Phoenix (Jean Grey)

== History ==
: We come into this world alone and we leave the same way. The time we spent in between - time spent alive, sharing, learning together... is all that makes life worth living. 
: -- Jean Grey 
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=== Early Years ===
Jean Grey was the younger daughter of Professor John Grey of the History Department of Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York, and his wife Elaine Grey. When Jean was ten years old she was playing with her best friend, Annie Richardson when Annie was hit by a car.[5] The emotion that Jean felt as she held her dying friend awakened her own latent telepathic powers and she experienced Annie's own emotions as she died. This traumatic event left Jean in a withdrawn and deeply depressed state. Moreover, Jean could not control her newly awakened telepathic abilities and had to isolate herself from other people to hold on to her sanity.
When Jean was eleven, a psychiatrist recommended to her parents that they consult a colleague of his, Professor Charles Xavier, who was secretly a mutant with telepathic abilities of his own. Prof. Xavier explained to Jean, but not to her parents, that she was a mutant and he treated her for several years. The Professor taught Jean how to levitate and manipulate objects through psionic force when she developed telekinesis at the age of thirteen.[6] Xavier even used young Jean to calibrate his Cerebro machine.[7] During one particular session, an aspect of young Jean's mind reached out in the form of a Phoenix flamebird to touch young orphan Scott Summers' mind as he slept.[8] Prof. Xavier erected psychic barriers in Jean's mind so that she would not be able to use her telepathic abilities until she had developed the maturity necessary to deal with them.[5]
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=== X-Men ===
When Prof. Xavier judged that Jean had reached a certain level of mastery of her telekinetic power, he recommended to her parents that they enroll her in his newly established Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters. Unknown to Mr. and Mrs. Grey, this school served as a cover for the X-Men, a team of young superhuman mutants being trained by Prof. Xavier to combat the threats posed by evil mutants who used their powers against humanity. Even though Jean Grey was the first student to enroll, Xavier didn't have her join the school until he had collected four more students. She became the fifth X-Man and the first female to join the team, which also consisted of Cyclops, Iceman, Angel, and Beast. Jean took on the codename Marvel Girl.[9] In the School for Gifted Youngsters, the original X-Men were tutored by Professor X and trained in the use of their powers in the Danger Room. They remained together for several years.
Shortly after she joined the team, Jean fell for Cyclops, aka Scott Summers, but was too shy to make a move. Scott quickly became deputy leader of the X-Men. While he was a skilled tactician, Scott's social skills were lacking. Scott had fallen in love with Jean as well, but his reserved demeanor prevented him from expressing his feelings for her. For a long time, Scott refused to admit, even to himself, that he had feelings for Jean, afraid he would be hurt or that his optic blasts would hurt her - or anyone else he cared about. Scott also felt he was no match for his wealthy teammate, Warren Worthington III, a.k.a. Angel, who was also romantically interested in Jean.
After Jean officially graduated at Xavier’s school, her parents transferred her to Metro College. Scott and the other X-Men were heartbroken. Jean remained a part-time X-Man when time allowed for it, but missed being a superhero full time. Jean was eventually able to return to the team. Jean and Scott revealed their passion for each other and began to date.[10]
Satisfied with Jean's added maturity and her years of practice, Xavier released the psychic barriers preventing Jean from using her telepathic abilities. When Prof. Xavier discovered that in order to thwart an invasion of Earth by the alien Z'Nox he had to seclude himself for an extended period of time in order to make preparations, he had the mutant shapeshifter called the Changeling take his place leading the X-Men, and only Jean was allowed to know the truth. Xavier ordered Jean to keep his secret safe, even after the Changeling was killed in battle, leading the other X-Men to believe their mentor had died.[11]
Without Xavier, the X-Men were ordered to disband by Fred Duncan of the FBI. While Jean started a new modeling job, Jean and Scott battled Quasimodo, under the guise of Computo.[12] The team reunited against Mesmero and a robot Magneto. When the Z'Nox fleet finally reached Earth, Professor Xavier and Jean revealed their deception and were able to repel the invasion.
=== Phoenix Force ===
While on a mission in space with the Fantastic Four to defeat the Z'Nox once and for all, Jean was scanned by the Phoenix Force, one of the oldest known cosmic entities, that would come to play an essential role in Jean's fate. It sensed Jean's unlimited potential while touching her subconscious.
Along with her teammates, Jean was captured by the mutant island Krakoa which led Xavier to recruit a new team of X-Men.[14] Jean and the other original X-Men left the team, with only Cyclops staying on as deputy leader.[15] Jean and Cyclops continued dating, and their relationship kept her connected with the team. The new team was made up of individuals and loners, such as Wolverine who quickly developed feelings for Jean. Jean formed a close friendship with Storm and began living with the private investigator Misty Knight.
While enjoying Christmas with Scott and the X-Men, Jean was was kidnapped along with Xavier, Wolverine, and Banshee by Steven Lang's Sentinels and taken aboard Lang's space station.[16] After defeating Lang, the X-Men had to escape back to Earth aboard a space shuttle during a solar radiation storm. The cockpit lacked the shielding needed to protect the pilot from the lethal radiation. Jean absorbed Dr. Peter Corbeau's flight knowledge and volunteered to pilot. While guiding the shuttle to Earth with the other X-Men protected by the shielded part of the shuttle, the solar radiation finally proved to be too great[17] and she began to succumb to the radiation's lethal effects.
However, Jean did not die. The Phoenix Force responded to Jean's anguish and telepathic calls for help. The Phoenix Force informed Jean that she was dying, but that by taking the Phoenix Force's hand, Jean would gain her "heart's desire". What Jean most wanted was to save the lives of the X-Men and herself. Jean held onto the Phoenix Force's arm and fell into a coma. It took on the form, memories, and personality of Jean by absorbing a portion of her consciousness. It placed Jean within a cocoon while her injuries healed.[18][19] Phoenix made sure the X-Men survived their return to earth, fulfilling its pledge to Jean. The shuttle crashed into Jamaica Bay and the X-Men were shocked when "Jean" came out of the wreckage unharmed, calling herself Phoenix.
Scott had no idea the woman he loved had been replaced by a cosmic being while the real Jean rested in a cocoon at the bottom of the bay. The Phoenix took Jean's place as a member of the X-Men,[20] and continued Jean's romance with Scott.
The Phoenix revealed herself as a mutant in front of Jean's parents. Phoenix healed the M'Kraan Crystal, the nexus of all realities, saving the universe. Later, Phoenix blocked Scott's optic blast, giving him the chance to see her clearly. Scott and Phoenix shared an intimate night together.
Tragically, the Phoenix was corrupted into Dark Phoenix by the influence of Mastermind and the Hellfire Club. She was transformed into the Black Queen of their inner circle. After shaking Mastermind's control, Phoenix underwent another transformation into the Dark Phoenix. She soared through the universe, where she devoured an entire star and the five billion inhabitants of one of its planets. She returned to Earth and threatened to kill everyone, but Professor Xavier was able to keep Phoenix under control and helped her will herself back to normal. Scott finally proposed to the Phoenix before they were teleported away by the Shi'ar.
The Shi'ar Empire had witnessed Dark Phoenix consuming the star and the X-Men were forced to battle with the Imperial Guard over Phoenix's fate on the Blue Area of the Moon. The battle triggered Phoenix's transformation into Dark Phoenix once more. Phoenix understood that she would never be able to fully control the dark hunger inside and sacrificed herself. When the Phoenix committed suicide, Scott believed the love of his life had died and he left the X-Men.[21][22]
=== The White Hot Room ===
The portion of Jean's consciousness that had bonded with the Phoenix Force awoke in a realm called White Hot Room. There Jean found herself on top of a floating tower in an outer space dressed in a White Phoenix outfit and wondering why she wasn't dead. Jean wondered if there were three phases of the Phoenix: Green the Good, Red the Bad, and White to which she had not discovered the meaning to.
Jean was approached by Death itself, who manifested as a male cosmic construction worker. Death had Jean build towers in the afterlife to house the souls of Dark Phoenix's victims. Jean also relived the experience of the destruction of the D'Bari system from the point of view of the victims. Death explained to Jean that she was an avatar of the Phoenix because her "spirit" was "most closely carved" from the Phoenix. If she and the Phoenix were not meant for each other, then they would not have reached out for each other. She was destined to become the Phoenix and to heal the M'Kraan Crystal. Her perceptions and imagination had influenced the Phoenix and that it belonged to her by right and would one day come to her children. Death instructed Jean to return to life, to live and learn.
The Phoenix tried to return the the borrowed fragments of Jean's life-force. Encased in a small portion of itself, the Phoenix Force keyed these aspects to Jean’s genetic structure and sent them to her body, still in the cocoon at the bottom of the bay. Jean instinctively rejected the Phoenix, unable to deal with the horrible images of the pain Dark Phoenix had wrought. It wandered the globe, lost.
At the moment Dark Phoenix died on the moon, a spark of the Phoenix Force was accidentally bestowed on a genetic clone of Jean, Madelyne Pryor. Madelyne had been a failed experiment of Mr. Sinister. Sinister had wanted Jean for her genetic potential but did not abduct her when she was a child knowing that he could be exposed by Xavier. He believed that a union between Cyclops and Jean Grey would produce a powerful mutant he could use to defeat his enemy, Apocalypse, so he cloned Jean instead. Sinister abandoned the clone when she did not manifest any mutant abilities. The lost aspect of the Phoenix that had been rejected by Jean became attracted to Madelyne Pryor, the next best thing. It gave a spark of itself to Madelyne, granting her a life force and some of Jean's memories. Madelyne came alive surrounded by a bird of fire and Sinister immediately put his scheme back in motion.[23]
Scott was shocked to meet Madelyne Pryor. Unaware that Madelyne was a clone of Jean now programmed by Sinister to fall in love with him, Scott became obsessed with Madelyne's similarity to his lost love. He learned that she was the sole survivor of a plane crash that happened on the exact same day that Phoenix had died, a fabrication created by Sinister. At first Scott suspected that Madelyne was a reincarnation of Phoenix. Afterwards Scott accepted Madelyne for who she was and they were married. Madelyne bore Scott a son named Nathan Christopher Charles Summers.
Soon, Scott met Rachel Summers, his daughter with Jean from an alternate future. Rachel called herself Phoenix and wore a similar outfit as the original, a fact that Scott protested. Rachel was shocked to discover that, unlike her own timeline, Jean Grey had died and Scott Summers was married to another woman instead. Not wanting to disturb Cyclops’ marriage to Madelyne, Rachel kept her true relation to him secret. When she discovered that Scott would soon be the father of a child other than her, Rachel began to tap into the Phoenix Force and vowed to restore honor to her mother's name. Rachel established a psi-bond with Nathan, swearing to protect her little brother as long as she lived.
=== X-Factor ===
Many months after Phoenix's death, the Avengers found Jean's cocoon beneath Jamaica Bay [24] and brought it to the Fantastic Four for study. Jean released herself from the cocoon. At first she was unable to remember her encounter with the Phoenix Force, but with the help of the Avengers and Fantastic Four, she remembered what happened.[18] As a result of her harrowing experiences, Jean had lost her telepathic powers, but the strength of her telekinetic powers had greatly increased. Jean held off informing family of her return because she was unsure how to break the news.
Meanwhile Scott and Madelyne's marriage had become strained. Madelyne resented the fact that Scott was rarely home and that he continued to miss Jean. Finally, Scott learned that Jean had returned and the Phoenix had been an imposter. Scott was hit hard by this news but hid it from Madelyne and began packing. He left Madelyne and his son despite Madelyne's warning that if he left her again, he would not be welcomed back.
Jean was greatly disturbed to learn of the current wave of anti-mutant sentiment that had risen in her absence. She was also stunned that the X-Men were working alongside Magneto, the original X-Men's greatest foe.[25] Jean decided that the original X-Men should do something as she believed the X-Men had strayed from Professor Xavier's dream. The five original friends founded a new organization to help other superhuman mutants. X-Factor intended to seek out and aid other mutants under the pretense of hunting them down as menaces to society. The public assumed they were humans hunting mutants, when in fact, they were training young mutants in the use of their powers at the X-Factor Complex.[25] They also worked as mutants in a team the media referred to as X-Terminators.
Unsure what to do about Maddie and the baby and Jean, Scott only felt useful when commanding his team. Scott attempted to contact Maddie, but the number was disconnected. At first, Scott tried to keep his marriage and son from Jean. Meanwhile, Jean was plagued with dreams of herself becoming the Phoenix. She also sensed that Scott was being distant about something. She assumed he had fallen for Phoenix while she was asleep in the cocoon. Finally, the truth came out. Jean noticed that Madelyne looked exactly liked her.[26]
The team battled Apocalypse and his Alliance of Evil. Apocalypse would become one of Jean and the X-Factor's most persistent foes. One of his first actions was turning their teammate and friend, Angel, against them as his Horseman of Death.
Jean learned that her older sister Sara Bailey had begun speaking on behalf of mutants in her absence. Jean and Scott went to check on her, fearing for her safety. Upon arriving, the house exploded. It was later learned that Sara had been murdered by mutant-hating fanatics, likely acting on orders from Cameron Hodge, X-Factor's public relations manager.
Feeling bad about abandoning his family, Jean suggested that Scott go home to check on them. Scott went back to Alaska to look for them. Scott and Jean were both still unaware of Sinister's influence on their lives. Sinister sent the Marauders to kill Madelyne Pryor and collect Nathan Christopher for him. She was shot multiple times and fell into a coma. She was taken to the hospital as a Jane Doe. Sinister erased every record of Madelyne and the baby. After finding the corpse of a young red-head in a river, Scott believed his wife was dead and buried her by himself.[27]
Scott began to hallucinate and believe Jean, Madelyne, and the Phoenix had been the same woman all along. Scott's visions nearly led him to kill Jean before it was discovered they were actually holograms created by Cameron Hodge, trying to destroy them.[28]
Jean and Scott began to grow close again. Scott and Jean returned to the site on the Moon where Phoenix had committed suicide and Jean acknowledged that Scott loved Phoenix and she had loved him. Meanwhile, Madelyne Pryor awoke from her coma and contacted the X-Men who agreed to protect her.
X-Factor brought Angel out of his brainwashing.[29] After defeating Apocalypse, his sentient Ship crash landed on their Complex and X-Factor began living in it. X-Factor finally revealed the truth of their mutant origins and shed their disguise of mutant hunters. After saving the city from a series of fires that began as a result of their battle with Apocalypse, X-Factor was given a ticker-tape parade.
=== Inferno ===
Scott saw Madelyne and the X-Men sacrificing themselves in Dallas on TV.[30] Her last words were asking him to find their son. Using cryptic clues provided by Destiny, Scott and Jean returned to the orphanage Scott grew up in and found an entire laboratory in the basement with many children, including baby Christopher, in incubation pods. Jean and Scott battled Nanny and Orphan-Maker for Scott's son. Jean somehow opened a telepathic link with Nathan Christopher, only to fail to prevent demons from snatching him. Jean recognized her niece and nephew in Nanny's brainwashed army of children, but could not rescue them, either.[31]
After returning to New York, Jean and Scott were reunited with X-Factor and fought countless demons. X-Factor's search for Christopher led them to the demon responsible, N’Astirh, and Madelyne appeared with him calling herself the Goblin Queen. Scott was shocked to find out that his wife was alive. Madelyne started a fight, blaming Scott and Jean for the misery in her life.[32][33][34][35] After N'Astirh attacked, X-Factor and the X-Men combined efforts to defeat him. When Wolverine saw that Jean was alive, he kissed her.
The Goblin Queen attempted to sacrifice baby Nathan atop the Empire State Building to permanently open a gateway between Earth and Limbo to spite Scott. The Goblin Queen locked herself, Nathan, and Jean inside a psionic barrier. The invasion was thwarted after Madelyne committed suicide in combat with Jean.[36] Jean then learned Madelyne's true origin. She was forced to reintegrate the portion of herself that Phoenix had given to Madelyne. In the process Jean also got Madelyne’s and Phoenix’s memories and personalities too. Scott appeared to kill Sinister with an optic blast.
Following Madelyne's funeral, X-Factor was attacked by Nanny and Orphan-Maker, but X-Factor rescued Jean's niece and nephew. The children, however, could not remember her. She left them in the care of her parents as her sister was still missing.[37] Switching back and forth between her multiple personalities took a heavy toll on Jean. In a battle with the Celestials, the personalities of Madelyne and Phoenix were purged from her system. Only their memories remained and Jean was free.
Scott and Jean started taking Nathan Christopher with them on missions. Nathan Christopher's mutant powers began to manifest as a protective force bubble whenever he was in danger. Later, Scott proposed to Jean only to be turned down. Jean now carried the memories of Scott‘s earlier proposals to both Phoenix and Madelyne and needed time to be sure their relationship was their own decision, not pre-ordained.[38] Scott and Jean finally learned that Rachel was actually their adult daughter from an alternate timeline.
The Riders of the Storm kidnapped Nathan and took him to Apocalypse's base on the Blue Area of the Moon. Apocalypse infected the child with the Techno-Organic Virus, that was rapidly spreading through his body and, if not stopped, would kill him. A woman from the late 37th-early 39th century appeared calling herself Sister Askani. She claimed to be a member of the Clan Askani that had technology in her future that might be able to save Nathan. However, she could only risk one time jump without destroying herself. Distraught, Cyclops chose to send his son into the future rather than watch him die in the present. For some time, Scott had no way of knowing if Askani's cure had been successful.[39] Jean's telepathy returned while battling the villainous Dark Rider Psynapse.[40]
=== X-Men Gold Team ===
The Shadow King returned[41] and together the X-Men and X-Factor defeated him.[42] X-Factor disbanded and all five original X-Men rejoined Prof. X and returned to his school. Jean served on the "Gold Team" under Storm's leadership while Scott became leader of "Blue Team".[43] Jean stopped going by her codename Marvel Girl, preferring her full name, Jean Grey. Fellow Blue Team member and telepath Psylocke tried to lure Cyclops into infidelity, influencing his mind behind Jean's back. Meanwhile, a mysterious soldier called Cable had reorganized the New Mutants, Xavier's junior mutant team, into an outlaw team called X-Force.
The Gold team was invited to a Hellfire Club event in an attempt to bury the hatchet between the two groups. It ended badly when Trevor Fitzroy's Sentinels crashed the party, resulting in the deaths of the Hellions. Both Jean and Emma Frost, the White Queen fell into comas.[44] Jean somehow transferred her psyche into the body of Emma. After waking in Emma's body, Jean battled Trevor Fitzroy. The X-Men rescued her and she was returned to her body.[45]
The X-Men returned to the Morlock Tunnels to stop a young mutant, Brain Cell, from mentally influencing the Morlocks to incite chaos. Attempting to save human lives, Jean was forced to kill the Morlock MeMe by switching his mind off.
Mister Sinister returned, this time posing as Apocalypse and commanding his Horsemen. Sinister sent the Horsemen of Apocalypse to capture Jean and Cyclops and then turned the couple over to Stryfe[46] in exchange for a canister containing a genetic matrix he was led to believe contained Summers' family genetic material.[47] Stryfe was a madman and rival of Cable. Torturing Jean and Scott, Stryfe claimed that he was Scott's son Nathan returned from the future and seeking revenge for being abandoned. Stryfe claimed that Cable, who shared the same face as Stryfe, was a clone of Nathan. On the lunar surface of the Moon, Cable and Stryfe both vanished into the timestream after a temporal device exploded. Jean and Scott thought they had lost Nathan a second time.[48]
Jean finally confronted Pyslocke on her constant flirtation with Scott, demanding to know if Scott was cheating on her. Psylocke used her psi-knife on Jean, rendering her unconscious. Their confrontation was interrupted by the arrival of Kwannon, who informed everyone that Pyslocke had been influenced by her darker persona.[49] After this incident, Scott took a leave from the X-Men to meet with his grandparents in Alaska. There, Sinister informed Scott that instead of the genetic matrix he had desired, Stryfe had betrayed him and given him the deadly mutant killing Legacy Virus which Sinster had accidently released. By the time Scott returned home to the X-Men, Colossus' little sister Illyana had already succumbed to the Legacy Virus, and more deaths were to come. Scott and Jean reconciled.
Cable found his way back to the present. Mr. Sinister appeared and informed Cable that Stryfe had been wrong about their origins. Stryfe was the clone. Cable was Nathan Summers. Sinister also informed Cable that Tolliver, an arms dealer who Cable and X-Force had had run-ins with, was none other than Cable's adopted son Tyler Dayspring. Cable believed Stryfe had been killed, however, Stryfe had actually survived as a consciousness in the back of Cable's mind. Sinister allowed Stryfe to gain control of Cable's body.[50] Tyler and Stryfe both learned their true origins, but the knowledge was too much for Stryfe to handle and he refused to believe it. Cyclops, Jean, Xavier, and Domino convinced Stryfe to expel himself from Cable's mind. Tyler escaped in the confusion. When Cable was himself again he asked Scott about his mother before leaving. Scott finally had most of his answers at last, and father and son began build their relationship at last.[51]
On Thanksgiving, Jean finally proposed to Scott.[52] Jean and her long-time love were finally married.[53] Jean told Rachel Summers that she hoped she would be born soon in this timeline. Afterwards, on the other side of the world and away from Jean's notice, Rachel Summers sacrificed herself to exile in the timestream to save her Excalibur teammate Captain Britain.[54] Rachel surfaced two thousand years in the future where Apocalypse ruled by his survival of the fittest world view.
=== Redd Dayspring ===
While on their honeymoon in the beaches of Saint Bart's, the consciousnesses of Jean and Scott were taken 2000 years into the future by an elderly Rachel, who had become the Clan Askani's matriarch Mother Askani after the Phoenix Force had abandoned her years earlier. As their own bodies could not have survived time travel, Jean and Scott inhabited new bodies cloned from their descendants.
Rachel had taken them to the moment right after Scott's young son Nathan, the boy who would one day become Cable, had first arrived in the future infected with a techno-organic virus after Scott had sent him there to find a possible cure. The techno-organic virus was spreading and could only be held in check with telekinesis.
Under the aliases of Redd and Slym Dayspring, Jean and Scott raised the boy together while Rachel was lying in a coma, held alive by machines. Slym and Redd never told Nathan of their true origins or his. They joined the Askani-inspired Clan Rebellion to undermine Apocalypse's empire. Meanwhile, a virus-free clone Rachel had grown from Nathan's healthy cells in case the virus killed him had been captured by Apocalypse who named him Stryfe and raised him to be his new host vessel for the next time Apocalypse needed to switch bodies.
After twelve years, Nate, Slym, and Redd stopped Apocalypse from killing Stryfe and destroyed him once and for all. On that day Rachel finally died of old age. Jean and Scott were sent back to their rightful bodies in the present, leaving Nate alone and Stryfe under the care of Apocalypse's former servant Ch'Vayre, who promised to try to raise Stryfe properly.
Back in the present, Jean and Scott revealed to Cable that they had raised him in the future as Redd and Sym Dayspring. Cable had known for some time and was waiting for them to be ready to tell him. They were pleased to be reunited as a family. Back at the school, Jean and Scott moved into the former boathouse.[55] Scott offered Cable and X-Force a home at the mansion.[56] Jean began calling herself Phoenix to honor Rachel's final request. Jean coached Psylocke in the use of her telepathic powers.[57][55]
Accompanying Scott to Alaska to check on his grandfather in the hospital, Jean happened upon Adam-X and sensed that there was a connection between Adam and the Summers family. Adam allowed Jean to transfer memories of his days as a Shi'ar combat pilot to Phillip. Afterward, Adam disappeared and Jean decided not to reveal her encounter to Scott.[58]
=== Onslaught ===
Jean was confronted by Onslaught on the Astral Plane, who claimed he could give her the power of the Phoenix Force once again if she joined him. After she initially refused, Onslaught showed her Prof. Xavier's hidden memories, where Jean was shocked to learn her father figure and mentor had once believed he was in love with her. However, Jean still refused Onslaught. He left Jean with an image of his name upon her brow.[59]
A frightened Juggernaut came to Jean for help. Jean attempted to remove the mental blocks Onslaught had instilled in him to prevent him from revealing Onslaught's true identity. When Jean learned Onslaught was Xavier himself, Onslaught psionically muzzled him. After Onslaught defeated the X-Men, she sent out an SOS message to the other X-teams warning them that the X-Men had been betrayed by one of their own. Fragments of this message survived to Bishop's future.[60]
It was determined Xavier had been transformed into Onslaught as a result of his attempt to mind-wipe Magneto.[59]Although the X-Men defeated the evil entity and freed Prof. Xavier, most of Earth's heroes were lost for a time. Prof. Xavier was left powerless after Onslaught's defeat and was arrested for his role in the events. Jean and Scott were left as leaders of the X-Men and co-headmasters of the school.[61]
Jean discovered the powerful time-tossed mutant teenager known as Nate Grey. Nate was Jean and Scott's son from an alternate reality. Essentially, Nate was a younger version of Cable. Nate possessed vast telepathic and telekinetic power. Nate had unwittingly resurrected Madelyne Pryor in a subconscious attempt to reach out to his "mother." Nate tried to re-absorb Madelyne, only to find that he couldn't, as she had become independent. Despite bringing her rival back into her life, Jean parted with Nate on good terms.
Jean and Cyclops were sent back in time to London in the year 1759 by Madame Sanctity. They believed that they were there to prevent Nathaniel Essex from becoming Mr. Sinister. However, Sinister was necessary for the birth of Nathan Dayspring, the Askani'son, who Madame Sanctity worshiped. She had sent them to the past to stop Apocalypse from conquering England.
The government sponsored mutant-hunting operation known as "Operation: Zero Tolerance" took effect and the villainous Bastion captured the X-Men, Jean, Cyclops, Storm, Wolverine, and Cannonball.[62] S.H.I.E.L.D. shut the operation down, but not before Bastion could place a nanotech bomb inside Scott's chest.[63] The X-Men's newest member, a mutant doctor named Cecilia Reyes, saved Scott’s life.[64]
Afterwards, Jean and Scott took a leave of absence from the X-Men for him to recuperate.[65] On the plane ride to Alaska, they briefly battled a battalion of A.I.M. soldiers.[66] While on leave, Scott called the original X-Men together to reassess Professor Xavier's dream of a peaceful co-existence between mutants and humans. Scott grew weary as Jean began to wear the same costume her Phoenix double had worn. She now also manifested the Phoenix flamebird while training.[67]Scott began to worry that the Phoenix had returned until Jean lost her psi-powers as a result of the Psi-War. With neither of them at their strongest, the couple stayed in retirement together and the matter of the Phoenix Force's return was dropped for a time. Professor X returned to the X-Men in their absence. Nate Grey visited them during that time as well. With the bonds between Nate and his parents strengthened, Scott presented Nate with one of his old X-Factor uniforms.
=== Apocalypse ===
Scott and Jean returned to the X-Men some time after at the request of Storm. Storm was concerned about the mental well-being of Professor X.[68] Xavier had been pretending to lose control in order to uncover a traitor he had sensed in the ranks of the X-Men. The traitor turned out to be a Skrull who had replaced Wolverine. A plot hatched by Apocalypse and the Skrulls was uncovered.
Apocalypse made a bid for cosmic power by assembling the "Twelve" - a group of mutants who would determine the fate of their kind that included Scott, Phoenix, Iceman, Professor X, Storm, Magneto, Living Monolith, Bishop, Polaris, Sunfire, Mikhail Rasputin, Nate Grey, and Cable. To secure a new host body, Apocalypse sought to collect the mutants he required to carry out his plan and siphon the awesome energies of "The Twelve". They were wired to a machine that would channel the Twelve's awesome energies into Apocalypse, allowing him to absorb the body of Nate Grey.[69] As his teammates fell around him, a powerless Scott saved Nate and merged with the would-be conqueror to create a new evil entity.[70] 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.[71] Only Jean and Cable refused to believe Scott had perished, at which time Cable joined the X-Men to honor his father.[72]
=== Power Switch ===
Jean, now returned to the X-Men, and in order to help Psylocke after the Psi-War, switched powers with Psylocke. Jean lost her telekinesis but her telepathy increased greatly. Jean began to manifest "Phoenix raptors" that represented her telepathic powers "honed to their sharpest edge". As a result of the power switch, Jean temporarily displayed a shadow astral form with a Phoenix symbol over her right eye.[73]
In Scott's absence, Cable found Rachel alive and young at the end of time. The Phoenix Force had abandoned her. Cable brought Rachel back to the present with him. Rachel asked Cable to keep her return secret from Jean and the other X-Men while she tried to get her life back together.
Jean and four other mutants were recruited by Prosh for a special mission to fight the Stranger. A part of the mission included sending their minds back through time revisiting key moments in their past to learn new insights. Jean was forced to relive various moments from her past such as piloting the shuttle, being in the cocoon, the moment Phoenix died, and meeting Death in the afterlife. Death reiterated that Jean and the Phoenix chose each other and told Jean that she hungered for power when she touched the Phoenix. Death explained that her hunger scared the fundamental forces of the universe, because she was a human mutant with unlimited potential for growth. One day those like her could grow to replace the fundamental forces of the universe.[74] Jean and the other recruits stopped the Stranger's plan to make himself the sole survivor of a new universe from the ashes of the old universe.[75]
Investigating rumors he was alive, Jean and Cable found Scott in the birthplace of Apocalypse in Akkaba, Egypt, struggling to reassert his mind over the villain's psyche. Jean exorcised the warlord from Cyclops, and Cable shattered his essence. Thanks to the support of his wife and adopted family, Scott was able to shake off the devastating effects of his merger with Apocalypse and rejoin the X-Men.[76][77][78][79]
After undergoing a Secondary Mutation, Jean's telekinesis returned.
=== New X-Men ===
Following the outing of Professor X as a mutant to the world while secretly under the influence of Cassandra Nova, his school opened its doors to the mutant population at large. Xavier/Nova left Earth and Jean was left as Headmistress of the school.[82]
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. Apocalypse made him question not only their relationship, but his life as a whole. Jean, confused by the change in their relationship, confided in Logan and the two kissed in the woods outside the school, but Logan walked away, telling Jean it would never work between them. Jean's new responsibilities, along with her growing powers, forced her to put her attention elsewhere, leaving Scott feeling ignored and his trauma from being possessed trivialized.[83]
When the U-Men attacked the school, students aided Jean in repelling their attack while she once again manifested the Phoenix raptor. During Cassandra Nova's daring attack on the Shi'ar Empire and subsequent assault on the Xavier Institute, Jean used Cerebra to splinter Prof. Charles Xavier's mind into every mutant on Earth. The trap worked, as when Cassandra activated Cerebra, Prof. Xavier reclaimed his body. The Phoenix Force started to appear as another personality within Jean, even having a conversation with Prof. Xavier on its role in events to come.
The rift between Jean and Scott began to be filled by Emma Frost. Their relationship ostensibly began as a series of psychic therapy sessions, but Emma took advantage of this situation to get close to Scott and, under the guise of counseling him, she was able to instigate a telepathic affair. When Jean discovered the affair,[84] she forced Emma to admit her true feelings. Furious at both himself and Jean, Scott confronted Jean and demanded she read his mind and she finally complied. Jean discovered that Scott and Emma never engaged in any physical contact, even though Emma had offered it. 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.[85]
Immediately after, Emma was shot while in her organic diamond form by the Cuckoo Esme, and shattered all over the mansion's kitchen. Jean, who was initially a suspect, repaired Emma at the molecular level, displaying incredible telekinetic power, after absorbing Beast's medical knowledge.
The X-Man, Xorn revealed himself to be a traitor who claimed to be Magneto. It was later implied he killed her under 'orders' from the sentient RNA Sublime. Tricked by the Magneto impostor, Jean and Wolverine ended up trapped on Asteroid M, drifting closer to the Sun. Rather than watch Jean die a slow painful death, Wolverine tried to kill Jean, but he awoke the Phoenix Force within her. Using her incredible powers, Phoenix/Jean returned with Logan to New York City to face "Magneto". Xorn's last act was to kill Jean with an electomagnetic pulse.[86] As she was dying, Scott apologized for hurting her, but Jean instead told him that she understood and had never seen him more alive and urged him to live on.
Scott was devastated by Jean's death. He considered leaving the X-Men once more,[87] but the Jean of an alternate future telepathically intervened in an attempt to prevent her dark future from coming to pass. She urged Scott to live.
Cyclops and Emma formalized their relationship [4] and together, the pair rebuilt the Xavier Institute as co-headmasters.[88] Initially, several of their teammates were none too happy with their relationship because they felt that Cyclops and Emma were insulting the memory of Jean and the marriage she and Scott once shared. As a result, Wolverine flatly insulted and fought Scott,[88] Beast stated that he no longer liked him,[87] and Rachel Summers, in particular, felt hurt and angry by her father's lack of remorse for the psychic affair that Jean discovered before her death, and Emma's part in it. Rachel then changed her last name to Grey.[89] The other X-Men, eventually, came to accept the relationship and both Scott and Emma managed to reconcile with Rachel in their own ways, such as introducing Rachel to Jean's other family members, family that she did not get a chance to meet in her own timeline.[90]
=== Phoenix Endsong ===
The Phoenix Force was reconstituted before its time and was assaulted by a Shi'ar warship, splintering a great deal of its power across the galaxy. The Force arrived on Earth, discovered that Jean's body was dead and went to her grave. Jean refused to be resurrected, though, as she had just reformed outside the White Hot Room and was not complete and fought the Phoenix, dying again. But the Phoenix reminded her that years ago, Jean had asked for her help when wanting to save Scott and that this time, the Phoenix needed Scott and asked her to "take my hand", resurrecting a yielding Jean. But Jean however, had sensed the dark hunger of the Phoenix appeared to Wolverine and changed her attire to match that of Dark Phoenix's as a way to alert him of the Phoenix's dark intentions, but the Phoenix took hold of Jean and truly became the Dark Phoenix once more, easily overpowering Logan, who alerted the X-Men of Jean's resurrection after she escaped.
Wolverine found a Dark Phoenix-possessed Jean in the woods and they fought with the Phoenix winning but not killing him as she was using him as bait for Scott and the other X-Men, but the Shi'ar were still in search of her and tried to obliterate her with a event horizon power-blast that destroyed that part of the forest, but the Phoenix saved herself and Wolverine by way of teleportation and they found themselves in a polar region.
Jean's attempts to regain control of the Phoenix Force were complicated by the interventions of the X-Men who wanted to contain the Phoenix Force and Quentin Quire who wanted to make use of the Phoenix Force to resurrect Sophie Cuckoo. The Shi'ar just wanted her dead. The Phoenix as Jean, kept the power of Cerebra from locating her, but the Cuckoos were able to find her direction in the least, where her power upset the balance of Nature, allowing Storm to locate them through her natural abilities.
Wolverine woke to a reawakened Jean as her "green-gold" Phoenix self, who told him that although the Phoenix has different plans, she is "always Jean. And I'm always the Phoenix." She further revealed that when she died, she scattered into a trillion pieces as the Phoenix which begun to reform outside the White Hot Room, but some parts of her were still lost in the Omniverse and she needed to "try again" in way of another death as she was "out of balance". So Logan killed her, but the Phoenix awoke and healed Jean, becoming Dark Phoenix again in full control. Logan killed her several times, but the Phoenix seemed to make Jean's body truly immortal, asking him how long he can kill her, but she eventually died and woke as a sane Jean once more, applauding Logan for weakening the Phoenix, her consciousness regained control. Jean then, wielding a form of cryokinesis, froze her own body under thick ice to prevent the Phoenix from using her body further.
The X-Men found Wolverine and Emma Frost determined that there was no brain activity to be read under the ice and Jean was dead. Unfortunately, the Phoenix left Jean's body to die and begun to absorb Scott's optic blasts, managing to form its body into Jean. Now, its power was enough to sustain Jean's form without her actual body. Eventually, the Phoenix told Scott she loved him in Jean's form, saying that she was the one he'd dreamed about as an orphaned child and will reach out to her the day he dies, but she realizes that he does not love Jean as much as he does Emma Frost and takes her as her host. Quentin Quire found the Phoenix, but it rejected him and this leads to the Phoenix coming to the conclusion that the entire world is "sick" and plans on burning the sick world to destruction as it "would not work".
Scott burned the ice in which Jean was frozen dead and Jean seemingly resurrected herself, declaring "ENOUGH!" and knocked the Phoenix to the ground. The Phoenix asked Jean how she was capable of this without its power and Jean said, "I am you, don't you remember? [91] Now get out of that stupid body." But the Phoenix refused, saying that it was the only body Scott loved, so Jean forcibly expelled it from Emma's body.
Jean talked to the Phoenix, calming it and telling it that the reason it was confused was because it was incomplete and she would understand once they'd completed themselves in the White Hot Room with the revelation that the "hunger" that Phoenix was feeling was due to Jean's longing to be with Scott and to feel loved again, and as the Phoenix was Jean's spirit virtually manifested, it sought to quench that longing. Sadly, the Phoenix came to the conclusion that it needed Jean again and the two merged once more, its hunger turning them into Dark Phoenix once more, Jean cried, "Here I Come Tomorrow" prophesying of an endless future where she would burn the world over and over again killing billions as she did D'Bari because their purpose was not fulfilled.
Thinking quick, Scott drew her attention and told Emma his plan: Emma, through the Stepford Cuckoos, linked to all the X-Men and linked anyone who'd ever loved Jean telepathically transferring their emotions to her and she and the Phoenix were finally satisfied by it, restoring them to sanity via the emotional support of friends and family, telepathically conveyed to Jean. In its bid to eliminate the Phoenix, however, the Shi'ar warship generated a singularity above the North Pole whose event horizon (a miniature worm hole) annihilated everyone there just as she became the White Phoenix of the Crown, Jean reversed the damage and saved the X-Men through her reality warping powers. Finding herself alone with Cyclops in a psychic state of limbo, Scott gave her advice, telling her that she was and always will be, Jean Grey "no matter what the cosmos tell you".
Jean returned to the White Hot Room to begin the task of finding the missing fragments of the Phoenix Force that still remained scattered through the omniverse [91] and has not returned since either than two accounts. When she was collecting the missing fragments of the Phoenix Force, she later forcibly took some of them from Rachel Summers and the Stepford Cuckoos after the events in Phoenix Warsong when they wield the powers. Beast said that they were trapped in the singularity and it was inescapable and that they should have died. Because of that she has been presumed dead afterward by Cyclops and everyone on earth but it has been shown multiple times that this is not true.
=== Sisterhood of Mutants ===
Madelyne Pryor returned and formed a team of evil mutant females. She took a piece of Jean's hair that Wolverine had held onto and used it to look for Jean's body so that she could inhabit it as her host. During that time, Madelyne trapped Emma Frost in a psychic static which caused her thoughts to form uncontrollably. Emma was then released from the mental hold by a nude woman in a white room (possibly the White Hot Room) that greatly resembled Jean Grey who used what seemed to be a Phoenix to free Emma declaring "prepare". Madelyne's plan failed when it was revealed that Cyclops - with the help of Domino - had arranged for Jean Grey's grave to be substituted with someone else's body, and it somehow causes Madelyne to either discorporate or become absorbed into the fake, which caused Madelyne's death once again.