Growing up in the South, Marian first ran away after her father's gambling cost them the family home. When her mutant powers emerged, Marian unintentionally rendered a local boy comatose. She was later captured by Weapon X and inhumanely trained as their agent, codenamed Rogue in captivity, she bonded with fellow prisoner Cain Marko (Juggernaut). When the Brotherhood of Mutants freed her, she joined them, and as part of a Brotherhood cell, she helped bomb the Brooklyn Bridge. Before they could leave their New Jersey safe house, S.H.I.E.L.D. sent in the Ultimates to arrest them. Rogue was captured by Hawkeye and sent to Camp X-Factor. A Brotherhood raid released her, but when Magneto overloaded a Miami nuclear reactor, Rogue helped X-Men founder Charles Xavier contain the radiation. Because of her heroism, her traumatic past, and her youth, she was reunited with her parents and released into the X-Men's custody rather than face prison.
When the winged Warren Worthington joined the X-Men, Rogue's religious upbringing led her to speculate he was an angel. She became romantically involved with Bobby Drake (Iceman); after the serial killer Sinister broke into the X-Men's home and shot Drake down, Rogue replicated Angel's wings and carried Sinister aloft, threatening to drop him to his death. Fellow X-Man Storm informed her that Bobby was alive, and convinced Rogue not to become a killer.
After catching Bobby kissing Kitty Pryde, Rogue was kidnapped by Gambit on behalf of the Von Struckers, who wished to recruit her as corporate spy. Though they offered to help her control her powers, Rogue declined, explaining she believed her lack of control was a punishment for her crimes, and that she was determined to redeem herself. Escaping the von Struckers alongside Gambit, whose memories she had glimpsed, she informed the X-Men she intended to remain with him, much to Iceman's dismay. Rogue and Gambit traveled to Las Vegas, targeting Fenris holdings along the way. Outside the Fenris Resort and Casino, Juggernaut caught up with them, wanting Rogue back. Gambit brought a building down on both himself and Juggernaut; Rogue dug him out of the rubble, but he was fatally injured. At his behest, she kissed him, absorbing his memories and powers. Those powers and memories did not fade with time, and Rogue had Gambit's mind inside her as a constant companion. Now able to touch without fear, she stayed in one night with Bobby, and the two appeared to have rekindled their relationship. During a battle with a deranged Nightcrawler, Gambit's powers unexpectedly faded from her, and now Rogue is once again confined to covering herself fully.
