Kurt Wagner

Kurt is a full-fledged member of the X-Men under the name Nightcrawler, a respected and valued part of the team, though he is currently on stress leave.

Details

Character Journal: x_bamf

Real Name: Kurt Wagner

Codename: Nightcrawler

Aliases: None.

First Appearance: [May 14, 2003]

Date of Birth: 24 December 1976

Place of Birth: Bavaria, Germany

Citizenship: German

Relatives: Szardos Clan: Margali Szardos (adopted mother), Ivan Szardos (adopted father - deceased), Stefan Szardos (adopted brother), Amanda Sefton (adopted sister), Jimaine Szardos (adopted sister), Meggan Szardos (adopted sister), Mystique (mother).

Education: Limited to the basics - he can read and write, and is intelligent, but has never gained any formal qualifications.

Relationship Status: Single.

Occupation: X-Man, teacher of dance, German and gymnastics at Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters.

Team Affiliation: X-Men

Biography

Childhood

Kurt was left with the Szardos clan as an infant - his mother, the shapeshifter Mystique, gave birth to him in the guise of a homeless young German woman and vanished shortly afterwards, naming the blue infant 'Kurt Wagner' before she did. He had a mostly happy childhood growing up among the Szardos clan, and as a performer in their circus as soon as he was old enough - his physical agility and talent for acrobatics, given by his physical mutations, made him a natural. He became known as "The Amazing Nightcrawler" for his ability as an acrobat.

There were tensions outside the immediate family brought on by Margali's adoption of him, and he has always felt a little set apart by his physical differences and the fact of his adoption, but these were minor issues and he was loved by most of the clan.

Living At The X-Mansion

Kurt was quickly accepted into the X-Men as a trainee after the incident with Stryker, when he chose to remain at the mansion rather than going back to the clan, and was raised to full membership sometime afterward. This choice was partly as a way to make up for the things Stryker made him do, partly because once he'd seen what good the team did, he found himself reluctant to walk away. He has been a team member ever since, and seemed to be happy and fulfilled in this.

However, the events on Youra, including Kurt being forced to severely injure the operative Radonic, and subsequently, especially the events of Bleeding with its echoes of Youra, contributed to a building pressure on Kurt, much of it self-inflicted. Another factor in this was his discovery that Mystique was his birth mother, which came about when Moira made a simple keying error in running his standard physical, though learning that Amanda was his sister proved to be a positive event, when she had come to accept it and their relationship improved. The loss of one of his few confidantes, Madelyn Bartlet (who he also had feelings for, before she chose Hank McCoy), on her departure from the school also caused him to withdraw further into himself.

Things came to a head with X-Men Mission: Alcatraz, where Kurt snapped and almost killed the terrorist he was meant to be securing after Rogue and Wolverine were badly hurt partly due to his freezing up at a critical moment. This led him to leave the mansion in search of Mystique and the answers only she could give him (Mommy Dearest Redux). When the X-Men realized where he was, a team was sent to his "rescue", only to see him help Mystique escape before returning to be taken back to the mansion. This led directly to his being cast out from the Szardos clan, once Margali learned what he had done. Since then, he has been on stress leave from the team and has begun regular therapy sessions with Jack Leary.

Physical Characteristics

Height: 5'10

Weight: Unknown.

Eyes: Yellow.

Hair: Black.

Other Features: A great deal of self-inflicted scarification all over his body, in patterns. One straight scar on his face, inflicted by Marius Laverne during Bleeding. A pointed tail and blue skin. Only three digits on each hand and two on each foot.

Powers

Kurt's primary power is teleportation - his particular method involves split-second travel through another dimension to arrive at another point in this one. The side effect of this is clouds of blue sulphurous smoke whenever he teleports. There are limits to how far he can 'port at a time, and how many passengers he can carry as well as the weight involved.

He can also draw shadows around himself, as a way to hide or to move in stealth (where it's already dark). He rarely uses this aspect of his powers, however.

His natural agility might also count as a power, since it's a result of his physical mutations.

Equipment

Kurt's X-Men uniform has been custom designed to allow his tail to hang out and he doesn't wear the boots to enable him to use his prehensile feet for climbing.