The Brotherhood of Mutants (originally known as the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants) is a fictional group of mutants appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The Brotherhood are among the chief adversaries of the X-Men. While the group's roster and ideology have varied from incarnation to incarnation, most versions of the Brotherhood are generally founded and led by the mutant Magneto as a supervillain team or mutant supremacy organization that uses extreme methods to fight human prejudice.
Unlike the X-Men, who believe that humans and mutants can coexist peacefully, the Brotherhood's members generally view humanity as an inferior, close-minded species that will never accept mutants out of fear of their powers. Among the mutants who are frequently depicted as members of the Brotherhood are Mystique, Sabretooth, Toad, Blob, Pyro, Mastermind, Avalanche, Quicksilver, and Scarlet Witch.
The original Brotherhood of Mutants was depicted as Magneto's primary allies in his early battles with the X-Men in comics published in the 1960s. This Brotherhood was ultimately disbanded, with Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch going on to become members of the Avengers. In 1981, the Brotherhood of Mutants was revived under the leadership of Mystique, while the group's most visible incarnation during the early 1990s was led by Toad.
Outside of comics, the Brotherhood of Mutants has appeared in several animated series and video games featuring the X-Men, as well as the X-Men film series.
Publication history The original Brotherhood of Mutants was created by writer Stan Lee and artist/co-writer Jack Kirby and first appeared in X-Men #4 (March 1964).
Ideology While later incarnations of the Brotherhood promoted the group's existence as a political and ideological rival to Professor Charles Xavier's dream of peace with humans, the group was originally conceived as simply a small, but powerful army of minions gathered by Magneto to aid in his schemes for world domination. But since the group's second incarnation, the group has become a much more politically motivated group designed for use of violence to provide justice and lead a 'mutant revolution' against mankind.
One of the greater ironies of the group has been its use of "Evil" in its name. When his decision to name the group was brought up in an interview, Stan Lee simply said "We were kind of corny in those days." Since the early 1990s, writers have attempted to explain this away by having Toad describe it as irony, based upon the perceived notion that all mutants are "evil." Later writers have opted instead to simply drop "Evil" from the group's name and refer to the group as "The Brotherhood of Mutants" or simply the Brotherhood. In the alternate continuity of Earth X, Uatu explains that Magneto chose the name so that, as the opposing side, Professor X would be forced to assume the role of "Good," and that Magneto believed that by locking Professor X into absolutes of morality, he could manipulate him.
Many of the group's members have been shown to be past victims of anti-mutant prejudice, which has made the group a haven for many mutants who feel they are outcasts and pariahs. While many of these outcast mutants have willingly embraced the violent aspects of the Brotherhood's ideology, several have ultimately rejected it and left the group because of it. Most notably, Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch left the group due to their disillusionment with Magneto's ideology to join the Avengers, a group of heroes dedicated to protecting the world as opposed to ruling it.
Fictional team history Magneto's Brotherhood The original leader of the team was Magneto, a mutant with the ability to control magnetic fields. It would later be revealed that Magneto was a survivor of the Holocaust, which left him distrusting of humanity. The other members of the original team were Quicksilver, who can move and think at superhuman speeds; his twin sister, the Scarlet Witch, who has the power to affect probability; Toad, a sniveling villain with incredible jumping abilities; and Mastermind, who can create illusions affecting all senses. Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch had joined after Magneto saved Scarlet Witch from a mob who believed she was a witch after she accidentally made a house burst into flame. She joined to repay the debt, and Quicksilver joined to keep her safe.X-Men #4 (March 1964)
Magneto and Toad are captured by the Stranger, who they initially believe to be a mutant before learning that he is an alien. Mastermind is turned to a block of solid matter by the Stranger. Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch leave the team and later join the Avengers. Later, back on Earth, Magneto reorganized the team three times, including such mutants as Blob and Unus the Untouchable, as well as Lorelei, and creating a team that was later alternately called Mutant Force and the Resistants.The Defenders #15–16 (September - October 1974)
After Magneto abandons the Brotherhood, the remaining members work with Vanisher as part of a plot to get revenge on the X-Men, but are beaten by the Champions. After this defeat, the Brotherhood is disbanded and its remaining members are imprisoned.The Champions #17 (January 1978)
Mystique's Brotherhood Mystique organizes her own Brotherhood of Mutants with Pyro, Blob, Avalanche, Destiny, and Rogue.The Avengers Annual #10 (October 1981)X-Men #141 (January 1981) The Brotherhood's members (minus Rogue, who defects to the X-Men) later join the government-sponsored team Freedom Force.Uncanny X-Men #199 (November 1985) As Freedom Force, their membership briefly includes Spiral and Spider-Woman, and later includes Super Sabre, Crimson Commando, and Stonewall. The Brotherhood disbands after Destiny, Super Sabre, and Stonewall are killed in action, Mystique fakes her death, Crimson Commando is crippled, and Blob and Pyro were abandoned on a mission in Iraq.
Toad's Brotherhood Toad also organizes a Brotherhood of Mutants of his own at one point, including Blob and Pyro; Phantazia, a mutant who can disrupt electronics and superhuman powers; and Sauron. Toad's Brotherhood is concerned mostly with hatching revenge schemes against the X-teams, but has also fought X-Force, X-Factor, Darkhawk, Spider-Man, and Sleepwalker.X-Force #6 (January 1992)
Havok's Brotherhood After being captured and subjected to intensive brainwashing by Dark Beast, Havok forms a short-lived Brotherhood of Mutants with Dark Beast, Fatale, Aurora, Random, Ever, and X-Man. incarnation was the first Brotherhood to omit the "Evil" from its name.Uncanny X-Men #339 (December 1996) It is later revealed that Havok formed the team as part of a sting operation to uncover Dark Beast's experimentation; the group falls apart as a result.X-Factor #143–144 (March - April 1998)
Professor X's Brotherhood The following incarnation includes new members Mimic and Post as well as Blob and Toad. They free Charles Xavier from prison and helped the X-Men against the animated Cerebro, who had created a team of fake X-Men.Uncanny X-Men #363 (January 1999) They later cooperate with Mystique in an attempt to capture Machine Man. The team disbands shortly afterwards.
During this time period, it was revealed that Astra was a member of the original Brotherhood, providing Magneto with the technology used to create Asteroid M and locating potential recruits, including Nightcrawler. Though she was in love with Magneto, he did not love her. This rejection led to her quitting the team and served as the motivation behind her creation of Joseph, a clone of Magneto.
Mystique's Second Brotherhood During the threat of the Legacy Virus, Mystique organized another Brotherhood, drawing members from nearly every incarnation like Avalanche, Blob, Toad, and PostX-Men #106 (August 1977) and adding SabretoothUncanny X-Men #388 (January 2001) and Martinique Jason to the lineup. A training session also showed a new Super Sabre and Crimson Commando, but they were not included on the mission. This Brotherhood attempts to kill Robert Kelly, but are thwarted by Pyro, who dies shortly afterward from the Legacy Virus.Cable #87 (January 2001)
The Brotherhood The series The Brotherhood features a large group of mutant terrorists, unrelated to any other version of the Brotherhood. The group was founded by the mutants Hoffman, Orwell and Marshal, but Marshal leaves the group and becomes a government agent. Hoffman hides his identity under the alias "X". Marshal is ordered to take down the Brotherhood, but actually intends to kill Hoffman and become the new "X". This series is cancelled after nine issues, at which point all members had either been killed in the power struggle between Hoffman and Marshal or by X-Force (later renamed X-Statix).The Brotherhood at the Appendix to the Handbook of the Marvel Universe
Mystique's Third Brotherhood The next incarnation of the Brotherhood is led by Mystique again and includes Avalanche, Blob, Mastermind, and new member Fever Pitch.Uncanny X-Men #401 (February 2002) This Brotherhood had infiltrated the X-Corps and took over the group, before it is defeated by the X-Men and Mystique is sucked into another dimension by Abyss. Following her being rescued from her former lover's realm, Mystique becomes a reluctant agent of Professor X, doing black ops missions for him.
Xorn's Brotherhood Another Brotherhood is formed by former X-Man Xorn, who had been posing as Magneto. His Brotherhood were his former students Beak, Angel Salvadore, Martha Johansson, Basilisk, Ernst, Esme Cuckoo, and Toad.New X-Men #146 (November 2003) Most of the members rebel against Xorn after he accidentally kills Basilisk and his insanity becomes too obvious to ignore.
Exodus' Brotherhood In the "Heroes and Villains" arc that concluded Chuck Austen's run on X-Men, a new version of the Brotherhood is introduced. The team was led by Exodus, who had once been Magneto's herald, and includes Avalanche, Sabretooth (who had simply been hired by Exodus), and new members Black Tom Cassidy, Mammomax, Nocturne (who was revealed to be spying on the team), and Juggernaut (who was later revealed to be a mole).X-Men (vol. 2) #161 (November 2004) After Black Tom kills Juggernaut's friend Squid-Boy, Juggernaut lashes out and tries to destroy the Brotherhood. After knocking Juggernaut and several other Brotherhood members unconscious, Exodus leads his team to the Xavier Institute to claim revenge for the apparent death of Magneto. The entire team is defeated by Xorn, who sucks them into the "black hole" within his head. The Brotherhood sells Nocturne and Juggernaut to Mojo to escape.Uncanny X-Men #460–461 (August 2005)
Sunspot's Brotherhood In Young X-Men, Donald Pierce, in disguise as Cyclops, deceives several X-Men in training into attacking what he dubs a new incarnation of the Brotherhood, which consists of Cannonball, Danielle Moonstar and Magma, all under the leadership of Sunspot.Young X-Men #2 (July 2008) However, this was just a manipulative ruse, and these four New Mutants were neither a team at the time nor conducting villainous activity.
Red Queen's Sisterhood An all-female incarnation called the Sisterhood was formed by the "Red Queen"—revealed to be Madelyne Pryor—who recruited Martinique Jason,Uncanny X-Men #499 (August 2008) Lady Mastermind, Chimera,Uncanny X-Men #503 (December 2008) Spiral, and Lady Deathstrike.Uncanny X-Men #504 (January 2009) The Sisterhood captures and brainwashes Psylocke, making her a member as well.Uncanny X-Men #508 (June 2009)Uncanny X-Men #509 (June 2009) The Red Queen is later lured into a trap set by Cyclops and defeated. Psylocke breaks free from her brainwashing and rejoins the X-Men, while the other Sisterhood members escape.Uncanny X-Men #511 (August 2009)
Joseph's Brotherhood