Mystique is best known to movie audiences as the deeply mysterious blue-skinned shapeshifter brought to life by actresses Rebecca Romijn and Jennifer Lawrence in the X-Men films. But her comic book counterpart is far more nuanced and complex, with a backstory that weaves its way through multiple decades and characters.
This mutant is more than the sum of her ability to take on different forms. Those who haven't read the X-Men comics probably aren't aware of just what she's capable of, or how far down her particular rabbit hole goes. Examining a few facts about the character may just act as an incentive to get hooked on the comic book source material.
Mystique Is Older Than She Appears
While the X-Men films make it clear that Mystique ages as a normal human being would, the same cannot be said for her comic book counterpart. Throughout the years, fans have speculated as to whether Mystique is actually older than she appears and the evidence for that argument continues to grow.
For instance, her relationship with the character Destiny (Irene Adler) dates back to the beginning of the 20th century, cementing her as an old soul who has probably seen more than her fair share. She may be much older than that, but the jury is out on whether she's as old as Connor MacLeod from the Highlander franchise.
Her Shapeshifting Abilities Have Evolved
While the X-Men films show Mystique being able to shapeshift and take on the appearance of nearly anyone she chooses, the comic books have gone much farther. It's no longer about copying other forms or changing appearances to remain undetected. Ever since the mysterious Hand resurrected her, Mystique's shapeshifting powers have evolved.
She can now form tendrils that can reach out and attack targets in a Carnage-like manner. She has even been shown to grow wings, allowing her to soar through the air, as well as take on forms much larger or smaller than her own body mass. The full extent of her mutant powers has yet to be fully revealed.
She Can Do More Than Just Copy Other People
Mystique doesn't just temporarily copy a person's form or invent new looks to fool her targets. Instead, her mutant powers allow her to remodel the structure of her entire DNA pattern at the cellular level. This has massive benefits, including (but not limited to) the ability to actually reshuffle her internal organs around in order to protect them from damage.
This would be a big strength against anyone seeking to take her down with say, a kill-shot to the heart. In addition, Mystique can use her DNA manipulation tactics to assume the forms of different animal species, which would be enough to fool even the most ardent pursuer.
She Has A Healing Factor
Several mutants in the X-Men universe have a superhuman healing factor that can quickly take care of any wounds inflicted during battle. Two of the most famous mutants with this ability are Wolverine and the fourth-wall-breaking Deadpool, but Mystique also has her own kind of healing factor that she can rely on.
It's not as powerful or quick, but Mystique's healing factor can be manipulated on the fly in order to close up individual wounds, which allows her to "triage" her own repairs. She's also highly resistant to toxins and drugs, which is a passive side effect of this ability. Those who think she's an easy target may want to check their facts, beforehand.
She Can Block Telepaths
In the X-Men films, Mystique is shown to be vulnerable to psychic manipulation, including mental probing by telepath-extraordinaire, Charles Xavier. In the comics, however, mind-readers and telepaths may find themselves permanently shut out by her passive abilities. Mystique relies heavily on subterfuge and cunning in order to stay hidden, which is a big part of her job.
It would make sense then, for her to possess a resistance to telepathy. In other words, Mystique will only give up information voluntarily, and any attempts to extract it from her mind using telepathic powers will surely fail. Due to this fact, it's quite impossible to know the full facts about her origins and past.
She Doesn't Smell
This fact may seem comical, but it's actually a purposeful power that Mystique has developed. The last thing she'd tolerate is being tracked, and Mystique is known to anticipate and counter any attempt to do so, right down to her own scent and pheromones. In other words, she literally does not smell.
Even Wolverine, with his keen animal senses, cannot sniff out Mystique, despite what was depicted on screen in the original X-Men film. She didn't always possess this ability, but it was unlocked upon her resurrection by The Hand. With this, she's stacked another power onto her already impressive list of stealth-based abilities.
Her Fighting Skills Are Unparalleled
The X-Men films show how capable a fighter Mystique is. She can easily put down an entire room full of soldiers with a mixture of mutant-enhanced acrobatics, enhanced strength and animal-like reflexes. She even went up against Wolverine and managed to hold her own with a set of impressive fighting skills.
In the comics, this has been taken to the extreme. Mystique is, quite simply, one of the best hand-to-hand combatants in the Marvel universe. Her martial arts prowess is so good, in fact, that she can square off against the iconic Captain America without feeling intimidated. Getting into the octagon with Mystique is a fool's errand.
Her Secret Agenda
While the films show Mystique successfully infiltrating the U.S. government under the guise of the late Senator Kelly, that was just a small nod to the comic books. In fact, Mystique's powers of subterfuge, manipulation and shapeshifting allowed her to gain access to secrets that most people aren't even aware of.
She was so good that she managed to quickly ascend the ladder of DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) and become its Deputy Director. This opened up a treasure trove of military secrets and prototypes for highly advanced next-gen weaponry that she could use for her own goals.
She Was A Mother Figure To Rogue
The X-Men films don't bother to touch on the relationship between Rogue and Mystique, but the comic books are an entirely different story. In that universe, Mystique became a mother figure to a wayward Rogue, convincing her to join the Brotherhood of Mutants so she could use her powers on a variety of missions.
One of these missions put her into direct conflict with Carol Danvers, the former Ms. Marvel. It was there that Rogue held onto Danvers for too long, permanently absorbing both her memories and her powers. Rogue was nearly driven insane by the encounter and fled Mystique for help from the X-Men, eventually becoming a key member.
Her Powers Once Made Her Schizophrenic
With every awesome mutant power, there is an inevitable risk attached to it in one form or another. In Mystique's case, her shapeshifting powers caused schizophrenia.
It was caused by shifts and manipulation of her own brain tissue, brought on by the various changes in her physiology whenever she took on a different form. This is partly why Mystique tended to be so violent and impulsive, although this is certainly not necessarily indicative or accurate to everyone with the condition in real life. Eventually, Psylocke managed to stabilize Mystique's mind in Uncanny X-Men Vol. 4, #15.