The X-Men are a fictional team of superheroes that appears in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The X-Men were created by writer Stan Lee and artist
Jack Kirby, and were first published in 1963. They are among Marvel Comics' most popular and lucrative intellectual properties, appearing in numerous books, television shows, films, and video games.
The X-Men are "
mutants": humans born with superhuman abilities. They fight to keep the peace between normal humans and mutants in a world where anti-mutant bigotry is widespread. The X-Men are also famous for their frequent encounters with their archenemy Magneto, the Brotherhood of
Mutants, the mutant exterminating Sentinels, Mister Sinister, Apocalypse and the Hellfire Club.
The X-Men exist in the Marvel Universe with other characters portrayed in Marvel Comics series. As such, it is unsurprising that they often meet characters from other series, and the global nature of the mutant concept means the scale of stories can be highly varied.
The X-Men fight everything ranging from mutant thieves to galactic threats. Historically,
the X-Men have been based in the Xavier Institute, near Salem Center, in north-east Westchester County, NY, and are often depicted as a family. The X-Mansion is often depicted with three floors and two underground levels. To the outside world, it had acted as a higher learning institute until the 2000s, when Xavier was publicly exposed as a mutant at which point it became a full mutant boarding school. Xavier funds a corporation aimed at reaching
mutants worldwide, though it ceased to exist following the "
Decimation."
The X-Men benefit greatly from state-of-the-art technology. For example, Xavier is depicted tracking down mutants with a device called
Cerebro which amplifies his powers; the X-Men train within the Danger Room, first depicted as a room full of weapons and booby traps, now as generating holographic simulations; and the X-Men travel in their widely recognized and iconic
Blackbird jet.
