Why did Magneto call his group the 'Evil Brotherhood of Mutants'?

[ReadyAndWilling]

This has been on my mind for years. Why would Magneto call his group the 'Evil Brotherhood of Mutants' if he's trying to convey themselves as a noble and good group, in a similar vain to the X-Men?

It seems like in recent versions that Magneto refers to them as the 'Brotherhood of Mutants' but this appears to be a recent change...

 

[Robert Maxwell]

Because it was the '60s and superhero comics were far less complex than they are today. The X-Men were the good guys and Magneto and his group were the bad guys, period. All the nuance you're referring to was worked in later.

 

[Nerys Myk]

This has been on my mind for years. Why would Magneto call his group the 'Evil Brotherhood of Mutants' if he's trying to convey themselves as a noble and good group, in a similar vain to the X-Men?

It seems like in recent versions that Magneto refers to them as the 'Brotherhood of Mutants' but this appears to be a recent change...

Because he is a evil racist who wishes to place humanity under the yoke of Homo Superior. Fear is a weapon in his arsenal and calling his movement "evil" is a way to spread that fear.

DON'T BELIEVE THE SPIN! Magneto is not a nice person!

 

[Locutus of Bored]

I'm still shocked that a guy named Sinestro turned out to be a villain. Who saw that one coming?

Also, why did Mr. and Mrs. de Vil name their daughter Cruella? That just seemed to be asking for trouble when they already had that last name. Should have named her Coop or something so she'd be into restoring vintage cars rather than puppy murder.

 

[cylkoth]

Because Stan Lee told him to!

Stan Lee is teh evil. Keep yer eye on that one.

 

[Doctorwhovian]

Yeah Magneto was very villanous in the 60s and 70s, kind of a lite version of Doctor Doom. While the X-men title was kind of dormant Magneto often battled other heroes such as the Avengers, Fantastic Four and the Defenders.

It was Claremont-who helped to revitalize the title in the late 70s and 80s along with others-who first really gave some added depth to Magneto by filling in his backstory including his prior relationship with Professor X.

Since then, the character has sort of gone back and forth between being a hero and a villain. He's also been dead a few times, and retconned/impersonated/cloned/whatever (Joseph and Xorn). I think he's back to being a villain though.

 

[Sto-Vo-Kory]

This has been on my mind for years. Why would Magneto call his group the 'Evil Brotherhood of Mutants' if he's trying to convey themselves as a noble and good group, in a similar vain to the X-Men?

It seems like in recent versions that Magneto refers to them as the 'Brotherhood of Mutants' but this appears to be a recent change...

One of the retcons for this name is that Magneto was being ironic and he thought mutants were seen as "evil" and malevolent by the general public so he was going to toss it right in the name of his group as a middle finger to Homo sapiens. I think Joe Casey came up with that one -- maybe in his Children of the Atom series?

A more recent Brotherhood of Evil Mutants left the "E" word in the title as a reflection of the way groups of people will take a derogatory name hurled at them in a a negative way, claim ownership of it, and reverse it into a positive, empowering connotation. The first example of this that comes to mind is the chant: "We're here, we're queer, get used to it!" The Evil Mutants slur became a badge of pride for that particular group.

 

[Trekker4747]

This has been on my mind for years. Why would Magneto call his group the 'Evil Brotherhood of Mutants' if he's trying to convey themselves as a noble and good group, in a similar vain to the X-Men?

It seems like in recent versions that Magneto refers to them as the 'Brotherhood of Mutants' but this appears to be a recent change...

Look, why don't just Google... Oh, an actual question.

Well, the answer is simple. He didn't give a rat's ass what humans thought of him and his group. Let them think of him and his group as evil, great. Probably just what he wants. Just makes them all the more likely to be aggressive towards him and other mutants, making him feel that much more justified in fighting back.

He doesn't want to win-over humanity, he wants to conquer and eradicate it.

 

[Silvercrest]

This has been on my mind for years. Why would Magneto call his group the 'Evil Brotherhood of Mutants' if he's trying to convey themselves as a noble and good group, in a similar vain to the X-Men?

It seems like in recent versions that Magneto refers to them as the 'Brotherhood of Mutants' but this appears to be a recent change...

One of the retcons for this name is that Magneto was being ironic and he thought mutants were seen as "evil" and malevolent by the general public so he was going to toss it right in the name of his group as a middle finger to Homo sapiens. I think Joe Casey came up with that one -- maybe in his Children of the Atom series?

It had to be earlier; I believe some form of that was written in the "Handbook to the Marvel Universe" in the mid-1980s.

 

[Guy Gardener]

Bother Hood of Evil Mutants = Freedom Force.

There's irony to spare.

I think I remember once when Mystique was explaining the irony thing, I recall her facepalming.

Maybe it had to do with branding?

Like those guys on Game of Thrones who have a castrated dude on their family crest.

If the word "evil" in their brand makes his opposition run, then that's a few more noncombatants who Magneto does not have to murder to get his end away.

 

[Greg Cox]

Just to nitpick: It was the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, not the Evil Brotherhood of Mutants.

And, yeah, it was a simpler time when comics were aimed strictly at kids and things were more black-and-white. And, back in the early days, Magneto was just your standard megalomaniac villain. "Curse you, X-Men! I will have my revenge!" Etc.

As noted, he didn't become any sort of complicated anti-hero until many, many years after those original Stan Lee/Jack Kirby stories.

 

[Guy Gardener]

X-Men #200 was an outstanding read.

 

[Hartzilla2007]

This has been on my mind for years. Why would Magneto call his group the 'Evil Brotherhood of Mutants' if he's trying to convey themselves as a noble and good group, in a similar vain to the X-Men?

It seems like in recent versions that Magneto refers to them as the 'Brotherhood of Mutants' but this appears to be a recent change...

Because he is a evil racist who wishes to place humanity under the yoke of Homo Superior. Fear is a weapon in his arsenal and calling his movement "evil" is a way to spread that fear.

DON'T BELIEVE THE SPIN! Magneto is not a nice person!

Funny slightly related thing, Grant Morrison seemed to have that view of Magneto who people seemed to think wasn't an evil asshole and seemed to think Ian McKellen playing him in the films had something to do with it despite the fact that McKellen's Magneto was an evil raging douchebag in X-men. X-2, and very much so in X-men: The Last Stand which is kind of ironic.

 

[Guy Gardener]

Xavier and Magneto in the first issues of the X-Men back in the 60s, but it became clear later on, that they were both aware, in control of hundreds of Mutants that they chose not to militarize... The X-Men and the Brotherhood were shitmagnets to take the heat off the rest of the species?

Wasn't there a brotherhood at once point that was all girls and went by the name of the sisterhood of evil Mutants?

Red Queen's Sisterhood

An all-female incarnation called the Sisterhood was formed by the "Red Queen"—revealed to (supposedly) be Madelyne Pryor—who recruited Martinique Jason, Lady Mastermind, Chimera, and the non-mutants Spiral and Lady Deathstrike. The Sisterhood was able to capture and brainwash the former X-Man Psylocke, making her a member also.[4][5] Although being neither female nor a recruited member, former Hellions member Empath was revealed to be helping the team in their attack against the X-Men.[6] The Red Queen is later lured into a trap set by Cyclops (Madelyne's former husband) and defeated. Psylocke broke free from her brainwashing and rejoined the X-Men. The other Sisterhood members all escape.[7]

 

[Alidar Jarok]

This has been on my mind for years. Why would Magneto call his group the 'Evil Brotherhood of Mutants' if he's trying to convey themselves as a noble and good group, in a similar vain to the X-Men?

It seems like in recent versions that Magneto refers to them as the 'Brotherhood of Mutants' but this appears to be a recent change...

Because he is a evil racist who wishes to place humanity under the yoke of Homo Superior. Fear is a weapon in his arsenal and calling his movement "evil" is a way to spread that fear.

DON'T BELIEVE THE SPIN! Magneto is not a nice person!

Funny slightly related thing, Grant Morrison seemed to have that view of Magneto who people seemed to think wasn't an evil asshole and seemed to think Ian McKellen playing him in the films had something to do with it despite the fact that McKellen's Magneto was an evil raging douchebag in X-men. X-2, and very much so in X-men: The Last Stand which is kind of ironic.

I think the X2, X-Men First Class, and DOFP Magnetos show the idea of him now. A morally ambiguous character who will work with you towards the common good, but you still shouldn't trust him as far as you can throw him (another analogy would be the Scorpion story from Voyager).

But the answer to the question from a real world perspective is pretty simple. Magneto had no moral ambiguity or shades of gray at first. He started off as just a bad guy. Even in Chris Claremont's run (which started in 1975), he didn't even have his motivating Holocaust backstory by the time either Days of Future Past or Dark Phoenix were written.

 

[DrCorby]

Just to nitpick: It was the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, not the Evil Brotherhood of Mutants.

And, yeah, it was a simpler time when comics were aimed strictly at kids and things were more black-and-white. And, back in the early days, Magneto was just your standard megalomaniac villain. "Curse you, X-Men! I will have my revenge!" Etc.

As noted, he didn't become any sort of complicated anti-hero until many, many years after those original Stan Lee/Jack Kirby stories.

I'd always thought it was also Stan's wink at SF fans, giving the Brotherhood the acronym "BEM", which was long used by fandom previously to mean "bug-eyed monsters". Which many mutants could be... Also the reason David Gerrold used the name "BEM" for an alien in an episode of the Star Trek animated series.

 

[Timelord79 (he/him)]

Brotherhood of necessary evil Mutans was too much of a mouthful?

 

[ManOnTheWave]

Even in Chris Claremont's run (which started in 1975), he didn't even have his motivating Holocaust backstory by the time either Days of Future Past or Dark Phoenix were written.

His back story was not revealed by that time. However, he was depicted in that story (DOFP) in the concentration camp as the X-Men's new mentor, complete with wheel chair which sort implies Claremont had a back story and a direction for the character in mind by that time. I don't remember Magneto being terribly interesting before that though.

 

[Alidar Jarok]

Even in Chris Claremont's run (which started in 1975), he didn't even have his motivating Holocaust backstory by the time either Days of Future Past or Dark Phoenix were written.

His back story was not revealed by that time. However, he was depicted in that story (DOFP) in the concentration camp as the X-Men's new mentor, complete with wheel chair which sort implies Claremont had a back story and a direction for the character in mind by that time. I don't remember Magneto being terribly interesting before that though.

Unless he was inspired by that scene to create the backstory.

 

[Guy Gardener]

I thought Secret War was the turning point.

He makes a big speech about being an oppressed minority and then sides with the X-Men rather than the Doctor Doom, because he is not a super villain.