―Magneto
History
Known Relatives: Quicksilver (son) Scarlet Witch (daughter) and Polaris (daughter).
Auschwitz
Magneto was born as Max Eisenhardt in the late 1920s to a middle class German Jewish family whose father-Jakob Eisenhardt was a highly decorated World War I veteran.
Following Hitler's 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 [Ghetto].
Max and his family escaped the Ghetto, only to be betrayed and captured again. His family was 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 and sent to Auschwitz, where he eventually becomes a Sonderkommando. While at Auschwitz, Eisenhardt reunites with a Roma girl named Magda, one 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, Magda and Max move to the Ukrainian city of Vinnytsia, and he adopts the name "Magnus" and drops the birth name of Max Eisenhardt. Magda and Magnus have a daughter named Anya, and lived happily for a time.
Until one night when a rioting mob set fire to their house that burned it down, their daughter, Anya still inside. Enraged that the mob prevented 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, runs away. She is discovered months later, pregnant again, giving birth to the mutant twins Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch.
Wanted by the authorities for the deaths and destruction in Vinnytsia, Max/Magnus goes searching for Magda, Magnus paid a forger by the name of George Odekirk, to create the cover identity of "Erik Lehnsherr the Sinte gypsy" for him.
Xavier
"Erik", relocated to Israel, where he met and befriended Charles Xavier while working at a psychiatric hospital near Haifa.
Their 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.
PQP Rise of Magneto
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
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 he is once again foiled by the X-Men.
Next, the Blob joined the Brotherhood but quickly left. Magneto then sent Mastermind to make Unus the Untouchable join the Brotherhood. In order for Unus to join he had to kill one of the X-men, which he failed to do.
With the Brotherhood, he next battled Thor. 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. Magneto escaped to Earth and battled the X-Men, but was then recaptured by the Stranger. 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. 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. Magneto then battles 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.
Magneto then created the Savage Land Mutates. With the Savage Land Mutates, he clashed with the X-Men and Ka-Zar. With Namor.
Magneto later attacked New York City. He later fought the Inhumans Royal Family. He later battled the Avengers once more.
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.
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.
Magneto later gathered a new Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, and with them battled Captain America. He then opposed Doctor Doom's conquest of Earth.
Redemption
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. He also discovers his granddaughter, Quicksilver's human child Luna Maximoff. 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. 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. 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. Lee helps him recuperate from his injuries and the two share a small romance. After recuperating from his injuries, Magneto is asked to aid the X-Men in battling the returned Beyonder,and Magneto stays with the X-Men even after the Beyonder is defeated. 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. Seeing him try to reform, the Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver begin accepting him as their father.
Disaster/Hellfire Club
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, and bringing them back to life soon later. This deeply traumatizes the entire group. 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. 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. 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. He is unable to prevent his students Roberto da Costa and the alien Technarch Warlock from running away from the school, or prevent the death of the young mutant student Douglas Ramsey after the students sneak away yet again to save a friend, and witnesses the apparent death of all of the senior X-Men on national television. His relationship with the New Mutants deteriorates even further when they see him and the Club work with the demons of the Inferno incident. 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. 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.
Acts of Vengeance
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. 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. He also has an indecisive battle against a cosmically powered Spider-Man. 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. 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. Tired of the constant state of strife, Magneto builds a second orbital base where he hopes to live a life of quiet seclusion. 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.
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. 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. The 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.
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.
House of M
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.
Depowered/Repowered
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. 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. 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.
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 Karma 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. 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.
Nation X
Magneto makes his return in the Nation X storyline. 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. He puts this offer in action as he assisted the X-Men in defending Utopia Island from an attack of Predator X monsters. After helping the X-Men defeat the Predators, Magneto, now considered a member of the X-Men, assisted in helping the rest of the X-Men 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 while providing a home for the Atlanteans, which Magneto would later refer to as New Atlantis. However, Magneto's actions had angered Cyclops who reprimanded Magneto for acting on his own accord. Despite Xavier being apologetic and appreciative for what he's done, Magneto leaves Utopia for nearby Mount Tamalpais in Marin County and begins meditating on a cliff overlooking the ocean, promising himself that he will finally do something good with his life. In a final bid to gain their trust, Magneto enters into a catatonic state and focused his powers to divert the interstellar path of Breakworld's "Earth-destroyer" Metal Bullet that Kitty Pride was trapped in and bring her home to Earth. Magneto had encountered the bullet earlier while attempting to regain his powers with the High Evolutionary and surmised that Kitty was inside. Despite this and the High Evolutionary's apparent ability to retrieve the bullet and Kitty, Magneto chose to focus on regaining his powers, though he memorized the metals of the bullet allowing him to keep a trace on it. Using all of his powers, Magneto was able to redirect the bullet back to Earth, cracking it in two and levitating Kitty safely to the ground. However, the use of his power at such intensity and duration severely injured him, leaving him comatose.
Second Coming
During the return of Hope Summers to the present and the subsequent invasion of Utopia by Nimrod Sentinels, Magneto awoke from his coma and joined the battle against the Sentinels, despite being injured. He managed to destroy several of them by raising iron from beneath the surface of Utopia and impaling them. After the invasion concluded, he returned to his bedrest.
Not a Hero
Magneto was accused of showing up at an anti-mutant protest and killing all of the protesters. He was called in before the Avengers who showed him and Cyclops the security footage. Cyclops defended Magneto however, saying that he had been on a mission with him miles away from San Francisco when the murders happened. DNA samples from the site confirmed that it was Magneto however and he vowed to find out the truth behind the murders, with the Avengers and Cyclops' permission. Magneto asked for the assistance of Emma Frost in order to use a magnetism powered version of Cerebro in order to track down who he thought was responsible. Emma agreed and Magneto's suspicious were confirmed. He found out that his clone, Joseph had been resurrected by his former asociate Astra and was now working with anti-mutant extremist Christopher Bach in a two-pronged effort to restore fear to Magneto's name and make humans fear mutants again.
Magneto confronted Joseph at his hideout and Joseph attempted to sway him back to his old methods. Magneto refused however and was forced to fight Joseph's Brotherhood, malformed clones of the original members of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. Magneto managed to kill the clones and forced Astra to teleport them back to Utopia. Back in Utopia, Magneto interogated her and forced her to reveal Joseph's plans. Joseph planned to kill several humans and destroy the city but Magneto engaged him in an attempt to stop him. Joseph berated Magneto for going soft and succumbing to Xavier's lies but Magneto responded that he was doing what he had always done, protecting mutantkind and that he would do anything to make sure mutants survived. He defeated Joseph but was faced with Bach and a bunch of human extremists who blamed Magneto for the destruction. Magneto caused an avalanche of scrap metal which crushed Bach.
Avengers vs X-Men
Magneto vs. Iron Man
Magneto fought alongside his fellow mutants against the Avengers. He engaged Iron Man during the invasion of Utopia. Magneto was initially winning the battle but while drawing energy from a distant planet, he felt it being destroyed by the coming Phoenix Force and was incapacitated long enough for Iron Man to gain the upperhand and claim victory. The X-Men feigned a surrender and proceeded to teleport away with some of their most powerful members.
Magneto, Storm and Psylocke waited in a safehouse while Cyclops, Colossus, Magik, Namor and Emma Frost engaged the Avengers on the Moon due to not being available when the five X-Men left. After Iron Man fired an experimental weapon on the Phoenix Force, he split it into five pieces which inhabited the five X-Men present on the Moon. The Phoenix Five used their great power to create a paradise on Earth, eliminating war, hunger, thirst and poverty. Magneto and his fellow X-Men assisted the Phoenixes in creating this paradise. The Avengers continued to oppose them however and after ceaseless attacks on the X-Men, one of the Phoenixes, Namor lost his temper and attempted to defeat them. He was defeated however and his portion of the Phoenix went to the other 4. Eventually, Magik and Colossus fell as well after falling out and defeating each other, resulting in Emma and Cyclops being the only two Phoenixes left.
All this power began to corrupt Emma, who began to monitor the thoughts on everyone on Earth and started punishing those guilty of crimes against mutants. She also began ruling the X-Men with an iron fist, monitoring their thoughts. Magneto attempted to dissuade her but she threatened him, leading a desperate Magneto to ask Charles Xavier for help, telling him that Emma and Cyclops had lost control.
Magneto joins the X-Men and Avengers for the final confrontation against the two remaining Phoenixes. Xavier's unrelenting assault causes Scott to lose control and kill him before taking the final piece of the Phoenix from Emma and completely losing control, becoming Dark Phoenix. Magneto and the others are defeated as Cyclops prepares to scorch the world to start anew. Cyclops finally manages to give up the Phoenix to Hope however, who disperses it and uses it to remove Wanda's curse.
After the events of Avengers vs X-Men, Magneto remained wanted by the Avengers and authorities. He attempted to persuade Rogue to seek their destiny together but Rogue told him that she needs to find her own way. He then contacted the incarcerated Cyclops and asks if he should break him out. Cyclops tells him not to however, refusing to allow the authorities to turn him into a villain. Cyclops eventually changed his mind however, and contacted Magneto, telling him to break him out. Magneto, Magik and Danger launched the operation, creating a prison riot and liberating Cyclops. With Cyclops once again leading them, they resolve to continue doing what they always had - protecting mutantkind and saving the world, despite being hated and feared.
Mutant Rebellion
Magneto, Cyclops and Magik took on various missions to save new mutants captured by the authorities, and offered them a place in their rebellion. On a mission to save Emma Frost, Magneto and Cyclops both lost control of their powers. Emma revealed that she was also going through problems with her powers and told them that it was because of the Phoenix, and that Magneto was also affected because Cyclops had hit him with a blast of Phoenix energy during the final battle. Despite their problems with their powers, they continued their operations, and while coming to the aid of a young mutant, they were confronted by the young versions of the five original X-Men, who had been brought to the present by Beast.
Jean Grey's telepathy began manifesting, and losing control of herself she lashed out, hurling Cyclops away, causing him to lose his visor and begin firing wildly at the original X-Men. Mistaking this as an attack, the X-Men attacked Cyclops, but were driven away by Magneto, who ordered Magik to extract Cyclops and himself.
All-New Marvel NOW!
After technically defecting from Cyclops' X-Men, considering them a distraction for his goals, Magneto starts ruthlessly destroying any treats to mutantkind on his path.
No More Humans
Magneto sides with Raze and Mystique despite their methods, because in the end he considers they are necessary for the greater good of mutants, even if it means it will elimiate all humans. However he then defects the cause because the mission turns out to be more of a danger to mutants then what he realized.
March to Axis
Magneto finally encounters mutantkind's greatest enemy: The Red Skull. Magneto infiltrates a mutant concentration camp where the Red Skull is located. However he unknowingly enters a trap and is ambushed and captured by Red Skull's S-Men. Sometime later he is freed by Wanda, Havok and Rogue. However they are all captured again and Magneto is forced to watch as the Red Skull plans to use the Scarlert Witch in his plans to eradicate mutants. Magneto has had enough and frees himself, killing some of the S-Men and fighting the Red Skull, Erik beats the Red Skull to death and crushes his head with a rock, killing him, much to Rogue's disgust. Unknow to Magneto, this event unleashed something worse, from the corpse of the Red Skull rises Onslaught.
Avengers and X-Men: Axis
Both X-Men and Avengers join forces to battle the recently unleashed Red Onslaught. Magneto pressumably flees the battlefield, but in reality he merely escapes to bring back some uncanny reinforcements. Magneto recruits the help of unlikely allies: Doctor Doom, Sabertooth, Mystique, Carnage, The Enchantress, the Hobgoblin, Loki and Crusher Creel. Under Magneto's guide the villains aid the already battered Avengers and X-Men. Magneto is affected by Wanda and Doom's inversion spell and becomes the hero he has so hard tried to become in the past.
While the inverted Avengers and X-Men are looking to stop loose ends - not inverted heroes or villains, Magneto joins forces with Spider-Man, Steve Rogers and others including his recently inverted allies like Doom and Mystique. They try to stop the inverted X-Men and Avengers who are fighting for dominance while tearing each other apart. Magneto and his allies are caught in the crossfire in the attempt to help the inverted heroes. Wanda defeats Magneto and Quicksilver in battle, and while casting a spell that is targeted to stop all her bloodline in the vicinity, the spell does not work on Magneto. This reveals Magneto was never the father of Wanda nor Pietro.
Powers and Abilities
Powers
Magnetokinesis: One of the most powerful beings on the planet, Magneto is a mutant with the superhuman power to channel, manipulate, and generate magnetic fields that exist naturally or artificially. Magneto's power is, for all practical purposes, limitless. Magneto can maintain total control of an entire planet's electromagnetic field and manipulate it accordingly. Magneto has harnessed magnetism to stop armies, raise islands from ocean floors, move mountains, change the course of rivers, and threaten to devastate the world with apocalyptic floods and continent shaking earthquakes. Magneto once blanketed the entire globe with a self-generated electromagnetic pulse that caused widespread devastation. Moreover, he can use his magnetic powers in more than one way simultaneously. He can completely assemble a complicated machine within seconds through his powers. It is unclear, however, whether he must draw magnetic force from outside himself (if so, then he can do so over vast distances), or whether he can also generate magnetic force from within himself. Nor is it clear whether Magneto's power is psionic or purely physiological in nature. Magneto is also able to manipulate a magnetic field to interfere with telepathic attacks being one of the few mutants who can stop mind probes with their power alone.
- Magnetic Force-Fields: Magneto usually protects himself with a personal force field that he can quickly expand to protect large areas. His force field has withstood the effects of multiple nuclear weapons, volcanic eruptions, the depths of space and attacks from multiple Avengers or X-Men, including Phoenix, Thor though not galactus.
- Magnetic Flight: Magneto is also capable of sustaining flight for very long distances and at varying speeds. He apparently has several means by which he achieves flight, one of which is by gliding along the planet's natural magnetic lines of force, another by simply creating a repulsive force between himself and the planet, propelling himself thus. By using his magnetic powers, Magneto can virtually travel at trans-light speeds; however, in order to travel in space, Magneto also requires his force field to breathe.
- Magnetic Pulse: Magneto has the ability to focus magnetic energy into an extremely powerful concussive blast, which can be utilised for various purposes.
- Matter Manipulation: Magneto is able to manipulate matter even to the subatomic level for a number of purposes. This might explain why he is not limited to objects with metallic properties and is able to manipulate objects with non-metallic properties like wood, stone, plastics, etc. to such a degree. This is due to the electromagnetic force which exits between atoms and other subatomic particles.
- Electromagnetic Sight: By concentrating, Magneto can perceive the world around himself as patterns of magnetic and electrical energy. He can perceive the natural magnetic auras surrounding living beings and percieve their current physical and mental condition.
- Metallic Bonding: Magneto has recently presented the power to atomically bond metallic substances to any designated surface material. This newly developed technique allows Magneto to blend metallic alloys with the earth, water, and air (HoM).
- Organic Iron Manipulation: Magneto can control the traces of iron within organic matter, which allows him to have full control over an opponent's body. He can manipulate the iron-enriched blood-flow to one's brain to induce aneurysms or unconsciousness, alter thoughts and perceptions, or blank a person's mind completely. He can even remove ferrous compounds from the bloodstream entirely through a person's skin. Magneto has used his magnetic abilities to extract the Adamantium bonded to Wolverine's biomolecular skeletal structure. Through this ability, he is also able to save people who are injured by metal, e.g. bullets.
- Geomagnetic Link: Magneto is tied very closely to Earth's EM Field. As is it affected, so is he. He knows instinctively all that happens to it, and with this link, is granted an odd sort of immortality. The Earth lends him strength by its simple existence. He draws on it all unconsciously.
- Superhuman Strength: Under normal conditions, Magneto possesses the physical strength of a well conditioned athlete. However, he can channel vast amounts of magnetic energy through his body for the purpose of granting himself vast superhuman strength which limits are unknown. Whatever those limits might be, he is ultimately able to lift far in excess of 100 tons with ease.
- Superhuman Stamina: As a result of increasing his strength, he dramatically increases the overall efficiency of his musculature. While magnetically enhanced, his muscles produce considerably less fatigue toxins during physical activity than the musculature of a normal human. Magneto can exert himself physically for up to at least a few days before the build up of fatigue toxins in his blood starts to impair him.
- Superhuman Durability: Under normal conditions, Magneto possesses the physical durability of a well conditioned athlete. However, he can channel vast amounts of magnetic energy through his body for the purpose of granting himself vast superhuman durability, to the point he can shrug off punches to the face from super humans such as Namor and Colossus while weakened and remain unharmed.
- Superhuman Reflexes: He naturally possesses enhanced reflexes. He can further enhance this reflexes with magnetic energy, to the point he can pluck out of the air with his hand, superhumans as swift and fast as the likes of Northstar with ease.
- Superhuman Speed- By using magnetic propolsion Magneto is capable of reaching superhuman speeds very easily whether if he is Earth bound or not.
Electromagnetic Spectrum Manipulation: Although Magneto's primary power is Magnetism, he has an extensive 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 level a city, manipulate gravity, and become invisible by deflecting visible light around his body. Infrared radiation is part of the electromagnetic spectrum, which also includes visible light, radio waves, ultraviolet light, gamma rays and x-rays -- Magneto can project any of these. Magneto has demonstrated the capacity to produce a wormhole, and to safely teleport himself and others by means of the wormhole.
Astral Projection (Possibly Formerly): Magneto has occasionally been said to be able to manifest an astral projection of himself. However, like all formerly attributed psychic powers, this has been retconned out of existence at least once, and hasn't been used by Magneto since the "Silver Age" (chronologically speaking), possibly implying any such abilities were lost during his regression to childhood by Mutant Alpha.
Telepathic Resistance: Magneto has trained himself extensively for fighting telepaths, and is resistant to all but the strongest telepathic attack. This training is similar to that given to the X-Men and New Mutants by Professor X, although the effects are further augmented with the aid of his helmet (see below), and additionally his own Electromagnetic powers which has shown evidence of countering, dampening and even outright stopping any form of telepathy. Additionally, Magneto is possessed of a strong will, which also aids him in resisting telepathic assaults.
Abilities
Genius-level Intellect: A mastermind, Magneto is a genius within various scientific fields. He is an expert on genetic engineering and mutation, 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 aircraft and spacecraft, complex robots and computers, and magnetically-powered generators and created artificial living beings, space stations said to possess technology even Reed Richards would envy, and machines capable of nullifying mutant powers within a radius of several miles.
Military Training: Magneto is a skilled strategist and has more than a rudimentary knowledge of hand-to-hand combat.
Excellent Strategist: Magneto is an excellent strategist, both in actual battles and games of chess.
Weaknesses
Physical Condition: Magneto's 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 energy. When his powers are not at their peak, he also appears to have greater difficulty controlling forces other than magnetism. There is a possibility that Magneto simply has a genetic predisposition to magnetism that simply makes it easy for him to manipulate it. He is also susceptible to physical and mental fatigue that can ultimately affect his ability to adequately use his powers.
Paraphernalia
Equipment
Magneto's helmet is built to shield his mind from psychic probes and manipulation. The costume that Magneto wears is actually a type of armor that he has created through the use of his magnetic powers. The costume is actually an amalgam of various lightweight, but highly durable, metallic alloys that further protects him from many forms of physical injury.
Transportation
In the past, Magneto has used a number of exotic aerial vehicles of his own design. He is also fully capable of flying under his own power, which he tends to do most of the time.
Weapons
Magneto relies primarily on his natural powers, although he has occasionally used magnetically-powered devices he invented, such as his machine for inducing earthquakes and volcanic eruptions from afar. Magneto used to employ mechanisms for magnifying his own powers, but, since his rejuvenation, he no longer needs them.
Costume
After he starts his solo mission against the treats to mutantkind in Magneto Volume 3, he starts wearing a black, shoulder-less costume, with white lines, an inverted colored version of the white one he used during his tenure with Cyclops' X-Men at the New Xavier School of Mutants .
Trivia
- After Magneto was believed dead in the Genoshan holocaust, he became a popular t-shirt logo and grafitti image.
- A Jack Kirby close up image of Magneto's face was used as source material for Roy Lichtenstein's Image Duplicator (1963).
- While Magneto is part of the Jewish faith, he maintained a cover identity as a Sinte Gypsy when searching for his wife Magda. This created confusion amongst some readers as to his heritage, until it was authoritatively confirmed that he is Jewish. 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 villains 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.
- The number tattooed on Magneto's arm at Auschwitz was 214782.
- "Eisenhardt", or rather "eisenhart" means "hard as iron"; a convenient name for the Master of Magnetism.
- Despite being a teenager during the Holocaust, Magneto has the body of a man in his prime. This is due to his de-aging into an infant by Mutant Alpha and subsequent re-aging into his prime by Erik the Red, and the rejuvenation he received at the hands of the High Evolutionary.