History: The tragedy surrounding the Summers family has had many victims, but few were affected as severely as Alex Summers. Much of his early life was comfortable, but unlike his brother, Scott Summers, he remembers little of it. He grew up with his brother around a major Air Force base in Alaska. His parents, Christopher and Katherine Ann Summers, were high ranking officials in the United States Air Force. Christopher was a test pilot who flew in some of the most advanced and secretive plans in existence. Katherine was a researcher who helped develop those plans. Little is known about the nature of their work, but it clearly had an effect on their family up to and after the tragic plane crash that killed them.

The circumstances around the plane crash remain a mystery. Alex wasn’t old enough to remember the major details. One day, his parents pulled them out of school and said they needed to take an impromptu trip to New York. While flying in the family’s private plane, an unusual series of malfunctions caused the engines to catch on fire. With only two parachutes, Alex and Scott were forced to jump from the plane. Scott had to be the one that carried his brother through this tragic decision. While Alex landed with only minor scrapes, his brother endured more severe injuries. Dazed and traumatized, Alex stayed by his brother’s bedside while their fate was decided.

Thanks to connections made by their parents, Alex and his brother were shipped to a special group home for the children of dead soldiers. While the accommodations were adequate, Alex developed an aggressive persona that turned off many prospective parents. It led Scott to become quite protective of Alex, despite having suffered greater injuries. Over the years, he became more adverse to being adopted by anyone. He also grew more adverse to his brother constantly protecting him. He began challenging his brother’s role, but additional circumstances required that they stick together.

It began when Scott’s mutant powers first manifested. They began with a series of headaches. Those headaches quickly turned into flashing red eyes that drew the concern and ire of various social workers. It was eventually discovered that Scott was a mutant, leading many to suspect Alex was a mutant as well. This effectively ended any future interest among foster parents. It also left Scott unable to protect Alex, forcing him to become more independent. This reached a tipping point when he was 11 and Scott was 14. Another round of bad headaches consumed Scott, which led to him being hospitalized. Alex went with him, but grew more paranoid when the social workers got the police involved. Then in a new outburst of power, Scott unleashed his first optic blast that ended up devastating a good portion of the hospital. Worried that it would lead the group to take more extreme measures, Alex and Scott ran away.

Now on the streets, Alex and Scott met up with a gang of young teenagers from broken homes. They quickly formed their own group, helping each other survive on the streets of New York. Scott quickly established himself as a leader due to his maturity and his mutant abilities. Unlike before, Alex didn’t always accept that role. By now he believed he didn’t need to be protected. This view was only reinforced when his own mutant powers manifested at age 12.

It happened during a fight with an off-duty police officer that was harassing the group. Scott encouraged them to run away, but Alex fought back when the officer grew more aggressive. He grabbed Alex by the hands and while he was struggling, he was overcome with a burning sensation in both hands. The burning turned to glowing and in his first show of power, he unleashed an blast that injured the officer and gave him new status with the group. Unlike Scott, however, he was more willing to use his powers. This created a divide between the two brothers that only widened with time. That divide turned to all out animosity when the brothers parted ways.

After an incident where Scott’s powers led him to kill a man, he was approached by Professor Charles Xavier. He offered Scott and Alex a chance to join his school for mutants. Scott, distraught by what he had done, accepted the offer. Alex, however, was not willing to leave the group behind or trust another authority figure to do what he thought was best for them. A fight between Alex and Scott ensued, ending with the two of them leaving one another on bitter if not irreparable terms.

While Scott grew into his role as an X-man, Alex became a leader in his own right. In the years that followed, he led his group of abandoned youth effectively. He took on any challenges and actively fought those who stood against him. As he grew older, he became more aggressive. This aggression eventually led to the group’s dissolution. They attempted to fight off a group of developers that were trying to demolish a housing project they had been staying in. Rather than move, Alex organized an all out attack on the developers that landed him and nearly everyone else in his group in juvenile hall.

Character Breakdown: Alex Summers is very much a product of circumstance. His mentality is largely defined by his willingness and ability to fight. He sees himself as a fighter and a survivor. In some ways he’s adverse to establishing a life that is too comfortable. This is likely a result of having little experience within a comfortable environment growing up. Unlike his brother, Scott, he doesn’t remember what it was like living a normal life in Alaska with his parents. Due to his youth, his parents are more like archetypes rather than actual memories. This left him with no clear authority figure growing up, forcing him to fend for himself and doing so to the detriment of his own well-being at times.

Another aspect of these circumstances involve the relationship he had with Scott. After the death of their parents, Scott took it upon himself to protect Alex. He tried to be the authority figure that was lacking in his life, but in doing so it only conveyed the impression that he was weak and vulnerable. This instilled a certain level of resentment within Alex even if it was unintentional. It motivated him to prove that he wasn’t weak, which led to him being more aggressive growing up. The need to prove himself was almost as strong as his willingness to fight, which led him to develop an impulsive and overly emotional nature.

However, this emotional nature isn’t just fueled by aggression. Alex’s propensity to protect and stick up for those who are victimized indicate a strong level of empathy. Whether he would admit it or not, the morality that Scott sought to convey from their parents clearly took hold in him at a young age. A strong sense of right and wrong is clearly present within him, but unlike Scott Alex is more willing to fight for it. This manifested in how he and Scott led the street gang they joined after leaving the orphanage. He fought for those who couldn’t fight for themselves while rallying them around a common cause.