Nightcrawler (WoS #47) Reference & Design

The Web of Spider-Man expansion releases today (September 8, 2010). So my NDA is over and I can now discuss my Nightcrawler (WoS #47) figure with you. It was designed with the Wizkidsgames R&D team. I will use this thread to answer any questions you have about my Nightcrawler design. This post was weeks in the making. I read through hundreds of X-Men issues, and many other sources of information. The post is aimed at helping you understand the Nightcrawler (WoS #47) figure better and to serve as a reference guide.

1. TELEPORTATION -
(A. TELEPORTATION)
Nightcrawler is a mutant whose primary mutant trait is the ability to teleport from one place to another nearly instantaneously. Kurt first used his teleportation powers as a baby (Uncanny X-Men #428), when he is thrown over a cliff. He first consciously uses his teleportation powers as a teenager to save a fellow circus performer. While his teleporation ability does not change his velocity he can change the direction that he comes out with. A good example of this is Uncanny X-Men #135 (p. 2) vs the Dark Phoenix he teleports from the sky to the ground and changes his direction to be parallel (instead of perpendicular) to the ground but his velocity is unchanged. Kurt will displace liquids and gases at his point of entry. He often makes a successive series of teleportations during combat.
References:
+Nearly every issue, TV episode, and movie he appears in he is teleporting.
+Uncanny X-Men #135, #142, #147, #157, #428. X-Men Annual #3 p. 18,
(B. DISTANCE)
As for distances, a basic long-range teleport for Nightcrawler is 4 miles. In extreme circumstances he can teleport up to 50 miles away. His opening move I choose based on other figures with HSS/Teleport.
References:
+Uncanny X-Men #419 - He states his basic long-range teleport distance with, "Four miles ... don't ever write me off as useless".
+Uncanny X-Men #467-468 - He teleports 50 miles from Paris to the Bavarian Alps (Germany).
+Uncanny X-Men #406/407 - He teleports from Xavier's to Central Park.
+Exiles #29/#30 - He teleports 10 miles.
+Uncanny X-Men #120 - The rookie Nightcrawler noted "I'm learning the limits of my teleporting talent ... seven miles from the airport and I made it in three jumps" (even as a rookie he makes standard jumps of 2.3 miles).
+Uncanny X-Men #406/#407 - He teleports away with an unconscious Chamber from Paris to the Alps.
(C. LINE OF SIGHT)
He has an unconscious extrasensory spatial awareness ability which prevents him from teleporting into solid objects. However, this becomes less effective with the teleport distance. Teleporting into solid matter would cause injury or death. So, for long-haul teleports he only goes where he can see (e.g. through a video camera or psi-link) or has been before. For the short-distance teleports, such as a Heroclix battlefield map he doesn't need line of sight. Though, usually he will not do a completely blind teleport. Note that most Heroclix maps have long line of sight arcs.
References:
+Uncanny X-Men #128 - He does an impressive blind teleport when Proteus surrounds him with living rock.
+Uncanny X-Men #193 p. 16 - He uses a psi-link to see the room through another person's eyes to do an underground teleport.

2. STEALTH -
Nightcrawler has many attributes which let him hide away.
(A. SHADOWBLEND/INVISIBILITY)
The first attribute, and perhaps most important trait in this regard, is one of his mutant abilities. This ability allows him to blend in with the shadows. There are varying degrees to his mutant shadowblend stealth. Furthermore, in some issues he is able to go completely invisible. The de facto Marvel explanation seems to be that he is able to partially open the dimension that he teleports to which distorts, absorbs, and bends light. So this grants him some degree of invisibility.
References:
+Unlimited X-Men #49, and in Uncanny X-Men #429 - he does not just merely blend into deep shadows but actually becomes invisible.
+Uncanny X-Men #137 p. 24 "The fate of the Phoenix" - Nightcrawler is in stealth mode and he thinks "If I stay in the shadows, where I'm almost invisible ...".
+X-Men 2 "X-Men United" Movie chapter 10 time index 26m:52s "Nightcrawler" - He is hiding in a church in Boston and Jean Grey and Storm are not able to see him.
+Uncanny X-Men #126 p.5 - He noted "I become near-invisible in these deep shadows".
+Uncanny X-Men #204 p. 6 "What happened to Nightcrawler?" - Another example of his shadowblend / invisibility
(B. CLINGING)
He is also able to cling to vertical surfaces, much like a Spider or a Gecko. This allows him to get to places where he can engage his Shadowblend ability.
References:
+Uncanny X-Men #137 p.8 - He observes that he can not stick to a completely frictionless surface.
+Uncanny X-Men #126 p. 13 - He clings up-side down on the ceiling at Arcade's murder-world.
+Uncanny X-Men #128 p.9 - "Gripping the vertical wall with his remarkable fingers and toes, Nightcrawler races down".
(C. NIGHT VISION)
Furthermore, Kurt can see in the dark as long as there is a little bit of light, much like a cat.

3. CARRY/EVACUATE ABILITY -
Nightcrawler has the ability to carry other people and things when he teleports. His veteran form has control over the amount of area around himself that he wants to carry.
(A. TELEPORT EVACUATION)
Nightcrawler is often depicted teleporting in and either rescuing or capturing someone. He eventually developed a variety of teleportation combat maneuvers.
References:
+Uncanny X-Men #192 p. 4 - This shows a stunning use of his evacuate maneuver against Rogue. He teleports on her shoulders while she is in-flight, and teleport-evacuates her a few feet above the ocean causing her to crash.
+Uncanny X-Men #192 p. 16, #194 p. 20 - He has such great control over his teleport evacuate that he can dismember people by a partial teleport-evacuation as seen against an appendage of Magus (#192 p.16), and Nimrod's left arm (#194 p. 20).
+Uncanny X-Men #211 p. 11 - He does a brilliant teleport-evacuate followed by a multi-hop exhaustion maneuver to KO Vertigo. This could have also been reflected in the Heroclix figure by having the target gain a token after the evacuate.
+Uncanny X-Men #447 p. 4 "Hell Hath No Fury" - He does an aerial mid-air teleport-evacuation of Rachel from a speeding Lockheed SR-71 X-Jet and back onto the Jet demonstrating precise teleportion skills.
+Uncanny X-Men #449 p. 19 "To Slay a Queen" - My favorite teleport evacuation sequence occurs in this issue. Kurt teleport evacuates 3 people: Bamf! Ella, Bamf! Jean, and Bamf! Storm in rapid succession to save London from a nuclear bomb.
+Uncanny X-Men #456 p. 17 "On Ice" - Nightcrawler knocks out Storm through an aerial teleport-evacuate.
+Uncanny X-Men #478 p. 13 "Castaway" - Kurt does a surprise teleport-evacuation attack on a Skrull. They are on-board a starship, and he teleport-evacuates the Skrull into deep space and teleports back into the ship.
+Uncanny X-Men #486 p. 20 "Endings and Beginnings" - Kurt does two emergency teleport-evacuates of 4 people in rapid succession as a Shi'ar starship crashes in a blaze of glory.
+X-Men 2 Movie "X-Men United" chapter 2 "Security Breech" at time index 4 minutes : 34 seconds - He performs a visually stunning Teleport evacuation of a police officer. I watched that scene 5 times.
+X-Men 2 Movie "X-Men United" Chapter 23 "Air Attack" time index 1h:08min:19sec - He performs a spectacular mid-air teleport evacuation of Rogue.
(B. CARRYING CAPACITY)
The amount of additional mass he can carry with him depends on what issue you pick up and how experienced Nightcrawler is. As a rookie, Kurt started off being able to carry one person with strain. Now, as a veteran his typical cargo is up to 2 average sized adults, but he can carry a lot more if he strains himself. By Uncanny X-Men 400's he is carrying 4 adults with no visible strain. The figure I designed is his veteran form, so the ability to evacuate/carry any Heroclix figure/duo is within reason. I'm aware he can evacuate colossals but you can only add so much text and qualifiers to a power.
References:
+Uncanny X-Men #199 p. 19 - An amazing feat of his carry/evacuate ability is demonstrated by Nightcrawler when he teleport-evacuates Blob (Brotherhood of Mutants) from the National Holocaust Museum to the top of the Washington Monument about a quarter-mile away.
+Uncanny X-Men #445 p. 4 "Death, and the Maiden" - He evacuates 30 children in one teleport.

4. EXTRA-DIMENSIONAL MOVEMENT -
It was revealed that Nightcrawler's teleportation ability is performed through extra-dimensional movement. One of the most endearing aspects aside from his exclamation "Unglaublich" is the wispy black-purple clouds of smoke with a brimstone smell that he creates when he teleports. This is actually some of the atmosphere escaping from the dimension that he travels through when he teleports. The "Bamf!" sound comes from the sound of air rushing to fill the space he just evacuated. The dimension that Nightcrawler travels through was first shown in Excalibur #83. But, it was only a glimpse into the dimension and depicted it as filled with purple smoke and lightning. Note that Kurt is only in this dimension for a fraction of a second. In Uncanny X-Men #430-#434 the "Draco" Storyline, the dimension and its inhabitants are revealed. The climate is similar to a desert and has a turbulent atmosphere. The inhabitants are mutants who have been banished here from Earth as punishment. Azazel, Kurt's father, is the leader of these mutants. Time passes slower in this dimension. There is also an episode of X-Men Evolution (S1 Ep6 "Middleverse") where Forge invents a device which slows Kurt's passage through the dimension he travels through.
References:
+Excalibur #83 - A brief glimpse into middleverse
+Uncanny X-Men #430-#434 - The Draco story arc centered around Middleverse
+X-Men Evolution Season 1, Episode 6 "Middleverse" - This episode explores the other dimension of Middleverse.

5. HOLOGRAPHIC IMAGE INDUCER -
Nightcrawler has a holographic inducer which allows him to alter his appearance into various human forms. In X-Men Evolution, he uses the holographic inducer on a daily basis, because he wanted to blend in with human society. In Uncanny X-Men Earth 616, he also used it on a daily basis for a while. In the comics, Nightcrawler's holographic image inducer was created by Stark Industries. There is a advanced holographic image inducer capable of altering the appearance of two people. He used that as recently as Uncanny X-Men #445. He uses holograms on other occasions, for example when the High Evolutionary stripped mutants of their powers, Nightcrawler sulks in the X-Men Mansion competing against a holographic version of his mutant self. There are many instances where Nightcrawler used a holographic image inducer to disguise his appearance.
References:
+Uncanny X-Men, #98 ("Merry Christmas X-Men - The Sentinels Have Returned!") - Kurt disguises himself as Errol Flynn while in NYC.
+Uncanny X-Men, #101 ("Like a Phoenix, From the Ashes") - Kurt disguises himself as Errol Flynn again.
+Uncanny X-Men, #103 ("The Fall of the Tower") - Kurt tricks Juggernaut by disguising himself as Professor Xavier.
+Uncanny X-Men, #107 ("Where No X-Man Has Gone Before!") - Kurt disguises himself as an alien beast.
+Classic X-Men #4 (Dec. 1986) ("The Big Dare") - Kurt is constantly using his image inducer.
+Wolverine, Vol. 3 #6 ("So This Priest Walks into a Bar") - Kurt disguises himself as a priest.
+X-Men Evolution season 2 episode 3 "Mainstream" - In X-Men Evolution season 2 episode 3 "Mainstream" - Kurt refuses to stop using the Holographic Image Inducer when the other X-Men become exposed as mutants.
+Uncanny X-Men #423 (p. 20) & #424 "Holy War" - A whole story based around his image inducer, where the Church of Humanity tries to make Kurt (with image inducer) the Pope.
+Uncanny X-Men #445 p. 12 "Death, and the Maiden" - The next generation Solid-light holographic image inducer debuts in this issue. So even in his veteran form this device continues to be used and improved.
+Limited series - Kurt investigates the murder of children at Metro-General hospital. He uses the inducer so that the only surviving child of the incident will talk to him.

6. BLADES -
(A. SWORDSMAN)
Nightcrawler is an accomplished swashbuckling swordsman. On many occasion he is seen wielding a swashbuckling saber. He often thinks of himself as a swashbuckler, on occasion comparing himself to Errol Flynn. When Kurt was the leader of his own team, Excalibur (in Britain), he often carried two swords. The "Cross Time Caper" is an adventure near the start of the series. Kurt noted that swashbuckling movies including Sinbad the Sailor (1947), Crimson Pirate (1952), Captain Blood (1935), The Thief of Baghdad (1940), Pirates of the Caribbean (2003) are among his favorite movies (Uncanny X-Men #450).
References:
+4-part Nightcrawler miniseries (Dave Cockrum 1985) - This famous classic has pirates and Nightcrawler sword action! In Issue #2 he swordfights against Shagreen, the shark-faced Sorcerer.
+Excalibur #16: Warlord - Kurt fights with not two but three swords! There is a pirate ship too!
+Excalibur #98: Fireflies - Nightcrawler gets a crew-cut, grows a goatee, and wields two swords a more obviously than he does at the beginning of the Excalibur series.
+Excalibur: XX Crossing (May 1992) - This is a good sword issue. Nightcrawler fights "Gladiator Hank" and spews swashbuckler talk.
+X-Calibre #1-#4: "The Infernal Gallop", "Burn", "Body Heat", and "On Fire" - This is a sword-centric story arc. Kurt not only uses his swords, but in "Body Heat" he does a precision teleport-evacuate to decapitate an arch-villain.
+X-Men Manifest Destiny: Nightcrawler ("Quitting Time"), Uncanny X-Men #486 - There are many other issues with Nightcrawler sword fighting these are just a few.
+Uncanny X-Men #450 "The Cruelest Cut" - A swashbuckling danger room holo-simulator program "Burroughs-17" has Nightcrawler wielding two swords. His fancy footwork and remarkable swordsmanship shine.
(B. MARTIAL ARTIST)
Kurt is an skilled martial artist with a unique fighting style. He has been trained by Wolverine (Uncanny X-Men #148, #451) and is constantly training with the X-Men in the danger room. His acrobatic experience, and agility improve his martial artist skills. In almost every issue where Nightcrawler is fighting hand-to-hand with someone he demonstrates superb martial arts talent.
References:
+Uncanny X-Men #148 p. 7 - This issue indicated that Kurt gets tactical and martial arts training from Wolverine +Excalibur #43 "Home Comforts" - This is just one issue of many that has good acrobatic and fight scenes with Nightcrawler.
+Uncanny X-Men #446 p. 17 "Burning Sage" - There is an incredible martial artist sequence where Nightcrawler fights a possessed Sage. He refrains from teleporting to "play against type" because Sage knows how he normally fights, so he changes his combat style in real-time.
+Uncanny X-Men #451 p. 7 "Impediments" - Nightcrawler fights X-23, a trained assassin. But Kurt's martial arts skills are so much better than hers, he toys with X-23. He comments that X-23's style is like Wolverine's. "My friend and I have played tag like this for years."
+Uncanny X-Men #454 "Chasing Hellfire: Cardinal Law" - this is just another example of Kurt's Martial arts skills with great fight scene panels.

7. AGILITY -
He is a circus performer, with super-human flexibility, agility, and capabilities. He has a 3.5 foot prehensile tail, and can stick to walls. His feet also allow him to hold onto things and hang upside-down. He uses these advantages to dance around an opponent. This explains his 19 Defense. He grew up in a Bavarian Circus in the care of the sorceress Margali Szardos. At the circus he displayed extraordinary agility, and became the star acrobat and trapeze artist.
References:
+Uncanny X-Men #140 - In a beautifully drawn combat-sequence where he runs circles around an Wendigo, he notes "In my favor, I have speed, agility, and martial arts training. I'll hit and run".
+X-Men Origins: Nightcrawler #1 (Mar 24, 2010) - Explores his early days as a trapeze artist in Germany.
+X-Men 2 Movie "X-Men United" Chapter 2 "Security Breech" time index 2min:50sec - This is one of the most memorable and visually stunning scenes in the movie. Nightcrawler takes out an entire squad of the President's secret police.
+Uncanny #142 (p.4) - "Nightcrawler reacts first, using acrobatic skills honed by a lifetime in the circus to keep his balance on the tilting floor, he attacks in a style uniquely his own, he teleports materializing again and again right behind avalanche." "I can punch and disappear far faster than you can react".
+Uncanny X-Men #147 p. 7 - He defeats Dr. Doom's Mercenaries with wit and martial arts skill.
+Uncanny X-Men #150 p. 20, "I was a superb trapeze artist without using my tail. When I use it, I'm incredible".
+Uncanny X-Men #448 p. 16 "Guess who's back in town?" - The strength of Kurt's prehensile tail is shown when he lifts Storm out of the water.

8. BAMF! -
In addition to his agility, Nightcrawler is often depicted escaping from danger by a combat teleport-dodge maneuver. There are many examples of Kurt using his "Bamf!" combat teleport-dodge.
References:
+Uncanny X-Men #123 p. 13 - when they are in Arcade's Murderworld, he combat teleports away just as a buzzsaw car is about to hit him.
+Uncanny X-Men #127 p. 8 - A spectacularly drawn example of "BamF!".
+Uncanny X-Men #130 p. 12 - A great visual of "Bamf!" at work. Just as Wolverine is about to bowl into him, Kurt combat teleports away.
+Uncanny X-Men #157 p. 10 - There are many issues where he is makes a series of combat teleports and flurry-punches after each teleport. Here he single-handedly takes out a platoon of Shi'ar soldiers this way. In #476 p. 13 he does a 4-hit teleport-flurry upon one villain.
+Uncanny X-Men #175 p. 17, #441 p. 5, #478 p.5 - other issues where he Bamfs (combat teleport-dodges) away.
+Uncanny X-Men #501, p. 14, 20 "All Tomorrow's Parties" - Kurt invents a new teleport maneuver. I call it Teleport fastball-special. As a Heroclix power it would be, a carried friendly figure may be given an action later in the turn (i.e. no NAAT, like TK).
+Uncanny X-Men #502 p. 4 "Begining to see the light" - This is probably one of the best examples of the Bamf! power as Nightcrawler does a combat-teleport-dodge faster than a speeding bullet. The panel shows the bullet passing harmlessly through the smoke cloud where he was.

9. COSTUME -
The costume is from the cover of Uncanny X-Men #428.
In Uncanny X-Men #422, Kurt, Lorna, Alex are shown heiroglyphs by Professor Havass are in the Bermuda Triangle at an unnamed island which corresponds to a point on an ancient map called Isla de Demonas. The ancient drawings depict a Neyaphem, and they come upon Neyaphem bones. Uncanny X-Men Issues #428 to #434 are the "Draco" Storyline. The "Draco" storyline is one of the most important story arcs in Uncanny X-Men for a Nightcrawler fan because it reveals the secrets of the true origins and real family history of Nightcrawler. Is Mystique truly Nightcrawler's mother? Who is Kurt's father? How and when was Kurt born? What were the circumstances? Why would Mystique abandon her son? You find out Kurt is a Neyaphem. All this is revealed in the "Draco" storyline! So the unique costume is a nod to the importance of this story arc.
References:
+Uncanny X-Men #422, #428 to #434 - The cover of the first issue of the Draco story arc (#428) shows off this costume.

10. FIGURE POINT COST -
The Wizkidsgames' engine calculated the point total. I had no control over his point cost. The powers, and dial goes into a black box, you turn the crank, and out comes a point cost.

11. SCULPT & POSE -
I did have a say as to what kind of pose that I wanted Nightcrawler in. I described a pose as if he was reaching out for someone to match his teleport-evacuation ability. I suppose if I was a sculptor or artist, I probably could have submitted a sculpt or sketch and they would have based the miniature on that. I think the sculptor did a fantastic job. Kudos to Wizkidsgames. The sculpt is also not too far off from the cover of Uncanny X-Men #428, the first issue of the pivotal Draco Story arc upon which his costume is based.

12. DESIGN PROCESS -
The design process started with me asking for a Stan Lee figure. For those of you who remember, I had asked the HCRealms community what figure they would like to see. The community suggested Stan Lee, and I loved the idea. Unfortunately, they were not able to make it. I then worked with the Wizkidsgames to design a Nightcrawler. I submitted some ideas for a dial and special powers. It went through many rounds of iteration. During the design process, I play-tested my various designs. I play-tested him against a variety of teams on a variety of maps. I put him on a Martial Artist theme team and various X-Men theme teams. I also tried different feats and BFCs. At the time, it was still the restricted/unrestricted format. Wizkidsgames also play-tested with him. They tweaked my design as result of play-testing and then it was on to the costume, text, and pose. I submitted all of the background text on the back of the character card and described what pose I wanted him to be in. I saw my actual figure for the first time at the 2010 Heroclix World Championships at Gen Con in Indianapolis, Indiana, August 5, 2010. I beat him twice with random (sealed) WoS figures in tournaments. Overall, it was an amazing experience working with the Wizkidgames design team. Kudos.

13. UNIQUENESS & RARITY -
Concerning the uniqueness of Nightcrawler, I asked Wizkidgames during the design process to make him a unique character. He would have a silver ring around his base, which means you can only play one of him on your team. Also during the design process I asked that Nightcrawler be made a Rare. They readily agreed on both counts. (added 9/12/10).

14. DIAL -
Here is Nightcrawler's dial for your reference.

WoS#047 Uniq Nightcrawler
Team: X-Men
Range: 0
Points: 86
Keywords: Excalibur, Martial Artist, X-Men

14 10 19 2

13 10 18 2

12 9 17 2

11 8 17 2

10 8 16 2

9 10 15 1

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

Extra-Dimensional Teleportation: Nightcrawler ignores the effects of terrain and characters on movement.

Teleportation Evacuation: Nightcrawler can use Hypersonic Speed, Stealth and the Carry Ability. When Nightcrawler uses Hypersonic Speed, a target hit by a close combat attack may be placed adjacent to Nightcrawler after the power action resolves.

BAMF!: Nightcrawler can use Super Senses. Whenever he uses Super Senses to evade an attack, you may immediately move him up to half of his speed value.

This post is also at my website: http://cheung.interzone.com/Heroclix/Nightcrawler.html. When you play with the figure, I hope you feel that it brings the fictional character to life. If you like the design and/or this post let me know with a rep. Thanks.

Good luck, Have fun,
-Ben Cheung
2008 Heroclix World Champion
[url]http://www.interzone.com/~cheung/Heroclix[/URL

I love the piece. As a die hard X-men fan, I thank you. Now we have something formidable on our side.

Great post. Any chance you have a link to the comic with the cover art that shows the costume?

Great post...any detractor who feels the need to rip on it can stay away. You've had plenty of threads for that already.

When I play against him, all I'll do is continually curse whoever assigned the point cost. I doubt I'll ever play him because A) it's a Marvel fig and I rarely play Marvel, B) it's an X-man fig and Grant Morrison killed the X-men for me, and C) I don't play figs that I feel are "cheese"... and BenCrawler definitely fits that bill!

None of the above is meant as a slam against Ben... it's just my opinion and personal preference.


I do have a question for Ben however... Do you think the fig is appropriately costed for the utility it brings to the field?

I like the Sculpt. I like the dial. You captured the essense of Nightcrawler.

It is not your fault the points calculator rounded down from 120 points when they calculated the points.


I love Nightcrawler, but the Draco story and Chuck Austin can **** my left ***.

Great walkthrough on your design process. I am very impressed at the level of detail you used in your research. Your love of the character shows.

Really? here? now? theres like 10000000000000000 threads for this you should hunt one of them down.

But thanks for the run through! kind of an insight of figure design!

Very cool write up and explanation of the powers. I understood the powers, so I didn't feel they needed to be explained to me (to some sure), but I like the fact that you put so much effort into designing him and can back up the "he can do that" with actual references.

To steal a line from you Kudos.

I love the justifications based on the "size of the HeroClix battlefield." Can't wait for Flash characters with 50 speed value that ignore characters and terrain effects on movement. Or the new Darkseid with infinite range value whose line of fire is never blocked.

Thanks Ben for the explaination.........awesome fig.......thanks for signing his card for me at gencon and helping me win the second day release....couldn't have done it without your expertise.....sorry I rolled so bad at the end but we did win

I don't know that anyone questioned the ability's he was given. His point cost is what seemed to be the sore spot for many people. To me it seems to all be mostly in those two first clicks so I don't mind it. Maybe you could shed some light on that for those that do though?

Thanks and Rep for the detailed overview, Ben.

Great write-up, great clix. Thank you.

As detailed as you were, there are still those detractors out there who will not ever be convinced. So just disregard them. They are mostly fans of other lines or characters who can't stand the fact that this Nightcrawler can hold his own...and more...against their beloved pets.