The X-Men spent years as the top team in comics and pop culture, ruling the 1990s. Since then, things have been up and down for Marvel’s merry mutants — great movies gave way to not-so-great ones, animated series waxed and waned, and their comic sales dropped from amazing to merely good, then went back to amazing again — but one thing that never changed is how awesome the X-Men have looked. There are few comic teams where the members have costumes as great as the X-Men’s – even their villains have amazing costumes. Over the team’s history, the X-Men have given superhero fans some of the greatest costumes ever, bar none.

Magneto has had some breathtaking costumes over the years, and any one of them could have taken this spot on the list. His white costume from the Bendis years was amazing, and the black variant was actually better. The white and black Krakoa costume is also an all-time best costume, but as great as they are, the GOAT is still the original purple and red costume. It’s his best-known costume and it perfectly captures the grandeur that is Magneto.

Everything about it says power. The flowing cape is amazing, perfectly fitting his regal side. Purple and red are the best colors for a mutant such as Magneto; purple is the color of royalty and red immediately catches the eye. However, the best part of Magneto’s costume is the helmet. Even when Magneto changes the cut and colors of his costume, he usually keeps the same basic helmet design. The face area — a stylized T — hides much of his face, but always his opponents to see his eyes and mouth, so they are able to perceive his righteous anger. The stylized piece above the T is perfect, a crest that draws the eye right to it. It’s a brilliant design, as most villain costumes designed by Marvel legend Jack Kirby are.