Xavier Institute Villain File.

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.

Arriving in Israel, Magnus worked as a volunteer orderly at a psychiatric hospital near Haifa that treated Holocaust survivors. There, he befriended Charles Xavier, a young mutant telepath. Xavier held fast to his optimistic belief that Homo sapiens and Homo superior could coexist, while Magnus foresaw mutants as the new minority to be persecuted for their differences. He desperately tried to share his friend's hope, however, even as his sanity slowly began to ebb. Eventually losing his grip, Magnus began planning his campaign against what he perceived to be the inferior species of man. He swore history would not repeat itself. Determined to conquer the human race and prevent the oppression of his kind, Magnus became known to the world as the genetic terrorist Magneto. Xavier'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 Wanda and Pietro Maximoff, a.k.a. the Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver. Not until years later would Magneto learn they were his children.

Rarely has Magneto hesitated to employ extreme tactics to enforce his misguided agenda. Still, certain missteps have caused him to question the morality of his chosen path. Battling Xavier's first team of X-Men, Magneto struck down the adolescent sprite known as Beast. Shocked and dismayed by his own actions, he withdrew to Asteroid M, his space-borne fortress. Some time later, he surrendered himself to the law to stand trial for past deeds. A special tribunal of the International Court of Justice convened to judge him for crimes against humanity, but violence cut short the proceedings before a verdict could be reached. Meanwhile, an ailing Xavier pleaded with Magneto to assume control of his school and help guide the X-Men in his absence. Posing as Xavier's cousin, Magnus mentored the next generation of genetic heroes. But relations between the New Mutants and Magneto grew progressively worse, and they frequently disobeyed his orders -- resulting in the death of one of their own and pushing their teacher over the edge. Distraught over the pending Mutant Registration Act and dissatisfied with "Xavier's way," Magnus abandoned the team.