Magneto

"To live among the stars, to rule jungle kingdoms, to guide entire nations, only to find oneself here. A self-loathing man might see this as deserved punishment. A vain man might compare this to the Christian Devil's fall from heaven. Me, I think the coffee's not terrible. I have been known by many names. Max Eisenhardt. Erik Lehnsherr. Magnus. Magneto. Each name marks its own sin. And one day I'll answer for those offenses. But not today. Only my actions... what I do in the name of all mutants... hold any real meaning."

- Magneto

Magneto is a fictional character from Marvel Comics. He is the self-styled "Master of Magnetism" and can control any metal object, as well as fly and manipulate energy. Though he is typically a villainous character and a long-time enemy of the X-Men, Magneto has many times served as more of an anti-hero and has even at times worked with the X-Men against a common threat to mutantkind. Magneto has even spent time as a member of the X-Men and once taught at his old friend, Xavier,'s school before becoming more militant.

It must also be remembered that most of the time Magneto is working to protect his species and keep them safe from those who would do them harm and on this level is not that different from the X-Men, with their differing approaches being what divides them most of the time.

Nevertheless, Magneto strives to protect the mutant race and for both this and his tragic past many viewers and readers have actually sympathized more with Magneto and argued that he is a heroic figure who does what is required to keep mutants safe from a xenophobic world. It is worth mentioning that Stan Lee himself does not actually consider Magneto to be a villain, which only gives further credence to the idea of him being at least an occasional hero.

This does not mean Magneto is the same unambiguously good figure that the X-Men are. The character does lend himself to a certain amount of moral ambiguity, and has ultimately played the role of both hero and villain, switching sides regularly in his unending pursuit of assuring mutant survival at all costs.

In the game, X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse, he and his Brotherhood of Evil Mutants had no choice but to join the X-Men in order to defeat the far more villainous adversary otherwise known as Apocalypse.

In the live-action film series of X-Men, Magneto appears as the main antagonist in the first movie, returned as anti-hero turned antagonist in the sequel, he returned again as the main antagonist in the third installment, appeared as one of the main protagonists and as the main secondary protagonist in X-Men: First Class, returned again as the primary antagonist in 1973 timeline of X-Men: Days of Futrue Past and as protagonist in 2023 timeline.

In the movies, Magneto was portrayed by Sir Ian McKellen in the first three films and DOFP again who also played Gandalf and later portrayed by Michael Fassbender in his youth in First Class and also DOFP.

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