Iceman, literally, has the power to use ice as his defense. He can create think walls and shields instantly, and he uses moisture frozen from the air as an ice slide to get around faster than he could running. He throws ice missles that can be very deadly; anything from a blizzard of projectiles to one single frozen arrow. At first, Bobby encased himself in snow when diving into action. But Bobby quickly learned to change that snow into ice, resembling the sculpture we so admire. He has learned to capture the moisture in the air around him to increase his ice size to intimidate opponents. Bobby has even learned to turn his form totally transparent. He had forgotten about this ability for a while, but when Emma Frost took control of his body, he regained the ability to do more powers than he had ever realized.

Bobby was the youngest member of the original X-Men, teaming with them for a long time, until the attack of Krakoa, the Island That Walks like a Man. After defeating Krakoa, the old group disintegrated, and Bobby stayed just for a while, realizing that he was unable to fit in the new group after all the adventures he has lived through. Although he used to be the clown of the group, Bobby also had a very hot temper, as seen when Lorna Dane (Polaris) chose Alex (Havoc) instead of him. This time, he couldn't stand all the new members, for most of them were older than he and not willing to be commanded by the youngest member of the former team.

Bobby left and finished his studies, but he was not made for working in an office, so when Warren (the Angel) and Hank (the Beast) founded the Defenders, he quickly joined. That group didn't last, but Jean Grey appeared at the bottom of Hudson Bay, and the old team rejoined: Jean, Bobby, Scott, Hank and Warren, founders of X-Factor, a group born in the middle of the mutant hysteria, pretending to pursue mutants, but really protecting them from the humans.

After the Shadow King Saga, X-Factor was controlled by the government and the old team returned to the X Men, were the Iceman has stayed since then. The major event in Bobby's life was Emma Frost's awakening, for not only she took his body, but also used his powers far better than him, for Bobby does not dare to use his powers at full capacity. It's supposed that if he did, like we saw in the AoA, his full body would be made of ice (usually, he just wears a second iced skin over his own), and he could recover his form even after being crushed.

The Iceman has found lots of troubles with the women. Lorna, who was suspected for a while to be Magneto's daughter, left him for Havoc. Opalo, whose family didn't approve of Bobby much more than his father approved an oriental girl, which created a new set of problems. He once fell in love with his neighbor, who also loved him, but she had a little problem. She was a cosmic being, almost omnipotent with a very bad temper. He liked Infectia, a young girl whose mutant power was to twist the genes of the ones she kissed, and who liked X-Factor's ship more than Bobby. The Beast sacrificed his own skin to save him and returned to his animal form.