# Why is Magneto considered such a powerful mutant **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 9, 2013, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-magneto-considered-such-a-powerful-mutant/670731 "2013-10-09T00:17:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2013, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-magneto-considered-such-a-powerful-mutant/670731/21 "2013-10-11T02:03:54Z")
I think the point was that Magneto wasn’t just a telekinetic - he was one of the most powerful telekinetics in the world. Yes, he was somewhat restricted in what materials he could work with but they were materials in widespread use. So he had a really high power level combined with a relatively minor limitation. ---
**Author:** ![Superhal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Superhal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superhal)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2013, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-magneto-considered-such-a-powerful-mutant/670731/22 "2013-10-11T02:25:35Z")
I wouldn’t call it a minor limitation. You’d have to be buck naked, in a vacuum, and using a spork as a weapon to have any chance to beat him. He is technically invulnerable against: All modern projectile weaponry, and all ancient weaponry that has been developed since the Stone age. Iron Age, Bronze Age, steel, etc are all useless against him. All machines. All vehicles. Most meteorites and planetary bodies. Any superpower that can be blocked by metal, eg heat vision. Having control over metal is just about the strongest superpower ever invented. ---
**Author:** ![G0sp3l](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c68b51/32.png) [@G0sp3l](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/G0sp3l)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2013, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-magneto-considered-such-a-powerful-mutant/670731/23 "2013-10-11T02:56:10Z")
> [@TBG](#): > > Didn’t Owen Reece (Molecule Man) and Beyonder merge to become a cosmic cube (what they call “the tesseract” in the marvel movies) which then became Kosmos? Or did they retcon that? (what does it say about my nerd cred, that I could remember his real name but not his code name) I don’t follow comics closely anymore, but when I read _Annihilation_ the Beyonder was around. And female. So I’m guessing retcon. Is Magneto telekinetic? I thought the resistance to psionics was an aspect of his magnetic abilities. I know the circuitry in his helmet theory was retconned a long time ago. ---
**Author:** ![the\_diego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@the\_diego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_diego)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2013, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-magneto-considered-such-a-powerful-mutant/670731/24 "2013-10-11T02:58:57Z")
Because some still believe McKellan would have made a good Dumbledore. Kids today are pathetic. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2013, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-magneto-considered-such-a-powerful-mutant/670731/25 "2013-10-11T03:55:13Z")
> [@Superhal](#): > > I wouldn’t call it a minor limitation. You’d have to be buck naked, in a vacuum, and using a spork as a weapon to have any chance to beat him. > > He is technically invulnerable against: > All modern projectile weaponry, and all ancient weaponry that has been developed since the Stone age. Iron Age, Bronze Age, steel, etc are all useless against him. > All machines. > All vehicles. > Most meteorites and planetary bodies. > Any superpower that can be blocked by metal, eg heat vision. > > Having control over metal is just about the strongest superpower ever invented. Maybe you wouldn’t grab an off the rack weapon to beat him with but I’d think, especially in supergenius superhero world, it wouldn’t be hard to create composite nonmetal weapons both projectile and otherwise. Hell, a well timed glass marble to the forehead from a “professional” slingshot could do a number on him. You’d think though that a sniper operating at a safe distance could put a bullet rhough him before he knew the metal slug was coming at him, much less react. But I guess the comics make him able to know where every bit of metal is at all times and somehow be able to process this and think around it… I guess that’s why I don’t read comics. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2013, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-magneto-considered-such-a-powerful-mutant/670731/26 "2013-10-11T03:56:08Z")
Heck, he could do astral projection at one point. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2013, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-magneto-considered-such-a-powerful-mutant/670731/27 "2013-10-11T04:04:57Z")
Why? [Because he can make combs.](http://www.byrnerobotics.com/forum/uploads/WaydeMurray/2011-03-30_231355_magneto_comb.jpg) 'Nuff said. ---
**Author:** ![Superhal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Superhal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superhal)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2013, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-magneto-considered-such-a-powerful-mutant/670731/28 "2013-10-11T04:25:19Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > Maybe you wouldn’t grab an off the rack weapon to beat him with but I’d think, especially in supergenius superhero world, it wouldn’t be hard to create composite nonmetal weapons both projectile and otherwise. Hell, a well timed glass marble to the forehead from a “professional” slingshot could do a number on him. That’s also the beauty of his power. Let’s say you develop a glass arrow and send Hawkeye after him. Hawkeye can carry say 100 arrows. He would need the other 99 to defeat all of magneto’s minions, and then the glass arrow would have to be saved for Magneto himself. Not only is Hawkeye unable to use the glass arrow against anyone else, anyone else would probably be invulnerable to the glass arrow. Weapons that work against magneto aren’t useful against anyone else. I remember in quite a few comics that magneto would be the only one who could defeat the enemy, and if the enemy could easily defeat magneto, they would be nearly helpless against anyone else. The classic example is Colossus. Colossus can only defeat magneto in human form. But, in human form, there’s no way he could get past the weakest of magneto’s allies, e.g the toad. It’s really fascinating if you think about it: someone so powerful is vulnerable to say paper cuts, but paper cuts would be a laughable attack vs anyone else. ---
**Author:** ![magnusblitz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b4bc9f/32.png) [@magnusblitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magnusblitz)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2013, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-magneto-considered-such-a-powerful-mutant/670731/29 "2013-10-11T06:15:25Z")
> [@Kamino\_Neko](#): > > a damn good reason to rate him an Omega. I actually don’t think Magneto’s ever been termed an Omega-level mutant. Then again, the whole idea of a “omega level mutant” is incredibly vague and also somewhat silly when it includes people like Iceman, Vulcan, Elixir, every female Summers, possibly Gambit, etc… ---
**Author:** ![epbrown01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ba0ec/32.png) [@epbrown01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/epbrown01)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2013, 7:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-magneto-considered-such-a-powerful-mutant/670731/30 "2013-10-11T07:06:50Z")
> [@magnusblitz](#): > > I actually don’t think Magneto’s ever been termed an Omega-level mutant. Then again, the whole idea of a “omega level mutant” is incredibly vague and also somewhat silly when it includes people like Iceman, Vulcan, Elixir, every female Summers, possibly Gambit, etc… Yeah, the issue is that almost everyone’s power that involves force-projection is Omega-level taken to extremes, so it depends on the writer. Marvel Girl’s tk becomes The Phoenix, Magneto can alter the earth’s magnetic field, the Human Torch can overheat the planet’s magma, Iceman can cool it or start an ice age, etc. Marvel doesn’t have a set limit like DC’s “No matter how powerful you are, Superman must be more powerful and Batman more clever.” Keeps things orderly. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2013, 7:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-magneto-considered-such-a-powerful-mutant/670731/31 "2013-10-11T07:07:30Z")
Oops, you’re right…Magneto’s ‘only’ an Alpha. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2013, 9:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-magneto-considered-such-a-powerful-mutant/670731/32 "2013-10-11T09:54:27Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > Maybe you wouldn’t grab an off the rack weapon to beat him with but I’d think, especially in supergenius superhero world, it wouldn’t be hard to create composite nonmetal weapons both projectile and otherwise. In-comics, that’s not going to work that well (_if he’s prepared_!) as he can generate force fields as well (that’s where the “stand up to a nuclear explosion” bit comes from) ---
**Author:** ![GovernmentMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e9c0ed/32.png) [@GovernmentMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GovernmentMan)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2013, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-magneto-considered-such-a-powerful-mutant/670731/33 "2013-10-11T11:25:38Z")
> [@Superhal](#): > > That’s also the beauty of his power. Let’s say you develop a glass arrow and send Hawkeye after him. Hawkeye can carry say 100 arrows. He would need the other 99 to defeat all of magneto’s minions, and then the glass arrow would have to be saved for Magneto himself. Not only is Hawkeye unable to use the glass arrow against anyone else, anyone else would probably be invulnerable to the glass arrow. > > Weapons that work against magneto aren’t useful against anyone else. > > I remember in quite a few comics that magneto would be the only one who could defeat the enemy, and if the enemy could easily defeat magneto, they would be nearly helpless against anyone else. The classic example is Colossus. Colossus can only defeat magneto in human form. But, in human form, there’s no way he could get past the weakest of magneto’s allies, e.g the toad. > > It’s really fascinating if you think about it: someone so powerful is vulnerable to say paper cuts, but paper cuts would be a laughable attack vs anyone else. I’m pretty sure Magneto’s shields block everything. Humans, paper, glass, etc. And why would paper cuts work against Magneto (if he couldn’t block them with his powers) but be laughable to anyone else? Is Magneto the most vulnerable person to ever live? Does he have a special weakness to paper? What makes Magneto different from all the dozens of super characters with normal human physiology? ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2013, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-magneto-considered-such-a-powerful-mutant/670731/34 "2013-10-11T11:41:05Z")
> [@G0sp3l](#): > > Is Magneto telekinetic? I thought the resistance to psionics was an aspect of his magnetic abilities. I know the circuitry in his helmet theory was retconned a long time ago. I don’t know if Marvel has invented some special term for what he does. I figure if he’s moving things around with his mental powers, that’s telekinesis. ---
**Author:** ![Donna\_Lange](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Donna\_Lange](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Donna_Lange)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2013, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-magneto-considered-such-a-powerful-mutant/670731/35 "2013-10-11T11:57:14Z")
Couldn’t a naked Nightcrawler just Bamf himself right next to a sleeping Magneto and stab him in the throat with a shard of glass? ---
**Author:** ![Grumman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/43a26b/32.png) [@Grumman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumman)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2013, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-magneto-considered-such-a-powerful-mutant/670731/36 "2013-10-11T12:22:21Z")
> [@Donna\_Lange](#): > > Couldn’t a naked Nightcrawler just Bamf himself right next to a sleeping Magneto and stab him in the throat with a shard of glass? No. At least for the movie version, Nightcrawler needs to see where he’s going so he doesn’t telefrag himself. Just teleporting to the other side of a closed door is a last resort. And even if he was going to teleport blind, that doesn’t mean he knows where Magneto sleeps. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2013, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-magneto-considered-such-a-powerful-mutant/670731/37 "2013-10-11T12:52:49Z")
The comic book version doesn’t need to see where he’s going, but does need to know the place; he ports between rooms of the same house, or the in- and outside of wherever he’s living, all the time. They’ve never clarified how does he manage to port into a known room when there is people there without actually hitting anybody - he just does. My own WAG is that the same mechanism would work so long as there was enough space for him to teleport into, but when he isn’t sure it is there… he just can’t bring himself to make the attempt. ---
**Author:** ![tim314](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim314/32/3468_2.png) [@tim314](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tim314)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2013, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-magneto-considered-such-a-powerful-mutant/670731/38 "2013-10-11T13:08:27Z")
In the comics, at least, his power is not just controlling metal, it’s controlling electromagnetic force. In physics there are only two forces that operate at greater than microscopic length scales, and that’s one of them. So in principle he can control all macroscopic forces, except gravity. In practice it means he can do pretty much whatever the writers want him to do. Even when they’re focusing on the controlling-metal thing, there tends to be a pretty loose definition of “metal”. As in, “blood contains iron, so now he can control blood.” He also seems to be ridiculously good at multitasking. Like six different X-Men attack him, and he somehow manages to fight off all of them at once. Again, he’s as hard to beat as the writers need him to be, and generally they need him to be a very major threat. On top of that, he can use his powers over great distances. He’s done things like blacking out the entire planet before. ---
**Author:** ![epbrown01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ba0ec/32.png) [@epbrown01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/epbrown01)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2013, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-magneto-considered-such-a-powerful-mutant/670731/39 "2013-10-11T17:49:53Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > I don’t know if Marvel has invented some special term for what he does. Ferrokinesis. Seriously. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2013, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-magneto-considered-such-a-powerful-mutant/670731/40 "2013-10-11T21:01:50Z")
> [@magnusblitz](#): > > I actually don’t think Magneto’s ever been termed an Omega-level mutant. Then again, the whole idea of a “omega level mutant” is incredibly vague and also somewhat silly when it includes people like Iceman, Vulcan, Elixir, every female Summers, possibly Gambit, etc… I think Jean Grey is the only omega mutant. She has (from what I know) better TK abilities than Magneto and better psychic abilities than professor X. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-magneto-considered-such-a-powerful-mutant/670731.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-magneto-considered-such-a-powerful-mutant/670731.md?page=3)