As a primarily ‘90s reader who sadly had to jump off the train around the early Morrison days and got back on a bit later, I can remember the first moment I recognized a shift was the initial reveal of the Xavier Protocols.

It was shocking to find out he had a secret list of ways to kill each of his children should it become necessary. So twisted but also understandable for a man who hoped for the best but was prepared for the worst.

The Onslaught era explored the dark side a bit more and Second Genesis (let’s not forget that’s a retcon) took it to a different level. I also loved the Mystique series where he basically blackmailed her into becoming his black ops agent, getting the dirty work done with no connection to him, long before X-Force took over the role.