Cyclops (Marvel Comics)

**Scott Summers**, also known as ***Cyclops***, is a mutant and one of the original X-Men and eventually became the leader of the team.

## Powers and Abilities

### Powers

Cyclops is an Alpha-Mutant according to Apocalypse, while Nick Fury's intel classified him as Power Level 7.

**Optic blast:** Cyclops possesses the mutant ability to project a powerful beam of concussive, ruby-colored force from his eyes. Cyclops' powers come from ambient energies, such as solar radiation, photons, and cosmic rays, absorbed and metabolized by his body into concussive blasts that are released from his eyes.

Cyclops' 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 his eyeglasses and visor is resonant to his mind's psionic field and is similarly protected.

The width of Cyclops' eye-blasts 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, acts as a valve to control the flow of particles and the beam's relative power. The height of Cyclops' eye-blast is controlled by his visor's adjustable slit. His narrowest beam, about the diameter of a pencil at a distance of four feet has a force of about two pounds per square inch. His broadest beam, about 90 feet across at a distance of 50 feet, has a force of about ten pounds per square inch. His most powerful eye-blast is a beam four feet across which, at a distance of 50 feet, has a force of 500 pounds per square inch. His beam's effective range is about 2,000 feet, at which point a one-inch beam has spread out to ten square feet, and then has a pressure of .38 pounds per square inch. Cyclops' maximum force is sufficient to tip over a filled 5,000 gallon tank at a distance of 20 feet or puncture a one-inch carbon-steel plate at a distance of two feet.

The extra-dimensional supply of energy for Cyclops' eye-blast is practically infinite. So long as Cyclops' psionic field is active (which is constant), there is the potential for him to emit energy. The only limit to the eye-blast is the mental fatigue of focusing constantly. After about 15 minutes of constant usage, the psionic field subsides and allows only slight leakage of energy to pass through the aperture. Cyclops' 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, Cyclops said that he hit 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, it has been implied that Cyclops only utilizes a fraction of the energies at his disposal.

As an after-effect of exposure to the crippling energies of the Phoenix Force, his powers seemed to have altered beyond their original state of being. His optic blasts become much more powerful than ever, so much so that he became able to eradicate a squadron of modified normal and man-sized Sentinels in one blast and wound powerful mystic entities. A side-effect of his altered abilities causes his beams to bend, weave, and arc in alternate directions, giving his blasts the appearance of multiple curving blasts spiraling around the core blasts and making them even harder to dodge.

**Spatial awareness:** Cyclops possesses an uncanny sense of trigonometry which he uses 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 his 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.

**Phoenix Force avatar (formerly):** Cyclops was one of the five avatars of the Phoenix Force, which granted him the great powers of the Phoenix. Although he only displayed the ability to travel through space at interstellar speeds, he presumably possessed all the traditional abilities of Phoenix Force avatars.

* ***Interstellar travel (formerly):*** Cyclops could fly unaided through the vacuum of space and could travel interstellar distances faster than the speed of light.

* ***Cosmic pyrokinesis (presumably formerly):*** An avatar of the Phoenix can create cosmic flames under any conditions, even the impossible ones such as the vacuum of space or underwater. These flames do not require oxygen to burn and burn so intensely that matter is consumed without byproducts, such as ash. It has perfect over these flames, and they only consume what it wills. Typically, they manifest as a raptor or part of a raptor such as a claw or wings, in the case of an avatar.

* ***Resurrection (presumably formerly):*** As the embodiment of all life and death itself, the Phoenix Force and its avatars can resurrect whomever they desire into pure living flesh, bone, and blood.

* ***Immortality (presumably formerly):*** Avatars of the Phoenix do not age and can be resurrected by the Phoenix Force.

* ***Temporal manipulation (presumably formerly):*** Avatars of the Phoenix can manipulate the past across large temporal distances and with a profound knowledge of the causal effect their actions will have on the present and future.

* ***Telepathy (presumably formerly):*** Phoenix Force avatars can project their thoughts into the minds of others and read other peoples' thoughts at a near boundless level.

* ***Telekinesis (presumably formerly):*** Avatars of the Phoenix can control and manipulate matter on a molecular scale.

**Controlled optic blasts (formerly):** After being genetically altered by an alien entity, Cyclops initially lost his powers only to regain them but at a stronger level and with total control over them. How far his control extended is currently unknown, as all that was seen was that he could open his eyes without involuntary discharge and control its blast radius or force output as well as fire it for prolonged intervals without tiring out. Another time he gained control ove rhis power was with psychic tampering from Emma Frost, which temporarily left him in a coma before he was revived, his power under check at last.

### Abilities

**Expert pilot:** Cyclops is an expert pilot of fixed-wing aircraft, a skill he shares with his father. It has also been implied that his trigonometric sense improves his abilities in the air.

**Master tactician and strategist:** 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 is usually right.

**Expert 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 held his own against dangerous hand-to-hand enemies in the past, such as Wolverine and Ghost Rider.

**Telepathic resistance:** Years of being in intimate situations with telepaths have allowed Cyclops to hone his mind to the point where he can resist telepathic intrusion and withhold certain information from high-level telepaths.

### Weaknesses

**Genetic flaw:** Cyclops is not immune to Vulcan's powers like he is to Havok's.

**Power regulation disability:** Due to a 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 than affecting change to the injury. Emma Frost has recently claimed the psychological trauma of losing his parents and being separated from his brother are primarily responsible for his inability to control his powers. Mister Sinister has also claimed that his eyes have become reliant on the ruby quartz sunglasses and visor, therefore making it hard for Cyclops to control the blasts on his own. After overcomign the trauma, he was able to control his blasts and open his eyes for a period of time. However, he gradually began losing control of the blasts and had to revert back to using the sunglasses and visor. His inability to control his power only worsened when exposure to the Phoenix Force altered them to an even more unstable and powerful state. Due to this, his blasts are now flawed and can be either stronger than before or turn off in the middle of a battle.

**Recharge intervals:** Cyclops once required time between his optic blasts to recharge. Now, due to possession by the Phoenix Force coupled with internal tampering from Nanotech Sentinels, the flaw has become more assertive than ever before, his optic blasts erupting powerfully one minute and then falling dead depleted the next, physically exhausting him in the process.

**Surplus energy:** Cyclops has mentioned that he needs to fire his blasts frequently because he gathers surplus energy within him if not. He apparently needs an outlet for that energy.

## Notes

* Many of Cyclops' family members and relatives are also mutants, including:
	+ his ancestor, Amanda Mueller;
	+ his collateral ancestor, Gloria Dayne;
	+ his foster father, Jack Winters;
	+ his brothers, Alex and Gabriel;
	+ his first wife, Madelyne Pryor;
	+ his second wife, Jean Grey;
	+ his son, Nathan Summers;
	+ his daughter-in-law, Aliya Dayspring;
	+ his step-grandson, Tyler Dayspring;
	+ his adoptive granddaughter, Hope Summers;
	+ his alternate reality daughters, Marvel Girl and Mother Askani;
	+ and his alternate reality son, Nathaniel Grey.
* His sister-in-law, Cal'syee Neramani, is a Shi'ar.