fighting skills



Born in Bavaria to the blue-skinned shapeshifting mutant later known as Mystique, Kurt Wagner was shunned at birth due to his having blue skin, pointed ears, fangs, and a long pointed tail. At the time disguised as the Baroness Wagner, Mystique's true identity was revealed after she gave birth to Kurt, and the pair were chased by an angry mob. Fleeing to the nearby falls, Mystique threw the infant Kurt over the edge and fled. Kurt was saved by his natural father, the enigmatic being known as Azazel, and given into the care of Margali Szardos, a sorceress and gypsy queen.




After many adventures with the X-Men, including a clash with the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants during which Kurt first met his mother Mystique (although he didn't know it at the time), discovering his ability to be invisible in shadow, traveling through dimensions with Kitty Pryde's dragon Lockheed, and more, Kurt was finally severely wounded during the attack on the underground colony of mutants known as the Morlocks by Riptide, a member of a team of mutant assassins named the Marauders. Kurt was taken to the mutant research facility on Muir Island off the coast of Scotland where he recuperated, but discovered that he could no longer teleport as he originally could, and that teleporting others caused a great strain. After hearing of the apparent "death" of the X-Men in Dallas when the team fought the Adversary, Kurt, Pryde, Rachel Summers, Captain Britain, and Meggan became the founding members of the British super-team Excalibur.

After an encounter with the monarch of Latveria, the armored despot Dr. Doom, Kurt's powers were fully restored after Doom used an electromagnetic scrambler in an attempt to disrupt Kurt's teleportating abilities which instead accidentally realigned them.

Following a misunderstanding with Captain Britain over his relationship with Meggan that resulted in a broken leg, Kurt reformed the team of alien bounty hunters known as the Technet into a team of costumed superhuman adventurers dubbed the N-Men. Following the Technet's departure, Kurt became Excalibur's leader after the team gained several new members, including the alien Shi'ar named Cerise. Kurt helped Cerise become accustomed to her new life on Earth, which led to the pair forming a romantic relationship. This was to be short-lived, however, after Cerise was found guilty of war crimes and returned to the Shi'ar Empire.

After Captain Britain and Meggan were married, Kurt along with Shadowcat and Colossus decided it was time to return to the X-Men. Kurt once more served as a dedicated member of the team until after the battle with the mutant despot Apocalypse that resulted in the seemed death of the first X-Man, Cyclops. Soon after, the ever-devout catholic Kurt left the team to pursue aspirations of becoming a priest. During his studies, Kurt was attacked and wounded by Rax, the hunter of the group of evolved mutants known as the Neo. Fleeing, Kurt encountered mutant doctor Cecilia Reyes, and together the two faced the Neo until the X-Men arrived to swing the tide of battle.


Feeling uncomfortable after his longstanding Catholic training as a result of Kurt's feelings of unrest due to molestations by Catholic leaders, which were only exacerbated after the mutant ex-prostitute Stacy X joined the team and made advances towards him which he could not reciprocate due to his vocation. Ultimately it came to light that Kurt had never been fully ordained, rather he had been telepathically coerced into believing so as part of a plan by the Church of Humanity's Supreme Pontiff to bring down the Catholic Church by installing Kurt as the next Pope then revealing to the world that he was "satan". The X-Men subsequently defeated the Church of Humanity and prevented their plan for world domination.


Nightcrawler has since gone on several missions of an occult nature, culminating in a battle against the demonic Hive who was revealed to be responsible for Stefan's rampage. Nightcrawler would be visited by Mephisto on his birthday shortly after that event, who told Nightcrawler that a war was brewing, and if Nightcrawler would take Mephisto's side, he could have any reward he wanted. Kurt rejected the offer, however. Recently, Nightcrawler has also met the dimensionally-stranded Nocturne, daughter of a Nightcrawler from an alternate timeline, who has taken to calling him "dad."

Recently, Nightcrawler died while trying to save Hope (Hope Summers), the Messiah child, from the anti-mutant villain Bastion.




161 lbs.


Shining yellow, no visible pupils



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- Marvel Editorial Staff