How One Third of a Bizarre X-Men Love Triangle Has Simply Vanished

In Left Unresolved, I spotlight storylines that have been, well, left unresolved. Today, we look at how one third of a bizarre X-Men love triangle just seemingly vanished.

One of the most interesting things about obscure X-Men characters in recent years is that the introduction of Krakoa has really flipped the switch so much when it comes to the depiction of X-Men characters, because the mutant nation of Krakoa has the Resurrection Protocols, a group of five mutants who used their powers in concert to essentially resurrect any dead mutant from recent history (this then expanded to the past, as well).

As a result, it is so hard to find obscure X-Men characters nowadays, since so many Krakoan age writers have brought pretty much ALL of them back (not literally all of them, of course), so that is why it is so hard to comprehend how the character of Pulse has been completely dropped from the Marvel Universe, especially after he was used as a tool to break up Rogue and Gambit, one of the most famous X-Men romances around, with a bizarre love triangle orchestrated by Rogue’s mother, Mystique.

Related

What Does the Marvel Universe Actually Remember About Spider-Man’s Secret Identity?

In their latest look at unresolved comic book stories, CSBG examines how Marvel never quite explained the ramifications of Spidey’s identity spell.

How did this Bizarre Love Triangle in the X-Men begin?

It all started with the introduction of a new character in the X-Men named Foxx in X-Men #171 (by Peter Milligan, Salvador Larroca and Danny Miki. It’s Foxx that I featured in the header image for this piece because Pulse really wasn’t on any good covers), a new mutant who is assigned to Gambit’s class at the X-Men’s school for mutants…

Rogue and Gambit are dealing with some difficulties in their relationship due to their inability to touch (Rogue had also recently gained new superpowers by absorbing Sunfire’s powers). Foxx is aggressively making moves on Gambit…

Emma Frost is trying to serve as a telepathic counselor, of sorts, for Gambit and Rogue, but things are going poorly, as Foxx is on Gambit’s mind…

Foxx, of course, is actually Mystique in disguise, trying to break up Gambit and Rogue. She transformed into Rogue and offered herself to Gambit so that he could physically be with Rogue. It was very disturbing.

In X-Men #173, we see that Mystique is working with a partner, someone who is busy robbing a house when Mystique calls him up to note that the shield he gave her to disguise her thoughts from the X-Men’s telepaths might be wearing off….

Eventually, Mystique’s ruse was uncovered, and it wasn’t great when the other X-Men (including Rogue) discover that Gambit knew about her ruse before it was uncovered and didn’t tell anyone about it (he didn’t want to hurt Rogue by letting her know what her mother was doing).

Mystique then asked to join the X-Men, while also noting that she felt that Gambit was a loser. She left, though, before getting the answer (they WOULD have let her join), and then met up with Pulse, noting that the first part of her plan had gone well, and she had left a festering wound in the Rogue/Gambit relationship.

And wouldn’t you know it, Mystique knew the perfect guy for Rogue once she ended things with Gambit…Pulse!

Related

Fantastic Four: Who Was Reed Richards’ Forgotten Sister, Huntara?

In their latest look at unresolved comic book stories, CSBG examines whether Huntara was actually Reed Richards’ sister or not.

How was Pulse written out of the X-Men?

The next few issues of the series were busy with a crossover with Black Panther (who Storm had just left the X-Men to marry) and then the House of M crossover happened, as well, with most of the mutant population of the world losing their mutant powers (so the X-Men went from being a busy school filled with students to being a school with very few remaining students).

So it wasn’t until X-Men #179 that we revisited Mystique’s plan, as she finally decided that she and Pulse were going to go visit the X-Men and get Rogue to realize that Pulse was the perfect man for her…

In X-Men #181 (by Milligan, Roguer Cruz and Victor Olazaba), Mystique shows up at Xavier’s with Pulse, outright STATING that he is the perfect romantic partner for Rogue!

In the next issue (Larocca now working directly with colorist Aron Lusen), Pulse spends time with Rogue, revealing that he is immune to her life force draining powers due to his ability to mess with other mutant’s powers), but also notes that he is only doing this as a favor for Mystique. He isn’t trying to make moves on Rogue, but, well, he isn’t agains it either…

During all of this, Mystique is messing with Gambit’s mind, telling him that he should just let Rogue go be with Pulse, since Pulse can actually give her the physical companionship that she needs. Remy is going through a tough time, overall, where he feels that no one is taking him seriously, not the X-Men as a superhero, and not Rogue as a love interest, so he is seduced by Apocalypse to come work with him as one of his Horsemen, his new Death, after Apocalypse offers mutants his “Blood,” which can restore mutant powers and also increase mutant abilities…

Rogue obviously takes it hard when Gambit, as the new Death, attacks the X-Men. Pulse helps save her from an attack by the new Death…

Apocalypse is defeated, and Gambit disappears. Weeks later, Pulse has been spending a lot of time with Rogue, and the two have become very close…

Mystique annoyingly is all, “See, you’re perfect for each other!”

Gambit tries to rescue one of his fellow Horsemen, Lorna Dane, from the X-Men. He fails, but then escapes again (that plot was also abandoned). In the wake of the fight, Pulse makes a move on Rogue, and she explains that she can’t even THINK of romance right now after seeing her former love attack her like that…

And that was, well, IT for Pulse. He was never seen again! There was a mention of him in a one-shot where Steve Rogers mentioned that he was one of a few different mutants that he thought could make for good superheroes, but he didn’t appear in that comic, and he hasn’t been seen since. Mike Carey started writing the series the next issue, and he didn’t follow up on this plot. So Rogue and Pulse’s possible romantic entanglement was never resolved beyond her shooting him down there, and then he never showed up again.

Thanks to reader Daniel R. for the suggestion! If anyone else has a suggestion for a future edition of Left Unresolved, drop me a line at [email protected]!