Metal manipulation may be the main ability that Magneto is known for, but Erik Lehnsherr is a complicated and multi-layered villain who is sometimes a hero, sometimes able to perform feats completely unrelated to metal control, and always interesting. The character has almost always been at odds with the X-Men, but he's also been a terrorist who threatened the entire Marvel world at some points in his timeline, utilizing his unique and powerful abilities in order to hold the Earth itself hostage.
The age old argument is that Marvel has the better heroes while DC has the better villains, but Magneto is one of the few exceptions. Like Loki and Thanos, he's much more nuanced than most of the other Marvel villains, and he's got such a range of abilities that it's easy to see why the X-Men have such a difficult time defeating him.
From his brain power to his combat skills, Magneto's body encompasses a wide range of tactical advantages that render him one of the most unstoppable forces of villainy in the Marvel world. Magneto's body itself is one of his most prominent yet underrated tools, providing him with the means to gain the upper hand even if metal fails him.
Spawning other powerful mutants, withstanding many a beating, and surpassing foes otherwise believed unbeatable, Magneto's body has proved to be a remarkable machine throughout the history of the X-Men.
From his immunity to other mutant powers to his shifting voice, here are the 20 Weirdest Things About Magneto's Body.
He's Impervious To Rogue's Powers
Remember when Magneto married Rogue in that weird arc the couple had during the Age of Apocalypse? The union itself wasn't terribly surprising given the tension that's existed between the two before, but the fact that he could somehow utilize his body to control her own ability to absorb others' powers remains one of the most baffling moments of X-Men history since it still doesn't make any sense.
How exactly does his magnetism block her bare touch when her own child can't be touched by her?
While we don't know exactly why Magneto's body is able to be touched by Rogue, the fact remains that writers once deemed it possible.
He Use Metal Bracelets To Fly
No, Magneto doesn't just magically zip around in the air like . Instead, he utilizes metal bracelets to control his own levitation, which is a pretty brilliant way to do it as long as they don't cut off his circulation.
Does he actually require them to fly? No, he can hack into the Earth's magnetic field and coast along as much as he pleases, but using the bracelets is a much more efficient use of his energy.
If there is magnetic material around he can also easily propel himself off it in order to fly, hover, and otherwise move, but it's all up to chance if he relies upon that method of flight. The bracelets just make it simpler on him.
He's More Powerful Than Apocalypse
Apocalypse is kind of like the Mr. T of the X-Men world. Yes, he's beaten a lot of the big name boxers and he talks some heavy smack, but when it comes down to it, he's not really invulnerable.
While the Age of Apocalypse isn't the most popular timeline of the X-Men, it did feature Magneto up against Mr. End of the World.
Magneto completely demolished Apocalypse.
By besting Apocalypse, Magneto has proven that not only is he more powerful, but that he is capable of threatening the planet in ways that Apocalypse could only dream about yet is able to restrict his own abilities in order to support his own mission.
He's A Father To Several Mutants
While Marvel has stated that Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch were experiments and not mutants after all, for many years they were simply considered the offspring of Magnus and his wife, Magda, who birthed the twins before expiring in the process.
Magneto is also considered the quite absent father of Polaris, who has received much less of her father's attention over the years.
Magneto has also had non-mutant children, like Charles Lehnsherr, whom he fathered with Rogue, and Anya, an infant who tragically perished in a fire at the hands of an angry mob. With Rogue Darkholme in Earth-1043, he also spawned the nano-virus-controlling Plague. Magneto also has several grandchildren, including Quicksilver's daughter Luna.
He Can React 15 Times Faster Than Humans
While he isn't as fast as his son, Quicksilver, Magneto does have some superhuman speed that provides him with a reaction time of about 15 times that of a human.
Magneto can channel his powers through his own body in order to increase his own reaction time.
He can utilize the same method in order to increase his own strength and durability. This speed helps his body work as an even more efficient machine of terror.
Magneto's grandson Speed also inherited the ability, so maybe the full power just needed a little nudge-- or, in Quicksilver and his sister's case, a bit of genetic experimentation at the hands of the High Evolutionary.
He's God-Tier
Several characters in Marvel Vs. Capcom 2 are referred to as gods given their invulnerability and ability to take on pretty much any opponent and survive. Magneto is unsurprisingly one of these, given both his speed and choice set of combo moves that make him difficult to defeat.
Any seasoned player who knows his moves can be unbeatable by utilizing the rights combos at the right time, which is why plenty of people choose him as the character to play.
The game is one of the most popular fighting games in history and features Cable, Storm, and Sentinel as the other fan-declared "gods" of the game. Magneto is considered to be one of the "lesser" gods along with Cable, who both fall slightly beneath Storm and Sentinel in their abilities.
He Can Astral Project And Give Telepathic Orders
It's not something we get to see much anymore, but in the old days Magneto used astral projection. These were some of his earliest moments in the comics, but his telepathic abilities haven't been erased completely.
While leading the New Mutants, Erik has demonstrated keen use of Cerebro.
He used the tool to find mutants from far away as other telepathic mutants like Jean Grey and Charles Xavier have done many times.
Although Erik doubtlessly has strengths in these areas, it is implied that much of his strength stems from his own self-discipline and training through things like meditation. He's also known to seamlessly combine powers, using his magnetic abilities to mess with the Earth's magnetic field and dull the telepathic powers of others.
He Was A Cute Physics Teacher In X-Men Misfits
X-Men: Misfits was a weird take that was intended to bring more teen girls into the Marvel fold. The truth is that plenty of girls enjoy a good Marvel story, especially when women heroes (and villains, love interests, and so forth) are written as actual people with meaningful storylines, but that's beside the point.
An English-language manga, Misfits portrayed Lehnsherr as an attractive physics teacher who awards Kitty Pryde with a scholarship and is much more interested in philosophy, politics,and the superiority of the mutant race than his own subject material.
One of the most cringe-worthy moments was when he tells Pryde to call him Magneto and she squeaks, "Magneato?"
He Can Move Asteroids And Create Wormholes
While fans are often limited to witnessing Erik manipulate simple items like rockets, which are complex enough compared to other villains, they really deserve to see Erik harness the enormity of his powers on the big screen. The feats he's performed in the comic books are even greater.
In the "House of M" story line, Magneto used a wormhole to whisk Scarlet Witch away when she began losing her mind over the loss of her children and restructuring reality in order to bring them back.
He can also use this skill to teleport himself and others in times of great need.
When added up, Magneto's powers nearly encompass all other mutant powers, making him more than just the master of metal.
He Is A Genius And Reader Of Faces
A true Jack of All Trades, Magneto's powers aren't only off the map; his mental prowess also comes in quite handy.
Lehnsherr is a genius who is considered an expert at several advanced sciences, from genetics to engineering, particle physics to bio-engineering.
Judging by the advanced weapons and lifeforms he's created over the years, the true question is not how powerful or brilliant he is, but how on earth has he not succeeded in every mission he's ever had?
The answer is that his flaw is similar to many villains' flaws. Like Thanos, in particular, Erik doesn't really wish to win with his whole heart. Even if he is willing to sacrifice humans for his cause, he is reluctant to waste mutant life.
He Can Create Force Fields
Magneto's force fields are pretty legendary. They are the coolest-looking force fields in Marvel comics as well as some of the most effective defensive abilities.
His force fields are also some of the largest scale that have ever graced the pages of a comic book, some strong enough to withstand a nuclear attack.
This means that he could block various medical treatments, infiltrate security just about anywhere, and cause the destruction of the planet if he so wished.
It's really just a good thing that Magneto cares for all mutants or else the X-Men would never have stood a chance against the villain.
He Can Rearrange Matter
Energy may not be able to be created or destroyed according to the first law of thermodynamics, but it sure can be used to rearrange matter. That's just what Magneto does on a pretty impressive scale.
He performs this massive effort, which does take a lot out of him, by manipulating the chemical structure of matter. This power, known as subatomic manipulation, is only available to a handful of characters, such as Rachel Summers, Jean Grey, Doctor Manhattan, and Molecule Man.
While this power may seem like Magneto's generic ability to twist metal around his fingers, it's a much more intricate ability that can basically render the wielder a god if he or she chooses to abuse the power. Unfortunately many of those who have the ability do.
He Can Resist Telepathy
The fact that Magneto is one of the most formidable foes in Marvel comics is attributed to many of his complex powers and personality traits, but a definite aspect of his body that makes him so powerful is his resistance to telepathy.
Many fans believe that without his special helmet Magneto would be helpless against the mind control of Charles Xavier. While it's true that Chuck has pulled some major mind magic on his old friend in the past, it's also not a completely accurate prediction.
Like Storm, Magneto has some serious willpower and strength of mind that make him harder to manipulate than other mutants.
He's not completely resistant to telepathy without his helmet, but he is pretty difficult to control.
Doctor Druid once even remarked that Erik has a degree of telepathy himself.
He Can Be Invisible
While it's among one of his most under-utilized tools, largely because Magnus really likes a dramatic entrance and could give Megamind a run for his money on presentation, it's not even as far-fetched as it sounds.
Light is an electromagnetic wave, so Erik can warp visible light around his body.
No, it's not rendering his own body as invisible, as some mutants are able to do, but it's a pretty amazing feat and one of many that make him one of the most superior villains in the X-Men universe.
This power can be witnessed in Vision and the Scarlet Witch Volume 1, issue 4, wherein he used metal around his body to bend light and be unseen.
He Can Create Electromagnetic Pulses And Photon Energy
The use of magnetic control seems as if its wielder might only be able to control magnets, and a common misconception about Magneto is that he can only affect electromagnetic energy that already exists, but he is also able to generate his own electromagnetic energy.
The villain has the ability to not only create pulses of electromagnetic power of enormous potency, but to also both create and change energy down to photons. It's of the many things that sets Magneto apart from other mutants or general characters who control metal.
This is a pretty huge deal, although shows like The Gifted might make it seem like it's more of an accessible ability for other, younger mutants. It has taken Magneto years to hone his abilities to work at this level.
He Is An Expert At Physical Combat
Anyone who has only seen Magneto portrayed by Ian McKellen in the X-Men movies should really take another look at the character. While many fans consider McKellen as one of the best portrayals of Magneto, he was a bit limited in expressing the mutant's combat skills.
Magneto's body is just as dangerous a weapon as his powers.
He's not only fully capable of executing strategic militaristic operations and a skilled tactician even with a team of few against many, but he is also highly trained and has a military background that has proven useful in single-handed combat. Readers have seen Magneto take down many an opponent with his fists, often when severely outnumbered.
He Has An Accent In The '90s Cartoon
It doesn't make sense to hear Magneto speak without some sort of accent from Europe. While we've heard him hail from Germany and England, it's the 1990s cartoon accent, which was voiced by David Hemblen, that was a much more accurate attempt at the character's dialect than many other voices he's had over the years.
While Michael Fassbender portrayed one of the most handsome and nuanced versions of Magneto we've seen, his accent was one of the most inaccurate, even if some fans loved it.
Fassbender said that he attempted to simply use his own accent but with less "Irishness," attempting to sound more intelligent since that was his take on the character. Fassbender's "neutral" Irish voice was an interesting take on Erik, even if it didn't represent the character's own history.
His biggest weakness
Magneto is one of the most powerful mutants of all time, which make his weaknesses and flaws that much more obvious. One of these is his extreme paranoia.
When presented with a wooden gun, he automatically assumed he could not control it, allowing the Fantastic Four to overtake him early on in his comic book career. Some might say this was a glitch, but his constant need to be superior to humans also points toward some pretty strong paranoia on his part.
While the character has had a few backstories over the years, Magneto's experience with discrimination and violence as a child, which included the elimination of his entire family, has also obviously played a part in his hatred of humans.
He Can Levitate A Submarine
It's one of the coolest powers fans have ever witnessed on the big screen, and even though we've seen him do more impressive things in the comics, Magneto's slow pull of a submarine from the depths of water still induces goosebumps.
Lifting 30,000 tons is no small feat and he visibly struggled with the effort in X-Men: First Class, but it still wowed every person who witnessed the event.
As Xavier reminded him to seek out that balance between "rage and serenity," Magneto was able to find his center and truly focus his energy.
Xavier undoubtedly regretted his training down the line when his old friend's efforts eventually led to his own destruction, but luckily Days of Future Past undid that.
He Controls Magnetism
One of the most obvious things about Magneto's body is that he controls magnetism, which is akin to stating that Evel Knievel "does stunts," or that David Copperfield "does magic."
Erik Lehnsherr is absolutely the master of magnetism and his skills have only grown since he first appeared in 1963's The X-Men #1. His powers function on both ferrous and nonferrous metals, and he can both construct and rip apart just about anything with metal in it and utilize it in battle.
This power also means that his major physical vulnerability lies within anything nonmetal, which is how those who oppose him can contain him, however briefly. Like Thanos, Magneto has to be defeated by meticulously calculated plans since there's metal everywhere on Earth that he can use to his advantage.
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What other strange things do you know about Magnet's body in X-Men? Let us know in the comments!