[Music] what's up my comic comrades if you've been watching the X-Men 97 series you're probably as excited about it as we are we weren't sure what we were going to get considering Marvel's recent track record but it has been such a good show so far I'm not going to drop any spoilers but they've been doing the Lord's work with the story and the fan service has been insane with amazing cameos and surprise reveals honestly it's among the best things Marvel Studios has ever put out in our opinion so with X-Men on the mind and so
many great characters to talk about we've been asking all of you which characters you'd like to see an episode on and Gambit won our first poll by a 20-point margin we weren't surprised by this for two reasons one because he's one of the cooler and under rept X-Men and two because he has been so freaking good in X-Men 97 particularly in episode 5 titled remember it again no spoilers here but if you know you know in any case today we're giving you the history of Gambit because here at variant we give the people what they
want in fact we just put out another poll on the variant Community tab here on the channel and Rogue took the lead on that one so we'll be rolling out a history of Rogue episode soon as well but for now it's time to give Gambit his due so let's get into it Gambit was created by Chris Claremont and Jim Lee and first appeared in The Uncanny X-Men 266 in August of 1990 it doesn't seem like a lot of people know that Jim Lee co-created Gambit and the fact that he did is especially funny now considering
he's the president publisher and chief creative officer of DC Comics but as for Gambit he is a mutant with the power to control and manipulate kinetic energy which allows him to infuse almost any object with enough kinetic energy to transform it into an explosive weapon just by touching it we'll actually get into his power set in Greater detail when we talk about powers and abilities later on couple other major strengths for Gambit that are important to know up front are his Charming personality and the fact that he is a master Thief both help him get
what he wants and where he wants to go but where did he come from and how did he become an X-Man let's dive into his origin and find out as I mentioned game was introduced in Uncanny X-Men issue 266 in the issue we see storm who has been made young fall into a trap set by the Shadow King in the ordeal she's attacked by the shadow King's Hound eventually storm uses her powers with him saying now that's more like the or waru I remember finally using your mutant Powers storm says to herself for what it's
worth this was no more than a flash of light it will not do these human beasts even a little harm but it will buy me a moment try to break free of the Shadow King's trap she then runs into a bathroom but she's followed by his men she's able to escape them yet again at which point Shadow King says enough it isn't funny anymore kiddo game over you lose as he uses his powers to grab her by the head but she retaliates blasting him with some of her power but this causes her to fall off
the balcony and into a pool down below as she's climbing out of the pool she says someone's coming is it him but it's not it's actually Gambit making his first appearance in a comic book we see Gambit is there to steal some expensive paintings as we learn via Storm's thoughts as she says to herself who is he Easier by far to tell what he does here same as me I bet a thief the owner of this house had those paintings stolen to add to his private collection I meant to take them back and return them
to where they rightfully belong all along though it was a trap set by the Shadow King for me this other Thief is totally absorbed in his work he has forgotten about me good by the time he notices I want to be but Gambit then speaks for the first time saying Sheree watch the door anyway he says watch the door because one of Shadow King's hounds comes bursting through it trying to attack storm but Gambit says do us both a favor scoot away from the girl but the Hound doesn't at which point Gambit says other ideas
going to carry a kidling back to your boss and claim a Pat and a Latt and an extra ration of yummies figured as much can't let you do that Gambit's eyes then start glowing green with green energy coming from them as the comic says and faster than the eye can follow a throwing Spike flips up and out of his sleeves into his hand same motion carries his arm back then forward ordinary piece of metal when it leaves his hand something far more when it strikes the wall with the force of a cannon shell the force
of the explosion takes out the hounds and blows storm back into Gambit's arms with him catching or saying hasn't been your night eh or maybe it has considering how often I'm here to rescue you she then tells him I'm called storm she then passes out and his arm and Gambit tries to take her to safety but he is stopped by more hounds but storm eventually wakes up and she and Gambit are able to take care of the Shadow King and his hounds long enough to escape to the roof where they jump off to safety with
a parachute however once it's time to land storm is having a hard time freeing herself from the parachute at which point Gambit cuts her free but she tells him I don't need no help especially from the likes of you he responds only trying to be a gentleman I could see the strain you were under I thought I'd give you a gentler Landing is all Seer after all we've been through least I've earned earned the benefit of the doubt she tells him why else do you think I took you off that roof I had plenty of
time to leave without you from here Gambit would start fresh she then lights a cigarette saying suits me trouble is I get the feeling it won't be quite so easy to walk away clean from this caper as you make out she says no it will not the evil one neither forgets nor forgives he responds evil one that sounds a bit ripe he have a name she says as many as he has faces most often calling himself the Shadow King to me though evil one is what fits him best he makes slaves of people enchanting their
minds and Souls she continues saying he has a special hatred for me now he has a sense of where I am he will move Heaven and Earth to track me down gbit asks can he she replies the hounds have tasted my blood and the Shadow King my thoughts Gambit tells her I take it that's a yes and if he catches you what will he do then she replies whatever he pleases to me to all who stand by my side from here Gambit would help storm defeat the Shadow King and restore her back to her normal
self with her rejoining the X-Men and by the time issue 273 rolled around Gambit had off Al joined the X-Men at least that's the issue that's widely accepted for him becoming an official member as it's never really stated it just kind of happened organically after he helped storm but the reason X-Men 273 is widely considered Gambit's official enlistment in the X-Men is because he could be seen wearing an official X-Men uniform towards the end of the issue along with the other X-Men issue 273 of X-Men is also where Gambit's rocky relationship with Wolverine began as
the two train together in the danger room for the first time during their training Wolverine starts fighting Gambit saying storm thinks your pretty hot stuff cjun don't seem so to me gamber replies been going at each other flat out past a handful of minutes I'm still standing as Jubilee watches on being like what are you trying to prove wolvie but at the end of the simulation Gambit best Wolverine knocking him out with his staff saying ain't be looking the wrong way you forgot all about me for the record though just to make this official Bang
You're Dead as he stands on Wolverine's chest with his bow staff to his neck so if you know anything about Wolverine you're not surprised that this confrontation started the two on the wrong foot and their rivalry was later carried on into X-Men in the Animated Series but before we get into more of Gambit's backstory in the 2009 X-Men Origins Gambit one shot along with some of his other story arcs you guys need to see something we all spent time making paper airplanes as kids and competing with friends for whose plane could fly the furthest actually
we've done that here in the studio as adults which surprises no one but the point is today's sponsor PowerUp has created the first smartphone controlled paper airplane for both kids and adults if you've ever considered buying an RC airplane or model kit airplane you know they are expensive and and complicated well power up makes Taking Flight accessible for everyone with their incredible remote controlled flying machines they sent us over a couple to check out and these things are wild to be specific we have the PowerUp 4.0 with tornado the F-22 Raptor and dragon add-ons they're
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he was a child Thief with mutant red eyes one day as he was sitting on top of a wall he noticed Bella Donna bu passed by eating some ice cream a girl that was around his age as he noticed her several men in suits attempted to kill her but he jumped in and saved the day unaware at the time it ended up being that Bella was actually the princess of a New Orleans Assassin's Guild years would pass and he would eventually end up marrying Bella on his wedding day his father tells him this isn't a
wedding it's a ceasefire the feud between the thieves and the Assassins is destroying both guilds my son must marry Marius bu's daughter then we are all family so essentially this marriage will bring a treaty between Remy stev's Guild and Bella's Assassin's Guild right after they said I do and kissed Remy was attacked by Bella's brother infuriated that Bella of the Assassin's Guild had married Remy marrying into the Thieves Guild screaming this marriage is an obscenity and it shames us all Bella's brother challenges Remy to a duel because that's what you do during the fight Remy
would throw a knife into Bella's brother's shoulder with his mutant Powers inadvertently activating charging the knife with energy as we know Gambit does causing the knife to explode in his shoulder killing him this obviously ruins the truce between the two families and Remy is forced into Exile in Exile he would travel all around the world like a vagabond Master Thief all while his mutant Powers continued to grow the problem is his power became so great that he couldn't control it so he wanted it tame seeking help from Mr Sinister an expert mutant geneticist long story
short he made a Mr Sinister to tame his powers so he could be in control once again once under the knife Mr Sinister says cerebral feedback will enable me to locate the part of your brain that controls your power my aim is to cut away a small piece of your brain tissue enough to stop the neural Cascade and bring your abilities back within your conscious control clearly at this point Gambit is concerned as he's at the will of Mr Sinister but Mr Sinister ensures him all will be well because he needs him to be intact
to keep his side of the bargain now if you're wondering what Gambit had to do in return for Mr Sinister Gambit had to lead a group of mutant assassins called the Marauders on a secret mission that ended up being the infamous mutant Massacre where the morlocks aka the for mutants were wiped out because of course whatever Sinister was going to have him do for him was not going to be good so realizing what he had done Gambit tries to save them but he's only able to save one kid after this tragedy Gambit continued to roam
the world where he would eventually find storm while he was trying to steal some paintings bringing his origin full circle so with his backstory covered let's move into some of his other important story arcs and publication history all all right so we already talked about Gambit's testy relationship with Wolverine so we definitely have to talk about his romantic relationship with rose their first official date went down in X-Men 24 which has the iconic cover of both of them embracing each other the issue opens up with them on a date in a Cajun restaurant in Manhattan
she tells Gambit it's as hot as you said it would be sugar making my eyes tear up Gambit says now Rogue we said no crying tonight been far too many tears shedding around our brood for the last week Gambit referring to Magic's recent death Gambit goes on to say we've been doing what we can for her brother Colossus all week long right so what's wrong with trying to be part of the living for just one night she replies nothing I guess as she takes her face out of her napkin saying and I wasn't crying I
was spitting out the horrible gumbo he laughs with her saying don't stop on my account Remy I never hear you laugh like that deep and loud and from the heart gamit ask why don't nobody know your real name she replies why can't you tell me how you feel about me he responds why won't you ever let me show you she also asked how come you never want to talk about your wife Bella Donna as the two just stare at each other longingly then about Midway through the book we see them leave the restaurant on 59th
Street and get into a horse and carriage Rogue says a handsome cab ride through the city how incredibly romantic you realize though I ain't quite Cinderella for this magical Carriage Gambit tells her that's all right young lady because the only thing I know how to do with the glass slipper Sherry is drink champagne from it yamit asks where would you like to go she says anywhere you do Remy he tells her now you sure that's how you want to phrase it to me hun the two Embrace each other with Gambit saying this is how I
wanted it to be since I first looked at you Rogue beyond all the flirting and teasing past all the games and all the uncertainty I know we can be hurt girl physically as well as emotionally I know one kiss from you one touch flesh to flesh might give me some serious hurting but I'm willing to take the risk you willing to do the same for me she pulls away saying no he then asks what is it she says I want to but I can't I'm so afraid I might hurt you like I did to Cody
when I was little and kissed him it was the first and last time I kissed someone out of passion and if I kiss you if I hurt you I just know I'd want to die Gambit grabs her face saying then we don't kiss Rogue simple as that maybe this is just fine right now for you and me maybe we both have to learn there's more to love than the physical let me take those tears from your eyes Belle maybe this will work even better in the long run she says Remy my real name is but
he tells her hush say names don't mean anything names don't make us what we are inside and I know what's inside and that's all that matters so this is really epic and sets the tone for Rog and Gambit's relationship you could actually see how the relationship in the animated projects are pulled from this comic as a lot of things said and themes in the comic are things play laid out with the two's relationship throughout all media moving forward Gambit has clearly had a lot of stories and impact on the X-Men he became a mentor to
x23 seing her as a kindred spirit which started in X-Men 23 Issue 4 there was a different reality where he killed the Phoenix and everyone on Earth and so on but we're just going to touch on some of the important ones and sticking with his relationship with Rogue as that's a big part of his character next we have their marriage it all went down in X-Men gold issue 30 in the issue Colossus and kitty Pride were supposed to get married but at the altar Kitty changed her mind saying I'm sorry I'm so sorry but I
don't think I can do this as she phases through the ground with Colossus asking Nightcrawler to teleport him somewhere else for obvious reasons Gambit then ask Rogue did what I just think happened just happen later on at the reception that was already paid for Gambit has a chat with storm that makes him realize he wants to propose and spend the rest of his life with Rogue so he walks over to Rogue she asks Remy you okay he says that depends as he gets on one knee and proposes with her saying yes so they get married
right then and there becoming husband and wife on the final page of the issue because who wants to let a paid for wedding go to waste after this Gambit and Rogue would go on a romantic honeymoon in space but their newly wed vacation would be interrupted by the bioengineered daughter of Charles Xavier and Leandra of the Shar the short of it is in Mr Mrs issue 3 we learned that when Xandra hatched so to speak she had used the memories of Gambit and Rogue to give herself a humanlike appearance obviously Gambit and Rogue would help
her as she was the child of Charles Xavier and in a weird way they were kind of like her God parents but this led to their honeymoon being turned upside down even in space they couldn't get peace and quiet now like I said earlier Gambit has a ton of important and great stories including his death and rebirth after he gave his life to save his friends from Merlin in Knights of X issue 3 but the stories we listed give you the best overview of what has shaped Gambit as a character so now it's time to
talk about some powers and abilities Gambit's mutant ability is being able to take energy from any object and transform it into kinetic energy in layman's terms anything he touches he could turn into a bomb he could also charge an object as much as he wants and as little as he wants and also can delay the charge although we're not sure exactly how long he can delay the charge but he can do it the crazy thing is over time Gambit has learned to charge organic material meaning he could literally turn plants animals organisms or humans and
any living being into a bomb which is insane and deadly it's an incredibly dangerous and useful power that makes Gambit one of the most deadly mutants in the Marvel Universe now even though Gambit can charge anything he chooses we all know he mainly charges his signature playing cards to throw and detonate at his opponents Gambit also has enhanced reflexes and Agility making him incredibly agile and extremely difficult to fight as it's not easy to lay a hand on him he's also a thief he literally came from a family of Thieves he's very stealth and knows
how to get in and out undetected yamit is even a very skilled hand-to-hand combatant he's had extensive training in various forms of martial arts over the years making him a threat even without his mutant abilities he can also kill you with a playing card charged or not charged that's how skilled he is at throwing cards in addition to all that he's been known to have a hypnotic charm he has a very Charming persuasive personality this Cajun Charm if you will helps him in several situations as he's able to manipulate others to achieve what he wants
but that closes out powers and abilities but let's wrap up with some reading recommendations check out Uncanny X-Men 266 through 280 Rogue issues 1-4 Gambit volume 4 issues 1-2 X-Men Origins Gambit X-Men issue 33 the Mr and Ms series and Gambit's 1999 solo series that should be enough to get you all started if you enjoy en learning about the history of Gambit drop us a note in the comments below while you're at it hit that like button and share this episode with a friend it really helps us out other than that we'll see you next
time when we talk about all things comics [Music]
