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Gambit’s powers go beyond a royal flush, but at one point, he was potentially one of the most dangerously powerful mutants in the Marvel Universe.
A prominent member of the X-Men, Gambit has perhaps one of the most understated and underrated powersets in comic books. Many believe that his power is simply to make things such as playing cards, but it’s much more than that. Gambit’s powers go far beyond a mere royal flush, but at one point, he was potentially one of the most dangerously powerful mutants in the Marvel Universe.
By charging kinetic energy in himself and inorganic objects, Gambit has an endless supply of explosive energy. This not only makes objects around him potential weapons but supercharges Gambit’s own body, as well. While these are more esoteric abilities, there was a time when the thief from New Orleans could’ve potentially destroyed the Earth itself from his power. Here’s a look at Gambit’s criminally underestimated powers and how a sinister doctor helped him get them under control.
Gambit’s Deck of Powers
Gambit’s main power is to supercharge an object with kinetic energy, making objects outright explosive. The larger an object is, the more energy it takes to charge them, so small objects like playing cards or pool sticks work best when used offensively. This molecular manipulation doesn’t end with simple fireworks, however. He can also make these objects melt at a molecular level, or even use his powers to cloud the minds of others. Compounding the latter ability is mutant animal magnetism, with his low-level psionic powers giving off a hypnotic charm that persuades all who are unaware of it.
He can also effortlessly emit a static interference, both against detection from scanners and even the awareness of psychics. Perhaps his most unknown abilities, however, are his heightened physical attributes. The kinetic manipulation at his disposal makes him flexible with high endurance, durability, speed and strength. This gives him an incredibly acrobatic fighting style and the ability to dodge attacks that others might not see coming. He can also stimulate his own cellular structure to heal faster, giving him superhuman regeneration. While not quite at the level of Wolverine or Sabretooth, it’s still a handy ability.
His powers were initially even greater and didn’t require him to touch an object to charge it. His physical attributes were also clearly superhuman, making him more of a threat than ever to those who opposed him. Unfortunately for Gambit, these essentially Omega-level powers were too much to control, forcing him to team up with a sinister source of help.
How Mr. Sinister Weakened Gambit
Becoming a master thief didn’t really help Gambit’s life, as he found his growing powers to be unbearable in adulthood. The villainous Mr. Sinister, who he had already worked with, performed surgery on his brain. Removing a small bit of vital tissue, Sinister made Gambit’s powers much more controllable. This heavily weakened power level is where he’s been for much of his publication history, meaning that the Gambit most readers are used to seeing boasts only a fraction of his potential power.
This wasn’t the end of Gambit’s troubles, however, as he now had a great debut to Sinister. Years later, he would have a younger, time-traveling Sinister restore this section of his brain and his powers in order to fight one of his most powerful threats, The operation was a success, but Gambit eventually burned out these massively overclocked powers.
An alternate future version of Gambit called New Son showed the threat level if Sinister had never gotten Gambit’s powers under control. This version of the character literally destroyed the Earth from a kinetic energy overload, eventually seeking out alternate versions of himself to kill to ensure they didn’t do the same. Thankfully, the mainstream universe Gambit has never quite reached these levels of power, and he ironically has one of the X-Men’s most merciless foes to thank for it.
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