Question about Magneto

[LordOfNarf]

I saw the 7 minute promo last night and went almost as happy as when I wached 50 straight minutes of a spore demo. Anyway, I saw the Part where Magneto says "another needle will never touch my skin again" and i remembered that he is Jewish in the movies, I've never been a big comic book reader, and i was wordering if he was also jewish in the comics, or if hollywood threw that in for flavor.

[Dhavaer]

I'm pretty sure he is. I think his parents died in the Holocaust.

[Rex_Hondo]

Yup, Magneto is, or was born at least, Jewish.

[The Vorpal Tribble]

Whats funny is theres a site somewhere that lists the majority of comic book characters by religion, because apparently they each had one.

Just found it:
http://www.adherents.com/lit/comics/comic_book_religion.html

[Dhavaer]

I find it difficult to believe there was a superhero named 'Catholic Man'.

Or 'Catholic Girl', 'BattlePope' or 'SuperPope'.

[The Vorpal Tribble]

Well, it looks like some of these comics are from less than widespread organizations, and some are purely religious comics, so... who knows ;)

[Dhavaer]

Incredulousness aside, why is there a question mark beside Mr Atheist's religion? Surely a man who calls himself 'Mr Atheist' is pretty unarguably an atheist.

[LordOfNarf]

Has anyone ever bothered to cross refrence that so that you can search the superhero you want to fing, instaead of sifting through piles of people in not-nessesarily alphabetical order?

And for the red skull, is Nazi actually a religion? i had the idea that it is a poloitcal philosiphy

And why, out of all of them, are there maybe, like 2 agnostics?

[The Vorpal Tribble]

Has anyone ever bothered to cross refrence that so that you can search the superhero you want to fing, instaead of sifting through piles of people in not-nessesarily alphabetical order?
Control + F is your friend.

[Dhavaer]

If you're looking for Magneto, he's right at the top of the Super-Villians section. He's 'Jewish (Roma/Gypsy ties)'.

[LordOfNarf]

Control + F is your friend.

THANK YOU!

[toysailor]

I love the irony of Magneto playing the role of Inquisitor in Gaiman's 1602.

Its a pretty good read btw.

[Nerd-o-rama]

Hey, they even have most of the Super Best Friends from South Park listed in there:

Muhammad: Muslim
Buddha: Buddhist
Joseph Smith: Latter-Day Saints

Wow, secrets revealed there. But no entry for Seaman, I notice...

[LordOfNarf]

Since i edited theses into an above post, and it kinda looks like most people missed them i'll ask again:

for the red skull, is Nazi actually a religion? i had the idea that it is a poloitcal philosiphy

And why, out of all of them, are there maybe, like 2 agnostics?

[Nerd-o-rama]

Well, since you want answers so badly:

1. No, I don't know anyone who would classify "Nazi" as a religion, though as a political ideal it did have its fanatics. Leaders of that party at the time of World War II had diverse religious beliefs ranging from various Christian denominations to Atheism to the Classical Norse pantheon
2. I have no idea.

[Eriol]

for the red skull, is Nazi actually a religion? i had the idea that it is a poloitcal philosiphy
It's only such insofar as it discourages OTHER beliefs that could possibly conflict with it. Kind of like how communism discourages (and/or represses) religion, since it means that the people are loyal to something OTHER than the state first: they are loyal to God. This is why in the USSR Lenin was attempted to be elevated in the eyes of the people to near-deific status. And in Nazism, Hitler was also given that "image" by his promoters. So in a way, it IS a religion, as those that "completely" believe in it can't have a religion as well, though it isn't a religion by most definitions. More of the "divinity of the race" with nazism, rather than a deity (or collection thereof).

The best way to think about Nazism is this: Facism + Racism = Nazism. Yes, Facism is not by its very nature racist. It is often thought to be the same, but from a scholarly perspective, it is definitely not. Bad? Oh by most standards most definitely, but racism isn't a requirement of it, whereas it's ALWAYS present in Nazism.

I hope that answered one of your questions at least.

[The Giant]

I'm pretty sure he is. I think his parents died in the Holocaust.

Nope, that's only in the movie. In the comics, Magneto's wife and child died in the Holocaust--because the character was created in the 1960's, only 20 years after the events of WWII. By the time the movies came out, though, it strained credibility for Magneto to have been a married adult in the 1940's and still able to get around as a supervillain. He would have been well over 90 years old! So it was changed into him being a young boy of 11 or so at the end of the Holocaust, making him in his sixties instead.

[Omniplex]

I think the reason so few are listed as agnostic is because they would be listed under the religion they had been raised in. For example, Batman is listed as Episcopalian/Catholic (lapsed), because he is from an Episcopalian and Catholic background, even though he doesn't believe or practice it. Only ones who were always agnostic would be listed as such. I think.

[diapsid]

And just because I love it so much, yes there is a BattlePope. Kirkman's first published comic (I think) It's not particularly religious (apart from all the demons, god, jesus and popes...hmmm...) it's about a pope who was left on earth after the rapture because of all his bad habits (whoring high on the list.) It's stupid and offensive, but pretty funny

[toysailor]

90 year old arse kicking Magneto sounds cool to me though.

:-/

[Finwe]

Lol!!

"God
Religious affiliation: God"

[Gnorosch]

for the red skull, is Nazi actually a religion? i had the idea that it is a poloitcal philosiphy Well, that is the problem: while, lacking the transcendental, it is not a religion as one would usually define religion, it is neither a political philosophy as one would usually define those because it had certain aspects usually only found in religion.

Hence, a certain school of political scientists came up with the term "political religion". I am not going to explain this in long here, but if I remember correctly, it was Voegelin who made this term famous, but there are some more recent scientists following his idea, Barry Cooper for example.

[Flak_Razorwill]

Lol!!

"God
Religious affiliation: God"

That was cool, along with Jesus under "Judaism/Christianity."

Anyways, Jewish is both a religion and ethnicity, and some things get mixed up.

Thor is "Teutonic Paganist." He he heee...

[Millikin_Erreene]

"Nope, that's only in the movie. In the comics, Magneto's wife and child died in the Holocaust--because the character was created in the 1960's, only 20 years after the events of WWII."

They've never entirely said in the comics that he's Jewish but it's been very strongly inferred over the years. ie. He mentioned being forced to wear a star as a young child. He worked in the Sonderkommando (Only Jews were chosen for that.) He met Charles Xavier in Israel while both were working with Holocaust survivors. etc.
He was interred in Auschwitz when he was barely a teenager and saw his parents and sister killed there but survived despite being buried alive in a mass grave. Following World War II he married a gypsy woman named Magda whom he met in Auschwitz. They moved to Russia and had a daughter named Anya. Their home caught fire shortly after he started manifesting his magnetic manipulation powers. He managed to get his wife out of the fire but the townspeople prevented him from rescuing his daughter and she died. His wife, who was pregnant with Pietro and Wanda (Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch) fled him out of fear for the safety of her unborn children and she died in childbirth on Wundagore Mountain under the protection of the High Evolutionary. When he learned of his wife's death he forged an alternate identity as Erik Lensherr, a Sinte gypsy and traveled to Israel.

"He would have been well over 90 years old! So it was changed into him being a young boy of 11 or so at the end of the Holocaust, making him in his sixties instead."

You have Alpha and Erik the Red to thank for his youthful vitality. Alpha regressed Magneto to infancy and he was later restored by Erik the Red to the prime of his life and multiple times in the comics he's been reset to the prime of his life. (By the Beyonder, during his sojourn in the Savage Land, using the Genengineer's machinery etc.)

[Ing]

if they wanted to keep Magneto alive and moving but still have him be alive durring the holocaust they can always just say that the magnetism flowwing through his body has a positive side-effect on his health/longevity. kinda like an ubber-version of those magnetic bracelets they give people.

[LordOfNarf]

if they wanted to keep Magneto alive and moving but still have him be alive durring the holocaust they can always just say that the magnetism flowwing through his body has a positive side-effect on his health/longevity. kinda like an ubber-version of those magnetic bracelets they give people.

There has never been conclusive proof that those work beyond the placebo effect

[Dirigible]

The placebo effect is powerful enough that it shouldn't be discounted.

However the copper bracelets do actually work for arthritis.

[LordOfNarf]

The placebo effect is powerful enough that it shouldn't be discounted.

However the copper bracelets do actually work for arthritis.

if i told you cyanide pills had the same pain reliving effect, it would do ther same thing, so yes, i will discount it. Plus, studies have shown that more people get negative side effects from sugar pills when they are told that it is medication, so it works in reverse too.

[Dirigible]

if i told you cyanide pills had the same pain reliving effect, it would do ther same thing, so yes, i will discount it. Plus, studies have shown that more people get negative side effects from sugar pills when they are told that it is medication, so it works in reverse too.

Yes, which is why the placebo effect should not be discounted. It can have very powerful results.

[Steward]

Yes, which is why the placebo effect should not be discounted. It can have very powerful results.

There's placebos, and there's stretching credulity a bit. Magnets probably can't strip 30 years off of your life.

[Orion-the-G]

They also can't be used for a good 50% of the things magneto does with them. I don't think the idea was meant to be serious so much as a half-joking 'comic physics' explanation.

[Steward]

They also can't be used for a good 50% of the things magneto does with them. I don't think the idea was meant to be serious so much as a half-joking 'comic physics' explanation.

50% More like a 95%. I've seen that guy manipulate all kinds of metals that typically ignore magnets. Anyway, I only brought that up because I thought someone was implying that magnetic bracelets could travel through time.

[turkishproverb]

I find it difficult to believe there was a superhero named 'Catholic Man'.

Or 'Catholic Girl', 'BattlePope' or 'SuperPope'.

I've seen issue's of Battlepope.

Also, with Magneto, He's jewish, but as far as the religion thing, he's pretty well turned away from judaism, as he feels it is a 'human' religion.





50% More like a 95%. I've seen that guy manipulate all kinds of metals that typically ignore magnets.

Well, thats based around the fact that all metals are Affected by electromagnetic fields to varying degrees, so it can be assumed that he can aplify said affect.





Nope, that's only in the movie. In the comics, Magneto's wife and child died in the Holocaust--because the character was created in the 1960's, only 20 years after the events of WWII. By the time the movies came out, though, it strained credibility for Magneto to have been a married adult in the 1940's and still able to get around as a supervillain. He would have been well over 90 years old! So it was changed into him being a young boy of 11 or so at the end of the Holocaust, making him in his sixties instead.


Oh, lord. the Giant knows about superhero comics. I'm going to cry with happiness.

[Dirigible]

Oh, lord. the Giant knows about superhero comics. I'm going to cry with happiness.


...right.

[Steward]

...right.

He's only a Dwarf. He'll learn.

[turkishproverb]

He's only a Dwarf. He'll learn.

meaning what?

[LordOfNarf]

meaning what?

Rank, i would assume, and avatar too actually.

[The Vorpal Tribble]

Actually, maniuplate magnetic fields and you can move about practically anything, reguardless if it is of metal.

[Gralamin]

good point Tribble, Electromagnetic fields are very powerful, even a weak one can defy gravity.

On a side Note Magneto is perhaps the only person capable of truly storing antimatter in the real world.

[Nerd-o-rama]

On a side Note Magneto is perhaps the only person capable of truly storing antimatter in the real world.
Emphasis mine.

*Backs away slowly*

[LordOfNarf]

Emphasis mine.

*Backs away slowly*

I second this motion (no pun intended)

[Gralamin]

ok so I contridicated myself. But if You had magnetos powers somehow, you would be the only person able to safely stroe antimatter, it requires Magnets, very Strong magnets.

[LordOfNarf]

ok so I contridicated myself. But if You had magnetos powers somehow, you would be the only person able to safely stroe antimatter, it requires Magnets, very Strong magnets.

Does antimatter have a magnetic charge?

[Flak_Razorwill]

Does antimatter have a magnetic charge?


Well, it's how we store plasma. You probably have to reverse some charge or whatever BS is required.

[Orion-the-G]

Antimatter definitely has a magnetic charge. It is still matter...except it isn't...or it is...GAH!

Yes, antimatter has a magnetic charge...assuming it is a form of matter that posseses a magnetic charge. For instance an anti-proton has a charge, but an anti-nuetron would not.

EDIT: And yes, antimatter has an opposite magnetic charge from normal matter. Therefore a positron (antielectron) has a positive charge.

[6079smithw]

Does Magneto also have ultimate power over electricity and E-M radiation, or is it for some reason just the magnets part of that particular force? Because really, complete control over one of the fundamental forces should pretty much make him omnipotent.

[Caedrel]

I suspect that the magnetism bit came first and is probably still the one he works most easily with... he's probably got some control over electricity, in that they're closely related, but it's probably a lot harder for him to do. It's been a while since I've read any Marvel comics, but they definitely did this with Iceman (where, in one episode, his control of ice is actually control over water, and he's able to do something in the desert with it - I think it was back in his X-Factor days). They did it with Sue Storm as well, but then, she's a mutate, and let's face it, being able to turn invisible, while useful, is in itself pretty damn useless againat the overwhleming majority of today's uber-powerful folks. It's been pretty evident over the years that's there's been a power creep in comic-dom to rival that found in manay D&D campaigns ;)

[Rex_Hondo]

Well, I know that Mags is capable of tapping into and manipulating the Earth's magnetic field on a large scale. During (I believe) Fatal Attractions, he triggered it to cause a worldwide EM pulse, taking out all of the unshielded electronics on the planet.

[Millikin_Erreene]

"Does Magneto also have ultimate power over electricity and E-M radiation, or is it for some reason just the magnets part of that particular force?"

Currently he does not have any powers, at the end of the House of M storyline, he and about 90 odd percent of Earth's mutant population were stripped of their powers by the Scarlet Witch. But prior to that he could manipulate the entire electromagnetic spectrum. His only real weakness was that his ability to control and manipulate those forces are directly tied to his current physical health.

[MagFlare]

for the red skull, is Nazi actually a religion? i had the idea that it is a poloitcal philosiphy

As Mussolini described it, fascism isn't just a social, political, or economic system - it's a faith in which the State is God.


And why, out of all of them, are there maybe, like 2 agnostics?

We demand better representation! Or not, possibly! Whether or not we demand better representation may be a fundamentally unknowable question!

[Orion-the-G]

Well one reason might be that in the major comic worlds (Marvel and DC) the various heroes have, quite literally, fought gods. There's probably little room for true agnostacism or atheism.

[Dirigible]

Something else Magneto could do, and I have no idea if the comics ever went in this direction or not.

Neurologists can induce all sorts of states and experiences in people by projecting various electromagnetic patterns on to the human brain. Since our thoughts, sensations and experiences are all just different patterns of neurons firing, by projecting specific patterns onto the brain we can have just about any effect we want, as long as we knew how to produce it.

A researcher in Canada has been able to reproduce in nuns, the holy, spiritual feeling that they associate with contact and talking to God. They can induce nausea, pain, hallucinations, just about anything with the right knowledge and experience.

I guess once you unlock that door with Magneto there's no closing it, so they probably don't want to go down that road.

[Brother_Hood]

I've never been a big comic book reader, and i was wordering if he was also jewish in the comics, or if hollywood threw that in for flavor.

Can't really blame him, I guess. :)

I've read in the Comics that he was actually born to Gypsy parents, which also were herded into the camps in large numbers. I think most writers cast him as Jewish, however.

[Baloo]

Neurologists can induce all sorts of states and experiences in people by projecting various electromagnetic patterns on to the human brain. Since our thoughts, sensations and experiences are all just different patterns of neurons firing, by projecting specific patterns onto the brain we can have just about any effect we want, as long as we knew how to produce it.
Magneto has minor telepathic abilities, which might be the result of these uses of his magnetic ones. However, his telepathic abilities are hampered by modifications he made to the Earth's magnetic field back in the 80s in order to prevent Xavier from locating him.

[Midnight Son]

50% More like a 95%. I've seen that guy manipulate all kinds of metals that typically ignore magnets. Anyway, I only brought that up because I thought someone was implying that magnetic bracelets could travel through time.
Every magnet, whether on a bracelet or otherwise, travels through time...forward...at a rate of 60 seconds per minute.

[6079smithw]

Every magnet, whether on a bracelet or otherwise, travels through time...forward...at a rate of 60 seconds per minute.

Except for the ones that are moving really, really fast.

[Midnight Son]

Except for the ones that are moving really, really fast.No, they are only going faster than 60 seconds per minute in relation to you. If they could tell time, they'd think(if they could think) that they are moving at 60 seconds per minute.

[Foeofthelance]

Wikipedia lists him as "being persecuted for his jewish heritage". Granted, Wikipedia is entirely open to debate, but it's good enough for me. He was in the camps, which basically provided his entire motivation for everything. He wanted to make sure the same fate didn't befall mutants. (On a side note, one of my few peeves with Grant Morrison. There is absolutely no reason Magneto would ever construct a death camp of his own. Otherwise, the last few issues of New X-Men were excellent. ((On another side note: Was that really Magneto? Excalibur claims he was hiding in the ruins of Genosha, while I think there may have been a reference in House of M of Wanda having ressurected him.)))

As for why there are only two agnostic superheroes/villains? When you face death and ressurection as often as these people do, you probably find out rather quickly how accurate your religious views are. Just a theory.

[Maxis_IronForge]

My 2 cents

My understanding of Magneto's power is that he simply generates a powerful and extremely articulate electromagnetic field. Feel free to refute this though(since I know magneto from TV/movies only)

Thus telepathic powers make sense, though I would imagine they would be clumsy but powerful, because I doubt magneto is THAT articulate (which I think is inconsistent with the aforementioned weak powers. The altering the earths magnetic field thing was cool though)

Now, manipulating metals - All metals have their electrons as a kind of free flowing soup. Thus logically apply a strong enough magnetic field and you could magnetise any metal, by stripping it off some of its electrons. Of course, since all atoms contain both positive (protons) and negative (electrons) charges this would extend to all matter, but the electrons in metal are particularly easy to move (hence why it conducts electricity)

Does antimatter have charge? YES. As understand it the thing that defines it as antimatter is the fact that it has the opposite charge from normal matter. Not sure if anti-neutrons exist.

So I'm thinking Magneto doesn't have power over the entire principal of charge, but generates such a strong EM field that he can manipulate it to a large extent.

Re temporal physics: LOL.

[Orion-the-G]

Anti-neutrons exist, Antimatter's properties are not derived from opposite charge, but simply from the fact that it is antimatter.

For example an anti-neutron and a proton will anihilate just fine together. However, an antiproton and a proton annihilate easier because they have opposite charge (and are therefore attracted to one another).

[somatic]

Incredulousness aside, why is there a question mark beside Mr Atheist's religion? Surely a man who calls himself 'Mr Atheist' is pretty unarguably an atheist.

Oddly enough, Mr. Athiest is a Jainist.

Odder still, Wolverine is a Shintoist and Kitty's dragon, Lockheed, is a Baha'i'inist.

[somatic]

Anyways, Jewish is both a religion and ethnicity, and some things get mixed up.

No, Judaism is just a religion.

[Foeofthelance]

Actually, Wolverine being Shintoist makes sense, considering most of his memories take place in Japan, and alot of his efforts to control his berserker have been based off of Japanese warrior training.

Didn't know Lockheed was a Baha'i'inist though.

[Baloo]

My understanding of Magneto's power is that he simply generates a powerful and extremely articulate electromagnetic field. Feel free to refute this though(since I know magneto from TV/movies only)
It is believed that Magneto manipulates/channels Earth's natural magnetic field (which extends quite a bit into space), not that he generates his own. However, I believe that this is untested - to my knowledge, the only time Magneto has been significantly removed from the Earth's magnetic field was during Secret Wars, when he was teleported to an artificially created planet called Battleworld which seemingly had a magnetic field of its own.

[Flak_Razorwill]

No, Judaism is just a religion.


Whoops, didn't clarify.

Some people get the ethnicity (ashkenazi?) and the religion mixed up. Judaism and Jewish ancestry are linked via heritage, but are fundementally separate things.

[Haggis_McCrablice]

"Catholic Girl (http://www.internationalhero.co.uk/c/cathgirl.htm)"
Let's just say my dating experiences with Catholics prompted me to think more in terms of pure and unrelenting carnality. Think Jenna Jameson meets Wonder Woman. ;D

Yes, to call Nazism a religion is akin to calling modern liberalism (essentially Marxism/Stalinism under a new guise) as such. Both are pursued with fervency by its believers and both seek to simply consume and destroy. The difference is that Nazis seem proud of their racism while liberals try to hide it behind a facade of psuedomoralistic posturing and buzzwords calculated to confuse any argument and make it seem as if conservatives are the racists.

In the nineties X-series, Wolverine seems to be angry and at odds with God. He speaks to a deformed monk named Kurt Wagner ("Nightcrawler") and seems to have a change of heart. He is even seen reading the Bible at the end of the episode. I think the comics' Wolvie may have converted to Shintoist after he became involved with a Japanese woman (did he marry her? I don't recall offhand) many years ago...so he might have been something else before that.

In X:Men Evolution, Magneto was shown to periodically undergo chemical treatments to preserve his youth in a secret underground bunker in the middle of the desert. He was shown in the midst undergoing a procedure, and looked like a wizened old man before it took. What's even creepier, he tells young Kurt that he is just like his mother, which some fans have taken to imply that Magnus (in this version) is nightcrawler's biological father (in the comics he is only said to be an unnamed German nobleman). Magnus' treatments must also affect his sexual potency, as his children are shown to be teenagers like the rest of the cast--meaning he must have chronologically been at least sixty when he became a father, and his wife a good 20 to 30 years his junior at least.

We also see a buried memory of Logan's of his days in WWII fighting alongside Captain America. The two rescued a ten-year-old boy named Erik Magnus Lensherr from a concentration camp in Poland. This would suggest Logan is also much older than he looks: if Magnus is around eighty or ninety, Logan must be over a hundred. Though longtime readers of the X-books well know this.

And in a holiday ep Kitty "Shadowcat" Pryde is seen lighting a menorah, indicating she's Jewish.

[Orion-the-G]

Bringing modern politics into a discussion is a no-no, not to mention comparing them to nazis.

[Rex_Hondo]

Re: Naziism as a religion.

I think a significant argument can be made that if it wasn't a full fledged religion, the Nazi leadership as certainly trying to establish it as such. A couple of years ago I saw a show on one of the history channels that showed old film reels of the "Ceremony of the Blood Flag" and of German schoolchildren reciting prayers to Hitler. Creepy, creepy stuff...

[redmind0]

Whoops, didn't clarify.

Some people get the ethnicity (ashkenazi?) and the religion mixed up. Judaism and Jewish ancestry are linked via heritage, but are fundementally separate things.

Judaism is a religon and a culture. Ashkenazi is culture. Ashkenazis are often white and have both german(ish) and semetic ansestory.

[Piedmon_Sama]

What? Wolverine practices zen meditational techniques as part of his training, but he's neither Shintoist nor Buddhist. He does respect and is knowledgable about those traditions from his time in Japan, but otherwise I've always seen him as a general agnostic. He's had too many encounters with various scions of the supernatural from many different cultures over the years to accept just one.

Wolverine was, at one time a Christian, but after Cyber murdered his then-fiance around the time of WWI, Wolverine became an atheist. He's come back around to having a spiritual side more recently, but I don't think he'll ever be a straight-up member of any particular denomination ever again.

Also, his fiance Yoshida Mariko has been dead for years, but had they had a wedding, it would have been a traditional Shintoist affair. The Yoshidas were a very traditional family with aristocratic origins.