DAREDEVIL

Real Name: Matthew Michael Murdock Occupation: Lawyer, adventurer Identity: Secret Legal status: Citizen of the United States with no criminal record Place of Birth: New York City Group affiliation: Marvel Knights Base of operations: Hell's Kitchen, New York City First appearance: Daredevil (Vol. 1) #1 (1964) Height: 6' Weight: 200 lbs. Eye color: Blue Hair color: Red

Current Look << BACK               NEXT>>

Synopsis: He dwells in a world of eternal night -- but the blackness is filled with sounds and scents, tastes and textures most men cannot perceive. Although attorney Matt Murdock is blind, his other four senses function with superhuman sharpness. He stalks the streets at night, a relentless avenger of justice: Daredevil, the Man Without Fear!

Powers: Although Daredevil is blind, his other four senses function with superhuman sharpness. His fingers can feel the faint impressions of ink on a printed page, allowing him to read by touch. The
rest of his skin is equally sensitive, enabling him
to perceive minute changes in the temperature and pressure of the surrounding atmosphere. Daredevil can identify individuals by smell alone, no matter how they might try to camouflage their natural odor. He can hear a person's heartbeat at a distance of 20 feet, tell whether someone is lying by listening to changes in the heart's rhythm and identify people by the specific patterns of their heartbeats. Also, Daredevil developed the ability to sense the proximity and arrangement of objects as a result of the mutagenic effects of his exposure to the same radiation that heightened his senses.

Daredevil possesses the acrobatic ability of a circus performer and the pugilistic skills of a heavyweight prizefighter. Though he has studied various Asian martial-arts techniques and American boxing, his fighting style is unique; it includes movements and blows from many disciplines. Daredevil is also a highly accomplished weightlifter.

Weapons: Daredevil wields a single weapon, his billy club. As Matt Murdock, he carries it disguised as a blind man's cane. The implement separates into two parts: The straight portion contains a metal shaft and can be used as a weighted fighting baton, while the other section incorporates a grappling hook and cable mechanism that Daredevil uses to traverse the city skyline.

History: Matt Murdock is the son of a fighter: "Battlin'" Jack Murdock, a New York boxer who made his living in Hell's Kitchen. A single parent, the elder Murdock took it upon himself to provide a better life for his son. As such, he began working as an enforcer for a local mobster to give Matt more than his winnings would allow. However, he taught his son that fighting was not the answer to life's problems and encouraged him to pursue his studies. Matt became a bookworm, mocked by his fellow students; they teased him with the nickname "Daredevil." Afraid his father would be disappointed by his weakness, Matt trained himself in secret to stand up to the bullies at school.

Even then, Matt was a hero at heart. Walking down the street, he noticed a blind man about to get hit by a truck. He ran in front of the braking vehicle, pushing the hapless victim out of the way. But the youngster paid a stiff price for his selfless act: The truck was carrying radioactive waste, and some splashed out onto Matt's eyes. Ironically, he was now as blind as the man he had saved from certain death. At first devastated, Matt soon realized that the toxic sludge had mutagenically heightened his other four senses. But it was the warrior/teacher Stick who brought Matt full circle, coaching him in the use of his newly augmented senses and training him in the martial arts.

Matt attended Columbia University with Franklin "Foggy" Nelson, who became his lifelong friend. At Columbia, he met and fell in love with Elektra Natchios, daughter of a Greek ambassador. Matt first used his abilities to combat crime when he fought terrorists who had kidnapped Elektra and her father. The ambassador was killed in the struggle, and an anguished Elektra left school. She would return to Matt's life years later in a new role: costumed assassin. When Elektra fled, Matt threw himself into his law studies. To finance his son's college education, Jack Murdock -- now past his prime as a boxer -- struck a deal with promoter Roscoe Sweeney, alias the Fixer. But the mobsters killed Jack when he refused to throw a fight as instructed, and Matt sought justice in vain. Grief-stricken, he finished his studies. After graduation, he and Nelson opened their own law office. Matt still was determined to bring his father's killers to justice, but could see no way of doing so through ordinary legal means. He chose instead to adopt the guise of a costumed vigilante -- Daredevil, the name used to taunt him years before.

Matt gained a partner in his war on crime when Foggy tried Natasha Romanova, better known to the world as the Russian operative Black Widow, for criminal conduct. Natasha moved to San Francisco when the case concluded, and Matt joined her. There, the two grew into more than just a crimefighting team: They became lovers. The affair ended when Matt returned to New York City and Natasha stayed in San Francisco. However, the two remain friends and frequent partners.

The Kingpin, the most powerful figure in East Coast organized crime, has proven to be Daredevil's greatest adversary. Matt ultimately came to oppose Elektra when she entered the Kingpin's employ. As the gangster's chief assassin, Elektra clashed repeatedly with her ex-flame. Finally, she was contracted to kill Foggy. When he recognized her, Elektra realized she could not carry out the contract and spared his life. Soon after, the psychotic criminal Bullseye determined that the only way for him to regain his status as the Kingpin's chief assassin would be to kill Elektra. He impaled her on own sai, and she died in Matt's arms. The death and eventual resurrection of Elektra, the woman Matt still greatly loved, had a tremendous emotional effect on him that continues to this day.

A turning point in Daredevil's crimefighting career came when a teen mother left her newborn daughter in his charge, claiming angels had told her he would keep the baby safe. However, a mysterious elderly gentlemen named Nicholas Macabes attempted to convince him the infant was the antichrist; he succeeded in causing Daredevil's estranged girlfriend, Karen Page, to believe she was dying from AIDS, the result of a promiscuous past. Macabes hired Bullseye to kidnap the baby -- whom Matt had entrusted to his mother, Sister Margaret -- and injure the child's guardian devil. When Karen attempted to cover Sister Margaret's escape with the baby, the assassin impaled her on Daredevil's billy club. Ultimately, Macabes revealed himself to be the illusion-casting super-villain Mysterio and confessed he had targeted Daredevil because they both were "second-stringers." When Daredevil defeated Mysterio and rescued the baby, the villain killed himself. Like Elektra's death, Karen's murder is a heavy burden on Matt's shoulders.