50 Greatest Super Heroes In Comic Book History

47. Nightcrawler

(Write-up by Nick Tylwalk, Bam Smack Pow Editor)

In the post-Grant Morrison X-Men world, there are plenty of mutants who really would be feared and hated by a world they’ve sworn to protect. Even the most kind-hearted folks would get a little weirded out seeing some of the students roaming the halls of the Jean Grey School these days.

Back in the day, though, most of the X-Men looked pretty normal, as even Cyclops could pass for a regular guy who just happened to really like red lenses. Kurt Wagner was the exception, and given the hand that his mutation dealt him, no one would have blamed him at all for being bitter.

When one of the words most often used to describe him is “swashbuckling,” you know that didn’t turn out to be the case. Heck, Nightcrawler even fought with a sword and incorporated some pirate elements into his costume for a time. Clearly, this is not a man who’s going to be moping around. Or brooding for that matter. Without turning this into a Cyclops bash-fest, Scott Summers can have that role too.

That’s not to say it’s all been fun and games with Kurt — he is one of the X-Men, after all, and fate has a way of smacking them around on a regular basis — it’s just that he didn’t let some messed up family situations or a little thing like dying keep him down for very long.

Bonus points to Nightcrawler for having his own sound effect too. Not many heroes have trademark onomatopoeia, but when you hear the “BAMF,” you can be pretty sure it’s Kurt. That’s almost good enough to get him into the top 50 on its own.

Next: No. 46: More book smart than common sense smart