GAMBLEGAMBLE
Real Name: Unrevealed
Identity/Class: Extradimensional (Dreamscape of Earth-691)
Occupation: Manipulator of dreams;
would-be reality conqueror
Group Membership: Dreamscapers
Affiliations: The Deck (Cribb, Gyn, Whyst), Thanos robot, various
droids;
formerly the Clan Cyorse, Trilexia
Enemies: Jennifer Cabre-Rios, Shan O'Meara, Yan Onanwro, Myke Townsend,
and the rest of the crew and passengers of Sol III;
Adam Warlock of Earth-616;
Dark Angel of Earth-M (Earth-7888)
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: Master Dreamscaper
Base of Operations: Gamesworld of
Earth-691, @ 31st century (and several millennia before that);
formerly the Dreamscape
First Appearance:
(BTS):
Cyberspace 3000#1 (July, 1993)
(seen and named): Cyberspace
3000#6 (December, 1993)
Powers/Abilities: Gamble can manipulate
the dreams of others. Within the Dreamscape, he is virtually all-powerful,
able to manipulate the dream or astral selves of others as he
sees fit. He is driven by a search for adventure, however, and he
is prone to setting up a situation that puts himself at risk if
it will increase the excitement of the game. Still, it would
appear likely that he is a being of ectoplasm or something,
immune to physical needs and virtually impossible to actually
destroy.
Gamble bragged that he was more powerful than Galactus, and
that may be true, in his own realm. However, he seemed more like a Nightmare
type, much less powerful when you figured out how to get to him.
History:
(Cyberspace 3000#8 (fb)) - According to Gamble himself, he is a
member of a race of beings who existed billions of years ago,
when the multiverse was brand new. They existed as soon as
sentience came into being. They existed on a subconscious plane;
as soon as species began dreaming, they were there. They fed off
these dreams, creating the Dreamscapes for them--games,
amusements, and, of course, fears and nightmares. The
Dreamscapers performed the latter part a little too well: their
benefactors found their subconscious thoughts unappealing and
battled them on the psionic plane. The Dreamscapers lost.
Dramatically.
Separated through time, space, and the various
multiverses(!), the Dreamscapers became estranged from each other.
(Cyberspace 3000#8 (fb)) - Believing himself to possibly be the last of the Dreamscapers or possibly one of thousands, Gamble entered the reality that would become Earth-691.
(Cyberspace 3000#8 (fb) - BTS) - Gamble took a
virgin planet and created Gamesworld as a giant playground,
trapping unwary people there and setting them against others he
trapped. Known as "playbods," the losers either died or
became Gamble's playthings until he got bored of them, at which
point he would throw them away.
Gamesworld served as Gamble's camp from which
he amused himself for a few thousand years, but eventually he
became extremely bored.
(Cyberspace 3000#8 (fb) - BTS) - Gambit manipulated the cult known as the Clan Cyorse for eons (see comments).
(Cyberspace 3000#7 (fb) - BTS) - Gamble encountered Adam Warlock (see comments), who caused him "some annoyance." (see comments)
(Cyberspace 3000#7 (fb) - BTS / Cyberspace 3000#8 (fb) - BTS) - Gamble began observing the crew of Sol III ever since they fled Earth to escape defeat at the hands of the Badoon (whom he found completely uninteresting). He developed a particular interest in Sol III's captain, Jennifer Cabre-Rios.
(Cyberspace 3000#8 (fb) - BTS) - After Sol III added many new and interesting races to its cargo, Gamble became even more interested in the ship.
(Cyberspace 3000#7 (fb) - BTS / Cyberspace 3000#8 (fb) - BTS) - Gamble sought a means to punish Adam Warlock by bringing him to his Dreamscape. To this end he created a robot version of the mad Titan Thanos and manipulated the Clan Cyorse--a religious cult aboard Sol III--into worshipping it and believing it to be the real thing. The Clan followed the teachings of "Thanos."
(Cyberspace 3000#8 (fb) - BTS) - Once the Clan Cyorse were aboard Sol III, Gamble saw the opportunity as too good to miss.
(Cyberspace 3000#1 / Cyberspace 3000#7 (fb) - BTS / Cyberspace 3000#8 (fb) - BTS) - Gamble caused Sol III to pass through a wormhole that appeared suddenly, destroying a significant portion of the ship (the entire "left bell") and slaying 12% of its passengers. Also slain was Murrab, the high priest of Clan Cyorse. "Thanos" instructed the Clan to appoint Gui Askran as their new leader. Gamble apparently did this knowing that the reality warp would also summon Galactus and Dark Angel of Earth-7888, the latter of whom he apparently had plans for. Gamble also stated that he had sent the ship through the portal to weaken Sol, the computer that controlled the ship, so that Gamble could eventually move in.
(Cyberspace 3000#5 - BTS / Cyberspace 3000#8 (fb)
- BTS) - After Captain Cabre-Rios' mind was transferred into a
cloned body with a computer port that allowed her to access
Cyberspace, Gamble saw her as the escape route that would allow
him to directly access the Multiverse and the dreamers within it.
Feeling that in the real world he could thrive
as opposed to simply exist, he began to plot to bring her to his
Dreamscape.
(Cyberspace 3000#6) - Shan O'Meara and Yan
Onanwro of the ship Sol III, as well as their new ally Dark Angel,
teleported down to the planet Gamesworld on a mission of
exploration, but appeared right in the middle of a battle between
several of Gamble's droids. The explorers destroyed the first
wave of attackers, but were incapacitated by the next group, who
captured and brought them to a prison cell within the Dreamscape.
Their cell door opened shortly after their recovery, but as they
passed through it, they were separated by Gamble.
Meanwhile, Adam Warlock of Earth-616 (whose
body lay comatose in the modern era following his recent battle
with the Magus) sensed what he thought to be a threat from Thanos.
Warlock cast his astral self to the astral realm and made contact
with Captain Cabre-Rios, warning her of the threat he had
perceived.
Gamble was pleased with the capture of his new
pawns, as well as the arrival of new royalty in his figurative
chess game.
The Thanos robot appeared before Clan Cyorse,
announcing his support of Mailliw and turning Gui to granite.
The Trilexia slew the parents of Myke Townsend
(a nine year old student with high honors in all computer and
cyber-related studies) when they investigated noise from within a
vent in the corridors of the ship.
(Cyberspace 3000#7 (fb) - BTS) - The Thanos robot turned the rest of the Clan Cyorse (with the exception of Mailliw) to granite as well.
(Cyberspace 3000#8) - Gamble used the traumatized mind of Myke Townsend as a template to create a new Dreamscape
(Cyberspace 3000#7) - Gamble summoned his own agents, the Deck (Cribb, Gyn, Whyst), to battle Onanwro, O'Meara, and Dark Angel respectively. Onanwro destroyed Cribb, who reformed completely. Whyst (a manifestation of entropy) absorbed Dark Angel, apparently destroying her.
(Cyberspace 3000#7 (fb) - BTS) - Cribb defeated Yan Onanwro, and Gyn defeated Shan O'Meara.
(Cyberspace 3000#7) - Warlock accessed the astral plane to probe the mind of Myke Townsend, who had been rendered inert after his parents had been slain by the Trilexia. Both Warlock and Townsend were confronted by Gamble, who made ambiguous references to his own existence and goal, but ultimately just captured and enchained the pair. Captain Cabre-Rios accessed the astral plane soon after to check on Warlock and Townsend, and she followed their trail to Gamble. The Master Dreamscaper introduced himself and revealed his involvement in their recent difficulties. He challenged the Captain to a chess-like game, using their allies as pawns, but he then revealed that her bishops, knights, and rooks had already been defeated.
(Cyberspace 3000#8) - Gamble taunted Captain
Cabre-Rios about the apparent destruction of Dark Angel, but she
refused to show any weakness or fear. Gamble then revealed how he
intended to use her, and he then struck her down with an energy
blast. When Warlock told him to stop, Gamble instead sent "Thanos"
to fight Warlock.
Meanwhile, Shan O'Meara revived and went
berserk upon recalling that Dark Angel had been destroyed.
Unleashing a psychic blast, he incapacitated the Deck.
Gamble revealed his origins as well as his
intentions to take over as the sentience of Sol III, using its
five thousand inhabitants as his playthings. However, Myke
Townsend then started to recover, and he re-formed Adam Warlock's
staff, through which Warlock channeled a blast that shattered
"Thanos," revealing him to be a robot. With the threat
revealed as a farce, Adam Warlock returned to the modern era of
Earth-616 to his own body to deal with other serious threats (such
as the Infinity Crusade). Furious over a wasted lifetime, Mailliw
charged Gamble, who apparently obliterated him.
Realizing that the Dreamscape was created from
a template of his own mind, Myke then took command of it,
transforming it into a verdant, Earth-like field. Gamble was
appalled by the appearance of the realm, but he graciously
conceded defeat, telling Myke and Captain Cabre-Rios that there
would be other chances for him. As Myke chose to wake up, taking
Captain Cabre-Rios with him, he left Gamble behind to face one of
the monstrous and violent Trilexia.
bloody hell!!
With Gamble's defeat, the force shield around Gamesworld faded, and Yan Onanwro had the ship transport them back to Sol III, where they arrived just before Myke and Captain Cabre-Rios fully awoke.
Comments: Created by Gary Russell, Steve Tappin, and Michael Eve.
Gamble is likely behind the scenes in issues #2-5 (at least observing), but he didn't do too much, so I left that out from above.
I don't know whether the Dreamscape discussed by Gamble is related to the reality associated with Sleepwalker and Cobweb, or if it's more of a Nightmare-like thing, or something else altogether...and we'll never know. Maybe Cobweb, Gamble, and Nightmare are part of the same race of Dreamscapers?
Gamble claimed to have manipulated the Clan Cyorse for eons. I don't think an eon is actually defined, but just refers to the longest measure of geological time. Since Gamble was around since the start of the multiverse, that is certainly possible, but I'm not sure he wasn't just speaking figuratively, in that it seemed like forever, but might have only been decades or centuries. Again, we'll never know.
Gamble said that somewhere
in Adam Warlock's future he would cause Gamble some annoyance
that needed to be repaid. Whether this is truly the future self
of Adam Warlock of Earth-616, the Adam Warlock of Earth-691, or
some other version altogether is impossible to determine from the
story. It is possible that Gamble's Dreamscape is a timeless
realm, similar to Limbo, that can be accessed by beings from any
time period in any reality. Again, we'll never know.
To further confuse things, Gamble stated in
issue#8 that Warlock's involvement was an accident. He's a fairly
inconsistent character...grim and gritty one minute, whimsical
the next.
In addition, he sometimes acted as if he were
trapped on the Dreamscape, when he specifically stated that he
dwelled on the physical plane on Gamesworld.
"We existed millennia ago, when the
multiverse was brand new..."
People do this a LOT! Millennia refer to thousands of years, when
it is often more appropriate to say millions or (in this case)
billions of years ago. Why, I ask you, why?!!!!
Who drove off the Dreamscapers? Sounds like an epic story!
Then again, maybe Gamble is just a big, fat liar, and everything he said is shite.
Profile by Snood.
CLARIFICATIONS:
No known connection to:
The Deck
Cribb, Gyn, Whyst
(left-to-right AND alphabetical!)
Presumably playbods chosen by Gamble to serve his needs (or perhaps beings created or acquired by him from unknown beings, they dwelled on Gamesworld and were dispatched by Gamble to challenge the explorers from Sol III. Each member defeated one of the explorers, but upon awakening and recalling Dark Angel's destruction, Shan O'Meara unleashed a psychic blast that incapacitated the entire Deck simultaneously.
--Cyberspace 3000#7 (8
A member of the Deck, he defeated Chief Yan Onanwro before being incapacitated by Shan O'Meara.
He can transform his arms into bladed weapons and can re-form after being blown to bits.
--Cyberspace 3000#7 (8
A member of the Deck, he defeated Shan O'Meara in single combat, but was later incapacitated by his psychic blast.
His powers are undisclosed. Maybe he was genie-like...or not.
--Cyberspace 3000#7 (7(fb) - BTS, 8
A member of the Deck, he seemingly absorbed and destroyed the powerful Dark Angel before being incapacitated by Shan O'Meara.
He is apparently the embodiment of universal entropy and he proved powerful enough to literally absorb Dark Angel's universal forces.
--Cyberspace 3000#7 (8
According to Gamble himself,
he is a member of a race of beings who existed billions of years
ago, when the multiverse was brand new. They existed as soon as
sentience came into being. They existed on a subconscious plane;
as soon as species began dreaming, they were there. They fed off
these dreams, creating the Dreamscapes for them--games,
amusements, and, of course, fears and nightmares. The
Dreamscapers performed the latter part a little too well: their
benefactors found their subconscious thoughts unappealing and
battled them on the psionic plane. The Dreamscapers lost.
Dramatically.
Separated through time, space, and the various
multiverses(!), the Dreamscapers became estranged from each other.
Believing himself to possibly be the last of the Dreamscapers or possibly one of thousands, Gamble entered the reality that would become Earth-691.
--Cyberspace 3000#8 (8(fb)
images:
Cyberspace 3000#6, p12 (Gamble, sitting)
p13, panel 5 (face)
#7, p2-3 (Deck)
p11, panel 3 (Cribb)
p21, panel 2 (Gyn)
panel 6 (Whyst)
#8, p12, panel 1+2 (Dreamscapers)
Cyberspace 3000#2-6 (August-December, 1993)
Cyberspace 3000#7-8 (January-February, 1994)
Last updated: 08/17/05
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
Non-Marvel Copyright info
All other characters mentioned or pictured are ™ and
© 1941-2099 Marvel Characters, Inc. All Rights Reserved. If you
like this stuff, you should check out the real thing!
Please visit The Marvel Official Site at: http://www.marvel.com
