As far as X-Men goes, Jean Grey is up there in terms of characters going through the wringer. Her stories often revolve around the Phoenix Force, which leads to both darker storytelling and lots of lost life, sometimes even her own. Only Wolverine comes close as far as grittier stories go.
It’s a shame to some degree that she’s often pigeonholed into dealing with the Phoenix ad-nauseam, but it has produced some good narratives over the years. There are some hidden gems back when she was Marvel Girl as well, giving the character a lot of dark stories.
10 Phoenix Endsong Shows Why The Phoenix Force Always Seeks Out Jean
Despite the title, this isn’t the end of the Phoenix, even if the Shi’ar wishes it was. The story isn’t the best regarding the cosmic entity, but it does focus a good bit on the symbiosis between both Jean and the Phoenix. It’s shown why the Phoenix always seeks her out and that Jean is one of the only people that can control its powers. Her desperate attempts to stop herself from becoming the Dark Phoenix is rather dark, particularly when Wolverine repeatedly stabs her.
9 The Trial Of Jean Grey Forced The Horrors Of The Phoenix Onto The Teenage Version Of Jean
The existence of teenage Jean Grey was hit or miss as it felt rather unnecessary in the grand scheme of things. That said, The Trial Of Jean Grey was an interesting way to force teenage Jean to confront the horrors her older counterpart committed, showing her how dangerous the Phoenix Force is. While rehashing old events isn’t always the most riveting storytelling method, seeing the toll it took on the young girl’s mind was pretty interesting.
8 X-Cuioner’s Song Had A Villain That Could Attack Jean Mentally Like No Other
Stryfe is the primary villain of X-Cutioner’s Song and has a full-on vendetta against both Jean And Cyclops. He exchanges Summers’s DNA with Mr. Sinister for the capture of both of them.
Once in his hands, he tortures the pair in numerous ways, wanting to break them for wrongs they aren’t aware of. Leaving the pair in the dark on the backstory of Stryfe was an interesting move, making it seem like he or Cable could be their long-lost son.
7 The Return Of Jean Grey Lacks In Action But Packs An Emotional Punch
The Return of Jean Grey doesn’t have buckets of blood in it, nor is it dark in the traditional sense. It’s more psychological, showing just how far the Phoenix Force is willing to go to make her the perfect host for its power. It went as far as crafting an entirely false world around her, forcing her to overcome its influence and return to reality. It’s muddled in spots due to cutting to the X-men rather than just focusing on her, but it does show the anguish the Phoenix puts her through.
6 Death Is Rampant In Grant Morrison’s New X-Men
Under Grant Morrison’s watch, death was a near-constant when it came to X-men. There wasn’t a single comic that didn’t have a little bit of blood in it, and there was even a genocide the team had to deal with. He also retconned a retcon when it came to the Phoenix, helping power Jean Grey back up once again. Her main storyline in the book regarded Emma Frost and her husband, leading to her dominating Emma in a mental dreamscape.
5 Devil In The House Soldified Jean As Someone You Didn’t Want To Mess With
For whatever reason, Charles Xavier felt like Sabretooth could be redeemed, trying to make the untamed beast into a member of the X-men. Unsurprisingly, that attempt failed as Sabretooth was nothing more than a terror to everyone, bullying many of them and going on his typical berserker rages.
That was until Jean Grey stepped in and put the fear of God into him. It wasn’t enough to get Sabretooth to swap sides, but it did show you never wanted to be on Jean’s bad side.
4 Jean Sacrifices Herself In Greater Love Hath No X-Man
The big 100th issue special of X-men called Greater Love Hath No X-Man set up a bait and switch in its cover, making readers think the two teams of X-Men were going to square off against one another. In reality, one side was fake, Sentinels in disguise, and the real battle was against Lang. Lang flees before they can get to him, leaving both teams stranded on a ship that’s on a collision course with solar flares. One of the X-men needs to make the sacrifice of diverting the ship back to earth, Jean being the one that dies in one of her sadder deaths.
3 Inferno Unleashes Hell On Earth & The Destruction Of Xavier’s School
The Inferno storyline was a crazy one, even by X-men standards. It involved a demonic invasion of earth and the corruption of both Illyana Rasputin and Madelyn Pryor. As if that wasn’t enough, Mr. Sinister also blew up Charles Xavier’s school at the end of the invasion. For Jean Grey, most of her struggle was focused on Pryor and the fact that she was now married to Cyclops. Grey’s return was even the fire that set off the powder keg that was Pryor being corrupted into the Goblin Queen. It’s a story that’s equal parts dark as it is messy.
2 X-Men Origins: Jean Grey Shows Her Struggle To Keep The Voices Out Of Her Head
When they were first introduced, many of the original X-men didn’t have much in the way of backstories. The X-Men Origins series tried to remedy that and did a good job with Jean, showing the struggle she had with the voices in her head. She felt her best friend at the time die in her brain, a moment that affected Jean greatly. It drives home how horrific the ability of telepathy can be for those not properly trained in it.
1 Dark Phoenix Saga Is The Pinnacle Jean Grey Story
It’s not possible to talk about Jean Grey and not think about the Dark Phoenix saga. It’s the most influential story for the character and one of the most well-known X-Men tales ever. While its quality can be debated, its popularity can’t. It’s been made into two different movies and has cropped up in numerous cartoons. It’s also one of the darkest moments in her history, considering she destroys a star and annihilates a whole planet’s worth of people.