Professor X

Professor X
File:Xav-lopr.png Professor Charles Xavier. Art by Aaron Lopresti
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First appearance	X-Men #1
Created by	Stan Lee Jack Kirby
In-story information
Alter ego	Charles Francis Xavier
Team affiliations	X-Men, Genoshan Excalibur, Cadre K, Brotherhood of Mutants, Starjammers, Illuminati
Notable aliases	Onslaught
Abilities	Genius-level intellect and formerly vast telepathic powers, including the abilities to read others' thoughts, alter memories, and cast illusions

For the Brooklyn, NY rapper Professor X, see X-Clan.

Professor Charles Francis Xavier, also known as Professor X, is a fictional comic book superhero and founder of the X-Men in the Marvel Universe. Created by co-writer Stan Lee and artist/co-writer Jack Kirby, he first appeared in X-Men #1 (September 1963).

Throughout most of his comic book history, Xavier is paraplegic, although his body houses one of the world's most powerful mutant minds. A high-level telepath, Xavier can read, control and influence human minds. A scientific genius, he is also a leading authority on genetics, mutation and psionic powers.

In the X-Men Comics, Xavier founds Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters (now called the Xavier Institute), which he designs as to teach mutants to explore and control their powers. His mission is to promote the peaceful affirmation of mutant rights, to mediate the co-existence of mutants and humans, and to protect society from dangerous mutants, including his friend Magneto. Xavier's students consider him a visionary and often refer to their mission as being dedicated to "Xavier's dream". However, he also has a manipulative streak which results in several significant falling-outs with allies and students.

In the comics' history, the X-Men rarely operate without Xavier. He also appears in both X-Men animated series and in many video games, although usually as a non-playable character due to his physical limitations. Patrick Stewart plays him in the 2000s film series.

Character biography

Professor Xavier is a mutant and is the one of world's most powerful telepaths. As a young man, he was rendered a paraplegic in an accident caused by an alien called Lucifer. In addition to his mutant gifts, Xavier possesses a world-class scientific intellect and is a graduate of Harvard and Oxford Universities.

Early life

Charles Xavier was born to the wealthy Brian Xavier, a well-respected scientist, and Sharon Xavier. After Brian dies in an accident, his science partner Kurt Marko comforts and marries the grieving Sharon. When Xavier's telepathic mutant powers emerge, he discovers Kurt cares only about Sharon's money.

A young Charles Xavier. Art by Jack Kirby.

After the wedding, Kurt moves in with the Xaviers, bringing with him his son Cain. Kurt quickly grows neglectful of Sharon, driving her to alcoholism, and abuses Charles and Cain. Cain takes out his frustrations and insecurities on his step-brother. Charles once uses his telepathic powers to read Cain's mind and explore the extent of his psychological damage, which only leads to Cain becoming more aggressive toward him. Sharon dies soon after, and a fight erupts between Cain and Charles that causes some of Kurt's lab equipment to explode. Mortally wounded, Kurt drags the two children out before dying.

With help from his powers, Xavier becomes an excellent student and athlete, though he gives up the latter, believing his powers give him an unfair advantage. At school, he meets a Scottish girl named Moira Kinross, a fellow student with whom he falls in love. The two agree to get married, but soon, Xavier is drafted into a war. During the war, he receives a letter from Moira telling him that she is breaking up with him. He later discovers that Moira married her old boyfriend Joseph MacTaggert, who abuses her.

After the war, Xavier travels around the world. In Cairo, he meets the Shadow King, a powerful mutant who is posing as an Arabian crime lord. Xavier defeats the Shadow King, barely escaping with his life. This encounter leads to Xavier's decision to devote his life to protecting humanity from evil mutants and safeguarding innocent mutants from human oppression.

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Xavier and Magneto part ways due to the differences in their beliefs on how to help mutants. Art by Carlos Pacheco.

Xavier visits his friend Daniel Shomron, who runs a clinic for traumatized Holocaust victims in Haifa, Israel. There, he meets the man who becomes Magneto, a Holocaust survivor who works as a volunteer in the clinic, and Gabrielle Haller, a woman driven into a catatonic coma by the trauma she experienced. Xavier uses his mental powers to break her out of her catatonia and the two fall in love. Xavier and Magneto become good friends, although neither immediately reveals to the other that he is a mutant. The two hold lengthy debates hypothesizing what will happen if humanity is faced with a new super-powered race of humans. While Xavier is optimistic, Magneto's experiences in the Holocaust lead him to believe that humanity will ultimately oppress the new race of humans as they have done with other minorities. The two friends reveal their powers to each other when they fight Nazi Baron Wolfgang von Strucker and his HYDRA agents, who kidnaps Gabrielle because she knows the location of their secret cache of gold. Magneto attempts to kill Strucker but Xavier stops him. Realizing that his and Xavier's views on mutant-human relations are incompatible, Magneto leaves with the gold. Charles stays in Israel for some time, but he and Gabrielle separate on good terms, neither knowing that she is pregnant with his son, who grows up to become the autistic mutant, Legion.

Xavier encounters the alien Lucifer, foiling his plans for an invasion. The alien retaliates by dropping a boulder on Xavier's legs, crippling him. After Lucifer leaves, a young woman named Sage hears Xavier's telepathic cries for help and rescues him, bringing him to safety, beginning a long alliance between the two.

The X-Men

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Xavier with the original X-Men team; Beast, Iceman, Cyclops, Angel, and Marvel Girl. Art by Jack Kirby.

In the X-Men comic book series, Xavier founds Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters, which provides a safe haven for mutants and teaches them to master their abilities. In addition, he seeks to foster mutant-human relations by providing his superhero team, the X-Men, as an example of mutants acting in good faith. Among the obstacles Xavier faces is his old friend, Magneto, who has grown into an advocate of mutant superiority since their last encounter and who believes the only solution to mutant persecution is the domination of humanity. Xavier's first five students are Marvel Girl, Cyclops, Beast, Iceman, and Angel, who become the original X-Men.

Throughout most of his time with the team, Xavier uses his telepathic powers to keep in constant contact with his students and provides instructions and advice when needed. In addition, he uses a special machine called Cerebro, which enhances his ability to detect mutants and to allow the team to find new students in need of the school. At one point, Xavier seemingly dies when he telepathically repels an invasion by the extraterrestrial Z'nox, but it is later revealed that Xavier arranged for a reformed former villain named Changeling, to impersonate him while he went into hiding to plan a defense against the invasion, imparting a portion of his telepathic abilities to the Changeling to complete the disguise.

When the X-Men are captured by the sentient island Krakoa, Xavier assembles a new team to rescue them. After the mission, the older team of X-Men, except for Cyclops, leave the school, believing they no longer belong there, and Xavier mentors the new X-Men. He meets and falls in love with the alien Princess Lilandra from the Shi'ar Empire and takes a sabbatical on her world for a time.

File:Xavierwalk.png

Xavier walks again. Art by Paul Smith.

Xavier returns and shortly thereafter battles his pupil, Jean Grey, after she becomes Dark Phoenix and destroys a populated planet in the Shi'ar Empire. Xavier emerges victorious, but she later commits suicide in order to prevent herself from endangering more innocent lives. (See Dark Phoenix Saga.)

During a storyline in which the X-Men fought members of the extraterrestrial race known as the Brood, Xavier was captured by them, and implanted with a Brood egg, which placed Xavier under the Brood’s control. During this time, Xavier assembled a team of younger mutants called The New Mutants, secretly intended to be prime hosts for reproduction of the aliens. The X-Men discover this and return to free Xavier, but they are too late to prevent him from being transformed into a Brood Queen. The X-Men and Starjammers subdue him in this monstrous form, but the only way to restore him is to clone a new body using tissue samples he donated to the Starjammers. This new body possessed functional legs, though the psychosomatic pain Xavier experienced after living so long as a paraplegic took some time to subside. Subsequently, he even joins the X-Men in the field, but later decides not to continue this practice after realizing that his place is at the school.

After taking a teaching position at another school, Xavier is severely injured and left for dead as the victim of a hate crime. Callisto and her Morlocks, a group of underground-dwelling mutants, get him to safety. One of the Morlocks partially restores Xavier's health, but Callisto warns Xavier that he isn't fully healed and that he must spend more time recuperating and restrain himself from exerting his full strength or powers, or his health might fail again. Xavier hides his injuries from the others and resumes his life.

A reformed Magneto is arrested and put on trial. Xavier attends the trial to defend his friend. Andrea and Andreas Strucker, the children of presumed dead Baron Von Strucker, crash the courtroom to attack Magneto and Xavier. Xavier is seriously injured. Dying, he asks a shocked Magneto to look after the X-Men for him. Lilandra, who has a psychic bond with Xavier, feels that he is in great danger and heads to Earth. There, she takes Xavier with her and the Shi'ar so their advanced technology can heal him. Xavier leaves Magneto in charge of the school, but some of the X-Men are unwilling to forgive their former enemy, and the original five X-Men form a team called X-Factor. Magneto works with the X-Men, and after they are believed dead in the 1987 storyline “The Fall of the Mutants”, mentors the New Mutants. During the 1989 “Inferno” storyline, in which the school is destroyed, Magneto parts company with the New Mutants, who feel that he has returned to his terrorist path. A healthy Xavier returns from the Shi'ar Empire and resumes his responsibilities. In a battle with his old foe, the Shadow King, in the "Muir Island Saga", Xavier’s back is broken, returning him to his former paraplegic state.

In the mid-1990s X-Men titles, Professor X is for a time the unknowing host of the evil psionic entity Onslaught, the result of a previous battle with Magneto. In that battle, Magneto uses his powers to rip out the adamantium bonded to Wolverine's skeleton, and a furious Xavier wipes Magneto's mind, leaving him in a coma. From the psychic trauma of Xavier's using his powers so violently and the mixing of Magneto's and Xavier's repressed anger, Onslaught is born. Onslaught wreaks havoc, destroying much of Manhattan, until many of Marvel's superheroes -- including the Avengers, the Fantastic Four and the Hulk -- destroy him. Xavier is left without his telepathy and, overcome with guilt, leaves the X-Men and is incarcerated for his actions. He later returns to the X-Men after a clash with the sentient Cerebro and a team of imposter X-Men.

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Cassandra Nova. Cover art for New X-Men #121, by Frank Quitely.

During writer Grant Morrison’s run on New X-Men from 2001 to 2004, Xavier's evil twin Cassandra Nova, whom Xavier attempted to kill while they were both in their mother's womb, orders a group of rogue sentinels to destroy the independent mutant nation of Genosha. Magneto, who is Genosha's leader, appears to die along with the vast majority of the nation's inhabitants. Nova then takes over Xavier's body. Posing as Xavier, she reveals his mutation to the world before going into space and crippling the Shi'ar Empire. The X-Men restore Xavier, but Lilandra, believing that too much disaster has come from the Shi'ar's involvement with the X-Men, annuls her marriage to Xavier. During this period, a mutant named Xorn joins the X-Men. Xorn uses his healing power to restore Xavier's use of his legs.

Now outed as a mutant, Xavier makes speeches to the public about mutant tolerance. He also founds the X-Corporation, or X-Corp (not to be confused with the X-Corps), with offices all over the world. The purpose of the X-Corp is to watch over mutant rights and help mutants in need. As a result of being outed, the school no longer hides the fact that it is a school for mutants and it opens its doors for more mutant (and even human) students to come in. A student named Quentin Quire and members of his gang start a riot at the the Xavier Institute of an open house at the school. As a result, Quire and two other students are killed. Uncertain about his dream's validity, Xavier announces that he will step down as headmaster and be succeeded by Jean Grey. Xorn cripples Xavier and destroys New York. The X-Men kill Xorn, but not before he kills Jean by giving her an electromagnetic stroke.

Retirement

File:Excalibur magneto.jpg

Xavier meets Magneto. Art from Excalibur #1.

With Jean dead, Xavier leaves the school to Cyclops and Emma Frost. Xavier travels to Genosha, where he meets with the real Magneto. The two resolve their differences and attempt to restore their friendship while they work together to rebuild and restore order to the destroyed island nation. At the mansion, the Danger Room, the X-Men’s simulated reality training chamber, gains sentience, christens itself "Danger", assumes a humanoid form, and attacks the X-Men before leaving to kill Xavier. With Magneto's help, Xavier hold offs Danger until the X-Men arrive. Danger flees, but not before revealing to Colossus that Xavier has known it is sentient ever since he upgraded it. Colossus is especially offended by this because he had been held captive and experimented upon. Ashamed, Xavier tries to explain to them that by the time he realized what was happening, he could see no other course. The disgusted X-Men leave.

Magneto's daughter the Scarlet Witch suffers a mental breakdown and causes the death of several Avengers. Magneto brings her to Xavier and asks him to use his mental powers to help her. Although aided by Dr. Strange and the appearance of Cassandra Nova, Xavier is unsuccessful. In the House of M limited series, Xavier orders a meeting of the X-Men and Avengers to decide Wanda's fate. Her brother Quicksilver, believing the heroes plan to kill her, speeds off to to Genosha and convinces Wanda that she could right the wrongs she inflicted by using her powers to alter reality. Wanda uses her powers to make the world a place where mutants are the majority, humans the minority, and Magneto their ruler. In this reality, Xavier is believed to have died years before while helping to free Genosha.

After mutant Layla Miller restores the memories of some of the X-Men and Avengers, they head to Genosha where they discover that Magneto has erected a memorial garden for Xavier commemorating his death. They are horrified until Cloak fades into the grave and discovers there is no body inside. After a battle, Scarlet Witch again uses her powers to restore reality and, as a slight against her father, causes 91.4 percent of mutants to lose their powers, leaving the mutant race on the brink of extinction. With reality restored, Xavier is still missing and the X-Men are unable to detect him with Cerebro.

In the limited series Deadly Genesis, it is revealed that prior to sending the new team of X-Men to rescue the others on Krakoa, he had sent another team comprised of Moira's students; one of whom was Cyclops' long-lost brother Vulcan. After the team freed Cyclops and Vulcan revealed their connection, the team was killed. Cyclops escaped, but when he made it back to Xavier, Xavier wiped the traumatizing knowledge that his newfound brother had died saving him from Cyclops' brain. He then assembled another new team of X-Men to rescue the others on Krakoa, and no one else knew anything about Moira's students. In the present, the energy-mass comprised of all the mutants' powers revives Vulcan, and in a rage he attacked the X-Men, causing Xavier to come out of hiding; his legs had been restored to him after the House of M, though he was no longer a mutant. Vulcan got Xavier to tell the X-Men what he had done. After Vulcan was defeated and flew off into space, Cyclops tells Xavier that he is no longer wanted at the X-Mansion for what he did, though some of the other students are more forgiving.

Template:Spoiler Even though Xavier is no longer welcome at the Institute, he nevertheless forms a new team (Uncanny X-Men #475) composed of Darwin, Havok, Marvel Girl, Nightcrawler, Warpath and Polaris for the express purpose of tracking down Vulcan before he can enact his vengeance against the Shi'ar empire. Template:Endspoiler

Powers

Charles Xavier is a mutant with the power of telepathy. He is considered by many to be the most powerful telepath to ever exist. He is able to read thoughts, communicate with others psionically on a global (and sometimes galactic) level. Professor Xavier can erase, create, and manipulate thoughts and memories; control the actions of others, mentally induce states of euphoria, pleasure, pain, paralysis, unconsciousness, and even death in other people. He can also fire powerful "psi-blasts", which have numerous effects including rendering the target unconscious, causing them tremendous pain, and even killing them. He has been seen on many occaisions "mind-freezing" an entire room of individuals, while he and the subject he was targeting remained animated. After which he returned the individuals to their original state, and they were oblivious to what occured while they were frozen. He once told Wolverine that he would make him believe he was " a six year old girl who was getting her hair braided by Jean Grey". He can completely shut down the mind and body of others. He did this to Magneto when he ripped the adamantium from Wolverine's bones. (See: Fatal Attractions crossover, X-Men (2nd series) #25). For a short time Professor Xavier weilded the "Phoenix Force" with which he used the codename "Bald Phoenix". This has caused speculation that he is an Omega-Level Mutant. (See X-Men: Spotlight on...StarJammers #1-2.) He easily exhibits astral manipulation: meaning he can enter, control, and shape the astral plane however he desires; project his astral form , draw others' consciousness into the astral plane, and even control and destroy their astral forms while present. With all this vast power at his disposal however, Professor Xavier chooses to let events unfold naturally without his manipulation. Although he is capable of altering the minds of ill-willed individuals, he would rather leave them to their own free will to make decisions whether right or wrong.

Dark side

In a number of comics, Xavier is shown to have a dark side, a part of himself that he struggles to supress. Perhaps the most notable appearance of this character element is the "Onslaught" storyline, in which the crossover event's antagonist is a physical manifestation of that dark side. Also, Onslaught is created in the most violent act Xavier claims to have done: Erasing the mind of Magneto. In X-Men (first series) #106 (August 1977), the new X-Men fight images of the original team, which have been created by what Xavier says is his "evil self...who would use his powers for personal gain and conquest," which he says he is normally able to keep in check. In Grant Morrison's New X-Men (first series) #121 (February 2002), Jean Grey and Emma Frost discover that Xavier killed his twin sister Cassandra Nova in the womb.

In other instances, Xavier is shown to be secretive and manipulative. During the "Onslaught" storyline, the X-Men find Xavier's files, the "Xavier Protocols", which detail how to kill many of the characters should the need ever arise. Astonishing X-Men (third series) #12 (August 2005) reveals that when Xavier realized that the Danger Room had become sentient, he kept it trapped and experimented on it for years, an act that Cyclops calls "the oppression of a new life" and equates to human's treatment of mutants. In X-Men: Deadly Genesis #6, a de-powered Xavier is forced to admit that he had sent a group of hastily trained young mutants to Krakoa to save the original X-Men, resulting in their deaths. Because one of the mutants is Cyclops' brother Vulcan, Xavier erased Cyclops' memory of the event. He further manipulated the rescue team of new X-Men by making them think the meaningless noises the island made were inteligible speech - evidence that the island was alive - to match the new memories he had given Cyclops.

In the Mutant X comic book series, set outside the Marvel Universe continuity, Xavier travels the world capturing telepaths for the purpose of stealing their mental energy. Xavier takes control of S.H.I.E.L.D., captures Gambit's daughter, and attempts to kill the X-Men with a nuclear strike. In Ultimate X-Men, Xavier frequently lies to other characters, including the X-Men, or even manipulates them when he feels it necessary. Xavier tells the American president that he has killed Magneto, but instead he has blocked Magneto's memories and created a new personality and memories for him, along with a new life working with mentally challenged children. In issue #65, unbeknownst to the rest of the team, he directs Angel to become his mole in Emma Frost's Academy of Tomorrow in the guise of expelling the student. In Ultimate X-Men #58, he defuses a hostage situation by hiring the mutant bank robbers for a mission in which the X-Men cannot be implicated, and making the police believe they had killed them. Xavier is the enemy in the first story arc of the Exiles series.

Romantic interests

• Gabrielle Haller: Legion's mother.
• Moira MacTaggert: Charles' ex-fiancée, Moira turns up as a lifetime friend who interacts with the X-Men often.
• Amelia Voght
• Lilandra: Lilandra forms an intense psychic bond with Xavier across the vast distance that separates their two planets, which leads her to him after she flees her Empire, in search of help against her villainous brother. They are wed until Lilandra annuls their marriage on the grounds that involvement with Xavier had caused trouble for the Shiar empire. No child has resulted from the union.
• Jean Grey: In one instance in the start of Uncanny X-Men (issue #3), Professor X privately reflects upon his love for Jean Grey, but does not pursue it due to his feeling inadequate about being in a wheelchair, and the age difference and sacredness of the teacher-student relationship. Although Xavier never again displays a romantic interest in Jean, the idea that he once entertained this thought becomes one of his "dark secrets" and is revisited when the Professor's dark side manifests in the form of Onslaught and reveals it to Jean.

Inspirations

Professor Xavier's character is inspired by Martin Luther King, Jr., Mahatma Gandhi and St. Francis Xavier, and may also be a derivative of Marie François Xavier Bichat, or Charles Xavier from Vladimir Nabokov's 1962 book Pale Fire. Writer Scott Lobdell established Xavier’s middle name to be Francis in Uncanny X-Men #328 (January 1996).

Alternate versions

Ultimate Charles Xavier

In the Ultimate Marvel continuity, Charles Xavier is the world's most powerful telepath, the founder and patron of the X-Men and a world-famous lecturer for pacifism and mutant emancipation. In contrast to his mainstream version, he also has limited telekinetic abilities. He leaves his wife Moira MacTaggert with their sick son David to pursue Magneto's dream of a mutant society, but Magneto turns on him, crippling him with a spear. Xavier also repeatedly tampers with other people's minds to reach his goals, but he recognizes his flaws. He generally believes that reading minds without permission is unacceptable. In this timeline, his former love interests include Mystique and Emma Frost.

Marvel 1602

Professor X is Carlos Javier in the miniseries Marvel 1602, set at the end of the Elizabethan Era in an alternate universe. He is the founder of a school for "witchbreed," and his students are the Marvel 1602 versions of the original X-Men. He relies on Hal McCoy (Beast) to carry him, as he is paralyzed from the waist down.

Appearances in other media

Television

Xavier appears in the X-Men pilot cartoon Pryde of the X-Men in the 1980's and is frequently a guest star on the animated series Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends (voiced by Stanley Jones). He also appears in the 1990's X-Men animated series, where he is voiced by Cedric Smith. In the animated series X-Men: Evolution, where he is voiced by David Kaye. Xavier teaches and trains mutant students. Instead of being stepbrothers, he is the half-brother of Juggernaut.

Films

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Patrick Stewart as Professor Xavier in X-Men: The Last Stand.

Xavier appears in the three live-action feature film adaptations X-Men, X2: X-Men United and X-Men: The Last Stand. He is played by Patrick Stewart. Stewart, who is bald, and who gained fame among science fiction fans for his portrayal of Captain Jean-Luc Picard on Star Trek: The Next Generation, was a long-time fan favorite choice to play Xavier, before the movie was even announced. A Star Trek/X-Men crossover novel by Michael Jan Friedman called Planet X references this notion: When a group of time-traveling X-Men help the crew of the Enterprise-E deal with a crisis, a hologram of Professor X briefly meets Picard, and the two characters are amused by their mutual resemblance. In Peter David's Star Trek: New Frontier novel Stone and Anvil, Picard remarks "I couldn't exactly see myself running a school for gifted youngsters"; this is believed to be a reference to Xavier. Template:Spoiler-about In X-Men: The Last Stand, released May 26, 2006, Phoenix disintegrates Xavier. After the credits, it is revealed that he has transferred his mind into another body. This is an example of a comic book death; this scene was not in the script but was secretly added during filming. Additionally, there is nothing in the film to suggest that the Juggernaut is related to Xavier. Template:Endspoiler

Video games

Professor X appears in most of the X-Men video games. He is almost always an NPC and advises the X-Men on various missions in the role playing games. In the case of the fighting games, he appears in some of the characters' endings. He appears in the X-Men: Mutant Academy 2 game for the Sony PlayStation, as an unlockable playable character. Xavier is also a playable character in the game X-Men Legends, and its sequel X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse (in the first game, he is playable in one level; in the second, he is playable once all the Danger Room missions are completed). He also appears as a NPC in both games). Patrick Stewart voices Xavier in both Legends games. He will appear as a NPC in the upcoming Marvel: Ultimate Alliance.

See also

• Niles Caulder is the paraplegic leader of the original Doom Patrol. Like Professor X, Caulder recruits a group of reluctant outcasts to fight crime. Much has been made in the striking similarities between these two characters, as well as their respective series. For example, the X-Men fight the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, while the Doom Patrol fight the Brotherhood of Evil. However, because of their close proximity to release (roughly a month), there is little merit to the argument that one is a copy of the other, and can be marked up as a coincidence, akin to the similarities between Swamp Thing and Man-Thing.

External links

• MDP: Professor X - Marvel Database Project
• UncannyXmen.net Spotlight on Professor Xavier