X-Men: Rogue Questions

Even though I've enjoyed the series for years via the comics, movies, and TV series, I still don't know every little detail concerning the X-universe. I've had some questions about Rogue's powers that have been bugging me for a while, and wiki hasn't helped to answer them.

So for any hardcore fans out there, I have a few questions. If any of them have never been explained fully, please offer your opinions at least.

1. Is there a limit to how many powers Rogue can absorb at once?

2. If there is a limit, is the limit based on a physical overload (as in it would be dangerous to her body), or a mental one (unable to store so many powers and abilities at once)?

3. Is Rogue able to absorb non-mutant powers (like say, Ghost Rider, Spider-Man, Silver Surfer, etc)?

4. I remember reading way back that Rogue can't grow claws if she absorbed Wolverine's powers, since they aren't a mutant ability, but instead part of his body structure. However, I remember browsing through an X-treme X-men book a bit back, when Rogue had the ability to bring out powers that she once absorbed. One of them was Wolvie's claws. So which is it?

5. I remember in the old cartoon how Rogue tried to absorb Juggernaut's powers, but ended up going into a berserker rage because it was too much power (or maybe it was that and the combination of Jugg's mental hatred for Charles). That was one of my favorite scenes in the cartoon, so I was wondering if that ever happened in the comic (though that depends on the answer to number 3, since Jugg's isn't a mutant).

6. Is Rogue able to absorb the Phoenix's power (when it was inhabting Jean)? I think she tried to do it in the cartoon, but was blasted away. If she could do it, and held on as long as she did with Ms. Marvel, would the Phoenix entity pass on to her and away from Jean?

7. Finally, I was wondering how Rogue measures up in terms of power. Consider the following situation; the majority of mutants with notable powers all gathered in one spot, both good guys and bad. Rogue decides to take all of their powers for herself. First she steals Quicksilver's speed, followed by Nightcrawler's teleportation, and then on to Multiple Man's multiplying ability. With these 3 abilities stolen, you have an army of Rogues teleporting and speeding around the area, stealing more powers for herself. In a matter of minutes, we now have a Rogue who has speed, teleportation, eye beams, super healing, super strength (Jugs, Peter, take your pick), weather control, telepathy, ice, fire, magnetism and so forth. Also, the multiple ability lets her create an army of Rogues that have all these abilities at once.

What do you think? Enough to give Phoenix a run for her money?

it'd make for one heck of a fanfic battle, at least

8. One more question just for the heck of it; which version of Rogue do you like best, based on all the alternate continuities out there? I really like what they did with her in the movie; it makes much more sense in the long run to have her as a shy young girl who takes great care to cover herself up, as opposed to the original who spent most of the time as a shameless cocktease dressing a bit too little. The Rogue from the last cartoon (Evolution) was pretty cool too, a loner goth. I know nothing about Ultimate Rogue, since I've only just started to get into the series (love my library).

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Do you really think that people are going to know how many powers rogue can absorb?

And I liked the Rogue that was in the comics. Such awesome dilect. "Sugar."

There's nowhere I can't reach.

1. I don't think so.

2. She probably would have a lot of difficulty controlling a lot of powers at once unless she had trained with them previously.

3. I'm not sure.

4. Like a lot of stuff in comics, I guess that depends on the writer.

5. Dunno.

6. Another good question. I believe that Jean's mutant power now includes the Phoenix Force, so she may absorb that as well.

7. No. Rogue would not have a good grasp of those powers as they are not her own. She would need to train with them. Also, Jean Grey can more or less do anything she wants. She's as powerful as those reality altering mutants.

8. I like Ultimate Rogue.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

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Do you really think that people are going to know how many powers rogue can absorb?

If it ever came up in a book I didn't read, then yes.

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7. No. Rogue would not have a good grasp of those powers as they are not her own. She would need to train with them.

But she also absorbs their memories, right? So wouldn't she have the knowledge on how to use the powers she borrowed as well?

As for being able to manage so many powers/thoughts at once, that's why I think absorbing Professor X's telepathic powers would be crucial. If Charles can manage hundreds/thousands of thoughts into his head at once, then Rogue should be able to do the same if she had his power.

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I really don't think that it works that way... You'd be better off posting these questions in a dedicated comic book forum. I'm not a big enough X-Men reader to guesstimate the answers that well (IMO).

I was speaking idiomatically.

I don't really know any major comic-book forums aside from Toonzone's section. Plus I'm at best a casual reader of the X-men books, so I'd feel noobish not knowing most of this stuff if I did register to a forum with hardcore readers.

I'll take speculating discussions too, they're just as fun.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

1: I don't think this has ever been fully established, as the character is reluctant to absorb from anyone unless forced. However, there may be a threshold. Recently, Rogue lost the powers she absorbed from Ms. Marvel - the strength, flight and invulnerability - and now has Sunfire's atomic energy powers at her disposal. This would seem to suggest that one set of skills replaces the last.

2: I think it would be a combination of factors. She may be physically unable to withstand the constant force of, say Havok's plasma powers. However, something less physically demanding, such as Radius' constant force-field, would likely be of little threat. Likewise, absorbing the mind powers of Charles Xavier would probably cause her to snap.

It's not a matter of how much she can actually steal. It's how much damage those powers would do to her unprepared mind and body. Imagine if she stole Chamber's power. There is also the issue of her simultaneosly stealing the victim's memories and personality. These things combined could be disastrous if taken from the wrong person.

3: I would ordinarily say no, with a conditional yes. If the non-mutant power comes from an outside source, such as mystical items or bio-organic enhancement, then I doubt there'd be much to copy. Her power seems to resonate at a cellular level; if the hero's DNA possesses no inherent abilities, there's nothing to steal.

However, if an outside source altered someone's DNA, like Reed Richards and the cosmic energy, then there's an outside chance she could take it. Ms. Marvel was not a mutant but she was a Kree hybrid whose powers were derived from genetic manipulation. So this is conditional at best.

4: It's both. This answer hinges upon Wolverine's mutant ability. His adamantium claws are artificial and uncopiable. However, after Magneto stripped Logan's skeleton of all its adamantium, Logan discovered that he could call out a set of bone claws. His mutation had adapted to the metallic claws to the point that, in order to house them safely in the body, he'd developed a bony underskeleton for them which wasn't revealed until the metal was gone. (This is biologically sound. Even the normal human body will react in strange ways to foreign objects which are housed within for extended periods. Normally, myelin protein surrounds the object but doctors have found bizarre exceptions. Bone isn't out of the question.)

As these claws are a direct product of Wolverine's mutant ability, it is entirely conceivable that Rogue could duplicate them if the conditions were right. Spontaneous bone claws, however, are a bit of a deus ex machina.

5: This is fuzzy. Juggernaut's powers stem from a mystical stone that radiates powerful, red-spectrum energy. Technically, Juggernaut's body is saturated with this energy, so it's moderately plausible that Rogue could mistakenly absorb it. However, possessing the Gem of Cytorrak grants Juggernaut control over the energies. Rogue, suddenly infused with the same power, would probably find it overwhelming and instinctively seek to disperse it in any way possible.

But the cartoon show took a lot of liberties. It's not even a certainty that she'd get any powers from Juggernaut at all since it's only energy and not a cellular ability.

6: I'm inclined to say no. The Phoenix Force (unlike in the movie) is a divine entity and chose Jean Grey as its vessel. Jean Grey has the capacity to contain the vast power of the Phoenix, whereas it's probable that Rogue doesn't. If Rogue attempted to absorb the Phoenix Force, it would likely create a backlash and abandon both host bodies, possibly destroying Jean and Rogue in the process.

7: Based upon my response from question one, I don't find this conceivable.

But let's say it is. I think the physical and mental stress and lack of experience with all these powers would wind up destroying Rogue from within long before she executed any grand plan to conquer mutantkind.

If Rogue could do this, it would catapult her to Omega mutant status and all indications show that she's well below this level.

8: I think the most captivating Rogue was the Age of Apocalypse incarnation in which she was Magneto's lover. It showed a side of her that's never been allowed to blossom in her time with Gambit and the X-Men.

FELIPE NO

Originally Posted by Crash Landon

4: It's both. This answer hinges upon Wolverine's mutant ability. His adamantium claws are artificial and uncopiable. However, after Magneto stripped Logan's skeleton of all its adamantium, Logan discovered that he could call out a set of bone claws. His mutation had adapted to the metallic claws to the point that, in order to house them safely in the body, he'd developed a bony underskeleton for them which wasn't revealed until the metal was gone. (This is biologically sound. Even the normal human body will react in strange ways to foreign objects which are housed within for extended periods. Normally, myelin protein surrounds the object but doctors have found bizarre exceptions. Bone isn't out of the question.)

As these claws are a direct product of Wolverine's mutant ability, it is entirely conceivable that Rogue could duplicate them if the conditions were right. Spontaneous bone claws, however, are a bit of a deus ex machina.

It was however later retconned in Origins that Logan/James Howlett/Hugh Jackman/whoever had the bone claws the whole time. That is they didn't develop after the bonding process, rather the adamantium was bonded over already existing bone claws.

But again, it is Wolverine. Nothing is 100% certain. All the memory implants, retconning, and lack of a defined origin for a writer to adhere too has left us with a whole lot of information to sift through.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Fair enough. But the point regarding Rogue stands as I stated it: she could grow bone claws, especially if they were part of Logan's original mutation, but the adamantium ones are out of the question.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

That's pretty likely, but Rogue has borrowed Wolvie's powers before he ever found out about his bone claws, yet she never produced her own set of claws. If anything, she should have grown those claws the first time they made contact, leaving both of them shocked and confused.

Then again, maybe she simply never forced the claws to appear, as she wasn't aware that they're part of Wolverine's DNA.

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I think the physical and mental stress and lack of experience with all these powers would wind up destroying Rogue from within long before she executed any grand plan to conquer mutantkind.

Like I said before, I always figured that Rogue would know immediately how to work someoene's power due to the additional absorption of their memory. But again, I'm not positive if it works that way. But my Omega Rogue theory could still be possible if she takes the abilities of powers that she's used before, and therefore familiar with.

I'm surprised the non-mutant angle hasn't been covered in any of the books, or whether or not she can absorb Juggernaut's powers. Heck, if it was that simple, all she'd have to do was sneak around him from behind and grab one of his bare arms. It was really cool in the cartoon, though.

Another thing I always wondered about was the probability of Rogue absorbing the physical traits of whichever mutant she touches. For example, in the Evolution cartoon she absorbed Sabertooth to knock him out, but then grew a bunch of fur and claws as a result. I'd say that's just a thing for the cartoon, except I remember browsing an old issue where she tries absorbing Mojo's powers, and starts amassing a large amount of fat flesh (eww).

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I think the most captivating Rogue was the Age of Apocalypse incarnation in which she was Magneto's lover. It showed a side of her that's never been allowed to blossom in her time with Gambit and the X-Men.

I've only read a few issues of AoA, but I aggree that Rogue was especially well written, as her need to touch was enhanced due to the baby she and Magneto had. Even if a Rogue/Magneto romance is pretty damn creepy (isn't he old enough to be her grandpa? He's a holocaust survivor in the comic too, right?)

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Originally Posted by Crash Landon

5: This is fuzzy. Juggernaut's powers stem from a mystical stone that radiates powerful, red-spectrum energy. Technically, Juggernaut's body is saturated with this energy, so it's moderately plausible that Rogue could mistakenly absorb it. However, possessing the Gem of Cytorrak grants Juggernaut control over the energies. Rogue, suddenly infused with the same power, would probably find it overwhelming and instinctively seek to disperse it in any way possible.

But the cartoon show took a lot of liberties. It's not even a certainty that she'd get any powers from Juggernaut at all since it's only energy and not a cellular ability.

THE GEM OF CYTTORAK




I have a question, so if Juggernaut's abilities were mystical in nature, does that mean he isn't a mutant? He is the step/half brother of Charles Xavier so in all possibility means that he isn't really one.

p.s. I thought he looked like a bondage queen in X-3. Horrible stuff. Looked like it was rushed.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Cain Marko isn't a mutant. He's a magically-augmented human in his Juggernaut form, but doesn't have the X-gene, unless some writer later on decides he should manifest this late in life.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

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Even if a Rogue/Magneto romance is pretty damn creepy (isn't he old enough to be her grandpa? He's a holocaust survivor in the comic too, right?)

He was turned into a baby for awhile (ahhh the 60s, not that stranger things haven't occured in comic land since) and then Eric the Red from the Shiar Empire aged him to fight the newly formed X team of Cyclops, Wolverine, Storm, Nightcrawler, Banshee, and Colossus. Though he was old again, he was younger than he originaly was.

I was speaking idiomatically.