DUAL IDENTITIES / IDENTITY DUEL

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26th May 2018
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DUAL IDENTITIES / IDENTITY DUEL

No two lives have been intertwined in quite the same manner as those of the mutant Rogue and Ms. Marvel aka Carol Danvers. When Rogue absorbed the psyche and powers of Ms. Marvel, she  drained away all that made Carol Danvers who she was - powers, memories, emotions, and personality. It has never been clear what exactly what went wrong in that initial heated conflict. Perhaps Rogue maintained contact for too long? Or maybe it was Carol's unique Kree/human DNA interacting with Rogue's powers in an unpredictable way? Whatever the cause, the result was clear. Though Carol’s physical body lived on and her memories were eventually repaired to a limited degree by Professor Xavier, the true essence of who Carol Danvers was now lived on in the mind of Rogue.

Shortly after the initial panic over hearing a second voice in her mind right after the encounter with Ms. Marvel, Rogue experienced no real change other than the addition of Ms. Marvel’s physical powers and access to Carol’s knowledge and skills. Several weeks later, however, Carol’s psyche began to assert itself and threatened to drive Rogue mad. Desperate for some hope of maintaining her sanity, Rogue left the Brotherhood and sought help from Charles Xavier.  [Uncanny X-Men (1st series) #171]

Over the next weeks, Rogue adjusted to her new life as an X-Man and, despite her past transgressions, she began to earn the trust of her teammates. But Rogue could not escape the repercussions of her fateful battle with Ms. Marvel, as Carol's memories and psyche still resided in Rogue's mind. When the X-Men received a phone call from Carol's ex-partner and lover Colonel Michael Rossi, asking for help, it was Rogue who heard the message. Sensing the desperation in Rossi’s voice (who Carol had believed dead), Carol's personality came to the forefront of Rogue's mind for the first time. Rogue rescued Rossi, but was confused and conflicted by Carol's memories and emotion. She slipped back and forth between Carol’s voice and her own and found herself reacting purely as Carol for the first time. Seeing Rogue’s inner conflict, Rossi confronted Rogue with the truth of her crime. The combination of Carol's intense feelings for Rossi and  Rossi's obvious contempt for Rogue forced her to face what she had done. After reasserting control of her body, Rogue realized for the first time all that Carol had lost to her in that fateful encounter and was tormented by her own guilt. [Uncanny X-Men (1st series) #182]

When the Beyonder sent the X-Men to San Francisco, Rogue took some time to reflect on her past encounter with Ms. Marvel and the impact it had had on her life and psyche. She realized that she no longer knew for  certain which thoughts, preferences and traits were purely hers and which were influenced by the stolen memories and characteristics of Ms. Marvel. Later during this visit, when Phoenix asked for her teammates to share their life-forces willingly to aid her in defeating the Beyonder, Carol’s persona once again assumed momentary control over Rogue’s form and her voice and mannerisms shifting accordingly. Carol agreed with Rogue in surrendering their shared life-force to help Rachel’s cause. This was a brief moment of shared decision-making and reinforced the dual nature of Rogue’s mind. [Uncanny X-Men (1st series #203]

When Carol's psyche next surfaced, it was actually to help Rogue. While on a mission in Genosha, Rogue's superhuman abilities were negated by a Genoshan mutant called Wipeout. Powerless and defeated, Rogue was manhandled by her Genoshan captors. This traumatized Rogue, who never imagined that her fondest wish - to be touched and loved - could become such a nightmare. Withdrawing deep into her own mind,  Rogue was attacked by the psychic remnants of everyone she had absorbed in the past. Luckily, Ms. Marvel came to her defense. Unlike the other psychic manifestations in Rogue’s mind - which were ephemeral traces of their true owner’s psyche - Carol was fully realized and as powerful in this mindscape as Rogue’s own psychic essence. Realizing that Rogue was in no condition to fend for herself, Carol took full control of Rogue's body for the first time.

Unlike Rogue, Carol had the necessary skills to escape from their Genoshan captors even without access to their shared powers. Easily overwhelming several guards, Carol rescued Wolverine, who was gravely injured and dying without his healing factor. Logan immediately recognized that Carol was now “top psyche” and the two slipped easily into their old friendship. Using espionage tactics they had developed on their countless missions together, Carol and Logan eluded capture by the Genoshans and gleaned a great deal of information about the dark secrets of the Genoshan mutate program. [Uncanny X-Men (1st series) #236-238]

Following this incident, Rogue and Carol began to work at co-existing. Carol began to serve as Rogue's back-up,  taking over for her whenever she was injured or knocked unconscious. Following a particularly harsh training session with Psylocke, Carol took over Rogue’s form and was shown making flesh-to-flesh contact with Elizabeth, with no ill effects. This was the first demonstration that Carol's psyche had the ability to control Rogue's absorption power. [Uncanny X-Men (1st series) #239]

Despite this new arrangement, relations between the two continued to be strained. Carol longed for control of Rogue's body and wanted more than the fleeting moments of control that Rogue allowed her. Rogue was torn between her guilt at what she had done and her own  frustration with having to share her life with Carol. After being controlled by outside influences during Inferno, Rogue stopped willingly allowing Carol’s psyche to have control of her body. Instead, Carol’s psyche had to steal control from time to time. Rogue resented Carol’s efforts to gain control and the relationships she was forming with the other X-Men, many of whom expressed sympathy for Carol’s plight. Rogue was further annoyed by Carol's attempts to make the most of her time in control. She was particularly upset when Carol redecorated "their" room. Throwing quite a temper tantrum, Carol was "forced" to assume control once again while Rogue cooled off. Carol then joined the other female members of the X-Men on a shopping trip. During this trip, Carol selected a new hairstyle and bought some clothes, in part to elicit a reaction from Rogue and further assert her right to share Rogue’s body. She also aided her teammates in rescuing Jubilee from a group of low-budget mutant hunters.  [Uncanny X-Men (1st series) #244]

Despite this provocation on Carol's part, Rogue continued to allow Carol periods of control. She took the opportunities given and used them to catch up on her own life. For example, Carol made a trip to the Vietnam War Memorial  to say goodbye to her brother Steven, who had died in the war. She also retrieved some of her personal items from her time as Ms. Marvel, including her old Ms. Marvel costume. On this same trip, she spent some time with Psylocke and the two appeared to be developing a friendship. [Uncanny X-Men (1st series) #246]

Carol and Rogue's chance at a permanent reconciliation was cut short by the attack of the amalgamated Master Mold/Nimrod entity. Donning her Ms. Marvel costume, Carol and Psylocke fought valiantly to end the robotic monster's rampage. When Carol was knocked unconscious, Rogue awoke in Carol's old costume. Naturally, Rogue’s sense of fashion was thoroughly violated, as was her sense of self. When the X-Men arrived, Rogue joined in the pitched battle. Desperate for a way to defeat Master Mold, Dazzler unleashed the power of the Siege Perilous. This mystical artifact sucked Master Mold into it, but not before it latched onto Rogue. Though they had ended the Master Mold's rampage, the X-Men were unable to save Rogue and she was also dragged inside the mysterious portal. [Uncanny X-Men (1st series) #247]

Months later, Rogue emerged from the Siege and was unceremoniously deposited in the X-Men's headquarters in the Australian outback. Rogue quickly realized that she no longer had Ms. Marvel's powers when she attempted to fly out a window and fell to the ground below. She realized that she was truly in trouble when she was attacked by the Reavers. Just as Rogue was about to be defeated, Ms. Marvel arrived on the scene. Finally separated from Rogue and given physical form by the Siege Perilous, Carol was determined to exact revenge at last. Unable and unwilling to fight Ms. Marvel again, Rogue fled using teleportation powers borrowed from the X-Men's aborigine ally, Gateway. As she pursued Rogue, Carol was also teleported away. Rogue emerged in the Savage Land, while Carol ended up being transported to Muir Island.

The island had fallen under the control of the nefarious Shadow King, who immediately attacked Ms. Marvel. Carol fought valiantly, but was no match for the Shadow King's psionic powers. The evil telepath quickly surmised that Ms. Marvel and Rogue were still bound to one another.  While under the Shadow King’s control, Carol’s new form began to decay and grew grotesque as Rogue grew stronger. Apparently, this new physical manifestation of Carol’s psyche and Rogue shared a single life force between them. Tracking Rogue to the Savage Land, the Ms. Marvel entity attacked her in the hopes of stealing all of their shared life force. Rogue found that she could not fight Carol again. Suddenly it was now Rogue's body which withered as the Carol entity gained the upper hand. Rogue had given up and Carol was about to defeat her when she was struck by an energy blast from behind. Rogue awoke later to find that it was Magneto who had saved her. Magneto claimed to have destroyed the newly formed Ms. Marvel entity, choosing to save Rogue and restore Ms. Marvel's powers to her. As a result, Rogue fully regained the abilities she had stolen from  Ms. Marvel years earlier. In many ways, the true essence of Carol Danvers died at the hands of Magneto. [Uncanny X-Men (1st series) #269, 275]

After this incident, Rogue was no longer plagued by Carol‘s voice in her head. The psychic essence of Carol Danvers has subsequently been seen in Rogue’s mindscape, but it has been shown to be no more substantial than the psychic remnants of the many people that Rogue has absorbed temporarily.

Since Carol’s stolen persona has been removed from Rogue’s mind, Carol Danvers has returned to Earth and become one of the planet's most prominent heroines - first as Warbirdm then as Ms. Marvel, before finally assuming the mantle of Captian Marvel.  Duirng this period, Rogue and Carol have been forced to interact with each other on numerous occasions.

During one such encounter, Rogue was possessed by the Brood Queen, who was set on conquering Earth and getting revenge against Carol (then calling herself Warbird) for her role in the destruction of the Brood homeworld. Fighting each other, Warbird demonstrated a clear psychic connection to Rogue that enabled her to determine Rogue's mental condition. The source of this subconscious rapport is unknown, but quite likely has some tie to the past connection between the two heroines. [Contest of Champions II #3, 5]

Some time later, Rogue’s powers were seriously screwed up, and eventually overtaxed, burning themselves out. As a result, she lost all her superhuman abilities and while later on her own mutant power of absorption returned, the strength, flight, and invulnerability taken from Ms. Marvel did not. It is possible that the psychic rapport between the two women was lost in the process as well.

Currently, Rogue and Carol have reached an understanding. Though the two will likely never be friends, they have learned to set their differences aside when necessary. This has even extended to Carol willingly allowing Rogue to absorb her powers again in times of great need. Carol has forgiven Rogue for what she once did and accepts that Rogue is a true hero. Rogue has steadfastly dedicated herself to a lifetime of heroics and now serves as an Avenger, in part to make amends for the harm she did to Carol Danvers in her younger days. The painful bond between them has finally evolved into a mutual respect and trust.