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Erik's personality is, at this point, very raw. He has a lot of anger, a terrible obsession with vengeance, and this is not surprising, considering the fact that he's a Holocaust survivor, and has suffered much at the hands of Dr Klaus Schmidt (Sebastian Shaw). It's a twisted version of what he was. While he is not outwardly evil, his allegiance is ambiguous at best. One must remember that having your mother shot to death in front of you for not being able to manifest your powers does a lot of damage, especially when you are a child. Erik still harbors a sense of sadness, a bittersweet sort of longing, something that is evident when he had touched down in the Argentinean airport, and had simply watched a mother and her young son before going on his way.

Erik is powered, in most part, by his rage -- as can be seen when he murders the men in Villa Gesell. He is also a functioning human being outwardly, able of holding conversation, polite and quite verbally economical when his dormant anger isn't stirred. When roused (triggers, to this point, is being a Nazi/related to Sebastian Shaw), he is ruthless, cruel, and a very efficient killer. His cruelty and disdain of Nazi-affiliated establishments can be seen when we first see him at the bank, where he tears out a senior banker's metal filling while demanding Shaw's whereabouts. He does, however, leave the man alive -- which shows that while he might want nothing more than to kill him, Erik still has a measure of self-control.

His entire personality can be seen up in the exact same way he wields metal: efficient, resourceful, controlled -- but at so many, so many turns, giving in to the fierce, wild passions that overwhelm him. He is not the Magneto who has grown and matured, this is still a relatively young man who is on the warpath, searching for the man who killed his mother. He does not seek revenge for himself. As revealed towards the end of the movie, Erik agreed with Shaw's ideals, turned off of humanity enough to see the logic behind Shaw's movements. He has also acknowledged that Shaw had made him the weapon that he is today. In some measure, there is a sort of gratitude beneath all that consuming hatred.

But, Shaw killed his mother; and that is enough reason for Erik to kill him the way he did, in the end.

When Erik gives in to his passions -- he is very intense, reckless, rash, willing to sacrifice anything to get what he wants; and this particular trait is obvious when he's willing to drown while chasing after Shaw's submarine. There are times when he simply doesn't think. He just does, consequences be damned. He lets his emotions overwhelm him, chooses his anger above his friends; so blatantly obvious when he's willing to do anything to get to Shaw, even pretty much getting Charles hurt, knowing that Charles disapproved of him killing Shaw.

All that aside, there are many more facets to him, Erik can be a very charming man, extremely charismatic with clear leadership qualities. While he's more of a lone wolf at this point in time, thinking nothing of abandoning missions and going off on his own, e.g. him abandoning the CIA mission to rush into the Soviet General's house is order to get to Emma Frost. While Erik doesn't mind letting Charles take the lead in such missions, and while he follows, to a certain extent, he is fiercely independent. He might play relatively well with others, but only until they cease to be useful to his agenda.

"If you're using half your concentration to look normal, then you're only half paying attention to whatever else you're doing. You want society to accept you, but you can't even accept yourself."

Incredibly self-possessed, strong-willed and stubborn, Erik is the kind of man who forges his own destiny. He obviously does not like taking many orders from others, as well. The man is obviously a born fighter, caring not for the feelings of others, fighting fiercely for his own ideals and a personal sense of justice. He is not a man who kills indiscriminately; and while he routinly hunts and kills Nazis, he does it with a cold blooded efficiency, and not out of a sick sense of amusement.

To a certain extent, Erik views himself as a monster -- "I am Frankenstein's monster, and I'm looking for my creator". This simple line shows a lot about what he thinks of himself. While he is not prone to any sort of self-loathing, it is a stone cold awareness of the kind of person that he is. His surprise when Charles had told him he is capable of goodness, as well -- is telling enough. He has never thought himself capable of such. He's not self-destructive or a man prone to depression and maudlin self-pity, but a man filled with a strong purpose, anger, vengeance, buried bittersweet memories, and little else. And while he can be vulnerable at times, as can be seen when he allows Charles to reach into his mind, coax him into a state between rage and serenity, those moments are few and far between, and he is never helpless.

He displays a magnetic (excuse the pun), straightforward and blunt personality, especially to Raven and Hank. He is a staunch believer in wearing your mutation proudly, bowing to nothing and no one. He has said that if he had Raven's or Hank's mutations, he would not hide them. He's smooth when he wants to be, possessing the ability to read a situation and employ the best methods to get the most out of it, but he is not your slickly manipulative sort of person. Direct, but never deceptive or devious. To add to that, he has no sense of subtlety, tact or humility. While he can be quick to criticize, sharp and able to cut straight to the point, he is also just as quick in praise, but only when it is deserved. You're never going to see this guy kissing ass, okay?

Never. He's too proud to do shit like that.

He's the sort of man who is very self-assured and exceedingly confident, very intense and sure of what he wants, and more than willing to do absolutely anything to get to it. It can be seen that Erik is very assertive, aggressive, pretty much unconcerned with social acceptance of any sort. He does not hide his opinions, or seek approval for anything that he does, least of all from society, who he thinks is beneath him as it is. He also possesses a very staunch sort of outlook -- "If you're not with us, you're against us."

People are normally either black or white to him. He doesn't bother with all the shades of gray.

He's not the kind of guy who would waste time brooding and dithering about -- he's quick, daring, absolutely fearless, and decisive, but as a result, rarely thinks of the repercussions of his actions. He's also the sort of person who would not put on airs or pretenses of any kind. What you see is pretty much what you get, no more, no less. Erik makes it clear, on more than one occasion, that his respect has to be earned. In short, he's not the type of person that is easy for one to be friends with, because for all his outward simplicity and straightforwardness, Erik is a rather complicated man with a whole assload of issues. And these are issues that he has little motivation to change. He is relatively distant to allies whom he does not click with, never sharing a thing about himself -- and not all that interested in hearing another's stories either. He's not a busybody, and he values his privacy highly.

He has an intense drive to succeed in whatever he's doing, taking the weight all upon himself. He is also naturally distrusting of people, a man who does not open up to others, and preferring his own company to someone else's.

Unless, of course, that person is able to intrigue him.

He's often brutally honest, and only lies when he needs to. Blunt candor, in his opinion, is the best. His main interest in general is in getting to the point as quickly as he possibly can, anyway, so he prefers to tell the truth. He has no time at all for any sort of discussion about anyone else, because Erik is far too interested in himself to waste any excess energy speculating on the possible secrets, behavior or motives of anyone else. In fact, his dark anger and his obsession for vengeance aside, he's actually a pretty nice guy, if incredibly impatient, and intolerant of excessive dithering. That particular trait is most obvious when dealing with Sean on the satellite dish. He pretty much shoved Sean off the satellite dish, essentially throwing the boy into the deep end of the pool and forcing him to awaken his abilities. He's definitely not teacher material, but one has to admit that his style of teaching is particularly effective.

Erik is naturally dismissive of the idea of existing peacefully amongst humanity, irreversibly damaged by his time as a persecuted Jew. He's exceedingly realistic, even cynical when it comes to human beings. Charles has commented once, "You think (humans) are all like Shaw." And he does, predicting that like the Jews, identification of mutants came first, and the inevitable persecution that would come after. He does not cease his interaction with Charles even if they have wildly differing views, however -- harboring the hope that they are brothers, and it would be the mutants against the world.