MAGNETO (a.k.a. Erik Magnus Lehnsherr)
Magneto is a very old friend of Professor Charles Xavier as well as
his greatest enemy. He is a mutant with complete control over magnetism and goes by the name Erik Magnus
Lehnsherr, although hints now place the "Erik Lehnsherr" part as an alias.
As a child, Magneto was in a Nazi concentration camp and lost his family there. When his then only daughter
died in a fire where humans would not let him try to save her, his mutant powers, latent due to illness,
flared, and he killed those who got in his way. His wife, Magda, left him without telling him about
his unborn twin children.
He first met Charles Xavier in the Middle East and they soon became friends. However, they disagreed
on how mutants could live in a world of humans. While Charles dreamed of humans and mutants living together
in peace, Magneto believed the only way to keep from being persecuted was for mutants to rule over humans
with himself as their leader. They eventually went their separate ways and the X-Men later fought Magneto
and his followers on a number of occasions.
Magneto did eventually change his opinions for a while and tried to adopt Xavier's dream, joining the
X-Men as the teacher of the New Mutants in Xavier's absence. However
as new events occurred, he again came to believe his original opinion was right and returned to his
megalomaniacal ways.
While he was in the Savage Land, he saved Rogue who had been stranded
there without her powers. Rogue was grateful and, having had a hard life herself, could at least understand
why Magneto felt as he did. She felt affection for him and he for her, but she could not convince him
that he was wrong about not believing in peace. When her powers returned, she left to return to the
X-Men and he continued to build his mutant empire.
Gambit has fought alongside the X-Men against Magneto when necessary since he joined the team. He went
on a suicide mission to stop him after Magneto had murdered thousands of innocent lives. Gambit is also
aware of Rogue's concern for Magneto and her desire to help him, trusting in her to do the right thing.
Magneto's activities culminated in a final attempt to rule the world, but he was stopped by Xavier and
it was believed that he had been totally mindwiped, but when his orbiting empire, Avalon, was destroyed,
the still unconscious Magneto was returned to earth in an escape pod with his primary caretaker, Collossus.
He was mysteriously separated from Collossus and was believed tohave resurfaced in South America, as
"Joseph". Joseph had found the X-Men and joined them in a youthenized,
amnesiac state.
Recently, however, "Magneto" apparently returned in an Eric the Red disguise, putting Gambit on trial
for his involvement in the Morlock Massacre despite there being others far more guilty. It is unclear
how Magneto found about Gambit's involvement though as it is very unlikely the few who knew, Gambit,
Sinister and Marauders, told. This trial resulted in Gambit being banished from the X-Men.
[See UXM 304, 327, 350; XM 1-3, 25]
MAGNETO'S ACOLYTES
The Acolytes are Magneto's worshipful followers, many of whom revere
him as something of a deity. They have included Amelia Voght, Joanna Cargill (Frenzy), Fabian Cortez,
Exodus, and once even Colossus of the X-Men as well as others.
Gambit and the X-Men have fought against them a number of times and
Gambit seems to know Joanna Cargill from his past.
[See XM 1-3, 25, & 26; UXM 298, 304 & 307]
MARAUDERS
The Marauders are a group of ruthless muscle hired by Sinister to
do his dirty work. Sinister used them to kill the Morlocks in the Morlock
Massacre. Sinister took their DNA and has tried (possibly succeeded) in cloning them.
Gambit, at the request of Sinister for a payment yet to be revealed, gathered the first incarnation
of the Marauders including Sabretooth. Sinister also had Gambit
get the Marauders into the Morlock tunnels for the massacre. When Gambit realized what was happening,
he tried to stop the killing, but was attacked by Sabretooth and left for dead. He managed to escape
saving one small girl, Sarah, who would later become known as Marrow
and join the X-Men.
[See UXM 350, XM 34]
MARROW (a.k.a. Sarah)
Marrow is an angry young Morlock who started Gene Nation to try to
pay back humanity for treating the Morlocks so badly as well as to get back at
Storm whom she feels betrayed her trust. Storm thought she had killed the girl by cutting out
her heart, but Marrow was found to have a second heart and survived. She has since been taken in by
the X-Men
Even though Gambit recognised her as the one child he had saved from the tunnels during the massacre,
she was ignorant of his identity. Indeed, she was even fond of him, thanks to what happened on the Skrull
homeworld. After injuring her by accident there, he rushed her to an alien, hospital facility where
she underwent intensive therapy in a regeneration tank. Not only was her life saved, but she was suddenly
supermodel beautiful. Because of her secret obsession with looks, Marrow was delighted at her new appearance
and was incredibly grateful to Gambit. It was even implied that she had a slight crush on him. Every
time Gambit tried to tell her about his role in her people's death, therefore, he was defeated by her
gratitude. Whenever he broached the subject, she would make a comment about how much she was thankful
to him and he would freeze. He could not burst her bubble regarding him.
Sadly, how this situation might have played out is a matter for speculation. Marrow quietly faded away
into limbo before she found out about Gambit's involvement in her past, and the plot seems to have been
dropped.
[UXM 325, 349, 350, 370, XM 90]
MENGOCHAUZCRAUS, STANISLAUS AND GRIGORI
The Mengo Brothers, as they are popularly known, are two Latverian expatriates and hired goons. They were in the employ of the Pig when Gambit first met them, but they ultimately helped him to infiltrate Doom's castle in Doomstadt and use the timeportal there to travel into the past.
[Gambit 3, 12, 15]
MORLOCKS
The Morlocks were a group of outcast mutants living in tunnels under the streets of New York. They scavenged
off of the humans above them. Storm became their leader in a battle to
the death with their leader Calisto. Sinister found them genetically
inferior and sent the Marauders to murder all of them. A few escaped
with the help of the X-Men and other heros and later were sent to another
dimension where time passed differently from the regular timeline. The remaining ones are now much older.
Prior to the Morlock Massacre, Gambit was stealing for Sinister to pay off some debt and receive something
important to him. As part of this agreement, Gambit gathered the Marauders for Sinister and later was
persuaded, for something else Gambit needed and despite wanting to be done with Sinister, to get the
Marauders into the Morlock tunnels. He did not, however, know the specific reason why they were going
there.
It is unclear if Gambit knew the Morlocks prior to the Massacre, but upon realizing what was happening,
he tried to stop the killing only to be attacked and left for dead. Gambit managed to escape, saving
the Morlock girl, Sarah, who later became Marrow.
Gambit has never forgiven himself for his involvement with Sinister and the Marauders and considers
himself damned. Part of his original reason for assisting Storm and joining the X-Men seems to have
been an attempt to make some amends for his past.