One of the most popular members of the X-Men is the raging Cajun, the charismatic master thief Gambit. Remy LeBeau, a powerful mutant who can charge virtually any object he touches with an explosive amount of kinetic energy, became a staple on the X-Men became a staple on the team after being created by Chris Claremont and Jim Lee in 1990's Uncanny X-Men Annual #4. This would lead to Gambit being depicted in film and various animated series and video games.
However, while a version of Gambit was introduced in the Ultimate Marvel Universe, this iteration of the cardsharp mutant would never echo most of his counterparts by joining up with the Ultimate X-Men.
Ultimate Gambit was introduced by Chuck Austen, Esad Ribic and John Livesay in 2002's Ultimate X-Men #13 as a streetwise hustler living in the streets of New York City. After encountering a young girl whose parents were murdered by the hard-headed mobster Hammerhead while panhandling on the subways, Gambit decided to help the orphan after she was targeted by the Maggia. This conflict put Remy on a collision course with Hammerhead and Silvermane, with Gambit saving the day with his usually explosive panache and sending the girl to a safer home as he went his own way.
Ultimate Gambit finally came face-to-face with the X-Men in a four-issue story arc running through Ultimate X-Men #50-53 by Brian K. Vaughan, Andy Kubert and Danny Miki that had him working for the Fenris Twins after they developed an experimental suit to help him control his powers instead of charging anything he came into direct, physical contact with. Gambit was tasked with kidnapping Rogue from the X-Men as the latest mutant recruit for the Fenris Corporation. Enamored with each other, Rogue and Gambit decided to turn against their corporate overseers after Remy endured a brutal, adamantium-laced beating at the hands of Wolverine for previously upstaging the no-nonsense mutant hero.
This romantic partnership would prove short-lived, unfortunately.
In 2005's Ultimate X-Men Annual #1 by Vaughan, Tom Raney and Scott Hanna, Gambit and Rogue raided a Fenris facility in Las Vegas. The heist is foiled by the unexpected appearance of Ultimate Juggernaut, who had his own unrequited infatuation with Rogue and tracked her and her beau down to Sin City. Juggernaut initially appeared just as unstoppable as ever before Gambit lured Cain Marko to an abandoned construction site and tricked him into knocking the unfinished building down on both of them, resulting in Juggernaut's defeat and Gambit being mortally wounded. In his final moments, Remy allowed Rogue to drain the last of his life force in one last kiss, resulting in her gaining his powers and memories for a time as she rejoined the X-Men in the wake of his death. Eventually, her acquired powers and memories faded away.
Ultimate Gambit never completely rose from the perception of an antagonist of the X-Men, allying himself only with Rogue while feeling free to exercise lethal force against Professor X's team, with Wolverine only saved by his accelerated healing factor. Not wanting to be tied down to a full team commitment, the Ultimate Universe's Gambit stayed a free agent right through the bitter end, even if he was fighting on the side of angels by the time of his unfortunate demise. Though Gambit perished fighting against Juggernaut, the best parts of him would live on in Rogue as she returned as an integral part of the X-Men.