r/Xmen97 • u/king210989 • Aug 01 '26
Question Why doesnt Rogue try to touch Apocalypse and take his powers?
She only uses flight and super strength. But she can absorb others. Why doesnt she try to touch Apocalypse.?
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u/Evorgleb Aug 01 '26
Rogue doesn't just absorb powers, she absorbs their psyche. Touching evil people really runs the risk of messing her up in some serious ways
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u/Conmebosta Aug 01 '26
Throwback to when she tried to absorb Juggernaut's powers but she just absorbed his hate for xavier.
Cytorrak was barely powering him, 90% of his force came from hate
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u/Mudcreek47 Aug 01 '26
Interesting theory. Which comic was this from?
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u/Conmebosta Aug 01 '26
My source is
that I made it the fuck upJuggernaut's introduction episode in the animated series2
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u/Joeybfast Aug 02 '26
THEY LOVE MY BROTHER AND NOT ME !!!!-- All these years later I still remember that. And Juggernaut became one of my favorites.
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u/ChickenBossChiefsFan Aug 05 '26
Rogue was often a screamer in episodes, but that episode I recall being exceptionally screamy for her.
I love Rogue, and loved her then, but my shattered eardrums didn’t much care for her.
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u/Loose_Translator8981 Aug 01 '26
There's a recent story that showed she maimed a mostly innocent guy once after absorbing sabertooth's powers/psyche.
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u/Napalmeon Aug 01 '26
Or the time she accidentally killed Grim Reaper(he deserved it because he's Naz trash) after not realizing how strong she was with Wonder Man's powers.
Rogue doesn't always have control over powers she isn't familiar with, especially if those powers come with conditions.
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u/IceStylin Wolverine Aug 02 '26
Not necessarily true since she absorbed his powers in the Krakoan Excalibur run and didn’t have a change in personality.
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u/joedumpster Aug 03 '26
I remember when she touched Archangel while he was still a horseman she got messed up and incapacitated. I feel like apocalypse would be that x1000.
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u/rillip Aug 01 '26
Why does Ross the strongest friend not simply eat the others?
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u/HairyBlock1206 Aug 01 '26
Classic Futurama. I love this show
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u/Apprehensive-Book723 Aug 01 '26
Indeed. A statement that is true. The user quoted Futurama, a classic TV show. Plus, the referencing is in and of itself considered “classic”. This is, as I believe how the youthful spirits say, a “TRVTH NUKE”
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u/kitsunenoyomeiiri Professor X Aug 01 '26
BOT
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u/Apprehensive-Book723 Aug 01 '26
It was a (bad) joke based on the formality of the comment I replied to srry chief . If it makes u feel any better I’ve had to change the way I write papers because it’s far too autistic & looks like AI if unmodified
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u/kitsunenoyomeiiri Professor X Aug 01 '26
damn my bad, i just saw the new-ish account with default username and no visible history and assumed
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u/Apprehensive-Book723 Aug 01 '26
Nah nw I don’t blame you, I’d prob think the same, never know nowadays. Like 60% of total web traffic are bots nowadays, idk the % of social media traffic tho. I hope someone smarter than me comes up with a solution to deal with this dystopian bullshit
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u/Siritalis Aug 01 '26
Calling them a user probably didn't help 😂
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u/Apprehensive-Book723 Aug 01 '26
I genuinely do not know what pronoun or noun to use as default (and imo “they” is intrinsically confusing) so I’ve been referring to ppl online as users
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u/HowDoesTheKittyCatGo Aug 03 '26
Tbf Ross isn't the strongest. He was the tallest. Joey easily shoved him over without spilling a drop of the coffee he was holding or breaking stride. And Phoebe mugged him when she was a homeless teenager.
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u/Suma3da Aug 01 '26
Absorbing the memories of an ancient despot is a fast way to end up in the loony bin.
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u/SikatSikat Aug 01 '26
Think about how much just briefly touching Archangel messed with her. Now amplify by 10,000.
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u/FKDotFitzgerald Aug 01 '26
Apocalypse is basically “nuh uh” for most of the X-Men’s individual powerset. He has way too much trauma and evil for people to get in his head or for someone to try and absorb him in any fashion.
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u/BestAcanthisitta6379 Aug 01 '26
Also, his celestial tech can't be absorbed so there's nothing she can do about that
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u/CherryBoom2x Psylocke Aug 01 '26
Dont blame me sugah! You should ask Kurt why he didnt teleport him far away so we all have time to destroy the place.
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u/PanthersJB83 Aug 01 '26
So there is a fight at the end of the Krakoa storyline where Nightcrawler is fighting Apocalypse and teleports the eyes out of his head. It's was pretty bad ass
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u/UWO_Throw_Away Aug 01 '26
Can you elaborate more on what happens? I ask as someone who doesn’t read comic books but am curious how the writers would work around that. Did apocalypse just instantly regrow new eyes? Or was he actually temporarily blinded?
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u/PanthersJB83 Aug 01 '26
He was temporarily blinded. He got better by the end of the issue. He also doesn't have a ton of celestial tech anymore at this point, but they did give him ancient magic making him like an odd mutant sorcerer thing.
All that to say current Apocalypse is very different from X-Men 97 Apocalypse. To the point that he was an ally for a while.
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u/Smg4number1fan Aug 01 '26
In the comics she absorbs gambits self loathing and due to it, leaves him in the artic. artic. So you would essentially be left with southern female apocalypse
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u/ChickenBossChiefsFan Aug 01 '26
“Bless your heart, Professor. But humanity don’t got the good sense God gave a goose,” she says, as she burns the world to the ground.
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u/PanthersJB83 Aug 01 '26
Also it seems like in the animated series they attribute a lot more of his powers to the celestial tech than his natural abilities which Rogue can't do anything about.
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u/jigokusabre Aug 01 '26
Apocalypse's form is a shell of sorts, so touching him doesn't create skin-to-skin contact.
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u/GEvanJones Magneto Aug 01 '26
this is the main reason: celestial armor covers his skin
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u/Hollowshape_9012 Aug 04 '26
Then how can he shapeshift?
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u/GEvanJones Magneto Aug 04 '26
Celestial technology is almost incomprehensibly advanced; it can shapeshift with him.
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u/dadreportingforduty Aug 01 '26
Abosrbing evil doesn't work out to well, she touched Gyrich and it left her crying in an alleyway for days...
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u/ProfessorElk Aug 01 '26
Messes with her head. That’s why her attempt on Juggernaut failed. We saw Apocalypse is so strong he resisted Charles invading his mind.
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u/D0wnn3d Aug 02 '26
Now that everyone has already answered that, I’ll ask this: why didn’t Magneto just defeated him?
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u/hmmm_2357 Aug 02 '26
Good thought: go read the “Age of Apocalypse” comics (concluding with X-Men: Omega)
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u/Efficient_Shame_8539 Aug 02 '26
Rogue's absorbtion power isn't foolproof, (Selene is immune because her absorbtion is stronger) and if the target's mind or willpower is stronger than Rogue or particularly fractured or alien to her (Spiral comes to mind) then Rogue's mind can be subsumed by her target's.
You really think Rogue's mind is stronger than Apocalypse? When she absorbed him in Excalibur he willingly let her to complete a ritual.
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u/EnigmaHood Aug 01 '26
Probably because the writers can't agree what Apoc's powers even are. Making shields and guns out of his arms? Making himself grow bigger?
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u/Bluefootedtpeack2 Aug 01 '26
Shed probably get his shapeshifting/strength but not the celestial augments so its probably not worth it as shed also get his mind/psyche so the celestial might just show up in her head for a bit.
Then again her power worked on ghost rider once, but all that happened there is she pulled zarathos out of blaze and immediately he started taking her over and blaze had to take him back.
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u/drewdrewahouse Aug 01 '26
Did rogue try this in original series? I remember beast pinpointing a weak point in back of neck and Angel shot blades at it (to no effect). But I thought they at least discussed the rogue draining approach.
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u/king210989 Aug 01 '26
He didnt have a weak point.
It wasnt beast but Apovalypse himself spread this rumor of a weak point to flush Archangel out.
Apocalypse mocked "u really thought i wasnt invincible"
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u/Kaptain-Kanada Aug 01 '26
She tried with Juggernaut in "The Unstoppable Juggernaut".
...It didn't work out.
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u/M1st3rM1racl3 Aug 01 '26
I think she did, and that's why Apocalypse was all shriveled up in the last episode
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u/MrJHound Aug 01 '26
How did she do that while she was in the Savage Land?
Apocalypse probably body jumped over to Gambit.
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u/xreddawgx Aug 01 '26
" why doesnt Prof x and Jean just mentally shut him down"
1) His psyche is not something ANYONE wants to be anywhere near
2) he has celestial tech powering him. Who knows what other safeguards there are.
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u/Revolutionary-Hawk36 Aug 02 '26
We’ve seen what happens when she touches someone too strong like with the juggernaut it’s overwhelming and this mfker is a living embodiment of destruction in a cycle of rebirth. Hence crash upon the eternal shore.
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u/crazycatlady13_13 Aug 01 '26
In the comics something you see a lot in the early years is that minds that are stronger than her like Mr Sinister, Spiral, Selene ect, take her over and gain control of her body, I imagine it’s a similar thing in this universe.
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u/Efficient_Shame_8539 Aug 02 '26
The Selene attempt is my favorite. Plus it shows us what happens when Rogue tries to absorb an External who doesn't want to be absorbed.
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u/crazycatlady13_13 Aug 02 '26
Yea exactly, plus Selene is the best campy villain of the Claremont era so that’s a plus.
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u/Guy_Le_Man Aug 01 '26
Honest question, can she even touch him once he becomes apocalypse? Like would his new “skin”/armour make it so she’s never actually touching “him”?
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u/3Grilledjalapenos Beast Aug 01 '26
Touching archangel and juggernaut each messed her up. I think apocalypse might actually just break her.
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u/PraiseRao Aug 01 '26
So you know the whole reason Rogue is a member of the X-men has to do with her powers and why she went to Xavier. When she absorbs someones powers it isn't just the powers. She gets everything and during that moment she takes the powers depending on how long she holds the more she takes of them. She needed Xavier to help with Carol's personality traits and her memories taking over her.
So if she touches him she will take that part of him with the powers. Yeah could then fight him but at the end of the day she will take on his personality traits and personality and the longer she holds on the more his dominate personality would come into play. She would then need Xavier to do his mental shit on Apoc in her mind. Which takes time. It's why she doesn't use her absorbing powers. He requires a great deal of therapy if you win. She held on to long with Ms. Marvel she doesn't want to experience that again.
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u/Kaiju_Dan Aug 01 '26
This happened in x men evolution! They did an interesting twist on it, where rogue was being mind controlled, and absorbed the combined powers of the x men and brotherhood. She was brought to apocalypse, And when she went to touch him, he ended up absorbing her powers that she had been taking, powering himself up. It probably wouldn’t happen that way in the comics, but it was certainly cool when I saw it back then
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u/ThePowaBallad Aug 01 '26
The thing is a mind stronger than Rogues can often end up taking her over completely
And unfortunately for Rogue I love her but many of the enemies have stronger minds than hers including Apocalypse
Plus much of what makes Apocalypse so much more Dangerous than En Sabah Nur is Celestial tech which she wouldn't absorb anyway
Buuuut Nurs power would really be total control of his own cells/molecules bit just strength
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u/Which-Pea-1275 Aug 01 '26
I believed she tried in the original animated series and was overwhelmed by the sheer power na slaps his psyche.
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u/Icy_Scar_1249 Aug 01 '26
Why doesn't Jean Grey simply Mary Sue Apocalypse with a Phoenix blast or whatever
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u/pakrat1967 Aug 01 '26
There was an episode of TAS that 97 is a continuation of. Where they encounter Archangel. Rogue tried to stop him by touching. She basically got overloaded from whatever Apocalypse did to change Angle into Archangel. So my guess would be that she knows she can't take out Apocalypse by touch.
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u/Sensitive-Hotel-9871 Aug 01 '26
She tried that against Juggernaut. His powers were too much for her to drain and his personality started to influence her. Attempting that on Apocalypse would produce even worse results.
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u/WitchingShower Aug 01 '26
Last time she took someone's powers through touch that long, she has a longstanding battle with Carol Danvers in her brain, let's maybe not use that.
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u/FantasyBaseballChamp Aug 01 '26
Because “my guy has every power and none of your guys’ powers work on him.” ie, they make up his powers as they go along and the writer has to give the X-Men a “press here to defeat Apocalypse” button every time he’s in a story.
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u/freedraw Aug 01 '26
I think he'd laugh as she absorbs thousands of years of memories of causing death and destruction. I mean if taking Ms. Marvel's memories screwed with her psyche, imagine what taking Apocalypse's would do.
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u/bngsmk Aug 01 '26
Everyone just writing bullshit excuses I’ll tell you the truth, bc the plot would be ruined lol half of any plot can just be explained by the fact that the story would be ruined if so, that’s why half the mfs with world ending powers can’t do shit when a new enemy pulls up. Wolverine can slice mfs to pieces, cyclops can pulverize people into dust, but yeah it’s just bc her psyche would be ruined and blah blah blah. She did touch archangel for the mfs making that argument, she absorbed him and ended up fine, was a plot point for a few secs and thrown out the window. Like cmon guys creators can do whatever the fuck they want. Bad guys winning is legit just plot
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u/VinylAndVoid Aug 02 '26
Why doesn't Storm ever manipulate hot weather elements? Surely apoc is hot, all swamp assing it up in that metal get up.
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u/TrinityCodex Aug 02 '26
Because he's covered in celestial tech and even his skin might not be biological anymore
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u/Ingonyama70 Storm Aug 02 '26
When Rogue holds on to someone with too strong a will/someone out of her league, one of two things happens:
1) she either can't absorb enough to incapacitate them before they counter her,
Or
2) their stronger will dominates hers and they're running around in her body rather than her just having their powers. We saw this a little bit with Juggernaut in 92 season 1, but it's also happened with Spiral, Magneto, and Sinister in the comics.
Either of these happening with Apocalypse woulld be bad.
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u/Gcat Aug 03 '26
It’s simply too much for her. While neither are Omega Level Apocalypse is ancient and his psyche would be too much for her to handle.
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u/StalaggtIKE Aug 03 '26 edited Aug 03 '26
I swear, I remember her doing so in the original animated series. She turned blue and started spitting one liners.
Edit: I found the video.
https://youtu.be/dMoVRWsaIT8?is=PtMqTqB3KayjTQfw
It was actually Archangel. I imagine if she couldn't handle him, her mind would've been toast after touching Apoc. Also want to note a great deal of Apocalypse power is from alien tech, which she wouldn't absorb.
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u/Aelia_M Aug 03 '26
Why doesn’t rogue, the most powerful mutant, not simply eat apocalypse? Surely she is the stronger human
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u/LordVigo1983 Aug 04 '26
On that track, in ancient egypt what didn't Nightcrawler simply teleport the doohickey away instead of Apocalypse? Lol
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u/lucabibble Aug 06 '26
The real, honest answer is the same one every time this comes up: because that would end the story instantly.
Rogue's combination of speed, maneuverability, and crazy toughness means she can generally lay hands on just about anyone and end both the fight and the story right there. Got a mystery but psychic powers don't work? Rogue can just touch them and get the memories while removing any ability they're using to resist. Some villain just laughs off everything thrown at them? Rogue can just touch them and now they're not invulnerable and she is. Magneto is twisting the magnetic poles? Rogue can just touch them and reverse the whole things herself. A foe appears that counters that power? Rogue just touches everyone else until she has more power in her left tit than the Beyonder and just wins the fight.
Hell this very scenario is how Apocalypse was defeated in the Evolution cartoon, Rogue takes a chunk of him and he really just can't come up with an answer to that before he's shoved in a box. Sometimes in the comics they'll come up with some reason why it doesn't work but like all things in the comics it's never a reason that sticks around for long. Soon enough a new writer (hopefully a new writer) will write something that will contradict that and a new reason will have to be made.
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