Lot of decisions I'd give anything to go back and change. But I can't. None of us can. It's like I told Foggy; all we can do is... Move forward. Together. 
- —Matt Murdock[src]
History
Early Life
Matt Murdock lived with his father, the washed-up boxer Jack Murdock. Jack consistently urged his young son to study hard and make something of himself, so Matt wouldn't end up like him.[1] As a hobby, Matt would listen to the sirens of the police cars and ambulances and imagine an story behind them.[2]
When he was nine years old, Matt suffered an accident involving a RAND Oil & Chemicals truck which carried radioactive waste when he pushed a man out of the truck's way and saved his life. Matt's eyes were exposed to the radioactive waste, and he became permanently blinded.[1] When he was hospitalized, Matt discovered that the spill of radioactive waste caused his other senses to be amplified to superhuman degrees.[3] Matt's expanding senses allowed him to hear the city better, and he realized there were more sirens that he used to listen to, and that there was more suffering in Hell's Kitchen than he knew. This turn of events motivated him to want to change the city for the better.[2]
Jack was killed after refusing to lose a fixed fight, being inspired to have a clean fight by Matt's words. Subsequently, Matt was also placed in Saint Agnes Orphanage. Matt's senses started enhancing, causing the young boy to suffer from the sensory overload. Due to his condition, one of the nuns called for the help of Stick, who trained Matt in controlling his gifts and in martial arts. Stick ended up leaving Matt after the boy showed affection for his mentor, when he gifted him a bracelet.[4]
Becoming a vigilante
When he was a young adult, Matt studied law at Columbia University. The first day of college he met Foggy Nelson, who would become his best friend. During his time as an student, Matt briefly dated a Greek girl he met in Spanish class. In the end, Matt graduated summa cum laude, and Foggy cum laude.
Matt and Foggy returned to Hell's Kitchen and subsequently worked as interns for the prestigious law firm Landman and Zack. However, Matt disapproved of their ideology, defending big powerful companies, and convinced Foggy to leave just before they were offered a position. Instead, Matt and Foggy set out to have their own law firm, Nelson and Murdock.
One night at his apartment, he used his abilities to discover a neighbor of his molested his daughter while his wife was at work. Matt called Child Services, but in vain, as the wife didn't believe the situation that was happening at her home. Angered, Matt used a disguise to assault the man one night at his job, swearing him to get him again if he didn't stop his behavior. Matt felt right for making him pay when the law wasn't able to, and shortly after became a masked vigilante, wearing a black outfit made from things bought online.[2]
Into the Ring
Soon enough, Nelson and Murdock was finally established in an office Matt and Foggy had recently acquired. While Foggy believed it was necessary to take any case they could, Matt stuck to his principle of representing only those that were in fact truly innocent. Meanwhile, Matt continued with his secret alter-ego of the masked vigilante. One of the criminal groups whose plans Matt thwarted most frequently was the Russian Mafia and their human trafficking operations.
Nelson and Murdock's first client was Karen Page, a secretary at Union Allied Construction, who had been framed for murder. Matt decided to take her case because he detected she was telling the truth about her innocence with the use of his amplified senses to listen to her heartbeat.
After Page was almost killed in her cell and because no charges had been presented after 24 hours of her arrest, Matt had her freed from custody. Matt interrogated her further, and found out she had discovered United Allied money laundering records, and that was the reason she had been targeted. However, Murdock wasn't sure why wasn't she killed in the first place. Matt concluded that they had tried to discredit and scare her, and the only reason to do that was because she had something they wanted: a copy of the files. While Karen was staying at his apartment, Matt approached Karen with that theory, she lied to him stating she hadn't made a copy and the original files were deleted.
In the middle of the night, when Karen sneakily left the apartment to return to hers, Matt decided to follow her disguised as his vigilante alter-ego. After she had recovered a USB stick with a copy of the files left in her bathroom, Karen was attacked by a hitman who was hiding at her apartment. Matt arrived in time to save her, and, after subduing the hitman, decided to take the USB stick to the New York Bulletin, for United Allied's illicit actions to be made public, so Karen would no longer be a target. In the end, Karen was proved innocent, and, to show her gratitude, she offered her help to Nelson and Murdock.[1]
Cut Man
After falling into a trap by the Russian Mafia when he was following the trail of a kidnapped boy, Matt was heavily injured and barely escaped alive from his attacks. He ended up in a dumpster where he was found and recovered by a nurse called Claire Temple. After recovering and subduing a member of the Mafia who was looking for him in Temple's building, Matt interrogated him and got the location of the boy. He successfully raided the building and rescued the boy.[3]
Rabbit in a Snow Storm
Nelson and Murdock were hired by a man to defend a hitman named John Healy who had murdered Mr. Prohashka in a way it appeared to have been in self-defense. After successfully defending Healy, Murdock used his vigilante alter-ego to interrogate him and discover the name of who had hired him to kill Prohashka. Healy revealed the name of Wilson Fisk, and killed himself immediately after, knowing what the consequences of saying "his name" would have been.[5]
In the Blood
Matt started visiting Claire frequently, in order to help him cure the injuries he sustained in battle. After being given an ultimatum by Wilson Fisk, the two brother leaders of the Russian mob decided to deal with the masked vigilante who had interfered in his operations so much. They woke up Semyor, their man who had been looking for the vigilante soon after the trap, from a coma induced due to the injuries sustained by the vigilante's interrogation, who managed to lead them to Temple. The Russians found Claire and kidnapped her to find more about the masked man. Matt managed to track her down and rescue her.[6]
_from_Marvel%27s_Daredevil_poster_002.jpg){kind=link}
World on Fire
Claire stayed at Matt's apartment until he could ensure her safety, and they developed feelings for each other. As he kept striking the Russian mafia, Matt discovered Fisk had framed him for the murder of one of the two Russian brothers, Anatoly Rankskahov. Matt was tracking the other brother, Vladimir, when Fisk executed a plan to get rid of the Russian Mafia, exploding numerous of their bases. Vladimir was escaping from one of the explosions when Murdock confronted him, however, the police arrived soon after and cornered Matt.[7]
Condemned
Matt subdued the police officers, who were revealed to have been working for Fisk, but not before one of them shot Vladimir. Matt escaped with the wounded criminal to an abandoned warehouse, and contacted Claire Temple to help take care of him. Using a flare found in the warehouse, Matt cauterized Vladimir's wound. However, the screams caused by Vladimir due to the application of the flare attracted the attention of a police officer who went to investigate. Even though Matt subdued the officer when he went to investigate, he failed to convince him not to call for backup.
As the NYPD established a perimeter around the warehouse, Matt tried to interrogate Vladimir and get information about Fisk. Unwilling to die in the situation he found himself, Vladimir attacked Matt. The attack caused both of them to fall through a couple of floors into the warehouse's basement. There, Fisk contacted Matt using the handheld transceiver of the officer Matt had subdued, in an attempt to demoralize him. Fisk admired the vigilante's conviction, and remarked their similarities, but claimed that they couldn't co-exist, and Matt swore to get Fisk and make him pay. Fisk bid farewell to Matt as the ESU raided the warehouse. With the help of Vladimir, who decided to help Matt still unwilling to die like that, Matt uncovered a manhole and escaped through the tunnels. A squad of ESU found Matt in the tunnels, but were quickly subdued. Vladimir started to collapse, and demanded for Matt to let him behind, armed with a gun taken from the ESU. Before Matt left, Vladimir told him the name of Fisk's accountant, Leland Owlsley.
Additionally, Fisk used his contacts in the media to put the blame of the explosions on Matt, turning him into a wanted man.[8]
Stick
An attempt at interrogating Leland Owlsley turned out a failure when Matt was distracted by the appearance of Stick, and Fisk's accountant escaped. Stick had returned to America in order to strike against a Japanese threat, that was something more than the Yakuza. Murdock accepted to help Stick, only if he didn't kill anybody. On the docks, the Japanese were receiving a shipment, identified by Stick as the "Black Sky." Matt sneakily reduced their numbers with the help of a pair of batons Stick gave him. When the shipment arrived, it was revealed to be a young child. Matt detected how Stick was preparing to shot an arrow at the kid, and managed to deflect the arrow to prevent him from killing the boy. Matt took care of the remaining Japanese at the scene, and Stick disappeared.
Matt returned to his apartment, where Stick was waiting for him. Matt confronted Stick about the attempted murder, but he was corrected when Stick informed him he ended up killing the boy while Matt was distracted with the remaining enemies back in the docks. Enraged, Matt attacked Stick and the two proceeded to fight in Matt's apartment, until Stick is finally knocked out and subsequently left the apartment, leaving behind the two pair of batons. In the wreckage that was left of his furniture, Matt found the bracelet he had given to Stick when he was younger.[4]
Shadows in the Glass
Matt discovered that Karen and Page were trying to expose Union Allied beyond the corruption scandal for which Karen had been framed for murder. He contacted journalist Ben Urich, who was helping Karen and Page, to expose Wilson Fisk's identity to prevent him from staying in the shadows, while still not incriminating him as they didn't have enough proof. However, Fisk soon made himself public on his own, as nothing more than a benevolent philanthropist, turning the tide of the battle he was already winning even more on his favor.[9]
Speaking of the Devil
With Fisk's revelation, Matt, Foggy, Karen and Ben's attempt at exposing him became harder. After Elena Cardenas, an old woman Nelson and Murdock were trying to help in a case of her tenant trying to vacate their building, was murdered, Matt went back into action, trying to find a trail and get to whoever had killed her.
Murdock ended up in Pier 81 after interrogating the junkie that was hired to kill her, and found himself against Nobu, the leader of the Japanese criminals he and Stick had confronted. Nobu proved himself superior to Matt in combat, and heavily injured. During the fight, Nobu was thrown against a batch of barrels, and was partially soaked in oil. Subsequently, a ceiling lamp was broken during the continuous fight, causing a spark that ignited Nobu in fire. After Nobu's defeat, Murdock was confronted by Wilson Fisk, who had been an ally of Nobu. Matt promised to kill Fisk and tried to go hand-to-hand against him, with a disastrous result. After Fisk left his assistant finish Matt off, Murdock managed to barely escape alive by jumping out of the warehouse's window into the river.
Matt crashed into his apartment, at the same time Foggy was at his door. Foggy heard the noise caused by Matt's abrupt return and discovered the masked vigilante instead of his friend. After Matt collapsed due to the injuries, Foggy proceeded to unmask him and discover Matt's shocking secret.[10]
Nelson v. Murdock
Matt regained consciousness briefly before collapsing again, and managed to convince Foggy not to take him to a hospital, and instead call Claire Temple. After being patched up, Matt laid resting on his sofa. When he woke up, Foggy confronted him about his alter-ego. Matt revealed to him his super-human abilities, his history with Stick, his motives, and even told Foggy that he attempted to kill Fisk earlier. Foggy couldn't forgive Matt for what he had done, and left him and Nelson and Murdock.[2]
The Path of the Righteous
During his recovery, Matt visited Father Lantom, a priest he confessed to regularly since he had begun his vigilante activities, confused by his feelings, feeling that his constant internal conflict could mean he had the Devil on him. Lantom reassured that if he believed so, God had created the Devil to become a symbol to be feared, to tread the path of the righteous. These words inspired Matt when he reached out for Melvin Potter, a designed who worked for Wilson Fisk in creating light-weight body armor, threatened by Fisk into working exclusively for him using a friend of his as a leverage. Matt promised Potter to get Fisk out of his life if he created a suit for him, a symbol.[11]
The Ones We Leave Behind
With the help of Ben Urich, Matt managed to locate the drug production warehouse of one of Fisk's associates, Madame Gao. He stroke the facility, in hopes the great loss of money in drugs would cause Fisk to slip.[12]
Daredevil
Foggy and Matt reconciled and decided to work together once again to put an end to Fisk. As he and Foggy were having a conversation with Seargant Brett Mahoney, one of the few honest officers at the 15th precinct, Matt overheard a corrupt officer talking on the radio, as he and other officers in Fisk's payroll were sweeping the city looking for Carl Hoffman, another dirty cop who had disappeared, being kept in hiding by Leland Owlsley as a leverage to get away when he tried to abandon Fisk, who could blow Fisk's operations wide open.
Using numerous records of Landman and Zack provided by Marci Stahl regarding Fisk's companies, Matt, Foggy and Karen investigated to find any lead that could point where had Owlsley been holding Hoffman. After finding a direction, Matt rescued Hoffman from a squad of corrupt officers at the last second, and ordered him to turn himself in to Mahoney. With Hoffman's statement, the names of every single person in Fisk's payroll were revealed, and they were all soon arrested by the FBI, along with Fisk. Not only Fisk's schemes were thwarted, but also the masked vigilante cleared his name.
However, the FBI transport carrying Fisk was assaulted by more of Fisk's men, who managed to retrieve him. Before tracking down Fisk, Matt paid a visit to Melvin Potter and retrieved his new costume. After pinning down the location of Fisk's transport, Matt caused the truck to crash, forcing Fisk to get out from it and try to escape. Matt cornered Fisk in a alleyway, and after a furious battle, he subdued him. Mahoney happened to be the cop who heed the call for the disturbances, and identified the masked vigilante despite his new appearance before cuffing Fisk. Matt subsequently left the scene.
The next day, the press dubbed "Daredevil" the vigilante that had brought to an end Fisk's escape. As Matt, Foggy and Karen picked up from what was left and move forward, Fisk was imprisoned at Ryker's while waiting for trail.[13]
Personality
Matt Murdock possesses a strong sense of morality and justice, which he carries with him in his work as a lawyer and a vigilante. While professional, Matt is not without a sense of humour, and is very easygoing with his friends.[1] Quips about his blindness don't bother him, and he even frequently jokes about it himself.[8] Despite this, when under stress, Matt pushes the people around him away, attempting to take all responsibility upon himself to fix Hell's Kitchen. Although he tries to be a pillar of strength and support for the people around him, Matt can only take so much pressure before he breaks down.
As Daredevil, Matt is vicious and merciless towards criminals.[1] Although he refuses to kill, Matt is not afraid to break bones or torture his targets to get what he is after,[3] even if his targets are not criminals themselves. Due to his extremely violent nature as a vigilante, Matt realizes that he has the potential to become the very thing he hates, and takes care to never cross that line.[7]Attributes
Powers
Superhuman Sensory System: Originating from his exposure to a radioactive isotope, Murdock's heightened senses were actually latent "gifts" that the isotope unlocked. He was taught how to control and use these senses by Stick. Through Stick's training, Murdock learned from a young age to use his senses to accomplish superhuman feats.[3][7]
- Superhuman Tactile Sense: Murdock's sense of touch is so acute that his finger can feel the faint impressions of ink on a printed page allowing him to read by touch. The rest of his skin is equally sensitive, enabling him by concentration to feel minute temperature and pressure changes in the atmosphere around him. Even with his senses of smell and hearing blocked, he can feel the presence of a person standing five feet away from him simply by his or her body heat and disturbance of air. A side effect of his sense of touch is Murdock's ability to manipulate his muscles and internal organs. His control over his nervous system is both external and internal, giving him the ability to have total body control, increasing his strength and reflexes to peak human levels, increasing his agility to enhanced human levels and also giving him the ability to totally numb himself to pain.[7]
- Superhuman Smell: Murdock possesses an incredibly heightened sense of smell. He is able to pick up on a complete stranger's unique scent from at least three floors above him, and it is accurate enough to tell him what someone ate two days prior. He can even determine that a wound has reopened through the smell of copper in the air.[7]
- Superhuman Hearing: Murdock's sense of hearing enables him to hear a person's heartbeat at a distance of over twenty feet, or people whispering on the other side of a standard soundproofed wall. Through practice, Murdock is able to control his hearing acuity, mentally blocking out specific sounds like his own breathing and heartbeat, all ambient sounds to a normal human level of perception, or all sounds but a particular sound he is concentrating upon. When concentrating, he can even determine how many broken bones a person has in their body, purely from the sounds of their bones shifting.[1]
- Lie Detection: By listening, feeling and/or smelling, Murdock can tell whether a person is lying by sweat, changes in body temperature and heartbeats.[1]
- Superhuman Taste: Murdock's sense of taste enables him to determine every ingredient of a food or drink he tastes, as long as there are at least twenty milligrams of that substance present.
Matt Murdock's view of Claire Temple
Abilities
Weaknesses
Blindness: Daredevil is conventionally sight blind. While his senses help him overcome this, it becomes a problem for him to navigate and fight when his heightened senses are scrambled or can't detect anything.
Anger: When provoked or under extreme stress, Daredevil can lose control of his inner rage, making him act reckless and stop thinking clearly. Because of this, when angered, he is far more susceptible to falling into traps.[3]Paraphernalia
Equipment
Blind Aids: Matt Murdock's blindness has him carrying around a braille display, a cane, and red tinted glasses in his normal life.[1] While the cane is effectively just an affectation, the braille display is an important communication tool for internet access.[9] Murdock's mobile phones and bedside alarm clock are also models incorporating voice prompts.[1][9]
Combat Fatigues: Matt Murdock initially put together a costume of form-fitting black garments, rounded out by a mask and sturdy gloves and boots.[1] This crude costume was replaced by a resilient black and red suit that offers full body protection against moderate abrasions and impact trauma without trading away flexibility. [13]Weapons
Notes
- Charlie Cox portrays Daredevil as a main character in the online series Marvel's Daredevil. Skylar Gaertner portrays a younger Murdock in flashbacks.
- Daredevil's final costume was designed by Ryan Meinerding.[14]
See Also
- 52 appearance(s) of Matthew Murdock (Earth-199999)
- 18 mention(s) of Matthew Murdock (Earth-199999)
- 96 image(s) of Matthew Murdock (Earth-199999)
- 12 quotation(s) by or about Matthew Murdock (Earth-199999)
- 1 victim(s) killed by Matthew Murdock (Earth-199999)
Links and References
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9 Marvel's Daredevil S1E01
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Marvel's Daredevil S1E10
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Marvel's Daredevil S1E02
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Marvel's Daredevil S1E07
- ↑ Marvel's Daredevil S1E03
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Marvel's Daredevil S1E04
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 7.6 Marvel's Daredevil S1E05
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Marvel's Daredevil S1E06
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 Marvel's Daredevil S1E08
- ↑ Marvel's Daredevil S1E09
- ↑ Marvel's Daredevil S1E11
- ↑ Marvel's Daredevil S1E12
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 Marvel's Daredevil S1E13
- ↑ Chis Samnee - Tumblr
Template:The Daredevil