Rogue (Marvel Comics)

Rogue is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, commonly in association with the X-Men. Created by writer Chris Claremont and artist Michael Golden, she first appeared in Avengers Annual #10 (1981). In the Marvel Universe, Rogue is depicted as a mutant, a subspecies of humans born with an "X-gene" that grants superhuman abilities. She is capable of absorbing the life force, attributes, memories, and superpowers of anyone through physical touch. The character is initially portrayed as a reluctant supervillain, but she soon joins the X-Men as a superhero and has since endured as one of its most prominent members.

Rogue's early history was only revealed over twenty years after her introduction in her self-titled solo series. The backstory written by Robert Rodi established her real name as Anna Marie, although her surname remains unknown. A runaway from the fictional Caldecott County, Mississippi, Rogue is adopted by Mystique and Destiny and inducted into the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. She permanently absorbs Ms. Marvel's psyche and Kree powers and, fearing for her sanity, defects from the Brotherhood to join the X-Men to use her powers for good. Although she would later gain full control of her mutant abilities, Rogue considers them a curse for many years as they prevent her from getting close to others, including her on-off love interest and eventual husband Gambit, with whom she stars in the team series Rogue & Gambit and Mr. and Mrs. X. A white streak that runs through her hair and gloves that enable her to regulate her powers serve as Rogue's visual motif.

Often listed as one of the most notable and powerful female characters in Marvel Comics, Rogue has been adapted in various media incarnations. Anna Paquin portrayed the character in 20th Century Fox's X-Men film series, while Lenore Zann, Meghan Black, and Kieren van den Blink have provided her voice in animation.

Rogue was first slated to appear in Ms. Marvel #25 in 1979 (and artwork for the first half of the story was completed), but the book's abrupt cancellation left her original introduction story unpublished for over a decade until it was printed in Marvel Super Heroes #11 in 1992, where she absorbed her current powers permanently from Ms. Marvel. Rogue's first published appearance was in Avengers Annual #10 (1981). Her second appearance and first cover appearance was Rom #31 (Jun 1982) tied with Uncanny X-Men #158 (Jun 1982), but #158 is also her first X-Book appearance. She next appeared as an antagonist in Dazzler #22-24 (Aug-Oct 1982) before joining the X-Men in Uncanny X-Men #171 (1983). Rogue has also had two miniseries and one ongoing title.

Rogue's real name and early history were not revealed until more than 20 years after her introduction. Until the backstory provided by Robert Rodi in the ongoing Rogue series, begun in September 2004, her background was only hinted at. This resulted in Rodi's version of Rogue's origins inadvertently conflicting with earlier information. In X-Men Unlimited #4, Scott Lobdell indicates that Rogue ran away from her father after her mutant powers manifested, but in Uncanny X-Men #182, Rogue reflects that she never knew her father because he had left before she was born, and several issues, including Uncanny X-Men #178 and X-Men #93, indicate that Rogue was taken in by Mystique and Destiny before her mutation became active.

Chris Claremont said in June 2016 that, had he not left Marvel in 1991, Mystique would have been Rogue's real mother. It is a storyline that appeared in a 2009 run of the series X-Men Forever. Claremont also revealed that the only advice he gave to artist Michael Golden was that Rogue should be inspired by Grace Jones and that she should have streaks of white in her hair. However, Michael Golden did not know what Jones looked like so the visual he submitted did not resemble Jones at all. Still, Claremont immediately approved, telling Golden he "nailed it."

Rogue was a regular character in Uncanny Avengers (2012), beginning with issue #1.

2025 saw the publication of a limited series titled Rogue: The Savage Land by writer Tim Seeley and artist Zulema Lavina.