Kurt Wagner was born in Germany during the height of mutant-human animosity. With his obvious mutant appearance, his mother, Mystique, was forced to make a choice - abandon the child or hide him. Mystique chose to go into hiding and stay with her son.
With the rise of Magneto and his mutant family, Mystique and Kurt emerged from hiding into a new world, one in which mutants were embraced. Seeing new opportunities in this mutant-run world, Mystique traveled to America with Kurt and was recruited by Sebastian Shaw into S.H.I.E.L.D. Kurt grew to adulthood as a part of S.H.I.E.L.D. and has trained since his early teens to be an agent by his mother's side. He regards her and his adopted sister, Rogue, as the most important people in his life.
Kurt is an integral member of Wolverine's special squad of mutants, the Red Guard. Since Wolverine and his mother have become romantically involved, Kurt has grown a bit distant. He does not believe Wolverine is good enough for his mother, and the two rarely see eye to eye on anything.
