Top Twelve X-men- Number 4

Storm

Ororo Monroe has had an interesting existence as a character. Just like any other character, she has grown and changed over the years, but some of the key elements have been there from the beginning. Storm has lived many lives (most of them happened early on so it isn't just because she's been around for over 30 years.)

Storm the orphan thief

There's something about the early days of the X-men and the leaders of the team. Both Cycolps and Storm lost their parents and spent a good portion of their lives as orphans. Storm lost her parents during the Suez Crisis in Egypt and became claustrophobic after being trapped in a pile of rubble after that attack. After this, a six-year-old Ororo was trained as a master thief before she wandered off into the Serengeti.

Storm the goddess

When Storm's powers manifested, she was revered as a goddess by the tribal people. She provided them with the rain they needed as well as the sun to help their crops grow. She didn't really let that life go to her head too much, but she certainly enjoyed the title. This is where Professor X found her for the second time because she picked his pocket once when she was a small child.
Storm the X-man

The new team of X-men was a larger group and a stronger group in many ways. Storm was especially important. Her power to control weather was probably the biggest asset of the new team. Because of her time as a goddess, Storm had confidence and extreme control of her powers. There were few occasions where she lost that control, but they were generally when she was trapped in a small space. My favorite instance is when the team faces Doctor Doom and he turns Storm into a statue and her unconscious mind creates a storm that threatens to destroy Latveria.
Storm the powerless punk-rock leader

I don't know who it was, but somebody came up with the brilliant idea of taking away Storm's powers. In the storyline, Forge accidentally shoots her with a gun he's been working on that will take away mutant powers. Storm has already been struggling with her rebellious nature. Prior to losing her powers while in Japan, a ninja reminds her of the girl that she used to be. Storm ends up getting a Mohawk and sporting lots of leather which causes a rift between her and Kitty.

There comes a point where Professor X is in space with Lilandra and Scott should probably stop being the leader of the X-men and go take care of his wife and child. Storm challenges him to one-on-one combat in the Danger Room for leadership of the team. Even though she is powerless, she manages to win that fight. Storm proved her leadership skills frequently as she faced many challenges.

She killed the team (well made it look like she killed them) in order to find a bit of safety and to let the X-men be a little more active rather than reactive. This didn't turn out very well, but the X-men came back with Storm leading one of the two main teams.

More recently, Storm married the Black Panther in an overblown event that included the Watcher talking about their future child. They have since broken up. Storm sided with Cyclops during Schism and is now part of his proactive team. We'll see how that goes. I think she would have been better off going her own way, but that's just me.