Charles Xavier

"It’s the greatest gift we have. To bear their pain without breaking. And it comes from the most human part: Hope."

―Charles Xavier ^[src]

Charles Francis Xavier (born 1932), also known as Professor X, is a mutant who possesses strong telepathy and arguably the most powerful mind on Earth. His abilities allow him to read the thoughts of others, impose his own will to take over other people's minds or erase their memories and appear as an image in the mind of others. Xavier dedicated his life to fighting for peaceful co-existence between man and mutantkind. To aid in this crusade, he founded a school for gifted youngsters to secretly train young mutants to control their amazing powers. Xavier has used his special abilities to lead his clandestine team of X-Men into battle against Erik Lehnsherr and his brotherhood of evil mutants and against the ancient all powerful mutant Apocalypse.

Biography

X-Men: First Class

"There's so much more to you than you know, not just pain and anger. There's good in you too, and you can harness all that. You have a power that no one can match, not even me."

―Charles Xavier ^[src]

Charles was born into a wealthy family, but apparently had a strained relationship with his parents, particularly his mother. However, it's implied his parents took him to see the classic Western Shane in theaters. At the age of nine, Charles began to believe that he was going insane when his telepathy became active, it was not until the age of twelve that he discovered that he could in actuality read other people's minds. As a child, Charles met a shape-shifting girl named Raven, who had broken into his family's mansion posing as his mother and was scrounging for food. Overjoyed to meet someone else "different" like him, he invited her to live with his family as his adopted sister. A natural genius, Charles completed high school at sixteen. He attended Oxford University (accompanied by Raven, now his foster sister), earning PhD.s in Genetics, Biophysics, and Psychology. After completing his thesis on genetic mutation, he was approached by Agent Moira MacTaggert of the CIA for his help to stop a mutant named Sebastian Shaw, who was working with the Soviet Union. MacTaggert introduced him and Raven to the CIA, where they proved to her chief that mutants exist and Shaw was a threat. The chief refused to employ the help of the mutants, but the "Man in Black" offered to sponsor them.

Charles accompanied MacTaggert, Man in Black and a US Coast Guard assault team to arrest Shaw on his yacht. During the attack, his telepathy was blocked by Emma Frost. They also encountered Erik Lehnsherr, who was launching his own solo attack on Shaw at the time. When Shaw escaped in a submarine, Xavier prevented Lehnsherr from drowning in an attempt to stop it and brought him to the CIA's secret "Division X" facility. There they met young scientist Hank McCoy, a prehensile-footed mutant with enhanced intelligence, whom Xavier identified as a mutant. He then used a mutant-locating device designed by McCoy called Cerebro to find and recruit mutants for training to stop Shaw. Refusing CIA help, he and Lensherr traveled the world, discovering various mutants: exotic dancer Angel Salvadore; taxi driver Armando Muñoz; Army prisoner Alex Summers; and the young Sean Cassidy. They also approached Canadian mercenary Logan, but he immediately rebuffed them.

Lehnsherr and Xavier left with the CIA to find and capture Shaw, who was supposed to be meeting with a Soviet general. Soon after arrival they discovered that Frost had attended the meeting in his place, and Xavier and Lehnsherr captured her instead. Interrogating her led to the revelation that Shaw intended to spark a third world war to wipe out humanity, leaving mutants as the dominant species. Meanwhile, the other Hellfire Club mutants attacked Division X, turning Angel to their cause and killing Armando in the process. With the facility destroyed, Xavier relocated the mutants to train at his family mansion. During their stay there, Xavier applied his telepathy to help Lensherr reach new heights of his magnetic ability.

After Pres. Kennedy's address announcing the presence of Soviet missiles in Cuba, Xavier's new team were soon called to action when Shaw engineered a stand-off between amassed United States and Soviet navel forces, that saw a soviet freighter forcibly commandeered by the Hellfire Club attempting to run the American blockade. Xavier telepathically searched the Soviet fleet in an attempt to locate Shaw, but found himself unable to thanks to a helmet that Shaw had devised to block all telepathic contact. Xavier then took mental control of a Soviet officer and had the man destroy the freighter, thus averting a nuclear catastrophe.

When Sean Cassidy volunteered to employ his sound generation power to act as a sonar, Xavier telepathically monitored the boy's progress and was able to then guide the X-Jet to Shaw's submarine where Lehnsherr could pull it clear of the water. The submarine and the X-Jet both crashed shortly after, bringing both teams into direct conflict with each other. Xavier stayed with the jet and continued his search for Shaw by linking with Lehnsherr who ventured into the stricken submarine alone. After Lensherr found and killed Shaw, Xavier found his attention turned to the new threat of the two navel fleets with crews who were rapidly becoming fearful of the mutants. The ships launched a combined missile strike against the mutants, which Lehnsherr quickly turned back on them. Xavier kept him from destroying the ships, but when MacTaggert fired a gun at Lehnsherr, a deflected bullet hit Xavier in the spine. A remorseful Erik left with Mystique, Angel, and Shaw's enforcers Riptide and Azazel.

Later, a wheelchair-bound Xavier returned to the mansion where MacTaggert promised never to reveal his location. They kissed, whereupon Xavier wiped her memory of the events. He soon after founded Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters and ran from his family's Westchester mansion, which had been converted into a base of operations at which he trained mutants for his personal strike force known as the X-Men. The base included subterranean medical labs, a training facility called "The Danger Room", an aircraft hanger, and Cerebro.

X-Men: Days of Future Past

After the deaths of Banshee, Angel, Azazel and Emma Frost, and many of the mutant teachers and students being drafted into the military, Xavier shut down the school with only Hank at his side. Hank created a serum in order to control his beast form while Xavier used it to help him walk again with the side effect of stopping his powers all together.

Original Timeline

X-Men: Days of Future Past

Charles didn't know what Mystique was planning on doing so never intervened, staying a recluse in the X-Mansion with Hank while Mystique killed Trask and spurred the Sentinel Program.

20 Years before X-Men: The Last Stand

Xavier and Magneto traveled together to a young Jean Grey's house and invited her to join Xavier's school.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine

Xavier guided a group of young mutants including a young Scott Summers from the Weapon X facility at Three Mile Island after being freed by Wolverine. Xavier gave Summers directions telepathically, which led the mutants outside where Xavier waited. He then escorted the mutants back to his school in a helicopter.

X-Men

"Mutation: it is the key to our evolution. It has enabled us to evolve from a single-celled organism into the dominant species on the planet. This process is slow, and normally taking thousands and thousands of years. But every few hundred millennia, evolution leaps forward."

―Charles Xavier ^[src]

Years later, Xavier successfully created the X-Men. He sent Ororo Munroe and Scott Summers to rescue Wolverine and Rogue from Sabretooth. Xavier believed that the attack had been ordered by Magneto and that Wolverine had been the intended target.

He gave Wolverine and Rogue a home in the institute and promised to help Wolverine remember his past if he was allowed forty-eight hours to discover why Magneto wanted Wolverine.

Xavier used Cerebro to locate Rogue when she ran away, finding her in a train station. Magneto attacked the train station along with his Brotherhood and came after Rogue. When Rogue was captured by Magneto, police came out and pointed guns at him. He lifted up the police cars and pointed all their guns at each of them at the same time. Xavier was able to control both Sabretooth and Toad at the same time and speak through them, in an attempt to talk Magneto out of his plans against humans. Mystique arrived in a helicopter and they escaped along with the girl.

Xavier tried to find Rogue but was poisoned when he used Cerebro (as Mystique had tampered with it) putting Xavier in an unconscious state.

Xavier recovered after Rogue was rescued and advised Wolverine to search Alkali Lake for answers to his past.

Xavier visited Magneto in his plastic prison after he was captured playing chess. Magneto told him that there was a war coming and he intended to fight it. Charles told him that he will always be there to stop him.

X2: X-Men United: The Movie Prequel: Wolverine

Shortly after stopping Magneto and the Brotherhood and saving Rouge; Xavier called Logan in his office. Keeping his promise of helping Wolverine piece together his past Xavier showed Logan an abandoned military facility near Alkali Lake where he told him that he might be able to find traces of his past at the facility. Logan proceeded to thank Xavier and before leaving the two wished each other the best. After Logan left Xavier pondered if he had done the right thing.

X2: X-Men United

"Mutants. Since the discovery of their existence they have been regarded with fear, suspicion, often hatred. Across the planet, debate rages. Are mutants the next link in the evolutionary chain or simply a new species of humanity fighting for their share of the world? Either way it is a historical fact: Sharing the world has never been humanity's defining attribute."

―Charles Xavier ^[src]

Upon learning that the mutant Nightcrawler attacked the President of the United States, Xavier sent Storm and Jean to bring the mutant in for questioning. Later Xavier and Scott left to visit Magneto as he was suspected to be behind the attack, leaving Wolverine in charge of the school.

In Magneto's cell, Xavier learned that Magneto was brainwashed by William Stryker and forced to tell Stryker all about the institute and Cerebro. Before he could escape, Xavier was knocked out as well as Scott.

Xavier woke up in Stryker's underground test facility in Alkali Lake, tied to a chair and fixed to a device that restricted his mental powers. He was left in the room with Jason Stryker, William's son and a powerful illusionist who Xavier previously taught. Now brainwashed by his father, Jason trapped Xavier into various illusions, keeping him in one where Xavier was back at the institute and Jason was portrayed as a scared little girl. To comfort the "girl" and find his students, Xavier went to use Cerebro. In reality however Xavier was really being used to power a makeshift Cerebro that Stryker created. When his powers were magnified by Cerebro, Xavier could locate every mutant in the world. If he concentrated hard enough, he could kill all mutants or humans and possibly everyone in the world.

Under Jason's illusion, Xavier was tricked into concentrating on all of the world's mutants, nearly killing them. However just before he could succeed Magneto stops him. However instead of freeing Charles Erik then had Charles switch to attacking all of the world's humans after Magneto - immune to the assault thanks to his helmet - confronted and threatened Jason. Nightcrawler and Storm fortunately rescued Xavier from the illusion. Escaping on to the X-Jet they are unable to take off however and as the Dam breaks apart the group is at risk of drowning however Jean at the last minute leaves the jet and using her powers lifts the Jet into the air allowing the others to escape but seemingly at the cost of Jeans life much to the grief and sorrow of everyone specifically Logan, Xavier, and Scott. Charles soon after had them all fly to Washington, to warn the President against the possibility of a mutant/human war if they don’t stop fighting each other and revealing William Strykers crimes.

X-Men: The Last Stand

"Since the dawn of existence, there have always been moments when the course of history shifted. Such a turning point is upon us now. The conflict between the better and worst angels of our very nature, whose outcome will change our world so greatly, there will be no going back. I do not know if victory is possible. I only know that great sacrifice will be required. And because the fate of many will depend on a few, we must make the last stand."

―Charles Xavier ^[src]

Xavier expressed worry over Scott's grief over Jean's death and told Storm that should anything happen to him, she was to replace him as head of the school much to Ororo’s shock.

When Jean was discovered alive, Xavier sedated her and told Wolverine that he had kept her powers in check with mental barriers since she was a child, resulting in her developing a second personality known as "The Phoenix". When Jean awakened as The Phoenix and escaped, Xavier tracked her down to her old home and tried to convince her to return. However he is met by Magneto with four members of the Brotherhood.

Rather than risk starting a fight outside her house, Xavier let Magneto come with him. Xavier tried to calmly talk Jean into returning to the mansion, but Magneto turned the unstable Jean against the Professor. This caused Xavier to panic and speak to Jean in a less calm manner, now flatly telling her that she's a danger to everyone, including herself. He used the fact that Jean killed Scott to try to bring her back to herself, but it had the exact opposite effect he was hoping for, further angering both the Phoenix and Jean instead of stunning her into realizing her evil potential. After much argument, the Phoenix manifested its great powers as she tried to keep Xavier from re-establishing the psychic blocks to imprison it again. Infuriated both by Xavier's meddling in her head and Magneto, who insinuated that Xavier wished to restrain her and "give her the cure", she used her mind to first lift her house into the air and then caused Xavier to explode into ash his last words to Jean encouraging her to fight back against the dark entity inside her and to not let it control her. His death caused a great impact on the residents of the institute and it was nearly closed until Storm decided to honor Xavier's wishes and act as its head following the arrival of Angel.

Xavier survived however and spoke to Moira McTaggert through the body of a comatose man, implying that his consciousness survived by transferring itself into the body, an action that Xavier had discussed as part of an ethics class, the question being if it would be ethically right for a mutant like himself to attempt such a transference.

The Wolverine

"As I told you a long time ago, you're not the only one with gifts."

―Charles to Logan^[src]

Some years later, Magneto sought out Logan and explained that something was wrong and that he needed his help, although Logan doesn't believe him. Magneto knew Wolverine wouldn't trust him so brought a friend. Everyone around them froze and Professor Xavier revealed himself; alive and well, and recruited Logan to aid in a threat that required the reformation of the X-Men.

X-Men: Days of Future Past

"I was a very different man. Lead me, guide me, be patient with me."

―Charles Xavier ^[src]

Come 2023, ten years into the future, the powerful robot Sentinels rule over the Earth; exterminating Mutants. On the edge of absolute extinction and close to losing the war, Xavier alongside with Magneto, Storm, and Wolverine, met up with their former students Kitty Pryde, Iceman, and Colossus, along with some fellow mutant survivors; Bishop, Blink, Sunspot and Warpath in China. After seeing mutants all over the world being hunted down, Xavier told Kitty Pryde his plan to have her send him back in time to 1973 so that he could stop Raven from murdering Bolivar Trask, and in essence, stop the war before it ever began. Kitty however explained to him that his mind would be destroyed from being sent so far back. Logan then volunteered to be sent back as his mind can heal from the experience. Xavier, Magneto and Iceman stayed with Logan as Kitty Pryde sent him into the future. Sometime during this, Logan saw Stryker and, in his rage, accidentally stabbed Kitty. Iceman demanded to let her rest but Magneto said that he needed more time in the past in order to change it so she continued. Professor X during this met his younger self who had given up on the possibility of any co-existence between Mutants and humans and told the younger Xavier that their greatest gift is to bear the pain of those who suffer and that it comes from the most human power: the ability to hope. Xavier told his younger self that he needs to hope again. After this, the Sentinels attacked. The X-Men tried to hold them off but to little success as they are all slaughtered one by one. The Sentinels broke through and were about to kill Charles when the timeline changed due to his younger self having successfully talked Raven out of killing Trask.

New Timeline

X-Men: Days of Future Past

"I don't want your suffering; I don't want your future!"

―Charles Xavier to Logan^[src]

Logan found Xavier in his depressed state and convinced him and Hank of the future. They found Quicksilver and tried to convince him to help them break Magneto out of prison. He accepted in order to say that he was able to break into the Pentagon. During the breakout, Xavier tried to convince guards to let them through as special services, however Logan beat them up instead. They met up with Magneto and Quicksilver and as they were escaping, they were surrounded by guards. Magneto was about to attack but Quicksilver took them all down. Xavier let Quicksilver borrow his car while they go to Paris so long as he "doesn't go too fast."

During the trip, Charles and Erik fought over them abandoning each other. He found out, however, that Erik was trying to save John F. Kennedy as he was a mutant. They arrived in Paris and Charles stopped Raven from killing Trask, however, Magneto tried to kill her. Charles sent Hank to stop him then helped Logan, who suddenly snapped back in time after seeing Stryker again. After the incident, they returned to New York and Xavier finally stopped taking the Serum and used Cerebro. However, he wasn't strong enough and the machine broke. While Hank went to fix it, Xavier used Logan's mind to talk to his future self who gave him hope to retry. On this attempt he found Mystique and communicated with her to try to stop her but to no success. He did find out that she was heading to DC, where the President would unveil the new Sentinels.

Xavier, along with Hank and Wolverine, arrived at the Sentinel unveiling. Charles searched through the minds of everyone as he found Mystique who was disguised as a secret service man. He stopped her just as she was about to pull out a gun. Then Magneto attacked and Mystique went with President Nixon and his men to a bomb shelter in the White House. Charles became trapped in some rubble for most of the battle but once Mystique knocked off Magneto's helmet, Charles controlled him and used him to lift the rubble off of his legs. Charles then convinced Raven not to shoot Trask and they all walked away having changed the future.

X-Men: Apocalypse

"I've never felt power like this before..."

―Charles Xavier^[src]

In 1983, ten years after the events in Washington Charles has reopened the school taking in students such as Jean Grey, and Jubilation Lee. Charles meets Alex Summers again and is introduced to his younger brother, Scott Summers. Charles and Hank teach Scott how to control his optic blasts. When Scott destroys Charles' favorite tree, he asks if he will be expelled. Charles however says that he is already accepted.

At night Charles senses something is wrong when En Sabah Nur is awakened. He goes into Jean Grey's room as she is frightened and sees destruction when he looks into her head however he pushes past it. Jean tells him she fears her powers are growing stronger and that she is going to hurt someone but Charles tells her that while her powers are great she will be able to control the, and comforts her by telling her that after that she will have nothing to fear.

Using Cerebro; Charles and Hank discover Moira in Cairo having just escaped from En Sabah Nurs tomb. Discovering Moira has important information Charles decides to go to Washington the next day.

Charles and Alex later meet Moira MacTaggert, whom Charles is clearly still in love with. MacTaggert tells them about the investigation of En Sabah Nur ( who is widely believed to be the first and most powerful mutant), his Horsemen, and his whereabouts.

Returning to the Mansion with Moira, Charles reunites with Raven. The two discuss and being to debate how Mutants are being treated. While Charles believes that things have improved significantly and that the world has excepted their kind Raven believes that humans still hate and fear Mutants and suggest Charles teach his students how to fight if they are to have a chance to make it in society. A saddened Charles points out that she still sounds just like Erik. Raven then reveals that’s why she is there as he has resurfaced and tells Charles about the death of Erik’s family.

Charles brings Hank, Raven, Alex, and Moira to Cerebro so they can locate Erik. Charles communicates with Erik, whom has become Magneto again. Charles gives his condolences to Erik and tries to convince him to come back so they can help him however Magneto has become a horseman of Apocalypse along with Angel, Psylocke and Storm. Apocalypse sees an opportunity to link with Charles' mind and connects into Cerebro and taking over Charles mind in the process, using it to launch all the world's nukes into space so no one can stop him. Charles is overwhelmed by Apocalypse's power and tells Alex to destroy Cerebro, which he does. Magneto abducts an unconscious Charles while Alex in a desperate attempt to save him releases a blast that causes a powerful explosion. Everyone is saved from the explosion by Quicksilver but Alex's body is never found.

Bringing Xavier to Cairo,Egypt ; Apocalypse uses his powers to amplify Xavier’s telepathic abilities and to deliver a message to the world that the strong will rule. Xavier however uses this opportunity to give Jean a hidden message with his location.

Apocalypse planned on transferring his consciousness into Charles so that he could control the world. During the ritual for Apocalypse to transfer his consciousness, Charles loses his hair however. When the X-Men arrive in Egypt,they manages to save Charles however Apocalyspe begins to brutally beat and torture Mystique and Quicksilver threatning to kill them unless Charles reveals himself. Fortunately Charles remembers that he is still psychically connected to Apocalyspe and uses his link to Apocalypse's mind to attack him. However while Xavier briefly gains the upper hand he is quickly overwhelmed. When Magneto and Storm turn on Apocalypse, Charles is able to get Jean's help. With everyone's combined effort, Apocalypse is slowly weakened while Jean's Phoenix Force destroys him.

In the aftermath, Charles restores Moira's memories. Erik and Jean help reconstruct Xavier's Mansion. Erik turns down an offer to teach at the school by Charles. Charles then watches Raven and Hank now the field leaders train the new recruits of X-Men consisting of Cyclops, Jean Grey, Nightcrawler, and Quicksilver for the battles ahead.

Dark Phoenix

In the years following Apocalypse's defeat, the X-Men have been recognized as national heroes, much to Xavier's pride.

Deadpool

By 2016, the X-Men were as prolific as ever, with Colossus and Negasonic Teenage Warhead among the ranks. Although not appearing on screen, when Colossus intervenes and attempts to detain Deadpool's reckless antics on the freeway, and mentions taking him to see Xavier. Wade inquires whether it's James McAvoy's or Patrick Stewart's version of him, considering the convoluted continuity of the films.

Deadpool 2

Charles was in a meeting with Hank, Scott, Ororo, Peter, and Kurt when Deadpool was complaing that the studio wouldn’t lend them any of the famous X-Men. Before he could notice them Hank quietly shut the door to the room they were in.

X-Men: Days of Future Past

In the future, following the events that occurred in 1973, 1983, 1992, Charles had once again found all his students, and eventually re-encountered Logan, who initially had no memories of their meeting in 1973. However, in the 2020s, the consciousness of Logan from the original timeline merged with that of his current-self, and when he came to Charles' office, Charles told him he was supposed to be teaching history class. Logan remarked needing help "remembering everything after 1973", Xavier recognized him as the same Wolverine who'd come to him from the future. He proceeds to ask Logan the last thing he remembered from that point, to which after, he explains to Logan all that happened in the new timeline.

Logan Timeline

Logan

"What a disappointment you've become. When I found you, you were pursuing a career as a cage fighter. A warm capper to a life as an assassin. You were little more than an animal. But we took you in. Me, Jean, Scott, Ororo. I gave you a family. "

―Charles Xavier^[src]

In another alternate future, as Xavier got older, he began to lose control of his powers due to his age and in a seizure induced psychic attack, Xavier accidentally killed many of the X-Men. Scared, the survivors disbanded and left, leaving only Logan to care for Charles. In 2029, Charles lives in a dome at an abandoned smelting plant to contain his powers. He is cared for by Logan and Caliban and they live on the Mexican border. As the degenerative disease leaves him disoriented and will result in psychic seizures if untreated, Logan has resorted to buying specialized medication to supress his erratic powers in order to prevent the attacks. Despite this, Charles is lucid enough to resent and disapprove of this current situation, and unable to remember his accidental murder of his students, believes Logan is angry at him and is waiting for him to die.

Logan reluctantly accepts a job to take Laura, (who’s unbeknownst to him is his clone and biological daughter), and Gabriela (Lauras caretaker) to Eden, a haven for mutants on the Canadian border. However, Donald Pierce murders Gabriela and locates the smelting plant. Pierce is knocked out by Laura and taken to the middle of nowhere by Caliban but Caliban is held at gunpoint by Pierce when he wakes up and is taken hostage by the Reavers. The Reavers locate Logan, Charles, and Laura. After and intense battle the trio manages to escape. Later at a gas station Logan and Charles watch a video on Gabrielas phone which reveals that the company known as Transigen was breeding mutants from the DNA of other Mutants to make soldiers however the children rebelled and Gabriela along with several other nurses helped them escape.

While staying at a hotel in Oklahoma City, Charles watches the classic Western "Shane". He tells Laura that he saw the movie when he was her age. While Logan is out securing them a ride The Reavers arrive and Charles has amother seizure just as the Reavers were about to attack them at the hotel. Logan kills the Reavers while they are frozen and with the help of Laura gives Charles his medicine so the seizure stops. They then escape. While driving they meet farmer Will Munson, his son Nate Munson, and his wife Kathryn Munson.Seeing that they are having trouble with their horses Xavier uses his powers to guide the horses safely back into their pen. The Munson’s then offer the group dinner and a place to spend the night. While at dinner Charles and Logan fondly recall their time at the Xaviers School for Gifted Youngster with Charles humorously saying Logan was a terrible student. As Logan helps Charles to bed Charles reminds Logan that this is what it feels like to have a home, a family, and being surrounded by people who love and care for each other. Logan then revealed that Eden is a fictional place that the nurse got from one of the X-Men Comic Books only for Charles to point out that it was real enough for Laura. Logan then left to help Will Munson with a busted pipe

While sleeping Charles is awoken by Logans clone X-24 who goes into his room. Mistaking him for Logan, he tells X-24 that this was the first time in a while he had been happy and that it was what normal life looked like. Charles then began to remember the Westchester Incident and tearfully claimed that he did not deserve any of this. Tragically, X-24 kills Charles while he is laying in bed, stabbing him through the chest with his claws. Logan despite his best attempts is unable to save Charles who dies in the back of the pick up truck. His last words being “ Our boat... the sun seeker”. Logan later buried Charles near a lake.

Character traits

Charles is a moral, selfless and benevolent teacher and a great leader by all accounts. He possessed immense strength of character, and viewed in an almost messaic way by any who knew him well enough.

As a young man, Charles was a fully-fledged genius - he graduated from the most accomplished college in the area and possessed multiple doctorates to such an extent that he achieved the title of professor. He was exceptionally learned in the fields of biology, psychology, chemistry, physics and even the subject of mutation itself. In spite of his idyllic upbringing and alleged genius, Charles was also extremely empathetic and compassionate to a fault - on the very night he first met Mystique, he took her in and treated her as a sister - and, in all honesty, his only friend. He did not see her as a freak of nature, but simply as "special". Charles's compassion made him firmly reluctant to kill another living being if he could possibly avoid it, let alone commit genocide. He was so compassionate that he risked his own life to rescue Erik Lensherr from drowning.

In spite of all his compassion, Charles was capable of being arrogant, callous and very naive in his youth - he modelled most human beings on those he liked, example Moira McTaggert whom he had strong romantic feelings for and was also not entirely capable of understanding why the likes of Mystique would be uneasy about humans, as his mutation is not physical but rather mental and consequently he had never been considered a freak - in stark contrast to Mystique, who has spent her entire life trying to hide her true physical appearance. He also promised her that he wouldn't read her mind, but later admits to have done so afterwards. However, in spite of his arrogance, he is very aware of his extremes, and because of this he is capable of repenting from this and it even makes him more ethical. He thus understands that Erik wants intensely to kill Sebastian Shaw, but also tries to persuade him that taking revenge will not bring him happiness.

As an older man, Charles was significantly wiser and more benevolent than he was in his youth. He was a famed and prolific teacher and mentor to hundreds of young mutants, to whom he personally approached to bring them to his school. Charles was a very calm and relaxed man, hardly ever known to lose his temper with others, not even his enemies. He was completely willing to help other humans and mutants in finding what they wanted, or to solve their insecurities, as shown prominently with Wolverine. Charles was not at all afraid of admitting his faults, and confessed that he was looking for some form of hope for his species. However, he disliked the idea of the Cure because he was aware humankind, knowing it would end the apparently terrifying existence of mutants, would force it on mutantkind in the end. Charles was also not an undefeatable teacher, as he was unable to sway Jason Stryker from becoming uncontrollable and dangerous, and admitted soon that the boy frightened him. He still maintained his firm personal goal to not kill or cause unnecessary harm in pursuit of his goals, which brought him into conflict with Magneto.

His relationship with Erik Lensherr, aka Magneto, is extremely complicated to such an extent that it is hard to decipher. When they first met, Charles had only just saved his life and reached out to him. He eventually discovered that their philosophical standpoints were incompatible, but that did not stop him from trying to be friends with the mutant. He reacted incredulously or defiantly to Erik's insistences or demonstrations of violence or aggression. Erik believed in decisive and vicious course of action, whilst Charles was more astute and cautious in his actions.

However, their very first chess match together - the first of a great many - became the background of their first disagreement, as they both had conflicting interests and intentions that were in danger of severing their friendship. When the two of them battled Sebastian Shaw and his group of mutants, the climax of the battle was their final disagreement as colleagues. Charles tried to stop him from killing thousands of innocent people because they tried to do so likewise. This progressed into their parting of ways, and Erik went out on his own as part of his Brotherhood of Mutants. That being said, they still remained firm friends - to this day, they referred to each other as "old friend" and "were capable of playing chess together like civilized men".

Charles's greatest strength is his moral compass and indomitable will that would never waver, no matter what obstacles he faced. When Erik predicted that a war between mutants and humans was coming and he intended, by any means necessary, to fight it, Charles calmly promised that "He would always be there to stand in his way".

Powers and Abilities

Powers

Telepathy: Professor X can communicate with others, with his telepathy. He can make himself invisible by manipulating the minds of others. He used this to hide himself, Magneto, and all the assault troops while en route to the dacha of a Russian general without being detected while in the back of the caravan. He is able to sense where nearby mutants are. He demonstrated this when he sensed that Rogue had left the mansion and was at the train station. This ability is enhanced when he uses Cerebro.
Mind Control: Professor X is able to manipulate the minds of others to get them to do what he wants them to do. He does not like using this ability to make people do what he wants them to do all the time as he said when talking to Magneto while going to Jean Grey's house when she was a child. He is able to enter the mind of another to control their body and see from their perspective. He demonstrated this at the dacha of a Russian general and possessed the mind of a guard. He can make others fall asleep just by telling them to. When his body was destroyed in X-Men: The Last Stand, he transferred his consciousness into a host body; his twin brother P. Xavier. He can mentally paralyze others, making it appear as if time has been stopped. He has the ability to develop a mental link with any person which remains as a connection to that individual. This was shown when Jean Grey linked with him to communicate with the others in the X-Jet before perishing. He has the ability to cause loss of particular memories and amnesia in another person or group of people. This was demonstrated at the end of X-Men: First Class with Moira MacTaggert.

Telepathic Cloak - He can make himself invisible by manipulating the minds of others. He used this to hide himself, Magneto, and all the assault troops while en route to the dacha of the Russian general without being detected while in the back of the caravan.
Telepathic Communication - He is able to telepathically communicate with others. He demonstrated this at the end of X-Men Origins: Wolverine when he communicated with a young Cyclops, and in X-Men: First Class when he communicated with Moira and Erik.
Mental Detection - He is able to sense where nearby mutants are. He demonstrated this when he sensed that Rogue had left the mansion and was at the train station. This ability is enhanced when he uses Cerebro. He was also able to find out that Jean Grey had left the X-Mansion in X-Men: The Last Stand.
Mental Possession - He is able to enter the mind of another to control their body and see from their perspective. He demonstrated this at the dacha of a Russian general and possessed the mind of a guard.
Mental Sedation - He can make others fall asleep simply by telling them to.
Mind Transferral - When his body was destroyed in X-Men: The Last Stand, he transferred his consciousness into a host body, which is seemingly an advanced version of mental possession. Although, this is never explained or made clear. It is believed the body he transferred himself to is his brain dead twin brother Patrick, his powers being enough to resuscitate the body, though the body shared Charles partial paralysis.
Paralyzation - He can mentally paralyze others, making it appear as if time has been stopped, although he could also paralyze only the body without rendering people's minds frozen as well. He shows this first at the beginning of X2: X-Men United. If Charles transfers much of himself to possess and paralyze the body, he can feel pain and discomfort his target feels as if he was experiencing it himself, though without any harm coming to his real body.
Mental Link - He has the ability to develop a mental link with any person which remains as a connection to that individual. This was shown when Jean Grey linked with him to communicate with the others in the X-Jet before perishing. In X-Men: Days of Future Past, Charles uses this power to project his mind into the future by linking the future Wolverine's mind and use them as a bridge to it where he is able to connect to and converse with his future self.
Mnemokinesis - He can manipulate the memories individuals. Xavier can erase, restore, or even implant false memories into a person's mind.

Memory Implantation - He once threatened Wolverine, that he could make him believe he was a six-year-old girl.
Mental Amnesia - He has the ability to cause loss of particular memories and amnesia in another person or group of people. This was demonstrated at the end of X-Men: First Class. Here, he used this power while passionately kissing the beautiful Moira MacTaggert and makes her forget all the time that she spent with Xavier and the mutants (although she recalls fragments, including the kiss). This might have been used to save himself and made it look like Jean killed him in X-Men: The Last Stand.
Memory Restoration - As shown in X-Men: Apocalypse, Along with erasing memories, Charles has the ability to restore a person's memories as well. This was demonstrated when he restored the memories of Moira MacTaggert, which he had initially erased, causing her to remember all the time she spent with him.

Telepathic Illusion - Charles is able to generate realistic illusions. In X-Men: First Class, Charles could make himself and others invisible to others. In X-Men: Days of Future Past the Professor X uses this power to convince Mystique to not kill Bolivar Trask. His illusions took the form of himself, but able to stand. Any damages he had on his body would appear on his projection. His illusion based projection allowed him to perceive events from afar with only his projection being present.
Psychic Barriers - Charles was able to put mental blocks in Jean Grey's mind so she couldn't unlock the Phoenix part of her personality.
Psionic Blasts - When his powers were boosted by Cerebro, Charles had enough power to cause every mutant in the world to experience a lethal, excruciating pain. He was also able to make every human experience the same lethal pain when Magneto reversed Cerebro. These blasts could not effect Magneto, as he was wearing his helmet.
Psionic Resistance - According to William Stryker, the mind control serum will have no effect on Xavier, as his resistance to other people's telepathy make it very difficult to control him. He can resist psychic attacks from others and protect his allies. It is likely Emma Frost could not telepathically attack Xavier or Erik as Xavier defended both their minds from her, though he did feel a slight sting from her when trying to read her mind.
Animal Manipulation - Charles was shown to be able to affect animals with his telepathic animals when he concentrated on a group of stray horses belonging to the Munson family and having them return calmly to their owners. He was able to do this when not taking his medication for his mental illness, though he ran the risk of having a psychic seizure.

Abilities

Genius-Level Intellect: A natural genius, Charles is a leading authority on genetics, mutation, and psionics. He also possesses considerable expertise in other life sciences. He is highly talented in devising equipment for utilizing and enhancing psionic powers. Charles is also quite the masterful tactician and strategist, effectively evaluating situations and devising swift responses.
Chess Player: Charles was as good at playing chess as he was at planning out a battle strategy for the X-Men, shown prominently when he frequently plays the game with Magneto, who views him as as deadly on a chessboard as he is in a danger zone.
Master Hand-To-Hand Combatant/Martial Artist: As a young man, Charles was probably a highly skilled fighter before his injuries, even though he preferred to direct his comrades from behind the front line. His disability prevented him from ever fighting an opponent hand-to-hand ever again, but he still managed to teach martial arts to his students.

Weaknesses

Paraplegic: Professor X has been unable to walk due to spinal damage, suffered when one of the bullets Magneto bounced off using his magnetic powers hit him in 1962.
Telepathy Blockage: William Stryker developed a "neural inhibitor" headset that prevented Professor X from using his telepathy; thereby making him vulnerable to the illusions of William's son Jason.

Relationships

Original Timeline

Jean Grey/Phoenix - Former student and teammate turned unwilling enemy.
Scott Summers/Cyclops - Former student and teammate.
Ororo Munroe/Storm - Former student and teammate.
Hank McCoy/Beast - Friend, former student and teammate.
Moira MacTaggert - Ally.
Erik Lehnsherr/Magneto - Best friend and ally turned enemy, turned best friend and ally again.
P. Xavier - Twin brother.
Logan/Wolverine - Former student, friend, ally and teammate.

New Timeline

Jean Grey/Phoenix - Student, ally and teammate.
Scott Summers/Cyclops - Student, ally and teammate.
Ororo Munroe/Storm - Enemy turned student, ally and teammate.
Hank McCoy/Beast - Friend, former student, ally and teammate.
Erik Lehnsherr/Magneto - Best friend and ally turned enemy, turned best friend and ally again.
En Sabah Nur/Apocalypse - Enemy.
Laura Kinney/X-23 - Ally.
X-24 - Enemy and killer.

Appearances/Actors

Canon (9 films)
- X-Men: First Class - James McAvoy and Laurence Belcher
- Original timeline (6 films)
  - - X-Men Origins: Wolverine - Patrick Stewart
    - X-Men (First appearance) - Patrick Stewart
    - X2: X-Men United - Patrick Stewart
    - X-Men: The Last Stand - Patrick Stewart
    - The Wolverine - Patrick Stewart
    - X-Men: Days of Future Past - Patrick Stewart
  - New timeline (3 films)

X-Men: Days of Future Past - James McAvoy and Patrick Stewart
X-Men: Apocalypse - James McAvoy
X-Men: Dark Phoenix - James McAvoy
Deadpool (Mentioned only)
Deadpool 2 - James McAvoy
- Logan timeline (1 film)

Logan - Patrick Stewart

Behind the scenes

Digital processing was used to make Patrick Stewart look younger in X-Men: The Last Stand when he visits a young Jean Grey and again when he appears in X-Men Origins: Wolverine.
Patrick Stewart's name was unaccredited in X-Men Origins: Wolverine.
James McAvoy never read the comics, but loved the X-Men cartoons.
A Behind-the-scenes clip shows him with a fire sprayer put against the camera, joking.

Trivia

In the comics, Xavier is on a wheel chair because he had his legs crippled by Lucifer, while in the movie he is paralyzed by a bullet deflected by Magneto. Much like in X-Men: Days of Future Past., he eventually regained his ability to walk.
X-Men Origins: Wolverine and X-Men: The Last Stand show Charles being able to walk in the 1970's, but X-Men: First Class shows that he lost his ability to walk in the 1960's. It is possible he found a way to walk again at some point between the 1960's and 1970's but this is yet to be explored although it could have been the serum he was using in Days of Future Past.
In X-Men: First Class Henry McCoy asks Xavier if he can shave him, in order to better use Cerebro, but Xavier replies "Don't touch my hair", thus making a joke about his elder appearance. He does it again at the end of the movie, complaining about getting old and saying to Moira that he'll soon become bald.
In the comics, Xavier had blonde hair as a child, but during puberty when his telepathic powers manifested, he lost his hair.
Professor X and Wolverine are the only characters to have appeared in all X-Men movies, though Wolverine is the only one to have been portrayed by the same actor. X-Men First Class and X-Men Apocalypse are the only movies that Patrick Stewart don't portray him, not even in cameo.