Magneto

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Magneto
Magneto on the cover of X-Men (vol. 2) #1. Pencils by Jim Lee and inks by Scott Williams.
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First appearance	X-Men Vol. 1, #1 (September, 1963)
Created by	Stan Lee Jack Kirby
In-story information
Alter ego	Max Eisenhardt [1]
Species	Human Mutant
Team affiliations	Brotherhood of Mutants Genoshan Excalibur X-Men New Mutants Hellfire Club Acolytes Savage Land Mutates
Notable aliases	Magnus[2], White King[3] (later Grey King[4]) of the Hellfire Club, Michael Xavier[5], Erik the Red[6], White Pilgrim, The Master of Magnetism, The Creator, Erik Lehnsherr[7]
Abilities	Magnetism manipulation, Flight

Magneto (born Max Eisenhardt, also known as Magnus and Erik Lehnsherr) is a fictional character that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appears in X-Men #1 (Sept. 1963), and was created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby. A powerful mutant with the ability to generate and control electromagnetic forces, Magneto has been the X-Men's most prominent enemy ever since his first appearance. In his early appearances, his motives were bent on 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 have varied from supervillain to anti-hero to even hero.

Sir Ian McKellen portrayed Magneto throughout the entire X-Men film series. He was ranked number 1 by IGN's Top 100 Comic Book Villains list^[8], was listed number 17 in Wizard's Top 100 Greatest Villains Ever list^[9], 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.^[10]

Publication history

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Magneto's first appearance in X-Men #1 (Sept. 1963).
Written by Stan Lee & art by Jack Kirby.

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 (Sept. 1993), published when the character returned from a brief absence; it reprinted Magneto-based stories from Classic X-Men #12 & 19 (Aug. 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."^[11] In the same interview, he also revealed that he originally planned Magneto to be the brother of his archnemesis Professor X.^[11]

Magneto's first original title was the four-issue miniseries Magneto (Nov. 1996 - Feb. 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).

An account of Magneto's childhood, titled X-Men: Magneto Testament, was released in September 2008. It is written by Greg Pak, who has read accounts from Holocaust survivors, watched documentaries, and read comics such as Maus as part of his research into the era.^[12]

Fictional character biography

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(Left) Max and Magda escape from the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp; (Right) Erik and Magda with their daughter Anya. Art by John Byrne.

Magneto was born Max Eisenhardt in the late 1920s to a middle class German Jewish family who's father, Jakob Eisenhardt was a highly decorated World War I veteran. ^[1] Following the Nazi rise to power, kristalnacht, 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][13] Max and his family escape the Ghetto, only to be betrayed and captured again. He and his family 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 is ultimately captured yet again ^[14] and sent to Auschwitz, where he eventually becomes a Sonderkommando.^[14][15][16] While at Auschwitz, Eisenhardt reunites with a Roma girl named Magda, with whom he had fallen in love when he was younger, and with whom he escapes the prison camp during the October 7th 1944 revolt. Following the war, he and Magda move to the Ukrainian city of Vinnytsia, and adopts the name "Magnus" and drops Max Eisenhardt. Magda and Mangus have a daughter named Anya, and live happily until one night when a rioting mob burned their home down with Anya still inside. Enraged at the mob preventing him from rescuing Anya, the young Magneto's powers manifest uncontrollably, killing the mob and destroying a part of the city. Magda, terrified at Magneto's power, leaves him and discovered months later she is pregnant again, giving birth to the mutant twins Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch. Wanted by the authorities for the deaths and destruction in Vinnytsia, while searching for Magda, Magnus paid a forger George Odekirk, to create the cover identity of "Erik Lehnsherr the Sinte gypsy" for him.^[7]

"Erik", relocated to Israel, where he met and befriended Charles Xavier while working at a psychiatric hospital near Haifa.^[2] There, lengthy debates are held by the two regarding the consequences humanity faces with the rise of mutants, though neither reveals to the other that they both in fact possessed mutant powers. However, they are forced to reveal their inherent abilities to one another, while facing Baron Von Strucker and HYDRA. Following the battle, Erik (now dressed as Magneto) leaves, realizing that his and Xavier's views are incompatible, with a cache of hidden Nazi gold, which provided him with the financing to launch his goals.

Rise of Magneto

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 experience at Auschwitz shapes his outlook on the situation that mutants face in the world. Determined to keep such atrocities from ever being committed against mutant-kind, he is willing to use deadly force to protect mutants. He believes that mutants ("Homo superior") will become the dominant life form on the planet. However, he constantly wavers between wanting peaceful existence with Homo sapiens and wanting to enforce his superiority over all humanity.

Magneto's first villainous act was attacking a United States military base called Cape Citadel. He was defeated by Charles Xavier's mutant students, the X-Men.^[17] He creates Asteroid M, an orbital base of operations in an hollowed out asteroid that he wanted it to be a homeland for all mutant kind. After forming the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, Magneto briefly conquers the fictional South American nation of San Marco in the hopes of establishing a mutant homeland there, but is once again foiled by the X-Men.^[18] Next, the Blob joined the Brotherhood but quickly left.^[19] Magneto then sent Mastermind to make Unus the Unstoppable join the Brotherhood. In order for Unus to join he had to kill one of the X-men, which he failed to do.^[20] With the Brotherhood, he next battled Thor.^[21]

After several unsuccessful attempts at rallying more mutants to his cause, Magneto tries to force the allegiance of the Stranger. A powerful alien being, the Stranger encases Magneto in a special cocoon and spirits him away to another planet, the Stranger's laboratory world. Magneto's Brotherhood splinters, and Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch desert him.^[22] Magneto escaped to Earth and battled the X-Men, but was then recaptured by the Stranger.^[23] Magneto remains on the Stranger's world for a long time. Magneto eventually escapes and makes his way back to Earth where he attempts to reenlist them to his cause. He created the brotherhood with the exception of Mastermind. ^[24] He then captures the X-Men. Angel is the first to escape and goes to find the Avengers. Cyclops escapes next and fights Quicksilver until the Avengers arrive. ^[25] Magneto then battled the Avengers and the X-Men. But his plans are foiled by his former minion Toad, who has grown tired of Magneto's cruel treatment. ^[26]

Magneto then created the Savage Land Mutates. With the Savage Land Mutates, he clashed with the X-Men and Ka-Zar.^[27] With Namor, Magneto later attacked New York City.^[28] He later fought the Inhumans Royal Family.^[29] He later battled the Avengers once more.^[30]

Magneto later reorganized the Brotherhood, and fought Professor X and the Defenders. Using ancient and advanced alien technology he finds near the core of the earth, Magneto creates an artificial humanoid he names "Alpha the Ultimate Mutant." Alpha rebels against his creator and reduces Magneto to infancy.^[31] Magneto is then placed in the care of Xavier's former love interest, Professor Moira MacTaggert at Muir Island. At Muir Island, MacTaggert tinkers with the infant Magneto's genetic code in an attempt to prevent him from becoming "evil" in adulthood. However, her genetic tampering loses its effect when Magneto activates his powers again. Magneto is eventually restored to adulthood when he is found at Muir Island by the alien Shi'ar agent Erik the Red.^[32]

Magneto later gathered a new Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, and with them battled Captain America.^[33] He then opposed Doctor Doom's conquest of Earth.^[34]

Redemption

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Magneto goes on trial for his crimes in Uncanny X-Men #200. Art by John Romita Jr.

Eventually, it was revealed how Magnus and Xavier first met in Israel.^[2]

Magneto later discovers 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.^[35] He also discovers his granddaughter, Quicksilver's human child Luna Maximoff.^{[volume & issue needed]} Seeing Luna as a bond to the human race he has rejected, Magneto tries to reach out to his children. Angered by his rejection of them and their mother, they push him away and refuse to forgive him.^{[volume & issue needed]}

Magneto finds himself allied with Professor Xavier and the X-Men when a group of heroes and villains are abducted by the Beyonder, a nearly omnipotent yet frustratingly short-sighted being. This entity takes them to an alien world to participate in the 1984 series Secret Wars. The characters are sorted according to their desires, and so 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 surprises many of the other heroes, who still believe he is a villain, although they mostly come to accept him as an ally. Captain America even speaks in his defense on some occasions, and the Wasp develops a certain affection for him, although it is tempered by her knowledge of his past.^{[volume & issue needed]}

After the Secret Wars are over, Magneto is transported back to his base, Asteroid M, where the alien Warlock, traveling to Earth, collides into the asteroid, breaking it to pieces. Magneto is sent falling towards Earth and into the Atlantic Ocean, sustaining serious injuries. He is rescued by Lee Forrester, the captain of a fishing trawler.^{[volume & issue needed]} Lee helps him recuperate from his injuries and the two share a small romance.^{[volume & issue needed]}

After recuperating from his injuries, Magneto is asked to aid the X-Men in battling the returned Beyonder,^{[volume & issue needed]} and Magneto stays with the X-Men even after the Beyonder is defeated.^{[volume & issue needed]} His association with the team softens his views on humanity and Magneto surrenders himself to the law to stand trial for his crimes. A special tribunal is organized. They choose 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 is interrupted by an attack from Fenris, the twin children of Baron Wolfgang von Strucker. Fenris is defeated but Professor X is brought to near-death due to the strain of the battle and previously sustained injuries. Xavier asks Magneto to take over his school and the X-Men, and tells him that doing so would make amends enough for his past crimes. Magneto agrees and chooses not to return to the courtroom. Instead he takes over Xavier's school under the assumed identity of Michael Xavier, Charles Xavier's cousin.^{[volume & issue needed]} Seeing him try to reform, the Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver begin accepting him as their father.^{[volume & issue needed]}

Though Magneto makes a substantial effort as the headmaster to the New Mutants and an ally to the X-Men, his tenure is disastrous. The Beyonder plagues him yet again, slaying Xavier's current students, the New Mutants,^{[volume & issue needed]} and bringing them back to life soon later.^{[volume & issue needed]} This deeply traumatizes the entire group.^{[volume & issue needed]} He is 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.^{[volume & issue needed]} Magneto submits to a trial once again, but uses mind-control circuitry he salvages from the wreckage of Asteroid M to alter the opinions of the head justice in charge of the trial. As a result, he is finally absolved of his past crimes but finds that this has only fuelled the hostility that normal humans have towards mutants.^{[volume & issue needed]} Feeling that desperate measures needed to be taken after the genocidal massacre in the Morlock tunnels, Magneto and Storm join the Hellfire Club jointly as the White King.^{[volume & issue needed]} He is unable to prevent his students Roberto da Costa and the alien Technarch Warlock from running away from the school,^{[volume & issue needed]} or prevent the death of the young mutant student Douglas Ramsey after the students sneak away yet again to save a friend,^{[volume & issue needed]} and witnesses the apparent death of all of the senior X-Men on national television.^{[volume & issue needed]}

His relationship with the New Mutants deteriorates even further when they see him and the Club work with the demons of the Inferno incident.^{[volume & issue needed]} Magneto later ousts 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 reveals his real purpose of raising an army for the coming war between humans and mutants.^{[volume & issue needed]} The New Mutants do not return to Magneto's tutelage, though he goads them by claiming that they will join him of their own free will anyway.^{[volume & issue needed]}

Seeing conditions for mutants grow progressively more perilous, Magneto begins seeking allies to protect mutants from humanity. He participates 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 Skull—an unrepentant Nazi war criminal—is a highly uneasy one. After confirming that the Skull was the original one who had worked with Hitler, Magneto takes revenge upon him by entombing him alive.^{[volume & issue needed]} He also attacks (and is defeated by) a cosmically powered Spider-Man.^{[volume & issue needed]} He works alongside Rogue, Ka-zar and the American intelligence agent Nick Fury as well as a number of Russian operatives in order to re-establish peace in the Savage Land.^{[volume & issue needed]} This ultimately led to an altercation with Zaladane, who had appropriated the magnetic powers of his then-unknown daughter, Polaris. The conflict ended with Magneto executing Zaladane himself. With her death, he 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.^[36]

Tired of the constant state of strife, Magneto builds a second orbital base where he hopes to live a life of quiet seclusion.^{[volume & issue needed]} He is, by this point, a figurehead for the cause of mutant-hood and is sought out by a group of new mutants calling themselves the Acolytes.^{[volume & issue needed]}

Avalon and Genosha

After this, Magneto sets his sights significantly lower than world conquest: he seeks only a haven for mutant-kind. When he stood trial, one of the charges was the sinking of a Soviet submarine and the deaths of the crew. Influenced by Fabian Cortez of the Acolytes, he announces that the orbital base known as Asteroid M will now be a haven for mutants, but he then proceeds to bring the submarine back to the surface, obtains its nuclear missiles and places them around the Asteroid pointed towards Earth. He even sets one off when military jets attack him and Rogue while she is trying to reason with him.

Magneto later discovers how Moira had altered his genetic structure when he had been de-aged. Enraged by this, he feels that his redemption has 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. In retaliation for the nuclear detonation, the Soviets launch another satellite which blasts Magneto's base, while he and the other Acolytes battle the X-Men. Betrayed and abandoned at the last minute by Cortez, Magneto refuses Xavier's pleas to escape with the X-Men back to Earth and he and his followers "perish" in the subsequent explosion.^[37] 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.

The United Nations Security Council, in response to a resurgent Magneto, votes 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 generates an electromagnetic pulse not only destroying the satellites, but deactivating every electric device on Earth within minutes. The X-Men respond 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, rips the adamantium from Wolverine's bones, which enrages Xavier to the point that he blanks his former friend's mind, leaving him in a coma; This action later leads to the creation of Onslaught. Magneto remains comatose on Avalon worshipped by his Acolytes, under the leadership of Exodus, until Avalon itself is destroyed by the arrival of Holocaust. During the destruction, Colossus places Magneto in an escape pod sending him back to Earth. This pod is intercepted by Astra, a former ally who now desires his death.

Astra clones Magneto and when the clone is ready, she restores Magneto's mind since she feels there is no point in killing him unless he knows it is her doing. After a pitched battle, Magneto triumphs over the clone sending him crashing into a South American barn. However, too weak to continue the battle, the real Magneto goes into hiding while the now-amnesiac clone becomes known as Joseph (christened as such by the nun who discovered him) and eventually joins the X-Men. Since the world believes Joseph to be the real Magneto, Magneto takes his time to plan. He engages 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 kills Odekirk to prevent his true identity from being discovered by Sabra and Gabrielle Haller.

Following this, Magneto constructs a machine to amplify his powers and blackmail the world into creating a mutant nation. The X-Men and Joseph, who has fallen under Astra's control again, oppose him. The X-Men defeat Magneto, leaving his powers severely depleted from over-strain, while Joseph sacrifices his life to restore the Earth to normal. The United Nations, manipulated by its mutant affairs officer Alda Huxley, cedes to Magneto the island nation of Genosha, which has no recognized government. Magneto rules 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 crushes all opposition to his rule and rebuilds the nation by forming an army of mutants dedicated to his cause, including mutants coming from all over the world seeking sanctuary. Eventually, Magneto is able to use the Genegineer's equipment to fully restore his power. Intending to declare war on humanity, he captures Professor X to use as a symbol with which to rally his troops. In the Eve of Destruction storyline, Jean Grey recruits a new lineup of X-Men to help Cyclops and Wolverine rescue Xavier and defeat Magneto. Taking the opportunity for revenge, Wolverine attacks the defeated Magneto, leaving him with serious injuries and crippling him for a time.

Xorn

Soon after this, Genosha is 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 are reported deceased. Months after the event, a team of X-Men searching in the debris apparently finds a recording of Magneto's last words. Mutant-supremacist ideas, attributed to him, become widespread in the mutant community with some holding him as a martyr of the mutant cause. Magneto has 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" become popular items, even amongst certain students in the Xavier Institute.

Meanwhile, the mutant known as Xorn joins the X-Men after being rescued from captivity in China. Xorn is said to be a Chinese mutant with a "star for a brain" and wears a face-concealing metal helmet with a skull-like motif. He also possesses nebulous healing powers, although the only times he was shown to use this ability are when he deactivates a number of microscopic Sentinels and simultaneously restores Professor Xavier's ability to walk, and "heals" a supposedly dead bird.

In the Planet X storyline, he eventually removes the helmet, revealing Magneto's face beneath. It is alleged that Xorn never existed and is simply an identity conceived wholly by Magneto. Having "exposed his deception", he then schemes 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 recruits the Special Class and Esme from the Xavier School to serve as his Brotherhood of Mutants, though most eventually turn against him. Before being decapitated by Wolverine, "Magneto" devastates much of New York City and kills Jean Grey using a lethal electromagnetic pulse, causing her to have a massive stroke.

Some time later, the X-Men find another Xorn, who identifies himself as Shen Xorn and claims that the "Magneto" who devastated New York was Kuan-Yin Xorn, his brother. The reasons behind this act remain unexplained in the comics, although Marvel editor-in-chief Joe Quesada later elaborated on this, 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." This retcon has never been mentioned in the comics, but remains the only official explanation of the Xorn character and its relationship to Magneto.

House of M

The House of Magnus, from left to right: Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch, her two children William and Thomas, Magneto and Polaris.

With the launch of a new Excalibur series, Xavier meets up with the real Magneto who is still alive.

Xavier brings 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 has 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.

Magneto's daughter Wanda suffers a mental breakdown over the loss of her children and starts to warp reality in order to recreate them, inadvertently resulting in random attacks on the Avengers, until Doctor Strange puts her into a coma to stop her. In Genosha, Magneto hears Wanda's psychic cry for help and, creating a wormhole, whisks her away before the Avengers can do anything.

Back in Genosha, Magneto tends to Wanda, becoming more withdrawn and angry, allowing only Xavier to visit, in the belief that Xavier can help Wanda. Xavier is angry to learn that Magneto revealed he was alive, in rescuing Wanda, but agrees to try and help. Months pass with no avail, and not even Doctor Strange's magic helps. The X-Men and the Avengers meet to decide what should be done, and when some of the members suggest killing Wanda, Quicksilver rushes to Magneto to inform him of this development.

Magneto admits that he doesn't know what to do anymore and that the groups may be right, but Quicksilver convinces Wanda that she can undo her wrongs, prompting her 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 is attacked by Sentinels over Manhattan in 1979, and reveals an alleged international anti-mutant conspiracy involving Richard Nixon. This results in Magneto being granted sovereignty over Genosha as leader of the world's much larger and much faster growing mutant population.

A group of heroes are 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, and they band together and attack Magneto in Genosha, believing him to be the one responsible. During the battle Layla is able to restore Magneto's memories as well, and he confronts his son, enraged that Quicksilver had done all of this in his name. Quicksilver reveals that Magneto would have let Wanda die, but Magneto replies that Quicksilver was only using Wanda and himself, and he would never have allowed this to happen. Furious, Magneto kills Quicksilver by pummeling him with large pieces of steel and then crushing him with a Sentinel.

Sensing her brother's death, Wanda incapacitates Magneto and removes his mouth when he tries to talk to her. She revives Quicksilver, telling Magneto that Quicksilver had only wanted him to be happy, but even when she gave Magneto what he wanted he was still a horrible man, and mutants were freaks. With the phrase "No more mutants," Wanda changes the world back to its original form and causes ninety-eight percent of the mutant population to lose their powers. Magneto is one of the many mutants to lose their powers, and is left a broken man; although Wolverine contemplates killing him, he concludes that their old foe deserves every second of his 'sapien' life.

When Quicksilver comes to Genosha to restore the mutants' powers with the Inhumans' Terrigen Mists, Magneto condemns his actions, pointing out the disastrous effects the Mists have on non-Inhumans. An angry Quicksilver attacks Magneto with his new powers from the Mists, savagely beating him until his own daughter Luna begs him to stop. When the Inhumans come looking for their Mists, Magneto tells them what has happened.

The Collective

The Collective, a being composed of energy from all the former mutants' powers, merges with an energy absorbing mutant named Michael Pointer. The Collective kills all of the most recent incarnation of Alpha Flight save for Sasquatch, and battles the New Avengers before landing in Genosha. There it re-powers 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 and an unconscious Magneto is loaded into a S.H.I.E.L.D. helicopter. The helicopter, however, explodes upon take-off through unknown means; his body was not found among the rubble.^[38] However, as of the end of Civil War, it's been revealed that Pointer survived and is coerced into joining the newly formed Omega Flight, using a suit designed to harness his powers as the new Guardian.

Afterward, Magneto is sought by the U.S. Government, the Morlocks, and the X-Men. Professor Xavier has mentioned that he has been unable to locate Magneto with Cerebro, in spite of the increase in power to his recently restored telepathy, suggesting either that his re-empowerment by the Collective was temporary or that he may somehow be masking his presence to avoid detection. Xavier and Nightcrawler had found traces of Magneto paying his respects at a local graveyard, standing in front of a tombstone belonging to one of his very first henchmen. Also, the Morlocks are after Magneto for reasons of their own and use him to justify their terrorist acts.^{[volume & issue needed]}

In Uncanny X-Men #491, Magneto is seen talking to a crippled, depowered Morlock, claiming he has lost what once made him superior, implying that the restoration of his powers by the Collective was indeed temporary. However, at the end of the issue when Skids found him at a local cemetery sometime later, and gave him a mysterious book that Masque had in his possession that claimed to chronicle the future of mutantkind, she stated that the book said Magneto was still a mutant, thereby possibly refuting his previous claim of being depowered again. Whether or not this is true remains to be seen.^{[volume & issue needed]}

Divided We Stand

Magneto appeared at the end of X-Men: Legacy #208, apparently at the behest of Exodus to help restore the broken psyche of Professor Xavier. He claims that he is still powerless while he reminisces about the past between the X-Men and the Brotherhood with Omega Sentinel. Together they manage to revive Xavier before being attacked by Frenzy. Magneto wounds 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 replies "Death" and Exodus proceeds to choke him with his telekinesis before Xavier challenges Exodus on the astral plane. After Xavier defeats Exodus, he leaves Magneto and Karima to try and rebuild his lost memories.

Manifest Destiny

He then appears, seemingly repowered, re-activating Sentinels to attack the X-Men at a "mutant kische" event in San Francisco. It is soon revealed though that the return of his powers are actually artificially recreated by a suit designed by the High Evolutionary, and that his attack itself was 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.^[39]

After extensively examining the Dreaming Celestial, the High Evolutionary subjected Magneto to an extremely dangerous technological procedure in an attempt restore his powers, which has apparently succeeded as he referred to himself as Magneto rather than his alias of Erik Lehnsherr. ^[40]

Nation X

Magneto makes his return in the Nation X storyline.^[41] Shortly after the funeral of Dr. Yuriko Takiguchi on Utopia (previously known as Asteroid M), Magneto confronts the new inhabitants of his former home. Magneto stuns everyone by telling them he has come in peace and wishes to speak with Cyclops. Professor Xavier is unconvinced, believing the entire ruse to be a trap and attacks him telepathically. In spite of this, Magneto does not fight back. Instead, he gets down on his knees and repeats his peaceful intentions. Cyclops orders Xavier to stand down and agrees to talk with Magneto, but keeps Psylocke close by in case Xavier is right. Magneto explains how he and the High Evolutionary restored his powers and his intention to use the process to reverse the Decimation effect. But since the Evolutionary's equipment was destroyed in the process of repowering Magneto, this is now impossible. He also reveals that he has been in space since then trying to find another way of saving mutantkind, but to no avail. Magneto expresses his admiration to Cyclops for finally doing what he and Xavier couldn't: uniting mutantkind together. Magneto fears that mutantkind is doomed until Cyclops tells him that Hope Summers, the Mutant Messiah is alive and well.^[42]

Powers and abilities

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Magneto is a mutant with the ability to manipulate and generate electromagnetic fields. The full extent of Magneto's power has been greatly expanded upon in the years since he was first introduced. At a basic level, however, Magneto has the ability to manipulate the electromagnetic force to achieve a wide range of effects.

Such effects include the creation of force-fields which can selectively block out matter and energy (while they usually allow sound and visible light to pass through so Magneto can interact with other characters; they can also shut out sonic blasts and shockwaves, as well as lasers and nuclear explosions). Thanks to this, Magneto is invulnerable to most harm when his personal field is active and can survive in deep space.

He can freely manipulate electromagnetic energy in all frequencies of the spectrum; control and create electromagnetic fields and generate massive EMPs. He has also been depicted using his powers to affect both magnetic and nonmagnetic materials down to the sub-atomic level, although element transmutation strains him significantly and it seems a lot easier for him to manipulate the former. He has levitated objects as heavy as a 30,000 ton nuclear submarine and pulled a large amount of asteroids from their orbits in the solar system's asteroid belt to entirely block sunlight from reaching the earth; the maximum quantity of mass that he can affect at one time is unknown.

He can also channel his magnetic powers through his own body so as to appear to temporarily increase his strength, stamina, and agility to superhuman levels.

He has demonstrated the capacity to warp the space/time continuum and create a wormhole to safely teleport himself and others; this, however, can only be explained by manipulation of gravity and it has been theorized that he can potentially control all four Fundamental Forces of the Universe.

Magneto has been consistently and frequently depicted as resisting all but the strongest or most unexpected telepathic attacks. In once instance, Magneto was shown able to hold off Xavier's attacks long enough to unscrew Xavier's chair from a boat, and levitate Xavier two miles and into the range of a device that nullified mutant powers. Over the years a number of explanations has been proposed for this, such as: latent telepathic powers (during the Secret Wars saga), 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), or sheer willpower (X-Men Vol. 2 #2). Although not shown in some appearances, Magneto has also able to engage in astral projection, read other's dreams, and issue telepathic commands and mental probes.^[43] Because he has also invented and used a device that when placed in his helmet allowed him a degree of mind control and another device which blocks telepathic intrusion, his resistance may also be augmented by his technology.

The most extreme example of his resistance this was in X-Men Vol. 2 #25, the Fatal Attractions crossover, in which Magneto held off the combined telepathic might of Xavier and Jean Grey without his helmet.

In addition to his powers, Magneto is also a genius with competence in various fields of advanced science, especially in genetic manipulation, physics, engineering, and other fields of technology. He has invented advanced weaponry, space stations, and intelligent superhuman lifeforms. He has invented devices that generate volcanoes and earthquakes, block telepathy, and nullify all mutant powers except his own. He has reconstructed computerized devices from memory. Magneto is also a master strategist with extensive combat experience capable of surviving or even winning against what would appear to be a superior force. While Magneto has some knowledge of hand to hand combat and will engage an enemy this way if necessary, he is not an expert. He prefers to use his powers in combat situations.

Inspirations

At one point, when Magneto was assumed to have died, he was portrayed as a martyr, with the phrase "Magneto was right" becoming popular among the mutant community and his face becoming an icon in T-shirts and posters. ^[44]

Other versions

In other media

Bibliography

See also

• Magneto and Titanium Man

Footnotes

References

External links

• Magneto at the Marvel Universe
• Magneto at the Marvel Database
• Magneto is Jewish FAQ
• Alara's Magneto Page