The X-Men are different from any other team in the Marvel universe. Unlike the Fantastic Four or Avengers, The X-Men are not universally loved. The team is feared and persecuted, and act as Marvel's narrative playground to touch on issues of race and nationality. The unique existence of the X-Men has inspired writers to craft some of the most intriguing love stories. None is more unusual than that of Gambit and Rogue.
Gambit and Rogue are in love, but they cannot touch one another. Rogue's power would sap the card throwing mutant's powers and also force her to endure his thoughts. This has already occurred in the comics, and it led each of them down a dangerous path. The couple has had their ups, but their downs have reached depths that highlight some of the best X-Men stories. Here is the list of the ten worst moments in Gambit and Rogue's relationship.
10 They Try To Bond On The Astral Plane But Fail
The ongoing drama between Rogue and Gambit stems from the fact that they can't touch each other. Emma Frost tried to fix their issue but functioning as a relationship counselor. Frost would take both of them to the Astral Plane so they could experience time together and intimacy.
Unfortunately, that didn't work at all. Their psychic connection was so deep that Rogue still sapped the life out of Gambit in the astral place. Even with the help of one of the world's most powerful psychics, Rogue and Gambit could not touch. The attempt to bring them closer together ended up pushing them further apart, because Rogue felt helplessness even in a non-physical form.
9 They Battle Clones Of Themselves
As if the fight for each other wasn't hard enough, Gambit and Rogue are forced to fight themselves. Literally. The couple agrees to go on a mission for the X-Men after the team suspects trouble at a resort. Rogue and Gambit enter the resort under the guise of a couple that needs weeding counseling.
The counseling does open up many scars, but nothing compared to being face to face with robot replicas of themselves. While exploring the island and learning the villain Lavish was kidnapping mutants and replacing them with robots, Remy and Rogue fight and defeat their counterparts, which was blatant symbolism for killing their old selves in order to step into the future.
8 Gambit May Have Manipulated Rogue
One of Gambit’s latent mutant abilities is his charm, which can function as subtle mind control. Gambit knows when he is laying on his suggestive mutant charm, which is a little creepy when you think about it. Although the Cajun will never admit that he used it on Rogue, one can never be sure.
When Rogue and Gambit first met, they were subject to mind control that forced them to give in to their desires. It is possible that during that time, Gambit uses his charm to further manipulate Rogue and draw her into his web. It doesn't seem like Gambit used that power on Rogue since their meeting, but it raises a question mark on how he attracted her in the first place.
7 Rogue Tells Gambit Deadpool Is A Better Kisser
During another mind control segment, Rogue finds herself under the direction of Red Skull, who was manipulating Professor X). He forces her to beat the living hell out of Deadpool because of his immunity to the control. Once Red Skull was defeated, it led to immense guilt in the mind of Rogue.
She later approached the Merc with the Mouth to apologize, at which point Deadpool admitted that he had feelings for her. Like the boss she is, Rogue then lifted Wade off his feet and made out with him in mid-air. Not too long after, Rogue made of point of suggesting to Gambit that Deadpool was a better kisser. Ouch.
6 Gambit Kidnaps Rogue
On the X-Men: Evolution cartoon show, Gambit takes Rogue down to New Orleans, where they don’t exactly have an amazing first “date.” He kidnaps Rogue and uses her to absorb the memories of a group of hostiles holding his father captive. It’s hard to tell if Gambit really cared about Rogue at this point, although his flirting may prove he did.
Still, the Cajun used the young heroine and her power as an end to a means, which left Rogue soured on any possibility of even a friendship with the Cajun. Later, Professor X glances into the future and sees that Gambit ends up joining the X-Men and gets closer to Rogue, hinting that she will forgive him at some point.
5 Gambit Blames Rogue For Blindness
In a peculiar storyline, Gambit becomes blinded by his own powers. A charged card ends up going off in the Cajun’s face, blinding him for what was believed to be the rest of his comic history.
In retrospect, the storyline was brief and pointless, but it did bring out the worst in Remy. While wallowing in his own sorrows and getting treatment, Gambit argued that Rogue was the reason he sustained his injuries. Although his point was not entirely wrong, for Gambit to lash out at the only person who has loved him may not have been the best moment in their tumultuous relationship.
4 The Shadow King Forces Their Relationship
Although Gambit and Rogue’s relationship is as real as they come, their attraction to one another started with mind control. Both heroes were under the control of the Shadow King when they first met, along with the rest of the X-Men. When the Shadow King is in control of a large group of people, he brings out their darkest desires and reduces their inhibitions.
While under the villain’s control, Rogue and Gambit begin to fall for each other, and it is also suggested that this is the first time they make love (since they were depowered during this time as well). Having such an intimate moment forced upon them by mind control makes their relationship and attraction to each other even murkier.
3 Gambit Almost Sleeps With Mystique
Most mothers would do anything to protect their children, and Mystique is no different. Rogue’s foster mother once infiltrated the X-Men with the goal of seducing Gambit to prove to Rogue that he couldn’t be faithful. Mystique disguised herself as a new student, and underage one at that, named Foxx at the X-Men’s school. She cornered him in the shower and tried to get him to engage in questionable acts.
Thankfully, the Cajun declined. Soon after, she revealed her true self and then morphed into Rogue, offering Gambit a way to "release" the tension in a way he could never physically do with Rogue. Gambit denies that he ever slept with Mystique, but she refuses to disclose any information about their rendezvous, which makes things seem suspicious. Once the X-Men discover Mystique and Rogue learns that Gambit knew about her presence all along, she becomes skeptical of her lover and pushes him away.
2 Rogue Kisses Gambit & Learns His Past
While isolated in the wilderness, Rogue and Gambit share a kiss that would become the most infamous moment of their relationship. Gambit’s memories are transferred to Rogue, and she learns of his destructive past. Rogue discovers that Gambit struck a deal with Mr. Sinister, which resulted in the Morlock Massacre.
Although Gambit did not know he was leading Sinister’s men to their prey, he still inadvertently is responsible for the deaths of an entire community of mutants that Rogue was close with. She left Gambit in the wilderness to die, and when he survived and returned home, nothing was the same between the two lovebirds.
1 Gambit Tries To Kill Rogue
This may be the darkest moment in Rogue and Gambit’s long history of love. Unlike most of Apocalypse’s Horsemen, Gambit chose to join the evil mutant of his own free will. His plan was to infiltrate Apocalypse’s ranks as a spy, but the transformation into Death warped his mind more than he intended and left him as an evil shell of his former self.
Transformed in the Horseman of Death, Gambit decides that he needs to kill off his old self in order to fully embrace his new dark side. In his mind, that meant killing Rogue. Gambit battles his lover and almost ends up killing her, but he has his power neutralized by Pulse, which stops him from being able to complete his mission.