Origin Kurt Wagner was born with certain unusual physical characteristics, but his power of self-teleportation did not emerge until puberty.
Margali Szardos, a
sorceress and a
Manouche Roma queen, allegedly found Kurt an hour after his birth, in a small roadside shelter in the
Black Forest with his father lying dead on the road outside. However, this claim was later called into question, and it was subsequently proven that Kurt was the child of
Mystique (also known as Raven Darkholme). In a 2003 story, the mutant
Azazel was canonically established as Nightcrawler's biological father. However, this was retconned twenty years later. Instead, Mystique impregnated
Destiny but changed her body to mimic the pregnancy's progression in order to fool the Bavarian nobleman Baron Christian Wagner. Destiny, pretending to be Mystique's maid, eventually gave birth to Nightcrawler before Mystique fled with him to the nearby woods to escape attacking villagers. Azazel later found Nightcrawler, believing him to be his from an affair with Mystique, in the woods and gave him to his lover and crony, Margali Szardos, to raise him. This is retconned slightly in 2023's
X-Men Blue: Origins, where Mystique hid Nightcrawler in the woods to go back and rescue Destiny, only to find Destiny gone and Nightcrawler taken upon her return. Destiny likewise implies that she informed Margali of Nightcrawler's location. Nightcrawler was never legally adopted by anyone, but he was raised by all the members of the circus, who had no prejudices against mutants, except for the ringmaster, Herr Max Getmann. However, Margali took up the role of Nightcrawler's unofficial foster mother. Kurt grew up happily in the circus, and his two closest friends were Margali's son Stefan and daughter Jimaine. Long before his
teleportation power emerged, Wagner had tremendous natural agility, and by his adolescence, he had become the circus' star acrobat and aerial artist. Circus audiences assumed that he was a normal-looking human wearing a devil-like costume. Years later, the
Texas millionaire Amos Jardine, who ran a large circus based in
Florida, heard of the circus for which Wagner worked and bought it. Jardine intended to move its best acts into his American circus; however, he demanded that Wagner be placed in the circus'
freak show. Jardine drugged him to prevent escape, but a young mutant child with the ability to sense other mutants helped Kurt escape. Appalled, Wagner left and made his way toward Winzeldorf, Germany, where his foster brother Stefan was. He discovered that Stefan had gone mad and brutally slain several children. (It has since been stated that Stefan did not actually go mad, but slew the children because he had recognized them as disguised demons.) When they were younger, Stefan made Kurt promise to kill him if he ever took an innocent life. Two nights after leaving the circus, Wagner found Stefan and fought him, hoping to stop his rampage. In the course of the struggle, Stefan was killed.
X-Men The villagers of Winzeldorf, who assumed from Kurt's appearance that he was the one who killed the children, attacked. They were about to kill him when they were all psychically paralyzed by
Professor Charles Xavier, who came to recruit Wagner into the X-Men. Before they left for America, he and Xavier went to the Bavarian circus to explain to Margali about Stefan's death, but Margali was not there . With the codename Nightcrawler, Wagner becomes a member of the X-Men. Margali held Wagner responsible for murdering Stefan and created a facsimile of the hell from
Dante's Inferno in which to punish him years later. Through the use of
Doctor Strange's all-seeing
Eye of Agamotto, she learned the truth, and she and Wagner were reconciled. Wagner was happily reunited with his foster sister Jimaine, who had moved to the United States and changed her name to
Amanda Sefton, later becoming Kurt's girlfriend. It was there that Nightcrawler first encountered the
Bamfs, strange creatures that resembled miniature versions of himself and who would appear during some of his future adventures. Shortly after this, and once he had rejoined his teammates, a tactic designed to disable the super-Sentinel
Nimrod backfired, and Kurt found himself at the mercies of an angry mob without his teleportation ability. He was rescued by Shadowcat,
Colossus, and Magik but feared he had lost his ability for good. His power returned but left him drained and vulnerable when he used it, again leading to self-doubt about his value to the team. During the
Mutant Massacre (when the
Marauders tried to kill all of the
Morlocks), this exhaustion left him vulnerable to an attack from
Riptide, which injured him into a
coma.
Excalibur While he recovers from these injuries, his fellow X-Men were
apparently killed on a mission in Dallas. Not long after, Nightcrawler and teammates
Shadowcat and
Rachel Summers left to join
Captain Britain in an adventure in the
UK. They fought Gatecrasher's group of inter-dimensional mercenaries known as the
Technet. The heroes worked together so well, they decided to form a group they named
Excalibur. Captain Britain originally assumed leadership of the group, but Nightcrawler gradually took over the responsibility. When Captain Britain's and
Meggan's relationship went through a rocky time, Nightcrawler became interested in Meggan, a feeling that was reciprocated but never consummated. During his time with Excalibur, he took charge of the Technet, renaming them his 'N-Men', and he became romantically involved with his teammate
Cerise before she left to stand trial before the
Shi'ar. Later, his former girlfriend, Amanda Sefton, joined the team and the two continued their previous relationship. She left the team to take control of
Limbo, a task that kept her away from Earth, but the two remained close friends. Fearing it would be stolen from her, Amanda magically hid the
Soulsword inside Nightcrawler's body.
Returning to the X-Men For a time, Kitty Pryde and Nightcrawler express some resentment over the X-Men's failing to contact them after their supposed deaths. Following the wedding of Captain Britain and Meggan, Excalibur disbands and Nightcrawler returns to the X-Men with Shadowcat and Colossus. Yet, as soon as they return, they face a group of
impostors following
Cerebro, in the guise of Professor X. Wanting to devote more time to the priesthood, Nightcrawler shares team leadership with
Archangel. However, his work as a priest is
retconned to be an illusion; he had, in fact, never attained priesthood. He has also met his half-brothers Nils Styger, alias
Abyss, and
Kiwi Black. With them, Nightcrawler defeated his father
Azazel, who had tried to use him as a pawn in escaping his prison. Later, Nightcrawler served as the new leader of the Uncanny X-Men team alongside Wolverine,
Bishop,
Psylocke,
Cannonball, and
Marvel Girl. In the last mission against the Foursaken, Nightcrawler took his team (except for Wolverine) to Central Park. He later helped Storm liberate Africa from her uncle's control. Afterwards,
Professor X recruited him, along with
Darwin,
Havok, Marvel Girl,
Warpath, and
Polaris, to participate in a space mission to stop
Vulcan from laying waste to the
Shi'ar empire. During the battle with Vulcan, Nightcrawler helped get the injured Professor X and Darwin back to their spaceship. While there, trying to save Professor X,
Lilandra sent the ship on its way back to Earth, leaving half the team behind. Kurt was still part of Professor X's team, helping Charles find
Magneto before the government did, while the rest of the team searched for the
Morlocks.
"House of M" In the 2005 "
House of M" storyline, Nightcrawler was part of Wolverine's
S.H.I.E.L.D. team and helped Mystique track him down. After his memory returned, he assisted in the final confrontation against Magneto. Upon their return to the true reality, he rapidly teleported around the mansion to find Wolverine on Cyclops' orders, as both men worried that Wolverine would have lost his powers and therefore be vulnerable to metal poisoning caused by his
adamantium skeleton.
"Messiah Complex" When the first mutant since
M-Day appeared,
Cyclops sent Nightcrawler, Wolverine, Angel, Storm, and Colossus to find former
Acolytes for information on the
Marauders. It was predicted by
Blindfold that Kurt would be seriously injured in the upcoming events, and indeed this came true when he was shot by the Marauder,
Scalphunter. Kurt seemed to have nearly fully recovered from his injuries since he, along with
Beast and the entire
New X-Men team, is teleported to
Muir Island by
Pixie. He took part in the final battle.
Divided We Stand Still recovering from his injuries, Kurt traveled through Europe along with Wolverine and Colossus. Kurt and Wolverine were currently involved in a "war of pranks," as Peter called it. One of the many pranks involved Logan
hacking into Kurt's image inducer to make him look like
Angelina Jolie, which resulted in a picture of Angelina and Peter appearing in assorted
tabloid newspapers. The three of them traveled to
Russia, where they visited the cemetery where Peter's family is buried. Afterward, they went to a local bar, where they discussed the recent loss of Kitty Pryde and the destruction of the X-Men. A fight occurred in the bar, during which their cover was blown. Soon after, the three of them were captured by the Russian government, which demanded to know why all their mutants were depowered and why Colossus, Wolverine, and Nightcrawler retained their abilities. After a battle with
Omega Red, the three heroes returned to the US and rejoined the team, now living in San Francisco.
Manifest Destiny Kurt, along with Wolverine and
Karma ambushed the Hellfire Cult after a series of mutant related hate-crimes happened around San Francisco. He also took it upon himself to build a new chapel at Graymalkin Industries, the X-Men's new home and base of operations. During a training session in the
Danger Room, he revealed he was trying to keep himself distracted because whenever he had time to think, he couldn't help but think of Kitty, how the X-Men didn't need him, and how
Pixie was a better teleporter than he was. After battling (unsuccessfully) several simulated villains, he reprogrammed the Danger Room to show Kitty. He confessed he was sorry he was not there for her and hugged the simulation and cried. The simulation of Kitty replied that she missed Kurt, too. Nightcrawler briefly believed that he no longer had a role with the X-Men, especially due to Pixie's abilities in teleporting. A trip back to Germany renewed his conviction through an encounter with a boy cursed by gypsies into demonic form, a brush with
Mephisto, and a romantic fling, before he returned to San Francisco to aid the X-Men against a foe they struggled with, lacking his help.
"Secret Invasion" In the 2008 storyline "
Secret Invasion," Nightcrawler fought alongside the X-Men when the
Skrulls invaded San Francisco. He came across a Skrull bible and, after studying it, gave it to
Beast, who figured out how to deal with the Skrulls.
X-Infernus In the 2008 miniseries
X-Infernus, Pixie summoned her Souldagger and stabbed Kurt in the chest, knocking him out. When Pixie removed her Souldagger, Magik's Soulsword emerged from his chest. Magik teleported away after taking out Pixie,
Mercury,
Rockslide, and Beast. Kurt woke up and stopped Pixie from going after her, and Pixie broke down and apologized for stabbing him. Later, the X-Men gathered and Kurt was put in charge of a team of X-Men to go help save Magik. Upon entering Limbo, Kurt, Mercury, Colossus, Rockslide, Pixie, and Wolverine fought their way through many demons. Pixie, Mercury, and Rockslide were horrified at how brutal the older X-Men were towards the demons. An octopus-type creature attacked Kurt until Pixie jumped in and killed it with her Souldagger. Hearing the screams from the castle, Kurt teleported the X-Men into the throne room. Once there,
Witchfire turned Colossus and Wolverine against Mercury and Rockslide. Kurt noticed Illyana chained to a pillar, and she asked him to stab her with Pixie's Souldagger, as it was the only way and he was the only one to do it because he was attuned to magic. He apologized and stabbed her; at that moment Colossus punched Kurt, and Witchfire finished making her fifth and final Bloodstone from the now demonic Pixie. The fact, however, that Colossus and Wolverine hadn't killed him made Kurt realize they were not fully under her control. Using Pixie's Dagger, Kurt then pulled Illyana's Soulsword from her and used it to free Wolverine and Colossus of Witchfire's control. However, the demon managed to use the Bloodstones to summon the Elder Gods. Through their combined efforts, the X-Men and Magik managed to banish both Witchfire and the Elder Gods, but not without losing four of the five Bloodstones. Furious at losing another part of her soul, Pixie fled. Being told by Illyana to let her go, Kurt consoled Magik about the theology of a soul, before she teleported them back to Earth. Kurt, along with Colossus, Cyclops, and the former New Mutants team, convinced her to stay with them and join the X-Men.
Necrosha After mutants rose from the dead and attacked the island Utopia as part of the
Necrosha storyline, Cyclops sent Nightcrawler to lead a team of X-Men consisting of Rogue, Trance, Magneto, Husk, Psylocke, Colossus, and Blindfold to investigate Muir Island. It was revealed that Proteus had been resurrected and had taken possession of Blindfold (who had the vision of going to Muir Island in the first place).
"Second Coming" and death In the 2010 "
X-Men: Second Coming" storyline, the X-Men traveled to Westchester when
Cable and
Hope were detected there. Nightcrawler's discovery of the lethal methods used by X-Force led to an argument between him and Cyclops. While teleporting during a battle with
Bastion, Bastion extended his arm into the space in which Nightcrawler would materialize. Nightcrawler rematerialized around Bastion's arm, fusing with it. Though mortally wounded, he managed to teleport Hope to Utopia, telling her before expiring that he believed in her.
Afterlife Despite his death, Nightcrawler continued to aid his friends. When Wolverine was possessed by
Hellverine, Nightcrawler entered his friend's mind to help him drive out the invader. The other X-Men who entered Logan's mind to help him assumed that Nightcrawler was just a manifestation of Wolverine's mind, rather than the real one.
Resurrection Nightcrawler spent his sojourn in
Heaven alongside Professor X, but despite enjoying paradise, Nightcrawler continued to feel as though he had unfinished business, remaining on the periphery rather than actually joining the heavenly choir. When Azazel mounted an attack on Heaven using his connection to Kurt as a door, Nightcrawler instructed a few
Bamfs to create a portal to Heaven inside the
Jean Grey School for Higher Learning, allowing him to summon the X-Men to aid him in his fight. Having gathered his friends, Kurt used the Bamfs and his connection to Azazel to restore himself to life back on Earth, thus preventing Azazel from attacking Heaven again by tying them both together, although this resulted in Kurt sacrificing his own soul to ensure that Azazel would not be able to return to Heaven. His 'Welcome Back' party is subsequently attended by all the X-Men, including Cyclops' branch of the team. Despite the tensions between them, Nightcrawler stated that he wanted all of his family to be present. Nightcrawler later left the party to confront Mystique when she was successfully freeing Azazel. With
Storm's and
Rachel's encouragement, Nightcrawler accepted a teaching position at the Jean Grey School, where he formed a bond with the pupil
Scorpion Boy. While attempting to reunite with
Amanda Sefton, he was duped by her mother
Margali Szardos to grant her sanctuary at the school, where she forcefully extracted the knowledge about the Beyond from
Beast and Storm to open a portal to the Afterlife. Nightcrawler and Amanda managed to foil Margali but at the cost of Amanda getting stranded in the Void. Afterward, Nightcrawler and Scorpion Boy engaged the
Crimson Pirates, who acted on behalf of Tullamore Voge, over the custody of a young mutant named
Ziggy Karst, who subsequently joined the Jean Grey School. Soon afterward, Nightcrawler and Bloody Bess were forced to fight against their fellow Crimson Pirates and X-Men, all mind-controlled by the resurrected
Shadow King. Together with Bess and the Bamfs, he traveled to Voge's interdimensional child slave market and rescued Ziggy and Scorpion Boy, battling Voge's henchmen and the
Warwolves. In the end, they defeated Voge, breaking up his slavery racket, and returned the enslaved children, taking those orphaned by the slavers into the school. During the 2016 "
Civil War II" storyline, both Storm and Magneto were having a conflict on their own to save mutantkind from the
Terrigen Mist. Storm and the other X-Men who followed her decision to support
Captain Marvel's side, to require the
Inhumans' help to solve their kinds' extinction from breathing that mist. Nightcrawler decided to join Magneto and Iron Man's side. He later joined Kitty Pryde's mutant school. He eventually developed romantic feelings for his longtime friend and teammate Rachel.
Residing on Krakoa When the mutant colony of
Krakoa was established, Kurt was given a position on the council, helping to shape the laws of this new mutant society. However, Kurt's religious concerns led him to decide to form a mutant religion.
Operating as Spider-Man During the "
Fall of X" in light of
Orchis' attack on Krakoa, Nightcrawler assumed the identity of the Uncanny
Spider-Man (Spinnenmann) after he gained a spare suit from Spider-Man following Orchis' previous brainwashing on him to assassinate some heads of state and Orchis' attack on the
Hellfire Gala. His activities as Spinnenmann are tracked by an Orchis facility run by
Vulture, now calling himself Director Vulture after he upgraded his suit with a sample of the
Technarchy. In addition, Kurt also became a target for
Silver Sable and the
Wild Pack. Kurt later battled
Rhino, who was under the same mind-control technology that was used on him. Despite Silver Sable's interference, Kurt was able to defeat Rhino. Nightcrawler then took up the name of Creepy Crawler when he was targeted by Orchis
Hounds who consist of the Technarchy-possessed Animax,
Cloak and Dagger, Fatale,
Feral, and Reaper. It was also during this time that he started an affair with Silver Sable, and he also encountered Mystique, whose memory had been warped by Professor X, tormenting her with guilt over her loss of Kurt right after his birth. Nightcrawler managed to restore Mystique's full memory, learning in the process that not Azazel, but Mystique herself was his father and
Destiny his actual mother; his likeness to Azazel came about due to Raven's assimilation of Azazel's genes. When her mutant identity was revealed right after Kurt's birth, she fled with Kurt on Irene's urging, only to find the mob chasing her going back for Irene. Leaving Kurt at the base of a tree, she rushed back to save her love, but in the end found both Irene and Kurt gone. Years later, after Mystique found her in custody of
Anna Marie, Irene revealed that her precognition had made her see Azazel conquering the world and killing all mutantkind, and that he would only be thwarted by a child he would presume to be his blood heir. Thus she told Margali where to find Kurt, to have him raised into the role as a hero. To resume their relationship for Anna Marie's sake, they asked Professor X to erase their memories of Bavaria, though Raven insisted on still being able to remember Kurt as her son. Upon this revelation, Kurt and Raven reconciled. However, Nightcrawler, Sable and Mystique worked out a ruse to infiltrate the Orchis base, and they freed
Warlock, who had earlier been captured by
Nimrod, and whose Technarchy virus had been used by Vulture to create the Hounds. ==Powers and abilities==