Height: 5'9"
Weight: 195 lbs.
Eye color: Shining yellow, with no
visible pupils
Hair color: Indigo
Group affiliation: X-Men, formerly
Excalibur
Base of operations: Xavier Institute for
Higher Learning, Westchester County,
New York
Powers: Nightcrawler can teleport himself,
his clothing and a certain amount of
additional mass from one point to another
almost instantaneously. He leaves behind
smoke and the smell of burning brimstone,
actually atmosphere from the unknown
dimension through which he travels.
Nightcrawler's infallible spatial awareness
enables him to avoid teleporting into solid matter,
which could cripple or kill him. As a result, he
generally teleports only to places he can see or
those he knows well. Through practice, Nightcrawler
has increased the amount of mass he can teleport with
him.
Nightcrawler's spine is more flexible than that of an ordinary human, allowing him to perform contortionist-like feats and spend much of his time in a semi-crouching position without damaging his posture. Due to the dark coloration of his fur, he can blend into deep shadows.
Margali Szardos, a sorceress and gypsy queen, discovered Kurt less than an hour after his birth in a small roadside shelter in the Bavarian Alps and brought him to the traveling circus at which she worked as a fortuneteller. Kurt was raised by a motley crew of circus performers, who bore no prejudice against so-called "freaks," and Margali acted as his foster mother. His two closest friends were her natural children, Stefan and Jimaine. Long before his mutant talent emerged, Kurt demonstrated tremendous natural agility. By adolescence, he had become the show's star acrobat and aerial artist. Audiences assumed he was a normal human wearing a demon-like costume.
Years later, a Texas millionaire who sought to cast Kurt in his American freak show purchased the Bavarian circus. Appalled, Kurt made his way to Winzeldorf, Germany, where his foster brother was living. But Stefan had gone mad and slain several children, and Kurt confronted him in an attempt to end his rampage. During the struggle that ensued, the young mutant unintentionally broke Stefan's neck. When the villagers discovered Kurt, he was assumed to be some sort of demon, responsible for the murders. The townspeople were about to kill him when they were psionically paralyzed by Professor Charles Xavier, who had come to recruit Wagner into the X-Men -- his team of masked, mutant adventurers.
Hated and feared for his strange powers and frightening appearance, Nightcrawler stood with his teammates in opposition to those who would use their genetic gifts to subjugate humanity. As an X-Man, Kurt learned to teleport multiple times in a few seconds, allowing him to attack foes from unexpected directions with uncanny accuracy. On rare occasions, he could teleport more than one person at a time, but it strained him tremendously. When the weather-manipulating Storm lost the use of her mutant abilities for a short period, Nightcrawler was designated leader of the X-Men.
After most of the X-Men appeared to die in battle, Nightcrawler teamed with the phase-shifting Shadowcat, his teammate and good friend; the time-tossed, telepathic Phoenix II; the shape-changing mutant known only as Meggan; and the mystically empowered Captain Britain, chosen protector of the United Kingdom. This unlikely quintet formed Excalibur, England's premiere squad of costumed champions. Captain Britain led Excalibur in name; in reality, the task fell to Nightcrawler, due to the other hero's incompetence. Even after it was discovered that otherworldly forces had blocked Captain Britain's ability to be a team player, Nightcrawler remained leader.
Excalibur disbanded following the wedding of Captain Britain and Meggan, and Nightcrawler rejoined the X-Men. Always a devout Catholic, Kurt later left the team to enter the priesthood. Subsequently, Nightcrawler returned to the X-Men with a renewed commitment to Professor Xavier's dream of human and mutant coexistence.