Odd how even in the face of tragedy, there are often such wonders--such miracles--to be found.
„
~ Nightcrawler
“
My name is Kurt Wagner. Better known as Nightcrawler. I fought the good fight, on this world and many others. I help saved the universe. And then I died. But that isn't the end of the story. Fate, it seemed, had other plans... ...and brought me back to life.
„
~ Nightcrawler on himself.
Kurt Wagner, also known as Nightcrawler, is a fictional superhero in the Marvel comics and universe.
He is the biological son of Mystique and Destiny (which was made possible through Mystique's shape-shifting abilities), the brother of Graydon Creed, and the unofficial foster brother of Rogue. Growing up in a German town with his adoptive parents - not knowing who his real mother was, Kurt was shunned and hated because of his appearance. Nightcrawler later became a member of the X-Men, and is one of the founding members of Excalibur.
Since his debut in the comics, he has appeared in numerous media. In the X-Men films, he was portrayed by Alan Cumming and Kodi-Smit McPhee young.
He was created by the late Len Wein, and the late Dave Cockrum, and first appeared in Giant-Size X-Men # 1 in May of 1975.
Kurt Wagner was born to Baron Christan Wagner and Raven Darkholm AKA Mystique, the shape-shifter, during one of her aliases. When the union of the two spawned Kurt, as an obvious mutant, or rather a "demon" as the townsfolk believed from his appearance, the villagers began demanding that the Baroness and her demon baby be put to death. Mystique ran off with Kurt and literally sent him down the river, then took on a new guise and came back claiming to have killed the Baroness and her baby to placate the crowd before fleeing the baronage.
What no one had known, was that Mystique was not baby Kurt's only mutant parent and his biological father wasn't the Baron but in truth Azazel. Azazel was a mutant that had been sealed in a pocket dimension, titling it a region of Hell and him it's lord. Azazel could only make brief constitutionals to earth and had fathered Kurt with Mystique during his time there.
Though far removed from the situation Azazel was keeping an eye on his son and found it unacceptable that he would be left to drown or die in the wilderness. Azazel sent his servant Margali Szardos to save Kurt and give him a proper upbringing.
Kurt Szardos[]
Margali Szardos found and recovered Kurt, tending to him and educating him. Margali spun for Kurt a different tale of his birth, telling him that she had happened upon him one day as she was passing by a house and saw that his father appeared to have had a heart attack and his mother was laying beside him also dead. Kurt was raised as Margali's foster child along with her own two children, Stegan and Amanda.
Margali worked as a fortune-teller to hide her true mystical talents behind cold-readings and showmanship. Through Margali Kurt would be exposed to circus life and became a preforming acrobat, with his appearance being easy to justify whether as a whimsical make-up or part of the freak-show, and soon became the star of the show. Eventually the crowds came less and less and Kurt was cast off.
After leaving the circus Kurt traveled to Germany to Stefan only to find when he got there that Stefan had gone insane and was murdering children. Kurt attempted to stop his foster-brother but accidentally killed him in the process. Kurt was disgusted with himself, believing he was in-fact some form of demon, to whom killing came as a second nature and deeply guilt-ridden, Kurt made his way to a monastery to seek forgiveness. The monks of the monastery took Kurt in to seek forgiveness from God and Kurt found refuge there.
Eventually Kurt was found by Professor Xavier through the use of Cerebro and The professor offered Kurt a place to be educated on how to use his powers, the nature of mutants and a chance to help others, all of which sounded exciting to Kurt. Wishing to further understand his true nature and seek forgiveness through action over that of prayer, Kurt accepted Xavier's offer and became part of his team of super heroes known as the X-Men. Upon signing-up, Kurt took on the codename Nightcrawler and has been with the X-Men ever since.
Scraped Origin[]
Though the above origin is cannon and would be slowly explored and revealed as the comics progressed the original planning for Nightcralwer by writer, Chris Claremont, creator for Mystique and collaborator on the story, was for Kurt's actual father to be Mystique herself, since while in the form of a man she is functionally male and can reproduce as one.
Nightcrawler's mother was to be Mystique's lover, Irene Adler, AKA Destiny, as the one who actually gave birth to him, with Mystique passing the child off as Baron Wagner's. Marvel scraped the notion as it arose, wishing to avoid a lesbian angle and the writers instead attached Azazel to the story as a canonical stand-in.
Chris Claremont also have other ideas of Nightcrawler origin to be relate to Nightmare or Mephisto.
Powers and Abilities[]
Nightcrawler is a mutant with the ability to teleport from a distance of up to two miles. He also has enhanced agility, reflexes, and dexterity as well as the ability to stick to objects with the surface of his hands and feet.
Equipment[]
Image Inducer - a device that can make Kurt look human.
Quotes[]
“
We can't afford to antagonize the police, Phoenix.
„
~ Nightcrawler
“
You have the instincts of a hero, my friend. But above all, the soul of a good man.
„
~ Nightcrawler
“
You know, my mother told me there'd be days like this.
„
~ Nightcralwer
“
It sadness me to know that I share geneticsome with a man whose heart is do black that he sees no other options. Sees no possibility for either love or compassion.
„
~ Nightcrawler
“
Forgive me for being blunt Logan but...she was going to die anyway. Be it from poison, old age or any number of reasons. All of which you are immune to.
„
~ Nightcrawler
Gallery[]
Nightcrawler in comics.
Nightcrawler with Excalibur.
Alan Cumming as Nightcrawler in X-Men-2.
Kodi Smit-Mcphee as Nightcrawler in X-Men Apocalypse.
Nightcrawler in Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends.
Nightcrawler in Pryde of the X-Men.
Nightcrawler, X-Men, the animated series.
Nightcrawler, X-Men Evolution
Nightcrawler, Wolverine and the X-Men.
Nightcrawler as He appears in X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse.
Nightcrawler in Marvel Heroes.
Nightcrawler in Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order.
Trivia[]
Ranked 4th on Marvel's "top ten X-Men of all time" in 2008.
Ranked as the 133rd "greatest comic book character of all time" by Wizard magazine.
Ranked 80th on IGN's "greatest comic book hero of all time".
Ranked 7th on IGN's "top 25 X-Men from the past forty years" in 2006.
Ranked 19th on ComicsAlliance's "50 Sexiest Male Characters in Comics" in 2013.
.png "Nightcrawler, (comics).png (271 KB)")
Heroes
