Rogue (comics)

Rogue
Artwork for the cover of Rogue vol. 3, #3 (November 2004). Art by Rodolfo Migliari.
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First appearance	Avengers Annual #10 (November 1981)
Created by	Chris Claremont Michael Golden
In-story information
Alter ego	Anna Marie
Species	Human mutant
Team affiliations	X-Men XSE Brotherhood of Evil Mutants Xavier Institute Jean Grey School
Notable aliases	Anna Raven, Dr. Kellogg, Miss Smith
Abilities	Absorption of memories, skills, and powers through skin to skin contact. The longer the contact occurs, the longer Rogue will retain the abilities or memories. If she maintains contact for long enough, the absorption is permanent. Occasional super strength and flight. Occasional martial arts and unarmed combat. (details)

Rogue^[1] is a fictional character in most of the Marvel Comics award-winning X-Men related titles. She was created by author Chris Claremont and artist Michael Golden, and debuted in Avengers Annual #10 (November 1981) as a villain. An earlier story, intended for Ms. Marvel #25 (June 1979) went unpublished until 1992. Rogue was born as a mutant. More so than most, Rogue considers her powers a curse: she involuntarily absorbs and sometimes also removes the memories, physical strength, and (in the case of superpowered persons) the abilities of anyone she touches. For most of her life, this potentially fatal power prevented her from making any physical contact with others, including her on-off love interest, Gambit, but after many years Rogue finally gained full control over her power.

Hailing from Caldecott, Mississippi (a fictional county), Rogue is the X-Men's self-described southern belle. A runaway, she was adopted by Mystique of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants and grew up as a villain. After Rogue permanently absorbed Ms. Marvel's psyche and Kree powers, she reformed and turned to the X-Men, fearing for her sanity. Writer Chris Claremont played a significant role in the character's subsequent development. Rogue is unusual among the X-Men as her real name and her early history were not revealed until more than twenty years after her introduction. Until the back story provided by Robert Rodi in the ongoing Rogue series began in September 2004, Rogue's background was only hinted at. Her name was revealed as Anna Marie, although her surname is still unknown. She has sometimes been called Raven which is really the first name of her foster mother Mystique.^[2]

Rogue has been one of the most popular and consistent members of the X-Men since the 1980s. She was #5 on IGN's Top 25 X-Men list for 2006,^[3] #4 on their Top Ten X-Babes list for 2006,^[4] #3 on Marvel's list of Top 10 Toughest Females for 2009^[5] and was given title of #1 X-Man on CBR's Top 50 X-Men of All Time for 2008.^[6] Rogue has been featured in most of the X-Men animated series and various video games. In the X-Men film series, she is portrayed by Academy Award-winning actress Anna Paquin. Her visual cue is often the white streak that runs through her hair.

Publication history

Rogue (vol. 1, 3) Marvel Icons: Rogue (vol. 2)
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
Schedule	Vol. 1-3: Monthly
Format	Vol. 1-2 Standard U.S., 4 color. Mini-series. Vol. 3 Standard U.S., 4 color. Ongoing.
Publication date	Vol. 1: 1994 Vol. 2: 2001 Vol. 3: 2004–2005
Number of issues	Vol. 1: 4 Vol. 2: 4 Vol. 3: 12
Creative team
Writer(s)	Vol. 1: Howard Mackie Vol. 2: Fiona Avery Vol. 3: Robert Rodi (#1-6) Tony Bedard (#7-12)
Penciller(s)	Vol. 1: Mike Wieringo Vol. 2: Aaron Lopresti Vol. 3: Cliff Richards (#1-6) Karl Moline (#7-12)
Inker(s)	Vol. 1: Terry Austin Vol. 2: Randy Emberlin Vol. 3: Norm Rapmund (#1-6)
Creator(s)	Chris Claremont Michael Golden

Rogue was first slated to appear in Ms. Marvel #25 (1979) (and artwork for the first half of the story was completed),^{[citation needed]} but the book's abrupt cancellation left her original introduction story unpublished for over a decade, before seeing print in Marvel Super Heroes #11 in 1992. Rogue's first published appearance was in Avengers Annual #10 (1981). She made her first X-Book appearance in Uncanny X-Men #158 (1982) and joined the X-Men in Uncanny X-Men #171 (1983). Rogue has also had two miniseries and one ongoing title.

Rogue's real name and early history were not revealed until more than twenty years after her introduction. Until the back story provided by Robert Rodi in the ongoing Rogue series, begun in September 2004, Rogue's background was only hinted at. This resulted in Rodi's version of Rogue's origins inadvertently conflicting with earlier information. In X-Men Unlimited #4, Scott Lobdell indicates that Rogue ran away from her father after her mutant powers manifested, but in Uncanny X-Men #182, Rogue reflects that she never knew her father because he'd left before she was born, and several issues, including Uncanny X-Men #178 and X-Men #93, indicate that Rogue was taken in by Mystique and Destiny before her mutation became active.

Fictional character biography

Early life

Her parents, Owen and Priscilla, married early in their relationship and lived in a back-to-nature hippie commune in Caldecott County, Mississippi.^[7] Born as Anna Marie, she also enjoyed the attentions of her Aunt Carrie, on her mother's side. Anna Marie was raised speaking colloquial English and French, common to the Mississippi bayou area.^[8] The commune's failed attempt to use Native American mysticism to reach the 'Far Banks' resulted in Priscilla's disappearance. Carrie took over Anna's care, and in her grief at the loss of her sister, was a strict and authoritarian guardian. Anna Marie was a rebellious child^[7] and at some point, the exact event or reasons still unclear, she ran away from home as a young teenager. This also prompted the nickname "Rogue". Not long after, she was approached by Mystique, who sought her out on the advice of her precognitive partner Destiny. Mystique ultimately takes Rogue in as a daughter.^{[volume & issue needed]}

At some point, Rogue grew close to a boy named Cody Robbins. During their flirtation, she impulsively kissed Cody, at which point her latent mutant power to absorb the life energy and psyche of others with skin-to-skin contact emerged. Rogue was traumatized by the experience, and Cody was left in a permanent coma. Hence, Rogue wore body-concealing clothing that eliminated the possibility of accidental skin contact. She wished she "did not have to cover up so much around folks," to protect them from her. She thought her power was a curse.^{[volume & issue needed]}

In time, however, Mystique turned Rogue's loneliness, envy, bitterness, and despair into anger, thus recruiting her into the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants.^{[volume & issue needed]}

Brotherhood of Evil Mutants

After Rogue's mutation emerged, Mystique began coaxing Rogue into taking part in her terrorist activities as a member of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. Rogue was initially not interested, wanting only a normal life, but after an incident^[9] in which she absorbed and knocked out the young boy named Cody when he dared her to kiss him, she seemed to give up on normality and began taking part in Mystique's plans.

During this period, Rogue and Mystique associated briefly with a mutant named Blindspot, whose power to erase the memories of others by touch somehow counteracts Rogue's mutation enough to allow them to make physical contact safely. Blindspot and Rogue become good friends, but when Mystique decided to sever professional ties with Blindspot, Blindspot erased all memory of her from both Mystique and Rogue in order to protect herself.^{[volume & issue needed]}

When Mystique debuted her Brotherhood of Evil Mutants (Pyro, Blob, and Avalanche), Destiny advised her to keep Rogue out of the action, advice which proved important when several members of the new Brotherhood — including Destiny herself — were arrested and imprisoned. Rogue ultimately confronted Ms. Marvel on her front doorstep as she was returning home from grocery shopping and deliberately absorbed her powers. Something went wrong as Ms. Marvel fought too hard and too long. The transfer of psyche and all powers became permanent. The shock of absorbing such a formidable persona drove Rogue insane and she attempted to kill Ms. Marvel by throwing her off the Golden Gate Bridge. Unbeknownst to Rogue, Ms. Marvel was saved from the fall by the original Spider-Woman, Jessica Drew. Ms. Marvel was comatose for a short period of time before her memories without the emotional attachments were restored by Professor Charles Xavier of the X-Men. Rogue later felt tremendous guilt over the incident and it still haunts her to this day. However, she battled the Avengers as a member of the Brotherhood of Evil mutants using her newly acquired powers.^[10]

Later, with Mystique and Destiny, Rogue attacked Angel and Dazzler, but Rogue was overpowered by Dazzler. Rogue developed a grudge against Dazzler for her controllable mutation and her relationship with Angel of the X-Men. Mystique intended for Rogue to absorb Angel — the only X-Man whose identity is publicly known at the time — in order to learn the team's whereabouts but Rogue balked, afraid of the effect of absorbing a physical mutation like Angel's wings. Rogue defeated Dazzler, but was herself defeated by Power Man and Iron Fist, before fleeing; Rogue was defeated by Dazzler a few times before Dazzler is publicly revealed to be a mutant and goes into hiding.^[11]

She also battled the X-Men at the Pentagon.^[12]

X-Men

The more Rogue used her mutant power, the more her mind became filled with fragmentary psychic echoes of the people she absorbed. Carol Danvers' psyche was nearly a completely distinct personality within her mind who would sometimes take over when Rogue's will was weak. It became harder and harder for Rogue to hold on to her own personality and she feared that her powers would drive her insane (unbeknownst to her or Mystique, the process was also helped along by Mastermind, who subtly exacerbated Rogue's already severe psychological distress as a means of revenge against Mystique^{[volume & issue needed]}). Desperate, Rogue turned to Professor Charles Xavier and the X-Men and asked for admission to the X-Men to learn how to control her powers. The Professor was unable to do a satisfactory psychic scan of her, due to the clashing human and Kree portions of her psyche. Still, Xavier's charity towards all mutants led him to welcome her into his home and the X-Men, regardless of his team having previously fought Rogue and in spite of the X-Men's own strong objections. The X-Men even threatened to disband themselves and leave the school should Rogue be accepted. It was only Xavier's argument that all mutants deserve a chance for redemption that prevented the dissolution of the X-Men.^[13] Immediately afterward, Rogue clashed with Carol Danvers, as Binary, who was unwilling to accept the idea of Rogue among her friends.

Her initial months with the team were rough as she was seen as a latent threat, a Brotherhood mole within the X-Men. When the team met up with Wolverine in Tokyo where he was preparing for his marriage to Mariko Yashida,^[14] he gave her a chilly reception—Wolverine having been a good friend and professional partner to Carol Danvers. However, after the rest of the team accepted Rogue, Storm and Wolverine were incapacitated by poison, and Rogue was forced to work with Wolverine in order to find the culprit. The plot was traced back to the second Viper and her lover, the Silver Samurai. Rogue nearly died during the battle by taking a prolonged laser blast from the Viper to shield Mariko, who had shown her genuine trust and kindness. Wolverine, after the battle and over Rogue's own objections, kissed her to transfer his healing powers to her. She had gained his trust and respect for her efforts to protect his fiancée.

Soon after, she gained the full trust of the rest of the team by again risking her life to save Colossus, who had been superheated by Pyro and then rapidly cooled. She absorbed Colossus' powers, leaving her in the same rigid, melted form as he was to allow the Morlock Healer to heal the damage done to Colossus.^[15]

Rogue, under domination of Carol Danvers' persona, invaded the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier to rescue Michael Rossi and was framed for the murder of a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent.^[16] These charges were eventually dropped.

Rogue vs. the Ms. Marvel persona on the cover of Uncanny X-Men #269. Art by Jim Lee.

In the Outback

During the Fall of the Mutants, the X-Men battled a mystical entity known as the Adversary, who was bent on destroying and remaking the multiverse. In the final battle, the X-Men's physical and spiritual essences were used as fuel for Forge's energy star, which closed the doorway to the Adversary’s plane of existence and saved the multiverse. They, in effect, died. Roma, a prisoner of the Adversary and guardian of the multiverse, used her powers to recreate the fallen X-Men from scratch, making her own minor alterations. Now invisible to cameras and all forms of detection equipment, the X-Men resettled to Australia, claiming an abandoned ghost town in the Outback as their new base of operations.^[17]

The X-Men used their new status to attack anti-mutant threats around the world, which also brought them in conflict with the island nation of Genosha. Their own super powered agents, the Press Gang, captured Rogue and Wolverine and thanks to a special form of digitalized teleportation, both arrived naked in the prison of Genosha. Then the unthinkable happened as Wipeout fully canceled their abilities. For the first time in years, Rogue was able to experience skin to skin contact, though it now happened against her will, and the guards "took a few liberties" when they put her into a cell. This panel led readers to the assumption that Rogue was raped in Genosha.^[18] However in a later issue Carol Danvers, while in control of Rogue's body, states that "the guards got a little fresh" and that "nothing serious happened".^[19]

Immediately following this event Rogue completely withdrew into her subconscious. There, she found out that some psychic residue had remained of all people she had absorbed and now these phantoms tried to overwhelm her. As Rogue was fighting for sanity and control within her mind, unexpected help was provided by the permanently absorbed personality of Carol Danvers. She was stronger than psychic residue, in fact, she was as solid and real as Rogue. Carol suggested that Rogue allow her to take over her body seeing as how with her spy training, she was more suited for escaping from the prison without any superpowers. Rogue agreed and from then on, Carol and Rogue settled on a new "modus vivendi" - the two personalities would actually share the body, with each having their times of dominance, or acting as back up when one was rendered unconscious. It also seemed that Carol had no trouble to keep the absorption power under control. While she was using the body, she touched Psylocke's bare skin without any effect. Evidently, Rogue’s lack of control was strictly psychological in nature.^[20]

Among the X-Men, Rogue's life improved but she continued to struggle with Carol Danvers' residual personality. The Danvers personality eventually grew so strong that Carol had replaced Rogue's standard X-Men costume with Ms. Marvel's former superhero uniform during battle, as well a redecorating Rogue's room to her own tastes without her permission which angered Rogue when she would finally regain control of her body again.^[21]

Return

Eventually, Rogue was pulled through the mystical gateway known as the Siege Perilous, where she was judged by other-dimensional forces with the promise of a "new life."^{[volume & issue needed]} Returned to Earth, Rogue was purged of the remaining portions of Carol's personality, truly becoming her own woman again but was also temporarily stripped of her powers for a time. However, after Rogue emerged from the Siege, she found herself back in the abandoned ghost town in Australia the X-Men had taken up residence in after the Fall of the Mutants storyline. She was confronted by not only the Reavers, but by Carol Danvers herself, whose disembodied psyche had been reintegrated by passing through the Siege and being separated from Rogue. Rogue fled from Carol as she battled the Reavers and absorbed the powers of the mutant, Gateway, in order to teleport herself to safety. Carol arrived before she could escape and plunged through the portal Rogue had summoned and both of them disappeared.^[22]

Rogue, as it turned out, ended up powerless in the Savage Land, but Carol had been teleported to Muir Island where she came into conflict with some of the X-Men's allies who had fallen under the mental enslavement of the Shadow King. Carol fought him but his vast psionic powers overwhelmed and corrupted her. He then sent her to the Savage Land to find Rogue and the two battled fiercely. During the fight, there was not enough life-force between the two to sustain both Rogue and Carol physically as a result of the separation. Just as Rogue was on the verge of being drained completely, Magneto suddenly intervened and destroyed the Ms. Marvel persona, saving Rogue's life.^[23] Rogue and Magneto then joined forces with Ka-zar and Nick Fury to battle Zaladane who was trying to conquer the Savage Land. Rogue and Magneto had a brief moment of romantic tension during this war.^[24] When Zaladane was defeated and helpless, Magneto chose to kill her, against Rogue and Fury's protests, and in doing so, parted ways with the X-Men's ideals and methods before flying away.^[25] Rogue then flew to Muir Island to rejoin the rest of the X-Men with her powers fully returned.^[26]

The X-Men later divided into two teams to make better use of their large number of active members; Rogue was assigned to the Blue Team, under the leadership of Cyclops and alongside new X-Man, and love interest, Gambit. Upon his arrival, Remy flirted with each of the female members of the team, however Rogue immediately caught his eye, and Remy made no secret of his romantic desire for her.^[27]

Rogue and Gambit were immediately attracted to each other, but the development of their relationship was slow and rocky, partly as a result of her inability to control her powers and partly as a result of long-term issues, including secrecy and dishonesty, with previous relationships on Gambit's part. Through their many break-ups and make-ups, Gambit and Rogue have one of the longest and most popular relationships in the X-Men series.^{[volume & issue needed]}

As an act of penance, Rogue continued to visit Cody Robbins' hospital bed annually, a decade after she placed him in a coma. He was later killed by assassins sent by Gambit's ex-lover, Bella Donna Boudreaux, as part of a revenge plot against Rogue. Through a spiritual leader, Rogue was able to make amends with Cody's spirit. Cody held no hard feelings against her, knowing what happened was an accident and urged her to move on before he departed for the afterlife.^[28]

It was eventually revealed that Mystique had two sons: the now-deceased anti-mutant politician Graydon Creed and Rogue's long-time teammate, Nightcrawler.^[29] Rogue and Nightcrawler consider themselves to be siblings, although the revelation has not particularly altered their friendship.^{[volume & issue needed]}

Following the supposed 'death' of Cyclops, the X-Men team underwent major changes, amongst them Rogue being made the team's new field commander. Her even temper and years of X-Men service made her an ideal leader and she continued to lead the team until Storm returned.^[30]

When the Galactic Council transformed Earth into a maximum-security penal colony for hundreds of extraterrestrial criminals, Rogue absorbed the attributes of Z'Cann — a mutant, telepathic Skrull who had joined Cadre K, Xavier's Skrull equivalent to the X-Men. Z'Cann purposely touched Rogue to activate the mutant's abilities as the two evaded bounty hunters. Z'Cann used her telepathy to amplify Rogue's capacity to assimilate memories, causing her powers to mutate.^[31] Henceforth, Rogue was then able to "recall" previous powers absorbed/imprinted that were supposedly lost after initial transfer,^{[volume & issue needed]} but also found it increasingly difficult to control which powers manifested when, typically possessing Wolverine's healing factor and claws and Cyclops's optic blasts along with her usual strength.

X-Treme X-Men team

Rogue was part of the X-Treme X-Men team led by Storm. The team's first mission was in search of Destiny's Diaries (which prophesied future events). During an invasion of Khan (an alien conqueror from another dimension) of an isle nation Madripoor, Rogue requested that Sage use her power jump-starting abilities to evolve Rogue to a point where she could control all of the various powers that she has ever imprinted. Sage agreed, and Rogue became a one-woman army, able to use the powers of anyone she had absorbed in the past all at once.^[32]

During Khan's invasion, Rogue was also confronted by Vargas who was said to be "a new species altogether." Vargas foresaw himself being killed by Rogue in Destiny's diaries and, despite his belief in the prophecies, attempted to stop this eventuality from happening. Thus, in the midst of the invasion battle, Vargas ambushed Rogue as she was trying to rescue Gambit (see X-Treme X-Men), spearing both Rogue and Gambit with his blade before escaping. Rogue survived due to possessing both Wolverine's and Hulk's powers. Returning to the city shortly after the battle to recover his sword, Vargas was surprised in turn by Rogue dressed in Psylocke's costume (Vargas having killed Psylocke earlier for sport). After a lengthy battle, Rogue "fulfilled her destiny" by seemingly finishing Vargas off with his own weapon. Returning to Gambit, Rogue, with the help of Jean Grey, forced him from near death.^[33]

Following the repulsion of the invasion, Rogue realized that Destiny's Prophecies were only possibilities and that trying to follow them was more dangerous than ignoring them. She also learned that she had inherited a mansion in New Orleans from Destiny, as well as a sizable fortune, and the X-Treme X-Men team retired there to recuperate. Rogue soon left the team with Gambit, since they both emerged powerless from their ordeals and wanted to explore their relationship further.^[34]

After life on the road with Gambit, Rogue ended up living in a beach house in Valle Soleada, a town where mutants and humans coexisted peacefully. She subsequently received a visit from Bishop and Sage and, after a series of events involving an investigation into the murder of a human girl's family, Rogue and Gambit signed up with Bishop and Sage to help Storm's X-Treme X-Men stop Sage's enemy and former boss Elias Bogan. After the battle, Rogue asked Sage to restore Gambit's abilities, which she did. Gambit asked if the same could be done for Rogue's powers, but it was never revisited after Rogue quickly dismissed his comment.^[35]

Back to the X-Men

Rogue and Gambit returned to the X-Men as part of Marvel's ReLoad. Over time, Rogue's own abilities returned, although exactly how and when was never revealed or discussed. However, she no longer possessed the abilities she had absorbed from Ms. Marvel. Rogue and Gambit were both put on Havok's team and participated in various missions.^[36]

As described in her own miniseries, Rogue then traveled down south to save a young mutant girl from her powers. While there, she met Campbell St. Ange, a young man who was immune to Rogue's lethal touch. Also while there, Rogue forcibly absorbed knowledge from her Aunt Carrie that explained that Rogue's mother had traveled to the Far Banks, a dream-realm, to stop her father from getting there himself. Rogue encountered the incorporeal spirit of her mother therein, and absorbed her memories. After the reunion, her mother's trapped spirit could finally move on. Rogue subsequently went back to her Aunt Carrie and made amends with her.^[37]

Rogue then returned to the X-Men and confronted the monstrous Golgotha - large space creatures with telepathic abilities that induce insanity in some by bringing out and, to some extent, amplifying people's emotions. During this ordeal, as the result of Golgotha influence, Rogue and Gambit got into a fight about the reality of their relationship with Rogue's uncontrollable powers and Gambit claimed they would've parted long ago if they were always able to touch, that Rogue would've been 'just another one-night stand'. Gambit left, and Wolverine, his hidden emotions also coming out amplified under the influence of Golgotha, then revealed to Rogue he desired her in a romantic/sexual way, and that he in fact always had. He and Rogue then started passionately kissing each other until her power began to affect him and Emma Frost telepathically interrupted.^[38]

While on a trip to Japan to investigate an incriminating photo of her and Sunfire engaged in criminal activities, both Rogue and Sunfire learned that Rogue's former friend and teammate of the Brotherhood, Blindspot, has erased both their memories of the event. In this storyline, Rogue accidentally and permanently absorbed Sunfire's fire abilities (who has lost his legs to Lady Deathstrike and did not want to live).^[39]

Back at the X-Mansion, Emma Frost tried to help Rogue and Gambit by providing telepathic relationship counseling, but their relationship continued to be problematic. Rogue then discovered that Gambit was being seduced by the student called Foxx. It is later revealed, however, that Mystique, displeased with Rogue's choice of lovers, infiltrated the Xavier Institute by shapeshifting into Foxx and joined Gambit's squad in an attempt to ruin his relationship with Rogue. After Gambit resisted her charms, Mystique reverts to her true form and offered Gambit something more difficult to refuse: she transformed into Rogue and offered Gambit a Rogue with whom he could have a physical relationship. Whether or not they actually engaged in a sexual relationship is uncertain (although Gambit insists that nothing happened). Rogue eventually discovered her foster mother's presence in the school and her attempts to seduce Gambit, becoming furious with both parties. Because Gambit failed to tell Rogue of Mystique's presence in the Institute, their relationship developed the exact rift Mystique was hoping for and allowed her to set up her daughter with her accomplice, Pulse. After being discovered, Mystique asked the X-Men for permission to stay at the Mansion. The X-Men vote and Mystique was allowed to be a probationary member of the X-Men, a decision neither Rogue nor Gambit were happy with.^[40]

Blood of Apocalypse

In the events that followed M-Day, the mutant Apocalypse was reawakened; Gambit, seeking redemption from Rogue and his fellow X-Men, volunteered to be transformed into his horseman, Death. Gambit believed he could control whatever Apocalypse would do to him, in hopes of only gaining more power to protect Rogue and the X-Men from the villain.^[41] However, having been brain-washed, Gambit tried to kill Rogue (the only part of Gambit's past life that remains). After Apocalypse's defeat, Sunfire (who was granted new legs and transformed into the horseman Famine), and Gambit left the X-Men.^[42]

Endangered Species: Rogue's X-Men

As Professor Xavier went into space with Havok and several other X-Men to go after the villain Vulcan, Cyclops gave Rogue the authority to form her own team, complimenting her inspired improvisation in battle situations. She was hesitant at first, because of Gambit's recent disappearance with Sunfire, but accepted the position, saying that when he comes back, she'd still be at the school. She chose Iceman, Cannonball, Cable, Sabretooth, Lady Mastermind, Karima Shapandar (Omega Sentinel), and Mystique, a line-up Cyclops did not agree with.^[43]

Mystique seemingly tried to repair her relationship with Rogue, but is rebuffed. Rogue's team defeated the group known as the Children of the Vault. Afterward, Rogue declared her team would leave the X-Mansion. Rogue was hospitalized after a battle with Pandemic. Cable, desiring Rogue's help in defeating the Hecatomb, forced Rogue awake. Pandemic infected Rogue with a virus, Strain 88, altering her powers by amplifying them into an instantaneous death-touch. In defeating Hecatomb, Rogue absorbed psyches of eight billion entities that had been stored inside it.^[44]

The team moved to Rogue's hometown of Caldecott for Rogue to recover. As Cyclops and Emma Frost arrived to help Rogue cope with the immensity of the voices in her mind, Marauders arrived, seeking the Destiny diaries. As part of the attack, it was revealed that Mystique was working with the Marauders and for Mister Sinister. Mystique shot Rogue and took her back to Mr. Sinister's base, who only kept Rogue alive because she held all the information of Destiny's Diaries within her mind.^[45] Gambit, who had joined the Marauders and Mr. Sinister again, was protective of Rogue and accused Mystique of being too careless in how she captured her. Gambit was shown standing over Rogue trying to get her to wake up (after she had fallen into a trance overcome by the minds she absorbed), and expressed his apologies for what he had done before rejoining Sinister. Rogue had flashes of memories, both of she and Gambit during the time that they had known each other, and of the millions of minds she absorbed, while in her coma-like state before she briefly woke up and recognized Gambit. She told him she had a nightmare, before spouting incoherent words and mysterious coordinates.^[46]

Messiah Complex

Main article: X-Men: Messiah Complex

The X-Men attacked the Marauders' Antarctic base in order to rescue Rogue and the mysterious mutant baby who was at the center of Messiah Complex. However the baby eventually took precedence and the X-Men did not recover (or even see) Rogue.^{[volume & issue needed]}

Mister Sinister, now in possession of the mutant baby, relocated the Marauders to Muir Island. While standing by Rogue's bedside, Mystique was visited by Mister Sinister who told her that there will be no cure for Rogue and she will eventually die. Without warning, Mystique ambushed Sinister and shoved his face onto Rogue's. The instant contact seemingly killed Sinister.^{[volume & issue needed]}

Mystique, in keeping with the words of the Destiny Diaries, placed the baby's face in direct contact with Rogue's, with the understanding that Rogue would awaken from her comatose state. The baby was not affected by Rogue's power, and Rogue awakens shortly after. Realizing what Mystique had done at the risk of killing the baby, Rogue said she's tired of people's lives being destroyed by Mystique and grabbed Mystique's face barehanded, fully absorbing her powers and consciousness. Mystique was left on the floor incapacitated as Rogue told Gambit that when the baby touched her, it removed all the psyches of everybody she has ever touched and that only herself and Mystique are left in her mind. She said she needed to be alone and told Gambit not to follow her.^[47]

Being cured

Rogue takes some time out from the X-Men and travels around the Australian outback on a motorcycle.^[48] She returns to the X-Men's former headquarters in Maynards Plains, Australia. Once there, she has a conversation with Mystique (a part of Rogue's psyche), telling her that no one else can help her with her powers and that it was down to her to figure out how to control them.

One day, a woman appears in town claiming to be an anthropologist from Melbourne University. Rogue made it clear she could stay as long as she wants, but to keep out of her way. The anthropologist approached Rogue with questions about some of the remains she has found in the town. Rogue said she does not know anything about the remains and to leave her alone. The anthropologist follows Rogue and explains she actually has a different identity. The anthropologist was then targeted by a low flying Shi'ar spaceship and revealed that she was actually Danger in disguise. She informs Rogue she planned to get revenge on Professor Xavier by using her as a conduit.^[49] Danger created an amalgamation of several past events in the X-Men's history prominently involving Rogue in the town using her hard light capabilities. As Professor Xavier and Gambit searched for her, Rogue evaded old versions of the X-Men and the Marauders that were part of Danger's creation. She was finally cornered by the Marauders, and refused to let Mystique's psyche take control of Rogue's body and save her as the fake Marauder Scalphunter shot at her. Mystique then took over Rogue's body to save her and fought off the Marauders, then returned control of Rogue's body to her.^[50]

Rogue then wandered to the fake Tokyo Tower and tried to find the Institute, deducing that the projections around her were changing at ten-minute intervals, altering the environment around her. However, Rogue did not get far as she ended up in Antarctica, witnessing the moment she abandoned Gambit after his trial. She regretted her decisions there, telling Mystique that she really had not moved on. It was at that point that Cody Robbins appeared before Rogue, repeating his greeting from the night her powers manifested. Rogue just stared at him in shock.^[51]

Eventually the Professor, Gambit and a group of Shi'ar pirates managed to shut down Danger. However, the Professor reactivated her and she defeated the pirates in turn. After this, it was revealed that Rogue's powers never truly developed past their initial "nascent" stage, which was the reason why her powers never functioned properly. The Professor, now aware of this fact, used his telepathy to tear down the mental walls that kept Rogue's powers from developing (the walls were created as a side effect every time she absorbed other people starting with Cody, and even more so with Ms. Marvel), and removed the mental echo of Mystique. Finally Rogue kissed Gambit, with no ill side effect, revealing that she was finally in control of her absorption power.^[52]

Utopia

Rogue, Gambit, and Danger decide to go to San Francisco in order to regroup with the other X-Men. On their way there they are intercepted by Pixie who teleports them into the city, which is in a state of chaos due to the anti-mutant and pro-mutant movements. Cyclops sends all three out in order to locate several missing students and bring them home. During their mission Rogue faces off against the new Ms. Marvel; finding that she cannot touch her opponent, Rogue resorts to a trick and flees the site.

Later on she joins Gambit, who has been injured by Ares, along with Danger. Ares does not take her seriously and dismisses her both as an opponent and her attempts to calm things down. Rogue grabs Ares and absorbs his powers. Ares is dismissive of her attempt and claims that she cannot absorb him, a boast that proves wrong as she weakens him enough for Gambit to blast him bloody and stunned. Having for the moment absorbed some of Ares' power she easily dispatches a small group of H.A.M.M.E.R. agents with superhuman strength and proceeds to steal their tank, along with Gambit and Danger, in order to find the rest of the students.^[53]

Rogue finds Trance as her powers are flaring out of control creating powerful uncontrollable bio-electric blasts. Rogue tries to help calm Trance and help her gain control when Ms. Marvel appears. After taking out Gambit and Danger, Rogue and Ms. Marvel fight; Rogue is losing until Trance regains control and jumps in to help Rogue. Trance learns that her astral form is able to punch Ms. Marvel when they are both intangible. After Gambit stuns Ms. Marvel, they teleport back to base where Trance receives medical attention.^[54]

Nation-X

As Utopia has become a safe haven for mutants, the entire population had to be on high alert following an attack on the X-Men by Emplate, who feeds on mutant bone marrow for sustenance. The X-Men instruct everyone to stay close to each other and report anything out of the ordinary. Bling goes to check out an old amphitheatre on her own when Emplate captures her to use as a food source.

Unable to enter Emplate's cross-dimensional base, Rogue absorbs Trance's astral projection ability to save Bling. As she investigates his home for clues to Bling's whereabouts, Rogue was attacked by psychoplasmic ghosts. After fighting them off, she rescues Bling from Emplate.^[55]

Rogue also protects the students during an attack by a herd of Predator X's by absorbing the powers of multiple students.^[56]

Necrosha

In an attempt to finally achieve godhood, Selene along with her servant Eli Bard, resurrected many of the X-Men's greatest deceased allies and villains under her control. Among the resurrected is Rogue's foster mother, Destiny, who attempts to contact Rogue but instead contacts Blindfold.^[57] However, Proteus had possessed Destiny when she came back. When she makes contact, he leaves her to possess the body of Blindfold, so he can trick her into convincing a team of X-Men to go to Muir Island, where he hopes to kill them.^[58] Eventually Rogue and a team of X-Men manage to defeat Proteus and Rogue tearfully says goodbye to her foster mother as Destiny once more dies.^[59]

Post-Siege

Following the Siege of Asgard, Rogue was present at Sentry's memorial, where it was suggested he was immune to her power and that a time in the past when she knew no other physical contact, she had at least one encounter with him of some physically intimate nature.^[60] However, it was established in Sentry #4 that Sentry and Rogue never met.^[61]

Second Coming

During the event in which Cable and Hope return to the present timeline Rogue is able to sense Hope's presence, like Destiny prophesied, although neither she nor Emma Frost can explain it. After a short confrontation with some of Bastion's men the X-Men and Cable decide for a diversionary tactic. Cable along with some of the X-Men stays behind (since it was him they were tracking) while Rogue, Nightcrawler, and Hope leave in order to protect the girl. To that end Rogue absorbs the power sets of Colossus, Wolverine, X-23, Archangel, and Psylocke.^[62]

For a while their tactic works, leaving Cable along with some of the X-Men to fend off Bastion's troops. In the mean time Kurt, along with Rogue and Hope, teleports across the United States towards Utopia. This however exerts him to such a degree that he has to rest for a moment; they are soon confronted by Bastion himself. Seeing no alternative Rogue attacks him hoping to buy enough time for Kurt and Hope to flee - but Bastion is able to hit Kurt with an energy blast that knocks him out. Channelling Colossus's strength, further enhancing it with Betsy's telekinesis and using the individual claw sets of Logan and X-23 along with their healing factors, Rogue is able to inflict massive damage to Bastion. However, Bastion is able to repair himself and overpower Rogue with an energy discharge which briefly incapacitates her. Unable to do anything she watches with horror as Bastion fatally impales Kurt with his arm.^[63]

Rogue is appointed Hope's protector while on Utopia and allows her to participate in the final battle, where Hope eventually destroys Bastion. Her actions and choices put Hope in danger and ultimately results in Cyclops suspending Rogue from active duty. She will, however, remain as Hope's protector and accompanies her to Alaska in search of her real family.^[64]

Post "Age of X"

After the events of Age of X, Rogue becomes torn between her feeling for Gambit and Magneto. Gambit states that she has to be ready for him for good before he could be with her again, and that he would be waiting for her when she is ready. After Rogue confronts Magneto about his past, she spends a night with him, promising nothing else.^[65] Afterwards, Rogue joins Professor X, Frenzy, Legion, Magneto and Gambit on a mission to capture several of Legion's personalities that escaped after Age of X. The final battle with Legion's personality Styx results in Rogue temporarily absorbing many of Legion's powers, which led her to finding the location of Havok, Polaris and Marvel Girl; the mutants that were left in space after the X-Men's mission to stop Vulcan.^[66]

After the events of SCHISM, Rogue chooses to be on Wolverine's team. They return to Westchester, New York to start the Jean Grey school for the gifted.^{[volume & issue needed]}

Powers and abilities

Due to the nature of her unique mutant powers, Rogue has had several different abilities over the years.

Mutant powers

Rogue possesses the mutant ability to absorb the psyche and abilities of another human being (or members of some sentient alien races) through skin contact. Rogue can absorb the memories, knowledge, talents, personality, and physical abilities (whether superhuman or not) of the person she touches, as well as occasionally duplicating in herself physical characteristics of her victim. The victim's abilities and memories are absorbed for a one to 60 ratio of time of contact. The victim loses those abilities and memories for exactly the amount of time that Rogue possesses them. This absorption usually leaves the victim weakened, and sometimes renders them unconscious. Their powers may also be temporarily weakened or removed. Rogue's power is constantly active, rendering her incapable of touching others without the absorption process taking place. However, evidence suggests that Rogue's inability to control her powers is psychological in nature. During the times when the Ms. Marvel personality would overtake her psyche, she was able to touch people freely.^[67] This fact has since been corroborated by the discovery that Rogue's absorption power never developed beyond the stage of its original manifestation.^[52] Xavier later rectified this by telepathically removing the psychological barriers stunting it.^[52]

The transfer of abilities is usually temporary, lasting for a period of time relative to how long contact is maintained, but if Rogue holds on to her victim for too long, the transfer may become permanent, leaving the victim nearly dead, as was the case with Ms. Marvel. However, it must also be noted that Ms. Marvel fought the transfer process, which Rogue attested to sometime after the incident occurred. Most often this process happens instantly when Rogue touches someone, but certain extraordinarily powerful beings have proven resistant to Rogue's power, and she may only share part of their memories and power, as was the case when Rogue once attempted to absorb power from the alien Magus. However, in the process of doing so she gained an immunity to the Technarch transmode virus.^[68][69]

As Rogue is absorbing the total psyche of a person, there is a risk of a personality overwhelming her and taking control of her body. It has also been shown that even though the memories she has absorbed eventually fade when a psyche returns to its body, remnants, or 'echoes', of the personalities of victims whose memories she has absorbed remain buried in her subconscious indefinitely, and while there is little to no risk of those personalities overwhelming her like the Ms. Marvel personality could, they can occasionally make their presences known.

Fully developed mutant powers

Following the conclusion of Messiah Complex, Rogue's slate was wiped clean. The mutant baby's touch mysteriously erased all of the previous memories and abilities Rogue had absorbed, including those of the Hecatomb. It also cured her of the Strain 88 virus. Rogue's touch now simply steals the memories and abilities of individuals she comes in direct skin-to-skin contact with. The longer the contact, the longer Rogue retains the absorbed information. Although she can now control her powers at her will, she can still make her touch lethal if she activates it as her will to make it lethal on her enemies, and make her touch not lethal on her friends.^{[volume & issue needed]}

Following the events of X-Men: Legacy, Rogue appears to be able to activate her powers at will, as opposed to them being constantly active, as demonstrated when she kisses Gambit without incident. Her inability to control her powers stemmed from mental blocks within her mind which formed each time she used her abilities, crippling the development of her powers from their nascent stage. When Professor Xavier removes the blocks, her powers are allowed to develop normally.^[52] With this new control, Rogue demonstrates the ability to absorb and collectively utilize all the powers of the New X-Men, in order to defeat a rogue Predator X, with no apparent harm to either them or herself.^[56]

Ms. Marvel powers

As a young woman, Rogue permanently absorbed certain superhuman powers and the psyche of the original Ms. Marvel (Carol Danvers).^[10] This provided her with superhuman strength, stamina, durability, and the ability of flight. She was able to repel bullets and achieve supersonic flight. She could also survive unprotected in outer space.

Rogue also gained a precognitive "seventh sense" that enables her to predict an enemy's move subconsciously during battle. She used this ability to predict where Nightcrawler would teleport and from which direction Magus of the Technarchy would attack.^[68]

When she possessed Carol Danvers' psyche, her "double" consciousness made her highly resistant to telepathic probes, even those of Charles Xavier, which was said to have been a byproduct of two minds existing in one body and/or Carol Danvers' Kree physiology. Rogue could also draw upon the combat and espionage training of Carol Danvers by allowing her alternate personality, a duplicate of Danvers', to dominate her conscious mind.

When Rogue later lost all of her superhuman abilities for a time,^{[citation needed]} her Ms. Marvel powers vanished for quite some time and did not return until later when Rogue absorbed an injured Cadre K girl named Z'Cann.^{[volume & issue needed]}

X-Treme powers

During the Maximum Security miniseries, Rogue absorbed an injured Cadre K girl named Z'Cann. The girl held on longer than necessary, using her mind control to boost the process and because of this (perhaps because she had absorbed a fluid Skrull physiology) Rogue mutated further, gaining the ability to 'recall' the powers of anyone she had ever absorbed before, though she could not control when or which of these powers surfaced. For a short time Rogue also had a Skrull appearance, scanned as though she had Skrull DNA, and had their shapeshifting powers, but these soon faded and she returned to her normal appearance.

Through meditation, Rogue learned how to suppress the random manifestations of most of these abilities, but found herself with Wolverine's claws and healing factor, and Cyclops' optic blasts for a time (she had to wear ruby quartz glasses), while also still retaining her mutant and Ms. Marvel powers.

Later, Sage used her own mutant abilities to 'jump-start' Rogue's power, giving her the control to manifest any ability she had ever absorbed, whenever she wished to. It is generally accepted that after regaining her powers after X-Treme X-Men, she has lost this ability.

Though Z'Cann was a telepath, Rogue never displayed this power (though she did manifest telepathy, it was with the Phoenix energy form, so it was most likely an echo of Jean Grey's powers).

Powerless

For a time Rogue lost all of her powers, including her original mutant ones, after she was fatally injured in a fight with the mysterious warrior Vargas.^{[volume & issue needed]} During this period, she displayed exceptional fighting skills and agility, though it was said these were not superhuman in nature.

She also still possessed a 'fluid genome' that enabled Sage to use her as a conduit through which to channel the mutant powers of the X-Treme X-Men team in a fight against Bogan.

Sunfire powers

In her short-lived ongoing series (2004–2005), Rogue absorbed a large portion of the mutant Sunfire's solar-absorption based powers. In addition to her own natural mutant abilities Rogue could then project intense heat and flame, envelop her body in a fiery aura, fly by focusing her power downwards in a tight stream to propel her like a rocket, focus her power inward to increase her strength (though not at her Ms. Marvel levels), exercise immunity to heat and radiation, and see the infra-red spectrum.^{[volume & issue needed]}

Rogue's real name

Rogue was one of the few comic book characters whose real name had never been revealed, until decades after her first appearance. This was a controversial topic for years.^{[citation needed]} In the films X-Men, X2: X-Men United, and X-Men: The Last Stand, Rogue's real name is Marie and she lives with a couple with the surname of D'Ancanto. In the comics, her chosen name (according to X-Treme X-Men #31) is Anna Raven when her powers are inactive (Raven Darkholme is Mystique's name). The readers came close to finding out her name in X-Men #24 (when she was about to reveal it to Gambit on a date), but the Cajun stopped her before she could finish her sentence.

In the "Going Rogue" arc of her 2004 ongoing series^[7], Rogue's real name is finally established as Anna Marie. Rogue reaches back her childhood home of Caldecott County, where her surviving maternal aunt and the shamanistic incarnation of her mother repeatedly refer to her as "Anna Marie"; Gambit also refers to her as "Anna" instead of using the traditional "Rogue," and uses a complete name of "Anna Raven" when asking a motel employee for Rogue, though it could be an instance where Rogue has chosen the surname "Raven" as an alias. Regardless, Rogue learns her true given name at birth was "Anna Marie" from the absorbed memories of her aunt, who helped raise Rogue with Rogue's father after Rogue's mother vanished from their home. Rogue acknowledges the name uttering: "(Anna Marie) Th-that's my name...," right after a shamanistic doppelgänger of Rogue mentions it, and later she says: "I-It's me. Anna," once after finding Gambit in the dream world.^[7] Uncanny X-Men 517 and 526 ^{[56] [64]} uses the complete name of "Anna Marie" Rogue repetitively, respectively when describing her fighting against Predator 006 at Utopia and before a mission aboard the X-Jet to Alaska; X-Force 26 ^[63] also does so, and Secrets of the House of M^[70] states for Rogue's file the first name of "Anna Marie" and the last name of Darkholme, although the latter again is referring to Mystique's last name. Furthermore, her profile in the latest edition^[vague] of the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe lists her real name as Anna Marie.^{[citation needed]}

Chris Claremont has also used the name "Anna-Marie Raven" in reference to Rogue in X-Men Forever,^[71] although it is not clear whether or not the team knows her name, as they do uniformly refer to her as "Rogue."

Other versions

Main article: Alternative versions of Rogue

In other media

Main article: Rogue in other media

References

1. ^ Chris Claremont (w), Michael Golden (p). Avengers Annual 10 (November 1981), Marvel Comics
2. ^ Tony Bedard (w), Karl Moline (p), Rick Magyar (i). "Forget-Me-Not" Rogue 2 (August 2004), Marvel Comics
3. ^ Goldstein, Hilary; Richard George (May 15, 2006). "The Top 25 X-Men: They're the best at what they do, but some do it better than others". IGN. http://comics.ign.com/articles/708/708826p5.html. Retrieved February 25, 2009. 
4. ^ Goldstein, Hilary (May 5, 2006). "Top Ten X-Babes: Counting down the lovely ladies who wear X and little else". IGN. http://comics.ign.com/articles/705/705361p2.html. Retrieved February 25, 2009. 
5. ^ Secret Cabal (February 4, 2009). "Take 10: Girl Power". Marvel.com. http://www.marvel.com/news/comicstories.6773. Retrieved February 24, 2009. 
6. ^ Cronin, Brian (September 27, 2008). "CBR's Top 50 X-Men". Comic Book Resources. p. 3. http://forums.comicbookresources.com/showthread.php?t=237561&page=3. Retrieved February 25, 2009. 
7. ^ ^{a b c d} Rogue vol. 3 #1-6 (September 2004 – February 2005)
8. ^ X-Men/Alpha Flight #1 (December 1985)
9. ^ Depicted in Ann Nocenti's "Her First and Last" in Classic X-Men #44 (February 1990)
10. ^ ^{a b} Avengers Annual #10 (1981)
11. ^ Dazzler #22-24, #28 (December 1982 – February 1983, September 1983)
12. ^ Uncanny X-Men #158 (June 1982)
13. ^ Uncanny X-Men #171 (July 1983)
14. ^ Uncanny X-Men #172 (August 1983)
15. ^ Uncanny X-Men #179 (March 1984)
16. ^ Uncanny X-Men #185 (September 1984)
17. ^ Uncanny X-Men #220-227
18. ^ http://www.experts123.com/q/was-rogue-raped-by-the-guards-in-the-first-genosha-storyline.html
19. ^ Uncanny X-Men #244
20. ^ Uncanny X-Men #236
21. ^ Uncanny X-Men #244
22. ^ Uncanny X-Men #269 (October 1990)
23. ^ Uncanny X-Men #269
24. ^ Uncanny X-Men #274 (March 1991)
25. ^ Uncanny X-Men #275 (April 1991)
26. ^ Uncanny X-Men #278 (July 1991)
27. ^ X-Men vol. 2 #3-4
28. ^ Rogue #1-4 (January–April 1995)
29. ^ X-Men Unlimited #4
30. ^ X-Men vol. 1 #103
31. ^ X-Men 107 (2000), Maximum Security tie-in
32. ^ Xtreme X-Men #13 (July 2002)
33. ^ Xtreme X-Men #17 (October 2002)
34. ^ Xtreme X-Men #19 (December 2002)
35. ^ X-Treme X-Men #46 (June 2004)
36. ^ X-Men vol. 2 #157 (July 2004)
37. ^ Rogue vol. 3 #6 (February 2005)
38. ^ X-Men vol. 2 #169 (June 2005)
39. ^ Rogue vol. 3 #11 (July 2005)
40. ^ X-Men vol. 2 #174 (October 2005)
41. ^ X-Men vol. 2 #184 Epilogue: Riddle of the Sphinx
42. ^ X-Men vol. 2 #187
43. ^ X-Men vol. 2 #192 (December 2006)
44. ^ X-Men vol. 2 #199 (July 2007)
45. ^ X-Men vol. 2 #200 (August 2007)
46. ^ X-Men (vol. 2) #204 (December 2007)
47. ^ X-Men (vol. 2) #207 (March 2008)
48. ^ X-Men: Legacy #210 (June 2008)
49. ^ X-Men: Legacy #220 (March 2009)
50. ^ X-Men: Legacy #221 (April 2009)
51. ^ X-Men: Legacy #222 (May 2009)
52. ^ ^{a b c d} X-Men: Legacy #224 (July 2009)
53. ^ X-Men: Legacy #226 (September 2009)
54. ^ X-Men: Legacy #227 (October 2009)
55. ^ X-Men: Legacy #228-230 (November 2009 – January 2010)
56. ^ ^{a b c} Uncanny X-Men #517 (January 2010)
57. ^ X-Necrosha #1 (December 2009)
58. ^ X-Men: Legacy #231 (February 2010)
59. ^ X-Men: Legacy #233 (April 2010)
60. ^ Sentry: Fallen Sun (July 2010)
61. ^ Sentry #4 (December 2000)
62. ^ X-Men: Legacy #235 (June 2010)
63. ^ ^{a b} X-Force (vol. 3) #26 (June 2010)
64. ^ ^{a b} Uncanny X-Men #526 (September 2010)
65. ^ X-Men: Legacy #248 (July 2011)
66. ^ X-Men: Legacy #253 (October 2011)
67. ^ Uncanny X-Men #239 (December 1988)
68. ^ ^{a b} Uncanny X-Men #192 (April 1985)
69. ^ Uncanny X-Men #242 (March 1989)
70. ^ Secrets of the House of M (2005)
71. ^ X-Men Forever Alpha (May 2009)

External links

• Rogue at the Marvel Universe wiki
• Rogue at the Marvel Database Project (wiki)
• Rogue Shrine Comprehensive appearance list and chronology, etc.
• New Generation X
• UncannyXmen.net - Spotlight feature on Rogue
• Rogue at Comic Vine