Is Magneto a selfish hypocrite?

[Assertive One]

Although Magneto is an extremely complicated, powerful and popular supervillain, to say nothing of the X-Men's top adversary, and a character I think rocks, too, there's something I'm wondering about him.

Magneto may have helped the X-Men from time to time, but he always goes right back to his villainous terrorist ways. Additionally, he wants to enslave the rest of the human race, or worse, wipe it out.

Was that not the sort of thing he went through thanks to Nazis wanting to exterminate all they deemed needing of elimination? Did he not get worked like a slave in that concentration camp like all its other prisoners did?

It is tragic his family was slaughtered, and I can understand why he would feel as angry as he does, but the way he claims to want mutantkind to survive and live well, and yet gives anti-mutant activists matches to light a fire with by acting on the terrorism and extremist methods he does? The way that he judges all human beings as being equally bad no matter how they vary? Isn't that discrimination?

And wasn't Magneto subject to discrimination as a child? The point is, between all of this and how the X-Men try to make humans and mutants coexist peacefully, but Magneto's actions don't make it any easier for them, and with how Magneto treated some of the mutants who were on his side in the past(such as Toad, Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch)quite badly in one form or another, even though he's no stranger to being treated badly himself, I can't help but wonder.

Is Magneto really just a cruel, selfish and pitiless hypocrite who covers up the fact he wants nothing but revenge and to achieve what he desires with a seeming wish to help mutants like himself? Or is he sincere in believing that what he does is for the greater good and the only way is his way? I mean, he's prejudiced against humans when he knows how it feels to have prejudice be done against you, and even Charles Xavier has seen him as irredeemable(you know, when he stripped Wolverine of his adamantium).

So, put in your opinions. Magneto: Evil, self-centered hypocrite or tragic, misguided, unintentional anti-villain?

[dragonmp93]

Well that also depends on which versión of magneto are you talking about; the one from the adaptations, the one from the ultimate universe, or the one from the 616/main universe

[Assertive One]

Well that also depends on which versión of magneto are you talking about; the one from the adaptations, the one from the ultimate universe, or the one from the 616/main universe

Oh, I'm talking about the comic book 616 one, believe me.

[Sundowhn]

Depends on the writer.

Generally speaking, as far as morals and the X-Men go, you have:

1. The ones who understood the need for coexistence and haven't allowed themselves to lose sight of it or let go of their ethics and morals -- Storm, Nightcrawler, Iceman, Rogue and probably Rachel
2. The ones who want coexistence but have compromised their ethics to go about it: Xavier, Beast, Wolverine, Warren, Betsy, Cable, Colossus, Bishop
3. The Magneto lights -- they talk big about extremism and doing what it takes but have lost sight of the original dream and the big picture (i.e. acceptance will never come by force). They resent being seen as anything but heroes -- Cyclops, Emma, Illyana(the latter is generally written as more along for the ride or to be the bus, sadly), Kitty rides the fence on this one
4. Magneto himself -- doesn't pretend to want coexistence, doesn't care if it requires the eradication of humans to make a place for mutants and will help that along if it helps his people. Mystique falls here, too, when she's not just being a cackling sociopath


Mags fell for awhile along the lines of #2 and #3, but is now back to where he was before without much in the way of explanation.

[butterflykyss]

Depends on the writer.

Generally speaking, as far as morals and the X-Men go, you have:

1. The ones who understood the need for coexistence and haven't allowed themselves to lose sight of it or let go of their ethics and morals -- Storm, Nightcrawler, Iceman, Rogue and probably Rachel
2. The ones who want coexistence but have compromised their ethics to go about it: Xavier, Beast, Wolverine, Warren, Betsy, Cable, Colossus
3. The Magneto lights -- they talk big about extremism and doing what it takes but have lost sight of the original dream and the big picture (i.e. acceptance will never come by force). They resent being seen as anything but heroes -- Cyclops, Emma, Kitty, Illyana(the latter is generally written as more along for the ride or to be the bus, sadly)
4. Magneto himself -- doesn't pretend to want coexistence, doesn't care if it requires the eradication of humans to make a place for mutants and will help that along if it helps his people. Mystique falls here, too, when she's not just being a cackling sociopath


Mags fell for awhile along the lines of #2 and #3, but is now back to where he was before without much in the way of explanation.

Nice analysis

[jmc247]

Depends on the writer.

Generally speaking, as far as morals and the X-Men go, you have:

1. The ones who understood the need for coexistence and haven't allowed themselves to lose sight of it or let go of their ethics and morals -- Storm, Nightcrawler, Iceman, Rogue and probably Rachel
2. The ones who want coexistence but have compromised their ethics to go about it: Xavier, Beast, Wolverine, Warren, Betsy, Cable, Colossus, Bishop
3. The Magneto lights -- they talk big about extremism and doing what it takes but have lost sight of the original dream and the big picture (i.e. acceptance will never come by force). They resent being seen as anything but heroes -- Cyclops, Emma, Illyana(the latter is generally written as more along for the ride or to be the bus, sadly), Kitty rides the fence on this one
4. Magneto himself -- doesn't pretend to want coexistence, doesn't care if it requires the eradication of humans to make a place for mutants and will help that along if it helps his people. Mystique falls here, too, when she's not just being a cackling sociopath

Mags fell for awhile along the lines of #2 and #3, but is now back to where he was before without much in the way of explanation.

Yah, no. Even Silver Age Magneto was never genocidal. He wanted to be dictator of the Earth and rule mutants and humans. Silver Age Magneto was also bat **** insane.

Magneto historically in the 616 certainly doesn't want to become Hitler and herd people into ovens (sorry Morrison his own family and most of the women he ever loved were human) but when written well he believes that mutants need to be protected by extreme means. Let me put it this way he came of age in the 40s when the good guys set off fire storms in cities to mass murder hundreds of thousands of innocent people under the pretext of war. He was born in a very different time with a very different thinking about violence.

However, the Allies never wanted to exterminate all Germans and Japanese... but they wanted to neutralize the threat by any means short of genocide... that is were Magneto is mentally at currently. He isn't killing humans because they are human, he is killing threats and potential threats to mutants.

[dragonmp93]

Well, normal humans, at least the ones that live on new york, seems to be a bunch of ungrateful #$%&/($%; besides that a couple of the traumas he suffured were from before he found out he was mutant, so is not surprising that is so cynical about normal humans.

Also, the existence of anti-mutants arsenal like the sentinels and or anti-mutants groups like the purifiers, doesnt help at all.

[Daymare]

Based on his history Magneto was twisted due to his past. Any time he has tried to redeem himself he gets so much distrust and backlash he falls into his old tropes. He holds true to his convictions and understands that a closed fist is sometimes the only way to stop a bully when they are coming at you with a baseball bat.
He is not hiding his intent by running a school full of children as headmaster, or ostracising others because of mistakes they have made that he himself may have been guilty of. Magneto creates a team of warriors and acts as a leader. That is his role. Initially he was the man doing Xavier's dream in a more demented, violent way. With the way they screwed Xavier's goodness they are much more similar than ever.

[PwrdOn]

I can definitely understand why people are drawn to Magneto's ideology in-universe, who doesn't love a good revenge fantasy? But there's a good reason this kind of approach is seen as evil, people throughout history have tried the same thing and most of the time they end up worse off for it. It all really comes down to a pretty basic fact that everyone except Mags seems to understand - if you were strong enough to defeat your enemies, they wouldn't be in a position to oppress you in the first place.

[remydat]

Yes he most certainly is but that is what makes him compelling. The self-righteous indignation works for the character and provides a nice counter-balance to the pie in the sky X-men don't kill types.

[Lucyinthesky]

So to save everyone, I did nothing. And guess what? They killed them all anyway. Quote2 Magneto Testament

Magneto doesn´t hate humans for being humans, he doesn´t have a problem working alongside humans, or care for them or even love them,his own grandaughter was born a human after all and possibly there´s no one of his family he loves more. But he does fear what human beings are capable of when they hate or are scared of something or someone, like the mutant race, and in the marvel universe, from the Sentinels to Genosha, his fears have been proven true in a way, time after time. This doesn´t mean he thinks his approach to solving this situation is the best one, or even one a good person would take, he doesn´t think of himself as a good person, but he has come to believe that along with initiatives like those of Xavier School, there must be also initiatives like those he uses. His view of the world is a cynical and depressive one, he is a disappointed idealist with an extremely tragic past that affects his perception of the present and makes it very hard for him to change his views, but not impossible, as he has done so before, when the consequences of his actions beat him head on.

This doesn´t mean he is blind to his or the mutants own darker side, his participation in Age of Apocalypse is a prime example in how he doesn´t think the genocide of the human race is an acceptable response. But he does think it´s acceptable to take extreme responses to extreme situations.

[KaleRylan]

I'm not answering the poll because frankly, the answer isn't there. The idea with Magneto is that he's caught in a cycle of revenge. He has perfectly good reasons to get revenge, but in seeking revenge, he becomes what he set out to get revenge against. That's the whole point. He's a tragic figure. And he is wrong, but with good reason. It's what makes him such a good villain. Because by his example, it shows that what makes a good hero is to try and rise above the cycle of violence rather than being caught up in it.

[Magneto]

Magneto is fighting for the Mutant race before himself. That's the only thing that matters.

[Stussyjones]

Everybody is selfish. But magneto is literally fighting for mutantkind.

[DDD]

I cannot go into details right now, I'll expand on this later. Basically, Magneto's taken revenge on the X-Men several times for being turned into an infant by one of his own victims or creation, mutant Alpha? None of those X-Men had anything to do with that!

Blames Gambit for MM, while Magz sat on his ass at full power, the whole massacre.

Killed Jean Grey using the most jggicken **** attack ever, while she was being kind to him. (Woman brutalizing again)

Did jack against his mass murdering daughter.


He is extra selfish. He brutalized Dr McTaggert several times for daring to medicate his psychosis or even questioning his opinions.