Facts about the Leader of X-Men – Professor X
It is impossible to talk about the X-Men without mentioning Professor X, as his impact has been astounding. He is one of the most popular and strongest Marvel characters of all time and he signifies all that is right with the world. Even though he is a mainstream character, a lot about his journey is unknown to fans.
#1: Creation and Debut
Professor Charles Francis Xavier or Professor X was created by the legends Stan Lee and Jack Kirby and he made his first comic book appearance from the comic book The X-Men #1 back in September 1963. Professor X is the central character of the entire X-Men and Stan Lee stated that the physical inspiration for the character was the Academy Award-winning actor Yul Brynner and his character development was inspired by Martin Luther King Jr.
#2: A Genius in the true sense
Charles Xavier, even without his superpowers, is one of the most intelligent individuals in the entire Marvel Universe. He graduated with honors at the age of 16 from Bard College. In graduate studies, he received a Ph.D. in Genetics, Biophysics, Psychology, and Anthropology with a two-year residence at Pembroke College, Oxford University and he also received an M.D. in Psychiatry while living in London. Only a handful of people are as educated as Professor X.
#3: His Abilities make him a dangerous enemy
Professor X is one of the strongest mutants in the entire Marvel universe and although he is a nice guy, you do not want to be on his bad side. He possesses Genius Level intellect, through which he can defeat almost anyone. He is one of the most powerful psychics in the Marvel universe, and he can use telepathy and mental manipulation easily. He has subdued countless enemies just with his mind.
#4: He created the X-Men
Well, most of you must already know this fact that Professor X is the man behind X-Men, but you might not know about his first team. His first five students were Marvel Girl, Cyclops, Beast, Iceman, and Angel who became the original X-Men. After recruiting this team of X-Men, Professor X sends them to battle Magneto. The best way to learn, right?
#5: He Killed his Evil Twin Sister
In the New X-Men #121, it was revealed that Professor X had a twin sister named Cassandra Nova. Xavier attempted to kill her while they were both in their mother’s womb as he sensed evil in her. He punched the fetus in the face and then tried to use an umbilical cord to choke her to death. At last, he finally had to use his psychic powers to kill Cassandra, causing his mother to have a miscarriage. But as you all know, no one really “dies” in a comic book.
#6: The Mighty Juggernaut is his Step-Brother
All of Professor X’s biggest enemies are somehow related to him. He had a brotherly-relationship with Magneto, he had an evil twin sister Cassandra, and his stepbrother is the mutant Juggernaut. Professor X and Juggernaut have had a very complicated relationship as they both have tried to beat each other whereas they have shown the signs of redemption several times. At one-point Professor X even managed to get Juggernaut in the X-Men.
#7: His methods are often questionable
Professor X has always talked about a world where humans and mutants live together peacefully but his methods are often questioned by the people close to him. When the X-Men’s simulated reality training chamber gained sentience and assumed a humanoid form to kill the heroes, it was revealed that Professor X already knew this could happen and chose not to tell anyone. In the end, he was left ashamed, as he was unable to explain his reasoning to all the other mutants.
#8: Red Skull stole his brain to gain his powers
In the world of comic books, anything is possible as logic is often thrown out of the window and that is precisely why comics are amazing. In the comic books, Red Skull managed to harvest Professor X’s brain and gained all his mental powers. Red Skull then formed the S-Men (obviously) to eliminate all the mutants and promote his anti-mutant propaganda.
#9: He killed the First Mutant – Apocalypse
We have mentioned this fact in here as only a few of you would have watched the movie X-Men: Apocalypse. The events of that movie were directly inspired by the comic books but with slight changes. In the comics, Apocalypse killed Jean Grey after a long battle. Professor X, in a last attempt to defeat Apocalypse, sneaked upon him to break into his mind and ultimately killed him. Professor X ultimately succumbed to his injuries and died.
#10: Magneto murdered Professor X in cold blood
In the storyline Ultimatum, the concept of alternate universes was explored and it is a pretty dark comic book. In this story, Magneto was evil again and after battling Professor X for a while, he decided to end it for good. He grabbed the Professor by the head and twisted it, snapping his neck in the process. On the final page of the comic book, Professor X was lying in a pool of his own blood.
