The best place to start is the beginning. As a kid it was the visual and the fact that he was "the strong guy" of the X-Men. Dave Cockrum's design is an iconic one and many artists have worked hard to duplicate it. Even with the simple animation of the 90's series, he came off distinct. Visuals can be important to hook someone in for a moment; Colossus was a guy who turned to metal with a lot of shiney stuff and punches stuff down. I was a simple kid sometimes.
Beyond that, Colossus was a character who I thought worked very well in the team dynamic. Almost to a fault; he probably comes off as boring or generic in a series when he was the star. I wouldn't want to see a COLOSSUS ongoing series and some of his rare mini's weren't always so hot. But he is fine as the star of an arc or a one-shot tale, but usually as being among the team and contrasting with some, or working with others. In the Claremont/Cockrum/Bryne era, Colossus in some ways represented innocence in a way. He left his home to be a hero for greater causes, a point his parents kind of made for him (he was hesitant to leave). While the other X-Men were "new" at the time, Wolverine was the cynical violent rebel, Nightcrawler often the confident ex-circus performer, and Banshee had years of black ops experience. Storm was also a bit naive to things at the time, which is perhaps why the two initially bonded (at one point Storm calls him "the brother I never had"), but she was also formerly worshiped as a goddess. He had strong, heroic ideals and often was simple in how he displayed them. But he usually defended his friends when he had to, and some of those moments when he "stepped up" and was willing to kill were usually defining for me. I mentioned the Proteus one, but the moment when he snaps Riptide's neck during the MORLOCK MASSACRE in the 80's was cool. Considering his status as one of the most "innocent" of the new X-Men, it is probably no accident that Kitty Pryde, who took that role after she debuted in 1980, was drawn to him. She was just spunkier, while at heart he was a Russian farm-boy.
But what I also liked was that unlike the Thing, who was an "average mug" in many ways, Piotr was sensitive and artistic, which at the time seemed unique for a hulking tanker. He was also introverted, but in a different way than Cyclops was. Granted, you have to note that I liked Colossus before I ever learned to like Cyclops.
I guess I also liked that, at least for a majority of his history, he was reliable as the big strong good guy on the X-Men team. He wasn't an anti-hero. He wasn't against killing or being an angry smasher type, but he only did so when he had to. As time went on, Colossus suffered no end of tragedies. His sister was corrupted by demons, his family killed by the KGB, and his older brother becoming an energy-manipulating maniac. The death of his sister caused him to join Magneto's Acolytes, which is really his only foray into being an "anti-hero", but even that didn't last too long by comic standards; a few years. He might have been dead longer than he was an Acolyte. Even as an Acolyte, he was hardly the zealot that some of them were, like Exodus at the time. But by and large, despite his endless moping (and he has moped in the comics for a damn decade if not longer), he still plugs away and wants to be a hero. Even after losing Kitty, yet another tragedy. I mean, damn. The sheer amount of dead loved ones that Colossus has to live through are almost as many as Wolverine. Yet he's rarely cynical, even if he does brood.
In many ways he is similar to Superman, only he isn't an alien and he isn't as powerful, and he got his morals from a non-American family, which isn't as original now as it once was, but I don't know. It still is notable. Especially as Mark Millar imagined a Russian Soviet Era Superman as being a hero of the Commies in RED SON that Piotr avoided.
I also probably related to the idea that despite Colossus doing the best he could a lot, he usually wasn't the big, popular guy. He also usually didn't beat many major menaces for ages of time. Trying to think of defining Colossus power moments in the comics after the 80's gets rough. I mean the Thing could always cling to giving the Hulk a good fight, and the Hulk can beat everyone, but Colossus? Not so often. He usually is the most underwhelming of Marvel's tankers, and even though I hate that, it adds to the underdog status. Even Wolverine is allowed to put in better showings against enemies who clearly outclass him.
I just usually felt he worked well as a perennial supporting X-Man with a cool visual and he smashes stuff when he has to, or tries.
t: I have been following the X Men since the early 80's and Gambit since 1990. I guess we will have to agree to disagree
) The fact that he went and tried to save Jean Luc said a lot about his character. In fact, the most accurate description of Gambit was said by Rogue in that episode "You did the wrong thing for the right reasons." That's Gambit to a tee!
