• Published by Marvel Comics

Nightcrawler (comics)

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Nightcrawler
Nightcrawler. Art by Darick Robertson
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First appearance	Giant-Size X-Men #1 (May 1975)
Created by	Len Wein Dave Cockrum
In story information
Alter ego	Kurt Wagner
Species	Human Mutant
Team affiliations	X-Men Vatican Archdiocese of New York Excalibur X-Treme Sanctions Executive
Abilities	Teleportation, Enhanced night vision, Superhuman acrobat/gymnast, Prehensile tail, Ability to stick to walls, Blending into shadows, Skilled in martial arts, hand to hand combat and fencing training

Nightcrawler (Kurt Wagner) is a fictional character within the Marvel Universe. He has been associated with both the X-Men and Excalibur, originally appearing in graphic novels published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Len Wein and artist Dave Cockrum, he first debuted in Giant-Size X-Men #1 (May 1975). Dave Cockrum designed Nightcrawler to be used in DC Comics’ Legion of Super-Heroes series^{[citation needed]}. Cockrum was working on the series just before he went to Marvel, and Nightcrawler’s costume design (and overall unusual look) fit well into the Legion’s design scheme^{[citation needed]}.

In 2006, IGN.com rated Kurt at #7 on their list of Top 25 X-Men from the past forty years.

In 2008, Marvel Comics rated their top ten X-Men of all time. Nightcrawler ranked #4 on their list.

A mutant of German extraction, Nightcrawler possesses superhuman agility and the ability to teleport. His physical mutations include blue skin, three-toed and -fingered feet and hands, yellow eyes, and a prehensile tail. In Nightcrawler’s earlier comic book appearances he is depicted as being a happy-go-lucky practical joker and teaser, and a fan of swashbuckling fiction. Nightcrawler is Catholic and while this is not emphasized as much in his earlier comic book appearances, in more recent depictions Nightcrawler is more vocal about his faith.

Since his inception, Nightcrawler has had a regular presence in Marvel-related comic books and video games. He has featured in a small number of the 1990s X-Men animated series episodes and was a regular on its successor, X-Men: Evolution. In 2003, he was a major character in the film X2, and was portrayed by Alan Cumming.

Nightcrawler is originally stated to be from a small village called Winzeldorf in the German state of Bavaria, (Nightcrawler #8). In the X-Men animated series, it is said to be Neuherzl ^[1], and in the movie X2, he makes repeated references to his time in the Munich circus, though it is never explicitly specified where he originated from.

Contents 1 Publication history 2 Fictional character biography 2.1 Origin 2.2 Excalibur 2.3 Returning to the X-Men 2.4 Messiah Complex 2.5 Divided We Stand 3 Family relations 3.1 Nightcrawler’s German phrases 4 Characteristics 5 Powers and abilities 6 Other versions 6.1 Age of Apocalypse 6.2 Bamf 6.3 Days of Future Past 6.4 Exiles 6.5 House of M 6.6 Marvel Zombies 6.7 Ultimate Nightcrawler 6.8 Universe X (Belasco) 6.9 What If? 6.10 X-Men: The End 7 In other media 7.1 Television 7.2 Film 7.3 Video games 7.4 Action Figures 8 Music 9 “Nightcrawler” in other languages 10 Footnotes 11 References 12 External links

Publication history

Although an X-Men character for years, Nightcrawler did not get his own comic book title (written and drawn by one of his creators, Dave Cockrum) until November of 1985, when Nightcrawler, along with the Lockheed, accidentally traveled to several alternate dimensions, meeting strange beings such as the Bamfs (the Bamfs originally appeared in a story fellow X-Man Kitty Pryde told Illyana as a bedtime story in X-Men #153). After various adventures, Nightcrawler and his companion managed to get home safely.

A second four-issue limited series appeared in November 2002. Written by Chris Kipiniak and pencilled by Matthew Smith, it focused upon Nightcrawler’s decision to become a priest and his attempts to fight a group of slave traders.

In September of 2004, the first Nightcrawler ongoing title book was published by Marvel. Written by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa with covers and pencils by Darick Robertson throughout the series duration, it featured the story arcs “The Devil Inside”, “Ghosts On The Rails”, “The Winding Way”, and the final twelfth issue entitled “Happy Birthday, Kurt!”. At the end of “The Winding Way”, Nightcrawler came into possession of Magik’s Soulsword, which was stored inside his body. The Soulsword has several magical properties such as dispelling and blocking magical effects and severely damaging magic users while passing through normal humans and mutants harmlessly.

The series followed Kurt through mystery stories of a supernatural nature. Other X-Men subsidiary titles were steadily losing sales, so the Nightcrawler title was placed on an hiatus by Marvel in February of 2005, following issue #6, not returning until June of that year. Despite the efforts of the creative team with the “The Winding Way” story arc to tie in the previous stories, delve into Nightcrawler’s past, and involve other X-Men franchise characters, the series was slated for cancellation with issue twelve.

Fictional character biography

Origin

Kurt Wagner was born with certain unusual physical characteristics, but his power of self-teleportation did not emerge until puberty. Margali Szardos, a sorceress and gypsy queen, allegedly found Wagner an hour after his birth, in a small roadside shelter in the Bavarian Alps. She claimed to have found his alleged father, Eric Wagner, dead of a heart attack on the road outside, and Kurt’s mother lying next to the baby dying. However, this claim was later called into question, and it was subsequently proven that Kurt’s mother is the terrorist Mystique, also known as Raven Darkholme, and his father is the warlord Azazel. Mystique revealed that she threw him into a river after a large mob found out about Nightcrawler’s existence, and Azazel admitted that he secretly saved his son from the fall, giving him to his lover and crony, Margali Szardos, to raise him. Margali took the baby to the small Bavarian circus where she worked as a fortuneteller, as a cover for her activities as a sorceress. Wagner was never legally adopted by anyone, but was raised by all the members of the circus, who had no prejudices against mutants. Margali acted as Wagner’s unofficial foster mother.

Wagner grew up happily in the circus, and his two closest friends were Margali’s natural children Stefan and Jimaine. Long before his teleportation power emerged, Wagner had tremendous natural agility, and by his adolescence he had become the circus’s star acrobat and aerial artist. Circus audiences assumed that he was a normal-looking human being wearing a demon-like costume.

Years later, the Texas millionaire Arnos Jardine, who ran a large circus based in Florida, heard of the circus for which Wagner worked and bought it. Jardine intended to move its best acts into his American circus. However, he demanded that Wagner be placed in the circus’s freak show. Jardine drugged him to prevent escape but a young mutant child with the ability to sense other mutants helped him escape. Appalled, Wagner left and made his way toward Winzeldorf, Germany, where his foster brother Stefan was. He discovered that Stefan had gone mad and had brutally slain several children. When they were younger, Stefan had made Kurt promise to kill him if he ever took an innocent life. Two nights after leaving the circus, Wagner found Stefan and fought him, hoping to stop his rampage. In the course of the struggle, Wagner unintentionally broke Stefan’s neck.^[2]

Then the villagers of Winzeldorf, who assumed him to be a demon who was responsible for the child killings, discovered Wagner. They were about to kill him when they were all psychically paralyzed by Professor Charles Xavier, who had come to recruit Wagner into the X-Men.^[3] Wagner agreed to join the group, but before they left for America, he and Xavier went to the Bavarian circus so that Wagner could explain to Margali about Stefan’s death. However, Margali was not there. She held Wagner responsible for murdering Stefan, and created a facsimile of the hell from Dante’s Inferno in which to punish him years later. Yet through the use of Doctor Strange’s all-seeing Eye of Agamotto, she learned the truth and she and Wagner were reconciled. Wagner was also happily reunited with his foster sister Jimaine, who now lives in the United States and turned out to be Kurt’s girlfriend Amanda Sefton.^[4] Known as Nightcrawler, Wagner became a member of the X-Men.

Some time later, Nightcrawler fought Shagreen the Sorcerer, and became lost in various dimensions in his first major solo adventure.^[5]

Shortly after this, and once he’d rejoined his teammates, a tactic designed to disable the super-Sentinel Nimrod backfired and Kurt found himself at the mercies of an angry mob (in a nod to his first appearance in Giant Sized X-Men #1) without his teleportation ability. He was rescued by Shadowcat, Colossus, and Magik but feared he had lost his ability for good. His power returned but left him drained and vulnerable when he used it, again leading to self doubt about his worth to the team. It may have been these feelings that led him to use his “multi-port” stunt to disable Vertigo during the Mutant Massacre. This tactic left him unable to escape Riptide’s attack, leading to horrific injuries and his subsequent coma.^[6]

Excalibur

While he recovers from these injuries, his fellow X-Men are apparently killed on a mission in Dallas. Not long after, Nightcrawler and Shadowcat leave to join Captain Britain in an adventure in the UK. They fought Gatecrasher’s group of inter-dimensional mercenaries known as the Technet. The heroes work together so well, they decide to form a group they name Excalibur.^[7] Captain Britain originally assumes leadership of the group, but Nightcrawler gradually takes the responsibility. While Captain Britain and Meggan’s relationship goes through a rocky time Nightcrawler becomes interested in Meggan, a feeling that is reciprocated but never consummated. During his time with Excalibur, he takes charge of the Technet, re-naming them his ‘N-Men’, and he becomes romantically involved with his teammate Cerise before she leaves to stand trial for the Shi’ar. Later, his former girlfriend, Amanda Sefton, joins the team and the two continue their previous relationship. She leaves the team to take control of Limbo, a task that keeps her away from Earth, but the two remain close friends. Fearing it would be stolen from her, Amanda magically hides the Soulsword inside Nightcrawler’s body.

Returning to the X-Men

For a time, Kitty Pryde and Nightcrawler express some resentment over the X-Men’s failing to contact them after their supposed deaths. Following the wedding of Captain Britain and Meggan, Excalibur disbands and Nightcrawler returns to the X-Men with Shadowcat and Colossus. Yet, as soon as they return, they face a group of impostors following Cerebro, in the guise of Professor X.

Wanting to devote more time to priesthood, Nightcrawler shares team leadership with Archangel. However, his work as a priest is revealed to be an illusion; he had, in fact, never attained priesthood. He has also met his half-brothers Nils Styger, alias Abyss, and Kiwi Black. With them, Nightcrawler defeated his father Azazel, who had tried to use him as a pawn in conquering Earth. These controversial storylines are revealed by writer Chuck Austen.

Later, Nightcrawler served as the new leader of the Uncanny X-Men team alongside Wolverine, Bishop, Psylocke, Cannonball, and Marvel Girl. In the last mission against the Foursaken, Nightcrawler took Marvel Girl, Psylocke, Bishop, and Cannonball to Central Park. He later helped Storm liberate Africa from her uncle’s control.

Afterwards, Professor X recruited him, along with Darwin, Havok, Marvel Girl, Warpath, and Polaris, to participate in a space mission to stop Vulcan from laying waste to the Shi’ar empire. ^[8] During the battle with Vulcan, Nightcrawler helps get the injured Professor X and Darwin back to their spaceship.^[9] While there, trying to save Professor X, Lilandra sent the ship on its way back to Earth, leaving half the team behind.

Kurt is still part of Professor X’s team, helping Charles find Magneto before the government does, while the rest of the team search for the Morlocks.

Messiah Complex

When the first mutant since M-Day appears, Cyclops sends him along with Wolverine, Angel, Storm and Colossus to find former Acolytes for information on the Marauders. It was predicted by Blindfold that Kurt would be seriously injured in the upcoming events and indeed this came true when he was shot by the Marauder, Scalphunter. Kurt seems to have nearly fully recovered from his injuries since he, along with Beast, the entire New X-men team, and Predator X are teleported to Muir Island by Pixie.^[10] He takes part in the final battle.

Divided We Stand

Still recovering from his injuries, Kurt is traveling through Europe along with Wolverine and Colossus. Kurt and Wolverine are currently involved in a “war of pranks” as Peter put it. One of the many pranks involved Logan hacking into Kurt’s image inducer to make him look like Angelina Jolie, which results in a picture of Angelina and Peter appearing in assorted tabloids. The three of them travel to Russia where they visit the cemetery that Peter’s family is buried in. Afterwards they go to a local bar, where they discuss the recent loss of Kitty Pryde and the destruction of the X-Men. As per-usual with Kurt, Logan, and Peter a fight breaks out in the bar, during which their cover is blown. Soon after, the three of them are captured by the Russian government which demands to know why all their mutants were de-powered and why Colossus, Wolverine, and Nightcrawler retain their abilities. After a battle with Omega Red, the boys return to the states and rejoin the team now living in San Francisco.

Family relations

Eventually, it is revealed that Nightcrawler’s biological mother, previously unknown, is the mutant terrorist Mystique, which had been hinted at to varying degrees since they first appeared together.

It is also revealed that although Mystique was married to a wealthy German, Herr Wagner, Nightcrawler’s father was Azazel, a member of a race of demonic-looking mutants dating back to Biblical times who were banished to another dimension by another race of angelic mutants. The storyline was furthered by the revelation that fellow X-Man Archangel’s healing blood did not heal Nightcrawler, and in fact caused him great pain.

Veteran comic book writer Chris Claremont had originally intended for Mystique and Destiny to have been Nightcrawler’s biological parents. ^[11] Mystique, being a shape-shifter, would have taken the form of a man and impregnated Destiny. Marvel, however, felt the idea to be too controversial and an alternative origin was developed.^{[citation needed]}

Nightcrawler’s siblings include his foster sister Rogue and half-brothers Graydon Creed from Mystique, and Abyss and Kiwi Black from Azazel.

It is also revealed that in a parallel universe, an alternate Nightcrawler fathered a daughter with an alternate Scarlet Witch, named Nocturne, a dimensionally stranded mutant bearing traits similar to Nightcrawler himself. She has since referred to him as father.

Nightcrawler’s German phrases

To keep authenticity, the writers – especially Chris Claremont – made Nightcrawler speak German phrases. Due to poor translation, these phrases were often a source of unintended comedy for native German speakers.

Characteristics

Nightcrawler is a mutant born with fine blue-black fur covering his body, two fingers with an opposable thumb on each hand and only two toes, each longer than a normal human being’s, on each foot and a third toe-like projection on his heel, as well as pronounced, fang-like canine teeth, yellow eyes, pointed ears, and a 3 1/2 foot long prehensile pointed tail which can support his weight.

Among his more ironic character traits, Wagner is an extremely religious man. A devout Catholic, his demonic appearance obviously makes it very difficult to attend masses. Despite this, as mutants in the Marvel Universe become more accepted, he even managed to almost become a Catholic priest; unfortunately his studies were interrupted by a villainous group known as “The Neo.”

In contrast, Nightcrawler also has a knack for the spontaneous and exciting. He sees himself as a swashbuckler, usually comparing himself to Errol Flynn. He is, despite his looks, always charming and gallant, and several storylines contain Kurt’s love life as a conflict to his religious nature. His days in the circus make him a gifted performer and showman. Kurt is also a jokester. He has a great sense of humor for someone in his situation. He always plays pranks on people; some even call him “Trickster” because his combined teleporting abilities and playful disposition enable him to play quite the joke.

Wagner has used a personal holographic device called an image-inducer on several occasions to produce a holographic image of himself as an ordinary human (occasionally Errol Flynn himself) so that he might interact with non-mutants in a normal fashion. After losing a bet with his friend Wolverine, however, Nightcrawler was made to walk through town in his normal form for all to see. To his shock, the reaction of the average person on the street was simply one of startled interest. He was even able to sneak a kiss from a surprised, but unafraid woman. Kurt was, eventually, attacked by a carload of anti-mutant bigots, but he prevented Wolverine from tearing them to shreds, preferring to be merciful to the ignorant. The entire experience emboldened him, and he has since largely forsaken the use of this device, using it only when absolutely necessary.

When Nightcrawler was first submitted as a character, it was for DC’s Legion of Super-Heroes, but DC turned him down believing his look was too “Alien”. Len Wein later sold the character to Marvel as an X-Men character, Len Wein has said that he wrote him as “a kind of tragic monster” and this was fairly apparent from his first scenes in Giant Sized X-Men #1 involving his flight from the mob and his subsequent reaction to them wanting to burn him down from the rooftop. It was Chris Claremont’s scripting that evolved him into the swashbuckling hero he is today. Claremont stated that he took the idea that Nightcrawler thought “it was incredibly cool to be blue and furry.” He also built up Nightcrawler’s stout Catholic beliefs, a direct contrast to his demonic appearance.

Powers and abilities

Kurt Wagner is a mutant with several superhuman advantages. His primary mutant power is his ability to teleport himself, his clothing, and a certain amount of additional mass from one point to another virtually instantaneously. He does this by means of displacing himself through an alternate dimension briefly and reappearing in a desired location. He has been shown to be able to teleport distances of up to two miles under optimal conditions, although it is at his extreme limit, and he can become severely fatigued if he tries to teleport that distance. In one case, however, he teleports somewhere over 50 miles.^[12] He possesses a limited unconscious extrasensory “spatial awareness” ability which prevents him from teleporting into solid objects within his immediate vicinity, but this ability diminishes the farther the distance he teleports. Because teleporting into other solid matter would cause severe injury or death, he will only teleport to an area he is familiar with or that he can clearly see at the time or has seen in the past. His power automatically displaces liquids and gases when he “arrives”.

The process of teleportation places a tremendous strain on his endurance and that of any passengers; carrying mass other than his body and clothing when teleporting adds additional strain through his body. Through practice he has been able to teleport a passenger over a lengthy distance with himself without exhausting himself, but the strain on his body grows as the amount of mass he transports and the distance over which he teleports it increase. Extensive training has raised his tolerance for teleportation, but most of his passengers lack this tolerance. Therefore, one of his tactics is to grab opponents and make several quick teleportations with them. They usually are weakened or even pass out from the strain.

After Nightcrawler teleports, he leaves behind smoke and a faint scent of burning brimstone; this is a small portion of the atmosphere of the dimension he travels through when he teleports. His teleportation power is due to a biophysical/biochemical reaction he consciously triggers within himself. A loud “bamf” noise is always present whenever he teleports (it being the sound of air rushing to fill the space he was just occupying).

Nightcrawler has physical abilities that surpass those of an Olympic level gymnast, and his bone structure allows him great flexibility. His spine is more flexible than a human’s, enabling him to remain in a crouched position for a long time and perform contortionist-type feats without causing any damage to his spine. Nightcrawler’s agility, balance, bodily coordination and flexibility are all enhanced to superhuman levels. He has an ability to cling to surfaces with his hands and feet in a manner similar to and on levels nearly equivalent with Spider-Man. He also possesses superhuman dexterity, being able to manipulate items and fence with either hand, both feet, and his tail.

He has limited abilities to blend into shadows, both as a result of his indigo fur and his connection to the dimension through which he teleports.^[13] In his earliest incarnation, it was suggested that he could actually travel through shadows (in much the same way Psylocke did after exposure to the Crimson Dawn) and this was shown in Bizarre Adventures, but never really touched upon after that. In the story, Vanisher removes some of the Darkforce that formed his costume and threw it at Kurt, who disappeared. He then reappeared from within the Darkforce on the ground, saying that it was like “a pool of shadow” and that he “fell right through it.” His abilities have interacted with Vanisher’s on other occasions, such as when the two found themselves transported to various alternate dimensions.^[14]

Nightcrawler has a prehensile tail, allowing him to grab onto objects with relative ease. His tail is strong enough to not only support his body weight, but also lift an adult man completely off the ground, and is deft enough to fight with as a sword or blunt object. Nightcrawler’s constantly glowing eyes grant him a marked degree of heightened night vision, and it has been suggested that he has the ability to see in the infra-red spectrum as well^{[citation needed]}.

Aside from the abilities granted by his mutation, Nightcrawler is a superb fencer and skilled hand to hand combatant, to the point of being able to stalemate super-beings as powerful as Captain Britain. He has also served as the team’s pilot and medic when no more qualified X-Men were around to do so. He and Wolverine were also the mechanics of the X-Men’s Blackbird jet for a long time.

Other versions

Age of Apocalypse

In the Age of Apocalypse miniseries, Nightcrawler is similar to his 616 counterpart, but much darker and more violent, and he carries two sabres at all times, denoting his skills as a swordsman. Another important difference is that this Nightcrawler hates churches, having had a traumatic experience when he was younger. Nightcrawler is close to his mother, Mystique, and he even calls her mom. Nightcrawler is sent by Magneto to Avalon, an Antarctic utopia where humans and mutants peacefully coexist, to bring Destiny back to the United States to confirm Bishop’s claims. While there, Avalon is attacked by Apocalypse’s Pale Riders. Nightcrawler and Mystique vow to protect Avalon from the Pale Riders and are joined by fellow mutants Switchback and former Pale Rider Damask to face the Shadow King. Nightcrawler also goes by Kurt Darkholme instead of Kurt Wagner in this reality.

The AOA Nightcrawler appears to always be “breathing fire” when teleporting. Presumably this is simply an optical illusion of his teleportation powers, as it does not appear to have any adverse effects on anything Kurt comes in contact with as he does so. Also, this version of Nightcrawler’s biological father is Sabretooth as is evidenced by Mystique stating that she had gone to the trouble of “finding a father with fur” when Nightcrawler complains he is cold and, when the Shadow King possesses Mystique, the captions reveal “one memory is more interesting then the others” and flashes to Sabretooth taunting Nightcrawler.

Bamf

In Uncanny X-Men #153 Kurt’s friend Kitty Pryde tells Illyana a bedtime story. In it she casts him as a cute creature called Bamf. He is only two feet tall and looks like a super deformed version of Kurt, even right down to his costume. He is fun-loving and somewhat lecherous. At first he only existed in a Fairy Tale, but Kurt himself met Bamf and the other characters from Kitty’s story ^[15]. It soon turns out there are multiple Bamfs, including female (and more winsome) versions; the Bamfs even declared him their “Daddy”. The Bamfs later let their affection for Kitty Pryde get the best of them and even resorted to endangering Kitty’s pet dragon Lockheed.

Days of Future Past

Nightcrawler is dead in the alternate timeline Earth-811, but he had a daughter known as Blue. She inherited the power to teleport herself and others, and a similar appearance.

Exiles

Nocturne is a former member of the alternate-reality traveling Exiles, but is now a member of New Excalibur. Like all members of the Exiles she is from an alternate dimension, and in her dimension the Scarlet Witch married Nightcrawler. Nocturne is the daughter of the Scarlet Witch and the Nightcrawler of that reality.

In this reality, Charles Xavier was attacked several years earlier by a Shadow King-controlled Wolverine. Although the Shadow King was expelled from Wolverine’s mind, Xavier was fatally wounded in the attack and Logan was left crippled. Shortly after, Jean Grey died and Cyclops, blaming Wolverine for both deaths, abandoned the team, leaving Wolverine and Nightcrawler as the leaders of the X-Men and the Xavier Institute.

The demeanor of this Nightcrawler is very similar to that of the Earth-616 Nightcrawler, so the first time that Nocturne met 616-Nightcrawler she accidentally calls him “Dad.” In subsequent meetings Nocturne and 616-Nightcrawler have developed a bond very closely resembling a father-daughter relationship.

House of M

In the House of M reality, Nightcrawler appears as a member of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s Red Guard, a task force of elite mutants designed to quell insurrections; Nightcrawler has a small role when the Red Guard attempts to track down their leader, Wolverine, who remembers the world before the Scarlet Witch changed reality. Nightcrawler also appears in World of M, where he attempts to aid Apocalypse when the latter is under attack by Namor, Storm and Sunfire.

Marvel Zombies

Nightcrawler is seen as a zombie on the cover of “Marvel Zombies vs Army of Darkness” #1. He is bitten by the zombie Fantastic Four in the one-shot “Dead Days,” one of the last superheroes to be infected.

Ultimate Nightcrawler

The Ultimate version of Nightcrawler (Kurt Wagner) reveals a much more militant young mutant, only fourteen years old when first introduced in this series of X-Men. His first appearances have him forced to battle the X-Men alongside a team of Weapon X agents.

He had been captured by Weapon X and forced to act as an assassin and Black Ops agent. His Weapon X origins link him more closely with Ultimate Wolverine and Rogue than with his other teammates. Originally speaking only German, he did learn to speak English with the help of Jean Grey’s mental powers. Though Nightcrawler returns home after he escapes from Weapon X, he soon joined the X-Men in order to fight Magneto.

Nightcrawler is originally shown as a friendly, humorous man with a zest for high adventure which has gained him the friendship of many of his fellow X-Men. One of Kurt’s more notable friends was Angel who together have “misused” the Danger Room for “Pirates of the Caribbean-like” “role-playing” sessions under the name of “the dread captain Blue Tail,” as it is shown that he is a fan of the movie. He has a fan-crush on Keira Knightley.

When Dazzler, Kurt’s unrequited crush, slips into a coma due to injuries inflicted by Deathstrike, Kurt begins to lose control of his delicate psyche, regressing into his Weapon X days. His loneliness is further exacerbated by Angel’s departure from the X-Men. Furthermore, his relationship with Colossus breaks down after Colossus reveals his homosexuality, forcing the intolerant Kurt away.

Shortly following Dazzler’s awakening, Kurt’s irrational increasing obsession with Dazzler prompted him to teleport her to a secluded cave, telling her that the X-Men had been attacked and that he was “protecting” her. The X-Men rescued Dazzler and confronted Kurt upon learning what he had done, resulting in a battle between the X-Men and their disturbed teammate. Kurt was defeated and was afterwards placed in a vegetative state by Charles Xavier in the hopes that Xavier could treat his damaged psyche. At his bedside, Rogue, who had absorbed his memories during the battle, told him she now considered him as much a monster on the inside as he appeared to be on the outside. Whether this statement regarded his activities as a Weapon X assassin or something else she experienced while privy to his memories remains to be seen.

After Xavier was kidnapped by the time-traveling Cable, his hold on Kurt was broken and Kurt vanished from the Institute. In issue #80 he saves Pyro from the Friends of Humanity. Pyro reveals the existence of the Morlocks. Nightcrawler is captured as the Morlocks believe he is a Xavier spy. Shortly, the X-Men arrive to search for Toad, who was sent as an emissary. A fight ensues. During the battle, Nightcrawler helps his former teammates and managed to subdue Sunder, the leader of the Morlocks. He decided to stay with the Morlocks since they were physically mutated like him. They elect him their new leader. When Sinister targets the Morlocks for sacrifices in his attempts to bring forth Apocaylpse, Nightcrawler joins in the fight.

Kurt returns to Xavier’s on occasion to hang out with his former-teammates and has slowly started to accept Colossus’ homosexuality, and even stands up for him when the X-Men discover that he has been using a drug called ‘Banshee’. He is also seen to be part of Colossus’ Banshee (Ultimate MGH) enhanced X-Men team. In this form, it seems Nightcrawler is wielding javelins of energy, similar to those Blink uses. It appears that after Nightcrawler has been using the drug ‘Banshee’, he now seems to burst purple smoke and flames when he teleports, instead of yellow.

Ultimate Nightcrawler’s powers are very similar to his 616 counterpart. Kurt’s demon-like physiology grants him dark, indigo skin; a prehensile tail; superhuman acrobatic ability; and control over the inter-atomic bonding between molecules that allows him to cling to any surface. He also has yellow smoke that billows out of his mouth. Most notably, Nightcrawler can teleport short distances leaving a burst of yellow smoke and flames.

Universe X (Belasco)

In the futuristic Universe X maxi-series by Jim Krueger and Alex Ross, it is revealed that Nightcrawler became amnesiac and was displaced in time, finally becoming Belasco, a long-time enemy of the X-Men. After his origins are revealed to him by a resurrected Captain Marvel, Nightcrawler/Belasco finally joins the good guys again.

What If?

Nightcrawler has made a number of appearances through the years in the What If? series, consisting of one-issue takes on potential alternate universes. Among his roles were What if the X-Men had stayed in Asgard? (vol. 2 #12), in which Nightcrawler stayed behind on Asgard to be a swashbuckler and eventually joined the Warriors Three.

In What if the all-new, all-different X-Men had never existed? (vol. 2 #23), an embittered Nightcrawler, having never been recruited by Professor Xavier, was talked into a life of crime by Erik the Red. However, after learning the truth about the X-Men, he sacrificed himself to destroy the Phoenix Force that was hiding in Earth’s sun, reasoning that, while heroes like the X-Men would be mourned by the world, nobody would miss him.

X-Men: The End

Additionally, in X-Men: The End, he is shown to be a famous Hollywood action star (with Jubilee as his agent), and is married to a similarly colored warrior from an alternate Earth, the pair have children, including another T.J. Wagner (which is Nocturne’s name) however, in this timeline T.J. Wagner is a son. Nocturne is a character in this universe.

In other media

Television

• In the 1980s animated series Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends, Nightcrawler was among the X-Men who guest-starred in the episodes “The X-Men Adventure” and “The Education of a Superhero”.

• Nightcrawler also appeared in the 1989 cartoon Pryde of the X-Men, the pilot episode of an un-produced X-Men cartoon series. This was eventually released on VHS.

• In the 1992 X-Men animated series; Nightcrawler made guest appearances in the episodes “Nightcrawler” and “Bloodlines“, but never joined the X-Men. He was shown first in an episode that featured him as a monk in a Swiss abbey, persecuted by one of his superiors and the townspeople who believed him to be a demon; Gambit, Rogue, and Wolverine helped him through his trials. The second episode reveals his origins as the birth son of Mystique, discovered by his foster sister Rogue. In the end, after a discussion, Mystique apparently dies to save both of them from Graydon Creed and the Friends of Humanity. He was voiced by Adrian Hough.

• In the X-Men: Evolution animated series; Nightcrawler is a student at the Xavier Institute with much the same nature and demeanor as his older comic book counterpart, although he does not appear to be religious and is more insecure about his appearance. The show has, like the comics, revealed that Mystique is his birth mother and Rogue his foster sister. When Mystique was turned to stone, he tried to be there for both his mother and Rogue, even if all his care clashed with Rogue’s hatred for Mystique. He uses a holographic inducer to look human which he uses to go to school; the inducer “hides” his fur and tail, creating an image that despite those two details is quite similar to Nightcrawler’s own. In his undisguised form, Nightcrawler walks on his toes only, forcing his long feet and legs into a shape like those of a faun, another reference to his ‘demonic’ appearance. He also dates Amanda Sefton, portrayed here as an African-American human girl without any prior ties to him, and dates Nightcrawler not minding his mutation. Mystique is revealed as his mother in X-Men: Evolution, but in the episode “Shadowed Past”, it is strongly hinted that he is the product of genetic experimentation by Magneto, who could possibly be his father. Interestingly, when Nightcrawler used his teleportation ability in X-Men: Evolution, there was a sudden flash of yellow light preceding the usual smoke. He was voiced by Brad Swaile.

• Nightcrawler appeared in the Robot Chicken episode “Sausage Fest.” He was among the featured X-Men that was killed in battle against a Sentinel.

• Nightcrawler has been confirmed to appear in the Wolverine and the X-Men animated series. He will be voiced by Liam O’Brien.

Film

In the film X2: X-Men United, Nightcrawler is played by Alan Cumming. This version shares much of the same history (the circus, Catholicism, and being native to Germany) with the comic book inspiration; his scenes with Mystique leave it ambiguous as to whether or not any subsequent sequels will reveal her to be his mother. One major difference between the comic book Nightcrawler and his film counterpart is that he wears ordinary civilian clothing as opposed to an X-Man uniform, as he is not actually a member of the X-Men in the film (or in the tie-in video game either), but instead an ally of the team. His strong sense of humor and ‘prankster’ nature were practically non-existent in the film, except for one scene where Rogue says she wishes she could overhear what the X-Men and Magneto are discussing around a camp fire. Nightcrawler replies that he could get closer to overhear without being seen, and a minute or so later the others around the camp fire notice him dangling like a bat by his tail from a tree branch just above and behind them. This is arguably the only indication of Nightcrawler’s humorous antics in the film, which emphasizes the tragic aspect of the character instead of the clown-like aspect present in the comics and cartoon series. Also, the flash of smoke that accompanies Nightcrawler’s teleportation ability appears a dark navy blue in the film, as opposed to the bright reddish-purple as it appears in the comics.

Unlike the traditional versions, in the movie Nightcrawler has blue skin instead of blue fur. His skin is also decorated by “angelic symbols” which reflects the spirituality of the character’s faith and his devout practice of Catholicism. This form of artistic body modification is self-inflicted brandings or scars: “One for every sin.” The existence of the blue skin was due to the difficulty of creating a furry hide on the actor, so the decision was made to give him blue flesh instead of fur.

In the film, Nightcrawler is brainwashed with a fluid from William Stryker’s mutant son in order to attempt an assassination on the President of the United States. The opening scenes of the movie are almost a showcase of Nightcrawler’s powers, with him versus the Secret Service, defeating them in a memorable fashion. Storm and Jean Grey are sent to find him and bring him back to the mansion. Wagner goes with them and develops a romantic relationship with Storm. He helps Storm save the children and stop Stryker’s Cerebro at the Alkali Lake facility and joins the team at the end, saving Charles when Stryker’s Cerebro was destroyed.

He did not appear in X-Men: The Last Stand because, according to the movie’s official video game, the character didn’t like the violent lifestyle of the X-Men. Furthermore, the crew thought it wasn’t worth going through the long hours of preparation given that Cumming didn’t enjoy the heavy make-up needed for his character and because Nightcrawler’s appearance was only going to be minimal.

Video games

• Nightcrawler has also appeared in a number of video games such as: X-Men for the NES, X-Men: Madness in Murderworld, X-Men the Arcade Game, X-Men, X-Men 2: Clone Wars, X-Men: Mutant Academy 2, and X-Men: Next Dimension. In X-Men: Next Dimension, Nightcrawler can teleport toward, behind, or above the opponent, following it with any attack he chooses. He also carries a large sword he uses to deadly effect. Nightcrawler’s incredible acrobatic attacks rival the other agile fighters greatly, which include Beast and Toad.

• Nightcrawler also appeared as a playable character in the famous X-Men Legends and its sequel X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse. He was voiced by Dee Bradley Baker in both games. To his credit, Nightcrawler possesses the most powerful ultimate ability in the second game.

• He is also one of the 3 playable characters in the game X-Men: The Official Game which fills in the gap between X2: X-Men United and X-Men: The Last Stand. Nightcrawler is voiced by Alan Cumming, the same one who portrayed him in X2: X-Men United.

• Dee Bradley Baker reprises his role of Nightcrawler in Marvel: Ultimate Alliance. In the game, he is kidnapped by Doctor Doom’s Masters of Evil (alongside Jean Grey). A cut-scene involves him trying to escape Castle Doom only to be shocked by a door. He is forced to teleport to Mephisto’s Realm by use of the Mutant Amplifier. There, he evades Doctor Doom and Mephisto where he was weakened by the Mutant Amplifier’s effect and ends up imprisoned (along with Jean Grey who was sent to help Professor X protect Nightcrawler) by Blackheart after Professor X’s psychic shield around Nightcrawler fails. After Blackheart is defeated, the player must choose to save only one and thus let the other one fall into the Infinity Vortex. If the player rescues Jean Grey, Mystique will avenge Nightcrawler by infiltrating the X-Mansion at night to vent her frustration upon Professor X where he will die in a coma months later and the X-Men will disband forever (although, Nightcrawler is shown at Xavier’s funeral). If the player rescues Nightcrawler, Jean Grey doesn’t die in the Infinity Vortex and will return to Earth in the form of the Dark Phoenix to exact vengeance upon those that didn’t save her. Nightcrawler (along with his Age of Apocalypse costume and his Ultimate Marvel costume) is now a downloadable character for the Xbox 360 version of the game.

Action Figures

• There have been numerous Nightcrawler action figures produced- most by manufacturer Toy Biz, and the most notable being the figure in the Marvel Legends series.

Music

• Nightcrawler is mentioned in the Weezer song In the Garage, along with his ally Kitty Pryde.

“Nightcrawler” in other languages

Below is a list of translations of the name “Nightcrawler”.

• Dutch: Nightcrawler or Harlekein

• Danish: Sorte Springer (Black Knight, a reference to the chess piece)

• French: Diablo (from Diable, Devil)

• Finnish: Painajainen (Nightmare)

• In older Greek translations, he was called Nightwalker.

• Hungarian: Árnyék (Shadow, due to his ability to blend into shadows)

• In older Italian translations, he was called Lombrico.

• Polish: Nocny Łowca (Night Hunter)

• Portuguese: Noturno (Nocturnal)

• Russian: Ночной Змей (Night Serpent)

• Spanish: Rondador Nocturno (Night Prowler)

• Spanish (Latin America): Nocturno (Nocturnal)

• Swedish: Nattkryparen

Footnotes

References

• BAMF Central – consolidation of Nightcrawler information about the Fuzzy Elf
• BAMF! – A huge Nightcrawler site, bios and info.

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• Last updated on August 2nd, 2009
• Marvel Comics
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