What Happened to Mystique in Marvel’s ‘Ruins’ Storyline?

Mystique is one of the most interesting mutants because of her shapeshifting powers. Over the long history of the character’s existence, she was on the good side, but more often than not, she appeared in the role of a villain. In Marvel ‘Ruins’ storyline, however, she appeared as a victim of her own power. Earth-9591 is one terrifying place, devoid of hope, where superpowers can prove deadly and disfiguring, proving to be a danger to both superheroes and humans alike. Having said that, let’s see what happened to Mystique in Marvel’s Ruins.’ 

In Marvel’s ‘Ruins’ storyline, Mystique died due to her brain imploding because of her power. The fact that too many people surrounded her led her to begin shapeshifting rapidly, which also overwhelmed her mind. The whole incident and Mystique’s death could have been avoided if only Mystique had remembered to take her pills before the fateful flight. 

Now that you know what happened to Mystique, it’s time to analyze her story and powers in more detail. If you’re interested in more, stay with us and keep reading! 

In Marvel’s ‘Ruins’ storyline, superpowers proved to be deadly for the superheroes that have them 

Marvel’s ‘Ruins’ storyline is set on Earth-9591, and even though plenty of alternate universes exist in Marvel Comic Multiverse, it’s not often that you come across a universe as depressing as this one. 

Humanity was on the edge of the Age of Wonders. Great things started happening to people, transforming them into something extraordinary. And then something went wrong. Philip Sheldon, a narrator of the story, is trying to figure out what exactly went wrong. He is a retired Daily Bugle reporter who noticed that strange and paranormal things started happening somewhere down the line with terrifying consequences. Both physical and mental. 

Philip himself is suffering from a lethal condition, something that Spider-Man infected him with, and he is spending his last days on Earth traveling around the United States looking for evidence of such paranormal phenomena that are disfiguring people.

He aims to write a book called ‘The Marvels,’ as the whole storyline of ‘Ruins’ was meant to parody ‘The Marvels’ storyline from the comics. 

In ‘Ruins’ universe, Bruce Banner never transformed into the Jade Giant. Instead of gaining unlimited strength, he was, after exposure to gamma radiation, turned into a mass of tumors.

Captain America and the Avengers were never Earth’s prime protectors, instead, they were a rebel group that was shot down with a Patriot Missile, killing everyone on board the Quinjet instantly. 

Mutants in the ‘Ruins,’ however, have some of the most depressing storylines, and as faith would have it, while Sheldon was on his way to visit a secret facility that “took care of mutants,” he had the misfortune of briefly meeting Mystique. 

Mystique was killed by her own powers

Philip Sheldon boarded the plane and got a seat next to a woman who he immediately recognized as Raven Darkhölme.

Sheldon tried to strike up a conversation with her in order to ask about her “weird” power, but instead of a pleasant conversation, he was met with agony. Mystique’s face was disfigured, she started convulsing in her seat and shapeshifting rapidly. Her brain imploded, and she was instantly killed. 

The secret service arrived with an explanation. Everything that was left behind Mystique was a blood stain following her extreme demise. 

The Agent explained that Mystique’s power was unstable. The shapeshifting that she was able to do forced her to also take over the personalities of the people that she could shapeshift into.

Over time, the shapeshifting left so many scars on Mystique’s mental state that she developed multiple personality disorder, something that she could have easily controlled with medications, but her illness also caused her to forget things from time to time, and she forgot to take her pills before boarding the plane. 

Being surrounded by so many people overwhelmed Mysqitue’s “sixth sense” that allowed her to both shapeshift and absorb personalities, and her brain imploded.

Mystique’s death led to one more mutant death. In the aftermath of the “cleanup,” one secret service agent accidentally bumped into Magneto, who at the time had a device strapped to his chest that was supposed to control his magnetic powers. The machine started malfunctioning, which caused metal objects around Magneto, including the plane, to crush him to death. 

What happened to other mutants in ‘Ruins’? 

Mystique might have died a gruesome death, but she avoided what seemed to be a lot worse destiny that struck other mutants, including some of the most iconic X-Men.

Following the incident on the plane, Philip Sheldon resumed his original plan and visited the secret facility where superpowered individuals were held, and the population of this facility was at the time mostly comprised of various mutants who had trouble controlling their powers in one way or another. 

Arriving at the facility, Sheldon is greeted by Wilson Fisk, who serves as the warden of the place. Fisk gives him the tour and explains that the only reason why he is allowed in the facility is because he is dying. 

In the following panels, we can see blind Scot Summers, whose eyes were removed because he incinerated his family by accident. Kitty Pryde lost part of her intestine because she got solid just as she was about to go through the cell doors.

Quicksilver lies in his cell with his arms and legs amputated. Fisk claims that they did this to him for his own good since he had trouble controlling his speed. Sheldon also learns that Charles Xavier, known as malevolent and controlling President X, sometimes visits the prison in order to stare at the unfortunate mutants. 

And this is pretty much it. As you can see, ‘Ruins’ uncovered the horrible perspective on Mystique’s shapeshifting powers. What do you think? Let us know in the comments!

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