One change turned a longtime X-Men debate into Marvel’s greatest asset

polygon.com:

Even for fans of fiction, comic book readers are obsessed with the “facts” they know. For some, the question “Who would win?” isn’t just a theoretical pastime, it’s a challenge of the very honor of the character you stan. Those fans crave the validation of their opinion; they need a trump card. And in the world of the X-Men, one phrase rules above all others: Omega Level Mutant.

But until 2019, nobody even knew what an Omega Mutant was beyond… a powerful mutant. But how powerful did you need to be an Omega? What counted as “power” for a set of characters who controlled weather, shot lasers from their eyes, or simply comprehended every language? Marvel Comics creators had kept the definition soft; an understandable choice for an infinitely expanding universe — you never want to write characters into a corner. Someone down the line might find it restrictive. But then again … restrictions can also breed creativity.

The great Omega Mutant debate offers a case study in putting hard rules around a fictional concept. Do the actual creators working with the modern X-Men find it to be a help? Or a hindrance? Or do they think it matters at all? We decided to find out.

The first mutant character to ever be called “omega” was Rachel Summers, the daughter of Cyclops and Jean Grey from an alternate future. “Upper limit of target-subject’s abilities has yet to be determined,” says Nimrod, the final evolution of the mutant-hunting Sentinel robots, as he gives her the label of “Class Omega.” The term wouldn’t be used again for 15 years, and it’d be nearly 20 years after that before anyone would actually define what, exactly, an Omega Mutant is.

Throughout the ’90s the phrase “Alpha Level” was used frequently to the same effect, and in