Vegas (comics)
Encyclopedia
Vegas is a fictional character
from the Marvel Universe
. Debuting in Amazing Fantasy
#13, Vegas is the protagonist of a modern superhero
Western
.
, a person with superhuman abilities, described in Amazing Fantasy as "super-types without super-tights." Vegas joins a group of evil anomalitos (called anomaloco
s) called The Renegades, to be with his romantic interest Rose Red. When visiting his sister Jane, who is a foremost expert in the field of "probability physics
", at her lab, The Renegades attack and the experiment goes out of control, imbuing Vegas with an extraordinary, but unpredictably dangerous superpower. The experiment involved a device called a Probability Generator, which presumably had imbued Vegas with the ability to alter the probability of events to benefit himself.
Vegas is both hunted by and seeks to stop The Renegades who, in their invasion of the laboratory, severely injured Vegas' sister Jane. Recently, Vegas has come to tentatively accept a position as a bounty-hunter, under the patronage of a Texas Ranger
with superhuman abilities, named Sgt. Harlan Stone. It is his mandate as bounty-hunter to apprehend or kill The Renegades.
An example of this took place in the City Limits Diner in Austin, Texas. Vegas, in a test of his abilities, asked a man to flip a coin. When asked, "Heads or tails?", Vegas responded, "Edge." The coin landed on its edge and simultaneously a diner waitress dropped a pot of coffee she was carrying. The conditions necessary to land a coin on its edge were not extraordinary, so the resulting bad luck of the waitress was accordingly minor. Another example, however, takes place as a gun is held to Vegas' head in the same diner, by an anomaloco named The Padre. As Vegas considers the consequences of using his power to escape death, he imagines The Padre's gun misfiring, causing The Padre to jerk his hand and shoot the waitress that had broken the coffee pot in the chest. In this example, the conditions necessary for Vegas to come out on top may very severely impact the luck of a bystander. Instead, Vegas chooses to talk himself out of the situation.
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
from the Marvel Universe
Marvel Universe
The Marvel Universe is the shared fictional universe where most comic book titles and other media published by Marvel Entertainment take place, including those featuring Marvel's most familiar characters, such as Spider-Man, the Hulk, the X-Men, and the Avengers.The Marvel Universe is further...
. Debuting in Amazing Fantasy
Amazing Fantasy
Amazing Fantasy is an American comic book anthology series published by Marvel Comics from 1961 through 1962, and revived in 1995 and in the 2000s. It is best known as the title that introduced the popular superhero character Spider-Man in 1962...
#13, Vegas is the protagonist of a modern superhero
Superhero
A superhero is a type of stock character, possessing "extraordinary or superhuman powers", dedicated to protecting the public. Since the debut of the prototypical superhero Superman in 1938, stories of superheroes — ranging from brief episodic adventures to continuing years-long sagas —...
Western
Western (genre)
The Western is a genre of various visual arts, such as film, television, radio, literature, painting and others. Westerns are devoted to telling stories set primarily in the latter half of the 19th century in the American Old West, hence the name. Some Westerns are set as early as the Battle of...
.
Fictional character biography
Little information is known about the man known as Vegas. What is known is that that Vegas is an anomalitoAnomalito
An anomalito is a person with superhuman abilities in the Vegas storyline, which began in Amazing Fantasy vol. 2 #13. Amazing Fantasy is published by Marvel Comics...
, a person with superhuman abilities, described in Amazing Fantasy as "super-types without super-tights." Vegas joins a group of evil anomalitos (called anomaloco
Anomaloco
In the Vegas storyline of comic anthology magazine Amazing Fantasy, evil and/or insane anomalitos are called anomalocos. In the storyline, which occurs within the Marvel Universe, but a distant corner of it, far from Marvel's more traditional titles, anomalocos are analogous to supervillains....
s) called The Renegades, to be with his romantic interest Rose Red. When visiting his sister Jane, who is a foremost expert in the field of "probability physics
Probability theory
Probability theory is the branch of mathematics concerned with analysis of random phenomena. The central objects of probability theory are random variables, stochastic processes, and events: mathematical abstractions of non-deterministic events or measured quantities that may either be single...
", at her lab, The Renegades attack and the experiment goes out of control, imbuing Vegas with an extraordinary, but unpredictably dangerous superpower. The experiment involved a device called a Probability Generator, which presumably had imbued Vegas with the ability to alter the probability of events to benefit himself.
Vegas is both hunted by and seeks to stop The Renegades who, in their invasion of the laboratory, severely injured Vegas' sister Jane. Recently, Vegas has come to tentatively accept a position as a bounty-hunter, under the patronage of a Texas Ranger
Texas Ranger Division
The Texas Ranger Division, commonly called the Texas Rangers, is a law enforcement agency with statewide jurisdiction in Texas, and is based in Austin, Texas...
with superhuman abilities, named Sgt. Harlan Stone. It is his mandate as bounty-hunter to apprehend or kill The Renegades.
Powers and abilities
Vegas can cause himself to become lucky by altering probability. He has little control of how events will turn out beneficially for himself, but his ability does seem to have extraordinary potential, warping common sense and likelihood to extreme lengths. In doing so, however, the probability of events hindering others near him increases. So, if Vegas uses his ability to increase his luck, a nearby person must have their luck decreased a corresponding amount.An example of this took place in the City Limits Diner in Austin, Texas. Vegas, in a test of his abilities, asked a man to flip a coin. When asked, "Heads or tails?", Vegas responded, "Edge." The coin landed on its edge and simultaneously a diner waitress dropped a pot of coffee she was carrying. The conditions necessary to land a coin on its edge were not extraordinary, so the resulting bad luck of the waitress was accordingly minor. Another example, however, takes place as a gun is held to Vegas' head in the same diner, by an anomaloco named The Padre. As Vegas considers the consequences of using his power to escape death, he imagines The Padre's gun misfiring, causing The Padre to jerk his hand and shoot the waitress that had broken the coffee pot in the chest. In this example, the conditions necessary for Vegas to come out on top may very severely impact the luck of a bystander. Instead, Vegas chooses to talk himself out of the situation.