In 1944, in a Nazi death camp, Nazi scientist Klaus Schmidt witnesses a young Erik Lehnsherr bend a metal gate with his mind when he is separated from his parents. In his office, Schmidt orders Lehnsherr to move a coin on his desk, and kills the boy's mother when Lehnsherr fails to do so. In grief and rage, Lehnsherr's magnetic power manifests, killing two guards and destroying the room. Meanwhile, at a mansion in Westchester County, New York, child telepath Charles Xavier meets young shapeshifter Raven, whose natural form is blue-skinned and scaly. Overjoyed to meet someone "different", like himself, he invites her to live with his family as his foster sister.
