Nightcrawler: Bio, Origin & History

Real Name: Kurt Wagner

First Appearance: Giant Size X-Men #1 (May, 1975)

Powers: Teleportation, Heightened Stealth, Heightened Acrobatic Skills

Affiliation: X-Men, Excalibur

Enemies: Most X-Men Enemies

Love Interests: Amanda Sefton

Did You Know: Nightcrawler has only 3 fingers and an opposable thumb on each hand.  His feet only have 2 toes each!

A Little History

Kurt Wagner was born to the mutants Mystique and Azazel.

During the delivery of Kurt, Mystique lost control of her powers and showed the world that she was a shape shifter.  To make matters worse, contrary to most mutants, when Kurt was born, his abnormalities were on full display…he had blazing eyes, blue fur, and a prehensile tail. The humans who lived in their village took note of this and chased them from their home.

Fearing what would happen to her son, she placed him in a basket and sent him floating down the river where a fortune-teller named Margali Szardos would find him. Kurt quickly became the star of the circus that his new family was apart of due to the ease he had in moving around the high wire. As time passed, Kurt’s star appeal began to fade and in an effort to prevent Kurt from being sold, Margali aided in his escape.

Unfortunately, while escaping Kurt knocked over a nearby torch and sent the circus ablaze. Knowing that his men would not be able to catch him, the owner of the circus took aim and fired a bullet at Kurt. It was at this moment that his abilities manifested and he teleported away.

When Kurt reappeared he did so by a nearby church. As pittance for staying, he offered his labor. The circus owner quickly learned of Kurt’s whereabouts and staged an attack. This time Kurt, who now had a full understanding of his powers, was easily able to subdue the owner and his men.

As Kurt was about to deal the final blow to the owner, the Church Pastor stepped in and reminded Kurt of the path he had chosen. Seeing an opportunity to finally get rid of Kurt, the owner once again took aim. Luckily, this time Professor Charles Xavier stepped in to put an end to everything.

Shortly thereafter, Kurt Wagner…Nightcrawler would join the team Xavier had assembled, the X-Men.

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