Always an outsider, Remy LeBeau was shunned as a youth because of his strange, burning-red eyes. Eventually, he realized he was a mutant -- gifted with the ability to charge inanimate objects with explosively released biokinetic energy. A reformed thief and charming scoundrel, the ragin' Cajun always has a card up his sleeve!

Real name: Remy LeBeau
Occupation: Adventurer, reformed thief
Group affiliation: X-Men, Thieves Guild of New Orleans
Base of operations: Mobile
First appearance: Uncanny X-Men #266 (1990)

Height: 6'1"
Weight: 175 lbs.
Eye color: Burning red
Hair color: Brown

Powers: Through physical contact, Gambit can convert an object's potential energy into kinetic energy.

Weapons: In Gambit's hands, even the most benign implement becomes an exploding projectile. However, he most often relies on kinetically charged playing cards.

History: Orphaned at birth, Remy LeBeau spent his early years fending for himself on the hard, cold streets of New Orleans. He survived by picking pockets -- teaching himself the tricks of the trade through trial and error, and eking out a modest living. However, he had yet to learn an important lesson: restraint. Remy unknowingly tried to pick the pocket of Jean-Luc LeBeau, head of the legendary Thieves Guild of New Orleans.

Jean-Luc took the boy under his wing, adopting him. In time, Remy mastered the ways of the guild -- as well as those of its chief rival, the New Orleans Assassins Guild. To seal a peace pact between the organizations, Gambit married Bella Donna Boudreaux, granddaughter of the assassins' patriarch. But Bella Donna's brother, Julien, objected to the arranged union and challenged Gambit to a duel. Severely wounding his opponent, Remy was forced to flee New Orleans to prevent war between the guilds.

Gambit wandered the world and plied his skills as a master thief, aided by his mutant ability to charge objects with explosive energy. During this period, he worked as an operative for the master geneticist known as Mr. Sinister. Unable to control his burgeoning talents, Gambit submitted to an operation whereby Sinister siphoned off a considerable portion of his power. In return, Gambit helped Sinister assemble a team of super-powered assassins -- unaware his benefactor would dispatch the Marauders to annihilate the Morlocks, an underground community of mutant outcasts. Ignorant of the true motive behind Sinister's machinations, Gambit even led the Marauders into the Morlock tunnels. The outlaw team of mutant adventurers known as the X-Men were able to help some of the Morlocks to safety, and a considerable number managed to escape the Marauders on their own -- but the majority perished.

Severing his ties to Sinister, Gambit partnered with the X-Men's weather witch, Storm, who had turned to thievery after being transformed into an amnesiac child. When Storm regained her memories and true age, she sponsored Gambit's admission to the X-Men. Although technically married, he became enamored of his teammate Rogue, blessed and cursed with the ability to absorb other mutants' thoughts and abilities through skin-on-skin contact. The feeling was mutual, but the two soulmates were condemned never to touch. After sharing a forbidden kiss, Rogue learned Gambit's dark secret: his complicity in the so-called "Mutant Massacre." At Rogue's request, the X-Men left Remy to fend for himself in the frozen wasteland of Antarctica. Eventually, Gambit rejoined the team and reconciled with Rogue.