Known by many names, Max Eisenhardt, also known as Erik Magnus Lehnsherr, is a powerful mutant willing to go to any extreme to protect his species as Magneto, the master of magnetism.[28] During his youth, he suffered atrocities at the hands of the Nazis while interred in Auschwitz. After escaping, he learned at the cost of his own daughter's life that he had the mutant ability to generate and control magnetic fields, a condition that caused additional hate and fear from those who were different from him.[29] With his whole life spent being a target merely for being born different, Magneto rejecting the possibility of any harmony with humans and aimed to conquer the world to enable mutants, whom he referred to as Homo superior, to become the dominant species on Earth.[30]
Seeking to subjugate humanity by brute force, he found himself in direct conflict with his former friend and ally, Professor Charles Xavier and his X-Men, mutants who shared a dream of peaceful mutant-human coexistence.[15][31][28][32][33][34][35] His reputation as an inspirational figurehead and a dangerous threat, as the leader of the Brotherhood and the Acolytes, granted him the rule over the nation of Genosha,[34] until its destruction.[36] While best known as their foe, Magneto has also allied with the X-Men on numerous occasions, expressing his intentions to try Xavier's way[37] and even his students' perspective, by following Cyclops.[38]
More recently, Magneto rejoined Professor Xavier, ending their long-time feud, to help establish a new mutant nation on the living island of Krakoa.[39] Magneto served as one of the fledgling nation's most prominent figures, both as part of the Quiet Council of Krakoa[40] and as a hero of mutantkind.[41]
