Gambit (comics)
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Gambit (Remy LeBeau) is a fictional character, a Marvel Comics superhero who is a member of the X-Men. Created by writer Chris Claremont and artist Jim Lee, he first appeared in Uncanny X-Men #266 (August 1990).
A mutant, Gambit possesses the ability to charge objects, usually his trademark playing cards, with kinetic energy, by tapping into their stored potential energy, causing them to explode. He is also skilled in breaking and entering, the use of a Bo staff, card throwing and hand-to-hand combat.
A mysterious and charismatic former professional thief, few X-Men trusted Gambit when he first joined the group, a source of stress between him and his longtime love interest Rogue. This was exacerbated when his connections to villain Mister Sinister were revealed, although some accept that Gambit honestly seeks redemption.
Gambit was on the X-Men animated series and video games. He also starred in two solo series, one lasting from 1998 through 2001 and the other 2004 though 2005. He also starred in two miniseries of his own, the first having been released in 1993 and the other in 1998. Remy was the first X-men to come from the streets and remain with the X-men. In later editions he learns to harness his powers and levitate and fly.
The X-Men's self described ladies man, Gambit has shown a more vulnerable side of himself over the years, especially when it comes to Rogue, his love. Gambit remains fiercely proud of his Louisiana heritage, and speaks in a very thick New Orleans, Cajun accent. It remains worth saying that, despite his taste for cigarettes, alcohol, and hedonistic pleasures, that he remains athletically thin. For a while, he flirted with every woman on the X-Men team, and his charm is so powerful that he even tempted Jean Grey herself, leading her to comment in front of her longtime love interest Cyclops "I must admit, that as infuriating and arrogant as Gambit can be, those eyes, that grin, that body, it takes a girl's breath away."
Because he wears it on his sleeve, he is often teased by fellow X-Men about his heritage. Some of his nicknames include Gumbo and Swamp Rat. The latter of the two was bestowed upon him by Rogue, a play on the fact that he hails from the bayou. Not to be outdone, Remy has teased her about her Mississippi roots, affectionately labeling her River Rat.
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[edit] Publication history
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Currently to date, Gambit has had three self-titled series.
[edit] Fictional character biography
[edit] Early life
Remy LeBeau was born in New Orleans, Louisiana. He was stolen from the hospital where he was raised by the Thieves Guild, and given to the Antiquary as a tribute.
They referred to the child as "le diable blanc" ("the white devil") and believed he was prophesied to unite the warring Thieves and Assassins Guilds. Soon after, Remy was placed in the care of a gang of street thieves who raised the child and taught him the ways of thievery. After living as an orphan on the streets, Remy attempted to pick the pocket of Jean-Luc LeBeau, then patriarch of the Thieves Guild. Jean-Luc took the boy off the streets and adopted him into his own family.
In an attempt to reconcile the Thieves and Assassins Guilds, Remy married Bella Donna Boudreaux, granddaughter of the head Assassin. Unfortunately, he was challenged by her brother Julien to a duel after the wedding. In the duel, Gambit killed Julien, and he was exiled from the city and his relationship with Bella ended.
[edit] The Mutant Massacre
After his exile from New Orleans, he wandered the world and became a master thief, making many contacts (and quite a few enemies). During this period, Gambit found he had an uncontrollable amount of energy flowing through him, to the point that he could not withstand it. Desperate, Gambit went to Mister Sinister for help. Sinister modified Gambit's power, making him significantly less powerful, but able to control the still considerably large amount of power in him.
However, Sinister wanted the favor returned, so Gambit led a mission for him. Gambit gathered together a group of mercenaries which Sinister named the Maurauders. The group included the mutant Sabretooth as one of its members. Gambit was then to lead the Maurauders into the tunnels under New York City where, unknown to Gambit, their goal was to wipe out the Morlocks (In the original comic, Uncanny X-Men #210, the Marauders were shown following the Morlock Tommy into the tunnels). Gambit was unable to prevent the Maurauders from killing a considerable number of Morlocks, but he was able to save one, a child. Her name was Sarah, and she would grow up to be Marrow, the leader of the mutant terrorist group Gene Nation. Gambit long kept his involvement in the mission a secret from his fellow X-Men, much to their displeasure.
[edit] X-Men
[edit] Storm
After wandering around the world, he rescued a de-aged and powerless Storm from Nanny and the Orphan-Maker (in his debut appearance, Uncanny X-Men #266). Afterwards, the young amnesiac, who had reverted to thieving to stay alive, joined Gambit, and she eventually brought him back to the X-Men. Gambit fought alongside the X-Men, learning as much as he could about them without revealing details of his past, not even his real name. Only Wolverine had his doubts about the Cajun, which led to a Danger Room duel between the two. Gambit was able to triumph by using a robotic doppelganger of Lady Deathstrike to distract Wolverine, while taking advantage of Wolverine's injuries, inflicted by the Reavers.
[edit] X-Men: Blue
When the original five X-Men rejoined and the team was divided into two squads, Gambit became part of the Blue team under Cyclops’ leadership. He became interested in one of his teammates in particular, Rogue, and started flirting with her, despite her off-putting manner and the obstacle of her uncontrollable power that prevented anyone from touching her. They started becoming more and more interested in each other, even though their first date was disrupted by a villain’s attack. It should be noted that their relationship was originally written as a one time, flirtatious moment. However, their pairing met with such enthusiasm that the relationship was explored, culminating with the two falling in love.
[edit] Gambit's secret
Many publishing years later, it had become apparent Remy had a dark secret. Sabretooth had hinted to it on numerous occasions during his "residency" at the X-Mansion, prompting Rogue to ask him to reveal whatever he knew about Gambit's past. Sabretooth told her how he and Gambit had first met in Paris years earlier, and that he had forced the Cajun to make a choice between saving his brother or his lover at the time. He did not, however, reveal the secret itself. Rogue was so traumatized by absorbing Remy's memories in Israel at the end of the "Legion Quest" that she ran away from the X-Men for a time.
[edit] The Trial of Gambit
In Uncanny X-Men #350, Remy was captured and brought before a mock trial held by Magneto, the mutant Master of Magnetism, then disguised as Erik the Red. Rogue was forced to kiss him again, revealing that he had assembled the team of Marauders for Mr. Sinister that later killed most of the Morlocks. However it was also revealed that Gambit saved a single girl from the Marauders during the massacre. This apparent revelation and absorbing Gambit's own guilty memories caused Rogue to reject him. Gambit was summarily cast out of the X-Men and was abandoned in the frozen wastes of Antarctica.
Starving to death and haunted by the betrayal of his love (Rogue), Gambit made his way back into Magneto's citadel, where he encountered the psionic essence of a dead mutant named Mary Purcell. The wraith-like Mary bonded with him, allowing him to survive until he reached the Savage Land, a hidden jungle nestled in the icy wasteland. There, Remy struck a deal with the enigmatic being known as the New Son. In exchange for passage back to America, Gambit agreed to run errands for the New Son with the help of friend Jacob Gavin Jr..
[edit] Return
When Gambit's psyche absorption had worn off, Rogue spent months searching for him, to no avail. Gambit encountered the X-Men again when he attempted to steal the fabled Crimson Gem of Cyttorak for his new employer. He agreed to return to the team, mainly for his self-respect and for Rogue. At one point he became the field leader of a branch of X-Men. His love for Rogue was still intact, but her inability to control her powers made her break it off out of fear of hurting him.
Meanwhile, the New Son revealed his true identity after organizing an assassination game for a cadre of super-powered mercenaries with Remy as the target. The attempt failed, and Remy learned that the New Son was an alternate reality version of himself. In his reality, the New Son's kinetic charging powers had flared out of control, burning the world and killing everyone but himself. This incredible power was the reason for his true name, New Sun — not "son" as Remy previously thought. As a result of the destruction of his world, the New Sun hunted down and killed versions of himself in other realities to ensure that they would not repeat his mistakes. During their final battle, Remy burned through his enhanced powers to defeat the New Sun, returning his powers to their normal level.
[edit] X-treme X-Men: X-Treme Sanctions Executive & the Books of Truth
When Storm led a team of X-Men in search of Destiny's diaries, the thirteen-volume Books of Truth, Gambit volunteered to join them, but Rogue - afraid that her increasingly uncontrolled powers would bring him harm - flatly refused to allow him along. He returned to thievery instead, and was soon after framed by mutant businessman Sebastian Shaw for the death of the Australian crime lord named Viceroy. With the assistance of Rogue, Storm's team of X-Treme X-Men, and former Triad member Red Lotus, Gambit was able to clear his name. Soon after, Remy became embroiled in the X-Men's fight against an alien invasion of Earth led by the interdimensional warlord Khan, after trying to assemble the "Madripoor Set," a group of seven gems. Remy was captured and used as a power source for the invaders to open a portal that would allow their full invasion fleet to pass through and complete the conquest of Earth. The X-Treme team's enemy, the enhanced human named Vargas, used the invasion as a chance to attempt to kill more of Storm's team, going after Rogue and Gambit. Rogue tried to shield Remy against Vargas' sword, but he impaled them both as a reward for her fidelity. Both Rogue and Gambit survived, but lost their mutant abilities (for a time). As a result, the couple sought to live a normal life and sort out their relationship, retiring from the X-Men temporarily.
When they returned, they were still both powerless. During the ReLoad period in Marvel comics, X-Treme X-Men was canceled with the X-Treme team returning to the X-Mansion. Shortly afterwards, Sage "jump-started" Remy's powers with Rogue's aid. However, this proved to be more of a curse than a blessing when one of Gambit's cards quite literally blew up in his face, blinding him. Gambit remained blind for several months until Sage managed to restore his eyesight with her abilities once more. It is possible that she did this by boosting Gambit's kinetic energy-generating powers to the level where he could heal himself by accelerating his body's own natural rate of healing, a trick he used to survive being mortally wounded during the Assassination Game. Cyclops assigned both of them to another X-Men squad led by Havok, despite the fact that neither one, nor any of the other members on the squad, was happy being there.
[edit] Mystique, Rogue & Apocalypse
Rogue's foster mother Mystique was displeased with Rogue's choice of lovers and infiltrated Xavier's Institute by shapeshifting into a student called Foxx. She joined Gambit's squad in an attempt to ruin his relationship with Rogue. After Gambit resisted her charms, Mystique reverted to her true form and then offered Gambit something significantly more difficult to refuse: she transformed into Rogue and offered Gambit a Rogue with whom he could have a physical relationship. Whether or not they engaged in a relationship, however, is uncertain. Rogue eventually discovered her mother's presence in the school. This led to the exact rift for which Mystique was hoping and allowed her to set up her daughter with her accomplice, Pulse.
Upon the return of Apocalypse, Gambit submitted himself to the villain and was transformed into one of Apocalypse's Horsemen, Death. Gambit intended to infiltrate himself into Apocalypse's ranks in order to protect the X-Men from the Dark Lord's eventual betrayal, but he miscalculated, as the transformation process warped his mind as well as his body. After becoming Death, Gambit's hair turned white and his skin turned deep black. Despite having his mind and body twisted, Gambit retained a large portion of his former self, stating to Apocalypse, "I'm both Death and Gambit," and he also remembered his love for Rogue as he could not bring himself to kill her.
In their latest battle, Gambit was knocked unconscious and was taken by the former X-Man Sunfire, now a Horseman like him, to a Zen temple in Japan, where Sunfire told Gambit that they had to destroy all bonds to their former lives and take Polaris with them. Gambit and Sunfire then returned to the Xavier Institute to claim Polaris. Gambit, in an attempt to free all ties with his old self, tried to kill Rogue and would have been successful had it not been for Pulse neutralizing Gambit's powers.
Without Polaris, Sunfire and Gambit returned to Japan where they ran into Sinister. After the X-Men defeated Apocalypse, Sunfire (who was also transformed into one of Apocalypse's Horsemen) left with Gambit to help Gambit clear Apocalypse's brainwashing and live as entirely new beings.
[edit] Upcoming
Gambit will be returning in issue #200 of X-Men (vol. 2). Based on a number of rumors and hints, it's thought he will be returning alongside the Marauders.
[edit] Alternate versions
[edit] 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 done to Polaris what 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 Apocalypse's Horsemen, 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.
When Magneto put into action his plan to save 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 Shiar 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.
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.
Following the death of Apocalypse and the fall of his regime, Gambit once again became a member of the X-Men.
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.
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 saved Dazzler, but not Gambit, resulting in Gambit's death. The X-Men later buried their dead and created a tombstone for Gambit saying, "Luck will always be on his side."
[edit] Exiles
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 had been in a relationship and that back in his alternate reality he and Storm (another one from his alternate 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.
[edit] Mutant X
In the Mutant X universe, Gambit was in a fatal accident when he was attempting to steal something.
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.
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 didn't run too deep. When the team was in crisis fighting the combined might of the Goblyn Force, Dracula, and the Beyonder, Gambit stole the team's jet and flew away with his adopted daughter Raven, never to be seen again.
[edit] Ultimate Gambit
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 Mister Sinister has been hinted but has yet to be made clear, but it is noticable that in flashbacks his father has red eyes like Mr. Sinister. Later as an adult, Remy lived on the streets of New York, performing card tricks with his "magic", and he continued to steal.
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.
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.
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.
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, 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. Afterwards, 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 Ultimate Juggernaut, Gambit appeared to suffer fatal injuries. As Rogue gave him a last kiss, she completely absorbed his powers and memory, seemingly losing her own ability to siphon the memories and abilities of others.
As of Ultimate X-men Annual #2, Gambit's powers have faded from Rogue.
[edit] 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.
[edit] X-Men: The End
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 alternate reality. However, Apocalypse learned of Sinister's plan and had the child stolen and left it in the care of the Thieves Guild.
[edit] Powers and abilities
Gambit has the mutant ability to convert the potential energy of inanimate matter into kinetic energy, giving them explosive power; the larger or more mass the object he is charging has, the longer it will take to charge them.
One of his trademark tricks is to hurl playing cards (his favorite playing card being the queen of hearts) at an opponent, charging each card and turning it into a deadly projectile. His other tricks have included charging a wad of chewing gum when he was otherwise entirely tied up and charging the floor of an entire room, causing it to explode with great force. Gambit's most powerful attack consists of charging a whole deck of cards and hurling them at an opponent. The energy released by the cards exploding continuously is so great that it can damage even the strongest Marvel characters (for example Gladiator, who was knocked unconscious by this attack).
He often wields a telescopic metal staff, and is highly trained in martial arts, particularly the French kickboxing martial art Savate, with the physical attributes of a body naturally built for constant motion (likely a permanent side-effect of his mutant powers), coupled with his Thieves Guild training, makes him a superhumanly acrobatic fighter. On several occasions he has shown an ability to charm people through mild hypnosis, and seems able to scramble attempts at mind reading and psychic attacks because of the charged potential energy always in his body.
This charming ability may not be a result of hypnosis but appears to have the potential to be an empathy-based power, though in the 2006/7 Handbook to the Marvel Universe entry on his alternate reality counterpart New Sun, it is mentioned that this charming ability is achieved by charging the subject's brain with energy through the use of his kinetic powers. It has been mentioned that it becomes less effective on people who are aware of this ability. He is skilled in card throwing and most all aspects of thievery.
In his youth, Gambit once had the ability to control all forms of kinetic energy, allowing him to charge anything within line of sight, but his inability to control it caused him to turn to Sinister, who excised the portion of his brain stem responsible for his full mutant powers. Later, he returned to Sinister while he was in Victorian England, and had his grey matter surgically reimplanted, restoring his abilities to 100%, until he burned them out after fighting the New Sun. It is unknown whether Sage's jumpstart of his mutation after the ReLoad revived all of Gambit's powers.
As the Horseman Death, Gambit has shown the ability to convert inert materials into toxic substances. For example, he could transform breathable air into poisonous gases.
During the time that he was blinded, Gambit could seemingly foresee events by using his playing cards (akin to tarot reading).
Gambit customarily wears a suit of highly articulated light body armor.
[edit] Appearances in other media
[edit] Cartoons
- Gambit was one of the starring X-Men characters in the X-Men animated television series of the 1990s, in which he was voiced by Chris Potter until Potter left in 1996 and was replaced by Tony Daniels until the series ended. One particular episode features the time traveler Bishop. He accuses Gambit of betraying the X-Men by assassinating the Senator Robert Kelly. The traitor is revealed to be the shape-shifting Mystique disguised as Gambit. This episode was clearly modeled after a combination of the Days of Future Past story arc (in which an alternate future version of Kitty Pryde traveled back in time to prevent Kelly's assassination) and the buildup to the Onslaught crossover (in which Bishop accused Gambit of being the one who would betray the X-Men).
- In X-Men: Evolution animated TV series, Gambit appeared in a few episodes as a henchman of Magneto, and was voiced by Alessandro Juliani. This version of Gambit is noteworthy for taking liberties with the character; he didn't join the X-Men and appeared to enjoy working for Magneto, displaying sociopathic tendencies behind his charming exterior. Originally, his flirtatious moments with Rogue were meant to be an inside reference for fans of the comic books, but fan demand led the producers to pursue the relationship a little more seriously. Towards the end of the show's run, an episode featured Gambit kidnapping Rogue in an attempt to manipulate her into helping him rescue Jean-Luc LeBeau from the Assassins Guild (re-named The Rippers to be more kid-friendly, although it should be noted that in the 1990s X-men Animated Series they were called "The Assassins" and Gambit himself stated "thieves kill assassins, assassins kill thieves") and parting ways at the end on friendly terms. In a screenshot from the future, it is shown that Gambit will join the X-Men.
[edit] Video games
- Gambit first appeared in the Super Nintendo game Spider-Man and the X-Men: Arcade's Revenge. Sega Genesis games X-Men and X-Men 2: Clone Wars both feature him as a starting playable character as well. He is a playable character in the X-Men: Mutant Apocalypse game for the Super Nintendo. Gambit is featured in some games from the Marvel vs. Capcom series, which is voiced by Tony Daniels, his second voice from the 90s cartoon. He also appears in both of the X-Men: Mutant Academy games. He is a playable character in the video games X-Men: Next Dimension, X-Men Legends and in X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse.
[edit] Films
- In X2 his name was seen on a screen among a list of other mutants when Mystique hacks the system of William Stryker for information on different mutants.
- An early leaked script suggested that Gambit would be included in X-Men: The Last Stand as a minor character. Josh Holloway was offered the role but declined it due to it being to similar to his character on Lost. Also, an interview with producer Lauren Shuler Donner reveals that Channing Tatum auditioned for the role, before the character being cut [1]. In an interview with Wizard magazine, WWE wrestler Greg 'The Hurricane' Helms said that he had planned to read for the part before the change of producers and director.[2] According to the audio commentary of X-Men: The Last Stand, Gambit was to appear in the prison convoy scene of the movie, before the character was cut.
- In the novelization of the movie by Chris Claremont, Gambit does indeed appear. In the X2 novel, he is one of the mutants seen being affected by Dark Cerebro. He is playing cards in a New Orleans bar when he suddenly falls in pain from the machine's activation and causes a table to explode. In the X3 novelization, is a new student at the mansion being trained by Wolverine, along with Cannonball, Danielle Moonstar, and Sage.
[edit] Toys
Gambit has had many action figures produced of him since his comic debut, the first being released less than a year after his first appearance.
- The first was released in 1992 in Toy Biz's X-Men toy line. He featured a removable plastic trenchcoat, staff, and had a kicking action feature when a button on his back was pressed. This figure was rereleased in the first X-Men Classics line.
- The second Gambit figure had a much better sculpt, and had a non-removable vinyl trenchcoat. He also came with his trademark staff, and also feature an action feature. This time, a light-up feature, with which he could appear to be throwing several playing cards. This version also had a variant, which feature Gambit wearing a blue and yellow uniform, meant to resemble the origianl X-Men uniforms.
- Gambit was also featured in the X-Men Robot Fighters subline, which was meant to simulate the various characters training in the Danger Room. This version of gambit did not come with a coat or staff, but did come with a training robot that he could battle.
- He was also featured in the X-Men Power Slammers line, wearing the Shi'ar armor that he wore during the "Trial of Gambit" storyline.
- Gambit also had an exclusive release in the BJ's Wholesale exclusive X-Men Strike Team set, which featured all the X-Men characters wearing the classic blue and yellow X-Men uniforms.
- X-Men vs Street Fighter also released a Gambit figure, as well as a variant. The standard version used the body, arms, and legs from the Light-up Gambit, and a newly sculpted head. He came with a spring loaded arm that could throw a playing card when pulled back and released. The variant was painted in the "Player 2" colors of the character, featuring a blue trench coat.
- Gambit has appeared in the Marvel Legends toy line, in series 4 and in the X-men legends box set(with leather trenchcoat instead of cloth).
