Magnus is a mutant who knows first-hand the horror of prejudice gone unchecked. It is a horror he refuses to see repeated-and he has vowed to do anything in his almighty power to stop it from ever happening again.
As the only surviving member of his family after an internment at a Nazi prison camp, Magnus saw the kind of inhumanity ruthless, amoral human beings were capable of inflicting upon the world. Never again does he want to face the horror and degradation he and his people faced during World War II.
In the years that followed, mutants began to appear across the globe. To the normal humans these mutants were looked upon as time bombs waiting to explode. Believing they had no other option, the human governments developed mutant-hunting Sentinels to deal with the threat of the genetically superior. Mutants scattered and hid from these robotic monstrosities.
Magneto chose a different path. As other mutants hid, Magneto launched an offensive against humankind in an effort to save his people. His first assault against a squadron of Sentinels was seen on television worldwide. It was the rallying cry mutants across the globe needed. With Magneto as their leader, the Homo Superior were able to take their rightful place as the heirs to the planet Earth.
Magneto's greatest victory took place in Central Park where a monument to his victory over the Sentinels and the humans stands to this day. With the governments of the world defeated, they waited for Magneto to determine their fate. Surprisingly, Magnus was merciful. Instead of destroying humankind, he allowed them to survive. He would not become the monster he first encountered in the Nazi prison camps all those years ago. His kindness, however, was tempered by the knowledge that humans would be extinct within two generations. Magnus and his mutant brethren had inherited the Earth. And Magneto would serve as its king.
Now, Magnus and his royal family, including his son Pietro, and his daughters Lorna and Wanda, reside in the capital city of Genosha. There, he rules the Earth with his iron will, and protects his dream of a world where mutants are free and celebrated as the genetic marvels they are.