Panel Biter Podcasts

Monday, December 5, 2016

Kurt Facts

Let's see how much of a Nightcrawler Fan you really are! Here's One Dozen Nightcrawler Facts!
1. Dave Cockrum came up with the idea of Nightcrawler while stationed in Guam with the U.S. Army. He originally brought the idea to DC Comics as a submission into their team "The Legion of Super-Heroes", but the idea was rejected. When Roy Thomas-Editor for Marvel Comics-offered Cockrum's idea a spot on "The X-Men" book, Roy only asked Nightcrawler be made German to fit the international theme of the book.

2. Nightcrawler is the son of two X-Men villains, Mystique and Azazel. Mystique is a constant member of The Brotherhood of Mutants and is also the mother of Rogue, making Rogue and Nightcrawler half-siblings. Azazel was a member of The Hellfire Club and shares Nightcrawler's powers. Originally, Nightcrawler was going to be the child of Mystique and her female lover Destiny as Mystique could shapeshift into a male. However, Chris Claremont's superiors felt the idea was too controversial.

3. According to Azazel, he and and Nightcrawler are part of a subspecies of mutants called "The Neyaphem" which were demonic mutants who battled-and lost-to angelic mutants called "The Cheyarafim" a long time ago.

4. Nightcrawler is a strong Catholic which is ironic due to his appearance. At one point he had even become a Priest. What's even more impressive is that-as a Priest-Nightcrawler officiated Northstar and his male lover in a same-sex marriage.

5. Nightcrawler's early exposure to American culture were Errol Flynn movies. This is why he is often seen using swords and behaving as a swashbuckler.

6. Nightcrawler has a unique sound when he teleports. "Bamf". At first Nightcrawler could only teleport where he could see, but he later developed a spatial awareness that keeps him from teleporting inside solid objects. The puff of smoke he leaves behind smells of sulfur because when he teleports he actually goes through a hellish dimension and then appears back in our reality.

7. Kurt's father Azazel fed his blood to a demonic maggot which turned the maggot's offspring into miniature versions of himself. In order to bring them over to his side, Nightcrawler-while in Heaven-sold his soul to these creatures which turned them blue. These creatures-The Bamfs-follow Nightcrawler's commands and help him fight crime, they also populated The Jean Grey School of Higher Learning before Nightcrawler came back to life.

8. Nightcrawler was raised by a gypsy named Margali and performed gymnastics in the Bavarian circus. The crowd assumed Nightcrawler was wearing a costume, but after his foster brother slaughtered children around the village and Kurt accidentally killed him the villagers deemed him a demon.

9. Nightcrawler left eternal happiness in Heaven to save his friends-The X-Men-from Azazel in Purgatory. He also ignored Charles Xavier/Professor X's warnings (as Professor X had also gone to Heaven) of giving up the peace of death in return for the dangers of living. In truth, Nightcrawler became bored of Heaven.

10. Nightcrawler's body is covered in short, thick, dark blue fur with even thicker hair atop his head. He has never been seen completely hairless, but he has used a cloaking device to appear human. It's a common misconception that his skin is blue because in "X2" the Alan Cumming version has dark blue skin covered in Biblical markings. That interpretation of Nightcrawler reappears in "X-Men: Apocalypse".

11. Nightcrawler's first love interest was a girl named Jimaine, the daughter of Margali and Nightcrawler's foster sister. When she moved to the US years later and reunited with Kurt, she changed her name to Amanda Sefton. They would be reunited and separated many times. At one point, Amanda hid a magical weapon called The Soulsword inside Nightcrawler's body. She could do this because of Nightcrawler's faint connection to magic.

12. During a "War of Pranks" between Nightcrawler, Wolverine, and Colossus, Wolverine hacked into Nightcrawler's hologram device to make Nightcrawler look like actress Angelina Jolie. This resulted in a photo of Coloussus meeting Angelina Jolie hitting the tabloids.
Thanks for reading!

No comments:

Post a Comment