Wolverine and the 25 greatest X-Men characters of all-time

10. Nightcrawler

It was difficult ranking Nightcrawler. Kurt Wagner has one of the more recognizable faces in all of comic books. He’s also funny, deep, and has more layers than most characters. Nightcrawler is one of the few X-Men that can boast that he has a classic movie scene during the 20th Century Fox phase (X2: X-Men United).

Nightcrawler has everything that should make him one of the best heroes in comic books. For some reason, he keeps getting left as third or fourth fiddle. Even when he was leading a team of X-Men, he didn’t really seem like he was in charge. Someone like him should have been more popular than he is. He’s like Spider-Man without all the self-righteousness.

Despite all of that, Nightcrawler remains an important character in the X-Men lore. His death in Second Coming ranks among the saddest comic deaths. His last moment was saving Hope and he died saying he believed in her. After that, the team just didn’t seem right. It was like the X-Men’s soul was ripped right out of their team.

When he returned, everything seemed right. He just has that effect on people. He got Emma Frost to go to church, he’s Wolverine’s best friend and one of the few people Logan will confide in, and seems to never have any problems with anyone. When he’s called a demon, monster, or an abomination, Nightcrawler still manages to keep a smile on his face and an optimistic view on life.