They actually dealt with this back in the 80's. Charles Xavier has never, ever been a combat leader. When he could walk, it was him against the world, or occasionally, him and Erik against the world -- he didn't put together a team and start training them to go into battle until after he'd lost his legs and couldn't actually go out in the field with them.
When he's dealing with teenagers (who pretty much worship him) and the fights are against folks that aren't much of a match for him personally, Charles is good, but the better his X-Men got, the less he directed them in the field. Then when he got his legs back the *first* time, he tried to take over, and it didn't work out well, at all. He was taking over from Ororo at that point, not Scott, but Scott doesn't appreciate it when Charles takes over either.
Erik is a better combat leader, but honestly not by much -- he is much, much more experienced in *combat* (Charles is a netrunner, he does distance combat. He's always being taken out by the threat to his body that he didn't notice while he was mentally attacking the enemy forces), but not nearly as good in groups, in general, and he's so powerful he's rarely had to figure out how to best integrate a team. Every incarnation of his Brotherhood was a joke, and he's not actually the one who recruited and trained the Acolytes. Mystique, whose powers are far weaker than Magneto's, was a much more badass leader, who recrited, trained and integrated a team that consistently cleaned the X-Men's clock until Deus Ex Machina (frequently, Rogue turning on her mother and former teammates, but Deus ex Machina was also known to consist of Future Kitty Pryde, Much Bigger X-Men Team Than You Expected Because Reinforcements Came In, and Legion Turning Evil.)
Scott is actually a damn good leader. Not really such a good person, but then, his worst offenses have been cheating on his wife, not macking on teenagers or patients, so he's a bit less morally questionnable in his personal life than Charles.
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branchandroot
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Date: 2011-07-05 09:30 pm (UTC)They actually dealt with this back in the 80's. Charles Xavier has never, ever been a combat leader. When he could walk, it was him against the world, or occasionally, him and Erik against the world -- he didn't put together a team and start training them to go into battle until after he'd lost his legs and couldn't actually go out in the field with them.
When he's dealing with teenagers (who pretty much worship him) and the fights are against folks that aren't much of a match for him personally, Charles is good, but the better his X-Men got, the less he directed them in the field. Then when he got his legs back the *first* time, he tried to take over, and it didn't work out well, at all. He was taking over from Ororo at that point, not Scott, but Scott doesn't appreciate it when Charles takes over either.
Erik is a better combat leader, but honestly not by much -- he is much, much more experienced in *combat* (Charles is a netrunner, he does distance combat. He's always being taken out by the threat to his body that he didn't notice while he was mentally attacking the enemy forces), but not nearly as good in groups, in general, and he's so powerful he's rarely had to figure out how to best integrate a team. Every incarnation of his Brotherhood was a joke, and he's not actually the one who recruited and trained the Acolytes. Mystique, whose powers are far weaker than Magneto's, was a much more badass leader, who recrited, trained and integrated a team that consistently cleaned the X-Men's clock until Deus Ex Machina (frequently, Rogue turning on her mother and former teammates, but Deus ex Machina was also known to consist of Future Kitty Pryde, Much Bigger X-Men Team Than You Expected Because Reinforcements Came In, and Legion Turning Evil.)
Scott is actually a damn good leader. Not really such a good person, but then, his worst offenses have been cheating on his wife, not macking on teenagers or patients, so he's a bit less morally questionnable in his personal life than Charles.