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Characters / Marvel Comics: Professor X
aka: Professor X

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Professor Charles Francis Xavier / Professor X

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/professor_x.jpg

Nationality: American

Species: Human mutant

First Appearance: X-Men #1 (September, 1963)

Professor Charles Xavier, also known as Professor X, is a Marvel Comics character created by Jack Kirby and Stan Lee, first appearing in X-Men #1 (September 1963).

Widely considered the father of the mutant rights movement in the Marvel Universe, Xavier is the founder of his School for Gifted Youngsters, where young mutants can learn to hone their amazing abilities in a safe environment. Cyclops, Jean Grey, Iceman, Beast, and Angel were among his first-ever pupils.

Xavier, himself a mutant with the power of telepathy, is often compared to Martin Luther King Jr., especially in the context of alternating friend / rival Magneto's Malcolm X. Highly regarded within the Marvel Universe by mutants and non-mutants alike for his intellectual endeavors, Xavier's intelligence isn't always utilized for pure altruism, and he's often depicted as a member of The Illuminati, for better or worse.

Regardless, Xavier remains an enduring figure of leadership within the mutant community, even after his death in Avengers vs. X-Men. While still technically dead as of 2018, Charles Soule's Astonishing X-Men brought Xavier back to the land of the living, albeit in the body of a consenting Fantomex. Now calling himself "X", Xavier eventually revealed his new status to the rest of the X-Men, and emerged as a major figure of Jonathan Hickman's dual House of X / Powers of X series.

As the founder of the X-Men, Xavier has (obviously) appeared quite often in other media based on the characters, to the point of virtual omnipresence. He features in just about every possible animated adaptation of the X-Men franchise, most notably in original animated series and X-Men: Evolution.

Xavier also appears as a primary character in most of the X-Men Film Series, portrayed initially by Patrick Stewart (who was already popular fancast by fans and creators for many years) starting with 2000's X-Men. James McAvoy was later cast as a younger version of the role in 2011's X-Men: First Class, a role he'd continue in further prequel-sequels. Both Xaviers would eventually interact in 2014's X-Men: Days of Future Past. Xavier was alluded to in a Season 1 episode of FX's Legion, based on the character of the same name... who just so happens to be his firstborn offspring. He finally appeared in the third season, played by Harry Lloyd.

Professor X appears in:

    open/close all folders 

     Notable Comics 

     Anime 

     Live-Action Films 

     Live-Action Series 

    Western Animation 

     Video Games 

Professor X provides examples of:

    A-H 
  • Abled in the Adaptation: The X-Men Film Series gives Xavier a serum that he can take which allows him to regain his ability to walk at the cost of his powers. Nothing like this exists in the comics, although he has come up with numerous other off-the-wall ways to regain his mobility (none of them ever stick, though). In Legion, Harry Lloyd's version of the character lacks any disability and is always seen walking.
  • Abusive Parents:
    • His stepfather Kurt Marko was strict and abusive. He still died trying to save Xavier from a fire.
    • Xavier himself is regarded by his son David Heller as neglectful at best. By the Krakoan Age their relationship had degraded to the point where Xavier refused to resurrect David because he viewed him as too unstable to live in the mutant nation. David, being an Omega level reality warper, was able to resurrect himself just fine. Since then, Xavier has tried to read his son's mind without permission and even forbid him from leaving Mars/Arakko and returning to Krakoa despite David helping to save mutantkind from Onslaught.
  • Academic Athlete: As a teenager, Xavier received excellent grades and was also an accomplished track athlete.
  • Adaptational Attractiveness: He's bald and average-looking at best in the comics, but the younger Charles in the X-Men Film Series and Legion is a Pretty Boy with a head full of hair.
  • Adaptational Nationality: The original comic book iteration is American, but Xavier is half-British through his mother in the X-Men Film Series where it's implied that he has dual USA/UK citizenship. In Legion, he's a full-blooded Englishman who was a British army officer during World War II. note  It's worth noting that Patrick Stewart, James McAvoy and Harry Lloyd are all Brits, and the general audience has become invokedaccustomed to hearing the character speak with a posh English accent. Even though Professor X is Truer to the Text in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, his Received Pronunciation accent is retained (and the role was reprised by Stewart, no less).
  • Adaptational Nice Guy: His more negative traits (Manipulative Bastard, Good Is Not Nice) are often downplayed in most adaptations such as the 1990s animated series and the X-Men Film Series, where he is a lot more noble and wise. James McAvoy takes it up a notch in terms of likability by portraying the younger Charles as The Cutie. Harry Lloyd's interpretation in Legion is also a sympathetic Nice Guy.
  • Adaptation Dye-Job: The comic book character was blond before he lost his hair, but Xavier is a brunet in the X-Men Film Series and Legion.
  • Aesop Amnesia: Modern Charles has a bad habit of assuming he knows best, trying to use his powers to fix whatever the problem is and making the situation so much worse. And he never learns.
  • Alcoholic Parent: His mother Sharon Xavier started Drowning Her Sorrows following her failed marriage to Kurt Marko. She became an alcoholic and died young. Xavier still has fond memories of her.
  • Alternate Company Equivalent: He and the Chief of DC Comics's Doom Patrol are this to each other. Both Charles and Niles Caulder are wheelchair bound leaders of teams consisting of those rejected by society, who were only morally questionable early on and — thanks to retcons — got revealed to be horrible people who were directly and indirectly responsible for parts of their respective teams suffering (and proceeded to get disowned by said teams).
  • Alternate Universe Reed Richards Is Awesome: What If? vol. 2 #13 (May, 1990), depicts Earth-905. During The Korean War, Xavier and not Cain Marko finds the Crimson Gem of Cyttorak. He is transformed into the Juggernaut. In this incarnation being a Genius Bruiser, Nigh Invulnerable, a near Invincible Villain, and hinted by Uatu to be Immortal. He uses his powers to take over the United States and sets up a mutant-dominated regime, founding the X-Men to serve as its de facto ruling class. Among those defeated by him are Daredevil, Doctor Doom, the Fantastic Four, the Hulk, Iron Man, and Spider-Man. His tyranny turns a hand full of his X-Men against him. He is eventually defeated by an alliance of Cain Marko, Colossus, Cyclops, Jean Grey, Magneto, Quicksilver, and the Scarlet Witch, who manage to launch him into space.
    • What If? vol. 2 #77 (September, 1995) depicts Earth-77995. Legion time travels to World War II and kills a harmless Magneto. Legion then fades from existence. Without Magneto there is no mutant terrorist threat and no noticeable anti-mutant sentiment. Xavier still goes on to found the X-Men, who become media darlings. There is even a film series based on their adventures. Xavier loses control of the team to Forge, who barely tolerates Xavier's continued presence among the team. When Apocalypse and an army of his followers emerge, the X-Men have to face their first major battle in years. They are severely outclassed. Apocalypse points out the difference in their strengths: "For mine was tempered in fire, and yours went untested and became a joke." A mortally wounded Xavier still manages to kill Apocalypse. Jean Grey then uses the Phoenix Force to incinerate all of Apocalypse's army, except for Vanisher and Gideon who manage to escape. The cost is great, much of Washington, D.C. burns in the Phoenix flames and 100,000 civilians die. Jean takes over the X-Men and the school they run, but now the public has turned against them. Iron Man proposes anti-mutant legislation, while Gideon takes up Apocalypse's cause and recruits a new army of followers.
    • The Mutant X series (1998-2001) depicts Earth-1298. Xavier fought the Shadow King, killed him, and managed to somehow absorb the powers of the rival telepath. This was the Start of Darkness for him, as he also absorbed some of the Shadow King's corruption. He set out on a campaign to capture all the world's telepaths and absorb their powers. He later formed an alliance with Mister Sinister, took control of S.H.I.E.L.D., and unleashed a major attack on the X-Men. This was the prerequisite on his actual plan to terrorize the civilian population of planet Earth and feed on their fears, a power he had inherited from the Shadow King. He had an argument with Sinister and killed him. He was eventually defeated by the combined forces of the X-Men (led by Magneto), the Six (led by Havok), and the Horsemen of the Apocalypse (led by Apocalypse). He escaped and remained an active threat.
    • The one-shot What If Magneto Had Formed the X-Men With Professor X? (February, 2005) depicts Earth-523004. Xavier, Magneto, and Gabrielle Haller have their fated meeting in Israel. But in this world, a passionate speech by Gabrielle inspires Magneto to become a hero, rather than a Well-Intentioned Extremist. He and Xavier become firm allies and active players in world politics. Their greatest achievement is helping to end the Arab–Israeli Conflict. On the other hand, Xavier fails to construct Cerebro. Consequently the two only managed to locate a hand full of mutants over the decades. They form the X-Men to face the plans of Larry Trask. Trask stands as one of the world's richest men, his company provides advanced technology for global governments, he is a Lord Cardinal of the Hellfire Club, and his father provides him with mutant-hunting Sentinels. Making him much more dangerous than his Earth-616 counterpart.
  • Ambiguously Evil: Something isn't right about him as of the Krakoan age. Not only has he inexplicably abandoned his philosophy of integration and equality in favor of isolationism and looking down on normal humans, but he’s suddenly willing to work with villains like Mystique, Sabretooth, and Toad to get things done. One of the first things we see him do is send them to steal valuable data from Damage Control, seemingly not caring when Sabretooth kills several innocent security guards in the process. House of X #2 indicates that he's not actually evil at all, but is willing to sacrifice his initial dream for the sake of ensuring a lasting future for all mutants. There's still a lot that's shady and unpleasant about what he does, though.
  • Amicable Exes: With Moira (at least before the big retcon of the Hickman era). Significantly less so with Gabrielle Haller, Amelia Voght and Lilandra, though with Amelia things have progressed so that they can have a conversation with one another.
  • Amnesiac Dissonance: After getting shot in the head by Bishop, a lot of Charles' memories were slow to come back. It did prove valuable in a Battle in the Center of the Mind with Mr. Sinister, though, since his attempts at demoralising Charles didn't have the same punch without the emotional connection.
  • Anti-Climactic Unmasking: An odd example since he’d been wearing the Cerebro helmet, considering that it follows his assassination in X-Force #1, but X-Force #2 showcases that his face is completely normal when he's not wearing Cerebro.
    • The more traditional example occurs in X-Men #4, removing Cerebro during the economic summit.
  • Anti-Hero: As of the Krakoa era. Gone are the days of the Patrick Stewart Speech-delivering idealist that we once knew, although that isn't to say he's turned bad. X is still very much someone with noble intentions and still believes in coexistence, but he's become a lot more pragmatic in response to learning the full extent of the problems facing mutantkind.
  • Arch-Enemy: He has several. Magneto serves as his longest-standing enemy and is also his rival in proposing a different dream for mutants, one of mutant supremacy (which is against everything Xavier stands for). The Shadow King is another, being the first evil mutant he fought and a telepath of power comparable to him who has returned over and over again to haunt the X-Men. Mr. Sinister became this to him in X-Men Legacy, where it was retconned that he had manipulated Xavier when he was a child. And then there's Jack Winters, the evil mutant who adopted Cyclops and steered him towards a life of crime before Xavier stepped in.
  • The Atoner: During his journey Walking the Earth in X-Men Legacy he spent most of his time trying to make amends with various X-Men.
  • Badass Teacher: However one feels about his personal morality, he's undoubtedly one of these to the students under his charge.
  • Bald of Authority: He is a Chrome Dome Psi and the original founder and first leader of the X-Men. As the leader of the X-men and the headmaster of Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters, he's idealistic, empathetic, paternalistic, and a perennial Mentor Archetype to every student. Depending on the adaptation, how he became bald changes, but most describe it as a consequence of him developing his abilities as a teenager.
  • Beneath the Mask: Toward the end of the Krakoa era, while Charles acts aloof and smug, it's repeatedly shown he's cracking quite badly under the pressure of ruling an entire nation.
  • Beware the Nice Ones: Charles is a kind father figure to his students and truly believes in a world where humans and mutants can live together in peace. But he's also an extraordinarily powerful psychic who can rip your mind apart without breaking a sweat and even his team are shocked at just how ruthless he can be when pushed.
  • Big Bad Slippage: In his earliest days he had some Jerkass moments but was generally portrayed as the Big Good of the franchise, guiding the world to his dream of human and mutant co-existence by training his teams to be heroes and "protect the world that hates and fears them". Then over time he became more and more manipulative and unscrupulous at times even becoming a full on Sociopathic Hero. Then after going through several Cynicism Catalysts we eventually got to the Krakoan Era, in which he leads the Quiet Council of Krakoa, who could be considered as much the Big Bad's of the era as Orchis. From their Fantastic Racism towards humans, A.I, clones and precogs, Selective Enforcement of their rules and general mistreatment of anyone on their island who steps out of line. The era turns Xavier into a Hate Sink with virtually none of his previous positive traits on display, the best you could call him now is Villain with Good Publicity.
  • Big Good:
    • Professor Xavier is The Leader of the X-Men, principal of the Xavier Institute for Gifted Youngsters, and the standard-bearer of the campaign for mutants and Muggles to co-exist peacefully. Even though he doesn't play a direct leader role in all of the Marvel Universe's mutant teams, the Verse's various teams of mutant heroes (the X-Men, X-Factor, X-Force, Generation X, etc.) have occasionally been collectively referred to as "The Disciples of Xavier."
    • As of the Krakoa era, it turns out that he's part of a Big Good Duumvirate with Moira X, who is using her knowledge to ensure that mutants never have to worry about going extinct ever again... And Magneto, who has played along with their plans this whole time. However, after Inferno, with Moira gone and Magneto in recusal, Charles tries to take up the position... but his arrogance prevents him from being there.
  • Big Ol' Eyebrows: Charles is usually drawn with full, dark eyebrows that stand out even more due to his baldness.
  • Blessed with Suck: The flip side to being such a powerful telepath is that Charles struggles mightily to be a moral man despite having an ability that could let him find out anything from and control almost anyone with little effort, and he sometimes finds himself falling to the temptation. As shown with his son David, having such a powerful mind can also supercharge emotional reactions in catastrophic unforeseen ways, which is how Onslaught came into being when Xavier had an understandably furious response to seeing Magneto mercilessly rip out all the admantium from Wolverine's body during the Fatal Attractions arc. Not helping his internal conflict is that those same powers make him a target of other psychics of similar skill and fewer scruples like the Shadow King and his own sister Cassandra Nova who view him as either a potential threat to their self-centered schemes or as potential fuel to make them even stronger. Even dead, he can't catch a break, as some villains have gone so far as to harvest his brain to exploit its capacity to dominate that he was too righteous to use when he was alive.
  • Body Horror: When the Brood Queen inside him revealed herself, she tears her way out of Charles's body like it was made of tissue paper.
  • Body Surf: Charles Xavier's mind is possessing Fantomex's body, although Fantomex is completely fine with this. As such, he's no longer disabled and can walk again.
    • According to Word of God, he's back in his own body after his assassination.
  • Boom, Headshot!: At the end of the Messiah Complex storyline, Bishop accidentally hit Charles while firing madly at a disappearing Cable. He got better thanks to Exodus and his Acolytes.
  • Brainwashing for the Greater Good: He's more than willing to do this if he feels it's necessary (though over time he's developed at least a token reluctance to brainwashing people willy-nilly). An infamous case is his brainwashing of the villain known as the Vanisher, who he brainwashed into a Dirty Coward because he considered his powers of Teleportation to be "too dangerous". Vanisher never recovered, and even to this day, many decades later, his character is still defined by what Charles Xavier forced him into being.
  • Break His Heart to Save Him: An interesting platonic version - Moira makes Charles read her mind to see that throughout her lives, he's never changed; and if mutants are to survive as a species, his conceptions need to be broken, and built anew.
  • Broken Pedestal: He definitely became one of these to Cyclops after Deadly Genesis.
  • Cain and Abel: Has an evil twin sister (Cassandra Nova), had an evil stepbrother (Juggernaut, who had a Heel–Face Turn, and was actually called Cain), an evil former best friend (Magneto), and an evil son (David "Legion" Haller, not actually evil but misguided with severe mental problems)!
  • Came Back Wrong: He resurrected himself using Fantomex' body but it's implied he's not quite the same person, and Psylocke decides to keep an eye on him.
  • Catchphrase: "To me, my X-Men!" The phrase debuted in the final page of X-Men #1 (September, 1963) and would be reused for decades.
  • Chick Magnet: Xavier is certainly usually one. He ends up hooking up or marrying incredibly attractive women like Alien Shi'ar Empress Lilandra Neramani, hot mutant nurse Amelia Voght, Moira Kinross, Gabrielle Haller, and even Mystique.
  • The Chessmaster: Nearly everything that's happened since the X-Men's formation has been a part of a larger, previously-unseen plan with Moira, with the foundation of a mutant state on Krakoa serving as one of the most important steps toward an end goal of ensuring that Mutants are not driven extinct by Sentinels.
  • Chrome Dome Psi: He had blond hair as a child, but as one character profile has it: "One side effect of his powers was that he lost his hair while he was still in his late teens." His powers being telepathy, making him "able to read thoughts, communicate with others psionically, manipulate thoughts and memories, control the actions of others, mentally induce pain, paralysis, or unconsciousness in other people, project his astral form and enter the psychic plane."
  • Comic-Book Fantasy Casting: According to an interview with Stan Lee, the visual appearance of Xavier was originally based on Yul Brynner. In more recent years, he's been based on Patrick Stewart.
  • Commuting on a Bus: After his stint as the main character of X-Men: Legacy, having been made Persona Non Grata among most of the X-Men, Charles spent the next few years disappearing and reappearing.
  • Control Freak: One of his flaws. Apparently being able to read the minds of others makes for difficulty dealing with dissenting opinions. Decades of growth and the occasional serving of humble pie means he's gotten slightly better about this.
  • Crazy-Prepared: Professor X had at one point plans to be put into play in the event that any given X-Man executed a Face Heel Turn. For example, the plan for dealing with Wolverine was immolating his entire body, severing his head with a laser and sealing it in an adamantium safe.
  • Crimefighting with Cash: He can't always directly fight crime (paraplegia is a bitch that way), but he still uses his mountains of cash to help his students do so.
  • A Darker Me: Xavier has a history of his dark side taking on a life of its own. One of these times led into a freaking Crisis Crossover.
  • Death Is Cheap:
    • He was killed by Grotesk in X-Men vol. 1 #42 (March, 1968). But in issue #65 (February, 1970), it was revealed that the Shapeshifter Changeling had died in his place. The real Xavier was just in hiding, preparing to face the Alien Invasion of the Z'Nox. Jean Grey was the only one who knew of the ruse.
    • He was killed by Doctor Doom in Secret Wars (1984) #11 (March, 1985). He was brought back to life in issue #12 (April, 1985).
    • After being killed by a Phoenix-possessed Cyclops in Avengers vs. X-Men and Red Skull using his corpse in Uncanny X-Men, Xavier came back in Astonishing X-Men (2017)—which also involved taking over Fantomex's body.
    • Killed in the opening issues of 2019's X-Force, but thanks to Krakoa's resurrection protocols he's back on his feet pretty quickly.
    • Dies in Immortal X-Men issue #10 thanks to Sinister tricking him into looking in a psychic trap. He's quickly revived, more or less.
  • Deus Exit Machina: Professor Xavier also tends to suffer this fate as, at his full potential, he should be able to just sense and mindwipe any sentient problem that's heading the X-Men's way. Hence, most major threats in the X-Men comic books will begin with Xavier either disappearing, losing his powers, falling into a coma, turning evil, or otherwise being rendered useless for the rest of the story.
    • Believe it or not, a lot of the early battles came down to the X-Men distracting the villain long enough for Professor X to get in range and defeat them with his mental bolts.
  • Did Not Get the Girl: In his college years, Xavier was involved in a Love Triangle. Both Xavier and Joseph "Joe" MacTaggert courted the lovely Moira Kinross. Xavier seemingly won her heart, but was then drafted to serve in The Korean War. In his absence, Moira got back with Joe. So, a soldier Xavier received a "Dear John" Letter. Moira went on to marry John and they had a son.
  • Dirty Old Man: In The X-Men #3 (January, 1964) it is revealed that Xavier is romantically attracted to his teenaged student Jean Grey. "'Don't worry!' As though I could help worrying about the one I love! But I can never tell her! I have no right! Not while I'm the leader of the X-Men, and confined to this wheelchair!" This was actually part of a running gag about how every male in Jean's range was in love with her, and could be dismissed as a throwaway joke. It was dropped and nearly forgotten until 1996, when Onslaught brought it up again, presenting it as if it was serious, although even Onslaught acknowledged that this wasn't something Xavier had been carrying for years but more of a minor affection that he had long ago suppressed and forgotten about.
  • Easily Forgiven: It does not matter how many times you've tried to kill him; if you claim repentance, he'll welcome you with open arms. Sometimes this works out really well, and sometimes... not.
    • Not really that surprising, considering he's a telepath, and therefore likely to know whether you're sincere about it or not.
    • This gained Charles a What the Hell, Hero? speech from the entire team when he decided to allow former foe (for former, read "they still considered her one") Rogue onto the team. It was only when Charles threw Storm's assessment of Wolverine (to wit: "he may be a psychopath, but there is good in him") back in her face and gave a Patrick Stewart Speech to the effect that he'd rather be stabbed in the back than stand by and spurn a suffering mutant that the X-Men backed down. Worth noting that he was one hundred percent right in this case, as Rogue has proven herself a worthy hero and loyal friend many times over.
    • On the flip-side, in recent years he's been the one whose needed to be forgiven, as all sorts of revelations about how manipulative he has been over the years have come to light, to say nothing of the fact that he apparently had a crush on Jean Grey since she was 6 (something, admittedly, that is generally quietly ignored as a product of the Audience-Alienating Era). Cyclops and many members of the team have had trouble forgiving him. Another reason is general loss of faith as his dream of peaceful human-mutant co-existence seems to have gone down the crapper, and Cyke thinks a tougher policy than Easily Forgiven is in order. Thirdly, he himself broke this rule when he shot his Evil Twin Cassandra Nova dead; though she absolutely deserved it, it was mainly because of the threat she represented, and not (just) her previous genocidal actions.
      • The last one has been subverted. The first time he threatened her (by threatening to shoot himself in the head), she was trying to take control of him and Cerebra, so it was an impending menace. The second time she had just succeeded. Nova's mind was in Charles' body and vice-versa.
  • Elite School Means Elite Brain: Professor Xavier has a doctorate from Oxford and is well-known among others in the universe for his intelligence.
  • Evil Counterpart: A lot of them. His ideology against Magneto’s. His evil sister Cassandra Nova. His evil step-brother with the Juggernaut. His evil psychic counterpart the Shadow King. His evil knockoff Onslaught. At one point Emma Frost had an evil counterpart to Xavier’s school. Making her an evil headmistress counterpart to Xavier’s good headmaster.
  • Evil Cripple: While the regular Xavier is not this (being at worst morally grey and prone to making bad choices) he has a number of alternate universe counterparts that are this. One limited issue series even made a plot out of its cast traveling from universe to universe battling various evil Xaviers.
  • Evil Eyebrows: Many of his classical depictions have him with sharply upturned eyebrows, not unlike Namor. Nowadays, it's more Depending on the Artist.
  • Evil Former Friend: Magneto and he used to be friends, before Magneto chose to go on the warpath and become a terrorist. Whenever Magneto has a Heel–Face Turn, they tend to act as best friends.
  • Faking the Dead: He faked his death from X-Men vol. 1 #42 (March, 1968) to issue #65 (February, 1970). Two years.
  • Fatal Flaw: While he is not a Bad Boss like Magneto, he shares some of his ideological rival's It's All About Me attitude, as evidenced by his inability to step aside after his students have outgrown him until forced to do so. It should be noted that this is due to Executive Meddling out of universe however, and X-Men maestro Chris Claremont did intend for Xavier to eventually step back and allow his first generation of student to take the reins before being Killed Off for Real and turning leadership of the X-Men over to Magneto.
  • Fiction 500: The X-Mansion and related equipment comes from his inherited fortune, so he might be as rich as Tony Stark. Under Grant Morrison, he even headed an international MegaCorp to fund his team's heroism and projects.
    • His inherited fortune made him able to turn the basement of a mansion into an Elaborate Underground Base with an absurdly advanced holodeck room, as well as building various vehicles, including helicopters and a really advanced jet. Plus the Cerebro. Those can't come cheap. note  Eventually, his even richer wife, Shi'ar Majestrix Lilandra (who owns an entire galaxy), provided upgrades to much of Xavier's facilities.
      • Note that the jet in question was a custom-modified SR-71 Blackbird, bought straight from Lockheed. Lockheed in real life never sold Blackbirds to anyone except the US government, since the technology was largely top secret. This illustrates that Xavier is both ludicrously rich and even more ludicrously well-connected. Or he just used his psychic powers to convince whoever was responsible to get him what he needed.
      • Also, everything on this list — Cerebro, the mansion, the Blackbird, and other smaller planes and helicopters — gets destroyed whenever the plot requires them not to have it or wants to show "this villain is serious." And everything on this list will be replaced, often with a better version that more closely matches whatever it looks like in the most recent film, by the next time it's needed. This in addition to the sprawling facilities and Star Trek-level gadgetry. That places Professor X in Tony Stark's tier, but unlike the other characters with unlimited resources, we never hear about his business ventures, or trouble with any companies of his during the times Xavier is in space or believed by all to be dead. Was his dad so rich that the X-Men can keep this up indefinitely without it being replenished, or is there an unseen Xavier Industries comparable to what Bruce Wayne or Tony Stark has?
      • Emma Frost is known to have used her telepathy to get insider information for playing the stock market. Given that in his younger years, Xavier was decidedly less ethical about invading (and even altering) people's minds, one wonders if he did the same thing in order to enhance his wealth. Simply being heavily invested in other people's companies could give Xavier vast wealth without having to run a company of his own, if he picked the right companies.
  • Fighting from the Inside: During their fight with the Brood Queen, there's just a tiny little bit of Charles left, begging for them to kill him before the alien takes over.
  • Florence Nightingale Effect:
    • Uncanny X-Men #161 (September, 1982) is a Whole Episode Flashback to 20 years before, back to Xavier's younger years. He is in Haifa, Israel when asked to treat Gabrielle Haller, a Holocaust survivor who has been catatonic since the days of World War II. Xavier uses his telepathy to enter her mindscape, demolish the mental walls present there, and awaken her for the first time in decades. Over the following weeks, he keeps treating her as his patient and they fall in love.
    • Uncanny X-Men #309 (February, 1994) in another a Whole Episode Flashback, back to Xavier's younger years. Xavier has recently lost use of his legs and his injuries are treated in a hospital in India. He has sunk into depression. His primary caretaker is American Red Cross nurse (and fellow mutant) Amelia Voght. During a therapy session, Amelia surprises him by confessing to love him and giving him a passionate kiss. He falls in love with her. Eventually they move in together, back in his Westchester mansion.
  • For Want Of A Nail: His life is the nail between the world as we know it and the Age of Apocalypse.
    • A similar plot was presented in X-Men: The Animated Series during the two-parter episode "One Man's Worth" — if a mutant traitor kills Xavier in the past, it winds up leading to a Days of Future Past-esque future where the Sentinels rule.
  • Gadgeteer Genius: He is responsible for the creation of technological achievements such as the mutant-tracking computer Cerebro and the Danger Room.
  • Genius Cripple: For much of his history. As a teenager he was a track athlete. He then devoted himself to his college studies. His genius-level intellect made him a leading expert in genetics, the study of mutations, and psionics. He possesses considerable expertise in other life sciences. He is also a tactician, strategist, and a Gadgeteer Genius. He is responsible for the creation of technological achievements such as the mutant-tracking computer Cerebro and the Danger Room. His legs were crippled following a fight with Human-looking Alien Lucifer, making him a Genius Cripple. He has been able to walk on several occasions, but this tends to be short-lived. He always seems to return to being confined in a wheelchair.
  • Geniuses Have Multiple PhDs: He is the psychic mastermind behind the titular team. He's usually written as having finished school early and completed multiple doctorates. The Marvel website claims he has four (in genetics, biophysics, psychology, and anthropology, explaining his expertise in mentoring the X-Men) and an M.D. in psychiatry.
  • Gentleman Snarker: As written by Claremont, Charles is not one for levity, but that doesn't mean he's not above dry quips from time to time.
  • Good Is Not Nice: While still in the womb, Xavier sensed that his twin sister Cassandra Nova was evil. So his first conscious act was trying to kill her (she did, however, try to kill him first by strangulation after punching him). He has performed memory wipes on Muggles and his own students. He has on occasion faked losing his powers or even dying to suit his plans, consequently leaving his students fending for themselves and feeling emotional pain. He was part of the covert group The Illuminati, and participated in their at best questionable decisions. All behind the back of his students. He covered up the death of the inexperienced X-Men Darwin, Petra, Sway, and Vulcan (albeit when he had to focus on saving the rest of the team). He brainwashed Wolverine into joining the team (although this also involved stopping Wolverine from completing an earlier mission to kill Xavier, and Wolverine has since learnt about this and forgiven him). He knew that the Danger Room had become sentient and chose to keep it enslaved (although he claimed that he couldn't find a way to transfer its consciousness into a new form). He put a lot of effort into the Xavier Protocols, identifying the weaknesses of each student and devising plans to kill them if they went bad (to be fair, he included plans for his students to kill him if need be). He has also at times not hesitated to demote a number of X-Men while criticizing their perceived flaws. One of Kitty Pryde's most famous phrases summarizes well what all this means: "Professor Xavier Is a Jerk!"
  • Grand Theft Me: Xavier's return in Astonishing X-Men (2017) involved taking over Fantomex's body.
  • Guile Hero: His intellect is his greatest weapon. Aside from being a telepath, he keeps secrets even from his own team, has faked his own death as a ruse, and has employed secret operatives for when dogs need to be shot.
  • Handicapped Badass: Despite being in a wheelchair, Xavier remains a badass fighter.
  • Heroic BSoD: The events of Fall of X completely wreck him. After Orchis makes him supposedly kill nearly everyone on Krakoa, he remains on the island a broken man, using his powers to drive off any Orchis agents who come close.
  • How Dare You Die on Me!: Post-Judgment Day, he accuses Magneto of dying on him, as if it was a personal act of spite.
  • Hypocrite: A recurring flaw of Charles' is that he often doesn't quite practice what he preaches. For example, after Magma first joined the New Mutants, he explained to her he would never use his powers to spy on her without permission. Moments later, he told himself "although... just to be on the safe side..." Needless to say, Amara was pretty angry when she found out.

    I-Z 
  • I Did What I Had to Do:
    • Years after the fact, Ororo's a little incensed at Charles's arrogance in thinking fighting Krakoa was more important than using her powers to help feed starving people in Kenya. Charles's defense is his students were in danger.
    • Charles admits to Cypher that he still believes in human-mutant coexistence and despises the current state of Krakoa as a mutant-essentialist ethnostate. He only goes along with it because he knows from Moira that every other path ends in their extinction.
  • Identical Grandson: X-Men: Battle of the Atom introduces Charles Xavier II, a grandson of Xavier from an alternate future. He looks exactly like his grandfather, has the same powers, and was crippled by Colossus, confining him to a wheelchair just like his grandfather.
  • If You Kill Him, You Will Be Just Like Him!: A strong believer in the idea that using the tactics of those the X-Men oppose will make them no better, and something he tried to impress upon his students. Of course, Charles's own morality can... waver a little.
  • "I Know You're in There Somewhere" Fight: Averted in Avengers vs. X-Men. He makes a brief, almost token attempt to appeal to his former fatherly relationship with Cyclops when he confronts him, but quickly turns to threatening and trying to overcome Cyclops through psychic force. While Cyke was pretty far gone by this time, trying to take him down without the help of any other telepaths was not the wisest of ideas, as demonstrated when Cyclops toasts him for his trouble.
  • The Illuminati: As mentioned above, he's a member of the Marvel Universe's version of them. Strangely, it's not the usual Omniscient Council of Vagueness but instead a sort of 1% club consisting of the (supposed) smartest people in the Marvel U.
  • Instant Expert: He can "quickly process and store information by mental transference", an ability which he used in school to rise above his peers in academic achievement. His stepbrother, who knew he was telepathic, strongly suspected him of doing this and bullied him relentlessly over it. He can also transfer information between minds, as was established in Deadly Genesis when he infamously put Vulcan's team through a psychic cram-session on being X-Men, including a week's worth of Danger Room training that happened nowhere but in their own minds. It probably wasn't intended by Deadly Genesis's writers, but adding that little detail made Charles's entire history as a teacher suspect, leading readers to wonder how much of his successes with his students were by their own merit and how much was just Charles mentally grafting whatever his students needed to know into their minds (although the events of Genesis were explicitly described as an extreme situation where Charles had to fast-track a team for an important mission, and the relative failure of their subsequent effort likely put him off doing that on a regular basis).
  • Intergenerational Friendship: With Magneto, though this is a result of the sliding timescale. Chris Claremont established the two to be close age-wise and having a friendship going back decades. But Magneto's origin has him as an Holocaust survivor and this is not affected by the timescale. According to X-Men: Magneto Testament #1 (November, 2008), Magneto was born in either 1925 or 1926. He is currently supposed to be 90-years-old and will only appear to get older as the decades pass. On the other hand, Xavier's birth period is affected by the timescale and moves forward in time. In more recent stories, Magneto is old enough to be Xavier's father (although he remains in the prime of life after a period where Magneto was de-aged to infancy and then returned to adulthood).
    • Also his relationship with Wolverine. Wolvie was born in the 19th century and is old enough to be Xavier's ancestor.
  • Interspecies Romance: More so than the average mutant, since his steady relationship is with Lilandra Neramani, the Empress of the Shi'ar, alien bird people with Psychic Powers.
  • Jerkass Ball: He has a habit of occasionally grabbing it. Case in point, his return to the X-Men at the beginning of the Dark Phoenix saga. Within days of his joyous return, he begins drilling the X-Men in the Danger Room, treating the experienced, capable team of adults like children, even handing out demerits to Wolverine when he finally takes as much as he can stand. When Cyclops tries pointing out that what he's doing isn't sensible, the Professor somehow manages to turn this around to mean Scott has failed his duties as team leader.
  • Jumping Off the Slippery Slope: Due to suppressing his dark side, Charles often teeters on the edge of dangerous megalomania, as seen when a single act of mindwiping Magneto led to the entire Onslaught Arc.. As of the recent House of X/Powers of X, he's officially jumped off the slope thanks to Moira wearing down his idealism for co-existence, in that not only has he seemingly abandoned his philosophy of integration and equality with baseline humans in favor of xenophobic isolationism and looking down on normal humans with mutant supremacy, but he's suddenly willing to work with mutant villains like Mystique, Mister Sinister, Sabretooth, and Apocalypse to get things done. One of the first things we see him do is send them to steal valuable data from Damage Control, seemingly not caring when Sabretooth kills several innocent security guards in the process even if he does punish him for it later as a scapegoat. He's even resorted to mindwiping politicians and playing God with mutant lives, something the old Xavier abhorred, by resurrecting X-Men and former mutant allies from death and using them as his pawns. Apocalypse of all people even expresses approval of Xavier's recent change. At this point, the only difference between him and Magneto anymore is that he happens to pay lip service to pacifism and diplomacy.
    • Immortal X-Men elaborates on this, with it ultimately being revealed that these perspectives and viewpoints came from a place of sheer desperation. After hearing of all the bad futures Moira revealed to him, Charles concluded that this was the only alternative to genocide, and he put on a show to get the mutant extremists on his side. Personally, he still loathes the notions of mutant separatism and supremacy, and is deeply troubled that such views have basically become the bedrock principles of Krakoa. He even acknowledges that all this really served to do in the end was prove the anti-mutant groups right, and turn the world against mutant kind even more.
  • Knight Templar: At his worst, he will do whatever he feels is the right thing, anyone else's objections be damned. In a conversation with Storm, Magneto explains this is one of Charles's traits that scares him the most; Charles running loose with no-one willing or able to reign his worst instincts in, utterly determined to do anything to prove his righteousness.
  • Laser-Guided Amnesia: He employs this much more often than Mind Rape.
  • Last-Name Basis: Far more people call him by his last name than his first.
  • The Leader: He serves as the Leader of the X-Men whenever he is around. Though he appoints field leaders to serve in combat situations.
  • Like a Son to Me: Considers Cyclops to be this, which is why it breaks his heart when Cyke takes a Face–Heel Turn in Avengers vs. X-Men.
  • Literal Split Personality: While Xavier's dark side, as noted, has taken on a life of its own before, Onslaught became this halfway through his self-titled crossover.
  • Long-Distance Relationship: Recurring use. He has a lasting relationship with Lilandra Neramani, a Shi'ar alien. She has spend time on Earth, and he has joined her in space. But when separated, the distance between them is the vast one separating Earth from another galaxy.
  • Luke, You Are My Father: Xavier had a brief relationship with Gabrielle Haller, a Holocaust survivor. When it ended, he was unaware that Gabrielle was pregnant. The result was a mutant son called David Haller. Xavier only found out in New Mutants #27 (May, 1985), when he entered the mindscape of the catatonic David. The boy called him "father."
  • Malevolent Masked Men: His Cerebro helmet in the Krakoa Age, which looks a lot like The Maker. Downplayed in the sense that he's not actually evil, but he is more ruthless than he's ever been.
  • Manipulative Bastard: At his worst moments, Charles is shown to be a particularly immoral one with a tendency to make bad or counterproductive decisions that ruin the trust of his students and loved ones. He has manipulated the minds and memories of his students at times for his own benefits, unapologetically faked his own death and disappeared for years for his own agenda, and created emergency protocols to kill his own students if they turn evil without their permission or knowledge. It comes to a head in Deadly Genesis where it's revealed Charles manipulated a new team of X-Men to save the original team when they were lost during a mission and wiped all memories of the new team's existence when they all supposedly died during the rescue attempt.
  • May–December Romance: With Gabrielle Haller, though this is a result of the sliding timescale. Her origin established her as an Holocaust survivor and this is not affected by the timescale. On the other hand, Xavier's birth period is affected by the timescale and moves forward in time. So while the original story had the two lovers close age-wise, due to the timescale Gabrielle is supposed to be decades older than Xavier. And they had a son together.
  • Mentor Archetype: He is the experienced hero and teacher who takes in young boys and girls, training them to be heroes in their own right. Several of his students start out as teenagers.
  • Mentor Occupational Hazard: He's been killed more than once to show that the stakes are really serious this time, but it never really sticks.
  • Military Superhero: In X-Men #12 (July, 1965), Xavier receives his first Origins Episode. Among the background elements established is his military service in The Korean War. Being a veteran has remained an essential part of his background and characterization. Though due to the sliding timescale some retellings of the origin story replace the War with an unnamed Asian conflict.
  • A Mind Is a Terrible Thing to Read: Charles' brain is psionically shielded due to his time in Korea, where the sheer level of suffering had threatened to drive him insane.
  • Mind Control: He's scary good at this. In one notable instance, he disabled Exodus's Acolytes completely by implanting post-hypnotic suggestions in them via their dreams days before he even faced them. The only Acolyte he refused to manipulate in this way was Amelia Voght, his old lover. He also has an unfortunate habit of acting through someone else, like Rachel Summers.
  • Mind Link Mates: His romance with Lilandra began when their minds touched across interstellar distances. Charles spent several months having horrific visions of the battle she'd been in when it happened, until she arrived on Earth.
  • Mind over Manners: He often prefers to "ask" before he reads your mind. Often, however, is by no means 'always'. And sometimes, it's not even 'often', with Rachel Summers snippily commenting when acting as his telepathic proxy, since he was depowered at the time that it's funny how it's now okay for her to do it because he wants her to. It's separately wondered if he used to be so inclined to Mind Control, or if it's just more obvious because he has to work through Rachel.
  • Mind over Matter: Used only in X-Men #1 (September, 1963). Stan Lee had some problems defining what the powers of his characters allowed them to do. So in that issue, Xavier uses his telepathy to pilot an airplane. This is actually telekinesis.
  • Mind Rape: He is perfectly capable of performing one, although he is reluctant to use it. Performed on Magneto in X-Men vol. 2 #25 (October, 1993), to shut out his mind and leave him in a vegetative state, when Xavier was suitably enraged over Magneto's recent attack on Wolverine.
    • Currently, the worst he's done is messing with Reed Richards' mind to prevent him from building a device that hides the X-Gene again. He points out that this is a Cruel Mercy as he could have just erased his mind of the entire debacle, but he wants to prove a point.
    • His narration in Immortal X-Men #10 has him point out that if he wanted to, he could implant a psychic suggestion in every human to kill themselves. he then reveals that he did implant a suggestion in the human race - the inability to launch any sort of nuclear weapon.
  • Missed the Call: The what-if where Charles became the Juggernaut was alluded to after his death when Cain was up to become the Juggernaut again. Cyttorak told him he intended for Xavier to become the Juggernaut, but things didn't work out that way.
  • Mission Control: More often than not, Xavier is not physically present in missions. He stays in telepathic communication with his students and provides assistance from a distance. When he does insist on leading or participating in a mission, it usually means he intends to have a Let's Get Dangerous! moment.
  • Moral Myopia: His use of devices like Cerebro, which enhance his abilities enough that he can potentially read and control the minds of everyone on Earth, is by itself a good example as to why normal humans fear mutants. What's more is that Xavier uses Cerebro to identify and keep track of the world's mutant population, rank them on their individual power levels and to intervene if he feels they present a potential danger to themselves or others, something that's not too dissimilar from mutant registration.
  • Mr. Exposition: When written by lazy writers (or Stan Lee) he had a bad habit of being used this way. If he's appearing as a floating disembodied head, it's usually to deliver an exposition dump.
  • Mundane Utility: As mentioned above, he used his telepathy in school to earn high marks.
  • My Greatest Failure: When his old lover Amelia Voght decided to leave him he used his powers to compel her to stay. It was only a second's moral failing and he immediately took it back, but the damage was done.
  • Nuclear Mutant: Stan Lee toyed the idea that Mutants were the result of exposures to radiation. Which is why the X-Men were the so-called "Children of the Atom." In X-Men#1 (September, 1963), Xavier gives a brief mention of both of his parents working in the Atomic bomb project. Which resulted in his birth as a mutant. In X-Men #12 (July, 1965), Xavier receives his first Origins Episode. His father Brian Xavier is confirmed to have worked (and died) as a scientist in a nuclear facility in Alamogordo, New Mexico. His mother Sharon Xavier, on the other hand, was retconned into a common Housewife. Xavier thus gains his mutation from his father.
  • Non-Idle Rich: Xavier has more money than God and it's almost ridiculous how bottomless his pockets are, but never let it be said he lays around and does nothing with all his cash.
  • Older Than They Look: When first introduced, Xavier was only meant to be about ten years older than his students, making him at most, 30 years old. That he's both bald and wheelchair-bound has made him seem far older for almost his entire existence.
  • Old Money: He inherited his wealth and has never worked for a living. No matter how much damages the Mansion and its equipment suffer, Xavier always has enough money to restore them.
  • Omnidisciplinary Scientist: A mild version. He is at least an expert in genetics, and a proficient inventor. He created the mutant-searching computer Cerebro and the Danger Room. Where his X-Men train with fully-fledged simulations of combat. He's not a half bad medic either.
  • Omniscient Morality License: A lot of his actions come off as this. For example in Beast's origin story, Xavier wipes out the memories of everyone who knew Hank McCoy. Including his friends and girlfriend. His questionable activities tend to be given a pass because he is the Big Good. He does get called out on it eventually.
  • The One That Got Away: Xavier has two of them, Moira Kinross MacTaggert and Amelia Voght. He had relationships with both of them, and they both left him at the end, leaving him with lasting bittersweet memories and regrets. Their paths crossed again but there was no rekindling of passion. Averted with Gabrielle Haller, who he parted on friendly terms with and there were no hard feelings about it.
  • Opposed Mentors: He's forever locked in opposition with his rival mutant mentor Magneto.
  • Papa Wolf: Success results may vary considerably, but Charles does care about all his students, even if he is often quite terrible at showing it, or expressing it in a healthy way. When his daughter was assassinated by the Kin Crimson, Charles immediately leapt into action to bring her back.
  • Parental Neglect: As he explicitly admitted to Nightcrawler in 2021, one of his (many) failings is that, ironically for a man who has dedicated his life to playing the Mentor Archetype, he's an absentee and disinterested father when it comes to his own children. This comes back to haunt him when his son David decides to become a "Well Done, Son" Guy — unfortunately, David has also inherited his dad's uber-psi powers, leading him to become the insane supervillain Legion.
  • Parental Substitute: For Cyclops, what with his actual father Christopher Summers having been off in space not knowing Scott was alive. Sadly, Charles's relationship with Scott isn't exactly any better than it is with his flesh-and-blood kids.
  • Patrick Stewart Speech: While he is played by Patrick Stewart in the movies, he's been making these sort of speeches for years before the movies ever came out.
  • People Puppets: He's capable of this, although he prefers not to use it unless absolutely necessary. Weirdly, his X-Men Film Series counterpart makes something of a shtick out of it, frequently puppeteering entire crowds to get his students out of trouble or speak to a single person.
  • Poor Communication Kills: He managed to alienate Nate Grey from the X-Men shortly after the latter arrived in the 616 universe simply by snooping on him via the Astral Plane rather than speaking to him up front. Granted, he had the disadvantage of not knowing that he was dead in Nate's universe (meaning that his identity was treated with extreme scepticism, to put it mildly), or that Nate was incredibly paranoid about people he perceived to be out to use him (and with good reason), but he didn't exactly handle the exchange well. This led to Nate only once linking up with the X-Men in earnest (and that at his mother's request) before circumstances forced him to do so as a member of the New Mutants, and reacting very badly to any suggestion of Xavier's involvement from there on out, denying him sorely needed guidance.
  • Powers Do the Fighting: Averted, as while Xavier mostly relies on his mutant powers, he is in fact a trained soldier and refuses to let his paraplegia hold him back. In one memorable incident, he even decked a then-rookie Wolverine right in the jaw, telling him that while his mindblasts could "shrivel (him) where (he) stands" that his fist contained all the power Wolverine deserved.
  • Prematurely Bald: Many stories have Charles losing his hair while still in his teens as a result of his powers.
  • President Superhero: Essentially is this for Krakoa.
  • The Professor: It's right there in his name.
  • Pstandard Psychic Pstance: So much so that an image of ol' Chuck currently provides the trope's page image.
  • Psychic Powers: One of the most powerful psychics in the franchise.
    • Psychic Link: He can initiate this at will with anyone, telepath or non-telepath.
    • Psychic Radar: Like most high-end Marvel telepaths, he is capable of this.
    • Psychic Surgery: Despite being psychic, Xavier's never used this ability. He's had it used on him though, as the Knight Templar mutant Exodus reassembled his brain after it was shot to pulp by Bishop using this.
  • Putting the "Pal" in Principal: As the founder and dean of Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters, his wise and pacifistic attitude makes him well suited to run a school for the betterment of mutant teenagers.
  • Quit Your Whining: When the surviving original X-Men gather for an anniversary dinner and discuss how much being X-Men took out of them, he crashes it as X and takes them to thwart Lucifer's attempts to conquer the world starting in a small town. He then basically tells them to suck up the trauma, because he brought them together to stop threats like that, and then wipes their memories of the encounter.
  • Really Gets Around: He's got his fair share of kids. In addition to Legion listed above, there's his son by Mystique introduced during Bendis's run, who apparently is destined to lead the Brotherhood in at least one possible future. Then there's Xavi, his non-canon son by Lilandra from X-Men: The End, and most recently Xandra, a rather blatant Distaff Counterpart of Xavi introduced in 2018's Mr. and Mrs. X.
  • Realpolitik: The laconic summary of realpolitik reads like a one-sentence summary of modern-day Charles's character. Even before he was truly established as a Manipulative Bastard, he was quite ruthless (in that uniquely Protagonist-Centered Morality way that way common to comics from before The Dark Age of Comic Books) and not above Superdickery tricks such as Brainwashing for the Greater Good and Mind Control in the service of his dream. He was also unusually politically savvy for an outsider to politics, using his privileged social position to present himself to the public as a mutant rights proponent while keeping it hidden from most of the world that he was in fact a mutant himself. It wasn't even his choice when he finally did 'out' himself as a mutant: that was done by his Evil Twin.
    • He abandons his long-held dream of peaceful coexistence between mutants and humanity for the time being in order to establish Krakoa as a mutant state that can operate as a global superpower. To accomplish this goal, he's willing to greatly aid humanity with miracle drugs as long as they recognize Krakoa as a sovereign state. However, this also comes at a cost of giving amnesty to known Mutant criminals and terrorists that can abuse their diplomatic immunity. At least at first, as Sabretooth finds out the hard way.
  • Rebuilt Pedestal: After Messiah Complex he started on a journey of becoming this, at first literally (as Exodus literally reconstructed his brain and restored his ability to walk) and then figuratively (as he decided to go on a journey Walking the Earth and reconnecting with the students he'd alienated). Slowly but surely he rebuilt his standing with most of the X-Men, though Cyclops (admittedly the X-Man he hurt the most) and he could not reconcile. This ultimately led to his death when he confronted a power-mad Cyclops in Avengers vs. X-Men.
  • Sheltered Aristocrat: To a high degree. He grew up in a mansion and his family wealth sheltered him from many of the hard realities children from less privileged backgrounds have to worry about. And while his parents both died young, his stepfather (an abusive Jerkass to his own son) favored him despite not even loving his mother. Only his stepbrother's bullying and the loss of his actual parents kept him from having a picture-perfect childhood.
  • Single-Power Superheroes: Telepathy is his only power. This is rather notable in the Marvel Universe where many telepaths (especially ones in the X-Men franchise) have Combo Platter Powers.
  • Smart Equals Psychic: Inverted, as Xavier became smart because he was psychic. Specifically, he was noted to academically excel in his teenage years, driving his resentful step-brother The Juggernaut to suspect he used his telepathy to become such a Badass Bookworm. Charles eventually confirmed it, though his powers only "greased the skids" and he likely would have become a smart person with or without them (just not, you know, as smart).
  • Split Personality: As noted under "A Darker Me", "Literal Split Personality", and "Superpowered Evil Side", Xavier's tendency to suppress every negative thought and feeling tends to result in those forming their own personality.
  • Status Quo Is God: It's almost a Running Gag in the X-Men mythos for Charles to find new and unusual ways to regain his ability to walk, only for something to come along and cripple him again.
  • Stronger Sibling: To both of the Cains in his life. He defeated his Evil Twin Cassandra Nova in the womb and was Cyttorak's first choice to become the Juggernaut, as noted in the Missed the Call entry above.
  • Super Wheelchair: His famous golden hoverchair which he was gifted by his Shi'ar lover Lilandra.
  • Superpower Lottery: A subdued case of it compared to some of the more fantastical mutants, but when it comes to just plain getting to live a charmed life it's hard not to argue that Charles won even over technically-more-powerful mutants. His mutant powers manifested at 10, slightly earlier than those of other mutants and right before he, as an American, would have entered intermediate school where adolescent awkwardness usually begins. And luckily for Charles, his mutant power just so happened to be one that handily allowed him to skate over all those growing pains handily. The rigors of learning to study, the social difficulty of being a bright child, bullies, Charles's telepathy essentially made all of that null. This is a big reason why, although he was originally designed as the Big Good to the X-Men, he came to be viewed as more and more Unintentionally Unsympathetic as time went on, until writers finally made it canon that he wasn't just a nice guy motivated by Incorruptible Pure Pureness but rather a privileged ideologue who happened to be quite the Manipulative Bastard.
  • Superpowered Evil Side: He has demonstrated a more powerful dark side three times. First there was "Dark Xavier" during "The Phoenix Saga", who was able to create copies of Angel, Beast, Iceman, and Jean Grey circa the early days of the X-Men, using them to fight against the current X-Men. Second, in The X-Men and the Micronauts #1-4, a crossover mini-series, there was the Entity, another personification of his dark side. Within the Microverse, it was able to enslave entire races, and to manipulate and restructure matter. Later there was the supremely powerful Onslaught, who also contained elements of Magneto's evil side.
  • The Svengali: Has arguably become this in the modern age, as the general comics Darker and Edgier creep resulted in Xavier being written as becoming more and more willing to use his psychic powers to manipulate his students. While never outright resorting to Mind Control, he has been known to repress the memories of his charges when he sees fit, most infamously in the Deadly Genesis story. He's not interested in monetary gain, unlike most Svengalis, but is definitely interested in keeping his students in their X uniforms.
  • Team Dad: Several of the X-Men view him as their father figure, especially Scott and Jean.
  • Teacher/Student Romance: In the earlier days, Xavier had a secret love for Jean, but feared she would never reciprocate because of his handicap. Later, it was revealed that he had a crush on her since she was six. Since this was part of an Audience-Alienating Era, it's generally ignored.
  • Telepathy: He is one of the most powerful telepaths in the Marvel Universe. Able to contact minds on a global scale.
  • Villain Respect: He gained the respect of Exodus after defeating him in X-Men Legacy and later showed that he reciprocated that respect when he returned to (successfully) convince Exodus to disband the Acolytes.
  • Walking the Earth:
    • Forms a part of his backstory. After being "Dear John"'d by Moira, he started traveling, which led to his encounters with Magneto, Gabrielle Haller, and Amahl Farouk, the latter of which inspired him to fight evil mutants.
    • Later this becomes a story arc for him in X-Men Legacy, where he decides to do this again after being healed and restored to his prime by Exodus.
  • Weak, but Skilled: Depending on the Writer, Xavier may just be an average telepath at best who uses Cerebro to boost his powers to god-like levels, or genuinely enormously powerful. Recently, it's been leaning towards the latter, with his classification as an Omega Class mutant. But no matter the writer, he is consistently the most experienced and skilled psychic in the Marvel Universe, so sometimes he becomes this. Other times he's powerful enough without Cerebro but still has mad skills, thus averting this. Even at his peak, said skills are important - they were all that kept him from being fried when he made the very stupid decision to sneak up on the extremely jumpy Nate Grey. Granted, he didn't know how stupid this was, but given that he suspected Nate might be a young Stryfe, this was still pretty stupid.
  • Weaksauce Weakness: He can do many things, but he can't climb stairs. Making them an effective obstacle for him.
  • What the Hell, Hero?: His habit of using his powers on people he cares about and keeping secrets often ends up biting him in the ass. A special shout-out goes to everything he does in Deadly Genesis, especially the part where he put a new group of students through a week's worth of Danger Room training in their heads thinking it would be enough to send them on a rescue mission with (spoiler alert, it wasn't).
  • Who You Gonna Call?: If you have a victim who is seriously damaged by a psychic attack or any mutant powers such as what happened to Carol Danvers after she was attacked by Rogue with her power and mind stealing powers, Xavier is usually the only expert who can treat such casualties.
  • Xtreme Kool Letterz:
    • There's all the adaptations that pronounce it "Professor Ex-avier," just to make it clear to stupid viewers that there's an X in his name. "Xavier" is an archaic Spanish spelling of "Javier," so it should be "khavi-air" (or "zavvy-ay", in French); or if you don't know your foreign pronounciation, "Zay-vier" would be fine. ("Ex-avier" is a common (mis)pronunciation of "Xavier" in Real Life, though).
    • The Spanish dubs fortunately make a point of pronouncing his name "Xavi-air".
    • There is a comic where Xavier admits that technically it isn't pronounced like that — he just prefers it.
  • You Are What You Hate: The final act of the Krakoan Age has Xavier tearfully admonishes the very concept of the island, its symbolism and support of mutant separatism and essentialism, as utterly anathema to everything he's ever believed in. That is, that mutants are humans. In essence, by supporting the nation and all it stands for so that they can survive, he and the rest of the X-Men are agreeing with every bigot, opportunist, and violent fearful that they were always something alien to be wary of.
    "It is our oppressors who say that because we are mutants, we are not human. For us to agree is loathsome."
  • Your Mind Makes It Real: During The Muir Island Saga, when Xavier battled the Shadow King on the astral plane, the Shadow King's attacked Xavier's legs, causing him to become crippled (once again) in the real world.

Alternative Title(s): Professor X

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