Codename: Magneto
Real name: Eric Magnus
Lehnsherr
Height: 6'2"
Weight: 190 lbs
Place of Birth: Unrevealed,
probably somewhere in Northern Europe
Relatives: Magda
(wife, deceased), Anya (daughter, deceased), Pietro Maximoff (Quicksilver,
son), Wanda Maximoff (Scarlet Witch, daughter), Crystal (daughter-in-law),
Luna Maximoff (granddaughter)
Past: One of the
most physically powerful mutants, Magneto has control over all forms of
magnetism, including electro-magnetism or electricity. He can fly, project
a force field, cast energy bolts, or stop the flow of blood to an opponent's
brain. He can sense metal around him, and has been seen deflecting asteroids
with his vast power. He is one of the few mutants who can single-handedly
fight all of the X-Men to a standstill. Magneto was not always a villain:
A survivor of the Holocaust, Magnus discovered his powers after the war,
when his daughter Anya was trapped in a burning house and no one would
help. Magnus lashed out at the crowd with his power, and later, killed
some bandits who attacked him on the road. Fearing his abilities, Magnus'
wife Magda left him, and soon died after a difficult childbirth, leaving
behind twins who would be raised by gypsies and who would grow up to become
Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch. Magnus made his way to Israel, where
he worked as an orderly in a hospital for Holocaust survivors, and where
he and Charles Xavier met and became friends. The two even shared the dream
of harmony between man and mutant. As years passed, however, Magnus grew
disillusioned by mankind's low level of tolerance, and fearing another
Holocaust, took an aggressive and lethal stance against humans. The X-Men
battled Magneto (and his Brotherhood of Evil Mutants) time and again, until
he was reduced to infancy by Mutant Alpha, one of his own creations. The
young Magnus was transferred to Muir Island, where Moira MacTaggert attempted
to control his rage by manipulating his DNA, in the hopes that the world
would be spared Magnus' wrath when he grew up. Magnus did grow up, but
faster than expected, as Eric the Red II used Shi'ar technology to bring
Magnus to adulthood only a few months later. Magnus returned to his old
ways, even going as far as destroying a Russian city with a rerouted magma
flow and sinking the Russian sub Leningrad with all hands aboard. Although
Moira's procedure would later be proven a failure, the "new" Magneto eventually
felt remorse for his actions and turned himself over to the World Court,
to be tried for crimes against humanity. Magnus would surely have been
found guilty, except for the intervention of Fenris, who attempted to assassinate
Magneto, Xavier, and Gabrielle Haller, the trio of friends who had foiled
their father Baron von Strucker's plans years before. The courthouse was
destroyed, and Magnus and Xavier were left alone as Xavier's body deteriorated
beyond repair. As Corsair and Xavier's love Lilandra came through a Stargate
to bring Xavier back to the Starjammer, where Shi'ar technology could heal
him, Xavier made Magneto promise to protect their dream, and to take over
as Headmaster of the School for Gifted Youngsters. While the X-Men were
more or less independent, Magnus did supervise the New Mutants until he
applied for and was appointed to the position of White King of the Hellfire
Club. After Inferno, Magneto was alone again, and reappeared briefly in
the Savage Land, an old haunt of his, where Zaladane, a servant of the
High Evolutionary, had taken control of the Mutates, more of Magnus' creations.
While preparing for the inevitable confrontation, Magnus saved Rogue from
a version of Ms. Marvel that had been generated upon her return from the
Siege Perilous. Rogue and Magneto teamed up with Ka-Zar and S.H.I.E.L.D.
to defeat Zaladane, but afterwards Magnus dropped out of sight again. He
returned when a group of mutants, the Acolytes, begged him to step in and
help the mutants who were being oppressed and enslaved in Genosha. Magneto
agreed, and when the X-Men tried to stop him, the Acolytes captured them
and they were brought to Asteroid M to be "reprogrammed" by Moira, also
a captive. The process, however, was a failure, and during the ensuing
battle, Magneto was severly injured. The Acolyte Cortez, who claimed to
be healing Magneto, was actually using his power-amplification ability
to mask Magneto's pain, but letting his "master" weaken in the process.
Cortez further betrayed his leader when he triggered the nuclear missiles
Magnus had set up around the asteroid. It took all of Magnus' power to
keep the station from blowing up, but the damage was too severe. While
the X-Men escaped, Magneto and the remaining Acolytes crashed to Earth.
Months later, the wreckage was discovered, and Magneto was missing, implying
that he had survived. He returned, stronger than ever, to a larger, more
fanatical following of Acolytes, and co-opted the remains of Cable's space
station, Graymalkin, into a new orbital base he called Avalon. When Magnus
threatened the Earth once more, Xavier and the X-Men journeyed to Avalon,
where after physically pulling all of the adamantium out of Wolverine's
body, his mind was apparently wiped by Professor X and he remained on Avalon
in a vegetative state. After the fall of Avalon, Magnus was thought to
have become "Joseph," but Magneto's reappearance rendered that supposition
false. In that appearance, Magnus dressed as Erik the Red, and put Gambit
on trial for assembling the Marauders and precipitating the Mutant Massacre.
He then went back into hiding, emerging only briefly to kill the forger
who had created the "Erik Lehnsherr" identity for him years ago. After
a few more weeks of preparation, Magneto launched his offensive: another
electromagnetic pulse that began to spread across the globe. This time,
he was attacked by Astra II, a former member of the Brotherhood, and the
creator of Joseph, who was revealed to be a clone. Apparently, after the
fall of Avalon, Astra found Magneto and healed his mind, so that she could
use his DNA to create a clone. She intended for the clone to kill Magneto,
but the Master of Magnetism proved too resourceful, and was only injured,
while the clone was knocked on the head and became an amnesiac. Astra had
Joseph attack Magnus while he was controlling the Earth's magnetosphere,
which severly disrupted Earth's magnetic field. It was all Magnus could
do to keep from becoming pure EM energy. The (un)timely intervention of
the X-Men distracted him, however, leaving Joseph to fix the magnetosphere.
Magneto was briefly subdued by the X-Men as Joseph made the ultimate sacrifice
to destroy his template's machines, but before the battle could resume,
a U.N. ship landed in the Arctic Circle, and Magneto was offered sovereignty
over the island of Genosha in return for some security considerations and
a promise never to initiate hostilities against the nations of the world.
Magnus accepted, but after everyone else left, discovered that his powers
were gone. Whether this developed from fatigue or something else is as
yet unknown. Magnus recouped his strength and set about consolidating his
political power and regenerating his physical power. He was opposed by
a mutate, the son of the late Genegineer, as well as by Quicksilver and
Rogue. After defeating the mutate zealot's forces, however, Rogue left,
but Magnus had Voght manipulate Pietro into staying as a member of the
cabinet, in the hope that he would learn to be a loyal son. Then, Magneto
was captured by Apocalypse along with a number of X-Men and used as part
of the machine that channeled the power of The Twelve into the High Lord.
However, Magneto's physical weakness and inability to access his powers
short-circuited the machine. In the ensuing fight, he found he could commandeer
Polaris's powers and use them as his own. When Apocalypse was defeated,
Magnus returned to Genosha with Polaris, and began teaching her to expand
her control, while using her as a front for his own power. In the last
six months, Magneto has managed to rebuild much of war-torn Genosha, and
put the mutants in charge. Many of the liberties of the humans have been
restricted, but in many ways, they are living productive and even happy
lives. The sole exception was the city of Carrion Cove, which started a
rebellion. They had technology that they felt could not be allowed to fall
into Magneto's hands, namely, the genetic manipulation chambers from the
mutate process, which would allow Magneto to re-establish his full mutant
power. Though the U.N., rogue Acolytes, Cortez, and the Avengers opposed
him, Magneto finally made it to the chamber and healed his weakened body,
leaving him more powerful than ever before.
Recently, when Colossus
sacrificed himself to cure the Legacy Virus, Magneto suddenly found himself
with legions of subjects who were now healthy rather than dying. He immediately
declared war on humanity, and his first step to victory was actually kidnapping
Charles Xavier, using him as a rallying point for his mutate armies. The
X-Men, of course, ran to save their mentor, but they were a raw group of
untested newbies led by Phoenix. Cyclops and Wolverine were there as well,
and with a combination of distraction and illusion, the team managed to
free Xavier. As the X-Men prepared to leave, Magneto taunted them again
with the fact that they will lose because they refuse to cross their moral
line and do what is necessary, whereupon Wolverine proved Magneto wrong
by stabbing him in the chest.
Present: Magneto
is presumed dead, though his death has not be verified yet.