Magneto (born Max Eisenhardt, also known as Magnus and Erik Lehnsherr or Lensherr) is a fictional character who appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. He is the central villain of the X-Men comics, as well as the TV shows and the films. The character first appears in X-Men #1 (September 1963), and was created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby. A powerful mutant with the ability to generate and control magnetic fields, in his early appearances, his motive was simple megalomania, but writers have since fleshed out his character and origin, revealing him to be a Jewish Holocaust survivor whose actions are driven by the purpose of protecting the mutant race from suffering a similar fate. His role in comics has varied from supervillain to antihero to superhero. His character's early history has been compared with the civil rights leader Malcolm X[8] and Jewish nationalist Meir Kahane.[9]
Sir Ian McKellen has portrayed Magneto through the X-Men film series, while Michael Fassbender plays a younger version of the character in the film X-Men: First Class. Magneto was ranked number 1 by IGN's Top 100 Comic Book Villains list,[10] was listed number 17 in Wizard's Top 100 Greatest Villains Ever list,[11] and was ranked as the 9th Greatest Comic Book Character Ever in Wizard's list of the 200 Greatest Comic Book Characters of All Time, the second highest villain on that list.[12]
Magneto first appeared in the debut issue of X-Men in 1963, along with the titular team. Through the decades from the 1960s, Magneto has appeared in several issues of the original X-Men series, generally known as Uncanny X-Men, as well as in such spin-offs as X-Men, Astonishing X-Men, Alpha Flight, Cable, Excalibur, and The New Mutants; many X-Men miniseries, and several other Marvel titles. His first solo title was a one-shot special, Magneto: The Twisting of a Soul #0 (September 1993), published when the character returned from a brief absence; it reprinted Magneto-based stories from Classic X-Men #12 & 19 (August 1987 & March 1988), by writer Chris Claremont and artist John Bolton.
In a 2008 interview, Stan Lee elaborated that he "did not think of Magneto as a bad guy. He just wanted to strike back at the people who were so bigoted and racist... he was trying to defend the mutants, and because society was not treating them fairly he was going to teach society a lesson. He was a danger of course... but I never thought of him as a villain."[13] In the same interview, he also revealed that he originally planned for Magneto to be the brother of his archnemesis Professor X.[13]
Magneto's first original title was the four-issue miniseries Magneto (November 1996 - February 1997), by writers Peter Milligan & Jorge Gonzalez, and penciller Kelley Jones. The miniseries took place during a period where it was believed Magneto had been de-aged and was suffering from amnesia, calling himself Joseph; it was later revealed that Joseph was a younger clone of Magneto. Later, Magneto became ruler of the nation Genosha. During this period, he received two miniseries; Magneto Rex (written by Joe Pruett and drawn by Brandon Peterson) and Magneto: Dark Seduction (written by Fabian Nicieza and drawn by Roger Cruz). A trade paperback novel detailing Magneto's childhood, titled X-Men: Magneto Testament, was released in September 2008, and written by Greg Pak. Magneto Testament, which Pak based on accounts from Holocaust survivors, watched documentaries, and read comics such as Maus, finally confirms and clarifies into the Marvel Comics canon, Magneto's personal history and background. Before the publication of X-Men: Magneto Testament, Magneto's personal background and history was [14] established in Uncanny X-Men vol. 1, #150 (August 1981) as him being a Jewish Holocaust survivor; while he was searching for his wife Magda, a Sinti Gypsy, Magneto maintained a cover identity as a Sinti Gypsy.[3] This created confusion amongst some readers, as to his heritage,[15] until it was authoritatively confirmed in Magneto: Testament that he is, in fact, Jewish.[1][16]
Magneto was born Max Eisenhardt sometime in the late 1920s to a middle class German Jewish family whose father, Jakob Eisenhardt was a highly decorated World War I veteran.[1] Surviving discrimination and hardship during the Nazi rise to power, Kristallnacht, and the passing of the Nuremberg Laws, in 1939 Max and his family fled to Poland where they were captured during the German invasion of Poland and sent to the Warsaw Ghetto.[1][17] Max and his family escaped the Ghetto, only to be betrayed and captured again. His mother, father, and sister were executed and buried in a mass grave, but Max survived, possibly due to the manifestation of his powers. Escaping from the mass grave, he was ultimately captured yet again[18] and sent to Auschwitz, where he eventually became a Sonderkommando.[18][19][20] While at Auschwitz, Eisenhardt reunited with a Roma girl named Magda, with whom he had fallen in love when he was younger, and with whom he escaped the prison camp during the October 7th 1944 revolt. Following the war, he and Magda moved to the Ukrainian city of Vinnytsia, and Max adopted the name "Magnus". Magda and Magnus had a daughter named Anya, and lived uneventfully until one night when an angry mob, spurred on by a first manifestation of Magnus' powers, burned down their home with Anya still inside. Enraged at the mob for preventing him from rescuing Anya, the young Magnus's powers manifested uncontrollably, killing the mob and destroying a part of the city. Magda, terrified at Magnus' power, left him and later gave birth to the mutant twins Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch before walking away to die. Wanted by the authorities for the deaths and destruction in Vinnytsia, while searching for Magda, Magnus paid a Romanian forger, George Odekirk, to create the cover identity of "Erik Lehnsherr the Sinte gypsy" for him.[3]
"Erik" relocated to Israel, where he met and befriended Charles Xavier while working at a psychiatric hospital near Haifa.[2] There, lengthy debates were held by the two regarding the consequences humanity faces with the rise of mutants, though neither revealed to the other that they both in fact possessed mutant powers. However, they were forced to reveal their inherent abilities to one another while facing Baron Strucker and HYDRA. Following the battle, Erik (now dressed as Magneto), realizing that his and Xavier's views were incompatible, left with a cache of hidden Nazi gold, which provided him with the finances to pursue his goals.
File:Xavmags.png
Magneto and Xavier would eventually part ways because of the differences in their beliefs on how to help mutants. Art by
Carlos Pacheco.
Magneto's experiences surviving Nazi Germany, Auschwitz, and Vinnytsia would shape his outlook on the situation that mutants face in the Marvel Universe. Determined to keep such atrocities from ever being committed against mutantkind, he is willing to use deadly force to protect mutants. He would believe that mutants ("Homo superior") will become the dominant life form on the planet and would set about either creating a homeland on Earth where mutants could live peacefully, or conquering and enslaving humanity in the name of mutantkind.
Magneto's first villainous act was attacking a United States military base called Cape Citadel after bringing down missiles. He was defeated by Charles Xavier's mutant students, the X-Men, in their first mission.[21] He creates Asteroid M, an orbital base of operations in a hollowed out asteroid that he wanted to be a homeland for all mutantkind. He then gathered a group of angry and disillusioned mutants including his own, albeit at the time unbeknown to him, son and daughter Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch and formed the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants to further his goals. Magneto briefly conquers the fictional South American nation of San Marco in the hopes of establishing a mutant homeland there after stealing a military ship and getting Mastermind to cast an illusion of an army, but is once again foiled by the X-Men.[22] He tried to make the Toad infiltrate the X-Men, but when that failed he captured the Angel and tried to force him to tell the secrets of the X-Men. However the other X-Men were able to rescue their member and destroy Asteroid M.[volume & issue needed]
Constant defeat of him and the Brotherhood by the X-Men led him to get captured by the Stranger, a powerful alien being, whom Magneto initially thought was another powerful mutant. The Stranger encased Magneto and Toad in a special cocoon and spirited him away to another planet, the Stranger's laboratory world. Back on Earth, Magneto's Brotherhood splintered, and Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch deserted him.[23] Magneto escaped to Earth by repairing a spaceship on the Stranger's planet, but left the Toad behind. He captured nearly all the X-Men and took over the Mansion, hoping to use the parents of Warren Worthington III to create a race of mutants, but was then recaptured by the Stranger after Xavier telepathically contacted the Stranger.[24] Magneto remained on the Stranger's world for a time, but escaped again, made his way back to Earth, and reassembled the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants with the exception of the mutant Mastermind.[25] He then captured the X-Men, but with the help of the Avengers and a rebellious member of the Brotherhood, Toad, Magneto was defeated again.
Magneto then created the Savage Land Mutates. With the Savage Land Mutates, he clashed with the X-Men and Ka-Zar.[26] Along with Namor, Magneto later attacked New York City.[27] He later fought the Inhumans Royal Family,[28] and battled the Avengers once more.[29]
Magneto later reorganized the Brotherhood, and fought Professor X and the Defenders. Using ancient and advanced alien technology he found near the core of the earth, Magneto created an artificial humanoid he named "Alpha the Ultimate Mutant." Alpha rebelled against his creator and reduced Magneto to infancy.[30] Magneto was then placed in the care of Xavier's former love interest, Professor Moira MacTaggert at Muir Island. At Muir Island, MacTaggert manipulated the infant Magneto's genetic code in an attempt to prevent him from becoming "evil" in adulthood. However, her genetic tampering lost its effect when Magneto reactivated his powers again. Magneto is eventually restored to adulthood, but to his physical prime rather than his older age, when he is found at Muir Island by the alien Shi'ar agent Erik the Red.[31]
Magneto later gathered a new Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, and with them battled Captain America.[32] He then opposed Doctor Doom's conquest of Earth.[33]
Magneto later discovered that former Brotherhood members the Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver are actually his children, simultaneously learning about their recent marriages to the Vision and Crystal. He revealed to Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch that he is their father.[34] He also discovered his granddaughter, Quicksilver's human child Luna Maximoff.[34] Seeing Luna as a bond to the human race he has rejected, Magneto tried to reach out to his children. Angered by his rejection of them and their mother, they pushed him away and refused to forgive him.[34]
Magneto found himself allied with Professor Xavier and the X-Men when a group of heroes and villains were abducted by the Beyonder, a nearly omnipotent alien being. This entity took them to a planet he created called the Battleworld to participate in a personal experiment of his to observe the concept of the battle between good and evil which would later be known as the Secret Wars. The characters were sorted according to their desires; Magneto was placed with the heroes as his desires were based on a wish to help mutants rather than the more selfish drives of the others. This surprised many of the other heroes, who still believed him to be a villain, although eventually they came to accept him as an ally. Captain America even spoke in his defense on some occasions, and the Wasp developed a certain affection for him, although it was tempered by her knowledge of his past.[35]
After the Secret Wars, Magneto was transported back to his base, Asteroid M, where the alien Warlock, traveling to Earth, collided into the asteroid, breaking it to pieces. Magneto was sent falling towards Earth and into the Atlantic Ocean, sustaining serious injuries. He was rescued by Lee Forrester, the captain of a fishing trawler.[36] Lee helped him recuperate from his injuries, and the two shared a small romance.[volume & issue needed]
After recuperating from his injuries, Magneto was asked to aid the X-Men in battling the returned Beyonder.[volume & issue needed] Magneto stayed with the X-Men even after the Beyonder was defeated.[volume & issue needed] His association with the team softened his views on humanity, and Magneto eventually surrendered himself to the law to stand trial for his crimes. A special tribunal was organized which chose to strike all charges against Magneto from prior to his "rebirth," deeming that this had constituted a figurative death of the old Magneto. However, the tribunal was interrupted by an attack from Fenris, the twin children of Baron Wolfgang von Strucker. Fenris was defeated, but Professor X was brought to near-death due to the strain of the battle and previously sustained injuries. Xavier asked Magneto to take over his school and the X-Men, and told him that doing so would make amends enough for his past crimes. Magneto agreed and chose not to return to the courtroom. Instead, he took over Xavier's school under the assumed identity of Michael Xavier, Charles Xavier's cousin.[37] Seeing him try to reform, the Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver began accepting him as their father.[volume & issue needed]
Though Magneto made a substantial effort as the headmaster of the New Mutants and an ally to the X-Men, his tenure was disastrous. The Beyonder plagued him yet again, slaying Xavier's current students, the New Mutants,[38] and bringing them back to life soon after.[39] This deeply traumatized the entire group.[40] Magneto was then manipulated by Emma Frost, headmistress of her own school, the Massachusetts Academy, and White Queen of the Hellfire Club, into battling sanctioned heroes the Avengers and the Supreme Soviets.[41] Magneto submitted to a trial once again, but used mind-control circuitry he salvaged from the wreckage of Asteroid M to alter the opinions of the head justice in charge of the trial. As a result, Magneto was finally absolved of his past crimes but found that this had only fueled the hostility that normal humans have towards mutants.[42] Feeling that desperate measures needed to be taken after the genocidal massacre in the Morlock tunnels, Magneto and Storm joined the Hellfire Club jointly as the White King.[43] He was unable to prevent his students Roberto da Costa and the alien Technarch Warlock from running away from the school,[44] or prevent the death of the young mutant student Douglas Ramsey after the students snuck away yet again to save a friend,[45] and witnessed the apparent death of all of the senior X-Men on national television.[46]
His relationship with the New Mutants deteriorated even further when they saw him and the Hellfire Club negotiating with the demons of the Inferno incident.[47] Magneto later ousted longtime Hellfire Club co-chair Sebastian Shaw in order to establish himself as the head of the Hellfire Club as the Grey King. During this confrontation he revealed his real purpose of raising an army for the coming war between humans and mutants.[48] The New Mutants did not return to Magneto's tutelage.
Seeing conditions for mutants grow progressively more perilous, Magneto began seeking allies to protect mutants from humanity. He participated in the Acts of Vengeance alongside such established villains as Doctor Doom, the Wizard, the Mandarin, and the Red Skull.[volume & issue needed] His temporary alliance with the Red Skull — an unrepentant Nazi war criminal — was a highly uneasy one. After confirming that the Skull was the original one who had worked with Hitler, Magneto took revenge upon him by entombing him alive.[49] He also fought a cosmically powered Spider-Man in order to examine his powers.[50] He worked alongside Rogue, Ka-Zar, and the American intelligence agent Nick Fury as well as a number of Russian operatives in order to reestablish peace in the Savage Land.[51] This ultimately led to an altercation with Zaladane, who had appropriated the magnetic powers of Magneto's then-unknown daughter, Polaris. The conflict ended with Magneto executing Zaladane himself. With her death, Magneto renounced his previous efforts to act as a mentor to the New Mutants and to follow Xavier's beliefs in peaceful co-existence between mutants and normal humans.[52]
Tired of the constant state of strife, Magneto set his sights significantly lower than world conquest. Instead, Magneto built a second orbital base called Avalon where he hoped to live a life of quiet seclusion. He was, by this point, a figurehead for the cause of mutantkind and was sought out by a group of new mutants calling themselves the Acolytes who pledged their service and allegiance to him.[53] Under the influence of one of them, Fabian Cortez, he announced that the orbital base known as Asteroid M will be a new homeland for mutantkind, obtaining nuclear missiles from a sunken Soviet submarine he had previously destroyed and placed them around the Asteroid pointed towards Earth.[volume & issue needed]
Magneto discovered how Moira MacTaggert had altered his genetic structure when he had been de-aged. Enraged as he felt that his redemption had been a lie, he kidnapped Moira and subjected her to torture. Though it was later revealed that the genetic tampering had lost its effect when he had first used his powers after being re-aged, and thus his actions had never been influenced by Moira's tampering, the damage was done. While the X-Men attacked Avalon to rescue Moira and stop Magneto's plans, the Soviets launched a particle beam satellite which destroyed Asteroid M. Betrayed and abandoned at the last minute by Cortez, Magneto refused Xavier's pleas to escape with the X-Men back to Earth and he and his followers seemingly perished in the subsequent explosion.[54] It would later be revealed that Magneto survived the crash, as the Acolyte Chrome had encased him in a protective shell. However, Chrome and the other Acolytes died.[volume & issue needed]
The United Nations Security Council, in response to a resurgent Magneto, voted to activate the "Magneto Protocols" — a satellite network, in slightly lower orbit than Avalon, which skews the Earth's magnetic field enough to prevent Magneto from using his powers within, preventing him from returning to the planet's surface. In response, Magneto generated an electromagnetic pulse not only destroying the satellites, but deactivating every electric device on Earth within minutes. The X-Men responded by hacking into Avalon's own computer systems to teleport a small team to the station with the aid of Colossus (who had joined Magneto as one of Magneto's Acolytes). Magneto, during the battle with the X-Men, ripped the adamantium from Wolverine's bones, which enraged Xavier to the point that he wiped his former friend's mind, leaving him in a coma. This action later led to the creation of Onslaught an omnipotent being that was formed with the combination of both Xavier's and Magneto's powers. Magneto remained comatose on Avalon, worshiped by his Acolytes under the leadership of the ancient mutant Exodus, until Avalon itself was destroyed by the arrival of Holocaust from the Age of Apocalypse Earth. During the destruction, Colossus placed Magneto in an escape pod sending him back to Earth. This pod was intercepted by Astra, a former ally who now desires his death.[volume & issue needed]
After cloning Magneto, Astra restored Magneto's memories and powers before attempting to kill him. Instead, Magneto, now fully revived, battled both Astra and his clone. After a pitched battle, Magneto triumphed over the clone sending him crashing into a South American barn. However, too weak to continue the battle, the real Magneto went into hiding while the now-amnesiac clone became known as Joseph (christened as such by the nun who discovered him) and eventually joined the X-Men. Since the world believed Joseph to be the real Magneto, Magneto took his time to plan. He engaged in a pair of brief diversions, first posing as "Erik the Red" and revealing Gambit's past crimes to the X-Men, resulting in Gambit's expulsion from the group. Then he killed George Odekirk, the forger that created his "Erik Lehnsherr" alias to prevent his true identity from being discovered by Sabra and Gabrielle Haller.[volume & issue needed]
Following this, Magneto constructed a machine to amplify his powers and blackmail the world into creating a mutant nation. The X-Men and Joseph, who had fallen under Astra's control again, opposed him. Magneto's powers were severely depleted from over-straining them in battling Joseph, who sacrificed his life to restore the Earth to normal. However, the United Nations, manipulated by its mutant affairs officer Alda Huxley, ceded to Magneto the island nation of Genosha, which had no recognized government, leaving Magneto unexpectedly triumphant. He then ruled Genosha for some time with the aid of many who had previously opposed him, including Quicksilver, Polaris, and the founder of the Acolytes, Fabian Cortez, and engaged in a brutal civil war with the island's former human rulers.[volume & issue needed]
Despite the UN's hopes that Genosha's civil war between humans and mutants would destroy or at least occupy him, Magneto ultimately crushed all opposition to his rule and rebuilt the nation by forming an army of mutants dedicated to his cause, including mutants coming from all over the world seeking sanctuary. Eventually, Magneto was able to use the Genegineer's equipment to fully restore his power. Intending to declare war on humanity, he captured Professor X to use as a symbol with which to rally his troops. In the Eve of Destruction storyline, Jean Grey recruited a new group of X-Men to help Cyclops and Wolverine rescue Xavier; they defeated Magneto when Xavier psychically cut off his access to his powers. Taking the opportunity for revenge, Wolverine attacked the depowered Magneto, crippling him with serious injuries.[volume & issue needed]
While Magneto was recovering from the stabbing he endured at the hands of Wolverine, Genosha was attacked by an army of Sentinels sent by Xavier's long lost twin sister Cassandra Nova Xavier. Over 16 million mutants and humans died in Genosha, with Magneto as one of the casualties. The attack came just after Polaris (one of the survivors) discovered the truth about her biological relationship as Magneto's daughter.[volume & issue needed]
Magneto's last moments were spent revealing to Genosha Polaris's status as his daughter. Kuan Yin Xorn in the guise of Magneto also apparently converted a magnetic black box (designed to disable all forms of global electronic communication) into a recorder for a final message to the masses in which he tells his people that they will live on in the form of a radio message that records their last dying moments.[55]
Magneto was presumed to be dead until a Chinese mutant named Xorn, who had been associated with the X-Men as a teacher and follower of Charles Xavier, took on the guise of Magneto in the storyline "Planet X" in New X-Men #150, and attacked the X-Men mansion, then attacked New York City after kidnapping Charles Xavier. Xorn as Magneto was then beheaded by Wolverine in the same issue.
When Charles Xavier was transporting the body of the supposed "Magneto" to Genosha for burial, a short time later, he was met on Genosha by the real Magneto, who had never left the island, in the first book of a revived Excalibur vol. 3. Magneto explained that he did not know who "Xorn" was, or why he had taken on the identity of Magneto.[volume & issue needed]
Magneto and Xavier teamed up to try and rebuild Genosha, and gathered a team around them of young mutants including Wicked, Freakshow, Shola Inkosi, and human-sentinel Karima Shapandar.[volume & issue needed]
Meanwhile, Marvel brought back Xorn in Chuck Austen's X-Men #157, which introduced Shen Xorn. Shen Xorn claimed to be the twin brother of the original Xorn (now referred to as Kuan-Yin Xorn) who, under the influence of the entity known as Sublime, had pretended to be Magneto. This claim was supported when Emma Frost conducted a thorough mind scan of Shen. The claim was confirmed by Kuan Yin Xorn himself as the leading intelligence of "The Collective."[volume & issue needed]
Following the events in New York, Xavier met the real Magneto in Genosha, who apparently survived Cassandra Nova's attack and lived unnoticed within the ruins. Xavier brought with him the coffin supposedly containing the corpse of Xorn (but which is later shown to be filled with guns), and explains how the impostor had killed over 5,000 people including Jean Grey. Magneto is shocked and angry that people think he is capable of committing such an act. Xavier and Magneto put aside their differences to rebuild the island nation, rekindling their friendship in the process.[56]
Magneto's daughter Wanda suffered a mental breakdown over the loss of her children and started to warp reality in order to recreate them, inadvertently resulting in random attacks on the Avengers, until Doctor Strange put her into a coma to stop her. In Genosha, Magneto heard Wanda's psychic cry for help and created a wormhole, whisking her away before the Avengers were able to stop her. Back in Genosha, Magneto tended to Wanda, increasingly becoming more withdrawn and angry. He allowed only Xavier to visit, in the belief that Xavier could help Wanda. Xavier was angry to learn that Magneto had revealed to the world that he was alive by rescuing Wanda, but agreed to try and help. Months passed with no avail, and not even Doctor Strange's magic helped. The X-Men and the Avengers meet to decide what should be done, and when some of the members suggest killing Wanda, Quicksilver informed Magneto of this development, before convincing Wanda to warp reality into the House of M. In the new reality, where the New Avengers, the X-Men, and the members of Wanda's family all received their 'heart's desires', Magneto was attacked by Sentinels over Manhattan in 1979, and revealed an alleged international anti-mutant conspiracy involving Richard Nixon. This resulted in Magneto being granted sovereignty over Genosha as leader of the world's much larger and much faster growing mutant population. Magneto then turned Genosha into the most powerful, technologically advanced country on Earth, which he used as a base to dominate the world and place mutantkind above humanity.[volume & issue needed]
A group of heroes were brought together by Wolverine — who alone remembers the way the world is supposed to be because his 'heart's desire' was to regain all the memories stolen from him by the Weapon X Program — and have their own memories of the "real world" restored by Layla Miller. They banded together and attacked Magneto in Genosha, believing him to be the one responsible. During the battle Layla was able to restore Magneto's memories as well, and he confronted his son, enraged that Quicksilver had done all of this in his name. Quicksilver revealed that Magneto would have let Wanda die, but Magneto replied that Quicksilver was only using Wanda and himself, and he would never have allowed this to happen. Furious, Magneto kills Quicksilver. Sensing her brother's death, Wanda resurrected him and retaliated with the phrase "No more mutants," changing the world back to its original form and causing ninety-eight percent of the mutant population to lose their powers including Magneto. Magneto was left a broken man, and Wolverine spared his life simply because Magneto wasn't directly responsible for this latest tragedy and because Wolverine felt that he "deserved every second of his crap "sapien" life".[57]
When Quicksilver came to Genosha to restore the mutants' powers with the Inhumans' Terrigen Mists, Magneto condemned his actions, pointing out the disastrous effects the Mists have on non-Inhumans. An angry Quicksilver attacked Magneto with his new powers from the Mists, and savagely beat him until his own daughter Luna stopped him.[volume & issue needed]
Marvel's editor in chief at that time, Joe Quesada, later elaborated on the issue of Xorn and Magneto, stating that "Kuan-Yin Xorn came under the influence of as-yet-to-be-revealed entity that forced him to assume the identity of Magneto."[58] However, the issue of Xorn and Magneto was ultimately resolved during "The Collective" arc in New Avengers. A powerless Magneto is attacked by Xorn, who has somehow evolved into a being of pure energy and merged with both an energy absorbing mutant named Michael Pointer and free floating mutant power energy that manifested itself after Scarlet Witch depowered the bulk of the mutant population. Xorn reveals that he, of his own free will, impersonated Magneto in order to rally mutantkind against humanity but failed due to the quality of his impersonation. As a result, he possesses Magneto and briefly reactivates his powers before being defeated by the New Avengers and a cadre of heroes, including Magneto's former son-in-law Vision and mutant S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Daisy Johnson. Iron Man, Ms. Marvel, and the Sentry combined their powers and send Xorn into the Sun. Michael Pointer and Magneto were freed as a result, though Magneto was promptly arrested and loaded into a S.H.I.E.L.D. helicopter. The helicopter, however, exploded upon take-off through unknown means as Magneto used what was left of the energy provided to him by Xorn to escape.[59]
Magneto appeared at the end of X-Men: Legacy #208, apparently at the behest of Exodus and claiming to be powerless, to help restore the broken psyche of Professor Xavier. Together they managed to revive Xavier before being attacked by Frenzy. Magneto wounded Frenzy by firing a medical laser into one of her eyes, prompting Exodus to ask what punishment he would have instilled on a human who injured a mutant (as the Acolytes consider him a human, Exodus even claims that Magneto is dead and that Lehnsherr is just a shell that was left over). Magneto replied "Death" and Exodus proceeded to choke him with his telekinesis before Xavier challenged Exodus on the astral plane. After Xavier defeated Exodus, he left Magneto and Omega Sentinel to try and rebuild his lost memories.[volume & issue needed]
Magneto appeared, seemingly repowered, reactivating Sentinels to attack the X-Men just as they had recently relocated to San Francisco. The X-Men defeated him in combat, but it was then revealed that his powers were artificially simulated by a suit designed by the High Evolutionary, and that his attack was merely a distraction so the High Evolutionary could gain an unknown object from the Dreaming Celestial in order to further a shared goal between Magneto and the High Evolutionary.[60] After extensively examining the Dreaming Celestial, the High Evolutionary subjected Magneto to an extremely dangerous technological procedure in a successful attempt to restore his powers.[61]
Magneto appeared on Utopia, the new mutant homeland created by the X-Men using the remnants of his old Asteroid M. Magneto stuns the X-Men by offering to work with them impressed with their recent efforts in defending and helping mutantkind.[62] Magneto feared the end of mutantkind until Cyclops informed him that Hope Summers, the Mutant Messiah is alive and well. He puts this offer in action as he assisted the X-Men in defending Utopia Island from an attack of Predator X monsters.[63] After helping the X-Men defeat the Predators, Magneto, now considered a member of the X-Men, assists them in stabilizing the asteroid from sinking into the Pacific. To that end, he worked with Namor and the Atlanteans by constructing a pillar supporting Utopia on the surface that would provide a home for the Atlanteans, which Magneto would later refer to as New Atlantis. However, Magneto's actions angered Cyclops who reprimanded Magneto for acting on his own authority.[64] Despite Xavier being apologetic and appreciative for what he'd done, Magneto left Utopia for nearby Mount Tamalpais in Marin County.[65] In a final bid to gain their trust, Magneto entered into a deep meditative catatonic state to focus his powers at an interstellar distance, reverse the path of Breakworld's "Earth-destroyer" Metal Bullet that Kitty Pryde was trapped in, and bring her home to Earth. Magneto had encountered the bullet earlier while working to regain his powers with the High Evolutionary, and had surmised that Kitty was inside. He had chosen to focus on ways to restore the powers of mutants, but he memorized the metals of the bullet allowing him to keep a trace on it. Using all of his powers, Magneto was able to bring the bullet back to Earth, drawing Kitty out of it and levitating her safely to the ground. However, the use of his power at such intensity and duration severely strained him, leaving him comatose.[66]
Magneto comes out of his coma right after Hope was teleported into Utopia by a dying Nightcrawler.[67] With the Nimrods laying siege to Utopia, Magneto stopped Hank McCoy from leaving his patients as he prepared to enter battle himself despite his weakened status.[68] Magneto managed to hold off a squad of Nimrods, attacking with electrical blasts before finally dismembering the robots by pulling shards of iron from the core of Utopia through them.[69]
After that battle, Magneto learned that the Young Avengers were going to search for the still missing Scarlet Witch, and that the heroes Wiccan and Speed are the reincarnations of Wanda's children. Magneto meets them, stating that he wants Wiccan and Speed to finally know him as their grandfather, and helps them find Wanda.[70][71] The Avengers attempt to stop Magneto and fight him unsuccessfully, before Wiccan teleports Magneto and the Young Avengers to Wundagore Mountain. There they encounter Quicksilver, who attempts to kill his father. They discover that this Scarlet Witch is actually a Doombot in disguise.[72]
With his reputation around the world as a well-known mutant revolutionary/terrorist, Magneto is talked into finding a solution to the problem by Cyclops before it goes public that he is established in Utopia. Kate Kildare, a "superhuman public relations specialist", advises him on a costume color scheme containing white, along with getting the public to "love and fear" him, both of which he refuses. With an earthquake inbound for San Francisco, Magneto uses his powers to stabilize the city's buildings, structures and metal vehicles, and to smooth the earth movements themselves, thus preventing any major damage and saving many lives. As a result, some of the city favors him, while others are reminded of how potentially dangerous he can be and has been.[73]
Magneto is a mutant with the power to manipulate the Earth's electromagnetic fields to achieve a wide range of effects.
The primary application of his power is control over magnetism and the manipulation of metal - ferrous and nonferrous. He can affect a very large quantity of metal at one time. For example, he has levitated objects as heavy as a 30,000 ton nuclear submarine and has used his power to move large asteroids several times. The maximum amount of mass that he can manipulate at one time is unknown, but his powers extend into the subatomic fields as evidenced during the Secret Wars, when he pulled ambient molecules of metal out of the surrounding atmosphere into a metal comb for Janet Van Dyne, and the dozens of times he has been shown to assembled his costume out of metallic molecules pulled from the surrounding air and environment.[volume & issue needed] He can manipulate a large number of individual metal objects simultaneously and has assembled complex machinery with his powers. He can also affect non-metallic and non-magnetic objects to a lesser extent and frequently levitates himself and others.
Another way in which Magneto frequently uses his power is the projection of force-fields which selectively block out matter and energy. These fields are strong enough to withstand the detonation of multiple thermonuclear weapons; hence Magneto is invulnerable to most harm when surrounded by his shield and can survive in deep space thanks to it.
Magneto can also channel his powers through his own body to increase his strength and durability far beyond human limits and has a baseline reaction time 15 times shorter than that of regular humans.
On occasion he has altered the behavior of gravitational fields around him, which has been suggested as evidence of the existence of a unified field which he can manipulate.
He can also generate electromagnetic pulses of great strength and generate and manipulate electromagnetic energy down to photons. He can turn invisible by warping visible light around his body.[74]
Although Magneto has been shown capable of manipulating matter on a subatomic level (insofar as the electromagnetic force is responsible for chemical bonding), the use of his powers in this way seems to be difficult for him, and he has not been frequently depicted as doing so.
He has demonstrated the capacity to produce a wormhole and to safely teleport himself and others via the wormhole.[75] His powers have also demonstrated that he can condense planetary objects into subatomic size.[volume & issue needed]
He is also regularly seen "flying". In Uncanny X-Men #150, his costume is shown to be made of a metal mesh, allowing him to manipulate it into "flying".[76] In the original Secret Wars series it has been explained as Magneto pushing the metallic minerals in the ground away from him, allowing him to fly.[volume & issue needed]
Magneto has been consistently and frequently depicted as able to resist all but the strongest or most unexpected of telepathic attacks. A number of explanations have been proposed for his unusually strong resistance to telepathy, among them: (a) technology wired into his helmet (the explanation given in the X-Men film series and several comic plotlines), (b) some physical aspect of his electromagnetic powers that can interfere with telepathy (he once used the Earth's magnetic field to dampen the powers of all telepaths within his reach), (c) latent telepathic powers of his own or (d) sheer force of will (cf. X-Men Vol. 2 #2). The theme of latent telepathic powers has been explored in a number of stories, among them the Secret Wars limited series. In some of his earliest appearances, Magneto was depicted as capable of engaging in astral projection. He has also, on rare occasions, been shown reading other's dreams, issuing telepathic commands, and probing the minds of others.[77] He has demonstrated the ability to shield his mind, while in intense meditation, so completely that even Emma Frost was not able to read his thoughts, despite being directly in front of him and actively attempting to do so.[65]
In addition to his powers, Magneto has many other skills. He is a genius with competence in various fields of advanced science, especially in genetic manipulation, particle physics, engineering, and other fields of technology. He has engineered advanced weaponry, space stations, superpowered humanoid lifeforms, devices that generate volcanoes and earthquakes, devices that block telepathy, and devices that can nullify all mutant powers except for his own. He has reconstructed computerized devices from memory. He is fluent in many human languages and once single-handedly deciphered the unknown language of a lost civilization.[78] He possesses extraordinary skill in "reading" the microexpressions on others' faces and sensing what they are thinking and feeling, whether they are lying, fearful, etc. a skill which he refers to as "taking your enemy's measure."[79] He also is a master strategist and tactician with extensive combat experience, and has often been successful in single-handed combat against entire groups of superhuman adversaries. He also has some military training in hand-to-hand combat and has been shown to be effective with his fists, but he prefers to use his powers when in combat situations.
- ^ a b c d X-Men: Magneto Testament #1
- ^ a b Uncanny X-Men #161, September 1981
- ^ a b c X-Men vol. 2 #72
- ^ New Mutants vol. 1 #51
- ^ New Mutants vol. 1 #75
- ^ New Mutants vol. 1 #35-75
- ^ Uncanny X-Men #350
- ^ http://www.screened.com/news/professor-x-and-magneto-allegories-for-martin-luther-king-jr-and-malcolm-x/2316/
- ^ (Orthodo)X-Men, On Screen and Off, Irving Greenberg, Jewish Daily Forward, 13 June 2003
- ^ IGN.com, Top 100 Comic Book Villains, "Magneto is Number 1"
- ^ Wizard, #177, July 2006
- ^ Wizarduniverse.com, "The 200 Greatest Comic Characters of All Time", Numbers 20 Through 1, 2008-05-23[dead link]
- ^ a b Marvel Spotlight: Uncanny X-Men 500 Issues Celebration, p. 5-7
- ^ Mordechai Shinefield (2008-06-07). "X-Men mutant survives the Holocaust in new Marvel Comics miniseries". Haaretz. http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/990901.html. Retrieved 2008-06-09.
- ^ The Religious Affiliation of Comic Book Character Erik Magnus Lehnsherr — Magneto. URL last checked 2010-09-28.
- ^ Meth, Clifford. Protocols of the Elders of Marvel. URL last checked 2010-09-28.
- ^ Classic X-Men #12
- ^ a b New Mutants #49
- ^ Uncanny X-Men #274
- ^ Excalibur vol.3 #14
- ^ X-Men Vol. 1 #1
- ^ X-Men Vol. 1 #4
- ^ X-Men Vol. 1 #11
- ^ X-Men Vol. 1 #17-18
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- ^ X-Men Vol. 1 #62-63
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- ^ The X-Men vs. The Avengers #4 (July 1987).
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- ^ X-Men #1-3 (October–December 1991)
- ^ New X-Men #132
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- ^ House of M #8
- ^ Quesada, Joe. "New Joe Fridays Week 03" URL last checked 2010-09-28.
- ^ New Avengers #20
- ^ Uncanny X-Men #500
- ^ Uncanny X-Men #507
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- ^ Uncanny X-Men #515-516
- ^ Uncanny X-Men #520
- ^ a b Uncanny X-Men #521
- ^ Uncanny X-Men #522
- ^ Uncanny X-Men #524
- ^ New Mutants #11
- ^ X-Men Legacy #237
- ^ Uncanny X-Men #526
- ^ Avengers: The Children's Crusade #1
- ^ Avengers: The Children's Crusade #2
- ^ Uncanny X-Men #534.1 (2011)
- ^ Vision and the Scarlet Witch #4 (February 1983)
- ^ Excalibur v.3, #8 (February 2005)
- ^ Uncanny X-Men #150
- ^ The X-Men, v.1, #5-7 (May–September 1964), New Mutants Vol. 1 #38 (1986), X-Men vs. Avengers miniseries (1987), Marvel Fanfare #33 (1987)
- ^ Defenders #15 (September 1974)
- ^ Avengers Academy #6 (January 2011)
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