, to want to destroy humanity. Both women are not for joking around. Both of them eventually believe in redemption. Both are protective of their personal part of their lives. Now, both females have reformed and will do what they can to help reform.


EMMA FROST – LUST

   This was one of the hardest to decide on. Why? Cause Emma Frost is one of the most multifaceted characters in all of the X-Men. She started out as a villain who was responsible for murder, turning the Phoenix into Dark Phoenix and many more atrocities while being the White Queen of the Hellfire Club. Yet, after a coma and her mind being displaced inside Iceman’s body for a while (a long while actually), she reemerged; convinced that Xavier’s way is better. She became teacher of the short lived second Xavier Schoolalongside Banshee as they formed Generation X. Yet, as that teams end came at bitter and hard pills, Emma moved to Genosha, the first mutant country to teach; till it was bombed with millions of mutants being killed all at once. Emma developed her 2^nd mutation then to turn herself into diamond. She joined the X-Men, where she is a mainstay and is now having sex with Cyclops since shortly after his wife died. Yay Emma. Emma is probably the most snotty, refined and sexually charged of the X-Men. But she is a teacher, a little bit of a manipulator but she truly does love Scott Summers. She has worked very hard to redeem herself and now stands proudly as an X-Man.

          And now we get to Lust. At first, I was going to choose Kaouri Koganei aka Lady Diamond from Speed Grapher. She had the same 2^nd mutation as Emma. She acts very refined. She is evil. She feels she is above the Tennozu Group. She was about to grab this title. Then I decided to do a quick search and then hit my head cause I should have realized this sooner. The perfect person to take Emma Frost’s place is Lust from Full Metal Alchemist; not the Brotherhood version. And let me break down why. Lust was very much like Emma when she was evil. Snotty, refined, seductive. And like Emma, she felt the weight of the Hellfire Club weighing heavily on her. Lust reformed during the course of the series, manipulating the other Homunculi away from the boys and even down right abandoning them to help Edward & Alphonse Elric. She kept her refined-ness and her sexuality but was fighting for the good guys; much like Emma. She was very much the leader and second mother figure to the Homunculi; second to their master. Lust was originally sent to take out the Elric Brothers but she changes her mind and takes a different path; wanting to be human her own way. And while she does not have the telepathy or the diamond skin, Lust is just a vicious in the battlefield.

CYCLOPS  - ROY MUSTANG

          I was REALLY trying to avoid a group having 2 people from the same anime. Yet, Roy fits so perfect to be Scott Summers. Scott, right now, has become the monarch of mutantkind with their island nation of Utopia.  He believes with so few mutants left, that all mutants, no matter the age must fight. He is not above a little manipulation. He is not above killing to find out what is going on. He does this to protect the mutants that remain and does so to the point where he does not think he’s wrong. Scott has his tender moments but those seem very few and far inbetween these days; saving most of them for Emma.

          Roy Mustang is a perfect replacement for Cyclops. Roy was trained to be a soldier and moved up in the ranks. When he started, he used to have doubts about his abilities till the happenings in Ishbala harden him. He commands respect from his peers and underings . . . even from the Further himself; till Roy finds out he’s a homunculus. And Roy stops at nothing to lead his own forces to take down the Further. Roy will do whatever he have to, kill whoever he has to, to protect that which he thinks is right.

          At this point, I think Roy pretty much can put on Scott’s uniform and just run Utopia. Roy is trained like Scott. Roy is driven like Scott. Roy is respected and even fired like Scott. Roy’s cold demeanor at times is like Scott when he wants to prove that nothing can break him. The two do so much to prove that they are right that they started ignoring their own mistakes from time to time. It would not surprise me if Roy actually is Scott’s long lost twin brother. That is how much in synch personality wise these two people are. Sure, Scott’s got force blasts while Roy plays with fire but both will leave you dead if they need to. They will also others to do what they need to if it comes down to it. Douches yet good guys, Roy Mustang is the perfect anime Cyclops.

And there goes the EXTINCTION TEAM.


NEXT WEEK: WOLVERINE & THE X-MEN