Cyclops (Scott Summers)

Early Years

Scott Summers is the older of the two sons of Major Christopher Summers, a test pilot in the U.S. Air Force, and his wife Katherine. When Scott was a child, his father flew himself, his mother, him and his younger brother, Alex, back from a vacation in his vintage private plane. The plane was attacked and set ablaze by a scout ship from the alien Shi'ar Empire. Katherine pushed Scott and Alex out the plane door with the only available parachute. The parachute was unable to slow their fall sufficiently to prevent Scott from suffering a head injury on landing (the injury damaged the part of Scott's brain that would have enabled him to control his optic blasts).

With their parents presumed dead, the authorities separated the two boys. Alex was adopted, but Scott remained comatose in a hospital for a year. On recovering, he was placed in an orphanage in Omaha, Nebraska that was secretly controlled by his future enemy, the evil geneticist Mr. Sinister.

As a teenager, Scott came into the foster care of Jack Winters, a mutant criminal known as the Jack O'Diamonds. After Scott began to suffer from severe headaches he was sent to a specialist who discovered that lenses made of ruby quartz corrected the problem. Soon after, Scott's mutant power first erupted from his eyes as an uncontrollable blast of optic force. The blast demolished a crane, causing it to drop its payload toward a terrified crowd. Scott saved lives by obliterating the object with another blast, but the bystanders believed that he had tried to kill them and rallied into an angry mob. Scott fled, escaping on a freight train.

Winters sought to use Scott's newfound talent in his crimes, and physically abused the young boy when he initially refused. However, Scott's display of power had attracted the attention of the mutant telepath Professor Charles Xavier, who teamed up with F.B.I. agent Fred Duncan in their mutual attempt to find Scott. Scott was rescued from Winters' clutches and was enlisted by Xavier as the first member of the X-Men, a team of young mutants who trained to use their powers in the fight for human/mutant equality.

X-Men

The First Class

As Cyclops, Scott became deputy leader of the X-Men. While he was a skilled tactician, his social skills were lacking. Scott had fallen in love with his teammate Jean Grey, but his reserved demeanor prevented him from expressing his feelings for her for years. They did eventually confront each other with their feelings though, and became a couple.

When dozens of latent mutant were summoned to San Francisco by Mesmero and, what seemed to be, Magneto (actually a robot duplicate) the X-Men were overpowered by the villains and their mutant army and had no choice but to retreat and leave Lorna Dane behind. Scott created the cover identity of Erik the Red to infiltrate the villain organization and quickly rose to become Magneto’s second in command. The X-Men were able to attack the organization from both outside and within. The organization was destroyed.

When Jean and the other original X-Men left the fold following an encounter with the sentient island-being Krakoa, Cyclops stayed on as deputy leader of a brand new team, though he continued to date Jean. However, the new team was made up of individuals and loners, such as Wolverine, and they weren’t working as tight a unit as the original team, despite the hard training that Cyclops put them through. Thunderbird was killed in the team’s first mission. Thunderbird's death haunted Cyclops.

Shortly thereafter, the cosmic entity known as the Phoenix Force took Jean's place and appearance. Scott believed the Phoenix was Jean, when Jean was actually in suspended animation. The X-Men were transported to the world of the M’Kraan Crystal wher they met Corsair, alias Christopher Summers, Cyclops’ father, who had become a space pirate and leader of the Starjammers. Phoenix and Storm learned of the connection between Corsair and Scott but promised not to tell Scott about it.

After the Phoenix fell under Mastermind and the Hellfire Club's control she transformed into Dark Phoenix and soared through the universe, where she devoured an entire star and the five billion inhabitants of one of its planets. When she returned to Earth, she threatened to kill anyone but Cyclops still tried to reach out to her. Professor Xavier was able to keep Phoenix under control and helped her will herself back to normal.

The Shi'ar had witnessed Dark Phoenix consuming the star and the X-Men were forced to battle with the Imperial Guard over Jean's fate. The battle triggered her transformation into Dark Phoenix once more. She understood that she would never be able to fully control the dark hunger inside and sacrificed herself on moon. When the Phoenix committed suicide, Scott believed the love of his life had died and he left the X-Men.

During his time away from the team, Scott met fishing boat captain Lee Forrester who helped him work through his grief. When Corsair came to Earth, Scott recognized a certain medallion that Corsair was wearing, containing pictures of the Summers family. At first, Scott was very angry at Corsair for keeping the truth from him but Scott came to understand and forgive his father. He then introduced Corsair to his other son, Alex.

Scott eventually returned to the X-Men whereupon he met Madelyne Pryor, a woman who bore an uncanny resemblance to Jean. Unaware that Madelyne was a clone of Jean created by Sinister, Scott fell in love with Madelyne and they were soon married. Madelyne fell pregnant and bore Scott a son named Nathan Christopher Charles Summers.

X-Factor

When the real Jean emerged from suspended animation, Scott left his wife and son and rejoined the other original X-Men in establishing a new team, X-Factor. During a demonic invasion of New York City, X-Factor and the X-Men fought against a super-powered and insane Madelyne. The invasion was thwarted after Madelyne perished in combat with Jean.

Later, the mutant warlord named Apocalypse infected baby Nathan with a techno-organic virus. To save his son's life, Scott had to allow a member of the Clan Askani to transport Nathan two millennia into the future, where it had been foreseen that he would deliver the world from Apocalypse’s clutches.

Returning to the X-Men

X-Factor disbanded soon after, and its members returned to the ranks of the X-Men. Scott and his long-time love Jean were married, and whilst on their honeymoon their spirits were taken into the time-stream by the Clan Askani's matriarch. Arriving in the future, they inhabited new bodies and raised Nathan for twelve years. When they returned to their own time and bodies, Nathan remained in the future and ultimately matured into his time's greatest hero: Cable.

Scott and Jean's Wedding

Following Professor X's arrest for crimes committed as the evil psionic entity Onslaught, Scott assumed the role of leadership of the X-Men once more. Soon after, the government sponsored mutant-hunting operation known as "Zero Tolerance" took effect, and the villainous Bastion captured the X-Men. In his attempt to destroy mutantkind, Bastion placed a nanotech bomb inside Scott’s body. The X-Men escaped, and the mutant doctor named Cecilia Reyes saved Scott’s life. Scott and his wife soon took a leave of absence from the X-Men for a period of recuperation.

Apocalypse

Not long after returning to the team, Scott and Jean soon found themselves embroiled in Apocalypse's bid for cosmic power by assembling "The Twelve" - a group of mutants who would determine the fate of their kind that included Scott, Jean, and Cable. They were wired to a machine that would channel their awesome energies into Apocalypse, allowing him to absorb the body of the time-tossed powerful mutant teenager known as Nate Grey. As his teammates fell around him, a powerless Scott saved X-Man and merged with the would-be conqueror to create a new evil entity. Jean detected Scott's psyche inside Apocalypse and prevented the X-Men from destroying him, however he was presumed dead by most of his teammates. Only Jean and Cable refused to believe Scott had perished.

Investigating rumors he was alive, the pair found him in the birthplace of Apocalypse in Akkaba, Egypt, struggling to reassert his mind over the villain's psyche. Ultimately, Jean was able to physically rip Apocalypse's essence from Scott's body using her mental powers, and Cable destroyed it with his own powers.

Scott left for a small period of recuperation, during which he met and reconciled with his father. Afterwards, Scott returned to the X-Men, but his association with Apocalypse had given him a grimmer, more serious personality than ever before. As a result, many of his relationships became strained, including his marriage to Jean. When Jean began to show signs of the Phoenix Force, Scott only further distanced himself from her. Not sure of how to save his marriage, and worried by the way he now began to view himself, Jean and their marriage, he sought the help of qualified therapist Emma Frost. Emma, once known as the White Queen, was a former villain who had reformed and joined the X-Men. Emma took advantage of this situation to get close to Scott. Under the guise of counseling him, she was able to instigate a telepathic affair.

Emma and Scott

When Phoenix discovered the affair, Cyclops tried to talk to her, showing that he found it hard to equate a psychic affair with a physical one, and tried to defend himself. Enraged, Jean psychically assaulted Emma. She forced Emma not only to admit her true feelings, but to also come to terms with her many failures and sins. Scott, who felt he couldn't get through to his angry and hurt wife, subsequently left the X-Men to mull over what was happening in his life. As he returned the sentient DNA known as John Sublime, had taken control of the original Xorn, who was also wearing the guise of Magneto, attacked the X-Men and killed Jean in the process (although she would later be resurrected by the Phoenix Force).

Due to the telepathic intervention of the Jean of an alternate future, in an attempt to prevent said future from coming to pass, Cyclops and Emma Frost became romantically involved. Initially, several of their teammates were none too happy with this because they felt that Cyclops and Emma were insulting the memory of Jean Grey and the marriage she and Scott once shared. As a result, Wolverine flatly insulted Scott, Beast stated that he no longer liked him, and Rachel changed her last name to Grey.

Following the outing of Professor X as a mutant to the world, his school was rechristened the Xavier Institute of Higher Learning and opened its doors to the mutant population at large, training and educating dozens of young new students to help them cope with their burgeoning abilities. After the death of his wife, Scott assumed the position of co-headmaster of the School alongside his new partner, Emma.

They served as co-headmasters of the Xavier Institute for Higher Learning. Cyclops also tutored a squad at the institute named the Corsairs, named after Cyclops’ father. The team consisted of Dryad (Callie Betto), Quill, Specter (Dallas Gibson), and the three remaining Stepford Cuckoos.

The Need to Astonish

Astonishing Cyclops

Deciding that the X-Men needed to play more of a role in emergency rescue and aid, Cyclops handpicked a team in order to get out into the world more. This team faced an alien named Ord of the Breakworld. The team subdued Ord, but not before learning that one of their own would be responsible for the destruction of Ord's homeworld in the coming year, leaving the X-Men divided.

A mysterious villain attacked and easily defeated several members of the team, including Cyclops and his alternate-reality daughter, Rachel. The two were captured and taken to an undisclosed location, which Cyclops vaguely remembered visiting in the past. Eventually managing to free themselves, Cyclops and Rachel attempted to escape, only to run into their captor (revealed to be named Vulcan), who informed Cyclops that he was his younger brother. A powerless Professor Xavier confirmed this information. This new information has left Cyclops resentful towards his mentor and he so far as to demand that Xavier leave the school as it was no longer "his."

During an impromptu telepathic "therapy session," Emma Frost presented Cyclops with the possibility that his lack of control over his optic blasts actually stemmed from a sort of mental block that the young Scott imposed upon himself after the combined traumas of the loss of his parents, separation from his brother, and shocking manifestation of his powers; this was seen as a coping mechanism, giving Scott something to focus on and try to maintain some sort of control over at a time when events completely out of his control had effectively shattered the life he had led up to that point.

Surprisingly, Scott seemed to admit that this theory was the truth of the matter, further admitting that he had even blocked making this decision out of his memory, to preserve the fallacy in his own mind and prevent others from discovering his "secret". Even though stronger telepaths like Jean Grey and Charles Xavier shared a longer common history with Scott, Emma Frost was able to root this out of his mind when they had not. It can safely be speculated that she was able to do so in part due to her highly refined telepathic skills, and in part due to the fact that she was able to bring Cyclops to a point of shamelessly opening up his true self to her, something Jean and the professor never accomplished.

Scott was apparently in a catatonic state, with his eyes uncovered and displaying their natural shade of brown, with no evidence of his powers manifesting. Apparently Emma was right: a fully recovered Cyclops rose from his catatonic state to shoot Perfection in the back with a pistol.

Cyclops stated when he was in a catatonic state he was still fully conscious and saw the fight between Colossus and Shaw - revealing that Colossus wasn't really fighting anyone but Emma's own disordered mind. He also attempted to help Emma get over her survivor's guilt, speculated by Scott as being the basis for the recent manifestations of the Hellfire Club.

Later, Scott, along with Emma, Colossus, Wolverine, Beast, Shadowcat, Hisako, Ord, and Danger, were taken to deep space by S.W.O.R.D. and Agent Brand. The psychics on the S.W.O.R.D. ship did not detect Cassandra Nova in Emma's shattered psyche, effectively proving Emma's loyalty to the X-Men by her refusal to allow Nova into Hisako. Though emotionally wounded, Emma recovered fast enough to be present for the team's departure to the Breakworld. Separated, Emma, Scott, Beast, and Agent Brand discovered the temple of Attur-Hei ("The Palace of the Corpse.") Joined by teammates Wolverine and Hisako (now titled "Armor"), Emma conceded to Agent Brand's plan of separation. She and Scott left Attur-Hei on a single S.W.O.R.D. armed jet to rendezvous with the rest of the S.W.O.R.D. operatives on the Breakworld.

While flying, several Breakworld fighter jets approached, attempting to knock Emma and Scott out of the air. The couple successfully repelled the Breakworld onslaught, exchanging heated words in the process. Amidst Emma's protestations that Scott was "acting as though [he knew] what [she's] been through," he finally professed his true love for Emma. Stunned, Emma could barely speak, except to utter an apology. Before her reasons behind apologizing were discussed, Scott noticed a blip on their radar. Danger appeared, utterly decimating the S.W.O.R.D. cruiser. Switching to diamond form in the nick of time, Emma was spared, however Scott was injured. Cradling Scott in her arms, Emma shed a tear for the man who truly loved her. Scott was injured, but alive, as it was revealed that Danger's parent programming prevented it from killing any of the X-Men. The X-Men joined on a space vessel after Emma exchanged an as yet unknown favor with Danger to help them, and Cyclops jettisoned on an unarmed shuttle, to draw fire away from the others. He was seemingly left to die in space after his vessel exploded. As he fell out to space Emma felt his mind leaving. His eyes slowly turned red, either due to oxygen deprivation or from the re-manifestation of his optic blasts. His final thoughts before he blacked out were meeting Jean Grey for the first time, and Charles Xavier telling him "What a Future You Have Ahead of You..."

Scott was brought back to life by the Breakworld technology and was questioned by Kruun about the whereabouts of the Leviathan, which he mentioned before dying was the X-Men's "ace in the hole", a secret weapon. Meanwhile, Wolverine and Armor were captured as Emma and the remaining X-Men tried to free Scott. It was then discovered that the Leviathan was a fake and that Wolverine and Armor were told to be captured so the X-Men would have men inside Kruun's palace. Kruun only captured and brought Scott back to life so as to question him about the fake Leviathan. Scott then used his newly regained powers to knock out Kruun and free Wolverine and Armor.

Civil War

Cyclops, along with the other surviving original X-Men, declared neutrality on the subject of Civil War. He reasoned that the X-Men sympathized too much with Captain America's side - who, like the X-Men, were persecuted for wanting to do the right thing - but believed that the mutant race had suffered too great a loss recently to take a side either way due to the recent depowerment of so many mutants. When Bishop left the team to join the Registration supporters and located the escaped 198, Cyclops eventually helped the futuristic X-Man in recovering them. Cyclops also opposed Wolverine's decision to track down Nitro.

Messiah Complex

Cyclops led a team to Alaska to find the new mutant detected by Cerebra. When the team arrived, they found nearly every child in the town killed, dead Marauders and Purifiers, and the baby gone. He sent a team consisting of Wolverine, Nightcrawler, Angel, and Colossus to find former Acolytes for information on the Marauders. He argued with Xavier, who complained about not telling him about his team. Scott remindined Xavier they were not his X-Men anymore and that he could do what he wanted. Scott also called in X-Factor to help with the situation, asking Rictor to infiltrate the Purifiers, and asked Madrox and Layla Miller to go see Forge. Upon discovering that Cable had kidnapped the new born mutant, Cyclops ordered the reforming of X-Force with Wolverine leading the team. Their first mission was to hunt down Cable and retrieve the baby. Cyclops later broke all ties with Professor X and asked him to leave the mansion, as Xavier continued to question Cyclops' judgment. Later on, Cyclops arrived with his own team and X-Factor to help out Wolverine against the Reavers and to capture the baby from Cable. Cable eluded the X-Men.

After finding the Marauders' hideout on Muir Island, Cyclops dispatched X-Force and Bishop to go there and retrieve the baby. During the final battle, Cyclops sent the New X-Men against the Marauders, believing that Sinister's forces would be caught off guard by unfamiliar opponents. The students proved to be effective. Cyclops then confronted Cable demanding the baby. Cable, with a gun pointed at his father, begged Cyclops to let him escape into the future with the baby, however Cable gave the child to Cyclops, after Xavier pointed out that the future of all mutantkind was at stake and Cyclops, as leader of the X-Men, spoke for mutantkind. Cyclops held the baby and, realizing that the child deserved the chance to make its own destiny, gave her back to Cable. Cable teleported to the future just as Bishop fired a round at the child. The shot missed her and hit Xavier in the head. Cyclops struck Bishop with an optic blast, and Cyclops declared the X-Men disbanded.

Powers

Optic Blast: Cyclops possesses the mutant ability to project a powerful beam of concussive, ruby-colored force from his eyes. Cyclops's eyes are no longer the complex organic jelly that utilizes the visible spectrum of light to see the world around it. Instead, they are inter-dimensional apertures between this universe and another, non-Einsteinian universe, where physical laws as we know them do not pertain. This non-Einsteinian universe is filled with particles that resemble photons, yet they interact with this universe's particles by transferring kinetic energy in the form of gravitons (the particle of gravitation). These particles generate great, directional concussive force when they interact with the objects of this universe.

Cyclops's mind has a particular psionic field that is attuned to the forces that maintain the apertures that have taken the place of his eyes. Because his mind's psionic field envelops his body, it automatically shunts the other-dimensional particles back into their point of origin when they collide with his body. Thus, his body is protected from the effects of the particles, and even the thin membrane of his eyelids is sufficient to block the emission of energy. The synthetic ruby quartz crystal used to fashion the lenses of Cyclops's eyeglasses and visor is resonant to his minds' psionic field and is similarly protected.

The width of Cyclops's eye-blast seems to be focused by his mind's psionic field with the same autonomic function that regulated his original eyes' ability to focus. As Cyclops focuses, the size of the aperture changes and thus act as a valve to control the flow of particles and beam's relative power. The height of Cyclops's eye-blast is controlled by his visor's adjustable slit. His narrowest beam, about the diameter of a pencil at a distance of 4 feet has a force of about 2 pounds per square inch. His broadest beam, about 90 feet across at a distance of 50 feet, has a force of about 10 pounds per square inch. His most powerful eye-blast is a beam 4 feet across which, at a distance of 50 feet, has a force of 500 pounds per square inch. The maximum angular measurement of Cyclops's eye-blast is equivalent to a wide-angle 35mm camera lens field of view (90 degrees measured diagonally, or the angle subtended by holding a magazine's pages spread open, upright at 9.5 inches from your eyes). The minimum angular measurement is equivalent to the angle that the thickness of a pencil would subtend at 4 feet (3.5 degrees, about a quarter of an inch viewed at 4 feet). The beam's effective range is about 2,000 feet, at which point a 1-inch beam has spread out to 10 feet square, and then has a pressure of .38 pounds per square inch. Cyclops's maximum force is sufficient to tip over a filled 5,000 gallon tank at a distance of 20 feet, or puncture a 1-inch carbon-steel plate at a distance of 2 feet.

The extra dimensional supply of energy for Cyclops's eye-blast is practically infinite. Thus, so long as Cyclops's psionic field is active (which is constant), there is the potential to emit energy. The only limit to the eye-blast is the mental fatigue of focusing constantly. After about 15 minute of constant usage, the psionic field subsides and allows only a slight leakage of energy to pass through the aperture. Cyclops's metabolism will recover sufficiently for him to continue in about an additional 15 minutes.

The maximum force of Cyclops' optic blasts are unknown, but a commonly given description is that he can "punch holes through mountains", and he has been shown to rupture a half-inch thick carbon steel plate. During a particular battle, Scott says that he hit Cain Marko (a.k.a. the Juggernaut) with enough power to split a small planet in half, though he may have been indulging in hyperbole. In the Age of Apocalypse dimension, his beams can cut through adamantium a previously indestructible metal. In the mainstream continuity of the Marvel Universe, it has also been implied that Cyclops only utilizes a fraction of the energies at his disposal. During the Civil War: X-Men story arc, Cyclops is controlled by another mutant to use his powers at their full magnitude. When directed at the energy-absorbing mutant Bishop, Cyclops was able to overload Bishop's powers in a matter of seconds. When Iron-man measured Cyclops's power whilst he was powering bishop, he found the energy output was well over 2 gigawatts, larger than a large nuclear reactor. It is also stated that Cyclops does not use his powers at such a level due to the preoccupation he has regarding his control (or lack thereof) of his abilities.

Cyclops is seen fighting The Hulk in World War Hulk: X-Men #1 and in issue #2, where he uses a beam blast to stop the Hulk, refusing to let the Hulk take Professor Xavier. While it peels off some of the Hulk's skin, he was able to walk towards Cyclops and clench his entire face, effectively containing the blast.

Spatial Awareness: Cyclops seems to possess an uncanny sense of trigonometry, in this sense used to describe his observation of objects around himself and the angles found between surfaces of these objects. Cyclops has repeatedly demonstrated the ability to cause his optic blasts to ricochet and/or reflect off those objects in a trajectory to his liking. This is commonly called a "banked shot" when applied to this talent. Cyclops has been observed causing beams to reflect from over a dozen surfaces in the course of one blast, and still hit his intended target accurately. It is his sense of superhumanly enhanced spatial awareness that allows him to perform these feats as well.

Energy Resistance: Cyclops is resistant to the effects of his own powers. This is linked to him being capable of withstanding his brother's ability with no ill effects. This is a result of their close genetics, a quirk of mutant genetics that is common among siblings.

Abilities

Expert Pilot: Cyclops is an expert pilot of fixed-wing aircraft, a skill he appears to have inherited from his father. It has also been implied that his trigonometric sense improves his abilities in the air.

Master Strategist and Tactician: Cyclops has spent most of his superhero career as the leader of either the X-Men or X-Factor and has developed exceptional leadership skills. It is notable that regardless of their general attitude towards him, all of the X-Men tend to obey his orders in battle - because they know that he's usually right.

Master Martial Artist: Cyclops also has extensive training in martial arts and unarmed combat, holding black belts in judo and aikido. His level of skill is sufficient to defeat six normal men with his eyes closed and he has in the past held his own against such dangerous enemies as Wolverine and Ghost Rider.

| Strength = Cyclops possesses the strength of a normal human male who engages in intensive regular exercise and hence is able to press lift at least his own body-weight. | Weaknesses = Genetic Flaw: Cyclops is not immune to Vulcan's powers like he is to Havok's.

Former Weaknesses

Power Regulation Disability: Due to psychological trauma and physical injury at a young age Cyclops is unable to control his optic blasts. In connection his eyes have become more reliant on the ruby quartz he uses rather then affecting change to the injury.Emma Frost has recently said the psychological trauma of losing his parents and being separated from his brother are primarily responsible for his inability to control his powers. After overcoming the trauma, he is able to control his blasts and open his eyes. | Equipment =

• Cyclops' Visor: The mask Scott wears to prevent random discharge is lined with powdered ruby quartz crystal. It incorporates two longitudinally mounted flat lenses which can lever inward providing a constantly variable exit slot of 0 inches to .79 inches in height and a constant width of 5.7 inches. The inverted clam-shell mechanism is operated by a twin system of miniature electrical motors. As a safety factor their is a constant positive closing pressure provided by springs. The mask itself is made of high-impact plastic. There is an overriding finger-operated control mechanism on either side of the mask, and normal operation is through a flat micro-switch installed in the thumb of either glove.

  

  Cyclops' Visor

A separate pair of lenses were also designed for Scott to use while sleeping.

Notes

• Due to brain injury, Cyclops is unable to shut off his optic blasts at will and must therefore wear a visor or glasses with ruby quartz lenses that block the beams.
• Mister Sinister claimed that Scott's eyes and brain became too reliant on ruby quartz rather than affecting change to his injury.
• Emma Frost has recently said the psychological trauma of losing his parents and being separated from his brother are primarily responsible for his inability to control his powers.
• Scott frequently listens to the radio.

| Trivia = Scott was very close to his mother in law Elaine Grey who acted as a motherly figure toward him. The two continued to be close even after the death of his wife Jean Grey. Scott was severely upset when Elaine was slain by Black Cloak, a random victim of the extermination of the Grey Genome. | Links =

• Marvel.com profile
• UncannyXmen.net, Spotlight feature on Cyclops
• Marvel Directory
• Scott Summers article at Memory Beta, the licensed Star Trek Wikia.