Magneto (comics)

Magneto (real name unknown, alias Erik Magnus Lehnsherr) is a Marvel Comics character, known as the main adversary of the X-Men. He first appeared in X-Men #1 (September 1963) and was created by writer Stan Lee and artist/co-writer Jack Kirby, though it was subsequent X-Men writer Chris Claremont who did much to develop the character.

Possessing the ability to control magnetism, Magneto was one of the most powerful mutants in the Marvel Universe. He is arguably one of the most morally complex supervillain characters in American comic books. A Jewish Holocaust survivor, it is his prerogative to protect the mutant race from suffering a similiar fate. Characterizations of Magneto have varied throughout the years, from villain to anti-hero to even hero, but he is most often shown as an uncompromising militant and has engaged in acts of terrorism when he felt it was for the benefit of mutantkind. This puts him at odds with his friend Charles Xavier, whose X-Men seek peaceful coexistence with the rest of humanity. Magneto has led his own teams, including the Brotherhood of Mutants and Acolytes.

While his militant actions have made him unpopular with some humans, many mutants have come to view him as a savior; at one point, when he was assumed to have died, he became a martyr, with the phrase "Magneto was right" becoming very popular among the mutant community.

Magneto has been the X-Men’s primary antagonist since their first appearance. He has been featured in almost all X-Men animated series and video games and in the recent film series, in which he is played by Sir Ian McKellen.

Publication history

Throughout the decades, Magneto has appeared in various issues of Uncanny X-Men, X-Men and several other Marvel Universe titles. When the character returned from a brief absence in 1993, he received a special one-shot issue. The one-shot featured reprinted old Magneto stories that had originally appeared in issues of classic X-Men. These stories had been written by Chris Claremont and drawn by British artist John Bolton.

In 1996, Magneto was given another mini-series, this time written by Peter Milligan and with Kelley Jones Gary as artist. During the time period it was published, it was believed that Magneto had been de-aged and was suffering from amnesia; it was later revealed that this was really 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).

Character history

Early life

Magneto is a survivor of the Auschwitz death camp. As a young boy he and his family were persecuted for their Jewish heritage. Magneto and his immediate family were shot by the Nazis and buried in a mass grave, but he alone survived, possibly due to the unconscious use of his magnetic powers. The young Magneto was captured shortly after escaping the grave, and was sent to Auschwitz where he was forced by the Nazis to work in the Sonderkommando. Magneto has since been tormented by the fact that he could have put a stop to the entire process had he only been aware of his full powers at the time, as the entire Nazi military would not have presented an insurmountable challenge to Magneto in his prime. However, since he was so malnourished and sickly while in the camps, he may not have been in a condition to use his powers even if he were aware of them.

After World War II, he married the gypsy Magda, a fellow survivor of the Nazi death camps and sired a daughter, Anya. Magneto consciously used his mutant abilities for the first time to protect Magda and himself from a fire. Unfortunately, he was unable to rescue his daughter from the blaze due to his inexperience coupled with interference from a mob of angry humans. He unleashed his powers to decimate the human crowd in revenge. Terrified by Magneto's powers, Magda fled.

Months later Magda discovered that she was pregnant again. After giving birth to the mutant twins Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch under the auspices of the artificially evolved cow midwife Bova, Magda wandered out into the snowy night and has never been found. She is presumed dead.

During this time Magneto continued to search for his wife but could find no trace of her. Because he was being hunted for the murders he committed in Russia, and because he wanted to search for Magda more effectively among her own people, Magneto paid a forger named George Odekirk to create the cover identity of "Erik Lehnsherr the Sinte gypsy" for him. Eventually, Magneto gave up the search for Magda and made his way to the nation of Israel. There he befriended Charles Xavier while working at a psychiatric hospital near Haifa that tried to help traumatized Holocaust victims. Neither revealed to the other the fact that he was a mutant. The two held lengthy debates hypothesizing what would happen if humanity were to be faced with a new, super-powered, race of humans. The two friends revealed their powers to each other when they prevented Nazi Baron Wolfgang von Strucker and his HYDRA agents from obtaining a large cache of Nazi gold. Magneto had presumably killed Strucker by dropping the cave in on him, but Strucker somehow managed to survive and resurfaced much later. Realizing that his and Xavier's views on mutant-human relations were incompatible, Magneto left with the gold.

Rise of Magneto

Magneto's experience in the death camps shaped his outlook on the situation that mutants faced in the Marvel Universe, and influenced the course of his subsequent career. As a result Magneto's status as hero or villain is a complex one. He constantly wavers between wanting to exist in harmony with Homo sapiens, wanting a separate homeland for mutants and wanting to enforce his superiority over all humanity. His methods are often extreme, but his goals are often noble at their root.

Determined that such atrocities as those in Nazi camps would never be committed against mutant-kind, he was willing to use deadly force to protect mutants. He expressed the belief that mutants ("Homo superior") would eventually become the dominant life form on the planet.

Magneto first came to the public eye as a superpowered genetic terrorist with an attack on the American military base at Cape Citadel (his first comic book appearance, in X-Men #1). He was thwarted by his old friend Xavier's mutant students, code-named the X-Men. He briefly conquered the tiny (fictional) South American nation of San Marco after forming the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, which included his children Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch, though their familial ties were unknown to all three at the time. He invaded in the hopes of establishing a mutant homeland there, but was once more foiled by the X-Men. He went on to create an orbital base of operations in an asteroid which he dubbed Asteroid M, in which he and his mutant followers had hollowed out a large habitat for themselves. In an elaborate plan involving his servant Toad, The Angel was captured and brought to asteroid M. The X-men managed to board the base, which was destroyed in the ensuing battle. After several unsuccessful attempts at rallying more mutants to his cause, Magneto made the mistake of trying to force the allegiance of the Stranger, in reality a powerful alien being. Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch deserted Magneto after being beaten by the X-men, while Mastermind was transformed into stone by the Stranger. The latter encased Magneto and Toad in special cocoons, and they were subsequently spirited away to another planet where they remained confined for some time.

Magneto eventually escaped and made his way back to earth. He soon attempted to re-recruit Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch to his cause. However, his plans were foiled by the Toad, who was no longer willing to put up with his master's cruel treatment. Dabbling in genetics, Magneto created an artificial humanoid whom he named Alpha the Ultimate Mutant. However, Alpha rebelled against his creator. Alpha reduced Magneto to infancy using his powers. Magneto was placed in the care of Xavier's former love interest, Professor Moira MacTaggert at Muir Island. It was later revealed that MacTaggert tinkered with the infant Magneto's genetic code in an attempt to remove any genes that might cause him to become the "evil" mutant he would become in adulthood. She claimed that she had hoped to cure both Magneto and her own young son, Kevin, of the problems and dangers that their mutancy caused them. However, any genetic tampering lost its effect once Magneto first activated his powers again. Later, Magneto was eventually found at Muir Island and restored to early adulthood by the alien Shi'ar agent Davan Shakari, who normally goes by the code-name "Erik the Red".

Redemption

Magneto returned to his attempts at global conquest, and was opposed time and again by the X-Men and a number of other heroes. In his most audacious attempt to conquer the world, he threatened the governments of the world with earthquakes and volcanic activity. Though he had no qualms about sinking a Russian submarine, killing all aboard after the submarine had attacked him, then raising a volcano in the city of Varykino as an object lesson, he did give time for a mass evacuation before lava swept over the city. Likewise, he was shocked when he physically struck down the adolescent X-Man Kitty Pryde in battle. Remorseful at how he had almost killed such a young girl, Magneto put an end to his attempt at world conquest and retreated to rethink the path his life had taken.

Magneto later discovered that former Brotherhood members the Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver were actually his children, but when he tried reaching out to them they pushed him away saying they couldn't forgive him for his actions and being related would not change that.

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 yet frustratingly short-sighted being, to an alien world to participate in the Secret Wars. This surprised many of the other heroes who still believed he was a villain and it was up to the X-Men to defend them.

After the Secret Wars were over, Magneto was transported back to his base Asteroid M where the alien Warlock, fleeing from space to Earth, collided into the asteroid, breaking it to pieces. Magneto was sent falling towards Earth where he fell into the Atlantic Ocean sustaining serious injuries. He was rescued by Lee Forrester, the captain of the fishing trawler Arcadia. Lee helped him recuperate from his injuries and the two shared a small romance.

After recuperating from his injuries, Magneto was asked to aid the X-Men in battling the Beyonder who had returned. Magneto stayed with the X-Men even after the Beyonder was defeated. His association with the heroic team softened his views on humanity and Magneto surrendered himself to the law in order to stand trial for his past crimes. A special tribunal was organized and Magneto intended to abide by whatever verdict was brought. The trial started well for Magneto as the tribunal chose to strike all charges against him from prior to his "rebirth" deeming that this had constituted a figurative death of the old Magneto. However, it was then interrupted by the attack of Fenris, the twin children of Baron Wolfgang von Strucker. Fenris was defeated but Professor X was brought to the point of death due to the strain of battle and previously sustained injuries. Xavier asked Magneto to take over his school and the X-Men, telling him that doing so would make amends enough for his past crimes (although Xavier was at this point an observer at the trial and had no legal authority to do so). 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. Seeing him try to reform, the Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver later began accepting him as their father.

Though Magneto made a substantial effort as the headmaster to the New Mutants and an ally to the X-Men, his tenure was disastrous. He was forced to deal with the death of all of the younger students, the New Mutants, and their traumatic return to life after being slain by the godlike Beyonder. He was manipulated by the White Queen, mutant headmaster of the rival school "The Massachusetts Academy", battled legally recognized heroes such as the Avengers and the Supreme Soviets. 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, he was finally absolved of his past crimes. Magneto did not make that decision lightly and wrestled with it afterwards. He was unable to prevent his students Roberto Da Costa and the alien Technarch Warlock from running away from the school, saw the death of the young mutant student Douglas Ramsey, and witnessed on national television the apparent death of all of the senior X-Men. Feeling that desperate measures needed to be taken, Magneto forged an alliance with the X-Men's enemies the Hellfire Club and went so far as to oust longtime co-chair Sebastian Shaw in order to establish himself as the Hellfire Club's Grey King.

Seeing that mutantkind was confronted with far more perilous times than ever before, Magneto began seeking allies in order to protect mutants from humanity. Towards this end he participated in the "Acts of Vengeance" alongside such established villains as Doctor Doom, the Wizard and the Mandarin. He also confronted Red Skull, an unrepentant Nazi war criminal, on whom Magneto took revenge by entombing him alive. He worked alongside the American intelligence agent Nick Fury as well as a number of Russian operatives in order to re-establish peace in the Savage Land. Tired of the constant state of strife, Magneto built a second orbital base where he hoped to live a life of quiet seclusion. He was by this point a figurehead for the cause of mutanthood and was sought out by a number of new mutants calling themselves the Acolytes.

Avalon and Genosha

After this, Magneto set his sights significantly lower than world conquest; he sought only a haven for mutantkind. He first attempted to make the orbital base known as Asteroid M such a haven but was opposed by the governments of the world and the X-Men. The X-men did not know whether or not Magneto was returning to his villainous ways, so they confronted him.

Magneto later discovered how Moira had tampered with his mind when he had been de-aged. Enraged by this, he felt that his redemption had been a lie. 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. Magneto once more became the X-Men's enemy.

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 skewed 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 a massive electromagnetic pulse not only destroying the satellites, but deactivating every electrically powered device on Earth within eleven 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). There the X-Men engaged Magneto in battle. Finally, Wolverine launched a killing strike which led Magneto to respond by ripping the adamantium from Wolverine's bones. This act of self-defense enraged Xavier to the point that he mindwiped his former friend, leaving him in a coma. This action led to the creation of Onslaught.

Magneto remained comatose on Avalon worshipped by his Acolytes, under the leadership of Exodus, until Avalon itself was destroyed. 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 desired his death. She cloned Magneto and when the clone was ready, she restored Magneto's mind since she felt there was no point in killing him unless he knew it was her doing. After a pitched battle, Magneto triumphed over the clone sending him crashing into a Mexican barn. However, weakened by this, 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 Odekirk to prevent his true identity from being discovered by Sabra and Gabrielle Haller.

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. The X-Men defeated Magneto, leaving his powers severely depleted from over-strain, while Joseph sacrificed his life to restore the Earth to normal. The United Nations, manipulated by its mutant affairs officer Alda Huxley, ceded to Magneto the island nation of Genosha, which had no recognized government. Magneto ruled that nation for some time with the aid of many who had previously opposed him, including Quicksilver, Polaris, and the founder of the Acolytes, Fabian Cortez.

Despite the UN's hopes that Genosha's civil war between humans and mutants would destroy or at least occupy him, Magneto 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 lineup of X-Men to help Cyclops and Wolverine rescue Xavier and defeat Magneto. Taking the opportunity for revenge, Wolverine attacked the defeated Magneto, leaving him with serious injuries and crippling him for a time.

Xorn

Soon after this, Genosha was decimated by Sentinels under the orders of Cassandra Nova Xavier, Charles Xavier's previously unknown dead twin sister, whom Xavier had killed in the womb. Magneto and 16 million mutants who were gathered at Genosha were reported deceased. Months after the event, a team of X-Men searching in the debris found what was apparently a recording of Magneto's last words. Mutant-supremacist ideas, attributed to him, became wide-spread in the mutant community with some holding him as a martyr of the mutant cause. Magneto had become a Che Guevara-like revolutionary figure in the mutant community. T-shirts and posters with Magneto's face and the phrase "Magneto Was Right" became popular items, even amongst certain students in the Xavier Institute.

Meanwhile, the mutant known as Xorn had joined the X-Men after being rescued from captivity in China. Xorn was said to be a Chinese mutant with a "star for a brain" and wore a face-concealing metal helmet with a skull-like motif. He also possessed nebulous healing powers, although the only time he was shown to heal anyone was when he deactivated a number of microscopic Sentinels and simultaneously restored Professor Xavier's ability to walk.

In the Planet X storyline, he eventually removed the helmet, revealing Magneto's face beneath. It was alleged that Xorn never existed and was simply an identity conceived wholly by Magneto. Having "exposed his deception", he then schemed to destroy the X-Men and reverse the polarity of the Earth's magnetic field, increasing his power with the use of a mutant drug called "Kick". He recruited the Special Class and Esme from the Xavier School to serve as his Brotherhood of Mutants, though most eventually turned against him. Before being decapitated by Wolverine, "Magneto" devastated much of New York City and killed Jean Grey using a lethal electromagnetic pulse that caused her to have a massive stroke.

Some time later, the X-Men found another Xorn, who identified himself as Shen Xorn and revealed that the "Magneto" who devastated New York was Kuan-Yin Xorn, his brother. Kuan-Yin Xorn had been possessed by Sublime, a sentient bacterium, through his frequent use of "Kick," which was Sublime in aerosol form. Marvel editor-in-chief Joe Quesada stated that "Kuan-Yin Xorn came under the influence of as-yet-to-be-revealed entity that forced him to assume the identity of Magneto."

Rebuilding Genosha

With the launch of a new Excalibur series, Xavier met up with the real Magneto who was still alive. Xavier had brought with him the corpse of Kuan-Yin Xorn and when Magneto asked who it was, Xavier explained how the impostor had killed over 5,000 people including Jean Grey. Magneto was shocked and angry that people thought he was capable of committing such an act.

Xavier: The latest death count in New York is 5,000. Slaughtered simply because they weren't mutants, as a demonstration of will and power.

Magneto: And they think me capable of such a thing? Do you think me capable of such a thing?

Xavier: Well, you do have a certain... reputation.

Magneto: Not for THIS!

Xavier and Magneto put aside their differences to rebuild the island nation, rekindling their friendship in the process. But tragedy would strike before long.

House of M

Magneto's insanely powerful daughter Wanda Maximoff, the Scarlet Witch, 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. The Avengers confronted the mentally unstable Wanda and Doctor Strange put her in a coma. Over in Genosha, Magneto heard Wanda's psychic cry for help. He created a wormhole and was transported to Wanda's location. Before the Avengers could do anything, Magneto grabbed his daughter and flew away.

Back at Genosha, Magneto kept Wanda in a bed taking care of her. He became more withdrawn and angry, refusing to let anyone into the house with the exception of Xavier, who he believed could help her. When Xavier returned from a mission he was on, he was enraged that Magneto blew his cover in front of the entire Avengers. Magneto begged his old friend to help his daughter and Xavier agreed to try.

Xavier spent several months trying to help Wanda to no avail. Not even Strange's magic would do anything for her. Worried, he arranged a meeting for the X-Men and the Avengers to decide what should be done. Some of the members said that the only option was to kill Wanda. Quicksilver rushed to Magneto and told him that the two groups were planning on killing Wanda.

When an ashamed Magneto admitted that he didn't know what to do anymore and that the groups may be right, Quicksilver convinced Wanda that she could undo her wrongs by using her powers to turn the world into a world of peace. Using her powers, Wanda warped reality into the House of M, a world where mutants were the majority, humans the minority and Magneto the ruler. In this world, Magneto was attacked by Sentinels over Manhattan in 1979. At the end of the attack, Magneto revealed an alleged international anti-mutant conspiracy involving Richard Nixon. The main result of this was that Magneto was granted sovereignty of the island of Genosha as leader of the world's mutants.

In this altered reality, a young mutant named Layla Miller was able to use her mutant abilities to allow others to see the "real world" as it was prior to the events of House of M. She used these powers to show a small group of heroes the proper timeline. The heroes banded together and traveled to Genosha to attack Magneto, believing him to be the one responsible for the change. During the battle Layla was able to restore Magneto's memories as well.

Magneto confronted Quicksilver, 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 had only used Wanda and himself. Furious, Magneto killed Quicksilver by pummeling him with large pieces of steel and then crushing him with a sentinel.

Sensing what was happening to her brother, Wanda obliterated the tower she was in and incapacitated Magneto with a thought, and removed his mouth when he tried to talk to her. She revived Quicksilver, telling Magneto that Quicksilver had only wanted him to be happy. She told him that even when she gave him what he wanted he was still this horrible man, that mutants weren't gods, and they weren't the next step: they were freaks. She screamed that he chose this over them and he ruined them. With the phrase "No more mutants," Wanda changed the world back to its original form and caused ninety-eight percent of the mutant population to lose their powers (the Decimation event), leaving the mutant race on the brink of extinction. Magneto was one of the many mutants to lose their powers, and was left a broken man.

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 had on non-Inhumans. The Mists increased the powers of the mutants who took them, killing Unus and leaving Callisto comatose. An angry Quicksilver attacked Magneto with his new powers from the Mists, savagely beating him until his daughter Luna begged him to stop. When the Inhumans later came looking for their Mists, Magneto told them what had happened.

The Collective

In New Avengers #20, the Collective, a being comprised of energy from all the former mutants' powers, merges with an energy absorbing mutant named Michael. The Collective seemingly kills the current incarnation of Alpha Flight, and battles the New Avengers before landing in Genosha. There it repowers Magneto and reveals itself as Xorn. Xorn explains that he took the image of Magneto because he knew mutants would follow him, and that they needed the real Magneto again. Magneto, not in control of himself, begins attacking the New Avengers and S.H.I.E.L.D. agents while he pleads for them to kill him. He is taken down with a direct brain attack from mutant S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Daisy Johnson. Iron Man, Ms. Marvel and the Sentry combine their powers and send the Collective/Xorn into the sun. Michael is separated from the Collective. Magneto, unconscious, is loaded into a S.H.I.E.L.D. helicopter, but it explodes upon take-off; his body is not found among the rubble.

Powers and abilities

Magneto is a mutant with the superhuman power of magnetokinesis. Magneto can shape and manipulate magnetic fields that exist naturally or artificially. As the Master of Magnetism, he can lift, move, and alter objects (sometimes weighing many thousands of tons) through magnetic force, manipulate the iron-enriched blood-flow to one's brain to induce aneurysms or unconsciousness, control ferrous particles in the atmosphere, alter the Earth's magnetic field which extends into space as the magnetosphere, increase his own strength to the extent of being able to exchange blows with at least Colossus, erect electro-magnetic force fields with a high degree of impenetrability (protecting himself or others from almost any psionic, energy, or physical attack), and achieve a wide range of other effects. Magneto has even used his magnetic abilities to extract the Adamantium bonded to Wolverine's skeleton, by manipulating it on a molecular level. With the primal force of nature at his command, Magneto has stopped armies, raised islands from ocean floors, moved mountains and threatened to devastate the world with apocalyptic floods and earthquakes. Magneto once blanketed half the globe with a self-generated electro-magnetic pulse that caused widespread devastation.

Magneto can use his magnetic powers in more than one way simultaneously. He can completely assemble a complicated machine within seconds through his powers. Although Magneto often gestures when using his magnetic powers, he can utilize them fully even when standing totally still merely by concentrating. His ability to wield his superhuman powers effectively is dependent upon his physical condition. When severely injured, his body is unable to withstand the strain of manipulating great amounts of magnetic forces. When his powers are not at their peak, he appears to have greater difficulty controlling forces other than magnetism.

Magneto usually protects himself with a personal forcefield that he can quickly expand to protect large areas. His forcefield has withstood the effects of multiple nuclear weapons, volcanic eruption, the depths of space and attacks from multiple Avengers or X-men, as well as Phoenix, Thor, and even Galactus (during the Secret Wars.) By concentrating Magneto can perceive the world around himself solely as patterns of magnetic and electrical energy. He can perceive the natural magnetic auras surrounding living beings, as well.

Although Magneto's primary power is magnetism, he seems to have some ability to project or manipulate any form of energy that is related to the electromagnetic spectrum. He can fire and absorb bolts of electricity and magnetic force, reverse lasers and other forms of radiation or energy, create enough intense heat as infrared radiation to destroy a metal door, and become invisible by deflecting visible light around his body. (He has also dispersed a "flame cage" created by the original Human Torch, but whether he had simply expanded his personal force field or employed something else entirely is unclear.) In both Excalibur (vol. 3) and the possible future of The End, Magneto uses his powers to create a traversable wormhole between two points in space. If this is an extension of his primary power, it suggests a connection between electromagnetism, gravitation and spacetime that is beyond current (real-world) scientific understanding.

A mastermind, Magneto is a genius within various scientific fields. He is an expert on genetic manipulation and engineering, with knowledge far beyond that of contemporary science. He can mutate humans in order to give them superhuman powers, instill genetic mind-control, create adult clones of human beings, and then manipulate the genetic structures of these clones during their development. He has designed magnetically-powered skycraft and spacecraft, complex robots and computers, and magnetically-powered generators. He has created artificial living beings, space stations (said to possess technology even Reed Richards would envy), and machines that nullify mutant powers within a radius of several miles.

Magneto is a skilled strategist and hand-to-hand combatant.

Equipment

Magneto's suit is made of flexible metal bonded on the molecular level, providing protection against projectiles, energy weapons, and concussive force. His helmet, which is constructed out of the same metal as Charles Xavier's Cerebro, allows him to keep telepathic attacks from harming him and also shields his mind from Cerebro.

In the past Magneto has used a number of exotic aerial vehicles of his own design. His most frequent form of transportation is levitating himself.

Magneto relies primarily on his own natural powers, although sometimes he has used magnetically-powered devices of his own design, such as his machine for inducing earthquakes and volcanic eruptions from afar. Magneto used to use mechanical devices for magnifying his own powers, but since his rejuvenation he no longer needs them.

Alternate versions

Ultimate Magneto

In the reality of Earth-1610, Magneto, a.k.a. Erik Lehnsherr's background stays broadly the same, except his wife's name was Isabelle, and is aware from the beginning of his familial relationship with Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch. It is also noted that he verbally mistreats them, hinting that he regards them as a living reminder of having an inter-species relationship. He is a Holocaust survivor, the leader of the Brotherhood of Mutants and a ruthless terrorist who is willing to kill hundreds in the name of mutant supremacy (Ultimate X-Men #1). Additionally, he was the one to cripple Professor X. In this continuity, Magnus has quintessentially replaced Doctor Doom as the "Marvel-wide" villain for Earth-1610.

In addition, Magneto helped Xavier to create the Savage Land, using his knowledge of technology and genetics. He created an artificial language called Epsilon-Omega, based on Esperanto and featuring its own script, for mutants to use in the Savage Land. They even have plays and songs in this language.

This version of Magneto is significantly darker and more cynical than the mainstream version, regarding all humans with utter and unwavering disdain and likening them to "insects". On several occasions he has attempted to implement unflinchingly genocidal plans for humanity. He commands a noticeably larger Brotherhood than his mainstream counterpart and has displayed enough power to defeat the Ultimates (including Thor). Magneto was imprisoned following the events of "Return of the King", the sixth arc in the series. Aside from a brief mention in the Ultimate Six arc of Ultimate Spider-man, he was then unseen until "Magnetic North", the 12th arc and the final run for writer Brian K. Vaughan. Magneto was found to have hatched a scheme to escape, utilizing the willing cooperation of Forge and Mystique as well as the unwilling but amicable aid of Longshot's mutation for luck. Magneto escapes by the end of the arc, leaving Mystique in his cell to impersonate him. He and Longshot then exit the Triskelion unharassed and Magneto makes it clear to Longshot that he has something different planned than any of his more typical world-domination schemes.

Amalgam

In Amalgam Comics, Magneto leads the Magnetic Men who are merged versions of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants and DC Comics' Metal Men.

Days of Future Past

In this possible future, when Sentinel robots rule North America, Magneto is in a wheelchair and, like the rest of the surviving X-Men save Wolverine, held in a mutant concentration camp, his powers suppressed by an inhibitor collar. It is implied but never stated that he devised the X-Men's plan to escape from the camp and send Kate Pryde's spirit back through time. When Franklin Richards is able to disable the inhibitors and the other X-Men flee the camp, Magneto stays behind to cover their escape and is presumably killed by the Sentinels.

Earth X

In Earth X, Magneto resides in Sentinel City, a city he constructed after drawing all the Sentinels to the Savage Land and using the extra forces there, destroying all the sentinels and turning them into a city. He rules there with Toad.

After the Celestial is removed from the Earth, the resulting shifts due to the removal of the vibranium within the Earth shifts the magnetic poles such that Magneto is depowered and Toad is given all of Magneto's powers. Toad forces Magneto to constantly dance and humiliates him at every opportunity by forcing him to become a Jester. When the vibranium is restored, Magneto's powers are restored as well. Magneto then joins the other heroes in the fight against Creel.

Age of Apocalypse

In the reality of Earth-295, Magneto founded this world's X-Men after the death of his friend Charles Xavier, at the hands of Xavier's own son David who traveled back in time to kill Magneto hoping to fullfill his "father's greatest wish". He and the X-Men fought against the forces of this world's Apocalypse who, without the interference of Xavier, was able to take over North America. Holocaust, Sinister, Mikhail Rasputin and Abyss are Apocalypse's horsemen, and while Magneto's team is composed not only of X-Men but also of standardly "evil" mutants from traditional timelines, including mutants such as Sabretooth, other individuals who are "heroes" in Earth 616 serve Apocalypse in this timeline.

In this timeline, Rogue and Magneto are married (able to touch thanks to Magneto using his powers to create a skintight magnetic aura around his body that stops Rogue's powers affecting him thanks to Rogue's own magnetic powers) and have a child together. Rogue is brought to consciousness once by the shapechanger Morph pretending to be her son. In the end of this story the X-Men use the M'Kraan Crystal to send Bishop back in time to prevent Xavier from being accidentally killed by his own son. As they change the timeline back to its proper course, Magneto and Nate Grey square off against Apocalypse and Holocaust. After Nate Grey jams the M'Kraan Crystal shard into Holocaust's armor, they are both transported back into the normal timeline. The battle between Magneto and Apocalypse ends with Magneto using his control of magnetism to rip the metallic Apocalypse in half. Following this, Apocalypse's stronghold and most of North America are enveloped in nuclear bombs.

Marvel Zombies

In the reality of Marvel Zombies, Magneto is one of a few survivors following a plague that caused an undead-like effect in "super-powered beings". Magneto helps Ultimate Reed Richards return to Earth-1610 after he is lured into it by a zombie version of himself who is desperate for fresh living meat. After Richards escapes with some civilian survivors, Magneto stays behind as he is the only one capable of destroying Richard's dimensional transporter so that zombies won't infect Earth-1610. He begins running from the super hero zombies. He then is contacted by the Acolytes who have held up in Asteroid M. They offer to send a shuttle down but Magneto asks them to not come down and risk infection, and says that he will find a way up to them, somehow. Magneto is confronted by some zombie heroes and prepares for a fight, when the zombiefied Wasp bites him on his neck, giving him the zombie plague. However, before he can turn into a zombie, he is eaten alive by the other zombies.

Marvel 1602

Magneto's appearance here is a different story. Known as Enrique, or else as the Grand Inquisitor, Magneto's true agenda was a mystery. His Inquisition was an offshoot of the Church, based in Spain, and he frequently answered to the Pope through his agent in the Vatican, Toad. Enrique's only other known followers were his children Quicksilver (called Petros) and the Scarlet Witch (referred to as Sister Wanda). He reveals at the end that he is aware of his familial ties to them, but they are not, and he will decide when to tell them. For much of the story, Enrique is using his position to further his needs and curry favour with influential figures, including King James of Scotland. To do this, he has all 'witchbreed' (what mutants are known as) killed; however, during one of these sacrifices, that of Angel, the subject was rescued by Iceman and Cyclops. Undeterred, Enrique continued to further his own mysterious needs, but Toad was discovered to be a witchbreed by the Pope's men, and to save his own life he sold out Enrique, Petros and Wanda. The trio were set to be sacrificed like they had done to so many more, but Enrique easily escaped. Many of the heroes, including the X-Men, Nick Fury and the Fantastic Four, had escaped to America, so Enrique and his followers pursued them. However, the world was under the threat of impending doom, and Richard Reed determined that, to restore balance, Enrique had to co-operate. Eventually, with the help of Fury and Thor, Enrique was able to participate in the restoring of the world. He then told his enemy, Carlos Javier, to train Petros and Wanda, and he then disappeared.

X-Men: Fairy Tales

In the second issue of the Fairy Tales limited series, based on the African story The Friendship of the Tortoise and the Eagle, Magneto appears as the eagle, alongside Professor X as the tortoise. Magneto/eagle has witnessed his family's slaughter when he was young, and had to teach himself to fly and survive. He has many 'demons' of his past that continue to haunt him, although while he is with his friend, Professor X/tortoise, they fade. When they come back to haunt him, he no longer believes in the friendship, thinking himself a danger to those around him.

Earth #27

In the Exiles comics, an alternate good version of Magneto living on Earth #27 fell in love with Rogue. Magneto used his powers to alter Rogue's DNA so they could touch and kiss. They had a child together, a son whom they named Magnus (after Magneto of course). Magnus grew up in a timeline in which Magneto joined the X-Men and married Rogue, which explains both his magnetic powers and the white streak in his auburn hair. He quickly showed the potential to be an even more powerful master of magnetism than his father. Unfortunately, during his teens, Magnus developed his second mutation, which turned anyone touched by his skin into immobile steel.Unfortunately, Magnus' powers indicated that like his mother he couldn't touch anyone. But, unlike his mother, when Magnus touched his "victims" they would permanently turn into immobile steel, never dying. Magnus lived a lonely life, and was eventually forced to join the Exiles, a group of alternate reality mutants forced to repair broken realities. Magnus soon died on the team's first mission after giving his life to stop a dangerous bomb. After the Exiles learned Magnus' corpse was trapped inside the Crystal Palace, they broke it free and returned it to his homeworld, where Magnus was granted a funeral by his father and mother, honored by that world's Nightcrawler.

Appearances in other media

Movies

Magneto was played by two-time Academy Award-nominee Sir Ian McKellen in the movie X-Men and its sequels, X2: X-Men United and The Last Stand. In the first and third films, Magneto is the main villain.

A Magneto movie is in the works, and Ian McKellen recently revealed that both he and Patrick Stewart will be in it, thanks to de-aging technology. A small article from Entertainment Weekly has information on the movie:

"It's going to take place from 1939 Auschwitz up to 1955 or so," says writer Sheldon Turner of his just-announced "period" prequel to Fox's X-Men franchise. An exploration of villain Magneto's "psychological roots," Turner's script will also shed light on the youthful mutant's friend-then-nemesis Charles Xavier."

Cartoons

He appeared in a few Marvel Cartoons from 1979-1981.

Fantastic Four (1979) - "The Menace Of Magneto"
Spider-Man (1980) - "When Magneto Speaks....People Listen"
Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends - "The Prison Plot" (The Brotherhood Of Evil Mutants: Toad, Blob and Mastermind make a cameo as well.)

Magneto's voice was provided by David Hemblen in the animated television series X-Men and by Lorne Kennedy in the Capcom fighting games. His voice was provided by Christopher Judge in the animated television series Evolution.

Music

The album Venus and Mars by Wings includes a song about superheroes called "Magneto and Titanium Man". Paul McCartney was said to have tourned the Marvel offices soon after the album came out in the Bullpen Bulletins and it was claimed that he was a fan of Marvel Comics. The song references the names of two other Marvel villains (Titanium Man and the Crimson Dynamo). Another song to feature Magneto is the Tearjerkers' "Comic Book Heroes" from the various artists compliation Through the Back Door, in which some of the lyrics are "Doc Ock, Von Doom and Magneto, don't wanna be like them." Magneto is a song by the post-hardcore band Brigade, fronted by Charlie Simpson's brother, Will.

Video games

Magneto has also appeared in most of the X-Men video game spinoffs, usually as a boss and occasionally as a playable character. His most noticeable appearances are in Children of the Atom (arcade game) and X-Men Legends (and its sequel) which has been released on various platforms. He is also a very popular character in Marvel vs. Capcom 2 due to his high mobility and speed. He is considered one of the top 4 characters in the game, placing him in the so-called "god tier", along with Storm, Cable and Sentinel.

A capeless and non-helmeted version of Magneto was a playable character in the game, Rise of the Imperfects. In story mode, he is the last playable Marvel character in the game's story mode and like many Marvel heroes and villains in the story, is taken down by an Imperfect, Paragon, after she refuses his offer of an alliance.

In X-Men Legends, Magneto is voiced by Tony Jay. And in Rise of Apocalypse, Magneto was made the main playable character as part of the game's Brotherhood, which includes the Scarlet Witch, Toad and Juggernaut and is voiced by Richard Greene.

Notes

Bibliography

Trivia

A Jack Kirby close up image of Magneto's face was used as source material for Roy Lichtenstein's Image Duplicator (1963).
In the film The Last Stand, Magneto is described as a Class Four Mutant.
While Magneto is Jewish, for a while he maintained a cover identity as a Sinte Gypsy while searching for his wife Magda. This created confusion amongst some readers as to his heritageThe Religious Affiliation of Comic Book Character Erik Magnus Lehnsherr – Magneto. URL last checked 2006-05-31., until it was authoritatively confirmed that he is Jewish. Meth, Clifford. Protocols of the Elders of Marvel. URL last checked 2006-05-31. It should be noted that this confusion probably stems from a comic book published in the early 1990s which attempted to retcon Magneto into being a Sinte, possibly because Marvel was preparing to make Magneto a deadly villain again in the crossover called "Fatal Attractions" and they did not want to draw accusations of anti-Semitism by having one of their main villians be Jewish. This attempted retcon was corrected a few years later when it was revealed that the name "Erik Lehnsherr" and the Sinte ethnicity were part of a cover identity, as mentioned above.

References

External links

Marvel Comics official site
Magneto's bio at UncannyXmen.net
Magneto fansite
Magneto (Magnus) - A profile of Magneto at MarvelDatabase.
Metaphilm: The Dark Wisdom of Erik Lensherr
Alara's Magneto Page
Magneto is Jewish FAQ

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