Cyclops
Real name: Scott Summers
Former aliases: Erik the Red I, Slym
Identity: Known to certain government officials
Occupation: (current) Adventurer, (former) Student, radio announcer
Former occupation: Subversive, second-in-command of Factor Three
Legal status: Citizen of the United States with no criminal record
Place of birth: Anchorage, Alaska
Marital status: Married
Known relatives: Christopher (Corsair, father), Katherine Ann (mother,
deceased), Alexander (Havok, brother), Philip, Deborah (grandparents),
Madelyne Pryor (first wife, deceased), Jean Grey (Phoenix, second wife),
Nathan Christopher (Cable, son), Gailyn (niece), Joey (nephew) Rachel
(Phoenix II, daughter by Phoenix in an alternate timeline), Tyler
(Genesis II, grandson, deceased)
Group affiliation: (current) X-Men, (former) X-Factor I
Base of operations: (current) Xavier Institute, Salem Center,
Westchester County, New York State, (former) X-Factor I headquarters,
New York City; "Ship"
First appearance: X-MEN (first series) #1
History: Scott Summers was the older of the two sons of Major
Christopher Summers, a test pilot in the U. S. Air Force. When Scott was
a child, Major Summers flew himself, his wife Katherine, and his sons
Scott and 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.)
The two boys were separated by the authorities: Alex was adopted, but
Scott remained comatose in a hospital for a year. Christopher and
Katharine were believed dead. (Actually, they were taken prisoner by the
Shi'ar; Katharine soon died but Christopher later became Corsair, leader
of the Starjammers, a band of interstellar adventurers. See
Starjammers.)
On recovering, Scott was placed in an orphanage in Omaha, Nebraska that
was secretly controlled by his future enemy Mister Sinister. Years
later, as a teenager, Scott began to suffer from severe headaches and
eyestrain. He was sent to an eye specialist in Washington, D. C., who
discovered that lenses made of ruby quartz corrected the problem.
While Scott was visiting a large city, his developing mutant power to
project optic force beams finally erupted, bursting forth in an
uncontrollable blast that demolished a crane, causing it to drop a huge
object towards a terrified crowd. Scott saved the crowd by obliterating
the object with another blast, but they turned into an angry mob,
thinking he had tried to kill them. Scott fled, ultimately escaping on a
freight train.
Professor Charles Xavier and F.B.I. agent Fred Duncan joined forces in
their mutual attempt to find Scott. Meanwhile, a mutant known as Jack O'
Diamonds, and later as the Living Diamond, forced the frightened boy to
aid him in his crimes. Xavier rescued Scott from the Living Diamond and
enlisted him as the first member of the team of young mutants he would
teach in using their powers, the X-Men.
As Cyclops Scott soon became deputy leader of the X-Men. He fell in love
with his teammate Jean Grey, although his reserve and his worries about
the dangers of his optic beams prevented him for years from expressing
his feelings to her. When the other original X-Men left the team,
Cyclops stayed on as deputy leader of the "new" X-Men.
Shortly afterwards the cosmic entity called the Phoenix Force secretly
placed Jean in suspended animation and impersonated her, adopting a form
identical to hers. When this Phoenix committed suicide, Scott believed
that the real Jean had died and he left the X-Men. Eventually he
returned to the team and met and married Madelyne Pryor, a woman who was
Jean's double; he was unaware she was a clone of Jean created by Mister
Sinister. Scott and Madelyne had a baby son, named Nathan Christopher,
and Scott again left the X-Men.
Subsequently, the real Jean Grey emerged from suspended animation. Scott
left his wife and joined with Jean and the other original X-Men in
founding a new team, the original X-Factor. Madelyne went insane,
developed superhuman powers, and perished in combat with Jean Grey.
Later, Apocalypse infected Nathan with a techno-organic virus. To save
his life, Scott was forced to allow a time traveling member of the
Askani cult to transport Nathan to the 30th century of an alternate
future.
After Professor Xavier returned from a long journey in space with the
Starjammers, Cyclops and the other X-Factor members rejoined the X-Men.
Ever since then Cyclops has remained with the X-Men, sharing deputy
leadership with Storm.
Recently, Scott and Jean were finally married. While they were on their
honeymoon, Mother Askani, leader of the Askani cult, drew their spirits
two millennia into an alternate future, where they inhabited new bodies.
There, as Slym and Redd, they spent years raising young Nathan into his
early adolescence. Then Scott and Jean returned to their own time and
bodies, and Nathan remained to grow up into his time's greatest hero,
Cable.
Scott and Jean are currently on leave from the X-Men and reside in
Alaska.
Height: 6'3"
Weight: 195 lbs.
Eyes: Brown (glow red)
Hair: Brown
Strength: Athlete
Fighting skills: Extensive training in hand-to-hand combat
Special skills and abilities: Experienced battle tactician, strategist
Known superhuman powers: Ability to project a beam of concussive force
from his eyes, invulnerability to his own power and that of Havok
Special limitations: Due to a 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.