Rogue’s Top 10 Greatest Battles
Rogue is the last Southern Belle you’d want coming after you!
Rogue is known for a lot of things. Beautiful looks, sassy attitude, and she’s grown into one helluva leader for both the X-Men and the Avengers. She’s also seen as one of the best offensive weapons the X-Men have in a life or death scrape. Her ability to not just absorb the life force and energy from her targets but also any skills they possess, make her nearly unstoppable. Couple all this with her favored powerset of flight and super strength and you’ve got a serious problem to deal with if you’re on her bad side. I don’t even think Superman would want these kinds of problems! To demonstrate, here are 10 of Rogue’s greatest fights!
10. Guido (Strong Guy)
Less of a fight or milestone, and more of a statement of Rogue’s metal, this took place in the Age of Apocalypse timeline. Functioning as an agent of Apocalypse, Guido (known as Strong Guy in the 616) double-crossed his team (The X-Ternals, led by that world’s version of Gambit), and among other things, kidnapped the son of that world’s Rogue and Magneto. However, he didn’t get away with the ill deed. Rogue later caught up to the large mutant. After she absorbed his energy, Rogue savagely punched Guido off of a cliff. Being in a weakened state, the blow was presumably fatal… if not, the fall probably killed him.
9. Wolverine
Taking place after a time jump and a couple dozen costume overhauls, Wolverine challenged Rogue to a fight in the Danger Room. The stacks weren’t exactly life and death, but this was indeed a turning point for Rogue’s status quo within the X-Men pantheon. Calling Rogue, a leader now is second nature, but that hasn’t always been the case. In the ’80s, she was a hot-head kid.
From the early 90s until this point, one could describe her as an emotional mess with a temper. The couple rounds she went with Logan proved she’d moved past her less than admirable qualities and turned into a hero’s heroine. Having been able to outsmart Wolverine in his own element showed she was ready to lead the X-Men.
8. Ms. Marvel (AvX)
If there were any two heroes in the Marvel Universe that have a legitimate beef with one another, it’s Rogue and Ms. (now Captain) Marvel. In an Avengers vs. X-Men throw down, the two titans find each other on opposite sides of the “who should have the Phoenix”-argument. But it’s not like these two would need much motivation to get at each other.
For a one on one, it’s a fairly drawn-out battle, even by comic book standards. As much as the two have against each other, Rogue managed to make it even more personal when she attempted to and succeeded in absorbing a portion of Danver’s powers. Rogue won the fight, but it came at a heavy cost as she witnessed first-hand what Magik and the rest of Phoenix 5 were capable of.
7. Gambit
Over the years of X-Men on X-Men crime, Rogue and her future ‘ball n’ chain’ have thrown down together more than once (get your head out of the gutter). While entertaining enough, it was never to the death. However, their most ‘serious’ scrape came during their first meeting on Muir Island (as depicted in the recent Rogue & Gambit mini).
Both being manipulated by the classic X-Men villain the Shadow King, the two seemed to enjoy their dust-up more than anything. The kicker for this fight isn’t the amount of drawn blood, but what it meant for their relationship and how it ultimately ended. Get a room, you two.
6. The Avengers
At this point in time, Rogue is a full-fledged bad-guy, and not just misguided. Rogue consciously makes the decision to be the person she is. This type of bullheadedness combined with her natural mutant power of absorption and the strength and speed of Ms. Marvel, whom she’d absorbed by then, made her a formidable opponent for Earth’s mightiest.
In one sitting, the young southern belle plows through Thor, Captain America, Spider-Woman, Vision, and Wonder Man! Later, she and the rest of the Brotherhood of Mutants do get their comeuppance when Iron Man and the other Avengers step in. But it’s not the last time Rogue would go a couple rounds with them…
5 She-Hulk, Falcon & Moon Knight: The Avengers Part II
During the Avengers Vs. X-Men event, the faction of the X-Men that sided with Wolverine and moved to the Jean Grey School, had largely chosen to stay out of the fray. That is until a small team of Avengers landed on their lawn to ensure it stayed that way. The group consisted of She-Hulk, Falcon, and Moon Knight. While not welcome, they did keep their distance until a small dust-up between new X-Man Frenzy and Moon Knight exasperated the situation.
It became an all-out brawl as Rogue, Gambit, Cannonball, and Mimic jumped in. When a remote-controlled Iron Man suit intervened the tide had turned sharply in favor of the Avengers. That’s when Rogue literally took the gloves off and absorbed She-Hulk. After a few stiff punches, an earth-shattering chest kick to Iron-doll and a thunderclap- it was all she wrote. Rogue had beaten the Avengers. Again.
4. Kahn’s Army
Remember that time that Rogue took on an entire army from another reality? In Chris Claremont’s X-Treme X-Men, Rogue and her team did just that, though it was mostly her doing the majority of the damage! To start, the team wasn’t doing all that well. The invading forces’ leader, Kahn, had apprehended Gambit and used his body and powers as a conduit to create an energy field around Madripoor while he established a beachhead. His only mistake was making sure the X-Men couldn’t get in.
Rogue using her ‘flying brick’ power set wasn’t enough to make much of a difference, but with Sage’s help that quickly changed. Sage was able to modify, or better said, amplify Rogue’s powers enabling her to access every ability she’s ever absorbed including Cyclops, Iceman, Storm, Magneto, Wolverine and even the Hulk! The downside to the display of overwhelming power was that after it was all said and done, she temporarily burnt-out her powers.
3. Scarlet Witch
More of a prolonged feud that ended in the worst possible way, Rogue’s ill-feelings for the Scarlet Witch ran the length of the first volume of Uncanny Avengers. Rogue blamed Scarlet Witch for the then sorry state of the mutant race which subsequently led to the untimely death of Charles Xavier, the only father-figure she’d known (other than Mags =p).
The two routinely exchanged insults and even blows before it came to a very bloody conclusion. Rogue, working under the assumption that the Scarlet Witch was preparing to cast another spell on the mutant race, took action. Alongside teammate Sunfire (who may, or may not have fully understood her intentions), and having a head full of freshly absorbed Wolverine-rage, Rogue ran Wanda through with bone claws, killing her. Fortunately, that particular timeline was reset and Rogue was stopped before she could carry-out her ill-advised plan. It’s all good now. Rogue apologized and the two hugged… that’s not a joke.
2. Bastion
In another display of Rogue fully utilizing her powers, during the event Second Coming, she took on Bastion in defense of an injured Nightcrawler and Hope. Rogue uses Colossus, Wolverine, and Angel’s abilities. She doesn’t win the fight. Not by a long shot. Rogue, Nightcrawler and the X-Men, in general, were desperate and it came across clearly on those pages through the art and dialog.
The grit and determination she showed during the fray were beyond epic. Her loss was less about how powerless she was and more of a testament to how dangerous Bastion had become. And damnit if it’s not one of the more fun to look at sequences in X-Men comics history. If you haven’t gotten around to reading [easyazon_link identifier=”0785157050″ locale=”US” tag=”boundingintocomics-20″]Second Coming[/easyazon_link] yet, I recommend that you do. Serious ‘must read’.
1. Celestial’s Boot
Following Xavier’s death in Avengers Vs. X-Men, Rogue and several X-Men teamed with an all-star cast of Avengers to form what they referred to as ‘The Unity Squad’ (Uncanny Avengers). After a prolonged struggle against the Apocalypse Twins (with Ultron thrown in) which resulted in a 2nd spell cast by the Scarlet Witch, her subsequent murder at Rogue’s hand, Rogue’s death, two or three changes to the timeline, and Havok’s disfigurement- the Earth had been deemed unworthy by the Celestials.
A destroyer had been dispatched to carry out the sentence. Luckily, all or most of the above had been undone. To buy the planet time, Rogue borrowed the abilities of just about every hero on Earth and went to war with the Space-gods boot. Rogue played a ginormous part in saving the day but also paid a hefty toll. The control over her powers she’d gained after years of turmoil was gone yet again.
Starting to think someone here can benefit from an anger management course! Got a favorite from the bunch? One we missed? Let us know!
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