Are Rogue and Gambit a Fascinating Couple?

[thjan]

Great post, kumiho! You hit on a lot of the reasons Gambit and Rogue are well liked.

It was chosen by fans, more then having it chosen for us: Originally there was no plan to have them as a couple. Claremont didn't even want that for Gambit, who was originally planned as a spy and a traitor working under Sinister. Originally he was plotting to put Gambit with Kitty Pryde, sort of seducing her to the dark side. That could have been fun, but after some steamy basketball scenes and a date gone wrong fans got enthralled with the Remy and Rogue pairing, and pressured Claremont to change his plans and actually back the pairing. Thankfully, he adapted fairly and seemed to support the pair forward, but at the start it was the fans who really wanted them together, and that buys them street cred.

Yep, I very much miss the days when Marvel listened to their fans more.

But I do want to mention that though Claremont did a superb job of writing them in X-Treme X-Men and he did have them flirt a bit in issue #3 of X-Men(abjectiveless), he was not really the one that got them together. He was gone after issue #3 of X-Men, and the basketball scene and attempted first date happened in issue #4.

And later on she outright reversed roles as the one fighting to save and reclaim him, stepping up to guard her love. It was empowering and beautiful. It's the saddest part of recent years, how that love she fought so hard for was just stripped away by writers who didn't like the pairing. Remy was left pining, and Rogue just had her feelings washed away. It's the bitter irony of their breakup. Once they could finally really be together, they didn't have a writer on their side, and their fans who originally were gifted this pair by Claremont were snubbed by the newer regime. o_o

Well said. I very much agree with you here. It is very sad.

Dang it, kumiho nailed all of the points that I was thinking of. Again! Lol.

Yeah, kumiho is really good at that. Although I think you do a good job yourself at explaining why they make a great couple. I wish I was as eloquent as you two.

That, and the banter! Oh, the banter! There's never been anything quite like it in the comics, that's for sure.

Very much agreed. That's one of the things I most like about them too. There really isn't any other couple out there that is as fun as Gambit and Rogue.

[Rogue Star]

*READS THE OPENING POST*

I can argue that this couple are the most fascinating couple in the history of comics. when I was young, I devoured all the fanfiction, fan arts and all the comics that they were on panel and now I am much older I still hope they are end game even tough I don't really read fanfics of them anymore. looking back now what was it about rogue and gambit that made them such a phenomenal couple among readers? I still can place my finger ion it.

I also notice that they also naturally sizzled on screen. thought when a couple sizzles on screen it may be more about lust than love. in the X-TAS they were so good together although I didn't enjoy them much, I preferred them in Xmen evolution because I like gambit better more in evolution, in tas I felt he was more like the comic relief guy in the team unlike evolution where he was just so bad ass, dark and serious.

Its interesting how marvel marketed scott/jean as the xmen main couple but for xmen fans they were more far more into rogue/gambit than scott/jean

maybe one of you can enlightening me on why rogue and gambit are an extraordinary couple and fascinate a lot of people.

*READS RESPONSES*

They aren't. They dragged each other down so far Gambit became damaged and Rogue was on the brink of destruction. Thank God for Blood of Apocalypse.

They might have been the worst. Corny high school dramatics hidden behind the faux pathos of a love than can never be consummated. Because she can't touch anyone. And he's kind of a gross sleazeball.

Between all the shugah and the chere bleatings, was there anything of substance?

Arcade and Miss Locke were more of an adult representation of a sexual relationship.

short answer........they aren't. I blame the Animates series for them being together. I just don't see them together...idividually they are interesting, but together...No. I'd rather watch paint dry.

Hmmm. Some of you have completely missed the point of this thread. But feel free to keep tearing the couple down if it makes you feel important.

[Sparta]

It was chosen by fans, more then having it chosen for us: Originally there was no plan to have them as a couple. Claremont didn't even want that for Gambit, who was originally planned as a spy and a traitor working under Sinister. Originally he was plotting to put Gambit with Kitty Pryde, sort of seducing her to the dark side. That could have been fun, but after some steamy basketball scenes and a date gone wrong fans got enthralled with the Remy and Rogue pairing, and pressured Claremont to change his plans and actually back the pairing. Thankfully, he adapted fairly and seemed to support the pair forward, but at the start it was the fans who really wanted them together, and that buys them street cred.

I asked Claremont in a forum years ago if the Rogue/Gambit relationship was his idea, he answered back and said it was, though Gambit was really Sinister in disguise or he was working for Sinister (I forgot), but "ROMY" was technically a Claremont creation.

[kumiho]

I asked Claremont in a forum years ago if the Rogue/Gambit relationship was his idea, he answered back and said it was, though Gambit was really Sinister in disguise or he was working for Sinister (I forgot), but "ROMY" was technically a Claremont creation.

Think it was that he was originally planned as a spy for Sinister, set to betray them(which also would have made a way better reveal in the Antarctica trial then that Morlock mix-up). Point is, he wasn't planning them to be a long term relationship, or Gambit to stay around as one of the good guys.

[Star_Jammer]

Sexpot, horny male vs. woman who can't (viably) touch anyone.

That was the extent of their drama.

[hunter_peterson]

I think the story is just extremely compelling as a high concept- untouchable girl meets boy with the magic touch. They're alike in so many ways, yet crucially different in many others... they just complement each other marvelously. It's simply a case of two characters being fantastic together.

[Beezzi]

Basically what kumiho said...nailed the whole dynamic perfectly.

[Pryde9]

I asked Claremont in a forum years ago if the Rogue/Gambit relationship was his idea, he answered back and said it was, though Gambit was really Sinister in disguise or he was working for Sinister (I forgot), but "ROMY" was technically a Claremont creation.

Claremont wrote the best rogue/gambit dynamic. Claremont perhaps did something that no other fictional writer has ever done which was DEATH NOT DOING THEM APART.

In Xtreme Xmen 18 rogue basically drags gambit back from heaven so they can be together. that was epic.

XTREME RG1.jpg

xtreme RG.jpg
I will say Carey is the worst rogue/gambit writer because in the beginning he was pretending to be a fan of the couple even giving throw backs to their relationship; remember the now classic page from xmen 204.

xmen 204 rg.jpg

yeah carey did a good job leading the rogue/gambit fans on that he was finally going to make them a couple again instead his endgame was along magneto/rogue

[Purplevit]

Claremont and Nicieza are best Romy writers.

Carey killed everything. He is the worst.

[donpricetag]

Claremont and Nicieza are best Romy writers.

Carey killed everything. He is the worst.

He did in effect "kill everything". Someone said they could be easily written back together. I disagree. You can write anything but will it make sense? To logically put them back in a relationship will need the kind of time and focus a solo would only have, seeing as neither has one and no team book writer would divert that much attention from the whole storyline, its not likely. I say it would need the time because the Magneto relationship SHOULD have driven a deep wedge between them, especially given the timing of it. Without explanation, Gambit looks like a spineless chump and Rogue like a flake with bratty teenager-esk emotions.

The X-office has no intention of reuniting them in 616. Maybe after the not-a-reboot.

[kumiho]

Claremont wrote the best rogue/gambit dynamic. Claremont perhaps did something that no other fictional writer has ever done which was DEATH NOT DOING THEM APART.

In Xtreme Xmen 18 rogue basically drags gambit back from heaven so they can be together. that was epic.

XTREME RG1.jpg

xtreme RG.jpg
I will say Carey is the worst rogue/gambit writer because in the beginning he was pretending to be a fan of the couple even giving throw backs to their relationship; remember the now classic page from xmen 204.

xmen 204 rg.jpg

yeah carey did a good job leading the rogue/gambit fans on that he was finally going to make them a couple again instead his endgame was along magneto/rogue

I'll be objective here. I think the bringing Gambit back from Heaven thing was a little silly and heavy handed. Though it did drive home that it was not just him chasing her. She fought Death itself to keep him. Hard to top.

As for Carey.... he did an admirable job of making Rogue a superstar, but he did ruin the Rogue and Remy relationship more then even Milligan before him. Conceivably, he may have been going for something brilliant, though it came off like just shock value. Theoretically, he may have been playing with an inherent issue with Rogue, dealing with stolen psyches in her head, and how they may effect her own mind. Those psyches are not her, and yet they become part of her. So you could consider that after Hope cleaned out Rogue's mind of all those countless other minds, she could have lost a big chunk of herself. That logically would have brought her feelings into question, as she tried to get her head straight about where she began and those other minds ended. Then after AoX she goes back to have tons of minds in her head, minds she absorbed at the moment of their death, who were all fighting under Magneto, who they saw as their protector and savior. Having all that consumed affection explains why she saw him as a comfort by relation(creepy as the rest of us may find it). A lot of Carey's stuff did show that she was unsure about Magneto, and that he was just a stop over as she got her head straight. Even Gambit said as much, that he was just sitting back to let her see what kind of Man Magneto was and let her make up her mind. Granted, this is horribly out of character for all three characters, and Carey never wrote in anything clear about it, or any real resolution before he left the book, so it all just got dumped on Gage, who clearly didn't know what to do with the love triangle, which made it all the more uncomfortable. Rogue went from fighting for and saving the man she loved, to pining unsurely for an older domineering lover, who had a horrible history of hurting and tormenting her and her loved ones. It is still one of the most disturbing things I have ever read for the mind incidental mindwashing and cuckold factors, while also pretty much removing any trace of love from Remy, who got treated like a moping near stalker sociopath. Perhaps Carey had a fix in mind... but he never fixed what her broke, and never seemed to regret it, thus all the hate toward him from Romy fans.

[donpricetag]

I'll be objective here. I think the bringing Gambit back from Heaven thing was a little silly and heavy handed. Though it did drive home that it was not just him chasing her. She fought Death itself to keep him. Hard to top.

As for Carey.... he did an admirable job of making Rogue a superstar, but he did ruin the Rogue and Remy relationship more then even Milligan before him. Conceivably, he may have been going for something brilliant, though it came off like just shock value. Theoretically, he may have been playing with an inherent issue with Rogue, dealing with stolen psyches in her head, and how they may effect her own mind. Those psyches are not her, and yet they become part of her. So you could consider that after Hope cleaned out Rogue's mind of all those countless other minds, she could have lost a big chunk of herself. That logically would have brought her feelings into question, as she tried to get her head straight about where she began and those other minds ended. Then after AoX she goes back to have tons of minds in her head, minds she absorbed at the moment of their death, who were all fighting under Magneto, who they saw as their protector and savior. Having all that consumed affection explains why she saw him as a comfort by relation(creepy as the rest of us may find it). A lot of Carey's stuff did show that she was unsure about Magneto, and that he was just a stop over as she got her head straight. Even Gambit said as much, that he was just sitting back to let her see what kind of Man Magneto was and let her make up her mind. Granted, this is horribly out of character for all three characters, and Carey never wrote in anything clear about it, or any real resolution before he left the book, so it all just got dumped on Gage, who clearly didn't know what to do with the love triangle, which made it all the more uncomfortable. Rogue went from fighting for and saving the man she loved, to pining unsurely for an older domineering lover, who had a horrible history of hurting and tormenting her and her loved ones. It is still one of the most disturbing things I have ever read for the mind incidental mindwashing and cuckold factors, while also pretty much removing any trace of love from Remy, who got treated like a moping near stalker sociopath. Perhaps Carey had a fix in mind... but he never fixed what her broke, and never seemed to regret it, thus all the hate toward him from Romy fans.

Very astute. I think what made it worse was that none of the reasons Carey described during the conversation between Magneto and Rogue actually occurred. He retconned his own month old story. It was like someone in the office pissed him off and he said "oh yeah? watch this". To be honest, the Romy fans were giving him flak even before AoX. The last issue of his run with the two in bed felt like a "nananana" kind of poke at the fans, especially the way it was placed in the book. At the same time he probably gave Gambit the most impactful quote he had in years when he sent Rogue away (essentially into Mag's arms).

[kumiho]

Very astute. I think what made it worse was that none of the reasons Carey described during the conversation between Magneto and Rogue actually occurred. He retconned his own month old story. It was like someone in the office pissed him off and he said "oh yeah? watch this". To be honest, the Romy fans were giving him flak even before AoX. The last issue of his run with the two in bed felt like a "nananana" kind of poke at the fans, especially the way it was placed in the book. At the same time he probably gave Gambit the most impactful quote he had in years when he sent Rogue away (essentially into Mag's arms).

Yeah... honstly the whole thing was forced, out of character and disturbing in many ways. A shame, since it could have really been a brilliant look into Rogue's mind and the backlash of her powers and getting past those problems which Xavier couldn't magically fix. Instead it just devolved into something kind of stomach turning.

[remydat]

I asked Claremont in a forum years ago if the Rogue/Gambit relationship was his idea, he answered back and said it was, though Gambit was really Sinister in disguise or he was working for Sinister (I forgot), but "ROMY" was technically a Claremont creation.

Think it was that he was originally planned as a spy for Sinister, set to betray them(which also would have made a way better reveal in the Antarctica trial then that Morlock mix-up). Point is, he wasn't planning them to be a long term relationship, or Gambit to stay around as one of the good guys.

Sinister and Gambit with both creations of the mind of the boy that had a peculiar interest in Cyclops when they were at the orphanage. The boy was actually 50 or so but his body aged slowly which is why he still had the body of an 11 year old. So he was an adult trapped in a kid's body and created Sinister as his idea of a villain and Gambit as his idea of a bad ass hero who gets the girl because they were his means to interact with the adult world as an adult. So Gambit wasn't a spy for Sinister but rather was a spy for this kid.

[remydat]

As for the thread question. Gambit and Rogue appealed to many fans because it was a pairing straight out of a romance novel. The girl that everyone wanted but no one could touch falls in love with the guy who could have any girl he wanted but chose to be with the one he couldn't touch. It was a pretty much a girl's fantasy to have a guy like that willing to be with her despite not being able to touch her. And it was a guy's fantasy to be able to acquire the forbidden fruit so to speak that no other guy could.