Rogue is the only superhero you need to know about

When I was child, I remember dressing up as Superman for Halloween. It was a cheap costume from the store with a plastic cape and was actually a bit big on my tiny body, but I zoomed around the house pretending to fly with my cape billowing cheaply behind me.

As I grew older, I started reading comics and watching television shows about comic book characters. One morning I came across the animated series: X-Men. Now, due to the recent resurgence of superhero movies – specifically Marvel films – the X-Men have gained popularity and some famous characters have their own films. Now there are infinite realities in the Marvel Universe, but for the sake of simplicity I will try to keep all of the information general.

There is only one member of the X-Men you should concern yourself with. Her name is Rogue. Her real name is Anna Marie. Anna Marie was born in the south and had a relatively normal childhood. However, when she reached the certain age when she found boys attractive, she thought to kiss one. Unfortunately, that was also around the time her mutant powers kicked in and she ended up sucking the life force out of the poor boy and putting him in a coma. Gives a new meaning to “Kiss of Death.”

She realized that she had a very deadly ability. She had the power to drain other people of their life force by simply having skin to skin contact. For a young girl, that was absolutely horrifying! She could not imagine never being able to hug her parents or even hold hands with someone again.

Traumatized by the event with the boy, she fled the scene. Her parents were shocked, and she was immediately kicked out of the house. She wandered for a time and eventually came across a group of other mutants uncreatively called The Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. I know that this was such a bad name, but quite apt as they were a group of evil mutants. Mystique, a shapeshifter, saw Rogue’s potential as she could not only absorb the life force of others, but should they be a mutant, she would also be able to absorb their power.

Sometime after, Mystique coaxed Rogue into confronting another powerful mutant called Ms. Marvel. Rogue absorbed her to the point of almost killing her and ended up obtaining her powers of flight, invulnerability and superstrength. Therefore, in addition to her own power, she now added a few more to her list.

It was after this that Rogue realized that Mystique was using her, and she left. This time, she came across a group of morally good mutants led by the telepath Charles Xavier. It was here when she joined the X-Men and decided to help protect humanity against evil.

Rogue is a very interesting character. She is a hopeless romantic and a very sweet and loving individual. It is ironic because her power curses her with the inability to touch others without harming them, so she is also a very lonely person. Time and time again, she is confronted with others falling in love and families holding one another and her heart yearns to have that connection with another. However, she also knows that such a thing is impossible unless she somehow learns how to control her powers.

Evalyn

Vocabulary
billow (verb) – to fill with air and form a roundish shape
resurgence (noun) – the return and growth of an activity that had previously become unpopular or stopped
apt (adjective) – suitable or appropriate in the circumstances
coax (verb) – to persuade somebody to do something by talking to them in a kind and gentle way
invulnerability (noun) – the fact of not being able to be harmed or defeated
yearn (verb) – to want something very much, especially when it is very difficult to get