Kitty Pryde & Emma Frost's Complicated Relationship, Explained

Kitty Pryde and Emma Frost couldn't be more different, but they stepped into the X-Men's world on the same day, intertwining their fates forever. Where Emma Frost surrounded herself with the luxuries that came with her role as the Hellfire Club's villainous White Queen, the precocious teenage Kitty Pryde had only just stepped into her mutant powers. After fighting each other for years, both women ended up on the X-Men, where they evolved into respected leaders who helped mutantkind navigate some of their darkest days.

With a mutual interest in mentoring the next generation of mutants, Emma Frost and Kitty Pryde have more in common than either would likely admit. Both leaders now face each other once more in EXCEPTIONAL X-MEN (2024) #1 by Eve L. Ewing, Carmen Carnero, Nolan Woodard, and VC's Joe Sabino.

Let's take a closer look at the history between these two heroes, retracing how they went from bitter rivals to cautious allies—and eventually to close confidants.

HOW KITTY PRYDE MET EMMA FROST

Kitty Pryde and Emma Frost both made their debuts in UNCANNY X-MEN (1963) #129 by Chris Claremont and John Byrne, in the opening moments of what would become "The Dark Phoenix Saga."  When Pryde's powers began manifesting, Frost took notice of the 13-year-old mutant and tried to recruit her as a student for the Hellfire Club's Massachusetts Academy.

However, Emma Frost was not the only party interested in Kitty Pryde. Professor X and several X-Men later visited the Pryde family home and enlisted the young mutant in Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters instead.

As Pryde acquainted herself with Storm, Colossus, and Wolverine, Frost attacked them with several Hellfire Club soldiers and captured the veteran mutants. Although the White Queen tried to capture her too, Kitty evaded her soldiers and called the other X-Men for help.

Cyclops, Nightcrawler, and Jean Grey rescued Pryde and freed their friends in UNCANNY X-MEN (1963) #131 by Claremont and Byrne. Wielding the tremendous cosmic power of the Phoenix Force, Jean overwhelmed the White Queen and her considerable psychic powers.

After recovering from her encounter with the Phoenix, the vengeful White Queen tried to recruit Kitty a few more times. Emma Frost telepathically took control of Pryde's parents and forced them to transfer her to the Hellfire Academy in UNCANNY X-MEN (1963) #151 by Chris Claremont, Jim Sherman, and Bob McLeod. Storm decided to drive her young friend to her new school to drop her off. The White Queen then captured the weather-controlling mutant and swapped minds with her. Once Storm regained control of her own body, she retrieved Kitty and brought her back to Xavier's school.

During her time at Xavier's school, Kitty grew close with Doug Ramsey, the mutant who would eventually become known as Cypher. Seizing the opportunity to set a trap, the White Queen gave Doug a full scholarship to the Massachusetts Academy. When Pryde accompanied him there, Frost captured them both in NEW MUTANTS (1983) #15 by Claremont and Sal Buscema. However, Pryde and Xavier's New Mutants defeated Frost and the Hellions—her mutant trainee team—and escaped.

While Pryde bounced around X-Men teams and made a few attempts at living a normal civilian life, Frost took charge of the X-Men after a time-traveling serial killer murdered the Hellions. With the X-Men in her care, Frost helped Jubilee and several young mutants escape the alien Phalanx. The White Queen reformed, mentoring the young mutants known as Generation X. She subsequently joined the X-Men as one of the leading teachers at Professor Xavier's school.

TEAMMATES ON THE ASTONISHING X-MEN

After serving in separate X-Men groups for years, Emma Frost and Kitty Pryde joined the same team in ASTONISHING X-MEN (2004) #1 by Joss Whedon and John Cassaday. In the wake of a Magneto impersonator attacking New York City, Cyclops assembled this team to serve as highly publicized, non-threatening heroes, complete with bright new costumes. Given their history, Frost specifically asked Pryde to join the team to keep her villainous tendencies in check.

Despite some friction, Pryde and Frost got along until part of Cassandra Nova's consciousness took control of the White Queen. After making Frost believe she was her sleeper agent and part of a new Hellfire Club, Nova used Frost to attack the X-Men.

Under Nova's influence, Frost telepathically made Pryde live through three years of an imagined life, a life where she gave birth to an imaginary son. After Frost ripped her back to reality, an enraged Pryde held the White Queen at gunpoint. Cyclops talked her down from doing something she might later regret.

On the team's next mission, Kitty Pryde found herself trapped in a giant metal bullet hurtling through space. She saved countless lives by phasing the bullet through all potential casualties. Astonished by Pryde's heroism, Frost confessed her admiration to her younger teammate.

KITTY AND EMMA IN THE X-MEN

By the time Magneto pulled Kitty Pryde back down to Earth, Emma Frost had cemented herself as a central leader of the X-Men. Trapped in an intangible form, Pryde could not speak. To facilitate Pryde's communication with her fellow X-Men, Frost telepathically linked their minds in UNCANNY X-MEN (1963) #527 by Matt Fraction, Whilce Portacio, and Terry Dodson.

During a telepathic communication session, one of Emma's stray thoughts alarmed Kitty; the White Queen plotted to potentially kill Sebastian Shaw, her longtime Hellfire Club rival. Following a change of heart, Emma Frost recruited Kitty Pryde and Fantomex, a mutant thief, to enact a different plan. Together, they broke Shaw out of  prison, wiped his mind, and stranded him in the middle of China's Xinjiang Province.

Kitty Pryde and Emma Frost found each other at odds once more when Wolverine and Cyclops' conflicting views on how to best serve young mutants reached a boiling point. This SCHISM (2011) split the X-Men up into rival factions, with Frost staying by Cyclops' side and Pryde joining Logan as a teacher at the Jean Grey School for Higher Learning. At the Jean Grey School, Pryde watched over time-displaced teenage versions of the original X-Men.

Although Kitty Pryde and her students briefly joined Emma Frost in Cyclops' camp, the pair would later walk down different paths. Frost returned to her more villainous roots, while Pryde became the leader of the X-Men at the newly renamed Xavier Institute for Mutant Education and Outreach.

THE WHITE AND RED QUEENS

When Professor X and Magneto laid the groundwork for a mutant nation on the island of Krakoa, Emma Frost topped their list of X-Men to recruit. They tasked her and her Hellfire Trading Company with managing the island's imports and exports.

As the White Queen, she recruited Kate Pryde to be the Hellfire Company's Red Queen, starting in MARAUDERS (2019) #1 by Gerry Duggan and Matteo Lolli. Dropping her life-long "Kitty" nickname, Pryde stepped up as the captain of the Marauders, a small team of veteran X-Men that traveled the world via pirate ship to rescue trapped mutants.

Throughout Krakoa's existence, Frost and Pryde worked closely together. In addition to dealing with external threats, both Frost and Pryde sat on the island's Quiet Council, a small group that governed the island. One of their mutual priorities included warding off Sebastian Shaw, their corrupt Hellfire Company business partner who sought to consolidate his power and enrich himself.

With his plans foiled, Shaw lured Kitty Pryde into a trap and killed her. Lockheed, Pryde's pet dragon, told Emma Frost what happened, and the White Queen helped facilitate Pryde's resurrection in a cloned body. After some planning, they took revenge on Shaw by secretly attacking him and leaving him seriously injured in MARAUDERS (2019) #16 by Duggan and Stefano Caselli.

THE FALL OF KRAKOA… AND THE RISE FROM THE ASHES

Despite the X-Men's best efforts, the mutant paradise of Krakoa did not last. In a devastating attack by the anti-mutant organization, Orchis killed and captured several X-Men and banished almost all of Krakoa's mutant residents off-world. In the aftermath of the attack, Frost and Pryde became two of the last remaining X-Men leaders on Earth.

Seeking revenge, Pryde drew on her lethal martial arts training with the evil Ogun and portal dropped into an Orchis base, brutally killing several Orchis agents. In X-MEN (2021) #25 by Gerry Duggan and Stefano Caselli, Pryde reassumed her old codename, Shadowkat.

Meanwhile, a disguised Emma Frost organized the X-Men's remaining members and resources into an underground resistance. While she expressed concern over Pryde's violent new outlook, the pair joined forces to fight Orchis.

With Orchis defeated, Pryde stepped away from the X-Men. Unable to process her violent actions as Shadowkat, Pryde tried retreating to a normal civilian life as a bartender in Chicago. She even took on her old nickname, Kitty, once more.

Kitty Pryde now wants nothing to do with her past, but she may not have a say in the matter. With new young mutants across the Midwest in need of guidance, Pryde finds herself back in her old shoes and on a collision course with Emma Frost in EXCEPTIONAL X-MEN (2024) by Eve L. Ewing and Carmen Carnero.

Join Kitty Pryde and Emma Frost on their next adventure in EXCEPTIONAL X-MEN #1, on sale now!

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