Growing up on his parents' farm, Piotr Rasputin saw his older brother Mikhail become a Cosmonaut. Mikhail was later discovered to be a latent mutant with energy warping powers, and to keep him secret the government faked his death. In later years, Piotr learned that he too was a mutant, and could transform his flesh into steel, but he was content to use his powers to help his fellow farmers. When a transformed Piotr rescued his sister Illyana from a runaway tractor, he was approached by Professor Charles Xavier, who was recruiting mutants for a new team of X-Men to help save his original students from the sentient island Krakoa. Dubbed Colossus by Xavier, Piotr reluctantly joined this new team, which freed the original X-Men and helped defeat Krakoa. After the battle, Piotr remained with the X-Men in America, though he found it difficult to adjust to living in a different culture.