Welcome to XOXO, Popverse! Our Valentines gift to you this year is a week-long celebration of all things love and romance in pop culture, from our favorite couples to which superheroes would make the worst dates. (It's the X-Men.) Find our love notes to you right here. 

When we think of the X-Men, we tend to think of romance and drama. Some of the most iconic couples in Marvel Comics are found within mutantdom, and X-Men fans have debated the merits of their favorite ships for decades now. And while we can celebrate couples like Rogue and Gambit, Cyclops and Jean Grey, Rachel Summers and Betsy Braddock, Greycrow and Psylocke, Storm and Forge, Rictor and Shatterstar, Mystique and Destiny, and more, there are also some other pairings that are excellent cautionary tales. 

Life is hard enough as it is, and I don't think anyone needs more drama in their lives in 2026, whether that's from a partner turned evil or good old-fashioned heartbreak. And while it is the season of love and very nearly Valentines Day, I am happily single. I'm a busy dude, and I can't be getting caught up in a plot to accelerate the next stage of mutant evolution! Without further ado, here are the X-Men couples that make me glad that I am flying solo. 

Angel and Betsy Braddock

Rick Remender, Jerome Opeña, Greg Tocchini, and others' run on Uncanny X-Force is X-Men comics at their best. It's got everything you look for in an X-Men comic: a legendary crash out, Wolverine hunting down Nazis, Deadpool being funny, a mutant whose powers are so ambiguous that you ask yourself "Wait, what is his deal again?" at least once per issue, and a doomed romance. That doomed romance is between Angel and Betsy Braddock, who at the time was in Psylocke's body. 

The problem stems, as it often does, from Angel refusing to work through his trauma. During Uncanny X-Force, Warren believed that he had his Archangel form and identity under control. Instead of shying away from his bloodthirsty and lethal other half, Warren willingly shifts into Archangel on missions to serve the X-Men's interests. By letting Betsy into his mind, Warren was able to use his dark abilities for good. What could go wrong? 

Well, as luck would have it, Archangel would wrest control of Warren's body from him during the Dark Angel Saga in Uncanny X-Force, turning him against both his love, Betsy Braddock, and the rest of the team. Long story short, Archangel became a massive jerk to Bets and the entire planet, culminating in him murdering an entire town of innocent people in Montana and beating up a child (Evan Sabahnur) in the name of fulfilling Apocalypse's twisted vision of "evolution." Poor Betsy is forced to kill Archangel, only for Warren to return completely reformed, but with complete amnesia. It's tragic. 

Havok and Madelyne Pryor

Listen, who among us wouldn't fall for Madelyne Pryor, the goth clone of Jean Grey? In that sense, Havok in the seminal Inferno arc of Uncanny X-Men is just like all of us, for real. However, I don't know about you, but if being down bad for a baddie like Madelyne led to me standing around in a skimpy, torn garbage bag of an outfit in front of not only my friends and family in the X-Men, but all of New York City, I would explode from embarrassment before moving to Svalbard, never to be seen again. Writer Gerry Duggan later poked fun at Alex's outfit (or lack thereof) in Dark Web: X-Men #1, where Alex told his brother, "Gimme a break. I woke up like this. Stop changing the subject. We were maybe finally getting somewhere." 

We've all made mistakes while trying to find love, and I'm just glad that none of my mistakes have ever been as great as Alex Summers'. 

Wolfsbane and Hrimhari

Another "doomed by the narrative" X-Men couple is Wolfsbane and Hrimhari. Wolfsbane, also known as Rahne Sinclair, is an original member of the New Mutants and can transform into a wolf. Like all great New Mutants, Rahne had a traumatic childhood in Scotland, and life has only dealt her tough hands since. 

During her time on X-Force, Rahne met an Asgardian named Hrimhari who had similar powers as her. The two were able to comfort each other through their angst, but as we know from reading X-Men, good things rarely last. Rahne fell ill, and in order to save her life, Hrimhari made a deal with Hela where he traded his soul for hers. When Rahne awoke, her partner was gone, and to make matters worse, she was also pregnant. 

And it doesn't end there. As if regular human childbirth isn't traumatizing enough to experience as a young single mom, Rahne gave birth to her and Hrimhari's son, Tier, by throwing him up on the floor, essentially. Later, Tier would end up dying. The tragedy! 

Mystique and Sabretooth

In this edition of "GET A JOB, STAY AWAY FROM HER," we have Sabretooth and Mystique. The two were a couple during Jason Aaron, Billy Tan, and Steve Sanders' run on Wolverine, where they conspired to wreck Logan's life once again. I won't ever tell Mystique what to do, because who am I to do that, but we all know that she can do a whole lot better than a creep like Creed. After she shoots Logan in the face, Creed says, "You shootin' him in the face is seriously one of the sexiest things I've ever seen," which just goes to show where that man's standards are. 

All snarkiness aside, it's clear that during Mystique and Sabretooth's relationship, Creed's focus was not so much on the terrifyingly talented woman at his side, but on the longstanding beef that he has with Wolverine. I don't know about you, but I have no interest in getting together with someone who has actively been feuding with the old man on the back porch for decades. 

Akihiro/Daken and literally anyone when he was Dark Wolverine

We all know and love Akihiro now as the reformed son of Wolverine, but when he first came on the scene as Daken, the dude was bad news. If the saying "gaslight, gatekeep, girlboss" were a person, it would be a shirtless, tattooed guy from Japan with a mohawk called Daken. He has the claws and healing factor of his father in addition to the ability to manipulate other people's pheromones, affecting their emotions. During Daniel Way, Marjorie Liu, and Giuseppe Camuncoli's run on Dark Wolverine, Daken used his pheromone powers to maximum Machiavellian effect on Moonstone, his teammate on Norman Osborn's Dark Avengers, among many other hapless people. Thankfully, Akihiro no longer uses his powers this way. 

Husk and Angel

Marvel Comics and X-Men fans are rarely ever united in opinion, but one thing the X-Men community can all agree on is that Husk and Angel are one of the most cursed couples to ever be written into Marvel continuity. The "romance," if you want to call it that, came from the mind of Chuck Austen (yep) and unfolded in Uncanny X-Men #437 through #441. Listen, I know we've talked a lot about Angel already, but it's incredibly gross that he got together with a teenager like Husk. What was the reason, Warren?! To make matters worse, they consummated their commitment to each other in the sky above Husk's family. If only I could Banshee scream right now. 

And that's not all. Let's also remember that Husk has a brother, Icarus, who also has wings just like Angel. In fact, Icarus was involved in this arc of Uncanny X-Men, making it weird that two feathered and winged mutants like Angel and Icarus were in the book at the time, and that one of them was sleeping with the other's sister. What the hell was going on here?

I apologize for the emotional psychic damage I may have inflicted upon you. 

Get ready for what's next with our guide to upcoming comics, how to buy comics at a comic shop, and our guide to Free Comic Book Day 2025.