Rogue (comics)

Rogue is a comic book superhero in the Marvel Comics universe, and a member of the X-Men. She first appeared in The Avengers Annual #10 (1981).

Rogue is a mutant with the superhuman ability to absorb the memories and abilities of others, including superhuman abilities, via skin-to-skin contact. This transference usually causes the victim to fall unconscious and become weakened. The duration of this drain varies according to the length of time that the contact is maintained.

Rogue does not know her true parents; she was adopted by a couple who lived on the Mississippi River. Rogue's childhood friend, Cody Robbins, kissed her in a moment of passion and excitment and, at that moment, Rogue's powers first emerged, and Cody fell into a coma from which he never awoke. Rogue had absorbed all his memories and even believed she was Cody for a while. In a fit of anger and sadness, Rogue ran away from home.

Rogue was adopted and raised by the supervillains Mystique and Destiny, and was a member of their Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. During this time she encountered the superhero Ms. Marvel and, through prolonged contact, absorbed her powers and memories permanently. As a result, Rogue has great strength and is near-inverulnerable, and can fly. Rogue has, on rare occasions, also used the psychic "danger sense" that Ms. Marvel had, although this ability has been largely forgotten.

Not long after, Rogue learned that her powers were uncontrollable: Any skin-to-skin contact would cause her power to trigger, whether she wanted it to or not. Desperate, she turned to Professor Charles Xavier and the X-Men (X-Men #171), and Xavier's charity towards all mutants led her to join the team. Although her initial months with the team were rough, she eventually became a trusted member of the team.

Rogue had a brief romance with Magneto in Uncanny X-Men #274-275. Rogue has been in an on and off relationship with Gambit for years, and it was insinuated that they finally slept together in Uncanny X-Men #348. Cody Robbins, the first person to fall victim to Rogue's powers, was killed by Gambit's ex-wife Belladonna. Rogue has also been in relationships with Colossus (who is immune to her in his metal form) and Joseph (a now-deceased clone of Magneto).

It was eventually revealed that Mystique had two sons, the now-deceased anti-mutant politician Graydon Creed and Rogue's long-time teammate, Nightcrawler. Nightcrawler and Rogue consider themselves to be siblings, although the revelation has not particularly altered their friendship.

Rogue is one the few mysterious comic book characters who started out without a real name that remains that way. In the films X-Men and X2 her real name is Marie D'Ancanto, but this is not confirmed by the comics. In fact, writer Chris Claremont, who co-created Rogue, has recently introduced a non-super-powered human character named Marie D'Ancanto in the series X-Treme X-Men, in which Rogue also appears. In this series, Rogue has taken up the alias of Anna Raven, though there is nothing to particularly indicate that this is her birth name (according to the new Rogue series, her real name is Anna Marie).

Television & Film

She was voiced by Lenore Zann in the animated series X-Men.

She was voiced by Meghan Black in the X-Men: Evolution animated television series.

Rogue was depicted by actress Anna Paquin in the 2000 film X-Men and its sequel.

In TV and film, because of the potency of her powers, Rogue was key to both the plans and the downfall of Magneto (in the X-Men movie) and Apocalypse (in X-Men: Evolution).