FAQ

A quick preface to this FAQ that’s mostly centered on common questions about Rictor and Shatterstar:

Comics are complicated. Although I try my best to read things strictly, any piece of media can have a scene be read from a completely different perspective from the webmaster, and that’s okay. When it comes to these two characters, there’s also a plethora of retcons and conflicting story beats core to their background that have been ping-ponged back and forth by writers for years. This means that although I try to lay out the information as level as I can, some of my answers might not match what other people think. I try my best to lay out what all the possible options are based on what the text says in relation to these questions.

How many times have Rictor and Shatterstar broken up?

Four* times. Three if one is strict about following directly stated information and no between-the-lines interpretation.

X-Factor (2005) retroactively confirmed Shatterstar and Rictor had been in a relationship during X-Force (1991). Although we never have a direct scene of their get-together or break-up in X-Force, their first break-up is assumed to take place somewhere between the X-Force 1999 Annual and the X-Force: Shatterstar (2004) solo, as Rictor is no longer present in Shatterstar’s life.

The second break-up happens after X-Factor (2005) in Iceman (2017). Rictor asks Iceman on a date during the run, clarifying he and Shatterstar are no longer together.

The third takes place between New Mutants: Dead Souls (2018) and Shatterstar (2018). Rictor and Shatterstar are back together in Dead Souls, but by Shatterstar (2018) Rictor has called off their relationship once more.

*The fourth is the most debatable of break-ups. Rictor and Shatterstar are not directly confirmed to have begun dating again at the end of Shatterstar (2018). However, given Shatterstar’s intense social regression and statement he has no purpose on Earth because of Rictor’s (fake) death during X-Force (2019), combined with Rictor’s talk that Shatterstar had ghosted him and he has nobody in his life in Excalibur (2019), it is assumed they had returned to dating before the Age of X-Man event split them apart.

Has Shatterstar had a romantic relationship with anyone except Rictor?

Yes and no. Although he has been shown to flirt with many characters, Rictor is the only one whom Shatterstar has been shown to have genuine romantic feelings for. His wife, Windsong, is not a person he is attached to romantically. In X-Force (1991), he directly states romance is not part of the reason they are betrothed, and that he cares nothing for her in the way of romance.

Gringrave is a matter that must be discussed here, as in the Shatterstar (2018) solo, we do see him both have sex and admit he loves her. Their relationship was founded as something the crowd liked to see during combat. However, as per the timeline, Shatterstar was an underage teenager during his story with Gringrave. He is directly groomed in the story by her, an older woman. It’s also important to note that Gringrave as a character is a direct retcon to issues of X-Force (1991) where Shatterstar admitted he had no reference for love and sex. By most counts, a character who has no concept of love being groomed as a child into saying what he believes Gringrave wants to hear does not count as a genuine romantic relationship. If you believe her grooming counts as a proper romantic relationship, then the answer to this question is ‘yes’. If you believe it does not count as a romantic relationship, then the answer is ‘no’.

Has Rictor had a romantic relationship with anyone except Shatterstar?

Also yes and no. In-universe, Rictor is shown to have no genuine romantic feelings requited with anyone except Shatterstar. Although Excalibur (2019) does depict him holding romantic feelings for Apocalypse, this never develops into a relationship. His date with Iceman in Iceman (2017) also culminates in him stating Bobby is the opposite of his type, and the whole situation is implied to have been a ‘rebound’ situation following a break-up with Shatterstar. They never formally date beyond the one literal ‘date’ that goes south.

However, prior to Rictor coming out as gay, he is consistently shown to have romantic feelings for two women. He heavily crushed on Boom Boom, but she does her best to turn him down in X-Terminators (1988). He also kisses her in X-Force (1991), but both prior to and after that point, Rictor’s romantic inclination for her never comes up again. In New Mutants (1983), he and Wolfsbane develop a relationship but never directly date. They also kiss in X-Factor (1986), but like with Boom Boom, their relationship is dropped immediately after. His dynamic with Wolfsbane is briefly rekindled in X-Factor (2005) where they sleep together during one of his depressive episodes, but they never enter a proper relationship.

After Rictor enters into a relationship publicly with Shatterstar, his clarification that he knew deep-down that he was gay implies he did not hold genuine romantic feelings for these two. He also never formally dates either of them although his relationship with Wolfsbane was debatedly close to a formal romantic relationship during New Mutants. They simply were never labeled as dating. But it would be disingenuous to say that the answer to this question is an outright ‘no’, as what many readers qualify as ‘dating’ in comics is consistent reciprocal flirting, not on-page referral to relationship status. One might also argue Rictor’s past relationships still count as romantic relationships because he had an honest attempt at romantic feelings. Either way, both answers suffice.

What is Shatterstar’s sexuality?

This is a fluctuating answer. Let’s start chronologically in what writers say applies to certain time periods, as Shatterstar never directly states his sexuality on-panel. Starting in X-Force (1991), Shatterstar’s two creators stated something different around the time he kisses Rictor in 2009. Rob Liefeld stated Shatterstar was meant to be asexual, completely aloof to both sex and romance. As it was 2009, what Liefeld likely meant to label Shatterstar as aromantic and asexual given how he described asexuality. Conversely, around the same time Fabian Nicieza (who wrote Shatterstar for much longer than Liefeld) stated Shatterstar had no sexuality – the equivalent of unlabeled – because he was discovering himself during X-Force. Both these answers line up with how Shatterstar acts in early X-Force, but by the time of Loeb’s writing, it becomes clear he holds some type of romantic flame for Rictor. This comes into conflict with Liefeld’s aromantic-asexual answer but not Nicieza’s unlabeled. This is why you'll find fanfiction pre-dating Shatterstar’s appearance in X-Factor (2005) stating he is gay or written as Rictor-sexual (a phenomenon of old slash fanfic where a character is only attracted to one other male character.)

It is not until X-Factor (2005) where Shatterstar’s sexuality comes back into question. This is where Peter David first labels Shatterstar as bisexual in issue #230. Immediately after this, he says Shatterstar is omni-amarous and “attracted to the soul” in #231. These statements are more in line with pansexuality, but it is not what Peter David labels him as. In #232, he then corrects himself to say Shatterstar is “polyamarous and bisexual”. No writer has since given Shatterstar a new label. I will note however that the Marvel Universe TTRPG books label Shatterstar specifically as gay.

So what’s the answer? On one hand, Shatterstar does express hints of being somewhere on the asexual and aromantic spectrum depending on his writer. He was most certainly depicted as asexual throughout much of X-Force (1991). But it is undeniable he is romantically inclined towards Rictor. So, ignoring the potential asexuality, is he bisexual or pansexual? Well, one writer has explicitly called him bisexual multiple times yet described him in pansexual terms. Because of this, neither answer is necessarily wrong. You’ll find fans that call him bisexual, pansexual, biromantic asexual, demiromantic bisexual, and all other types of specific labels. These are all technically correct based on the conflicting answers of the writers and the text itself.

There are a few simple facts. (1) Shatterstar is romantically in love with Rictor. He has not shown this capacity for anyone else by most standards* (see further FAQ questions above). (2) Beyond flirting, we do not concretely see Shatterstar have sex with any character except Rictor and Gringrave (who will be discounted from the sexuality discussion due to her grooming.) He has been shown to kiss a handful of other characters though, including Val Cooper and Boom Boom. (3) He has asked to sleep with other people except Rictor before, but the readers are unaware if he has actually done so. This only occurs in X-Factor (2005), and his personality regarding sex has sharply veered away from this type of writing in the years since. That period of time is defined by PAD as one of exploration for Shatterstar.

You may draw your conclusions from there. He is most commonly referred to as bisexual or simply queer by most fans for ease of explanation.

Is Rictor bisexual or gay?

Rictor is a gay man. Although he was shown to have romantic inclination towards women in the past, namely Wolfsbane (who he does sleep with) and Boom Boom, he clarifies after Wolfsbane rejoins the book in X-Factor (2005) that he always knew deep down he was gay. However, for a brief period of time after Rictor admits he’s fine with sleeping with men and before Wolfsbane rejoins the team, he is presumed bisexual. Guido frequently makes jokes about Rictor ‘swinging both ways’ just after Rictor kisses Shatterstar in front of him, and it's not until some issues much later Rictor states his sexuality. This often causes some confusion for those unaware Rictor had come out as gay specifically, as there was a period of publication where surrounding characters assumed he was bisexual. A fan directly asks PAD during X-Factor #230 for clarification, and he stated that while Shatterstar is bisexual (see question above for more notes on this), Rictor is a gay man who realized his orientation later in life.

His sexuality as a gay man is reaffirmed in a few comics after. During the Age of X-Man event, he is grouped up with two other gay men mutants, Iceman and Northstar, and speaks about starting a gay apocalypse. Cullen Bloodstone also refers to him and Rictor as “homosexuals with superpowers” in Excalibur (2019). He has zero interest in women since coming out as gay.

Did Shatterstar sleep with Layla Miller?

Probably not. If you look past the running gag, it is just that: a joke.

Most of the hints disproving the idea they slept together are in X-Factor (2005), and further development of Shatterstar’s powers in other books helps support this. The theory they had slept together only began because Rictor was jealous and did not know how Shatterstar’s teleporting power worked. He assumed, incorrectly, Shatterstar must sleep with someone in order to connect to them as an anchor. This extended to him accusing Shatterstar at one point of even sleeping with Longshot. And, because Shatterstar was only shown to connect to three people during XFI (Rictor, Longshot, Layla), his claim had some support. Even after learning Longshot was related to Shatterstar, one can assume the prerequisite to Shatterstar’s power was sex or blood-relation. But since we learn later on he can use Betsy Braddock as an anchor, the entire assumption it must be “sex” throws a wrench in the plan, as both Shatterstar and Betsy were in separate relationships and neither have shown any romantic interest in the other before. This does not clarify what a connection to Shatterstar is, but evidently it has to do with friendship rather than sex.

However, X-Factor itself does heavily imply that the gag was simply a joke between Layla and Shatterstar. They imply several times they slept together while in Latveria in jests throughout the comic. However, in a serious conversation in #226, Layla stated they are never to bring up what happened to them in Latveria. Immediately after in the same issue, Shatterstar and Layla take Rictor's rhetorical question about a threesome “seriously” and begin joking about it again. Hence, the two sleeping together wasn’t something that happened in Latveria or they would not be speaking of it. It is likely something else happened between them – being time travelers, something of that regard may cause their secrecy. Their sleeping together is simply a joke between them both rather than a serious encounter.

Who is Benjamin Russell to Shatterstar? Are they the same person?

There is no concrete answer to this question, and there likely never will be. The original Benjamin Russell storyline painted that Shatterstar was a figment of Benjamin's imagination and his creation (likely by mutant power), but X-Factor (2005) affirms that Shatterstar was the direct son birthed by Dazzler. This is evidenced by her child bearing a star birthmark matching Shatterstar – one Benjamin lacked. Briefly after Shatterstar's body merged with Benjamin's, Shatterstar stated he (Benjamin) was a reincarnation of a warrior born in the future (Shatterstar), but it is unclear where he had learned said information. Before this point, Shatterstar had previously said the mystery of his relationship to Benjamin was lost forever.

It should also be noted that Spiral cried over Benjamin and Shatterstar and stated both boys mean the world to her. This is also never elaborated upon beyond Jeph Loeb, the arc’s writer, saying her feelings were maternal in the letter section of an issue.

Fan explanations for the two range from twins, to clones, to reincarnations, to multiversal variants, to whatever a fan likes best in the moment.

Currently, Shatterstar resides in a body that is a combination of both his original body and Ben's, as they had visibly merged to retain Shatterstar’s birthmark. There appear to be no differences in this new body aside from Shatterstar displaying the ability to teleport many years after this arc. It is unclear if teleportation was a latent ability Shatterstar always had or if it was a result of merging with Benjamin.

Is Shatterstar a mutant? Half alien? Fully human?

This answer varies per the writer.

For the question of mutant or non-mutant: Under Fabian Nicieza writing X-Force (1991), Shatterstar is referenced as potentially being a mutant a handful of times, and he refers to his sword blasts as a mutant power. Benjamin Russell is also referred to as a mutant and his mutant power is directly stated as what placed him into a coma. However, Shatterstar states on page he is not a mutant during X-Force: Shatterstar (2004) which is written by Rob Liefeld, Shatterstar’s other creator. During X-Factor (2005), Peter David also states in a letter in the back of the issue that neither Shatterstar nor Longshot is a mutant. He has not been clarified as a mutant or non-mutant since.

Per X-Factor (2005), Shatterstar is also canonically half-human. With his mother being a human mutant, Dazzler, and his father being a Mojoworld biped, Longshot, he is not entirely human. We see this through his inherited healing factor and hollow bones from Longshot. However, he does not inherit other factors from Longshot like two hearts and four fingers. Although Longshot is cloned from Shatterstar, he is heavily genetically tweaked hence their differences in powers, physiology, and appearance. Longshot was crafted into a Mojoworld biped from Shatterstar, someone who is half human half biped. Sound confusing? Well, it is a time paradox, so don’t think too hard about it!

Is Shatterstar his own grandpa?

Yes.