Nightcrawler (Marvel)

Nightcrawler in Amazing Spider-Man: Renew Your Vows v2 #6.

Nightcrawler is a male comic superhero who features in Marvel Comics.

Biography

Origins

Kurt Wagner was the Mutant son of the shapeshifting Mystique and the demonic appearing Azazel. He was born twenty years ago in Germany when his mother disguised herself as a pretty woman that caught the eye of a human noble named Christian Wagner. She had married the man and took the name Raven Wagner though her husband was unaware of her true nature as she used this time to enjoy wealth and a life of luxury. Secretly, she took on the identities of various women to have affairs with them before returning to her married life where her husband Christian wanted to have a child with her but failed to get her pregnant. One day, Raven was introduced to another noble named Azazel who charmed and enchanted her where she revealed her true form to him as they embarked on an affair. This led to her becoming pregnant with Azazel's son though he showed no interest in a romantic encounter and departed where he bade her to pass the child off as her husband Christian's son. (Uncanny X-Men v1 #428)

Taking Kurt with him, she took him with her to the caravan with her fellow travellers refusing to accept the boy with them. Miraculously, the baby survived and was saved by Margali Szardos, a powerful sorceress, who acted as a psychic at a local carnival. Kurt grew up with Margali and her two children, Stefan and Jimaine. As children, Kurt and Stefan often played together becoming close friends. Stefan knew that his magical heritage might lure him to evil, so he had his adopted brother promise him a blood-oath that if he ever killed without reason, Kurt would kill him as well. Reluctantly, Kurt agreed. In the carnival, Kurt grew up to be a trapeze artist, along with Jimaine, and the two of them forged a relationship as they grew older. (Excalibur v1 #-1) On their own, they travelled until they came upon a circus that was run by Max Getmann who offered to take them in but they had to serve as one of his acts. Thus, Margai along with her children and Kurt became part of Herr Getmann's Traveling Menagerie where he came to be a famed star at the circus. During this time, the circus owner forced Margali and the young Kurt to perform for him with Wagner receiving injections from Doc Mojo to keep him sedated. Getmann regularly beat Kurt and forced him to perform in order to pay for his lodgings. This was until one day when he decided he would profit more from selling the Mutant. Upon learning of this, Margali had Kurt escape his cell and he fled the circus with Getmann's people chasing him where they caught him. Getmann then attempted to kill Kurt which was when he first manifested his teleportation ability allowing him to escape the area. (X-Men Origins: Nightcrawler v1 #1)

X-Men

After most of the original team left for a time, Wagner, along with fellow new recruits Storm, Colossus, Wolverine, Banshee, and Thunderbird, stayed at the Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters as members of the new X-Men. The second group of X-Men were mostly adults and required no tutoring from Professor X, but trained in the use of their powers, in the Danger Room. (X-Men v1 #94)

When the X-Men went to Ireland to fight Black Tom and the Juggernaut at Cassidy Keep, yet another mutant ability of Nightcrawler was discovered. When Kurt was knocked unconscious, he fell down in a dark corner and his body blended in with the shadows. Nightcrawler was found by the leprechauns living in the castle and, when he regained consciousness, they told him about the strange effect. Up till then, Kurt did not know of this camouflage ability. (X-Men v1 #103)

Kurt met Amanda Sefton and the two began to date. Investigating the murder of an old friend, Eric Hoffman, Kurt briefly battled Spider-Man and the Punisher until the real killer, Jigsaw, was revealed and the trio defeated him. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #162)

While meeting Amanda at an airport, Kurt recognized the plane of Arcade and overheard that he had been contracted, by Arnos, to kill Spider-Man and refused. After arriving at Arnos' circus, Kurt impersonated Spider-Man, to draw-out the new assassin, and the duo battled Cutthroat. (Marvel Team-Up v1 #89)

Months later, on Kurt's 21st birthday, he received a surprise package from an unknown sender. Inside was a beautiful crystalline statue of Nightcrawler, but when he touched it the figurine exploded and Kurt's soul was spirited away. With the help of Dr. Strange, the X-Men followed and found themselves in a simulacrum of Dante's Inferno. In the last of nine circles, which is supposed to be the final punishment for traitors, the team faced Margali Szardos, who held Kurt responsible for the death of Stefan. It turned out that the statue had been sent by Jimaine to arrange this confrontation, for she could not let her mother punish the man she loved in a magical hell of her own creation. When Nightcrawler explained that Stefan had gone insane and Margali was convinced of the truth of his words through Dr. Strange's Eye of Agamotto, she forgave her adoptive son and departed. Jimaine, on the other hand, revealed that she had been at Nightcrawler's side over the last months in the form of his girlfriend, Amanda Sefton, having magically disguised her appearance. (Uncanny X-Men Annual v1 #4)

Kurt then accompanied Wolverine to Ottawa, Canada, where he learned Wolverine's real name "Logan", to make things right with Alpha Flight and Department H and together with Alpha Flight they battled Wendigo. (X-Men v1 #140)

Then, The X-Men stopped the attempted assassination of Senator Robert Kelly by the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants lead by Mystique. When Nightcrawler encountered Mystique for the first time in his adult life, he was shocked to discover how similar in appearance they were and that she knew his real name. Mystique only told him to ask his foster mother, Margali Szardos, about it, leaving Nightcrawler confused. (Uncanny X-Men v1 #141)

During the X-Men's battle with Dracula, the extent of Nightcrawler's religious faith became apparent. When Logan tried to use the symbol of the cross against their opponent, the Lord of the Vampires taunted the X-Men that it only worked for those who truly believe. Hearing this, Kurt formed a cross of two wooden stakes, causing Dracula incredible pain. (Uncanny X-Men v1 #159)

Back on Earth, Kurt's relationship with Amanda got more intense. He would often visit her in her apartment, or go out on dates with her. Eventually, Kurt confided in his girlfriend that he was troubled by the fact that he did not know anything about his biological parents. These feelings had reemerged with Cyclops being reunited with his father, Corsair, and Nightcrawler would have given anything to be that lucky too. Amanda told him what little she knew, which was actually only what Margali had told her about finding Kurt as a baby. When Kurt revealed that Mystique of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants had been hinting at Margali knowing more than she let on, Amanda was puzzled just the same as Kurt. (Uncanny X-Men v1 #177)

A few months later, Mystique's foster daughter, Rogue, would come to Xavier for help with her powers and joined the X-Men, despite objections by nearly all the standing team about letting an 'Evil Mutant' become one of them. Nightcrawler was one of the first X-Men to warm towards Rogue, tending to her illness as the team's doctor after a battle in Japan. Shortly after Storm was blasted by a Neutralizer gun that negated her powers, seemingly forever, she left the team to cope with this loss and leadership of the X-Men fell into Nightcrawler's hands. Kurt saw it as one of his tasks to help explore the limits of the abilities Rogue had stolen from Ms. Marvel. (Uncanny X-Men v1 #192)

Although Kurt performed well in this capacity, he was plagued by insecurities and self-doubts. Additionally, the Beyonder, whom the X-Men had encountered during the Secret Wars had come to Earth and the presence of a being powerful enough to create and destroy entire universes with the blink of an eye managed to shake Kurt's faith in God. He confessed to his friend, Father Bowen, that he even feared the Beyonder might be God and, if he was, how he could continue to have faith. (Uncanny X-Men v1 #196)

When both Cyclops and Storm returned to the team, Kurt was more than willing to step down and let them sort out leadership of the X-Men themselves via a duel. Storm won the duel, leading to Cyclops's departure. Only a few days later, the X-Men again met the Beyonder, who was curious about the Phoenix Force within Rachel Summers. The alien summoned the team away to test them, but, sensing Nightcrawler's inner trouble, he left him behind to sort it out. Kurt later learned that the others were in San Francisco and he could have followed, but decided against it. Part of him was happy to not have to face the almighty opponent again. Thinking that his entire life was controlled by outside forces, Nightcrawler lashed out at Amanda in his confusion and even voiced concern that his love for her could only be the result of her magical manipulations. Amanda angrily left, ending their long-term relationship with a few hurtful words. The same day, Kurt recognized a young female in distress, as she was targeted by Arcade. Kurt followed them to Murderworld and, rescuing her, he found a purpose in life once more, by concentrating more on his swashbuckling, adventure-loving side. (Uncanny X-Men v1 #204)

During a three-way battle between the X-Men, the Lords Cardinal of the Inner Circle and the super-Sentinel Nimrod, Nightcrawler's teleportation ability was severely thrown out of whack when he attempted to damage the mutant hunting robot by teleporting away with a large chunk of it. However, Nimrod had been defeated by this move once before and now had measures to counter this particular move. Nimrod injured Nightcrawler with an energy signature disruption. Kurt disintegrated, screaming in agony, leaving the X-Men with no way of knowing if he even survived the attack. Regrettably, this would not be Nightcrawler's final encounter with the lethal robot. (Uncanny X-Men v1 #209)

Excalibur

After having the same continuous dream, Nightcrawler and Kitty realized that Rachel might have been trying to telepathically reach them. After being attacked by Gatecrasher and the Technet, who were hired by Saturnyne to eliminate Phoenix, Shadowcat and Meggan Puceanu were captured and Kurt went to Captain Britain, who was in a drunken state after the loss of his sister, Psylocke. After leaving Captain Britain, Kurt tracked Rachel to London, where the Technets were fighting the Warwolves over Rachel. The combined efforts of Kurt, Shadowcat, Phoenix, Meggan, and Captain Britain resulted in the defeat of the Technet and the Warwolves. At the urging of Rachel to continue Professor Xavier's dream, Nightcrawler and Shadowcat became founding members of the British-based team Excalibur. (Excalibur Special Edition v1 #1) After inspecting their new headquarters, at the Braddock Lighthouse, Kurt briefly witnessed Queen Ai'Sha of another reality, but, when he returned with Meggan, they scene had vanished. Kurt found himself attracted to Meggan, but unable to act, due to her relationship as Captain Britain's girlfriend. Later, Kurt attempted to rescue Shadowcat, who was posing as Rachel, from her plan to find the remaining Warwolves, but Kitty was captured. After saving people from a subway train, Kurt followed a mysterious police officer to the Warwolves' hideout and Excalibur rescued Shadowcat, who's intangibility saved her life, then placed the Warwolves on display at the zoo. (Excalibur v1 #2)

House of X

Friendly Neighborhood Spinnenmann in Uncanny Spider-Man v1 #1.

After the establishment of the nation of Krakoa, he was one of many Mutants that came to reside on the living island that was the home of their people. (House of X v1 #1) As a hero of Krakoa, he was part of a strike team tasked with destroying a Mother Mold created by the anti-mutant organization Orchis to prevent the emergence of Nimrod. (House of X v1 #3) Nightcrawler gave his life alongside his teammates to disconnect the Mother Mold and destroy it. (House of X v1 #4) The team of heroes was resurrected by the Five on Krakoa, who combined their powers to transfer the minds of deceased mutants into cloned bodies. (House of X v1 #5) Nightcrawler was also chosen to be part of the country's government in the Quiet Council of Krakoa. He proposed that having more mutant births should be one of the laws of Krakoa to promote the growth of the mutant population. (House of X v1 #6) In this new setting, Nightcrawler questioned certain aspects of the Krakoan culture, realizing the new mutant practices needed new philosophical and religious understandings, especially due to a new way of life permeated by death and resurrection. He was particularly affected by the Crucible ritual, in which depowered mutants were slain in combat to get resurrected with powers. He was also astonished at a naturally occurring tower on Krakoa accessible only through teleportation. (X-Men v5 #7) Kurt would ultimately decide to set his home on the island within it. (Way of X v1 #1) Ultimately, he would decide to name it the Narthex. (Legion of X v1 #5) Disturbed by the banalization of death from teenage teammates on a mission to dismantle an Orchis-funded anti-mutant museum, Nightcrawler was joined by Doctor Nemesis to understand the societal cracks in Krakoa. In his distraction, he ignored the pleas of the depowered mutant Lost to be his opponent during Crucible; as a result, she was brutally murdered by Magneto. At the same time, Nightcrawler and other Krakoans were tormented by the psychic entity known as the 'Patchwork Man' that lurked on Krakoa and feasted on the lost memories of mutants who got resurrected. Xavier believed it to be his omnipotent son Legion, and had Nightcrawler search for him. (Way of X v1 #1)

With Doctor Nemesis and Pixie's help in an Orchis secret facility in Saudi Arabia where Legion had had his brain harvested to cast potential scenarios to bring Krakoa down. Legion's rescue of such distress came in the form of having him executed and resurrected, with Nightcrawler firing the mercy shot. In Legion, Nightcrawler found an erratic ally to uncover the conflicts and mysteries in Krakoa, including the identity of the Patchwork Man who was revealed to be Onslaught. (Way of X v1 #2) Cautiously keeping Onslaught's presence a temporary secret, Nightcrawler attended the Hellfire Gala. To cope with the stress of looking for ways to culturally unite mutantkind as a society, he got drunk and ended up embarrassing himself during the party night. In the next morning, he learned about the Bower, a place run by Stacy X that served for people to connect to each other as well as a daycare for abandoned mutant babies, which complicated his interpretations for reproduction on Krakoa. There, Nightcrawler and Legion spotted Onslaught tampering with Lost's reason, as she attacked Fabian Cortez. (Way of X v1 #3) Cortez was a troublemaker, leading Nightcrawler to approach him on Central Park to foil his plans of causing a terrorist attack to insult Krakoan leaderships. (Way of X v1 #4) Nightcrawler dragged him to the mutant Planet of Arakko, where Lost had been hiding out, to make them have an honest and upfront conversation. To his frustration, they still battled each other. During the unsuccessful attempt, a stronger Onslaught intervened and had Cortez overload Lost's powers, have her murdered and cause the moon Phobos to fall out of orbit to crush the planet. Nightcrawler had Cortez boost his teleportation powers, which allowed him to teleport the moon back to orbit and save Arakko. During the deadly experience, Nightcrawler envisioned the "Spark", a way to solve the issue with lost memories during resurrection and weaken Onslaught. Tragically, Nightcrawler's demise and subsequent resurrection left him unaware of his own plan. (Way of X v1 #5)

Fortunately, Legion had built a pocket reality in his psyche, anchored in the Astral Plane, where mutants could commune among themselves and be safe from Onslaught. There, Nightcrawler was able to interact with Cortez and remember his plan about the foundation of the Spark, as well as learn that Orchis had planted a fragment of Onslaught deep inside Lost's mind from which he grew in power and could end Krakoa. Inside Legion's mind, Nightcrawler shepherded the consciousnesses of several mutants who communed at the Altar, and finally introduced them to the Spark, a set of innovative ways to guide mutant communion and new opportunities after death and resurrection, which led to Onslaught's weakening and destruction. Months later, Nightcrawler pitched a group of Legionaries to defend what united mutants culturally and reinforce the laws of Krakoa, operating from the Altar. (X-Men: The Onslaught Revelation v1 #1)

As Krakoa's chief lawman, Nightcrawler was introduced by Storm to the Arakkii law in the form of the Arbitrix Ora Serrata the Witness. Ora Serrata demonstrated how Arakkii culture opposed to the heresy of adoring deities, and requested Nightcrawler to be accompanied to Krakoa with one of her agents Weaponless Zsen to track down the fugitive god of chaos Tumult, the Trickster Chimera. (Legion of X v1 #1) Their mission was entangled with the Legionaries pursuing the body stealer Switch, who had been causing trouble on Krakoa through the use of sorcery. (Legion of X v1 #2) Nightcrawler and Zsen searched for answers in the astral plane, being guided by Blindfold. After dealing with their inner demons, they found out Switch worshipped Tumult to get empowered. (Legion of X v1 #3) Later, Nightcrawler and Zsen enjoyed a night of intimacy and deep discussions about faith and philosophy. Then, Switch attacked the Legionaries, ultimately being tricked into possessing Nightcrawler. This allowed Nightcrawler to talk with Tumult in Switch's body and learn that Ora Serrata had been its original worshipper. (Legion of X v1 #4) This was in order to generate chaos and justify her authoritarian rule. As Ora Serrata marched with her forces to the Altar, Nightcrawler directly confronted her about her machinations and was able to restrain her, exposing her criminal acts and forcing her to get humbled. Unbeknownst to most, these incidents were orchestrated by the mysterious Mother Righteous. (Legion of X v1 #5)

Kurt was one of the few Mutants able to overcome the telepathic call from Xavier due to his training. Instead, he came to teleport away where he emerged within the woods around Central Park. Staying there, he looked to evade the notice of Orchis with Spider-Man finding him. Looking to help Nightcrawler, Spider-Man offered him a spare suit with the intention of having him hide in plain sight without being detected by Orchis. In this time, Nightcrawler was mistaken for Spider-Man as he helped fight crime on the streets. He had hoped to find a means of also clearing his name after a mutated version of him was responsible for murdering several public figures live on television. (Uncanny Spider-Man v1 #1)

Overview

Personality and attributes

At the circus, he was known as the Flying Fiend, the Magnificent Monster, the Sinister Blue Devil, and as the Daredevil Demon. (X-Men Origins: Nightcrawler v1 #1) After Orchis began their public campaign against Mutants, Nightcrawler was forced to go underground where he operated as a vigilante dressed in a manner similar to Spider-Man. In fact, he came to be mistaken for Spider-Man and referred to himself as Spinnenmann whilst others called him Hellcrawler. (Uncanny Spider-Man v1 #1)

Powers and abilities

Due to his Neyaphem heritage, the healing blood of their rivals the Cheyarafim hurt him. (Uncanny X-Men v1 #431)

Kurt's intuitive spatial awareness allowed him to track his movements instinctively and with greater precision than the average person, helping him to pinpoint locations for a 'blind' teleport. (Excalibur v1 #65)

Nightcrawler could perform a vertical teleportation 'jump' of one mile by pushing himself to his physical limits. (Uncanny X-Men v1 #147)

In one instance, he teleported himself and another from Las Vegas to San Francisco thus travelling across 585 miles. This act left him weakened and near death at the time. (X-Force (v3 #26)

Later, he was able to manifest an astral cutlass that was sharp enough to cut through metal. It was derived from the magical heritage of his adoptive mother. (Uncanny Spider-Man v1 #1)

Notes

• Nightcrawler was created by Len Wein and Dave Cockrum where he made his first appearance in Giant-Size X-Men v1 #1 (May, 1975).

Alternate Versions

Kurt Darkholme in Uncanny X-Force v1 #33.

• In X-Men: Alpha v1 #1 (1995), an alternate version of Nightcrawler appeared in the setting of the Age of Apocalypse reality set on Earth-295 in the Multiverse. This version took the name of Kurt Darkholme and came to have a good relationship with his mother Mystique. He also had a scarring experience that made him despise organized religion. Ultimately, Kurt was one of the many mutants who joined Magneto's rebel band known as the X-Men who sought to stop Apocalypse's dominion of the world. He often acted as the go-between in the X-Men's dealings with Mystique, whose friend Destiny could foresee the future.
• In Mutant X v1 #1 (1998), an alternate version of Nightcrawler appeared in the setting of the Mutant X reality set on Earth-1298 in the Multiverse.
• In X-Men: Millennial Visions v1 #1 (2000), an alternate version of Nightcrawler appeared in the setting of the Millennial Visions reality set on Earth-2182 in the Multiverse. He came to become romantically involved with Scarlet Witch where the couple had a daughter named Talia Wagner.
• In Ultimate X-Men v1 #7 (2001), an alternate version of Nightcrawler appeared in the setting of the Ultimate Marvel reality set on Earth-1610 in the Multiverse. Growing up in the Bavarian mountains, Kurt Wagner was a member of a traveling circus who was kidnapped as a German captive of the Weapon X project as an early teen, and was, like Rogue and Wolverine, forced to become one of their mutant agents through brutal training regiments. However inhumane their treatment of him, Kurt refused to forget his idealism and faith. He even managed to convince Storm not to take vengeance against the Weapon X commander, John Wraith. Killing Wraith, he said, would bring her to Wraith's level and he refused to allow that to happen.
• In Astonishing X-Men v3 #44 (2011), an alternate kid version of Nightcrawler appeared in the setting of the reality set on Earth-24135 in the Multiverse. This version was Kurt Waggoner who was a boy that grew up in Brooklyn on his world where he was a fan of Spider-Man and excelled in his science classes. He came to be known as Kid Nightcrawler but was also referred to as Spider Fan One. Although Kurt grew up in a veritable Utopia, he was often teased, and found solace in working with robots. The day the machine rose up against mankind, Kurt parents hid and tranquilized him to protect him. When he awoke, everyone was dead and Kurt unexpectedly teleported for the first time to escape robots attackers

In other media

Television

• In Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends, Nightcrawler appeared in the setting of the animated television series in the episode "The X-Men Adventure" where he was voiced by actor G. Stanley Jones.
• In X-Men: Pryde of the X-Men, Nightcrawler appeared in the setting of the animated television series pilot where he was voiced by actor Neil Ross.
• In X-Men, Nightcrawler appeared in the setting of the 1990s animated television series where he was voiced by actor Adrian Hough.
• In X-Men: Evolution, Nightcrawler appeared in the setting of the animated television series where he was voiced by actor Brad Swaile.
• In Wolverine and the X-Men, Nightcrawler appeared in the setting of the animated television series where he was voiced by actor Liam O'Brien.

Films

• In X2, Nightcrawler appeared in the setting of the live-action film sequel where he was portrayed by actor Alan Cumming.
• In X-Men: Apocalypse, Nightcrawler appeared in the setting of the live-action film where he was portrayed by actor Kodi Smit-McPhee.

Video games

• In X-Men: The Official Game, Nightcrawler appeared in the setting of the video game tie-in to the live-action film where he was once again voiced by actor Alan Cumming.
• In X-Men Legends, Nightcrawler appeared as a playable character in the setting of the video game where he was voiced by actor Dee Bradley Baker.
• In X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse, Nightcrawler appeared as a playable character in the setting of the video game where he was voiced again by actor Dee Bradley Baker.
• In X-Men: Destiny, Nightcrawler appeared in the setting of the video game where he was voiced again by actor Yuri Lowenthal.

Appearances

• Giant-Size X-Men v1: (1975)
• Uncanny X-Men v1:
• Excalibur v1:
• X-Men Origins: Nightcrawler v1:
• Amazing X-Men:
• Extraordinary X-Men v1:
• X-Men: Gold:
• X-Men: Red:
• Extermination v1:
• X-Men v5:
• Way of X v1:
• Legion of X v1:
• Uncanny Spider-Man v1: (2023)

External Links

• Marvel Database Entry
• Wikipedia Entry

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