When it comes to the world of Marvel Comics, one group of heroes who have battled both villains and public perception for the majority of their careers has to be the X-Men. The group of heroes comprised of the mutant population of Earth has been feared and discriminated against for decades, and it has taken strong leadership to overcome that amount of hatred.

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That is where Charles Xavier comes in. Otherwise known as Professor X, Xavier is the leader of the X-Men and mentor. Using his telepathic abilities, he helps the X-Men in many battles. Here are ten things fans should know about Charles Xavier.

10 Troubled Family Life

Born to a wealthy family in Westchester County, Charles was born to a nuclear scientist for a father named Dr. Brian Xavier and Charles’ mother Sharon Xavier. Growing up wealthy due to his father’s success and respect amongst his peers, Charles soon loses his father in an accident, and his father’s partner Kurt Marko comforts and later marries Charles’s mother Sharon.

Charles's powers begin to emerge, and he learns Kurt’s after Sharon’s money. Sharon becomes an alcoholic and both Charles and Kurt’s son Cain clash, despite Charles attempting to help his stepbrother. Eventually, Kurt passes away in a fire after Charles and Cain’s fight accidentally explodes some lab equipment.

9 Brilliant And Educated Man

While many know Charles Xavier as a mutant leader and well respected amongst the superhero community, many fans may not know just how intelligent and brilliant this man is. While many know he is highly intelligent to the point where he is a member of the Illuminati, Xavier has many degrees under his belt.

Not only did he graduate with honors from Bard College at age 16, but he gained Ph.D.’s in Genetics, Biophysics, Psychology, and Anthropology, while also gaining an M.D. in Psychiatry while in London. His telepathic gifts helped his education but also contributed to his hair loss at a young age.

8 Drafted Into Korean War

While at graduate school, Charles had the pleasure of meeting and falling in love with fellow genetics student Moira Kinross, a young Scottish girl. With plans to to get married, their lives are turned upside down when Charles is drafted into the Korean War, changing their plans and their lives forever.

Making a name for himself as a soldier, Charles gains notoriety alongside Kitty Pryde’s father Carmen Pryde in search and rescue missions during the war. It’s here Charles witnesses his own stepbrother Cain Marko transform into Juggernaut after touching an ancient ruby artifact. Later, Charles is devastated to learn Moira has broken up with him and married an old boyfriend, Joseph MacTaggert.

7 Becomes Renowned Adventurer

Heartbroken after his failed relationship with Moira, Charles became a world-traveler and adventurer after his service in the war ended. During his adventures, Charles ended up in Cairo, Egypt. It was here that he would meet for the first time the powerful mutant child and future X-Men leader Storm, aka Ororo Munroe.

It would also be the location he met one of his oldest adversaries, The Shadow King. Originally the second most powerful telepathic mutant on Earth, it was later revealed the villain was an entity that fed on telepaths and possesses their bodies. Charles defeated the Shadow King, starting a longtime rivalry.

6 Meets Magneto In Israel

Before beginning his career helping mutantkind, Charles was in Israel visiting a friend when he met Magnus, aka Magneto. Both hid their powers from one another, becoming fast friends and quickly hold long debates about the future of humanity if faced with superpowered beings, showcasing their very different views on the subject early on in their friendship.

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While there the two battle Baron von Strucker and Hydra, revealing their powers, as a woman named Gabrielle Haller, whom he helped come out of a coma, is targeted by the Nazis. Magnus takes their gold, realizing his views don’t match Charles, and Charles leaves on good terms with Gabrielle, whom he doesn’t realize is pregnant with his future son Legion.

5 Wealthy Financier

When it comes to the X-Men that Charles Xavier helps create, there are a lot of questions that come to fans' minds. One, in particular, is how Charles manages to fund the heroes with all of the technology, housing, and equipment they use on a daily basis. While he has inherited his family’s estate and a lot of their wealth, it was never revealed how much he made.

Until Fantomex that is. The hero revealed at one point that Xavier has a net worth of $3.5 billion. This helped the formation of not only the X-Men but Charles Xavier’s School For Gifted Youngsters.

4 Forced To Battle Jean Grey

One of the hardest parts of Charles Xavier’s journey was the emergence of the Dark Phoenix in his pupil and ally Jean Grey. At the time this happened, he was living with his love interest, Empress Lilandra of the Shi’ar Empire, after helping her defeat former Emperor D’Ken.

However sensing Jean beginning to transform into the Dark Phoenix, he returns to Earth to try and help her. However, in her transformation and anger, she destroys a planet within the Shi’ar Empire and forces Charles to be against Lilandra. He and Jean psychically battle the Dark Phoenix persona and win, however at the cost of Jean’s life eventually.

3 Hulk Leaves Xavier Alone During World War Hulk

One interesting fact is that out of all of the Illuminati that the Hulk targeted during his invasion of Earth during the events of World War Hulk, Charles Xavier is one of the few who managed to avoid being taken by the Hulk. That is because Xavier himself had no part of the decision to exile Hulk.

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Although being honest with the Hulk that he would have agreed to a temporary exile to find a cure, he would not have agreed to a permanent exile. Trying to willingly give up, the Hulk saw the memorial to the mutants lost on M-Day and agreed the mutants had lost enough, leaving Charles and the X-Men alone.

2 Imprisoned By Norman Osborn

During the Dark Reign event of Marvel Comics, Charles Xavier shocks many at first by being by Norman Osborn’s side in San Francisco to denounce the actions of Cyclops during the Anti-Mutant riots. However, this turns out to be a ruse by Norman, who had brought in Mystique to impersonate him.

In reality, Charles was imprisoned on Alcatraz Island, where his powers were being stripped from his mind. Charles worked with both Beast and Emma Frost to free himself from the prison, and once freed he was forced to hide and live on Asteroid M, which had been renamed Utopia.

1 Resurrected To Become X

One interesting thing about Charles Xavier in recent years has to be his passing and resurrection. The shocking passing of Professor X came during the Avengers vs X-Men storyline, where a Phoenix-powered Cyclops ended his former mentor’s life. However after his mind had been taken by the Red Skull and used for his own nefarious means, Professor X was resurrected.

Escaping the Shadow King’s realm and returning to a much younger body, he renamed himself X and took on a leadership role in the X-Men once more. In recent issues of the comic, X has abandoned his dream of peaceful coexistence, wearing a Cerebro helmet on his head and turned Krakoa into a sovereign state.

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