Robert Kelly

SECURITY CLEARANCE ACTIVATED..

[NAME] Robert Kelly

[FIRST COMIC BOOK APPEARANCE] Uncanny X-Men #135 (1980)

[MUTANT ABILITIES] None

…ACCESSING…

PERSONAL NOTES OF CHARLES XAVIER

“Few men have shaped the political landscape for mutants as profoundly as Senator Robert Kelly. He has stood at the forefront of legislation that has threatened our very existence, championing policies that sought to control, register, and even eradicate mutants under the guise of national security. And yet, for all his misguided efforts, Kelly was never a man driven by malice – only fear.

His rise to prominence came at a time when mutant kind was viewed as a growing threat, and Kelly positioned himself as the voice of humanity’s defense. He backed the Mutant Registration Act, believing that transparency would protect society from perceived dangers. He funded Project Wideawake, ensuring that Sentinels would patrol the streets, ready to detain those deemed too dangerous. He was, in many ways, the architect of mutant oppression.

But Kelly was not an unchanging man. He witnessed first hand the consequences of his actions – the assassination attempt by Mystique’s Brotherhood, the dystopian future that his death would have triggered. He saw mutants not as faceless threats, but as individuals, some of whom saved his life when others sought to end it. Pyro, a man once branded a terrorist, sacrificed himself to protect Kelly, forcing the senator to reconsider his stance.

For a time, Kelly sought redemption. He promised to work toward peace, to bridge the divide between mutants and humans. But the world is rarely kind to those who change their minds. His past allies saw him as a traitor, and in the end, it was not a mutant who took his life, but a human extremist who believed Kelly had betrayed their cause. He died in Cable’s arms, a man who had finally seen the truth, but too late to act upon it.

Senator Robert Kelly was never my ally, but he was not my greatest enemy either. He was a man shaped by fear, by power, by the weight of responsibility. And in the end, he was a man who tried – however briefly – to be better”

IN OTHER MEDIA

APPEARANCES ON-SCREEN (Television)

APPEARANCES ON-SCREEN (Movies)

X-Men
X2

X-MEN

FIRST APPEARANCE: Night of the Sentinels (Part 1)
VOICED BY: Len Carlson (X-Men); Ron Rubin (X-Men ’97)

Senator Kelly starts off as a rising political figure who campaigns for the U.S. presidency on an anti-mutant platform. However, his perspective begins to shift after surviving an assassination attempt by Mystique, disguised as Gambit [Days of Future Past (Part 2)] and later being kidnapped by Master Mold before the X-Men come to his rescue in [The Final Decision]. Following these events, Kelly wins the presidency and takes office, publicly for mutants and making his first act as president a pardon for Beast. In later seasons, Kelly reappears occasionally as a supportive ally to the X-Men.

FILM SERIES

FIRST APPEARANCE: X-Men
OTHER APPEARANCES: X2
PLAYED BY: Bruce Davison

In a similar vein to other versions, this Robert Kelly stood for an anti-mutant platform, taking on Jean Grey in a Senate argument. Whilst on route to another event, Kelly was kidnapped by Magneto and exposed to his device, which activated the unstable mutant genes in Kelly’s body.

His body now able to stretch and mold into shapes, Kelly escaped captivity and begged the X-Men for help. While in their care, Kelly’s mutation destabilised and he melted into liquid. Storm later warned Magneto that his machine would only kill, but Magneto implied that maybe what Storm saw was something else: perhaps a further evolution of the Senator’s new mutant ability [X-Men].

Whether or not he survived this is unknown, but Kelly was impersonated for an unspecified amount of time afterward by Mystique, who used his identity to access government meetings – sometimes at the highest level in the Oval Office [X2].

X-MEN: EVOLUTION

FIRST APPEARANCE: Growing Pains
VOICED BY: Dale Wilson

At Bayville High, where many of the X-Men and the Brotherhood of Bayville are students, Principal Edward Kelly takes over following Raven Darkhölme’s disappearance. When the X-Men’s identities become public, Kelly tries to have the mutants expelled from school. However, the school board rejects his proposal after the X-Men save them from the Brotherhood’s attack. Following this, Kelly expels the Brotherhood and begins his campaign for Mayor.

WOLVERINE AND THE X-MEN

FIRST APPEARANCE: Hindsight (Part 1)
VOICED BY: Richard Doyle

Senator Kelly is known for backing anti-mutant initiatives like Bolivar Trask’s Sentinel program and the Mutant Response Division (MRD). He also struck a deal granting Magneto control over Genosha. When Magneto seals Genosha’s borders, Kelly tasks Gambit with Magneto’s helmet weaken the nation. Although Gambit fails to get the helmet, he succeeds in destabilizing Genosha [Aces & Eights]. Magneto furious, seeks vengeance, but Professor X intervenes, revealing a grim dystopian future awaiting them if they persist on their current course. This vision leaves Kelly shaken, prompting him to halt Sentinel production. However, Magneto remains resolute, having Quicksilver kidnap Kelly so Mystique can impersonate him and fuel a war between mutants and humanity [Foresight].

– END OF ENTRY –