Merge:Ultimate Rogue

Rogue, real name Marian, is a superhero in the Marvel Comics Ultimate Universe and a member of the Ultimate X-Men. Created by Mark Millar and Adam Kubert, she first appeared in Ultimate X-Men #7 (2001).

Character history
Much of Rogue's history is unknown. She was first introduced in the story arc Return to Weapon X (Ultimate X-Men #7-12) as a prisoner of Weapon X. The X-Men tour the world promoting Professor Xavier's book, and she touches Colossus absorbing his memories and thus the layout of The Xavier Institute for Gifted Children. Using this information, agents of Weapon X storm the school and capture all of the X-Men, except for Wolverine who is away at the time. She is released along with the X-Men, Juggernaut and Nightcrawler, when a combination of the Brotherhood of Mutant Supremacy and S.H.I.E.L.D rescues them and destroys Weapon X's facility. Though offered a place on the X-Men, she and Juggernaut join the Brotherhood of Mutant Supremacy.

Due to the events in the Return of the King arc (Ultimate X-Men #27-33), Rogue is taken into S.H.I.E.L.D custody. She, however, is released by Nick Fury into Professor Xavier's custody and thus joins the X-Men.

In the Tempest arc (Ultimate X-Men #46-49), Rogue begins dating Iceman. She has a steady relationship with him until, in the Cry Wolf story arc (Ultimate X-Men #50-53), she catches him kissing Shadowcat on a trip the X-Men take to Coney Island. Immediately following, the group is attacked by Gambit. He fends off Wolverine and distracts the rest of them by blowing up the giant ferris wheel. He kidnaps Rogue and takes her to the Empire State Building. He had been hired by Andreas and Andrea von Strucker, two mutants who own the Fenris corporation. They hope to use her powers for "corporate espionage." In exchange for her help, they promise her they will help her control her powers through a power-dampening material they had developed. It works in demonstration and they advised her they will graft it to her subdermally when she is "ready." She turns them down feeling that her powers are her penance for sins in her past. They attack her and Gambit -- who moved to defend her -- and Gambit is taken down. She touches both of them and uses their powers to fend off their guards with help from Gambit, who had quickly recovered.

Rogue and Gambit are met at the front door by Wolverine, who has a previous score to settle with Gambit. Rogue defends Gambit, sparing his life until the rest of the X-Men arrive to take her back. She turns them down, and leaves with Gambit.

Rogue does not appear again until Ultimate X-Men Annual #1, in which Rogue and Gambit have become thieves. They steal the Gem of Cyttorak from a Fenris-owned casino. As they leave the casino they run into Juggernaut who confesses he loves Rogue and resents that she left the Brotherhood to join the X-Men. He recalls a time -- which may have predated even their imprisonment with Weapon X -- when they worked together. Juggernaut then attacks Gambit and Rogue steals his power. Gambit uses his mutant power to charge the Gem of Cyttorak with explosive energy and stab it into Juggernauts helmet. It has the undesired effect of making Juggernaut stronger, and he begins pummeling Gambit. Gambit, in a last ditch effort to defeat Juggernaut, charges Juggernaut's helmet and blows it up, then blows out the support beams of a building under construction near where they are fighting. It falls on the both of them and fatally injures Gambit. Rogue finds him while searching among the wreckage and is there for his final words and one last kiss. That kiss seemingly transfers what is left of Gambit's life force into Rogue permanently, changing her power template, her eyes, and at times her accent.

She calls Bobby a few days later and tells him that Gambit's power and memories are not going away. Soon after, Rogue rejoins the X-Men and -- as of the Date Night story arc (Ultimate X-Men #66-69) -- begins a physical relationship with Iceman, as she is no longer afflicted with the inability to touch others without harming them.

Powers and abilities
Originally, Rogue's power was to steal the memories and abilities (including mutant powers) from those she touched with her bare flesh. If she touched someone for too long, she could cause them serious harm or even kill them. She had no control over this ability and thus considered it a curse as she could never feel intimate with another person. This complicated her relationship with her boyfriend Bobby as he had to limit his affections, and led him to kiss Kitty.

Recently, however, her power seems to have been overwritten by Gambit's power as a result of kissing him as he died. She now has the ability to convert the potential energy of inorganic matter into explosive kinetic energy by touching it. More simply, she can cause inert objects to explode and the larger the object she charges, the larger the explosion. Most often she uses this power as Gambit did to throw explosive playing cards at her enemies. Also as a result of her new powers, her eyes are now black with red pupils as Gambit's were and she falls into a cajun accent from time to time. It can be assumed that, though it has not been demonstrated, she may also be a proficient pickpocket, since she additionally gained Gambit's throwing and acrobatic abilities.

In Ultimate Spider-Man #93, Rogue exhibits powers inconsistent with those she has in Ultimate X-Men. In at least one panel, Rogue appears to be flying and is without her relatively newly obtained black eyes with red pupils. Later in the issue she is shown punching a cyborg twice her size and knocking his head back, which would take, at least, greater strength than a teenage girl would have. Additionally, she is never shown throwing an explosive playing card or charging and exploding any other objects. It can be assumed that these inconsistencies are due to mistakes in identity made by penciler Mark Bagley and inker John Dell as the powers and characteristics exhibited by Rogue in this comic are more akin to her Earth-616 counterpart.

Last name
Rogue is the only X-Man whose last name has not been given. In Ultimate X-Men #53, she disclosed to Gambit that her "Christian name is Marian, like Robin Hood's girl." However, her last name is unknown. This is particularly notable as Professor X met her parents (Ultimate X-Men #32) and it is unlikely that they would not have disclosed their last name to him. Moreover, he met her parents at a party where everyone wore nametags and they were the only ones not wearing them.

Comparison with Earth-616 Rogue
While they share the white-streaked hair and Southern accent, Ultimate Rogue differs in a few notable ways from her Earth-616 counterpart, created by Chris Claremont. However, these differences often parallel events and attributes of Claremont's Rogue.

Ultimate Rogue's name is Marian, Claremont's Rogue's name is still unknown, though she has had numerous aliases, one of which is Marie, which is phonetically similar.

Ultimate Rogue also lacks the ability to fly, superhuman strength and near invulnerability that Claremont's Rogue possesses. However, Claremont's Rogue gained these powers permanently by absorbing too much of Carol Danvers' life force, much the same way that Ultimate Rogue gained Gambit's powers, memories, and eyes. She has recently shown the ability to fly in the Deadpool story arc of Ultimate Spiderman (this may be in error, and the writers of USM may have believed Ultimate Rogue to have the abilities of Claremont's Rogue).

Ultimate Rogue's history also differs from Claremont's Rogue, having joined the X-Men at a younger age. Ultimate Rogue was also affiliated with Weapon X, while Claremont's Rogue never was, and while there Ultimate Rogue had a relationship with Juggernaut which she does not share with Claremont's Rogue. However, both share a similar experience in their past of seriously injuring a boy from their hometown by touching them. There is also none of the sexual tension between Ultimate Rogue and Ultimate Magneto that exists between their Earth-616 counterparts.

Both versions of Rogue have had relationships with their continuity's Gambit. However, while Claremont's Rogue had a long relationship with him, Ultimate Rogue's relationship with him ended rather quickly with his death and subsequent transferral of his personality into her mind, though it remains to be seen-if at all possible-that the two might rekindle their flame.