this is suuuch a common and spot-on misconception that it immediately made me frustrated and nearly angry, because i’m forced to see it all the time. neither of these are true, although in some situations and circumstances, i can understand and forgive people who see him as a genocidal psychopath. let me try to break this meta down and make it semi-legible. first of all: i am a firm believer in the ‘Magneto was Right’ movement. he was absolutely right from the very beginning, and people in 616 are only just beginning to realize that. while his core ideology (mutants must strike out before they are extinguished; mutants are the next step of humanity), i think, is mostly spot-on and true, he doesn’t stick to that ideology very strictly. he’s added a lot of extraneous ideas on top of that, most of which involve extermination of humans. that is not, i do not think, a part of his actual, core ideology. that is something he gained upon reflection of the holocaust, in a very roundabout way. it’s expounded by his previous experiences - how can he allow humans to live, when they expressly created things like sentinels? to him, it seems obvious that these other details should be added onto his ideology. this brings me to my second point on how he isn’t a genocidal psychopath: there is a lot of very obvious cognitive dissonance regarding his actions surrounding murder. he is very aware that a lot of his actions are nazi-esque, because he’s been compared to hitler more than once. he vehemently denies that, all while proclaiming superiority of his race, and trying to make a sanctuary, as hitler did with aryans. he rationalizes it by the knowledge that his people truly are at risk, they are marginalized and could be extinguished if someone like him doesn’t fight for them. after all, how can an oppressed minority be in the wrong for trying to preserve their lives? the issue with him is that he sees things in an incredibly black and white way, despite being nestled in a very morally gray area. to him, his ‘truths’ and ideology are obvious and should be taken for granted as true, because in his experience, they are true. he’s not quite willing to see things in shades of gray, because that makes his goals harder to reach - that’s why he departed from Xavier’s side, because Xavier is willing to go through introspection and examine if what he does is right, and is willing to see the shades of gray. now does this mean he’s a hero who did no wrong? absolutely not. just because his cause is righteous doesn’t mean his actions are. he’s committed terrible, terrible acts, but because he views them as necessary to his cause, in a way, they are justifiable. magneto is firmly a villain, but in his core, he is a villain because he strives to do good for his people.