Rogue is a mutant superheroine and mainstay of the X-Men. This is the Joint Venture Universe version of the character.
| Rogue (Joint Venture) | |
 | |
| Real Name | Anna Raven-Irene Darkholme |
| Current Alias | Rogue |
| Alias(es) | Anna-Marie, Anna Raven, Carol Danvers, Captain Marvel, "Malicia", "Titania", "Vampira", "Picara", "Parasit", "Ruda" |
| Relatives | Raven Darkholme (adopted mother), Irene Adler (adopted mother), Kurt Wagner (foster brother), Graydon Creed (foster brother), Carol Susan-Jane Danvers (alternate persona) |
| Affiliation | Clan Darkholme |
| Base Of Operations | Destiny Manor, New Orleans, Louisiana |
| Alignment | Chaotic Good |
| Universe | Joint Venture Universe |
| Gender | Female |
| Eyes | Green |
| Hair | Brown |
| Unusual Features | Has a white lock in her hair |
History[]
Early life[]
Anna-Marie was born in Caldecott County, Mississippi, ro parents she does not speak about. Little is known of her childhood until she turned thirteen, at which point she had her first kiss with Cody Robbins, a linebacker on her school's football team. Regrettably, that was when her mutant power kicked in and Cody collapsed to the ground, unconscious, while Anna found herself inundated with his memories and possessed of his skills. She fled home and told her parents what had happened, only to have her father fly into a rage and lash out at her for being a "freak". She used Cody's fighting experience to defend herself, and ran away from home, never to set foot in Mississippi again.
The Rogue of San Francisco[]
Anna eventually found her way to San Francisco, where she tried to live on her own for a time, forced to steal to survive -- she would find a wealthy person, touch them for a brief moment to absorb their knowledge, and use that knowledge to acquire money for herself from their bank accounts.
Eventually, the sheer number of people she did this to caught up with her, and she found herself drowning in a sea of other people's memories and experiences, not knowing which thoughts, feelings, memories, or tastes were her own anymore. Over time, she even forgot her own name; since all she could remember was that she had run away, she began to call herself 'Rogue'.
After two years of stealing pieces of people's souls to survive, a fifteen-year-old Rogue wound up on the Golden Gate Bridge, lost and willing to do anything to make the pain stop, the voices go away. Seeing no other recourse, she climbed over the railing and jumped off, wanting nothing more than for her suffering to end.
Saved by Captain Marvel[]
This would not be the end of Rogue's story. Carol Danvers, the superheroine known as Captain Marvel, had been in the area at the time and seen Anna fall. Ever the heroine, Carol dove after her, catching Anna before she could plunge into the San Francisco Bay.
Unfortunately, unlike all the other times Captain Marvel had rescued someone in need, this act of seemingly mundane heroism ended up becoming a sacrifice. As Carol flew upwards with Rogue in hand, the young girl's skin touched hers, and Rogue's power kicked in again, draining away Carol's psyche and skills into herself -- and, to her shock and horror, Rogue drained Carol's powers as well. They had not even gotten halfway back up to the bridge when Captain Marvel's power of flight gave out and they began to plummet downward again. Rogue was devastated; she had only wanted to die, not take someone else with her. This regret, possibly combined with Carol's own heroism coming to life within Rogue, galvanized her into action, and she took over the flight, saving the life of the woman who had risked everything to save her.
However, this victory was a hollow one. Carol Danvers was alive, yes, but comatose, her powers and memories gone, drained into Rogue, seemingly permanently. The Southerner tried her best to continue Carol's work of helping people in the city wherever and whenever she could, but Captain Marvel's psyche and her own guilt began to haunt her. The atrocity she had committed, however unwittingly, tormented her no matter how much good she did. She was no better off than before -- worse, in fact, because now she possessed Captain Marvel's powers, including her near-invulnerability, and Carol's psyche would not let her even try suicide a second time.
Meeting Mystique[]
Fortunately for Rogue, Captain Marvel had not been the only person to see her fall off the bridge that night. Barely a week after the horrific event, Rogue was approached by a woman named Raven Darkholme, who claimed that someone she knew had had a vision of what had happened, and she wanted Rogue to meet her.
With no real alternative available, Rogue accepted, and Raven took her to her hotel, where she met Raven's partner and lover, the seer known as Destiny. Destiny revealed what she knew of Rogue's past, reminding her of her true self and helping to bring Anna Marie's own personality back to the forefront. Raven revealed herself as the shapeshifter Mystique, and told Rogue that she and Destiny were mutants like her. Then the two made Rogue an offer: she would be welcome in their family, and they would do everything in thier power to help her, if she did the same for them. Rogue was astonished; after years of living on her own while she drowned in her own mind, suddenly she had a self of her own, and a future, again. She accepted gratefully, and became Anna Raven-Irene Darkholme, in honor of the women who had saved her life.
Mystique and Destiny returned to their home in New Orleans, taking Rogue with them. Together, they found and rescued Raven's long-lost son, Kurt Wagner, and from an angry mob in Germany. With Rogue's new foster brother alongside them, the quartet founded Clan Darkhlolme, a team of mutants who would travel the world, protecting and shepherding mutants like themselves.
Although the road has been hard, and Rogue still has little control over her powers, in addition to having to deal with Carol Danvers' persona in her mind. Nonetheless, she is still treated with love and respect by her foster family, whom she loves and respects in turn, and so has found a place where she belongs, and can hold on to her true self far better than she could alone.
Powers[]
Rogue is a mutant with the ability to absorb the life-energies of another sentient being upon skin-to-skin contact.
- Absorption: By touching her skin to the skin of another sentient being, Rogue absorbs their psyche, memories, knowledge, and physical abilities. This effect often renders the victim weak, or even unconscious, depending on how much she drains. She can also absorb the energies of people who are not touching her, but are touching the same person as herself.
- Power Absorption: In the case of people with superhuman abilities, Rogue can absorb those in addition to their psyches. This transference comes with the memories of how to use those powers, though Rogue must still learn to control them herself. She normally retains these powers at a rate of one minute for every second she is in contact with her victim.
- Consent: Should Rogue's victim resist her absorption, they will suffer grave weakness. When this happens, the person she absorbs, even if they retain consciousness, cannot use their powers until she loses them. However, a person willingly going along with the absorption will suffer far fewer ill effects, provided Rogue keeps the contact brief. Extended contact will always cause harm, even with a consensual absorbee.
Captain Marvel powers: Due to her inadvertent absorption of Carol Danvers during the heroine's attempt to save her life, Rogue now permanently possesses her powers, psyche, and genetic template.
- Superhuman Strength: Rogue, thanks to Carol's amalgamated Mutant/Kree physiology, is able to lift around the same amount of weight that Captain Marvel could. Thus, she can lift about 60 tons with relative ease.
- Superhuman Speed: Rogue is capable of moving at roughly 150 mph with no ill effects.
- Superhuman Stamina: Rogue is able to physically exert herself at peak capacity for about 24 hours before fatigue begins to impair her.
- Near-Invulnerability: Captain Marvel's amalgamated mutant human/alien Kree physiology grants Rogue a degree of immunity to toxins and poisons, as well as a virtually indestructible body. The tissues of Rogue's body are considerably more resistant to physical injury than those of an ordinary human. She can withstand bullets, energy blasts, great impact forces, falls from great heights, extremes of temperature and gravitic pressure, and even explosions without sustaining injury.
- Superhuman Agility: Rogue's agility, balance, reflexes, and bodily coordination are enhanced to levels beyond the natural physical limits of regular humans.
- Flight: Like Captain Marvel, Rogue is capable of propelling herself through the air at tremendous speeds, approaching the speed of sound.
- Seventh Sense: Carol Danvers possessed a limited form of cosmic awareness, manifesting as a kind of alert or warning system similar to Spider-Man's "spider-sense". Rogue is subconsciously able to anticipate the moves of her opponents, locate people or things who are lost, detect whether or not someone is lying, and pick up general "good vibes" or "bad vibes" from a person or location. However, this power is not under her control, and so does not manifest itself often.
- Experienced Spy: Carol was an experienced spy, having worked various undercover operations for NASA. Rogue possesses her skill in this
- Multilingual: Thanks to the absorbed memories of her victims, Rogue is fluent in English, French, Spanish, German, Chinese, Russian, and Japanese, as well as the languages of the alien Kree and Shi'ar. She also has a limited vocabulary in many other languages.
- Expert Pilot: Carol Danvers was an accomplished pilot, having extensive experience with USAF planes as well as with Kree, Shi'ar and other alien starships. Rogue possesses all of these skills.
- Expert Combatant: Rogue possesses Carol Danvers' extensive military training in armed and unarmed combat.
- Dual Psyche: Rogue shares her body and mind with a duplicate of Captain Marvel's consciousness, absorbed into her along with her powers, memories, and skills. This makes her mind incredibly difficult for a telepath to read or attack. Additionally, the two women can communicate with one another mentally, and if Rogue is knocked out, Carol's psyche can "pick up the ball" and continue operating in her stead while she recovers.
Weaknesses[]
Uncontrolled Absorption: Rogue's powers are always "on," meaning she cannot touch the skin of another sentient being without absorbing them. Certain external means of control, like an inhibitor collar, can remedy this, but Rogue does not yet know how to control the process herself.
Dual Psyche: Rogue shares her body and mind with a duplicate of Captain Marvel's consciousness, absorbed into her along with her powers, memories, and skills. While this has its benefits, occasionally Carol and Rogue will swap in and out of control at random. Additionally, Carol and Rogue's personae will sometimes clash, both psyches vying for dominance over her body.
Overload: If Rogue absorbs too many psyches in too short a time, she runs the risk of losing herself in other people's memories, personalities, and emotions, becoming unbalanced and even insane from the psychic overload.
Burnout: While there is no known upper limit to the number of powers Rogue can simultaneously absorb, all of them use her body as the template, and she must rely on her own inner reserves to use them. Therefore, if she uses up too much energy through the use of others' powers, she runs the risk of burning out her powers completely, both her absorption and the powers she has obtained from others. In extreme cases, she runs the risk of severe injury or even death, via burning herself out.