As one of the most physically powerful mutants in X-Men lore, it’s no surprise Piotr Rasputin’s Colossus has some powerful relatives. From his sorcerer sister to his long-lost son to his monstrous great-grandfather, Colossus is tied into one of Marvel’s most fascinating bloodlines – one that also connects him to one of X-Men’s biggest villains.
We’re ranking the 13 most powerful members of Colossus’ family according to their offensive abilities, while also uncovering the dark truth of the ancestor who binds them all together. Colossus’ extensive family tree is no coincidence, and the history of his family is the story of a single dark plot warping multiple generations.
13
Yuri Grigorievich
Colossus’ Distant Cousin Was a Beloved Healer
Introduced in David Hine and Jorge Lucas’ X-Men: Colossus – Bloodline, Yuri was a minor mutant healer who used his powers in service of a small Siberian community. While Yuri was known by everyone in his region as ‘the Healer,’ he was a relatively low-level mutant in global terms. Sadly, this meant that when Mister Sinister came to kill him, Yuri had no way to protect himself, and he was quickly murdered.
Like Colossus, Yuri is a descendant of sorcerer and mutant Grigory Efimovich Rasputin, who worked with Mister Sinister as part of a mutant breeding program in the late 1800s. After his death, Grigory was able to disperse his consciousness into his bloodline, with a sliver of his persona hidden in the minds of each of his descendants. Mister Sinister set out to kill off the sprawling Rasputin family tree in order to focus Grigory into a single body and bring back his old ally. Thankfully, Colossus was able to stop him.
12
Elena
Colossus’ Great-Grandmother Was an Early Mutant
Also introduced in X-Men: Colossus – Bloodline, Elena is Colossus’ great-grandmother – a telekinetic mutant who was the first member of a dark cult surrounding Grigory Efimovich Rasputin. Elena and her brother Ivan were caught up in Rasputin and Sinister’s plans, though for a time Elena was a true believer in Rasputin’s claims of divinity. After her brother Ivan arranged to have Rasputin assassinated, Elena faked his murder, unable to actually slay her brother. The two reconnected later in life, and Elena’s example later influenced Colossus’ victory over Sinister.
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11
Sprite, aka Charles Rasputin
Colossus’ Son from the Iconic ‘Days of Future Past’
X-Men’s iconic ‘Days of Future Past’ storyline depicts a world where the X-Men’s dream has failed – mutants are rounded up into concentration camps, with Sentinels patrolling the planet to hunt down homo superior. In 2023, Marvel gave the legendary story a prequel in Marc Guggenheim and Manuel Garcia’s X-Men: Days of Future Past – Doomsday. The story follows the fall of the X-Men and the rise of anti-mutant sentiment, with Sentinels wiping out many beloved mutant heroes.
Tragically, one such casualty is Sprite – Colossus and Shadowcat’s future son. Named for Professor X, Charles inherited his mother’s phasing powers, but he sadly perished while trying to use them to take down a Sentinel. Even in the wake of their young son’s murder, Colossus and Shadowcat fought on to forge a future for mutantkind.
10
Goliath, aka Jean Rasputin
Colossus’ Daughter with Kitty Pryde and Sprite’s Sister
Also debuting (and dying) in X-Men: Days of Future Past – Doomsday, Piotr and Kitty’s daughter Jean is named for their former teammate Jean Grey. She inherited her father’s metal skin and enhanced strength, but tragically was likewise slain by the Sentinels while heroically fighting for freedom.
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9
Kid Colossus, aka Peter, Son of Nereel
Colossus’ Long-Lost Son Is One of His Biggest Tragedies
This entry technically covers two characters – Peter (Son of Nereel) and Kid Colossus. Introduced in X-Men Annual #12 (by Chris Claremont and Arthur Adams), Peter is the son of Nereel – a resident of Marvel’s dinosaur-infested Savage Land. While Peter’s father is Colossus, the X-Men hero has yet to learn that he has a son, despite playing with the child when visiting his former lover. Peter is a forgotten time bomb waiting to go off in Marvel’s main continuity, with fans eagerly waiting for the day Colossus learns he’s a father.
However, in the alternate timeline of Chris Claremont and Sean Chen’s X-Men: The End, fans got to see Peter not just grow up, but even join the X-Men as Kid Colossus. The story charts the future of the X-Men franchise, with the mutant heroes going up against Mister Sinister, Stryfe, the Skrulls, and other iconic villains. This version of Peter has the same powers as his father, and is even the father of our next entry…
8
Pavel Rasputin
Colossus’ Grandson Was Part of X-Men’s GeNext Team
Introduced in Chris Claremont and Patrick Scherberger’s GeNext #1, Pavel is the son of Kid Colossus, and thus the grandson of the original Colossus. This alternate timeline follows on from X-Men: The End, depicting a whole new class of mutant students who make their way in the world. A reckless fighter, Pavel has the same superstrength, durability and metal skin as his grandfather. Pavel has faced off against a number of villains including the Neo – an extremist sect of mutants who have sworn vengeance against the X-Men.
7
Unnamed Son
Colossus’ Mysterious Son Has a Grudge Against Wolverine
So new to Marvel lore that fans don’t even know his name yet, the recent Wolverine: Revenge #4 (from Jonathan Hickman and Greg Capullo) introduced Colossus’ mysterious son. This series is set in an alternate reality where a massive technological disaster led to the fall of America. Colossus joined the Brotherhood of Mutants in order to secure a rare energy source that would keep Russia safe, and was therefore linked to a plan that claimed the lives of heroes including Steve Rogers’ Captain America and Bucky Barnes’ Winter Soldier.
Following this disastrous attack, Wolverine made it his mission to kill every member of the Brotherhood, murdering his old friend in the process. However, Colossus left family behind, and the ‘Revenge’ of the title has now flipped, with a badly injured Sabretooth recruiting Colossus’ son to take down Wolverine. While little is known about this character so far, he appears to have his father’s unbreakable skin and the Rasputin family Soulsword, on which more shortly…
6
Christina Pryde
Colossus’ Daughter with Kate ‘Kitty’ Pryde Comes from X-Men’s Darkest Timeline
2015 saw the release of Marguerite Bennett and Mike Norton’s Years of Future Past, exploring a new alternate reality based on the iconic ‘Days of Future Past.’ Here, Colossus and longtime love interest Kate Pryde are still alive and fighting as part of the resistance, and fans get to see their kids in action. Christina ‘Chrissie’ Pryde has an advanced version of her father’s powers. Rather than just converting her body to a steel-like substance, Chrissie becomes a liquid metal, allowing her to shapeshift and stretch into different forms. Chrissie mostly uses this to form blades and shields, while also gaining enhanced durability more her malleable form.
5
Cameron
Colossus’ Son, Raised by Wolverine, Is Also Christina’s Brother
Despite being Christina’s brother, Cameron was raised very differently. With his parents imprisoned in a concentration camp, Cameron was saved and raised by Wolverine. The two returned years later to free Colossus and Kitty, with Cameron revealing he has a wild evolution of his mother’s phasing powers. Cameron can merge with any substance he touches, moving through it at alarming speeds. Cameron merges with his targets on the molecular level, allowing him to travel vast distances by – for instance – merging with one end of a road and emerging at the other side.
However, as expected from anyone raised by Wolverine, Cameron’s powers also have major offensive potential. This was shown when Cameron merged with a reanimated Blob, bursting free from the villain’s stomach and killing him instantly. Cameron attempted to assassinate human supremacist Baron Robert Kelly, only to be killed by Chrissie, who believed that the X-Men protecting their oppressors against ‘evil mutants’ was the only way to change humanity’s hatred of homo superior.
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4
Mikhail Rasputin
Colossus’ Older Brother Is a Conflicted Villain
Colossus’ older brother, Mikhail Rasputin is a former cosmonaut assumed dead after disappearing into a dimensional rift. Mikhail has the ability to manipulate space on the subatomic level – this allows him to open ‘rifts’ through which he can access other dimensions, which he uses for both teleportation and powerful energy blasts. Immensely strong, Mikhail has worked both with and against Colossus over the years, disdaining the dream of mutant/human coexistence while still loving his brother.
Sadly, in the recent X-Force #46 from Benjamin Percy and Robert Gill, Colossus killed Mikhail after his brother oversaw a plot to mind-control him into betraying the X-Men, which included Colossus being forced to kill his girlfriend Kayla.
3
Rasputin IV
An Unholy Clone Created with Colossus’ DNA
A ‘Chimera’ mutant from a dark potential future created by Mister Sinsiter, Rasputin IV eventually traveled back through time, joining the modern-day X-Men to stop her timeline from ever coming to pass. Rasputin is a merged clone created from the DNA of multiple mutants, including Quentin Quire, Unus the Untouchable, Kitty Prude, Laura Kinney and of course Colossus. She possesses a mix of their powers, including Colossus’ metal skin (as well as telepathy, force fields, phasing and a healing factor), and wields the Rasputin family Soulsword.
In Rasputin IV’s future, the X-Men were corrupted by the telepathic influence of Mister Sinister, leading them to become their worst selves while retaining their core goals. Because of this, she is deeply distrusting of otherwise heroic figures like Charles Xavier. She has also seen her clone ‘father’ Colossus and ‘aunt’ Magik become demonic overlords, each ruling over their own realms in a galaxy torn apart by mutant heroes ascended to dark godhood.
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2
The Holy Devil, aka The Dark One, aka Grigory Efimovich Rasputin
This Real-Life Historical Figure Is Colossus’ Great-Grandfather
The real Grigory Efimovich Rasputin was a faith healer with links to Nicholas II, made infamous by scandalous rumors about his conduct, apparent magic powers, and a protracted assassination, in which he reputedly survived being poisoned and then shot, only to eventually be drowned by his assailants. In Marvel lore, Rasputin was actually a mutant and a sorcerer, with particular influence over blood. Rasputin had superhuman physiology and potentially a hypnotic charisma which persuades others to trust him, allowing him to get away with dark religious rites and debauchery.
Rasputin eventually met with twisted geneticist Mister Sinister, who had been looking for an opportunity to breed mutants. Sinister aided Rasputin in deliberately conceiving as many children as possible – wherever possible, with other mutants – up until Rasputin died in an assassination orchestrated by Ivan, the brother of his partner and follower Elena. Though dying, Rasputin used his magic and mutant powers to disperse his persona across the Rasputin bloodline, later gaining control of the body of Colossus’ uncle, Vladimir Rasputin.
While Rasputin and Sinister schemed to have the villain take control of either Colossus or Mikhail – acknowledging them as superior mutant specimens – the brothers defeated the plan thanks to their enduring love for each other. However, Rasputin seemingly still has influence over his bloodline, pushing them towards dark deeds in moments of weakness.
While Grigory Efimovich Rasputin’s longterm goal was to be reborn through his descendants, he has also been physically resurrected (and then killed again) at different points in Marvel lore. Rasputin trained Captain America villain Alexa Lukin in mysticism and also fought the Secret Avengers as a member of the secretive Shadow Council.
1
Magik, aka Illyana Rasputina
Colossus’ Little Sister Is a Sorcerer Supreme-Tier Mystic
Like Colossus, Magik is a mutant superhero and a core member of the X-Men’s current roster, however she took a long, dark road to get there. Illyana’s mutant power is to create teleportation portals which allow her to travel via the Limbo dimension. Sadly, this ability brought her to the attention of the demonic Belasco, who kidnapped Illyana as a child as part of a devilish plan. Illyana suffered horrors growing up in Limbo, but she also became one of the most gifted mystics in Marvel lore by studying Belasco’s library. Ultimately, she was able to not just defeat her captor, but replace him as the ruler of Limbo.
Magik is top-tier sorcerer and a former Sorcerer Supreme of Limbo, with a range of mystic abilities. Her powers are enhanced by the Soulsword – a mystic, shapeshifting weapon forged from her own soul, which amplifies the magical potency of its wielder while being able to cut through spells and magical beings. The Soulsword is incredibly powerful, and capable of taking down everyone from the Juggernaut to the Silver Surfer. On rare occasions, those closest to Magik have also been able to wield the Soulsword.
Those are the 13 most powerful X-Men characters related to Colossus, and all caught up in the nefarious bloodline of the dark mystic Grigory Efimovich Rasputin. Let us know which other X-Men characters you’d add to the list, and which of Colossus‘ relatives should be higher or lower in our ranking.
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X-Men
The X-Men franchise, created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, centers on mutants with extraordinary abilities. Led by the powerful telepath Professor Charles Xavier, they battle discrimination and villainous mutants threatening humanity. The series explores themes of diversity and acceptance through a blend of action, drama, and complex characters, spanning comics, animated series, and blockbuster films.
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