Fall Of X hit the X-Men like a ton of bricks. The Krakoa Era did something different, teaming good and evil mutants while introducing the Orchis Initiative as antagonists. Orchis, comprised of members of multiple secret agencies, supervillains, and powerful AI, made their grand attack with Fall Of X, breaking Krakoa’s power and scattering the X-Men. Since then, readers have been thrilled with all kinds of great stories along with some not-so-great ones, as the X-Men battle against multiple powerful villains.

Fall Of X has seen the X-Men and their allies embroiled in mundane and existential battles, taking on the worst villains Marvel has to offer. Some of the villains are extremely potent, using their powers and skills to challenge the mutant heroes like no other villains could. They range from godlike intelligence to powerless scientists, yet all have proven incredibly deadly.

10 Doctor Stasis Doesn’t Have Any Powers But That Makes Him No Less Dangerous

The Krakoa Era has introduced many new characters to the X-Men mythos and some variations on well-known ones. Doctor Stasis represents a character that straddles both worlds. During Destiny of X, Stasis was revealed as one of Orchis’s leaders and became the tip of the spear against the New York City-based X-Men team. However, Stasis wasn’t some new villain that no one had ever seen before; it was soon revealed that he was yet another clone of Nathaniel Essex, just like longtime X-Men villain Mister Sinister.

• Doctor Stasis was a human clone and didn’t seem to have any superpowers
• What made Stasis so dangerous was his expertise in genetics, which allowed him to come up with other ways to hurt mutants
• Stasis wasn’t a physical threat but he hurt the X-Men in several ways

Stasis’s power didn’t come from super abilities, but his intelligence. He helped corrupt Krakoan medicine and created technology that allowed Orchis to dominate Krakoa in nearly every respect. Stasis wasn’t powerful in a traditional sense, but his intelligence and high status in Orchis put him among the most powerful people on Earth. Without Stasis in command, Orchis wouldn’t have been nearly as formidable.

9 Sabretooth Has Always Been A Dangerous Foe But Is Deadlier With His Sabretooth Army

Sabretooth was made an example of during the establishment of Krakoa, imprisoned within the Pit. Doug Ramsey and Krakoa gave him control of the Pit to make his imprisonment more pleasant. However, it being Sabretooth meant that he created a hellscape that tortured later inmates of the Pit. Sabretooth escaped and was captured by Orchis, after which the Quiet Council sent his fellow inmates from the Pit after him. Sabretooth ended up teaming with these Exiles against his son Graydon Creed and hooked up with a group of multiversal Sabretooth that his son would kill, gaining multiverse traveling technology and headless Sabretooth drones.

• Sabretooth’s powers give him super strength, heightened agility, razor-sharp teeth and claws, super senses, and a healing factor
• Sabretooth has decades of combat experience and is much craftier than his wild killer nature gives him credit for
• Sabretooth and his alternates traveled to a universe where they could take control of a Weapon X facility to get Sabretooth an adamantium skeleton

Sabretooth immediately targeted Wolverine and his compatriots in X-Force, tearing them apart. Sabretooth’s mutant powers and new adamantium skeleton don’t give him godlike power or anything like that, but his intangibles have made him even more dangerous. Sabretooth commands an army of himself and controls a vessel that can travel anywhere in the Multiverse. Sabretooth has more power than ever and devotes all of it to destroying Wolverine.

8 Mikhail Rasputin Controlled Russia’s Mutant Population

Mikhail Rasputin has been a problem for Krakoa since its earliest days. Russia didn’t sign a treaty with Krakoa and posted armed soldiers at any Krakoan gate grown in Russian territory. Mutants weren’t allowed to leave Russia to join Krakoa, and one man was given control of the country’s mutants – Mikhail Rasputin. Mikhail was once a cosmonaut who ended up in another dimension because of his mutant powers. He’s had several dealings with the X-Men, as they saved him from that alternate world, and has often acted as an antagonist for the team.

• Mikhail’s mutant powers allow him to manipulate subatomic matter and control energy by altering its wavelengths
• Mikhail can use his powers to teleport through space and dimensions, but it is extremely dangerous and hard to choose an exact destination
• His powers allowed him to fire powerful bolts of energy and control the powers of those with active energy abilities

Mikhail Rasputin could take control of his brother Colossus using the powers of the mutant known as Chronicler. This gave him a mole on the Quiet Council, but he never really got to use Colossus to damage Krakoa too much after the Hellfire Gala massacre. Mikhail and Colossus had a confrontation after the Gala, and the younger Rasputin finally killed his older brother, ending years of bad blood between the two and freeing himself from Mikhail’s sinister commands.

7 Omega Sentinel Has Been The Power Behind The AI Faction Of Orchis Since The Beginning

Omega Sentinel was once Karima Shapandar, a woman dosed with Prime Sentinel nanites. She was able to overcome her programming and become an ally to mutantkind. Omega Sentinel was even part of the X-Men for a time, fighting alongside Rogue’s rapid response team. Omega Sentinel eventually left the X-Men and dropped out of sight. A version of Omega Sentinel from the future, one where mutants gained supremacy over the Earth, was able to send her mind back in time, downloading into her body in the present and destroying her original personality. She then went to Doctor Killian Devo, tore out his eyes and replaced them with robotic ones that allowed her to show him her future. Devo started the Orchis Initiative and Omega Sentinel became one of its enforcers.

• Omega Sentinel has superhuman strength, super agility, super speed, a powerful sensor suite, the ability to fly, control of her nanotech carapace, and powerful energy manipulation skills
• Omega Sentinel proved to be formidable enough to help Nimrod kill Xavier and Magneto
• Omega Sentinel and Nimrod have secretly built up the AI faction of Orchis to destroy both humanity and mutants

Omega Sentinel has mostly stayed in the shadows of Orchis, but every time she’s been in combat she’s torn through her enemies. Omega Sentinel is the ultimate in Sentinel technology, and she can manifest any weapon she needs because of nanotech. She’s undoubtedly deadly, and her position of power over the AI faction makes her extremely powerful in more ways than one.

6 Genesis Almost Took Over The Planet Arakko

Genesis was originally a citizen of Okkara, the living mutant continent that would one day split into Krakoa and Arakko. Apocalypse came there after gaining the power of the Celestials and hit it off with Genesis. While Apocalypse was about survival of the fittest, Genesis took it to the next level. The two become Okkara’s power couple, their children becoming the First Horsemen. The demonic forces of Amenth soon attacked Okkara. During that war, the Amenthi used the Twilight Sword to sunder Okkara into Krakoa and Arakko. Genesis led her children and many of Okkara’s citizens to Otherworld, where they continued the war against Amenth. Eventually, they lost and were absorbed by Amenth, who used them to attack Krakoa.

• Genesis led the Champions of Amenth in the contest against Krakoa
• Genesis’s powers gave her chlorokinesis, giving her Omega-level power over plants
• Genesis and Apocalypse reunited, but she decided that Arakko had become weak in her absence

Genesis and her children returned to Arakko and began a civil war against Storm, Regent of Arakko. Genesis had a secret weapon—she had melted down the Golden Helm of Annihilation, which contained the controlling intelligence of Amenth. She created a staff that allowed her to control minds. Genesis was almost able to defeat Storm’s forces, but her mutant powers and tactical skills made her a dangerous foe. Genesis lost her battle against Storm, but it was much closer than anyone expected.

5 The High Evolutionary Handed The X-Men A Grievous Loss

The High Evolutionary has always been a powerful villain, but he’s rarely fought mutants, which has always been pretty ironic considering his stock in trade. The High Evolutionary created a machine that allowed him to unlock his evolutionary potential, becoming a powerful superhuman. The High Evolutionary made a base on Mount Wundagore and created animal/human hybrids and Counter-Earth to use as a petri dish for his experimentation. He’s long been fascinated with Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver and has battled Adam Warlock, the Avengers, and many other A-list heroes.

• The High Evolutionary has superhuman physical abilities, powerful mental powers, a healing factor, energy powers, and total recall memory
• The High Evolutionary is a master geneticist, able to create life basically whenever he wants to
• His human/animal hybrids range from the kindly cow woman Bova to fierce monsters that have challenged the most potent superheroes

The High Evolutionary faced the Krakoan X-Men early in their existence and beat the team until he was given a blood sample from Synch. Synch decided he could use the weapon that the High Evolutionary promised them to undo Orchis’s tampering with Krakoan medicine. This led Synch and Talon to fight the High Evolutionary, a battle that cost Talon her life. However, they could retrieve and modify the weapon, undoing one of Orchis’s more destructive weapons against mutantkind.

4 Mother Righteous’s Magic Powers Made Her A Powerful Foe For Krakoa

Mother Righteous showed up out of nowhere, offering to help any mutant just for a simple thank you. No one knew where she came from or what she was, and she could move herself high in the affairs of the mutants of Krakoa. Mother Righteous had a deadly secret though – she was one of four clones created by Nathaniel Essex, like Mister Sinister and Doctor Stasis. Mother Righteous was based on Nathaniel’s wife Rebecca, who wasn’t a scientist like the other Essex clones; her powers came from more esoteric sources.

• Mother Righteous studied magic, becoming a powerful sorceress in her own right
• She was meant to use magic to become a Dominion, allowing the Essex AI to suborn her efforts to become a god outside space and time
• Mother Righteous transported the majority of the Krakoan population to the White Hot Room of the Phoenix, all so she could try to sacrifice the Phoenix Force to become a Dominion

Mother Righteous fooled the Krakoans into believing she was a mutant and on their side, but eventually she was defeated and taken prisoner in the White Hot Room. Xavier leaked her status to Orchis and tracked them to her physical body, taking her hostage after she defeated Stasis and Orbis Stellaris. Mother Righteous’s magic gave her various powers, and she was almost able to succeed in her goals.

3 The Children Of The Vault Were A Powerful Group Of Posthumans

The Children of the Vault were a thorn in the X-Men’s side even before Krakoa was established. The Children of the Vault are posthumans, humans artificially enhanced by technology. The first batch of Children of the Vault were almost able to destroy the entirety of the mutant race after M-Day, but were pushed back into the Vault. They used variable time technology to evolve thousands of years in the span of a few. The Krakoans prioritized containing them, as they had become a force that could destroy mutantkind and create a whole new race.

• Synch, Wolverine II, and Darwin were sent into the Vault to figure out a way to destroy the Children but failed with only Synch escaping
• The X-Men were able to use Forge’s technology to put the Vault and its defenders into stasis, keeping them under wraps
• After Orchis broke Krakoa’s power, Forge’s machines stopped working and the Children of the Vault were able to escape again

The Children of the Vault made themselves known to the human world, promising to bring humanity to the next level. However, it was all a trick to create a Worldmind so that the Phalanx would come and absorb the human race. There were multiple Children, including Aguja, Átomo, Cadena, Capitán, Corredigora, Diamante, Fuego, Horador, Madre, Martillo, Merbavon, Luz, Olvido, Piedra Dura, Prisa, Sangre, Serafina, Terramoto, and some three thousand others. Bishop and Cable were able to contain them, but their powers almost allowed them to succeed, whereas many others failed.

2 Nimrod Is The Most Powerful Sentinel Of Them All

Nimrod units are the most powerful Sentinels of them all, but they usually came from the future, when technology had progressed to a certain level. With the help of Omega Sentinel, Orchis made the necessary advancements and almost created one at the beginning of the Krakoan age, but were stopped by the X-Men. Later, Dr. Alia Gregor succeeded by using her dead husband, Erasmus Mendel, as the basis for a new Nimrod, and the ultimate Sentinel was born again.

• Nimrod has super strength, powerful energy weapons, technology that can negate all kinds of mutant powers, and a computer-based mind that can come up with deadly strategies
• Nimrod has shown the ability to control more than one body at once, which has allowed it to lull enemies into a false sense of security
• The current Nimrod has rarely lost a fight and was responsible for the deaths of most of the new X-Men team introduced at the third Hellfire Gala

Nimrod is basically Orchis’s final boss at this point. He and Omega Sentinel have quietly been consolidating their power to use against mutants and humans, taking charge of Sentinel City on Mercury. Even the most potent mutants, like Xavier and Magneto, have been unable to defeat Nimrod and nearly everything the X-Men tried to use against him failed. Nimrod is humanity’s hatred for mutants made flesh, made all the more frightening because he doesn’t even care about the lives of the people who created him.

1 Enigma Was Able To Become A Dominion At Some Point

Nathaniel Essex was a brilliant geneticist in the 19th century. He got mixed up with Apocalypse at some point, as well as Destiny, and began dreaming of a future ruled by AI. At some point, Nathaniel learned what a Dominion was – a godlike intelligence that existed outside time and space, and decided that was his destiny. Essex created four clones, each meant to explore a different avenue to become a Dominion. He then was able to create an AI version of himself before he died, living far beyond his natural lifespan as a machine intelligence. Essex became Enigma.

• Enigma is currently a Dominion, although no one knows how he became one
• Enigma’s powers allow him to move through any era in Earth’s history, manipulating people and events as he sees fit
• Enigma is the closest thing to a god that has been produced by humankind and is trying to ensure the event that makes him into one

Destiny had known about Enigma for decades but was never exactly sure what he was until recently. Enigma’s manipulations have made him into mutantkind’s greatest enemy, as his entire plan seems to revolve around AI becoming a Worldmind to elevate him to godhood. He’s possibly the most powerful enemy the X-Men have ever faced, as he’s basically impossible to hurt unless they can figure out how to stop his ascension.