My BIG problem with X-men

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kalt_13

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Sep 14, 2008
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WaaghPowa said:
The problem I have is not with Magneto, but the name of the villain first class (Can't remember his name for some reason) who can absorb energy. Apparently it's kinetic energy he absorbs. I'm no physicist, but doesn't any object in motion have kinetic energy? Wouldn't that mean he's literally invincible to just about anything?

I'm no expert in any of this, so don't hold me to it.
Thermal energy is his weaknesses, he can be overloaded with kinetic and electrical energy tho. Btw Sabastion Shaw is his name.
 

Twilight_guy

Sight, Sound, and Mind
Nov 24, 2008
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You'd think that his powers would be pretty weak but in lots of media I have seen "magnetic fields manipulation" means "Can do anything because shut up." Lots of times they have him do thing that have nothing to do with magnetic fields and hand wave it in an effort to make him a credible threat. Hell even the very first X-men comic book did this... on the cover. (yeah sure magnetic fields in the air can block ice balls and Cyclops's eye blast, what a load).
 

JJMUG

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Jan 23, 2010
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kypsilon said:
Asteroid M is a giant asteroid Magneto built his base of operations on. He kept it in orbit using his powers of magnetism. He shifted the world's magnetic poles to confuse Xavier's mental powers (dunno how that works but it did) and he can at a moment's notice, stop your brain from functioning properly but slowing the iron in your blood stream.

Seriously, Magneto is in the top three of all time powerful mutants. (Phoenix doesn't count, she's cosmic.)

/geekout
Deadpool is the second most powerful mutant.
 
Aug 1, 2010
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The reason he is one of the most powerful is that where the other mutants telekinesis is only to a certain degree, Magneto's power over metal is truly unlimited. Anything and everything made of metal is an instant shield as well as an instant bullet.
 

TheDooD

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Dec 23, 2010
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azzxl said:
MorsePacific said:
Gwarr said:
I get the deep message of X-men( fight discrimination with force or try to make the majority accept ) and , yeah , his power is to control the magnetic field of the world , but Jean Grey has the power of Telekinesis ( which is practically a more generalized form of Magneto's powers) and there are other that could probably destroy him in 1vs1 combat.
Jean's telekinesis is in no way a more generalized form of his abilities. She can just move things with her mind, much like Prof. X. You're failing to see exactly how dangerous being able to control a magnetic field is. If he had a very large amount of power to work with, he could potentially destabilize the entire planet. I honestly can't think of any one X-Men member that could defeat Magneto in a fight, but I also can't think of any fight in the X-Men universe that is truly fair when only applying single combat.

Twad said:
.. magnetic fields? woudnt making weapons out of anything but iron/magnetite/nickel counter his skill?
Well, yeah, that's also why he can't rip Wolverine's skeleton out of him.
If I remember correctly he did rip wolverines adamantium off then professor X brain drained him temporarily.
That's how the whole Onslaught Arc started note this is also the 3rd and the biggest evil impulse release that Prof X had. Onslaught was so powerful he knocked Juggernaut across the country.

Overall Magneto always a focused mind he was never really an "Evil" character mainly Chaotic. Deep down you knew most of the time he was right. Humans were doing quite a lot of fucked up things to mutants just because they thought they had to right too. You have to remember Magneto is Jewish and survived going through a concentration camp. So he fears that mutants will end up being killed for no reason just because they have strange powers. Yet at the same time he wants Humans to be the lesser and basically servants to the mutant race. Which pretty much contradicts he's reason for fighting which is freedom.

Magneto is one of the most powerful mutants because if you kept up with the story. Yet he's also one of the most modest. Unlike Prof X and Phoenix (Jean Gray) who have abused their powers many times before.
 

spartan231490

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Jan 14, 2010
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MorsePacific said:
He doesn't manipulate metal, he manipulates magnetic fields. It just so happens that metal is pretty damn magnetic, so his powers mainly show in the fact that he can move metal around.

Sure, it seems pretty weak, but that's why the villain in First Class was Sebastian Shaw who was able to absorb energy and turn it into sheer strength. Magneto wasn't in full control of his powers yet, but they have the potential to be really ridiculous.

The central conflict in X-Men has never really been about the X-Men vs. the Brotherhood. It was more about mutants versus society and how the Brotherhood and X-Men's views on dealing with normal humans differed.
Magneto does control metal. He also creates magnetic fields, but he has the ability to control metal. I know this, because the only 3 metals which are particularly magnetic are iron, cobalt, and nickel, and he can deflect pure lead bullets, and all kinds of brass or bronze.

As for his power being weak, that's a fallacy. It isn't just about what his power does, it's how well his power does it. Not many telekinetics in the mutant world can lift something as big as a sub, but Magneto can. Not many telekinetics can control the guns of 3 dozen police officers or more. Magneto can. Not many telekinetics can stop and then reverse almost a hundred missiles, Magneto can. Also he's very charismatic and ruthless, two traits which make anyone a better villain. I personally love Magneto's power, sure the description is pretty lame, but his power level is through the roof.
 

RoBi3.0

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Mar 29, 2009
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Why magneto is a good villain has nothing to do with his superpower, and everything to do with his ability to convince the right people to side with him. As well as his opinion that Mutants ans human can not co-exist. All this coupled with the fact that he is in fact a pretty smart dude makes him a great villain.
 

spartan231490

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Wolfenbarg said:
Uh... he controls one of the four governing forces of the universe. At his best, he is one of the most ridiculously overpowered people who could possibly walk the Earth.
Total knit-picking here, but I can't help myself. He controls one of the 5 governing forces of the universe. Electrical, magnetic, gravitational, strong, and weak. Other than that, very well said. However, he doesn't just manipulate magnetic fields, he can also manipulate metal. Almost constantly he manipulates metals that are no more magnetic than wood. The only three strongly magnetic metals are iron, cobalt, and nickel.
Zorg Machine said:
Wait wait wait, we are talking about the guy who can (when he is using his powers in the most unimaginative way possible) compress a tank into a small ball and throw said ball across the world?

and with a bit of finess he can remove electrons from a core...He is Rose Tyler/bad wolf in X-men form.
did he ever show the control to manipulate objects on an atomic scale? and He can't throw a tank across the world(so far as I can tell) but he can almost certainly manage a few miles.
 

conflictofinterests

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Apr 6, 2010
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Gwarr said:
Is Magneto . I finally realized this in the new X-men movie(First Class.) The main problem is how a guy that can only manipulate metal be the central villain . Even as I child I could never take the X-men story seriously ,so to say . So , you wanna tell me that in a world where mutans can move things with their mind ,have incredible strength , be indestructible , shoot laser out of their eyes , in this world, the leader of the bad guys is a dude with one niche ability?

Don't get me wrong , I love the personality of Magneto( the actor in First Class did a good job in expressing how I always thought Magneto was) , but his" power" is really weak in the grand scheme of things even compared to Xavier.

So , anyone ever had this problem ? As in , do you think the main villan needs to be more powerful than the hero for the story to be interesting ( especially in a superhero series)?
Don't forget, it's only FERROUS metal that he can manipulate. You can't spell "Magneto" without "magnet."

In general, he's given a lot more sway than he should have, given his power description, at least concerning metals he can and cannot manipulate. That being said, he should have a lot more skill with electronics than you tend to see him exert. Seriously, an EMP burst should be well within his capabilities.

If they went with legit physics connections of magnetic fields (how prevalent they are, what they relate to, etc) he would be ridiculously more powerful. (One example: Neurons fire based on concentrations of electrically charged (and therefore magnetically polar) ions. If he fine-tuned his powers enough, he could do every last thing Xavier could.)
 

spartan231490

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Jan 14, 2010
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PatSilverFox said:
Hmmm, isn't all of human society based around some use of metal?
Iron, but very small amounts. also, scary version, water is very slightly magnetic. a powerful enough magnetic field will move water.
 

shrekfan246

Not actually a Japanese pop star
May 26, 2011
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spartan231490 said:
MorsePacific said:
He doesn't manipulate metal, he manipulates magnetic fields. It just so happens that metal is pretty damn magnetic, so his powers mainly show in the fact that he can move metal around.

Sure, it seems pretty weak, but that's why the villain in First Class was Sebastian Shaw who was able to absorb energy and turn it into sheer strength. Magneto wasn't in full control of his powers yet, but they have the potential to be really ridiculous.

The central conflict in X-Men has never really been about the X-Men vs. the Brotherhood. It was more about mutants versus society and how the Brotherhood and X-Men's views on dealing with normal humans differed.
Magneto does control metal. He also creates magnetic fields, but he has the ability to control metal. I know this, because the only 3 metals which are particularly magnetic are iron, cobalt, and nickel, and he can deflect pure lead bullets, and all kinds of brass or bronze.

As for his power being weak, that's a fallacy. It isn't just about what his power does, it's how well his power does it. Not many telekinetics in the mutant world can lift something as big as a sub, but Magneto can. Not many telekinetics can control the guns of 3 dozen police officers or more. Magneto can. Not many telekinetics can stop and then reverse almost a hundred missiles, Magneto can. Also he's very charismatic and ruthless, two traits which make anyone a better villain. I personally love Magneto's power, sure the description is pretty lame, but his power level is through the roof.
You could almost say it's...OVER 9000!

But seriously: I never had a problem with Magneto. In fact, he was always one of the X-Men characters that I liked more than most of the others. He had a tragic history and his goals are actually very similar to those of the Professor, it's just that his methods are very extremely radical. And as far as how plausible as a leader or powerful he is, it's more than that. He is powerful to begin with (How many things on Earth don't have an electromagnetic field of some sort?) and he is, as many other people state, charismatic and ruthless.
 

Denamic

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Aug 19, 2009
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Why does the leader have to have the strongest powers?
The Joker doesn't have any powers, yet hes among the best super villains of all time.

Besides, Magneto's powers have an absurd amount of possible applications, beside just making metal fly around.
He is definitely among the most powerful mutants.
 

Grospoliner

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Feb 16, 2010
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All said, the X-men remain some of the best super-powered heroes ever conceived since they don't typically suffer from super power syndrome, where they develop or lose powers based on deus ex machina. That was supposed to be their thing, to have 1 thing that makes them special or different (keeping in line with the whole civil rights movement thing). Sadly like all long running forms of media they become bloated with characters, convoluted plots, continuity errors, and the most loathsome and dreaded of all tropes. The cross-over. If Marvel did one thing in the next century that I would respect them for, it would be to remove crossovers and make their stories self contained within the title. That's what really killed comics, spreading out a single story over several titles. A cheap greedy money grab.
 

FalloutJack

Bah weep grah nah neep ninny bom
Nov 20, 2008
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Gwarr said:
Is Magneto . I finally realized this in the new X-men movie(First Class.) The main problem is how a guy that can only manipulate metal be the central villain . Even as I child I could never take the X-men story seriously ,so to say . So , you wanna tell me that in a world where mutans can move things with their mind ,have incredible strength , be indestructible , shoot laser out of their eyes , in this world, the leader of the bad guys is a dude with one niche ability?

Don't get me wrong , I love the personality of Magneto( the actor in First Class did a good job in expressing how I always thought Magneto was) , but his" power" is really weak in the grand scheme of things even compared to Xavier.

So , anyone ever had this problem ? As in , do you think the main villan needs to be more powerful than the hero for the story to be interesting ( especially in a superhero series)?
I'm not seeing the problem here... The truth is that Magneto has control of magnetic energy potential period. In shows and comics, this includes condensed energy forces and shields. Even without it, though, there's alot in the world with metal in it...
 

WolfThomas

Man must have a code.
Dec 21, 2007
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As it's been mentioned earlier, he doesn't manipulate metal, he controls electro-magnetism. One of the four controlling forces of the universe. He mainly uses his power to move ferrous metals, but can also used to generate electricity, EMP bursts, forcefields and flight. It's a pretty strong power.
 

Mid-Boss

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Jun 16, 2011
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What I hate about marvel, and Dc for that matter, is that no one ever stays dead. Ever. Drama without real death is just an afternoon soap opera. "I have cancer and I'm in a coma... again!" "So am I!" "Newbs!This is my third coma!"

It's hollow. It's played up, over the top, melodrama. It's boring. The only time it's entertaining is when it's self referencing satire.

Cyclops "But... Jean is dead!"

Shield Commander "Yeah. That'll last."
 

BabyRaptor

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Dec 17, 2010
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Slycne said:
Granted, most super powers tend to break down when examined closely. Even something as simple as super speed ends up requiring a bunch of "secondary" powers in order to be remotely feasible.
Completely off topic, and I do sincerely apologize, But I have to ask...Do people ever actually ask you about your banhammer? If so, what do they ask?
 

BanthaFodder

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Jan 17, 2011
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the thing about Magneto is that he's willing to harm or even kill people to accomplish his goals.
that's why the conflict is so classic, it dates back to Shakespeare, the Realist (Magneto) vs the Idealist (Xavier).

Magneto has that helmet, so Xavier can't touch him. even if he could, he wouldn't kill Erik unless he REALLY REALLY needed to (and even then, there's a good chance he wouldn't)
Magneto manipulates metal, so Wolverine can't touch him.
going back to the helmet, this means NO telepath can touch him.
not to mention, you can't shoot him, he'll just stop the bullets.

the thing that makes Magneto such a great villain is that he is basically the same as Charles, only he's willing to resort to violence.

but Magneto's not the ultimate threat in the Marvel Universe, or even the X-Men movie universe. in the comics, I'd say Galactus, Loki, and Mephisto are greater threats than Magneto. and even in the movies, Deadpool (oh, excuse me, I mean, WEAPON XII... seriously, the FUCK were they thinking?), Phoenix, and Wolverine are more powerful.

Magneto is proof that brute force isn't required for a great villain. it's like Ozymandias in Watchmen.