I've always thought Rogue was sexually abused as a child. Not many people like to talk about it, but it happens to like 1 out of 5 children so I figure at least ONE of our heroes has to have been a victim. And it makes sense when you look at her adult personality.
* She's overly aggressive and sometimes downright mean. Basically she's overcompensating for being unable to fend off her attacker as a child. She doesn't ever want to be made a victim again. * Depending on the writer, she's always intolerant of or in constant search for intimacy which is a trait of abused adults and probably confuses the hell out of poor Remy. And don't even get me started on their relationship dynamic. Classic "Pusher/Clinger" relationship which totally coincides with Remy being Borderline because he's just wanting to get closer and closer(as they fear abandonment and need constant validation) and she wants him to get the hell away. * There's some more traits I had thought of one very late night some time ago, but I forgot them...but you get the point
I also read somewhere (wish I had a bloody link) that many mutants got their particular powers by some anxiety they had in prepubescence i.e. Nightcrawler wanting to disappear because of his appearance; Thunderbird 1 wanting to be the epitome of what he thought a native American man should be (strong, fast, etc); Logan, being sickly and frail most of his childhood, becoming practically immortal with his healing abilities. So if Rogue grew up thinking that when someone touches it's to hurt you, she would have never wanted to be touched and her mutation would have developed around that fear.
Re: possibly...xenokattzDecember 1 2008, 03:51:48 UTC
I also read somewhere (wish I had a bloody link) that many mutants got their particular powers by some anxiety they had in prepubescence -- You're right; I remember that theory being very prominent in the mid-90's among ficcers for the exact same reasons you've named. The one thing I've always wondered though is how does this affect people like Scott, Remy and Hanks whose mutations have (as far as we can tell) very little historical psychological connections?
Re: possibly...i_hungerDecember 1 2008, 17:36:39 UTC
I was thinking that last night. Hank perhaps considered himself an animal all along considering his appearance and changed into one? Super strong, agile, fast - a monkey man.
Scott and Remy are hard... If we were to go by Clarmont's original Remy origin, he was Mr. Sinister's genetic creation from Scott's DNA and then some more DNA sprinkled in a big cauldron. He's basically a Powerpuff Boy.
Perhaps Scott had some anxiety about his brain damage and it manifested into his optic beams becoming some sort of self fulfilling prophesy kinda like when you think you're going to get a huge friggin zip right before dating this really hot dude, and PUFF! it's there?
Warning: Geek speakxenokattzDecember 1 2008, 18:11:43 UTC
re: Hank -- I'm not familiar enough with his background to really get an understanding of his psychiatric issues. From what I know, he's from a ridiculously stable, supportive family which is very different from a lot of mutants we know. I think he's always been a football player, too, instead f becoming one after his mutation triggered but considering the age at which his mutation catalysed is about the same age kids start taking football seriously, this may not be a factor. His outstanding characteristic is his intellect. Why didn't be develop a mutation like Cipher or Sage?
Re: Scott-- There are several factors to consider with Scott. 1) He came from a slightly unstable family. Depending on who you ask, Chris Summers is/was an alcoholic and/or slept around. This would have caused a lot of tension at home. Whether or not these tensions were obvious is left up to the reader but I think it's canon somewhere that Katherine Summers threatened to leave Chris unless he stopped drinking. Alex was the make-up baby. 2) The traumatic death of his parents, his near-death and the near-death of his little brother are probably the closest we come to a "classical" trigger. What goes on in an 11 year-old's head after seeing his parents die in a flaming ball of fire while taking on the responsibility of saving himself and his little brother? Why didn't he sprout wings? Control water or fire? Did his powers manifest through his eyes because he didn't want to see that event? 3) Brain damage. The phrase alone is traumatic but especially for a tween who, as far as we can tell, is imaginative, smart and undergoing PSTD, this is another classic trigger. Plus, there's actual physical damage to whatever part of his brain that controls his force blasts. Could it also be related to his eyes? 4) Scott was left unadopted for years while Alex was adopted right away. Lots of self-esteem and abandonment issues there, not to mention a frustrated sense of protectiveness towards Alex which is tied to #2.
Maybe it's a combination of nurture & nature. Mutants have a genetic predisposition for one or two types of gifts-- energy, physical, psionic, etc-- but something has to catalyse one gift over the others.
Which goes back to the question: Why optic force blasts?
Re: Warning: Geek speaki_hungerDecember 1 2008, 18:55:31 UTC
LOL! Mental image of Victorian era Nathanial Essex sipping his earl grey and contemplating nature vs nurture in pre-mutated humans. It probably drives his modern self crazy with desire and frustration, all that potential that would be possible or possibly wasted. Which makes me think that the very points you made about Scott's mutation may be the reason Sinister has such an obsession with him. Perhaps the Summers gene has a blank slate quality that makes almost any mutation possible?
You make a really good point about nature/nurture though. The Darkholme-Wagner clan is a perfect example of it. Was it nature that made them all able to hide so well? Mystique is able to change her form into anyone she wants; Nightcrawler can bamf away and melt into the shadows; and Nocturne can possess people's bodies, fully hiding from view. Becoming inconspicuous in various ways seems to be a genetic trait, but then again, so it being blue. Could their own shame of being an abnormal pigmentation result in their own individual mutations? Being seen as a freak would make them want to hide, so nurturing could be the reason their mutations are similar.
* She's overly aggressive and sometimes downright mean. Basically she's overcompensating for being unable to fend off her attacker as a child. She doesn't ever want to be made a victim again.
* Depending on the writer, she's always intolerant of or in constant search for intimacy which is a trait of abused adults and probably confuses the hell out of poor Remy. And don't even get me started on their relationship dynamic. Classic "Pusher/Clinger" relationship which totally coincides with Remy being Borderline because he's just wanting to get closer and closer(as they fear abandonment and need constant validation) and she wants him to get the hell away.
* There's some more traits I had thought of one very late night some time ago, but I forgot them...but you get the point
I also read somewhere (wish I had a bloody link) that many mutants got their particular powers by some anxiety they had in prepubescence i.e. Nightcrawler wanting to disappear because of his appearance; Thunderbird 1 wanting to be the epitome of what he thought a native American man should be (strong, fast, etc); Logan, being sickly and frail most of his childhood, becoming practically immortal with his healing abilities. So if Rogue grew up thinking that when someone touches it's to hurt you, she would have never wanted to be touched and her mutation would have developed around that fear.
Reply
-- You're right; I remember that theory being very prominent in the mid-90's among ficcers for the exact same reasons you've named. The one thing I've always wondered though is how does this affect people like Scott, Remy and Hanks whose mutations have (as far as we can tell) very little historical psychological connections?
Reply
Scott and Remy are hard... If we were to go by Clarmont's original Remy origin, he was Mr. Sinister's genetic creation from Scott's DNA and then some more DNA sprinkled in a big cauldron. He's basically a Powerpuff Boy.
Perhaps Scott had some anxiety about his brain damage and it manifested into his optic beams becoming some sort of self fulfilling prophesy kinda like when you think you're going to get a huge friggin zip right before dating this really hot dude, and PUFF! it's there?
Reply
Re: Scott-- There are several factors to consider with Scott.
1) He came from a slightly unstable family. Depending on who you ask, Chris Summers is/was an alcoholic and/or slept around. This would have caused a lot of tension at home. Whether or not these tensions were obvious is left up to the reader but I think it's canon somewhere that Katherine Summers threatened to leave Chris unless he stopped drinking. Alex was the make-up baby.
2) The traumatic death of his parents, his near-death and the near-death of his little brother are probably the closest we come to a "classical" trigger. What goes on in an 11 year-old's head after seeing his parents die in a flaming ball of fire while taking on the responsibility of saving himself and his little brother? Why didn't he sprout wings? Control water or fire? Did his powers manifest through his eyes because he didn't want to see that event?
3) Brain damage. The phrase alone is traumatic but especially for a tween who, as far as we can tell, is imaginative, smart and undergoing PSTD, this is another classic trigger. Plus, there's actual physical damage to whatever part of his brain that controls his force blasts. Could it also be related to his eyes?
4) Scott was left unadopted for years while Alex was adopted right away. Lots of self-esteem and abandonment issues there, not to mention a frustrated sense of protectiveness towards Alex which is tied to #2.
Maybe it's a combination of nurture & nature. Mutants have a genetic predisposition for one or two types of gifts-- energy, physical, psionic, etc-- but something has to catalyse one gift over the others.
Which goes back to the question: Why optic force blasts?
Reply
You make a really good point about nature/nurture though. The Darkholme-Wagner clan is a perfect example of it. Was it nature that made them all able to hide so well? Mystique is able to change her form into anyone she wants; Nightcrawler can bamf away and melt into the shadows; and Nocturne can possess people's bodies, fully hiding from view. Becoming inconspicuous in various ways seems to be a genetic trait, but then again, so it being blue. Could their own shame of being an abnormal pigmentation result in their own individual mutations? Being seen as a freak would make them want to hide, so nurturing could be the reason their mutations are similar.
Reply
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