Gambit (comics)

Though he did not appear in the first three X-Men films, Gambit appeared on screen in the 2009 film , portrayed by Friday Night Lights star Taylor Kitsch.

Gambit was ranked 65th on IGN's Top 100 Comic Book Heroes of All Time.

Publication history

Gambit has starred or co-starred in four mini-series - Gambit Volumes One (released in 1993) and Two (released in 1997), explored the character's mysterious past and his ties to the New Orleans Thieves' Guild; Wolverine/Gambit: Victims, which teamed the two popular X-Men on a mystery involving what appears to be a modern-day Jack the Ripper; and Gambit and Bishop, which was advertised as a sequel to the character's first series and involves the two X-Men in Stryfe's return.

Gambit has starred in two ongoing series. The first lasted twenty-five issues and two annuals; it ran from February 1999 to February 2001. The second lasted twelve issues and ran from November 2004 to August 2005.

Additionally, Gambit & the X-Ternals, published in 1995, featured a group of renegade mutants led by Gambit who has been living on the edge of law during the Age of Apocalypse. In 2009, Gambit's past was explored in the one-shot "X-Men Origins: Gambit". In 2010, the one-shot "Curse of the Mutants: Storm & Gambit" was released.

Fictional character biography

Early life

They referred to the child as "Le Diable Blanc" ("the white devil") and believed he was prophesied to unite the warring Thieves' and Assassins' Guilds. Soon after, Remy was placed in the care of Fagan's Mob, a gang of street thieves who raised the child and taught him the ways of thievery. After living as an orphan on the streets, a 10-year-old Remy attempted to pick the pocket of Jean-Luc LeBeau, then patriarch of the Thieves' Guild. Jean-Luc took the boy off the streets and adopted him into his own family.

Remy's bio-kinetic charging abilities manifested early in his teens, although he kept his powers secret from his family and friends, practicing his powers away from prying eyes. When he was 15, he accompanied his cousin Etienne Marceaux on his "Tithing", the ritual initiation test of the Thieves' Guild. However, it went awry as they were assigned to steal from the powerful immortal mutant Candra, who quickly captured them. Candra recognized Remy from an encounter that had taken place in her past but in his future (due to a time travel mission to the 19th Century Remy would take as an adult) and sold them to the deformed, mutant gangster and child slave trader known as the Pig, who planned to sell them and others their age to HYDRA as boy soldiers. Remy used his powers to escape their holding pen, but the physically enhanced Pig quickly caught up to them. Remy discovered his signature attack when he picked up a playing card that Etienne had dropped, charged it and threw it in the Pig's face, taking out his eye. Finally escaping his cliff top headquarters by diving into the sea, Remy was ultimately rescued by the Guild; Etienne drowned. Later during his teen years, Remy was first hired by Mr. Sinister, then in disguise of Dr. Nathaniel Essex. Essex wanted his stolen diaries back from the Weapon X program. Remy and the Thieves' Guild accepted the mission and sent out Remy to retrieve said diaries. Standing in the cold, scouting the Weapon X facility, Remy couldn't bear the cold and swore he would steal a long, stylish jacket in New Orleans after the mission, which he did. Upon entering the facility, Remy witnessed Wolverine escaping from his adamantium procedure and found the diaries. However, deeming them to be too dangerous for Essex to have them, as Remy didn't fully trust him, Remy burned the diaries. He headed back home, only to find a disappointed Thieves' Guild and Essex.

In an attempt to reconcile the Thieves' and Assassins' Guilds, Remy married Bella Donna Boudreaux, granddaughter of the head Assassin, whom he met at age 8. Unfortunately, he was challenged by her brother Julien to a duel after the wedding. In the duel, Gambit killed Julien, and he was exiled from the city, ending his relationship with Bella Donna.

The Mutant Massacre

However, Sinister wanted the favor returned, so Gambit carried out various missions for him. For the last of these operations, Gambit gathered together a group of mercenaries which Sinister named the Marauders. The group included the mutant Sabretooth as one of its members. Gambit was then ordered to lead the Marauders into the tunnels under New York City. He led Sabretooth, Blockbuster, Prism, and Riptide there while — unknown to Gambit — Scalphunter, Arclight, Harpoon, Malice, Scrambler, and Vertigo followed the Morlock Tommy into the tunnels. Their goal was to wipe out the Morlocks. Gambit was unable to prevent the Marauders from killing a considerable number of Morlocks, but he was able to save one, a child. Her name was Sarah, and she would grow up to be Marrow, the leader of the mutant terrorist group Gene Nation. Gambit long kept his involvement in the mission a secret from his fellow X-Men, much to their eventual displeasure.

X-Men

When the original five X-Men rejoined and the team was divided into two squads, Gambit became part of the Blue team under Cyclops' leadership. Alongside the X-Men, he battled Magneto and his newly-formed Acolytes, Fenris, the Hand, Omega Red, and Sabretooth, and then Mojo. Gambit then fought Bishop and was attacked by his estranged wife Bella Donna. Gambit recounted how he had fled from New Orleans after killing his brother-in-law in self-defense. Alongside the X-Men, Gambit first encountered the second Ghost Rider. Gambit battled the Brood Queen and the Brood-possessed Ghost Rider, and witnessed the apparent death of his now ex-wife, Bella Donna.

Gambit became interested in one of his teammates, Rogue, and started flirting with her. Despite her off-putting manner and the obstacle of her uncontrollable power that prevented anyone from touching her, he began romancing Rogue. Their relationship was originally written as a one time, flirtatious moment; ironically, their relationship is listed as one of the longest and most popular on-going relationships in the X-Men series, probably only second to Jean Grey and Cyclops. Although their early "courtship" portrayed him as very "devil may care" in his flirtation with her, later issues revealed that, beneath his bravado and swagger, he truly had genuine romantic feelings for her. Similarly, despite her initial aggressive rejection of his advances, Rogue found that she was not only flattered by his attention, but that she felt equally attracted to him.

Many publishing years later, it had become apparent Remy had a dark secret. Sabretooth had hinted to it on numerous occasions during his "residency" at the X-Mansion, prompting Rogue to ask him to reveal whatever he knew about Gambit's past. Remy was captured and brought before a mock trial held by Magneto, the mutant Master of Magnetism, then disguised as Erik the Red. Rogue was forced to kiss him again, revealing that he had assembled the team of Marauders for Mr. Sinister that later killed most of the Morlocks. However it was also revealed that Gambit saved a single girl from the Marauders during the massacre. This apparent revelation and absorbing Gambit's own guilty memories caused Rogue to reject him. Gambit was similarly cast out of the X-Men and was abandoned in the frozen wastes of Antarctica.

Starving, and haunted by the betrayal of his love (Rogue), Gambit made his way back into Magneto's citadel, where he encountered the psionic essence of a dead mutant named Mary Purcell. The wraith-like Mary bonded with him, allowing him to survive until he reached the Savage Land, a hidden jungle nestled in the icy wasteland. There, Remy struck a deal with an enigmatic being known as the New Son. In exchange for passage back to America, Gambit agreed to run errands with the help of friend Jacob Gavin Jr. During this period Remy's command over his abilities grew significantly.

When Gambit's psyche absorption had worn off, Rogue spent months searching for him, to no avail. Gambit encountered the X-Men again when he attempted to steal the fabled Crimson Gem of Cyttorak for his new employer. He agreed to return to the team, mainly for his self-respect and for Rogue. At one point, he became the field leader of a branch of X-Men. His love for Rogue was still intact, but her inability to control her powers made her break it off out of fear of hurting him.

Meanwhile, the New Son revealed his true identity as an alternate universe version of Gambit himself, after organizing an assassination game for a cadre of superpowered mercenaries with Remy as the target. During the final confrontation Gambit burned out his enhanced abilities, returning to his original level of power.

Bishop's future

When Bishop comes to the X-Men in their original timeline, he meets Gambit and is sure that he is the same old man in Bishop's future and that it was Gambit who was the "Traitor" that killed the X-Men. For some time, he continues to watch Gambit's every step until he is finally convinced some time later that Gambit was not the Traitor (with Onslaught being revealed to be the traitor). The reason behind Gambit being called the Witness in Bishop's timeline has not been revealed. In the , it was revealed that the Witness was killed by the Marauders in their efforts to destroy anyone with knowledge of the future.

X-Treme X-Men: XSE

Rejoining the team

During the story arc with Golgotha, Gambit revealed some deep insecurities he had about his relationship with Rogue; not only did he say that "Maybe dis no-touching thing is getting to me... more den I thought", but he also told Rogue that she should just get together with Logan, thinking that there was a hidden attraction between the two. As a result of the accusation, Logan kissed Rogue, but she broke it off before it caused any major damage. Gambit then began to realize what he was saying, questioning his love for Rogue, but soon after began to suffer from hallucinations that he was fighting Mister Sinister. However, Rogue and Gambit soon realized that Golgotha made them say things they did not mean and before the final battle, they 'kissed' through their space suit helmets.

Once back at the mansion, Gambit and Rogue moved into the same room to try and build some intimacy and began telepathic therapy with Emma Frost. They soon found out that with all the emotional baggage going on in their minds, they were still unable to make physical contact mentally. This would cause even more strain when the new student, Foxx, joins Gambit's team and attempts to seduce him.

Horseman of Apocalypse

Upon the return of Apocalypse, Gambit submitted himself to the villain and was transformed into one of Apocalypse's Horsemen, Death. Gambit intended to infiltrate himself into Apocalypse's ranks in order to protect the X-Men from the Dark Lord's eventual betrayal, but he miscalculated, as the transformation process warped his mind as well as his body. After becoming Death, Gambit's hair turned white and his skin turned deep black. Despite having his mind and body twisted, Gambit retained a large portion of his former self, stating to Apocalypse, "I'm both Death and Gambit", and he also remembered his love for Rogue as he could not bring himself to kill her. Gambit and Sunfire then returned to the Xavier Institute to claim Polaris. Gambit, in an attempt to free all ties with his old self, tried to kill Rogue and would have been successful had it not been for Pulse neutralizing Gambit's powers.

After the X-Men defeated Apocalypse, Sunfire left with Gambit to help him clear Apocalypse's brainwashing and live as entirely new beings, only to then be approached by Mister Sinister.

Marauders

Messiah Complex

Tracking Gambit using Cerebro, the X-Men find that the Marauders' hideout was on Muir Island. However, what they didn't know is that Gambit let them track him. It appears that Gambit, along with Mystique, have plans of their own for the newborn mutant as evidenced by his lack of surprise when he delivered the baby to Sinister, who then reveals himself to be Mystique as the real Sinister lies on the floor with shock etched into his face, and the fact that Mystique told Gambit that it is time for the next step.

A flashback sequence shows that Mystique used Rogue's intensified powers to kill Sinister. In the present she explains that everything she and Gambit have done has led to this moment as foretold by Destiny. Mystique touches the baby's face to Rogue's in the hope of sacrificing the child to save her. After an energy burst Gambit snatches the baby, saying that Rogue would never want an innocent life used to save hers. However, the child was unharmed by Rogue's touch. Gambit gives the baby to Xavier and says he wishes to stay with Rogue. Shortly after, Rogue awakens and tries to kill Mystique. However, somehow the baby cures her of her intensified powers, as well as any psyches she had ever absorbed; this leaves her with the psyche of only one other individual: Mystique. She tells Gambit she needs time alone and if he still cares for her, he would not follow.

Divided We Stand

Gambit and Xavier then drive out to the Nuclear Research Facility at Alamogordo, the place where the fathers of Xavier, Juggernaut, and Ryking all worked at some point in their lives and is most likely where Mister Sinister was running his genetic operations on the X-gene. However, Xavier begins to suffer terrible headaches, and he and Gambit decide to wait it out in the desert for a few hours, where they are once again attacked by the Assassins Guild. Charles Xavier is abducted and taken to the Almagordo facility, where it is revealed that the employer of the assassins was Amanda Mueller, the head of the Black Womb Project, a former lover and protégé of Mister Sinister (as well as direct ancestress of the Summers' line), who plans to use Charles to activate Sinister's Cronus machine, so as to be able to revive herself with Essex's own superpowered essence. Meanwhile, Gambit manages to defeat the rest of the assassins with the assistance of Sebastian Shaw, and they form a temporary alliance of convenience to destroy the Cronus machine, which threatens Shaw as well, and rescue Xavier. They ultimately manage to succeed with a desperate last-minute life-or-death gamble when Gambit directly charges Shaw with biokinetic energy, giving him enough power to utterly shatter the otherwise indestructible machine.

He begins searching Australia for Rogue and is again in the company of Professor Xavier. Gambit, however, is unsure of this venture, mainly because of Rogue's request that she be left alone. He and Xavier both agreed that if Rogue did not wish for their help or presence, they would do as she wished and leave her be.

Eventually Xavier, Gambit and a group of Shi'ar pirates manage to shut down Danger. However, the Professor reactivates her and she defeats the pirates in turn when they attack Gambit and Xavier. After this, it is revealed that Rogue's powers never truly developed past their initial "nascent" stage, which was the reason why her powers never functioned properly. The Professor, now aware of this fact, uses his telepathy to tear down the mental walls that kept Rogue's powers from developing as well as removing the mental echo of Mystique. Finally Rogue kisses Gambit, with no ill side effect, revealing that she is in control of her absorption power.

Utopia

Later on he encounters Erg and Avalanche who attacks Ares. Gambit intervenes only to end up being swatted aside by Ares. Danger and Rogue come to his aid which eventually leads to Rogue absorbing Ares's powers. Gambit then blasts him unconscious. Having for the moment absorbed some of Ares's power, Rogue easily dispatches a small group of H.A.M.M.E.R. agents and proceedes to steal their tank, along with Gambit and Danger, in order to find the rest of the students and Trance who didn't make it back to base. Trance appears to be lost in the city, and under attack of Ms. Marvel from the Dark Avengers team. Gambit, Rogue and Danger team-up to defeat the powerful female warrior, and Rogue eventually manages to calm Trance down. Remy, Rogue, and Danger then depart back to the X-Men's base.

After the battle between the X-Men and the Dark Avengers is over, Cyclops orders Gambit to destroy the Omega Machine chair that Osborn had built to neutralize mutant powers. Gambit makes his way into the H.A.M.M.E.R. headquarters. There, he fights H.A.M.M.E.R.'s mutant guards Hijack and Input. Hijack is easily defeated, however Input is another story. Input uses his telepathic abilities to enter Gambit's head and discovers there are still left-overs from Remy's "Death" persona. Death re-emerges and defeats Input, and absorbed him into a playing card, which turns black upon doing so. Afterward, Remy somehow returns to normal, with a smile on his face. Gambit then completes his mission, destroys the chair, and returns to the X-Men. When he made it back to Utopia, Gambit got angry at Cyclops for letting Rogue go up against the villain Emplate all alone. Remy tried to argue with Cyclops, but suddenly got trouble with mood swings and left the group. He changed back into his Death persona, and remembered how Apocalypse told him he would never be the same after undergoing the changing process. Gambit managed to calm himself down and transform back to his normal self, but he is worried about his condition.

X-Men: Second Coming

X-Men: Vol. 3

X-23

X-Men: Legacy

Powers and abilities

Gambit's ability to tap energy also grants him superhuman agility and dexterity which gives him an added edge he has used to his advantage by developing a unique acrobatic fighting style.

He also has the ability to create static, because of the charged potential energy always in his body, that shields his mind from detection and intrusion by even the most powerful telepaths. The shield has the added effect of destabilizing touch based powers.

Gambit also possesses a hypnotic charm that allows him to exert a subtle influence over sentient beings, leading them to believe what he says and agree with his suggestions. This charm is so powerful that if given a chance, Gambit could charm the Shadow King.

During combat, Gambit customarily wears a suit of highly articulated light body armor and uses an extendable metal staff. He is extensively trained in martial arts, particularly French kick-boxing or savate and the staff style art Bojutsu. He is an excellent hand-to-hand combatant, using street-fighting techniques and acrobatics. Gambit is a skilled card-thrower, and throws charged playing cards with great accuracy at opponents. He also excels in all aspects of thievery, as he was adopted by the patriarch of a Thieves' Guild.

After Apocalypse used the Celestial Technology to transform Gambit into the Horseman Death, Gambit demonstrates the ability to convert inert materials into toxic substances (such as transforming breathable air into poisonous gases) and has the potential to ingest diseases and plagues. It is apparent that the Celestial Technology never left his system as seen during a telepathic attack against him that brought out temporarily the Death persona which eventually killed the attacker. Gambit's body returned to normal apparently indicating that Gambit has the ability to switch between his own and Death appearances.

Gambit was temporarily given the full potential of his powers to battle his counterpart New Son. At his full power Gambit can control all aspects of kinetic energy up to even the molecular level, allowing him to manipulate the potency of his bio-kinetic energy to burn, cause molecular discomfort, incinerate and create timed detonations, fire energy blasts, defy gravity, heal wounds, charge objects within his line of sight without contact, additionally he can charge organic matter, blowing it up just by thinking about it and effectively exist as energy. He can also manipulate the potency of the energy release. He had the power necessary to cause another being to be unable to move or unable to stop if in motion. He was able to cause or simulate various energies by manipulating the kinetic energy present, such as infrared and microwaves by increasing molecular agitation, or cold by reducing it. He was also able to use his powers to travel through time by transforming himself into living energy which joined with the kinetic flow. Gambit is also able to heal himself by stimulating his cellular activity. However, he burns out his powers after fighting New Son, and has since regained his original powers.

Gambit was temporarily blinded due to a card in his hand being hit and exploding. During this period, he was able to 'see' images in his cards. Gambit is fluent in various languages, primarily English and Cajun French, which he uses most often.

Other versions

In other media

Gambit also appears in a large number of video games, such as: , X-Men vs. Street Fighter, X-Men Legends, , Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2, and .

Reception

References

External links

Category:Comics characters introduced in 1990 Category:Characters created by Chris Claremont Category:Characters created by Jim Lee Category:Fictional adoptees Category:Fictional bojutsu practitioners Category:Fictional Cajuns Category:Fictional characters from New Orleans, Louisiana Category:Fictional mercenaries Category:Fictional professional thieves Category:Fictional savateurs Category:Film characters Category:Marvel Comics mutants Category:Marvel Comics superheroes