Could a sniper kill Magneto?

[tavelkyosoba]

Yes, they'd just use epoxy bullets. Yes, they are a real thing, they're used today as frangible bullets designed to minimize penetration and collateral damage (often used by police and special forces. Sometimes buckshot is embedded to improve stopping power.)

Edit: I should also point out that non-ferrous metals CAN Be manipulated by magnetic fields. In fact, any polar molecules can be manipulated by strong enough magnetic fields (see levitating grasshoppers)

 

[kypsilon]

Yes a sniper could kill Magneto...

...but Marvel would bring him back from the dead a few days later anyways.

 

[Nieroshai]

What they said. Also though on the "other than metal" bullet thing, I don't know how that would work. His helmet that he always wears is a really strong metal, so I don't know what non-metallic material could pierce that.

The best way to take someone out is generally a centter-of-mass shot anyway, and a good sniper with, say, some kind of stone bullet could just make a heart shot. A stone bullet would fragment nicely too, mimicking the mushrooming of hollow-point bullets. I'd say to take out Magneto in the Marvel universe, your best bet would be to send in Anti-Venom to neutralize his powers. Then you can use metal weapons to your heart's content.

 

[tavelkyosoba]

What they said. Also though on the "other than metal" bullet thing, I don't know how that would work. His helmet that he always wears is a really strong metal, so I don't know what non-metallic material could pierce that.

The best way to take someone out is generally a centter-of-mass shot anyway, and a good sniper with, say, some kind of stone bullet could just make a heart shot. A stone bullet would fragment nicely too, mimicking the mushrooming of hollow-point bullets. I'd say to take out Magneto in the Marvel universe, your best bet would be to send in Anti-Venom to neutralize his powers. Then you can use metal weapons to your heart's content.

Stone bullets? You're kidding right? They would shatter in the chamber. Metals are used because they're elastic, not because they're heavy.

 

[Custard_Angel]

I always assumed his silly bucket helmet was bulletproof or something. He sure can't be wearing it for fashion.

Although I suppose you could just use a wooden gun if you really wanted to beat him.

[sub]If you're after a serious answer, see anyone mentioning some constant magnetic field. That's what I'd assume.[/sub]

That has got to be among the worst cartoons I have ever seen...

Even 50s Hannah Barbera was better than that.

 

[Nerdstar]

Also, can someone tell me- if captain america's shield is indestructible, how did they make it into a shield?

Isn't his shield Adamantium too? That'd mean they could melt the ore, purify it and once cooled it would be indestructable.

That's why he wears a helmet.

...

What?

Uh... isn't his helmet actually to shield him from Professor Xavier's Cerebro/generally brain-tinkering?
That's what I get from the films at least.

OT However, his helmet doesn't seem to protect his medulla oblongata very well. One well-aimed crossbow and he wouldn't even be able to react after he's hit.

The shield was created by a American metallurgist named Myron MacLain, who had been commissioned by the US government to create an indestructible armor material to aid the war effort. MacLain experiments with the vibration-absorbing metal vibranium.

During one of his experiments to fuse vibranium with an experimental iron alloy,[5] MacLain falls asleep and awakens to find the experiment a success. This is due to an unknown catalyst entering the process during his slumber, and he is unable to duplicate the result. The vibranium-iron alloy mix is then poured into a mold for a tank's upper hatch to create the disc shape and painted to become Captain America's symbol.

Rogers' indestructible shield was long referred to, even in continuity, as being composed of an adamantium steel-vibranium alloy. The vibranium in the shield grants it unusual properties, allowing it to absorb virtually all of the kinetic impact from any blows that the shield receives without injuring Rogers in the process.

as for magnetos helmet protects preimely agist psy attacks and the like such as ones from prfesser x and consquetly it also protects hime from being discoverd by cerbro/cerbra

 

[Nieroshai]

What they said. Also though on the "other than metal" bullet thing, I don't know how that would work. His helmet that he always wears is a really strong metal, so I don't know what non-metallic material could pierce that.

The best way to take someone out is generally a centter-of-mass shot anyway, and a good sniper with, say, some kind of stone bullet could just make a heart shot. A stone bullet would fragment nicely too, mimicking the mushrooming of hollow-point bullets. I'd say to take out Magneto in the Marvel universe, your best bet would be to send in Anti-Venom to neutralize his powers. Then you can use metal weapons to your heart's content.

Stone bullets? You're kidding right? They would shatter in the chamber. Metals are used because they're elastic, not because they're heavy.

Good point, didn't think too hard about it. Some kind of plastic or carbon composite? Dunno if rubber would work at that velocity.Even so, since we're inventing weapons just to kill Magneto, why do we have to stick with gunpowder weapons? Perhaps the sniper can use a crossbow with a non-metal bolt? Snipers don't have to be a mile off, just out of sight, especially if on a rooftop.

 

[Nieroshai]

OH OH I TOTALLY FORGOT!

Magneto's helmet was never meant to protect from physical damage. Its entire point was to prevent Xavier from reading his mind.

 

[OriginalError]

Use a non magnetic substance, like aluminum or another non magnetic alloy for the bullet composition... even a strong plastic polymer.

 

[Nieroshai]

Okay here's the thing, what material other than metal would function as a bullet?

Unless you can answer that, I doubt a sniper could kill Magneto.

any high density ceramic, bone bullets, quartz bullets, pretty-much any crystal ( presuming it's tough enough to be fired in the first place )

most types of rock,
or any non magnetic metal ( of which there are quite a few )

Tin
Lead-*
Chrome
Zinc
Copper
Calcium

*
( this is what bullets are actually made from, mostly... but i will grant they can contain some traces of magnetic materials, so whatever )

again, this really asks the question is magneto's magnetic ability actually magnetic, or just magic
there are certainly things you could fire at him that are not magnetic, of this there is no doubt
but since he can control lead and metals that do not seem to contain high quantity's of iron, Cobalt or nickel - yes i mean alloys too.
including wolverine's Unobtainium skeleton**

( the metals considered magnetic for the purpose of moving them with magnetic fields )
it really calls into question exactly what his super-mutation is

i would say, yes you could kill magneto with a bullet of x-substance that contains 0 metal if you had to
but then again, if he had those powers he could make himself a metal nano-shell and deflect bullets of all kinds
but the op stipulates 'when his defences are down' so the answer is yes, really.
with a magnetic bullet? depends if his ability to sense magnetic objects is passive or active, and we don't know that ( or i don't anyway )

**
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unobtainium
see science fiction

cause i know i just made a wolverine fan die of rabid foaming
for getting his sci-fi accurate

Adamantium. Different concept.

 

[Torrasque]

I think that wooden gun idea would be pretty sweet.
That, or just get a sniper a trebuchet.

 

[luckshotpro]

Yes, mutant or not, Magneto doesn't possess fast enough reflexes to react to a bullet that he wasn't expecting.

 

[Gottesstrafe]

Depends, he is aware that a lot of people hate him, so he might have a strong magnetic field around him at all times... However they could make the bullet out of something other than metal and BOOM, headshot.

Pretty much this. Though I think he can 'sense' metal in a way, which means that he'd sense the bullet coming at him and be able to stop it. I say that mainly based on the second movie where he 'senses' the iron in the guard's bloodstream and tears it out of him.

This reminds me of that bit in Final Fantasy 8 with the worlds worst assassin, Irvine Kinneas.

I guess if he can only survive all those bullets by actively deflecting them, rather than passively tanking them like, say, Superman would, a surprise attack could work.

Probably would've been for the best if he mentioned that he felt conflicted shooting the woman who raised him in the face before they went on their little venture. He doesn't seem to mind shooting people in the face with a sawed off shotgun like a straight gangsta, though.

As for Magneto, though, I think the main issue would be that he's not really the most 'public' of people. You'd not only have to know where he'd be ahead of time, but you'd also have to be an accomplished enough sniper to shoot him from a vast enough distance so that he wouldn't hear the shot and that he would go down in one hit. This wouldn't be a "Superman" like scenario where you could tie Lois Lane to a set of train tracks and then wait for Superman to come to her aid with kryptonite bullets in stow. It also wouldn't be enough that the bullet is simply made of nonmetal components, it's been shown in the comics that he can project forcefields that can withstand thermonuclear weapons.

 

[Singularly Datarific]

I'm pretty sure that the amount of ferro-magnetic material that composes a projectile such as that would be very little, but I'll give Magneto the benefit of the doubt (he lifted a bridge, I think he can stop a bullet).

Anyways, if he is calm and unaware, he's dead. If he has any way to expect it, the sniper is dead.

 

[crepesack]

Well, seeing as he is the 'Master of Magnetism' (as in he has control and influence over magnetic fields) that doesn't nessercarily give him a mastery over all metals (something I always found weird in the films).

Not all metals are magnetic (if I remember correctly from school, only Iron, Steel, Nickel and Cobalt are) so it's very easy to assume that not only could you shoot him with a sniper bullet, you probably could do it with most bullets (I'll give Adamantium a free pass in this because that is a fictional substance so it could very well be magnetic).

So 'Master of Magnetism' wouldn't suddenly mean you are the master of all that is metal (that power belongs to Iron Maiden) and it definately wouldn't make you immune to assassination.

All metals and all polar substances and diamagnetic substances are affected by magnetic fields (read: everything is affected my magnets)

Also...yes...But I think later on he's probably well aware that there are people trying to kill him non stop so he eat, breathes, and sleeps magnetic field all the time 24/7. Keeping a shield up is probably natural to him.

I'm certain though you could kill him from REALLY REALLY far away with a rail gun firing an electro magnetic round though.... An anti aircraft laser would work too....I think super powers exist in a world without the actual tools that exist that can easily take out a human.

Edit: Also diamond is diamagnetic so it certainly is easily repelled.

 

[Alaster Angelo]

Might work on movie Magneto, who's basically just a human with the exception of his powers, I don't recall any way to determine if he can detect metal from that far away and react to it in seconds. It's been a while since I've watched any X-Man movie, though, so please correct me if I'm wrong.

Comic Magneto is an entirely different story. He's blocked a blast from Galactus, and has extremely inhuman reactions. A sniper round shouldn't do much. The sniper would end up being hung with his own gun.

 

[nicholaxxx]

I always wondered why they didn't simply make the bullet out of something else and kill him from afar, but than again, I always wondered how he could affect metals which aren't affected by magnetism.

So yeah, logic has no place at all in that movie.

he's the master of magnetism, so couldn't he just give a metal magnetism for his purposes?

though I suppose that you mean he could give like plastic or some shit a magnetic field...

oh well, comic logic is... fun?

 

[Rule Britannia]

I don't know much about X-Men but yes this seems logical. on the basis he doesn't see you you xould probably kill him if he was completely oblivious or summin. Alternativly just shoot a very sharp woooden bullet aimed precisely at his head.

 

[Realitycrash]

Low orbitt Ion cannon will rid him nicely.

You ARE aware of what "ionized" means, right?

 

[Realitycrash]

Depends, he is aware that a lot of people hate him, so he might have a strong magnetic field around him at all times... However they could make the bullet out of something other than metal and BOOM, headshot.

Magneto gains regular old TK in the comics, so he can move metal and alot of other stuff as well... So he might have a better chance of stopping that non-metal bullet.

OT: The man's amazing. He can fly through space, create portals to different dimensions and lift a 30,000 ton nuclear sub out of the water. I don't think he'll be killed by a simple sniper.

Since I am no real X-men geek, except for like... The old cartoon and some movies, I did not know those things. ^^ I guess if he is that powerful my argument would be quite invalid.

Another way in which Magneto frequently uses his power is the projection of force-fields which selectively block out matter and energy. These fields are strong enough to withstand the detonation of multiple thermonuclear weapons; hence Magneto is invulnerable to most harm when surrounded by his shield and can survive in deep space thanks to it.
From Wikipedia.

As long as he is awake, I think he's going to project those shields, especially at such a low rate to repel a single bullet.
Killing him is most likely only doable like that in his sleep..Though maybe he subconsciously projects?