Alternative versions of Gambit

Alternate versions of Gambit
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First appearance	Uncanny X-Men #267 (August 1990)
Created by	Chris ClaremontJim LeeMike Collins

In addition to his mainstream incarnation, Gambit has been depicted in other fictional universes.

For non-comics appearances, see Gambit in other media.

Age of Apocalypse

In the Age of Apocalypse, Gambit was a member of the X-Men and one of Magneto's closest friends. Like his Earth-616 counterpart, Gambit too fell in love with Rogue, which prompted him to leave the X-Men when Rogue chose Magneto, whom she could touch due to the two possessing magnetism-based powers (she had permanently absorbed the powers and memories of Polaris just as she had done to Ms. Marvel on Earth-616). Gambit, as a member of the Thieves Guild, maintained a certain connection with Candra, who was also one of the Horsemen of Apocalypse, until she was killed. Despite having left the X-Men, Gambit still fought for "the Dream" in his own way. He assembled a group of thieves which he named "X-Ternals", who stole from Apocalypse's regime and the mutant aristocracy to provide food and medicines to the humans still living in New York. He also had an affair with Lila Cheney, despite the fact that he had not gotten over Rogue.^[1]

When Magneto put into action his plan to save Charles Xavier, Gambit agreed to steal a shard of the M'Kraan Crystal with the aid of his X-Ternals. Gambit and the X-Ternals were chased by Mudir Rictor and later faced the Shi'ar Imperial Guard. However, Gambit obtained the shard of the Crystal, giving up in exchange for it his undying love for Rogue. Gambit thought that he had now lost his ability to love. The group returned to Earth; however, Gambit lost both the Crystal shard and Magneto and Rogue's son, Charles, to the traitor Guido when he threatened to kill Lila.^[2]

Despite this, Gambit was accepted back into the X-Men when they launched a mission to get into Apocalypse's citadel to rescue Magneto and put his plan into action. Gambit killed the crazed Colossus when his desire to save his sister Illyana threatened the mission.^[3]

Following the death of Apocalypse and the fall of his regime, Gambit once again became a member of the X-Men.^[4]

During the AoA's 10th anniversary, Gambit was part of the X-Men and helped Magneto eliminate the remaining forces still loyal to Apocalypse. This included helping the X-Men get rid of the Hellions. Magneto later became injured while telling the Morlocks that they were free, and when he was recuperating, Quicksilver detected mutant signatures of Apocalypse's former soldiers in Mexico. Magneto then left with Quicksilver, Gambit, and Sunfire.^[5]

The Guthrie siblings later attacked the X-Men's base, taking Rogue and Charles Lensherr captive. Magneto, Sunfire, Gambit, and Quicksilver returned to the base and defeated the Guthries. Magneto then revealed his secret regarding Sinister, leading the X-Men to Sinister's lab in New York. The X-Men then fought the Sinister Six, and during the fight, Gambit, Nightcrawler, and Dazzler were sucked into Cloak. Nightcrawler managed to save Dazzler, but not Gambit, resulting in Gambit's presumed death, though it was not confirmed. The X-Men later buried their dead and created a tombstone for Gambit whose full text is not seen, but ending in "... luck always be on his side."^[6]

However it appears that luck was indeed at Gambit's side after all, as he was rescue in time from the Darkforce Dimension at some point and was greeted in the X-Men team later.^[7] When the X-Force team of Earth-616 came to the Age of Apocalypse to retrieve a Celestial life seed to prevent Warren to ascend as the new Apocalypse, Gambit was part of Fantomex team to retrieve the seed from the deceased Celestial and he give his life so the team could retrieve the object from the cosmic being.^[8]

Bishop's future

In the future timeline that is the home of the X-Man Bishop (Earth-1191), the X-Men were wiped out in 1996 by someone recorded only as 'The X-Traitor'. However, there was apparently one survivor of the attack, a man called "The Witness." He had a Cajun accent and long hair. He and Bishop had an antagonistic relationship in that time. When Bishop came to the past, he recognized Gambit's face as that of the Witness.

Later, the Witness was revealed to have been living happily in New Orleans, unchanged from how Bishop will know him in 80 years' time. He met the young Remy Lebeau, and had a set of trophies from countless battles across time (fans noticed Captain America's shattered shield, the red power suit from The Greatest American Hero, and Hellboy's Right Hand of Doom). He claimed to be pantemporal, capable of seeing all things in all realities at all times. The fact that he was even capable of conversing with Bishop or anyone else in a linear fashion is apparently due to his sense of humor.

Exiles

Gambit in Weapon X

In Exiles, Gambit of Earth-371 was the team leader of Weapon X (the ruthless counterpart to the heroic Exiles), having replaced Sabretooth. He first showed up in Exiles #23-25, where Weapon X had to work with Iron Man, the fascist monarch of Earth, to kill all of the Inhumans. They succeeded and went to the next reality.

He later appeared again with Weapon X in Exiles #38–40 and #43–45. It appeared that he and Storm on his team had been in a relationship and that back in his alternative reality he and Storm (another one from his alternative reality) were married. Storm was now dead and replaced by Hyperion. In this mission, Weapon X was supposed to kill the ten remaining mutants in this reality, but this evil version of Hyperion wanted to be the ruler of this Earth. The heroes did not want to murder anyone, but a battle with Hyperion soon followed. Hyperion shot off Gambit's arm, forcing Gambit to retreat into the Morlock tunnels. Hyperion murdered most of the Weapon X team.

Finally, the Exiles appeared and determined the true nature of the mission although they initially refused to go through with it. They were to kill six members of Weapon X and the Exiles. Hyperion and an evil version of Ms. Marvel (who had already taken care of most of the killing) forced them to fight. In the end, Hyperion was seemingly killed by Gambit after Blink had injured him sufficiently to make him vulnerable. Gambit was disintegrated in the blast. It was revealed later that Hyperion resurrected himself and took control of the Panoptichron. It was also revealed that every Weapon X and Exiles team member who died or was sent home were frozen into a crystal wall in that palace. When the Exiles found the place, there were many fallen heroes—-Gambit among them. Gambit's body is returned to his home dimension for burial in Exiles #83.

New Exiles

In New Exiles #2-4, a very different version of Gambit was shown. Still called Remy, attracted to Rogue and sometimes speaking approximate Cajun, this version was the son of Namor and Sue Storm. He has four siblings and the power to breathe underwater as well as the force field projection capabilities of his mother. He saved Rogue when she was injured and drowning to her death. He was then flown by her to his family, which they saved together.^[9] He then went on to join the Exiles team.^[10]

House of M

Gambit makes a brief appearance in House of M as a thief being caught by Carol Danvers.

Marvel Zombies

A zombie Gambit is seen as one of the dozens of super-powered zombies attacking Doctor Doom's castle trying to reach the uninfected humans inside. This is after being seen on S.H.I.E.L.D.'s helicarrier between Colossus and Magneto. This takes place in Marvel Zombies vs. The Army of Darkness. In Marvel Zombies #3, Gambit is one of the many zombies trying to slay and eat the Silver Surfer. Next, Gambit's chest is blasted through, then his head, from the jaw up, is knocked off, from the cosmically powered zombies.

Mutant X

In the Mutant X universe, Gambit was in a fatal accident when he was attempting to save his foster daughter.

He was accompanied by Bloodstorm at the time, and begged her to turn him into a vampire so that he didn't have to die. She reluctantly accepted his request and became Gambit's sire. He was very unhappy with the creature he had become, blaming Bloodstorm for what she had done to him, and ran away.

Since his eyes were naturally red, no one in the Thieves' Guild noticed any difference in Gambit, only making it easier for him to continue to feed. For a time, Gambit worked to prevent Bloodstorm from feeding on sentient beings, such as the thieving Marauders and otherwise innocent vampire-wannabes.

Later, Gambit was forced to join Havok's team The Six, and while there, received a partial cure for his vampirism from the Brute. With the serum he devised, it granted both Gambit and Bloodstorm a reprieve from their blood lust and gave them the ability to walk in the sunlight.

However, Gambit's appreciation did not run deep. When the team was in crisis fighting the combined might of the Goblyn Force, Count Dracula, and the Beyonder, Gambit stole the team's jet and flew away with his adopted daughter Raven, never to be seen again.

New Son (Sun)

Appearing in the 1999 Gambit mini-series, Gambit is called New Son (Sun) (X-Cutioner II) in Earth-9923 reality. In his own reality, the New Sun's kinetic charging powers had flared out of control, burning the world and killing everyone. As a result, the New Sun hunted down and killed versions of himself in other realities to ensure that they would not repeat his mistakes. New Sun is not limited to inorganic matter and can convert matter into energy at a sub-molecular level so it vaporizes or explodes. He also has the ability to time travel, can propel himself by a wave-like aura and can transplant matter through time and space, as well as being able to biokinetically augment all his physical abilities to superhuman levels.

In this reality, New Sun was never adopted by the Thieves Guild, so his real name is not "Remy LeBeau". New Sun was raised with his full power and intended to become the fulfillment of an ancient Guild prophecy to create Heaven on Earth. However, things went wrong when he charged up his power in a special ritual—a chain reaction was started that caused everyone on Earth beside himself to burn up. Failing to remake time, the New Sun traveled to other universes, hoping to prevent the same thing from happening there. However, he found many worlds in ruins, often because of that world’s version of Gambit. Coming to the main Marvel Universe (616), he first attempted to create a new world where everyone would eventually be transported to, using the main reality’s Gambit to help (without revealing to him who he truly was). When he learned that his plan wasn’t possible, he tried to kill Gambit, transporting both of them to his destroyed homeworld before Gambit became a threat to the main universe’s Earth world as well. During their final conflict, Gambit finally blasted the New Sun, burning out his recently increased powers, just as the New Sun died. Due to New Sun's immense power, it is speculated that New Sun was an omega-level mutant in his home dimension, and likely mutant alpha on Earth-9923; this, however, cannot be confirmed.

Ultimate Marvel

In this universe, Remy LeBeau is a Cajun thief, similar to the normal mainstream version. A flashback shows that Remy was beaten maliciously by his father.

He was subsequently brought up by a thief who taught him the arts of stealing. His connection to Sinister has been hinted, but yet to be made clear, though it is noticeable that in flashbacks his father has red eyes like Mr. Sinister. When he confronted Hammerhead, the latter mentioned Sinister while bantering with Gambit. Later as an adult, Remy lived on the streets of New York, performing card tricks with his "magic", and he continued to steal. It also shows he has trouble controlling his powers where in Ultimate X-Men #14, where he states to the mobsters he just defeated that he is a mutant but struggles with controlling his powers. He also does not have his bo staff at this time.

At one point, Charles Xavier offered Gambit the chance to join the X-Men, but he refused. While trying to save a young girl's life, Gambit also faced Hammerhead and defeated him by making the mobster's adamantium skull explode.^[11]

At some point Gambit met scouts in New Orleans who represented Andreas and Andrea Von Strucker, the Fenris Twins. The twins were presidents of Fenris International and secretly mutants. Their goal was to obtain mutant supremacy through economic empowerment. To accomplish this, they needed to find out the secrets of their business rivals. The twins made Gambit an offer that he could not refuse to participate in espionage activities. In addition to paying him, they cleaned up his accent, and helped him control his powers.^[12]

Gambit ran into the X-Men again at the Coney Island Fair where he was sent by the Fenris Twins to recruit Rogue. To accomplish this Gambit had to get her alone and away from the X-Men team. He accomplished this by defeating the entire team by playing to their desire to avoid any bystander injuries.^[12]

He collapsed a giant Ferris wheel (i.e., the Wonder Wheel) taking much of the team out of equation (knowing that they would go to rescue the people on the ride) and defeated Wolverine by threatening to explode Wolverine's skeleton, which would destroy a large part of the near area. He then proceeded to explode his bo staff in Wolverine's mouth, thus giving him enough time to take Rogue. The Fenris Twins felt Rogue would be an ideal employee since her powers (which include viewing others’ memories) would be useful for learning others' secrets. However, because of the unethical aspect of the job, Rogue refused. In response to seeing the fury of the twins, Gambit assisted Rogue in subduing the twins, and escaping. As Rogue and Gambit escape, an enraged Wolverine finally tracks them down, beating Gambit badly with only his fists, preventing Gambit from making contact with his skeleton. Rogue stops Wolverine from killing Gambit and called him the true animal in this situation. Afterward, Gambit asked Rogue to come with him, commenting on how she and he were both alike. Rogue agreed and left the X-Men with him.

In a battle with Juggernaut, Gambit appeared to suffer fatal injuries. As Rogue gave him a last kiss, she completely absorbed his powers and memory, killing him and getting control over her ability to siphon the memories and abilities of others.

As of Ultimate X-Men Annual #2, Gambit's powers have faded from Rogue.^[13]

X-Men: The End

In this version, he is married to Rogue, and they have two children, a son (Olivier) and a daughter (Rebecca "Becca").

In the miniseries X-Men: The End: Heroes and Martyrs, Gambit was revealed to be the clone of Mister Sinister, created from Sinister's own pre-mutated DNA. Sinister wished to destroy his master, Apocalypse, and to do so he needed a body that had not been subject to Apocalypse's altering. He then engineered mutant powers for the clone, using the DNA of Cyclops. This technically makes him the third Summers brother; in that alternative reality.^[14] However, Apocalypse learned of Sinister's plan and had the child stolen and left it in the care of the Thieves Guild.

It was originally believed that Gambit died in the series The End disguised as Sinister and trying to defeat the Shi'ar. However, in GeNEXT, a series about the children of the X-Men, Olivier talks about how he and his father (Gambit) have not really made contact since his mother (Rogue) died and that Gambit didn't have the heart to continue on as an X-Man. They only communicate through Rebecca.

X-Men Noir

In X-Men Noir, Remy LeBeau is depicted as the owner of the Creole Club, a nightclub and casino, also acting as an information source for his friend Thomas Calloway, a costumed detective and reporter for the Daily Bugle calling himself The Angel.^[15] He is, however, shown as an unscrupulous person, as he is not above collecting on debts with force.^[16]

X-Men: Forever

In X-Men: Forever he's referred to as Poopoo Remy Picard.^[17]

References

1. Gambit and the X-Ternals #1
2. Gambit and the X-Ternals #2-4
3. X-Men: Omega
4. X-Men: Age of Apocalypse "1
5. X-Men: Age of Apocalypse #3
6. X-Men: Age of Apocalypse #6
7. Uncanny X-Force #12
8. Uncanny X-Force #13
9. New Exiles #2
10. New Exiles #4
11. Ultimate X-Men #13
12. Ultimate X-Men #50
13. Ultimate X-Men Annual #1
14. Brian Cronin (July 23, 2009). Comic Book Resources, ed. "Comic Book Legends Revealed #217". Retrieved May 3, 2011.
15. X-Men: Noir #1
16. X-Men: Noir #1-2
17. X-Men: Forever #7