[Meeting…] Rogues

When this section was started (with the article dedicated to Groot) I explained that here we would talk about characters of various kinds, whether alone or in a group. After presenting many characters individually in this section, the time has come to present a group of characters, so I have decided that the Rogues will be the ones to have that honor. Who are they and why do they deserve to be the first group in this section? You will discover it if you continue reading.

We are here for the money

The Rogues fit the classic superhero enemy stereotype quite well: They are dressed in bright colors, have ridiculous weapons and are dedicated to robbing banks, only to be chased and arrested by the hero on duty, in this case, the 1960s version of Flash.

As the years went by, many comic book collections became darker in search of a more adult reader and that made the new enemies that appeared in the stories more sadistic, dangerous, twisted, dark and obsessed with eliminating the current hero or harming their peers at any cost.

However, the Rogues managed to remain without too many changes and far from remaining as outdated stereotypes, They gained in personality, because what they did no one used to do anymore..

Despite their criminal career, the Rogues are still ordinary people and that is what leads them to make decisions that are very unusual in groups of comic book villains. The first rule of the Rogues is not to endanger innocent people, they dedicate themselves to robbing to get quick money and if the robbery goes well, they go to a bar to celebrate in style. They do not seek to cause death or destruction in their wake, for that very reason, a Rogue will never abandon a wounded companion. And it is one thing to be a thief and another to be a murderer or a psychopath who enjoys the suffering of others.

Neither villains, nor criminals, simply Rogues

Although there are many Flash enemies who have been considered Rogues at some point in their history, not all of them have fit into the group or followed its rules, which has led to their expulsion or departure from the group or has generated direct confrontations between them. Therefore it is not strange that the word Rogue generally defines the Flash's enemies, whether or not they follow the moral code of the Rogues.

However, the "Rogues at heart" are the ones who usually form the core of the group, and among them those that I will describe below stand out.
It is worth mentioning that, due to the age of the characters and the number of scriptwriters who have worked with them, there are some that have changed a lot over time, so these descriptions are based on the most current versions (which in most cases, are also the most common).

Captain Cold: Armed with guns capable of paralyzing and freezing anyone (which makes robberies easier) and dressed in an Eskimo-like outfit, Cold has been the leader of the Rogues more times than anyone else. His intelligence is that of a normal person, but due to his pace of life he has developed the ability to quickly draw up plans, look for improvised solutions and, above all, to make the most of the skills of his companions.

Mirror Master: There are several villains who have used the identity of Mirror Master, but all of them possessed the ability to teleport between reflective surfaces and create illusions with mirrors. This ability will be crucial for the Rogues to be able to commit their robberies and get out of extreme situations alive. Mirror Master is a key piece for the team, as well as being the hardest Rogue to catch.

Weather Wizard: Possibly the most dangerous Rogue due to the nature of her powers, since she is capable of controlling the weather (yes, something similar to Storm from the X-men but with more limitations). Weather Wizard is capable of creating a fog capable of hiding the team, summoning winds to drive away their enemies or causing storms to attack the superhero on duty, in case he comes to ruin their robbery.

Heat Wave: An arsonist since childhood, Heat Wave uses flamethrowers and other similar weapons during robberies. Despite his usefulness in fighting superheroes, Heat Wave has had quite a few arguments with Cold about his behavior, mainly due to his desire to burn things.

Trickster: He is a specialist in doing unpredictable things that were not in the initial plan, increasing the chances of things going wrong. His main ability consists of the enormous number of strange gadgets he uses during his battles and robberies (bombs, rocket shoes, metal fists that shoot out). His impulsive and problematic personality led him to be expelled from the group, and then to be released from prison by his former teammates, who believed that perhaps this would have served as a lesson for him to mature.

Pie Piper: One of the youngest and loneliest Rogues, he possesses the ability to mind control people using a flute. Initially he thought that the other Rogues would not accept him because he was homosexual, although that did not mean any problem for the rest of the members (despite Trickster's jokes).

There are many other characters who have been “Rogues at heart” such as The Top, Open Kadabra, Captain Boomerang either Golden Glider, but I think the ones I described above represent the team very well, and they are also the ones that appear most frequently in current stories.

One of the curious things about the Rogues is that most of them do not possess special powers, They simply use items that give them special abilities. However, that situation changed recently, when Captain Cold convinced the team to use a machine to fuse the abilities of their weapons with themselves, which ended up causing unexpected consequences, since the result was not entirely satisfactory.

Conclusion and Recommendations

The Rogues are somewhat colorful characters, a “family” of thieves who help each other. The skills of each of the members of this team complement perfectly with the rest, which makes them function as a solid and effective group.

Their moral code has led them on more than one occasion to have problems with other villains, such as with their former ally, Gorilla Grodd, who seeks to exterminate and dominate the human race, which he considers inferior. These situations have caused the Rogues to collaborate with their main enemies: Flash, the Justice League and the police.

A la hora de recomendar cómics, creo que lo mejor es echarle un vistazo a las colecciones de Flash, ya que los Rogues son el enemigo más recurrente del velocista escarlata.

Si lo que queréis es ver a los Rogues desenvolviéndose en un mundo lleno de villanos menos amigables que ellos os recomiendo que echéis un vistazo a los siguientes cómics:
Salvation Run (2008)

En esta historia, la mayoría de villanos de DC son enviados a un planeta desconocido donde podrán hacer lo que quieran. Entre los villanos “exportados” se encuentran los Rogues, los cuales han aprendido a sobrevivir en el hostil planeta gracias a su trabajo en equipo, pero ¿Qué pasará cuando los grandes villanos de DC traten de tomar el control del nuevo mundo?

Forever Evil y Rogues Rebellion (2013-2014)

In Forever Evil, La versión malvada de la Liga de la Justicia (el Sindicato del Crimen) ha regresado desde su dimensión para controlar la nuestra. Tras eliminar a la Liga de la Justicia toman el mundo y lo reparten entre los villanos que aceptan sus condiciones. Los Rogues se verán en una situación delicada al comprobar la falta de escrúpulos de los miembros del Sindicato, los cuales quieren llevar a cabo un genocidio en la tierra para mostrar su poder.

In Rogues Rebellion, vemos que los Rogues deciden oponerse al Sindicato del Crimen, lo cual les causará muchos problemas.