ROGUE: Page 4 of 15

BIOGRAPHY - Page 4

During the Fall of the Mutants, the X-Men battled an mystical entity known as the Adversary, who was bent on destroying and remaking the multiverse. In the final battle, the X-Men's physical and spiritual essences were used as fuel for Forge's energy star, which closed the doorway to the Adversary’s plane of existence and saved the multiverse. They, in effect, died. Roma, a prisoner of the Adversary and guardian of the multiverse, used her powers to recreate the fallen X-Men from scratch, making her own minor alterations. Now invisible to cameras and all forms of detection equipment, the X-Men resettled to Australia, claiming an abandoned ghost town in the Australian Outback formerly used by the Reavers as their new base of operations. [Uncanny X-Men (1st series) #227, 229]

The X-Men used their new status to attack anti-mutant threats around the world, which also brought them in conflict with the island nation of Genosha. Rogue and Wolverine were captured by their own super-powered agents, the Press Gang, and the unthinkable happened as Wipeout fully canceled their abilities. For the first time in years, Rogue was able to experience skin to skin contact, though it now happened against her will. Thanks to a special form of digitalized teleportation, Rogue arrived naked in the prison of Genosha and the guards apparently took a few liberties when they put her into a cell. Rogue completely withdrew into her subconscious. There, she found out that some psychic residue had remained of all people she had absorbed and now these phantoms tried to overwhelm her. As Rogue was fighting for sanity and control within her mind, unexpected help was provided by the permanently absorbed personality of Carol Danvers. She was in truth more than the psychic residue; in fact, she was as solid and real as Rogue. As Carol, with her spy training, was more suited for escaping from the prison without any superpowers, Rogue let Carol take over. [Uncanny X-Men (1st series) #236]

From then on, Carol and Rogue agreed on a new modus operandi: the two personalities would actually share the body, with each having their times of dominance, or acting as back-up when one was rendered unconscious. It also seemed that Carol had no trouble to keep the absorption power under control. While she was using the body, she touched Psylocke's bare skin without any effect. Evidently, Rogue’s lack of control was strictly psychological in nature. [Uncanny X-Men (1st series) #239]

During Inferno, the X-Men were demonically influenced and started to behave strangely. Rogue was scared by the experience, as it showed her what another presence in her mind could make her do. Afterwards, she no longer allowed the Ms. Marvel persona to surface, prompting Carol to take control by force. When the X-women went shopping to California Mall, where they would run into Jubilee, Carol decided to get a new hairdo in Ms. Marvel style [Uncanny X-Men (1st series) #244] and, later when she picked up some personal belonging from her old apartment, she even made Rogue wear the Ms. Marvel costume.

The two women did not manage to get their difficulties sorted out again, as soon after the X-Men fought an all-out battle with the merged Nimrod / Master Mold Sentinel, which ended with the robot being pulled through the Siege Perilous, a mystic gateway that judged all beings and placed them into different lives. On its way into the portal, Nimrod / Master Mold grabbed Rogue, ready to take her along. The X-Men were unsure what to do but, knowing that this was their only chance at victory, Rogue ordered Dazzler to blast both the robot and herself through the Siege. It was said that everyone who entered the magical portal would be judged by the highest of powers, the good and ill of their lives being weighed in the cosmic balance, only to be reborn into a new life without remembering the old one. [Uncanny X-Men (1st series) #246-247]

Weeks later, Rogue emerged in her room in the Australian Outback town with her memory completely intact. At first, she thought that the whole explanation of cosmic balance and second chances was a hoax, but then she discovered that she no longer had Carol's abilities and memories. She was now ground-bound and vulnerable. Almost immediately, she was suddenly and inexplicably attacked by Ms. Marvel.

Turned out that the Siege Perilous had attempted to separate the two women and provide each one with a body her own, though there wasn't enough lifeforce to sustain both of them. Rogue tried to escape through Gateway’s portals to the Savage Land, while Ms. Marvel ended up at Muir Island. However, after being possessed by the Shadow King, she followed Rogue and continued the battle. Whoever had the upper hand of the battle was healthy, while the other withered away. Rogue was about to give up, since she didn’t want to “kill" Ms. Marvel for a second time, when suddenly Magneto stepped in. He rendered both unconscious and, when Rogue woke up, Magneto had used machinery to drain / kill Carol‘s body and restore Rogue to full power, without the Carol personality in her head. [Uncanny X-Men (1st series) #269]

Having nowhere else to go, Rogue remained with Magneto for a while to recuperate. Since her absorption powers were temporarily scrambled by the power transfer, they could touch and had the beginnings of a relationship. The pair found themselves caught in a war over the Savage Land, and they tried to aid Shield and Ka-Zar to defend the land from Zaladane and the Savage Land Mutates. Rogue‘s abilities (both her own and those of Ms. Marvel) resurfaced halfway during the conflict, just in time to change the odds in their favor. However, Rogue was turned away by Magneto's bloodthirstiness when he killed Zaladane and she ended their romance before it even began. [Uncanny X-Men (1st series) #274-275]

Since she was unable to contact the X-Men, as they were busy in Shi’ar space at the time, Rogue decided to head to Muir Island. However, the supreme telepath known as the Shadow King had taken over the minds of the residents there and Rogue fell under his influence too. Farouk did not actively control his victims so much as unleash their negative traits, corrupting Rogue and the others so they felt they were willingly serving him. Soon, the many residents battled each other in tournaments held by Moira MacTaggert, much to the delight of the Shadow King, who fed of the negative emotional energies bundled through Polaris. Once they returned to Earth, the X-Men tried to help, but were captured as well, with only Forge still on the loose. Rogue and the others began hunting him down through the hillsides of Muir Island [Uncanny X-Men (1st series) #278]

During this hunt, Rogue had her first encounter with the X-Man known as Gambit, who had become another of the Shadow King's pawns. Gambit was immediately attracted to Rogue, and Farouk's influence led them to playfully spar with each other while hunting Forge. The exchange turned passionate as the two began making out in the wilderness. Some aspect of the situation, possibly the Shadow King's power, kept Rogue's mutant ability from absorbing Gambit during this exchange. [Rogue & Gambit #2]

Rogue soon got back to work and found Forge. He had developed a neutral spike cannon and psionic catalyst and succeeded in freeing Rogue from the mind control, along with Banshee and Wolverine. Together with the newly arrived Professor Xavier and X-Factor, they were able to free all of the Muir Islanders and defeat the Shadow King for quite some time. [Uncanny X-Men (1st series) #279-280, X-Factor (1st series) #69]

After the battle, Rogue went looking for Mystique. Her mother had been reported dead months earlier, but turned up as a sleeper agent against the Shadow King during the final assault. Distracted, she was appreciative when Gambit offered his trench coat to cover her threadbare costume. Rogue was surprised when Gambit started talking about their time kissing in the moonlight, though. She had no recollection of what she had done under the Shadow King's influence and was confused by Gambit's recollection that her powers had had no effect on him. Rogue flew off to find the professor and ask him about it, leaving Gambit behind. For years afterwards, Rogue and Gambit would disagree over what qualified as their "first meeting" given these circumstances. [Rogue & Gambit #2]