Scott Summers was born and raised in Anchorage, Alaska, alongside his younger brother, Alex. When he was 12 years old, he was forced to parachute out of a damaged plane, while holding Alex in his arms. When the plane exploded, their parachute caught fire but Scott's mutant optic blasts manifested for the first time, and he used them to slow their descent.

Though the boys survived, Scott suffered a head injury upon landing. As he matured, Scott began suffering severe headaches and eyestrain as a result of that injury and eventually lost the ability to turn off his optic blast. He was forced to wear glasses or a visor made out of ruby quartz, the only substance that restrained Scott's optic blasts.

When he was fifteen years old, Professor Charles Xavier offered Scott the opportunity to become his first student at the Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters. Adopting the code name "Cyclops," he became the first X-Man and met his future wife Jean Gray. As the leader of the X-Men, Cyclops guided other mutants in countless missions and adventures, and even became the headmaster of Xavier's School.