Professor X has become one of the most controversial X-Men characters ever. Xavier started out as the perfect older mentor, a man with a wonderful dream that would change the world for the better. However, recent year have seen Xavier played more as a villain, as creators have started to reveal more and more about his past. Superhero comics have become much more complex than before, so saintlike characters like Xavier have been given a heaping helping of nuance. The sins of Xavier are a major part of the character’s history, and have changed the way that fans look at the character. Professor X is no longer everyone’s favorite father figure, instead becoming someone just as likely to smack around the X-Men as he is to give them his years of hard-earned knowledge.
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However, even looking at Xavier’s most despicable acts, it’s actually hard to say that he’s completely a villain. Sure, Xavier has done monstrous things, but are they the acts of a villain? Xavier has definitely become a more complex character, but does that complexity actually make Xavier a villain or have many fans been wrong about the character?
Xavier Has Been Something of a Dark Character For Longer than Many Fans Realize
X-Men (Vol. 2) #53 was one of the precursors to the Onslaught story and it showed readers a moment from the early days of the X-Men that has been debated more and more as the years have gone by. Onslaught shows Jean the past, a scene from X-Men (Vol. 1) #1, where Xavier professes his love for Jean Grey in his thoughts. Now, there’s always the chance that Stan Lee meant for this to be platonic love, but ever since X-Men (Vol. 2) #53, it’s been taken as an example of Xavier’s villainy. It’s a moment that was meant to illustrate that Xavier was more complicated than we imagined, something that had already started in the ’90s. That brings us to the story of Ameila Voight.
Amelia Voight was a nurse who helped Xavier after his legs were crushed. They ended up falling in love but eventually things sour and Amelia tries to leave. Xavier grabs her telepathically and stops her, something that he had promised to never do. This moment, in Uncanny X-Men (Vol. 1) #309, was a huge moment for fans. We had seen Xavier mindwipe bad guys or bigots or people who were evil. We had never seen Xavier mess with the mind of someone that he actually loved. This moment planted the seeds for the Xavier we’ve gotten in the 21st century, a character for whom the ends justify the means to an extent. It showed that Xavier wasn’t the saint we had thought and made us question who this character really was.
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Since then, we’ve seen just how bad that Xavier could be. He sent a team of mutants to die saving his first class of X-Men from Krakoa, and then mindwiped everyone of their existence. When the Danger Room computer became sentient, Xavier enslaved it because it was more useful to him training the X-Men than being its own being. He spent years secretly working with Moira MacTaggert and Magneto, mindwiping and manipulating in order to build his mutant utopia on Krakoa, then lied and kept secrets from his “equals” on the Quiet Council. He propped up his daughter Xandra as Shi’Ar Empress, but never visited her or even treated her as anything other than distant ally. Xavier’s actions can be quite monstrous when laid out, but there’s an argument to be made that all of these things were necessary.
All of Xavier’s terrible acts are in service to his dream. They’ve saved lives time after time, all because Xavier was willing to make the hard decisions that no one else was willing to. There’s something noble about Xavier taking these sins upon himself, all to keep his students pure. However, let’s look at what he’s put those students through. Xavier’s dream boils down to mutants risking their lives so that humans will stop hating them. Xavier’s dream of “co-existence” will always make mutants into servants of the humans. Say what you will about Magneto and what he’s done over the years, but he’s never tried to make excuses for his genocidal urges. Xavier is telling mutants to be second-class citizens and risk their lives for the humans, whose existences are somehow more precious, and yet Xavier has pretended that he was a saint. Is this really the kind of dream that should be fought for? Is it the kind of dream that a good person would have? Are these the actions o good person?
Xavier May Not Be a Villain, but He’s Definitely a Monster
The question of whether Xavier is a villain or not is a more complicated one than it just being a yes or no answer, and it depends on how you personally look at Xavier’s actions. All of Xavier’s most despicable actions at least have good intentions behind them, and those terrible acts have often saved many, many lives. Xavier is, at the least, altruistic in his actions, which isn’t something that can be said about villains. Xavier wants to make the world a better place, and will commit any sin to make his dream a reality. This is quite pragmatic, even noble, but these actions aren’t those of a heroic person.
However, the thing about Xavier is that he is a monster. His dream seems great, but scratch the surface and it’s honestly kind of racist. Xavier decided that child soldiers were the way to go with his X-Men, and has had no problems over the years using his powers to change the minds of anyone who doesn’t agree with him. It’s easy to say that everything Xavier did was the for right reasons, which makes it all worth it — that’s basically how the X-Men fandom looks at Magneto now a days — but his actions alone are exactly the kind of thing a villain would do. At the very least, Xavier has become an antagonist for the X-Men, his actions making life harder for his students.
