Mystique

The mutant metamorph, Mystique, shapeshifts her way through her long life and is often called many names: terrorist, thief and mercenary to name a few. No matter what name or visage, Mystique does what’s necessary to protect mutantkind and bring humanity to its knees.

She sometimes sides with the heroic X-Men for the good of all, making her seem more misguided than a true villain. Yet, true to her biology, her nature shifts from one thing to the next, ultimately and often only serving herself.

With powers manifesting at age 12 during a time when Mutants weren’t so common or empowered, the blue-skinned, shape-shifting mutant, later called Mystique, fights to survive. At the turn of the 20th century, while working as private investigator going by the name of Raven Darkhölme, she meets the blind mutant seer Irene Adler, AKA Destiny, who seeks Raven’s aid in deciphering her prophetic diaries. The two become fast friends, and eventually longtime lovers. During their time together, they investigate a number of grisly murders, inspired by Jack the Ripper, and catch the culprit, the immortality-obsessed Dr. Nathaniel Essex, AKA Mister Sinister.

In 1921, Raven meets the amnesiac mutant James Howlett/Logan, AKA Wolverine, and share a brief romance and criminal career.

Decades later, during the Cold War, Raven takes on the identity of German spy Leni Zauber and encounters the feral mutant Victor Creed, AKA Sabretooth, in Berlin. Their ensuing affair results in Raven giving birth to a child she names Graydon Creed, but after he reaches puberty and turns out to be human, she abandons the boy.

Raven later marries German Baron Christian Wagner, trying unsuccessfully to have a child with him. During the same time, she is wooed by the demonic-looking mutant Azazel. Raven falls in love with him and shows him her true form, after which he names her “Mystique”; however, Azazel abandons her after seemingly getting her pregnant (Mystique actually shapeshifts into a man to have a child with Destiny). Suspicious of Raven’s sudden pregnancy, Wagner demands a paternity test, so she kills him to hide the truth. Raven seemingly gives birth (though it was actually Destiny) to a blue mutant son she names Kurt Wagner, AKA Nightcrawler, and reverts to her own true form after losing concentration during the delivery. The townsfolk turn on her and Raven barely survives. She flees and cruelly throws the infant Kurt over a cliff, though Azazel saves him, leaving the child in the care of gypsy Margali Szardos.

But Mystique’s reasons for abandoning her son was a lie, one fabricated by telepath and leader of the X-Men, Charles Xavier, AKA Professor X. Upon Mystique and Destiny’s request, Xavier helps them with their request to avert a future where Azazel would destroy them all unless he was preoccupied with heirs. Though Mystique was hesitant about not remembering that Nightcrawler was her son, so instead, Xavier made it seem like she abandoned him for other reasons.

Sometime later, while living with Irene, Mystique takes in the young runaway mutant Anna Marie, AKA Rogue, and raises the child as her own. Meanwhile, Mystique forms her own version of the terrorist Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, with Destiny. Afterward, the Brotherhood repeatedly face their enemies the X-Men in battle.

Mystique is a mutant metamorph who can psionically shift the cells and tissues of her body so as to change her physical appearance. She can cause herself to look and sound exactly like any human, humanoid, or semi-humanoid being of either sex, wearing virtually any kind of clothing and accessory (even glasses). As such, she almost never wears clothes of her own since she prefers to mimic clothing. Her control is so exact that she can precisely duplicate another person's retina pattern in her own eyes, finger, palm and skin-pore patterns on her own hands and skin, and vocal cords to match voices to the point of deceiving vocal recognition software. She is also able to shift the placement of vital organs in her body to avoid damage from lacerations and punctures (notably gunfire). She has been shown to have a slower aging process, if she ages at all; she is over 100 years old. As a result of exposure to unknown extraterrestrial radiation her abilities enhanced; She now possesses a healing factor (which grants her a great tolerance for toxins), enhanced strength, and augmented shapeshifting powers. She has been shown growing wings (enabling flight), shifting her abdomen to conceal small firearms, growing extra limbs, changing her mass to become a small child and flattening her body (strikingly similar to Mr. Fantastic).

Her natural appearance includes blue skin, red hair and yellow eyes.

Mystique was limited only by her inability to diminish or increase her own mass. As a result, while she could make herself look exactly like a person who was physically bigger than herself, she would not weigh as much as the actual person that she was imitating. Although she could maintain the form of another person of similar height, weight, and build indefinitely (as with her own appearance as Raven Darkholme), the longer she maintained that form, the greater the strain she felt. If she maintained a bigger form for too long a period, the length of which is directly proportional to the difference in size between that form and her normal one, she would collapse and revert to her normal appearance. However recently she has stated that her mass can change when she does, possibly a result of her enhancement.

Mystique also cannot duplicate the powers of the person she imitates: for example, when she turned herself into a duplicate of Nightcrawler, she did not gain his ability to teleport. As of yet Mystique has not demonstrated any ability to adopt the form of non-humanoid beings, animals, plants, or non-living objects, it is conjectured that she cannot imitate any of these without interfering with the proper functioning of her internal organs and possibly causing her death. The truth however, like much regarding Mystique, remains unclear. However, she has on occasion, adapted fins for swimming, and even wings for hang-gliding. She is a good hand to hand combatant and skilled marksman.

Over the centuries, Mystique has become so adapt at imitation that she can usually tell if someone is pretending to be someone else just by their body language. This even goes for psychics.