What Mystique From X-Men Looks Like Out Of Costume

Of the characters who appear throughout the entire  "X-Men" timeline, Mystique makes for one of the most interesting; whether she's a villain, a hero, or an antihero depends on which film you're watching in which phase of the franchise. The character's real name is Raven Darkholme and, as a mutant shapeshifter, she's blessed and-or cursed with the ability to mimic the appearance and voice of absolutely anyone. While that sounds like a great party trick, it's likely pretty hard to develop any kind of identity or sense of self when you can choose to be anyone other than you. Also, while other mutants' powers may make them the equivalent of a living weapon, Mystique's abilities are more passive, shall we say. She's not going to rip the roof off of a building or crush her enemies insides with a mere thought, though her agility and fighting prowess do make her an impressive foe in hand-to-hand combat. Her mutant powers make her an excellent spy and saboteur, but perhaps not a warrior. 

Fortunately for Mystique, she has excellent taste in teammates and has aligned herself with powerful combatants on multiple occasions, falling on the side of good in one film, on the side of evil in another, and perhaps smack in the middle in a few more. Over the course of the first three X-Men films, she's solidly on the side of bad, with one notable bit of unintentional good that's more a side effect of wanting revenge. When "X-Men: First Class" relaunched the franchise in 2011, Raven began on the side of good and slowly worked her way to the dark side. Regardless of her fluid alignment, each version of Mystique is shown in some form or another as the two actors who've taken on the rale look naturally, minus the gallons of blue body paint and strategically placed prosthetics. Here's what Mystique from "X-Men" looks like out of costume. 

Actor Rebecca Romijn appeared as Mystique in the first three X-Men films: 2000's "X-Men," 2003's "X2: X-Men United," and 2006's "X-Men: The Last Stand." Her version of Mystique embraced her powers; when Nightcrawler (Alan Cumming) asks why she wouldn't choose to simply blend in with regular humans, given her abilities, she tells him that mutants shouldn't have to. Romijn showed up in one particular scene in the second X-Men movie out of costume and without any makeup, the bar scene in which she seduces and drugs sad sack prison guard Mitchell Laurio (Ty Olsson) before injecting iron into his blood. Magneto (Ian McKellen) then draws the iron out of his blood when Laurio delivers his lunch in his plastic prison. Adding insult into injury, Magneto tells the hapless guard to never trust a woman, especially one interested in the likes of him.

Romijn appeared twice more in the X-Men franchise out of costume. In the first act of "The Last Stand," Magneto attempts to break Mystique and other fellow mutants out of the mobile prison trucks. Unfortunately for the villainous shapeshifter, she's hit with the government's newly weaponized cure shot trying to protect Magneto and is left behind on the truck, sans clothing, given that her costume involved zero wardrobe. Abandoned by her mentor, Mystique cuts a deal and gives up the Brotherhood's location.

In a brief cameo appearance in the series-relaunching "X-Men: First Class," Romijn shows up in bed when Mystique is trying to seduce a younger Magneto (Michael Fassbender) and he explains she's a bit too young. As such, she transforms into a woman who looks exactly like Rebecca Romijn in a clever no to the original films.

In 2011, "X-Men" director Bryan Singer returned to the X-Men film franchise to write and produce the soft reboot that is "X-Men: First Class." The film wound back the clock, taking place mostly in the 1960s, and cast younger actors for key characters that had already been introduced the franchise's first films. James McAvoy took over the role of Professor Charles Xavier from Patrick Stewart, joining Michael Fassbender as a younger Erik Lensherr. Given Mystique's abilities, there's less of a concern in casting a younger actor for the character, though the movie does explain that her powers allow her cells to age at a slower rate than those of normal people. As such, Jennifer Lawrence joined the X-Men franchise in the role of Raven Darkholme in the first of four appearances as the character; she went on to reprise the role in "Days of Future Past," "Apocalypse," and "Dark Phoenix."

Unlike Rebecca Romijn's Mystique, Lawrence's version has not yet embraced her powers and spends a good deal of time in "First Class" simply looking as the actress does in real life, save for the period wardrobe she wears. As Xavier and Lensherr debate the merits of trying to integrate into human society versus attempting to rule it, Raven becomes more secure in her abilities. Her seeming romantic interest in Magneto and the treatment of mutants by the government and military ultimately draw her to his side and the character goes on to appear in costume and makeup for a greater portion of the other films in which she appears.