Rogue of X-Men, debuted in 1981

Rogue is a fictional character in most of the Marvel Comics award-winning X-Men related titles. She was created by author Chris Claremont and artist Michael Golden, and debuted in Avengers Annual #10 (August 1981) as a villain. (An earlier story, intended for Ms. Marvel #25 (June 1979) went unpublished until 1992.) Rogue was born as a mutant. More so than most, Rogue considers her powers a curse: she involuntarily absorbs and sometimes also removes the memories, physical strength, and (in the case of superpowered persons) the abilities of anyone she touches. For most of her life, this potentially fatal power prevented her from making any physical contact with others, including her longtime on-off love interest, Gambit, but after many years Rogue finally gained full control over her power.

Hailing from Caldecott, Mississippi (a fictional county), Rogue is the X-Men's self-described southern belle. A runaway, she was adopted by Mystique of theBrotherhood of Evil Mutants and grew up as a villain. After Rogue permanently absorbed Ms. Marvel's psyche and Kree powers, she reformed and turned to the X-Men, fearing for her sanity. Writer Chris Claremont played a significant role in the character's subsequent development. Rogue is unusual among the X-Men as her real name and her early history were not revealed until more than twenty years after her introduction; until the back story provided by Robert Rodi in the ongoingRogue series, began in September 2004, Rogue's background was only hinted at; name was revealed as Anna Marie. her surname is still unknown but she has sometimes gone with Raven which is really the first name of her foster mother Mystique.

Rogue has been one of the most popular and consistent members of the X-Men since the 1980s. She was #5 on IGN's Top 25 X-Men list for 2006, #4 on their Top Ten X-Babes list for 2006, #3 on Marvel's list of Top 10 Toughest Females for 2009 and was given title of #1 X-Man on CBR's top 50 X-Men of All Time for 2008. Rogue has been featured in most of the X-Men animated series and various video games. In the X-Men film series, she is portrayed by Academy Award winner Anna Paquin. Her visual cue is often the white streak that runs through her hair.

PUBLICATION HISTORY

Rogue was first slated to appear in Ms. Marvel #25 (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for the first half of the story was completed), but the book's abrupt cancellation left her original introduction story unpublished for over a decade, before seeing print in Marvel Super Heroes #11 in 1992. Rogue's first published appearance was inAvengers Annual #10 (1981). She made her first X-Book appearance in Uncanny X-Men #158 (1982) and joined 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 twenty years after her introduction. Until the back story provided by Robert Rodi in the ongoingRogue series, begun in September 2004, Rogue's 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'd 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.