View source for Magneto

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{{DOFP|Magneto/Revised Timeline|Magneto}}
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{{Character
|image = <gallery>
Magneto XMFC Textless.jpg|1962
2.jpg|2000s
Magneto - Transparent (Ian McKellen - DOFP).png|2023
</gallery>
|real name = Erik Magnus Lehnsherr
|alias = Magneto<br>{{WPS|Frankenstein's Monster}}<ref name="First Class"/>
|species = [[Mutant]] 
|gender = Male
|DOB = [[1930s#1930|1930]]
|citizenship = German
|age = 93 <small>(as of 2023)</small>
|affiliation = [[X-Men]]<br>[[Brotherhood of Mutants]]
|movie = ''[[X-Men (film)|X-Men]]''<br>''[[X2: X-Men United]]''<br>''[[X-Men: The Last Stand]]''<br>''[[X-Men: First Class]]''<br>''[[The Wolverine]]'' <small>(post-credits)</small><br>''[[X-Men: Days of Future Past]]''
|game = ''[[X-Men: The Official Game]]''
|comic = ''[[X-Men: The Movie Prequel: Magneto]]''<br>''[[X-Men: The Movie Prequel: Rogue]]''
|status = Unknown <small>(Timeline Erased)</small>
|actor = [[Ian McKellen]] <small>(''[[X-Men (film)|X-Men]]'', ''[[X2: X-Men United]]'', ''[[X-Men: The Last Stand]]'', ''[[The Wolverine]]'', ''[[X-Men: Days of Future Past]]'')</small><br>[[Michael Fassbender]] <small>(''[[X-Men: First Class]]'')</small><br>[[Brett Morris]] <small>(child; ''[[X-Men (film)|X-Men]]'')</small><br>[[Bill Milner]] <small>(child; ''[[X-Men: First Class]]'')</small>
|voice actor = [[Dwight Schultz]]}}
'''Magneto''' (born '''Erik Magnus Lehnsherr''') is a [[mutant]] with the ability to manipulate magnetic fields to his will and control metallic objects. He was a founding member of the [[X-Men]], but left the group to form the [[Brotherhood of Mutants]], which became a rival organization to the X-Men.

Magneto firmly believed that mutants should fight back against their human oppressors by any means necessary, an ideal that conflicted with the goals of his longtime close friend [[Charles Xavier]], who sought a more pacifist approach to mutant prosperity. As such, Magneto was often an adversary to the X-Men, but would team up with them when the situation called for it.

==Biography==
===''[[X-Men (film)|X-Men]]'' Prologue===
{{Quote|I've been at the mercy of men just following orders. Never again.|Magneto|X-Men: First Class}}
Erik Lehnsherr was born to a Jewish family in [[Germany]]; he states in ''X-Men: First Class'' that his parents were from Dusseldorf. In 1944, Erik is forcibly separated from his parents by Nazi SS-troops in German-occupied [[Poland]], specifically at the Auschwitz concentration camp. Under this stress, Lehnsherr's powers began to manifest. Even with four guards pulling him away, he managed to bend open a heavy metal gate separating him from his parents before being knocked unconscious by another guard.

===''[[X-Men: First Class]]''===
[[File:Fhd011XFC Bill Milner 001.jpg|left|thumb|185px|Erik and his family at the Auschwitz concentration camp.]]
{{Quote|Peace was never an option.|Magneto|X-Men: First Class}}
While at Auschwitz, he first encounters a mutant Nazi collaborator named [[Black King|Sebastian Shaw]] (under the alias Dr. Klaus Schmidt). At first Shaw treated him in a friendly fashion, offering him chocolate and asking him to simply move a Reichsmark coin. However, when Erik was unable to, Shaw counted to three and then shot and killed his [[Edie Lehnsherr|mother]] in front of him, in order to "unlock" the boy's powers through his rage; Erik's magnetism subsequently killed two SS troopers and destroyed an entire lab room in a fit of grief and rage. Pleased, Shaw then tortured and experimented on Erik for an undisclosed length of time, attempting to further expand his magnetic powers.

Following the end of World War II in 1945 and his liberation from Auschwitz, Erik attempts to find Shaw and exact vengeance, murdering other surviving Nazis connected to Shaw along the way. In 1949, Erik emigrates to America where he saw the [[Statue of Liberty]] for the first time, thinking it to be the herald of America as the land of tolerance and peace. Erik becomes disillusioned with this fictitious image of America and returns to Europe to pursue his goal of hunting down Sebastian Shaw.

In 1962, Erik travels to Switzerland, where he interrogates a Swiss banker as to the whereabouts of Sebastian Shaw. He is directed to [[Villa Gesell]], where he finds [[Pig Farmer|two Nazi]] [[Tailor|officers]] having a drink at the bar. After seeing an old photograph of Shaw with the two officers, Erik kills them and proceeds to travel to [[Miami]] to face off against Shaw.

Erik eventually tracks him down to a small yacht off the American coast. His attempt at revenge fails when he is defeated by Shaw's [[Hellfire Club]] cohorts, being no match for their mutant powers. It was at this point that he meets [[Professor X|Charles Xavier]], [[Mystique|Raven Darkholme]] and [[Moira MacTaggert]], who were present as part of a botched [[U.S. Coast Guard]] attempt to capture Shaw. Together and with [[CIA |CIA]] support, Xavier and Lehnsherr gather a team of mutant teenagers to battle the Hellfire Club, who are attempting to ignite a nuclear war between the Soviet Union and the United States as part of a plot to eradicate non-mutant life on the planet and rule over a mutant new world order.

[[File:Fassbender-magneto.jpg|left|thumb|185px|Erik helping the teens master their powers.]]
Xavier helps the teens master their powers at his mansion, including Erik. During this time, the two become close friends. However, Erik is still filled with hatred for Shaw and fears a mutant holocaust, despite Xavier's attempts to convince him to let go of his hatred. Erik also motivates Raven to become proud of her natural appearance, believing her desire to get rid of it is wrong. During a CIA mission within the Soviet Union, Erik and Xavier capture [[Emma Frost]] of the Hellfire Club, and extract information from her pertaining to Shaw's plans.

Ultimately, the team decides to jump into action to prevent the Cuban Missile Crisis from causing World War III. The Hellfire Club attempts to stop the CIA-sanctioned mutant team but is defeated. During the encounter, Erik confronts Shaw, who attempts to bring him to his side with promises of a new, mutant world order. As Shaw has better control of his power, he is initially able to force Erik into submission, but Erik tricks him into letting his guard down and removes his telepathy-resistant helmet, allowing Charles to take control of his mind and freeze him.

Erik then dons the helmet to prevent Charles from stopping him. Although he states that he agrees with Shaw's goals, but doesn't forgive him for murdering his mother or even the other innocent lives. Despite Xavier's pleads for him not to (because if he stays alive he can still cause more mayhem and destruction), Erik kills Shaw by magnetically pushing the Reichsmark coin from Auschwitz through his brain.

[[File:X-men-l-inizio-1.jpg|right|thumb|185px|Erik becomes Magneto.]]
When the United States and the Soviet Union strike up an impromptu alliance to destroy the mutants, Erik magnetically deflects the missiles, then turns them back towards the fleets. Charles asks him to be the better man, but accidentally says that the men on the ships are "just following orders" which reminds Erik of his experiences at the hands of the Nazis, provoking him to launch the missiles. Xavier tackles him and the two engage in a fist fight which distracts Erik long enough to prevent the missiles from killing those at sea. During a subsequent attempt by Moria MacTaggert to shoot Erik, one of the bullets he deflects strikes Xavier in the lower back, permanently crippling him. Horrified at what had transpired, Erik bids farewell to his close friend, departing with Mystique and the remaining Hellfire Club members with the vow of battling humankind in order to save mutants. He later frees the White Queen, declares himself "Magneto", and establishes his first Brotherhood of Mutants.

===''[[X-Men: Days of Future Past]]'' Prologue===
[[File:10366193 787557677943589 6753173467422133751 n.jpg|right|thumb|185px|Erik Lehnsherr's mugshot.]] In 1963, Magneto was accused of killing [[John F. Kennedy]] and was imprisoned by [[Trask Industries]] below the [[Pentagon]]'s centre court. On Friday, February 4, 1964, a trial was held against Lehnsherr where President Johnson noted in a closed-door meeting with the Warren Commission that their prime suspect - Lehnsherr - was in custody. His private trial began the next week. Recently declassified court records indicate that Lehnsherr could not refute being at Dealey Plaza's grassy knoll but he insisted that he did not assassinate the President. As the court ordered him to prove his mutant abilities, Lehnsherr bent a metal crowbar. It took the court five minutes to settle down. Lehnsherr told the court that he did know who killed the President and that he knows who she is and she is hiding in plain sight.

The court found Lehnsherr guilty of first-degree murder and conspiring to assassinate Kennedy. He was sentenced to two consecutive life sentences in a federal correctional facility with no possibility of parole. Throughout the 60's Lehnsherr had destroyed three holding cells until 1971 when Trask Industries built an escape proof cell that kept him imprisoned.

Unknown to the authorities, Erik had actually been trying to ''save'' Kennedy from the real assassin, as Kennedy was, in fact, secretly a mutant. Erik had been trying to deflect the bullet away, but when the police seized him they broke his concentration, causing the shot to strike Kennedy and kill him. Erik later explained this to Charles, who apologized for doubting him.

====''[[X-Men: Days of Future Past]]''====
In 1973, Magneto remained locked up in the special prison constructed for him by Trask Industries, held deep beneath the Pentagon's central courtyard, accused of the murder of [[John F. Kennedy]]. Whilst Magneto was imprisoned, his acolyte Mystique traveled to Paris and murdered Bolivar Trask, the creator of the Sentinels, who was then turned into a martyr for the anti-mutant movement. According to older Magneto, Mystique soon made contact with Erik again, who set her on the dark path.

====''[[X-Men: The Last Stand]]'' Prologue====
By 1986, Magneto was somehow able to secure his release from prison (perhaps by proving that he did not, in fact, kill JFK), and made up with Xavier. He and Xavier arrive at the Greys' home, where they meet a young Jean Grey. The powers of the little girl are beyond imagination and, while Lehnsherr wants to use them, Xavier fears them and decides to create a series of psychic barriers to restrain them. During her sessions with Professor X, Jean developed a dual personality - one being her usual self who can control her power and the other being her powerful and uninhibited side which called itself "the Phoenix" - which fully emerges 20 years later when she loses control of her powers.

Sometime later, Magneto  and Xavier fell out again, leading him to leave the school and reform the [[Brotherhood of Mutants]].

====''[[X-Men (film)|X-Men]]''====
[[File:Magneto1.jpg|thumb|185px|Magneto confronts [[Wolverine]] in the subway train.]]
{{Quote|Mankind has always feared what it doesn't understand.|Magneto|X-Men (film)}}
Years later, Magneto and Mystique are in charge of the Brotherhood of Mutants and, using a high-tech machine, attempt to mutate the world's leaders, unaware that it would cause humans to lose their molecular structure (as seen in [[Senator Kelly]]). Magneto is aware, however, that his use of the machine is potentially lethal to the user, therefore, his need for a substitute. Magneto sends Mystique to lure [[Rogue]] into capture in order to use her for his machine. Mystique shape-shifts in [[Iceman]] and convinces her to leave. Rogue does so, which eventually leads to her capture by the Brotherhood.

When warned of the dangers of the machine by [[Jean Grey]] and [[Storm]], Magneto refuses to believe them and proceeds to use the machine. However, it is destroyed by [[Wolverine]] and [[Cyclops]] before it could affect the humans on Ellis Island. Following this, Magneto is captured by the government and is locked up in a plastic prison. He plays chess with Charles as they discuss what is to come. 

====''[[X2: X-Men United]]''====
[[File:Ty (13).jpg|left|thumb|185px|Magneto in his plastic prison.]]
{{Quote|You are a god among insects. Never let anyone tell you different.|Magneto to [[Pyro]]|X2: X-Men United}}
Many months passed, Magneto is kept in his plastic prison with his own security guard, [[Mitchell Laurio]]. [[Colonel William Stryker]], while on a visit, brainwashes Magneto, forcing him to divulge information about [[Cerebro]] and the [[X-Mansion]]. Xavier pays him a visit with regards to the attack on the President, but Magneto has no answer for him. The two are incapacitated by gas, and Charles is taken by Stryker. Later on, Magneto is able to escape from prison using iron particles extracted from Laurio's bloodstream, which had been previously injected by Mystique. He proceeds to kill the other guards before finally escaping. 

After saving the X-Men from crashing the [[X-Jet]], he and Mystique form a temporary alliance with them in order to stop Stryker from killing all of the world's mutants, with Stryker using his own version of Cerebro at [[Alkali Lake]] to accomplish the task. It is here that Magneto encounters Pyro and intrigues the boy with his advice. Wolverine intends to enter the base first, but Erik points out that he cannot activate the spillway mechanism, and instead has Mystique enter the base. In order to use his version of Cerebro, Stryker uses his son [[Jason Stryker|Jason]] to manipulate Xavier (now Stryker's hostage) to kill all of the world's mutants.

[[File:MagnetoCerebro.jpg|thumb|185px|Magneto in the Cerebro chamber at Alkali Lake.]]
Magneto and the others infiltrate the underground base after Mystique disables the security. Magneto and Mystique then arrive at the Cerebro chamber, where the former opens the doors and halts Xavier's mental attack. Magneto thus saves the mutant race, but he is not content. He levitates and begins to rearrange the machine. With Cerebro reversed, Magneto has Xavier, through Mastermind, trying to kill all of the humans. He gives a short farewell to Charles and proceeds to seal the chamber once more. 

Xavier soon begins to attack all of the humans, incapacitating Stryker. Magneto comes across Stryker while the latter is suffering from Xavier's mental attack. Magneto binds Stryker to a rock, where he is presumably killed by the flood from the dam. He then leaves Alkali Lake in a helicopter, shortly after Pyro joins him. The X-Men intervene in time and prevent Magneto's re-programming from being fully carried out.

====''[[X-Men: The Last Stand]]''====
{{Quote|I have been marked once, my dear, and let me assure you, no needle shall ever touch my skin again.|Magneto to [[Callisto]]|X-Men: The Last Stand}}
In 2006, after leaving Alkali Lake, Magneto attempts to expand the Brotherhood of Mutants in order to combat the new mutant "cure" produced by [[Worthington Labs]]. He attends a mutant meeting with [[Pyro]], convincing many of the mutants present to join him. One mutant named Callisto is skeptical of him, but Magneto is impressed by her talent, and he asks to her to locate Mystique.

Magneto subsequently intercepts the convoy and makes short work of the armored vehicles. He frees Mystique and learns from her that the source of the cure is a mutant. Magneto frees other imprisoned mutants, including Juggernaut. Mystique then protects Magneto from a dart containing the cure. A dismayed Magneto finds that Mystique has been stripped of her powers, and he sadly leaves her, saying "You're not one of us anymore".

Callisto later informs Magneto of a powerful source of energy originating from a mutant. He immediately deduces it to be Jean Grey, and they set off to find her. At Jean's house, he encounters Professor X, and the two vie for Jean's loyalty. The unstable Phoenix seems to agree with Magneto's claims about Charles wanting to control her, and she lashes out with her powers. Magneto watches helplessly as Charles is lifted out of his chair and vaporized. Magneto slowly approaches Jean and convinces her to come with him. When Xavier dies at the hands of [[Phoenix]], he shows genuine grief over his death, even severely reprimanding Pyro when the latter states that he would have killed Xavier himself had Magneto asked it of him.

[[File:Erik2.jpg|left|thumb|185px|Magneto in the forest confronting Wolverine.]]
In the forest, he muses on Jean's potential. While he levitates a gun for her to demonstrate her powers, she nearly "cures" him when she aims the darts at him. Magneto reprimands her, and Jean demands to know why he wants her. Magneto replies that he wants her to be free and that they must fight for freedom. Despite this, even Callisto warns him that Jean's powers are completely unstable, although he insists that they are safe from her wrath, as they are not attempting to control her like Charles did.

While making a speech to his brethren of mutants, Wolverine infiltrates his base and attempts to talk to Jean. But before he can speak, he is hurled against a tree by Magneto, and despite Wolverine's warnings about Jean, Magneto replies that he saw what happened to Charles. Magneto also reminds Wolverine that he cannot feasibly hold Jean against her own will. Wolverine demands Jean back, but Magneto sends him flying through the forest, and he is knocked unconscious when he hits a tree.

After learning that the cure is now being utilized as an offensive weapon, he and the Brotherhood decide to attack the Worthington facility on [[Alcatraz Island]], where the cure is being manufactured using DNA from a young mutant known as [[Leech]]. Magneto's objective is to kill Leech so that the cure will not be reproduced. Magneto and his army arrive at the Golden Gate Bridge, where he uses his powers to rip the entire bridge free and transport it over to the island. Once there, Magneto dispatches all of his mutants to deal with the humans. The humans are quickly overwhelmed, until the arrival of the X-Men. The X-Men, working with the armed forces stationed on Alcatraz, defend the facility from the Brotherhood. Magneto orders Juggernaut to enter the lab and kill Leech.

[[File:Magneto cure.jpg|right|thumb|185px|Magneto after being cured.]]
Eventually, Magneto enters the battle himself. He begins to hurl abandoned vehicles from the Golden Gate Bridge, set alight by Pyro, using them as deadly projectiles. The X-Men are forced to take cover until Iceman halts one of the flaming vehicles. Magneto then sends Pyro to deal with him. During the battle, Wolverine and [[Beast]] work together to stop Magneto. Wolverine charges at Magneto, who pins him to the ground. But Beast approaches from behind and injects Magneto with the "cure", stripping him of his powers. Magneto is demoralized at the loss of his powers and becoming a human. He then warns Jean that this is what humans want for all mutants. He then withdraws from Alcatraz with the other mutants and humans when Phoenix goes on a rampage, unleashing her powers.

Some time after the attack, Magneto, now sad and deprived of his immense powers, is seen sitting in a San Francisco park, in front of a metal chess game, it is implied he used to play chess with Charles, and now he is alone, and visibly saddened by the loss of his friend. He extends his hand toward a metal chess piece and is able to move it a tiny bit, suggesting that the cure may not be permanent and/or may not have rendered him completely powerless. At some point, his powers would later manifest to their full strength once more.

====''[[The Wolverine]]''====
Having fully regained his immense mutant powers, Magneto visits Logan in an airport. He restrains Logan and solicits his help against dark forces seeking to destroy mutant-kind. Logan asks Magneto why he should trust him, but Magneto replies that he wouldn't. Charles Xavier arrives to assure Logan.

====''[[X-Men: Days of Future Past]]''====
[[File:Tumblr naup9msbvU1qjl4v6o4 r1 1280.png|right|thumb|185px|Magneto in the dystopian future.]]
{{Quote|All those years wasted fighting each other, Charles. To have a precious few of them back.|Magneto to [[Professor X]]|X-Men: Days of Future Past}}
Magneto fights alongside Charles Xavier and the rest of the mutants in the dystopian future. Erik and Charles have apparently discussed the thought of sending someone further back into the past, in order to alter the timeline. However, Xavier learns from Kitty Pryde that the mind can only be stretched so far before it snaps. Logan, however, volunteers in his place, as his mind can heal faster. Magneto is more uncertain with this than sending Charles back. When the decision is made to send Logan back in time, Magneto states that Wolverine must find his (Erik's) younger self too, much to Logan's discomfort. Curiously, Magneto does not reveal explicitly where he is being held in the past.

When Wolverine goes back in time with the help of Shadowcat, he helps free a young Erik from a zero-metal facility underneath the Pentagon alongside his possible son, [[Quicksilver]]. It is stated that Erik attempted to save John F. Kennedy from the bullet by curving it but he was stopped before he could reroute it because he was "one of them". Wolverine and young Magneto acknowledge that they are future enemies, but despite this Wolverine notes that they are somewhat similar, saying "You're a survivor".

A younger Magneto attempts to kill Mystique due to her actions ultimately creating the apocalyptic future in which the older versions of Magneto and Charles live. He is, however, thwarted in his attempt. During this incident, Wolverine's encounter with William Stryker causes his future body to violently lashes out, injuring Shadowcat, and older Magneto is forced to hold him down with his powers to prevent further injury to her.

Much later in the dystopian future, older Magneto moves to defend their hideout from the approaching Sentinels. Hovering into the air, Magneto lifts the X-Jet and propels it towards the Sentinel carriers, using his powers to activate a power core within the jet. Storm then shoots the jet with lightning. The resulting detonation destroys most of the attacking Sentinels, but it sends out debris in all directions. While Magneto is able to halt all of the metal fragments in mid-air, he is punctured by a stray piece of Sentinel. The surviving Sentinels then attack the group, and one by one begin to annihilate the mutants. Magneto uses his last ounce of strength to gather the metal fragments and barricades the monastery entrance with metal. Blink then opens a portal into the building, allowing Magneto to retreat into the sanctuary (In the ''Rogue Cut'' Magneto is taken by Kitty through the wall). The others are shocked to see him wounded, and Erik apologizes to Charles for all the useless years they spent fighting, Charles forgives him and holds his hand. He is last seen as the Sentinels break into the monastery and watches as they advance on Charles. But before Erik can be killed, the future is erased from existence.

==Personality==
{{Quote|[[Mutants|We]] are the future.|Magneto|X-Men: First Class}}
Erik has lived a troubled life, having felt mankind's cruelty not only as a mutant but also as a Jewish person. Erik was forced to watch as his people suffered under the horrors inflicted by the Nazis.<ref name="X-MenMovie">{{Cite film|X-Men}}</ref> He is filled with hatred and rage mainly against [[Sebastian Shaw]], who murdered his mother before his very eyes and forced Erik to experience horrendous tortures.<ref name="First Class">{{Cite film|X-Men: First Class}}</ref>

Magneto is absolutely devoted to the cause of protecting mutant kind, refusing to let mutants suffer a similar holocaust. Erik will protect his species at any cost, no matter how many human lives must be sacrificed.<ref name="X-MenMovie"/> His devotion to the cause and the fact that what he says about mankind is often true, many mutants have joined him over the years. He will even sacrifice his fellow mutants, if it will serve the cause, such as the pawns of the [[Brotherhood of Mutants]] and [[Mystique]].<ref>{{Cite film|X-Men: The Last Stand}}</ref> However, despite his devotion, he refused to put his life on the line unless he had no other choice and was more than willing to sacrifice mutants if it would keep him out of harm's way, forcing Rogue to take his place in a machine that would kill its user and letting the "pawns" in his Brotherhood attack Alcatraz first, the former of which Wolverine called him out on saying if he was really righteous he would carry out his plan himself instead of endangering the life of a young girl.

Magneto firmly believes that humans and mutants are not capable of co-existing, and believes mutants to be superior and the next stage in evolution. This conflicts greatly with the beliefs of Professor X, to whom Magneto frequently argues that if action isn't taken to ensure mutants' survival then a holocaust similar to that which he lived through will happen (a fate which indeed came to pass by 2023). He is not, however, above working with the X-Men when the situation calls for it despite the X-Men fighting to protect his enemies in addition to mutants, and when at death's doorstep in 2023 admits that he regrets all the years that he and Charles spent fighting each other despite their difference in goals.

Magneto is completely accepting of any and all mutants, regardless of their abilities who they are, what they have done, and their past with him (with the exception of Sebastian Shaw, who started Erik on his dark path by murdering Erik's mother in front of him and then experimenting on him).<ref name="First Class"/> Erik loves the mutant kind and will never turn away a mutant who wishes to fight for mutant freedom alongside him. In spite of this, Magneto does not seem to truly hate humanity on a fundamental level; he has had relationships with a human women, Ms. Maximoff<ref name="Days of Future Past"/> (which, unknown to him, led to the birth of his son [[Quicksilver]]). Rather, Magneto hates and fears what humanity can (and in the original timeline, does) do to mutant kind, having survived the holocaust, and he does not wish to see that happen again to his fellow mutants. He is fully aware how cruel humans can be and sees that mutants can be paralleled to the Jewish population under Nazi rule. However, he does view mutants and humans as two very distinct species and does not believe that coexistence is possible.<ref name="X-MenMovie"/><ref name="First Class"/>

Erik cared for no mutant more than he cared for Mystique, and was the first person who truly accepted her for who she was and thought her beautiful in her blue form, an acceptance she had never found in anyone prior to them meeting. Though willing to sacrifice her for the greater good, he refused to ever lie to her, and freely admitted his faults to her when Trask had obtained her blood in 1973 after he attempted to kill her. Though he also coldly abandoned her when she lost her powers after shielding him from a cure gun, he was nonetheless devastated when she lost her powers. Erik had a brotherly relationship with Charles, each of them frequently referring to each other as "old friend".

Despite their strong conflict of beliefs, Magneto deeply respected everything Charles had done for mutants and remained polite and cordial towards him in all their interactions. He was genuinely concerned when Phoenix levitated and began to destroy Charles, even pleading for Jean to stop, and was utterly horrified and grieving over the death of his former friend, as he severely scolded Pyro for expressing a willingness to kill the professor following his (temporary) death. Though initially angry at Charles in 1973 for letting countless mutants such as [[Emma Frost]] and [[Azazel]] be killed and experimented on his watch, he ultimately saw past this, as both were focused on preventing the apocalyptic future. Though bitterly devastated over the loss of his wife and daughter and willing to destroy the world while working with Apocalypse, aiding Apocalypse in capturing Charles and coldly refusing to help him, ultimately Mystique got through to him and he refused to see her and Charles suffer, acknowledging that they were practically family to him and switched sides.

Erik excels at violence and is a skilled killer; while he was more driven by pain and rage in his younger years, in the latter years (before his reconciliation with Charles in both timelines) he became more cold and calculating. He has killed dozens, possibly hundreds of men over the years. Hunting down Nazis and mutant haters had been a major part of his life. Erik isn't shy of violence, as he put [[Sebastian Shaw]] through the excruciating pain of drilling a coin through his brain and he once ripped the iron particles out of a man's blood, smiling sadistically while doing so and then taunting the corpse.<ref name="First Class"/> Lehnsherr has even go as far as to try to make Xavier use [[Dark Cerebro]] to kill every human on the planet, by extreme mental torture.<ref>{{Cite film|X2}}</ref>

Despite his violent nature, Erik is still a very sophisticated man, highly intelligent and well-read on many topics. Hence, Erik always displays a clean and proper demeanor and could be very suave, charming, and affable when he was required to be. He was always well dressed and had a love of fine wines, scotch, and classical music. He also had a love for chess, having played numerous games over the years with Charles and drew parallels between chess and the battle at Alcatraz, keeping his strongest mutant forces back while stating that "in chess, the pawns go first".

==Powers and Abilities==
{{Quote|A very powerful mutant, who believes a war is brewing between mutants and the rest of humanity.|[[Professor X]] to [[Wolverine]]|X-Men (film)}}
===Powers===
{{Quote|He could create magnetic fields and control metal.|[[Professor X]] to [[Wolverine]]|X-Men (film)}}
'''Magnetokinesis''': Magneto is an immensely powerful mutant, easily one of the greatest on the planet; thus far, only Phoenix and Apocalypse have been shown to be stronger. He is capable of generating and manipulating all forms of magnetism to achieve a variety of grandiose and devastating effects.
*'''Metal Manipulation''': At a low level, Magneto can effortlessly launch pieces of metal like bullets, alter projectile trajectories of bullets, and even manipulate the standard mechanics of tool. For grander feats, he can easily lift, immobilizing, and crumble giant structures like. His precision with this power also allows him to launch countless projectiles in rapid succession and maintain the structural integrity of his targets. Likewise, he is able to perform several feats at once, despite the amount of concentration required. He can also forcibly extract the metal within a person's body if there is a sufficient amount to be manipulated.
*'''Flight''': [[File:65f7.jpg|thumb|250px|Magneto flying on magnetic fields]]Magneto can fly by gliding on the magnetic fields he creates, or by having metal on him and moving with it. Alternatively, he can also draw himself to metal, as he did board a moving train.
{{Quote|I know the smell of your [[adamantium]] from a mile away.|Magneto to [[Wolverine]]|X-Men: The Last Stand}}
*'''Metal Sense''': Magneto is able to sense the presence of metals in his environment, as they are crucial for the effective use of his powers. Even with [[Wolverine]]'s impressive stealth skills, Magneto was able to easily detect Wolverine's adamantium skeleton from a great distance away.

===Abilities===
*'''Genius-Level Intellect''': Magneto is extremely intelligent (on par with [[Professor X]]), with him excelling in the construction of machinery, notably helping Professor X construct [[Cerebro]], and later successfully utilizing [[Dark Cerebro]]). He is generally a very sophisticated man, well-read on many topics. He is also a highly skilled chess player.
**'''Master Tactician''': Magneto is an excellent strategist, tactician, and leader, having successfully tracked down and killed multiple former Nazis on his own (even managing to locate [[Sebastian Shaw]]), originally helping [[Professor X]] lead [[Division X]], and later successfully leading his [[Brotherhood of Mutants]] (which once included the [[Omegas]]) against Charles' [[X-Men]] on many occasions.
**'''Master Engineer''': Magneto was able to create the [[Mutant Conversion Machine]], a very complex device capable of altering human DNA.
**'''Multilingualism''': Magneto is fluent in at least six languages - his native German and Hebrew, as well as English, French, Polish, and Spanish. Having lived in the United States for more than a decade, he can speak English without a German accent.
*'''Skilled Marksman''': Though he prefers to ferrokinetically control firearms, Magneto is a competent marksman. He used a pistol to execute the [[Pig Farmer]].

==Equipment==
*'''[[Magneto's Helmet|Helmet]]''': Magneto's helmet protects him from psychic attacks, as it is able to completely negate the telepathic abilities. However, this also prevents him from making telepathic communication. It has also been shown to be bulletproof, as the bullet [[Moira MacTaggert]] shot did no damage to Magneto's body.
* '''[[Magneto's Costume|Costume]]''': When going into the field, Magneto donned a uniform that included gloves, boots, and a cloak.
==Relationships==
===Family===
*[[Edie Lehnsherr]] † - Mother
*[[Jakob Lehnsherr]] † - Father
*[[Ms. Maximoff]] - Former Lover
*[[Quicksilver]] - Son

===Allies===
*[[Darwin]] † - Former Student and Former Teammate
*[[Brotherhood of Mutants]] - Former Teammates
**[[Angel Salvadore]] † - Former Student and Former Enemy
**[[Azazel]] † - Former Enemy
**[[Emma Frost]] † - Former Enemy
**[[Riptide]] - Former Enemy
**[[Juggernaut]]
**[[Multiple Man]]
**[[Pyro]] †
**[[Sabretooth]] †
**[[Toad]] †
**[[Omegas]]
***[[Anole]]
***[[Arclight]] †
***[[Ash]]
***[[Callisto]] †
***[[Glob Herman]]
***[[Phat]] †
***[[Psylocke]] †
***[[Quill]] †
***[[Spike]] †
***[[Starfish]] †

*[[X-Men]] - Former Teammates
**[[Professor X]] † - Former Archenemy and Best Friend
**[[Rogue]] - Former Kidnapped Victim and Rescuee 
**[[Cyclops]] † - Former Enemy
**[[Wolverine]] † - Former Enemy
**[[Storm]] † - Former Enemy
**[[Free Mutants]]
***[[Bishop]] †
***[[Blink]] †
***[[Colossus]] †
***[[Iceman]] †
***[[Shadowcat]] † 
***[[Sunspot]] †
***[[Warpath]] †

*[[Nightcrawler]]

====Enemies====
*[[X-Men]]
**[[Banshee]] † - Former Student and Former Teammate turned Enemy
**[[Havok]] - Former Student and Former Teammate turned Enemy
**[[Beast]] † - Former Teammate turned Enemy
**[[Jean Grey]] † - Former Teammate turned Enemy
**[[Angel]] † 
*[[Moira MacTaggert]] - Former Teammate turned Enemy and Attempted Victim
*[[Mystique]] - Former Student, Former Teammate, and Former Lover turned Enemy
*[[Sebastian Shaw]] † - Torturer, and Victim
*[[Senator Kelly]] † - Victim
*[[Henry Gyrich]] † 
*[[Jason Stryker]] † 
*[[Kavita Rao]] † 
*[[Lady Deathstrike]] † 
*[[Leech]] 
*[[Sentinels]] 
*[[Swiss Bank Manager]]
*[[Warren Worthington II]]
*[[William Stryker]] † 
*[[Marcus Lyman]] †

==Trivia==
*In the Marvel comics continuity, Magneto's birth name is '''Max Eisenhardt'''. At the time of the first movie's development, the Erik Lehnsherr name was being used to give the character a Romani heritage, to avoid "demonizing" Jewish Holocaust survivor community. Marvel editors later changed their minds and claimed the character used the name merely as a cover identity.
*David Hemblen, Christopher Lee and Terence Stamp were considered for the role of Magneto in ''[[X-Men (film)|X-Men]]''. Hemblen was previously the voice of Magneto on ''X-Men: The Animated Series''.
*The number tattooed on Magneto's arm from the Nazi concentration camp is '''214782'''. The tattoo was originally seen in [[w:c:marvel:Uncanny_X-Men_Vol_1_150|''Uncanny X-Men'' #150]], written by [[Chris Claremont]] and drawn by Dave Cockrum in 1981. After the release of the [[Bryan Singer]] films, which put greater emphasis on Magneto's heritage and motivation stemming from his experiences at the camps, Claremont decided to retcon the number in 2004. It was changed to '''24005''', a more historically accurate number that would have been used on the first group of Jews to be tattooed at Auschwitz. 24005 made its debut in [[w:c:marvel:Excalibur_Vol_3_2|''Excalibur'' #2]]. Interestingly, other new elements from comics introduced after the Singer films, such as Wolverine's fully revealed origin and the character of [[Azazel]], were introduced into the movies almost immediately.
*Ian McKellen was initially reluctant to accept the role of Magneto, but was convinced to accept it when he saw the costume.
*In the comics, Xavier and Magneto chose different paths after a fight with Wolfgang Von Strucker, in which Xavier prevents Magneto from killing Strucker. In the movie, Strucker is replaced by Sebastian Shaw as Wolfgang Von Strucker's film rights belong to Marvel Studios.
*The introductory flashback scene of ''X-Men: The Last Stand'' with a young Jean Grey, is challenged by the events of the prequel ''X-Men: First Class'', where Xavier and Magneto have only one adventure together in the '60s as young adults before their paths diverge immediately after it. The flashback scene seemed to suggest that the two were colleagues well into the '80s, discovering and recruiting mutants; this is hard to fit in any of the two timelines and can be explained only by assuming that the two men had reconciled for the short time between, before becoming enemies again.
*The scene in ''X-Men: The Last Stand'' in which Magneto lifts the Golden Gate Bridge and uses it as a vessel for his Brotherhood is taken directly from the comics.
*Magneto was supposed to have a beard in ''X-Men: The Last Stand'' but this idea was quickly dismissed. However, on the DVD, there is a deleted scene where Pyro tells Magneto about the cure announcement. There are two versions of this scene. One is the "bearded" version and one is the shaven version.
*Following the announcement of ''X-Men Origins: Wolverine'' beginning production, a solo film with Magneto as its central character was proposed; titled ''X-Men Origins: Magneto'', and would have focused on a young Erik being liberated from a Nazi concentration camp by an Allied soldier named Charles Xavier. However, due to the poor reviews for ''Origins: Wolverine'', coupled with the Writer's Guild of America strike, the project was put on indefinite hiatus until most of the working script was amalgamated into Matthew Vaughn's 2011 prequel to the main series films, titled ''X-Men: First Class''.

==Behind the Scenes==
*[[Marcello Bezina]] was a stunt double for [[Ian McKellen]] in the role of Magneto.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*{{Marvel}}
*{{WP|Magneto (comics)|Magneto}}

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{{Navbox Brotherhood of Mutants}}

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