The original "X-Men" from 2000 was one of the first superhero films to take the comic book source material seriously, elevating the conflict of people born with superpowers into something more than just "people in colorful spandex punching each other." Because of its strong reviews and box office success, it was a no-brainer that it should lead to further sequels and spinoffs, resulting in a massive franchise that lasted for nearly 20 years. While the films have varied in quality, the story of characters who were born different and dedicated their lives to protecting a world that fears them resonated with fans.

However, a hero is only as good as the villain they are up against. While the heroes of the "X-Men" films got most of the attention and adoration, there was also no shortage of villains who caused them quite a bit of trouble. In addition to dealing with such problems as prejudice and discrimination, the X-Men also had to fight evil mutants determined to take the world away from homo sapiens, who they considered to be an inferior race to them. Let's take a look at the most powerful X-Men villains they've faced in the movies.

William Stryker

Because the complicated timeline of the "X-Men" movies has resulted in no less than three versions of William Stryker, his character has remained fairly constant even when played by different actors (Brian Cox, Danny Huston, and Josh Helman). Stryker is a high-ranking U.S. military officer and scientist who, armed with a genius intellect and deep connections, has dedicated his life and career to operating on, controlling, and exterminating mutants. He was the leader of the Weapon X project responsible for giving Wolverine his adamantium-laced skeleton with the intent of using him to carry out missions for the military.

Outside of the skills he acquired from his time in the military, William Stryker has no real superpowers, but considering how much he's plagued the X-Men across multiple timelines he more than deserves to be on this list. "X2: X-Men United" saw him orchestrate an attack on Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters in which he and his men kidnapped multiple mutant students to be used for experimentation. This was no rogue mission, though, as he was able to secure the president's approval to carry it out. In "X-Men: Days of Future Past," the young Stryker's hatred of mutants is very much established, working closely with Bolivar Trask who's building the mutant-hunting Sentinels.

Ajax

Francis Freeman/Ajax signed up to be experimented on at the clandestine Workshop where he was given a slew of abilities. He has increased reflexes that allow him to move at higher than normal speeds to block a wide range of attacks. The experiment gave him enhanced strength and durability, enabling him to bend metal bars with relative ease and endure physical duress that would take out any normal human. However, one of the more distinctive abilities he acquired at the Workshop is the inability to feel pain, as the experiments destroyed his nerve endings. Overall, not the kind of guy you want to get into a fight with.

Ajax's only appearance in an "X-Men" movie is in 2016's delightful "Deadpool," but he makes for a more than formidable foe for the Merc with a Mouth. Having a strong sadistic streak in him, he derives quite a bit of joy from torturing Wade Wilson in his experiment to activate his latent mutant genes. Even after Wade develops increased healing factor and physical prowess, Ajax handily takes him down in their first fight together. Wade, now Deadpool, manages to get the upper hand on Ajax, but with his superhuman strength, durability, and pain suppression, Ajax easily shrugs off most of Deadpool's attacks.

Toad

He might be named after an amphibian, but don't let that fool you: Toad is actually more than capable of handling himself in a superpowered rumble. His increased agility, reflexes, and physical prowess enable him to perform a wide array of acrobatic fight moves, and he can even climb up walls. It's not just his ability to leap around that gives him his namesake, though, as Toad has a prehensile tongue that can extend long distances that's strong enough to lift up (and throw) a full-size person. As if that wasn't amphibious enough, Toad can also discharge sticky slime from his mouth to slow down his opponents.

Toad may not be one of the X-Men's most memorable enemies — both on the big screen and on the page — but he has a sadistic streak that makes him more dangerous than he might seem. For example, he has an absolute blast getting the jump on Cyclops, Jean Grey, and Storm as they make their way through the Statue of Liberty, easily incapacitating all three of them. Jean appears to have the upper hand in her bout with Toad until he excretes slime onto her face, causing her to nearly suffocate. Toad is only defeated when Storm conjures a massive hurricane to hurl him from the Statue and into the harbor.

Mystique

The primary superpower of Raven Darkholme/Raven (who really deserves her own movie) is shapeshifting, allowing her to imitate the physical appearance of virtually any person. Her chameleon-like abilities are reflected in her default form when not impersonating anyone: a dark blue complexion punctuated by almost-reptilian scales that cover most of her body. Accompanying her shapeshifting powers is her ability to also replicate the voice of the person she's impersonating, making her practically indistinguishable from the original. What makes her truly deadly isn't just her shapeshifting powers but how she uses them, as Mystique is extremely competent in hand-to-hand combat, so she's definitely not someone you want to rumble with.

Whether she's been played by Rebecca Romijn or Jennifer Lawrence, Mystique has never failed to pose a threat to those who get in her way. "X-Men" saw her impersonate Bobby Drake/Iceman to manipulate Rogue into leaving Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters, then impersonate Professor X to infiltrate Cerebro and sabotage it, putting him into a coma. In "X-Men: Days of Future Past," Mystique takes out William Stryker and his men stationed in Vietnam, then is very nearly successful in assassinating Bolivar Trask for his plans to hunt down mutants.

Sebastian Shaw

Sebastian Shaw's primary superpower is energy absorption, which comes with a bevy of other uses. He can absorb a wide variety of energy types, from concussive blows to extreme heat and more. Once stored in his body, Sebastian can use that energy to give himself increased strength and durability, making him difficult to match in a purely physical fight. That energy can also be projected out of him in various forms, like shockwaves, explosive bursts, or balls of concentrated energy. Another fringe benefit of energy absorption is that it slows down his aging, keeping him young for substantially longer periods of time than the average person.

Sebastian Shaw may have been a one-and-done villain in the "X-Men" franchise, but he certainly put the fledgling team through the wringer in "X-Men: First Class." As the head of the clandestine Hellfire Club, he along with other evil mutants set out to start a nuclear war so that they may restart humanity again (but only with mutants). In the film, Sebastian and the other members of the Hellfire Club arrive at the CIA installation where Charles Xavier and Erik Lensherr are putting together the first team of X-Men, promptly killing all of the officers stationed there. While most of the young mutants reject his offer to join their mission, Darwin tries to stop them only to be killed by a ball of concentrated energy produced by Sebastian.

Juggernaut

Cain Marko/Juggernaut is one of the most physically dangerous villains in the "X-Men" franchise. His massive frame is bolstered by superhuman strength and durability, basically impervious to most forms of physical attack including guns, knives, and explosives. Another aspect of Juggernaut's power set is that when he starts moving, he builds up so much momentum that virtually nothing can stop him, hence the name. While the comic book version of the character gives him a mystical origin story (Cain Marko stumbles upon a magic gem in Korea that imbued him with the power of an army), in the films he's just a mutant.

Vinnie Jones' portrayal of Juggernaut in "X-Men: The Last Stand" emphasizes the "unstoppable force" aspect of the character. During the climactic battle on Alcatraz, he's seen plowing through soldiers and solid concrete walls as if they were not even there. David Leitch and Ryan Reynolds' version of the character focused more on the brute force aspect of the character, as "Deadpool 2" features Juggernaut getting released from a prison truck and immediately ripping Deadpool in half like he was a toy. In the final fight scene at the orphanage, he easily bests Colossus in a brutal bout but is only defeated with the combined forces of Colossus, Negasonic Teenage Warhead, and Yukio.

Sentinels

The Sentinels are giant, mutant-hunting robots designed by Bolivar Trask and built by his company Trask Industries. These giant killing machines came armed with a wide range of weapons and tech, such as deadly machine guns, jet engines that allowed for flight, mutant tracking devices, and more. While the first model Sentinels were extremely advanced for their time when they were introduced to the world in 1973, Trask Industries continued to dramatically increase their abilities over the decades. By 2023, the Sentinels were capable of self-repair to fix physical damage, transform portions of their bodies into a multitude of weapons, and could absorb a captured mutant's abilities into its own.

The first time audiences ever saw a Sentinel was in a Danger Room simulation in "X-Men: The Last Stand," but that one was taken out pretty quick by Wolverine. In "X-Men: Days of Future Past," however, we see the Sentinels put up much more of a fight. Even the original 1973 model was no slouch, easily giving Professor X, Beast, and Wolverine a very hard time, but it was the future Sentinels that truly threatened the X-Men. By this time, the Sentinels have added the extermination of human beings — in addition to mutants — to their list of directives, killing most of the world's population except for a few survivors. As the X-Men of the past were in their final moments of preventing Mystique's fateful decision, almost all of the future X-Men were brutally killed by the Sentinels.

Sabretooth

Because the two are half-brothers (a departure from the comic book source material), Sabretooth has a very similar power set to that of Wolverine, with only a few key differences. He has enhanced strength, speed, and reflexes that make him the perfect fighter, and his heightened senses make him the perfect hunter as well. Like Wolverine, Sabretooth can heal quickly from almost any wound or injury, which is also responsible for slowing down his aging. Whereas Wolverine has three large retractable claws in his fists, Sabretooth has a small retractable claw in each one of his fingers. All of this, combined with his decades of experience in the military, makes him one of the most fierce and fatal villains in the X-Men's rogues gallery.

Sabretooth made his savage big screen debut in 2000's "X-Men" where he overpowered Wolverine by knocking him out with a tree that he wielded like a baseball bat. "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" is where Sabretooth really gets to shine, though. He dukes it out with Wolverine at a small-town bar in Canada resulting in considerable public property damage, as well as Sabretooth shattering the claws of his right hand. Because of his tracking abilities, merciless nature, and elevated physical prowess, it's revealed that Sabretooth was hired by William Stryker to hunt down and abduct mutants for use in his experiments.

Demon Bear

The Demon Bear is the creation of Danielle "Dani" Moonstar, a young Native American mutant who has the ability to manifest the fears of those around her. This entity is a massive bear-like creature that's several stories tall and has incredible strength capable of causing immense destruction. It's extremely resilient and has accelerated healing capabilities, making it practically impervious to physical attacks. Because of its connection to Dani's fear-based abilities, the Demon Bear thrives on the negative emotions of others, getting stronger the more the people around it demonstrate feelings of terror and anger.

While "The New Mutants" is no one's favorite "X-Men" film, one of the few things it did get right was its comic book-accurate portrayal of the Demon Bear as a viciously malevolent force. Its destructive nature is so great that, after it devastated Dani's reservation, it was thought to have been the work of a tornado. The Demon Bear's prodigious size and strength made it able to easily tear out entire chunks of the Milbury Hospital that the young mutants were imprisoned in. Despite the mutants' young age, the team had plenty of heavy hitters, and yet their powers did almost nothing against the Demon Bear, as it was only defeated when Dani used her gift to calm it down.

Apocalypse

Apparently, being the first mutant ever born meant that En Sabah Nur/Apocalypse got the first pick of many powerful abilities. One of those abilities was that of imbuing others with superpowers, which also entails enhancing existing powers. Matter manipulation is another one of his seemingly infinite power sets, allowing him to transmute physical objects into liquid and vice versa. Just before he was entombed for centuries, his consciousness was placed into a mutant with an accelerated healing factor, meaning he can instantly recover from all manner of physical wounds. Apocalypse can travel long distances instantly through his gift of portal generation, and he can even create incredibly resilient force fields around himself and others. Whew!

Other than a brief tease at the end of "X-Men: Days of Future Past" that saw him building pyramids in ancient Egypt with his mind, Apocalypse only appeared in one "X-Men" film. Of course, he doesn't go down without killing tons of people and causing general mayhem. Upon waking up from his centuries-long slumber, he enhances the powers of four mutants — Storm, Psylocke, Angel, and Magneto — and makes them his "four horsemen." He uses his massive psychic abilities to manipulate the world's military leaders into launching their nuclear arsenal into space to prevent them from using it against him. When the combined might of the X-Men isn't enough to defeat him, Jean Grey gives in to the godlike Phoenix portion of her power set and manages to completely disintegrate him.

Magneto

Erik Lehnsherr/Magneto may have only one primary superpower — magnetokinesis — but considering how much of the world consists of metal, it actually makes him an incredibly dangerous villain. His mastery of magnetic fields allows Magneto to control and manipulate metal with the power of thought alone. He can stop bullets in mid-air, tear down solid structures, and ride magnetic waves, enabling him to fly and levitate. Having command over such an elemental force means that Magneto is essentially impervious to countless forms of physical attack, and when he wears his special helmet he's protected from psychic attacks as well.

Magneto has appeared in every flagship "X-Men" since the beginning, so there are many demonstrations of his powers. "X-Men" sees him using his magnetic abilities to rip open a train down the middle as easily as peeling a banana. He's certainly no stranger to moving massive structures with his mind, such as in "X-Men: The Last Stand" when he rips the iconic Golden Gate Bridge from its foundations to use it to connect the mainland to Alcatraz. There's also that jaw-dropping scene in "X-Men: Days of Future Past" when he lifts up the entirety of the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium and drops it around the White House. If he hadn't taken such a dark path in life, Magneto would dominate the construction industry.

Phoenix

Before Jean Grey became Phoenix (multiple times, thanks to the series' topsy-turvy timeline), she was already adept at telepathy and telekinesis. Anyone who can read other people's minds and move objects with the power of thought alone is someone you'd like to have on your side. However, Jean was taken over by the Phoenix Force, her character took a turn for the villainous while also dramatically increasing her powers. Not only were her existing psychic powers greatly enhanced, but she also gained new powers such as the ability to produce and manipulate cosmic fire, making her something closer to a god rather than a mere mutant.

Jean Grey wreaked all kinds of havoc throughout the "X-Men" films whenever she was in her Phoenix form. "X-Men: The Last Stand" sees the malevolent side of her personality take over, causing her to kill Scott Summers, her lover. When she gives in to the Phoenix's full influence on Alcatraz, she produces a destructive force that instantly vaporizes anyone who comes into contact with it. In "Dark Phoenix," a younger Jean loses control of her mind and, in a heated confrontation, accidentally kills Mystique with a powerful energy blast. When Professor X confronts her and begs her to let him help her, she sadistically forces him out of his wheelchair and psionically makes him walk downstairs with his crippled legs.

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