Over the past couple of weeks, we’ve covered some of the greatest minds on the X-Men: Professor X, Cyclops, and Beast. While Kurt Wagner may not be on the same intellectual level as these three, he’s a living embodiment of faith and hope in the darkest of times. After all, the guy was born looking like an actual demon and was treated as such his whole life, yet he still shows his deep love and care for his teammates, fellow mutants, and even the humans who persecute him. And it’s this characteristic that flips the concept of mutants on its head, because what truly defines a monster? Appearance? Or what lies underneath?

Origins

Sadly, not many people stopped to ponder this question throughout much of Kurt’s life. Professor X and Beast had simpler lives due to their subtle mutations, and even Cyclops could pass as a regular human with his ruby-quartz shades. But Kurt wasn’t so fortunate. 

Many years ago, the shapeshifting mutant villain Mystique had an intimate relationship with another mutant known as Azazel, who also looked like a demon and had teleportation powers. Traits that would be passed down to their son, who would be born long after Mystique left him and lived as a baron’s wife. Unfortunately, after seeing the horrifying appearance of the baby, Mystique’s then-husband would attack her and Kurt out of fear that the child was cursed or a demon. Mystique would kill him in self-defense, but this would lead to her running from an angry mob. However, to save her own skin, Mystique threw Kurt over a waterfall and managed to escape. Thankfully, Azazel was following them both and secretly watching them, which led him to save Kurt from the fall. But even after saving him, Azazel didn’t want to raise the child, so he left him behind, and that’s where the sorceress Margali Szardos found him. Taking him back to the circus where she worked, she raised Kurt, and he would become a star acrobat and trapeze performer in the show. He would also adopt the Catholic faith, where he developed a deep sense of compassion and a faith that would guide him through future trials. To make things better, the rest of the circus performers loved Kurt as their own, and Kurt would even grow close with Szardos’s children, Stefan and his sister Jimaine (whom he fell in love with). And thanks to him being a part of the circus, his appearance didn’t bother anyone who came to the show, and he was safe from persecution. 

But of course, since Marvel hates happy endings, this beautiful life wouldn’t last long for Kurt. Everything took a turn for the worse when a Texas millionaire purchased the circus where Kurt worked and even pushed to have Kurt displayed as a freak instead of his usual act. This would drive Kurt to run away from the circus, but the new owner’s men chased after him, which triggered his mutant teleportation powers for the first time to escape from them. Not long after, he faced a new problem: Stefan. It turned out that Stefan went crazy and became a serial killer, so Kurt tried to stop him from continuing his horrific crimes. However, during the struggle, Kurt accidentally broke Stefan’s neck. Once the people in a nearby village found out, they believed Kurt was the one behind all the killings due to his demonic appearance, and they relentlessly pursued him. Thankfully, another mutant would come to Kurt’s rescue just as he was about to be killed: Professor Charles Xavier. After freezing the crowd with his psychic abilities, he recruited Kurt as a member of a new X-Men team (alongside Storm, Wolverine, Colossus, Banshee, Sunfire, and Thunderbird) to save the other X-Men who were captured by the living island of Krakoa. Eventually, Kurt would reconcile with Margali (since she blamed him for killing Stefan), master his powers, and serve as an X-Man ever since. 

Powers and Abilities

Like many of the other characters in this series, Nightcrawler’s powers are widely misunderstood. Many people assume that Kurt can teleport, as if he can disappear and then reappear within the blink of an eye. For the most part, that’s true, but Kurt doesn’t teleport in the traditional sense. For instance, instead of dematerializing his body in one spot and rematerializing his body in another, he accesses and travels through another dimension to make it look like he’s teleporting. However, it’s nowhere near as simple as you’d expect. Known as the Brimstone Dimension (which should already give you a hint of how dangerous it is), this alternate plane contains volcanic terrain, toxic atmosphere, and horrifying monsters. Thankfully, Kurt travels through this dimension at an extreme speed so nothing can affect him, and he only stays there as long as he needs to whenever he “teleports” (no longer than a second or a few minutes at most). Anyway, due to the toxic conditions inside this realm, Kurt always disappears and reappears in a cloud of dark smoke, smells like sulfur, and his “teleportations” have a “bamf!” sound effect. Regardless, Kurt’s interdimensional travels don’t hinder his momentum at all, as he can enter the Brimstone Dimension mid-jump or fall at a high speed, and then exit that dimension at the same speed and velocity he entered.

This makes him extremely dangerous and deadly, especially when you factor in his inhuman agility and reflexes. Of course, this would be mainly caused by his mutation, but being raised in the circus definitely helps him to be a natural acrobat. For instance, his circus training helped him master aerial maneuvers, precise landings, balance on difficult surfaces, and execute other difficult acrobatic movements. His mutation enhances these traits by giving him a light skeletal structure, unusual flexibility, extremely developed balance and equilibrium, and insanely quick reflexes. Combining all of these factors makes Kurt’s fighting style very three-dimensional and unpredictable, as his “teleportations” make him invisible to opponents. Not for long, mind you (since his “teleportations” only last for a few seconds or more), but long enough to where his movements become impossible to keep track of, further allowing him to reappear at random or unexpected angles and take his enemies down before they even realize he’s charging at them. Kurt can also grip or run across flat vertical surfaces (almost like Spider-Man), so he can leap to safety or propel himself off of difficult-to-reach places, increasing his momentum and speed as he fights. Another underrated ability Kurt has is enhanced night vision, allowing him to see perfectly in the dark. You could turn all the lights off or put him in pitch-black caves or tunnels, but Kurt will still be able to maneuver just as perfectly as if they were on. This makes him an ideal candidate and the first mutant that comes to mind for stealth missions or underground fights. But if none of that was OP enough, in addition to having a natural talent for swashbuckling with two swords, Kurt’s prehensile tail acts like a third arm, so he can actually wield three swords at once! Such attributes make Kurt seem like a ninja (and on a personal note, he’d be so terrifying if he were trained as a Red Room assassin or something), but he instead fights the same way he was raised: as a graceful, stupefying performer. 

However, unlike the circus, these gifts are not always as glamorous. For instance, despite how much I’ve hyped his “teleportations,” one of the biggest caveats is that he needs to see where he wants to go or at least visualize it in his mind. Otherwise, he risks materializing inside a wall, reappearing in a completely different location than he intended, and many other deadly risks. Plus, his recorded range is typically about two to three miles; going any further will exhaust or disorient him, and the strain only gets worse if he has to teleport additional people or objects along with him. It doesn’t help that the acrobatic stunts he consistently pulls already require a ton of energy even without mutant powers, but having to transport yourself (and occasionally other people) will add to the exhaustion after a while. However, none of this compares to the biggest caveat of all: the Brimstone Dimension itself. As previously mentioned, this dimension has so many hellish qualities that staying for more than a second is a guaranteed death sentence. The jagged rock formations make terrain navigation difficult enough, and adding the volcanic environment on top of that can not only add to that difficulty but also burn Kurt alive if he isn’t careful. In addition, the toxic air, sulfurous smoke, and brimstone fumes can suffocate or (at best) disorient Kurt. But even if he does manage to survive these conditions and stay in the dimension without exhausting himself, he still has to deal with the nightmarish monsters lurking around in there. The only reason the monsters have never gotten Kurt is that he either moves too fast for them to catch him, or because he appears there for an extremely short time. But the longer he’s in there, or the farther he has to travel, the better the chances are that the creatures will successfully detect and tear him apart. 

Greatest Feats

And yet, despite the risks, Kurt always defiantly pushes through them and rises to any occasion to help his team. For instance, there was the previously mentioned moment where Professor X recruited Kurt to a new team of X-Men to save the original X-Men. Not only did that moment kickstart his career as an X-Man, but it also became one of his most iconic feats in the X-Men comics. It all started when the first X-Men team (Cyclops, Jean Grey, Polaris, Beast, Angel, Iceman, and Havok) detected unusual seismic activity on the island of Krakoa, and a very strong presence there as well. Once the team landed to investigate, though, they quickly found the source of the disturbance when the landscape and plantlife started shifting to ensnare them: Krakoa itself was alive! Once the whole team was captured, Krakoa began to drain their mutant energy, since that was the only way it could sustain itself. Thankfully, Cyclops escaped and updated Xavier, which prompted him to assemble the aforementioned new team. Kurt would then accompany his new teammates to rescue the other mutants, but Krakoa didn’t make it any easier for them. Being forced to navigate through a sentient landscape, with one of the most malleable and chaotic terrains in Marvel comics, it’s easy to see how the other X-Men got overwhelmed and defeated. But unlike them, the new X-Men were able to succeed in their mission, and Kurt was the key to their victory. Thanks to Kurt’s “teleportation” abilities, he could navigate through the environment, escape from the vines, and bypass natural security. Therefore, scouting ahead and transporting teammates through the jungle or around the battlefield was a piece of cake. Eventually, Kurt found the imprisoned X-Men and transported his allies to them. Once the new X-Men freed their predecessors, they made their grand escape. This whole scenario may sound simple, but without Kurt, navigating Krakoa would’ve been difficult—if not impossible—to achieve, not to mention that Krakoa could’ve captured everyone just as easily as the first team. Therefore, this proves that Kurt isn’t just a teleporter; he’s a tactical advantage that no one else can measure up to! 

And years after his debut, Kurt would continue to show this unparalleled level of tactical brilliance. However, unlike Krakoa, this crisis would take a much darker tone and with a different group. In this case, our story takes place with the Morlocks, a group of mutants with extreme physical changes that force them to live in the tunnels beneath New York City to escape persecution by humans. But they wouldn’t remain hidden for long, as Mr. Sinister—wanting to get rid of evidence of his genetic tampering with the Morlocks—orders a group known as the Marauders to invade the tunnels and wipe every last Morlock out. The Marauders would proceed to indiscriminately and brutally murder dozens of these poor Morlocks until the X-Men became aware of the situation and intervened. But there was a huge problem: the Morlocks’ tunnel home was a maze, it was very dark down there, and Morlocks and enemies alike were scattered at unpredictable locations. So rescue attempts would be just as (if not more) difficult than attempting a rescue on Krakoa, but thankfully, such conditions wouldn’t hinder Kurt. Thanks to possessing enhanced night vision from his mutation and spatial awareness from his circus upbringing, Kurt was able to scout around the tunnels in many short teleportations. This would help him to quickly charge into heavy combat zones, locate injured or trapped Morlocks, and get them to safety. Krakoa had high enough stakes with the capture of mutant allies and an extremely adaptive and malleable environment, but the Morlock Massacre involved innocent civilians being hunted like animals in a dark, tight environment. If Kurt wasn’t there, the X-Men would’ve had a much harder time rescuing the Morlocks, and the casualties could’ve been significantly higher. 

However, there are times when Kurt’s greatest deeds come more in the spur of the moment rather than calculated tactics. One such moment occurred after the events of “House of M,” where Wanda Maximoff (AKA-The Scarlet Witch) obliterated most of the mutant population with the three iconic words: “no more mutants.” Since then, mutants haven’t been born or seen amongst humans for a long time…until the birth of Hope Summers. During the “Second Coming” arc, Nathan Summers (AKA-Cable) adopted and raised Hope in the future, and her birth was extremely significant since it was a natural birth during circumstances that should’ve made it impossible. Therefore, nearly every group and faction came after her, and none were more prominent than Bastion (an extremely anti-mutant villain) and his forces. Eventually, Bastion cornered the girl and was about to kill her, and Cable was too injured to save her. But then, at the very last second before Bastion’s attack could penetrate her, Nightcrawler “bamfed” in to teleport her out of there. However, Kurt wasn’t fast enough. Bastion’s attack mortally wounded him just before he got Hope out of there. Despite this, Kurt pushed himself to the max as he teleported multiple times until he got Hope far away from Bastion’s clutches. Once he was sure the girl was finally safe, Kurt collapsed and soon after succumbed to his injuries. While this would shake up the group (especially with Wolverine, Colossus, and Cable), Kurt’s sacrifice would ensure their victory. Since Bastion’s whole plan revolved around killing Hope, her prolonged life allowed her to help strategize against and ultimately defeat the villain. Once again, Kurt was the key to success, but at the cost of his own life, and for a girl he never even knew. Yet, he believed in Hope and her potential enough to do it anyway. That’s the kind of man Kurt is: not a demon, but the faithful heart and soul of the mutant race. 

Conclusion

If the X-Men have proven anything in their many years of stories, it’s that there’s a huge difference between looking like a monster and actually being one. Kurt Wagner is the most prominent example: he was born looking like a demon, had one of the roughest lives anyone can imagine, and yet he has a heart, soul, and faith strong enough to power through it all. And if he’s this tactical in the comics, then I can only imagine how Alan Cumming’s return of the character will fare against Dr. Doom later this year.