Captain Marvel’s Long-Running Rivalry with Rogue

Over the years, Carol Danvers has dusted her knuckles on more than a few chins. She has also caught her fair share of hands since she first decided to enter the Super Hero game. However, only one foe has proven so devastating that the aftermath defined Danvers for years and most likely changed the path of her entire life: Rogue.

To make matters more complicated, Rogue cannot be dismissed as a Super Villain or a monster. But how did this rivalry begin?

No Good Has Ever Come from a Prophecy

Rogue and Danvers’ twisted history began without Carol even knowing it. While she was first trying on the Super Hero mantle as Ms. Marvel, Destiny delivered details of a psychic vision to Mystique. While vague, the overall message apparently proved too clear to ignore. Ms. Marvel would deal Rogue, Mystique’s daughter, a brutal defeat.

At first, Mystique attempted to take on Ms. Marvel herself. However, she failed to deal Ms. Marvel any kind of lasting blow.

Rogue Taps the Grapevine

Rogue, still under Mystique’s sway and acting as a villain at the time, eventually caught wind of the prophecy herself. Not one to sit around waiting for Mystique, or anyone else for that matter, to solve her problems, Rogue decided she would pay Danvers a visit herself.

Getting the drop on Ms. Marvel, Rogue quickly knocked her out with her touch. However, in attempting to eliminate the threat entirely, Rogue kept contact with Danvers for too long. As Rogue tossed her unconscious opponent off the Golden Gate Bridge, she took Ms. Marvel’s powers and memories away from her. Only Spider-Woman’s timely intervention saved Danvers from either dying on impact or drowning in the water of the Bay.

Time Passes, the Pain Doesn’t

The Avengers connected with Professor X in an attempt to aid Danvers. She opted to stick with the X-Men in part because of the promise of recovery by Xavier and partly because her former teammates previously seemed to minimize the trauma she suffered at the hands of Marcus.

Professor X successfully recovered Danvers’ memories but not her connection to them. Nor could he seem to find a way to restore her powers. Nonetheless, she aided them several times during her stay with the team, including during a mission that brought her face-to-face with Rogue again. Given her state, however, Danvers was unable to physically oppose her victimizer. Her desire for vengeance grew.

Binary Means a True Rematch

The X-Men’s first encounter with the Brood involved the aliens seizing Carol and subjecting her to a series of experiments. While horrifying, they ended up doing her something of a favor, activating her latent powers and upgrading them in a single swipe. The result was Binary, a new, even more powerful Super Hero identity for Danvers.

While Danvers experienced skyrocketing powers, Rogue unraveled on Earth. It turned out that sharing her brain with Danvers’ entire life story became increasingly disruptive, and she could barely live a day-to-day life, let alone wield her incredible mutant abilities and Ms. Marvel’s stolen powerset. Desperate, Rogue decided to turn to Xavier in the hopes of a “cure.”

In a case of terribly poor timing, Danvers arrived just as Professor X awarded Rogue X-Men status on a trial basis over the objections of several other of the mansion’s residents. As Binary, Danvers sent Rogue through the roof, literally, with one punch. Then, she powered down, letting Rogue see who just clocked her. Before she departed, she let Rogue know that Binary could destroy her at any moment.

Years of Detente

Rogue evidently took Danvers at face value and largely steered clear of her for years after. She became a true hero and abandoned both Mystique and the villainous ways that came with that connection. In time, she became an accepted and celebrated member of the X-Men by both her teammates and the readers.

Danvers, meanwhile, continued to try to find her place as both a person and a hero. She returned to the Ms. Marvel identity as her Binary powers downshifted, adopted the name Warbird for a time, and then came back to Ms. Marvel. She began to develop an understanding of herself and reconnect with some of her past emotions.

A Shadow of Guilt

While Danvers found herself, Rogue lost more and more of herself. The Danvers side of her grew increasingly more dominant, leading the mutant to change her costume to reflect more of Danvers’ sensibilities and even redecorate her room more like Danvers would.

This all came to a head in one more fight with Danvers, one that she had no knowledge of. Her return from an adventure through a portal triggered a reaction that created a kind of “shadow double” of Ms. Marvel. Born of the memories, emotions, and powers that Rogue stole those many years earlier, the figure sought revenge despite not truly being Danvers herself.

In the end, Rogue could not stop the doppelganger, but Magneto rose to the occasion. He slayed the threat, saving Rogue’s life and leaving the real Ms. Marvel wholly unaware that anything had been going down.

Another Double

An alternate universe version of Danvers came to the main Marvel Universe. Still calling herself Warbird and never having come to terms with her power loss or memory erasure, this other Danvers traveled through universes seeking to destroy every Rogue she could find.

Earth-616’s Danvers, as Ms. Marvel, attempted to stop her twisted double when Rogue showed up to help. Angry at the very implication that she could have ended up like this Warbird, Danvers wanted nothing to do with Rogue’s aid. In fact, she quickly took the mutant down, breaking some ribs in the bargain, before finishing off her double herself.

Making the Same Mistakes All Over Again

At the height of AVENGERS VS X-MEN, Ms. Marvel and Rogue faced off once again. Apparently learning nothing from the last time, Rogue quickly absorbed a portion of Ms. Marvel’s powers. Danvers became enraged and stopped Rogue before she could do further damage. However, the combination of Ms. Marvel, Iceman, and her own abilities allowed Rogue to defeat Danvers.

Rogue turned the unconscious Avenger over to Magik, who attempted to dump Carol into a volcano. Finally Rogue realized things had gone too far. She saved Ms. Marvel and abandoned the mutant side of this battle. She was among the first to do so, but her move inspired several others to follow suit.