Comics Is Magneto truely evil?

[Ming]

Firey Balrog, not only are your views extremely insightful, but also very correct.

Violence in the name of a dream is only a nightmare.

 

[rjb182]

You make some excellent points, Balrog. I certainly do agree with a lot of what you said.

Look, I'm no moral relativist-- heck, I'm a Christian myself, which doesn't mean I'll do the right thing but it does mean I believe there's a right thing TO do. I just think some acknowledgement should be made for where Magneto differs from, say, Dr. Doom or Mr. Sinister...

We say everybody believes they're in the right. That's probably true, but some people do things terrible enough that they OUGHT to know they're not. Hitler, for example. Probably should have known he wasn't on the proverbial side of the angels.

Yes, Magneto has done evil things and should be held accountable for them. But I think (when written by Claremont or other more sympathetic writers, anyway) he's one of the villains who HONESTLY, as opposed to delusionally, sees himself as being in the right. And I think that counts for something.

 

[BrianWilly]

I don't have much else to add that FieryBalrog has not already said very succinctly, but I should mention that I grew up in an Asian Buddhist household and that Christianity certainly does not hold the monopoly on the concepts of good and evil.

Also, El Bastardo, I get the impression that you are solely considering one aspect of Magneto above any other, or at least putting more weight on that one side of him than various other sides which have been just as prominent. Looking at him through rose-colored lenses, as it were. As sebita mentioned, Magneto tends to have incredibly different personalities and worldviews depending on who's writing him.

Just because Magneto has preached some manner of tolerance at some point in his life doesn't mean that he also hasn't preached violence and subjugation at various other points. Just because he acts peaceful during periods of his life where he feels like acting peaceful doesn't mean he also hasn't killed and murdered and assassinated.

I completely disagree with the idea that Magneto's goals are the same as Xavier's. It has been shown over and over again that they are not.

 

[Ming]

We say everybody believes they're in the right. That's probably true, but some people do things terrible enough that they OUGHT to know they're not. Hitler, for example. Probably should have known he wasn't on the proverbial side of the angels.

Yes, Magneto has done evil things and should be held accountable for them. But I think (when written by Claremont or other more sympathetic writers, anyway) he's one of the villains who HONESTLY, as opposed to delusionally, sees himself as being in the right. And I think that counts for something.

No one ever sees themself as a villain, and that is what makes them all the more dangerous.

That's the difference. Magneto doesn't realize what he's doing is evil and when people tell that it's evil, he denys them, utterly believeing in his cause. That might qualify that Magento isn't just evil, he might also be insane.