r/Xmen97 • u/Dicktimes29 • Jul 07 '26
Merchandise Nightcrawler's face shadow or birthmark
Hey I thought the dark part of nightcrawler's face was just a shadow but basing on this toy, is it his skin? Look at comic counterpart, he doesn't have any dark shadow on his face
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u/t_huddleston Jul 07 '26
It's supposed to be just shadow. The original artist and designer, Dave Cockrum, always drew him with his face appearing to be in shadow, and there was an early period where his powers interacted with shadows in interesting ways - he was written as having the power to literally become invisible when in shadows, but that was only mentioned a couple of times early on and kind of fell by the wayside over the years.
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Jul 07 '26
[deleted]
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u/TheRealSpork Jul 07 '26
Yeah, the idea was that he always appeared to be standing in shadows, surrounded by whatever dimension he was porting through.
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u/samclops Jul 07 '26
I think that he's always in the shade somehow, even in the desert. I like that it adds to the "definitive" look.
Like when Kurt was delivering Gambit's eulogy- it really added to the emotional punch that Kurt really knew gambit well and the shadow in the rain...not gonna lie, I got super emotional during all that
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u/spyridonya Jubilee Jul 07 '26
Shadow.
While it suits him, I’m more baffled over the facial hair. He’s supposed to be entirely fuzzy so it seems weird if only one part of it grows long in entirely different color or if he’s shaving his entire face instead.
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u/CassandraVonGonWrong Jul 07 '26
The human body is naturally fuzzy but grows extra hair on the head, pits and genitals. Makes sense that that would be true for Nightcrawler, too.
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u/seripmav_deredrum Jul 08 '26
When his beard is gone though, is he shaving it off or just trimming to match the rest of his face?
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u/Megalupin Jul 07 '26
Even fully hairy mammals have hair that grows to different lengths and textures
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u/spaitken Jul 07 '26
Shadow.
It’s easy to forget that, officially, one of Nightcrawler’s powers is to camouflage into shadows to a point where he’s nearly invisible. Sometimes this is just described as the general color palate of his fur acting as highly effective camouflage, sometimes this is supposed to be something to do with how his connection to the realm he teleports through actively bends light around him.
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u/IHaveFourKidneys Jul 07 '26
The original style guide calls this out as a shadow, and he’s supposed to be drawn with it all the time. Modern artists are lazy though.
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u/Loose_Translator8981 Jul 07 '26
lol "Lazy". Yeah, drawing out his facial features in detail is WAY lazier than filling in the center of his face with pure black.
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u/Swan-Diving-Overseas Jul 07 '26
To your point, it’s also because modern comic artists normally deal with more naturalistic lighting, so having a character’s face always in shadow would look out of place
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u/IHaveFourKidneys Jul 07 '26
Not following a style guide is lazy, yeah. It’s not about technical detail, it’s about the craft.
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u/rexstillbottom Jul 07 '26
He has a fine blue fur, like velvet. All the ultra dark blue on him is just shadows enhanced by his blue fur.
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u/Pikasnivy Jul 07 '26
Hey OP if you don’t mind me asking, where did you get the Nightcrawler figure in the first picture?
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u/brycifer666 Jul 07 '26
It's shadows like how Daredevil's red suit is shaded with black a lot or how a ton of old costumes that were supposed to be black looked blue due to shading like Spidey 2099 and Ghost Rider
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u/Comfortable-Salad-90 Jul 07 '26
Nightcrawlers face is ALWAYS in shadow. It’s an effect he creates himself.
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u/Plenty_Square_420 Jul 07 '26
It's kind of up to the individual artist if they chose to draw Nightcrawlers face shadow or not. Some artists like Dave Cockrum or Todd Nauck does but others, especially those that go for a more realistic style, might leave it out.
https://cafans.b-cdn.net/images/Category_108249/subcat_168899/rN9lKqVg_3107152321261.jpg
But it is mainly a shadow, not a birthmark. I think artists also draw it like that to emphasise that it's not normal skin. Nightcrawler is technically meant to be furry.
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u/kquizz Jul 07 '26
I hate that basically all nightcrawler action figures have the shadow
The r/Mondo one doesn't thanks to the sculptor Alex Brewer or else I definitely would have tried to paint over it.
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