Magneto is many things: master of magnetism, mutant separatist and founder of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, and both the best friend and worst enemy of Charles Xavier. Lost in the shuffle is the fact that Magneto is also a proud papa. Although, maybe "deadbeat dad" is more appropriate.
Born Max Eisenhardt - later going by Magnus, then Erik Lehnsherr - Magneto's life hasn't been what anyone would call easy. Imprisoned in the Warsaw Ghetto during the Holocaust, young Max watched the execution of his parents and sister, barely escaping with his life, before being moved to the Auschwitz concentration camp. There he was reunited with the love of his life, Magda, and the two escaped, only for Magda to flee after being confronted by an angry, mutant-hating mob. The event started Magnus down the path of mutant supremacy and supervillainy, and all the crazy comic book antics that come with the profession.
Across realities and timelines, though, the one constant in Magneto's life has been his inability to keep it in his pants. For the purposes of this list, we're counting all of Magneto's progeny: biological children, sons- and daughters-in-law, grandkids, great-grandkids -- really anyone that might have had to spend at least one Father's Day with the guy.
So who are Magneto's 15 Most Powerful Children (And Grandchildren)? Put on your helmet, grab your best cape, and let's find out.
15. Charles Lehnsherr & Anya Eisenhardt
Despite being one of the world's most powerful mutants, not every one of Magneto’s relatives are as gifted as he is. In fact, some are straight-up duds.
Charles Lehnsherr, Magneto's "Age of Apocalypse" son, for example, exhibits zero mutant powers. Born in an alternate timeline - one where Professor X is dead, and Rogue and Magneto hooked up - Charles acts mainly as something for his papa to protect, getting kidnapped twice in his handful of appearances.
Anya Eisenhardt (Nina in X-Men: Apocalypse) plays a similar role. The non-mutant daughter of Magnus and Magda, Anya exists only as a reason for Magneto to hate humanity. You see, after Magnus' mutant powers accidentally manifest at work, he flees to his home, only to find the building on fire. Rushing in, he saves Magda, but, before he can return for Anya, he's grabbed and beaten by two police officers – Mags is now an enemy of the state after what happened at his job. As Anya dies screaming, Magnus blacks out and fully manifests his mutant powers, killing everyone around him -- except Magda. No, she flips out and flees, terrified of what Magnus has become. Because his life wasn’t terrible enough already.
14. Luna
Despite being, initially, as ungifted as Charles and Anya, Luna has proven to be a valuable superhero in her own right.
The daughter of Magneto's son, Quicksilver, and Crystal, an Inhuman, Luna was born a "flatscan," a normal human -- the belief being that her mutant and Inhuman halves cancelled each other out. However, later, after Quicksilver exposed her to the Terrigen Mists, Luna developed the ability to read and manipulate people's emotions, even going so far as to release the mental dampeners on Maximus the Mad, allowing him to overthrow Black Bolt.
Along the way, Luna became addicted to the Mists, as she thought they were the only way to retain her powers. Due to her unique physiology, no one was really sure if she would react to the removal of Terrigen like a mutant, an Inhuman, or a regular human. Whatever the reasoning, after receiving treatment for her addiction from the Inhumans, she still seems to have her powers, and is currently a member of X-Factor with her aunt, Polaris.
13. Quicksilver
Pietro Maximoff grew up believing his was the son of Django and Marya Maximoff, a Romani couple. Turns out, though, he was the mutant offspring of Magneto and Magda, abandoned by Magda as she fled from the "monster" that Magneto had become. Pietro was adopted by the Maximoffs and lived with them happily - until they were killed by an angry mob.
Fleeing with his twin sister, Wanda, the siblings wandered around Europe for a while, until another angry mob tried to kill them. They were rescued by Magneto, joined his Brotherhood of Evil Mutants for a spell, and then bailed, because, seriously, they were terrorists and that's messed up.
Quicksilver went on to become a member of the Avengers, the Inhuman military, and X-Factor, with occasional bouts of villainy as well. Along the way, he married Crystal, fathered Luna, lost his powers, gained them back by grossly misusing Terrigen Crystals, had his marriage with Crystal annulled, found out Magneto wasn't his father after all, and then told everybody all the terrible things he'd done were actually done by a Skrull imposter, because, above all else, Quicksilver’s real superpower is being a tool.
12. Speed
Faster than the speed of sound, Tommy Shepherd, along with his brother, William, is the magic-born son of Vision and the Scarlet Witch – making him Magneto’s grandson. Created out of the ether from a lost soul, kidnapped by Mephisto, and raised to be a living weapon, Tommy quickly went straight and joined the Young Avengers.
Going by the superhero moniker Speed, Tommy's powers include both crazy fast speed, naturally, and the ability to generate hyperkinetic vibrations - accelerating molecules so much that they explode. When he’s amped up, he's fast enough to run across water and vibrate through walls.
Despite, for some reason, inheriting his uncle Quicksilver's powers and his arrogance, Speed hasn’t kidnapped his own daughter and forced her into the Terrigen Mists yet, so that’s something.
11. Daiea & Mistress Kya
Earth-3515 is just going about its business when Asgard accidentally crashes into New York City, killing thousands. Naturally, Thor and the other Asgardians take over the Earth, ruling with an iron fist. (But not the Iron Fist. He's dead, along with most of the other heroes.) Jane Foster helps the Scarlet Witch deliver a baby, Daiea, in secret, that she promises to hide from the Asgardians.
Fast forward 200 years. Most of humanity has forgotten ever being free, except for a small band of rebels who've managed to remain "uncatalogued" for centuries, led by the mutant sorceress Mistress Kya, descendent of Daiea and the Scarlet Witch (and therefore Magneto).
She's got a convoluted plan that involves Thialfi, a time-displaced Viking, stealing Mjolnir - left in a cave after Thor become unworthy of lifting it - and assassinating Thor. The plan fails, Mistress Kya is killed, and then Thor's future son gets involved, wielding the hammer and awakening the Destroyer of Gods, thereby finally forcing Thor to see the error of his ways. Thor uses the Odinpower to go back in time and un-terrible everything, erasing his future self – and Mistress Kya, and everyone else – in the process.
10. Plague
In the alternate reality of Earth-1043, Magneto has impregnated Rogue Darkholme - the merged being of Rogue and Mystique - and in nine months the world is graced with Plague, a young woman with the ability to create and control an army of nanoviruses.
Corrupted by the alternate reality Pete Wisdom, a supernatural investigator, Plague is straight-up awful. A member of the Brotherhood - that universe's Brotherhood of Evil Mutants - she pals around with Wisdom and her similarly evil mom, sending her microscopic robot viruses to burrow under her victims' skin and wreaking havoc with their insides.
So how come you’ve never heard of her? Because the only time this timeline has shown up was in a single story in the anthology book, X-Men: Millennial Visions #2001 - which, for some reason, came out in 2002.
9. Pavel Rasputin
GeNext was a pair of short-lived series that took place in Earth-41001, a mystical land where comic book characters aged in real-time, like the rest of us boring normals. X-writer extraordinaire Chris Claremont was tasked with creating a universe that started with the original X-books in the '70s, but then continued with everyone aging normally, like a reverse Peter Pan. As a result, the books are chock full of superheroes who act surprisingly exactly like their grandparents.
Pavel Rasputin is basically just Colossus. He's Russian, he's an artist, he's got super strength, and he can turn to organic steel. Pavel's father is Kid Colossus, Colossus' possible bastard son from a fling with a Savage Land woman – and who’s also basically just Colossus.
Kid Colossus showed up in the main Marvel continuity as a child in a single issue, apparently just to prove that the real Colossus wasn't a virgin - maybe. The young boy, despite the name, is never actually proven to be Colossus’ kid and is never mentioned again. In the GeNext universe, though, Kid Colossus grows up, becomes a hero, has a fling with that reality’s Polaris (still Magneto's daughter), spawning Pavel Rasputin. Ta-da.
8. Nightcrawler & Nocturne
Yes, even Nightcrawler briefly called Magneto "Dad," at least in the Earth-2182 reality. Appearing in the same X-Men: Millennial Visions anthology series that previously gave us Plague, this version of Nightcrawler has a daughter named Nocturne with the Scarlet Witch - making him Magneto's son-in-law and Nocturne Mags’ granddaughter.
In that world, the Shadow King possesses Wolverine and forces him to kill Professor X, leaving Logan crippled afterward. Confined to a wheelchair, Wolverine, obviously, takes on the role of leader of the X-Men, while Nightcrawler steps into the Cyclops role. Cyclops, meanwhile, goes evil, founds the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, and attacks the X-Men. Nocturne possesses Armageddon - the son of Apocalypse - and uses his telepathic powers to force Wolverine's paralyzed arms to stab Cyclops.
Nocturne has since been brought to the "real" world as a member of the timeline-hopping Exiles, as well as New Excalibur for a while.
Basically a lady version of her father, Nocturne can possess anyone for up to 12 hours and fire bolts of energy that originate from the dimension through which Nightcrawler teleports. Which is kind of like teleporting? If you squint and don’t ask too many questions.
7. Crystal
Another in-law to Magneto, Crystal was married to Quicksilver for a spell, before she realized how terrible an idea that was. (See: Quicksilver sucks, above.)
The younger sister of Medusa and a member of the Inhuman royal family, Crystal can manipulate the four "classical" elements: fire, water, earth, and air. Though there are limits on her powers, she's been known to create earthquakes, rain storms, and tornados.
She's, unfortunately, spent a lot of her comics career defined by her relationships - first with Johnny Storm, then Pietro, and, finally, with Ronan the Accuser. Ironically, it was only after being forced into marrying the Kree that she discovers her own agency, taking on the role of the "People's Princess" and advocating for Kree commoners. She even went toe-to-toe with Medusa when the latter tried to stage a slave revolt to further her own causes.
Seriously, Crystal may be the Forrest Gump of Marvel - bad news just seems to follow her around.
6. Joseph
Technically a clone, Joseph is a less insane version of Magneto - like, literally. The mutant Astra created him back in the day, giving him all of Erik's memories and abilities, with the slight tweak of correcting the instabilities in Magneto’s nervous system that make him go nuts when he uses too much power.
Anyway, because he's a comic character, none of this is anyway near as straightforward as it sounds. Joseph is introduced as an amnesiac wandering around in South America, makes his way to the X-Men, and is believed to be a better, reformed Magneto, for longer than anyone is proud of. Eventually he dies saving the world. Then he’s, of course, brought back as a villain. Also, he kind of has a thing with Rogue, which readers dug for some reason, and is almost certainly why there’s so many crazy, alternate-reality Rogue/Magneto kids on this list.
Right, but why's Joseph on this list? Well, if Professor Farnsworth can call his clone Cubert his son, then so can we – anything that’s good enough for Futurama is good enough for us.
5. Magnus
The first-born son of Magneto and Rogue in the Earth-27 alternate universe, little Magnus appeared to be following in his father's footsteps as a master of magnetism. However, as he grew up, Magnus became cursed with the worst parts of both of his parents' powers: Whatever Magnus touched, he turned to metal. Including his own momma.
After accidentally killing Rogue and being abandoned by his once-again-a-supervillain father, Magnus wandered into the desert where he was found by the Timebreakers, an alien race assembling heroes to fix all the different timelines they'd accidentally broken. Calling themselves the Exiles, they were sent to free a Professor X - only to discover that that Xavier was a megalomaniacal a-hole.
Xavier sets off a nuclear bomb, and Magnus, putting himself at ground zero, clears away his teammates and uses his powers to create a magnetic field around the bomb. He dies a hero.
4. Polaris
Polaris is Magneto's daughter, the result of an affair he had with a woman named Susanna Dane. Over the years, she's been a hero and a villain, often romantically linked with Havok - even after he stood her up at the altar once and she tried to kill him. Around since the '60s, Lorna Dane has a long and convoluted history, rife with mind-control, power loss, insanity, and a brief stint as Pestilence, one of Apocalypse's Horsemen. The greatest travesty, though, is that she hasn't yet been a part of the X-Men cinematic universe - although that should change with the new X-Men television show.
Polaris' powers are basically the same as those of her father, with one of her many nicknames being "the mistress of magnetism." That said, she's not as fanatical about training and using them as he is, so she's not quite as powerful. Over the years, she's also had the ability to sense and gain power from negative emotions, as well as all her disease-bringing powers as Pestilence. But her greatest power may be that she can rock green hair like nobody’s business.
3. Vision
Created by Ultron, Vision is a crazy powerful synthezoid, capable of harnessing solar radiation into optic beams, changing his density at will, and supercomputer-like analytical abilities, as well as all the regular amplified strength and stamina that comes with being an advanced human/robot hybrid.
Vision long ago fell in love with the Scarlet Witch, eventually marrying her and becoming the son-in-law to Magneto – for a while. Vision and Wanda even raised a family of alternate-reality demon spawn together. You know, until Wanda went bat-poop crazy and they split up.
Given the newer Vision comics focus on domestic life, we have one question: What was it like being a robot and hanging out with Magneto? That must have been one heck of a stressful dinner.
2. Scarlet Witch
Originally - and forever, as far as we're concerned - Wanda Maximoff was believed to be the daughter of Magneto, abandoned by Max's wife Magda after Max was revealed to be a mutant. Along with her brother Pietro, Wanda was adopted by a Romani couple, until the manifestation of Wanda's probability-altering mutant powers caused villagers to kill her parents, eerily shadowing the events that had caused her biological mother to flee in the first place.
Except, after the Marvel Cinematic Universe decided they wanted Wanda and Pietro for themselves - and because Fox owns the rights to the word "mutant" - their origin was retconned. They’re now the actual, biological children of the Maximoffs after all, kidnapped and experimented on by the High Evolutionary, who then lied to them about being Magneto's kids. That story will almost certainly get changed again, after Fox and Marvel join forces.
Anyway, the Scarlet Witch is unbelievably powerful, if a bit unreliable. Originally able to, basically, channel bad luck and change probabilities, making toasters explode or what-not, she's now the living focal point for all of Earth's magic, famously rewriting history by uttering "No more mutants." Magneto, obviously, was not pleased.
1. Wiccan
Even more powerful than his mom, Wiccan is Scarlet Witch's reincarnated pseudo-kid and, therefore, Magneto's grandchild. Basically. As mentioned earlier, Wiccan was created when Scarlet Witch reincarnated into the real world her two kids from the alternate reality that she had previously created. The kids, this time, ended up separated and raised by two other families, before everyone realized what was going on. Pinning down an exact definition of their relationship is a little tricky.
In any event, after electrocuting a kid that was picking on him for being gay, Billy Kaplan realized he had superpowers and ran to Scarlet Witch for help. Those powers are, like his mother's, almost limitless, though he does have to say them out loud for them to work. If he can't hear his own words -- if he's, say, wearing headphones and listening to loud music - his powers don't work. Despite this, Billy is destined to become the Demiurge, rewriting the laws of magic and basically becoming the arbiter of all creation.
So, you know, maybe keep that in mind the next time you're being mean to someone.