Anna MarieRogue

Without the capacity to control her mutant ability to absorb memories and powers, the young woman known as Rogue walks a dark path. However, Rogue successfully redeems herself as a heroine and becomes a leader among the X-Men and the Avengers.

Going Rogue

Anna Marie, the girl who would become Rogue, runs away from home at an early age after bristling under the controlling nature of her aunt Carrie. Mutant metamorph Raven Darkhölme, AKA Mystique encounters Anna Marie when she goes by her "Rogue" nickname, and essentially adopts her alongside Irene Adler, AKA Destiny, Mystique's pre-cognitive mutant lover. Before long, Rogue's mutant powers manifest for the first time when she kisses a boy named Cody and leaves him comatose. Eventually, Rogue realizes she could never have a normal life and accepts her role in Mystique's Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. Rogue fights with Carol Danvers, AKA Ms. Marvel, during one of her early Brotherhood missions, and without intending to, she permanently absorbs her foe's memories and powers.

Shortly thereafter, Rogue and the Brotherhood attack the Avengers and nearly defeat them. Rogue goes on to menace heroes such as Alison Blaire, AKA Dazzler, the X-Men, and one of the Spaceknights, as Carol Danvers' ongoing presence in her mind quickly erodes her sanity. With no one else to turn to who could help her, Rogue approaches the X-Men and their mentor, Professor Charles Xavier, AKA Professor X. Over the objections of his other students (and a very violent objection from Danvers herself), Xavier allows Rogue to join the team.

Despite their early misgivings, the X-Men come to accept Rogue once she puts herself on the line to save James Howlett/Logan, AKA Wolverine's fiancée, Mariko Yashida, and Piotr Rasputin, AKA Colossus. Over time, Rogue becomes one of the most trusted X-Men, and goes on to both join and lead the Avengers Unity Squad.

Power Drain

Rogue's mutant ability often requires skin-to-skin contact to absorb memories, powers, personality traits, physical talents, and strength. For most of her heroic career, Rogue is unable to control her power, and anyone she touches will almost immediately fall unconscious. However, Rogue's inability to regulate her power is largely psychological in nature, which she eventually overcomes with the help of Charles Xavier, Rita Wayword, AKA Spiral, and herself when conquering her fears. She can eventually take abilities and memories from humans and mutants without harming them and without touch. 

When infused with Danvers' powers, Rogue has super-strength, flight, and becomes nearly invulnerable to poisons and physical trauma. Rogue also inherits Danver's precognitive "seventh sense," but cannot  fully utilize it. Rogue briefly retains Shiro Yoshida, AKA Sunfire's abilities to control fire, and she has ongoing access to Simon Williams, AKA Wonder Man's super-strength, flight, and a degree of invulnerability from his ionic energy. At times, Rogue's powers render her unable to control her absorption ability.

The Deadliest of Foes

As a heroine, Rogue has no shortage of enemies, though her most personal nemesis may be Bella Donna Boudreaux, the ex-wife of Remy LeBeau, AKA Gambit. Their mutual love for the same man doesn’t immediately put them on a collision course; however, Rogue gives into temptation when she steals Bella Donna's memories while comatose. Bella Donna never forgives Rogue for that violation, and the escalation of their feud claims the life of Cody, Rogue's oldest friend. 

Rogue holds a very personal grudge against Johann Shmidt, AKA Red Skull, for defiling the body of Charles Xavier to gain his telepathic abilities. Alongside two incarnations of the Avengers Unity Squad, Rogue leads the hunt for the Red Skull and makes it her mission to take back what he steals from her mentor, while  coming to terms with Xavier's demise.

Richard Palance, AKA Pandemic, Vargas, Eric Williams, AKA Grim Reaper, and Amahl Farouk, AKA Shadow King, number among Rogue's most dangerous adversaries. Rogue's encounters with these villains very nearly ends her life and threatens her soul. Rogue may have also made herself a target of the Black Order and Proxima Midnight specifically, when killing her husband, Corvus Glaive, in a battle to save the Earth.

Friends and Frenemies

Rogue has a complex relationship with Mystique, whom she regards as her mother, some of the time. In her own way, Mystique loves Rogue as well, but that doesn’t stop her from exploiting Rogue's powers as a member of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. Their relationship undergoes tests to the breaking point and beyond, and sometimes have an uneasy peace between them. Rogue is much closer to her foster-mother, Destiny. Years later, Rogue discovers that her only close friend in the Brotherhood is another young woman who calls herself Blindspot. However, Blindspot disappears from Rogue's life as quickly as she re-enters it.

Among the X-Men, Rogue forms close friendships with Wolverine, Colossus, Kitty Pryde, Ororo Munroe, AKA Storm, Bobby Drake, AKA Iceman, Sam Guthrie, AKA Cannonball, Betsy Braddock, Jubilation Lee, AKA Jubilee, Longshot, and her foster brother, Kurt Wagner, AKA Nightcrawler. But Gambit is the one that Rogue keeps coming back to. Despite everything that has passed between them, Rogue and Gambit's love for each other remains intact. However, even their romantic bond has been tested by Rogue's feelings for Magneto, as well as Magneto's younger clone, Joseph.

The Avengers Unity Squad becomes a second family for Rogue. She shares a bond with Johnny Storm, AKA Human Torch, and Wade Wilson, AKA Deadpool, and she becomes much friendlier with Janet Van Dyne, AKA the Wasp, Thor Odinson, AKA Thor, and other members of her team she once fought against. However, Rogue's antagonistic relationship with Wanda Maximoff, AKA Scarlet Witch, remains tense. Rogue eventually makes peace with her former enemies, Blaire and Danvers.

A Rogue's Tale

Anna Marie was the only child of Owen and Priscilla, both of whom were more interested in Native American mysticism than in raising their own daughter. After Priscilla seemingly disappeared into the otherworldly realm known as "Farbanks," Owen abandoned Anna Marie. Priscilla's sister, Carrie, was left to raise Anna Marie by herself. Rogue was a bit of a troublemaker growing up, and was extremely unhappy while living with her aunt. Rogue ran away from home and was eventually taken in by Mystique and Destiny. Rogue's powers manifested with her first kiss, which she shared with a boy named Cody. Sadly, Cody was permanently rendered comatose, while Mystique indoctrinated the vulnerable Rogue into the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants.

Despite Destiny's warnings, neither of Rogue's surrogate mothers were able to prevent disaster from striking. Rogue's battle with Ms. Marvel left her stuck with Carol Danvers' memories and powers, while the real Carol Danvers spent years recovering from her ordeal. Although Rogue was a loyal soldier in the Brotherhood, Danvers' memories existing alongside her own was driving her crazy.

In her desperation, Rogue was able to convince Professor Xavier and the X-Men to help her. When his powers were unable to provide a solution, Xavier approached Dr. Richard Palance, to gain his aid in controlling Rogue’s power. Palance used a sample of Rogue’s DNA to turn himself into Pandemic, a human mutate who could borrow the powers of mutants.

Rogue quickly earned her place among the X-Men, and resisted Mystique's pleas to return to the Brotherhood. She even managed to find common ground with Dazzler when they were teammates. However, an ugly incident in Genosha traumatized Rogue and sent her mind into full retreat. To escape, she allowed Carol Danvers' persona to take over her body, setting off an ongoing struggle for control. That came to a head during a battle with Master Mold, when Rogue sacrificed herself and was thrust into the mystic gateway known as the Siege Perilous. Sometime later, Rogue and a physical duplicate of Danvers emerged from the dimensional void with their own separate bodies, but Danvers soon fell under the control of the Shadow King.

In the Savage Land, Rogue narrowly survived an attack by the corrupted Danvers duplicate with an assist from Max Eisenhardt, AKA Magneto. For a time, Rogue and Magneto formed a surprisingly romantic bond, but that was ruptured when he murdered their mutual enemy, Zaladane. Rogue rejoined the X-Men and began a flirtatious relationship with Gambit, which was challenged by his secrets and their inability to touch.

Early in their courtship, Rogue was shocked to discover that Gambit had been married to Bella Donna Boudreaux. The X-Men helped Bella Donna save her Assassin's Clan from the alien Brood, but she was thought to be dead in the aftermath. When Bella Donna turned up alive and in a coma, Rogue gave into her desire to experience Bella Donna's memories with Gambit and touched her. This briefly led Bella Donna to forget who she was. When she remembered what happened, Bella Donna sought to get revenge on Rogue by kidnapping her childhood crush, Cody. Those actions ultimately cost Cody his life, but not before he told Rogue he forgave her for what she had done to him. 

Subsequently, Rogue and Gambit became closer and they were even physically intimate when they were temporarily powerless captives. However, Rogue abandoned Gambit in Antarctica when she learned he had inadvertently helped the Marauders set up the Mutant Massacre.

Months later, Rogue and Gambit reconciled and slowly rebuilt their relationship. Shortly before the emergence of the Neo, Rogue's fellow X-Men wanted her to step up as the leader of her own team. Rogue was very reluctant to take the mantle and her time as a leader was fairly short. Soon after, Rogue was nearly murdered by Mystique when she got in the way of a plot to assassinate presidential candidate Robert Kelly. Their bond has yet to fully recover from that incident.

On several occasions, Rogue's powers have allowed her to become a one-woman army. During the invasion of the alien conqueror, Khan, Rogue had access to every ability she had ever absorbed while she fought off Khan's forces. Taking advantage of the chaos, an enigmatic warrior named Vargas nearly killed Rogue and Gambit. Vargas believed Rogue was destined to kill him in battle, and he attempted to thwart that destiny by killing her first. Rogue ultimately defeated Vargas, and avenged his earlier murder of Besty Braddock. But her enhanced mutant powers never returned after their final fight.

Sometime later, Scott Summers, AKA Cyclops, offered Rogue the chance to once again form her own X-Men team, and she led them to victory over the Children of the Vault and other threats. Soon afterwards, Pandemic reemerged and captured Rogue. He then injected her with a virus called Strain 88, which was designed to let him steal Rogue's powers. However, the virus nearly claimed Rogue's life and made her touch fatal to others. Rogue's subsequent exposure to the alien threat known as the Hecatomb left her nearly insane.

To save her daughter, Mystique engineered a complex plan that involved betraying the X-Men and working with Nathaniel Essex, AKA Mister Sinister, and the Marauders to find Hope Summers, the infant who was destined to be the Mutant Messiah. Mystique used Rogue's death touch to take out Sinister, and the touch of baby Hope's flesh purged Rogue of Strain 88. However, Rogue was horrified at her foster-mother's actions and rejected her once again.

In the aftermath, Rogue abandoned the X-Men and retreated to their former headquarters in the Australian Outback. Xavier, Gambit, and Danger eventually came looking for Rogue. By this time, Xavier had finally figured out how to help Rogue control her powers on a permanent basis. The mental procedure was a resounding success, and Rogue returned to the X-Men, where she went on to become a mentor for the younger mutants associated with the team. Rogue also found innovative ways to use the abilities of her students and teammates.

After Magneto came back to the X-Men, Rogue initially rebuffed his attempt to recover the spark they once shared in the Savage Land. However, she ultimately embraced Magneto for a short time even though they ultimately came down on opposite sides of the X-Men's schism. Following the war between the Avengers and the X-Men, Rogue and Magneto ended their relationship and amicably parted ways. However, neither Rogue nor Magneto had been able to prevent Xavier's murder at the hands of a Phoenix Force-possessed Cyclops. 

Xavier's death seemed to unhinge Rogue, especially when she discovered that the Red Skull had mutilated her mentor's body. Rogue's anger was uncharacteristically misplaced towards Scarlet Witch to such an intense degree that she actually killed her teammate while under the impression that she was working with the enemy. Moments later, the Grim Reaper fatally impaled Rogue. Rogue and Scarlet Witch were only spared from this being their final fate due to a plan to travel back in time to prevent the triumph of the Apocalypse Twins. 

Mortified by her apparent willingness to murder, Rogue attempted to make amends with Scarlet Witch before achieving her greatest heroic feat to date. The Celestial Executioner was on the verge of destroying the world, and Earth's heroes willingly lent Rogue their powers so she could confront it. However, Rogue was unable to relinquish Wonder Man's ionic body, leaving her permanently empowered and once again unable to touch other people without absorbing their minds and powers.

While leading the Avengers Unity Squad, Rogue got very close to both Human Torch and Deadpool. Rogue even entertained the possibility of a romance with Deadpool, because she came to recognize his best qualities. Kissing Deadpool allowed Wonder Man to emerge from Rogue's body, although her enhanced powers he'd granted her remained. Deadpool's subsequent actions in Secret Empire ruined their chances of ever being together, but he and Rogue still openly care for each other. During an undercover mission for the X-Men, Rogue and Gambit reunited and their romantic feelings for each other have returned to the surface.

Rogue was one of the handful of Avengers who were forced to step into a cosmic game between En Dwi Gast, AKA Grandmaster, and the Challenger. Many of the heroes followed Rogue's lead as she avenged the apparent death of the Human Torch by defeating the Black Order. Rogue was also among a motley team of X-Men who encountered the Shadow King in London as he threatened to escape from the Astral Realm. 

After the Avengers Unity Squad was disbanded, Rogue attended Kitty and Colossus’ wedding and despite Kitty leaving Piotr at the altar, Gambit proposed to Rogue. She accepted and they were married right then and there.

On their honeymoon, they were charged with a mission by Kitty to obtain an item of the Shi’ar’s. The item was an egg and when the contents of the egg emerged, it was Xandra, the engineered daughter of Shi’ar’s Empress Lilandra Neramani and Xavier. Xandra could alter her appearance and first emerged from the egg as Rogue but soon chose her own appearance. She offered to assist Rogue in fixing her powers, but Rogue was nervous about it and refused. They soon found themselves in a battle with the Shi’ar Imperial Guard and Xandra’s aunt Cal’syee Neramani, AKA Deathbird. Xandra tricked their attackers into thinking they won, allowing her and Rogue to escape. It bought them some time but their pursuers challenged them again as Rogue’s powers took a turn: she could absorb anyone’s powers without touch, ending the battle. Xandra assured Rogue that her powers weren’t out of control, they were evolving and she’d have to learn how to manage.

Back on Earth, Rogue and Gambit opened a wedding gift that transported them to the Mojoverse, led by the tyrannical Mojo who changed their lives and televised the couple. Rogue’s power set allowed her to remember her life and reject the fake one Mojo presented. Gambit was soon contacted by Spiral, who offered to help the couple if he would steal for her. Meanwhile, thanks to Spiral and going down memory lane, Rogue realized that her fear stopped her from her full potential and as such regained full control of her powers. She committed to it and was able to siphon others’ abilities and memories without touch.

With her newfound power evolution as well as Gambit and Spiral’s help, they defeated Mojo. Upon returning to Earth, the couple spent some alone time together, until Rogue received a request for aid from Danvers and rushed off.

Soon after, Rogue followed Gambit who had secretly traveled to New Orleans to deal with unrest among the Thieves Guild over Gambit’s position as the King of Thieves. He got embroiled in an alliance plot between the Thieves and Assassins Guilds led by Gambit’s ex-wife Bella Donna, and the telekinetic External known as Candra. Rogue attempted rescue but they were overwhelmed and captured with power-damping collars. Candra offered Gambit a choice, to choose between Bella Donna or Rogue. Gambit offered her his power instead and managed to escape from his chains as did Rogue, and they fought their captors. Gambit remained King of the Thieves Guild, and the couple returned home to care for their three cats.

When the sovereign island nation-state of Krakoa was established by Xavier and Magneto as a safe haven for all mutants, Rogue and Gambit joined them. On Krakoa, Xavier worked with five mutants who together possessed the power of resurrection, and fallen mutants were restored to life. Rogue and Gambit soon joined a new iteration of Excalibur with Betsy Braddock leading the charge as the new Captain Britain—a title and role she inherited from her brother Brian who had been corrupted by evil sorceress Morgan le Fay in Otherworld. The team set out to liberate both Brian and Otherworld from le Fay. The team also included X-Men veteran Jubilee, the technopath Shilpa Khatri, AKA Trinary, and notorious X-Men enemy En Sabah Nur, AKA Apocalypse. Gambit didn’t trust Apocalypse, and for good reason as he used Rogue in an experiment that left her in a floral coma. Rogue eventually awoke to see Gambit on the ground under Apocalypse’s feet and as such attacked him with her absorption powers, draining him of his life force, and her visage changed to reflect his blue skin and signature markings. Though his experiment was a success as it unlocked a magic ritual that would allow access to Otherworld through a Krakoan gate.

With Rogue back, she joined Gambit and Excalibur against le Fay’s forces in Otherworld. A resurrected Apocalypse restored Betsy and Brian’s brother Jamie to the Otherworld throne, ending the threat of le Fay. Celebrating, Rogue and Gambit shared some alone time where they discussed having kids. Now that Rogue had control of her powers, she expressed that she didn’t want kids and Gambit was happy with her choice. 

With Excalibur, Rogue faced mysterious and magical mutant affairs alongside her husband, from facing the nefarious Coven Akkaba and losing their leader Betsy to the cosmos for a time to a war in Otherworld. She soon faced off with an alliance between Coven Akkaba, Morgan le Fay, Merlyn and King Arthur who were attempting to expel mutants from Otherworld, calling them “witchbreed”. Rogue and the team battled the evil alliance’s forces and ended up in a quest for the Holy Grail of mutantkind, the Siege Perilous. In the process of recovering it, Gambit seemingly lost his life, though he was soon restored, and Rogue greeted him with a loving embrace. With Gambit returned, they were able to unlock the Siege Perilous, which was a door to Krakoa where mutants waited to help defeat Merlyn’s anti-mutant hordes, and together the mutants defeated them.

Rogue’s adoptive mother Destiny soon tasked her with finding Eden Fesi, AKA Manifold, due to his essential role in mutantkind’s survival and a coming war she had seen. Though in finding him, he was in the midst of investigating the Power Broker, who was selling mind-controlled superhumans to the highest bidder. During the mission, Gambit’s questionable morality put Rogue off and she was soon controlled by the Power Broker, implanted with a device, and forced to battle her husband.

Gambit reminded Rogue who she was and it helped her regain control. They left the Power Broker behind to suffer the consequences from those he manipulated. Rogue reached out to mutant sorcerer and inventor Forge to have the device removed but it would risk paralysis or death. Rogue then secretly used the Power Broker’s device to control Manifold and delivered him to Destiny for safe-keeping. She struggled with the decision as it required her to lie to her husband and betray what she stood for as an X-Man. Though her adoptive mother reassured her that she was protecting all of mutantkind by doing so otherwise they’d all be in a grave. Rogue saw the similarities between Gambit and Destiny, how they have a flair for the dramatic and would do anything for what they believe in. It reminded her why she loved them, and why she trusted Destiny with Manifold. She apologized to Manifold before departing and joined her husband at home. She informed him of her time with Forge who mentioned that a localized charge could cancel the effects of the implant and asked Remy to use his bio-kinetic energy to help her with it. At first he refused, fearing it would kill her, but as she reminded him that she could go through Krakoa’s resurrection procedure. He agreed to electrocuting it, and doing so they removed it easily and celebrated with a passionate kiss.

When Krakoa’s Hellfire Gala was attacked by the mutant-hating organization Orchis led by mutant-killing robot Nimrod, they targeted the X-Men team candidates and killed telepath Jean Grey. Rogue saved Xavier from a robotic Moira MacTaggert and they made their escape. Flying away from Krakoa in unpredictable patterns knowing the machines would be in pursuit, Rogue intended to take Xavier to Steve Rogers, AKA Captain America, who was reforming the Avengers Unity Squad. Xavier soon demanded to be taken back to Krakoa, explaining that Orchis had tampered with the gates that Xavier sent everyone through and they all perished. He ordered Rogue to leave him on Krakoa and avenge their people, and she honored his wishes, leaving him to rejoin Avengers Unity. Gambit also escaped the massacre and joined Jean’s unstable clone Madelyne Pryor and her Dark X-Men, a team that sought to protect mutant refugees. The couple soon reunited and Rogue expressed how she did not trust Madelyn. She offered to talk to Cap about having Gambit join Avengers Unity, but he preferred the shadows, so they took advantage of fleeting moments together in the Morlock Tunnels beneath Pryor’s Limbo Embassy as they attempted to do their part to help mutantkind.