Nightcrawler Appreciation 2019

[Sundown]

Nightcrawler (Kurt Wagner) is the swashbuckling yet compassionate misfit who first leaped off the pages of X-Men back in 1975. In his time, he's been a fun-loving rogue, a loyal friend, a capable leader of Excalibur, and a man of God. The heart of his team as well as its soul are the two most consistent things he's been over the years, however.

He's the son of Mystique and Azazel, abandoned at birth and raised in a circus by the gypsy sorceress Margali Szardos as her own son. He originally joined the X-Men after being rescued by Professor Charles Xavier from a pitchfork wielding mob in Germany. In many ways, he has been the living embodiment of Professor Xavier's philosophy that acceptance of diversity(mutants, in the case of the X-Men) would only come about through education and understanding, not force.


This is the place to discuss all things Nightcrawler related, from his history, his powers, his use in the books both past and present, relationships, friendships, what we like as fans, what we want to see done differently, etc.

Verstanden? Gut!



Powers, Characteristics, & Abilities: Nightcrawler is a mutant born with fine blue-black fur covering his body, two fingers with an opposable thumb on each hand and only two toes, each longer than a normal human being's, on each foot and a third toe-like projection on his heel, as well as pronounced, fang-like canine teeth, yellow eyes, pointed ears, and a 3 1/2 foot long prehensile pointed tail which can support his weight.

His primary mutant power is the ability to teleport himself, his clothing, and a certain amount of additional mass from one point to another virtually instantaneously. He does this by means of displacing himself through an alternate dimension briefly and reappearing in a desired location(usually a place that he can see) Nightcrawler has a limited unconscious extrasensory ability that prevents him from teleporting into any area that he cannot see or has not seen in the past, as doing so runs the risk of injury or death by materializing partially or entirely within a solid object. He leaves behind smoke and a faint scent of burning brimstone; this is a small portion of the atmosphere of the dimension he travels through when he teleports. A loud "bamf" noise is always present whenever he teleports (being the sound of air rushing to fill the space he was just occupying).*

Nightcrawler is also able to cling to solid surfaces via his hands and feet. He can also render himself nigh-invisible in shadows by manipulating the ever-present portal to the dimension he teleports through so as to bend light around himself.*
He's able to see very well in the dark and has been shown with a sensitivity to light in the past.

Nightcrawler is a superb fencer, hand-to-hand combatant, and an Olympic level athlete.

[Sundown]

Current story lines, as of January 2019:

He's back alive, after the events of Second Coming, but has no soul. The bamfs traded him a body, apparently for his soul.



The bamfs were originally some type of maggot hellspawn that Azazel turned into his imps. Kurt converted them with his own blood to fight for him instead, in the battle for Heaven that Azazel was planning. (See Amazing X-Men Quest for Nightcrawler). He was able to prevent Azazel's takeover by trapping him on earth, using blood magic. Kurt also trapped himself.



The bamfs are still tied to him. He appears to be able to understand them and even have some sort of silent communication with them, it seems. They haven't been around much lately, though.

Also, due to Kurt's soul less state, he's now effectively immortal:



He has been gravely injured several times in ways that should have killed him, but he is unable to die.

[Sundown]

Relationships:

Amanda is gone, "killed" in the last Claremont solo. She's trapped in the afterlife.



By the end of the solo series, he had a fling with Bloody Bess:



And has spent the past year in a relationship with Rachel. She just recently broke up with him after realizing Mesmero had messed with her mind. It was implied that Mesmero's tampering was the only reason she was involved with Kurt.

[Sundown]

He recently did a stint in the Jean led X-Men Red. His most notable accomplishment there was growing a beard. Here's hoping to more focus and development in 2019!

[Anduinel]

From the art preview thread, a preview from The Amazing Nightcrawler:

[Restingvoice]

Nightcrawler is fun. I first read him in his first appearance in Giant-Size X-Men and played as him in Sega's X-Men 2 Clone Wars. BAMF-ing everywhere to avoid enemy laser and just because it's fun.

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