In the 2011 film *X-Men: First Class*, the story is a dual-protagonist narrative focusing on the origin of the relationship between **Charles Xavier** (played by James McAvoy) and **Erik Lehnsherr** (played by Michael Fassbender).
While Charles is often billed first as the founder of the X-Men, the film functions as a character study for both men, showing how their differing philosophies on humanity and mutant kind lead to their eventual roles as Professor X and Magneto.
### **Charles Xavier (Professor X)**
Charles is portrayed as a charismatic, somewhat arrogant Oxford graduate and telepath. His arc centers on his belief that mutants can and should coexist peacefully with humans.
* **"Killing will not bring you peace."**
* **Context:** This is said during the climax of the film as Charles tries to convince Erik not to kill Sebastian Shaw. It highlights Charles's fundamental belief in moral high grounds and the futility of vengeance.
* **"There’s so much more to you than you know. Not just pain and anger. There’s good too, I felt it. And when you can access all of it, you’ll possess a power no one can match. Not even me."**
* **Context:** Charles says this while helping Erik learn to control his powers during a training montage. He teaches Erik that his power is not fueled by rage alone, but by finding the "point between rage and serenity."
* **"I suppose I am a professor now. Pretty soon I'll be going bald."**
* **Context:** A meta-reference to the older version of the character (Patrick Stewart). Charles says this to Hank McCoy (Beast) after they begin training the young mutants at the Xavier Mansion.
* **"We have it in us to be the better men."**
* **Context:** Spoken during the final confrontation on the beach in Cuba. It serves as his ultimate plea for mutant-kind to act with grace rather than retaliation against the humans who are firing missiles at them.
### **Erik Lehnsherr (Magneto)**
Erik’s story is a "Nazi-hunter" revenge thriller. He is a survivor of the Holocaust whose trauma informs his belief that humans will always fear and eventually seek to destroy anything they don't understand.
* **"Peace was never an option."**
* **Context:** This is Erik’s immediate response to Charles's plea that "killing will not bring you peace." It has since become one of the most famous and meme-referenced lines in the franchise, summarizing his entire worldview.
* **"I've been at the mercy of men just following orders. Never again."**
* **Context:** Spoken at the end of the film when the US and Soviet navies fire their missiles at the mutants. Erik references his childhood in the concentration camps, explaining why he refuses to trust human authority ever again.
* **"Let's just say I'm Frankenstein's monster, and I'm looking for my creator."**
* **Context:** Erik says this to two former Nazis he tracks down in Argentina. He is referring to Sebastian Shaw, who tortured him and murdered his mother to "create" the powerful mutant Erik became.
* **"I'm going to count to three, and I'm going to move the coin... One... Two... Three."**
* **Context:** As Erik prepares to kill a telepathically-frozen Sebastian Shaw, he uses the same Reichsmark coin Shaw forced him to move as a child. This is the moment of his ultimate "birth" as Magneto, choosing revenge over Charles's path of mercy.
### **Supporting Main: Raven (Mystique)**
Though Charles and Erik are the primary leads, **Raven/Mystique** (Jennifer Lawrence) is the central emotional pivot of the film.
* **"Mutant and proud."**
* **Context:** This becomes her mantra after Erik encourages her to stop hiding her blue form and "normal" appearance. It marks her shift from Charles’s ideology of assimilation to Erik’s ideology of mutant supremacy.