While many mutants undergo a physical transformation, the X-Men’s Nightcrawler mutated body has given him a number of unique advantages.
After Nightcrawler first joined the X-Men in Len Wein and Dave Cockrum’s Giant-Size X-Men #1, he quickly became a favorite member of the team by both his teammates and readers alike. While he has moved between various teams like Excalibur and his spiritual calling to the Catholic Church, he always finds himself back as the heart of the X-Men, and he currently sits on the Quiet Council of Krakoa as one of the leaders of the mutant state Krakoa.
Unlike most mutants whose abilities or transformations occur during puberty, Kurt Wagner’s devilish mutation was visible from birth, which led him to find a place within a traveling circus, where he was raised as a gifted acrobat and aerialist well before his teleportation abilities presented themselves. While Nightcrawler’s monstrous appearance seems at odds with his personality, it’s actually perfectly suited to his character and grants him additional strengths and abilities that give him a totally unique physiology.
Why Is Nightcrawler Blue?
One of Nightcrawler’s most striking physical features is the blue color of his skin, which is actually a fine fur that covers his entire body. This body fur doesn’t grow out like his regular hair or facial hair, as we saw recently when the character grew a beard during his time with X-Men: Red. However, aside from Kurt’s blue fur allowing him to join a prestigious club of blue X-Men that includes characters like Beast and his mother Mystique, Kurt’s fur also grants Nightcrawler a very stealthy ability.
While Kurt’s face almost always rests in shadow due to his unique coloring and shading, he discovered in Chris Claremont and Dave Cockrum’s X-Men #103 that he was actually capable of almost disappearing entirely when he enters a shadow, though his glowing eyes are often visible in the shadows when he is camouflaged. This ability has been re-explored a few times over the years and has been connected to his teleportation abilities as well.
What Can Nightcrawler’s Tail Do?
Along with the pointed ears that help contribute to his elvish appearance that has resulted in his nickname of “fuzzy elf,” Kurt also has a prehensile tail that he can use in various ways, though the obvious function of the tail is to assist Kurt with his balance, much like the tail of a cat. This function benefits Kurt greatly in his aerial acrobatics, though there are quite a few other advantages to his prehensile tail.
Kurt can use his tail to hold his own weight or the weight of others and has even used his tail to tie up or throw his foes. He is also able to skillfully wield a fencing foil with his prehensile tail, which makes it as dextrous as it is powerful. He has used his tail many times in battle when his hands were otherwise occupied or he needed a surprise advantage while engaged in his favorite past-time, swashbuckling.
Can Nightcrawler Crawl Walls Like Spider-Man?
Kurt’s hands and feet are also quite different from the average human/mutant in a number of ways, the most noticeable of which is the fact that Kurt only has three fingers and toes on each hand and foot. His hands have two fingers and a thumb while his feet feature two forward-facing toes and a larger backward-facing toe that enhances his agility and allows him to grip better with his feet, which comes in handy with Kurt’s aerial fighting style.
Nightcrawler’s hands and feet also have microscopic suction cups that allow him to cling to and scale walls much like Spider-Man, though his sticking ability is often easily negated by slippery surfaces or other means. Through a combination of his agility, balance, prehensile tail and sticky extremities, Nightcrawler is able to use his wall-climbing ability to reach almost any place, even without his ability to teleport.
Does Nightcrawler Have Night Vision?
Another easily distinguishable difference of Kurt’s is his glowing yellow eyes, which occasionally have pupils drawn in but for the most part, remain a solid yellow even when he is camouflaged in shadow. The striking color and design of his eyes aren’t just cosmetic either, as his night vision is greatly enhanced by his eyes as well.
He has previously remarked that “the deepest darkness is like high noon to me,” and he has used his night vision many times while in his shadow form to his advantage. Kurt’s connection to the Brimstone Dimension and his demonic father Azazel likely affected his mutant physiology, as his father shares a number of the same abilities and characteristics, including his shining yellow eyes.
FLEXIBLE BONES
Nightcrawler is one of the most agile members of the X-Men, and he uses skills learned during his upbringing in the circus and instilled in him by Danger Room drills. However, Nightcrawler’s agility is also due to his mutated bone structure, which allows him to contort his body well beyond the average human.
When the High Evolutionary “cured” the mutant gene temporarily during the “Mutants No More” storyline, Kurt discovered quickly that he wasn’t capable of achieving the same feats of agility, despite having years of circus training to fall back on. His extreme flexibility also allows him to stay crouched and fit into places others his size wouldn’t be able to, which only increases his stealthy skills when combined with his ability to cling to walls and blend into shadows.
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