Professor X

Creation and influences Created by writer Stan Lee and artist/co-writer Jack Kirby, Professor X first appeared in X-Men #1 (September 1963). Stan Lee has stated that the physical inspiration of Professor Xavier was from Academy Award-winning actor Yul Brynner. The first issue introduces the original team, with Marvel Girl presented as a new pupil at Xavier's school, apparently the first female student, and meeting Cyclops, Beast, Angel, and Iceman. In X-Men #7, Professor X briefly leaves the X-Men and leaves Cyclops in command. Ben Saunders observes that "the direction of the X-Men will often pivot on the question of Xavier's absence or presence, and the emotional impact of his comings and goings on the team, particularly on Cyclops." Xavier's goals are to promote the peaceful affirmation of mutant rights, to mediate the co-existence of mutants and humans, to protect mutants from violent humans, and to protect society from antagonistic mutants, including his old friend, Magneto. To achieve these aims, he founded Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters (later named the Xavier Institute) to teach mutants to explore and control their powers. Xavier's students consider him a visionary and often refer to their mission as "Xavier's dream". He is highly regarded by others in the Marvel Universe, respected by various governments, and trusted by several other superhero teams, including the Avengers and the Fantastic Four. Later stories Writer Scott Lobdell established Xavier's middle name to be "Francis" in Uncanny X-Men #309 (February 1994). He often acts as a public advocate for mutant rights and is the authority most of the Marvel superhero community turns to for advice on mutants. In a number of comics, Xavier is shown to have a dark side, a part of himself that he struggles to suppress. In X-Men #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 the 1984 four-part series titled The X-Men and the Micronauts, Xavier's dark desires manifest themselves as the Entity and threaten to destroy the Micronauts' universe. In the Onslaught storyline, the crossover event's antagonist is a physical manifestation of Xavier's dark side. Also, Onslaught is created in the most violent act Xavier claims to have done: erasing the mind of Magneto. During the Onslaught storyline, the X-Men find Xavier's files, the "Xavier Protocols", which detail how to kill many of the characters, including Xavier himself, should the need ever arise, such as if they went rogue. While he always presented himself as an advocate for mutant rights, Professor X's status as a mutant himself and originator of the X-Men only became public during the 2001 story "E Is for Extinction". In Astonishing X-Men vol. 3, #12 (August 2005), it is revealed that Xavier keeps the Danger Room trapped and experiments on it for years despite learning of its sentience, an act that Cyclops calls "the oppression of a new life" and equates to humanity's treatment of mutants. However, X-Men Legacy #220 - 224 reveals that Xavier did not intend for the Danger Room to become sentient: it was an accident, and Xavier sought a way to free Danger, but was unable to find a way to accomplish this without deleting her sentience as well. ==Fictional character biography==

Charles Francis Xavier was born in New York City to the wealthy Dr. Brian Xavier, a well-respected nuclear scientist, and Sharon Xavier. The family lives in a grand mansion estate in Westchester County because of the wealth his father's nuclear research has brought. With help from his superhuman powers and natural genius, Xavier becomes an excellent student and athlete, though he gives up the latter, believing his powers give him an unfair advantage. He enters Bard College aged 16 and graduates with a bachelor's degree in biology in only two years. In graduate studies, he receives Ph.D.s in Genetics, Biophysics, Psychology, and Anthropology with a two-year residence at Pembroke College, University of Oxford. He receives an M.D. in Psychiatry while spending several years in London. He is appointed adjunct professor at Columbia University. At graduate school, Xavier meets Moira Kinross, a fellow genetics student with whom he falls in love. They agree to get married, but soon, Xavier is drafted into the Korean War. While Xavier is serving in the war, Moira breaks up with him. Saddened, Xavier begins traveling around the world. In a strange town near the Himalayas, Xavier encounters an alien called Lucifer, the advance scout for an invasion by his race, and foils his plans. In retaliation, Lucifer drops a stone block on Xavier, paralyzing his legs. After Lucifer leaves, Sage hears Xavier's telepathic cries for help and rescues him, beginning a long alliance between them. Xavier is brought to a hospital in India, where he is cared for by Amelia Voght during his recovery. Xavier establishes his family mansion as 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. Xavier's first five students are Cyclops, Iceman, Angel, Beast, and Marvel Girl who become the original X-Men. Xavier forms a psychic bond across galaxies with Princess Lilandra Neramani of the Shi'ar empire, with the two falling in love when they meet in person. When the X-Men fight the alien Brood, Xavier is captured by them and implanted with a Brood egg, which places Xavier under the Brood's control. The X-Men and the Starjammers are unable to remove the Brood from Xavier, forcing them to transfer his consciousness into a cloned body. This new body possesses functional legs, though the psychosomatic pain Xavier experienced after living so long as a paraplegic takes some time to subside. 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 and leaves Earth with the Shi'ar to be healed, leaving leadership of the X-Men to Magneto. While in space, Xavier jois the Starjammers and becomes Lilandra's consort. After escaping from Skrull forces, Xavier returns to Earth and reunites with the X-Men. In a battle with the Shadow King, in the "Muir Island Saga", Xavier's spine is shattered, returning him to his former paraplegic state. In the "Age of Apocalypse" series, Xavier is killed while saving Magneto from an attack by Legion. Xavier's death results in a dystopian alternate timeline where Magneto founded the X-Men and sought human/mutant co-existence in Xavier's name. Apocalypse awakens decades before the world is ready for him, resulting in Apocalypse conquering most of Earth. Magneto's X-Men travel back in time and save Xavier, restoring the main universe. Professor X is for a time the unknowing host of the evil psionic entity Onslaught, who was created from the combined repressed emotions of Professor X and Magneto. 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 the events of Operation: Zero Tolerance. Xavier's 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, Genosha's leader, appears to die along with the vast majority of the nation's inhabitants. Nova then takes over Xavier's body and attacks 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 and uses his healing powers to heal Xavier's legs. After being publicly outed as a mutant by Nova, Xavier makes speeches to the public about mutant tolerance. He also founds the X-Corporation, a worldwide organization, to watch over mutant rights and help mutants in need. After Xavier Institute student Quentin Quire and members of his gang start a riot at the Xavier Institute during 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. After Jean Grey is killed by Xorn, Xavier leaves the school to Cyclops and Emma Frost. House of M In the storyline House of M, Scarlet Witch creates an alternate universe where mutants are dominant rather than humans, with Professor X having apparently been killed. After Layla Miller restores the memories of the original universe for 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. Scarlet Witch uses her powers to restore reality and, as a slight against her father, causes most mutants to lose their powers. With reality restored, Xavier is still missing and the X-Men are unable to detect him with Cerebro. Deadly Genesis Cyclops' and Havok's brother, Vulcan, is revived by the energy released as a result of the "House of M" incident. Xavier, now depowered but able to walk in the wake of "House of M", reveals that he had gathered and trained another team of X-Men sometime between the original team and the new X-Men team introduced in Giant-Size X-Men. Like the "Giant Size" X-Men team, McTaggert's former students were sent to rescue the original X-Men from Krakoa. After rescuing Cyclops, McTaggert's former students were seemingly killed, with Vulcan surviving. In spite of Cyclops' feelings, Xavier forms a new team with Havok and Darwin. Xavier seeks to confront Vulcan before he can enact his vengeance against the Shi'ar empire, which killed Vulcan's mother. While en route to the Shi'ar homeworld, Xavier is abducted and is later thrown into the M'Kraan Crystal by Vulcan, restoring his powers. Messiah Complex During the Messiah Complex storyline, Xavier detects a new mutant so powerful it fries Cerebra's system. He asks Cyclops to send out a team to find out about the mutant. Once the team has come back empty handed, he argues with Scott for not telling him about the team he deployed to find former Acolytes. Scott tells him outright that he does not need him to run the X-Men anymore. This upsets Xavier and annoys him later on when he overhears Cyclops briefing X-Factor on the situation. He also approaches the New X-Men in an attempt to help them figure out a non-violent way to help against the Purifiers, but is quickly rebuked by Surge, who questions where he was when they were getting attacked the first time, and that they did not need to learn from him. Charles questions Cyclops' decision to send X-Force to hunt down his own son, Cable, in front of the students. Cyclops then tells Xavier that he is a distraction that will keep getting in the way and that he must leave the mansion. Xavier is contacted by Cable, who lost the mutant newborn to the traitorous actions of Bishop, who in turn lost the child to the Marauders, and tells him that he is the only one who can help Cable save the future. In the ensuing fight, Xavier is accidentally shot in the head by Bishop and rendered comatose. Exodus, Magneto, and Karima Shapandar manage to save Xavier's life, but he is left partly amnesiac. Xavier parts company with Magneto and Karima to try to regain his lost memories by visiting people from his past. Dark Reign During the Dark Reign storyline, Professor X convinces Exodus to disband the Acolytes. A H.A.M.M.E.R. helicopter arrives and from inside appears Norman Osborn, who wants to talk to him. During the Dark Avengers' arrival in San Francisco, Mystique poses as Xavier and denounces Cyclops' actions. The real Xavier is imprisoned on Alcatraz and slowly being stripped of his powers. Xavier moves to Asteroid M, rechristened Utopia, along with the rest of the X-Men, X-Club, and mutant refugees and is also allowed to join the Utopia lead council (Cyclops, Storm, Namor, Iceman, Beast, Wolverine and Emma Frost). While he no longer continues to openly question every move that Cyclops makes, he is still concerned about some of his leadership decisions. Xavier had wanted to return to the mainland to clear his name, but in the aftermath of Osborn declaring Utopia as a mutant detention area, Cyclops refused to let him leave, stating that it would be a tactical advantage to have him as an ace in the hole in case the need arose. To that end, he has kept Xavier out of the field and instead relied on Frost, Psylocke and the Stepford Cuckoos respectively for their own psionic talents. While attending the funeral of Yuriko Takiguchi, Magneto arrives at Utopia, apparently under peaceful motives. Xavier does not believe it, and attacks Magneto telepathically, causing Cyclops to force him to stand down. He later apologizes to Magneto for acting out of his old passions from their complicated relationship, which Magneto accepts. Second Coming During the Second Coming storyline, Professor Xavier is seen on Utopia delivering a eulogy at Nightcrawler's funeral. Like the other X-Men, he is deeply saddened by Nightcrawler's death and anxious about the arrival of Cable and Hope. Xavier is seen using his powers to help his son Legion control his many personalities and battle the Nimrods. At the conclusion of Second Coming, Professor X is seen surveying the aftermath of the battle from a helicopter. As Hope descends to the ground and cradles Cable's lifeless arm, Xavier reflects on everything that has transpired and states that, while he feels that Hope has indeed come to save mutant kind and revive his dream, she is still only a young woman and will have a long and difficult journey before she can truly achieve her potential. Avengers vs. X-Men During the "Avengers vs. X-Men" storyline, the Phoenix Force is split into five pieces and bonded with Cyclops, Emma Frost, Namor, Colossus and Magik (who become known as the Phoenix Five). Eventually, Cyclops and Frost come to possess the full Phoenix Force, and Professor X is instrumental in confronting them both, and dies in the ensuing battle with Cyclops. After confronting the Shadow King in the astral plane, Xavier is returned to the real world in the body of Fantomex and later builds himself a new body. Dawn of X X has since made his presence known to his former students and reveals his new plan for all mutantkind. Now clad in a Cerebro-like helmet and able to walk again, Xavier has apparently abandoned his dream for peaceful coexistence and made Krakoa into a sovereign nation state for mutants. He then leads the X-Men into planting in seeds in strategic locations around the world and Mars, which, overnight, grow into massive plantlike "Habitats" that act as extensions of Krakoa. Through the advancement of mutant technology combined with Krakoa's unique abilities as a living mutant island, Professor X and the X-Men have embassies around the world. Also through this combination of technology and mutant power, Xavier have developed three drugs that could change human life – a pill that extends human life by five years, an adaptable universal antibiotic, and a pill that cures mental disease. In exchange for recognizing the sovereignty of Krakoa, Professor X will give these drugs to mankind, with mutants living in peace on the island. Xavier is revealed to have upgraded Cerebro with the help of Forge, which is now able to copy and store the minds of mutants in a database. The Five, a group of mutants consisting of Hope Summers, Goldballs, Elixir, Proteus, and Tempus combine their abilities to resurrect deceased mutants. These resurrection protocols are used to revive Xavier after he is killed by HALO attackers. ==Powers and abilities==

Professor X is a mutant who possesses vast telepathic powers, and is among the strongest and most powerful telepaths in the Marvel Universe. He is able to perceive the thoughts of others or project his own thoughts within a radius of approximately . Xavier's telepathy once covered the entire world; although following this, Magneto altered the Earth's electromagnetic field to restrict Xavier's telepathic range. While not on Earth, Xavier's natural telepathic abilities have reached across space to make universal mental contact with multiple alien races. With extreme effort, he can also greatly extend the range of his telepathy. He can learn foreign languages by reading the language centers of the brain of someone adept, and alternately "teach" languages to others in the same manner. As side effect of his telepathy, Xavier possesses an eidetic memory and his brain can assimilate and process impossibly huge amounts of raw data in an astonishingly short amount of time. Xavier's vast psionic powers enable him to manipulate the minds of others, warp perceptions to make himself seem invisible, project mental illusions, cause loss of particular memories or total amnesia, and induce pain or temporary mental and/or physical paralysis in others. Xavier once trained a new group of mutants mentally, subjectively making them experience months of training together, while only hours passed in the real world. Within close range, he can manipulate almost any number of minds for such simple feats. However, he can only take full possession of one other mind at a time, and must strictly be within that person's physical presence. He is one of the few telepaths skilled enough to communicate with animals and even share their perceptions. He can also telepathically take away or control people's natural bodily functions and senses, such as sight, hearing, smell, taste, or even mutant powers. He has displayed telepathic prowess sufficient to confront Ego the Living Planet (while aided by Cadre K) as well as narrowly defeat Exodus. However, he cannot permanently "reprogram" human minds to believe what he might want them to believe even if he wanted to do so, explaining that the mind is an organism that would always recall the steps necessary for it to reach the present and thus 'rewrite' itself to its original setting if he tried to change it. However, his initial reprogramming of Wolverine lasted several years, despite Wolverine overcoming the reprogramming much faster than an ordinary human because of his healing factor. He is able to project from his mind 'bolts' composed of psychic energy, enabling him to stun the mind of another person into unconsciousness, inflict mental trauma, or even cause death. These 'bolts' inflict damage only upon other minds, having a negligible effect on non-mental beings, if any. The manner in which Xavier's powers function indicates that his telepathy is physical in some way, as it can be enhanced by physical means (for example, Cerebro), but can also be disrupted by physical means (for example, Magneto's alteration of the Earth's magnetic field). Xavier can perceive the distinct mental presence/brain waves of other superhuman mutants within a small radius of himself. To detect mutants to a wider area beyond this radius, he must amplify his powers through Cerebro and subsequently Cerebra, computer devices of his own design which are sensitive to the psychic/physical energies produced by the mind. Professor X can project his astral form into a psychic dimension known as the astral plane. There, he can use his powers to create objects, control his surroundings, and even control and destroy the astral forms of others. He cannot project this form over long distances. Uncanny X-Men writer Ed Brubaker has claimed that, after being de-powered by the Scarlet Witch, and then re-powered by the M'Kraan Crystal, Charles' telepathy is more powerful than was previously known. However, the extent of this enhancement is unknown. Years prior to initial publishing, Charles Xavier had an undefined level of telekinesis. This aspect of his powers were potent enough to cause catastrophic system disruption in computerized appliances. Such an attribute has faded, however. His evil counterpart Cassandra Nova Xavier would possess this ability, indicating he still possessed the potential for them. This potential was proven true after his death and resurgence within the younger, stronger body of Charlie Cluster 7. The Professor, using the moniker X, fashioned a Cerebro like a helmet which acts as a focusing device for his psionic powers and used it to galvanize latent aspects of his X-Gene to stimulate some dormant properties, seemingly using telekinesis to will a flash drive on Mystique's person into his hand. Charles Xavier was also given possession of the Mind Gem. It allows the user to boost mental power and access the thoughts and dreams of other beings. Backed by the Power Gem, it is possible to access all minds in existence simultaneously. Like all other former Illuminati members, Xavier has sworn to never use the gem and to keep its location hidden. ==Xavier Protocols==

The Xavier Protocols are a set of doomsday plans created by Professor X. The protocols detail the best way to kill many powerful mutant characters, including the X-Men and Xavier himself, should they become too large of a danger. The Xavier Protocols are first mentioned during the Onslaught crossover and first seen in Excalibur #100 in Moira MacTaggert's lab. Charles Xavier compiled a list of the Earth's most powerful mutants and plans on how to defeat them if they become a threat to the world. They are first used after Onslaught grows too powerful. Only parts of the actual protocols are ever shown. In the Operation: Zero Tolerance crossover Bastion obtains an encrypted copy of the protocols, intending to use them against the X-Men. However, Cable infiltrates the X-Mansion and secures all encrypted files before Bastion has a chance to decrypt them. Due to the tampering of Bastion and his Sentinels, the X-Mansion computer system Cerebro gains autonomy and seeks to destroy the X-Men by employing its knowledge of the Xavier Protocols. In a virtual environment created by Professor X, Cerebro executes the Xavier Protocols against the X-Men. Each protocol is activated by the presence of a different combination of X-Men and were written by Xavier himself : • Code 0-0-0 (Charles Xavier) was activated by Moira MacTaggert, Cyclops, and Jean Grey. This file is both an entry on Charles Xavier, as well as an introduction to the Xavier Protocols. It contained a holographic image of Charles Xavier, reading the following message: "Moira, Scott, Jean; if you three are seeing these images, then I have become a mortal threat to my X-Men. In this instance, I must be stopped by any means necessary. Some years ago, I made a study of various forms of possible defense against my own psychic abilities. The image next to me is that of an anti-psionic armor. The wearer should be protected from my talent. When I finish speaking, a blueprint for this armor will be downloaded." • Code 0-2-1 (Wolverine) was activated by Archangel, Cyclops, and Jean Grey. • Code 1-3-9 (Cable) was activated by Cyclops, Jean Grey, and Cannonball. Other X-Men who have faced their Xavier Protocols are Colossus, Rogue, Shadowcat, Nightcrawler, Storm, and Gambit. == Reception ==

Accolades • In 2006, BusinessWeek listed Xavier as one of the top ten most intelligent fictional characters in American comics. • In 2014, Entertainment Weekly ranked Charles Xavier 13th in their "Let's rank every X-Man ever" list. • In 2014, BuzzFeed ranked Charles Xavier 11th in their "95 X-Men Members Ranked From Worst To Best" list. • In 2019, ComicBook.com ranked Charles Xavier 14th in their "50 Most Important Superheroes Ever" list. • In 2022, The Mary Sue ranked Charles Xavier 8th in their "10 Most Powerful X-Men of All Time" list and 7th in their "8 Most Powerful Marvel Mutants" list. • In 2022, Digital Trends ranked Charles Xavier 6th in their "Marvel’s most powerful mutants" list. • In 2022, Screen Rant included Charles Xavier in their "10 Smartest Marvel Telepaths" list. • In 2022, Newsarama ranked Charles Xavier 15th in their "Best X-Men members of all time" list. • In 2022, CBR.com ranked Charles Xavier 1st in their "10 Greatest X-Men, Ranked By Experience" list. ==In other media==