Max Eisenhardt, (formerly Eric Magnus Lehnsherr) , is a rather complex character with quite an extensive history within the Marvel/X-Men landscape. Magneto is synonymous with X-Men and why not, he was, after all, their first and most enduring villain.
Born in Germany to a Jewish family, Max was captured by the Nazi and placed in a concentration camp along with members of his family, friends, and the girl that he would eventually marry and have children. During his internment, his powers manifested. After much hardship that taxed his resourcefulness he was able to escape and start a new life. That did not last for long as tragedy struck ending with the loss of his family. The horrors of the holocaust along with losing his wife and first child began Max’s path to Magneto. The years that followed saw Max travelling the world and keeping a low profile until he encountered a man by the name of Charles Xavier whilst in Egypt.
Charles discovered that Max was a mutant and revealed that he himself was one also. They very quickly became fast friends, discovering they share a lot in common from intellectual conversations to bar fights. They both shared a dream of a perfect world for their kind however they disagreed on the path to getting there. Magneto was essentially the Malcolm X to Xavier’s Martin Luther King Jr.
Magneto believed that mutants, being the next step in human evolution should inherit the earth. With his view that mutants need not suffer under human hatred and oppression, Magneto took a militant stance creating the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. The Brotherhood, a terrorist organisation, consisted of Mutants hand picked by Magneto and even included his twin children Pietro (Quicksilver) and Wanda Maximoff (Scarlet Witch) , whom he rescued from certain death at the hands of angry villagers and who joined him out of gratitude neither aware of their relation to the master of magnetism nor him to them (very long story).
The years have seen Magneto go through myriad changes but he always felt that human nature made Xavier’s dream of peaceful coexistence impossible.
Magneto has fought alongside the X-Men almost as much as he fought against them, even reaching as far as leading them. Recent years have seen further growth in his character. Magneto has acknowledged his errors and his sins yet although markedly less militant he remain steadfast in his ideals.
Within the incredible span of Marvel publications Magneto has displayed tremendous power and accomplished amazing feats enough to fill a book in his own right. A few of such feats and abilities are as follows:
Magneto has comprehensive control over all forms of magnetism. His control has given him the ability to affect the geology of a planet. He has been shown to move mountains and change the course of rivers.
Magneto can manipulate all forms of energy within the electromagnetic spectrum but that comes at great effort.
Magneto’s forcefield can withstand a nuclear explosion, the might of the Avengers and the depths of space.
Magneto can manipulate the trace iron in organic matter
Along with flight and electromagnetic projections, Magneto can astral project, absorb lightning and has trained himself intensely to resist telepathy.
In terms of accomplishments:
Magneto managed to get the United Nations to recognise the island of Genosha as an independent state and he as its ruler. Genosha was home to millions of Mutants all governed by Magneto.
Magneto was a member of the elite Hellfire Club alongside Sebastian Shaw, as the White King.
Magneto was devolved into a baby by Alpha and was later regrown to adulthood by Erik the Red. This is why Magneto looks as young as he does despite his actual age.
He fought against Wolverine, Rogue and Gambit whilst locked in a mental battle against Jean Grey and Professor X. During that fight he was gutted by Wolverine which resulted in him ripping the adamantium out of him. Xavier in turn wiped Magneto’s mind completely out of anger thus setting the stage for the Infamous Onslaught saga.
In a fight against Iron man during the Avengers vs X-Men story arc, Magneto hijacked Stark satalites to channel electromagnetism from Jupiter (don’t ask).
Magneto withstood a full on Nuclear attack, beat the crap out of the X-men and realigned the earth electromagnetic sphere.
As far as Magneto is concerned, this is but a mere fraction of the man presented here. He is indeed a rich and complex character never becoming ‘just’ a villain, he always represented more.
Dat Bwoi for Jackie 