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X-Men: Evolution/Headscratchers: Difference between revisions
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== Why does ''no one'' call out Xavier or any of the other faculty for creating a private paramilitary group with '''''underage teenagers?''''' ==
Seriously, their training in the Danger Room goes far beyond anything that could be plausibly labeled "self-defense." In episode 3 the students are given an intensive demonstration of potential flaws in advanced security systems. Episode 7 shows them training for covert search and rescue operations. Episode 8 has Wolverine and Cyclops running what is explicitly called a "field battle training sim."
Use of child soldiers is something you'd expect from the villains of the piece, and we do see that here with Brotherhood boys. The main difference is that Xavier takes the time to actually train his recruits so... yay, his private army will have fewer causalities when he sends it out on field missions?
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*** Consider who he's training them to fight: Magneto. The kind of guy who would have complex security systems, guards (mutant ones), and so forth. Not to mention potential government imprisonment, which happened, and the myriad other covert agencies which want mutants for their own purposes. In a normal world, it'd be excessive. In Marvel's world, it's your average Tuesday.
*** But on what authority does he unilaterally declare himself and his handpicked team to be humanity's protectors and law-enforcers? They may not be perfect, but there are ''reasons'' why every functional government on Earth maintains a state police force and national army. It's the same reason vigilante justice is outlawed and laws of war are agreed to. State-sponsorship ensures at least some accountability to the community and standards of behavior. Compare any even semi-functional country with an anarchic state like Somalia and this will be one of the most fundamental areas of difference.<br /><br />And at any rate, most of those problems occurred because of too much secrecy, not just human prejudice. They were taken into custody by the military because they had just trashed a city battling a giant robot, and no one in the government seemed to have any clue that they were even human. Of course they were assumed to be a threat. Especially when they wouldn't cooperate even after officials gambled and broke them out of the green resin. Once mutants became public knowledge, they may have been generally feared, but they were afforded all the same state protections enjoyed by any other citizen. Duncan and his thugs were arrested for attacking the Morlocks, and even if Kelly had managed to get the kids thrown out of school, it's doubtful it would have withstood a court challenge on even cursory grounds. The same reasoning holds for the various covert agencies they had to deal with. The Weapon-X program was only able to proceed as far as it did because of the almost complete vacuum in which decisions were made. If the general public had known of the program, could they have managed even a tenth of the atrocities? HYDRA's a terrorist organization, and thus already targeted by law-enforcement. Knowing about mutants would give even local law-enforcement agencies a better understanding of possible motivations and suspects, thus making their job easier and increasing the safety of citizens.<br /><br />As for Magneto specifically, he's just a terrorist without HYDRA's massive organization behind him. So again, on what basis does Xavier and his team have the right to abrogate unto themselves the law-enforcement powers of the state, without the state's sanction? This is precisely what Magneto is doing in trying protect mutants from the perceived threat humans pose. Xavier may claim to wish to protect average humans as well, but he clearly doesn't respect them enough to follow the same laws everyone else is expected to. Magneto isn't a god, and as seen in the X-Men movies can be dealt with even by powerless humans - ''If'' they are given information on what they're dealing with.
*** For starters, the military wouldn't exactly be much use against, say, Juggernaut. He stomped them in the third season. Magneto, too, would be too much to handle, at least until they got their act together. Really, there are a large number of mutants that normal human armies would really have no ability to handle. It's easy to prepare for a specific threat. Trying to prepare for hundreds of conceivable powers doesn't pan out so well. That's why the X-Men exist: to deal with threats that regular humans simply can't. Sure, there's no legal basis behind his work, but Xavier isn't the type to let that stop him.<br /><br />Despite the fact that battling a giant robot got them caught, and Magneto engineered it that way, you can't honestly believe it would be all fine and dandy to expose mutants normally. The reaction would be pretty much the same, just with less property damage and (probably) less arrests. You suddenly expose the unknown to people and the reaction will, with almost complete certainty, be mass panic and fear.
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* First, even if a mutant response force is in some way essential to deal specifically with mutant threats, there are still plenty of legally adult and even combat trained mutants to deal with this instead of teenagers. Exhibit 1: Weapon X program. Second, hiding the existence of these uber-dangerous mutants from the army does not help them prepare to deal with the threat they pose. Third, while there would have been problems no matter how mutants were revealed, hiding themselves away and training themselves for an undeclared war only heightened the perception that mutants must be dangerous and up to no good. Why else would they be hiding and training harder than most black op corps? Compare the history of the LGBTQ movement. It's never been easy, and there have been any number of violent setbacks and horrific hate crimes. But we've still come a long way from where were and it was done by openly presenting sexual identities and allowing people to see that no matter what one's orientation was, they were still the same brother/sister/friend/father/mother/teacher/coach/etc... that you always respected and loved. Fourth, why is it acceptable for Xavier to work outside the law, but not someone like Magneto? What is the fundamental difference? Fifth, although simulating 'missions' would make for more entertaining lessons, that's not what Xavier's doing. He is actually training them for these missions to occur in real life, hence the initial complaint about the Danger Room going beyond self-defense.
** You're complaining about someone taking the law in their own hands in a superhero show? What gives [[Batman|Bruce Wayne]], [[Iron Man|Tony Stark]], [[Superman|Clark Kent]], [[Spider-Man|Peter Parker]] or any other super-powered yahoo the right to do what they do. To answer each of your points
*** The Weapon X program was a highly immoral and likely illegal vivisection program, that didn't seem to achieve much. Their only successful creations where Wolverine (who went rogue) and Sabretooth (who also went rogue and was psychotic to boot). The only other manufactured superhumans we see are Captain America and X-23. The experiment that produced Cap was flawed, hence his cryogenic suspension, and X-23 was the product of a far worse child-warfare program than anything Xavier did. The army seemed hopelessly outmatched against the X-Men (who were trying [[Technical Pacifist|not to hurt them]]) while the Brotherhood would have likely massacred them.
*** Before mutants where even publicly known to exist, Sentinel's where in development- the means to defend against mutants where therefore available, and Xavier was shown to be justified in his fear that humans would attempt to destroy mutants if they knew they existed- someone had to be there to defend mutants in case of such eventualities.
*** LBGT people generally can't demolish a mountain range by looking at it. The training was designed to help them control their abilities when the time came for them to act as ambassadors for mutant-kind. Indeed, in the episodes following their outing, the X-men frequently show restraint in not using their powers (such as when they are attacked by the Brotherhood, and instead rely on the [[Badass Normal|commando training]] Xavier gave them. More importantly, they act as ambassadors for mutant-kind by attending school, and (in Scott and Jean's case) graduating with full honours. Also Hank and Ororo gate-crash congress to argue for mutant-rights. Basically, the secrecy was so that Xavier had time to prepare them to deal with negative human reactions- note how Scott talks Logan down from directly engaging the military.
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== In "Mutant Crush", it's okay for the X-Men to use their powers, but everyone else gets a lecture. ==
When Jean and Fred (Blob) are talking, Jean demonstrates her powers to smash a chair. When Fred exclaims with delight "Wow, you could really pound someone with that!", Jean immediately jumps all over him for suggesting such a thing. Even though she just ''smashed a chair''. She couldn't have demonstrated the helpful aspect of telekinesis, by, say, cleaning up a cafeteria that had just been wrecked by a food fight. No, instead, she'll add to the collateral damage, and fuss at anyone else who appears to lack in "responsibility".
* To be fair, Jean destroyed an inanimate object while Fred was suggesting she use the power to hurt an actual person. Now if she threw the chair at someone, that would be double standards.
== Scott fails at logic a lot on this show. ==
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* Inversely, it's the writers that just plain fail, as they couldn't figure out these things themselves, and that the guy who's supposed to be the tactical genius and young field leader for the team would've already thought of some of this himself...
** Or thought up some sort of ruby quartz contacts.
** ... so, you'd suggest he goes out in public [[Red Eyes, Take Warning|with glowing red eyes?]] Which is ignoring the "minor" discomfort and huge risk that putting two pieces of what is essentially glass over his corneas (one punch to the eye and... [[Eye Scream|yeah]]), not to mention the fact that he'd have to somehow jam said pieces of glass into his eyes as they are making a continuous energy blast. I don't see how he could do that without breaking every bone in his hands, destroying the roof/wall, or shooting fireworks into the sky. Heck, even if he could somehow put them on and avoid destruction or injury, how is he going to remove them in the inevitable fight that will break out while he and his friends are out in their civilian identities?
*** The tie-in comic revealed that indeed Scott did just wear the visor all the time when Professor Xavier recruited him. The problem was it didn't do a very good job of hiding the fact that he was a mutant.
*** Cyclops is immune to his own power so his beams don't affect him. This is why he still has eyelids. Also, the glasses CANCEL the beam so there's no force.
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** I thought they just copied the "X" they already had. But besides that, imagine Logan in a dress and you would see why the need of such changes.
*** She's not an exact clone. Remember, the lady scientist (whom X-23 does resemble) stated that she mixed in some of her own genes, too. They wanted Wolverine's powers, but the rest of him was less important. Plus, they wanted to mix in some of their own factors too (her being easily controlled by them, for one). It's possible her being an attractive female was intentional, to increase her power as a weapon.
**** The scientist didn't say she mixed in her own dna, the exact words she said was that they made genetic variations.
**** There is a far more simple answer to this question than you realize. The artist designed X-23's character after his own daughter's appearance, just as he designed Dr. Risman to look like his wife.
* There's more to physical appearance than just genetics. Stuff like diet, environment, and exercise are also just as important. In addition to the obvious gender difference, X-23 presumably had a very different upbringing from Logan, and that equals a very different appearance.
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== Was the tear on Mystique's statue ever explained? ==
I mean, seriously, [[What Happened to the Mouse?]]? Are you supposed to just forget about it, or believe that it was just an extremely coincidental bit of condensation, whether or not they had intended it as a [[
* It's supposedly just extremely coincidental condensation; something for Kurt to see to think she was still alive.
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== Having alternative control-methods over your powers is a bad idea. ==
I don't the full details since it's been long time since I saw this episode, but Havok and Cyclops agreed to join Magnetos experiment which enhanced their powers to the point where they could fully control them in the season one finale. Before that, Cyclops couldn't control his beams at all due to brain damage, and Havok's powers could burst out randomly and hurt him constantly even when not active. The only side effect was that both turned into splitting images of Magneto. (Everyone else turned into an enhanced images of themselves, how does it work?). And then, when Jean finds out, she gives the whole 'I don't know you anymore'-speech. Not because they joined Magneto, but because of the results. She bitched about them finally having control over their powers.
** If I remember correctly, the machine also ''altered their minds'' to make them loyal to Magneto. ''That'' was the problem people had with it, apart from those who were ''already'' loyal to Magneto.
*** Okay, hate to do this twice, but the Ultimate continuity has a likewise situation wherein a drug gives him control over his powers, and even after his druggie splinter group goes toe-to-toe with the clean X-Men, he refuses to give it up. Scott, in both universes, seems to view his lack of control as a disability. So that's the first part. Second, he came out and right off the bat, started spewing Magneto propaganda, at Charles Xavier of all people. It doesn't take Jean long to see that he has been Clockwork Oranged.
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== Why doesn't anyone use Rogue's name? ==
* Maybe in the comics we can get away with not calling Rogue anything but Rogue, but in this show she's in high school. When the teachers are reduced to calling her "the new student", since they can't be expected to use the name Rogue, there's a problem. Depending on the continuity, her real name is Anna-Marie Raven or some variant thereof. In the first film she uses Marie, and I don't see why the cartoons can't as well.
* I assumed that she ''forgot'' her name after absorbing Cody's memories. She specifically shows some lack of knowlege during that episode implying she forgot a considerable amount of information about herself. Considering it was Mystique who enrolled her into the school, its possible she merely bypassed the whole 'name issue' with principal clearence.
** It's also possible that in her official records and information she does go by Anne-Marie or just Marie. It's just that she calls herself Rogue, she answers to Rogue and signs her name as Rogue, and no one thinks to ask just what her real name is.
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== Why does Mystique become one of the Horsemen in Season 4? ==
With Prof. X, Magneto, and Storm it's all understandable as to how they became Horsemen. However, Mystique is clearly shown to be turned completely to stone, which later ''shatters'', so why in the world does she show up as one of the Horsemen?
* Apocalypse, especially in this incarnation, has more powers than you can shake a stick at, including psychic ones. He probably did something along the lines of extracting her consciousness from her body and sticking it in one he cloned.
* Also, if you'll notice, when Scott shot a beam through her in the final fight, her body reforms. I figure that she always had that ability - she just needed the boost from Apocalypse to achieve it.
* Also remember what Mystique was used as: Apocalypse's personal body guard for when he's turning everyone into mutants. Purhaps she wasn't really stuck like that, what if, Apocalypse had turned her into his horsemen then and there, and was having her stay like that until she was lost, in which case he can summon her unnoticed. They showed that they weren't expecting Mystique to be there, emphasis on her taking Kurt and Scott out easily.
== Did nobody at Bayville ever noticed that Toad looked weird before the world knew about mutants? ==
Yes, he was always described as ugly and disgusting, in fact the name Toad was given to him before people knew about his powers, as it fit his toad-like appearence (The Evolution Comic book, which establishes that Mutants were known about all along, but not that the Xavier kids were known, even had a bully guess Toad was a mutant, not cannon, but something).
* Toad can pass for normal. His skin is greener than is normal, among other aspects of his appearance, but not so bad that that people would question his humanity.
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[[Category:Headscratchers]]
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[[Category:X-Men: Evolution]]▼
[[Category:Headscratchers (animation)]]
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