Raven Darkholme

"My family tried to kill me, you pathetic meat sack."

- Mystique

Raven Darkholme, also known by her code-name Mystique, is a mutant who possesses the ability of shapeshifting, and a member of the Brotherhood of mutants.

X-Men: First Class
"Mutant and Proud."

- Mystique

Raven first met Charles Xavier when she disguised herself as his mother scrounging for food. When Charles revealed his own power of reading minds, he said she could stay with him and never be hungry again. Raven stayed with Charles when he graduated from Oxford. Raven and Charles displayed their abilities to a group of government agents, among them the Man in Black and Moira MacTaggert. Gathering a group of other mutants, including Erik Lensherr, Banshee, Alex Summers, Darwin, Angel Salvadore & Henry McCoy, they formed the original team of X-Men. Instrumental in stopping the Cuban Missile Crisis and foiling the Hellfire Club's bid for world domination, the team was eventually split when Lensherr began to believe that humans would never accept mutants and opted to assert rule over them instead of waiting to be interred and executed. Raven, who had become something of a protégé to Erik (now Magneto), opted to join him and helped form the Brotherhood of Mutants.

X-Men: Days of Future Past
Following Erik's arrest for his involvement in the assassination of John F. Kennedy and Charle's self-imposed isolation after his students were drafted into the Vietnam War, Raven was left on her own. She traveled to Vietnam and helped Alex, Mortimer Toynbee and Eric Gitter escape a military facility from Major William Stryker.

X-Men: Days of Future Past
In 1973, Mystique murdered scientist Bolivar Trask in retaliation for the fatal experiments he conducted on mutants (among them Azazel, Emma Frost, Banshee and Angel). Unbeknownst to Raven, her actions inadvertently doomed the mutant race; Trask's death led to the government approving his Sentinel project and her subsequent capture allowed the government to access her DNA and use it to give Sentinels the ability to adapt to the mutants' powers. Furthermore, killing for the first time, as well as being subjugated to torturous experiments, caused Raven to embrace a new identity as a ruthless assassin.

X-Men: The Movie Prequel: Magneto
To be added



X-Men
"You know, people like you are the reason I was afraid to go to school as a child."

- Mystique

Mystique impersonates Henry Gyrich, aide to Senator Kelly, as part of a plan to kidnap Kelly and turn him into a mutant, thereby ending his support of the Mutant Registration Act. However, Magneto's mutation machine causes Senator Kelly to die. During the battle at the Statue of Liberty to stop Magneto from using the device on the UN Summit, she has an extended fight with Wolverine, proving to be too nimble for him to hit. Wolverine wins when she tries to impersonate Storm to distract him. As she cannot mask her scent, he sees through the ruse and stabs her (notably, she is depicted with yellow-green blood). She survives, however, and morphs into the form of a fallen police officer. As a result, she is able to slip past the police that descend on the building. At the end of the film, she is seen on television, impersonating Senator Robert Kelly in order to withdraw his support of the Mutant Registration Act.

X2: X-Men United
"No one's left a scar quite like you."

- Mystique

Mystique uses her impersonation of Kelly as a means to free Magneto from his plastic prison. She infiltrates William Stryker's office by impersonating Stryker's aide, Lady Deathstrike, gaining details about the prison as well as several of Stryker's plans (most important of which are the plans to "Dark Cerebro"). She frees Magneto by seducing a guard and injecting him with enough iron for Magneto to work with. After helping Magneto escape from prison, she joins Magneto's brief alliance with the X-Men. While camped in an unknown forest area, Mystique attempts to seduce Wolverine in the guise of Jean Grey, but the scar from their previous battle gives her away. She then shifts through several forms (Storm, Rogue, then Stryker), asking him what he really wants. Prior to this, she is approached by Nightcrawler, who asks her why she doesn't use her shapeshifting powers to blend in with normal people, to which Mystique replies, "Because we shouldn't have to." She later impersonates Wolverine in order to gain entry to the Alkali Lake base. The disguise doesn't fool Stryker, but gains her access to the control room. From there she aids in the rescue of several captured mutants and leads the group to Dark Cerebro. She then impersonates Stryker to aid in Magneto's plan to kill every human in the world, though it is ultimately foiled.

X-Men: The Last Stand
"I'm sorry, my dear. You're not one of us anymore."

- Magneto

Mystique was apprehended by the government after trying breaking into the FDA to get files about the cure for mutation developed at Worthington Labs. It is here that her name is revealed to be Raven Darkhölme.

Magneto comes to save her, but during the attempt she is hit by a cure dart (manufactured using Leech's DNA) while protecting Magneto. As she lies on the ground naked in her normal human form, Magneto regretfully abandons her, stating "you're not one of us anymore". He adds wistfully, "It's such a shame. She was so beautiful".

Bitter over his betrayal, Mystique goes to the government and gives the location of his base. However, when they raid the camp, they find it populated entirely with duplicates of Multiple Man. It is unclear whether or not the cure wore off and Mystique's mutant powers returned, as it is suggested Magneto's did at the end of the film - as was revealed when he may have moved a metallic chess piece without touching it.

X-Men: Days of Future Past
"I know what I have to do. It's us, or them..."

- Mystique to Charles Xavier

Raven's attempt on Trask's life was thwarted when the consciousness of Wolverine was sent back to 1973 to alter past events. She was stopped by Xavier and Lensherr, who learned about the consequences of Trask's death through Wolverine. However, new problems arose when Lensherr attempted to kill Raven to ensure the future would be changed. Raven escaped, but took a bullet to the leg, and her blood was obtained by Trask's scientists.

Raven continued to pursue Trask and traveled to Washington, D.C. where he would be unveiling the Sentinels to the public. Xavier again tried to stop her from assassinating Trask, but Lensherr caused further conflict by taking control of the Sentinels. The ensuing chaos allowed Raven, who was disguised as a Secret Service agent, to sneak into an underground bunker with Trask and President Nixon. Though Trask's mutant detecting device gave her away, Trask stopped the guards from killing her because he needed Raven's DNA for the Sentinels.

The metal bunker was soon brought above ground by Magneto, who now sought to murder President Nixon and the rest of the men in the bunker on national television. He would be thwarted by none other than Raven, who non-fatally shot him in the neck and knocked him out. As Raven turned her gun on Trask, Xavier was finally able to convince her to let him live; the public had just witnessed a mutant prevent an assassination attempt and sparing Trask's life would prove not all mutants were dangerous. Raven dropped the gun, effectively saving the mutants from extinction. She then disguised herself as a soldier and escaped.

Afterwards, an unconscious Wolverine was found in Potomac River by Raven, now disguised as Major William Stryker.

X-Men: Apocalypse
"Mutants are being hunted by fear!"

- Mystique

To be added

Character traits
Mystique is seen as Magneto's second in command especially during the first two films. She is seen as exceedingly knowledgeable being able to program and work whole computer systems. She is seen also as Magneto's fighter and has beaten up Wolverine on many an occasion and can get past groups of over 50 soldiers without a weapon. She is Magneto's most useful and loyal servant, being an extremely successful assassin and probably the best hand to hand combatant in the X-Men film 'verse. However by the third film, her loyalty to Magneto changes drastically when he gives her up after she is shot with the cure and left powerless.

Notably, Dr. Hank McCoy mentions to Mystique that since she is a shapeshifter, she is able to alter and rejuvenate her body's cells and thereby retain a youthful appearance.

Relationships

 * Erik Lehnsherr/Mangeto - Former Boss.
 * Sabretooth - Former Teammate.
 * Toad - Former Teammate.
 * Pyro - Former Teammate.
 * Wolverine - Enemy.
 * Storm - Enemy.
 * Scott Summers - Enemy.
 * Charles Xavier - Foster Brother turned Enemy.
 * Robert Kelly - Enemy.
 * Hank McCoy/Beast - Love interest.
 * Logan/Wolverine - Former enemy.
 * Sebastian Shaw - Enemy.

Powers
Mystique could manipulate her biological make up, skin cells, alter and transform her own body, hair, skin, voice, muscles, tissues, nails, organs, appearance, scent, etc, any and all physical traits anyway she wishes. She could take on the appearance of other humans, animals, or even objects (she once disguised herself as a replica of the Statue of Liberty).
 * Metamorphic Adaptation: Mystique showed the ability to adapt her body depending on her situation at the time. She was able to adapt her body in order to camouflage according to her surroundings, shift her organs into her lower extremities,
 * Enhanced Body: She possesses enhanced strength, speed, flexibility, dexterity, agility, reflexes, and senses.
 * Accelerated Healing: Mystique's nature allows her to repair and regenerate herself from minor to near death injuries in a short span of time, much faster than an ordinary human.
 * Toxin & Disease Immunity: She is immunity to all toxins, diseases, disorders, infections, harmful radiation and impurities.
 * Suspended Aging: Her metamorphic powers have halt her aging process. She can make herself look older or younger, but she herself stopped aging in her prime.
 * Psychic Defense: Mystique's nature also provides her with a natural defense against telepathic intrusion and control.

Abilities
She was an expert in espionage and fighting. She was also extremely flexible, able to move her handcuffed arms from behind her to her front, and unlock clamps on her hands with her feet.
 * Master of subterfuge: She has perfected the art of deception, showing no physiological sign when lying.
 * Master of Manipulation: Raven possesses incredible and innate understanding/knowledge of psychology, she can see, understand, predict and manipulate personal behavior. She can spot another's deepest secret and inherent flaws with short conversation. These abilities allows her to detect lies, make allies, and be able to apply subtle mental pressure enabling the easy manipulation of any individuals. She always knows what to do or say.
 * Master Spy: She is a master of stealth and disguise, capable of breaching any facility without being detected
 * Master Martial Artist: Raven is an expert in the field of martial arts. She has mastered karate, judo, aikido, savate, boxing, lucha-libre style wrestling and multiple styles of kung fu. Combined with her strength, speed and agility, she is able to take down multiple opponents without being hit.


 * Master of Investigation: Raven is capable of observation, investigation, intuition, and inductive and deductive reasoning of the highest caliber. Human intuition is an intuitive trait and one of her most effective tools. Given any problem, she can arrive at the correct conclusions with a fraction of the data.
 * Master of Interrogation: She is adept in interrogation techniques, capable of law enforcement methods as well as torture. She's is capable of tricking people into revealing what she wants to know, and can always detect lies.


 * Social Intuition: Raven intuitively determines and knows how to interact with others. She could tell exactly what to say to interact with certain people, or tell the rank of a person within a group. She is very beautiful, has a great voice, eloquence and charisma. She has near irresistible level of charm that can be used to influence many.
 * Seduction Intuition: Raven possesses intuitive seductive, sexual skills, and charming allure which she can use to easily and efficiently seduce and manipulate anyone. She is able to always provide sexual pleasure to anyone including oneself.

Weaknesses
She can not copy any abilities or skills of another person. For example, when she fought Wolverine, she assumed his form and fought him claw to claw, only to have her claws hacked off (they were made of flesh). This means that there are still flaws to her impersonations, since Wolverine was able to identify her in this manner.

Behind the scenes

 * In the first film, Rebecca Romijn wore colored contacts to make her eyes yellow. In the second and third films, her eyes were changed digitally.
 * Rebecca Romijn went through an extensive make-up and body-paint process as Mystique. Once Jennifer Lawrence went through the same process in X-Men: First Class, she went through skin irritations and blisters. As a result, from X-Men: Days of Future Past onward Mystique's make-up was only from the neck-up, with a bodysuit used for the rest of the body.
 * Morgan Lily, who played Raven as a child in First Class, wore a slip-on bodysuit and facial appliances which only took one hour and a half to apply, as subjecting a child actor to the extensive make-up was impractical.
 * The outfit worn by Jennifer Lawrence in the final scene of X-Men: Apocalypse is the first to evoke Mystique's turtleneck sleeveless costume from the comics.

Quotes
Nightcrawler: "Then why not stay in disguise all the time? You know? Look like everyone else.

Mystique: "Because we shouldn't have to."

Wolverine: "What do you want?"

Mystique (Shapeshifting into Storm, Rogue, Jean and William Stryker) : "The real question is, what do you want, or do you not know?"

"Mutant and proud."

Appearances/Actresses

 * Canon (5 films)
 * X-Men: First Class - Jennifer Lawrence, Morgan Lily and Rebecca Romijn
 * X-Men: Days of Future Past - Jennifer Lawrence
 * X-Men: Apocalypse - Jennifer Lawrence
 * X-Men (First appearance) - Rebecca Romijn
 * X2: X-Men United - Rebecca Romijn
 * X-Men: The Last Stand - Rebecca Romijn
 * Canon (1 comic)
 * X-Men: The Movie Prequel: Magneto
 * Non-canon (1 video game) :
 * X-Men Origins: Wolverine - Anna Graves (voice)

Trivia

 * In the movies, Mystique is portrayed as a nudist and appears naked throughout the course of the original trilogy. In X-Men: First Class it is shown that even as a child she was a nudist until she was convinced to wear clothing by Charles Xavier; later on, however, she was persuaded by Magneto not to, as he called her an "exquisite creature." In reality, this was done because the filmmakers wanted Mystique to be as sexually appealing to male audiences as possible, while being able to retain a PG-13 rating since she had blue, scaly skin. Rebecca Romijn was actually naked when playing Mystique, with only layers of blue paint and a few very small costume pieces covering her up.
 * The other reason for Mystique's nudism supposedly lies in clothing limiting her ability to shapeshift. However, in First Class, she is seen shapeshifting whilst wearing clothing on two separate occasions, with her clothes seemingly changing as she does. It is yet to be explained how this occurred or whether she was in fact naked and creating the appearance of clothing with her abilities (as in the comics).
 * The films do not suggest that Mystique is Nightcrawler's mother, even though they had a brief conversation in X2.
 * The video game for X-Men Origins: Wolverine'' features a pregnant Mystique, who is told by John Wraith (who also has teleporting powers) that the son is his, and Raven says she wants to call the baby Kurt.
 * Mystique is bisexual in the comics, this has not been explored in the movies although she has often flirted with Magneto and Wolverine in the films.
 * Mystique was the one who originally came up with Lehnsherr's code-name, Magneto.
 * Raven seems to display an attraction to Wolverine, despite the fact that he stabbed her in the first movie and rejected her in the second.
 * Wolverine and William Stryker are the only people in the movies to see through Mystique's disguise without the tell-tale yellow eyes. Wolverine does so in the first movie by using his sense of smell, and Stryker in the second when she imitates Wolverine, stating that he knows his own creations and that Mystique wasn't one of them.
 * In the comics Mystique has blue skin instead of the scaly appearance she has in the films.
 * Though not considered to be canon, the X-Men Origins: Wolverine video-game reveals that it is in fact John Wraith rather than Azazel who is Nightcrawler's father.
 * A scene from Days of Future Past featuring Mystique was featured in the credits of The Amazing Spider-Man 2.
 * Mystique appears in every film except X-Men Origins: Wolverine and The Wolverine.

Gallery
Images in chronological order of the film timeline: