Rogue joined the ranks of the X-Men’s most powerful characters sometime in the ’80s, but the team wasn’t really fond of her at first and for a good reason. The character actually started out as a formidable villain who had aligned herself with Mystique’s Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, where she notably absorbed the powers of Carol Danvers, the first Ms. Marvel, which actually fractured her psyche. Her complex origins, involving abandonment by her birth parents and adoption by Mystique and Destiny, intertwine her fate with both allies and foes of the X-Men.
Rogue’s popularity as a character skyrocketed following her appearance in X-Men: The Animated Series (TAS), as well as her co-starring role in the X-Men movies. Since comic books are sadly not as popular as they used to be during the height of Rogue’s fame, this discussion will explore the character’s past, specifically her time with the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. Finally, we’ll talk about how her family connections still tie her to one of the most extreme and notorious organizations in the Marvel Universe.
Though most young X-Men fans might remember Rogue from TAS and the recently released X-Men ’97, those who have read the comics know that the character was first introduced in Avengers Annual #10, published in 1981. She was originally a member of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants and made her debut in a significant battle involving the Avengers and the X-Men. However, this issue not only marks Rogue’s debut in the Marvel Universe but also her transition from villain to hero, as it also showcases her absorbing the powers and memories of Ms. Marvel.
As stated above, this shattered Rogue’s psyche and sent her to the X-Men to learn how to control her abilities. Since then, Rogue has joined the X-Men team and has attained greater trust and greater stature with the team and in the Marvel universe. The initial episode of X-Men ’97, however, also sheds light on Rogue’s past with the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants by exploring her and Magneto‘s past romantic relationship, leading many to wonder what else Rogue’s past contains. The recently released “Bright Eyes” (Episode 7) provided hints of how Rogue used to be and the darkness she can harbor.
Well, given her rising popularity in the X-Men comics following her debut in 1981, the exploration of Rogue’s background was given some prominence in the Uncanny X-Men series, particularly after she permanently joined the X-Men team. One of the most significant developments in the backstory is detailed in Uncanny X-Men in 1984, where her early experiences are revealed. However, a more detailed exploration of her early life and past was explored in a four-issue
The backstory reveals that Rogue was born to human parents as Anna Marie. Her powers came out of dormancy in her young teens when she impulsively kissed the boy she liked. Since she can absorb the life energy and psyche of others through skin-to-skin contact, Cody (the boy) was left in a permanent coma. Traumatized by that experience, Rogue began wearing body-concealing clothing to eliminate the possibility of accidental skin contact.
Not long after fleeing home due to the incident with Cody, Rogue encountered Mystique, who became a mother figure to Rogue. This helped turn Rogue’s loneliness and despair into anger and introducing her to the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. Rouge fought alongside the Brotherhood against numerous superheroes from the Marvel universe, including X-Men and Avengers, and proved to be a formidable and devastating adversary to all of them. It was during her first mission that she encountered Carol Danvers and absorbed her powers.
However, Ms. Marvel’s powers stuck with Rogue permanently, and she now possessed superhuman strength, near-invulnerability, and the power of flight. She even used those powers to fight the Avengers and managed to absorb Captain America and Thor’s powers — albeit temporarily. She went on to fight the Avengers and X-Men several times and even founded the Sisterhood of Evil Mutants after the remainder of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants was captured yet again.
It was during this time that Magneto (who sometimes collaborated with Mystique’s Brotherhood of Evil Mutants as an “outside consultant”) and Rogue entered a romantic relationship that’s now being explored in X-Men ’97. She eventually started suffering more acutely from having Ms. Marvel’s memories in her head, and in her despair, she turned to Charles Xavier and the X-Men — the latter of which, unsurprisingly, attacked Rogue at first sight.
While no one can blame them for their initial reaction, Rogue eventually earned the respect of the whole team and became an invaluable member of the X-Men. Sometime later, Mystique tried to “rescue” Rogue from the X-Men, acting under the impression that Professor X telepathically forced her to leave the Brotherhood and then the Sisterhood of Evil Mutants, but Rogue explained that she joined the X-Men of her own free will.
In the end, Rogue’s journey from a member of the Brotherhood to a valued member of the X-Men encapsulates a story of redemption and transformation driven by her innate desire for a place to belong to and an opportunity to learn to control powers she had previously considered a curse.