Wagner, Kurt / Nightcrawler

The Player
Player Name:Clark
Gender:Male
How did you find us:Fell down a hole
Other characters:Icarus, Havok, Shaw

Character Information

Playby:


Alan Cumming

Statistics
Character Name:Kurt Wagner or Kurt Szardos
Code Name:Nightcrawler
Height:5'11"
Weight:165lbs
Age:31

Personal File

Dress Style: Monastery robes, or anything that can cover his entire body from head to toe when in public... outside of the public eye he prefers his circus performing costume giving him freedom of mobility in any given situation.

Personality: Kurt has that dashing, swashbuckler style of personality, he banters, flirts, and jokes to keep the mood light, even in the darkest of situations, though in times of despair or grief, he is often there to offer words of wisdom, faith, and guidance as well.

Likes: Studying, performing for the young students, food, meditation, and helping others.

Dislikes:Persecution in all it's forms, hatred in all it's forms, mutants that give all the rest the bad name implied on the news, people who wish to use mutants as experiments, fire

History:
Kurt doesn't actually know much about his birth, other than he was found, floating down a river, by a Charlatan “Sorceress” by the name of Margali Szardos. In actuality, she was a Roma and a mutant, within the confines of Bavaria, Germany, who deigned to leave her people behind, and live as an outcast. With the power of creating illusions, she became a fortuneteller and sideshow at a local carnival as a cover for her powers. She tried maniacally to style herself as a real “Sorceress” using the illusions and a few parlor tricks to create something of a following in the carnival. Margali took the baby back with her to the circus to raise as her own, his odd coloring and tail making him a “beast attraction” and a very prosperous one for the freak show. Wagner was never legally adopted by anyone, but was raised within the circus, mostly with people who had no prejudices against "freaks" as most were one, save the ringmaster. Herr Max Getmann, didn’t treat any of his people very well, though made sure they had really no other place to go. Margali who acted as Wagner's unofficial foster mother, treated him as well as she could under the circumstances, atleast making sure he was fed and clothed. Herr Getmann allowed her to take this more minimal amount of care of him, to keep up the large sums of money that Little Kurt brought into the Carnival’s Coffers.

Wagner grew up in Max Getmann's Circus, and his two closest friends were his "adopted" brother and sister, Margali's natural children Stephan and Jimaine Szardos. Long before his teleportation power emerged, Wagner had natural agility and by his adolescence he had become the circus’ star acrobat and star aerial artist. The sword-swallower and Strong men of the circus taught him to fight, Young Kurt acting as a backup bouncer when fights broke out in the crowd. Circus audiences assumed that he was a normal-looking human being wearing a fake, blue, demon-like costume.

As he got older, Kurt's abilities drew less and less of a crowd, everyone in the area seemed to have seen his show atleast once. Until one day, Herr Getmann could no longer afford to keep the circus running, and decided to sell his binding contract to another show. Fearing the worst, Margali worked with a Sword-swallower named Armen Freilich to free Kurt. As he fled, he accidentally knocked over a torch, igniting the main circus tent. Getmann and his men chased Kurt through the forest, and were about to shoot him point blank in the face when he teleported for the first time. Ending up

Astonished and pleased with his escape, Kurt wearily made his way to the nearby church where he took refuge. Two days later, he was discovered and welcomed, and Kurt happily found a home trading shelter and an education for labor.

One evening, months later, Armen burst in the door, apparently being chased by Getmann and his goons for helping Kurt escape. Father Wagner tried to stop them from taking the boys, but the men proved too strong, and set the church on fire during the brawl. Kurt ported Armen to a nearby farm he had viewed from the bell tower on occassion, before going back and fending off Getmann. He managed to pin the man, one of Armen’s blades at his throat. Just as he was about to kill him, Father Wagner reminded Kurt of his humanity. As the mob was about to press in and kill both Kurt and the father who had offered him a home, Kurt prepared to make his stand... though everything around him froze... as though the mob had been frozen in time itself. A voice whispered in his head, telling him it was okay. And that he'd need to make his way to the States where he'd find friends and a place to stay, safe from persecution.

Kurt saw this as a sign, and after getting Father Wagner to safety, he stowed away on a boat heading to the Americas. Unfortunately, upon arriving, he found himself hunted before he could even reach Westchester, and was taken captive by a group of soldiers. So much for safety, yet he held onto faith.

It was here that he met a General William Stryker, a man who had an unshakeable faith as well, his son was a mutant, dead to his bigot of a father, a former televangalist, who felt it was his duty, through God, to destroy the mutant race. Kurt constantly had conversations with the man, talks of faith, of choice, talks of how God loves all on earth, human and mutant alike. All of which Stryker ridiculed him for. Later Kurt learned that Stryker was using his own son as a tool... a weapon against mutants.

Stryker, who kept a close eye on world news, witnessed an event at the Statue of Liberty, and moved to intercept. His crew got there too late, though they did manage to find a damaged boat. Investigating further, they found some familiar DNA... that of a Victor Creed. The man known as Sabretooth, the investigation took them into the head of the Statue, where they found familiar claw marks. When the authorities were asked, he learned of a captive Erik Lensherr, also known as Magneto.

He soon returned to where he was holding Kurt, a secret facility at Alkali Lake, where the Weapon X project happened years ago. Realizing it was now time to act, he began to have his son 'reprogram' Kurt Wagner. The next few years were nightmarish for him, forcing him to obey when all he wanted to do was resist, but the mind that held his was too powerful.

His final 'mission' had him sent to kill the President of the United States. He could have easily succeeded, blowing past the Secret Service with relative ease and pinning the President to the desk... holding a knife to kill him with... when Stryker had his son release him. Kurt felt freedom for the first time in years... and promptly teleported away, leaving the President alive.

Jean Grey and Ororo Munroe were sent to find the man responsible, finding Kurt in an old abandoned church, seeking guidance, seeking help... When the teachers enterred the church, Kurt quickly went into hiding, listening to the two talk. He then spoke, asking them to leave him alone. Then the wind witch cast her magic... he teleported before the lightning could strike him, and dove from the rafters, meaning to take them out with a quick tackle, roll, and teleport, without hurting either of them... but the red headed woman stopped him cold. Leaving him floating in the air for a moment. He quickly realized they were not enemies, but mutants... like him. And they soon realized the attack was not his fault.

Meanwhile, the President gave Stryker permission to attack the school and capture a great deal of the students, leaving the place in ruin, and stealing Cerebro. Kurt offered his aid, and while, at first, reluctant, the X-Men accept his aid. Jean Grey finding the location of Alkali Lake in his mind. The combined force of Kurt, Jean, Ororo, Logan, Bobby Drake, and the girl known only as Rogue, the team goes to confront Stryker and rescue the students, as well as the Professor, when an anti air weapon shoots them down, blasting the back end of the jet off, and sending Rogue ]plummeting. Once Kurt realized no one but Bobby had noticed, and there was nothing they could do to begin with... he teleported outside falling high above for a moment, before teleporting to Rogue, grabbing her, and teleporting with her to safety. The X-jet, about to crash with Jean and Storm aboard, was stopped abruptly by Magneto, who had come to stop Stryker as well.

Kurt first felt drawn to Mystique... the woman with the blue flesh, and he did not know why. Asking her why she chose to remain in her true form, when it'd be easier to hide. He understood when she told him that was because they shouldn't have to. Something he took to heart. Jean Grey enterred Kurt's mind again, later, to learn the pathways and entrances into the Alkali Lake base, and in the morning they infiltrated. The team soon split up, Kurt sticking with Storm. She wasn't as sure as he was, not as strong in faith, seeing how men like Stryker was everywhere... what hope did mutants have? What hope did peace? Yet Kurt kept his own faith, and offered his own to her. Using his abilities to help rescue the students. It was when they reached Cerebro, they found the door locked. Kurt wasn't sure, he couldn't see where he was going... but then Ororo told him the one thing he needed to hear. She had faith in him.

Teleporting with her, they found the Cerebro room crumbling, and the Professor within, thinking quickly Kurt teleporting Storm and the Professor to safety as the rest of the X-Men, students in tow, made their escape... leaving Jean Grey behind.

In the wake of the events at Alkali Lake, Kurt found himself questioning himself, not his faith, never his faith, but who he was... and how many more good people would have to die in the war against bigotry. He left the X-men, and Xavier's, in search of himself.

He found himself in the southern states, hiding his appearance, when he saw on the news the first hints of the cure for the mutant genome. He scoffed at the idea, but would keep an eye on the story that followed, complete with the climax at Alcatraz. He knew the X-men would need a friend now more than ever. Travelling back north to New York... Kurt found that the world still had it's issues, and instead of making it straight to New York, helped where he could... though now, finally, he's made it somewhere he'd never thought he'd have again. Home.


Mutant File

Mutant Powers:
Appearance:The first thing one would notice about Kurt is his blue-black, furry flesh (which is blue in sunlight, but a more black color in the dark, allowing him to blend into the shadows with ease), his 3-1/2 foot long, prehensile tail (which he can grip things with, and support even his own weight by... also makes for a great blunt object when needed), the pointed teeth, yellow eyes, and the fact he only has two fingers and a thumb on each hand, as well as his feet, having only two toes on each one, and a thumb like appendage on his heels. Which he is able to grip things with, he also possesses tiny suction cup-like apertures on the tips of his fingers and toes, allowing him to stick to walls and ceilings.

Teleportation: The usual range of his teleports is one to two miles at most, although he can push himself to up to five miles currently. Doing so, however, runs the risk of causing him to pass out from the strain. He also possesses a subconsious, spatial awareness, this merely means he'll generally not teleport with his feet embedded in the floor, or his head in the ceiling, though it does have limited capabilities, meaning he still needs line of sight or knowledge of the area he's teleporting to.

Enhanced night vision:He can see in near perfect darkness, as long as there is even a fraction of light, he can see as though the sun was out.

Enhanced Agility: His bones are actually pliable, allowing him a greater deal of flexibility than would be physically possible even for the world's greatest contortionist. He's agile and quick, able to do alarmingly graceful stunts, only heightened with his time in the circus..

Fire immunity: Though he has a reasonable fear of fire, natural flame cannot hurt him. As a matter of fact, it has shown to heal him on occassion, since medicine doesn't seem to work on him properly, this is a bit of a boon.


Skills:
Pilot: Kurt's natural reflexes have made him one of a handful of mutants at the institute who can fly the Blackbird, though his skill at the controls are rather uncanny, his piloting isn't one of his natural abilities, he's had to learn how to fly the jet from the few X-Men who can, such as Scott Summers.

Acrobat: Though he's a true natural, able to perform flips, twists, and turns no normal human could ever hope to accomplish, he's had constant training as the star of the show so long ago, now that he's with the X-Men, he's more adept at using it in combat, or for evasion.

Swordsman: Kurt's style is all his own, able to utilize up to one, two, three, four, or even five blades at one time (one in each hand, one held by his tail, and two held in his feet), he had to learn the basics from his one time mentor, Armen Freilich, one of the circus' sword-swallowers.

Martial artist: Kurt is also alarmingly skilled in several martial art styles, from striking to grappling, most of which he learned from David Krausser, one of the circus' strongmen, and comrade of Armen Freilich. The X-men have trained him further in combat, making him one of the deadlier X-men, though he prefers to not kill, if it can be helped.


Weaknesses:
Teleportation limitations: Nightcrawler must either be able to see where he’s teleporting to or know the area very well, or else he runs the risk of either partially or fully materializing into an object or person, which would have disastrous/lethal results. Teleporting others causes his passengers to become disoriented and possibly violently ill if they can avoid becoming unconscious. He can also travel easier when moving north or south, as opposed to east and west, which has more... resistance as he thinks of it. When Kurt teleports he makes a distinctive 'bamf' sound, as well as creates a burst of smoke that smells heavily of brimstone.

Healing: Kurt is techincally a human, and is susceptible to disease and injury just like anyone else, however, it appears that modern medicine can do nothing for him, rather, it tends to make matters worse. It is as though he is allergic to medication...

Appearance: He hates the persecution he's endured throughout his life because of his looks, while he doesn't hate those who persecute... he wishes he could have lead another life.

Light: Very bright light actually blinds him, as he can see in near dark, his eyes are a bit more sensitive than most.


Family:Margali Szardos (foster mother), Count Christian Wagner (believed father, deceased), Stephan Szardos, foster brother), Jiaine Szardos (foster brother), Raven Darkholme aka Mystique (mother, though unkown), Azazel (father, though unknown), Father Jason Wagner (brother in the theological sense, though uncle by blood, though unknown, brother to the Count)