How Rogue Changed from the Comics for ‘X-Men: Evolution’

Translating comics to television is often ripe with differences, and in the case of the animated series X-Men: Evolution (now streaming on Disney+!) there are a number of characters and events that were translated from the comics. One character, in particular, Rogue — a mutant known for her power absorption abilities — saw major changes due to the creative direction to make all the characters teenagers, versus adults like they were portrayed in the comics and X-Men: The Animated Series.

In the comics, Rogue’s a badass grown-up who can fly who has difficulty managing her abilities. In Evolution, Rogue is a goth teenager similarly struggling with her powers. In taking a deeper look at Evolution’s portrayal, there are more similarities than differences to her comic-book counterpart who inspired the on-screen heroine.

Power Manifestation

Rogue’s powers manifest both in the comics and the series when she makes contact with a boy named Cody and he subsequently ends up in a coma. In both mediums, she is similarly haunted by this incident, which comes across as a difficulty to control her powers — metaphor for teenage angst and adolescence no doubt. While Cody is depicted in Evolution as a boy who asked her to dance at a party, in the comics he’s Rogue’s boyfriend and it’s their first kiss that sends him into a coma.

Power & Personality Absorption 

In the comics, Rogue’s powers involve taking another person’s memories and abilities from anyone she touches. In Evolution, she is depicted similarly when she takes on the personality of the aforementioned Cody, a boy from her school. She also absorbs Nightcrawler’s ability to teleport and speak German, Cyclops’ mutant powers, as well as Strom’s weather powers.

Adoptive Daughter of Mystique

Evolution stays true to her origin story in that she’s adopted by Raven Darkholme, AKA Mystique. In both the comics and the series, Mystique takes her in at a young age and trains her to use her mutant powers. Evolution also follows Rogue and Mystique’s relationship closely as it often informs Rogue’s choices, as it does similarly in the comics which portrays them as having mother-daughter relationship dramas.

Rogue Switches Sides

In both Evolution and the comics, Rogue starts out with Mystique and the villainous group, the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants — simply the Brotherhood in Evolution — and later joins the X-Men. In Evolution, she struggles with trusting the X-Men at first, thanks to the handiwork of Mystique who tries to prevent the X-Men from recruiting her (But, she comes around to the X-Men after she touches Mystique and learns the truth). Her group affiliations similarly switch in the comics when she joins the X-Men to help manage her out-of-control powers, and she tells Mystique to respect her decision to join the X-Men.

Southern Belle with a Sassy Streak

Rogue originally hails from Mississippi and as such she speaks with a Southern accent in Evolution and the comics. She’s smart with a sassy streak (not to mention her signature white-streaked hair) and uses phrases like ‘sugah’ most often in the comics, where in the animated series, it comes out more so in her casual speech.

It’s clear that in Evolution, the creators sourced a great deal about Rogue from the comics which are chock-full of information about her character’s backstory and personality. So when watching the animated series, Rogue’s depiction isn’t too far off from where she originally started, in between the staples and across comics dating back to her first appearance in 1981 in AVENGERS ANNUAL #10.

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