So how does that work out? Do they just accept it, or does Prof X give them three choices to choose from? What if the name sucks?
Oh, and from my limited Marvel knowledge Cyclops is a bit one-eyed in terms of the ideaology of Prof X’s aims and dreams, so the name is quite fitting.
As I recall, Rabid_Squirrel when Kitty Pryde, aka Shadowcat, first joined the X-Men, the Professor wanted to call her Sprite, but she rejected it. She even experimented with the name Ariel before settling on her “current” code name.
During that time, she also experimented with some costumes that would make a wino look like Gary Cooper, in comparison. But that’s neither here nore there.
Ranchoth
(“Super Duper!”)
Angel seemed rather easy to come up with as well. Same with Iceman!
Nightcrawler’s was given to him while he was in the circus. Rogue’s was given to her either by Mystique, or created by herself. She was a villain for a long time working with Mystique, and due to the nature of her powers, it just fit.
Gambit’s was self given as well. I believe he made some comment a long time back about getting it because “His mamma took one,” but I could just be confusing that with Van Damn’s character “Chance” from Hard Target.
Marrow’s was self given, due to her powers.
Bishop’s as his own. I don’t know if he has another name, but he’s from the future, so perhaps everyone has names like that.
Eh, as you can see, most people have given themselves their own code names. Colossus was given his name by Prof. X, and it fit, but outside of him, Storm, Cyclops, Marvel Girl, and Iceman, everyone else seemed to come up with their own name. There’s one girl who was on the team for a while that could create little forcefields around herself that I think was given a name by Nightcrawler, but she’s no longer on the team. And Shadowcat was originally called Sprite, but she changed it later on.
“… but in the Münich circus, they called me… The Amazing Nightcrawler!” (Which is something I’ve wondered about, because although my knowledge of German is somewhat limited, I’ve never encountered anything in my reading or in my dictionary that indicates German has a word that would translate to Nightcrawler, or have the same punnish meaning. Anyway.)
I believe Rogue’s name is actually Marie. I prefer Rogue.
I wonder why they think they need code names to begin with. Other than being cool. Is it to keep people from going “Steve who shoots lightning bolts or Steve who has three toes?”
I’m not aware if that has even been brought up, but to me, take on a nickname seems like a thing mutants would do to reject their oppressors or to indicate an induction into their new mutant family.
Although you can’t discount the cool factor, either. If I could walk around calling myself Wolverine and expect others to do the same, I sure as hell would.
Not quite. Prof X originally suggested the code name “Ariel” to which Kitty Pryde’s response was “yuck.” Storm suggested “Sprite” and Kitty agreed, warning all assembled that they had best refrain from making any jokes about “pulling her tab.” She switched to Ariel briefly then finally to Shadowcat in, IIRC, the Kitty Pryde and Wolverine mini-series.
Most of the original X-men had families and going around calling themselves by their real names would be a handy tip to their enemies on how to locate their families and take revenge. I believe the names of all of the original X-men with the exception of Cyclops are now known to the general public, which is something that always annoyed me about the original premise behind X-Factor, which was the original X-men pretending to be mutant hunters bankrolled by Warren Worthington III, which should have raised the immediate question of why a known mutant like Worthington was bankrolling mutant hunters.
I think the code-name, in addition to the “secret identity” aspect, is also a sort of “team bonding” thing. Military pilots give everybody in their squadrons cool code-names, too. It creates a sense of unity.
Wandering off topic… it occurs to me that the distinctive costumes are useful for instant recognition in emergencies. Since all members of your team have drastically different abilities, it’s handy to be able to tell at a glance who’s who.
I think you have to see it from the writer’s perspective for it to make more sense. A team full of heroes called Scott, Bobby, Jean and Hank doesn’t sound like a superhero book, it sounds like Archie. First came the codenames, then came the explanations, because hey, the codenames are cool, and the explanations aren’t really necessary. You have to remember it’s a comic book and it’s written primarily for preteens (or, at least in those days it was).
Still, the rational argument that they’re a covert team of mutants with secret identies works fine. Some, like Hank McCoy, the Beast, are hard not to spot in the real world and have no problem in not holding on to the secret. Nightcrawler uses a device to mask his appearance in public.
And Vlad, there was a short point in which the costumes were all the same uniform. It was a yellow and blue thing somewhere in the #200s. I believe there was also a standard uniform in the very beginning. Just mentioning.
Well, he started growing wings as he was going to a very upper class boarding school. One day, there was a… I’m going to say fire, and he realized he could save people/stop the fire if he flew. Grabbing a angel costume from the christmas play, he flew to the rescue.
Angel actually has had a brief solo career now and again as The Avenging Angel, with a sleep gas gun.