Rogue Appreciation 2021

[ChronoRogue]

I'm with you on this. It forced Rogue to work on herself and gave us a Rogue with conditional, but not perfect, control which keeps it narratively interesting. It also brought her into a category more akin to Synch, Mimic, and Hope who don't necessarily need direct touch to use their powers. It does power Rogue up another level, though my biggest concern with her is always getting too powerful to realistically lose. I like to think the ranged absorbance has less control (if she still has it) and therefore has the consequence of "friendly fire" which is why she rarely uses it. But Kelly did a lot of creative things with Rogue's absorbance powers, especially in R&G.

Exactly! One of the biggest criticism from the way Carey and even Claremonts handled Rogue's arc for gaining control of her powers is there was very little to no struggle or work involved in getting there. It felt cheap to me.

Also personally, I don't know about others but Rogue's powers to me symbolized a persons struggle with past trauma, a person with a disability or some sort of ambiguous emotional barrier in being getting close with those around her. Something like that, even when you begin a healing or treatment process still takes years and constant maintenance. It's not ever something that completely goes away, it's more you learn to manage it as best you can and then move forward with other goals or objectives you have in life. I think KTs development, with the revelation that fear played a big role in managing her power, allowed that growth to progress in a more natural way than Carey or CCs way.

That's another reason why Tini's handling of this has been disappointing. Don't get me wrong it gets redundant seeing Rogue freak out about her powers x100 over the decades. But I don't think KT left her in the 90s space, more somewhere past that and in a transition area.

Also yes, KT was the last writer the freely use her absorption in her run. Duggan, Zub and Tini very rarely used it while KT allowed her to not only explore the psychological aspect but used it in battle in more frequency. I think for some people either they don't like change in status quo or think the power is a gimmick that might be redundant but personally I can see lots of ways how it can work in conjunction with her power set for new situations and challenges.

I stand firm in my stance that Rogue's ability to absorb multiple powers makes her just as or more powerful than Hope. She's the original mutant synergy queen far before Krakoa put mutant "technology/magic" in fashion. If Hickman is a fan of Legacy he should know that. Rogue could easily take the powers of Egg, Elixir, Proteus, and Tempus to become her own "Five". Excalibur has been wasting her true potential so far, but we'll see.

Yep though I'll give Hope the benefit of the doubt she has not been around for as long as Rogue but at this point in time Rogue has had more impressive uses of her power mimcry especially in battle. X-Treme had her fight back an alien army basically on her own and during UA she was on a comparable level to Sentry in holding off a Celestial.

Hope meanwhile I think her most impressive uses of mimicry lie more more with healing and resurrection, at this point she's firmly cemented herself as being a major player in restoring the mutant species back from the brink of extinction. Though it doesn't help that a lot of those accomplishments get muddied up with the Phoenix Force, while Rogue is almost always using her own potential (a bit that Sage helped during X-Treme, it was still her). In terms of combat probably the toughest opponent Hope's fought was Bastion.

Though thankfully, despite the Omega label, I think Rogue is unique enough in her own way that she doesn't directly compete with Hope. Synch, Hope and Mimic are more true power mimics, they all don't directly harm the people they copy and inherently don't need to use touch to use their abilities. Despite KTs development I think Rogue is most similar to Emplate as a more vampiric mimic, a bit she doesn't seem to have the same drive to predate on other mutants or superhumans. well consciously, Carol might argue differently lol...

Speaking of Hope, rereading this scene I'm wondering if their connection is somewhat like a pseudo-light. In that I mean Hope seems to consciously or subconsciously have a pull around specific mutants to protect her; my theory is that this is likely because she is at her most vulnerable when she has no abilities to copy in the vicinity around her so by forming a posse that always wants to be around her and treat her like a queen bee she is basically protecting herself. I think especially during the Generation Hope series they were hinting at Hope being able to manipulate those around her, like a low-level psionic.

[DarkMagnus]

Rogue is being wated in Excalibur

Either Tini wake up or someone take over.

Or allow Rogue to leave the book

[ChronoRogue]

For better or worse, the X-line have been pretty consistent about keeping people on the books. Normally I would praise them, since I'd like for writers to finish up their plot points and a dozen or two issues usually isn't enough time for that, but now...

A Hellfire Gala fan sketch
[
https://twitter.com/witchyboiii/stat...62713481064448


by tylercairnsart

[Devaishwarya]

Rogue's implants are hyper-separated and very uneven. I'd sue whoever did that botched job.

[ChronoRogue]

Also a team of artists did a for fun reanimation of the X-Men animated intro. Several artists did Rogue's scenes, so I decided to make some gifs of them!


by sketchyfabi


by sirchuc and stasya_sher


by cesarvs

A link to the youtube video if you want to watch the entire thing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hf3p66tGu5E

[Sandmans_Raven]

Wow, those are really cool. Makes me wish we could get another X-Men animated series

[ChronoRogue]

Right? ��

They all are great but I think Cesarvs is my favorite artist on there. though the animation is a bit stiff, it's hard to keep up the quality of the art in movement I wouldn't mind sketchyfabi's PowerPuff!Rogue style either lol.

[Sandmans_Raven]

Right? ��

They all are great but I think Cesarvs is my favorite artist on there. though the animation is a bit stiff, it's hard to keep up the quality of the art in movement I wouldn't mind sketchyfabi's PowerPuff!Rogue style either lol.

Yeah for sure! I know one of the complaints people had about TAS was how stiff it was, so it makes sense that the Cesarvs one would have the same problem. TAS had cool art, but it didn't exactly lend itself well to motion sometimes.

[ChronoRogue]

Yeah for sure! I know one of the complaints people had about TAS was how stiff it was, so it makes sense that the Cesarvs one would have the same problem. TAS had cool art, but it didn't exactly lend itself well to motion sometimes.

Yep I love the series but the actual animation wasn't it's strong point.


rip tas jean fainting and falling

Evolution did much better in this regard.

But yes, still crossing my heart on a new X-Men series being announced. but marvel animation is so slow to announce things...

[Calintz]

Yep I love the series but the actual animation wasn't it's strong point.


rip tas jean fainting and falling

Evolution did much better in this regard.

But yes, still crossing my heart on a new X-Men series being announced. but marvel animation is so slow to announce things...

THAT never gets old LMAO!!
I think the ONLY episode she don't is a Rogue's tale

[seccruz]

For better or worse, the X-line have been pretty consistent about keeping people on the books. Normally I would praise them, since I'd like for writers to finish up their plot points and a dozen or two issues usually isn't enough time for that, but now...

A Hellfire Gala fan sketch
[
https://twitter.com/witchyboiii/stat...62713481064448


by tylercairnsart

That second one gave me mad Carmen Carnero vibes. Also, mad nostalgia moment.

[AppleJ]

Who's slow to respond? Yep, that'd be me. LOL

You + me = same page on all that KT did for Rogue.

Though thankfully, despite the Omega label, I think Rogue is unique enough in her own way that she doesn't directly compete with Hope. Synch, Hope and Mimic are more true power mimics, they all don't directly harm the people they copy and inherently don't need to use touch to use their abilities. Despite KTs development I think Rogue is most similar to Emplate as a more vampiric mimic, a bit she doesn't seem to have the same drive to predate on other mutants or superhumans. well consciously, Carol might argue differently lol...

Good point! She does take an actual piece of her victims in the form of their residual pyches. Are the pyches copies? They must be since the victims don't lose those memories long term. Though I guess Carol did for a while. Hmmm. Is it energy that is stored? Is it DNA? I'm always wondering. LOL Not sure if she still retains all those pieces in her mind indefinitely like she used to or if they're cleared out now since her new power upgrade. But the other mimics don't seem to take anything or store anything or cause harm, very true. There was a time when Rogue used to steal small bits of people for the thrill of it too, a bit more vampire-like, but not for survival like Emplate. So yeah, she's kind of a psychic vampire. Now that she's got semi-control again I'd like to see more instances of her casually borrowing powers from friends and family as she did recently from Rachel and used to in Legacy.

Speaking of Hope, rereading this scene I'm wondering if their connection is somewhat like a pseudo-light. In that I mean Hope seems to consciously or subconsciously have a pull around specific mutants to protect her; my theory is that this is likely because she is at her most vulnerable when she has no abilities to copy in the vicinity around her so by forming a posse that always wants to be around her and treat her like a queen bee she is basically protecting herself. I think especially during the Generation Hope series they were hinting at Hope being able to manipulate those around her, like a low-level psionic.

That's a very fascinating observation actually. The true mimics aren't very useful on their own. They need a perpetual group of buddies to derive their powers from as you point out. Seems almost manipulative. LOL Rogue though, if she can store powers or steal them permanently she doesn't need a group around her. I'm still curious why Simon's powers remained even after his actual being was expelled from her. It must mean Rogue still has a "storage capacity" aspect to her powers. But not unlimited access to that storage ... unless only certain powers and pyches stay in storage and others get deleted somehow? All I know is Rogue is fascinating and I love her complicated butt.

[AppleJ]

Who's slow to respond? Yep, that'd be me. LOL

You + me = same page on all that KT did for Rogue.

Though thankfully, despite the Omega label, I think Rogue is unique enough in her own way that she doesn't directly compete with Hope. Synch, Hope and Mimic are more true power mimics, they all don't directly harm the people they copy and inherently don't need to use touch to use their abilities. Despite KTs development I think Rogue is most similar to Emplate as a more vampiric mimic, a bit she doesn't seem to have the same drive to predate on other mutants or superhumans. well consciously, Carol might argue differently lol...

Good point! She does take an actual piece of her victims in the form of their residual pyches. Are the pyches copies? They must be since the victims don't lose those memories long term. Though I guess Carol did for a while. Hmmm. Is it energy that is stored? Is it DNA? I'm always wondering. LOL Not sure if she still retains all those pieces in her mind indefinitely like she used to or if they're cleared out now since her new power upgrade. But the other mimics don't seem to take anything or store anything or cause harm, very true. There was a time when Rogue used to steal small bits of people for the thrill of it too, a bit more vampire-like, but not for survival like Emplate. So yeah, she's kind of a psychic vampire. Now that she's got semi-control again I'd like to see more instances of her casually borrowing powers from friends and family as she did recently from Rachel and used to in Legacy. It would be fun to see her borrow from Remy again.

Speaking of Hope, rereading this scene I'm wondering if their connection is somewhat like a pseudo-light. In that I mean Hope seems to consciously or subconsciously have a pull around specific mutants to protect her; my theory is that this is likely because she is at her most vulnerable when she has no abilities to copy in the vicinity around her so by forming a posse that always wants to be around her and treat her like a queen bee she is basically protecting herself. I think especially during the Generation Hope series they were hinting at Hope being able to manipulate those around her, like a low-level psionic.

That's a very fascinating observation actually. The true mimics aren't very useful on their own. They need a perpetual group of buddies to derive their powers from as you point out. Seems almost manipulative. LOL Rogue though, if she can store powers or steal them permanently she doesn't need a group around her. I'm still curious why Simon's powers remained even after his actual being was expelled from her. It must mean Rogue still has a "storage capacity" aspect to her powers. But not unlimited access to that storage ... unless only certain powers and pyches stay in storage and others get deleted somehow? All I know is Rogue is fascinating and I love her complicated crazy self.

[ChronoRogue]

THAT never gets old LMAO!!
I think the ONLY episode she don't is a Rogue's tale

lol poor Jean. At least she was cool in Evolution.

That second one gave me mad Carmen Carnero vibes. Also, mad nostalgia moment.

Yep, I could totally see something like this turned into one of those 90s-00s marvel trading cards.

Good point! She does take an actual piece of her victims in the form of their residual pyches. Are the pyches copies? They must be since the victims don't lose those memories long term. Though I guess Carol did for a while. Hmmm. Is it energy that is stored? Is it DNA? I'm always wondering. LOL Not sure if she still retains all those pieces in her mind indefinitely like she used to or if they're cleared out now since her new power upgrade. But the other mimics don't seem to take anything or store anything or cause harm, very true. There was a time when Rogue used to steal small bits of people for the thrill of it too, a bit more vampire-like, but not for survival like Emplate. So yeah, she's kind of a psychic vampire. Now that she's got semi-control again I'd like to see more instances of her casually borrowing powers from friends and family as she did recently from Rachel and used to in Legacy. It would be fun to see her borrow from Remy again.

Don't worry about the late reply, I'm flattered you even read the whole thing since I know my replies can get very... TLDR. xD Which I apologize, I'll probably do again with this reply. i find the thinking behind this type of stuff fun

Anyway from what we've seen my best guess is it's they are psychic copies as you mention and that they work as type of avatar to store different power-sets similar to how Legion's powers work. I can't find the issue right now but I distinctly remember an issue of either New Mutants or Legacy where Rogue helped store his personalities actually, maybe because of how similar their "power banks" are. Only difference is Rogue's ghosts are more stable and Legion's personalities seem a lot more... differentiated and antagonistic. Well I say stable, but apparently Rogue's head is a war 24/7.



psychic ghost!cap is less of a dick in rogue's head tho lmao. and aww ghost!irene is so protective

Hmm no wonder telepaths usually don't like prying inside her head.

I wonder if that's why Rogue was more "free" in absorbing people during Legacy, since she'd just been 'cleansed' of all the ghosts in her head. Or that total control allowed her mind to act more like a sieve instead of a bank, she would "copy and delete" the templates so they wouldn't bother her as much.

That's a very fascinating observation actually. The true mimics aren't very useful on their own. They need a perpetual group of buddies to derive their powers from as you point out. Seems almost manipulative. LOL Rogue though, if she can store powers or steal them permanently she doesn't need a group around her. I'm still curious why Simon's powers remained even after his actual being was expelled from her. It must mean Rogue still has a "storage capacity" aspect to her powers. But not unlimited access to that storage ... unless only certain powers and pyches stay in storage and others get deleted somehow? All I know is Rogue is fascinating and I love her complicated crazy self.

It interesting and I definitely feel some of Hope's writers were intentionally giving that impression of it being manipulative. iirc she has an evil prophecy about it I'm not sure about the others though, I think Synch is just affable and poor Mimic is like that one guy that can't let go of the past, he's been carrying the 05s power set around forever.

Simon is a really weird case TBH. It could be that Remember just isn't very knowledgeable on Rogue's history, since both Shiro and Carol did permanently lose their powers when they got absorbed, a bit that they also both got new powers basically identical to their old one's shortly afterwards. One thing to note is that Rogue hasn't been seen manifesting the purple dots power signature post Simon leaving her body, so if I was to fanon an explanation; she didn't keep Simon's powers, she's using an amalgamation of "stored" powers to mimic Simon's abilities subconsciously because she's always felt most comfortable using that set to protect herself. That could explain why Simon was able to keep his without any real costs.

This might deserve it's own real thread but thinking over the mimics a bit more I wonder why writers haven't tried to differentiate them more. I mean Rogue and Emplate are different enough, but the others could use something beyond just visual signatures. I'd honestly not have them be equal in terms of being able to mimic the strength of the power and instead have them specialize in certain types. So that certain mimics would naturally gravitate to certain power-sets, sort of like Rogue has shown over the years to prefer her flying brick power set.

Hope could be the specialist in psionic powers. She's Cable's adoptive daugher and had a million comparisons to Jean Grey. Also is connected to the PF and has her weird psionic cult-power.
Synch could be proficient with energy types, especially those relating to light like Jubilee or Dazzler, relating to his rainbow aura.
Meggan is shapeshifting and nature-like powersets.
Gideon... robotic types? He's the only mimic that seems to have the ability to pull powers from robots somehow lol.
Emplate perhaps could lean into power-sets that transform his body into different hard materials like Emma's diamond form, Colossus metal form and Bling! crystalline powerset. Which could relate the Penance form that his entire family is able to use.
Rogue could be powers that enhance her physicality (strength, endurance, flight) and that allow her to manipulate her spirit (Trance).

I'm a bit stuck on what types of powersets Mimic would gravitate to though. None of the 05s powersets seem to exactly have a common theme.

But yea I agree with her abilities being fascinating, Rogue's powers have always been fun and interesting, almost as much fun as her core personality and her relationships.

[K7P5V]

lol poor Jean. At least she was cool in Evolution.

Agreed. Too bad they made Rogue a rival to Jean for Scott's attention, though...