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!! Erik Lehnsherr / ComicBook/{{Magneto}}
[[quoteright:300:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/magneto_old_xmen_films_7350.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:300:''"We are the future, Charles, not them. They no longer matter."'']]
[[quoteright:300:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/magneto_young_xmen_films_2039.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:300:''"I've been at the mercy of men just following orders. Never again."'']]
->'''Played By''': Creator/IanMcKellen, Creator/MichaelFassbender, Bill Milner & Brett Morris
->'''Film Appearances''': ''Film/XMen1 | Film/X2XMenUnited | Film/XMenTheLastStand | Film/XMenFirstClass | Film/TheWolverine | Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast | Film/XMenApocalypse''
A Holocaust survivor, he and Xavier were once friends, and they built Cerebro together. However, his belief that humans and mutants could never co-exist led to their separation. Guided by the suffering he had endured as a Jewish boy in Nazi-occupied Europe, his commitment to his fellow kind is that he will never let humanity wrong them as he was and will defend mutantkind to any end no matter how horrific. He has powerful magnetic abilities, enabling him to telekinetically manipulate anything made of metal, and a sophisticated knowledge in matters of genetic manipulation.
----
[[foldercontrol]]
[[folder:A-H]]
* AdaptationalWimp: Magneto in the comics naturally possesses some resistance to telepathy, but ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast'' shows that he's [[spoiler:''completely'' vulnerable to Xavier's power]] if he doesn't wear the helmet. Moreover, Emma Frost was able to [[Film/XMenFirstClass enter his mind and access his traumatic childhood memories]], causing him to collapse in extreme pain. His power set is also limited to being able to telekinetically bend and move metal as opposed to using various magnetic abilities (such as his use of force fields).
** Thanks to Apocalypse's SuperEmpowering in ''Film/XMenApocalypse'', he becomes capable of his full canonical breadth of power as opposed to simply moving metal. And it is ''breathtaking.''
* AdaptationDyeJob: In the comics, he has been shown to have had white hair for the vast majority of his adult life, presumably as a side-effect of his mutation. In the films, he's introduced with ''grey'' hair (though only because, lacking ComicBookTime, the screenwriters had to make him the realistic age of a Holocaust survivor) and he has [[TallDarkAndHandsome dark brown hair]] as a younger man in [[Film/XMenFirstClass the]] [[Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast prequels]].
* AdaptationNameChange: In the comics, his original name was Max Eisenhardt and Erik Lehnsherr was an alias. In the films Erik Lehnsherr is his real name and the alias he uses is Henryk Gurzsky.
* AffablyEvil: With Xavier. They still play chess games together a good 40 years into their conflict with each other. Hell, if you are on his side, he is rather chatty and friendly to you.
* AntagonistInMourning: In ''Film/XMenTheLastStand'', he sincerely grieves over [[spoiler:Xavier's death and cuts off his Dragon Pyro's irreverent talk about the deceased abruptly. As in most versions of X-Men, he and Xavier were very close friends who eventually found themselves on separate sides due to their ideological differences]].
* AntiHero: Played straight in ''Film/XMenFirstClass'' but is subverted in ''Film/X2XMenUnited''.
* AntiVillain: Has an unquestionably sympathetic backstory and very good reason to believe that humans are out to eradicate the mutant race. However, he is a dangerous individual with few limits on his devotion and what must be done to ensure the survival of his kind. Even his best and oldest friend isn't safe from [[MyGreatestFailure his extreme methods and beliefs.]]
* TheAtoner: Creator/IanMcKellen invokes this while discussing his character in the "Double Take: Xavier & Magneto" documentary on the ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast'' Blu-Ray release.
-->"The Magneto that you see with me is a man of conscience, and a man with an unhappy life behind him. He's come through a great deal, and isn't taking on single-handedly, or even with the help of his Brotherhood, society as a whole. He's joined up again with his old friend, Professor X, and together, they're going to try to move things forward."
* BadassBaritone: Both Creator/IanMcKellen and Creator/MichaelFassbender pull this off.
* BadassCape: As part of his supervillain outfit.
* BadassGrandpa: In the original trilogy, he's somewhere in his 70's or 80's, but he can still kick your ass substantially. In ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast'', as a Holocaust survivor living in 2023, he is, at the very least, in his late eighties/early nineties (''Film/XMenFirstClass'' portrayed him as being around ten in 1944). [[spoiler:He still lifts the X-Jet and hurls it at a horde of incoming Sentinels like it's a child's toy, takes a piece of shrapnel to the gut and slightly-less-than-casually pulls it out, and still uses the remaining wreckage to further barricade the path to Kitty and Wolverine.]]
* BadassInANiceSuit: Younger Magneto.
* BerserkButton: Does not like people who 'just follow orders’. This is heavily implied to be because it was the excuse many Nazi officials gave for their actions during the Nuremburg trials.
* BigBad: Of ''Film/XMen1'', ''Film/XMenTheLastStand'' and [[spoiler:''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast]]''.
* BigBadEnsemble: [[spoiler:His younger self is this in ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast''.]]
* BigBrotherInstinct: By the time of the Cuban Missile Crisis, he had already begun to view Charles as a brother figure. When the Blackbird spiraled out of control, Erik used his body to shield Xavier from injury, and he [[spoiler:''immediately'' halted his attack on the American and Soviet naval forces when Charles was shot.]]
** Even extending past that, as they become enemies, Erik continously shows both respect and affection for Charles, consitantly referring to him as ‘Old Friend’. He was immensely saddened by his death in X-men: The Last Stand, and deeply insulted by those who where disrespectful to him. He would also routinely put his own life on the line to help or save Charles, and the two kept very close in their later years, despite often being on opposing sides of the battle field. In fact in some ways, their relationship is often treated as something of a CainAndAbel story.
* BigGood: His older-self shares the role with Charles Xavier in ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast''.
* ByronicHero: In ''Film/XMenFirstClass''--morally troubled, emotionally damaged, attractive, and very charismatic about his pro-mutant beliefs. Particularly to some of the impressionable younger characters like Mystique.
* TheChessmaster: Invoked several times. He is seen playing Chess with Charles Xavier several times throughout the original trilogy, and references Chess during his attack on Alcatraz, to his benefit as Juggernaut was about to pull a LeeroyJenkins and would have been depowered in the first wave had Erik not stopped him.
--> '''Erik''' ''(stopping Juggernaut)'': In Chess, the pawns go first.
--> ''(the defenders reveal their plastic dart guns filled with the cure serum, leading to the first wave of attackers getting depowered)''
--> '''Erik''': Hmm, ''plastic''. They've learned. That's why the pawns go first.
* CoolHelmet: At times even [[SpikesOfVillainy horny]]. Technology wired into the helmet [[NoSell prevents telepathic intrusion]], making Magneto difficult to control or impossible to find via Cerebro.
* TheCorrupter: Although he convinces Raven to accept her mutant appearance, he also pushes her into committing murder against human enemies and truly becoming Mystique. Charles believes Erik is a large influence for Raven leaving him.
* CurbStompBattle: Dishes these out to Wolverine on a regular basis.
* CulturedBadass: He speaks several languages, passionately discusses philosophy, shows considerable knowledge of politics and foreign cultures, and enjoys the occasional game of chess with Xavier.
* DarkAndTroubledPast: "Holocaust survivor" is about as dark and troubled as it gets.
* DarkMessiah: In ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast'', [[spoiler:his younger self prepares to kill Nixon while declaring mutant supremacy in front of a live broadcast.]]
* DeadpanSnarker: The biggest one, natch. ''Film/X2XMenUnited'' is largely his snark-fest at everyone's expense.
** In ''Film/XMenFirstClass'' upon seeing the mansion Charles grew up in.
-->'''Erik:''' Honestly Charles, I don't know how you survived living in such hardship.
** In the original ''Film/XMen1'', he just can't help but point out Scott's at-times apparent stupidity. Such as when they were all trapped and bound by him within the Statue of Liberty.
-->'''Cyclops:''' Storm, fry him!
-->'''Magneto:''' Oh yes. A bolt of lightning into a huge copper conductor. ''I thought you lived at a school.''
** He also really enjoys mocking Wolverine in general.
* DeathGlare: Young Magneto, portrayed by Fassbender, gives a calm murderous look killing the Nazis and Shaw, and also ripping a filling tooth from a banker in ''Film/XMenFirstClass''. Also, a good stare carrying the [[spoiler:RFK Stadium towards the White House]] in ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast''.
* DemotedToDragon: He ''isn't'' the leader of the supervillain team in ''Film/XMenApocalypse''; this time around, he plays second fiddle to Apocalypse.
* {{Determinator}}: In the '70s, he asks Logan how fighting him for years has worked out for him and Logan responds they're both "survivors" which only serves to motivate Erik to later demonstrate [[spoiler:how much more powerful he is than the Wolverine later on when he runs metal pipes through his body and leaves him to drown.]]
* DoesntLikeGuns: His younger self uses guns when he needs to, while the older Magneto sneers at them. This is partly because of his background as a holocaust survivor, and partly because humans rely on guns to fight, and he sees it as a sign of their inferiority. Of course, that's a bit hypocritical when he has the power of magnetism, and those who don't possess such an advantage have to defend themselves somehow.
* DoUntoOthersBeforeTheyDoUntoUs: His motive in almost every movie.
* EmotionalPowers: In ''Film/XMenFirstClass'', he is originally only able to use his powers when extremely angry. The first two times, it involves maternal separation. However, he can't properly focus it until Charles coaches him to concentrate on happier emotions.
* EnemyMine:
** ''Film/X2XMenUnited'': He and Mystique team-up with the X-Men to stop a human villain from killing all mutants. [[spoiler:Right up until he decides to invert the attack and have all the non-Mutants killed instead.]]
** ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast'': He and Xavier unite against the Sentinels that threaten all of mutantkind with extinction. [[spoiler:Although he ends up attempting his own plans for mutant superiority and, ironically enough, winds up jeopardizing the plan to save mutantkind.]]
* EvenEvilHasStandards: Magneto always considered Xavier a friend and never wanted him dead. In ''X3'' when Pyro says he would have done so if Magneto ordered it, Magneto is clearly angered at the idea.
* EvilFormerFriend: Naturally while remaining on FriendlyEnemy terms with Charles Xavier, the X-Men and Brotherhood are at great conflict in the majority of films regardless.
* EvilGenius: With truly amazing schemes. In ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast'', [[spoiler:he was able to steal a file containing the details of the Sentinels, after reading it over he was somehow able to reprogram them while inserting metal tracks within the bodies.]]
* ExtraOreDinary: His impressive mutant ability to control metal. Guns are a joke to him and throughout the films he's accomplished feats capable of [[Film/XMenFirstClass lifting a submarine from water]], [[Film/XMenTheLastStand the Golden Gate Bridge]], and [[Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast the RFK Stadium.]] In ''Film/XMenApocalypse'' thanks to Apocalypse's [[SuperEmpowering enhancement]] he's shown [[spoiler: ripping practically every metallic structure on the planet apart via control of the world's magnetic field and with Jean, putting the Xavier Institute back together from scratch.]]
* FantasticRadiationShielding: His helmet protects him from various mutants' psychic powers.
* FauxAffablyEvil: If you aren't on his side, he can be downright terrifying and still sound unfailingly polite. [[spoiler:When Pyro expresses disappointment that he wasn't the one to kill Professor X, Magneto gives him a rather grandfatherly talking-to...with an unspoken, but ''very'' real assurance that the next ill words Pyro speaks of Charles Xavier would be his last.]]
* FirstNameBasis: In the films, just like in the comics, he and Charles Xavier always use their first names when speaking to or about each other. Only a handful of others are on a first-name basis with them.
** In ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast'', while the public and most other characters refer to him and Raven (Mystique) by their mutant code names, Charles and Hank still remain on a first name basis with both of them, and vice versa. This is also presumably true for Alex, who still addresses his former ally as Erik.
* {{Foil}}:
** ''Film/XMenFirstClass'': He and Charles are juxtaposed in their respective Argentinian bar and Oxford pub scenes. The sober Lehnsherr is all business when he's hunting down Nazis, and he murders three men (including the bartender) in cold blood after taunting his prey. The inebriated Xavier is the life of a party when he and his fellow graduate students celebrate the successful defense of his [=PhD=] thesis, and he later tries to flirt with Agent [=MacTaggert=]. Producer Creator/BryanSinger gives a very basic summary of their differences in the "Magneto the Survivor" featurette:
--->"Ultimately, they come from different places. Erik Lehnsherr is a victim of the Holocaust, he probably left the war with nothing, and is very much a solitary man, while Xavier had a life of privilege, became a professor at Oxford, was surrounded by peers, has an intimate relationship with Mystique since childhood, so he's quite loved, and therefore quite idealistic, less embittered, and just has a very different view from Lehnsherr."
** ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast'':
*** Both past and future Magneto contrast each other in the film. [[spoiler:1973 Magneto continues to move forward with mutant supremacy and attacking Charles and his group, while future Magneto was fighting to protect both mankind and mutants while lamenting his pointless struggles with Charles in their younger years.]] Past Erik is very much on his own, but his elderly counterpart is a valuable team member.
*** Past Magneto and Past Xavier were both inactive and isolated in between 1963 and 1973 (the former due to imprisonment, the latter due to depression). Erik shows signs of wanting to repair some of their previous friendship, but a bitter Charles isn't interested for the most part. Magneto tries to [[spoiler:kill Mystique]] while Xavier tries to protect her. Hank remains unwaveringly devoted to Charles, but Erik [[spoiler:loses Mystique's loyalty after the murder attempt]]. In ''Film/XMenFirstClass'', Erik personified "rage" while Charles embodied "serenity," but their roles are reversed in 1973. Xavier is now the one who is full of pain and anger, and therefore has great trouble wielding his telepathy, whereas Magneto is (relatively) calm and controlled, still possessing great mastery over his power despite being deprived of metal for a decade. (We even see Erik adopt a meditation pose in his prison cell, which makes him appear Zen-like.)
*** Wolverine and the younger Magneto are violent individuals who love Xavier, but whereas JerkWithAHeartOfGold Logan possesses UndyingLoyalty towards Charles, JerkWithAHeartOfJerk Erik is quick to [[spoiler:[[ChronicBackstabbingDisorder betray]] him]].
* FreudianExcuse: A former victim of the Holocaust believing humanity will subjugate mutants the same way.
** ''Film/XMenApocalypse'': After he [[spoiler:loses his family]], he's in so much grief that he's willing to follow Apocalypse, who convinces Erik that he's God, and God has granted Magneto a divine purpose.
* FriendlyEnemy: To Charles Xavier.
* TheFundamentalist: Without a doubt believes mutants are the superior species and humans will fight against their extinction.
* GainingTheWillToKill: When he meets [[spoiler:Raven]] in ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast'', he appears noticeably distressed before [[spoiler:picking up a gun and apologizing then claiming mutants will never be safe with her alive before shooting at her.]]
* HeelFaceRevolvingDoor: His moral standing across the films has variously been NominalHero, AntiHero, AntiVillain, TheAtoner, and WellIntentionedExtremist. Magneto is rarely a straight villain and even more rarely a straight hero, but in the meantime he wavers all the way between the two.
* HeterosexualLifePartners:
** Considering that his and Charles' friendship only lasted a few months in ''Film/XMenFirstClass'', it was unusually intimate on an emotional level.
** Played straight in ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast'', with his older self and Professor X (the moment where they're holding hands is the closest that we've seen them since ''First Class''), but averted with their younger selves. In 1973, Charles never once calls him "friend" (although Erik uses the endearment twice), which goes to show how broken their relationship is.
* HeWhoFightsMonsters:
** ''Film/XMen1'': Director [[WordOfGod Bryan Singer]] explains in the September 2000 issue of ''SFX'':
--->"...the paradox in Magneto's character is that he was the victim and then becomes the aggressor. It's like he's slowly become these people who persecuted him and murdered his family right in front of him. He became embittered. You get angry enough and you start forgetting."
** ''Film/XMenFirstClass'': He hates Shaw and wants to kill him, but he eventually embraces Shaw's beliefs about mutant supremacy. It's even spelled out through the villain '''[[ArtifactOfAttraction wearing the same helmet]]''' that '''[[IconicItem Magneto is associated with]]'''. Justified at the crucial moment because he separates revenge from his ideals, which is why he's able to compliment Shaw's vision while still hating the man to his core. Shaw the man wronged him terribly, but Shaw the visionary is inspirational.
* HijackedByGanon: He has a tendency to hijack the plans of the villains of the films in retaliation against them,
** [[spoiler:''Film/X2XMenUnited'': After stopping Stryker's plan to kill all mutants with a fake Cerebro, he decides to reprogram the machine to kill regular humans instead.]]
** [[spoiler:''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast'': He hijacks the Sentinels to attempt killing both Bolivar Trask and President Nixon.]]
** [[spoiler:''Film/XMenFirstClass'' features a variation; once Erik kills Shaw, he basically embraces his evil nature and even attempts to wipe out the American and Soviet fleets.]]
* HoistByHisOwnPetard: Invokes this on so many occasions, such as [[Film/XMen1 threatening dozens of policemen with their own guns]], [[spoiler: [[Film/X2XMenUnited using Dark Cerebro to kill all humans after it was just used in an attempt to kill all mutants]], as well as killing multiple soldiers by pulling off the pins on their grenades]], [[Film/XMenFirstClass hurling missiles at ships that just fired them]], and [[spoiler: [[Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast using the Sentinels during the DisasterousDemonstration in the past to attack the spectators.]]]]
* HumansAreBastards: Believing humans will continue to grow and despise mutants he maintains this belief. Though it doesn't really help his case when he keeps doing actions that make people fear him.
* {{Hypocrite}}: Magneto is prone to being ''very'' self-righteous as a villain.
** Despite claiming to help his fellow mutants, Magneto has no qualms on attacking and even killing other mutants who stand in the way of his anti-human crusade.
** Magneto is motivated by his memories of enduring the Holocaust during World War II and believes mutants will be subjected to the same treatment as the Jews in Nazi Germany if they do not fight back. This leads to him falling victim to HeWhoFightsMonsters, becoming a genocidal racist just as bad as the Nazis.
** In ''[[Film/XMen1 X-Men]]'', he is willing to sacrifice Rogue but not himself in the advancement of his cause. Beautifully called out by Wolverine, who tells him: "You're so full of shit. If you were really so righteous, it would be you up in that thing." The biggest irony of that is, if he ''had'' been willing to sacrifice himself, the plan would have worked.
** At the climax of ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast'', his past-self [[spoiler:sics a Sentinel on Wolverine and Beast, after a grand speech about how he will protect mutantkind.]]
** In the plane, he [[spoiler:calls Xavier out for abandoning some of the mutants from ''Film/XMenFirstClass'' to experimentation by Trask and the government. Ignoring that several of the mutants experimented on and killed were the ones that followed Magneto at the end of the film.]]
[[/folder]]
[[folder:I-Y]]
* IcyBlueEyes: His eyes are quite a striking blue.
* IDidWhatIHadToDo: After the fact, he told [[spoiler:Raven]], he tried to kill her for the sake of all mutants.
* IHatePastMe: In ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast'' right before Kitty sends Wolverine back in time, he worries that his and Charles' past-selves won't understand the nightmarish situation in the BadFuture and be able to fix things.
--> '''Erik''': It's not [Wolverine] I'm worried about, it's us. We were young, we didn't know any better.
* IneffectualLoner: Was one in ''Film/XMenFirstClass'' until Charles convinced him he could do better with friends of his own, and in the ending he begins building his brotherhood of mutants.
* IWasQuiteALooker: He was a classic example of TallDarkAndHandsome when he was a young man (and he has [[GrandpaWhatMassiveHotnessYouHave aged gracefully over the years]]).
* JerkassHasAPoint: He did make the fair point towards Charles that he grew up with Raven, and shouldn't have entirely claimed responsibility for raising her, which did in part drive her away from him.
* JustTheWayYouAre: In ''Film/XMenFirstClass'', he is able to persuade Raven to his side finding her mutant appearance to be "perfection" in contrast to Charles and Hank, who feel she should look more "normal" to gain acceptance within society.
* KarmaHoudini: While he has been punished every now and then, he gets away with everything on other occasions.
** At the end of ''X-Men United'', he escapes after attempting to wipe out all non-mutants.
** At the end of ''The Last Stand'', he sneaks away free and his powers have returned.
** In ''Apocalypse'', [[spoiler:he murders a bunch of policemen and creates a magnetic field that kills millions across the globe, but is let off the hook because he helped kill En Sabah Nur]].
* KickTheSonOfABitch: Some of his victims include [[Film/XMenFirstClass Nazis, Sebastian Shaw]] and [[Film/X2XMenUnited the corrupt, violent slob in charge of his prison cell.]] [[spoiler:He also chained William Stryker back up and left him to die at the end of ''Film/X2XMenUnited''.]]
* KnightTemplar: Wants to stop mutant prejudice... by subjugating humans.
* LeanAndMean: Magneto seems to have little-to-no fat on his body. It makes sense, given that he's a holocaust survivor who spent his early life on the road.
* LonerTurnedFriend: In ''Film/XMenFirstClass'' when he met Charles Xavier and his group.
* MadeOfIron: His younger self is quite capable of taking a beating. In ''Film/XMenFirstClass'' he was being thrown across a room by Shaw crashing into mirrors. In ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast'', he [[spoiler:took head injuries from Beast and nearly drowned before restraining him only needing a head stitching after.]] His older self also survived a blast from Cyclops in [[Film/XMen1 the first film]], and in ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast'' [[spoiler:continued to protect the group from the Sentinels with a shard having pierced his abdomen.]]
* ManInWhite:
** His prison attire in ''Film/X2XMenUnited''.
** His '70s!self's prison attire in ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast'', which may well be a MythologyGag to the film above.
* ManipulativeBastard: Best demonstrated as he convinces Pyro to defect to his side.
* MeaningfulName: Erik means "ruler" and Lehnsherr can be roughly translated as "feudal lord" (lehn = fief, herr = master). Magneto's birth name betrays his ambition to rule over humans.
* MookHorrorShow: Several films have him performing one.
** The Nazis at the bar in ''First Class.''
** The Security guards in ''Days of Future Past'' when he reclaims his helmet, [[BadassInANiceSuit done while sharply dressed wearing shades and a fedora]].
** And in ''Apocalypse'', he does it again to the [[spoiler: policemen sent to bring him in after one of them accidentally kills his wife and daughter.]] With a ''locket.''
* MotiveRant: Delivers one to Senator Kelly after capturing him in ''Film/XMen1''.
-->'''Magneto''': Are you a god-fearing man, senator? That's such a strange phrase. I've always thought of God as a teacher, as a bringer of light, wisdom, and understanding; you see, I think what you really are afraid of is ''me''. Me and my kind, the Brotherhood of Mutants. Though it's not so surprising really. Mankind has always feared what it doesn't understand. Well, don't fear God, Senator, and certainly don't fear me. (in an undertone) Not anymore.
* MyGreatestFailure: The death of Xavier in ''Film/XMenTheLastStand'', which he directly caused by awakening Dark Phoenix.
-->'''Magneto''': Charles Xavier did more for mutants than you'll ever know. My single greatest regret is that he had to die for our dream to live.
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: ''Film/XMenTheLastStand'' features him saying the line, when he finds himself on the other side of the Mutants vs. Humans war he's been pushing for, and Phoenix finally goes crazy and starts killing people.
* NaziHunter: He spends the first twenty minutes or so of his screentime in ''Film/XMenFirstClass'' tracking down and killing Nazis. In fact, his reason for joining the X-Men is so that he can find and kill Sebastian Shaw, the mutant Nazi who killed his mother.
* TheNeedsOfTheMany: In ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast''.
-->'''Erik:''' Forgive me [[spoiler:Mystique]], as long as you're out there we'll never be safe.
* NeverBeHurtAgain: He is both a Holocaust Survivor and mutant "lab rat" which pushes him towards DoUntoOthersBeforeTheyDoUntoUs regarding mutant suppression by the humans.
* NiceHat: Occasionally wears a fedora while in civilian garb, as shown in ''XMen1'' when he attends the hearing on mutants at the beginning of the film and in ''XMenDaysOfFuturePast'' when he raids the vault for his helmet.
* NiceJobFixingItVillain: [[spoiler:Attacking Mystique]] at the Paris Peace Conference bought Bolivar Trask a couple extra days and gets Nixon to fund the Sentinel program, but his betrayal and [[spoiler:attack on the White House]] sets up a situation where a mutant is seen saving Nixon's life on live TV. [[spoiler:Mystique performs a HeelFaceTurn, Nixon cancels the Sentinel program, and the BadFuture is averted.]]
* NightmareFetishist: Everyone in ''Film/XMenFirstClass'', tells Raven that her true form as Mystique is horrifying, but Eric tells her that she is beautiful as she is, and that taking on a more normal looking appearance is wasteful of her powers, and limits her concentration against unexpected attacks. In ''Film/XMenTheLastStand'' however, when Mystique shields Magneto from being struck by darts containing the Mutant Cure, he coldly abandons her now that she's human, regretfully telling Pyro that she used to be "so beautiful."
* NotSoDifferent: From the very people he hates (the Nazis, Shaw, etc).
** In ''Film/XMenFirstClass'', when he confronts the villain Sebastian Shaw at the end:
---> '''Erik Lehnsherr:''' If you're in there, I'd like you to know that I agree with every word you said. We are the future. [[YouKilledMyFather But unfortunately, you killed my mother.]]
** Later when Xavier is shot and Erik/Magneto is speaking to him, the following conversation takes place:
---> '''Erik Lehnsherr:''' Us turning on each other, it's what they want. I tried to warn you, Charles. I want you by my side. We're brothers, you and I. All of us together, protecting each other. We want the same thing.\\
'''Charles Xavier:''' Oh, my friend, I'm sorry, but we do not.
** And in ''Film/X2XMenUnited'', the first thing he does when he gets inside the second Cerebro? [[spoiler:Instructs Jason Stryker to simply [[ReversePolarity reverse the polarity]] on Professor X's mental attack to target humans instead of mutants rather than free Charles from Jason's mind control.]]
* OutlivingOnesOffspring: [[spoiler:His daughter is killed by Polish policemen in one of the most heartbreaking moments of the whole film franchise.]]
* OverarchingVillain: Overall, he's the main villain in the film series, except in cases where he's a good guy.
* ParentalAbandonment: Father probably killed in concentration camp, mother definitely killed before him by Shaw to try and induce his magnetism powers.
* PetTheDog: He was the first person in Raven's life that complimented and truly admired her natural blue form. Also, upon reveal he compliments Hank although it isn't met with kind reaction from Beast, who believed he was being mocked.
* PowerFloats: Can fly by manipulating the Earth's magnetic field.
* PreMortemOneLiner: He delivers one to Sebastion Shaw as Charles holds control of Shaw's body.
-->"This is what we're going to do. [holds up the coin] I am going to count to three and I'm going to move the coin. One. [moves the coin towards Shaw's head] Two. Three." [puts the coin through Shaw's head, Charles screams].
* ProtagonistJourneyToVillain: ''Film/XMenFirstClass'' revolves around him seeking revenge for the murder of his mother and his increasing acceptance of mutant supremacy.
* RedAndBlackAndEvilAllOver: His outfits typically have a lot of dark red and dark grey, the dark grey is accentuated in the older Magneto's costume
* RedOniBlueOni: In ''Film/XMenFirstClass'', he is rather hot-headed while Charles is more level-headed. [[http://roashina.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/x-men-first-class-magazine.jpg ''Empire'' magazine even color-coded the front covers of their May 2011 issue accordingly.]]
* RoaringRampageOfRevenge:
** In ''Film/XMenFirstClass'', his initial mission was to hunt down and kill Shaw and his Nazi underlings.
** In ''Film/XMenApocalypse'', [[spoiler:he uses his family medallion to slaughter the whole Polish police squad that has been sent to arrest him after they killed his daughter and wife by accident. He then goes on to kill his co-workers at the steel plant after one of them denounced him. Apocalypse arrives just as Erik was about to kill them, and sucks them all into the floor.]]
* RousingSpeech: On several occasions he's persuaded mutants to follow his cause and fight along himself. Most notably, when he [[spoiler:attacked the white house and on a live broadcast declared mutants come out of hiding because they are more powerful than the humans who would try to eliminate them. This is after he discredited the Sentinel program and held the president cabinet at gun point.]]
* SensitiveGuyAndManlyMan: In ''Film/XMenFirstClass'', he is the Manly Man to Charles' Sensitive Guy. They display this dynamic in their personalities (AntiHero vs. AllLovingHero) and physique (TallDarkAndHandsome vs. PrettyBoy) as well as their philosophies and methods (PayEvilUntoEvil vs. WideEyedIdealist).
* ShutUpKirk: Delivered one to Xavier in ''Film/XMenFirstClass''.
-->'''Xavier:''' There are thousands of men on those ships. Good, honest, innocent men! They're just following orders.\\
'''Erik:''' I've been at the mercy of [[ThoseWackyNazis men just following orders]]. ''Never again''.
* SlaveBrand: The tattoo number of a Nazi concentration camp he carries upon his forearm, which he has brought attention towards to serve as a reminder for human cruelty.
* SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism: You could just as easily call the trope Xavier vs. Magneto.
* SlowlySlippingIntoEvil:
** In ''Film/XMenFirstClass''; he is a really good and interesting example in that he starts the movie already as an AntiHero and spends most of the movie establishing his attitude that would cause him to slip into evil before he actually does so. And while he's undeniably a {{Jerkass}} in opposition to the heroes by the end of the movie, he still isn't evil and never really crosses the MoralEventHorizon.
** Within 11 years between ''Film/XMenFirstClass'' and ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast'', he became involved with the JFK assassination and [[spoiler:launched an attack against the White House.]]
* TheSocialDarwinist: He believes mutants are the superior species towards humans.
* StartOfDarkness: In ''Film/XMenFirstClass''.
* StealthPun: Creator/MichaelFassbender kept his natural auburn hair for the role in ''Film/XMenFirstClass'' and ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast'', which makes him... [[spoiler:Erik the Red.]][[note]] Bonus points for "Erik the Red" being the alias Cyclops used way back in the day to infiltrate an organization a robot double of Magneto was setting up. ....Comics are odd.[[/note]]
** Also, [[spoiler:an alias Magneto himself used once, during the "Trial of Gambit" debacle. And one a Shiar spy on Earth used. Not so much a StealthPun as a MythologyGag.]]
* SuperReflexes: In ''Film/XMenFirstClass'', he's fairly confident he can stop a bullet shot point blank from his head. Later, he more or less holds true to his claim by stopping a horde of missiles fired by the US and Russian army within several feet from the air to him, and deflecting bullets while being shot at by Moira [=MacTaggert=].
* SympatheticMurderer: In ''First Class'', his target being Shaw, who killed his mother and tortured him.
* TailorMadePrison:
** At the end of ''Film/XMen1'', Magneto is locked in a cell made entirely of plastic. He got out in ''Film/X2XMenUnited'', thanks to Mystique giving one of his guards an "iron supplement," actually at least half a pound of the stuff, in liquid form. In real life, this would have given him iron poisoning, but he didn't survive long enough to find that out.
** Subverted in ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast''. The concrete cell under the Pentagon was not built specifically for him, but simply constructed that way because steel was being rationed at the time. It still holds him quite well, though.
* TallDarkAndHandsome: In his youth, as shown in the First Class trilogy.
* TeamDad: In ''Film/XMenFirstClass'' he was the more stern and less nurturing parental figure for the proto X-Men, opposite Charles' TeamMom. This is what makes [[FaceHeelTurn the "Beach Divorce" scene]] so much more tragic.
* ThatManIsDead:
** ''Film/XMenFirstClass'': The film ends with him outright proclaiming that he prefers his new moniker: Magneto.
** ''Film/XMenApocalypse'': Charles pleads with him not to join Apocalypse, but Lehnsherr has already reclaimed his Magneto persona.
-->'''Xavier''': Erik, don't join them.\\
'''Magneto''': Whatever it is you think you saw in me, I [[spoiler:buried it with my family]].
* TiredOfRunning: Inspires mutant followers to stop hiding and accept themselves, while turning on the humans who would target them.
* TimeShiftedActor: He has been portrayed by four actors in three [[note]] His adolescent stage used TheOtherDarrin since the original actor who played adolescent Magneto was 11 years older by the time ''[[Film/XMenFirstClass X-Men: FirstClass]]'' was filmed.[[/note]] different stages of his life.
* TooHappyToLive: Well, his life in Poland in ''Apocalypse'' looks too happy to last [[spoiler:as he is spotted and unmasked by authorities and both his wife and daughter die tragically.]]
* TookALevelInBadass: In ''First Class'' after Charles unlocks his full potential and in ''Apocalypse'' when the titular character [[SuperEmpowering gives him a boost.]]
* TragicKeepsake: When he first met Sebastian Shaw, he was asked to move a Nazi Coin in exchange for his mother's life but was unable to do so and she was murdered. He carried the coin for most of his life until he moved it through Shaw's head, killing him.
* TragicVillain: Possibly the archetypical example.
-->'''Charles:''' Listen to me very carefully my friend... killing Shaw will not bring you peace.
-->'''Erik:''' Peace was never an option.
** Even when he genuinely tries to find peace in ''Film/XMenApocalypse'', [[spoiler: his family is killed]] triggering an ''epic'' RageAgainstTheHeavens moment.
-->'''Erik''': Is this what I am?! Is this what you want me to be?!
* TranquilFury: In ''Film/XMenFirstClass'', his powers are manifested through anger, until Charles helps by telling him "true focus lies somewhere between rage and serenity."
* TraumaticSuperpowerAwakening: Shaw had Erik awaken control of his magnetism by murdering his mother.
* TroubledButCute: In ''Film/XMenFirstClass'', pre-[[StartOfDarkness supervillainy]], he is a {{Badass}} [[NaziHunter Nazi-hunting]] ByronicHero with an intensely DarkAndTroubledPast (involving the Holocaust, loss of his parents, ''and'' being a victim of human experimentation) and bucketloads of trauma and cynicism. He also wears a leather jacket on a few occasions.
* VisionaryVillain: He wants to create a world safe for mutants by any means necessary.
* TheUnfettered: [[spoiler:If it means the safety of mutants he'll kill anyone from the President or even Mystique.]]
* WasItReallyWorthIt: His future self ultimately regrets fighting Charles for so long, and wishes he had some of those years back. FridgeBrilliance: it's why he specifically tells Logan to find his past self. He wants Logan to trigger an earlier HeelFaceTurn in him.
* WeCanRuleTogether: An open door he extends to any mutant willing to see things his way, all the way up to and including Professor Xavier himself. Some accept and the ones who don't usually swing to Xavier's point of view.
* WellIntentionedExtremist: He has always been the archetypal example in comics and the films faithfully live up to that. He puts forth a big effort to allow mutants to come out of hiding and gain acceptance of themselves but at the same time opposes humans who would threaten them, believing war is inevitable.
** His plan in ''Film/XMen1'', is actually rather benevolent and would finally [[MassEmpoweringEvent end the division]] between Mutants and the rest of Mankind, while sacrificing only [[spoiler:Rogue]] to [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans make it work]]. It's a ''[[VisionaryVillain good]]'' plan, it's just a shame his machine ''[[GoneHorriblyWrong doesn't]]'' work!
* WeUsedToBeFriends: The whole premise of ''Film/XMenFirstClass'' is to show how he and Charles Xavier became friends and then ended up on opposite sides with different ideals.
* WhatTheHellAreYou: In ''Film/XMenFirstClass'', we have the following conversation:
-->'''Former [[ThoseWackyNazis Nazi Officer]]:''' [''in German''] Who—''what'' are you?
-->'''Erik''': [''in English''] Let's just say I'm FrankensteinsMonster, and I'm looking for my creator.
* WhatTheHellHero: In ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast'', his past self goes into an outburst about how [[spoiler:fellow mutants were being killed left and right while Young Charles has been in hiding with Hank.]]
--> '''Erik:''' [[spoiler:Angel, Azazel, Emma, Banshee. Mutant brothers and sisters, all dead! Countless others, experimented on! Butchered! Where were you, Charles?! We were supposed to protect them! Where were you when your own people needed you?! Hiding! You and Hank! Pretending to be something you're not! You abandoned us all!]]
* WickedCultured: Mags always enjoy a good game of chess with Xavier or listening to classical music.
* WithUsOrAgainstUs: Concerning the mutants who choose to fight with him or against him, namely the X-men.
* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: Each film of the new timeline keeps piling on the trauma that fuels his rage. In ''First Class'' he was a Holocaust survivor who had to watch his mother die in front of his eyes. In ''Days of Future Past'' the Brotherhood were killed and experimented on by Trask Industries. In ''Apocalypse'', after giving living in peace a chance, his wife and daughter are killed after his cover is blown as a mutant. All of this leads to him becoming an extremist willing to kill lots of people. Highlighted in ''Film/XMenFirstClass'' and arguably even more so in ''Film/XMenApocalypse'', since he's quite literally out to destroy the world.
* WorthyOpponent: He and Xavier have this relationship.
--> '''Magneto:''' Charles Xavier did more for mutants than you will ever know. My single greatest regret is that he had to die for our dream to live.
* WouldHitAGirl:
** ''Film/XMen1'': He forcibly places [[spoiler:Rogue]] into his machine, knowing full well that it will kill her.
** ''Film/XMenFirstClass'':
*** He cracks Emma Frost's crystalline neck after she refuses to cooperate.
*** He nearly strangles Moira to death with her own military dog tags, although Xavier manages to talk him out of it.
** ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast'': He would have murdered [[spoiler:Mystique]] if it weren't for Beast's timely intervention.
* YouAreNumberSix: In ''Film/XMenFirstClass'', he outs himself as a holocaust survivor to some Nazis he was amicably chatting with (and planning to kill). When they asked for the names of his parents, being from the same town, he answered that they "had no names--they were stolen from them" before showing his own concentration camp number. Violence ensues.
* YouAreWhatYouHate: He hates Nazis due to being a survivor of the Holocaust, but ultimately embraces racism against non-mutants, this is highlighted in ''Film/XMenFirstClass''.
* YouKilledMyFather: In ''Film/XMenFirstClass'', when [[spoiler:he kills Schmidt/Shaw despite agreeing with his Mutant Supremacist ideals because Schmitt killed his mother in front of him as a child]].
-->'''Magneto:''' I want you to know I agree with everything you just said. We are the future. But, unfortunately... you killed my mother.
[[/folder]]
----
[[quoteright:300:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/magneto_old_xmen_films_7350.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:300:''"We are the future, Charles, not them. They no longer matter."'']]
[[quoteright:300:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/magneto_young_xmen_films_2039.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:300:''"I've been at the mercy of men just following orders. Never again."'']]
->'''Played By''': Creator/IanMcKellen, Creator/MichaelFassbender, Bill Milner & Brett Morris
->'''Film Appearances''': ''Film/XMen1 | Film/X2XMenUnited | Film/XMenTheLastStand | Film/XMenFirstClass | Film/TheWolverine | Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast | Film/XMenApocalypse''
A Holocaust survivor, he and Xavier were once friends, and they built Cerebro together. However, his belief that humans and mutants could never co-exist led to their separation. Guided by the suffering he had endured as a Jewish boy in Nazi-occupied Europe, his commitment to his fellow kind is that he will never let humanity wrong them as he was and will defend mutantkind to any end no matter how horrific. He has powerful magnetic abilities, enabling him to telekinetically manipulate anything made of metal, and a sophisticated knowledge in matters of genetic manipulation.
----
[[foldercontrol]]
[[folder:A-H]]
* AdaptationalWimp: Magneto in the comics naturally possesses some resistance to telepathy, but ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast'' shows that he's [[spoiler:''completely'' vulnerable to Xavier's power]] if he doesn't wear the helmet. Moreover, Emma Frost was able to [[Film/XMenFirstClass enter his mind and access his traumatic childhood memories]], causing him to collapse in extreme pain. His power set is also limited to being able to telekinetically bend and move metal as opposed to using various magnetic abilities (such as his use of force fields).
** Thanks to Apocalypse's SuperEmpowering in ''Film/XMenApocalypse'', he becomes capable of his full canonical breadth of power as opposed to simply moving metal. And it is ''breathtaking.''
* AdaptationDyeJob: In the comics, he has been shown to have had white hair for the vast majority of his adult life, presumably as a side-effect of his mutation. In the films, he's introduced with ''grey'' hair (though only because, lacking ComicBookTime, the screenwriters had to make him the realistic age of a Holocaust survivor) and he has [[TallDarkAndHandsome dark brown hair]] as a younger man in [[Film/XMenFirstClass the]] [[Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast prequels]].
* AdaptationNameChange: In the comics, his original name was Max Eisenhardt and Erik Lehnsherr was an alias. In the films Erik Lehnsherr is his real name and the alias he uses is Henryk Gurzsky.
* AffablyEvil: With Xavier. They still play chess games together a good 40 years into their conflict with each other. Hell, if you are on his side, he is rather chatty and friendly to you.
* AntagonistInMourning: In ''Film/XMenTheLastStand'', he sincerely grieves over [[spoiler:Xavier's death and cuts off his Dragon Pyro's irreverent talk about the deceased abruptly. As in most versions of X-Men, he and Xavier were very close friends who eventually found themselves on separate sides due to their ideological differences]].
* AntiHero: Played straight in ''Film/XMenFirstClass'' but is subverted in ''Film/X2XMenUnited''.
* AntiVillain: Has an unquestionably sympathetic backstory and very good reason to believe that humans are out to eradicate the mutant race. However, he is a dangerous individual with few limits on his devotion and what must be done to ensure the survival of his kind. Even his best and oldest friend isn't safe from [[MyGreatestFailure his extreme methods and beliefs.]]
* TheAtoner: Creator/IanMcKellen invokes this while discussing his character in the "Double Take: Xavier & Magneto" documentary on the ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast'' Blu-Ray release.
-->"The Magneto that you see with me is a man of conscience, and a man with an unhappy life behind him. He's come through a great deal, and isn't taking on single-handedly, or even with the help of his Brotherhood, society as a whole. He's joined up again with his old friend, Professor X, and together, they're going to try to move things forward."
* BadassBaritone: Both Creator/IanMcKellen and Creator/MichaelFassbender pull this off.
* BadassCape: As part of his supervillain outfit.
* BadassGrandpa: In the original trilogy, he's somewhere in his 70's or 80's, but he can still kick your ass substantially. In ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast'', as a Holocaust survivor living in 2023, he is, at the very least, in his late eighties/early nineties (''Film/XMenFirstClass'' portrayed him as being around ten in 1944). [[spoiler:He still lifts the X-Jet and hurls it at a horde of incoming Sentinels like it's a child's toy, takes a piece of shrapnel to the gut and slightly-less-than-casually pulls it out, and still uses the remaining wreckage to further barricade the path to Kitty and Wolverine.]]
* BadassInANiceSuit: Younger Magneto.
* BerserkButton: Does not like people who 'just follow orders’. This is heavily implied to be because it was the excuse many Nazi officials gave for their actions during the Nuremburg trials.
* BigBad: Of ''Film/XMen1'', ''Film/XMenTheLastStand'' and [[spoiler:''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast]]''.
* BigBadEnsemble: [[spoiler:His younger self is this in ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast''.]]
* BigBrotherInstinct: By the time of the Cuban Missile Crisis, he had already begun to view Charles as a brother figure. When the Blackbird spiraled out of control, Erik used his body to shield Xavier from injury, and he [[spoiler:''immediately'' halted his attack on the American and Soviet naval forces when Charles was shot.]]
** Even extending past that, as they become enemies, Erik continously shows both respect and affection for Charles, consitantly referring to him as ‘Old Friend’. He was immensely saddened by his death in X-men: The Last Stand, and deeply insulted by those who where disrespectful to him. He would also routinely put his own life on the line to help or save Charles, and the two kept very close in their later years, despite often being on opposing sides of the battle field. In fact in some ways, their relationship is often treated as something of a CainAndAbel story.
* BigGood: His older-self shares the role with Charles Xavier in ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast''.
* ByronicHero: In ''Film/XMenFirstClass''--morally troubled, emotionally damaged, attractive, and very charismatic about his pro-mutant beliefs. Particularly to some of the impressionable younger characters like Mystique.
* TheChessmaster: Invoked several times. He is seen playing Chess with Charles Xavier several times throughout the original trilogy, and references Chess during his attack on Alcatraz, to his benefit as Juggernaut was about to pull a LeeroyJenkins and would have been depowered in the first wave had Erik not stopped him.
--> '''Erik''' ''(stopping Juggernaut)'': In Chess, the pawns go first.
--> ''(the defenders reveal their plastic dart guns filled with the cure serum, leading to the first wave of attackers getting depowered)''
--> '''Erik''': Hmm, ''plastic''. They've learned. That's why the pawns go first.
* CoolHelmet: At times even [[SpikesOfVillainy horny]]. Technology wired into the helmet [[NoSell prevents telepathic intrusion]], making Magneto difficult to control or impossible to find via Cerebro.
* TheCorrupter: Although he convinces Raven to accept her mutant appearance, he also pushes her into committing murder against human enemies and truly becoming Mystique. Charles believes Erik is a large influence for Raven leaving him.
* CurbStompBattle: Dishes these out to Wolverine on a regular basis.
* CulturedBadass: He speaks several languages, passionately discusses philosophy, shows considerable knowledge of politics and foreign cultures, and enjoys the occasional game of chess with Xavier.
* DarkAndTroubledPast: "Holocaust survivor" is about as dark and troubled as it gets.
* DarkMessiah: In ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast'', [[spoiler:his younger self prepares to kill Nixon while declaring mutant supremacy in front of a live broadcast.]]
* DeadpanSnarker: The biggest one, natch. ''Film/X2XMenUnited'' is largely his snark-fest at everyone's expense.
** In ''Film/XMenFirstClass'' upon seeing the mansion Charles grew up in.
-->'''Erik:''' Honestly Charles, I don't know how you survived living in such hardship.
** In the original ''Film/XMen1'', he just can't help but point out Scott's at-times apparent stupidity. Such as when they were all trapped and bound by him within the Statue of Liberty.
-->'''Cyclops:''' Storm, fry him!
-->'''Magneto:''' Oh yes. A bolt of lightning into a huge copper conductor. ''I thought you lived at a school.''
** He also really enjoys mocking Wolverine in general.
* DeathGlare: Young Magneto, portrayed by Fassbender, gives a calm murderous look killing the Nazis and Shaw, and also ripping a filling tooth from a banker in ''Film/XMenFirstClass''. Also, a good stare carrying the [[spoiler:RFK Stadium towards the White House]] in ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast''.
* DemotedToDragon: He ''isn't'' the leader of the supervillain team in ''Film/XMenApocalypse''; this time around, he plays second fiddle to Apocalypse.
* {{Determinator}}: In the '70s, he asks Logan how fighting him for years has worked out for him and Logan responds they're both "survivors" which only serves to motivate Erik to later demonstrate [[spoiler:how much more powerful he is than the Wolverine later on when he runs metal pipes through his body and leaves him to drown.]]
* DoesntLikeGuns: His younger self uses guns when he needs to, while the older Magneto sneers at them. This is partly because of his background as a holocaust survivor, and partly because humans rely on guns to fight, and he sees it as a sign of their inferiority. Of course, that's a bit hypocritical when he has the power of magnetism, and those who don't possess such an advantage have to defend themselves somehow.
* DoUntoOthersBeforeTheyDoUntoUs: His motive in almost every movie.
* EmotionalPowers: In ''Film/XMenFirstClass'', he is originally only able to use his powers when extremely angry. The first two times, it involves maternal separation. However, he can't properly focus it until Charles coaches him to concentrate on happier emotions.
* EnemyMine:
** ''Film/X2XMenUnited'': He and Mystique team-up with the X-Men to stop a human villain from killing all mutants. [[spoiler:Right up until he decides to invert the attack and have all the non-Mutants killed instead.]]
** ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast'': He and Xavier unite against the Sentinels that threaten all of mutantkind with extinction. [[spoiler:Although he ends up attempting his own plans for mutant superiority and, ironically enough, winds up jeopardizing the plan to save mutantkind.]]
* EvenEvilHasStandards: Magneto always considered Xavier a friend and never wanted him dead. In ''X3'' when Pyro says he would have done so if Magneto ordered it, Magneto is clearly angered at the idea.
* EvilFormerFriend: Naturally while remaining on FriendlyEnemy terms with Charles Xavier, the X-Men and Brotherhood are at great conflict in the majority of films regardless.
* EvilGenius: With truly amazing schemes. In ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast'', [[spoiler:he was able to steal a file containing the details of the Sentinels, after reading it over he was somehow able to reprogram them while inserting metal tracks within the bodies.]]
* ExtraOreDinary: His impressive mutant ability to control metal. Guns are a joke to him and throughout the films he's accomplished feats capable of [[Film/XMenFirstClass lifting a submarine from water]], [[Film/XMenTheLastStand the Golden Gate Bridge]], and [[Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast the RFK Stadium.]] In ''Film/XMenApocalypse'' thanks to Apocalypse's [[SuperEmpowering enhancement]] he's shown [[spoiler: ripping practically every metallic structure on the planet apart via control of the world's magnetic field and with Jean, putting the Xavier Institute back together from scratch.]]
* FantasticRadiationShielding: His helmet protects him from various mutants' psychic powers.
* FauxAffablyEvil: If you aren't on his side, he can be downright terrifying and still sound unfailingly polite. [[spoiler:When Pyro expresses disappointment that he wasn't the one to kill Professor X, Magneto gives him a rather grandfatherly talking-to...with an unspoken, but ''very'' real assurance that the next ill words Pyro speaks of Charles Xavier would be his last.]]
* FirstNameBasis: In the films, just like in the comics, he and Charles Xavier always use their first names when speaking to or about each other. Only a handful of others are on a first-name basis with them.
** In ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast'', while the public and most other characters refer to him and Raven (Mystique) by their mutant code names, Charles and Hank still remain on a first name basis with both of them, and vice versa. This is also presumably true for Alex, who still addresses his former ally as Erik.
* {{Foil}}:
** ''Film/XMenFirstClass'': He and Charles are juxtaposed in their respective Argentinian bar and Oxford pub scenes. The sober Lehnsherr is all business when he's hunting down Nazis, and he murders three men (including the bartender) in cold blood after taunting his prey. The inebriated Xavier is the life of a party when he and his fellow graduate students celebrate the successful defense of his [=PhD=] thesis, and he later tries to flirt with Agent [=MacTaggert=]. Producer Creator/BryanSinger gives a very basic summary of their differences in the "Magneto the Survivor" featurette:
--->"Ultimately, they come from different places. Erik Lehnsherr is a victim of the Holocaust, he probably left the war with nothing, and is very much a solitary man, while Xavier had a life of privilege, became a professor at Oxford, was surrounded by peers, has an intimate relationship with Mystique since childhood, so he's quite loved, and therefore quite idealistic, less embittered, and just has a very different view from Lehnsherr."
** ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast'':
*** Both past and future Magneto contrast each other in the film. [[spoiler:1973 Magneto continues to move forward with mutant supremacy and attacking Charles and his group, while future Magneto was fighting to protect both mankind and mutants while lamenting his pointless struggles with Charles in their younger years.]] Past Erik is very much on his own, but his elderly counterpart is a valuable team member.
*** Past Magneto and Past Xavier were both inactive and isolated in between 1963 and 1973 (the former due to imprisonment, the latter due to depression). Erik shows signs of wanting to repair some of their previous friendship, but a bitter Charles isn't interested for the most part. Magneto tries to [[spoiler:kill Mystique]] while Xavier tries to protect her. Hank remains unwaveringly devoted to Charles, but Erik [[spoiler:loses Mystique's loyalty after the murder attempt]]. In ''Film/XMenFirstClass'', Erik personified "rage" while Charles embodied "serenity," but their roles are reversed in 1973. Xavier is now the one who is full of pain and anger, and therefore has great trouble wielding his telepathy, whereas Magneto is (relatively) calm and controlled, still possessing great mastery over his power despite being deprived of metal for a decade. (We even see Erik adopt a meditation pose in his prison cell, which makes him appear Zen-like.)
*** Wolverine and the younger Magneto are violent individuals who love Xavier, but whereas JerkWithAHeartOfGold Logan possesses UndyingLoyalty towards Charles, JerkWithAHeartOfJerk Erik is quick to [[spoiler:[[ChronicBackstabbingDisorder betray]] him]].
* FreudianExcuse: A former victim of the Holocaust believing humanity will subjugate mutants the same way.
** ''Film/XMenApocalypse'': After he [[spoiler:loses his family]], he's in so much grief that he's willing to follow Apocalypse, who convinces Erik that he's God, and God has granted Magneto a divine purpose.
* FriendlyEnemy: To Charles Xavier.
* TheFundamentalist: Without a doubt believes mutants are the superior species and humans will fight against their extinction.
* GainingTheWillToKill: When he meets [[spoiler:Raven]] in ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast'', he appears noticeably distressed before [[spoiler:picking up a gun and apologizing then claiming mutants will never be safe with her alive before shooting at her.]]
* HeelFaceRevolvingDoor: His moral standing across the films has variously been NominalHero, AntiHero, AntiVillain, TheAtoner, and WellIntentionedExtremist. Magneto is rarely a straight villain and even more rarely a straight hero, but in the meantime he wavers all the way between the two.
* HeterosexualLifePartners:
** Considering that his and Charles' friendship only lasted a few months in ''Film/XMenFirstClass'', it was unusually intimate on an emotional level.
** Played straight in ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast'', with his older self and Professor X (the moment where they're holding hands is the closest that we've seen them since ''First Class''), but averted with their younger selves. In 1973, Charles never once calls him "friend" (although Erik uses the endearment twice), which goes to show how broken their relationship is.
* HeWhoFightsMonsters:
** ''Film/XMen1'': Director [[WordOfGod Bryan Singer]] explains in the September 2000 issue of ''SFX'':
--->"...the paradox in Magneto's character is that he was the victim and then becomes the aggressor. It's like he's slowly become these people who persecuted him and murdered his family right in front of him. He became embittered. You get angry enough and you start forgetting."
** ''Film/XMenFirstClass'': He hates Shaw and wants to kill him, but he eventually embraces Shaw's beliefs about mutant supremacy. It's even spelled out through the villain '''[[ArtifactOfAttraction wearing the same helmet]]''' that '''[[IconicItem Magneto is associated with]]'''. Justified at the crucial moment because he separates revenge from his ideals, which is why he's able to compliment Shaw's vision while still hating the man to his core. Shaw the man wronged him terribly, but Shaw the visionary is inspirational.
* HijackedByGanon: He has a tendency to hijack the plans of the villains of the films in retaliation against them,
** [[spoiler:''Film/X2XMenUnited'': After stopping Stryker's plan to kill all mutants with a fake Cerebro, he decides to reprogram the machine to kill regular humans instead.]]
** [[spoiler:''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast'': He hijacks the Sentinels to attempt killing both Bolivar Trask and President Nixon.]]
** [[spoiler:''Film/XMenFirstClass'' features a variation; once Erik kills Shaw, he basically embraces his evil nature and even attempts to wipe out the American and Soviet fleets.]]
* HoistByHisOwnPetard: Invokes this on so many occasions, such as [[Film/XMen1 threatening dozens of policemen with their own guns]], [[spoiler: [[Film/X2XMenUnited using Dark Cerebro to kill all humans after it was just used in an attempt to kill all mutants]], as well as killing multiple soldiers by pulling off the pins on their grenades]], [[Film/XMenFirstClass hurling missiles at ships that just fired them]], and [[spoiler: [[Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast using the Sentinels during the DisasterousDemonstration in the past to attack the spectators.]]]]
* HumansAreBastards: Believing humans will continue to grow and despise mutants he maintains this belief. Though it doesn't really help his case when he keeps doing actions that make people fear him.
* {{Hypocrite}}: Magneto is prone to being ''very'' self-righteous as a villain.
** Despite claiming to help his fellow mutants, Magneto has no qualms on attacking and even killing other mutants who stand in the way of his anti-human crusade.
** Magneto is motivated by his memories of enduring the Holocaust during World War II and believes mutants will be subjected to the same treatment as the Jews in Nazi Germany if they do not fight back. This leads to him falling victim to HeWhoFightsMonsters, becoming a genocidal racist just as bad as the Nazis.
** In ''[[Film/XMen1 X-Men]]'', he is willing to sacrifice Rogue but not himself in the advancement of his cause. Beautifully called out by Wolverine, who tells him: "You're so full of shit. If you were really so righteous, it would be you up in that thing." The biggest irony of that is, if he ''had'' been willing to sacrifice himself, the plan would have worked.
** At the climax of ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast'', his past-self [[spoiler:sics a Sentinel on Wolverine and Beast, after a grand speech about how he will protect mutantkind.]]
** In the plane, he [[spoiler:calls Xavier out for abandoning some of the mutants from ''Film/XMenFirstClass'' to experimentation by Trask and the government. Ignoring that several of the mutants experimented on and killed were the ones that followed Magneto at the end of the film.]]
[[/folder]]
[[folder:I-Y]]
* IcyBlueEyes: His eyes are quite a striking blue.
* IDidWhatIHadToDo: After the fact, he told [[spoiler:Raven]], he tried to kill her for the sake of all mutants.
* IHatePastMe: In ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast'' right before Kitty sends Wolverine back in time, he worries that his and Charles' past-selves won't understand the nightmarish situation in the BadFuture and be able to fix things.
--> '''Erik''': It's not [Wolverine] I'm worried about, it's us. We were young, we didn't know any better.
* IneffectualLoner: Was one in ''Film/XMenFirstClass'' until Charles convinced him he could do better with friends of his own, and in the ending he begins building his brotherhood of mutants.
* IWasQuiteALooker: He was a classic example of TallDarkAndHandsome when he was a young man (and he has [[GrandpaWhatMassiveHotnessYouHave aged gracefully over the years]]).
* JerkassHasAPoint: He did make the fair point towards Charles that he grew up with Raven, and shouldn't have entirely claimed responsibility for raising her, which did in part drive her away from him.
* JustTheWayYouAre: In ''Film/XMenFirstClass'', he is able to persuade Raven to his side finding her mutant appearance to be "perfection" in contrast to Charles and Hank, who feel she should look more "normal" to gain acceptance within society.
* KarmaHoudini: While he has been punished every now and then, he gets away with everything on other occasions.
** At the end of ''X-Men United'', he escapes after attempting to wipe out all non-mutants.
** At the end of ''The Last Stand'', he sneaks away free and his powers have returned.
** In ''Apocalypse'', [[spoiler:he murders a bunch of policemen and creates a magnetic field that kills millions across the globe, but is let off the hook because he helped kill En Sabah Nur]].
* KickTheSonOfABitch: Some of his victims include [[Film/XMenFirstClass Nazis, Sebastian Shaw]] and [[Film/X2XMenUnited the corrupt, violent slob in charge of his prison cell.]] [[spoiler:He also chained William Stryker back up and left him to die at the end of ''Film/X2XMenUnited''.]]
* KnightTemplar: Wants to stop mutant prejudice... by subjugating humans.
* LeanAndMean: Magneto seems to have little-to-no fat on his body. It makes sense, given that he's a holocaust survivor who spent his early life on the road.
* LonerTurnedFriend: In ''Film/XMenFirstClass'' when he met Charles Xavier and his group.
* MadeOfIron: His younger self is quite capable of taking a beating. In ''Film/XMenFirstClass'' he was being thrown across a room by Shaw crashing into mirrors. In ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast'', he [[spoiler:took head injuries from Beast and nearly drowned before restraining him only needing a head stitching after.]] His older self also survived a blast from Cyclops in [[Film/XMen1 the first film]], and in ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast'' [[spoiler:continued to protect the group from the Sentinels with a shard having pierced his abdomen.]]
* ManInWhite:
** His prison attire in ''Film/X2XMenUnited''.
** His '70s!self's prison attire in ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast'', which may well be a MythologyGag to the film above.
* ManipulativeBastard: Best demonstrated as he convinces Pyro to defect to his side.
* MeaningfulName: Erik means "ruler" and Lehnsherr can be roughly translated as "feudal lord" (lehn = fief, herr = master). Magneto's birth name betrays his ambition to rule over humans.
* MookHorrorShow: Several films have him performing one.
** The Nazis at the bar in ''First Class.''
** The Security guards in ''Days of Future Past'' when he reclaims his helmet, [[BadassInANiceSuit done while sharply dressed wearing shades and a fedora]].
** And in ''Apocalypse'', he does it again to the [[spoiler: policemen sent to bring him in after one of them accidentally kills his wife and daughter.]] With a ''locket.''
* MotiveRant: Delivers one to Senator Kelly after capturing him in ''Film/XMen1''.
-->'''Magneto''': Are you a god-fearing man, senator? That's such a strange phrase. I've always thought of God as a teacher, as a bringer of light, wisdom, and understanding; you see, I think what you really are afraid of is ''me''. Me and my kind, the Brotherhood of Mutants. Though it's not so surprising really. Mankind has always feared what it doesn't understand. Well, don't fear God, Senator, and certainly don't fear me. (in an undertone) Not anymore.
* MyGreatestFailure: The death of Xavier in ''Film/XMenTheLastStand'', which he directly caused by awakening Dark Phoenix.
-->'''Magneto''': Charles Xavier did more for mutants than you'll ever know. My single greatest regret is that he had to die for our dream to live.
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: ''Film/XMenTheLastStand'' features him saying the line, when he finds himself on the other side of the Mutants vs. Humans war he's been pushing for, and Phoenix finally goes crazy and starts killing people.
* NaziHunter: He spends the first twenty minutes or so of his screentime in ''Film/XMenFirstClass'' tracking down and killing Nazis. In fact, his reason for joining the X-Men is so that he can find and kill Sebastian Shaw, the mutant Nazi who killed his mother.
* TheNeedsOfTheMany: In ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast''.
-->'''Erik:''' Forgive me [[spoiler:Mystique]], as long as you're out there we'll never be safe.
* NeverBeHurtAgain: He is both a Holocaust Survivor and mutant "lab rat" which pushes him towards DoUntoOthersBeforeTheyDoUntoUs regarding mutant suppression by the humans.
* NiceHat: Occasionally wears a fedora while in civilian garb, as shown in ''XMen1'' when he attends the hearing on mutants at the beginning of the film and in ''XMenDaysOfFuturePast'' when he raids the vault for his helmet.
* NiceJobFixingItVillain: [[spoiler:Attacking Mystique]] at the Paris Peace Conference bought Bolivar Trask a couple extra days and gets Nixon to fund the Sentinel program, but his betrayal and [[spoiler:attack on the White House]] sets up a situation where a mutant is seen saving Nixon's life on live TV. [[spoiler:Mystique performs a HeelFaceTurn, Nixon cancels the Sentinel program, and the BadFuture is averted.]]
* NightmareFetishist: Everyone in ''Film/XMenFirstClass'', tells Raven that her true form as Mystique is horrifying, but Eric tells her that she is beautiful as she is, and that taking on a more normal looking appearance is wasteful of her powers, and limits her concentration against unexpected attacks. In ''Film/XMenTheLastStand'' however, when Mystique shields Magneto from being struck by darts containing the Mutant Cure, he coldly abandons her now that she's human, regretfully telling Pyro that she used to be "so beautiful."
* NotSoDifferent: From the very people he hates (the Nazis, Shaw, etc).
** In ''Film/XMenFirstClass'', when he confronts the villain Sebastian Shaw at the end:
---> '''Erik Lehnsherr:''' If you're in there, I'd like you to know that I agree with every word you said. We are the future. [[YouKilledMyFather But unfortunately, you killed my mother.]]
** Later when Xavier is shot and Erik/Magneto is speaking to him, the following conversation takes place:
---> '''Erik Lehnsherr:''' Us turning on each other, it's what they want. I tried to warn you, Charles. I want you by my side. We're brothers, you and I. All of us together, protecting each other. We want the same thing.\\
'''Charles Xavier:''' Oh, my friend, I'm sorry, but we do not.
** And in ''Film/X2XMenUnited'', the first thing he does when he gets inside the second Cerebro? [[spoiler:Instructs Jason Stryker to simply [[ReversePolarity reverse the polarity]] on Professor X's mental attack to target humans instead of mutants rather than free Charles from Jason's mind control.]]
* OutlivingOnesOffspring: [[spoiler:His daughter is killed by Polish policemen in one of the most heartbreaking moments of the whole film franchise.]]
* OverarchingVillain: Overall, he's the main villain in the film series, except in cases where he's a good guy.
* ParentalAbandonment: Father probably killed in concentration camp, mother definitely killed before him by Shaw to try and induce his magnetism powers.
* PetTheDog: He was the first person in Raven's life that complimented and truly admired her natural blue form. Also, upon reveal he compliments Hank although it isn't met with kind reaction from Beast, who believed he was being mocked.
* PowerFloats: Can fly by manipulating the Earth's magnetic field.
* PreMortemOneLiner: He delivers one to Sebastion Shaw as Charles holds control of Shaw's body.
-->"This is what we're going to do. [holds up the coin] I am going to count to three and I'm going to move the coin. One. [moves the coin towards Shaw's head] Two. Three." [puts the coin through Shaw's head, Charles screams].
* ProtagonistJourneyToVillain: ''Film/XMenFirstClass'' revolves around him seeking revenge for the murder of his mother and his increasing acceptance of mutant supremacy.
* RedAndBlackAndEvilAllOver: His outfits typically have a lot of dark red and dark grey, the dark grey is accentuated in the older Magneto's costume
* RedOniBlueOni: In ''Film/XMenFirstClass'', he is rather hot-headed while Charles is more level-headed. [[http://roashina.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/x-men-first-class-magazine.jpg ''Empire'' magazine even color-coded the front covers of their May 2011 issue accordingly.]]
* RoaringRampageOfRevenge:
** In ''Film/XMenFirstClass'', his initial mission was to hunt down and kill Shaw and his Nazi underlings.
** In ''Film/XMenApocalypse'', [[spoiler:he uses his family medallion to slaughter the whole Polish police squad that has been sent to arrest him after they killed his daughter and wife by accident. He then goes on to kill his co-workers at the steel plant after one of them denounced him. Apocalypse arrives just as Erik was about to kill them, and sucks them all into the floor.]]
* RousingSpeech: On several occasions he's persuaded mutants to follow his cause and fight along himself. Most notably, when he [[spoiler:attacked the white house and on a live broadcast declared mutants come out of hiding because they are more powerful than the humans who would try to eliminate them. This is after he discredited the Sentinel program and held the president cabinet at gun point.]]
* SensitiveGuyAndManlyMan: In ''Film/XMenFirstClass'', he is the Manly Man to Charles' Sensitive Guy. They display this dynamic in their personalities (AntiHero vs. AllLovingHero) and physique (TallDarkAndHandsome vs. PrettyBoy) as well as their philosophies and methods (PayEvilUntoEvil vs. WideEyedIdealist).
* ShutUpKirk: Delivered one to Xavier in ''Film/XMenFirstClass''.
-->'''Xavier:''' There are thousands of men on those ships. Good, honest, innocent men! They're just following orders.\\
'''Erik:''' I've been at the mercy of [[ThoseWackyNazis men just following orders]]. ''Never again''.
* SlaveBrand: The tattoo number of a Nazi concentration camp he carries upon his forearm, which he has brought attention towards to serve as a reminder for human cruelty.
* SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism: You could just as easily call the trope Xavier vs. Magneto.
* SlowlySlippingIntoEvil:
** In ''Film/XMenFirstClass''; he is a really good and interesting example in that he starts the movie already as an AntiHero and spends most of the movie establishing his attitude that would cause him to slip into evil before he actually does so. And while he's undeniably a {{Jerkass}} in opposition to the heroes by the end of the movie, he still isn't evil and never really crosses the MoralEventHorizon.
** Within 11 years between ''Film/XMenFirstClass'' and ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast'', he became involved with the JFK assassination and [[spoiler:launched an attack against the White House.]]
* TheSocialDarwinist: He believes mutants are the superior species towards humans.
* StartOfDarkness: In ''Film/XMenFirstClass''.
* StealthPun: Creator/MichaelFassbender kept his natural auburn hair for the role in ''Film/XMenFirstClass'' and ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast'', which makes him... [[spoiler:Erik the Red.]][[note]] Bonus points for "Erik the Red" being the alias Cyclops used way back in the day to infiltrate an organization a robot double of Magneto was setting up. ....Comics are odd.[[/note]]
** Also, [[spoiler:an alias Magneto himself used once, during the "Trial of Gambit" debacle. And one a Shiar spy on Earth used. Not so much a StealthPun as a MythologyGag.]]
* SuperReflexes: In ''Film/XMenFirstClass'', he's fairly confident he can stop a bullet shot point blank from his head. Later, he more or less holds true to his claim by stopping a horde of missiles fired by the US and Russian army within several feet from the air to him, and deflecting bullets while being shot at by Moira [=MacTaggert=].
* SympatheticMurderer: In ''First Class'', his target being Shaw, who killed his mother and tortured him.
* TailorMadePrison:
** At the end of ''Film/XMen1'', Magneto is locked in a cell made entirely of plastic. He got out in ''Film/X2XMenUnited'', thanks to Mystique giving one of his guards an "iron supplement," actually at least half a pound of the stuff, in liquid form. In real life, this would have given him iron poisoning, but he didn't survive long enough to find that out.
** Subverted in ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast''. The concrete cell under the Pentagon was not built specifically for him, but simply constructed that way because steel was being rationed at the time. It still holds him quite well, though.
* TallDarkAndHandsome: In his youth, as shown in the First Class trilogy.
* TeamDad: In ''Film/XMenFirstClass'' he was the more stern and less nurturing parental figure for the proto X-Men, opposite Charles' TeamMom. This is what makes [[FaceHeelTurn the "Beach Divorce" scene]] so much more tragic.
* ThatManIsDead:
** ''Film/XMenFirstClass'': The film ends with him outright proclaiming that he prefers his new moniker: Magneto.
** ''Film/XMenApocalypse'': Charles pleads with him not to join Apocalypse, but Lehnsherr has already reclaimed his Magneto persona.
-->'''Xavier''': Erik, don't join them.\\
'''Magneto''': Whatever it is you think you saw in me, I [[spoiler:buried it with my family]].
* TiredOfRunning: Inspires mutant followers to stop hiding and accept themselves, while turning on the humans who would target them.
* TimeShiftedActor: He has been portrayed by four actors in three [[note]] His adolescent stage used TheOtherDarrin since the original actor who played adolescent Magneto was 11 years older by the time ''[[Film/XMenFirstClass X-Men: FirstClass]]'' was filmed.[[/note]] different stages of his life.
* TooHappyToLive: Well, his life in Poland in ''Apocalypse'' looks too happy to last [[spoiler:as he is spotted and unmasked by authorities and both his wife and daughter die tragically.]]
* TookALevelInBadass: In ''First Class'' after Charles unlocks his full potential and in ''Apocalypse'' when the titular character [[SuperEmpowering gives him a boost.]]
* TragicKeepsake: When he first met Sebastian Shaw, he was asked to move a Nazi Coin in exchange for his mother's life but was unable to do so and she was murdered. He carried the coin for most of his life until he moved it through Shaw's head, killing him.
* TragicVillain: Possibly the archetypical example.
-->'''Charles:''' Listen to me very carefully my friend... killing Shaw will not bring you peace.
-->'''Erik:''' Peace was never an option.
** Even when he genuinely tries to find peace in ''Film/XMenApocalypse'', [[spoiler: his family is killed]] triggering an ''epic'' RageAgainstTheHeavens moment.
-->'''Erik''': Is this what I am?! Is this what you want me to be?!
* TranquilFury: In ''Film/XMenFirstClass'', his powers are manifested through anger, until Charles helps by telling him "true focus lies somewhere between rage and serenity."
* TraumaticSuperpowerAwakening: Shaw had Erik awaken control of his magnetism by murdering his mother.
* TroubledButCute: In ''Film/XMenFirstClass'', pre-[[StartOfDarkness supervillainy]], he is a {{Badass}} [[NaziHunter Nazi-hunting]] ByronicHero with an intensely DarkAndTroubledPast (involving the Holocaust, loss of his parents, ''and'' being a victim of human experimentation) and bucketloads of trauma and cynicism. He also wears a leather jacket on a few occasions.
* VisionaryVillain: He wants to create a world safe for mutants by any means necessary.
* TheUnfettered: [[spoiler:If it means the safety of mutants he'll kill anyone from the President or even Mystique.]]
* WasItReallyWorthIt: His future self ultimately regrets fighting Charles for so long, and wishes he had some of those years back. FridgeBrilliance: it's why he specifically tells Logan to find his past self. He wants Logan to trigger an earlier HeelFaceTurn in him.
* WeCanRuleTogether: An open door he extends to any mutant willing to see things his way, all the way up to and including Professor Xavier himself. Some accept and the ones who don't usually swing to Xavier's point of view.
* WellIntentionedExtremist: He has always been the archetypal example in comics and the films faithfully live up to that. He puts forth a big effort to allow mutants to come out of hiding and gain acceptance of themselves but at the same time opposes humans who would threaten them, believing war is inevitable.
** His plan in ''Film/XMen1'', is actually rather benevolent and would finally [[MassEmpoweringEvent end the division]] between Mutants and the rest of Mankind, while sacrificing only [[spoiler:Rogue]] to [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans make it work]]. It's a ''[[VisionaryVillain good]]'' plan, it's just a shame his machine ''[[GoneHorriblyWrong doesn't]]'' work!
* WeUsedToBeFriends: The whole premise of ''Film/XMenFirstClass'' is to show how he and Charles Xavier became friends and then ended up on opposite sides with different ideals.
* WhatTheHellAreYou: In ''Film/XMenFirstClass'', we have the following conversation:
-->'''Former [[ThoseWackyNazis Nazi Officer]]:''' [''in German''] Who—''what'' are you?
-->'''Erik''': [''in English''] Let's just say I'm FrankensteinsMonster, and I'm looking for my creator.
* WhatTheHellHero: In ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast'', his past self goes into an outburst about how [[spoiler:fellow mutants were being killed left and right while Young Charles has been in hiding with Hank.]]
--> '''Erik:''' [[spoiler:Angel, Azazel, Emma, Banshee. Mutant brothers and sisters, all dead! Countless others, experimented on! Butchered! Where were you, Charles?! We were supposed to protect them! Where were you when your own people needed you?! Hiding! You and Hank! Pretending to be something you're not! You abandoned us all!]]
* WickedCultured: Mags always enjoy a good game of chess with Xavier or listening to classical music.
* WithUsOrAgainstUs: Concerning the mutants who choose to fight with him or against him, namely the X-men.
* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: Each film of the new timeline keeps piling on the trauma that fuels his rage. In ''First Class'' he was a Holocaust survivor who had to watch his mother die in front of his eyes. In ''Days of Future Past'' the Brotherhood were killed and experimented on by Trask Industries. In ''Apocalypse'', after giving living in peace a chance, his wife and daughter are killed after his cover is blown as a mutant. All of this leads to him becoming an extremist willing to kill lots of people. Highlighted in ''Film/XMenFirstClass'' and arguably even more so in ''Film/XMenApocalypse'', since he's quite literally out to destroy the world.
* WorthyOpponent: He and Xavier have this relationship.
--> '''Magneto:''' Charles Xavier did more for mutants than you will ever know. My single greatest regret is that he had to die for our dream to live.
* WouldHitAGirl:
** ''Film/XMen1'': He forcibly places [[spoiler:Rogue]] into his machine, knowing full well that it will kill her.
** ''Film/XMenFirstClass'':
*** He cracks Emma Frost's crystalline neck after she refuses to cooperate.
*** He nearly strangles Moira to death with her own military dog tags, although Xavier manages to talk him out of it.
** ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast'': He would have murdered [[spoiler:Mystique]] if it weren't for Beast's timely intervention.
* YouAreNumberSix: In ''Film/XMenFirstClass'', he outs himself as a holocaust survivor to some Nazis he was amicably chatting with (and planning to kill). When they asked for the names of his parents, being from the same town, he answered that they "had no names--they were stolen from them" before showing his own concentration camp number. Violence ensues.
* YouAreWhatYouHate: He hates Nazis due to being a survivor of the Holocaust, but ultimately embraces racism against non-mutants, this is highlighted in ''Film/XMenFirstClass''.
* YouKilledMyFather: In ''Film/XMenFirstClass'', when [[spoiler:he kills Schmidt/Shaw despite agreeing with his Mutant Supremacist ideals because Schmitt killed his mother in front of him as a child]].
-->'''Magneto:''' I want you to know I agree with everything you just said. We are the future. But, unfortunately... you killed my mother.
[[/folder]]
----
to:
[[quoteright:300:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/magneto_old_xmen_films_7350.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:300:''"We are the future, Charles, not them. They no longer matter."'']]
[[quoteright:300:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/magneto_young_xmen_films_2039.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:300:''"I've been at the mercy of men just following orders. Never again."'']]
->'''Played By''': Creator/IanMcKellen, Creator/MichaelFassbender, Bill Milner & Brett Morris
->'''Film Appearances''': ''Film/XMen1 | Film/X2XMenUnited | Film/XMenTheLastStand | Film/XMenFirstClass | Film/TheWolverine | Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast | Film/XMenApocalypse''
A Holocaust survivor, he and Xavier were once friends, and they built Cerebro together. However, his belief that humans and mutants could never co-exist led to their separation. Guided by the suffering he had endured as a Jewish boy in Nazi-occupied Europe, his commitment to his fellow kind is that he will never let humanity wrong them as he was and will defend mutantkind to any end no matter how horrific. He has powerful magnetic abilities, enabling him to telekinetically manipulate anything made of metal, and a sophisticated knowledge in matters of genetic manipulation.
----
[[foldercontrol]]
[[folder:A-H]]
* AdaptationalWimp: Magneto in the comics naturally possesses some resistance to telepathy, but ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast'' shows that he's [[spoiler:''completely'' vulnerable to Xavier's power]] if he doesn't wear the helmet. Moreover, Emma Frost was able to [[Film/XMenFirstClass enter his mind and access his traumatic childhood memories]], causing him to collapse in extreme pain. His power set is also limited to being able to telekinetically bend and move metal as opposed to using various magnetic abilities (such as his use of force fields).
** Thanks to Apocalypse's SuperEmpowering in ''Film/XMenApocalypse'', he becomes capable of his full canonical breadth of power as opposed to simply moving metal. And it is ''breathtaking.''
* AdaptationDyeJob: In the comics, he has been shown to have had white hair for the vast majority of his adult life, presumably as a side-effect of his mutation. In the films, he's introduced with ''grey'' hair (though only because, lacking ComicBookTime, the screenwriters had to make him the realistic age of a Holocaust survivor) and he has [[TallDarkAndHandsome dark brown hair]] as a younger man in [[Film/XMenFirstClass the]] [[Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast prequels]].
* AdaptationNameChange: In the comics, his original name was Max Eisenhardt and Erik Lehnsherr was an alias. In the films Erik Lehnsherr is his real name and the alias he uses is Henryk Gurzsky.
* AffablyEvil: With Xavier. They still play chess games together a good 40 years into their conflict with each other. Hell, if you are on his side, he is rather chatty and friendly to you.
* AntagonistInMourning: In ''Film/XMenTheLastStand'', he sincerely grieves over [[spoiler:Xavier's death and cuts off his Dragon Pyro's irreverent talk about the deceased abruptly. As in most versions of X-Men, he and Xavier were very close friends who eventually found themselves on separate sides due to their ideological differences]].
* AntiHero: Played straight in ''Film/XMenFirstClass'' but is subverted in ''Film/X2XMenUnited''.
* AntiVillain: Has an unquestionably sympathetic backstory and very good reason to believe that humans are out to eradicate the mutant race. However, he is a dangerous individual with few limits on his devotion and what must be done to ensure the survival of his kind. Even his best and oldest friend isn't safe from [[MyGreatestFailure his extreme methods and beliefs.]]
* TheAtoner: Creator/IanMcKellen invokes this while discussing his character in the "Double Take: Xavier & Magneto" documentary on the ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast'' Blu-Ray release.
-->"The Magneto that you see with me is a man of conscience, and a man with an unhappy life behind him. He's come through a great deal, and isn't taking on single-handedly, or even with the help of his Brotherhood, society as a whole. He's joined up again with his old friend, Professor X, and together, they're going to try to move things forward."
* BadassBaritone: Both Creator/IanMcKellen and Creator/MichaelFassbender pull this off.
* BadassCape: As part of his supervillain outfit.
* BadassGrandpa: In the original trilogy, he's somewhere in his 70's or 80's, but he can still kick your ass substantially. In ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast'', as a Holocaust survivor living in 2023, he is, at the very least, in his late eighties/early nineties (''Film/XMenFirstClass'' portrayed him as being around ten in 1944). [[spoiler:He still lifts the X-Jet and hurls it at a horde of incoming Sentinels like it's a child's toy, takes a piece of shrapnel to the gut and slightly-less-than-casually pulls it out, and still uses the remaining wreckage to further barricade the path to Kitty and Wolverine.]]
* BadassInANiceSuit: Younger Magneto.
* BerserkButton: Does not like people who 'just follow orders’. This is heavily implied to be because it was the excuse many Nazi officials gave for their actions during the Nuremburg trials.
* BigBad: Of ''Film/XMen1'', ''Film/XMenTheLastStand'' and [[spoiler:''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast]]''.
* BigBadEnsemble: [[spoiler:His younger self is this in ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast''.]]
* BigBrotherInstinct: By the time of the Cuban Missile Crisis, he had already begun to view Charles as a brother figure. When the Blackbird spiraled out of control, Erik used his body to shield Xavier from injury, and he [[spoiler:''immediately'' halted his attack on the American and Soviet naval forces when Charles was shot.]]
** Even extending past that, as they become enemies, Erik continously shows both respect and affection for Charles, consitantly referring to him as ‘Old Friend’. He was immensely saddened by his death in X-men: The Last Stand, and deeply insulted by those who where disrespectful to him. He would also routinely put his own life on the line to help or save Charles, and the two kept very close in their later years, despite often being on opposing sides of the battle field. In fact in some ways, their relationship is often treated as something of a CainAndAbel story.
* BigGood: His older-self shares the role with Charles Xavier in ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast''.
* ByronicHero: In ''Film/XMenFirstClass''--morally troubled, emotionally damaged, attractive, and very charismatic about his pro-mutant beliefs. Particularly to some of the impressionable younger characters like Mystique.
* TheChessmaster: Invoked several times. He is seen playing Chess with Charles Xavier several times throughout the original trilogy, and references Chess during his attack on Alcatraz, to his benefit as Juggernaut was about to pull a LeeroyJenkins and would have been depowered in the first wave had Erik not stopped him.
--> '''Erik''' ''(stopping Juggernaut)'': In Chess, the pawns go first.
--> ''(the defenders reveal their plastic dart guns filled with the cure serum, leading to the first wave of attackers getting depowered)''
--> '''Erik''': Hmm, ''plastic''. They've learned. That's why the pawns go first.
* CoolHelmet: At times even [[SpikesOfVillainy horny]]. Technology wired into the helmet [[NoSell prevents telepathic intrusion]], making Magneto difficult to control or impossible to find via Cerebro.
* TheCorrupter: Although he convinces Raven to accept her mutant appearance, he also pushes her into committing murder against human enemies and truly becoming Mystique. Charles believes Erik is a large influence for Raven leaving him.
* CurbStompBattle: Dishes these out to Wolverine on a regular basis.
* CulturedBadass: He speaks several languages, passionately discusses philosophy, shows considerable knowledge of politics and foreign cultures, and enjoys the occasional game of chess with Xavier.
* DarkAndTroubledPast: "Holocaust survivor" is about as dark and troubled as it gets.
* DarkMessiah: In ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast'', [[spoiler:his younger self prepares to kill Nixon while declaring mutant supremacy in front of a live broadcast.]]
* DeadpanSnarker: The biggest one, natch. ''Film/X2XMenUnited'' is largely his snark-fest at everyone's expense.
** In ''Film/XMenFirstClass'' upon seeing the mansion Charles grew up in.
-->'''Erik:''' Honestly Charles, I don't know how you survived living in such hardship.
** In the original ''Film/XMen1'', he just can't help but point out Scott's at-times apparent stupidity. Such as when they were all trapped and bound by him within the Statue of Liberty.
-->'''Cyclops:''' Storm, fry him!
-->'''Magneto:''' Oh yes. A bolt of lightning into a huge copper conductor. ''I thought you lived at a school.''
** He also really enjoys mocking Wolverine in general.
* DeathGlare: Young Magneto, portrayed by Fassbender, gives a calm murderous look killing the Nazis and Shaw, and also ripping a filling tooth from a banker in ''Film/XMenFirstClass''. Also, a good stare carrying the [[spoiler:RFK Stadium towards the White House]] in ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast''.
* DemotedToDragon: He ''isn't'' the leader of the supervillain team in ''Film/XMenApocalypse''; this time around, he plays second fiddle to Apocalypse.
* {{Determinator}}: In the '70s, he asks Logan how fighting him for years has worked out for him and Logan responds they're both "survivors" which only serves to motivate Erik to later demonstrate [[spoiler:how much more powerful he is than the Wolverine later on when he runs metal pipes through his body and leaves him to drown.]]
* DoesntLikeGuns: His younger self uses guns when he needs to, while the older Magneto sneers at them. This is partly because of his background as a holocaust survivor, and partly because humans rely on guns to fight, and he sees it as a sign of their inferiority. Of course, that's a bit hypocritical when he has the power of magnetism, and those who don't possess such an advantage have to defend themselves somehow.
* DoUntoOthersBeforeTheyDoUntoUs: His motive in almost every movie.
* EmotionalPowers: In ''Film/XMenFirstClass'', he is originally only able to use his powers when extremely angry. The first two times, it involves maternal separation. However, he can't properly focus it until Charles coaches him to concentrate on happier emotions.
* EnemyMine:
** ''Film/X2XMenUnited'': He and Mystique team-up with the X-Men to stop a human villain from killing all mutants. [[spoiler:Right up until he decides to invert the attack and have all the non-Mutants killed instead.]]
** ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast'': He and Xavier unite against the Sentinels that threaten all of mutantkind with extinction. [[spoiler:Although he ends up attempting his own plans for mutant superiority and, ironically enough, winds up jeopardizing the plan to save mutantkind.]]
* EvenEvilHasStandards: Magneto always considered Xavier a friend and never wanted him dead. In ''X3'' when Pyro says he would have done so if Magneto ordered it, Magneto is clearly angered at the idea.
* EvilFormerFriend: Naturally while remaining on FriendlyEnemy terms with Charles Xavier, the X-Men and Brotherhood are at great conflict in the majority of films regardless.
* EvilGenius: With truly amazing schemes. In ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast'', [[spoiler:he was able to steal a file containing the details of the Sentinels, after reading it over he was somehow able to reprogram them while inserting metal tracks within the bodies.]]
* ExtraOreDinary: His impressive mutant ability to control metal. Guns are a joke to him and throughout the films he's accomplished feats capable of [[Film/XMenFirstClass lifting a submarine from water]], [[Film/XMenTheLastStand the Golden Gate Bridge]], and [[Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast the RFK Stadium.]] In ''Film/XMenApocalypse'' thanks to Apocalypse's [[SuperEmpowering enhancement]] he's shown [[spoiler: ripping practically every metallic structure on the planet apart via control of the world's magnetic field and with Jean, putting the Xavier Institute back together from scratch.]]
* FantasticRadiationShielding: His helmet protects him from various mutants' psychic powers.
* FauxAffablyEvil: If you aren't on his side, he can be downright terrifying and still sound unfailingly polite. [[spoiler:When Pyro expresses disappointment that he wasn't the one to kill Professor X, Magneto gives him a rather grandfatherly talking-to...with an unspoken, but ''very'' real assurance that the next ill words Pyro speaks of Charles Xavier would be his last.]]
* FirstNameBasis: In the films, just like in the comics, he and Charles Xavier always use their first names when speaking to or about each other. Only a handful of others are on a first-name basis with them.
** In ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast'', while the public and most other characters refer to him and Raven (Mystique) by their mutant code names, Charles and Hank still remain on a first name basis with both of them, and vice versa. This is also presumably true for Alex, who still addresses his former ally as Erik.
* {{Foil}}:
** ''Film/XMenFirstClass'': He and Charles are juxtaposed in their respective Argentinian bar and Oxford pub scenes. The sober Lehnsherr is all business when he's hunting down Nazis, and he murders three men (including the bartender) in cold blood after taunting his prey. The inebriated Xavier is the life of a party when he and his fellow graduate students celebrate the successful defense of his [=PhD=] thesis, and he later tries to flirt with Agent [=MacTaggert=]. Producer Creator/BryanSinger gives a very basic summary of their differences in the "Magneto the Survivor" featurette:
--->"Ultimately, they come from different places. Erik Lehnsherr is a victim of the Holocaust, he probably left the war with nothing, and is very much a solitary man, while Xavier had a life of privilege, became a professor at Oxford, was surrounded by peers, has an intimate relationship with Mystique since childhood, so he's quite loved, and therefore quite idealistic, less embittered, and just has a very different view from Lehnsherr."
** ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast'':
*** Both past and future Magneto contrast each other in the film. [[spoiler:1973 Magneto continues to move forward with mutant supremacy and attacking Charles and his group, while future Magneto was fighting to protect both mankind and mutants while lamenting his pointless struggles with Charles in their younger years.]] Past Erik is very much on his own, but his elderly counterpart is a valuable team member.
*** Past Magneto and Past Xavier were both inactive and isolated in between 1963 and 1973 (the former due to imprisonment, the latter due to depression). Erik shows signs of wanting to repair some of their previous friendship, but a bitter Charles isn't interested for the most part. Magneto tries to [[spoiler:kill Mystique]] while Xavier tries to protect her. Hank remains unwaveringly devoted to Charles, but Erik [[spoiler:loses Mystique's loyalty after the murder attempt]]. In ''Film/XMenFirstClass'', Erik personified "rage" while Charles embodied "serenity," but their roles are reversed in 1973. Xavier is now the one who is full of pain and anger, and therefore has great trouble wielding his telepathy, whereas Magneto is (relatively) calm and controlled, still possessing great mastery over his power despite being deprived of metal for a decade. (We even see Erik adopt a meditation pose in his prison cell, which makes him appear Zen-like.)
*** Wolverine and the younger Magneto are violent individuals who love Xavier, but whereas JerkWithAHeartOfGold Logan possesses UndyingLoyalty towards Charles, JerkWithAHeartOfJerk Erik is quick to [[spoiler:[[ChronicBackstabbingDisorder betray]] him]].
* FreudianExcuse: A former victim of the Holocaust believing humanity will subjugate mutants the same way.
** ''Film/XMenApocalypse'': After he [[spoiler:loses his family]], he's in so much grief that he's willing to follow Apocalypse, who convinces Erik that he's God, and God has granted Magneto a divine purpose.
* FriendlyEnemy: To Charles Xavier.
* TheFundamentalist: Without a doubt believes mutants are the superior species and humans will fight against their extinction.
* GainingTheWillToKill: When he meets [[spoiler:Raven]] in ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast'', he appears noticeably distressed before [[spoiler:picking up a gun and apologizing then claiming mutants will never be safe with her alive before shooting at her.]]
* HeelFaceRevolvingDoor: His moral standing across the films has variously been NominalHero, AntiHero, AntiVillain, TheAtoner, and WellIntentionedExtremist. Magneto is rarely a straight villain and even more rarely a straight hero, but in the meantime he wavers all the way between the two.
* HeterosexualLifePartners:
** Considering that his and Charles' friendship only lasted a few months in ''Film/XMenFirstClass'', it was unusually intimate on an emotional level.
** Played straight in ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast'', with his older self and Professor X (the moment where they're holding hands is the closest that we've seen them since ''First Class''), but averted with their younger selves. In 1973, Charles never once calls him "friend" (although Erik uses the endearment twice), which goes to show how broken their relationship is.
* HeWhoFightsMonsters:
** ''Film/XMen1'': Director [[WordOfGod Bryan Singer]] explains in the September 2000 issue of ''SFX'':
--->"...the paradox in Magneto's character is that he was the victim and then becomes the aggressor. It's like he's slowly become these people who persecuted him and murdered his family right in front of him. He became embittered. You get angry enough and you start forgetting."
** ''Film/XMenFirstClass'': He hates Shaw and wants to kill him, but he eventually embraces Shaw's beliefs about mutant supremacy. It's even spelled out through the villain '''[[ArtifactOfAttraction wearing the same helmet]]''' that '''[[IconicItem Magneto is associated with]]'''. Justified at the crucial moment because he separates revenge from his ideals, which is why he's able to compliment Shaw's vision while still hating the man to his core. Shaw the man wronged him terribly, but Shaw the visionary is inspirational.
* HijackedByGanon: He has a tendency to hijack the plans of the villains of the films in retaliation against them,
** [[spoiler:''Film/X2XMenUnited'': After stopping Stryker's plan to kill all mutants with a fake Cerebro, he decides to reprogram the machine to kill regular humans instead.]]
** [[spoiler:''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast'': He hijacks the Sentinels to attempt killing both Bolivar Trask and President Nixon.]]
** [[spoiler:''Film/XMenFirstClass'' features a variation; once Erik kills Shaw, he basically embraces his evil nature and even attempts to wipe out the American and Soviet fleets.]]
* HoistByHisOwnPetard: Invokes this on so many occasions, such as [[Film/XMen1 threatening dozens of policemen with their own guns]], [[spoiler: [[Film/X2XMenUnited using Dark Cerebro to kill all humans after it was just used in an attempt to kill all mutants]], as well as killing multiple soldiers by pulling off the pins on their grenades]], [[Film/XMenFirstClass hurling missiles at ships that just fired them]], and [[spoiler: [[Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast using the Sentinels during the DisasterousDemonstration in the past to attack the spectators.]]]]
* HumansAreBastards: Believing humans will continue to grow and despise mutants he maintains this belief. Though it doesn't really help his case when he keeps doing actions that make people fear him.
* {{Hypocrite}}: Magneto is prone to being ''very'' self-righteous as a villain.
** Despite claiming to help his fellow mutants, Magneto has no qualms on attacking and even killing other mutants who stand in the way of his anti-human crusade.
** Magneto is motivated by his memories of enduring the Holocaust during World War II and believes mutants will be subjected to the same treatment as the Jews in Nazi Germany if they do not fight back. This leads to him falling victim to HeWhoFightsMonsters, becoming a genocidal racist just as bad as the Nazis.
** In ''[[Film/XMen1 X-Men]]'', he is willing to sacrifice Rogue but not himself in the advancement of his cause. Beautifully called out by Wolverine, who tells him: "You're so full of shit. If you were really so righteous, it would be you up in that thing." The biggest irony of that is, if he ''had'' been willing to sacrifice himself, the plan would have worked.
** At the climax of ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast'', his past-self [[spoiler:sics a Sentinel on Wolverine and Beast, after a grand speech about how he will protect mutantkind.]]
** In the plane, he [[spoiler:calls Xavier out for abandoning some of the mutants from ''Film/XMenFirstClass'' to experimentation by Trask and the government. Ignoring that several of the mutants experimented on and killed were the ones that followed Magneto at the end of the film.]]
[[/folder]]
[[folder:I-Y]]
* IcyBlueEyes: His eyes are quite a striking blue.
* IDidWhatIHadToDo: After the fact, he told [[spoiler:Raven]], he tried to kill her for the sake of all mutants.
* IHatePastMe: In ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast'' right before Kitty sends Wolverine back in time, he worries that his and Charles' past-selves won't understand the nightmarish situation in the BadFuture and be able to fix things.
--> '''Erik''': It's not [Wolverine] I'm worried about, it's us. We were young, we didn't know any better.
* IneffectualLoner: Was one in ''Film/XMenFirstClass'' until Charles convinced him he could do better with friends of his own, and in the ending he begins building his brotherhood of mutants.
* IWasQuiteALooker: He was a classic example of TallDarkAndHandsome when he was a young man (and he has [[GrandpaWhatMassiveHotnessYouHave aged gracefully over the years]]).
* JerkassHasAPoint: He did make the fair point towards Charles that he grew up with Raven, and shouldn't have entirely claimed responsibility for raising her, which did in part drive her away from him.
* JustTheWayYouAre: In ''Film/XMenFirstClass'', he is able to persuade Raven to his side finding her mutant appearance to be "perfection" in contrast to Charles and Hank, who feel she should look more "normal" to gain acceptance within society.
* KarmaHoudini: While he has been punished every now and then, he gets away with everything on other occasions.
** At the end of ''X-Men United'', he escapes after attempting to wipe out all non-mutants.
** At the end of ''The Last Stand'', he sneaks away free and his powers have returned.
** In ''Apocalypse'', [[spoiler:he murders a bunch of policemen and creates a magnetic field that kills millions across the globe, but is let off the hook because he helped kill En Sabah Nur]].
* KickTheSonOfABitch: Some of his victims include [[Film/XMenFirstClass Nazis, Sebastian Shaw]] and [[Film/X2XMenUnited the corrupt, violent slob in charge of his prison cell.]] [[spoiler:He also chained William Stryker back up and left him to die at the end of ''Film/X2XMenUnited''.]]
* KnightTemplar: Wants to stop mutant prejudice... by subjugating humans.
* LeanAndMean: Magneto seems to have little-to-no fat on his body. It makes sense, given that he's a holocaust survivor who spent his early life on the road.
* LonerTurnedFriend: In ''Film/XMenFirstClass'' when he met Charles Xavier and his group.
* MadeOfIron: His younger self is quite capable of taking a beating. In ''Film/XMenFirstClass'' he was being thrown across a room by Shaw crashing into mirrors. In ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast'', he [[spoiler:took head injuries from Beast and nearly drowned before restraining him only needing a head stitching after.]] His older self also survived a blast from Cyclops in [[Film/XMen1 the first film]], and in ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast'' [[spoiler:continued to protect the group from the Sentinels with a shard having pierced his abdomen.]]
* ManInWhite:
** His prison attire in ''Film/X2XMenUnited''.
** His '70s!self's prison attire in ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast'', which may well be a MythologyGag to the film above.
* ManipulativeBastard: Best demonstrated as he convinces Pyro to defect to his side.
* MeaningfulName: Erik means "ruler" and Lehnsherr can be roughly translated as "feudal lord" (lehn = fief, herr = master). Magneto's birth name betrays his ambition to rule over humans.
* MookHorrorShow: Several films have him performing one.
** The Nazis at the bar in ''First Class.''
** The Security guards in ''Days of Future Past'' when he reclaims his helmet, [[BadassInANiceSuit done while sharply dressed wearing shades and a fedora]].
** And in ''Apocalypse'', he does it again to the [[spoiler: policemen sent to bring him in after one of them accidentally kills his wife and daughter.]] With a ''locket.''
* MotiveRant: Delivers one to Senator Kelly after capturing him in ''Film/XMen1''.
-->'''Magneto''': Are you a god-fearing man, senator? That's such a strange phrase. I've always thought of God as a teacher, as a bringer of light, wisdom, and understanding; you see, I think what you really are afraid of is ''me''. Me and my kind, the Brotherhood of Mutants. Though it's not so surprising really. Mankind has always feared what it doesn't understand. Well, don't fear God, Senator, and certainly don't fear me. (in an undertone) Not anymore.
* MyGreatestFailure: The death of Xavier in ''Film/XMenTheLastStand'', which he directly caused by awakening Dark Phoenix.
-->'''Magneto''': Charles Xavier did more for mutants than you'll ever know. My single greatest regret is that he had to die for our dream to live.
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: ''Film/XMenTheLastStand'' features him saying the line, when he finds himself on the other side of the Mutants vs. Humans war he's been pushing for, and Phoenix finally goes crazy and starts killing people.
* NaziHunter: He spends the first twenty minutes or so of his screentime in ''Film/XMenFirstClass'' tracking down and killing Nazis. In fact, his reason for joining the X-Men is so that he can find and kill Sebastian Shaw, the mutant Nazi who killed his mother.
* TheNeedsOfTheMany: In ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast''.
-->'''Erik:''' Forgive me [[spoiler:Mystique]], as long as you're out there we'll never be safe.
* NeverBeHurtAgain: He is both a Holocaust Survivor and mutant "lab rat" which pushes him towards DoUntoOthersBeforeTheyDoUntoUs regarding mutant suppression by the humans.
* NiceHat: Occasionally wears a fedora while in civilian garb, as shown in ''XMen1'' when he attends the hearing on mutants at the beginning of the film and in ''XMenDaysOfFuturePast'' when he raids the vault for his helmet.
* NiceJobFixingItVillain: [[spoiler:Attacking Mystique]] at the Paris Peace Conference bought Bolivar Trask a couple extra days and gets Nixon to fund the Sentinel program, but his betrayal and [[spoiler:attack on the White House]] sets up a situation where a mutant is seen saving Nixon's life on live TV. [[spoiler:Mystique performs a HeelFaceTurn, Nixon cancels the Sentinel program, and the BadFuture is averted.]]
* NightmareFetishist: Everyone in ''Film/XMenFirstClass'', tells Raven that her true form as Mystique is horrifying, but Eric tells her that she is beautiful as she is, and that taking on a more normal looking appearance is wasteful of her powers, and limits her concentration against unexpected attacks. In ''Film/XMenTheLastStand'' however, when Mystique shields Magneto from being struck by darts containing the Mutant Cure, he coldly abandons her now that she's human, regretfully telling Pyro that she used to be "so beautiful."
* NotSoDifferent: From the very people he hates (the Nazis, Shaw, etc).
** In ''Film/XMenFirstClass'', when he confronts the villain Sebastian Shaw at the end:
---> '''Erik Lehnsherr:''' If you're in there, I'd like you to know that I agree with every word you said. We are the future. [[YouKilledMyFather But unfortunately, you killed my mother.]]
** Later when Xavier is shot and Erik/Magneto is speaking to him, the following conversation takes place:
---> '''Erik Lehnsherr:''' Us turning on each other, it's what they want. I tried to warn you, Charles. I want you by my side. We're brothers, you and I. All of us together, protecting each other. We want the same thing.\\
'''Charles Xavier:''' Oh, my friend, I'm sorry, but we do not.
** And in ''Film/X2XMenUnited'', the first thing he does when he gets inside the second Cerebro? [[spoiler:Instructs Jason Stryker to simply [[ReversePolarity reverse the polarity]] on Professor X's mental attack to target humans instead of mutants rather than free Charles from Jason's mind control.]]
* OutlivingOnesOffspring: [[spoiler:His daughter is killed by Polish policemen in one of the most heartbreaking moments of the whole film franchise.]]
* OverarchingVillain: Overall, he's the main villain in the film series, except in cases where he's a good guy.
* ParentalAbandonment: Father probably killed in concentration camp, mother definitely killed before him by Shaw to try and induce his magnetism powers.
* PetTheDog: He was the first person in Raven's life that complimented and truly admired her natural blue form. Also, upon reveal he compliments Hank although it isn't met with kind reaction from Beast, who believed he was being mocked.
* PowerFloats: Can fly by manipulating the Earth's magnetic field.
* PreMortemOneLiner: He delivers one to Sebastion Shaw as Charles holds control of Shaw's body.
-->"This is what we're going to do. [holds up the coin] I am going to count to three and I'm going to move the coin. One. [moves the coin towards Shaw's head] Two. Three." [puts the coin through Shaw's head, Charles screams].
* ProtagonistJourneyToVillain: ''Film/XMenFirstClass'' revolves around him seeking revenge for the murder of his mother and his increasing acceptance of mutant supremacy.
* RedAndBlackAndEvilAllOver: His outfits typically have a lot of dark red and dark grey, the dark grey is accentuated in the older Magneto's costume
* RedOniBlueOni: In ''Film/XMenFirstClass'', he is rather hot-headed while Charles is more level-headed. [[http://roashina.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/x-men-first-class-magazine.jpg ''Empire'' magazine even color-coded the front covers of their May 2011 issue accordingly.]]
* RoaringRampageOfRevenge:
** In ''Film/XMenFirstClass'', his initial mission was to hunt down and kill Shaw and his Nazi underlings.
** In ''Film/XMenApocalypse'', [[spoiler:he uses his family medallion to slaughter the whole Polish police squad that has been sent to arrest him after they killed his daughter and wife by accident. He then goes on to kill his co-workers at the steel plant after one of them denounced him. Apocalypse arrives just as Erik was about to kill them, and sucks them all into the floor.]]
* RousingSpeech: On several occasions he's persuaded mutants to follow his cause and fight along himself. Most notably, when he [[spoiler:attacked the white house and on a live broadcast declared mutants come out of hiding because they are more powerful than the humans who would try to eliminate them. This is after he discredited the Sentinel program and held the president cabinet at gun point.]]
* SensitiveGuyAndManlyMan: In ''Film/XMenFirstClass'', he is the Manly Man to Charles' Sensitive Guy. They display this dynamic in their personalities (AntiHero vs. AllLovingHero) and physique (TallDarkAndHandsome vs. PrettyBoy) as well as their philosophies and methods (PayEvilUntoEvil vs. WideEyedIdealist).
* ShutUpKirk: Delivered one to Xavier in ''Film/XMenFirstClass''.
-->'''Xavier:''' There are thousands of men on those ships. Good, honest, innocent men! They're just following orders.\\
'''Erik:''' I've been at the mercy of [[ThoseWackyNazis men just following orders]]. ''Never again''.
* SlaveBrand: The tattoo number of a Nazi concentration camp he carries upon his forearm, which he has brought attention towards to serve as a reminder for human cruelty.
* SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism: You could just as easily call the trope Xavier vs. Magneto.
* SlowlySlippingIntoEvil:
** In ''Film/XMenFirstClass''; he is a really good and interesting example in that he starts the movie already as an AntiHero and spends most of the movie establishing his attitude that would cause him to slip into evil before he actually does so. And while he's undeniably a {{Jerkass}} in opposition to the heroes by the end of the movie, he still isn't evil and never really crosses the MoralEventHorizon.
** Within 11 years between ''Film/XMenFirstClass'' and ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast'', he became involved with the JFK assassination and [[spoiler:launched an attack against the White House.]]
* TheSocialDarwinist: He believes mutants are the superior species towards humans.
* StartOfDarkness: In ''Film/XMenFirstClass''.
* StealthPun: Creator/MichaelFassbender kept his natural auburn hair for the role in ''Film/XMenFirstClass'' and ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast'', which makes him... [[spoiler:Erik the Red.]][[note]] Bonus points for "Erik the Red" being the alias Cyclops used way back in the day to infiltrate an organization a robot double of Magneto was setting up. ....Comics are odd.[[/note]]
** Also, [[spoiler:an alias Magneto himself used once, during the "Trial of Gambit" debacle. And one a Shiar spy on Earth used. Not so much a StealthPun as a MythologyGag.]]
* SuperReflexes: In ''Film/XMenFirstClass'', he's fairly confident he can stop a bullet shot point blank from his head. Later, he more or less holds true to his claim by stopping a horde of missiles fired by the US and Russian army within several feet from the air to him, and deflecting bullets while being shot at by Moira [=MacTaggert=].
* SympatheticMurderer: In ''First Class'', his target being Shaw, who killed his mother and tortured him.
* TailorMadePrison:
** At the end of ''Film/XMen1'', Magneto is locked in a cell made entirely of plastic. He got out in ''Film/X2XMenUnited'', thanks to Mystique giving one of his guards an "iron supplement," actually at least half a pound of the stuff, in liquid form. In real life, this would have given him iron poisoning, but he didn't survive long enough to find that out.
** Subverted in ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast''. The concrete cell under the Pentagon was not built specifically for him, but simply constructed that way because steel was being rationed at the time. It still holds him quite well, though.
* TallDarkAndHandsome: In his youth, as shown in the First Class trilogy.
* TeamDad: In ''Film/XMenFirstClass'' he was the more stern and less nurturing parental figure for the proto X-Men, opposite Charles' TeamMom. This is what makes [[FaceHeelTurn the "Beach Divorce" scene]] so much more tragic.
* ThatManIsDead:
** ''Film/XMenFirstClass'': The film ends with him outright proclaiming that he prefers his new moniker: Magneto.
** ''Film/XMenApocalypse'': Charles pleads with him not to join Apocalypse, but Lehnsherr has already reclaimed his Magneto persona.
-->'''Xavier''': Erik, don't join them.\\
'''Magneto''': Whatever it is you think you saw in me, I [[spoiler:buried it with my family]].
* TiredOfRunning: Inspires mutant followers to stop hiding and accept themselves, while turning on the humans who would target them.
* TimeShiftedActor: He has been portrayed by four actors in three [[note]] His adolescent stage used TheOtherDarrin since the original actor who played adolescent Magneto was 11 years older by the time ''[[Film/XMenFirstClass X-Men: FirstClass]]'' was filmed.[[/note]] different stages of his life.
* TooHappyToLive: Well, his life in Poland in ''Apocalypse'' looks too happy to last [[spoiler:as he is spotted and unmasked by authorities and both his wife and daughter die tragically.]]
* TookALevelInBadass: In ''First Class'' after Charles unlocks his full potential and in ''Apocalypse'' when the titular character [[SuperEmpowering gives him a boost.]]
* TragicKeepsake: When he first met Sebastian Shaw, he was asked to move a Nazi Coin in exchange for his mother's life but was unable to do so and she was murdered. He carried the coin for most of his life until he moved it through Shaw's head, killing him.
* TragicVillain: Possibly the archetypical example.
-->'''Charles:''' Listen to me very carefully my friend... killing Shaw will not bring you peace.
-->'''Erik:''' Peace was never an option.
** Even when he genuinely tries to find peace in ''Film/XMenApocalypse'', [[spoiler: his family is killed]] triggering an ''epic'' RageAgainstTheHeavens moment.
-->'''Erik''': Is this what I am?! Is this what you want me to be?!
* TranquilFury: In ''Film/XMenFirstClass'', his powers are manifested through anger, until Charles helps by telling him "true focus lies somewhere between rage and serenity."
* TraumaticSuperpowerAwakening: Shaw had Erik awaken control of his magnetism by murdering his mother.
* TroubledButCute: In ''Film/XMenFirstClass'', pre-[[StartOfDarkness supervillainy]], he is a {{Badass}} [[NaziHunter Nazi-hunting]] ByronicHero with an intensely DarkAndTroubledPast (involving the Holocaust, loss of his parents, ''and'' being a victim of human experimentation) and bucketloads of trauma and cynicism. He also wears a leather jacket on a few occasions.
* VisionaryVillain: He wants to create a world safe for mutants by any means necessary.
* TheUnfettered: [[spoiler:If it means the safety of mutants he'll kill anyone from the President or even Mystique.]]
* WasItReallyWorthIt: His future self ultimately regrets fighting Charles for so long, and wishes he had some of those years back. FridgeBrilliance: it's why he specifically tells Logan to find his past self. He wants Logan to trigger an earlier HeelFaceTurn in him.
* WeCanRuleTogether: An open door he extends to any mutant willing to see things his way, all the way up to and including Professor Xavier himself. Some accept and the ones who don't usually swing to Xavier's point of view.
* WellIntentionedExtremist: He has always been the archetypal example in comics and the films faithfully live up to that. He puts forth a big effort to allow mutants to come out of hiding and gain acceptance of themselves but at the same time opposes humans who would threaten them, believing war is inevitable.
** His plan in ''Film/XMen1'', is actually rather benevolent and would finally [[MassEmpoweringEvent end the division]] between Mutants and the rest of Mankind, while sacrificing only [[spoiler:Rogue]] to [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans make it work]]. It's a ''[[VisionaryVillain good]]'' plan, it's just a shame his machine ''[[GoneHorriblyWrong doesn't]]'' work!
* WeUsedToBeFriends: The whole premise of ''Film/XMenFirstClass'' is to show how he and Charles Xavier became friends and then ended up on opposite sides with different ideals.
* WhatTheHellAreYou: In ''Film/XMenFirstClass'', we have the following conversation:
-->'''Former [[ThoseWackyNazis Nazi Officer]]:''' [''in German''] Who—''what'' are you?
-->'''Erik''': [''in English''] Let's just say I'm FrankensteinsMonster, and I'm looking for my creator.
* WhatTheHellHero: In ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast'', his past self goes into an outburst about how [[spoiler:fellow mutants were being killed left and right while Young Charles has been in hiding with Hank.]]
--> '''Erik:''' [[spoiler:Angel, Azazel, Emma, Banshee. Mutant brothers and sisters, all dead! Countless others, experimented on! Butchered! Where were you, Charles?! We were supposed to protect them! Where were you when your own people needed you?! Hiding! You and Hank! Pretending to be something you're not! You abandoned us all!]]
* WickedCultured: Mags always enjoy a good game of chess with Xavier or listening to classical music.
* WithUsOrAgainstUs: Concerning the mutants who choose to fight with him or against him, namely the X-men.
* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: Each film of the new timeline keeps piling on the trauma that fuels his rage. In ''First Class'' he was a Holocaust survivor who had to watch his mother die in front of his eyes. In ''Days of Future Past'' the Brotherhood were killed and experimented on by Trask Industries. In ''Apocalypse'', after giving living in peace a chance, his wife and daughter are killed after his cover is blown as a mutant. All of this leads to him becoming an extremist willing to kill lots of people. Highlighted in ''Film/XMenFirstClass'' and arguably even more so in ''Film/XMenApocalypse'', since he's quite literally out to destroy the world.
* WorthyOpponent: He and Xavier have this relationship.
--> '''Magneto:''' Charles Xavier did more for mutants than you will ever know. My single greatest regret is that he had to die for our dream to live.
* WouldHitAGirl:
** ''Film/XMen1'': He forcibly places [[spoiler:Rogue]] into his machine, knowing full well that it will kill her.
** ''Film/XMenFirstClass'':
*** He cracks Emma Frost's crystalline neck after she refuses to cooperate.
*** He nearly strangles Moira to death with her own military dog tags, although Xavier manages to talk him out of it.
** ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast'': He would have murdered [[spoiler:Mystique]] if it weren't for Beast's timely intervention.
* YouAreNumberSix: In ''Film/XMenFirstClass'', he outs himself as a holocaust survivor to some Nazis he was amicably chatting with (and planning to kill). When they asked for the names of his parents, being from the same town, he answered that they "had no names--they were stolen from them" before showing his own concentration camp number. Violence ensues.
* YouAreWhatYouHate: He hates Nazis due to being a survivor of the Holocaust, but ultimately embraces racism against non-mutants, this is highlighted in ''Film/XMenFirstClass''.
* YouKilledMyFather: In ''Film/XMenFirstClass'', when [[spoiler:he kills Schmidt/Shaw despite agreeing with his Mutant Supremacist ideals because Schmitt killed his mother in front of him as a child]].
-->'''Magneto:''' I want you to know I agree with everything you just said. We are the future. But, unfortunately... you killed my mother.
[[/folder]]
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* AdaptationNameChange: In the comics, his original name was Max Eisenhardt and Erik Lehnsherr was an alias. In the films Erik Lehnsherr is his real name and the alias he uses is Henryk Gurzsky.
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** In the original ''Film/XMen'', he just can't help but point out Scott's at-times apparent stupidity. Such as when they were all trapped and bound by him within the Statue of Liberty.
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** In the original ''Film/XMen'', ''Film/XMen1'', he just can't help but point out Scott's at-times apparent stupidity. Such as when they were all trapped and bound by him within the Statue of Liberty.
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I rearranged the entries in alphabetical order so that it's consistent with the other single character pages (e.g. Professor X, Wolverine)
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[[caption-width-right:300:''"We are the future, Charles, not them. They no longer matter."'']]
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[[caption-width-right:300:''"I've been at the mercy of men just following orders. Never again."'']]
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[[folder:General Tropes]]
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[[folder:A-H]]
* AntagonistInMourning: In ''Film/XMenTheLastStand'', he sincerely grieves over [[spoiler:Xavier's death and cuts off his Dragon Pyro's irreverent talk about the deceased abruptly. As in most versions of X-Men, he and Xavier were very close friends who eventually found themselves on separate sides due to their ideological differences]].
* TheAtoner: Creator/IanMcKellen invokes this while discussing his character in the "Double Take: Xavier & Magneto" documentary on the ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast'' Blu-Ray release.
-->"The Magneto that you see with me is a man of conscience, and a man with an unhappy life behind him. He's come through a great deal, and isn't taking on single-handedly, or even with the help of his Brotherhood, society as a whole. He's joined up again with his old friend, Professor X, and together, they're going to try to move things forward."
-->"The Magneto that you see with me is a man of conscience, and a man with an unhappy life behind him. He's come through a great deal, and isn't taking on single-handedly, or even with the help of his Brotherhood, society as a whole. He's joined up again with his old friend, Professor X, and together, they're going to try to move things forward."
* BadassGrandpa: In the original trilogy, he's somewhere in his 70's or 80's, but he can still kick your ass substantially. In ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast'', as a Holocaust survivor living in 2023, he is, at the very least, in his late eighties/early nineties (''Film/XMenFirstClass'' portrayed him as being around ten in 1944). [[spoiler:He still lifts the X-Jet and hurls it at a horde of incoming Sentinels like it's a child's toy, takes a piece of shrapnel to the gut and slightly-less-than-casually pulls it out, and still uses the remaining wreckage to further barricade the path to Kitty and Wolverine.]]
* BigBadEnsemble: [[spoiler:His younger self is this in ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast''.]]
* BigGood: His older-self shares the role with Charles Xavier in ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast''.
* ByronicHero: In ''Film/XMenFirstClass''--morally troubled, emotionally damaged, attractive, and very charismatic about his pro-mutant beliefs. Particularly to some of the impressionable younger characters like Mystique.
* TheChessmaster: Invoked several times. He is seen playing Chess with Charles Xavier several times throughout the original trilogy, and references Chess during his attack on Alcatraz, to his benefit as Juggernaut was about to pull a LeeroyJenkins and would have been depowered in the first wave had Erik not stopped him.
--> '''Erik''' ''(stopping Juggernaut)'': In Chess, the pawns go first.
--> ''(the defenders reveal their plastic dart guns filled with the cure serum, leading to the first wave of attackers getting depowered)''
--> '''Erik''': Hmm, ''plastic''. They've learned. That's why the pawns go first.
* ByronicHero: In ''Film/XMenFirstClass''--morally troubled, emotionally damaged, attractive, and very charismatic about his pro-mutant beliefs. Particularly to some of the impressionable younger characters like Mystique.
* TheChessmaster: Invoked several times. He is seen playing Chess with Charles Xavier several times throughout the original trilogy, and references Chess during his attack on Alcatraz, to his benefit as Juggernaut was about to pull a LeeroyJenkins and would have been depowered in the first wave had Erik not stopped him.
--> '''Erik''' ''(stopping Juggernaut)'': In Chess, the pawns go first.
--> ''(the defenders reveal their plastic dart guns filled with the cure serum, leading to the first wave of attackers getting depowered)''
--> '''Erik''': Hmm, ''plastic''. They've learned. That's why the pawns go first.
* DarkMessiah: In ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast'', [[spoiler:his younger self prepares to kill Nixon while declaring mutant supremacy in front of a live broadcast.]]
* DeathGlare: Young Magneto, portrayed by Fassbender, gives a calm murderous look killing the Nazis and Shaw, and also ripping a filling tooth from a banker in ''Film/XMenFirstClass''. Also, a good stare carrying the [[spoiler:RFK Stadium towards the White House]] in ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast''.
* DemotedToDragon: He ''isn't'' the leader of the supervillain team in ''Film/XMenApocalypse''; this time around, he plays second fiddle to Apocalypse.
* {{Determinator}}: In the '70s, he asks Logan how fighting him for years has worked out for him and Logan responds they're both "survivors" which only serves to motivate Erik to later demonstrate [[spoiler:how much more powerful he is than the Wolverine later on when he runs metal pipes through his body and leaves him to drown.]]
* DemotedToDragon: He ''isn't'' the leader of the supervillain team in ''Film/XMenApocalypse''; this time around, he plays second fiddle to Apocalypse.
* {{Determinator}}: In the '70s, he asks Logan how fighting him for years has worked out for him and Logan responds they're both "survivors" which only serves to motivate Erik to later demonstrate [[spoiler:how much more powerful he is than the Wolverine later on when he runs metal pipes through his body and leaves him to drown.]]
* EvenEvilHasStandards: Magneto always considered Xavier a friend and never wanted him dead. In ''X3'' when Pyro says he would have done so if Magneto ordered it, Magneto is clearly angered at the idea.
* EvilGenius: With truly amazing schemes. In ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast'', [[spoiler:he was able to steal a file containing the details of the Sentinels, after reading it over he was somehow able to reprogram them while inserting metal tracks within the bodies.]]
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*** Both '70s and future Magneto contrast each other in the film. [[spoiler:'70s Magneto continues to move forward with mutant supremacy and attacking Charles and his group, while future Magneto was fighting to protect both mankind and mutants while lamenting his pointless struggles with Charles in their younger years.]] Past Erik is very much on his own, but his elderly counterpart is a valuable team member.
to:
*** Both '70s past and future Magneto contrast each other in the film. [[spoiler:'70s [[spoiler:1973 Magneto continues to move forward with mutant supremacy and attacking Charles and his group, while future Magneto was fighting to protect both mankind and mutants while lamenting his pointless struggles with Charles in their younger years.]] Past Erik is very much on his own, but his elderly counterpart is a valuable team member.
* HeterosexualLifePartners:
** Considering that his and Charles' friendship only lasted a few months in ''Film/XMenFirstClass'', it was unusually intimate on an emotional level.
** Played straight in ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast'', with his older self and Professor X (the moment where they're holding hands is the closest that we've seen them since ''First Class''), but averted with their younger selves. In 1973, Charles never once calls him "friend" (although Erik uses the endearment twice), which goes to show how broken their relationship is.
** Considering that his and Charles' friendship only lasted a few months in ''Film/XMenFirstClass'', it was unusually intimate on an emotional level.
** Played straight in ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast'', with his older self and Professor X (the moment where they're holding hands is the closest that we've seen them since ''First Class''), but averted with their younger selves. In 1973, Charles never once calls him "friend" (although Erik uses the endearment twice), which goes to show how broken their relationship is.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:I-Y]]
[[folder:I-Y]]
* IHatePastMe: In ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast'' right before Kitty sends Wolverine back in time, he worries that his and Charles' past-selves won't understand the nightmarish situation in the BadFuture and be able to fix things.
--> '''Erik''': It's not [Wolverine] I'm worried about, it's us. We were young, we didn't know any better.
* IneffectualLoner: Was one in ''Film/XMenFirstClass'' until Charles convinced him he could do better with friends of his own, and in the ending he begins building his brotherhood of mutants.
--> '''Erik''': It's not [Wolverine] I'm worried about, it's us. We were young, we didn't know any better.
* IneffectualLoner: Was one in ''Film/XMenFirstClass'' until Charles convinced him he could do better with friends of his own, and in the ending he begins building his brotherhood of mutants.
* JerkassHasAPoint: He did make the fair point towards Charles that he grew up with Raven, and shouldn't have entirely claimed responsibility for raising her, which did in part drive her away from him.
* JustTheWayYouAre: In ''Film/XMenFirstClass'', he is able to persuade Raven to his side finding her mutant appearance to be "perfection" in contrast to Charles and Hank, who feel she should look more "normal" to gain acceptance within society.
* JustTheWayYouAre: In ''Film/XMenFirstClass'', he is able to persuade Raven to his side finding her mutant appearance to be "perfection" in contrast to Charles and Hank, who feel she should look more "normal" to gain acceptance within society.
* KickTheSonOfABitch: Some of his victims include [[Film/XMenFirstClass Nazis, Sebastian Shaw]] and [[Film/X2XMenUnited the corrupt, violent slob in charge of his prison cell.]] [[spoiler:He also chained William Stryker back up and left him to die at the end of ''Film/X2XMenUnited''.]]
* MotiveRant: Delivers one to Senator Kelly after capturing him in ''Film/XMen1''.
-->'''Magneto''': Are you a god-fearing man, senator? That's such a strange phrase. I've always thought of God as a teacher, as a bringer of light, wisdom, and understanding; you see, I think what you really are afraid of is ''me''. Me and my kind, the Brotherhood of Mutants. Though it's not so surprising really. Mankind has always feared what it doesn't understand. Well, don't fear God, Senator, and certainly don't fear me. (in an undertone) Not anymore.
* MyGreatestFailure: The death of Xavier in ''Film/XMenTheLastStand'', which he directly caused by awakening Dark Phoenix.
-->'''Magneto''': Charles Xavier did more for mutants than you'll ever know. My single greatest regret is that he had to die for our dream to live.
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: ''Film/XMenTheLastStand'' features him saying the line, when he finds himself on the other side of the Mutants vs. Humans war he's been pushing for, and Phoenix finally goes crazy and starts killing people.
-->'''Magneto''': Are you a god-fearing man, senator? That's such a strange phrase. I've always thought of God as a teacher, as a bringer of light, wisdom, and understanding; you see, I think what you really are afraid of is ''me''. Me and my kind, the Brotherhood of Mutants. Though it's not so surprising really. Mankind has always feared what it doesn't understand. Well, don't fear God, Senator, and certainly don't fear me. (in an undertone) Not anymore.
* MyGreatestFailure: The death of Xavier in ''Film/XMenTheLastStand'', which he directly caused by awakening Dark Phoenix.
-->'''Magneto''': Charles Xavier did more for mutants than you'll ever know. My single greatest regret is that he had to die for our dream to live.
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: ''Film/XMenTheLastStand'' features him saying the line, when he finds himself on the other side of the Mutants vs. Humans war he's been pushing for, and Phoenix finally goes crazy and starts killing people.
* TheNeedsOfTheMany: In ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast''.
-->'''Erik:''' Forgive me [[spoiler:Mystique]], as long as you're out there we'll never be safe.
-->'''Erik:''' Forgive me [[spoiler:Mystique]], as long as you're out there we'll never be safe.
* NiceJobFixingItVillain: [[spoiler:Attacking Mystique]] at the Paris Peace Conference bought Bolivar Trask a couple extra days and gets Nixon to fund the Sentinel program, but his betrayal and [[spoiler:attack on the White House]] sets up a situation where a mutant is seen saving Nixon's life on live TV. [[spoiler:Mystique performs a HeelFaceTurn, Nixon cancels the Sentinel program, and the BadFuture is averted.]]
* NightmareFetishist: Everyone in ''Film/XMenFirstClass'', tells Raven that her true form as Mystique is horrifying, but Eric tells her that she is beautiful as she is, and that taking on a more normal looking appearance is wasteful of her powers, and limits her concentration against unexpected attacks. In ''Film/XMenTheLastStand'' however, when Mystique shields Magneto from being struck by darts containing the Mutant Cure, he coldly abandons her now that she's human, regretfully telling Pyro that she used to be "so beautiful."
* NightmareFetishist: Everyone in ''Film/XMenFirstClass'', tells Raven that her true form as Mystique is horrifying, but Eric tells her that she is beautiful as she is, and that taking on a more normal looking appearance is wasteful of her powers, and limits her concentration against unexpected attacks. In ''Film/XMenTheLastStand'' however, when Mystique shields Magneto from being struck by darts containing the Mutant Cure, he coldly abandons her now that she's human, regretfully telling Pyro that she used to be "so beautiful."
* OutlivingOnesOffspring: [[spoiler:His daughter is killed by Polish policemen in one of the most heartbreaking moments of the whole film franchise.]]
* PreMortemOneLiner: He delivers one to Sebastion Shaw as Charles holds control of Shaw's body.
-->"This is what we're going to do. [holds up the coin] I am going to count to three and I'm going to move the coin. One. [moves the coin towards Shaw's head] Two. Three." [puts the coin through Shaw's head, Charles screams].
* ProtagonistJourneyToVillain: ''Film/XMenFirstClass'' revolves around him seeking revenge for the murder of his mother and his increasing acceptance of mutant supremacy.
-->"This is what we're going to do. [holds up the coin] I am going to count to three and I'm going to move the coin. One. [moves the coin towards Shaw's head] Two. Three." [puts the coin through Shaw's head, Charles screams].
* ProtagonistJourneyToVillain: ''Film/XMenFirstClass'' revolves around him seeking revenge for the murder of his mother and his increasing acceptance of mutant supremacy.
* RedOniBlueOni: In ''Film/XMenFirstClass'', he is rather hot-headed while Charles is more level-headed. [[http://roashina.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/x-men-first-class-magazine.jpg ''Empire'' magazine even color-coded the front covers of their May 2011 issue accordingly.]]
* RoaringRampageOfRevenge:
** In ''Film/XMenFirstClass'', his initial mission was to hunt down and kill Shaw and his Nazi underlings.
** In ''Film/XMenApocalypse'', [[spoiler:he uses his family medallion to slaughter the whole Polish police squad that has been sent to arrest him after they killed his daughter and wife by accident. He then goes on to kill his co-workers at the steel plant after one of them denounced him. Apocalypse arrives just as Erik was about to kill them, and sucks them all into the floor.]]
* RoaringRampageOfRevenge:
** In ''Film/XMenFirstClass'', his initial mission was to hunt down and kill Shaw and his Nazi underlings.
** In ''Film/XMenApocalypse'', [[spoiler:he uses his family medallion to slaughter the whole Polish police squad that has been sent to arrest him after they killed his daughter and wife by accident. He then goes on to kill his co-workers at the steel plant after one of them denounced him. Apocalypse arrives just as Erik was about to kill them, and sucks them all into the floor.]]
* ShutUpKirk: Delivered one to Xavier in ''Film/XMenFirstClass''.
-->'''Xavier:''' There are thousands of men on those ships. Good, honest, innocent men! They're just following orders.\\
'''Erik:''' I've been at the mercy of [[ThoseWackyNazis men just following orders]]. ''Never again''.
-->'''Xavier:''' There are thousands of men on those ships. Good, honest, innocent men! They're just following orders.\\
'''Erik:''' I've been at the mercy of [[ThoseWackyNazis men just following orders]]. ''Never again''.
* SlowlySlippingIntoEvil:
** In ''Film/XMenFirstClass''; he is a really good and interesting example in that he starts the movie already as an AntiHero and spends most of the movie establishing his attitude that would cause him to slip into evil before he actually does so. And while he's undeniably a {{Jerkass}} in opposition to the heroes by the end of the movie, he still isn't evil and never really crosses the MoralEventHorizon.
** Within 11 years between ''Film/XMenFirstClass'' and ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast'', he became involved with the JFK assassination and [[spoiler:launched an attack against the White House.]]
** In ''Film/XMenFirstClass''; he is a really good and interesting example in that he starts the movie already as an AntiHero and spends most of the movie establishing his attitude that would cause him to slip into evil before he actually does so. And while he's undeniably a {{Jerkass}} in opposition to the heroes by the end of the movie, he still isn't evil and never really crosses the MoralEventHorizon.
** Within 11 years between ''Film/XMenFirstClass'' and ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast'', he became involved with the JFK assassination and [[spoiler:launched an attack against the White House.]]
* StartOfDarkness: In ''Film/XMenFirstClass''.
* StealthPun: Creator/MichaelFassbender kept his natural auburn hair for the role in ''Film/XMenFirstClass'' and ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast'', which makes him... [[spoiler:Erik the Red.]][[note]] Bonus points for "Erik the Red" being the alias Cyclops used way back in the day to infiltrate an organization a robot double of Magneto was setting up. ....Comics are odd.[[/note]]
** Also, [[spoiler:an alias Magneto himself used once, during the "Trial of Gambit" debacle. And one a Shiar spy on Earth used. Not so much a StealthPun as a MythologyGag.]]
* SuperReflexes: In ''Film/XMenFirstClass'', he's fairly confident he can stop a bullet shot point blank from his head. Later, he more or less holds true to his claim by stopping a horde of missiles fired by the US and Russian army within several feet from the air to him, and deflecting bullets while being shot at by Moira [=MacTaggert=].
* SympatheticMurderer: In ''First Class'', his target being Shaw, who killed his mother and tortured him.
* StealthPun: Creator/MichaelFassbender kept his natural auburn hair for the role in ''Film/XMenFirstClass'' and ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast'', which makes him... [[spoiler:Erik the Red.]][[note]] Bonus points for "Erik the Red" being the alias Cyclops used way back in the day to infiltrate an organization a robot double of Magneto was setting up. ....Comics are odd.[[/note]]
** Also, [[spoiler:an alias Magneto himself used once, during the "Trial of Gambit" debacle. And one a Shiar spy on Earth used. Not so much a StealthPun as a MythologyGag.]]
* SuperReflexes: In ''Film/XMenFirstClass'', he's fairly confident he can stop a bullet shot point blank from his head. Later, he more or less holds true to his claim by stopping a horde of missiles fired by the US and Russian army within several feet from the air to him, and deflecting bullets while being shot at by Moira [=MacTaggert=].
* SympatheticMurderer: In ''First Class'', his target being Shaw, who killed his mother and tortured him.
* TallDarkAndHandsome: In his youth, as shown in the First Class trilogy.
* TeamDad: In ''Film/XMenFirstClass'' he was the more stern and less nurturing parental figure for the proto X-Men, opposite Charles' TeamMom. This is what makes [[FaceHeelTurn the "Beach Divorce" scene]] so much more tragic.
* ThatManIsDead:
** ''Film/XMenFirstClass'': The film ends with him outright proclaiming that he prefers his new moniker: Magneto.
** ''Film/XMenApocalypse'': Charles pleads with him not to join Apocalypse, but Lehnsherr has already reclaimed his Magneto persona.
-->'''Xavier''': Erik, don't join them.\\
'''Magneto''': Whatever it is you think you saw in me, I [[spoiler:buried it with my family]].
* TeamDad: In ''Film/XMenFirstClass'' he was the more stern and less nurturing parental figure for the proto X-Men, opposite Charles' TeamMom. This is what makes [[FaceHeelTurn the "Beach Divorce" scene]] so much more tragic.
* ThatManIsDead:
** ''Film/XMenFirstClass'': The film ends with him outright proclaiming that he prefers his new moniker: Magneto.
** ''Film/XMenApocalypse'': Charles pleads with him not to join Apocalypse, but Lehnsherr has already reclaimed his Magneto persona.
-->'''Xavier''': Erik, don't join them.\\
'''Magneto''': Whatever it is you think you saw in me, I [[spoiler:buried it with my family]].
* TooHappyToLive: Well, his life in Poland in ''Apocalypse'' looks too happy to last [[spoiler:as he is spotted and unmasked by authorities and both his wife and daughter die tragically.]]
* TookALevelInBadass: In ''First Class'' after Charles unlocks his full potential and in ''Apocalypse'' when the titular character [[SuperEmpowering gives him a boost.]]
* TragicKeepsake: When he first met Sebastian Shaw, he was asked to move a Nazi Coin in exchange for his mother's life but was unable to do so and she was murdered. He carried the coin for most of his life until he moved it through Shaw's head, killing him.
* TookALevelInBadass: In ''First Class'' after Charles unlocks his full potential and in ''Apocalypse'' when the titular character [[SuperEmpowering gives him a boost.]]
* TragicKeepsake: When he first met Sebastian Shaw, he was asked to move a Nazi Coin in exchange for his mother's life but was unable to do so and she was murdered. He carried the coin for most of his life until he moved it through Shaw's head, killing him.
* TranquilFury: In ''Film/XMenFirstClass'', his powers are manifested through anger, until Charles helps by telling him "true focus lies somewhere between rage and serenity."
* TraumaticSuperpowerAwakening: Shaw had Erik awaken control of his magnetism by murdering his mother.
* TroubledButCute: In ''Film/XMenFirstClass'', pre-[[StartOfDarkness supervillainy]], he is a {{Badass}} [[NaziHunter Nazi-hunting]] ByronicHero with an intensely DarkAndTroubledPast (involving the Holocaust, loss of his parents, ''and'' being a victim of human experimentation) and bucketloads of trauma and cynicism. He also wears a leather jacket on a few occasions.
* TraumaticSuperpowerAwakening: Shaw had Erik awaken control of his magnetism by murdering his mother.
* TroubledButCute: In ''Film/XMenFirstClass'', pre-[[StartOfDarkness supervillainy]], he is a {{Badass}} [[NaziHunter Nazi-hunting]] ByronicHero with an intensely DarkAndTroubledPast (involving the Holocaust, loss of his parents, ''and'' being a victim of human experimentation) and bucketloads of trauma and cynicism. He also wears a leather jacket on a few occasions.
* WeUsedToBeFriends: The whole premise of ''Film/XMenFirstClass'' is to show how he and Charles Xavier became friends and then ended up on opposite sides with different ideals.
* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: Each film of the new timeline keeps piling on the trauma that fuels his rage. In ''First Class'' he was a Holocaust survivor who had to watch his mother die in front of his eyes. In ''Days of Future Past'' the Brotherhood were killed and experimented on by Trask Industries. In ''Apocalypse'', after giving living in peace a chance, his wife and daughter are killed after his cover is blown as a mutant. All of this leads to him becoming an extremist willing to kill lots of people. Highlighted in ''Film/XMenFirstClass'' and arguably even more so in ''Film/XMenApocalypse'', since he's quite literally out to destroy the world.
* YouAreNumberSix: In ''Film/XMenFirstClass'', he outs himself as a holocaust survivor to some Nazis he was amicably chatting with (and planning to kill). When they asked for the names of his parents, being from the same town, he answered that they "had no names--they were stolen from them" before showing his own concentration camp number. Violence ensues.
* YouAreWhatYouHate: He hates Nazis due to being a survivor of the Holocaust, but ultimately embraces racism against non-mutants, this is highlighted in ''Film/XMenFirstClass''.
* YouKilledMyFather: In ''Film/XMenFirstClass'', when [[spoiler:he kills Schmidt/Shaw despite agreeing with his Mutant Supremacist ideals because Schmitt killed his mother in front of him as a child]].
-->'''Magneto:''' I want you to know I agree with everything you just said. We are the future. But, unfortunately... you killed my mother.
* YouAreWhatYouHate: He hates Nazis due to being a survivor of the Holocaust, but ultimately embraces racism against non-mutants, this is highlighted in ''Film/XMenFirstClass''.
* YouKilledMyFather: In ''Film/XMenFirstClass'', when [[spoiler:he kills Schmidt/Shaw despite agreeing with his Mutant Supremacist ideals because Schmitt killed his mother in front of him as a child]].
-->'''Magneto:''' I want you to know I agree with everything you just said. We are the future. But, unfortunately... you killed my mother.
Deleted line(s) 148,232 (click to see context) :
[[folder:Original Timeline-Specific Tropes]]
[[quoteright:300:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/magneto_old_xmen_films_7350.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:300:''"We are the future, Charles, not them. They no longer matter."'']]
* AntagonistInMourning: In ''Film/XMenTheLastStand'', he sincerely grieves over [[spoiler:Xavier's death and cuts off his Dragon Pyro's irreverent talk about the deceased abruptly. As in most versions of X-Men, he and Xavier were very close friends who eventually found themselves on separate sides due to their ideological differences]].
* TheAtoner: Creator/IanMcKellen invokes this while discussing his character in the "Double Take: Xavier & Magneto" documentary on the ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast'' Blu-Ray release.
-->"The Magneto that you see with me is a man of conscience, and a man with an unhappy life behind him. He's come through a great deal, and isn't taking on single-handedly, or even with the help of his Brotherhood, society as a whole. He's joined up again with his old friend, Professor X, and together, they're going to try to move things forward."
* BadassGrandpa: In the original trilogy, he's somewhere in his 70's or 80's, but he can still kick your ass substantially. In ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast'', as a Holocaust survivor living in 2023, he is, at the very least, in his late eighties/early nineties (''Film/XMenFirstClass'' portrayed him as being around ten in 1944). [[spoiler:He still lifts the X-Jet and hurls it at a horde of incoming Sentinels like it's a child's toy, takes a piece of shrapnel to the gut and slightly-less-than-casually pulls it out, and still uses the remaining wreckage to further barricade the path to Kitty and Wolverine.]]
* BigGood: His older-self shares the role with Charles Xavier in ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast''.
* TheChessmaster: Invoked several times. He is seen playing Chess with Charles Xavier several times throughout the original trilogy, and references Chess during his attack on Alcatraz, to his benefit as Juggernaut was about to pull a LeeroyJenkins and would have been depowered in the first wave had Erik not stopped him.
--> '''Erik''' ''(stopping Juggernaut)'': In Chess, the pawns go first.
--> ''(the defenders reveal their plastic dart guns filled with the cure serum, leading to the first wave of attackers getting depowered)''
--> '''Eric''': Hmm, ''plastic''. They've learned. That's why the pawns go first.
* EvenEvilHasStandards: Magneto always considered Xavier a friend and never wanted him dead. In ''X3'' when Pyro says he would have done so if Magneto ordered it, Magneto is clearly angered at the idea.
* IHatePastMe: In ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast'' right before Kitty sends Wolverine back in time, he worries that his and Charles' past-selves won't understand the nightmarish situation in the BadFuture and be able to fix things.
--> '''Erik''': It's not [Wolverine] I'm worried about, it's us. We were young, we didn't know any better.
* KickTheSonOfABitch: Some of his victims include [[Film/XMenFirstClass Nazis, Sebastian Shaw]] and [[Film/X2XMenUnited the corrupt, violent slob in charge of his prison cell.]] [[spoiler:He also chained William Stryker back up and left him to die at the end of ''Film/X2XMenUnited''.]]
* MotiveRant: Delivers one to Senator Kelly after capturing him in ''Film/XMen1''.
-->'''Magneto''': Are you a god-fearing man, senator? That's such a strange phrase. I've always thought of God as a teacher, as a bringer of light, wisdom, and understanding; you see, I think what you really are afraid of is ''me''. Me and my kind, the Brotherhood of Mutants. Though it's not so surprising really. Mankind has always feared what it doesn't understand. Well, don't fear God, Senator, and certainly don't fear me. (in an undertone) Not anymore.
* MyGreatestFailure: The death of Xavier in ''Film/XMenTheLastStand'', which he directly caused by awakening Dark Phoenix.
-->'''Magneto''': Charles Xavier did more for mutants than you'll ever know. My single greatest regret is that he had to die for our dream to live.
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: ''Film/XMenTheLastStand'' features him saying the line, when he finds himself on the other side of the Mutants vs. Humans war he's been pushing for, and Phoenix finally goes crazy and starts killing people.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:New Timeline-Specific Tropes]]
[[quoteright:300:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/magneto_young_xmen_films_2039.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:300:''"I've been at the mercy of men just following orders. Never again."'']]
* BigBadEnsemble: [[spoiler:His younger self is this in ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast''.]]
* ByronicHero: In ''Film/XMenFirstClass''--morally troubled, emotionally damaged, attractive, and very charismatic about his pro-mutant beliefs. Particularly to some of the impressionable younger characters like Mystique.
* DarkMessiah: In ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast'', [[spoiler:his younger self prepares to kill Nixon while declaring mutant supremacy in front of a live broadcast.]]
* DeathGlare: Young Magneto, portrayed by Fassbender, gives a calm murderous look killing the Nazis and Shaw, and also ripping a filling tooth from a banker in ''Film/XMenFirstClass''. Also, a good stare carrying the [[spoiler:RFK Stadium towards the White House]] in ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast''.
* DemotedToDragon: He ''isn't'' the leader of the supervillain team in ''Film/XMenApocalypse''; this time around, he plays second fiddle to Apocalypse.
* {{Determinator}}: In the '70s, he asks Logan how fighting him for years has worked out for him and Logan responds they're both "survivors" which only serves to motivate Erik to later demonstrate [[spoiler:how much more powerful he is than the Wolverine later on when he runs metal pipes through his body and leaves him to drown.]]
* EvilGenius: With truly amazing schemes. In ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast'', [[spoiler:he was able to steal a file containing the details of the Sentinels, after reading it over he was somehow able to reprogram them while inserting metal tracks within the bodies.]]
* HeterosexualLifePartners:
** Considering that his and Charles' friendship only lasted a few months in ''Film/XMenFirstClass'', it was unusually intimate on an emotional level.
** Played straight in ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast'', with his older self and Professor X (the moment where they're holding hands is the closest that we've seen them since ''First Class''), but averted with their younger selves. In 1973, Charles never once calls him "friend" (although Erik uses the endearment twice), which goes to show how broken their relationship is.
* IneffectualLoner: Was one in ''Film/XMenFirstClass'' until Charles convinced him he could do better with friends of his own, and in the ending he begins building his brotherhood of mutants.
* JerkassHasAPoint: He did make the fair point towards Charles that he grew up with Raven, and shouldn't have entirely claimed responsibility for raising her, which did in part drive her away from him.
* JustTheWayYouAre: In ''Film/XMenFirstClass'', he is able to persuade Raven to his side finding her mutant appearance to be "perfection" in contrast to Charles and Hank, who feel she should look more "normal" to gain acceptance within society.
* NiceJobFixingItVillain: [[spoiler:Attacking Mystique]] at the Paris Peace Conference bought Bolivar Trask a couple extra days and gets Nixon to fund the Sentinel program, but his betrayal and [[spoiler:attack on the White House]] sets up a situation where a mutant is seen saving Nixon's life on live TV. [[spoiler:Mystique performs a HeelFaceTurn, Nixon cancels the Sentinel program, and the BadFuture is averted.]]
* TheNeedsOfTheMany: In ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast''.
-->'''Erik:''' Forgive me [[spoiler:Mystique]], as long as you're out there we'll never be safe.
* NightmareFetishist: Everyone in ''Film/XMenFirstClass'', tells Raven that her true form as Mystique is horrifying, but Eric tells her that she is beautiful as she is, and that taking on a more normal looking appearance is wasteful of her powers, and limits her concentration against unexpected attacks. In ''Film/XMenTheLastStand'' however, when Mystique shields Magneto from being struck by darts containing the Mutant Cure, he coldly abandons her now that she's human, regretfully telling Pyro that she used to be "so beautiful."
* OutlivingOnesOffspring: [[spoiler:His daughter is killed by Polish policemen in one of the most heartbreaking moments of the whole film franchise.]]
* PreMortemOneLiner: He delivers one to Sebastion Shaw as Charles holds control of Shaw's body.
-->"This is what we're going to do. [holds up the coin] I am going to count to three and I'm going to move the coin. One. [moves the coin towards Shaw's head] Two. Three." [puts the coin through Shaw's head, Charles screams].
* ProtagonistJourneyToVillain: ''Film/XMenFirstClass'' revolves around him seeking revenge for the murder of his mother and his increasing acceptance of mutant supremacy.
* RedOniBlueOni: In ''Film/XMenFirstClass'', he is rather hot-headed while Charles is more level-headed. [[http://roashina.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/x-men-first-class-magazine.jpg ''Empire'' magazine even color-coded the front covers of their May 2011 issue accordingly.]]
* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: In ''Film/XMenFirstClass'', his initial mission was to hunt down and kill Shaw and his Nazi underlings.
** In ''Film/XMenApocalypse'', [[spoiler:he uses his family medallion to slaughter the whole Polish police squad that has been sent to arrest him after they killed his daughter and wife by accident. He then goes on to kill his co-workers at the steel plant after one of them denounced him. Apocalypse arrives just as Erik was about to kill them, and sucks them all into the floor.]]
* ShutUpKirk: Delivered one to Xavier in ''Film/XMenFirstClass''.
-->'''Xavier:''' There are thousands of men on those ships. Good, honest, innocent men! They're just following orders.\\
'''Erik:''' I've been at the mercy of [[ThoseWackyNazis men just following orders]]. ''Never again''.
* SlowlySlippingIntoEvil:
** In ''Film/XMenFirstClass''; he is a really good and interesting example in that he starts the movie already as an AntiHero and spends most of the movie establishing his attitude that would cause him to slip into evil before he actually does so. And while he's undeniably a {{Jerkass}} in opposition to the heroes by the end of the movie, he still isn't evil and never really crosses the MoralEventHorizon.
** Within 11 years between ''Film/XMenFirstClass'' and ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast'', he became involved with the JFK assassination and [[spoiler:launched an attack against the White House.]]
* StartOfDarkness: In ''Film/XMenFirstClass''.
* StealthPun: Creator/MichaelFassbender kept his natural auburn hair for the role in ''Film/XMenFirstClass'' and ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast'', which makes him... [[spoiler:Erik the Red.]][[note]] Bonus points for "Erik the Red" being the alias Cyclops used way back in the day to infiltrate an organization a robot double of Magneto was setting up. ....Comics are odd.[[/note]]
** Also, [[spoiler:an alias Magneto himself used once, during the "Trial of Gambit" debacle. And one a Shiar spy on Earth used. Not so much a StealthPun as a MythologyGag.]]
* SuperReflexes: In ''Film/XMenFirstClass'', he's fairly confident he can stop a bullet shot point blank from his head. Later, he more or less holds true to his claim by stopping a horde of missiles fired by the US and Russian army within several feet from the air to him, and deflecting bullets while being shot at by Moira Mactaggert.
* SympatheticMurderer: In ''First Class'', his target being Shaw, who killed his mother and tortured him.
* TallDarkAndHandsome: In his youth, as shown in ''Film/XMenFirstClass'' and ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast''.
* TeamDad: In ''Film/XMenFirstClass'' he was more stern and less nurturing parental figure for the proto X-Men, opposite Charles' TeamMom. This is what makes [[FaceHeelTurn the "Beach Divorce" scene]] so much more tragic.
* ThatManIsDead:
** ''Film/XMenFirstClass'': The film ends with him outright proclaiming that he prefers his new moniker: Magneto.
** ''Film/XMenApocalypse'': Charles pleads with him not to join Apocalypse, but Lehnsherr has already reclaimed his Magneto persona.
-->'''Xavier''': Erik, don't join them.\\
'''Magneto''': Whatever it is you think you saw in me, I [[spoiler:buried it with my family]].
* TooHappyToLive: Well, his life in Poland in ''Apocalypse'' looks too happy to last [[spoiler:as he is spotted and unmasked by authorities and both his wife and daughter die tragically.]]
* TookALevelInBadass: In ''First Class'' after Charles unlocks his full potential and in ''Apocalypse'' when the titular character [[SuperEmpowering gives him a boost.]]
* TragicKeepsake: When he first met Sebastian Shaw, he was asked to move a Nazi Coin in exchange for his mother's life but was unable to do so and she was murdered. He carried the coin for most of his life until he moved it through Shaw's head, killing him.
* TranquilFury: In ''Film/XMenFirstClass'', his powers are manifested through anger, until Charles helps by telling him "true focus lies somewhere between rage and serenity."
* TraumaticSuperpowerAwakening: Shaw had Erik awaken control of his magnetism by murdering his mother.
* TroubledButCute: In ''Film/XMenFirstClass'', pre-[[StartOfDarkness supervillainy]], he is a {{Badass}} [[NaziHunter Nazi-hunting]] ByronicHero with an intensely DarkAndTroubledPast (involving the Holocaust, loss of his parents, ''and'' being a victim of human experimentation) and bucketloads of trauma and cynicism. He also wears a leather jacket on a few occasions.
* WeUsedToBeFriends: The whole premise of ''Film/XMenFirstClass'' is to show how he and Charles Xavier became friends and then ended up on opposite sides with different ideals.
* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: Each film of the new timeline keeps piling on the trauma that fuels his rage. In ''First Class'' he was a Holocaust survivor who had to watch his mother die in front of his eyes. In ''Days of Future Past'' the Brotherhood were killed and experimented on by Trask Industries. In ''Apocalypse'', after giving living in peace a chance, his wife and daughter are killed after his cover is blown as a mutant. All of this leads to him becoming an extremist willing to kill lots of people. Highlighted in ''Film/XMenFirstClass'' and arguably even more so in ''Film/XMenApocalypse'', since he's quite literally out to destroy the world.
* YouAreNumberSix: In ''Film/XMenFirstClass'', he outs himself as a holocaust survivor to some Nazis he was amicably chatting with (and planning to kill). When they asked for the names of his parents, being from the same town, he answered that they "had no names--they were stolen from them" before showing his own concentration camp number. Violence ensues.
* YouAreWhatYouHate: He hates Nazis due to being a survivor of the Holocaust, but ultimately embraces racism against non-mutants, this is highlighted in ''Film/XMenFirstClass''.
* YouKilledMyFather: In ''Film/XMenFirstClass'', when [[spoiler:he kills Schmidt/Shaw despite agreeing with his Mutant Supremacist ideals because Schmitt killed his mother in front of him as a child]].
-->'''Magneto:''' I want you to know I agree with everything you just said. We are the future. But, unfortunately... you killed my mother.
[[/folder]]
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* IHatePastMe: In ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast'' right before Kitty sends Wolverine back in time, he worries that his and Charles' past-selves won't understand the nightmarish situation in the BadFuture and be able to fix things.
--> '''Erik''': It's not [Wolverine] I'm worried about, it's us. We were young, we didn't know any better.
--> '''Erik''': It's not [Wolverine] I'm worried about, it's us. We were young, we didn't know any better.
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* AntiHero: An UnscrupulousHero in ''Film/XMenFirstClass'' and a NominalHero (Turned villain) in ''Film/X2XMenUnited''.
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* AntiHero: An UnscrupulousHero Played straight in ''Film/XMenFirstClass'' and a NominalHero (Turned villain) but is subverted in ''Film/X2XMenUnited''.
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* AntiHero: An UnscrupulousHero in ''Film/XMenFirstClass'' and a NominalHero in ''Film/X2XMenUnited''.
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* AntiHero: An UnscrupulousHero in ''Film/XMenFirstClass'' and a NominalHero (Turned villain) in ''Film/X2XMenUnited''.
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* CurbStompBattle: Dishes these out to Wolverine on a regular basis.
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* HijackedByGanon: Twice he takes over from the main villain.
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* HijackedByGanon: Twice he takes over from He has a tendency to hijack the main villain. plans of the villains of the films in retaliation against them,
