Kurt Wagner

"The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of the death, I will fear no evil, for thou art with me."

- Kurt Wagner

Kurt Wagner, aka The Incredible Nightcrawler, is a mutant who can teleport himself to wherever he wants as long as he knows where he is going.

X2: X-Men United: The Movie Prequel: Nightcrawler
A trapeze performance at the Szardos Traveling Circus in Canada goes horribly wrong when Amandas Sefton nearly plummets to her death, if not for a hasty rescue by the mutant teleportation ability of her foster brother Kurt Wagner, also known as the Nightcrawler. Nightcrawler receives a few broken ribs, and is chastised by his foster mother, Margali Szardos, for changing the cues in the middle of the performance before the net had been rolled out for the performers. Nightcrawler is not as concerned for his health so much as the heartache he feels over Amanda's relationship with the trapeze artist, Werner.

Nightcrawler visits a church, and Amanda Sefton follows him, without his knowledge. Amanda reveals that she cares for him more than a foster brother, and the two share a kiss. They make the decision to leave the circus, to find a new life together. Meanwhile, back at the circus, Margali interrupts Amanda and Werner making out in Margali's trailer. and Margali asks Amanda where her foster brother is. Amanda tells her mother she has no idea, and recommends she visit a local church.

In the nearby woods, Nightcrawler makes a dash for freedom with what he believes to be Amanda Sefton, unaware that his mind is under the control of one of William Stryker's telepathic prisoner, Mutant 12. Stryker's soldiers apprehend Nightcrawler, and transport him to the Weapon X facility in Alkali Lake. Mutant 12's power wears off, and Kurt finds himself in a cell with William Stryker, an inhibitor collar preventing him from teleporting to safety. Stryker interrogates Nightcrawler, but the mutant refuses to cooperate with him.

As Amanda and Margali worry about Kurt's whereabouts, Stryker's soldiers beat Nightcrawler to a bloody pulp for praying. Amanda and Margali are left no other choice but to leave with the circus, hoping he chose to go his own way, as opposed to the alternatives. Back at Alkali Lake, Nightcrawler attempts to comfort Lady Deathstrike in their cell. Kurt believes her dying following her Adamantium bonding process, and she unleashes her claws for the first time. Stryker's soldiers rush into the cell, and Kurt learns that that the Weapon X Project had her claws grafted with the indestructible metal, before they knocked him unconscious.

Amanda and Sefton argue over the choices that they've made being responsible for Kurt's sudden disappearance, Stryker gives Nightcrawler the opportunity to kill his abusive guards. Kurt declines such savagery, and reiterates that his love of God will see him through. Amanda and Margali come to terms that Nightcrawler may never return, and Kurt reassures a rapidly healing and unconscious Lady Deathstrike that they will escape from their cell. One of Stryker's guards reveals that Amanda's love for him was merely a telepathic illusion to fool the mutant, and that she could never love a freak like him. The information wounds him more than all of Stryker's physical torture.

Stryker then performs a medical procedure on Kurt to control his mind. He forces Nightcrawler to teleport to the location of the soldier responsible for the revelation about Amanda, where Kurt slashes his throat with a Bowie Knife. Nightcrawler returns to Alkali Lake, where Stryker proclaims it time for the mutant to visit the president. Later, Amanda visits a church in Calgary, and asks God to watch over Kurt, no matter where his travels may take him.

X2: X-Men United
Nightcrawler is brainwashed with a fluid from Willaim Stryker's mutant son, Jason, in order to attempt an assassination on the President of the United States. Nightcrawler engages the Secret Service, easily defeating them and nearly killing the President.

Later, Storm and Jean Grey are sent to find him and bring him back to the mansion, under Xavier's orders. They find Wagner at an abandoned church. After a brief struggle and examining his wounds, he agrees to return with them. After being contacted by Logan, they arrive at Bobby Drake's house and pick up the children, and he introduces himself. Later the X-Jet is attacked by military F-16s and a hole is made in the jet after a missile struck it and Rogue was sucked out. Nightcrawler then teleported outside and saved her. The jet was saved by Magneto and they settled in the woods for the night. Nightcrawler was the only one of the group who knew where Stryker was due to him previously being one of his experiments.

After arriving at Alkali Lake, Nightcrawler helps Storm save several children escape, however they, along with every mutant, are hit by pain when Professor X uses Cerebro to target all mutants and kill them, however this is only brief as Magneto quickly opened the doors to the room and ended their pain, only to redesign it to target humans and relock the doors. Nightcrawler and Storm teleport inside and stop Jason's illusions. When the dam begins to crumble, Nightcrawler teleports Storm and Charles out of the room and they escape to the X-Jet. The jet begins to malfunction and Jean Grey goes outside to save them, she prevents Wagner from teleporting out to get her and appears to have died in the water. Later, Nightcrawler and the X-Men inform the President of what could happen in the future between mutants and humans.

X-Men: The Official Game
To be added

Character traits
Nightcrawler is a mutant from Germany, where he performed in the circus. He decorated his blue skin with "angelic symbols" which reflected his faith and devout practice of Catholicism. This form of artistic body modification was self-inflicted brands or scars; "One for every sin".

Powers and Abilities

 * Teleportation: He can teleport anywhere. However, he only feels comfortable if he knows where he is going, otherwise he may end up in a wall.
 * Camouflage
 * Prehensile Tail
 * Superhuman Agility

Relationships

 * Storm - Friend and Teammate
 * Jean Grey - Friend and Teammate
 * Cyclops - Teammate
 * Wolverine - Teammate
 * Rogue - Save and Teammate
 * Pyro - Former Teammate
 * Iceman - Teammate
 * Charles Xavier
 * Azazel- Farther
 * Jason Stryker- Enemy
 * Mystique - Mother in video game
 * John Wraith - Father in video game

Appearances and Actors

 * Canon (1 film)


 * X2: X-Men United (First Appearance) - Alan Cumming
 * Canon (1 comic)


 * X2: X-Men United: The Movie Prequel: Nightcrawler

Trivia

 * In X-Men: The Official Game which fills in the gap between X2: X-Men United and X-Men: The Last Stand, Nightcrawler tells Xavier he does not want to be an X-Man, for their lives are too violent and he is a peaceful man.
 * It has not yet been stated who is Nightcrawler's father in the film series. Although he and Mystique had a brief conversation in X2, there was no reference to the fact that she is his mother like she is in the comics. However, the introduction of Azazel in X-Men: First Class, as well as the fact that both join Magneto's Brotherhood Of Mutants at the end of the film, means that a relationship between the two could be explored in a sequel.
 * Another popular theory is that John Wraith, who appeared in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, is Nightcrawler's father due to his teleporting abilities. This was even confirmed in the movie's tie-in game but the game is non-canon.
 * In comic book version, he used to be called The Amazing Nightcrawler. However, the name changes in the movie remained unknown.