Elektra

Origin

Elektra’s origin is often not very well defined depending on the needs of the storyline. However there are numerous facts which remain constant about her. She comes from a privileged life from a wealthy Greek family (this is occasionally depicted as a Cypriot family). Her father was a powerful man known as Hugo Natchios and his wife was Christina Natchios. Her mother died shortly after giving birth to her, but the nature of her death has changed in different incarnations. At the age of 20, Elektra was held hostage by a group of terrorists alongside her diplomat father.

In the ensuing chaos of the standoff Hugo is killed. Generally speaking this is also one of the first times that Matt Murdock acted in the capacity of a superhero as he first dons a mask to attempt to save them (though this is not in every version.) At the time Matt was also romantically involved with Elektra. Elektra reacts to the death of her father by seeking revenge, dropping out of university and traveling to China to study in martial arts.

She joins the martial arts organization known as the Chaste and she receives training from Stick, but she is eventually corrupted by her own impulses and instead joins the Hand, a group of ninja like assassins. Eventually she too breaks free of their control and becomes an assassin in her own right.

Creation

Elektra Natchios is a Marvel comics character, created by Frank Miller, appearing during the writers highly acclaimed Daredevil run. Daredevil in the 1980s under the direction of Frank Miller had taken a far darker route to the portrayal of its characters. Instead of the traditional romantic nature of most characters, Daredevil’s love life was fraught with disaster, and Elektra was a major part of that. Her first full appearance was in Daredevil #168 released in 1981, although her first cover appearance was four months earlier in The Comics Journal #58 (September 1980).

Frank Miller on creating the character, “I worked on giving her a personality, a weapon and a means of fighting that would make it believable that someone tho isn’t as physically powerful as Daredevil could function in his kind of situation” adding about her famous choice of weapons the sai “Since it makes every karate blow more powerful, it would be a natural weapon for a woman to use” added how it would extend her reach.

Elektra’s popularity, which stretched beyond the traditional male population and drew a large female readership, would eventually ensure her own miniseries and in 1986 she would star in Elektra: Assassin, written by Frank Miller and illustrated by Bill Sienkiewicz. Elektra has spawned a Skrull impostor. For more information on her, please refer to the Siri page.

Character Evolution

Elektra was born of Frank Miller’s fondness and appreciation of Japanese culture and archetypes. Elektra being and becoming a kunoichi welding a stock standard kunoichi weapon in the sai. Her original attitude and motivations at the time, helping to inspire a new generation and style of female characters. Naturally the character is also part homage to the mythological Elektra of Greek mythology, Miller’s character initially defined as having father issues.

The character herself has gone through numerous different variations, but apart from her original role as an assassin and villain, she has been portrayed as either a hero or an anti-hero. This has made it that her past and several defining aspects of the character have changed in her depiction over time. Some of her background is portrayed as much darker. For instance, in Elektra: Assassin it is revealed that she is raped by her father when she was 5 years old. Alternately in Elektra: Root of Evil, Elektra’s mother is assassinated by proxy of her son for her indiscretions and infidelity.

In this version Hugo’s parentage is called into question however this is not necessarily seen as canonical. Previously her mother had been shown as killed in Cyprus while trying to top a Turkish Cypriot from undertaking a terrorist action. Elektra’s physical appearance as drawn by Miller was loosely inspired by Lisa Lyon. Although Elektra has never held down a continuous long standing ongoing series, her popularity and iconic nature lends itself well for frequent cameos, guest spots and supporting roles in many of Marvels top character books, big event arcs, and team books.

Elektra’s longest running series would come in 2001 with the second ongoing volume of Elektra, lasting 35 issues. After a long absence from series and mini series, Zeb Wells and Clayton Henry would revitalize the character with her Dark Reign tie in miniseries Dark Reign: Elektra which was moderately successful but well received by critics and fans. Elektra would also serve as a pivotal role in Marvels major event Secret Invasion, which would officially kick off with the discovery that Elektra had been replaced by a Skrull in Brian Michael Bendis New Avengers title. There have been minor controversies surrounding Elektra ever since her first iconic fictional death, her editor at the time reluctant to allow her writer and creator (Miller) to kill the character, due to her sudden and unexpected popularity.

Ralph Macchio would even promise Miller that he would have creative control over her use and non use by Marvel, however eventually with time, higher ups at Marvel would decide to resurrect the character of their own accord, leading many to believe she should have been kept dead. An issue of Elektra’s 2001 volume would also create minor controversy due to panels in which Elektra is nude causing the issue to be recalled and a new copy of the issue printed with new art.

In the modern era the character continues to be a successful asset to Marvel, appearing rather frequently and consistently for a character without an ongoing series, many artists and writers keen to take on the iconic character “I’ve actually never gotten the chance to draw Elektra before! She’s another one of those characters that I was obsessed with back in the day. She’s pretty challenging to draw, actually, because I’m determined not to make her just some hot chick. That’s not what she’s about. She’s a chiseled, muscular killing machine whose entire body is a weapon, expressionless and cold” expressed by Joe Madureira. for example.

Major Story Arcs

Back to Matt and Death

While chasing a bounty, Elektra is discovered by Matt Murdock in his guise as Daredevil. Matt immediately recognizes her voice, which brings many memories rushing back to him. Elektra is captured during this mission, but is rescued by Daredevil, whom she helps using a fight tactic that they used the day her father died. After this Elektra becomes curious about Matt, and visits his home. She later helps Daredevil fight the Hand, after he loses his radar sense.

Elektra later starts to work for the Kingpin. She undertakes numerous missions for the criminal mastermind, including an attempt to kill Foggy Nelson when she drives the cab he is in. When Elektra realizes it is Foggy Nelson, Matt’s old friend, she moves the car and let’s an astonished Foggy go. She soon met up with Matt after this, and his alter-ego Daredevil. Although the two have an instant connection again, Daredevil is angered of how she turned out to be.

Not only Matt is angered, also the Kingpin, for letting Foggy Nelson go. He hires a new assassin named Bullseye whom wishes to be Kingpin’s main assassin. His first task, kill Elektra. It does not take long before the two met. Although the fight is generally pretty close, Bullseye eventually gets one of Elektra’s sais-daggers and stabs her in the chest. Elektra then managed to escape her assassin and crawl to Matt’s house, managing to reach him alive, only before dying in his arms.

Ressurection and Return

Elektra however is resurrected by the Hand after she died. Matt, as Daredevil, tried to stop the ritual, and thought that he had succeeded. It is however revealed that the resurrection was successful and Elektra left New York City to train on top of a snowy mountain.

She would not be seen for years until circumstances brought her back to New York City and back to an astonished Matt Murdock. Elektra had however drastically changed. She was more ruthless and colder then before. She soon became a hired assassin and mercenary and fought for the highest bidder. Sometimes however she fought among the side of the heroes.

This brought her into contact with heroes like Spider-man and Daredevil once more. After this period, she and her mentor Stick came to help Wolverine through a period when he has reverted to a more feral state. It was soon revealed that she was resurrected with a split portion of her good and evil side. She confronts her evil side and defeats it and then the two are reunited, the good version now in control though an aspect of evil remains. Daredevil still refused to stay in any real contact with her.

VS The Hand and Kirigi

Elektra investigates a murder after she witnesses an innocent shot with a crossbow, and seeing the shadow of the murderer she gives chase across the rooftops of Paris. Recognizing the assailant as a ninja would only add to the intrigue. Although the ninja would be fast and agile, moving with superhuman agility and grace, Elektra would catch up to them and identify them as a Hand ninja. She would follow the ninja to an apartment where it would met with another member of the Hand.

Overhearing their conversation she would learn that the next target for the hand ninja assassin Genin would be America lawyer Matt Murdock. Elektra would be conflicted, first concern of Matt but also at their current strained relationship. Despite her reservations to risk her life keeping him safe Elektra would board a flight to New York. Matt Murdock would be going about his typical business as both a lawyer and his super hero alter ego Daredevil, but returning to his apartment in his civilian disguise he would be ambushed by Hand ninja.

Managing to defend himself and kill the attackers, at the end of the fight he would realize that he had aid during the fight and that other ninjas had been killed but not by his hand. He would have the mystery of who had put out a death contract on him as well as being unaware that it was Elektra who had been watching over and aiding him. The Hand would attempt another assassination hit on Matt Murdock, staking out and stalking his lawyers office and planning to plant an explosive that would kill both Murdock and his friend and associate Foggy Nelson.

With both Matt and Foggy distracted inside the office they were vulnerable and as the Hand set to capitalize on the moment they would be attacked by Elektra. She had been stalking and tracking their movements dedicated to protecting Daredevil and she would kill all the Hand ninja present, however during the midst of the clash the bomb they had been planning to use would fall near the window of the lawyers office exploding and incurring injuries to Daredevil.

Elektra and Gladiator Team Up

The Hand’s next target would be Melvin Potter also known as the Gladiator. Daredevil after an explosion outside his lawyers office would still be recuperating in hospital and the explosion would had wrought injury to him including robbing him of his radar senses. Despite that Daredevil would struggle to his feet to find Melvin Potter who he had been informed of via radio was being transported by van from one jail facility to another.

Elektra would be on route to save Potter, as she would land on the van and and stop it, breaking out Potter. Melvin who had struggled with his identity and alias in recent times was confused about what was going on, not even certain who Elektra was, but Elektra would be very direct handing the large man his Gladiator outfit and weapons insisting he get changed as efficiently as possible.

Potter would be hesitant after working so long at trying to keep the Gladiator persona at bay, but Elektra’s encouragement would have him change. The timing would be fortunate as both warriors were soon to be attacked by the Hand. Dozens and dozens of Hand Ninja would surround and attack the two, such large waves Elektra would explain to Gladiator she wouldn’t be able to defeat them all by herself, however she would realize that Gladiator was resisting and not really engaging offensively and she would chide him into action. Daredevil without his radar ability but still aided by hearing would finally make his arrival to help Gladiator but unaware that Elektra was there.

During the fight Daredevil would be in danger at times, lacking his radar, but Elektra would step in and aid him killing potential threats to him and Gladiator. At the climax of the fight she would disappear with Daredevil attending to Gladiator, Potter revealing Elektra’s presence to Murdock who would only just realize that fact.

Elektra Assassin

Elektra is situated in a mental institution in South America and her memories are in disarray, as she attempts to reassemble them into a more coherent order. Her living conditions are dreadful, crammed and unpleasant. She must face and experience her past in fragments, reliving events such as her assassination work, the death and murder of her mother, her martial arts training as a child, and under Stick, her wanting a pet cat as a child and abuse by her father, her first experiences with Daredevil, the death of her father.

Although it is during this experience of reconnecting and piecing together memories that Elektra becomes aware of the entity the Beast. The Jackal’s son, neither man or woman, the Beast would be worshipped by the Hand, a mystical entity that preexisted man, this Beast creature would control humans by psychically manipulating them, empowering them, and possessing and controlling them after exposing them to a liquid substance that would be referred to as the Milk of the Beast.

Elektra would be put in solitary confinement after attacking an abusive warden of the asylum. More memories she begins to piece together, as she remembers what she had learned of the beast and how it was going to slowly morph with time into a more humanoid creature. Elektra would realize that this process may have been completed already, despite the fact the Beasts transformation to appear as man was supposed to have taken considerably longer. Replaying in her memories, realizing that the person who may have hired her for an assassination may have been the Beast Elektra looks for evidence.

She realizes the man that hired her was not the Beast, but the tell tale stench of the Beasts aura would be apparent in the milk of the man. The Beast has been manipulating her. In reality Elektra would be subjected to various unethical medical treatments, and torture. Elektra had been scheduled to be lobotomized, and although weak and tortured both by the institutions staff, the unsavory living conditions and the Beast she would break free of her bondage killing guards and medical staff attempting to perform the lobotomy. Following her escape the Valley of Peace Institution for the Criminally Insane would experience an inmate uprising.

Fall from Grace

Elektra’s long and complicated past with John Garret would develop more, with Elektra having used her hypnotic powers to make Garret believe he was Ken Wind and the President. Whilst Garret was actually still dismantled in a stasis chamber in SHIELD storage building. Garret would continue believing he was living this illusion. Garret would however be found and broken out by Tekagi. The Hand desire the creation of a supremely powerful shadow warrior, using the essence of Elektra, and Garret and his special connection to Elektra may assist their goals. The Snakeroot clan, now with Garret’s body, will use it to draw out an aspect of Elektra’s dark essence residing within him. Tekagi explaining the ritual and its process to the other members, shadow warriors.

The Chaste in the mean time are concerned of many of their secrets and techniques being known by the Hand, and Stone would set out to prevent the Hand of learning anything because of Elektra’s discrepancies. To complicate matters the cyborg Siege would be hired by Nick Fury to retrieve Garret’s body. Tekagi and the Snaeroot would continue with their goal of creating a perfect shadow warrior using the dark essence of Elektra. They would succeed and their warrior would be named Erynys. Named after the Erinyes, the furies of Greek mythology, a reference to Elektra’s roots.

Solo Series

Elektra remained working as a hired assassin witch brought her some wealth. Her experiences however left Elektra greatly depressed and she even showed sings of suicidal behavior when she did not get any assignments for some time. It was during this time that she was confronted by a wealthy man in a wheelchair namerd Jeremy Locke and his followers, among them Philip Carson, whom kidnapped her and brought her to a great mansion where they told her she had become a monster.

Heavily drugged, they showed her video images of all the harm she had done to people in her life, including to her own kidnappers. Eventually Elektra was released in the dessert where she would be hunted by other mercenaries whom would eventually kill her. Elektra, however heavily beaten, managed to defeat the mercenaries including Philip Carson and returned to the mansion. She confronted Jeremy Locke, but to both their surprise, did not kill him. She left him alone and told him to never come after her again.

She walked away feeling that Jeremy might not be as far off from the truth as she would like. This let Elektra to start a new chapter in her life. She donned a white costume instead of her well-known red costume and tried to become a better person. Although she succeeded in some of this, eventually Elektra returned to her old ways.

Elektra: The Hand

Elektra learns of the secret history of the mysterious ninja clan.

Enemy of the State

Elektra is hired by Nick Fury of SHIELD (and being paid $200,000 a day for her work) to assist them in a large scale operation after the Hand and Hydra form an alliance and begin targeting and killing superheroes. Meeting in Minneapolis, Fury breaks down the situation for his newest acquisition explaining that a resurrected mutant Gorgon is responsible and that even Wolverine has been captured. Gorgon also associated with the Dawn of the White Light.

They also find a crime scene thirteen civilians had been murdered in a church in ritualistic fashion, similar to many other scenes around the world. Always two priests, three nuns and eight followers. Elektra departs for South America after Fury gets word that Wolverine has been located there. He had been severely injured, burned and bloodied. SHIELD would have him treated on board a ship located in the Atlantic ocean.

Elektra would board the ship and hurry to met Wolverine, but before she could arrive to his room, the ships lights would go out and Wolverine would be reported as having killed his nurse as well as recovered and on the loose. Accompanied by security guard Elektra advises they all lie on the ground, but they do not follow through with the advice as Wolverine appears and quickly shreds through the men eviscerating several.

Elektra appears reserved however she is only being patience opting to pick her moment to attack wisely. Wolverine continues killing men, until Elektra spots an opening and swiftly attacks in one moment embedding her sai into Wolverines shoulders paralyzing him and bringing him to the ground amidst a pile of bodies. Elektra is aware that Wolverine is brainwashed by the hand so attempts to reach out to him but also cautions him that she won’t hesitate to kill him.

Wolverine is Loose

Elektra appears to have Wolverine neutralized but the brainwashed mutant had planted explosives in the ship and they had just triggered by a timer. Wolverine would regain his freedom and go on the offensive slashing and shattering Elektra’s trademark sai weapons at the top. Despite this Elektra’s speed and skill would allow her to neutralize Wolverine a second time. Luckily for Wolverine the earlier explosion he set off had caused the ship to sink and a sudden rush of water had entered the lower rooms suddenly. Elektra would get knocked off her feet and swept away, and by the time she had tracked down Wolverine, he had locked her in the room. Wolverine would then escape on a shark as Elektra would escape the sinking ship by virtue of a radiation containment suit.

In the aftermath Elektra would inform SHIELD that their system mainframe had been hacked and that security had been compromised. Her suspicions would be confirmed, Wolverine and the Hand now have access White House security codes, Pentagon files, defense codes, among other highly sensitive information. Elektra would further explain that Wolverine had in fact set them up. Nick Fury would introduce Elektra at a meeting of important SHIELD personal. Elektra details them on the Hands modus operandi. Detailing the death and resurrection process as well as the objective of the Hand. SHIELD would put key authority figures as well as numerous superheroes on alert.

The Hand in New York

Elektra would return to hunting down the brainwashed Wolverine, more dangerous than ever and targeting superheroes to kill. Wolverine is tracked to the Baxter building, home of the Fantastic Four. The Hand and Hydra alliance’s goals is to kill and resurrect ten new super villains within seven days. Elektra and Fury track Wolverines path of carnage around America. Wolverine and other resurrected brainwashed superheroes and Hand and Hydra soldiers rack up a deadly tally of victims.

Superhero Hornet is a victim. Elektra prepares to decapitate the Hornet at the initial confusion and bewilderment of Fury and SHIELD operatives, though she explains that unless she decapitates the Hornet he will be used by the Hand and Hydra, resurrected and used as a brainwashed puppet for their own goals.

Decapitation was the only solution to prevent that. Elektra next spends time in New York waiting for Wolverines next move, noting thats its been five weeks since Wolverine had been brainwashed. She leaves her high rise apartment to exercise across the top of the New York skyline, leaping from building to building.

She is well aware that she is being followed by Hand ninja however and she taunts their lack of discretion forcing them to reveal themselves. A quick fight ensues with the katana bearing Hand ninja attacking a unarmed half clothed Elektra in the snow. Despite being outnumbered and out powered Elektra makes short work out of them, defeating them all. She reports into Nick Fury to report that the Hand are aware of her betrayal.

The Fight for Wolverine

Elektra’s tracking of Wolverine would lead her to stake out Matt Murdocks (Daredevil) residence. Wolverine and his Hand ninja would quietly sneak in to his apartment desiring to kill him and resurrect the blind lawyer to their cause. With Wolverine attempting a killing blow Elektra would use a sniper rifle from an adjacent rooftop to interrupt the feral mutant giving Daredevil a chance to fight back. In the process of trying to stop him, Elektra is seemingly killed again, but once again resurrected by the Hand again to act as an agent of theirs.

Elektra however was never really killed and helped Wolverine after he was freed from the influence of the Hand. The two fought alongside and started a crusade to destroy the Hand and Hydra once and for all. As the Kingpin stepped up his campaign against Daredevil by attempting to discredit him through a connection to Matt Murdock, Elektra comes back to help him. This was partially out of guilt as she had helped the Kingpin to collect the documents that he needed.

They meet with the Black Widow to retrieve the papers although Matt is shot. Elektra takes him to the Night Nurse, and although she leaves she soon returns with Hand ninjas who heal Matt. She is eventually corrupted by the hand and becomes their leader. She kidnaps Echo of the New Avengers but they come to her aid and Elektra is seemingly killed again, this time by Echo. At the end of this engagement though it is revealed that a Skrull has been posing as Elektra since the time with Wolverine when she was killed by him.

Skrull Impostors Actions

There would be predominantly two Skrull Impostors to wear the name and appearance of Elektra, Siri and Pagon. Elektra had been residing in Osaka Japan, meditating in a dojo, when she would be attacked by a Skrull impostor with her appearance except clad in black. This Skrull Elektra would throw knives at the real Elektra who would dodge the attacks and also catch one of the blades out of the air and throw back to its origin.

A fierce fight would ensue however the real Elektra would stand the victor. The false Elektra would state she had hoped to have beaten Elektra on fair teams, before her arms would transform to be akin to the Things and her head would light up in much the same way Ghost Rider’s head would be aflame. She would shoot blue lasers much like Cyclops, but despite these additional powers the Skrull Elektra would still find herself outmaneuvered and out skilled by the real Elektra.

Elektra would impale the Skrull Elektra killing it, letting it drop to the floor the body reverting to its true Skrull alien form. Elektra would be weary of this alien corpse attempt to replace her and burn the body. Sensing more threats Elektra would head to the roof top. On top of the building, Elektra would find two Skrulls that were impersonating both Daredevil and Wolverine, sensing their deception she would be ready to attack, the Skrull mimicking Daredevil also possessing the powers of Cyclops and Nightcrawler, the Skrull impersonating Wolverine also possessing the abilities of Mr Fantastic. Elektra would still manage to evade optic blasts to get close and kick one Skrull as well as evade the other. She would then flip off the building leading both Skrulls to lose track of her.

One Skrull would teleport attempting to catch up with her yet this would play into Elektra’s cunning manipulation as she would attack the left over Skrull, killing them with her sai. After killing the second Skrull Elektra would be hit by the optic blast of the returning teleporting Skrull. Hitting her with a second optic blast the Daredevil Skrull would teleport beside her, only to find Elektra playing possum and swiftly stabbing the Skrull then ripping its inwards upwards. A forth Skrull would attack Elektra after she had killed the third Skrull. This Skrull had been cloaked with the Invisible Woman’s invisibility, and possessed the arms and strength of Colossus. Such a stealthy and powerful blow, the Skrull would follow up with another attack finally felling Elektra. The Skrull Pagon would shape shift taking Elektra’s likeness. Meeting with Veranke to discuss her success and the future it would be Pagon who would go on to take leadership of the Hand.

The Murdock Papers

Elektra’s Skrull impostor would continue to act as the real Elektra would have, maintaining familiar connections of both a friendly and rivalrous nature. Her former employer the Kingpin would make a play involving exposing Matt Murdock and giving the FBI who had been investigating the lawyer the hard evidence they would need to prove Murdock as the Daredevil and imprison him. Kingpin would achieve this by handing over years and years of accumulated evidence, parts of it acquired by Elektra herself when she had worked under Kingpin. Maintaining her cover as an ally to Daredevil, Elektra would return to New York to warn Daredevil of the coming storm.

Kingpin would first use reporter Ben Urich as an intermediary, and a news story is run with Kingpin smearing Murdock and Daredevil that would run in the Daily Bugle and every other major news paper. The Skrull Elektra would meet with Daredevil, with the blind lawyer initially not pleased to see her, and unaware of her replacement by Skrulls. Insisting he turn on the television the Skrull Elektra would expose Murdock to breaking news concerning Kingpin’s deal with the FBI. The two would retreat to a New York rooftop, where the Skrull Elektra would reveal the extent of Kingpin’s evidence mounted against Murdock and his superhero alias Daredevil. The two would be joined by the Black Widow who would be suspicious and antagonistic towards Elektra also unaware that it was a Skrull impostor.

Elektra would inform them which building housed the extremely sensitive information on Daredevil waiting for Murdock to decide how he wanted to deal with the problem considering the FBI were heading to the location to retrieve the papers also. Angela Del Toro the White Tiger of the time would interrupt as the three were about to head to the building. As a federal agent she was aware of the Murdock papers as well and had come to also warn Daredevil. Interrupted yet again Daredevil’s extraordinary senses would allow him to negate an assassination attempt on by Bullseye on Elektra by plucking a card from the air just before it would slit her throat. Bullseye’s failed attempt alerting the heroes to his presence. The Skrull Elektra and Bullseye clashing in midair and both falling to ground level whilst engaging each other in hand to hand combat.

Secret Invasion

She next takes part in Secret Invasion The Infiltration. This carries on with the previous action of the New Avengers and upon her death it is revealed the degree to which the Skrulls had infiltrated the superhero community. The specific Skrull known to replace Elektra and impersonate her is known as Siri. During Elektra’s time imprisoned by the Skrulls she was tortured and subjected to various types of psychological and mental abuse designed to break her spirit and mind. Elektra stubbornly withholding information made her captors very curious and even more determined to break her will.

The Skrulls grow frustrated with what they perceive as Elektra’s “mind tricks” and general mental resilience. They eventually resort to more brutal techniques to extract her secrets. It is eventually revealed they were so intrigued and vehement over Elektra’s physiology and knowledge because of her resurrection, which they sought in order to replicate it. At the end of the story arc the real Elektra returns.

Dark Reign

Elektra having finally returned to Earth and released from the Skrulls imprisonment is in a delirious state and she is not sure what to do, as she wanders the wreckage of the battle between the Skrulls and Earths heroes in Central Park New York. She is still very confused, already injured and amidst several other Skrull captured prisoners. Although SHIELD agents come over to help and assist her she attacks them and further exacerbates her injuries further on them before retreating from the busy and crowded scene. Elektra seeks refuge behind a tree but is attacked by more SHIELD operatives, and despite injury she neutralizes two before succumbing to her wounds.

Iron Man comes to her aid to convince the SHIELD agents not to attack her so heavily after they have tracked her down, exclaiming that Elektra must be severely injured to have been captured so relatively easy. Elektra is put into a SHIELD recuperation facility (revealed to be a Helicarrier) to be treated and healed, and allow time for recovery. Elektra mets an anonymous with a kindly bedside manner who vows to look after her health.

Soon after the last battle against the Skrulls secret invasion, Norman Osborn’s newfound fame and high ranking position with the United States government allows him to takes control of SHIELD and replaces it with HAMMER. Osborn orders a more strict and rigid imprisonment for Elektra who had otherwise been recuperating from injuries. All the medical staff are replaced by those of Osborn’s choosing. Osborn essentially wishing to hold Elektra to find out what the Skrulls learned from testing on her.

Escape from the Helicarrier

Elektra’s new medical attendees are less concerned with her health and more enthusiastic about extracting information for her, and they go about physically and mentally torturing her. It is also revealed the extent of Elektra’s injuries even after three weeks of recuperation, the ninja dealing with two broken bones in her left leg, a ruptured ear, and eight broken ribs. Elektra’s new doctors also discover she had been subjected to various alien toxins and poisons by the Skrulls. The mercenary known as Paladin manages to sneak into Elektra’s area, Elektra still restrained by her hands and feet, still being subjected to experimental procedures designed to extract information. Paladin has a history with Elektra and is there to kill her for both professional and business reasons.

Paladin even reveals that the bounty on her head was 82 million dollars. Elektra is further taunted by Paladin, but she frees herself by spitting one of her loose teeth into his throat, choking him. She is also immediately attacked by a group of HAMMER agents but she beats them all even though she has no real weapons at her disposal. HAMMER agents flee from Elektra as she makes her way through the HAMMER Helicarrier. One particularly nervous HAMMER agent attempts to escape Elektra’s wrath by jumping out of the actual Helicarrier with a jetpack attached to his back, yet a confident Elektra sans any flight aids free dives after the agent killing him and using his body to cushion her fall.

She seeks out Matt Murdock’s office to look for medical supplies, but she is confronted by a nervous and frightened Foggy Nelson. At that point Elektra is again overwhelmed by her serious injuries, additional blood loss and falls unconscious. Elektra would find herself waken up in a new location after Foggy had taken her injured body to the Night Nurse. She and the Night Nurse are subsequently attacked.

The Twins and Dark Hawkeye

Elektra and the Night Nurse find the Night Nurses small medical center attacked and under fire. A redheaded one eyed woman bursts threw a window with twin Uzi weapons, as Elektra evades gunfire and saves Night Nurse from harm pushing the assassin back threw the window to take the fight to the alley way. Elektra realizes that she is actually being targeted by a pair of assassins (Nico and Carmine) with Nico, the female feeding Elektra cryptic messages and Carmine, the male snipe-ring at Elektra from a rooftop location providing cover for his sister. Outnumbered and outgunning Elektra still manages to hold her own, displaying incredible speed, reflexes and agility.

The two mysterious assassins use their weapons and firepower advantage to pin Elektra down to a spot, however when they require a moment to reload Elektra swiftly moves engaging Nico in hand to hand combat quickly beating her. In defeat Nico accuses Elektra of wrong doing and misdeeds. Nico appears to know Elektra quite well, Elektra with no knowledge or answers despite Nico’s accusations. Elektra asserts Nico as spouting nonsense before rendering her unconscious. Elektra turns her attention to Carmine who is still using a sniper rifle some distance away on a roof top. Before Elektra can reach the one eyed sniper, Bullseye dressed in his “Hawkeye” garb as a part of Norman Osborns Dark Avengers theme has entered the scenario and already killed Carmine.

Elektra pauses ever so briefly after having scaled the tall building to get to Carmine, as she glances at the back of a third person wearing the suit of the Avenger Hawkeye, as she realizes that it is her long time enemy Bullseye. Elektra readies herself as Bullseye engages in a discussion with her. The arrogant Bullseye taunts and mocks Elektra before attempting to kill her by throwing a bullet at her free hand, which preempts a physical confrontation between the two.

Bullseye and Loose Ends

Still injured and having already fought against Nico and Carmine Elektra struggles against Bullseye who is still fresh and under orders from Norman Osborn himself to eliminate Elektra. Still Elektra can hold her ground and Bullseye appears to be enjoying his advantages. Nico interrupts the fight as she staggers towards her brother, now lifeless at the hands of Bullseye. Nice is grief stricken and attempts to wake her brother.

With a sadistic grin Bullseye launches an arrow at Nico with lethal intent, only Elektra’s skillful intervention saving Nico. After plucking the arrow out of the air Elektra realizes that it had been laced with toxic poisons. Realizing her mistake too late she is knocked off of the side of the top of the building by Bullseye. Elektra would attempt to grab a ledge, but would fall to the ground where she would realize Bullseye was already waiting.

The arrogant marksman would prepare to kill Elektra, as she would sprint towards him ready to attack. Using her speed and agility she would vaunt over him removing one of his spare arrows, impaling it, stabbing it, embedding it into Bullseye. Bullseye is mortally injured and he stumbles away desperately searching for HAMMER agents who may be able to heal him and save him from his wounds. Elektra is not in much better of a physical state as Nico reluctantly tends to her.

Nico aware Elektra saved her life, still questions her aggressively over the phrase “the stars are safe in the sky” wanting to know what it means. Elektra once again explains the phrase means nothing to her and that she has no reason to lie. HAMMER agents descend on to the scene, firing at both woman with weapons, with the X-Man Wolverine making a timely intervention running through the HAMMER agents with his adamantium claws. It had turned out that the Night Nurse had called Wolverine informing him of the situation. Wolverine assists Elektra with finding a place to lay low.

The Stars are Safe

Two weeks later Elektra has is rejuvenated and has recovered from her various injuries and battle wounds. Now back on her feet her curiosity surrounding the two red headed assassins can be addressed. Elektra had been using a safe house courtesy of Wolverine, with the three clawed mutant occasionally visiting to check up on her and giving her information about Nico. Wolverine and Elektra would exchange information, both not quite certain when the last time they had actually met after the confusion of an Skrull Elektra impostor acting as Elektra for an extended period of time.

Elektra and Wolverine part on respectful terms. Elektra has intel that points to her would be assassins location at a SHIELD forensics site 434-B, the site of the crash of the SHIELD Blackhawk Helicarrier after an attack some years prior when the Hand attacked and brought down the aforementioned Helicarrier. It turns out that a group of former SHIELD agents had held a grudge against Elektra as she had been partially responsible for the death and injury of many of their teammates during the SHIELD Blackhawk Helicarrier incident. Nico arrives and reports to an Agent Brothers who is playing a double role as a HAMMER agent.

She reports the death of her brother Carmine as well as explaining Elektra’s denial of the phrase “the stars are safe in the sky” leading Agent Brothers to express sympathy for Nicos loss. Agent Brothers turns his attention to hiring another assassin to eliminate Elektra and mentions hiring teleporting mercenary Solo. Nico leaves the room only to be confronted by Elektra herself, Nico alerts Agent Brothers but Elektra quickly disables both. An angry and emotional Agent Brothers starts venting at Elektra accusing her of being responsible for the death of 213 SHIELD agents.

Elektra calmly and directly explains the situation with the Skrull impostor. Norman Osborn appears in a two way video feed explaining he had been aware of this side project of Agent Brothers. Norman makes cryptic reference to Elektra’s ability to repress memories influencing her to quietly search her mind for memories. Elektra realizes that she had been responsible for the deaths and the SHIELD Blackhawk Helicarrier crash. Nico and Agent Brothers realize this from her reaction as well, and draw to kill Elektra, however Elektra is faster and neutralizes both former SHIELD agents, somewhat reluctantly, but necessarily. She departs with a heavy conscience.

Code Red

Elektra is asked by (Thundra acting on behalf of) the Red Hulk to join his Code Red team. After the mutant X-Men member Domino witnesses the Red Hulk’s transformation and becomes one of the few people (at the time) to know and identify who he really was, Red Hulk must go into risk assessment mode, his secret to valuable. Although the Red Hulk pursued Domino keen to silence her, Dominos mutant fortune powers helped her evade and escape. Red Hulk decides the best way to deal with this potential threat to revealing his true identity is to assemble a team to track down and hunt Domino.

Red Hulk collects a number of specialists who have certain skills, including Deadpool, Punisher, Crimson Dynamo and Thundra, with Elektra rounding out the team. Elektra appears to be the only person in his team that Red Hulk has respect for, that and he valued her combat abilities. Elektra appears at the groups first meeting last, exclaiming to the group that they do not need to worry about looking Domino as she has already located her. Elektra leads the Code Red team to where Domino is supposedly located – a bar in Hells Kitchen.

Then Elektra and the rest of the group spot Domino, but they also realize that the rest of X-Force, Domino’s current team was present as well. Code Red would enter and a tense period would ensue with a stand off of sorts between the two teams. Wolverine and Red Hulk would clash, with the rest of the teams following suit, Elektra herself opting instead to blend into the shadows.

Domino would engage in battle with Thundra and gain the upper hand. While all the other fighters were preoccupied Elektra would use that opportunity to gain a physical advantage over Domino, pinning her to a bar top. Elektra would question Domino, suspicious of the current circumstances and why Red Hulk had asked her to join his team. Surrounding chaos would create an explosion during which Elektra and Domino would disappear from the scene.

Red She Hulk

Elektra would led Domino away from battle well aware of the potential of Red Hulk killing Domino to silence her. Jumping across rooftops Elektra explains that distance is the best option right now. They need a way to prove the Code Red fight and X-Force was a set up. Domino is hesitant to tell Elektra Red Hulk’s identity, but believes they should seek Silver Sable. Unfortunately they find themselves in new dang22 data-resize-url=”” datards them.

The explosion is devastating but Elektra and Domino manage to evade its effect. Elektra tries to persuade Domino to run for safety as Elektra can hold off Red Hulk but Domino is unwilling to leave the assassin alone. As they soon become aware of though, it was not Red Hulk that had thrown a fire truck at them, but a new enemy, Red She Hulk who further announced her presence by tearing through a cement truck to get at the two fighters.

Red She Hulk would aggressively and violently throw large objects at Domino, Elektra taking the opportunity to leap to higher ground, by somersaulting on to some steel girders. Elektra would throw several shuriken at the Red She Hulk, Domino would use her guns to fire at her, but neither offense would harm the giant red woman. Red She Hulk attacks and attempts to strip Domino dangling her over a edge. Elektra would use Red She Hulks lapse in concentration to deliver a brutal kick and sai attack to her back, catch Domino and swing her to safety. Elektra’s sai attack effectively neutralizing Red She Hulk via paralysis Elektra and Domino can escape. Red She Hulk would keep Elektra’s sai and one of Domino’s and use them to claim she had killed both.

Shadowland

The infamous organization of ninja thieves and assassins the Hand had asked their frequent enemy and superhero Daredevil as their leader. Daredevil was sure that he could control and pacify the organization and lead them into a new area where they woulds do good. What Matt Murdock would fail to realize is that he was slowly being possessed by the Hand’s demon lord and he would take control of Hell’s Kitchen. After his long time nemesis Bullseye destroys a city block in Hells Kitchen killing over 100 people Daredevil would take extreme action killing Bullseye for his crimes, also taking the law into his own hands as well.

This further signaling Matt Murdocks descent into the grip of the Hands demon lord. Erecting a giant fortress at the site of Bullseye destruction Daredevil would name this new fortress under his Hand’s control Shadowland. Elektra is brought into the situation by Master Izo for whom she is working and attempting to save Matt. Master Izo would appeal to Elektra to not let Murdock become what she has became. Several Hand ninja would appear before Elektra and explain to her that Daredevil will not tolerate her presence in New York, and that she is required to leave. As they attempt to depart however Elektra would make her intent known, then she would proceed to kill them. She would fall during the battle after eliminating the ninja’s, landing on to street level and witness by a televised live report Matt Murdock killing Bullseye. She would depart for the Shadowland itself.

She arrives and intervenes before Daredevil can bring Bullseye back to life. She acts as an information broker for numerous other street heroes (Luke Cage, Moon Knight, Spider-Man, Iron Fist, Shang-Chi, Wolverine and Ghost Rider.) Eventually a number of them confront Daredevil and although he is initially able to stop most of them, Iron Fist is able to stop him by his his chi abilities to heal him. Matt is able to shake off the influence of the demon partly as Elektra enters his mind and coaches him to fight back.

Heroes for Hire

Afterwards Elektra is asked to join the newest Heroes for Hire. She is hired by Misty Knight and acts as an assassin but of villains. Her first mission is to assassinate Bernard Waterman, a biochemist and drug trafficker that had been importing Atlantean drugs. Bernard Waterman also actually being an fake identity, belonging to Atlantean Kurod Ormaon. Bernard was a genius but greedy and paranoid. He had made a fortune of extracting an enzyme secreted by humans that could be used to get on a high for Atlanteans. He would sell this drug known as Hook to humans and atlanteans alike making a small fortune.

His drug however is incredibly dangerous killing many of its users. Misty would disable his penthouses security measures allowing Elektra to sneak in and make her kill, which she does with lethal efficiency despite the Atlantean’s powerful physiology. During the Spider-Island crossover event she is shown fighting alongside other members of her team as the arachnid infection of New York City continues. This was planned by the Jackal in which genetically modified insects overrun New York City and give powers to minor criminals.

Fear Itself Raft Breakout

Elektra is later sent to assist the Shroud at the Raft to quell rioting after the prison is destroyed by a possessed Juggernaut. Shroud had starting to become outnumbered with super strong bruiser Mash Up and fire manipulator Firefight ready to attack him, until Elektra made a stealth attack, disabling the powerhouse and pyrotechnic. Despite their differences in work ethics, Shroud and Elektra continue to face and incapacitate more escaping Raft inmates.

She and the Shroud eventually confront the Purple Man and a group of other prisoners that he has recruited. Shroud and Elektra would face the superior numbers and hold their own, the Shroud would try to be proactive by cloaking the area in total darkness, guessing that Elektra’s ninja training would allow her to fight better than her opponents blinded by that virtue. It works as Shroud and Elektra seem to turn the tide against the superior numbers.

That is until Purple Man decides to use his powers to control Shroud and Elektra, pacifying both then ordering Elektra to kill Shroud. Elektra would stand with her sai pressed against the Shrouds throat as Purple Man pontificated, yet when he gave her the order to kill Shroud, Elektra would use the opportunity to attack Purple Man and continue to attack him. Purple Man would flee in fear as Elektra helped Shroud recover. Shroud is amazed that Elektra was able to withstand and prove resistant to Purple Man’s pheromones, as she makes a off hand remark that she simply held her breath.

Baba Yaga and Hercules

Elektra is hired by the Koschei Russian Mafia syndicate and and mystical demonic being Baba Yaga to steal a mystical artifact from an art museum that they can use to fully empower Baba Yaga. The Koschei mafia are trying to restore Baba Yaga to her true glory as a way to intimidate and drive out the Kingpin and the Hand from what they consider their territory in Brooklyn. Elektra seems partially inspired to steal the items just to spite the Kingpin.

During Elektra’s attempt at stealing the mystic cloth artifact she runs afoul of the Kingpin’s Hand ninja’s but she is quick to defeat them, and does so even faster when the Greek god Hercules shows up with his father Zeus. Hercules and his father have both seen better days, both have been reduced to mortal status, Zeus is even pudgy and out of shape, Hercules is utilizing weapons such as a sword and shield to compensate for his loss of godly strength, and other typical godlike powers.

Hercules also tries to flirt with Elektra as both converse in Greek and he mentions his mythological feats and godhood, however Elektra seems nonplussed by his bragging. Zeus is even more blatant with his advances making crude remarks towards Elektra, causing the Greek ninja to quickly and swiftly kick and punch the Olympian sky father, bring him to his knees. She would also kick Hercules dropping him, giving her a chance to run off with the stolen artifact. She would then climb aboard Baba Yaya’s, dwelling, a cottage on chicken legs as Hercules would try to apprehend her. Elektra would find out she had stolen a segment of Merlins cloak for Baba Yaga, as she asked Baba Yaga what it was for, her curiously roused.

Elektra would become more suspicious of the abundance of children Baba Yaya had standing by questioning the witch more. To avoid more questions, Baba Yaga tells Elektra that Hercules has aligned with the Kingpin and is waiting outside. Elektra returns to fight the Prince of Power. Eventually she returns to Baba Yaga as the demoness had performed a ritual to revitalize herself. However as Hercules would attack Baba Yaga Elektra would assist stabbing the evil demonic woman in her back, allowing Hercules to decapitate her with the Sword of Peleus. Elektra opting to attack Baba Yaga to save the young children she had been collecting. A smitten Hercules would escour Elektra out with the children.

Thunderbolts

Elektra was attending to business in Afghanistan, working as an assassin when she was approached by General Thunderbolt Ross. Under his Red Hulk guise, Ross was assembling a special team of operatives to eliminate evils of the world that other teams can’t handle. Elektra would be one of his first recruits, and unlike the rest of the team, Elektra would require little coercing. Elektra would join Red Hulk, Punisher, Agent Venom, and Deadpool with their first mission taking place in a South Asian nation near Madripoor, in a place known as Kata Jaya. The “Thunderbolts” group would be investigating the acquirement of dangerous gamma powered weapons by the countries dictator leader General Awa.

Splitting off from the rest of their team, Elektra and Deadpool would attempt to infiltrate General Awa’s palace through underground tunnels, however during their part of first mission would be captured by the enemy General Awa’s soldiers, and although Deadpool would be left behind believed dead, Elektra would be led away and imprisoned in the palace. During her incarceration she would discover that Madman, Philip Sterns was the mastermind and the position of power behind Kata Jaya’s government. Elektra would also be confronted by General Awa whose frustration apparent at being a figure head leader would detail her on his history with the United States government and his various disappointments and paranoia.

Awa would commit suicide and Venom would locate Elektra and free her from imprisonment. Elektra would go on to locate and assist Frank Castle who had been wounded and was about to be attacked by a contingent of soldiers still loyal to Madman and Awa. The last of the enemy combatants deaths would mark the arrival of Deadpool with the three proceeding to catch up to Venom and all four eventually making their way to an underground laboratory housing an elaborate system of human powered computers. They would confront Red Hulk, Leader and Madman there with Madman finally killed in the ensuing conflict.

Thunderbolts Coup

Thunderbolt Ross’s Thunderbolts are traveling by submarine in the sea of Okhotsk. Elektra has become seemingly more intimate with Frank Castle, having a negative affect on Deadpool who secretly admires the assassin. All the members of the team bar Ross, are suspicious of how much he is telling them, and seek to confront him to attain more information.

Thunderbolts vs Crimson Dynamos

After tracking down the first of the three Brokers Ross told the team about, the Broker received a call intended to set of a small gamma powered explosion. After surviving the explosion, the team was attacked by five gamma powered Crimson Dynamos; Ross took out four and Elektra took out the last one. As the team regrouped to decide their next move, it was revealed that the terrorist who purchased the Gamma tech the team tried to track down in Kata Jaya and whom is also controlling the Crimson Dynamos that the Thunderbolts fought in the streets of Dagestan is Elektra’s brother, Orestez Natchios.

After speaking with Orestez, he kills Vanko, the man who supplied him with the Crimson Dynamo armor. Unknown to the team or to Orestez, Vanko and his minions were prepared for this, and an override was put into the suits. The terrorists now have control over the sets of armor, and they have been sent after Orestez.

Meanwhile, Elektra, Ross, Leader, and Frank travel to London to track down Orestez. Elektra has several flashbacks that reveal a troubled past between her and her estranged brother (whom she thought dead). As they arrive in London, a serious of strange events involving phones occur, and after leaping away into a crowded square with only Elektra and Leader, Ross picks up a dropped phone and it’s revealed that the Leader’s mind is somehow trying to communicate with them without the Leader being aware of it.

In the concluding issue to the arc, Leader’s self-communication leads them to Orestez’ position. Elektra realizes that the scenario is a trap designed to make the Thunderbolts appear to be terrorists, and pleads with Rulk to let her save her brother. He refuses and goes on the rampage as the Crimson Dynamos appear. In an effort to keep people from getting footage of the event, Leader causes a massive video blackout, and then Elektra leads him away from the action; Orestez manages to get away during the fight between Rulk and the Crimson Dynamo units. Though we do not see it, Elektra reveals to Punisher that she has killed her brother.

Three weeks after the events that appeared to lead to Orestez’s death, Punisher asks Elektra where she put her brother’s body. She hesitates before answering, which leads Punisher to believe that Orestez is dead. He ends up being right, and hunts Orestez down. When Punisher has him cornered, he uses the threat of killing Elektra if he doesn’t come and face his death; his reasoning is that Elektra let a terrorist and monster go free, making her almost as bad as Orestez. After the Punisher kills him and returns to Thunderbolts HQ, he temporary ends his sexual activity with Elektra while telling himself in his head that he could kill her now if he really wanted to. But he ends up walking away.

The following issue focuses on Mercy and her role on the team. Ross reveals that in order to keep an eye on her, he has assured that the team he brings together will provide Mercy with many opportunities to be surrounded by death.

Infinity

The Thunderbolts all put their names into a hat to decide which team member will lead the next mission. Punisher has his name drawn, and he takes Elektra, Venom, and Deadpool with him to take out an elusive gang family. Elektra and Venom detain several gangsters in an attempt to locate the mafia family Punisher is after; during one of their interrogations Thanos’ forces commence their invasion.

No Mercy

During the events of infinity Mercy killed many innocent people in New York city. The team decides the best course of action for her would be to banish her into Mephisto’s realm. In order to do this they contact Johnny Blaze. However The Punisher refuses to travel to Mephisto’s realm, and Elektra stays behind with him since they need a even number.

After sitting around their new base, located in southern Michigan, Elektra decides that she is not going to just sit around when there is work to do. Elektra returns shortly and says that one of her contacts has a job for her not far from their location and asks Frank to join her, which he does. After they get to their destination The Punisher asks Elektra how she is sure that these guys are actually criminals, she says she trusts her contact, but before they can finish their conversation Mercy shows up and attacks them.

Mercy seems frantic. She knows something is wrong, yelling at Elektra and Frank, telling them to tell her where the rest of the group is. They try to fight her off, but they are no match for her. She crushes Frank’s hand, and grabs both him and Elektra by their throats and flies high up into the air. At this moment the rest of the group complete their mission, summoning Mercy to Mephisto’s realm. When she disappears Frank and Elektra fall a great distance, but Frank shields Elektra from taking any damage when they hit the ground, with him taking the full impact himself.

When the rest of the group returns Elektra begs them to help Frank. He appears to be dying, with almost every bone in his body broken. Deadpool walks up to get a closer look at Frank, and when he does the angels feather that he was carrying, which he had gotten from the other realm, heals Frank back to normal.

Punisher vs Thunderbolts

When going after Doctor Faustus the team discovers a high school full of dead children which he had attacked. After apprehending Faustus, Ross is willing to let him work with the team. The Punisher quits the team in protest. After being tricked by Leader to thinking that Ross tried to kill him, The Punisher tries to kill the Thunderbolts. Elektra meets him and tries to convince him to stop, but he doesn’t listen. Elektra is the one that discovers that Leader was behind everything and reveals it to the rest of the group, but the group remains broken up.

Savage Wolverine

In Savage Wolverine #6, Elektra infiltrates a secure S.H.I.E.L.D. base to discover that the dead body of her longtime nemesis, Bullseye, has disappeared. She approaches Wolverine for assistance, and the two of them come across Wilson Fisk in a park. At first Wolverine believes that they are there to kill Fisk, but Elektra stops his attack and it’s revealed that Elektra is currently working for Fisk, as both want Bullseye’s body to be destroyed. By agreeing to help Elektra, Wolverine is also temporarily in Fisk’s employ.

Elektra and Wolverine track down the Arbiters in an attempt to stop the resurrection of Bullseye. They come across Shikaru and Mikaru the Blind. As Wolverine attacks Shikaru, Elektra converses with Mikaru. Mikaru informs Elektra that she has been lied to, and allows her to proceed to the resurrection chamber. Upon arriving, she discovers that not only were they too late to interrupt the ceremony, but that the Hand had no intention of reviving Bullseye. The individual that they truly brought back to send after Fisk is revealed to be his wife, Vanessa.

In the last issue, we find that Wolverine has been subdued, and Elektra is attempting to fend off Shikaru because she refused to leave Wolverine behind. Wolverine breaks free and beats Shikaru, but does not kill him. Back at the Avengers Tower, Elektra tells Wolverine that she would not have spared Shikaru’s life. Wolverine said he doesn’t always make the right decision, to which Elektra retorts that she did not say he was wrong.

Fearless Defenders

Recently Elektra was among a group of heroines called in to help Valkyrie subdue the Doom Maidens. During the attack, Valkyrie gave in to her own Rage and after killing the other Doom Maidens, defeated Elektra and the other heroines.

While speaking to the group after returning to normal following the sacrifice of Annabelle, glimpses of future potential stories are revealed; one of these involve Elektra, Colleen Wing, and Namora underwater engaged in battle with other Atlanteans.

Elektra vs the Assassins Guild

In her solo series, Elektra picks up a contract offered by Matchmaker. There is an assassin by the name of Cape Crow who many want dead. Crow took on an entire team of assassins sent by the Guild (including Sabretooth and Taskmaster) and defeated them all, leaving them for dead. Elektra decided to try her hand, and left in search of the man. Elektra descended onto Monster Island, where she found, not Cape Crow, but his son – Kento. She also encountered Guild members Scalphunter and Lady Bullseye. Elektra effortlessly takes down Scalphunter.

The only possible challenge is Lady Bullseye. After a brief duel, Elektra leaves the assassin for dead, and continues on, finding Kento who offers her far more money to help him and his father escape the clutches of the Guild. Elektra agrees and leaves with Kento. The two eventually find Cape Crow, and Elektra, along with Matchmaker, escort them around the world, from safe house to safe house, protecting them from the Guild’s assassins. Elektra takes on and defeats Blizzard, Whiplash, Crossbones, Shocker, Tiger Shark, Boomerang, Jack O’Lantern and Whirlwind, keeping her promise. The Guild collects the bodies of the wounded, defeated assassins and grants them unique abilities through a healing process.

Lady Bullseye returns for a rematch with the ability to vaporize at will. She takes the team by surprise, killing Matchmaker and wounding Crow. Elektra defeats her by breathing in a small part of Lady Bullseye’s face in vaporous form. The shock causes Lady Bullseye to revert to organic form, allowing Elektra to strike her down. Lady Bullseye now has a large portion of skin missing from her face. Elektra leaves Kento and Crow behind, after they’ve paid her, and she lets them know that she thinks of them as friends.

Team Player

After Phil Coulson was fired from SHIELD, Maria Hill replaced him with Elektra. She took over his team to bring in Coulson, dead or alive. To do so, she adds Grant Ward to the team, despite the team’s protest, and she outed Leo Fitz as a traitor. However, Fitz was working as a double agent on Coulson’s order. Elektra didn’t know that though.

Later, she gets a call from Deadpool, who was working with the last of the Avengers Unity Squad. The Hand had taken Bruce Banner’s dead body to turn The Hulk into one of their possessed ninjas. She helps the team track and fight off the ninjas in Japan long enough for Doctor Voodoo to exorcise Banner of the Hand’s influence and put him back to rest.

Always Bet on Red

Elektra was lying low in Vegas, drinking her sorrows, when she came across an abused bartender and decided to get vengeance on her behalf. Unfortunately, that put her on Arcade’s radar. He had set up a new Murder World in Vegas and need a top-tier challenger like Elektra.

She was forced into competition with a number of other Vegas performers, who had recently gone missing. They are put up against Screwball’s new squad with light based weapons in a virtual-reality-like world. After she beat them, Elektra was forced to compete against Screwball directly for the life of her new bartender friend.

Elektra got the upper hand when she snagged a helmet that controls Murder World. She was able to cut through Arcade’s final defenses and finally confront him face to face. With a little pressure, he gave up who he was working for: Wilson Fisk.

With this newfound knowledge, Elektra went back to New York.

Savage Avengers

Elektra was undercover in The Hand, when she followed them to the Savage Land. There, they were working with sorcerer Kulan Gath to collect warriors to sacrifice to a primordial god. She would fall in with a group of heroes who came together spontaneously in true Avengers fashion to take down Gath.

Elektra noticed that Gath was using the Third Eye of Agamotto, so after this makeshift Savage Avengers stopped his first attempt, Elektra went to Doctor Strange for help. Together, they put together yet another makeshift Savage Avengers squad that they would send after the two Eyes of Agamotto not in Strange’s possession.

Elektra headed to Mexico with her team, where they tracked Gath’s second in command, the Sickle Priest, to a drug cartel. Gath nor his Eye were to be found, but they did successfully kill the Priest of Sickles and end the drug operation. Strange put the team on hold until Gath showed his face again.

The New Daredevil

When Matt Murdock guilted himself into giving up Daredevil, Elektra started keeping a watchful eye over him. She knew that he would need help, not just with his own thoughts, but also with his inability to look the other way. He was bound to get in over his head. So, she starts acting as a vigilante in Hell’s Kitchen to prove to Matt that she can fight without causing casualties and prove that she can train him to be the man he was meant to be.

She eventually joins him on a mission against the ultrarich Stromwyns, who are trying to make a play for Hell’s Kitchen. They hack into their financial holdings and redistribute their money. When Elektra is caught siphoning off some for herself, Daredevil bails on her in anger.

When she hears that Daredevil made a plea deal to go to jail as Daredevil, with his civilian identity still secret, she uses the billions she stole to buy up as much of Hell’s Kitchen as she could to keep it from falling into the hands of the Stromwyns. Elektra has other motives though. She found an ancient text with plans on how to defeat The Hand for good. She needs Daredevil’s help with her new organization, The Fist, and to prove herself to him, she takes up his mantle and defends his city as honorably as he would.

On one of her first nights active as Daredevil, Knull invaded New York, leading to her taking in an orphan girl named Alice, who lost her foster mother to a symbiote. She takes her under her wing, training her in martial arts during the day and explaining the ins and outs of local corruption at night. However, their relationship is stressed when Alice is forced to shoot a Hand enforcer attacking Elektra.

Her true test as Daredevil comes when Bullseye grips New York during a killing spree. He was captured and experimented on by Kingpin, resulting in a few clones and a psychotic break. Elektra is able to track Bullseye once, but she was not prepared for his clone backup. The next time, she uses herself as bait, attracting Bullseye to show himself in Times Square. This time she is joined by Typhoid Mary, also dressed as Daredevil and working for Mayor Fisk.

She isolated the original Bullseye and took him on. He had her dead to rights with a gun, but they were suddenly interrupted by the real Daredevil, who shut down Bullseye and handed him over the the police.

Lost in Time with The Savage Avengers

Conan was hunting a cult that got their hands on a madbomb when he was confronted by a Deathlok, who was hunting Conan for breaking time travel laws. With Conan preoccupied with the Deathlok, a fatally wounded cultist was able to activate the madbomb. In addition to causing rage in the surrounding area, it attracted the attention of most “savage” heroes in the general vicinity, including Elektra, that came to give Conan aid. Unfortunately, Deathlok’s time circuits were broken in the fight and caused them all to time travel to the Hyborian Age. To get home, they worked together to trap Deathlok so they could use his time circuits. Elektra came up with a plan for them to combine their powers at an old Hand temple. There, she would attempt to use Hand magic to revitalize and enslave the corpse that Deathlok was made from (a variant of Miles Morales). With Deathlok now on their side, they are able to defeat Thulsa Doom, who was trying to stop them.

With Conan staying behind in his own time, Miles used his time circuits to bring the Savage Avengers home but overshot their target year. Miles ended up depositing himself and the Savage Avengers in the year 2099, where they were targeted by Ultron. This variant of an Ultron-enslaved 2099 was due to a piece of Miles’ tech that was broken off in his first fight with the Savage Avengers. They attempted to save a 2099 variant of Doctor Doom to get home. However, Ultron and his forces had set a trap for them. Ultron easily defeated all of these Avengers by turning them into Deathloks, but Miles was able to reach them through cyberspace, helping them purge the nanotech.

After Elektra recruited a number of “savage avengers” from the year 2099, the team made one last attempt on Ultron. He had Doom’s time-gauntlet, and, as they showed up, his time portal was open to the exact moment these Savage Avengers first left their home time. Miles was able to shoot webs through the time portal and retrieve the tech he left behind that led to this version of Ultron. When he destroyed that tech, time fixed itself returning returning 2099 to its normal state and returning the Savage Avengers to the moment they were lost in time.

Devil’s Reign

Mayor Wilson Fisk, sensing his mind had been altered to forget Daredevil’s true identity, has outlawed superheroes in New York City. As the new Daredevil, having taken a vow not to kill, Elektra finds herself unable to solve the Fisk problem the way she would like. She confronted Fisk anyway, but Fisk gave her a coded message that led her into the woods to meet the new Kraven, whom was looking for a challenge.

The Hand also briefly got involved in the distraction of Elektra from the Avenger’s war against Kingpin and his Thunderbolts. When she heard Matt Murdock had been killed, she dropped everything to go after Fisk. Daredevil beat her there, now realizing that it was actually Mike who was dead. She watched as Matt came to the brink of killing Fisk and then stopped him. She reminded him that he chose to be a hero and that he shouldn’t cross that line. Her support was the last bit of convincing Matt needed to join her quest to end The Hand.

The Red Fist Saga

Daredevil and Elektra move to Makanrushi, an uninhabited volcanic island in the Pacific, to start training their version of a prophesized team, The Fist. While Daredevil brings along close confidents to keep The Fist honest (like Cole North, Foggy Nelson, and Doc Samson), Elektra had hired a number of ex-Hand members and mercenaries needing direction with the help of Stick, much to Matt’s chagrin. Although, hesitant of Stick’s involvement, Matt still follows Elektra into the traditional test to prove leadership, where the two battle some ghostly enemies and ultimately marry as husband and wife.

After raiding the Myrmidon for more recruits, Matt and Elektra got a lot unwanted attention for both the Avengers and The Hand, whose new High Slayer was The Punisher. The Hand forced an early confrontation with The Fist. Even though The Fist took on heavy losses, they still were able to retreat with The Lunate Talisman, which allows The Hand to control the dead. Elektra held a ritual to destroy the talisman and disabling The Hand’s control over the dead. Unfortunately, Stick proved to be a Hand asset and dissolved into ash right in front of Elektra.

During this moment of weakness, their island fortress was attacked by both NY crime family, The Stromwyns, and The Avengers. The Avengers showed up to arrest Elektra for the death of the president, but the Stromwyns dropped the re-cid drug on the island, causing members of The Fist to riot. Despite Elektra being successfully arrested by The Avengers, she was quickly released when Daredevil forced the Stromwyns to use their connections to do so.

Six months later, Matt had gone missing trying to end The Hand for good, and Elektra continued to patrol the streets of New York as Daredevil.

Gang War

When Hammerhead ignites a gang war in New York, Elektra is recruited by Spider-Man to protect the city. After shutting down a fight between Ringmaster’s hypnotees and Crime-Master’s AIM goons, the group decide to split up, with Elektra heading to her home turf of Hell’s Kitchen where the new gang, The Heat, had gotten a foothold.

She is also approached by The Owl. He is outgunned in the gang war, so he decides to inform on the kingpin round table to her, including the dock where The Heat are working out of. For his info, she gives Owl a pass so she can investigate the advanced weaponry being smuggled to The Heat. While taking out these former cops and their “brand of justice” that gets innocents killed, she is confronted by Bellona, enforcer for The Heat’s secret benefactor, Madame Masque.

Their fight is short lived when Elektra is called away by Spider-Man. Madame Masque and Beetle were leading their respective gangs into a full on battle in Central Park, and Spider-Man needed everyone to stop it. Even though the heroes prove victorious, Bellona still wants to prove herself against the reputable Elektra. Elektra intends to reach Bellona and talk her through her rage, as Elektra had done herself in the past. However, during their fight, Bellona is thrown from a rooftop, and Elektra abandons her, believing she will heal as a clone of Wolverine. Although, she begins to doubt herself and wonders if she should have checked on her.

Powers and Abilities

Elektra is well known as an elite assassin, if not the top assassin on Earth, as well as widely considered one of the best hand to hand fighters and martial artists as well as having proficiency and expertise with numerous weapons especially those typically associated with an assassin and kunoichi, such as katana, ninja stars, shurikens and throwing blades. Elektra is especially fond of using sai weapons and they have become somewhat of a trademark for her.

The level of Elektra’s abilities with a number of weapons and a proficiency in hand-to-hand combat which is matched by few and which allows her to even effectively engage those with superpowers. Her martial arts skills often take on a more mystical nature, with her being able to manipulate people’s minds and make them see illusions or alternately having an elevated healing factor (these abilities are not consistently displayed though.) She is also shown at times being able to control her own body functions, slowly down such things as breathing rate, heart rate or blood flow.

Her assassination abilities also extend to stealth and she has even been shown to be able to sneak up on Daredevil (which is nearly impossible with his advanced senses.) Her weapon of choice are paired sais though she has been proven adept with swords and modern firearms.

Elektra’s level of fitness and physicality can be described as being akin to that of a professional Olympic athlete, especially her gymnastic abilities, agility, flexibility, stamina, balance, coordination, dexterity and reflexes. Elektra is trained and adept in several martial arts disciplines, including several obscure and ancient styles and disciplines as well as more traditional arts such as Ninjutsu.

Elektra is especially stoic and battle hardened. Her intense discipline can allow her to resist injury wounds and general pain. Elektra is considered to have vague and hard to define mystical powers that can seemingly allow for occasional supernatural feats. When she was killed, she was resurrected, and she is impervious to any form of psychic attack when she is prepared for it. She also has a few minor psychic abilities.

Physical Characteristics

• Height: 6′ 0″
• Weight: 150 lbs
• Eyes: Blue
• Hair: Black

Status

• Affiliation: None
• Alignment: Good
• Identity: Secret
• Base of Operations: Mobile
• Citizenship: Greek
• Place of Birth: Unknown island in the Aegean Sea
• Martial Status: Married, to Daredevil
• Occupation: Co-Founder of The Fist, Assassin, Adventurer, Mercenary; former student and dancer.
• Education: College graduate, studied political science at Columbia University, New York
• Relatives: Demetrios Natchios Parental uncle, Alexia Natchios, Parental aunt, Hugo Kostas Natchios Father (deceased), Christina Natchios Mother, (deceased), Orestez Natchios ( Brother)

Other Versions

Ultimate Universe (Earth-1610)

In the Ultimate universe Elektra starts out as a university student studying martial arts and was a huge fan of Bruce Lee. Her mother died of breast cancer when she was six years old and her father was trying to make money with a laundromat.

She started of as a sweet, innocent girl who would do anything for her loved ones, even going as far as to kill somebody. At university, Elektra is harassed by a fellow student, Trey Langstrom, until one day she fights back. He retaliates by destroying her father’s laundromat, and she gravely injures him and forces him to admit his crime.

Elektra turns to her cousins, who are in organized crime, to help her father financially. She tracks down their book keeper, who threatened to turn them in, and recovers the evidence just before the book keeper is assassinated by Bullseye.

She is next seen in Ultimate Spider-Man and has become an assassin for the Kingpin. She has lost virtually all of her innocence seen in Ultimate Daredevil, and is very similar to her mainstream counterpart. During a fight with the Black Cat, Spider-Man, Hammerhead, and Moon Knight she was struck in the head by Moon Knight and put into a coma before she could murder Black Cat.

Imperfects (Earth-50701)

Based and inspired by the video game, there was an accompanying comic. Elektra is similar to her mainstream reality counterpart.

Amalgam Universe (Earth-9602)

In the Amalgam Universe, on Earth-9602, Catsai is known as a mercenary/assassin-for-hire. Her real name is Elektra Kyle and she is an amalgam combination of Marvel Universe’s Elektra and DC Universe’s Catwoman. She has teamed up with Daredevil (an amalgamation combination of Daredevil and Deathstroke the Terminator) to take out The Big Question (The Kingpin and The Riddler an amalgamation combination) in Assassins. In which he lived in New Gotham City.

Sue Storm s Madame Hydra (Earth-1720)

In this universe, the Earth is controlled by HYDRA and the leader is Susan Storm. Elektra is the lover of Reed Richards, and she appears to be similar to her 616 counterpart. With the help of the Exiles, Elektra and Reed were able to save their Universe from Sue and her HYDRA.

Marvel Zombies (Earth-2149)

Little is revealed about Elektra’s life before the zombie plague arrived on Earth,though is is presumed that it followed the same path as her 6116 counterpart. Elektra gets infect with the zombie virus and is shown amongst the zombie horde that confronted Magneto and his band of survivors who are trying to make their escape to the Baxter Building. She gets blinded by Invisible Woman and is the presumably killed by Power Cosmic Zombies, who are testing their powers out.

House of M (Earth-58163)

At some point in her life, Elektra become under the employment of the Kingpin, along with several other assassins. She was given the assignment of killing Black Cat when the Kingpin revealed Black Cat to be a traitor. Elektra also helped the Brotherhood in killing sapien groups within the city and specifically targets Shang- Chi‘s Dragons, killing Swordsman in the process. Elektra survives the battle, but with the death of Kingpin, her fate is unknown.

Earth X (Earth-9997)

Elektra and Matt Murdock grow tired of being constant targets of various foes attacking them. To deal with this, they decide to kill all of their enemies. Matt learns how to use the Hand’s technique of body swapping and switches bodies with Bullseye, making out as though Daredevil had died. Both Elektra and Daredevil end up getting killed and their souls are taken to the Realm of the Dead.

There they lived their lives in constant combat with other super- beings. Mar- Vell manages to kill Death and creates his own Paradise and offers Elektra to join him. She refuses however and chooses to live in the afterlife as one of the Kingpin’s assassins.

Elektra Had Lived (Earth-82100)

In this reality Elektra was not killed by Bullseye and survived the encounter. She was hired to kill Foggy Nelson, but did not when she recognized him from college. She carries on her relationship with Daredevil and even considers marrying him. However, she has gained the wrath of her employer, Kingpin for her betrayal and he places a hit on her head.

She is targeted by many hit men sent after her by assassin, Eric Slaughter and she retreats to Matt Murdock’s apartment. Returning home from a night searching for Elektra, Matt comes face- to face with Elektra, who had badly injured her arm during the fight with the assassins. Elektra told him that Kingpin was targeting her, so the decided to move half way across the world together to start a new life.

Mutant X (Earth-1298)

In this reality, Elektra is know as Elektra Stavros and works as the nanny and bodyguard of Madelyne Pryor and Alex Summers baby boy, Scotty.

MC2 (Earth-982)

In this reality, Elektra marries Wolverine and they have a daughter called Rina Logan (Wild Thing). Very little is known about Elektra other than her being involved in parenting her daughter and training Spider- Girl martial arts. She is also shown to be extremely wealthy.

Daredevil Saves Nuke (Earth-934)

In this reality, Elektra is killed by Bullseye. While in battle with Daredevil, Bullseye would taunt him with her death by reciting her last words to him again and again.

Bullet Points (Earth-70105)

Elektra lived the same life as she did in the mainstream reality and was one of the heroes that helped defend the Earth from Galactus.

Earth- Z (Earth-91126)

Elektra was at a fight club participating in matches when a zombie version of Wolverine crashed through the wall. Elektra helped him fight the Hand ninjas who were attacking the fighting club and was accidence impaled by Wolverine’s claws and killed.

Elektra forms the Sai on the Crimson Sun (Earth-97315)

Elektra was killed in a fire and impaled by arrows by the ninja clan, the Hand and was reborn with the ability to enter other beings bodies. Using her newly found ability, she decimated the Hand clan and went on to focus on the Yazuka organization.

She formed her own group of ninjas and made a new Sai based on the Crimson Sun, she became unstoppable. She becomes the biggest target for underworld assassins, but every attempt to kill her is met with failure. Even when she appears to have died, she always returned alive.

Deadpool is possessed by Venom (Earth-615.9)

Elektra was one of the female superheroes who became a part of Venompool’s harem as he tried to conquer the world.

MAX (Earth-200111)

She is a Japanese lesbian working as Kingpin’s bodyguard. This was all part of Kingpin’s ex-wife Vanessa to assassinate him for idle standing by while their son’s neck was slit. It is revealed she is in a relationship with her too. During a confrontation with Punisher to save Vanessa, she is hit in the chest by a bullet, and her fingers were blown off. Later receives a shot in the head.

Elektra survived, but it cost her an eye and was paralyzed. She is later seen talking to a man that represents the Hand asking to see Vanessa. He replies that she can’t help her, and orders her to move. She tries to do so, but fails. The man states that he will miss her presence, and has another man assassinate her with a sword.

Battleworld

On the K’un-Lun region of Battleworld, Elektra was known as Red Sai, a servant of Emperor Zheng Zu and the former lover of Shang-Chi. After failing to assassinate Master Tuan, the head of the Iron Fist school, she and her students were threatened with death by the emperor. In order to save her life, Shang-Chi sacrificed his honor by killing Tuan himself, which led to him being disowned and exiled by his father. In the present, Red Sai and Iron Fist (Tuan’s vengeful disciple) are sent after Shang-Chi at the emperor’s behest, and she ends up nearly killing her former flame with a poisoned blade. The two eventually reconcile after Shang-Chi defeats his father and becomes the new ruler of K’un-L’un.

Other Media

Films

Daredevil (2003)

Portrayed by Jennifer Garner

In the 2003 Daredevil film, Elektra is the daughter of billionaire Nikolas Natchios and the love interest of Matt Murdock. At a very young age she witnessed the murder of her mother, and since then her father has had her become highly trained in martial arts. The course of events in the film begin with Elektra falling for Murdock, then seeing her father murdered by Bullseye.

However, she blames Daredevil for his death, seeing only him at the scene of the crime. Elektra was trained by Stick as a child so she practiced intensely with her favorite weapons, sai, which she would use to attack Daredevil. When she finally confronts the vigilante, she impales him by his shoulder. She goes on to unmask him, surprised to see Matt Murdock. Elektra realises it was Bullseye who murdered her father. She confronts Bullseye who beats her in battle, leaving her for dead. She was able to say goodbye to Murdock before dying in his arms, mirroring how she died in the comics.

Elektra (2005)

Jennifer Garner reprises

Following the storyline of the Daredevil film, Elektra was murdered by Bullseye. Elektra is revived by her Kimagure master, Stick, who trains her then with his group of ninjas, The Chaste. The Kimagure training is the one which allows controlling past, present, and future, and reviving the death even.

However, Elektra is expelled off the group, before finishing her training. And so the story of this movie begins when Elektra is a mythical assassin, slaying DeMarco with one of her Sai daggers, in his own manor. Elektra is engaged then in a new job to slay a still undisclosed subject. She moves to the area, an insular one, abiding in a big residence. Then, she sympathizes with a 13 year old girl, Abby, by whom Elektra becomes a friend of her father, Mark Miller. However, Elektra’s orders arrive and the victims result precisely to be both Miller and his child. Then, the confused Elektra refuses to go on, ready to abandon the area. About boarding the ferry, she perceives some killers around, through her Kimagure intuition. Effectively when she gets to Miller’s house, two assassins have gotten there.

Elektra stops them, discovering their The Hand affiliation, and then she escapes with Abby and her father. On the way, Elektra gets to a pool club to meet her master, Stick, who would help against The Hand. She learns that the actual victim isn’t Mark but Abby, indeed. The child is coveted by the evil members of The Hand, to become one amongst them, because she is the mythical Treasure, a warrior who could tip the balance of good and evil.The leader of The Hand dispatches his own son, Kirigi, to deal with the intervention of Elektra. Kirigi convenes some powerful henchmen: Tattoo (who endows life, to the animal figures which are designed over his skin), Typhoid (who spreads death over all living creatures on her way), Stone (who is of a super strength), Kinkou (who moves with a great speed).

After an eagle of Tattoo spotted Elektra at the pool club, Kirigi finds Elektra, Abby, and Miller, at the farmhouse of McCabe, the man who manages Elektra’s assignments usually. McCabe is slain but Elektra and the group reach a nearby forest through an underground passage. Elektra defeats Stone, crushing him timely with a falling tree. With her father, Abby manages to defeat Kinkou. Then, the little girl surprises Elektra showing martial arts skills, and using her large bracelet for an effective weapon vanquishing two wolves of Tattoo. However, Typhoid succeeds affecting Elektra who gets paralysed by a poisonous kiss of her. Timely, the Kimagure army of Stick arrives and The Hand is routed.

At Stick’s camp, Elektra is totally healed and she learns that he would have commanded Elektra to murder Abby. Yet, all was a test which has just been passed. Meanwhile, Abby expresses her sickness being so reclusive amongst the Kimagure, for getting a normal life. Elektra agrees a final duel then with Kirigi. The winner gets Abby. It would take place at Elektra’s childhood house.

After dispatching a group of ninjas, Elektra faces Kirigi in a room full of flying white clothes. There, she realizes finally that Kirigi had been the killer of her mother. However, Elektra is overwhelmed by his attacks and she is about being slain, when Abby irrupts surprisingly into the battle, saving her life. Outside the house, in the green maze yard, also Tattoo and Typhoid confront Elektra. Tattoo unleashes a multitude of serpents which surrounds Abby despite her desperate usage of her special bracelet. Elektra stops him though, breaking his neck. Also, Elektra defeats Kirigi, who is stabbed by her Sai dagger, falling down into a well, to turn into dust at the bottom.

Typhoid, the jealous former Treasure of The Hand reaches Abby, though, and she poisons her. Yet, Elektra senses this, throwing one of her Sai daggers through the walls of the maze at her foe, killing her. Quickly, Elektra brings Abby’s body into the house and she revives her. This proves that, effectively, Elektra has already become a master of the Kimagure order of Stick. Elektra then says her goodbyes to both Abby and Mark. As she exits the house, Stick appears and talks to her. After their short conversation Elektra then leaves the house proud of what she is done and is a changes person.

Television

Daredevil

Portrayed by Elodie Young

Elektra is referenced in the first season of Daredevil, where Foggy Nelson mentions that Matt used to date a Greek girl while in college. Elektra makes her full debut in Season 2, portrayed by French-Cambodian actress Élodie Yung, and by Lily Chee as a child.

In the series, her origin differs from the comics. Here, she was the legendary “Black Sky”, who was stolen from the Hand as a child by Stick. She was trained from a young age to be part of The Chaste, but was given to the Natchios family after the other members of the group discovered her origin and tried to kill her. As she grew into womanhood, she fell in love with Matt Murdock and briefly became involved with him, but the relationship ended after she tried to get him to kill Roscoe Sweeney.

In the present, she returns to New York to ask for Matt’s help against the Hand, and the two gradually rekindle their relationship. Elektra perishes during the final battle, but the ending of the season reveals that the Hand later stole her body from the cemetery, presumably in order to revive her.

The Defenders

Elodie Young reprises

Resurrected by The Hand, Elektra is being used as an enforcer, being sent around the world to keep The Hand’s secrets from getting out. This causes her to cross paths with Iron Fist and Colleen Wing in Cambodia and Jessica Jones in her own apartment. When these two incidents cause the Jones, Iron Fist, Daredevil, and Luke Cage to show up to Midland Circle offices, The Hand reveals itself including Elektra, who Daredevil still assumed was dead.

Upon seeing Daredevil, Elektra starts to regain her memories, including her death by The Hand. This causes her to turn on her commander and take over The Hand for herself. However, she continues with their plan to tap into immortal life, so Daredevil and his new team of Defenders target her just the same.

Elektra is last seen fighting Daredevil while a cavern caves in on them. Daredevil is revealed to have survived, however, the Netflix projects were all cancelled, leaving Elektra assumed dead.

Video Games

Marvel vs. Capcom vs. Street Fighter (1997)

Elektra has a cameo in this Japanese fighting game from Capcom, where she can be seen as one of the characters being held captive in Apocalypse‘s stage.

Daredevil (2003)

Based on the Daredevil movie released the very same year, Elektra fulfills a similar role as that in the live action film, first as a sub boss and then later as an ally with the protagonist Daredevil against the Kingpin.

Spider-Man 2: Enter Electro (2000)

Elektra is mentioned when a character in the video game Dr. Watts is seen wearing a similar style and color dress as the iconic ninja, however she is taken as hostage by criminal thug Hammerhead. Spider-man makes a witty reference alluding to the fact that if she were Elektra all the villains would be dead.

Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects (2005)

Elektra is one of the main playable characters in this 3-D fighting game, which pitches iconic Marvel characters against brand new video game publisher Electronic Arts created video game characters Dr. Niles Van Roekel, Brigade, Fault Zone, Hazmat, Johnny Ohm, Paragon, Solara, and The Wink.

In the games narrative Elektra travels to aid Daredevil after he sends her a distress call, however upon reaching him in the Daily Bugle she discovers he is being manipulated and the two must battle. After Elektra defeats Daredevil she discovers that he had been infected with a chip forcing his actions. She removes it saving Daredevil and allowing him to recover. Elektra later confronts the Imperfects the Wink, but is beaten by the female teleporter.

Marvel: Ultimate Alliance (2006)

Elektra is a playable character in the massive action role playing game starring a large selection of Marvels biggest heroes. Elektra is voiced by Gabrielle Carteris and depending on character choices and decisions she can have special scenes and dialogue with a number of other Marvel characters, including Bullseye, who will elude to ingest her. Elektra can be developed to be the fastest character in the game, and she has a character specific training simulation and a variety of alternative uniforms to use.

Little Big Planet (2010)

Elektra is available as by virtue of costume, abilities and missions.

Marvel Super Hero Squad Online (2011)

Elektra is a playable character, with both her red and white (Pure Elektra) uniforms available for players voiced by Grey DeLisle.

Her normal Elektra description says: A trained ninja and acrobat, Elektra flips through life with a smile, carrying two sai blades to keep enemies at bay.

Her “Pure Elektra” description says: Elektra’s all-white outfit helps her blend in to snowy environments. How she stays warm is a secret only known to the ninja.

Marvel Avengers Alliance

Elektra is featured in the game Marvel Avengers Alliance. She is originally depicted as a villain in several missions.

Elektra is a boss in the Facebook game Marvel : Avengers Alliance. She is featured in the chapter 6 mission called “Magic Hand.” She can later be unlocked as a playable character.

As a boss her bio says: Elektra Natchios, once Matt Murdock’s lover, was driven to a life of crime by sorrow at the deaths of her parents. She has developed into a ninja assassin with few equals. In addition to her elite skill with martial-arts weaponry, particularly the sai, she has limited telepathy.

However, later in the game, she was released as a playable character, reclutable via the lockbox mode (Master Assassin Collection).

Her hero bio says: The death of Elektra’s father shattered her life of privilege and drove her to become the world’s greatest assassin. Her relationship with Daredevil is long and complicated; at times her lover and ally, at others his greatest adversary. Her martial skill is nearly unparalleled, yet her fight against her personal demons is far from over.

Marvel: War of Heroes.

Elektra is featured in the mobile card game Marvel: War of Heroes. Her cards are:

• Elektra
• [Hand Mistress] Elektra
• [Red Death] Elektra
• [Skrull Hostage] Elektra
• [Conflicted] Elektra
• [Assassin-for-Hire] Elektra
• [Modern Ninja] Elektra
• [Silent Killer] Elektra
• [Hear the Beast] Elektra
• [Mercenary Gauntlet] Elektra
• [Lethal Spite] Elektra
• [Epiphany] Elektra

Lego Marvel Super heroes

Elektra is a playable character in the game Lego Marvel Super Heroes.

Marvel Puzzle Quest

Elektra is a playable character in the game.

Her bio says: When she was 9 years old, Elektra was kidnapped. After which, her father insisted she learn self-defense.She became an accomplished martial artist and trained with The Hand, a mysterious sect of ninjas.

Today she is one of the world’s top assassins and martial artists.

Marvel Contest of Champions

Elektra is a playable character in the game. She is Skill class champion.

Her bio in the game says: Trained in the martial arts since she was an adolescent, then warped into a killer by the secret order of ninjas known as the Hand, Elektra Natchios is one of Earth’s deadliest assassins. Weilding her remarkable agility, skill and precision on her own terms, Elektra has vowed to never again bow to any master.

Marvel Heroes

Elektra is a Villain in the game. She is voiced by Kathryn Cressida.

Elektra was later released as a playable character.

Her bio in the game says:

From a young age, Elektra Natchios trained in the martial arts well into her adulthood. But when Elektra’s father—a Greek Ambassador—was killed in a terrorist abduction gone horribly wrong, she was convinced that the law had failed her. She then traveled afar to Japan to perfect her combat skills; taking matters into her own hands. Taught by both the ancient Chaste order and notorious Hand organization, she would later return home as an infamous assassin at the top of her game.

Being the best of the best, Elektra’s clients include a large variety of the world’s elite—from S.H.I.EL.D. to Kingpin. Yet, she continuously crosses paths with her old college flame, Matt Murdock and his alter ego Daredevil. Elektra’s adventures have led her far, wide, and back again. But this time the price is right, and she’s here to get the job done.

Marvel Future Fight

Elektra is a playable character in the game. She is a speed type, and her description in the game says: A fierce and deadly assassin-for-hire, Elektra is an expert in Ninjutsu, martial arts, and gymnastics. Few have fought her and survived, earning her a reputation as one the Marvel Universe’s deadliest mercenaries.

She has different uniforms:

• Elektra – Classic
• Elektra – Marvel’s Daredevil

Marvel Avengers Academy

Elektra is a playable character. She can be recruited during the “Daredevil” event. Her Recruitment Quest is “Get Elektra!”. She is voiced by Sarah Stallman.

Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order

Elektra appears in the third Ultimate Alliance game, voiced by Kathryn Cressida. She is initially faced as a boss in the Shadowland stage, where she has been possessed by a demon summoned by the Hand. After being defeated, she returns to normal, and then becomes available as a playable character.

Merchandise

• Toy Biz released several Elektra figures in the 90’s. Rather famously, one of them was actually a simple repaint of a Psylocke figure the company had previously released.
• Toy Biz later released a Marvel Legends Elektra figure.
• Diamond Collectibles released an Elektra figure as part of the Marvel Select line.
• Sideshow Collectibles and Bowen Studios released several Elektra statues.
• After Hasbro took over the Marvel Legends line, they released a two-pack featuring Elektra and Ronin. A variant depicting the Skrull Elektra was also released.
• Diamond Collectibles released an Elektra statue for the Marvel Milestones line.
• Eaglemoss released an Elektra figurine.
• Bowen Designs released an Elektra statue.
• XM Studios released a statue of Ultimate Elektra.
• Sideshow Collectibles released an Elektra statue.
• Hasbro also released an Elektra figure for the Marvel Universe line.
• Kotobukiya released an Elektra statue for the Bishoujo line.
• The Netflix version of Elektra was featured in Funko’s POP! line of bobbleheads.
• Diamond Collectibles released a PVC figure of the Netflix version of Elektra.
• The Netflix version of Elektra was featured in the Marvel Legends Man-Thing BAF wave.
• The classic Elektra was later released in the SP//dr wave.

Depiction

Although her occupation is that of assassin her distinctive costume has remained one of the hallmarks of the character. Due to her depiction and overall characterization she is often a highly recognized Marvel property even if she is not known to many outside of the comics media.

For instance for a time the character’s likeness was actually licensed to outside fashion design agencies who would use her as a model. Her depiction can also be seen to represent different eras in comics, from her beginnings in the 1980s to the bad girl inspired art of Mike Deodato in the 1990s to a more realistic depiction later on.

Awards and Honours

Elektra was ranked 22nd in Comics Buyer’s Guide Presents: 100 Sexiest Women in Comics