Nightcrawler has a peculiar physiology : he can cling to surfaces, melt into shadows due to his fur’s characteristics, and has a 3½ feet prehensile tail ; this tail, combined with a very flexible spine, allows him near-superhuman prowess in Acrobatics. He’s also a very talented and highly trained fencer.

Nightcrawler can also teleport, which is his main mutant power.

History

Kurt is the son of the shape-changer Mystique, who got rid of him shortly after his birth by throwing him off a cliff while being chased by a mob. According to some, his physique can be explained by his mutation adapting to the conditions he met after being born. He was found by avowed witch and Romani queen Margali Szardos, who raised the boy with the body of a demon like she would have her own son. Kurt became part of the small, old school circus Margali lived with. Kurt became the circus’ star acrobat and aerialist, and grew close to Margali’s children, Stefan and Jermaine (the latter better known under the pseudonym Amanda Sefton).

A few years later, the circus was bought by Texan millionaire, Amos Jardine, who wanted to put Kurt in the freak show. Appalled, Kurt left to Stefan’s house ; unfortunately, Stefan had become murderously insane shortly before. Kurt attempted to stop him, and accidentally broke the neck of his quasi- brother. Seeing him in shock over Stefan’s body, the villagers believed he had killed both Stefan and Stefan’s victims, and attempted to lynch him ; he was saved by Charles Xavier, and joined the second generation of X-Men. He then was code-named Nightcrawler, and became a key member of the group.

During one mean fight with the Marauders, Kurt was wounded and sent to Muir Island’s medical unit ; he was still bed-ridden when he learned the X-Men had died in Dallas. Kurt went through a severe Guilt trip, but was spurred into action when the Phoenix made it back to Earth, prompting the creation of Excalibur. He’s been a member of the group since day one, and has become its leader.

A more complete version of Nightcrawler’s biography has been pasted at the end of writeup, from http://www.uncannyxmen.net/. This is for reference purposes if something ever happens to this site.

Description

Kurt has shining yellow eyes without pupils, dark indigo skin/hair and a pointed tail. He has three fingers on each hand and two toes of abnormal size on each foot, pointed ears and fang-like canines. Kurt currently has a buzzcut and a goatee, both of which look good. He wears a red floating toga, and red and white fingerless gloves on his hands and feet. There is a sword with a big hand guard strapped to his back.

Personality

Since taking charge of Excalibur and getting close to Amanda again, Kurt has become noticeably more businesslike and ruthless. He’s tired of the anti-mutant prejudice, and sees Excalibur as a constant preemptive strike against hatred and bigotry ; he’s a competent and aggressive officer, good a snap decisions and morale-strengthening remarks.

Kurt still has a private life, however. He’s still with Amanda Sefton (in fact, they’ve grown much closer than before), still loves the swashbuckling culture (especially Errol Flynn), and is still a practicing Catholic.

Simply, the later two aspects are less visible than during his career with the X-Men. He no longer acts like a comedian to cover his own uncertainties and sensibility, since he’s considerably tougher. The Marvel SAGA Roster book, which uses a nice adjectives system to describe characters, describes the classic Nightcrawler as : “fun-loving, spirited, swashbuckling, adventuresome, good leader, dedicated, religious, worships Errol Flynn, personable (nickname: “Fuzzy elf”), Teutonic (German catch phrases: “Nicht war ?”, “Liebchen”, “Unglaublich !”)”.

DC Universe History

In the DCU, Kurt’s mutant background would make little difference. His appearance, alone, would isolate him far more than his genetic background. However, his affinity for darkness, skin color, and ears are somewhat suggestive of partial Talokian heritage.

By contrast, his life in the circus is very likely to have brought him in contact with the likes of Dick “Nightwing” Grayson and Boston “Deadman” Brand.

After killing Stefan, Kurt was saved from the angry mob by Raven, who recruited him into the New Teen Titans, where he was reunited with childhood friend Grayson. As Nightcrawler, Kurt stays with the Titans for a time, but is injured in the final battle with Trigon, and retires, for a time, to recuperate.

Unfortunately, his wounds were not entirely physical, as his soul had suffered greatly. With few places to turn, Kurt was sent to England to seek out Jason Blood’s assistance. While he is away, Kurt is unable to participate in the Crisis, nor is he able to do any more than watch on television as the Titans disintegrate in its wake.

With no home to return to, Kurt fell in with a new team of Outsiders, led by brother of Kurt’s former teammate Terra, Brion “Geo-Force” Markov, and also including former teammate Raven and several unknowns, and based in a British lighthouse, but traveling across much of Europe. This new team was off to a shaky start against Apokoliptian Warhounds during the Legends incident, followed closely by the robotic Widget dropping them into what appeared to be myriad alternate dimensions, but which is now known to be Hypertime.

The Outsiders managed to return to their “Home Hypertimeline,” and were sent on a series of missions, though with encroachments of Hypertime occurring throughout the Lighthouse. On resolving this difficulty, the source became apparent: the team’s Raven was not native to our universe. Worse, she was being chased by a boy known as Feron, who planned to claim Raven’s powers and her birthright as Trigon’s son.

This alternate Raven would leave shortly after the team’s victory, but returned shortly thereafter. Her displacement in Hypertime rendered her sensitive to disruptions in the timestream, and was able to note the actions of Waverider. Tracing him to his source, she found the world controlled by Monarch, and so transported the Outsiders to that future, to act as freedom fighters for a time, before returning them to their home time. The lighthouse destroyed, the team relocated to Brion’s homeland, Markovia.

Since that time, the Outsiders have disbanded (and reformed, and disbanded, and may yet reform again soon), and Kurt moved back to the United States, has served as a reserve member of the Justice League for some time, and is occasionally called upon by Oracle when Gotham City or Blüdhaven can use the extra assistance.