Daredevil

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Attributes

Eyes:	Blue
Features:	Matt Murdock is blind
Hair:	Red
Height:	6'0" (183 cm)
Weight:	200 lbs. (91 kg)

Powers

Abilities:	Olympic level gymnast and superb fighter - employs a combination of martial arts and boxing
Equipment:	Cane/Billy Club (w/ cable)
Limitations:	DD is blind
Powers:	Has super-humanly acute senses: smell, touch, taste, hearing; also has "radar sense" which enables DD to sense outlines of all objects in vicinity for 360 degrees
Strength Level:	Olympic to peak human
Weapons:	Billy Club

Summary

Citizenship:	US
Created By:	Unknown
Current Occupation:	Lawyer
Dual Identity:	Not generally known
Education:	Law Degree
Former Aliases:	Mike Murdock, Jack Battlin
Former Bases:	San Francisco
Former Groups:	Partnership with Black Widow
Former Occupation:	Short order cook
Known Allies:	Spider-Man, Black Widow, Black Panther, Fantastic Four
Known Confidants:	Franklin "Foggy" Nelson, Karen Page, Black Widow
Known Relatives:	Sister Maggie (Grace Murdock-mother); Jonathan "Battling Jack" Murdock (father, deceased)
Legal Status:	No criminal record
Major Enemies:	Kingpin, Bullseye, Mr. Fear, Owl, Stilt-Man, Vulture, Typhoid Mary
Marital Status:	Single
Place of Birth:	New York City
Real Name:	Matt Murdock
Usual Bases:	Hell's Kitchen (New York City)

Background

As a teenager Matt Murdock was struck in the eyes by material from a radioactive canister while saving an old man from being hit by a truck. Blinded by the incident, Murdock found that his senses had been magnified to superhuman levels and that he had acquired a "radar" sense that gave him a 360 degree three-dimensional view of his surroundings.

His father, an aging boxer, made Matt promise to do well in school so that he wouldn't have to live by his fists. Matt was an excellent student, both before and after the accident that blinded him. He eventually became one of the best lawyers in the country. Daredevil has a profound love of justice and the justice system, and works hard at making it work better rather than just scrapping it. However, as the vigilante Daredevil, he often has to work outside the law which has created some conflicts for Matt.

The only weapon he regularly uses is his billy club which also has a cable allowing him to swing from building to building in Hell's Kitchen (the lower east side of Manhattan) where he's appointed himself protector. Probably the most impressive skill seen in his fighting is the amount of control he uses. While he is an impressive athlete and acrobat, and very skilled at unarmed combat, he always uses just enough force to subdue rather than maim or kill his opponents. This has put him at odds in the past with other heroes like the Punisher and Wolverine. Well-respected by the other heroes, and even some of his enemies, Daredevil remains a loner. His senses are less overwhelmed in one on one situations and except for the occasional team-ups with the likes of the Black Widow, Spider-Man and the Black Panther, DD has refused membership in the various super hero groups.

Murdock and Parker have teamed several times. The first was against the Circus of Crime: Ringmaster, Princess Python, Clown and Cannonball. The Great Gambonnos were also thrown into the mix. Foggy Nelson and Karen Page talked Matt into attending the circus, one which promised Spider-Man as a guest performer. Peter was surprised to hear this and decided to actually show up as Spidey. Of course, the Circus of Crime was there to rob the audience, with the help of the Ringmaster's hypnotic hat. Spidey was also hypnotized, but Daredevil managed to keep his free will, because, as a blind man, he couldn't see the hypnotic hat. He helped Spider-Man regain his senses and they busted the Circus.

Being a great, upstanding guy, Matt let Spidey take first crack at the Rhino, even through he was tempted to take him on himself. (Thanks, man. Really.) Daredevil took part in the Gang War, which happened courtesy of the Kingpin, the Hobgoblin, Jack O'Lantern, Chameleon and the Rose. He revealed his identity to Spider-Man while they were looking for the Sin Eater, the man who killed police captain Jean DeWolfe. He has also been Eddie Brock's lawyer.

While Daredevil is the most "normal" of all of Marvel's heroes in terms of his powers, he has taken up the Kingpin as his enemy. Spider-Man has butted out of the battle between the two, realizing it as a personal grudge match. While it may not seem like much for a hero without superhuman strength to go up against an enemy that is similarly "normal," keep in mind that Wilson Fisk is a tactical genius, runs a vast criminal empire and has more than enough resources to make Murdock's life very, very unpleasant. Despite all this, Daredevil has managed to bring Fisk under arrest on more than one occasion, but always with painful repercussions. Kingpin has found out and revealed Matt's ID, killed Karen Page and destroyed his law firm. Still, Daredevil keeps protecting Hell's Kitchen.

As the strain of being a gritty New York crime fighter got to Daredevil, he eventually decided to "kill" Matt Murdock. He denied that he was Murdock, claiming that he was dead and buried. Ironically, Spider-Man was having a similar existential crisis and he begged Daredevil to tell him how he buried his past, became a new person. (Peter had been betrayed by Harry Osborn, who created robotic parents of Peter's as emotional revenge.) Matt refused to help Peter, but they did manage to channel their rage into defeating the Vulture and the Owl, who were going to kill everyone in New York who knew why they were. They also wanted to erase their old identities.

He worked with Spider-Man's clone, Ben Reilly, after Ben was captured by Don Fortunato, Silvermane and other crime lords. Fortunato was about to kill Ben, Tombstone and other members of a failed attempt on his life, when Daredevil showed up and saved their bacon. He came to Peter's aid after the Clone Saga, when Norman Osborn framed Spidey for attacking him. A reward for Spidey's capture was put out, and Daredevil showed up to give him some moral support. They ended up fighting Absorbing Man and Titania, whom wanted to collect on the reward. Murdock also teamed with Green Goblin IV at one point, as they were both looking to protect the reporter Ben Urich.

On the lighter side, Daredevil keeps fighting Leapfrog, Stiltman and The Masked Marauder. He's taken on Electro and won, which is impressive. Ditto for Man-Killer and Nekra. He has also beaten the Enforcers (Montana, Ox and Fancy Dan). The jury is still out on if thats impressive or not. Yup, good thing he at least has the Kingpin.

He went up against a dying Quentin Beck (Mysterio) for the life of an infant. Beck had become fascinated by Daredevil and in his last attempt at respectability before dying of a brain tumor, he created an illusion meant to drive the Man Without Fear mad. He put an infant into Murdock's care, but left the question of the child's fate in question. He left Matt wondering if the child was the anti-Christ or the reborn Jesus. After the deception was uncovered, Beck killed himself.

Daredevil seems to have his fate intertwined with Mysterio more than any other of Spider-Man's enemies. He was drawn into Maguire Beck's revenge scheme against Spider-Man for the death of her cousin. He escaped with the help of Joe Smith. He also helped the Black Cat and Spidey against the new Mysterio: Francis Klum. Peter later borrowed Murdoch's Daredevil costume when his room mate, Vin Gonzalez, was kidnapped by Ana Kravinoff, who mistook Vin for Spider-Man. (She had taken the Spider-Man costume from their apartment as proof.)

At a later date, the Black Cat had been captured by the police for the theft of a holographic device and Peter knew she was innocent. He went to Daredevil for legal and illegal (read: vigilante type) help. By the time they were beginning to form a plan, Cat had escaped from prison and had tricked the duo into a trap. She had believed them to have framed her for the theft and naturally they all worked together once the misunderstanding was cleared up. They went to the apartment of the scientist who created the hologram machine and found him bound and gagged, with a poison in his veins (found courtesy of Daredevil's enhanced sense of smell). Spidey took Wasserschmidt to the hospital, while Daredevil and Cat tracked down the device. Felcia and Matt went back to his place afterward and she kept him...distracted.

Image Gallery

Appearances

Thanks To

 The assistance of the Marvel Chronology Project is gratefully acknowledged.

 Some of the above information is extracted from the various versions of the Official Handbook to the Marvel Universe and the more recent Marvel Encyclopaedias.