Vegas (comics)
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| Vegas | |
 Amazing Fantasy #13 cover by Tony Harris. |
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| Publication information | |
|---|---|
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| First appearance | Amazing Fantasy vol. 2 #13 (2003) |
| Created by | Karl Kesel Carmine Di Giandomenico |
| In story information | |
| Alter ego | Vegas |
| Team affiliations | none, The Renegades |
| Abilities | Probability manipulation |
Vegas is a fictional character from the Marvel Universe. Debuting in Amazing Fantasy #13, Vegas is the protagonist of a modern superhero Western set in the Marvel comics universe, although the story's immediate setting (in or near Austin, Texas) bears little resemblance to the widescreen, big-budget superhero setting of Marvel's best-known characters.[citation needed]
[edit] Fictional character biography
Little information is known about the man known as Vegas. What is known is that that Vegas is an anomalito, a person with superhuman abilities, described in Amazing Fantasy as "super-types without super-tights." Vegas joins a group of evil anomalitos (called anomalocos) 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.
Vegas is an essentially good person, but is characterized very distantly from the typical superhero mold. Vegas' adventures occur in a part of the Marvel Universe that is far removed from the shiny superscience and idealistic heroism of other cities like New York or London.[original research?]
[edit] 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.
