Nightcrawler (character): Difference between revisions

| aliases = '''As Uncanny Spider-Man:'''

Nightcrawler, the superhero identity of '''Kurt Wagner''', is a member of a fictional subspecies of humanity known as [[Mutant (Marvel Comics)|mutants]], who possess an X-gene that can cause possible physical mutations and in many cases grants some form of superhuman ability. Nightcrawler possesses superhuman [[agility]], the ability to [[Teleportation|teleport]], and adhesive hands and feet. His physical mutations include indigo-colored velvety fur which allows him to become nearly invisible in shadows, two-toed feet and three-fingered hands, yellow eyes, [[pointed ears]], 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 a [[Catholic]], and while this is not emphasized as much in his earlier comic book appearances, in later depictions he is more vocal about his faith. He was originally stated to be from a small village called Witzeldorf in the [[German state]] of [[Bavaria]].<ref>''Nightcrawler'' #8. Marvel Comics</ref>

Dave Cockrum originally created Nightcrawler while he was in the [[United States Navy]], stationed at [[Guam]]. He recounted: "I sat up one night in the middle of a [[typhoon]] because it was too noisy to sleep, so I stayed up and thought up this character. Originally, Nightcrawler was a [[demon]] from [[Hell]] who had flubbed a mission, and rather than go back and face punishment, he decided to stay up here in the human world. He was supposed to be the sidekick of another superhero character that I had created named The Intruder." At this point Nightcrawler wore trunks instead of a full costume, but otherwise looked identical to his final version.<ref name="TyphoonDave">{{cite news | last = Meth | first= Clifford | date = August 1993 | title = How a Typhoon Blew in Success | work = [[Wizard (magazine)|Wizard]]: X-Men Turn Thirty | pages = 50–52}}</ref>

A one-shot titled ''X-Men: The Onslaught Revelation'' served as the finale of the first chapter of the series.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Marvel Announces X-Men: The Onslaught Revelation|url=https://comicbook.com/marvel/news/x-men-onslaught-revelation-marvel-si-spurrier/|access-date=2021-07-25|website=Marvel|date=23 June 2021 |language=en}}</ref>

Kurt Wagner was born with certain unusual physical characteristics, but his power of self-teleportation did not emerge until puberty.<ref>''X-Men Origins Nightcrawler'' One-Shot. Bernardin, Freeman, Nord, Harren. March 2010. Marvel Comics</ref> [[Margali Szardos]], a [[Magic (paranormal)|sorceress]] and a [[Romani people in France|''Manouche Roma'']] queen, allegedly found Kurt an hour after his birth, in a small roadside shelter in the [[Black Forest]] with his father lying dead on the road outside.<ref>[[Claremont, Chris]] (w). ''[[The Uncanny X-Men]]'' #177 (Jan. 1984). Marvel Comics</ref> However, this claim was later called into question, and it was subsequently proven that Kurt was the child of [[Mystique (comics)|Mystique]]<ref name= "XMenUnlimited4">''X-Men Unlimited'' #4 (Mar. 1994). Marvel Comics</ref> (also known as Raven Darkholme). In a 2003 story, the mutant [[Azazel (Marvel Comics)|Azazel]] was canonically established as Nightcrawler's biological father.<ref name="XMen428">''The Uncanny X-Men'' #428 (Oct. 2003). Marvel Comics</ref> However, this was retconned twenty years later. Instead, Mystique impregnated [[Destiny (Irene Adler)|Destiny]] but changed her body to mimic the pregnancy's progression in order to fool the Bavarian nobleman Baron Christian Wagner. Destiny, pretending to be Mystique's maid, eventually gave birth to Nightcrawler before Mystique fled with him to the nearby woods to escape attacking villagers.<ref name="XBlueOrigins1">''X-Men Blue: Origins'' #1</ref> Azazel later found Nightcrawler, believing him to be his from an affair with Mystique, in the woods and gave him to his lover and crony, Margali Szardos, to raise him.<ref name="Uncanny X-Men #432">''The Uncanny X-Men'' #432</ref> This is retconned slightly in 2023's ''X-Men Blue: Origins'', where Mystique hid Nightcrawler in the woods to go back and rescue Destiny, only to find Destiny gone and Nightcrawler taken upon her return. Destiny likewise implies that she informed Margali of Nightcrawler's location.<ref name="XBlueOrigins1"/> Margali took the newborn Nightcrawler to a small Bavarian circus named Herr Getmann's Traveling Menagerie where she worked as a [[Fortune-telling|fortune teller]] as a cover for her activities as a sorceress.<ref>''Uncanny Origins'' #8. Marvel Comics</ref> Nightcrawler was never legally adopted by anyone, but he was raised by all the members of the circus, who had no prejudices against mutants, except for the ringmaster, Herr Max Getmann. However, Margali took up the role of Nightcrawler 's unofficial foster mother.<ref>''X-Men Origins: Nightcrawler'' #1 (Mar. 2010). Marvel Comics</ref>

Despite his death, Nightcrawler continued to aid his friends. When Wolverine was possessed by [[List_of_Marvel_Comics_charactersList of Marvel Comics characters:_H H#Hellverine_IHellverine I|Hellverine]], Nightcrawler entered his friend's mind to help him drive out the invader. The other X-Men who entered Logan's mind to help him assumed that Nightcrawler was just a manifestation of Wolverine's mind, rather than the real one.<ref>''Wolverine'' vol.4 #7–8. Marvel Comics</ref>

Nightcrawler managed to restore Mystique's full memory, learning in the process that not Azazel, but Mystique herself was his father and [[Destiny (Irene Adler)|Destiny]] his actual mother; his likeness to Azazel came about due to Raven's assimilation of Azazel's genes. When her mutant identity was revealed right after Kurt's birth, she fled with Kurt on Irene's urging, only to find the mob chasing her going back for Irene. Leaving Kurt at the base of a tree, she rushed back to save her love, but in the end found both Irene and Kurt gone. Years later, after Mystique found her in custody of [[Rogue (Marvel Comics)|Anna Marie]], Irene revealed that her precognition had made her see Azazel conquering the world and killing all mutantkind, and that he would only be thwarted by a child he would presume to be his blood heir. Thus she told Margali where to find Kurt, to have him raised into the role as a hero. To resume their relationship for Anna Marie's sake, they asked Professor X to erase their memories of Bavaria, though Raven insisted on still being able to remember Kurt as her son. Upon this revelation, Kurt and Raven reconciled.<ref name="XBlueOrigins1">''X-Men Blue: Origins'' #1</ref>

His effective teleport range was extended after his revival both due to outside assistance and a later enhancement to his powers, thanks to a deal he made with a demonic race of [[Bamf#Race|Bamfs]] loaned to him by his fatherAzazel. Nightcrawler can warp greater distances by locking onto them as a form of waypoint marker to teleport longer distances, even trans-dimensional ones.<ref name="ReferenceA"/><ref>''Nightcrawler'' vol. 4 #11–12. Marvel Comics.</ref> Beyond the use of his own demonic companions Kurt can now seemingly transport himself longer distances without tiring, be they local or continental in range, having teleported over {{cvt|7,800|mi|sigfig=2}} from the UAE (United Arab Emirates) to [[Antarctica]],<ref>''Civil War II'' #1. Marvel Comics.</ref> and again traveling over {{cvt|2,900|mi|sigfig=2}} from the [[Czech Republic]] to [[Egypt]].<ref>''Extraordinary X-Men'' #13. Marvel Comics.</ref> He possesses a limited unconscious extrasensory "[[Spatial–temporal reasoning|spatial awareness]]" ability which prevents him from teleporting into solid objects within his immediate vicinity, but this ability diminishes the greater 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{{Volume needed|c=y|date=June 2014}} and gases when he arrives.

In addition to his primary power of teleportation, Nightcrawler's physiology is unique in several different ways. His agility far surpasses that of an Olympic-level gymnast, and his bone structure allows him great flexibility. His spine is more flexible than an ordinary human, 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 balance and bodily coordination are all enhanced to superhuman levels. He has the ability to cling to surfaces through microscopic suction cups located on the pads of his hands and feet.<ref name= body /> However, some surfaces are so frictionless that he cannot cling to them.<ref>''X-Men'' #137 (September 1980). Marvel Comics.</ref> He also possesses superhuman dexterity, being able to manipulate items and [[Fencing|fence]] with either hand, bothas feet,well andas his tail.{{Volume needed|c=y|date=June 2014}}<ref name= body />

After hinting for many years that Mystique was indeed Nightcrawler's biological mother, it was confirmed by writer [[Scott Lobdell]] in ''X-Men Unlimited'' #4.<ref name=XMenUnlimited4/> In 2003, it was revealed that although Mystique was married to a wealthy German, Herr Wagner, Nightcrawler's father was [[Azazel (Marvel Comics)|Azazel]], a member of a race of [[demon]]ic-looking mutants known as the Neyaphem which date back to [[Biblical]] times that were banished to another dimension by a race of [[angel]]ic mutants.<ref name="XMen428"/> The storyline was furthered by the revelation that fellow X-Man [[Warren Worthington III|Archangel]]'s healing blood did not heal Nightcrawler, and in fact caused him great pain.<ref>''The Uncanny X-Men'' #431 (Nov. 2003). Marvel Comics</ref>

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 seemingly believes his biological father is [[Sabretooth (comicscharacter)#Age of Apocalypse and the Exiles|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 than the others" and flashes to Sabretooth taunting Nightcrawler.<ref>''X-Calibre'' #4 (June 1995)</ref>

In the [[Marvel Zombies]] universe at Earth 2149, where the superhero population gradually becomes infected by a zombie virus, Nightcrawler is among the remaining uninfected superheroes attempting to save what remains of the Earth population. He is bitten by the zombie [[Fantastic Four]] in the one-shot ''[[Marvel Zombies: Dead Days]]'', and is one of the last superheroes to be infected. When the [[Ultimate Marvel|Ultimate]] version of [[Maker (Reed Richardscharacter)|Reed Richards]] travels to the Marvel Zombies Universe, Nightcrawler is among the zombified superheroes who attack him in the ruins of New York, but the attempt failed. Zombie Nightcrawler also appears in ''[[Marvel Zombies vs. The Army Of Darkness]]'', whereas he is seen as a zombie also, attempting to attack the fortress of the villain known as Dr. Doom.{{Volume needed|c=y|date=February 2021}}

In the ''Predator vs. Wolverine'' miniseries, with takes place in an alternate reality, Nightcrawler helps Wolverine fight a [[Predator (fictional species)|Predator]] by teleporting himself behind it and disconnecting the tubes which connecting its breathing apparatus to its mask, causing it to temporarily lose its balance.{{volume needed|date=August 2024}}

Set in ''[[Marvel Noir]]'', Kurt Wagner aka '''The Demon''' appears in the sequel to ''[[X-Men Noir]]'', ''X-Men Noir: the Mark of Cain''. Kurt is a human wearing a blue demon mask and a costume tail as well was an acrobat with sharpened nails, as well as an agent of the German-based [[Weapon X]] under his fiancée Jimaine Szardos (alias The Red Rose). Wagner betrayed the group and saved American spy [[Mimic (comics)|Mimic/Calvin Rankin]] from fellow agents and vowed to get out of the country. Wagner was informed that Rankin himself was Weapon X, the prime target sought by Rose. Wagner apprehended and shot Szardos but not before she burned his face with a torch.<ref>''X-Men Noir: Mark of Cain'' #1–4</ref> <ref>''Weapon X Noir'' #1 </ref>

[[Category:DemonFictional superheroesdemons]]