I'm a huge fan of the X-Men, and I think Magneto makes a cool villain/anti-hero, but I feel like I don't understand him as a character. I don't understand his motivations.

It's well-known that his early life involved being a Jew in a concentration camp in WWII. His people were being slaughtered by those who thought they were the 'master race.' So, based on an origin like that, it seems to me like Magneto should have turned out the exact opposite of how he did. If I'd known only his childhood origin, I'd have expected him to be the kind of character who would fight for everyone being able to live together, fighting against the very idea of a 'master race.' But instead he somehow just ends up as the mutant equivalent of Hitler.

I know I'm not the only person who doesn't fully understand this. I've heard plenty of people in the past mention that Magneto is kinda like the mutant Hitler and that that's kinda strange. I've just never understood it or heard any kind of explanation.

Are there any Magneto fans that could shed some light on this for me?

The whole idea of Magneto is that he's a big fat hypocrite. That's the whole point. It's the fact that his reasons have depth to them, yet are flawed, that make him such an interesting villain.

^

@kaang_the_watcher: Neither one of them gave you the correct answer.

Let me help you out, but honestly, It seems you're not familiar with Magneto's history. I still don't get what you don't understand when Magneto is an understandable character, and complicated character if you ask me.

Magneto grew up in that nasty camp where he was tortured, abused, mistreated; well, you mention it. Magneto escaped the nasty Nazi camp with Magda and decided to live a normal life as a husband and father. He was fine after escaping those madness of when his family was slaughtered, but what happened? Humans killed his daughter, Anya, and she was probably 3 or 4 years old. After humans discovered his mutation, they burned his house with Magda and Anya in it (for humans it was an abomination). Magda escaped the tragedy, but unfortunately, Anya was trapped and burned to death right before Magneto's eyes.That drove him into what many people intended to call him... a monster. He did try to live a normal life after he escaped the nasty camp (I call it Nasty because the Nazi was Nasty with the Jews and others), but when his daughter got killed, his life as a human was no longer there.

From where Magneto's from, there is no question that his life was a hell of living... if you ask me. This is a character who is a Holocaust survivor and STILL is a survivor. He had survived the worst that anyone can ever imagine. He didn't turn into a "monster" right after that. He did help few people. He did help a family in one incident. An incident that brought him memory of when his daughter burned to death. There was this family trapped in a fire of their house, a mother and daughter, calling for help. He saved them and they even told him that "You may be all the things you said, but first and foremost, you have proved yourself a man" Magneto is not evil, or a monster, or a villain, and he's not interesting in any of those categories... he's more interesting as an anti-hero, but better yet, he's more like a hero to my eyes.

So no, he's not portraying himself as a Nazi or what ever you're confused about. He hate the Nazis, period. Clearly he can't be blamed for what he has been through nor he can't be blamed for his beliefs. So his motivation is to save his kind, which he saw how humans persecuted them, and he's afraid that from his experience, humans will wipe them out. Human created an oppressive camp to hold the mutants where this image brought him back of when he was persecuted in the Nazi camp. He learned from history, society, war, and martyr. For him "Never again" justified the means. Magneto was right about humanity. He was right about everything. He was right all along as Xavier told him once in his solo book.

I hope this help you understand.

@kaang_the_watcher: Magneto is kinda known for having an inconsistent characterization from writer to writer. So it's open to interpretation. Mine is that he thinks humans are beyond redemption. And, given how much the Marvel Universe emphasizes just how cruel humans are toward mutants, I can't say I blame him. But I see him as more of a "dark Moses" than a "mutant Hitler".

I feel the same most of the time.

Magneto is kinda like Donna Troy: Writers keep changing him all the time.

@timetraveltravetz: So you're saying that his motivation isn't based in belief that mutants are the 'superior race' who must exterminate humans, but rather that it is based on his will to be a survivor and to ensure the survival of others like him?

Okay, that is an idea I can get behind. When looked at from that angle, Magneto's characterization and motivations make a whole lot more sense.

Thank you :)

You Welcome.

Magneto the conqueror is not what he is today (and haven't being in a long time. So long that I can't even remember when was the last time). He left that behind way long time ago. If I recall this correctly, AvX can tell you more of who actually took Magneto ideal. He believes mutants should be safe, where they can be able to strive, and live in peace. That's what Magneto is all about today and always has been. In-fact, he joined the XM and saved many crises here and there. His role been taking from different directions with different writers and pretty much all of them are quite the same... saving his mutantkind. I don't know if you're familiar with his solo book, but there you can understand MORE why he is the way he is. It seems that now humans based believe that humans are the superior race (and what real nation or in comics does not think that?). "God loves Man kills" is the best book to describe this. He's crystal clear an anti-HERO.

I'm glad I can help you out :)