Let's talk about Gambit. This is Gambit.
Gambit sucks. He is also awesome. He is also terrible. He is also great.
Gambit is the character I feel probably the most conflicted about at any given time. So let's go back to my first impression of him.
My earliest memories of the X-Men are from the 90s, when my perception of them was as awesome action figures. I loved Gambit because he made an incredible action figure. A cool-looking guy who throws exploding playing cards and wields a bo staff just like a Ninja Turtle? He has cool red eyes? And a dope trench coat? And body armor? And he smokes like a cool dude? Of course this is the best X-Man ever. How could he not be? He's SO COOL. He's basically designed to be everyone's first pick in any X-Men video game. He's highly mobile. He has long-range and short-range attacks. He says cool stuff as he beats up robots. Gambit RULES!
And then I got a little older, and I realized that Gambit actually SUCKS. He's a thief, but he wears heavy pink body armor and throws explosives around like it's nobody's business. He has this confusing ability where lots of people are charmed by him, but it's never clear if that's a superpower or just him seeming like a cool dude. He has a stupid ponytail that he stuffs into his headsock I guess because it looks cool? He's very creepy around women and more than a few early Gambit stories feature him kissing women without their consent. He's annoyingly shady about his past to the point that nobody really made up their minds about whether he was a Summers brother or not for years. He's a shitty version of Longshot. He's just TOO MUCH.
I think a lot of X-Men fans go between these two mindsets on and off through most of their lives. Gambit is contentious because, I think, he represents the inherent dichotomy of being an X-Men fan, particularly fans who grew up in the 90s. He represents the dichotomy of awesome and embarrassing that comes with X-Men fandom. X-Men is wonderful because it's about all of these colorful characters who have weird, sometimes silly powers just 'cause. And X-Men is also embarrassing because it really is about a bunch of weird characters who have silly, colorful powers just 'cause. Gambit is the embodiment of just 'cause. Why would a thief swing around a bo staff, wear a big trenchcoat with bright body armor, and throw specifically playing cards that he can turn into explosives? Why would this guy join a team of superheroes, and why would they accept him in the first place? Why is this guy always written with a thick accent that, depending on the author, sounds alternately ridiculous and incomprehensible?
Just 'cause.
Basically, your feelings on Gambit will probaby varying according to how willing you are to accept the just cause factor of being an X-Men fan. If you're a kid, that factor is awesome. If you're a teenager, that factor is embarrassing. Gambit is awesome, and Gambit is embarrassing.
As I mentioned, I went through some phases with Gambit. I loved him for a long time, and then for a long time, I thought he was a joke. So now, as an adult who is more used to taking a nuanced, complicated look at my pop cultural preoccupations, I'm ready to deliver a new verdict on Gambit.
Gambit is great because he's Rogue's love interest.
It's rare for a male comic book character (especially in the 90s) to be described as "_____'s love interest." Usually, women are described as being the "love interest" in a given heterosexual relationship because there's an assumption that the audience cares more about the outcome of the male than the female. This is not at all the case with Rogue and Gambit. Rogue is a wonderful, fleshed-out, complicated character whose well-being is always more of the focus in her romantic relationships. We know Gambit will probably be okay without Rogue, given that he's been a loner most of his life so the suspense in their relationship is always how things are going to turn out for Rogue.
In terms of story, Rogue is always the more important party in this couple. She's had a rough life. She's had a rough history with relationships. Due to her powers, she doesn't have much experience with physical intimacy.
This relationship is almost a flipping of the typical pop culture couple where a beautiful woman comes out of nowhere to break the sad male protagonist out of his shell. Gambit is the beautiful man who comes out of nowhere (literally, Gambit kind of just joins the team for no clear reason) to give Rogue a love interest. It's a refreshing flip of the formula.
And more importantly, Gambit really does develop into a good partner to Rogue. Over time, he's less sleazy and gets better at paying attention to her needs and boundaries. In the Age of Apocalypse timeline, he eventually accepts that she'd rather be with Magneto than him and he moves on to a lovely relationship with Lila Cheney. (I haven't finished Age of Apocalypse yet. Don't tell me if this gets backtracked down the line.) He becomes a better person as a result of his relationship, which is something we don't see all that often with comic book couples.
So my overall verdict? Gambit's pretty great. He's just great for reasons that are completely different from the reasons I had for loving him as a kid. And come to think of it, that's kind of an encapsulation of how my love for X-Men has changed over the course of my life.
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