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When Rogue fought the X-Men for the first time, Marvel’s iconic mutant hero proved that she could’ve been a very powerful villain.
By any measure, Rogue is one of the X-Men’s most popular members. Despite her often unpredictable abilities, she’s been one of the team’s most steady members for ages, having led squads on multiple occasions. However, the power-stealing mutant didn’t start off fighting for the good guys. In fact, the self-described Southern belle was once a prominent member of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants and her first encounter with the X-Men proved that she would have been one of their most formidable foes if she had stayed a villain.
In Uncanny X-Men #158, by Chris Claremont, Dave Cockrum, Bob Wiacek, Glynis Wein and Joe Rosen, Rogue completely mopped the floor with the X-Men by turning their own powers against them, shortly before she joined the team.
In that issue, Storm, Wolverine and Carol Danvers infiltrated the Pentagon in an attempt to upload a virus into the building’s computers that would erase every trace of the X-Men from their systems. While walking through the building, Danvers immediately recognized Rogue, who had already drained her powers the last time they met, and the two immediately started fighting. After Rogue stole Wolverine’s powers. Storm sent her flying, but Rogue used Wolverine’s tracking ability to find them again.
After Nightcrawler teleported in to help his comrades, Rogue grabbed Storm to absorb her powers, then flushed the X-Men down the hallway with a flash flood. Using a combination of all the powers she had stolen, Rogue continued fighting the X-Men. She almost managed to single-handedly defeat them if it wasn’t for quick thinking on Storm’s part. As her powers slowly returned to her, Storm whipped up a hurricane to carry Rogue away from the scene.
Even though she ended up losing this battle, Rogue showed the X-Men just how dangerous she could be in this fight. While the X-Men have always prided themselves on their teamwork and their ability to combine their powers in strange and novel ways, Rogue can do all of that by herself when she has multiple powersets absorbed. And thanks to the teachings of her adotive mother and mentor Mystique, she had a ruthlessness that made her even more dangerous.
Created by Chris Claremont and Michael Golden, Rogue debuted in Avengers Annual #10, where she attacked Avengers Mansion alongside the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. She continued working with the Brotherhood until she joined the X-Men in Uncanny X-Men #171 by Chris Claremont, Walt Simonson, Bob Wiacek, Glynis Wein and Tom Orzechowski because she needed Professor Xavier’s help to erase the memory fragments left in her head after continuously absorbing other people’s psyches. While he was unable to help, the Professor welcomed her into the X-Men with open arms, much to the chagrin of all the other members. Thankfully, Rogue managed to get rid of the memory fragments and slowly became an essential member of the X-Men, rising to become the leader of the X-Men at one point. She eventually joined the Avengers and became the leader of the Unity Division.
Because her powers allow her to absorb all of a person’s psyche and abilities, Rogue has the ability to become one of the strongest mutants in the Marvel Universe under the right circumstances. And given how well Rogue fared against the X-Men during their confrontation, it’s easy to see how she could have been one of their greatest villains if she had remained with the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. Clearly, the X-Men are lucky to have Rogue and her incredible absorbing powers on their side.
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