10 Times Professor X Outsmarted Everyone

10. Faking His Death - X-Men #65

In a move that added yet another death to Xavier's considerable collection, X-Men #65 revealed that Professor X had not been killed by villain Grotesk as the majority of the team thought, but rather the shapeshifting Changeling had in his place.

The real Charles Xavier had actually been underground for several months, desperately preparing for the impending invasion of Earth planned by the evil alien Z'Nox. All the while, both the X-Men and their enemies were fooled into thinking everything was as normal, with Xavier even lending Changeling some of his powers in order to make the illusion believable.

Managing to fool both your enemies and your allies at the same time is no easy feat, and - when combined with the fact that Xavier's plan defeats the Z'Nox - shows just how easily the telepath is capable of thinking three steps ahead of anyone else.