Gambit X-Men (Remy Etienne LeBeau)
Gambit (Remy Etienne LeBeau) is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, commonly in association with the X-Men. The character was created by writer Chris Claremont and artist Jim Lee. Drawn by artist Mike Collins, Gambit made his first appearances in Uncanny X-Men Annual #14 (July 1990) and Uncanny X-Men #266 (August 1990).
Gambit belongs to a subspecies of humans called mutants, who are born with superhuman abilities. Gambit has the ability to mentally create, control, and manipulate pure kinetic energy to his desire. He is also incredibly knowledgeable and skilled in card throwing, hand-to-hand combat, and the use of a bō staff. Gambit is known to charge playing cards and other objects with kinetic energy, using them as explosive projectiles.
He was part of a thieves' guild before becoming a member of the X-Men. Given his history, few X-Men trusted Gambit when he joined the group. There was consistently a source of stress between him and his on-again, off-again love interest and eventual wife Rogue. This was exacerbated when Gambit's connections to villain Mister Sinister were revealed, although some of his team members accept that Gambit honestly seeks redemption. Often portrayed as a "ladies' man," Gambit has shown a more vulnerable side of himself over the years, especially when it comes to Rogue. Gambit remains fiercely proud of his Louisiana heritage and speaks in a Cajun accent.
Since his debut, Gambit has appeared in several solo series. As of 2013, there have been three attempts at an ongoing title starring the character. Gambit has also had two miniseries and starred prominently in Gambit & the X-Ternals, the X-Force replacement title during the Age of Apocalypse. Gambit was ranked 65th on IGN's "Top 100 Comic Book Heroes of All Time" stating that "Gambit is just the sort of tortured soul that X-readers love, and his continued presence in the TV and movie spinoffs cements his status as one of the greats," and in 2013, ComicsAlliance ranked Gambit as #4 on their list of the "50 Sexiest Male Characters in Comics". He has been featured in several animated series and video games based on the X-Men. Although he did not appear in the first three X-Men films, Gambit appeared on screen in the 2009 film X-Men Origins: Wolverine, portrayed by Taylor Kitsch
Publication history
After a brief appearance in Uncanny X-Men Annual #14 (July 1990), Gambit's first major role was in Uncanny X-Men vol. 1 #266 (Aug. 1990). Because the story in the annual is set after the story in #266, there is some debate among collectors about which issue is the "true" first appearance. Gambit joined the X-Men and appeared in almost every issue until Uncanny X-Men #281 before moving to the X-Men title for a number of years. When Storm created a splinter group to hunt for Destiny's diaries in the pages of X-Treme X-Men, Gambit joined her in issue #5 and co-starred for the remainder of the series.
Gambit has starred or co-starred in four mini-series:
- Gambit Volume One (released in 1993) and Gambit Volume Two (released in 1997) explored the character's mysterious past and his ties to the New Orleans Thieves' Guild.
- Wolverine/Gambit: Victims teamed the two popular X-Men on a mystery involving what appears to be a modern-day Jack the Ripper.
- Gambit and Bishop 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 three ongoing series. The first, which lasted 25 issues and two annuals, ran from February 1999 to February 2001. The second lasted 12 issues and ran from November 2004 to August 2005. The third series lasted 17 issues, from August 2012 to September 2013.
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. In June 2011, he began co-starring in X-Men: Legacy.
It was announced at the C2E2 convention by Marvel Comics that in August 2012 Gambit gets his own solo series that takes him back to his roots as a charismatic, cool, mutant master thief, written by James Asmus and drawn by Clay Mann. When asked about the upcoming series Asmus was quoted saying "This book focuses on the two most important aspects of Gambit: #1 that he's sexy, and #2 that he's the preeminent bad-ass thief of the Marvel Universe." Marvel canceled the series at issue #17.
Gambit was one of the principal characters in the 2013 series All-New X-Factor written by Peter David and drawn by Carmine Di Giandomenico. The series was cancelled after issue #20, with David suggesting it would be some time before Marvel would consider featuring Gambit in a leading role again due to a persistently low sales record in this and previous titles.
In October 2017, Gambit co-starred in his own comic with his love interest Rogue titled Rogue and Gambit, which was released in 2018.
X-Men
After wandering around the world, he encountered a de-aged and powerless Storm, and helped her escape from the Shadow King. He then rescued her from Nanny and the Orphan-Maker, helping her battle them. Afterwards, the young amnesiac Storm, who had reverted to thieving to stay alive, joined Gambit, and she eventually brought him back to the X-Men. Soon after, Gambit helped the X-Men, X-Factor, and New Mutants battle the Genoshans. Only Wolverine expressed his doubts about the Cajun, which led to a Danger Room duel between the two. Gambit was able to triumph by using a robotic doppelganger of Lady Deathstrike to distract Wolverine while taking advantage of Wolverine's injuries, inflicted by the Reavers. Gambit and the X-Men were then taken to the Shi'ar galaxy by Lila Cheney. Alongside the X-Men and Starjammers, Gambit battled Deathbird, the Imperial Guard, and a band of Warskrulls. Upon their return to Earth, Gambit assisted the X-Men and X-Factor in battling the Shadow King, though he was temporarily controlled by the Shadow King.
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 romantically interested in one of his teammates, Rogue, and started flirting with her. Despite her off-putting manner and the obstacle of her uncontrollable mutant ability that prevented anyone from touching her, he began romancing and seducing Rogue. Their strong romantic relationship was originally written as a one time, flirtatious moment; ironically, their romantic relationship is listed as one of the longest and most popular on-going deep and close romantic 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 romantically 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 lover, 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 strengthened and amplified significantly.
When Gambit's psyche absorption had worn off, Rogue spent months searching for him, to no avail. Gambit encountered Storm and Shadowcat when he attempted to steal the fabled Crimson Gem of Cyttorak for his new employer. He agreed to return to the X-Men, mainly for his self-respect and for Rogue. At one point, he became the field leader of a branch of X-Men. His romantic 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, thus returning to his original level of power.
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