Ten smartest in the MU

In order, I think...

1. Dr Doom (edges out Reed because of his knowledge of the arcane)
2. Reed Richards (Mr Science, although Xavier edges him out in genetics and Stark in robotics, his overall knowledge puts him at No 2)
3. Magneto (in addition to genetics, built a space station hence electronic genius)
4. Ironman (electronic genius, businessman)
5. Xavier (genetics, runs a school)
6. Dr Strange (arcane knowledge plus medicine)
7. Dr Octopus
8. Hank McCoy
9. Hank Pym
10. Peter Parker

thats pretty much my list, not in that order though, pym and mccoy should be higher on the chain imo

You forgot Thanos and Bruce Banner.

indeed

T'Challa, Ultron, Fixer, Zemo's pretty smart as well, Due to his powers Forge perhaps.

Originally posted by Krissy Von Doom
In order, I think...

1. Dr Doom (edges out Reed because of his knowledge of the arcane)
2. Reed Richards (Mr Science, although Xavier edges him out in genetics and Stark in robotics, his overall knowledge puts him at No 2)
3. Magneto (in addition to genetics, built a space station hence electronic genius)
4. Ironman (electronic genius, businessman)
5. Xavier (genetics, runs a school)
6. Dr Strange (arcane knowledge plus medicine)
7. Dr Octopus
8. Hank McCoy
9. Hank Pym
10. Peter Parker

pretty much my list, exept you for got the leader. he is smarter than both reed and doom respectivley. its just becuase of his immaturity, and lack of patience his plans never come to fruition. look it up

Yep, the Leader & Hulk, I forgot about them

( My list not including Cosmic beings ).

1. Victor Von Doom
2. Reed Richards
3. Bruce Banner ( Because he understands wtf Reed is saying when he says it. )
4. Hank Pym ( Ditto. )
5. Black Panther ( He's clowned Tony on multiple occasions and crippled the world economically as well as supplied the Avengers with a greater deal of technology. )
6. Tony Stark ( Pulls in second to T'Challa because he's been tricked...and lost parts of his company to BP in a a coup. )
7. Beast
8. Magneto
9. Xavier
10. Dr. Michael Achebe's puppet. ( Because he's smarter than us all...)

Leader is up there but he doesnt top Richards or Doom..dont forget Modok, Mad Thinker, The Wizard, Mr Sinister, Apocalypse, Kang the Conquerer/Immortus, Mad Man, Kristoff, some other people im sure im forgetting

Smartest mortal terran humanoids :

1. Victor Von Doom
2.Reed Richards
3.Red Skull
4.Doc Strange
5.Tony Stark
6.Black Panther
7.FOrge
8.Magneto
9.Namor
10.Xavier

Well I would say Galactus is over all the smartest if he is counted in this since he has been around since the creation of the Universe.

are Beast and Magneto actually smarter than...say....Apocalypse?

no...honestly beast and magneto would not be mentioned if i had to make a top 20 on Earth...If one considers all of Marvel's characters on Earth, outside the X-men, they can easily find more intelligent characters... a more extenisive list than the rest needs to be made

my list: (could revise later)

Dr. Doom
Reed Richards
Kang/Immortus/Rama Tut
The Leader
Agamemnon
Nathaniel Richards
The Sphinx
Apocalypse
Maximus
Kristoff (possesses knowledge and memories of Dr Doom)
Modok
Quasimodo
The Mad Thinker
Mr Sinister
Mad Man
The Wizard
Doctor Bong
Doctor Octopus
Hank Pym
Bruce Banner/Professor Hulk
Dr Walter Langkowski (Sasquatch)
Black Panther
Tony Stark

Some of these characters are not human, or not human anymore...but they r all on Earth...This is only a list of earthly characters, I could easily think of 15 other unearthly non-cosmics who I would place on here. I would have placed The High Evolutionary near the top of this list but he is no longer really an Earthly character.

Why does Dr Dooms Knowledge of arcane magic allow him to edge out Reed Richards. Are we talking smarts as in book smart or what?
Reed has already proven smarter than Doom ( he told him of his mistake that would later cost him his scarred face) Doom ego will never allow him to grow. Reed also taught himself magic (with Dr stranges help) in no time. And beat Doom later in the story! Reed in my opinion is Top Dog in the brains dept.

yea but Doom was the first to create a time machine...although both Richards and Doom have presently mastered time travel more than any marvel characters with the exception of Immortus...Doom was also able to cure Sharon Ventura of her She-Thing mutation, and heal Storm after she was critically burned by the human torch...he was also able to summon the Beyonder, and even travel to the dimension of the beyonders...Doom has it in my opinion, its his personality traits that cause him to lose to Reed, and the fact that good will always conquer evil in the end.

Reed edges out Doom in overall scientific knowledge, but that edge is quite small. Until Reed becomes second in line as sorcerer supreme, Doom edges him out in magic. Doom runs a country, hence has knowledge of how to govern a country (economics, international relations, etc...). Reed's ability to beat Doom doesn't show that he knows more, it only means he's a better strategist... and it's comics so the good guy always wins.

Smartest does not mean knowledgeable. knowing things never makes you smart, it makes you knowledgeable. a man with an IQ of 115 can study his whole life and know far more than tha actual smarter [lets say IQ of 200+] person. you can be a genius, however if you were not given the input to put that genius to use...are you considered an idiot? Obviously not. but tha goal of this thread is still functional.

So who do i think is tha smartest? well i would have to say that characters who show intelligence through their plannings and responses would truly be tha smartest. its hard to be sure of this but i would definitely put Magneto and Charles Xavier up top. Dr. Doom, Apocalypse, Onslaught, etc

magneto and xavier? please explain...I think you might have a one dimensional view of things...the top 15 characters in my list know more information than either xavier or magneto...with the exception of the Doom and Richards, they also have artificially, or genetically enhanced ingenuity, comprehension, intuition, deduction, etc. Immortus is a Richards but he is basically off the scales and incalculable in intelligence, I really should have made him number one...he has the brain and ingenuity of both Doom and Reed but he has gathered knowledge for almost 100 centuries, dwarfing the lifespan of Apocalypse and he has been given knowledge by fundamental cosmic beings...Magneto and Xavier? not even close...they may be good strategists but they have not demonstrated the intelligence of anyone but the lowest guys on my list.

"the top 15 characters in my list know more information than either xavier or magneto..."

But we're not talking about knowledgeable characters are we? heh i duno maybe we are. knowledge is just knowing something, like how tha word wise does not mean intelligence but a source of information. with more intelligence one can use knowledge in increasing efficiency.

Xavier is damn smart to form a group such as tha X-men and also run a school, and not to mention all his other achievements. actions show real intelligence...again, not knowledge because that is NOT intelligence. knowledge is just memory - that is it. and everyone knows magneto is a genius. i shouldn't explain that. also, i should have added mr. sinister for using his knowledge with intelligence to create characters like Cable/Nate Grey. hes had excellent plans that suggest he's a genius.

This is just my opinion but I would consider being "smart" on this list as a combination of three things:
1. Book knowledge, memory and information
2. Knowing how to efficiently use said knowledge (intelligence really)
3. Strategy

Thus, lets say, Rain Man would excel in 1 but fail in 2 and 3 making him not that smart. Now if we compare, say Dr Doom to Magneto
1. Knowledge goes to Dr Doom because he knows more than Magneto with the possible exception of genetics; in the other sciences Doom dwards Mags
2. Both are adept at using the knowledge that they have; Doom in creating doombots, a time machine and various contraptions; Mags in building Asteroid M.
3. Both are excellent strategists, usually coming within a hairs-breadth of beating their arch-nemesis'. Doom fares better because he's able to employ plans that take down beings on a higher level (Surfer, Watcher, Beyonder)

Who's "smarter"? According to the above, Doom would be classified as smarter because he outclasses Mags in 1 & 3. I'm giving Mags the benefit of the doubt and saying he uses his knowledge and resources as wel as Doom does.