Rogue and Gambit have long been one of X-Men’s most iconic mutant power couples, but getting to that point wasn’t easy. As their first kiss proved, their romance is also one of the X-franchise’s most fraught, and for much of their time together, a long-lasting, healthy relationship was far from a sure thing.
Though the attraction between the two was immediate, their relationship developed slowly, thanks in large part to the inherent tension created by Rogue’s powers, which made her unable to have physical contact with anyone without hurting them, absorbing their memories, life energy, and powers in the process.
This set the stage for one of the most dramatic turns in X-Men history. When it finally came, Rogue and Gambit’s first kiss provided pay-off for years worth of deliberate, patient storytelling – and set up several years more.
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X-Men’s Rogue: Mutant Powers & Ability-Stealing Explained
Rogue has been an X-Men stalwart for years; her mutant abilities are among Marvel’s most complex, as her powers have been a curse as often as a gift.
Rogue & Gambit’s First Kiss Didn’t Come Under Ideal Circumstances
It Finally Happened In: X-Men #41 – Written By Fabian Nicieza; Art By Andy Kubert
Rogue had been an established X-Men character for several years when Gambit was introduced at the start of the 1990s. Their romance would steadily build over the next half decade of X-stories. Over many issues, Gambit put in the concentrated effort to win Rogue’s heart, while she grappled with the clash of her evident feelings for him and her inability to be physically intimate. This will-they-won’t-they dynamic was essential to X-Men in the early ’90s, and as a result, considerable anticipation had built up among the fan base by the time the duo locked lips for the first time.
The climactic moment came early in 1995; however, more than just the next step in Gambit and Rogue’s love story, the kiss came just as X-Men was taking an ambitious leap, embarking on its most ambitious – and most widely remembered – storyline of the decade: Age of Apocalypse. As is appropriate for a high-stakes romance between members of the Marvel Universe’s premiere mutant superhero team, Rogue and Gambit’s first kiss came in the face of fear and uncertainty. Given only seconds to grapple with the seeming possibility of annihilation, Rogue chose to forego caution and embrace her lover.
The Aftermath Of The Kiss Was Preempted By An Even Bigger Event
The Astonishing X-Men – Written By Scott Lobdell; Art By Joe Madureira; Gambit and the X-Ternals – Written By Fabian Nicieza; Art By Tony S. Daniel
Rogue and Gambit’s first kiss occurred at the end of X-Men #41, just as all reality was being reshaped into the radically different Age of Apocalypse timeline. Rather than just having to wait a month to find out what happened after their kiss, readers had to wait nearly six months, as all the ongoing X-titles at the time were temporarily canceled and replaced by AoA titles. In place of immediate answers, readers were given a drastically different take on both characters, and their love lives.
Rogue, in particular, had a prominent romantic plot in Age of Apocalypse, which recast her as the wife of Magneto and one of the leaders of the surviving X-Men. Amid the grim alternate world of the crossover event, readers were introduced to a more self-actualized, uninhibitedly heroic version of Rogue, reflective of who she would become in later X-Men stories. Though it wasn’t clear to readers until later, in retrospect, this glimpse of Rogue at her full potential provided stark context for the storyline that was to come, when the franchise’s main continuity was restored.
Pausing a decades-long ongoing serial narrative to tell an entirely different story for an interval is a bold move; Age of Apocalypse has a legacy as a groundbreaking event precisely because it pulled this off. Even more impressive, X-Men’s creators still managed to use the alternate continuity storyline to further longstanding storylines, at least in subtle ways – as was the case with Gambit and Rogue. When the story did finally resume in X-Men #42, it took nearly the rest of 1995 to come to fruition, and when it did, it nearly destroyed Gambit and Rogue’s romance forever.
The Fallout From The Kiss Almost Ruined Gambit & Rogue’s Relationship
X-Men #45 – Written By Fabian Nicieza; Art By Andy Kubert
The 1990s was the decade when X-Men became notable for the increasing interdependency of the stories being told in the franchise’s two main books, Uncanny X-Men and X-Men. When the main continuity resumed following Age of Apocalypse, the aftermath of Rogue and Gambit’s kiss played out across both titles. Just as when her mutant powers activated during a smooch with her teenage crush, Rogue left Gambit in a coma as a result of their first kiss. Moreover, upon absorbing his memories, she gained access to something so disturbing that she abruptly left the X-Men.
As it turned out, Rogue uncovered Gambit’s shocking connection to Mr. Sinister, and the pivotal Mutant Massacre storyline from the late ’80s. While Gambit’s dark past had previously been alluded to, this revelation was a true twist of the knife for Rogue, who had overcome her fear of intimacy and let herself get close to him. The repercussions for Gambit – after his complicity in one of the worst crimes against mutantkind, up to that point, became known –became a significant story arc. At the time, Rogue definitively dumped Gambit, and it seemed likely their romance would not be able to overcome it.
In truth, it wouldn’t be long before Gambit found a measure of redemption – and in due course, Rogue’s love for him was reignited. It was at this point that their status as one of X-Men’s most definitive couples began to be established, developing into a perennially solid pairing after initially being built on a rocky foundation. In the current X-continuity, the two are married, and are able to kiss without endangering Gambit, having matured into a firmly in-love couple that would be truly shocking to break up, making their first kiss an essential part of X-Men lore.
