X-Men: Cyclops

This now is the fifth entry into the X-Men related articles that I have been working on and it delves into the field leader nicknamed Cyclops. His real name however is Scott Summers and he has one of the more devastating powers of the X-Men. Cyclops is able to shoot a ruby colored concussive force out of his eyes. The optic blast that emits from his eyes when opened or when he adjusts the slit on his special visor that controls the size of the blast packs a powerful punch but came at a horrible expense. His special visor is laced with a powered red quartz crystal that prevents any random discharge of his optic blast. While often delegated to being the field leader of the X-Men and in a sense an extension of Professor Xavier, whenever Xaiver is gone he is frequently looked at to be the one to lead all of those in his school. It is a tough job, but he does an exceptional job of it.

Scott Summers was the first son of Major Christopher Summers who was a test pilot for the U.S. Air Force and Katherine Summers. The Summers family was flying home in a private jet piloted by Christopher when they were suddenly attacked by a spaceship from the interstellar Shi'ar Empire. In order to save her children, Katherine gave the only available parachute to Scott and his younger brother Alex and then proceeded to push them out of the airplane to avoid certain death. Upon landing, Scott suffered a brain injury that took away his ability to control his mutation. With his parents presumed dead following the tragedy, the authorities decided it was best to separate Scott from his younger brother Alex. Scott remained comatose in a hospital for a full year and when he finally recovered he was placed in an orphanage in Omaha, Nebraska. In the orphanage he was often subject to all kinds of tests by the owner, Mr. Milbury, which turned out to be an alias of Scott's future nemesis Mr. Sinister. As it would later turn out, Scott's head injury was caused largely to the fact that when parachuting to safety the parachute caught on fire. It is insinuated that Scott's inability to control his mutation that caused the parachute to catch on fire and that his brain damage also allowed him to block out some painful memories of his upbringing. With the help of Emma Frost, he was then able to break his mental block briefly and control his own powers. However, he would later reveal that his control was waning and seemed temporary.

Now a teenager, Scott find himself in the care of one Jack Winters who turned out to actually be a criminal. After suffering from headaches frequently, he visited a specialist on the matter that discovered lenses made of ruby quartz corrected the problem. Shortly after, his power erupted out from his eyes and let out a powerful optic blast that forced a crane to begin to fall on to a group of people. Seeing what he had done, he didn't even hesitate to take action to make sure no one got hurt as he fired another blast that destroyed the crane. The people that were once in danger did not thank him, they believed that he was initially out to kill them. The angry mob gave chase and Scott fled via a freight train. Winters thought to use Scott's power for crime, but Scott continuously refused and would later be subjected to repeated beatings. Scott's power drew the interest of Professor Charles Xavier who teamed up with an F.B.I. agent by the name of Fred Duncan in order to find Scott. Scott would then escape the clutches of John Winter with the help of Xavier. Xavier proceeded by offering him a spot on a team with one goal in mind of human and mutantkind alike to like happily. Scott accepted and became the first X-Men while being nicknamed Cyclops.

As a member of the X-Men he quickly was anointed the field leader due to his proficiency in battle strategy. In his first battle against Magneto and the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, he battled the Blob. Shortly after the mission he and Jean Grey begin to notice each other in a romantic light, however for a long time he refuses to admit that he could be in a traditional relationship due to his power. He was constantly afraid that he may lose control at the expense of himself or worse, Jean Grey. Despite their attraction to each other, Cyclops never makes a move and is often believed to be outmatched by the likes of Warren Worthington (Angel), another member of the original X-Men. Unbeknownst to him, Jean also has a crush on him, but is too shy to admit to it. Finally, the two give in to their attraction of their teammate Bobby Drake (Iceman)'s 18th birthday. The two, of course, end up marrying one another.

On the X-Men's mission to Krakoa, the original X-Men are all kidnapped. However, Cyclops is able to escape and make his way back to Xavier. When Xavier recruits a new group of X-Men, Cyclops takes it upon himself to train the new recruits as it will be up to them to bring back his friends safely. The original X-Men, including Havok (Alex Summers, Cyclops' brother) and Polaris, of course get saved, and a majority of them leave due to the new X-Men's arrival. Cyclops, however, stays as he believes that he will never be able to control his power. Later in his time as an X-Men, he would learn that his parents were in deed alive, being held captive by the Shi'ar Empire. The Shi'ar ended up selling them off, and Christopher would later become a leader of the group named Starjammers. Cyclops was not quick to pick up on this fact, but eventually he did. Luckily, the Starjammers and the X-Men never were exactly enemies either. The Starjammers for the most part would oppose the tyranny of the Shi'ar Empire. After Jean died and was reborn as the Phoenix while on top of all of that dealing with the fact that Corsair, the leader of the Starjammers is his father, Cyclops had a lot on his plate. It became too much and he would later battle Storm for the undisputed leadership of the X-Men. After being defeated by Storm, Cyclops retired from the X-Men. Madelyne Pryor, the clone of Jean that he thought was really Jean, bore him a child named Nathan. Upon realizing he had been with a clone, he leaves Pryor and returns to Jean when he finds her whereabouts.