Why hundreds of mutant heroes make Marvel's X-Men more inclusive than exclusive

I'm a big fan of the lesser known X-Man Doop, who is also probably the most well-known former member of the now defunct X-Statix. Another fun fact is that I also now have him permanently etched into my forearm. Even if you read X-Men regularly, the near-absence of Doop from most series since his introduction in 2000 might make you see this decision as quick, stupid, and an intentional attempt to go against the mainstream.

The extent to which you need to love something before you get it tattooed on your person is all about preference. People often get tattoos for the visual, which WAS a big part of my picking Doop over a humanoid mutant like Cyclops or even Nightcrawler. The thing is that I've never read a story, or seen a series that really got me into those characters. And the great thing about the X-Men is that there might be someone out there who feels the same way about Doop.

Before the Decimation event, Marvel's Earth-616 was populated with millions of mutants, hundreds of which have been given names and positions on various X-Teams over the years. That's HUNDREDS of characters with their own backstories, personal issues, relationships to other Marvel mutants and heroes. Despite decimation limiting that population drastically, with only the most popular mutant heroes retaining their powers, and some having died long before, a new fan can still get into a character through the hundreds of back issues and trade paperbacks still being printed from the pre-Decimation era, and that's a great thing about comics, too.

There are tons of reasons a reader may cling to a particular hero, and with the diverse cast of mutants the X-books have introduced, it's probably more likely that the Marvel character that you connect with the most is a mutant. Deadpool is even a mutant, though he tends to stick to solo adventures instead of teaming up with his bretheren. I happen to be into Doop for the same reason Deadpool is so damn popular. Both characters are absurd, Doop both in personality and character design, though they manage to be badass despite being comedic relief characters in a sea of grim or just really virtuous heroes.

On the other hand, there are a lot of people that think having so many mutant characters within one superhero franchise convolutes stories, and can be seen as overwhelming to a new reader. To new readers who might have been told this or felt this way when picking up an X-book: there are a PLENTY of stories for you. If you like Wolverine, you may need to research him before jumping into one of his solo stories, but if you're looking to discover a mutant that hasn't gotten much visibility, that lack of visibility usually means their stories are self-contained. At the very least, these stories don't tend to rely heavily on history, because the smaller heroes haven't had their histories built up, and that's the appeal of reading these sometimes good, sometimes okay F-List X-Men titles. Marvel now trying to utilize their large roster of heroes wherever they see fit, so you never know if that F-Lister will pop up in a cartoon cameo, or even as a team regular. Seriously, Marvel's crazy right now, guys.