One of the most impressive geniuses of the DC Universe with doctorates in theoretical mathematics, mechanical engineering, and particle physics, William Maxwell "Will" Magnus often offers scientific advice to other characters. His greatest achievement is the one for which he first received renown: the creation of the Metal Men. The method through which Doc Magnus created the Metal Man has varied over years with various writers. At first they were just blank slate robots with responsometers, devices which generated their intelligence and personalities which are evocative of the metals from which they were formed.