Piotr's first instinct is often to put himself in the way. With his armored body, he can turn an attack meant for someone else into a problem he hopes his own strength will solve.

Piotr's first instinct is often to put himself in the way. With his armored body, he can turn an attack meant for someone else into a problem he hopes his own strength will solve. That instinct gets a frightening test during the Shi'ar crisis in #155. He shields Xavier from a shot and discovers that the weapon can burn through his steel. The rescue is still brave, but the result strips away the reassuring idea that looking indestructible means he can absorb whatever the team needs him to take. His place in the mansion is gentler than that job description suggests. He is an artist, a friend and an older brother. Illyana brings a connection to his childhood into the X-Men's home, and Kitty's affection introduces feelings he doesn't handle with the confidence he brings to lifting something heavy. The Limbo story makes his protective role painfully inadequate. Illyana is taken in #160 and returns after years have passed for her, while the others have experienced only a brief interval. Getting her physically back cannot restore the years he missed or tell him everything she has endured. That loss changes the meaning of having his sister nearby. Piotr can recognize her and love her while discovering that important parts of her life are now beyond his knowledge. His size gives him no advantage over that distance. He keeps contributing the familiar practical strength: carrying, shielding, clearing a way and trusting the others to act around him. Yet the early post-Phoenix years make the family role as important as the battlefield role. Colossus is surrounded by people he wants to protect, and he is learning that protection cannot guarantee an unchanged life. His tenderness survives that lesson, even when his certainty doesn't.