The X-Men have a brand new leader, and they’re one of the most powerful mutants to exist in Marvel canon. Not only are they immensely strong, but they have a variety of powers that almost no other mutant can match, including some unique abilities only possessed by them.
In the recent Uncanny X-Men #29 – from Simone, Luciano Vecchio, Matt Wilson and Clayton Cowles – Rogue decided to temporarily stand down as leader of the X-Men’s Louisiana contingent. In her place, she asks longtime Avenger Quicksilver and mutant hero Monet to take over in her stead.
While she’s been a longtime ally of the X-Men – and served on multiple teams including Generation X, X-Corp, X-Factor Investigations and the Hellfire Club – this is Monet’s first time leading them. Given her extensive power set, some fans desperately need an update on what exactly she can do.
Monet’s Mutant Powers Explained
Arguably, Monet has just one mutant power, but it expresses itself in a huge range of ways. While most mutants develop a specific superpower due to the X-Gene, Monet’s power is to be ‘perfect,’ both physically and mentally.
Monet has used multiple codenames over her career including M and Penance, but in modern comics tends to simply go by her first name. Her full name is Monet Yvette Clarisse Maria Therese St. Croix.
Monet’s mutant power pushes every aspect of her genetics to their maximum potential. She has immense physical abilities and a mind so brilliant, she has unlocked basic psionic powers. Her abilities express themselves in wild ways and even combine to create unexpected new abilities, so let’s get the easy stuff out of the way first…
Superhuman Physiology
As part of her ‘perfect’ physiology, Monet has the powers of a stereotypical superhero. Her physical abilities include:
- Enhanced Strength – Monet can officially lift 10 tons with ease, though she seems to be far stronger, with Rogue stating she has “the power to shatter mountains”
- Enhanced Durability – Monet has described herself as “basically invulnerable” and survived fighting the Hulk, including being kicked several miles
- Enhanced Speed – Monet can move and perceive the world at superspeed, though she’s not on the level of dedicated speedsters like Quicksilver (at least on the ground)
- Enhanced Agility – Monet is an Olympic-level sportswoman and can even catch bullets. During a friendly game of baseball, she ran rings around other mutants who also possess enhanced agility, including Beast
- Enhanced Senses – Monet can hear and see further than normal humans or other mutants, and has near-perfect vision even in darkness
Monet’s limits are generally depicted as being multiple times those of even peak humans, but generally slightly lesser than characters who specialize in that given area. The exception is her durability, which is comparable to Marvel’s most powerful characters.
Supersonic Flight
Monet is capable of supersonic flight, potentially using her telekinesis (on which more shortly) to propel herself through the air. In X-Men Volume 4 #9, she flies from Budapest to Dubai in five minutes, traveling at around 30,000 mph. However, while Monet was on a mission on that occasion, she wasn’t in desperate need, and it’s possible she can fly even faster when pressed.
Aura Perception
One of Monet’s most unique powers allows her to read the ‘auras’ of other mutants. Like the X-Men’s Cerebro device, this allows Monet to discern mutants at a glance and track them over short distances, but not to discern their powers.
Enhanced Intellect and Perfect Memory
As well as her physical enhancements, Monet also has a perfect human brain. This provides her with a genius-level intellect and perfect memory, while also granting her ‘superhuman intuition’ – the ability to instinctively pick up new skills and knowledge at a vastly enhanced rate, often by witnessing them secondhand or through implication.
Monet is officially one of the X-Men’s smartest heroes, though due to her personality, this tends more towards deduction, business acumen and tactics, rather than scientific pursuits. When the X-Men founded their own nation, Monet and billionaire X-Men founder Angel were tasked with managing mutantkind’s combined business interests as the heads of X-Corp.
Thanks to both her heiress status and her own business skills, Monet is one of richest mutants in X-Men lore, implied to have a personal fortune in the millions.
Limited Telepathy
Monet possesses basic telepathy, able to read the minds of others and cause them to perceive illusions, but is vulnerable to more powerful and experienced psychics, lacking the raw power of Kid Omega or the sophistication of Professor X. Her current limits may be due to lack of practice.
Limited Telekinesis
Monet has the ability to move things with her mind, however she hasn’t developed this ability to the degree of her other powers. Monet generally utilizes telekinesis on small objects, and has been able to redirect a bullet midair in the past and unleash telekinetic blasts.
Unlike some telekinetic big-hitters, Monet seems most comfortable using her telekinesis on a small scale, and has incredible fine control, able to serve tea telekinetically without spilling a single drop.
Healing Factor
Monet possesses a limited healing factor several times stronger than a human, but nowhere close to fellow X-Men heroes Wolverine and Deadpool. Monet can heal from serious injuries in a matter of days, but can’t instantly regenerate lost limbs.
She can also die from excess damage – something that happened after she battled the Greek god Pluto in 2013’s X-Factor Vol 3 #256 (thankfully, she was resurrected through other means.)
Penance Transformation
Yes, despite all the superpowers above, Monet also has an entirely different form with its own powers. For that, she can thank her villainous brother Marius, aka Emplate. A dark magician who feeds on mutant bone marrow, Emplate magically transformed his sister after she rejected his invitation to try and conquer the world.
In her original Penance form, Monet was unable to speak and could be controlled by Emplate, but in the years since, Monet has mastered ‘Penance’ and can now shift into the form at will.
As Penance, Monet transmutes her body into a red, diamond-like material with the density of a small star. Her hair and skin become razor-sharp, and she sprouts elongated claws. The Penance form is resistant to telepathic attack, but also has limited access to Monet’s own psychic abilities.
Genetic Fusion with Siblings
In a bizarre twist, Monet and her three siblings all possess the ability to merge bodies, taking on new appearances and forms when they do so. Monet’s younger sisters Claudette and Nicole were able to pose as her by merging bodies, while Monet has merged with her brother Marius, gaining his energy-consuming mutant hand-mouths.
Sibling relationships often create unique powers in X-Men lore (less excitingly, brothers Cyclops and Havok are immune to each other’s power blasts), and this appears to be a discrete ability that can manifest between any of the St. Croix siblings, but which is most often used by Monet’s younger sisters.
As shown above, Monet is one of X-Men’s most unique heroes, however her ‘perfect’ power has made her arrogant and dismissive of others. She inarguably has the power and skill it takes to lead the X-Men, but only time will tell if she has the temperament.
Uncanny X-Men #29 is available now from Marvel Comics.
- Movie(s)
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X-Men (2000), X2, X-Men: The Last Stand (2006), X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009), X-Men: First Class (2011), The Wolverine (2013), X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014), Deadpool (2016), X-Men: Apocalypse (2016), Logan (2017), Deadpool 2 (2018), Dark Phoenix (2019), The New Mutants, Deadpool & Wolverine (2024)
- TV Show(s)
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X-Men: Pryde of the X-Men, X-Men (1992), X-Men: Evolution (2000), Wolverine and the X-Men (2008), Marvel Anime: Wolverine, Marvel Anime: X-Men, Legion (2017), The Gifted (2017), X-Men ’97 (2024)
- Video Game(s)
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X-Men: Children of the Atom (1994), Marvel Super Heroes (1995), X-Men vs. Street Fighter (1996), Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter (1997), Marvel vs. Capcom (1998), X-Men: Mutant Academy (2000), Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes (2000), X-Men: Mutant Academy 2 (2001), X-Men: Next Dimension (2002), Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds (2011), Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 (2011), X-Men Legends (2005), X-Men Legends 2: Rise of Apocalypse (2005), X2: Wolverine’s Revenge (2003), X-Men (1993), X-Men 2: Clone Wars (1995), X-Men: Mutant Apocalypse (1994)
- First Film
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X-Men (2000)
- Character(s)
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Professor X, Cyclops, Iceman, Beast, Angel, Phoenix, Wolverine, Gambit, Rogue, Storm, Jubilee, Morph, Nightcrawler, Havok, Banshee, Colossus, Magneto, Psylocke, Juggernaut, Cable, X-23
- Comic Release Date
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213035,212968