Jimaine Szardos and her mother Margali are Manouchewitches. When Kurt Wagner (also known as Nightcrawler) joins the X-Men, Jimaine follows him to the United States, assumes the identity of Amanda Sefton, takes a job as a flight attendant, and eventually becomes Nightcrawler's girlfriend.[3][4] When Margali attacks the X-Men, believing Nightcrawler to have been responsible for the death of her son Stefan Szardos, Amanda reveals herself as Jimaine, convinces her mother to let Kurt live, and resumes her on-and-off relationship with him.[5] Their relationship broke apart when Kurt suffers a severe case of self-doubt following an encounter with the Beyonder upon the latter's arrival on Earth.[6]
Daytripper
Logo of Uncanny X-Men, one of the groups Amanda belongs and the first comic which she appear
Much later, and in need of her magical abilities, Nightcrawler calls Amanda Sefton to aid Excalibur. She takes the codename Daytripper, playing on Kurt's codename. Once familiarized with the problem at hand, Amanda attempts to help Meggan and Rachel Summers locate the lost Captain Britain in the time-stream. They only manage to exchange Captain Britain for Rachel, who enters the time-stream in his place and emerges in the distant future.[7]
Magik
Amanda Sefton later assumes the identity of Magik. She thwarts Belasco and the N'Garai's takeover of Limbo and Earth, but is forced to conceal her identity until of the end of the battle. Amanda rallies the rulers of Hell to unite them in a common goal: the preservation of Hell.[8] Amanda has also mastered the ability to magically control the stepping discs of Limbo, like Belasco before her, and practices to wield the Soulsword.[9]
Driven out of Limbo
Amanda resurfaces in New X-Men, where she is driven out of Limbo by Belasco. Although she had fought and defeated him in the past, Belasco now appears more powerful than before. Without the Soulsword, Amanda is unable to stop him.[10]
Amanda assists New X-Men Hellion and Surge as well as Lex, an operative of the Office of National Emergency, in finding students who were kidnapped by Belasco. The students are saved due to Illyana Rasputin usurping control of Limbo. After returning to the X-Mansion, Amanda finds that Limbo has been sealed off.[11]
Family reunion
During the storyline "X-Men: Second Coming", Nightcrawler is killed while protecting Hope Summers from Bastion. After being resurrected, Nightcrawler attempts to reunite with Amanda Sefton, but she is almost kidnapped by the villain Trimega.[12] After subduing Trimega, Nightcrawler grants Amanda and Margali sanctuary in the Jean Grey School for Higher Learning. However, an army of Trimegas descend upon the school. During the battle, Nightcrawler learns that Margali is the creator of Trimega and orchestrated the attack to gain knowledge of how to cross into the afterlife. Armed with this knowledge, Margali opens a portal whose existence would endanger reality. Nightcrawler and Amanda attempt to pass the gate, but Nightcrawler's voluntary exile from Heaven bars him from entry, stranding Amanda alone in the void.[13] After being fatally stabbed by the Crimson Pirates, Nightcrawler is intercepted by Amanda at an "interim station" between life and death. She, Wolverine, and Phoenix convince him to return to the living.[14]
Powers and abilities
Amanda is a sorceress following the path of the Winding Way. Her power changes in its levels, waxing and waning over time, allowing her to summon such powers as teleportation, illusions casting, shape changing, mystical force bolts, hypnotism, and the manipulation of other complex mystical forces.[15]
When she became the Sorceress Supreme of Limbo, Amanda began wielding the powerful Soulsword. While she couldn't access the full power of the sword, she could still create and control teleportation energies in the form of "stepping discs". This allows her to absorb souls of others either permanently or to simply store and transfer, to place and store the sword in absolute nothingness and to retrieve it from whence it came with ease. Like Illyana Rasputin, the more Amanda used the Soulsword, the more mystical Eldritch armor appeared on her body in addition to demonic features such as horns and hooves. The armor deflects or limits attacks, both physical and magical. However, on Earth, Amanda's abilities are limited to a different capacity. She has since lost these abilities when Limbo was sealed to her and resumed her normal display of powers.
Reception
Critical reception
Deirdre Kaye of Scary Mommy called Amanda Sefton a "role model" and a "truly heroic" female character.[16] Nitish Vashishtha of Sportskeeda ranked Amanda Sefton 7th in their "10 Strongest Marvel Witches" list.[17] Darren Franich of Entertainment Weekly ranked Amanda Sefton 65th in their "Let's rank every X-Man ever" list.[18]
Screen Rant included Amanda Sefton in their "15 Most Powerful Marvel Magic Users (Who Aren’t Doctor Strange)" list,[15] and in their "10 Best Magical Or Supernatural Heroes Not Yet In The MCU" list.[19]Comic Book Resources ranked Amanda Sefton 6th in their "20 Fan-Favorite X-Men Who Aren't Even Mutants" list.[20]
The plot twist revealing that Amanda Sefton is really Nightcrawler's adoptive sister, Jimaine Szardos, received mixed reactions. Book Riot described the twist as "the crowning moment of creepy" in their article "The X-Men's Love Lives are Messed Up You Guys."[21]
An alternate universe version of Amanda Sefton appears in the Days of Future Past timeline. She and Nightcrawler have a daughter Blue, who inherits her father's demon-like appearance and teleportation abilities. Amanda, Nightcrawler, and Illyana Rasputin are killed by a government strike force deployed to destroy the Xavier Institute after Robert Kelly is assassinated.[23]
An alternate universe version of Amanda Sefton appears in Marvel Noir. This version is a leading member of Weapon X who is later killed by Kurt Wagner.[24]
In other media
Amanda Sefton appears in X-Men: Evolution, voiced by Moneca Stori.[25] This version is an African/Romani American teenager and student of Bayville High School who comes from a human family and gradually enters a relationship with Nightcrawler.
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