Hey guys!
Welcome back to Top 10 Nerd, I’m Ron McKenzie-Lefurgey.
Nightcrawlers are earthworms found throughout the world.
Their size makes them ideal for use as fishing bait.
They get their name from their propensity to be active at night.
They’re pretty cool, so – I – what?
Yeah, you said Nightcrawlers.
Yes, I know this is a nerd channel, I just thought we were broadening our – you know
what, whatever, here are the Top 10 Surprising Facts About Nightcrawler.
The superhero, apparently.
Kurt Wagner.
Not the worms.
Number 10: He was raised in a circus.
This may not be quite so surprising since Nightcrawler is pretty well known for his
amazing acrobatics, but I know some people just assume that it’s because he’s a mutant.
And I don’t really blame them; pretty much every superhero looks like they grew up in
a circus.
Kurt Wagner, however, really did grow up in a circus, and he actually had a pretty great
life… until he was drugged and caught to be used in a freak show.
Thankfully, one does not simply…
catch Nightcrawler.
https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/1600/1*yXewPh2KUBQwfRlIjqCP8g.jpeg Number 9: He went to Dante’s Hell.
After escaping the freak show, Kurt tried to find his old foster brother Stefan, but
ended up being blamed for Stefan’s death.
This caused Stefan’s mother Margali, who first took Nightcrawler in, to try to punish
him by sending him to a realm that resembles the Hell described in Dante’s Inferno.
Luckily, Dr. Strange and a handful of X-Men managed to find and save him from the hellscape.
http://readcomiconline.to/Comic/X-Men-Annual/Issue-4?id=95274#21.
And just as a sidenote to the musical theatre fans out there, when the gatekeeper Minos
first sees them, he says “Wilkommen, bienvenue, welcome.”
Which I’m 99% sure is a Caberet reference.
Just sayin’. https://youtu.be/ysf3GW-PASA?t=5 http://readcomiconline.to/Comic/X-Men-Annual/Issue-4?id=95274#20
Number 8: His dad’s a demon.
This is fairly well known among comic fans, but yeah, Kurt’s dad is Azazel, who’s
a really powerful demon from another dimension.
And the two don’t get along, which isn’t surprising considering Nightcrawler is a good
guy, and Azazel is… the leader of the evil Neyaphem demons.
Who, on top of teleporting, can change his shape and bend the will of others.
He’s scary.
Also, Kurt’s mom’s Mystique in case you didn’t know, but I’m pretty sure we all
knew that so I didn’t give it its own point.
But speaking of Mystique…
Number 7: He almost had two moms.
Nightcrawler was originally supposed to have been created when Mystique took on the form
of a man, and impregnated the mutant Destiny.
This was decided against, probably because the whole “two moms” thing wasn’t quite
as accepted back then.
Heck, some fans even nowadays get angry when other sexualities are shown in comics.
Personally, I think this would have been way more original than the Demon Dad, but Azazel
has brought about some pretty cool storylines, so I guess it worked out.
Number 6: Dimensional travel.
Here’s one that was a mystery for some time.
As you may know, when Nightcrawler teleports, it’s accompanied by smoke and a sulfurous
smell, and it’s only SOMETIMES because he farted.
Usually, it’s because he travels through the demonic dimension, and brings a certain
amount with him when he reappears.
Plus, let’s be real, if you have to fart mid-fight, that’s the best way to hide it.
Certainly better than turning on the radio to cover the smell.
https://youtu.be/0my7VguId_o?t=54 Number 5: Weird teleportation limits.
Speaking of his teleportation, there are some strange limits on Kurt’s powers.
He generally prefers to teleport where he can see, to avoid ending up stuck inside a
wall.
He seems to be able to teleport around 2 miles at a time, with longer jumps being more tiring
for him.
It also seems that it’s easier to jump to the north or south rather than East to West
due to the Earth’s magnetic field lines, for whatever reason.
I didn’t even know that but it’s everywhere online so I’ll assume it’s true.
Correct me if I’m wrong.
Oh, and did I mention sometimes he just breaks all these rules and teleports hundreds of
miles while near death?
Yeah, it’s weird.
Number 4: He has two alternate reality kids.
While Nightcrawler isn’t much of a babydaddy in the main universe, he has a few kids in
other realities.
The Nightcrawler from Earth-1005 had a son named Salamander, who fought alongside the
children of heroes like Storm, Gambit, and Colossus.
He could generate negative zone portals, and shoot energy blasts.
But the better known child is Nocturne, the child of Earth 2182 Kurt and Scarlet Witch,
who had the ability to possess others and fire Hex Bolts.
Nocturne was best known as a member of the Exiles, and ended up starring in a number
of comics.
Neat.
Number 3: He was almost the Pope.
Throughout the various X-Men comics, shows, and films, Nightcrawler has had various levels
of religiosity, anywhere from “lol get it I’m a catholic demonic-looking guy” to,
well, becoming a Catholic priest and very nearly the new Pope.
This was all part of a plan by the Church of Humanity, an anti-mutant cult with vaguely
Christian beliefs.
They planned to install Kurt as Pope, then stage a rapture and blame Kurt, thus striking
a blow against their two biggest enemies: Mutants, and Catholicism.
But it didn’t work.
Yay.
Number 2: Bamf!
If you’ve read X-Men comics, you may recognize the classic “BAMF!”
sound effect you see whenever Nightcrawler teleports.
But later in the comics, we learn that Bamf is more than a sound effect.
It’s also a bunch of little imps.
Originally, they were on Azazel’s side, basically like the minions from Despicable
me.
But eventually, Nightcrawler managed to convince them to join his side, and they became good.
Like… the minions, later ON in Despicable me.
Also they’re cute…
Like the minions in Des – Okay I think you get it.
Number 1: He has no soul.
Nightcrawler’s relationship with religion is… complicated.
He’s the son of a demon, and looks the part, but he’s a very good person and devoted
to the church.
When he died, he went to heaven, and lived it up for a while.
But eventually his stupid dad tried to use him to invade heaven, and Kurt had to exile
himself back to Earth to save heaven.
Only problem?
He lost his soul because of it.
So yay, he’s back and saved the day, but it cost the most religious member of the X-Men
his eternal soul.
That’s it for today!
Hope you guys enjoyed, if you did please smack that thumbs up button and subscribe to Top
10 Nerd for more videos!
Any other heroes or villains you’d like in the spotlight?
Let me know in the comments down below!
Until next time, I’m Ron McKenzie-Lefurgey with Top 10 nerd.
Later nerds!