If he accidentally looked at himself without his visor would it hurt him or would he be immune?
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1I'd imagine so.– SaturnsEyeSep 30, 2014 at 11:09
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4Nope. He's immune to his own and his brother's powers, and vice versa. I don't really know how to source comic books (and I'd just be copying wikipedia anyway) so I'm leaving this as a comment instead of an answer.– jonoSep 30, 2014 at 11:12
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2What types of questions should I avoid asking - "What if ______ happened?"– user8719Sep 30, 2014 at 11:26
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14@DarthSatan This isn't really a "What if" hypothetical question, of the type you're suggesting it is. It could be worded better, but it's essentially asking if Cyclops is immune to his own energy blasts or not - something very much answerable using canons.– ShisaSep 30, 2014 at 11:48
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3@jono - Scott & Alex are immune to each other's power but it should be noted that they are not immune to their brother Gabriel's mutation, nor is he immune to theirs. Gabriel (AKA Vulcan) can control the electromagnetic spectrum giving him power over exotic energies such as Cyke's optic blasts and magical energies.– 22nd Century FzaOct 1, 2014 at 4:28
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2 Answers
According to the Marvel website, they cannot hurt him.
Cyclops' mind generates a psionic field that is attuned to the forces that maintain the apertures. Because this field envelops his body, it automatically shunts the other-dimensional particles back into their point of origin when they collide with his body. Thus, his body is protected from the effects of the particles, and even the thin membranes of his eyelids are sufficient to block the emission of energy.
(Note: Marvel has been historically inconsistent on what the source of Cyclops's blasts are)
On a side note, it's an interesting question as to whether or not a direct shot on the mirror would reflect or just shatter the mirror. There's been some speculation about just what materials Cyclops's beam can bounce off of. The general consensus among fans is that it only works on metal and not on a direct hit, but Uncanny X-men 156 and X-Factor 115 show him bouncing his optic beam off of the ground and into himself and Alex to slow them down (the beams being recoilless, he would not be able to just blast down) with the ground liquefying under the blast even as it reflected it. That would argue that, if the mirror could withstand a direct hit and cause a bounce, it would at least knock Cyclops back with the equivalent force.
All things considered, it's probably easier to take the explanation of "psionic fields" and suggest that Cyclops controls, perhaps subconsciously, what his ability bounces off of and how.
answered Sep 30, 2014 at 12:04
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1I've just read that comic and I'm at a loss where the quote about other-dimensional particles comes from– ValorumSep 30, 2014 at 19:03
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You would know better than me. :) I'm working off of Wikipedia and other such sites. I can only rely on people correctly linking their sources. Sep 30, 2014 at 19:45
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From Wikipedia: The original 1983 Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe volume stated that Cyclops' eyes contain inter-dimensional apertures, releasing powerful energies from another dimension into his own via the beams. This account states that his body naturally metabolizes ambient energy that is used to open and focus the apertures in his eyes. The energy of the beam itself originates from this other dimension. This explanation, however, was later changed for the 1986 Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Deluxe Edition. Sep 30, 2014 at 19:49
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3In that comic he covers his eyes with his hands but that's about it. Unless I'm missing a page, there's no technobable whatsoever– ValorumSep 30, 2014 at 19:54
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1I will remove the attribution and just leave it to "this is the quote from the Marvel site" then. :) Sep 30, 2014 at 19:58
Originally, yes they could hurt him, back when he was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in 1963. Now, for anyone wondering, no, no one ever rebounded one of his beams against him in the original stories. However, it should be noted that on several occasions (The X-Men # 1, The X-Men # 4, & The X-Men # 9 as examples) that when he used his beam at its maximum power output, it caused physical harm, causing him to black out for a brief period. When this happened, the other four X-Men (Iceman, Angel, Beast, & Marvel-Girl) protected Cyclops in his weakened condition, with Beast actually carrying Cyclops around in some stories.
