He often acts as a public advocate for mutant rights and is the authority most of the Marvel superhero community turns to for advice on mutants. Despite this, his status as a mutant himself and originator of the X-Men only became public during the 2001 story "E Is for Extinction". He also appears in almost all of the X-Men animated series and in many video games, although usually as a non-playable character because of his disability. Patrick Stewart plays him in the 2000s film series, as well as providing his voice in some of the X-Men video games (including some not connected to the film series).