How old is Mystique?

[Erik Lehnsherr]

She has to be in her 50s or 60s. I know her shape changing has her appear younger but what's her real age?

[Pro]

Oh she's far older than 50. She was an adult around 1920-1930 so she'd be around 100 years.

[Erik Lehnsherr]

Oh is that right? After all these years and all these books I have read, I have never, EVER checked in her origin except that one X-Men Unlimited issue where he turned against Nightcrawler in record time. So she's older than Magneto, Xavier, Captain America, Juggernaut, and Red Skull. Wow...she's almost older than Wolverine.

[Pro]

Wish i could find a larger sized picture but here you go:

http://content.answers.com/main/content/wp/en/thumb/4/4b/250px-Mxtr.png

Those clothes, the horse and carriage in the back, the streets and houses set that scene around 1910-1920.

[Mystique25]

I know Mystique referenced her age once in her solo series. I want to say it was issue 12, though it may have been 11. She says something about how 60 years ago she had done something. I really don't remember too much, but it does give somewhat of a reference to how old she is.
I don't have the issue on hand right now, but if anyone has it and can look it up, it could give you a good guess.

[Erik Lehnsherr]

Wish i could find a larger sized picture but here you go:

http://content.answers.com/main/content/wp/en/thumb/4/4b/250px-Mxtr.png

I see. We always knew Destiny was older and had worked with Sinister and Xavier's father and whatnot but I thought Raven was just a little girl when she first met her and then they got close throughout the years after the fact.

[Pro]

On further examining that scene may be even older than 1910.

To compare here is a streetcar around 1910. Apparently they ran on electricity already around that time yet in the scene with Destiny and Mystique it is still horse drawn.

http://www.shiawasseehistory.com/images/owosso1910.jpg

[Erik Lehnsherr]

Damn..she's MUCH too close to Sinister's age. Even with her shape shifting powers, how is able to be so athletic and move so quick?

[Pro]

Damn..she's MUCH too close to Sinister's age. Even with her shape shifting powers, how is able to be so athletic and move so quick?

The same ability that allows her to shapeshift also allows her to renew old cells, effectively slowing or completely stopping her aging process. She's pretty much in peak condition.

And yea i think she may have been born around the time Essex became Sinister, making her around Wolverine's age.

[Erik Lehnsherr]

She was born in 1859? DAMN...that's wild. And her shape shifting is what's keeping her looking she's in her prime and her able to do what she does without breaking in two? It's not like that for every shape shifter though..so why her?

[KJ_81]

I think she's supposed to be around the age of 90, I'm tempted to say 89 as an exact age, I cannot recall where or why I think that though.
I'm sure it was around the time of Destiny's death, or an issue related to that.

[Metallurgique]

In Adjectiveless #174 she states "I am over eighty years old. I'd only just turned twelve when I became a mutant. A blue mutant, with these mutant eyes -- when our kind weren't so common."

I take this to mean that she was born between 1915 and 1924, so it's still perfectly plausible that she'd have been riding streetcars with Irene for some time after that (streetcars/trolleys did not generally disappear in most american cities until the late 1940's).

[Erik Lehnsherr]

For one so old, she isn't particularly all too bright.

[ProfeZZor X]

At the end of Milligain's run when she wanted "in" at the mansion, she did confess that she was 80 years old.

[DDM]

Mystique is older than 150 years, but that is the place to start. Her mutant ability to change her shape has kept her youthful & has possibly slowed her aging down dramatically. Speculation is Mystique's mutant power appeared at birth & she has essentially raised herself. It's why family with Irene Adler (Destiny) & Rogue is so important to her.

[DDM]

In Adjectiveless #174 she states "I am over eighty years old. I'd only just turned twelve when I became a mutant. A blue mutant, with these mutant eyes -- when our kind weren't so common."

I take this to mean that she was born between 1915 and 1924, so it's still perfectly plausible that she'd have been riding streetcars with Irene for some time after that (streetcars/trolleys did not generally disappear in most american cities until the late 1940's).

X-Treme X-Men #1 depicts Mystique & Destiny to have known each other in the 1800's.

[Pro]

Thanks DDM for repeating what i already said :p.

I wouldn't mind seeing a mini or maxi series around Destiny and Mystique following their early years and their attempts to shape history.

[Metallurgique]

http://content.answers.com/main/content/wp/en/thumb/4/4b/250px-Mxtr.png

Ordinarily, I might agree that she's indeed older than I think she is in my previous post by being confronted with this, but this scene is a flashback meant to illustrate the story in Sage's head in XXM #1, not the gospel truth.

[Pro]

this scene is a flashback in Sage's head in XXM #1, not the gospel truth.

Nothing is gospel truth in comics, 5 decades of retcons should have taught you that by now, but that's what we got on paper nonetheless. Until some writer retcons it there is little point in stating the flashback is not correct.

[Erik Lehnsherr]

Mystique is older than 150 years, but that is the place to start. Her mutant ability to change her shape has kept her youthful & has possibly slowed her aging down dramatically. Speculation is Mystique's mutant power appeared at birth & she has essentially raised herself. It's why family with Irene Adler (Destiny) & Rogue is so important to her.

NO WAY she's older than Nathaniel Essex. Until I see legit proof of that, I'll take that as an opinion than anything close to canon. Her being 100 is already kind of a shaky claim since there is nothing that shows her in the 1800s to date.

[Pro]

NO WAY she's older than Nathaniel Essex. Until I see legit proof of that, I'll take that as an opinion than anything close to canon. Her being 100 is already kind of a shaky claim since there is nothing that shows her in the 1800s to date.

I think he meant the 19th century.
Claiming that Destiny was born around 1800 would be ridiculous. Destiny wasn't 200 years old when she died.

[Alphaxman]

I also think she was born around the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. In that picture in X-treme X-Men both of them were adults. And in that panel it states that Raven was a detective. So she must have had moderate life experience to do her job effectively. So I doubt she was in her late teens or early twenties. She most likely is older then Irene was before she died. And if I had to guess she was around 75-80 years old.

[Erik Lehnsherr]

I think he meant the 19th century.
Claiming that Destiny was born around 1800 would be ridiculous. Destiny wasn't 200 years old when she died.

Nah..he said Raven was 150. How? Is there anything in canon that shows her alive when Sinister got those powers from Apocalypse?

[Monty_Cristo]

I also think she was born around the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. In that picture in X-treme X-Men both of them were adults. And in that panel it states that Raven was a detective.

wasn't she the detective that Arthur Conan Doyle, supposedly, based Sherlock Holmes after? i remember reading that somewhere. and there was a character named 'Irene Adler' in the Holmes stories.

[AnthonyJ]

So, who are the oldest mutants? We have:
Selene (dates back to the Hyborean Age, making her 12,000+)
Apocalypse (dates back to Ancient Egypt, making him 5,000+)
Exodus (12th century, so 800+)
Sinister (150+)
Wolverine (probably 100+)
Mystique (probably 100+)
Plus some dead X-ternals, most of whom are unlikely to ever show up again, though Candra is still possible.

What else?

[Erik Lehnsherr]

Even though Exodus is from the 12th century, what's his physical age since he was in suspended animation? He looks like he's not even past his 20s yet.

[Pro]

Nah..he said Raven was 150. How? Is there anything in canon that shows her alive when Sinister got those powers from Apocalypse?

Raven is most likely around 150 years old. Destiny on the other hand is not. I'd put destiny close to 100 years old given the flashback in Extreme x-men.

X-Treme X-Men #1 depicts Mystique & Destiny to have known each other in the 1800's.

Unless he meant both Raven and Irene are 200 years old you must have misunderstood.

[Dizzy D]

So, who are the oldest mutants? We have:
Selene (dates back to the Hyborean Age, making her 12,000+)
Apocalypse (dates back to Ancient Egypt, making him 5,000+)
Exodus (12th century, so 800+)
Sinister (150+)
Wolverine (probably 100+)
Mystique (probably 100+)
Plus some dead X-ternals, most of whom are unlikely to ever show up again, though Candra is still possible.

What else?

Mutants:
Sabretooth is probably around the same age as Wolverine and Mystique (mentioned he was in Alaska during the gold rush period once IIRC).
Namor is about 80+ years old by now. So was Scalphunter. (Both fought in WWII) If Crimson Commando is still alive, lump him in here.
Azazel from Austen's run was pretty old, but I guess we won't see him again anytime soon.

Probably mutants:
Tryp's status as a mutant is unclear, but he's been around for several centuries as well. (I'm still going with real life scientists are still arguing about whether the classification of dozens of living organisms, so for many Marvel scientists there may be no real difference between killcrops and mutants.)
If the Shadow King can finally make up his mind whether he is a mutant or an abstract evil entity, he would probably be up there as well.

And Sinister is not a mutant.

[Pro]

Azazel from Austen's run was pretty old, but I guess we won't see him again anytime soon.

Azazel would win the price of oldest mutant alive since if i recall correctly that whole angelic/demonic mutant thing was supposedly played out in prehistoric times.

But i think most people are hoping for some serious retconning with regards to Azazel.

[Dizzy D]

Azazel would win the price of oldest mutant alive since if i recall correctly that whole angelic/demonic mutant thing was supposedly played out in prehistoric times.

But i think most people are hoping for some serious retconning with regards to Azazel.

Burying and forgetting usually works better than retconning IMHO.

[UncannyAsianGirl]

Thanks DDM for repeating what i already said :p.

I wouldn't mind seeing a mini or maxi series around Destiny and Mystique following their early years and their attempts to shape history.
I'd love it if a series like this were written, and I'd love it more if Rogue were eventually thrown in further down the line. Mike's pretty fond of the Irene/Raven relationship, and we had a bit of a discussion on the subject when I met him. Perhaps with a bit of prodding, he could pitch this to Marvel? Or perhaps he already has? There's been rumors floating around about a Mystique solo since June/July... (http://www.silverbulletcomicbooks.com/rage/118266774789062.htm)

But yeah, Mystique is old, how old, we don't know... And she could end up living a lot longer as well. In Wolverine:The End, she's seen at Creed's funeral looking no worse for wear. Of course, it isn't in continuity, so never mind...

[Pro]

Burying and forgetting usually works better than retconning IMHO.

I dunno, it kinda taints both Nightcrawler and Mystique. Generally speaking i'd agree with you but that's one retcon i wouldn't really mind see happen.

[AnthonyJ]

I dunno, it kinda taints both Nightcrawler and Mystique. Generally speaking i'd agree with you but that's one retcon i wouldn't really mind see happen.
It's also possible to retcon the situation by simply overwriting it with new canon and ignoring the old bad ideas. This gives fans fits, but when it's history no-one has any interest in dealing with, it's not all that uncommon.

[Monty_Cristo]

Azazel would win the price of oldest mutant alive since if i recall correctly that whole angelic/demonic mutant thing was supposedly played out in prehistoric times.

But i think most people are hoping for some serious retconning with regards to Azazel.

no need. Dan Slott took care of that one.

[Pro]

no need. Dan Slott took care of that one.

Eh .. ? Haven't heard anything about that.