Come watch the fanboy cry

 

Rant - January 5, 2003 (below)
Rant - December 9, 2002 (click here)

This is actually a forum post I did regarding Nightcrawler's durability. But after looking over all the information I posted, I decided it would also be wise to post it on the website as well. So this is pretty much a direct translation of what I posted. Everything that needs to be explained is done so in the post.


***********************

Here's the deal, often when I'm in Nightcrawler debates, I'm hit with a line of people who simply refuse to believe Nightcrawler has above average durability. I can pull out all the references I want, but some will just cling to this idea that the major majority of times Kurt has been taken out by flat out pathetic attacks. So I was bored, and out of the blue I decided to challenge that notion. I glanced down at my 150+ issues of Nightcrawler and decided to look at how many times Kurt has really been taken out by below par attacks.

So I looked at ONLY the issues where he's been in a major battle (or a battle where the chance of knock out was evident). That means that I did not count times he's fought with lowly guards (unless he was knocked out). I did not court Danger Room training unless it went beyond training. I did not count bitchy scuffles either (unless he was knocked out). So not counting those, I looked at all the real fights and counted up how many times he's really been taken out by bitchy attacks.

Note: I counted ONLY the times he's been UNDENIABLY knocked out.
None of the times he's been hit, but how much damage was done is not shown.

Here's the break down.

*Major: Times he's been hit with an attack that Kurt should undeniably be down.

*Minor: The bitchy attacks everyone think Nightcrawler's durability is around

*A score of .5 was added anytime Kurt was technically not unconscious, but looked too hurt to continue.

*Fights where he was not knocked out at all, fights where he was hit but not hurt, and fights where he just wasn't damaged at all ARE factored into the Total Fights Counted total at the end. But being that he suffered no major or minor knock out, I can't put a nodge in either spot.

 

X-Men Essential #1 - X-Men Essential #2
(issues 94-119 and Giant Sized #1) - (issues 145-161 and annuals 3-5)

Major:

1 - Took a full blast from a robotic version of Cyclops
2 - Sneak attack from Black Tom. Hit with energy blast.
2.5(+.5) - Magneto smacks him with a few small I-beams (and other junk), but is still conscious.
3.5 - Eyeblast from Firelord.
4.5 - Hurled into Colossus (non-metal) at high velocity by Magneto
5.5 - Energy weapon from Dr. Doom.
6.5 - Full blast from a Sentinel
7.5 - Sneak attack lighting from Storm (controlled by White Queen)
8(+.5) - Punch from Dracula. Hurt but not out.
9 - Bomb from underneath table.
9.5(+.5) - Glancing blow from Sebastian Shaw amped on Rogue/She-Hulk power. Hurt but not out.

Minor:

1 - Knocks himself out the second time he tries to port with anybody. Was hurt prior to the port.
2 - Bomb explodes in his face. It was a magical attack so exact strength of bomb is not known.

Total Major: 9.5
Total Minor: 2
Total Fights Counted: 37

Hmm. . . So out of 37 real fights I managed to find, only 2 knock outs to support Nightcrawler having below par durability, and 9.5 to show otherwise. Interesting. Lets move on.

 

Various Issues of the X-Men from the past 2-3 years
(i.e. his time after Excalibur, guest appearances, etc)

Major:
0

Minor:
0

Total Fights Counted: 22

Not very conclusive. But nonetheless, out of 22 fights I COULD NOT find one example of either Nightcrawler having either above par or below par durability. On the flip side, that also means that all the times he did get hit, it wasn't enough to put him out of the fight. Lets move on.

 

Various Excalibur Issues

Major:

1 - Shot in the chest
2 - Falls a few stories to the street at a very high velocity
2.5(+.5) - Dr. Doom slams him into Meggan at a high velocity. Hurt but not out.

Minor:

.5 - Plays unconscious, but was getting hammered before hand and had no chance of winning fight.
2.5 - Alternate version of Nightcrawler uses his own multiport attack against him.
3.5 - Sneak attack to the back of the head with the handle of a sword. Done by regular human. One hit knock out.
4.5 - Spiral punches him in the face with the handle of the sword. Her first hit knocked him out

 

Total Fights Counted: 25
Total Major: 2.5
Total Minor: 4.5

Odd that in the series where Nightcrawler probably showed the most amount of skill, he also appears to have gotten beat up the most. But some of the Minor losses are legit. So now lets see how everything adds up.



Major Knock Out Total: 12
Minor Knock Out Total: 6.5
Total Fights Counted From All The Comics = 84/150+
(remember, only the real fights count. The left over issues are times he did not fight or did not participate enough in a fight.)

Granted this isn't the most detailed of researches, but out of 150+ issues and out of 84 total fights, I should see SOMETHING to support this idea that Nightcrawler only has sub-par durability. I could easily give about a dozen or so times he's taken hits from far stronger opponents than him and continued to fight (an easy half dozen can be found under my first Rant Post). So I'd like to know what actually supports this "sub-par Nightcrawler." Where did the idea that Nightcrawler doesn't have above average durability come from?

From what I've seen, and from what has been shown throughout his career, Nightcrawler has proven to me he has above par durability. In only his second appearance he took a 'single' hit that was said to have the strength to knock out twelve men, and got right back up unfazed by it. Even Spider-Man has failed to knock Nightcrawler out in one punch.

Out of 84 fights, and I can only find 6.5 bitchy knockouts. . . I'm sorry if this seems fanboyish, but I still have not seen sufficient evidence that Nightcrawler has below par durability.

/Rant

So I hoped you learned something whilst reading my little Rant. And until next time, good-bye.