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"This society won't accept us. We form our own. The humans have played their hand, now we get ready to play ours. Who's with me?"
―Magneto[src]

Erik M. Lehnsherr, also known as Magneto, (born 1930) is a class 4 mutant who can generate and manipulate magnetic fields. He is one of the X-Men's most dangerous foes.

Biography[]

X-Men and X-Men: First Class prologue[]

"Let's just say I'm Frankenstein's Monster... And I'm looking for my creator."
―Erik Lehnsherr[src]

Erik Magnus Lehnsherr was born on January 30th, 1930 in Dusseldorf, Germany, into a middle-class Jewish family of which his father Jakob, a decorated World War I veteran, was patriarch. When the family struggled against discrimination and hardship during the Nazi's rise to power, the Lehnsherrs, Erik age 3, moved to Poland. However, in 1944, he was forcibly separated from his parents by Nazi soldiers in the Auschwitz concentration camp in a German-occupied Poland during WWII. Under this stress, Lehnsherr tried running back to his parents before gates closed. Nazi soldiers began grabbing him to prevent Erik from getting to his parents. He reached his arm out toward a metal gate and his powers began to manifest. Dr. Klaus Schmidt watches outside of his office window after being knocked unconscious. Other soldiers look at the gate he bent and immediately report to Schmidt. When Erik wakes up he finds himself inside a medical room where Dr. Schmidt is checking on him.

Sometime later, he encounters the Nazi collaborator named Dr. Klaus Schmidt (aka, Sebastian Shaw) Shaw, at first tried to make Erik move a small coin in exchange for some chocolate. When Erik couldn't do it, Shaw apologized and had his guards bring in his mother. Shaw then told Erik that if he could move the coin after he counted to three, he would spare his mother. Shaw counted to three and, after Erik tried and failed to move the coin, fatally shot Erik's mother in the chest, thus enraging Erik into moving and destroying everything metal in the room along with killing the guards by crushing their helmets.

When the destruction ended, Erik started crying and Schmidt gave him the Nazi coin that Erik tried to move. Shaw continued to torture him over the next several years in an attempt to draw out the boy's mutant powers through his rage. After the conclusion of the second World War, Erik spent several years trying to find Shaw and exact vengeance, murdering other Nazis and innocent bystanders along the way.

X-Men: First Class[]

In 1962, Erik was working on looking for Shaw and goes to a bank and asks the banker where Shaw is. When the banker refuses, he starts interrogating him and trying to pull out his metal tooth filling with his powers. The banker eventually tells him that Schmidt is in Argentina.

Erik lehnsherr xmen first class michael fassbender

After this point, he goes to Argentina looking for Shaw. He arrives at a bar and sees a picture of two Nazis beside him. When Erik is having a beer, he finds the two Nazis and asks them what brings them to Argentina. One replies he is a pig farmer and the other says he's a tailor. They ask Erik what his parents' names were, he replied that their names were taken away by "pig farmers and tailors". He sits down with them and sarcastically toasts them. When they are drinking they notice the number on his arm, further implying that he was a Jew in Auschvitz. The pig farmer of the two Nazis tries to stab him with a knife that says "Blood and Honor" in German, but Erik overpowers him and takes the knife from him.

Erik asks which of the two they would like to shed first. The pig farmer says that they were under orders. Erik then says "blood, then" and then brutally plunges the knife into the Nazi's hand. The bartender tells him to freeze, pointing a gun at him, but he uses his powers to make him shoot the tailor Nazi. He magnetically throws the knife into the bartender's stomach, then plunges it into the pig farmer's hand again. Choked up from tears of pain, the pig farmer asks who is he and Erik responds he's "Frankenstein's monster," and that he is looking for his creator. He picks up the gun and shoots the Nazi, killing him.

He eventually tracked Shaw down to a small boat off the American coast during the height of the Cold War. His attempt at revenge was cut short when he was pummeled by Shaw's cohorts in his Hellfire Club, being no match for their mutant powers. Erik then jumped into the water and tried to crush Shaw's submarine, but was stopped by Charles Xavier, who had jumped into the water to stop him. It was at this point that he also met Raven Darkhölme and Moira MacTaggert, who were present along with Charles as help in a botched CIA attempt to capture Shaw, wanted for the murder of an American colonel.

Charles and Eric

Together and with CIA support, Xavier and Erik gathered a team of mutant teenagers to battle the Hellfire Club, who were attempting to start 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 the new world order. Xavier helped the teens master their powers at his mansion, including Erik. During this time, the two become close friends. However, Erik was still filled with hatred for Shaw and feared a mutant holocaust, despite Xavier's attempts to get him to let go of his hatred. Erik also motivated Mystique to become proud of her appearance, believing her desire to get rid of her blue appearance was wrong. During a mission to Russia, Erik and Xavier captured the White Queen of the Hellfire Club, Emma Frost.

Eik 5

Erik fights Shaw

Ultimately, the team had to jump into action to prevent the Cuban Missile Crisis from causing World War III. The Hellfire Club was also present and attempted to stop the CIA-sanctioned mutant team, but was defeated. During the encounter, Erik confronted Shaw, who attempted to bring Erik to his side with promises of a new, mutant world order. Although he found he agreed with Shaw's goals, Erik refused to forgive him for what he did to his mother. Despite Xavier's pleas for him to be the better man, Erik killed Shaw by slowly sending a coin through his brain.

X-Men First Class new Magneto image

Lehnsherr acknowledges his ability, declaring himself to be "Magneto".

When the United States and the Soviet Union struck up a quick alliance to destroy the mutants that threatened them, Magneto sent their missiles back at the fleet. Xavier tackled him and the two engaged in a fist fight, which distracted Erik long enough to prevent the missiles from killing those at sea. During a subsequent attempt by Moira to shoot Erik, one of the bullets he deflected struck Xavier in the lower back, permanently crippling him. Horrified at what had transpired, Erik bid farewell to his close friend, departing with Mystique and the remaining Hellfire Club members with the vow of destroying humankind in order to save mutants. He later broke Frost out of prison, declaring himself "Magneto" and establishing his first Brotherhood of Mutants.

X-Men: Days of Future Past[]

By 1973, Erik was locked up in a maximum security cell in the Pentagon for allegedly assassinating John F. Kennedy in 1963 by curving the bullet that struck him.

Magneto was still imprisoned when Trask was killed by Mystique.

20 Years Before X-Men: The Last Stand[]

At some point, Magneto was released or escaped from prison. He later rejoined Charles on good terms and visited Jean Grey.

X-Men[]

" We are the future, Charles, not them. They no longer matter."
―Magneto[src]

Years later, Magneto attended the senate where they spoke out about mutants and was then approached by his old friend Charles Xavier. They talked about the past and Charles said that he's looking for hope. Erik replied that he'll bring him hope. As he walked away, he says that mutants are the future.

After the attack in Alberta by Sabretooth, Magneto discovered Wolverine's dog tags. When Mystique captured Robert Kelly, Magneto used the mutation machine on him, turning him into a "rubbery" mutant unaware that the machine would cause humans to lose their molecular structure. As a mutant, Kelly tried to escape Magneto's base with his powers and fell into the lake below.

Later, Magneto pursued the mutant Rogue. He found her at a train station and his Brotherhood attacked it. He had a brief fight with Wolverine and successfully captured Rogue by using a dart and puts her unconscious body in a bag. Outside, police gather around him, Toad, and Sabretooth. He lifts up the cars and drops them on others. He also uses his powers to switch the policemen's guns around so they're pointing at them. In one car, Xavier and Jean Grey were watching. Xavier used his telepathy to control the minds of Sabretooth and Toad in order to talk Erik out of his plans. Magneto shot one of the police but held the bullet back as a bargaining chip with Charles. Eventually, Mystique arrived in a helicopter and picked up her team mates.

At Liberty Island, the X-Men (after battling and defeating Mystique and Toad) were locked to the walls by metal strips by Magneto. He forced Wolverine's arms against his chest not knowing that he has a healing factor. Sabretooth arrived and took Cyclops's visor, forcing him to shut his eyes. Magneto was warned of the dangers of the machine by Jean Grey and Storm, and chose not to believe them. He lifted himself out and up to where he was keeping Rogue, ready to give her some of his power so she could use the machine.

From the tower, he saw Sabretooth blasted to the water below. Wolverine was lifted up to the Statue. Wolverine tried to destroy the machine before it could infect the human, Magneto stopped him and started to bend his claws while Rogue started to grow a white streak in her hair from the stress of powering the machine. Cyclops blasted Magneto allowing Wolverine to destroy the machine before it could affect them. Magneto was then captured by the government and was locked up in a plastic prison.

Later, Charles visited Magneto and the old friends played chess and talked about their past and the war between humans and mutants. Before Xavier left, Magneto remarked that "there is a war coming Charles and I intend to fight it."

X2: X-Men United[]

"The war has begun."
―Magneto[src]

Magneto was still held in his plastic and glass prison six months after his attack in New York. He was brutally interrogated by William Stryker and unwillingly gave him information on the X-Men, X-Mansion, the X-Jet, and Cerebro. Xavier and Cyclops later visited him but it was a trap to capture Charles. Later, when his guard delivered his lunch, he sensed that a strong amount of liquid metal was in his blood and he took the metal and used it to break out of prison.

As the X-Men were flying out of control, Magneto saved them. He and Mystique made a temporary alliance with the X-Men in order to stop Stryker. They broke into Alkali Lake to stop Styker from using Cerebro to kill all of mutant kind. However, he arrived too late as once they reached the door the process had begun so he quickly opened the doors and used Jason to order Charles to attack humans instead.

Magneto, Mystique and Pyro left Alkali Lake after Magneto chained Stryker down so he couldn't escape the flood.

X-Men: The Last Stand[]

"Charles Xavier did more for mutants than you'll ever know. My single greatest regret is that he had to die for our dream to live."
―Magneto[src]

After leaving Alkali Lake, he expanded the Brotherhood of Mutants and recruited many more mutants. He showed genuine grief over Xavier's death, speaking severely to Pyro when the latter stated that he would have killed Xavier himself had Magneto asked it of him. After learning that a major company has produced a cure for the mutant gene from a young mutant known as Leech, he and his Brotherhood attacked the facility, forcing the X-Men to defend it. Wolverine and Beast worked together to inject Magneto with the "cure", which strips him of his powers, and succeeded. Some time after the attack, he extended his hand toward a metal chess piece and was able to move it a tiny bit, suggesting that the cure may not have been permanent and may not have rendered him completely powerless.

The Wolverine[]

"There are dark forces, Wolverine. Human forces building a weapon that could bring about the end of our kind. What I want, I want your help."
―Erik Lehnsherr[src]

Sometime later, the effects of the cure wore off. Magneto met up with Logan in an airport. Erik explained that something was wrong and that he needs his help. Logan asked why he should trust him, but Magneto replied that he wouldn't. 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[]

"All those years wasted fighting each other, Charles. To have a precious few of them back..."
―Magneto[src]

Magneto was partnered with Charles and the remaining mutants when the dark future began, and survived with them. In 2023, the group arrived in China, meeting with the others at a desolate Chinese monastery. When Kitty Pryde sent Logan's mind back into the past, Magneto observed with the others for a short while. When a horde of Sentinels interfered with the process, Magneto went outside to defend the others, breaking down the X-Jet and sending the pieces flying towards the Sentinels, destroying dozens of them, as well as their carrier ships.

Erik was critically impaled by a piece of shrapnel. Resigned to his fate, Magneto traveled through a small portal opened by Blink, which sent him into the monastery, where he slowly succumbed to his wounds as the other mutants are killed horrifically by the surviving Sentinels. He confessed to his life long friend Xavier, telling him that they spent so much time fighting each other and never seen the real threat.

Before Erik can succumb to his wounds; Wolverine succeed in his mission of changing the timeline, thus; this dark future never happens.

Character traits[]

Erik's personality develops throughout the film series. In X-Men; First Class, as a child, he was shown to be very loving towards his mother, since his emotional trauma was enough to first install his magnetic powers. During his experimentation at the hands of Sebastian Shaw, he was nervous and withdrawn and frightened of the man, and genuinely found it difficult to use his powers. Throughout Sebastian's manipulations, he begged to see his mother. When his mother was held at gunpoint, he genuinely tried to use his powers out of desperation, but when he couldn't and his mother was executed, his powers were unleashed with incredible violence out of complete and utter rage. Over the next few years of his life, Erik would become intensely obsessed with killing Sebastian.

This obsession led to unspeakable lengths; he would become sadistic, ruthless, dark and murderous towards others when he couldn't get the information he wanted. He was convinced that his powers were utilized by rage, and this only incensed his obsession and threatened his life on a myriad of occasions, especially when he actually met Sebastian and failed to kill him. When he met Charles Xavier, he reacted with shock at not being the only mutant alive. Throughout the film, although he cooperated with what became known as the X Men, he did so with a single-minded determination to come close to Sebastian and kill him. He repeatedly instilled aggressive thoughts in the members' heads, but he grew very close to Mystique and convinced her that it was alright to look different.

During the battle in Cuba, with his powers fully discovered, Erik - now Magneto - finally took the chance to fight Sebastian. When the two mutants dueled, Magneto went to immense lengths to stay in the fight, when Sebastian managed to convince him that mutants were the superior stage of human evolution - however, even though he believed Sebastian, he still killed the man in a similar fashion to how his mother was killed. After murdering Shaw, Erik became a full-scale vigilante, working to combat all of mankind and set up mutants as the supreme beings of Earth. This idealism set him apart from Charles' beliefs.

But the two men remained extremely close in their own right, always trying to contradict each others ideas and movements in an epic war. Erik was recognized for being extremely calm and sophisticated, even in brutal or violent situations. He had a delusional belief that human extinction and mutant advancement was necessary, since they racially discriminated mutants on a daily basis. He was also a fully-fledged genius - he was extremely intelligent and unpredictable, and capable of creating extremely elaborate and complicated plans to elude and defeat his enemies. He was also somewhat misanthropic - he treated humans cruelly, like Senator Kelly and William Stryker. He had a very sarcastic wit, which he used infrequently in certain situations. When he captured the X-Jet with his powers, holding it in midair, he remarked "When will these people learn how to fly?".

Erik was abundantly capable of sacrificing thousands of human lives if it meant achieving his goals in the end. Despite his ruthless and callous disregard for others, he had an extremely mutual respect for certain individuals. Despite Charles being his arch-nemesis, he respected and admired his best friend for his intelligence, level of power, charisma and his shared compassion for mutants. When Charles was killed by Jean Grey, he reacted with utter horror, but also intrigue at the power that Jean had shown in the process. He came extremely close to violence when Charles was scorned, responding by saying that the man had done more for mutants than could be measured, and that his death was truly tragic.

Powers and Abilities[]

Powers[]

  • Mutant Physiology: Magneto is an extremely powerful mutant who can generate and manipulate magnetic fields, as well as manipulate metal objects. Magneto is considered one of the most powerful mutants on the entire planet.
    • Magnetogenesis: Magneto can generate, create and project magnetic fields from both of his hands or his entire body.
    • Magnetokinesis: Magneto can manipulate magnetic fields; this allows him to perform several and powerful techniques. In X-Men: First Class, Magneto was able to easily manipulate metallic objects, deflecting bullets and later on being capable of turning a massive satellite dish, lifting an entire submarine and redirecting multiple missiles. In X2: X-Men United, Magneto is able to easily catch the X-Jet. In X-Men: The Last Stand, he moves the Golden Gate bridge. Being surrounded by, above or below large amounts of metal also enables Magneto to defy gravity. It is revealed in X-Men: First Class that prior to meeting and training with Charles Xavier, Eric used rage to utilize his abilities, and thus; couldn't perform to his full potential, however, it should be noted he was able to move a massive anchor and take down an entire ship while still using his ability through rage. Once Charles Xavier helped Eric reach greater potential by finding a point between rage and serenity Magneto took his powers to new heights and was able to move much more metal at much greater distances. He can levitate and achieve limited flight, as he did when he tried to bend a gate at Auschwitz, to magnetically tether himself to Sebastian Shaw's submarine, which dragged him underwater, and send himself flying onto a Trask Industries train.
    • Ferrokinesis: Magneto can manipulate all forms of metal, even non ferrous ones, seemingly by using his powers to make any metal magnetic. This allows him to levitate, move, push, pull, launch, crush and otherwise manipulate metallic objects, no matter the size. This allowed him to telekinetically manipulate metal or metallic objects as small as a bullet or as large as the Golden Gate Bridge. In X2: X-Men United and X-Men: Days of Future Past, he was able to deform and manipulate the hardness of both solid and liquid metals. This allowed him to make liquid iron that was infused into one of his prison guard's bloodstream by Mystique into ball shaped projectiles that could pierce and smash through plastic and flesh with ease. He was also able to cause railroad bars to break apart into strips and fuse into the deactivated Sentinels, which allowed him to control and command them. In addition he can also make himself fly or levitate towards metal or magnetic objects, as he did when he tried to bend a gate at Auschwitz, to magnetically tether himself to Sebastian Shaw's submarine, which dragged him underwater, and send himself flying onto a Trask Industries train.
    • Superhuman Senses: Magneto is able to sense the presence of metal over small or vast distances.
      • Flight: Magneto is able to fly, by projecting magnetic fields around himself.

Abilities[]

  • Genius-Level Intellect: Erik is a highly intelligent individual. He was able to help Charles Xavier to successfully construct the second Cerebro. He is sophisticated and well-read on many topics.
  • Expert Engineer: Erik is a highly skilled engineer. With Charles Xavier's help, he was able to successfully create Cerebro, a very complex device capable of detecting other mutants all over the world.
  • Master Tactician: Magneto is a highly skilled tactician. He spent years tracking down and ultimately managed to successfully find Sebastian Shaw, the individual responsible for his Edie Eisenhardt|mother's death, as well as for torturing him as a child. He is always two steps ahead of his opponents. During Magneto's final confrontation against Shaw, he was able to trick him into letting his guard down, which gave him the opportunity to remove his telepathy-resistant helmet allowing Professor X to take control of Shaw's mind and freeze him.
  • Master Hand-To-Hand Combatant/Martial Artist: Magneto is a highly skilled hand-to-hand combatant. In his prime, he was able to best a Nazi soldier who was armed with a knife relatively easily despite being unarmed himself. In Magneto's elderly years, he avoids getting into a direct physical confrontation against other individuals, who are still in their prime, relying only on his magnetic powers in combat situations. Magneto's combat skills combined with his magnetic powers, made him a formidable opponent alone in single combat.
  • Multilingualism: Erik's native tongue is German and he can speak English, Hebrew, French, Polish and Spanish fluently.

Weaknesses[]

  • Limitations: Although he is incredibly powerful, Magneto does have his limits. He was unable to match Phoenix in terms of raw power, albeit only when she was accessing the power of the Phoenix Force.
  • Non-Metallic Objects: If Magneto is in an area with no metal, he is almost completely helpless. However, this only applies to his old age, when Magneto was in his prime, he was highly athletic and capable of physically fighting others.

Relationships[]

Appearances/Actors[]

Behind the scenes[]

  • Ian McKellen worked with screen writers to make Iceman's reveal to his parents that he is a mutant to appear like a realistic "coming-out" scene.
  • Digital processing was used to make Ian McKellen look younger when visiting a young Jean Grey in X-Men: The Last Stand.
  • The first scene in X-Men involving Magneto's childhood is completely duplicated (including camera angles and mannerisms in the original flashback) and expanded in X-Men: First Class.
  • Michael Fassbender took inspiration for Magneto's way of moving and speaking from Sir Ian McKellen's performances in the original trilogy.
  • Matthew Vaughn decided he wanted Fassbender as Magneto after seeing him in an audition for another movie. Fassbender, who didn't know the X-Men comics, read the character's story and found it interesting enough to portray him in the movie.
  • Fassbender has stated Vaughn instructed him to portray Magneto not as a villain, but as the hero. This is so in a sequel both he and Xavier are justified in their actions, but try to achieve the same end through different means.
  • Terence Stamp, David Hemblen and Christopher Lee were considered for the role in the first X-Men movie.
  • David Hemblen was offered the chance to reprise the role from the Animated Series in the 1990s but had to turn it down due to scheduling conflicts.

Trivia[]

  • 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 because Wolfgang Von Strucker's film rights belong to Marvel Studios. In Marvel's Avengers: Age of Ultron Strucker is responsible for the powers of Quicksilver, Magneto's son and his sister.
  • The scene in X-Men: The Last Stand in which Magneto lifts the Goldengate Bridge and uses it as a vessel for his Brotherhood of Mutants is taken directly from the comics.
  • Magneto was originally going to have a beard in X-Men: The Last Stand but this idea was dismissed. However, on the DVD, there is a deleted scene where Pyro tells Magneto about the cure announcement. There is two versions of this scene. One is the "bearded" version and one is the shaven version.
  • The number tattooed on Magneto's arm at Auschwitz was 214782.
  • In the original X-Men Trilogy, the credits credit him as "Eric Lehnsherr" while in X-Men: First Class, his name is spelled "Erik Lehnsherr".

Gallery[]

Images in chronological order of the film timeline:

X-Men: First Class[]

X-Men: The Last Stand Flashback[]

X-Men[]

X2: X-Men United[]

X-Men: The Last Stand[]

The Wolverine[]

X-Men: Days of Future Past[]

See Also[]

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