Once a close friend of mutant mentor Charles Xavier, the genetic terrorist known as Magneto is now his deadliest foe. The self-anointed Master of Magnetism has dedicated his life to the advancement of Homo superior, even if he must bring about humanity's downfall to ensure the ascendance of mutantkind. Arguably the most powerful man on Earth, Magneto believes that mutants represent the next step in human evolution...and he's grown weary of waiting for Homo sapiens to cede control of the planet!

Real Name: Magnus

Occupation: Would-be world conqueror

Group Affiliation: None

Base of Operations: Genosha

First Appearance: X-Men (Vol. 1) #1 (1963)

Height: 6'2

Weight: 190 lbs.

Eye Color: Bluish-gray

Hair Color: Silver

Powers: Magneto is a mutant with the ability to shape and manipulate magnetic fields, both natural and artificial. Using his powers to augment his strength, he can lift up to 100 tons. Magneto also possesses minor psychic skills, such as the ability to create a mental barrier against psionic attack and read minds on a basic level.

Weapons: Occasionally, Magneto has employed magnetically powered devices of his own design, such as a machine capable of inducing earthquakes and volcanic eruptions from afar.

History:

Long before he learned of his mutant powers, Erik Magnus Lehnsherr felt the bitter sting of discrimination. He spent his youth interred at the Nazi death camp in Auschwitz, Poland, and was the only member of his family to survive the Holocaust. To Erik, this experience bluntly and irrevocably demonstrated mankind's potential for inhumanity. After World War II, Erik married Magda, a Gypsy girl he had rescued from Auschwitz. Their first child Anya was born several years later. When a mob prevented the couple from rescuing their young daughter from a fire, a helpless Erik lashed out with his fledgling mutant abilities. In a white-hot moment of rage and pain, he killed his attackers and several onlookers. A terrified Magda fled, never having revealed that she was pregnant again.

Traveling to Israel, Erik worked as a volunteer helping treat Holocaust survivors. There, he befriended Charles Xavier, a young mutant telepath; the two were forced to reveal their powers to one another while battling terrorists. Xavier held fast to his optimistic belief that Homo sapiens and Homo superior could coexist, while Erik foresaw mutants as the next minority to be persecuted for their differences. Erik desperately tried to share his friend's hope, but was unwilling to stand by, powerless, while history repeated itself. Now calling himself Magneto, Erik became determined to conquer the human race and thus prevent the oppression of his kind. Professor X�s original students, the X-Men, thwarted his initial plot: the takeover of the Cape Citadel missile base. When next they clashed, Magneto had assembled the first Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, which included the Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver. Not until years later would Magneto learn they were his children.

Rarely has Magneto hesitated to employ lethal force to enforce his agenda. Xavier remained hopeful that he could convince his old friend to set aside his extremist beliefs -- that is, until Erik forcibly extracted the adamantium implants grafted to Wolverine's skeleton. To Xavier, this act proved Magneto to be irredeemable, and he telepathically lobotomized his one-time ally.

After recuperating from the wounds inflicted by Xavier, Magneto launched perhaps his most ambitious offensive to date: Holding the planet hostage with its own magnetic field, he demanded a homeland where mutants could govern themselves, free from oppression. Ultimately, the United Nations conceded. Members reasoned that granting the Master of Magnetism sovereignty over the island of Genosha would lead him to withdraw from the world stage. Magneto had rebuilt the war-torn country as a safe haven for mutants of all nationalities when a fleet of Sentinels controlled by Cassandra Nova decimated Genosha and slaughtered its inhabitants. Magneto's body was not found amid the wreckage of the island nation.

Whatever doubts surround the Master of Magnetism, one fact is certain: Magneto is a survivor. As he lived through the Holocaust, he will return to prevent the persecution of his people. Magneto has dedicated his life to the advancement of mutantkind, even if he must bring about humanity's downfall to ensure the ascendance of Homo superior. Arguably the most powerful being on Earth, Magneto believes mutants represent the next step in human evolution, and he's grown weary of waiting for Homo sapiens to cede control of the planet.