Professor X
Professor X (Prof. Charles Francis Xavier) is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist/co-writer Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in The X-Men #1 (September 1963). The character is depicted as the founder and occasional leader of the X-Men.
Xavier is a member of a subspecies of humans known as mutants, who are born with superhuman abilities. He is an exceptionally powerful telepath, who can read and control the minds of others. To both shelter and train mutants from around the world, he runs a private school in the X-Mansion in Salem Center, located in Westchester County, New York. Xavier also strives to serve the greater good by promoting peaceful coexistence and equality between humans and mutants in a world where zealous anti-mutant bigotry is widespread. However, he later abandons his dream in favor of establishing a mutant nation in Krakoa.
Throughout much of the character's history, Xavier has been depicted with paraplegia and uses a wheelchair. One of the world's most powerful mutant telepaths, Xavier is a scientific genius and a leading authority in genetics. He has devised Cerebro and other equipment to enhance psionic powers and detect and track people with the mutant gene.
Xavier's pacifist and assimilationist ideology and actions have often been contrasted with that of Magneto, a mutant leader (initially characterized as a supervillain and later as a complex antihero) with whom Xavier has a complicated relationship. Fans and commentators often compare Xavier and Magneto to Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X respectively, though the amount of authorial intent supporting this comparison is disputed. Writer Chris Claremont, who developed Xavier's characterization and originated Magneto's backstory, drew from Israeli politics, comparing Xavier to David Ben-Gurion and Magneto to Menachem Begin. Later writers have additionally emphasized secretive, ruthless, and manipulative aspects of Xavier, while the later "Krakoan Age" storyline sees him align with Magneto to establish a sovereign mutant nation.
Professor X has been substantially adapted into media outside comics, including animated series and video games. The character has been portrayed by Patrick Stewart and James McAvoy in 20th Century Fox's X-Men film series (2000–2019), and by Harry Lloyd in the third season of the television series Legion (2019). Stewart reprised the role in the Marvel Cinematic Universe films Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022) and Avengers: Doomsday (2026). Christopher Abbott will portray the primary MCU's incarnation of Professor X in the untitled X-Men film (2028).
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