Wanda Maximoff, also known as the Scarlet Witch, is one of the most powerful characters in the Marvel Universe. With the ability to control the reality-altering power known as Chaos Magic, Wanda is one of the most powerful magic-users in the game. And despite being a member of the Avengers, she has a very complicated past, present, and future.

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There are many instances where Wanda's actions can be perceived as those of a villain. A complicated character with an even more complicated history, these actions, though they may be with bad intentions, can be justified in her own eyes. Unfortunately, they may be hard to justify in others, leaving Wanda to wear the face of a villain.

9 The Scarlet Witch Was Originally A part of the Brotherhood

Scarlet Witch Brotherhood Of Evil Mutants Quicksilver Magneto

Wanda Maximoff started off as a villain, as a member of Magneto's Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. Along with her twin brother Pietro (known as Quicksilver). At the time the twins had no idea that Magneto was actually their father, but both shared a hatred for humans and their treatment of mutants, so they joined forces with the Master of Magnetism.

Eventually, the two were persuaded to join the Avengers and fight for good, joining Captain America's "Kooky Quartet," along with Clint Barton, the archer known as Hawkeye. All three of the members Cap recruited were seen in the public eye as villains, but reformed in order to fight the good fight.

8 House of M Almost Ended the Mutant Race

Scarlet Witch Wanda Maximoff House of M

Due to her chaotic emotional state, Wanda Maximoff was teetering on the verge of a full mental breakdown. After being treated by the combined efforts of Charles Xavier and Doctor Strange, they decided that Wanda's condition would never improve, and that she was losing control of her reality-altering powers, and that if she was not dealt with, all of reality would be in danger.

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However, before the X-Men and Avengers could intervene, Wanda created a whole new alternate reality, one where everyone was given their heart's desire, so they could all live in harmony and peace. However, after the heroes of the world rebelled against this reality, Wanda was pushed to her limit, and blaming Magneto, uttered the words "No More Mutants," effectively casting a spell that wiped out 98% of the mutant race.

7 Avengers Disassembled Was One of her Lowest Points

Wanda Maximoff Scarlet Witch Avengers

During the Avengers: Disassembled event, the Avengers came under attack by some of their greatest foes in such a short span of time, and were pushed to their absolute limits, with members Ant-Man, Hawkeye, and Vision all dying in the attacks. Regarded as the darkest day in Avengers history, the heroes would suffer another blow when they learned it was all orchestrated by their teammate, the Scarlet Witch.

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Reeling from the discovery that the children she believed she had given birth to had never actually existed and had just been constructs of her reality-altering powers, Wanda snapped and decided that the Avengers should know what it felt to feel the loss that she felt, in a series of events that eventually led to the destruction of Avengers Mansion and the disbanding of the famous team.

6 AXIS Retconned A Huge Character Detail

Scarlet Witch AXIS Wanda Maximoff

The AXIS event in 2014 was meant to offer a perspective of how some famous Marvel characters would turn out if their moral allegiances were swapped. So, when the Red Skull released the Red Onslaught and threatened the balance of the world, the Scarlet Witch (alongside Doctor Doom) cast a spell that did just that, resulting in many interesting storylines.

During the event, the Scarlet Witch set out to kill Doctor Doom, for when he manipulated and kept her prisoner during the events of the "Children's Crusade" storyline. Wanda didn't manage to kill Doom but did instead find out that Magneto was not actually hers and Pietro's biological father, in an interesting and confusing retcon.

5 The Ultimate Universe Made Her Even More Eccentric

Scarlet Witch Wolverine Ultimate Universe

Much like her Earth-616 counterpart, in the Ultimate Universe of Earth-1610, Wanda Maximoff is first aligned with the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, before joining the Earth-1610 version of the Avengers, the Ultimates. However, even after joining the Ultimates, Wanda and her brother Pietro show that their allegiances tend to waiver, coming to blows with the X-Men on multiple occasions.

With the many striking personalities in the Ultimate Universe, it can be understood why Wanda would have a bone to pick with someone as rough around the edges as Wolverine, who despite being an X-Man, has attempted to kill the Maximoff twins on multiple occasions.

4 Avengers vs. X-Men Pit Wanda Against her Friends

Scarlet Witch Hope Summers Avengers vs. X-Men

The Avengers Vs. X-Men event pitted Earth's Mightiest Heroes against Earth's most hated and feared mutants, as both sides came to blows over the power of the Phoenix Force. With Cyclops and the X-Men hoping to use the Phoenix Force to reverse the damage done to the mutant population by the events of Wanda's House of M, making the resulting conflict a very personal affair for Wanda.

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Wanda intervened in the conflict between two sides of friends in order to reach out to Hope Summers, the waiting host for the Phoenix. Though she was regarded as a villain by the mutants, Wanda was the only one strong enough to go head-to-head with Hope, an Omega-level mutant. Eventually, the two managed to combine forces in order to vanquish the Phoenix Force.

3 On Krakoa She is called the Pretender

Krakoa Scarlet Witch Exodus

Once Charles Xavier and his allies established the sovereign mutant nation of Krakoa, they seemed to have created an island paradise for all mutants. Having mastered the resurrection protocols, and with the power of Cerebro, the X-Men were capable of reviving any dead mutant and restoring them with powers that had originally been lost during the results of M-Day.

However, despite peace being established on Krakoa, the Krakoans and mutants at large regarded Wanda as a terrible witch, and the cause of so many of their problems for years. Spoken of only as "The Pretender" to young Krakoans, the Scarlet Witch is a villain who attempted (but failed) to eradicate the mutants and was not welcome on their island.

2 Getting Tony Fired Was An Ultimate Betrayal

Avengers Disassembled Iron Man Scarlet Witch

During the events of Avengers: Disassembled, many Avengers members began acting irrationally and out of character, under strange pretenses. Captain America became infatuated with Wanda, other members became aggressive and hostile towards each other, and most heartbreaking of all, Tony Stark suffered what he described as a relapse from his sobriety.

While he didn't actually break his sobriety, Tony described feeling as if he was intoxicated, causing a breakdown in front of the U.N. General Assembly, and costing the Avengers their government funding. It was all Wanda's work in order to disorient the Avengers, but for Tony, a character whose fight with alcohol has been so character-defining, it was an ultimate betrayal from a fellow Avenger he considered a friend.

1 She Created an Army of Zombie Mutants Out of Guilt

Zombie Mutants Genosha Krakoa

Feeling extreme remorse for her actions during M-Day, Wanda set out to make things right in some shape or form. However, at this point in time, the mutant nation of Krakoa had already found a way to revive those that had been depowered during M-Day, without the help of the Scarlet Witch.

So to still find a way to help, Wanda attempted to revive the millions killed on Genosha, by Cassandra Nova's Sentinel attack in Grant Morrison's New X-Men from the 2000s. However, that caused an even larger problem, as it only created an army of mutant undead, who sought to take over Krakoa for themselves, making even more problems for the mutant nation and the X-Men.

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