While many X-Men villains have become just as recognizable as the heroes themselves, there are still countless others relegated to the annals of history, long lost and forgotten, even those such as Vargas, a villain who has beaten many of the X-Men and killed the powerful psychic, Psylocke.
Vargas first appeared in 2001's X-Treme X-Men #1, by Chris Claremont and Salvador Larroca. While not a mutant, Vargas wasn't the average human either. He possessed an increased immune system that protected him from any disease or toxin and an elevated healing factor. His physical prowess was at peak human status, making him one of Marvel's strongest non-powered characters, who was also extremely agile, fast and durable. One of his most impressive abilities was his skill with the sword, which aided him in his quest of self-preservation.
Vargas came into possession of a diary written by Destiny, a mutant who could accurately see the future. The diary contained details directly related to Vargas, including many of his feats as well as what would be seen as his ultimate destruction. Armed with both his physical prowess and his new foresight, Vargas attacked the X-Men, first brutally beating Beast, before battling with Psylocke, a conflict that ended when he killed her.
Vargas' conflict with the X-Men wouldn't end there. He soon faced off against Gambit after the Cajun broke into his home in Spain. Their conflict wouldn't come to head until Khan's invasion of Madripoor. The alien forces were using Gambit as an energy source to power their portal. Intent on cutting off the invasion so that he could target his next victim, Vargas battled through to Gambit, fighting many of the aliens, even killing one masquerading as Storm. Before he could kill Gambit, Rogue intervened.
The two fought in a pitched battle, but Rogue's powers gave out and Vargas stabbed her and Gambit before fleeing, believing his future was safe. Rogue and Gambit survived, however, and enraged by Vargas' attack Rogue pursued the villain and ambushed him. After touching him and gaining his abilities and personality, Rogue swiftly defeated Vargas and held him under the point of his own sword. Then in supervillain tradition, Vargas began to monologue, explaining how he possessed one of Destiny's diaries and how it revealed that he would die at Rogue's hands. Unwilling to be under the control of such prophecies, however, Rogue refused to deliver the final blow, although there was footage of the incident that cut off right before Rogue made this decision, leading anyone who saw the footage to believe that Rogue had indeed killed Vargas, thus fulfilling the prophecy, although in a roundabout way.
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Even though he was an adversary of the X-Men, it wouldn't be the Merry Mutants who would take Vargas down. In an attempt by Mister Sinister to create a more powerful being than the mutants, Sinister demanded that anyone who had knowledge of the future be killed. Since Vargas possessed one of Destiny's diaries, he fell into that category and was hunted down by the Marauders, and is presumed to have been killed. This was Vargas' last appearance, taking place in 2007's X-Men #202, by Mike Carey and Humberto Ramos.
Vargas was a character that easily could have become one of the X-Men's greatest foes. While often claiming to be "Homo Superior-Superior," his ideology that he was humanity's response to the emergence of mutants was based on the common fear and hatred of the mutant community. Vargas' views aligned with that of many human threats to the X-Men and it would have been interesting to see how he would've worked alongside any of the other numerous X-Men villains. With a dramatic debut that resulted in him taking down several of the X-Men's big hitters, Vargas seemed to be set up to become a much larger foil to the X-Men, but his future ultimately wasn't what it looked like.