Hero Profile: Nightcrawler

I’ve been racking my brain to think of a good Theme Week for the end of December/beginning of January. Since I haven’t thought of a perfect theme, I’ve decided to go with what will probably be my standby Theme Week, the X-Men. What can I say? They have some of the best characters. But which to start with? Well, why not the X-Man with the closet ties to the season? I’m talking of course, about Father Kurt Wagner, aka Nightcrawler. You didn’t know he was priest, did you? Well, former priest. Let's get to it.

Can kind of see why some might confuse Kurt
with a demon. 

Kurt’s life has been complicated pretty much since his conception. For those who haven’t read my villain profile for his mother, here’s a quick refresher. Mystique was the wife of a wealthy German Baron named Christian Wagner. She was well taken care of, but Mystique was incredibly bored with her husband. Apparently, while being a good provider and doting husband, he was about as interesting as a stamp collector. In a couple of areas, wink wink, nudge nudge. She had an affair with one of Christian’s business partners, who was also a Mutant, named Azazel. Mystique was impregnated, and later gave birth to Kurt. Unlike his biological parents, though, Kurt was clearly abnormal from the moment he came into the world. He seemed to inherit the most physically obvious Mutations from his parents, his mother’s blue skin and his father’s demonic looking hands, feet, and prehensile tail. Which is really messed up when you consider both Mystique and Azazel are shapeshifters. They get to hide the more noticeable differences, Kurt doesn't get the luxury. The local towns folk considered Kurt an abomination, and mother and newborn were run out of town. Forced to choose between her life and the life of her son, Mystique dropped Kurt into a well. Mystique has always been a survivor.

Thankfully for Kurt, his father is an incredibly powerful Mutant, with multiple abilities like teleportation, and knowledge of black magic. Both of these abilities let him look after his spawn, and save the baby from drowning. He gave Kurt to a Gypsy sorceress named Margali Szardos to raise. Margali was a fortuneteller in a traveling Bavarian circus, and thus Kurt was raised amongst Carnies. Despite his demonic appearance, Kurt was beloved by his circus family, including his adoptive siblings, Stefan and Jimaine. Kurt had a natural grace and agility, which combined with his unusual hands and feet, made him a natural acrobat. He astounded audiences, who assumed he was doing all his aerial tricks in a blue devil costume.

A few years later, Kurt’s circus was bought out by a Texas Millionaire, who’d heard of Kurt and his amazing acrobatic feats. But when he learned of Kurt’s mutant status, he demanded Kurt be put into the Freak Show. Kurt was drugged to keep him compliant, but he was saved by a Mutant child with the power to sense other Mutants. Kurt attempted to connect with his brother Stefan in Winzeldorf, Germany. But, to Kurt’s horror, Stefan had apparently lost his mind and started brutally murdering children. Kurt tracked Stefan down, and tried to talk his beloved brother down, but Stefan was irreconcilable. They fought, and Stefan was killed in the struggle. Once again, Kurt was attacked by a mob. This one blamed him for the child murders Stefan performed. Racists. He very well could have been stoned to death, had not Charles Xavier stepped in. Our favorite Psychic used his telepathy to freeze the mob in place, and spirited Kurt away. Kurt became one of the second generation of X-Men, alongside other fan favorites Wolverine, Storm, and Colossus. And some lesser known X-Men, Thunderbird, Banshee and Sunfire. Once again, Kurt had found a home.

With a group like this, it takes a while to notice the Blue
and furry guy.

Kurt went on many adventures with the X-Men, forming friendships both with his current team, the original five X-Men, and all the Mutants that came after.  He also spent time with the British X-Men team Excalibur, and entered into the priesthood in his spare time. It was around this time that he learned the reason behind his birth. Turns out, Azazel is an immortal demon-like Mutant. His subspecies of Homo-Superior were called the Neyaphem. They battled a group of angelic themed Mutants, the Cheyarafim, that forced them into another dimension. Azazel could escape the other world, for short periods of time, thanks to his teleportation powers. Azazel sought out “unique” women, like Mystique, and fathered children with them. Each of his spawn were born with Teleportation powers. After he’d created enough of these teleporters, he compelled his children to gather, and then teleport all at once. This created a breach in space and time, and allowed Azazel to escape. Kurt, his half-siblings Kiwi Black and Abyss (the only three to survive the teleportation) and the X-Men battled Azazel, and forced the Demon-Mutant back into his prison. Kurt has had many adventures with the X-Men, died, been resurrected and died again. Kurt just can’t catch a break.

Even before Kurt’s main Mutation manifested in his teens, he was obvious not a normal human. Kind of like his fellow blue X-Man, Beast. He has a prehensile tail, three long fingers and two long toes. He’s unusually dexterous and flexible, and his years of acrobatics experience make him a marvel to watch while jumping. He also has microscopic suction cups on his hands and feet, that let him cling to walls. Kind of like Spider-Man. The severity of his physical abnormalities obviously stem from those of his parents, whom are both...noticeable in their natural forms.

A match made in Blue Man Group Heaven.

Kurt’s main power is Teleportation. He is able to transport himself and one passenger though his father’s dimension and reappear at a predestined location. He has a limit of about two miles, but has pushed this limit when under extreme conditions. It also helps to see or be familiar with where he is going, but that's not as strict a limit. When he teleports there is a loud “Bamf” noise, accompanied by the smell of sulfur and brimstone. This is the atmosphere of Azazel’s realm leaking through as Kurt teleports. Fun fact, Daredevil is one of only a handful of characters that can “sense” when Nightcrawler is about to appear. His heightened sense can detect the subtle atmospheric changes his powers create. Nightcrawler is also able to camouflage himself, thanks to his blue fur and a sort of small dimensional portal that constantly surrounds his body and absorbs light. His eyes also glow in the dark, and give him above average night vision. Kurt the Nightcrawler is quiet aptly named, isn't he? He’s also a gifted fencer, and mechanic.

Another important aspect of Nightcrawler that I feel like mentioning is his family. Kurt's relations are a crazy bunch. Through his mother Mystique, he’s related to the mutant hating politician Graydon Creed, and is the adoptive brother of everyone’s favorite southern belle, Rogue. He was related to dozens of unnamed Mutant Teleporters, through his father, but his only living half siblings on that side are Kiwi Black and Abyss. And you thought your family was nuts.

Nightcrawler is a very popular X-Man, but his appearances have been rather limited.

He only appears in two episodes of the wonderful X-Men of the 90s. In the episode “Nightcrawler,” Wolverine, Rogue and Gambit go on a ski trip to Germany. Gambit and Rogue enjoy the getaway, but Wolverine is far more interested in stories of a demon in a local monastery. There they meet Kurt, who is a monk at the monastery. Kurt, despite the harassment of the villagers and one of his superiors, is a very pious man and does his best to inspire faith in others. The three X-Men save him from a mob, and he actually inspires Wolverine to open himself up to a higher power. He returned in Bloodlines, where he is reunited with his mother and adoptive sister Rogue. His brother, Graydon, orchestrated the meeting so he could prune the family tree of mutants. He isn’t seen again, but I wouldn’t be shocked to find out he was spending his time praying for the soul of his half-brother. Kurt’s a good man like that.

Not sure why he needed tattoos in this version. Is being a blue, teleporting
demonic looking Mutant not enough to be noticed anymore?

He was a main character in X-Men: Evolution. This version focuses on the loveable prankster aspects of Kurt, and stays away from his faith. He is the first recruit of the X-Men, and often battled the Brotherhood of Mutant’s more acrobatic member, Toad. This Kurt is able to live a semi-normal life thanks to a holographic “image inducer” which hides his blue fur, pointed appendages, and tail. To this day I find it odd that no one ever asked Kurt why his pointer and middle finger, and ring and pinkie finger were always together. He has a strong friendship with most of his teammates, but none more so than with Cyclops and Rogue. He and Cyclops have a brotherly relationship, which was beneficial to both of them, since Cyclops needed to fill the void his own missing brother left, and Nightcrawler has a habit of getting into trouble. As pranksters do. When it’s discovered he and Rogue are adoptive siblings, he embraces the new depth of their relationship. Rogue fights it for a bit, but seems to embrace the “fuzzy dude” as her brother by the end of the series. This show also delves more deeply into his relationship with Mystique. Upon learning of their relationship, he desperately tries to connect with her. His attempts don’t amount to much. Eventually, Mystique’s quest for vengeance against former boss Magneto has her seemingly turned to stone. After rescuing her petrified form from the Brotherhood’s house, Mystique's former team weren't treating her remains with respect shockingly, Nightcrawler tries to revive her. It’s eventually revealed that Rogue can do it by absorbing the stone, or something, but she instead shoves Mystique off the side of a cliff. Did I mention Rogue is all kinds of bitter from the various Mystique Manipulations? Kurt teleports after her, doesn't reach her in time, and howls in sorrow as she shattered to pieced. He has one of the best lines in this episode, when he asks his mother’s petrified form, “Why were you so full of anger?” and then tries to convince a very angry Rogue to let go of said anger. This leads to the shoving incident mentioned above. He forgives Rogue, it’s kind of his thing, and by series end their relationship is stronger than ever. They both seem to agree that Mystique, who wasn't really dead, shocking I know, isn't worth either of their time. Kurt probably would have forgiven her too, had the show continued. Again, it's his thing.

Please amount to more than Havok and Toad's cameos in
Days of Future Past.

Nightcrawler appeared in X2: X-Men United. He’s portrayed by Alan Cumming. He’s a mutant that first attacks the president, which leads to an attack on the X-Mansion led by William Stryker. Jean and Storm track him down, which saves them from the raid, and learn that Kurt had been brainwashed. Stryker used a fluid that his mutant son Jason’s brain secretes to temporarily control mutants. Kurt helps the X-Men stop Stryker and save Xavier and the kidnapped students. He isn’t seen again, X-Men: The Official Game explains he left the team at the game’s end, because he’s fundamentally a man of peace. Interestingly, this series doesn’t bring up the connection with Mystique, even though they have a few heart to heart talks. Odd.

He was going to appear in X-Men: Days of Future Passed but was dropped because director Bryan Singer felt they were forcing too many Mutants in.

He will return in X-Men: Apocalypse portrayed by Kodi Smit-McPhee. I’m interested to see what capacity Nightcrawler will have in this film. Since he’s a younger character, it may be interesting to see him conflicted with the threat of Apocalypse. A Mutant run world would probably be pretty attractive to a young and confused Kurt Wagner. But that's just me speculating, again. Sigh, if the movies follow current trends, we'll get very little of Kurt, but plenty of Xavier, Magneto and Mystique. Spread the love, guys.

Nightcrawler is one of the most interesting X-Men ever created. And that’s saying something. He is a character of contradiction. A demonic appearance, but an unshakable faith. The son and brother of terrorists, but a man of peace. Despite having every reason to lash out, to hate all those that look at him with malice or scorn, he will sooner pray for their souls than retaliate. So long as he’s the sole target, thought. Don’t mess with those he cares about, he has swords and knows how to use them. I’m always happy to see him in a X-Men series, and hope to see him in many more shows/movies to come. He’s the pious demon, the teleporting terror, the Incredible Nightcrawler. Next time, the Metallic Titan of the X-Men, Colossus.

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