Nightcrawler (comics)

Nightcrawler (comics)

Nightcrawler (Kurt Wagner) is a fictional character, a comic book superhero in the Marvel Universe. He has been associated with both the X-Men and Excalibur, originally appearing in comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Len Wein and artist Dave Cockrum, he debuted in Giant-Size X-Men #1 (May 1975). During the "X-Men: Second Coming" storyline, Nightcrawler is killed in an attempt to save Hope Summers in X-Force #26 (April 2010).

A mutant, Nightcrawler possesses superhuman agility, the ability to teleport across short or long distances in a puff of crimson red smoke, invisibility in deep shadows, and adhesive hands and feet. His physical mutations include blue skin, two-toed feet and three-fingered hands, yellow eyes, pointed ears, and a prehensile tail. In Nightcrawler's earlier comic book appearances he is depicted as being a happy-go-lucky practical joker and teaser, and a fan of swashbuckling fiction. Nightcrawler is a German Catholic and while this is not emphasized as much in his earlier comic book appearances, in later depictions Nightcrawler is more vocal about his faith.

Since his inception, Nightcrawler has had a regular presence in Marvel-related comic books and video games. He has featured in a small number of the 1990s X-Men animated series episodes and was a regular on its successors, X-Men: Evolution and Wolverine and the X-Men. In 2003, he was a major character in the film X2, and was portrayed by Alan Cumming.

Nightcrawler is originally stated to be from a small village called Witzeldorf in the German state of Bavaria. In the X-Men animated series, it is said to be Neuherzl, and in the movie X2, he makes repeated references to his time in the Munich circus, though it is never explicitly specified from where he originated.