Nightcrawler

__** Kurt Wagner / "Nightcrawler" **__

__**History **__

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.

Margali took baby Kurt to the small Bavarian circus where she worked as a fortune teller as a cover for her activities as a sorceress. Kurt was never legally adopted by anyone, but was raised by all the members of the circus, who had no prejudices against "freaks". Kurt grew up happily in the circus with his two closest friends, Margali's natural children Stefan and Jimaine. Stefan feared that his magical heritage may one day corrupt him, and so he had Kurt promise that if he ever killed without reason for Kurt to stop him. During his formative years Kurt exhibited tremendous natural agility, and quickly became the circus's star acrobat and trapeze artist with audiences assuming that he was simply a normal human dressed in a demon costume. Kurt worked closely with Jimaine, and the pair soon became involved in a romantic relationship.

Years later, the Texas millionaire Amos Jardine, who ran a large circus based in Florida, heard of the circus Kurt worked for and bought it. Jardine intended to move its best acts into his American circus. However, he demanded that Kurt be placed in the circus's freak show, where he was imprisoned against his will and drugged in order to remain complacent. Eventually, a young boy would free Nightcrawler, who would threaten Jardine in order to make him remain a better owner to his circus friends. Nightcrawler then ran away and made his way back to Germany where he discovered that Stefan had gone mad and had brutally slain several members of a lost race of half-human creatures. Kurt found Stefan and fought him, hoping to stop his rampage, but in the course of the struggle Kurt unintentionally broke Stefan's neck. The villagers of the nearby town of Winzeldorf discovered Kurt and assumed him to be a demon who was responsible for the killings. They cornered Kurt in the town and were about to kill him when they were all psionically paralyzed by Professor Charles Xavier, who had come to recruit Kurt into his team of mutant super-heroes known as the X-Men.

Kurt agreed to join the group, but before they left for America, he and Xavier went to the Bavarian circus so that Kurt could explain to Margali about Stefan's death. However, Margali was not there, and for years she held Kurt responsible for murdering Stefan. Later, she learned the truth and she and Kurt were reconciled. Kurt was also happily reunited with Jimaine, who had been living in the United States under the assumed name of Amanda Sefton.

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 lost his teleportation abilities for a time but they were restored by Dr. Doom accidentally. Kurt joined the British superhero team called Excalibur and reformed a team of alien bounty hunters called the Technet into a superhero group called the N-Men. Kurt became Excalibur’s leader for a time and had a romantic relationship with a Shi’ar named Cerise. Eventually he returned to the X-Men.

After a rampage by Apocalypse that seemed to kill Cyclops, Kurt left to become a priest. It was later revealed, however, that he had been manipulated by the Church of Humanity to bring down the Catholic Church. He was later visited by Mephisto and offered anything he wanted if he joined the demon, but Kurt declined. Kurt remained a reserve X-Men member and took care of the school while the X-Men were away on missions.


 * School's Out / High School Never Ends **

When the Travelers attacked the school, Kurt was one of the teachers (along with Angel) who was put into a temporal coma. He was later freed following the defeat of Victorious and the disappearance of the Travelers.


 * My Generation / Children's Crusade **

The staff of Academy X asks Kurt to provide counseling to a student (Erica) who is having difficulty dealing with the physical nature of her mutation.


 * Valley of Lost Souls / Empire of the Damned **

Kurt attended Samantha's baby shower and was in attendance when the Humanity Now! protestors attacked the school. Recently, Nightcrawler died while trying to stop Selene during the Necrosha event.


 * Powers and Abilities **

Kurt has the ability to teleport. He can teleport others with him, as well. He travels through the Brimstone Dimensin when he does so, meaning a faint smell of brimstone accompanies each teleport. Kurt has subconscious spatial awareness so he doesn’t teleport into solid objects. Kurt also possesses micro-suction discs that allow him to scale surfaces. He has a flexible bone structure, can blend into shadows, a prehensile tail, infrared vision, and superhuman ability/reflexes.

On top of his mutant abilities, Kurt is a master acrobat, a master combatant, an aviator, and a medic. He has a great deal of knowledge on occult and religious matters.