Raven Darkholme (Mystique) (mother);
Baron Christian Wagner (step-father, deceased);
Margali Szardos (foster mother);
Jimaine Szardos (foster sister);
Stefan Szardos (foster brother, deceased);
History
Early Years
In the form of a German noblewoman, the shape-shifting mutant Mystique married Baron Christian Wagner. Meanwhile, Mystique had an affair with the mysterious Azazel from La Isla des Demonas and became pregnant with their child. Azazel told Mystique to raise their child as if it were the Count's. A heartbroken Raven agreed and, while Christian did become suspicious as to the baby's paternity, his sudden "accidental" death ensured no one else heard his suspicions. The baby was born visibly mutated with blue fur all over, pointed ears, iridescent eyes, and a prehensile tail. Due to the shock and the strain of the boy’s difficult delivery, Mystique lost concentration and accidentally revealed her true form. Word spread of her and the baby's condition and mother and son were chased by a torch-wielding angry mob. Mystique passed out and left young Kurt Wagner floating down a river during her escape.
Circus Life
Miraculously, the baby survived and was saved by Margali Szardos, a sorceress and gypsy queen, who became a fortuneteller at a local carnival as a "cover" for her activities as a sorceress. Margali took the baby back with her to the circus. Wagner was never legally adopted by anyone but was raised within the circus, mostly with people who had no prejudices against "freaks" save for the ringmaster, Herr Max Getmann. Margali acted as Wagner's unofficial foster mother. Wagner grew up in Max Getmann's Circus and his two closest friends were his "adopted" brother and sister, Margali's natural children Stephan and Jimaine Szardos. Later, Kurt and Jimaine forged a true friendship as they grew older, and Stephan knew that his magical heritage might lure him to evil one day. So, Jimaine had Kurt promise him a blood-oath, that if he ever killed without reason, Kurt would kill him as well. 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.
As he got older, Kurt's abilities drew less and less of a crowd until one day, Herr Getmann could no longer afford to keep him sedated between acts and decided to sell him. Fearing the worst, Margali worked with Armen Freilich to free Kurt. As he fled, he accidentally knocked over a torch, igniting the circus. Getmann and his men chased Kurt through the forest and were about to shoot him in the face when he teleported for the first time. Astonished and pleased with his escape, Kurt wearily made his way to the nearby Father Wagner's church. Two days later, he was discovered and welcomed and Kurt happily found a home trading shelter for labor. During this time, he decorated his blue fur with "angelic symbols" which reflected his faith and devout practice of Catholicism. This form of artistic body modification was self-inflicted brands or scars: "One for every sin". One evening, Armen burst in the door, apparently being chased by Getmann and his goons for escaping. Father Wagner tried to stop them from taking the boys, but the men proved too strong and set the church on fire during the brawl. Kurt ported Armen to a nearby farm before going back and beating on Getmann. Just as he was about to kill Getmann, Father Wagner reminded Kurt of his humanity. With the tides turned, Getmann and his men took aim to kill both Kurt and the Father but were frozen. Professor Charles Xavier had arrived and taken control of the angry mob's minds, programming them all to remember Kurt dying in the fire and recruited the young mutant to join his School for Gifted Youngsters, in order to keep on training.
Nightcrawler was brainwashed with a fluid produced by William Stryker's mutant son in order to attempt an assassination on the President of the United States. He was nearly successful, however, he was wounded and snapped out of the the trance in the final moments.
Storm and Jean Grey were sent to find Kurt. At the Alkali Lake facility he was key in helping Storm save the mutant students Stryker had kidnapped and helped stop Stryker's Cerebro from killing anyone.
Nightcrawler then joined the Utopia Division inside the X-Men.
Powers and Abilities
Powers
Nightcrawler is a mutant.
- Teleportation: Ability to teleport himself, the clothes he is wearing, and within limits a certain amount of additional mass which is in contact with him. He teleports by displacing himself into the Brimstone Dimension, traveling through it, and then returning to his own dimension at a certain distance from his point of departure. He consciously determines his point of return. The entire process occurs so quickly that Nightcrawler is unaware of being in the Brimstone Dimension at all. Nightcrawler guides himself through the brimstone dimension by an unconscious, natural direction-finding sense. Although Nightcrawler controls his teleportation ability with his conscious mind, his power to teleport is not psionic. Rather it is the result of an unknown biochemical/biophysical reaction which he triggers mentally.
When he disappears in teleporting, Nightcrawler leaves behind smoke with a stench reminiscent of burning brimstone. This is a small portion of the atmosphere of the Brimstone Dimension that escapes while the aperture is open. His teleportation is invariably accompanied by the muffled sound of imploding air rushing to fill the vacuum left where Nightcrawler's body was. Nightcrawler's powers automatically displace liquids and gases when he arrives in the course of a teleportation.
- The longer the distance over which Nightcrawler teleports himself, the harder and more exhausting it is for him to make the teleportation "jump". It is easier for him to teleport between north and south (along Earth's magnetic field lines) than it is for him to teleport between east and west (against the magnetic lines). Under optimal conditions, teleporting only himself and his costume, Nightcrawler can displace himself a distance of about 2 miles east-to-west, and up to 3 miles north-to-south. Making a vertical teleportation upwards is difficult and dangerous. Nightcrawler has made a vertical teleportation "jump" of 2 miles by pushing himself to his physical limits.
- Nightcrawler's momentum is retained throughout the process of teleportation: he arrives with whatever amount of inertia he left with. For example, if he were falling from a great height, he could not teleport himself towards the ground in order to save himself; he would land with the same velocity that he teleported with. He can subtract this inertia by teleporting short distances upwards (as though taking two steps back for every one forward).
- The limits to the mass that Nightcrawler can carry with him while teleporting, and the limits to the distance over which he can teleport himself with additional load is unknown. When he transports a passenger over even moderate distances, they both feel weakened and ill, to the point of exhaustion. Teleportation over further distances could be fatal. Through practice, Nightcrawler has increased the mass he can teleport with him. The upper limits of this capacity are as yet unknown.
- Nightcrawler can use his powers offensively by grappling with an enemy and teleporting him or her in a series of rapid jumps. The strain of these "multiple ports" can exhaust foes without superhuman endurance while Nightcrawler remains strong enough to continue fighting.
- Subconscious Spatial Awareness: Nightcrawler has a very limited subconscious extrasensory ability that prevents him from teleporting himself so that his feet, for example, would materialize below the surface of the local ground. Because this ability is so limited, however, Nightcrawler will not teleport into any place that he cannot see or has not seen in the past. If Nightcrawler teleported himself into an unfamiliar area, he would run the risk of materializing partially or entirely within a solid object. If too much of his body materialized within a solid object, he would probably be killed.
As part of his power, Nightcrawler has also exhibited a limited ability to sense the teleportation of other beings.
- Micro-Suction Discs: Nightcrawler can stick to objects with the surface of his hands and feet. This enables him to scale surfaces.
- Flexible Bone Structure: Nightcrawler's bone structure allows him great flexibility. He can remain in a crouched position for a long time and perform contortionist type feats without causing any damage to his spine.
- Camouflage: He has limited abilities to blend into shadows, both as a result of his indigo fur and his connection to the light-bending attributes of the dimension through which he teleports. This is also the explanation for why he constantly appears in shadow, even in direct light.
- 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. It is deft enough to fight with like a sword or blunt object.
- Infrared Vision: Nightcrawler's always glowing eyes grant him a marked degree of heightened night vision as well.
- Superhuman Agility: Nightcrawler's agility, balance, and bodily coordination are enhanced to levels beyond the human body's natural limits.
- Superhuman Reflexes: Nightcrawler's natural reaction time is enhanced to a level beyond the human body's natural limits.
Abilities
- Master Acrobat: Nightcrawler is an Olympic-class acrobat thanks to his flexible spine that allows him to perform contortionist-like feats and to go long periods in a semi-crouching position without injury.
- Master Combatant: He is a skilled hand-to-hand combatant and a master at fencing, which he can even perform with his tail, which is strong enough to support his entire body weight.
- Aviator: He has served as the team's pilot and has also been the mechanic of the X-Men's Blackbird jet for a long time.
- Medic: He has been the medic when no more qualified Utopia Division members were around to do so.
Strength level
Nightcrawler possesses above average strength of a man of his age, height, and build who engages in intensive regular exercise. At his peak, Nightcrawler can lift about 250 lbs.
Weaknesses
Despite Nightcrawler's superhuman powers, he is just as susceptible to disease and physical injury as any ordinary human. Also, because he is a Neyaphem, Angel's blood, which heals everyone else, hurts him, normally adding to whatever injury he received.
Paraphernalia
Equipment: None known.
Transportation: His own teleportation, X-Men Blackbird
Weapons: None known.
Notes
- Young Nightcrawler's sprite was made by User:Sunder4321.
Trivia
- Nightcrawler's teleportation was also known as 'Bamfing' due to the sound that was made when he teleported.
See Also
- Appearances of Kurt Wagner (Earth-1010)
- Character Gallery: Kurt Wagner (Earth-1010)
- Quotations by Kurt Wagner (Earth-1010)
Discover and Discuss
- Search News for: Nightcrawler · Kurt Wagner · Kurt Wagner (Earth-1010)
Links and References
- None.