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Amanda Sefton (real name Jimaine Szardos) is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Chris Claremont and Dave Cockrum, the character First appearance in Uncanny X-Men #98 (April 1976). The character has also been known as Daytripper and Magik at various points in her history. She is the foster sister and former lover of superhero Kurt Wagner / Nightcrawler of the X-Men.
Following this incident, Kurt and Amanda traveled to Germany, where her mother Margali had been taken captive by D'Spayre. Excalibur #76 (April 1994) As Kurt wondered how such a powerful sorceress could be held captive against her will, Daytripper explained that the Winding Way is not only a mystic discipline, but also it functions like a journey with ups and downs. Margali was at a low point and powerless, otherwise D'Spayre would never have been able to defeat her. The pair rescued their mother and Amanda returned with Kurt to Excalibur. Excalibur #77 (May 1994) Back on Muir Island, Amanda was the only one who recognized that the team's scientist Rory Campbell was the man destined to become the future mutant hunter Ahab, but she promised him to keep her knowledge secret and offered to be there for him whenever the need would arise. Excalibur #80
Around this time she suffered a mystical/telepathic attack on a plane while working a shift under her air hostess job. It involved the fate of the Black Queen. Excalibur Annual #2 (1994)
After Excalibur had been attacked by opposing sorcerers trying to acquire the Soulsword of the deceased Illyana Rasputin, Excalibur #83 Amanda convinced Shadowcat to give her Magik's Soul Sword for safe-keeping. Excalibur #84 Amanda thought it best to hand the sword over to her mother. Only when it was too late, Amanda realized that she was tricked by her own mother who wanted the Soulsword to kill all those ahead of her on the Winding Path. Excalibur #85
Even at her most powerful, Margali wanted more, and she covertly joined the London Hellfire Club, acting as their red Queen. She planned to destroy London and take over Britain. Excalibur #100 Shortly after helping to defeat her mother and the Hellfire Club, Amanda left Excalibur without even telling Nightcrawler. Excalibur #108
It is later revealed it was not Amanda who made that decision, but Margali who had taken over her body. Upon her defeat among the Hellfire Club, Margali was captured by the villain sorcerer Belasco and was tortured in his realm. From his realm, she secretly switched minds with her daughter so that she could win back her freedom. Eventually, Margali, using Amanda's body, made her way back to Limbo, where the mother and daughter pair switched back and defeated Belasco with Nightcrawler's help. Margali apologized for exposing her daughter to such danger, but then quickly left. Amanda realized that without her mother or Belasco, she was the only person able to take over as Limbo's new ruler. It was too dangerous to leave the dimension unguarded, given that several demons could have used it to invade Earth. X-Men Unlimited #19
Amanda has also mastered the ability to magically control the stepping discs of Limbo, just like Belasco did before her, and practiced to wield the Soulsword. X-Men: Magik #1–4 During one of Nightcrawler's trips to Limbo, Amanda secretly hid the powerful Soulsword in Kurt's body, thinking it was safe there since his soul was the purest that she could find. There was a shift in the cosmic balance and powerful forces at work. They were in search of the Soulsword, and shortly after, Amanda was attacked and overpowered by Nightmare. Nightcrawler vol. 3 #9 She was rescued by the timely arrival of her Margali. Together, they discovered that Nightmare had been manipulated into attacking them by someone else. Amanda and Margali immediately sought out Nightcrawler to warn him, but upon their arrival, the demon Hive revealed himself and took over the body of Nightcrawler's teammate, Wolverine. Nightcrawler vol. 3 #10
Gradually, the demon's essence was disrupted by the Soulsword, though not before he revealed that there is a major war coming, and that the entire Szardos family factors very importantly into it. Nightcrawler vol. 3 #11
She assisted New X-Men Hellion and Surge as well as O*N*E Sentinel operative (and former mutant) Lex in finding students who were kidnapped by Belasco. The students were saved due to Illyana Rasputin usurping control of Limbo. Once the heroes were teleported back to Professor X's school though, Amanda found Limbo to be sealed off. New X-Men vol. 2 #41
While Pixie has stated that she has been approached by both Amanda and Doctor Strange about furthering her magical tutelage when she comes of age, Amanda's whereabouts remained unknown for some time, but she was recently mentioned by Cyclops in the aftermath of Second Coming when he was writing her a letter of condolence over the death of Nightcrawler. X-Men: Second Coming #2
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.
Screen Rant included Amanda Sefton in their "15 Most Powerful Marvel Magic Users (Who Aren’t Doctor Strange)" list, and in their "10 Best Magical Or Supernatural Heroes Not Yet In The MCU" list. Comic Book Resources ranked Amanda Sefton 6th in their "20 Fan-Favorite X-Men Who Aren't Even Mutants" list.
The plot twist revealing that Amanda Sefton is really Nightcrawler's 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."
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