50 Greatest Super Villains In Comic Book History

3. Magneto

(Write-up by Nick Tylwalk, Bam Smack Pow Editor)

You have to pity the X-Men just a bit. Most super heroes can defeat their foes, lock them up and feel good about what they’ve done without thinking twice about it. With Magneto, not only is he difficult to vanquish and imprison, he also possesses an extra power that few others have: the ability to make a nagging voice in the back of your head ask, “What if he’s right?”

Magneto isn’t the only villain to pose a philosophical challenge as well as a physical one, but he’s unique in the sense that the answer to that question still isn’t known. Professor X started the X-Men because he was convinced the team could help humans and mutants coexist peacefully. His former friend Erik Lehnsherr felt the only way to defend mutantkind was by force. He’s tried to walk Xavier’s path, but each time, he’s come away unconvinced.

It’s that glimmer of potential open-mindedness that makes Magneto so difficult to pigeonhole as a straight-up super villain. He’s doing what he thinks is right, by any means necessary. What we call evil, he sees as an unwillingness to compromise on the truth.

And that truth is a complicated one. Magneto knows true hate and oppression in a way no hero or villain can quite relate to, having survived the atrocities committed by the Nazis against the Jews in World War II. If he sees the same mindset arising with regards to mutants, it’s hard for us to argue, even as we condemn his actions.

Not that Magneto would care what we think; as humans, we’re part of the problem. His ridiculously strong powers of magnetism allow him to take the “might makes right” approach in response to anyone who disagrees with him. He offers a singular viewpoint in an art form often ruled by barely distinguishable copies — and in the movies, where he’s been portrayed by Sir Ian McKellen and Michael Fassbender — and that makes him likely to remain near the top of this list for as long as there are super hero comics.

Next: No. 2: Keeping the world safe from Superman