The powerful Marvel superhero and New Mutants mainstay Magik died in one of the most heartbreaking X-Men comics of all time—and, in reality, it was all her brother's fault. Don't worry, we're not talking about her big brother Colossus.
The Rasputin family of Mutants is well-acquainted with tragedy. Although they include some of the most powerful mutants on Earth, they have frequently suffered from their connection to the X-Men. The oldest sibling, Mikhail, was believed killed—only to return decades later having been trapped in another dimension. The youngest, Illyana, was kidnapped by the demonic Belasco and aged to become a powerful mutant sorceress named Magik. It was only temporary, and she eventually regressed back to childhood, a beautiful symbol of the restoration of lost innocence. And then, in a heartbreaking twist, Illyana became one of the first mutants diagnosed with the Legacy Virus.
This was a genetically engineered virus released by a time traveling madman named Stryfe, and it initially only targeted mutants. Illyana's parents had recently been murdered, and she was in the care of her beloved brother Colossus. She was looked after by the best geneticists in the world, experts on mutation like Charles Xavier, Moira MacTaggert, and the Beast. But all their labors were in vain, and in Uncanny X-Men #3 she died, one of the most powerful comic books of the '90s. Colossus wasn't even at her side, having left the Mansion with a team of X-Men in order to help their ally Forge. It was an unforgettable issue, turning Illyana into a symbol once again.
A few years later, Marvel Comics published a miniseries that revealed the real reason Illyana had become infected with the Legacy Virus at so young an age. New Mutants: Truth or Death starred the original team of New Mutants, who time traveled to the present Marvel Universe in order to see their future. It was an insane dare made possible by Magik's teleportation discs, and they were horrified to learn Magik's fate. Magik fled, devastated at what she had learned, and was approached by her brother Mikhail. He claimed to be attempting to find a way to make Magik immune to the Legacy Virus, changing history and preventing her death. Magik agreed to subject herself to the experiments.
But Mikhail had a very different agenda. Self-interested and self-absorbed, his primary focus was not on curing Illyana at all. He too had contracted the Legacy Virus, leading to his desperate pursuit of a cure. Illyana was the perfect test subject, because he already knew she was vulnerable to the virus. Thus he began the process of carefully manipulating Magik's DNA in order to make her immune, all the time intending to repeat the process on himself. The experience was agonizing for Magik... and it was also a terrible mistake.
Far from making Illyana immune, Mikhail's experiment created specific vulnerabilities in Illyana's DNA. These couldn't be reversed, enduring even when Illyana became a child once again. Thus Illyana became the only child who could contract the Legacy Virus before her mutant powers activated. Mikhail Rasputin had not saved his sister; rather, he had doomed her. Adding the most tragic layer to one of the most heartbreaking X-Men deaths of all time.