Margaret Grace Murdock (mother);
unnamed grandmother;
Elektra Natchios (ex-girlfriend, deceased)
Natasha Romanoff (Black Widow) (ex-girlfriend)
History
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
- — Matt Murdock
Early Life
Matt Murdock lived with his father, a washed-up boxer named Jack Murdock. Jack consistently urged his young son to study hard and make something of himself, so Matt would not end up like him. When Jack returned from boxing matches, Matt would stitch his injuries. During one of these sessions, Jack allowed Matthew to have a drink of scotch, to keep a steady hand. He stayed awake at night listening to sirens, trying to know what they were, creating stories for them.
Blinded
- I can't see! I can't see!
- —Matt Murdock
When he was nine years old, Murdock saved an elderly man from being hit by a RAND Oil & Chemicals truck, causing an accident. Hazardous chemicals from the flipped truck splashed on his face and as they were absorbed into his eyes, Murdock was blinded. The last sight he had was of his father trying to comfort him during the multiple car accident. He screamed in pain and fear when he realized he would never see again.
He woke up in the hospital where he found he could hear every sound in the nearby area, causing him pain. His father tried desperately to comfort him. He let his son touch his face so he could recognize that it was him, which seemed to calm him down.
Over the next few months, Murdock learned to read Braille and began to control his heightened senses. His father continued to work as a boxer despite losing almost all his fights. One day he returned home while Murdock was reading in Braille with severe bruises on his face. He let Matt touch his face and made him promise not to be a boxer like him. One day, while Matt was reading in Fogwell's Gym, he overheard his father being offered money to lose his upcoming fight with Carl Creel.
Matt listened to his father's fight with Carl Creel on the television and cheered when his father overcame the odds and won the match. He waited at home for his father's return but became worried when he did not arrive. Murdock ran to Fogwell's Gym and was stopped by a police officer. Murdock managed to push his way past the officer and found his father lying on the street having been murdered by local mobsters. Murdock fell to his knees and begged his father to wake up before crying over his father's lifeless body.
Trained by Stick
When his mother failed to take care of him after his father's death, Murdock was moved to Saint Agnes Orphanage. While there he continued to suffer with his enhanced senses.
While at the Orphanage, Murdock was visited by an old blind man named Stick. Stick knew that Murdock's other senses had been heightened and took him outside for ice cream. While they sat together, Stick asked Murdock what he could understand about nearby people just from listening to them. Stick promised to train Murdock to control and master his "gift". Murdock kept the wrapper from his ice cream, planning on giving it to Stick as a present.
Stick began a harsh training regime with Murdock, often pushing an emotional response from him to teach him to control his anger. Over the next few months and years, Murdock became a powerful fighter with almost complete control of his blindness. During one of their training sessions, Murdock gave Stick the wrapper from his ice cream, having made it into a bracelet. Stick crushed it in his hand and told him he could no longer train him. Stick left and Murdock would not see him again for many years.
Law School
In his early twenties, Murdock gained a place at Columbia University Law School. He arrived in his room and introduced himself to his new roommate Foggy Nelson. Nelson had heard of Murdock, as he remembered what had happened to him as a child. Murdock and Nelson immediately made a strong relationship and Nelson often joked about his blindness while Murdock would tease Nelson about many of his poor life choices, such as he decision to join a course studying Punjabi simply to get close to a girl.
Escapades with Elektra
Nelson and Murdock decided to crash a debutant's ball, through the kitchen, where they were welcomed by the disgruntled waiters. Later, Murdock decided to check out the living quarters of the party, where he sensed a very attractive woman. Before he could meet her, he was approached by one of the bodyguards, who discovered that he was a crasher. However, before he could kick Murdock out, the woman, Elektra Natchios, declared that he was with her.
During their conversation, Natchios assumed Murdock to be weak and foolish, by judging his wing-tipped shoes, where as Murdock countered her assumptions by detecting that she was a bored, rich girl who wanted excitement, all by perceiving why she stopped the bodyguard from kicking him out. Natchios stole an expensive car and Murdock left the party with her.
In the following days, Natchios and Murdock broke into Fogwell's Gym where Natchios jokingly fought him to figure out that Murdock was not exactly blind, and they had first a small fight and then a sexual intercourse.
As they strengthened their relationship, Natchios took Murdock to a mansion that she claimed belonged to an associate of her father. However, it was a setup by Natchios to make Murdock confront Roscoe Sweeney, the man responsible for his father's death. Murdock beat Sweeeney up, but he then refused Natchios proposal to kill Sweeney. Natchios expressed her disappointment in Murdock and, while Murdock called the police to report Sweeney as a wanted felon, Natchios vanished, leaving Murdock and not seeing each other for ten years.
Avocados of Law
After a beer run, Murdock and Foggy Nelson swore to work together for many years. Nelson asked about the Greek girl named Elektra, but Murdock declared that their relationship ended because "it did not work out". When Matt revealed to Foggy that he had his first alcoholic drink when he was eleven, because he had to stitch his dad up after a fight, Foggy comforted him, saying that if he could see him now, he would be proud.
Landman and Zack
Both Murdock and Foggy Nelson were able to work as interns at the large lawyer firm, Landman and Zack, during which time they found themselves being forced to defend large corporations against innocent people whose lives were being destroyed. Eventually the pair were both offered permanent jobs at the firm which Nelson showed great enthusiasm about, but believing that working for such a soulless company was not the right direction for them to go in, Murdock managed to convince the skeptical Nelson not to take the job offer and instead start up their own law firm where they could really help innocent people and make a difference to their city.
No Sleep for the Devil
- He spent the next month in a hospital, eating through a straw. And I never slept better.
- —Matt Murdock
The night after he and Foggy quit Landman and Zack, Murdock would have trouble sleeping because he kept hearing his next door neighbor's daughter crying at night as her father was abusing her. Murdock contacted the police to have him arrested; however, the man was able to get away with the crime as his wife claimed he would never do the crime and his daughter would not reveal the truth. Seeing that the man would not face justice, Murdock donned a black eyeless mask and went after him, cornering him at a train yard where he worked and severely beating him up and threatening that if he ever touched his daughter again, he would find him and possibly kill him. He slept better ever since.
The Mask
- Perhaps this would be easier if you told me what you've done."
"I'm not seeking penance for what I've done, Father. I'm asking forgiveness, for what I'm about to do."
"That's not how this works. What exactly are you going to do?
- —Lantom and Matt Murdock
Years later, Murdock chose to take his vigilante career to the next level. He bought a black outfit online, including a mask which covered the top half of his face, and wore it when fighting crime. Later, Murdock went to confession, claiming he was not there to seek forgiveness for what he had done, but instead he was asking forgiveness for what he was about to do. He would not tell the priest his intentions however.
The same night, Murdock tracked down a group of gangsters led by Turk Barrett who were engaged in kidnapping and sex trafficking. They planned on transporting a group of young women in a shipping container, but Murdock snuck up behind them and attacked, knocking down many of the guards and avoiding Barrett as he attempted to shot him. Murdock quickly subdued the gangsters and freed the women before dodging out of the way of Barrett's gunshot and beating him senseless.
In the morning, Murdock was awoken by a phonecall from Foggy Nelson who ordered him to get out of bed so they could view the new offices for their law practice Nelson and Murdock, while teasing him about having possibly spent the night with a woman. Before they went Nelson joked that he was going to bribe Officer Brett Mahoney. The pair teased real estate agent Susan Harris about which one of them would get the room with a view. Murdock made her an offer on the office which was accepted and they both moved in, despite Nelson's protests.
Defending Karen Page
- It wasn't me, please, please you have to believe me. I didn't kill him."
"I believe you Miss. Page.
- —Karen Page and Matt Murdock
Shortly after moving into their new offices, Nelson received a call from a policeman that a young woman called Karen Page had been found in her apartment having seemingly murdered a workmate with a knife. Murdock and Nelson met Page and offered to represent her; when she asked how long the pair had been practicing law, Murdock told her it had been seven hours. Murdock listened to her heartbeat while she told them what had occurred; knowing that her heartbeat was not changing, Murdock knew she was telling the truth and convinced Nelson that they should take on her case.
Later that night, they learned that Page was almost assassinated in her prison cell, so they managed to have her freed. Back in their offices, they began to question Page about who would try to kill her and why; she revealed that she had discovered a money laundering scheme inside the company she worked for. As it was clear that she should not stay in her apartment, Murdock allowed her to stay at his place. Once there he gave her new clothes and asked her more questions. When he asked if she had a copy of the hard-drive, she lied and told him she did not.
During the night, Page sneaked out of Murdock's apartment; Murdock followed her and found her inside her home after collecting the hard-drive. He discovered her moments before she was attacked by an assassin. Murdock engaged the assassin in a fight, throwing himself and his enemy out the window. Murdock eventually used his strength and determination to defeat the assassin. After the fight, Murdock took the assassin to the police along with the hard-drive. This caused Page to be set free. She was quickly hired to work as a secretary for Nelson and Murdock.
Meeting Claire Temple
- Okay I find a guy in a dumpster who turns out to be some kind of blind vigilante who can do all this really weird shit, like smell cologne through walls and sense whether someone unconscious or faking it. Slap on-top of that he can take an unbelievable amount of punishment without one damn complaint."
"The last part's just Catholicism.
- —Claire Temple and Matt Murdock
Murdock heard a young boy had been kidnapped by Russian gangsters so he went out to try to rescue him. However he soon discovered that it was a trap and he was attacked. Barely escaping with severe injuries, he hid inside a skip until he was found by Santino and Claire Temple. Temple took him upstairs into her apartment and treated his injuries; she quickly discovered that he was blind. Murdock woke up and tried to leave but Temple insisted that he had to stay as his wounds were too severe. As Murdock refused to give her his name, she began calling him "Mike".
After a while, Murdock smelt a Russian mobster wearing strong aftershave coming up the stairs looking for him. Temple answered the door while Murdock hid and the man claimed to be an NYPD officer looking for the suspect of a robbery; Temple told the man that she had not seen anything. The mobster left but Murdock heard him on the phone and knew that he had not believed her, so he chased him down and dropped a fire extinguisher on his head, knocking him out. Murdock noticed that Santino had witnessed the attack and ran away. Together, Murdock and Temple dragged the unconscious mobster up to the roof.
Once on the roof, Murdock began questioning the mobster on the location of the missing boy, telling him that he would hurt him every time he lied. Temple suggested that Murdock should stab him just above the eye, causing the man incredible pain. When that still did not work, Murdock threatened to throw him off the roof; this made the mobster tell him exactly where the boy was. Murdock still threw him off the roof, letting him fall into the same dumpster he had been pulled from earlier. When Temple asked if he was alive, Murdock assured her he was. Murdock gave Temple a phone so they could contact each other and told her that it would be wise for her to relocate.
Murdock then went to the place where the boy was being held hostage. He arrived and immediately began fighting the mobsters. After a prolonged fight during which many of the mobsters were thrown through doors, Murdock came out as the winner with all the mobsters lying unconscious on the floor or in too much pain to move. Murdock then removed his mask and freed the boy, telling him that he was now safe. Murdock carried him from the house and later returned him to his family.
Defending John Healy
The next morning Murdock visited his church and spoke to Father Lantom. Lantom told him that he was aware he was Jack Murdock's son but assured him that through the seal of confession he could not tell anyone what they had spoken about. He asked if Murdock was there for confession, but he told him he was not, he then suggested that Murdock should join him for a cup of coffee but Murdock said they will do it another time.
Back at the office, Murdock and Nelson were visited by James Wesley, who asked them to represent his client John Healy, who had just brutally murdered a gangster called Prohaszka. When Wesley left the office, having insulted Karen Page, Murdock followed him, tracking him by the tick of his watch. Murdock heard Wesley enter in limo and be driven away, before he considered following, Murdock felt a pain in his side and felt blood running from an open wound. Although he showed initial uncertainty towards the case, Murdock decided to take the case in an attempt to learn who was behind the criminal activity in Hell's Kitchen.
Murdock and Nelson cross-examined Healy, who clearly was experienced in court proceedings. They began working out a strategy to get Healy off by claiming self defense. During the trial, Murdock noticed one of the women in the juries' heart begin to raise when Wesley entered, Murdock tracked down the man threatening her and forced him to leave her alone. Murdock later gave a speech during the trial claiming that there was not enough evidence to convict Healy. As the result was being read out, Murdock noticed that another juryman's heart raced as Wesley entered; the jury announced a hung jury, resulting to Healy's freedom.
Murdock later tracked down and confronted Healy. The pair began to fight, Healy using objects around him to attack Murdock, after an exhausting fight Murdock came out as the victor and began questioning Healy on who his employer was. Eventually Healy claimed it was Wilson Fisk. Healy told Murdock that now he had revealed Fisk's name, he, his family and his friends would all become targets. Seeing no alternative, Healy slammed his face into an iron spike, killing him instantly. Murdock could only listen in horror.
Pursuing the Russians
- You really need to get some kind of body armor of something."
"It would slow me down too much."
"So will a bullet.
- —Claire Temple and Matt Murdock
Murdock later attacked Russian Gangster, Anatoly Ranskahov and his men, although Ranskahov escaped with only minor injuries, Murdock was able to throw one of his men out of a window and onto his car. After escaping, Murdock went to Claire Temple to treat his injuries. Later, he received a phonecall from Temple just as she was being kidnapped by Russian mobsters. Murdock ran to her aid but was too late, he spoke to her neighbor Santino who was able to reveal that she had been taken away in a taxi driven by the Russians.
Murdock arrived at the taxi's firm where he found Temple being tortured by the Russians, Murdock switched off the lights in the room and managed to fight of the Russians in the dark and rescued Temple. He took her back to his apartment and tried to comfort her. Temple asked him to feel her heart and tell her how she was feeling; Murdock knew then that she was terribly afraid for her life. However, Temple assured him that he could do something about that fear. Murdock then revealed to her his real first name.
The next night, Murdock followed a taxi carrying a blind man to a warehouse. Once there he attacked the Russian gangsters guarding the man, although the blind man was killed after being shot in the cross-fire, Murdock was able to catch one of the gangsters. Murdock tried to learn the location of Vladimir Ranskahov but the gangster begged him not to cut off his head, when Murdock asked what he meant the gangster told him that everyone believed the masked man had cut off the head of Ranskahov's brother Anatoly. Before he could learn anymore, the police arrived and Murdock made his escape, leaving the mobster to be arrested.
Back at the office, Murdock began to ask Foggy Nelson and Karen Page about whether or not they had heard about a Russian gangster having his head cut off before they were interrupted by the arrival of Elena Cardenas. Mrs Cardenas explained that she needed legal help as her landlords her attempting to kick her out of her property and demolish her home after failing to finish building work to the property. They agreed to take the case and Murdock told Mrs. Cardenas that Nelson would speak to her landlord's lawyer which he went to the NYPD, Nelson complained knowing that the landlord's was represented by their former employers Landman and Zack.
Murdock arrived at the police department and spoke to Brett Mahoney, Murdock explained the situation to Mahoney and asked to see the complain files against Armand Tully, who owned Cardenas' home. Mahoney agreed and asked Murdock to wait. While he was waiting, Murdock overheard the questioning of one of the Russians he had attacked the night before, he heard the Russian ask for a deal in exchange for information on his employer Wilson Fisk. The two officers questioning him, Christian Blake and Carl Hoffman, turned out to also be under Fisk's pay. They pretended to be attacked by the Russian and shot him before Murdock could do anything.
Knowing that they detectives were working for Fisk, Murdock tracked down and attacked detective Christian Blake, Blake tried to stick to his story that the Russian had attacked his partner, until Murdock began breaking his arm. Murdock asked him why Fisk had had Prohaszka murdered; he refused to answer, so Murdock knocked him out and stole his phone. Murdock later called Claire Temple and had her help him look at the phone, she told him the phone had a list of four locations sent to it, all of which listed where the Russians were. Murdock went to go after the locations, but Temple told him that she could not fall in love with someone who was so willing to put his life in danger.
Final Days of the Russians
- That sounds bad but I don't speak asshole.
- —Matt Murdock to Vladimir Ranskahov
Murdock traveled to the location from the phone and found a pair of Russian guards standing by the door. Murdock began fighting the men, during the fight he overheard panic inside the building and knew a bomb was about to be set off, Murdock used his opponent as a shield as the door was blown off towards them as the building exploded, killing the Russians inside. When he awoke, Murdock caught Vladimir Ranskahov attempting to escape the wreckage, he attacked him and knocked him out, but before he could gain any information, the police arrived and attempted to arrest him. Murdock was able to fight off the police, but was unable to spot Ranskahov from being shot in the side, he then escaped with Ranskahov's unconscious body.
Murdock took carried Ranskahov to an abandoned building and began questioning him. Ranskahov claimed that Murdock was responsible for the murder of his brother Anatoly Ranskahov and that he had been working with Wilson Fisk, Murdock told him that he had been played by Fisk, who was responsible for Anatoly's murder and the destruction of his warehouses. Murdock offered to help him escape from Fisk's men, in exchange for information that would help him make Fisk pay for everything he had done, Ranskahov crudely refused before losing consciousness.
Knowing that Vladimir Ranskahov would die without medical attention, which he could not get to him, Murdock phoned Claire Temple for assistance. He explained the situation to her and asked her to walk him through saving his life, but when he explained who it was they were helping, Temple was furious. She agreed to help however and asked Murdock to look for something to help, Murdock used his heightened senses to detect a flare in the warehouse. Under Temple's instruction, Murdock lit the flare and used it to burn Ranskahov's open wound, sealing it, Ranskahov screamed in agony until he lost consciousness again.
Murdock heard a police officer arriving in the warehouse, after hearing Ranskahov's screams, Murdock attacked the man and began questioning him. The police officer told him that he was not corrupt and was a new cop who had not been paid off by Fisk yet. Murdock ordered the man to call off backup, but instead he told them that he had been taken hostage, Murdock was unable to knock him out in time to stop him. Murdock tied up the officer before pulling the officer's gun apart and throwing it away. Murdock began questioning Ranskahov again, who asked him about his morals on not killing people but being willing to let people die. Murdock reminded Ranskahov that Fisk had taken down his operation and had enough police in his pocket to ensure that Ranskahov was killed before he could leak information. Ranskahov agreed and told the man about his first encounter with Fisk and how their operation first came about, Murdock learned that Fisk was working with the Chinese. Ranskahov told him there was one name he needed to know, Fisk's moneyman, when Murdock leant in to hear it, Ranskahov attacked him, causing them to fall through the floorboards.
The pair survived the fall and Murdock told him that it was not a smart thing to do. Ranskahov then lost consciousness again, this time stopping his heart, Murdock performed CPR and saved his life. Afterward Murdock began to look for a way out, finding a sewage manhole cover but finding it was too hard to lift alone. He was interrupted when Wilson Fisk used Sullivan's radio to contact them, Murdock picked up the radio and spoke to his enemy for the first time. Fisk told him that they had a lot in common but Murdock assured him that they did not and he would bring him down. Fisk then offered Murdock the choice to kill Vladimir Ranskahov and go free, when Murdock refused, Fisk ordered his men to open fire at the police and release footage of Murdock attacking police, Fisk then hung up. Believing he'd be killed in the night, Murdock called Claire Temple to say goodbye and began searching for a way out, this time however, Ranskahov helped and they made their way through the sewer.
Once in the sewer, they were attacked by a small team of S.W.A.T. officers, Murdock was able to beat them but found the wounded Ranskahov had taken one of their guns and was aiming it at him. Ranskahov told him that he blamed on staying behind and fighting to the death, as his testimony would not lead to Fisk's arrest and only death would stop Fisk, Murdock insisted that he was not a killer. Ranskahov told him that Fisk would destroy his life and his family, he then told him that Fisk's money man's name was Leland Owlsley. Murdock then escaped as Vladimir Ranskahov fought until his death.
Reunion with Stick
- You wanted a father and I wanted a soldier."
"Then I guess we were both disappointed.
- —Stick and Matt Murdock
In the offices of Nelson and Murdock, Murdock, Foggy Nelson and Karen Page discussed the recent events in Hell's Kitchen, including the footage of the masked man attacking the police. Nelson had become convinced that the masked man was a terrorist while Page insisted he was not. Murdock later tracked down and attacked Leland Owlsley and asked him for whom he worked; when Owlsley lied, Murdock punched him. Before he could get anymore information from him however, he was distracted by the sound of a man with a stick approaching; Owlsley used this moment to stun him with a taser before escaping. As Murdock lay on the ground, his own mentor Stick arrived and berated him for being beaten by an old man.
Murdock brought Stick back to his apartment, where Stick began to immediately insult him, claiming that he should not be living such a comfortable lifestyle. Murdock argued that Stick was just pissed off that he had made something of his life without his help. Stick told him that he should abandon his work, life and friends and live as a warrior. When Stick insulted Jack Murdock's legacy, Murdock attacked him but was only able to break his hold. Stick revealed he was there to continue his war by fighting the Japanese and wanted the weapon Nobu was transporting, known as Black Sky. Murdock agreed to help him as long as Stick promised not to kill anyone.
The pair arrived at the dock and found Nobu moving a large container from a cargo ship. Stick sent Murdock down to fight off Nobu's soldiers; he went down and silently knocked out a few of the guards without raising the alarm. When the container was opened, Murdock realized that Black Sky was in fact a young child. Sensing that Stick was preparing to shoot the child with an arrow, Murdock leapt into action and deflected the arrow, alerting the guards to his presence. Nobu escaped with Black Sky and Murdock fought off the guards. When the guards were defeated, Murdock realized that Stick had disappeared.
Back in his apartment, Murdock found Stick waiting for him. Stick revealed that he had indeed hunted down and murdered Black Sky. Furious at the realization, Murdock attacked Stick; during the fight most of Murdock's apartment was damaged or destroyed. Stick was able to maintain the upper hand during the majority of the fight but in the end, Murdock managed to defeat his former mentor. Murdock threw Stick's bag at him and demanded that he leave his home. After Stick had gone, Murdock was cleaning up his apartment when he found the bracelet he had made for Stick as a child, which he believed Stick had destroyed when he left him as a child.
Exposing Fisk
The next morning, Murdock awoke in his wrecked apartment and went to work. Arriving, Murdock overheard Foggy Nelson and Karen Page discussing their secret investigation of Union Allied Construction. Murdock tried to convince them to leave it alone for their own good, but Page was insistent. They told him they were working with Ben Urich, who would break the story for them. Murdock agreed to help them, as long as they promised they would bring down Union Allied through the legal system. While they investigated the case, Page told them Detective Christian Blake had just woken up in hospital after being shot.
When Murdock arrived at Blake's hospital ward, he found Carl Hoffman injecting him with poison. Murdock put Hoffman in a chokehold and knocked him out before turning his attention to Blake. He locked the door and informed Blake the poison had already reached his heart; there was nothing anyone could do to save his life. The vigilante told Blake to tell him everything he knew about Wilson Fisk. Once Blake had given him the information he needed, Murdock escaped the room moments before the police kicked down the door and found Blake lying dead.
Murdock later tracked down Ben Urich, the journalist Karen Page had been speaking to. Murdock insisted he was not the one responsible for the explosions in Hell's Kitchen. Instead, he wanted Urich to expose the man who was--Fisk. Urich was initially unsure about this claim. When he pressed Murdock for proof, the vigilante was unable to provide any. However, Murdock did reveal to Urich the details of Fisk's operation, including Leland Owlsley's involvement and Fisk's part in the murder of Detective Blake. Urich ultimately agreed to write the article. However, not long afterwards, Fisk made a public announcement which contradicted everything Urich would have said.
Questioning Morality
- Do you believe in the Devil, Father?"
"You mean as a concept?"
"No, do you believe he exists, in this world, among us?
- —Matt Murdock speaks to Father Lantom
Considering the recent events, Murdock went to Father Lantom for council and accepted his offer for a latte. Once Lantom had poured his coffee, Murdock asked him if he believed in the Devil and if the Devil walked among them. Lantom chose to tell Murdock the tale of a holy man he had met while working overseas; Lantom had witnessed the man and his family murdered by a military commander. Lantom claimed that he had seen the Devil in the eyes of the man who had murdered his friend.
Murdock arrived back at the offices of Nelson and Murdock to discover Ben Urich was having a meeting with Karen Page and Foggy Nelson about what to do about bringing down Fisk. Murdock joined the debate, agreeing with most of Urich's points as they both wanted to keep everyone as safe as possible; they discussed tracking down Armand Tully who was responsible for moving tenants from their homes under Fisk's orders. When Page commented on how "bad ass" the man in the mask was, Murdock could not help but smile, despite Nelson still claiming that the man was a terrorist.
As their leads proved more and more fruitless, they were visited by Elena Cardenas, who revealed that Wilson Fisk had doubled the offer to get the tenants to move from their homes. They agreed to refuse the offer and to continue to fight back. After she had gone however, Murdock argued that it was too dangerous to fight Fisk this way as he was sure to win. He told them to continue digging as he believed they would find something in a lost document somewhere. Murdock then went out to look for the woman who appeared with Fisk at his press event as he appeared to be close to her; Page confirmed which art gallery she worked and Murdock left.
Meeting Wilson Fisk
- This city and its future, seeing Hell's Kitchen to its fullest potential is very important to me."
"I feel the same way.
- —Wilson Fisk and Matt Murdock
Murdock arrived at the Scene Contempo Gallery where he was soon approached by Vanessa Marianna. Murdock jokingly explained the reasons for a blind man looking to purchase art as he claimed his guests would often state his home was a bit stark and he wished to warm it up. Marianna began describing some of the pieces of artwork for Murdock to imagine. He then asked her if she was seeing anyone, claiming to wish to know what a man who won her heart appreciated. Wilson Fisk then arrived in the building; although he had to control his anger, Murdock greeted him warmly. Fisk claimed that if he wished to purchase art he should buy whatever Marianna suggested; Murdock however reminded him that they should not be speaking as they were on opposing sides of a law case. Murdock then left claiming he needed to consider the cost of the art work.
Seeking moral guidance, Murdock went to visit Father Lantom again. Murdock told Lantom that he had been to visit someone close to the devil and had only learned that Fisk did indeed have someone he loved, who loved him in return. Lantom tried to convince him to leave the judgement and punishment to God, as he did not wish for Murdock to commit murder. Murdock and Lantom discussed if it was better to commit murder or allow someone to continue to cause grave crimes without being stopped. Lantom then posed the question if Murdock was struggling with the thought that he had to kill the Devil but did not want to, or that he did not have to but wanted to.
Back in the office, Foggy Nelson presented Murdock with an official sign for Nelson and Murdock. While they were celebrating however, Karen Page received a phonecall that Elena Cardenas had been murdered in her home. They went together to identify the body and Brett Mahoney revealed that a junkie had stabbed her while stealing her purse. The group went to Josie's Bar to drown their sorrows with alcohol; there they discussed the idea that Cardenas' death was not a random act of violence but a planned assassination. While they were talking, Wilson Fisk appeared on the TV claiming to be mourning Mrs. Cardenas' death. Murdock and Page then discussed religion where Murdock revealed his Catholic beliefs. Murdock then claimed to have had enough and left.
Encounter with Wilson Fisk
- I'm gonna kill you."
"Take your shot.
- —Matt Murdock and Wilson Fisk
Putting on his black suit, Murdock hunted down the junkie who had killed Elena Cardenas; he questioned the man violently, throwing him into broken glass. The junkie claimed not to know the names of the men who hired him, stating he had been taken to a warehouse and given his orders. Murdock ordered the man to surrender himself to Brett Mahoney at the police station.
Arriving at the warehouse, Murdock was confronted by Nobu, who was wearing an all red ninja suit. Murdock complimented Nobu on his ability to slow his heartbeat to ensure the encounter was a surprise. As the two fought, Murdock was vastly outmatched and was cut and stabbed repeatedly by Nobu's Kyoketsu-shoge. Managing to rip off Nobu's mask, the ninja commented that Murdock was a worthy opponent and he considered it to be an honor to claim his life. Eventually Murdock, barely able to stand, managed to kick Nobu into fuel which was lit on fire by an electrical spark, causing Nobu to burn to death.
Before he could escape, Murdock was confronted by Wilson Fisk, who was accompanied by James Wesley and one of his guards. Fisk claimed he had used Murdock to kill Nobu, although he had wished that they had killed each other and admitted to organizing the death of Elena Cardenas. Murdock told him he would kill him and the two began fighting, but the wounded Murdock was no match for Fisk and was brutally beaten. During the fight he tried to cut Fisk and learned he was wearing body armor in his suit. As Murdock lay wounded, Fisk ordered Wesley to shoot him, but Murdock managed to leap from the window and swim to safety. He eventually made it back to his apartment where he collapsed and was found by Foggy Nelson.
Nelson vs Murdock
- If you weren't half dead I would kick your ass, Murdock; am I lying about that?"
"No.
- —Foggy Nelson and Matt Murdock
Nelson called Claire Temple who arrived and treated Murdock's injuries, when he regained consciousness, he found Nelson still in his apartment, furious about having been lied to for all the years of their friendship. Nelson questioned if Murdock was the one responsible for the bombing and the killings of cops, Murdock told him that Fisk was responsible for everything. When Karen Page tried to phone, Nelson turned the phone off, when Page called Nelson, he answered and told her that Murdock was in a car accident. He then demanded that Murdock tell him everything about his abilities and his history.
Murdock told him how he was trained by Stick and how he had been taught to use his blindness as an advantage. Later Nelson received a call from Brett Mahoney informing him that the junkie who killed Elena Cardenas had seemingly committed suicide by jumping off a roof. Murdock told Nelson that he had never killed anyone but wanted to after Cardenas' death, telling him how he had gone to the warehouse with the intention of killing Wilson Fisk. Murdock then told Nelson how his abilities actually developed as he was a child and how he tried not to become a fighter to make his father proud but was left with no choice when he heard about a little girl being abused by her father, leading him to attack the father, putting him on the path to wearing the mask. During their continued arguments Nelson compared Murdock to Fisk and told him he would not have kept this a secret from him before storming out.
Mental and Physical Recovery
Karen Page arrived the next morning to check on Murdock, believing him to have been in a car accident. Murdock opened a bottle of beer for himself and skirted around the questions Page threw at him. Page started to suspect there was not a car accident and Murdock had endangered himself against Wilson Fisk after meeting Vanessa Marianna, she asked him if someone had broken in and beaten him up and Murdock said nothing. Page then told him that they had discovered that Fisk's mother was still alive and living under the name Marlene Vistain and Fisk had murdered his father as a young boy. Murdock reminded skeptical as he did not believe it would make a difference, Page left after giving Murdock a balloon.
When Murdock tried to move too much he pulled out his stitches, so he called Claire Temple who returned to stitch up is wounds again. They spoke about how Murdock used meditation to help heal his wounds, Temple suggested that Murdock should invest in body armor to protect himself, he told her how he had seen that Wilson Fisk wore a special light body armor. Temple then announced that she was planning on leaving the city for a few months, she told him that she believed he had been killed the night the Russians were blown up and they knew that they could only be together if Murdock stopped wearing the mask, which he never would. She left after telling him she would always be there to patch him up and comparing him to a martyr.
With little confidence, Murdock returned to church to seek guidance from Father Lantom. Murdock told him that he did not kill the man he had told him about, but that he had wanted to, he explained how Claire Temple had told him if he continued what he was doing he would end up bloody and alone. Lantom revealed that he knew that Murdock was indeed the man in the mask who was attacking criminals at night, although he did not know how he did it. Murdock asked why God had put the Devil within him and they discussed what the Devil actually represented.
Designing the Red Suit
- What do you want me to make?"
"A symbol.
- —Melvin Potter and Matt Murdock
Murdock returned home and tried to meditate to calm his mind and recover his body, but he continued to suffer from the memories of his violent fights with Nobu and Wilson Fisk. Putting his suit back on, he tracked down and chased Turk Barrett and disarmed him. He threatened that if he went for any of his backup weapons, he would throw him off the roof. Murdock demanded to know where Fisk got his armored suits from, Barrett initially claimed to not know but quickly revealed that it was Melvin Potter when Murdock nearly threw him off the roof.
Arriving at Melvin Potter's Workshop, Murdock explored the Workshop and looked at designs and blueprints on the tables. He was soon interrupted by the arrival of Melvin Potter. When Murdock revealed his presence, Potter appeared confused and frightened, claiming that no one should be there, he then attacked Murdock with items around the workshop including chains and buzzsaws. Eventually Murdock managed to overpower Potter and spoke to him, Murdock quickly realized that Potter was a mentally unstable man who was being forced to work for Wilson Fisk under the threat that his friend and carer Betsy Beatty would be killed. Murdock promised he would protect Potter and Beatty if he designed an armored suit for him.
Murdock arrived back at the Nelson and Murdock Law Office and found Foggy Nelson and Karen Page speaking to each other, after an awkward encounter with Nelson as he was leaving in which neither said a word, Murdock spoke to Page. Page told him that Nelson believed that he had taken responsibility for the death of Elena Cardenas, she tried to convince him to repair his relationship with his friend. Murdock suspected that Page was hiding something, when he asked if something had happened she told him that the world had fallen apart.
Bringing down the Drug Trade
Murdock met with Ben Urich outside his offices and asked him for information regarding the heroin he had taken from the junkie who had killed Elena Cardenas. He told Urich that he believed since the Russians had been wiped out, Wilson Fisk would have likely taken over distribution of the heroin and he wanted to disrupt that trade to throw Fisk off balance. When Urich revealed he was working on something he believed could help, Murdock told him to keep his head down, using Anatoly Ranskahov's death as an example. Urich told him it was a woman running the Chinese drug trade and they were using blind men and women to deliver the heroin. Urich jokingly told Murdock he needed a new outfit and Murdock assured him he was working on it.
Waiting in the street Ben Urich told him he had seen the blind men delivering the drugs, Murdock used his heightened hearing, he waited to hear the taps of a stick. Murdock followed the woman until she was picked up by a car, Murdock followed the car using the classical music it was playing to keep track of it's location, running over rooftops until it stopped outside a warehouse. Murdock listened and memorized the secret knock to gain entry. Murdock returned home, while stitching up his wounds again he called Karen Page to tell her he would not be coming into the office as he claimed he was working on something that could help the case.
Murdock used the secret knock to gain entry into the Chinese drugs den, once inside he took out the guards before looking at all the blind workers making the heroin, who had seemingly all been blinded with burns. He was spotted by the woman in charge, Madame Gao, who ordered the workers to attack him. Murdock survived the attack however and confronted Gao, she revealed that all her workers had blinded themselves rather than her blinding them because they had faith in her. When Murdock tried to ask her about Wilson Fisk, she hit him in the chest and sent him flying across the room, when he looked up he found she had escaped. With the building burning down, Murdock ordered one of the guards to allow the blind workers to escape. As Murdock was leaving he was confronted by Brett Mahoney who attempted to arrest him, Murdock knocked him down and told him that Christian Blake and Carl Hoffman were dirty cops before escaping.
Murdock returned to the office to find Karen Page had locked the door, Page asked him if the company had become three people who never speak to each other, in response Murdock quoted Stick's speech that he should push the people he cared about away, and although he had tried to ignore it he clearly had listened to those words and taken them onboard. He told Page that he had had a terrible night in which he had seen the worst of humanity and learned that he could not do what he did alone anymore. As he broke down crying, Page took him in her arms and comforted him telling him he was not alone and he never was.
While training at Fogwell's Gym, Murdock was visited by Foggy Nelson, when Nelson asked how he had found him, Nelson told him he had always known about the gym but assumed it was something to do with Murdock's father so he had never questioned it. Nelson revealed he had been working with Marci Stahl who had been copying files concerning Landman and Zack's dealings with Wilson Fisk and Leland Owlsley, Murdock told him to leave it alone. Nelson desperately tried to convince him not to go after Fisk in the mask again to use the law and they agreed to work together again.
Bringing down Fisk
The pair met with Brett Mahoney who spoke about the warehouse fire at Madame Gao's base, he told them about his encounter with the masked man and how he was starting to believe that Wilson Fisk was the enemy. During their conversation Murdock overheard two officers talking about hunting down Carl Hoffman, they continued their research back at the Nelson and Murdock offices where Karen Page commented on how nice it was to be back together. They looked through the files given to them by Marci Stahl to try and find anything in the money movements that could led them to where Leland Owlsley could be keeping Carl Hoffman. Eventually Page worked out there was a property missing from the record and there was no profit from selling it, meaning it was being hidden from the records.
Murdock went down to the building and found a team of corrupt police officers had killed Owlsley's guards and were preparing to shot Carl Hoffman, Murdock was able to save Hoffman and take out the corrupt officers. He sat opposite Hoffman and convinced him to give evidence against Wilson Fisk rather than sit and wait for someone to kill him. He told him to give himself into Brett Mahoney and use Nelson and Murdock as his lawyers. Murdock followed him to ensure he did as instructed and watched as Hoffman arrived at the precinct and gave himself up to Mahoney. Nelson and Murdock were hired as his lawyers and sat with him as he gave evidence against Fisk, exposing his entire operation and leading to the arrests of Turk Barrett, the corrupt cops, Senator Randolph Cherryh and Wilson Fisk.
With Fisk being taken to prison, Murdock celebrated with Foggy Nelson and Karen Page. They raised their glasses in tribute to everyone Fisk had hurt, including Elena Cardenas. However during their celebrations, a news report came on the television showing that the armored van carrying Wilson Fisk was being hijacked, they decided to get home quickly before they became endangered but Murdock decided to leave them and get his own taxi, Nelson tried to convince him not to endanger himself but Murdock convinced him he knew what he was doing. He took a cab to Melvin Potter's Workshop where he collected his new red and black armored suit. Standing on a rooftop, Murdock listened to the police sirens to try and locate Fisk.
Showdown with Wilson Fisk
- You were right. What you told me over the radio that night. Not everyone deserves a happy ending.
- —Daredevil to Wilson Fisk
Finding the van transporting Fisk, Murdock threw one of his batons at the window, causing the driver to crash. Murdock confronted Wilson Fisk and told him that not everyone deserved a happy ending. While Murdock fought his guards, Fisk attempted to escape on foot. After knocking out the guard with the use of his batons, Murdock cornered his enemy, Fisk roared at Daredevil, telling him he was going to kill him, Murdock repeated what Fisk had told him after his fight with Nobu and told him to take his shot.
The pair engaged in a fierce and brutal fight, with Fisk's brute strength and determination was equally matched with Murdock's speed and agility. Although his new armored suit offered extra protection, Fisk was still able to beat Murdock nearly to death by throwing him at walls and hard onto the ground before beating with with a metal pole repeatedly, all while ranting about how the city did not deserve heroes but deserved people like himself and his father. Determined to bring Fisk down, Murdock disarmed Fisk and used his own batons to beat him into submission. Barely able to stand, Fisk mocked Murdock's attempts to make a difference to the city while wearing a costume, but with a final hard punch to the face, Daredevil knocked out Fisk. Brett Mahoney arrived on the scene and arrested Fisk.
Daredevil
- That is a serious upgrade."
"I don't know, I think the horns are a little much.
- —Karen Page and Foggy Nelson talk about Daredevil
The next morning, Karen Page read the newspaper article regarding Fisk's arrest at the hands of Daredevil and joked about the name and the costume. Foggy Nelson finished attaching a sign to the outside of the Nelson and Murdock offices. They discussed how long it could take for Wilson Fisk to go to trial considering the size of the case. Murdock spoke to Page, commenting that there was still something in her voice that told him she was still frightened; she told him that putting Fisk behind bars would not bring back Elena Cardenas or erase the trauma they had been through. He told her all they could do was move forward.
That same night, Murdock put on his new red armored suit once more and stood on a rooftop overlooking his beloved city, now free from the clutches of Wilson Fisk and his deadly plans, but still in need of a lone hero willing to protect its people from any dangers and new enemies that came its way. Upon hearing the screams of some women in danger nearby, Daredevil readied his batons and ran off the roof to save them, ready to forever protect the good and the innocent people of Hell's Kitchen from whatever threat that came their way, now or in the future.
- Turk, I've been all over the city looking for you.
- —Daredevil to Turk Barrett
Upon discovering Turk Barrett has escaped jail, yet again, Daredevil tracked down and ambushed him while he was trying to collect money from one of his clients. Daredevil fought and defeated not just Barrett, but the gangsters there who were having an illegal card game. The brawl brought Barrett to the hospital, having been almost beaten to death by Murdock, which was brought to the attention of high-school student Jessica Jones who was conducting her own investigation into Barrett.
Guardian Devil
- Mr. Almedia walked out of his apartment with the intention to hack Mrs. Almeida into many bloody pieces, starting by taking off her head. Guess what, it never happened, instead he woke up in a hospital with two broken arms and a restraining order safety pinned to his chest. If I take a night off, people get hurt.
- —Matt Murdock to Foggy Nelson
Daredevil chased down four robbers in New York City. He subdued the first one who was about to kill a police officer. The second one, he cornered and brutally beat in the kitchen of a restaurant; the third one, who was interrupted by a man who nearly drove him over and whose car he was about to steal, he knocked out and told the driver to call 9-1-1. The final one took a teenage girl hostage and held himself up in a church.
Daredevil soon tracked the criminal down and cornered him where he threw his Billy Club in such a way that he managed to knock out all of the lights in the room, causing the criminal to panic. Daredevil then revealed himself in the darkness of the church and, after a brief stand off, he managed to subdue the robber and secure the girl's safety as officers arrived, while Daredevil took his position on the roof of the church where he could not be discovered. As he watched from above, more officers arrived to the scene, Daredevil smiled happily, having now fully immersed himself in his vigilante lifestyle.
The "Devil" Problem
- We'll manage, I don't know how but I know we will."
"Great, well in the meantime I guess we have lots of pastries and fruit."
"Yeah, and fans.
- —Matt Murdock and Karen Page
The next morning Murdock and Foggy Nelson walked towards the Nelson and Murdock Law Office together with Nelson telling him about his date the previous night. As the two joked, Nelson noticed blood coming from the back of Murdock's head from his latest outing as Daredevil. While Murdock insisted they didn't have to talk about it, Nelson insisted, and told Murdock that he was having a hard time making excuses for his injuries, and pointed out that he would be arrested, or at the very least, disbarred from practicing law, only for Murdock to claim that Nelson would just continue to run the firm without him if it came to it.
Murdock then proceeded to tell him the story of Zuly Almeida and insisted that if he took a night off as Daredevil people would get hurt. Nelson told Murdock that he didn't want to lose him and Murdock assured him he wouldn't. Arriving at the office, the two met up with Karen Page, who proceeded to lay out the cases they had today, including Jacinto, Marino and Maxwell before telling them in private that while they had more clients then ever, they were broke. Murdock insisted they would get by somehow, noting he did not know how, and they moved on to focus on their current clients.
Punisher Hunt
A New Criminal Client
- If you're the only one who survived your good fortune is going to rub some powerful people the wrong way."
"No shit! I got a pack of killers gunning for my men, my people think I'm a traitor or a rat.
- —Matt Murdock and Grotto
Later Murdock, Foggy Nelson and Karen Page went to Josie's Bar where they shot pool. When Nelson went to get some more drinks Page helped Murdock try to shoot. He then heard her heart racing. Murdock picked up another rapid heartbeat as well, mentioning it to Nelson along with the fact that the man had his finger on the trigger of a gun. Murdock went to confront the man named Grotto, a low member of the Kitchen Irish, who was actually looking for both him and Nelson.
Taking a seat at their table with Nelson, Murdock, and Page, Grotto described a massacre in which every Irish member was killed by some king of army. After listening to his heart beat Murdock knew he was telling the truth and warned that he would become a target for going to them for help. Grotto then claimed that he only wanted to be placed in witness protection. Grotto then told them he would give the police anything if he could get out of New York City, and he told them all he wanted was a second chance to do right. He then collapsed, from a wound he had sustained during the gunfire.
Murdock and Nelson went to the scene of the massacre which was now being investigated by the New York City Police Department. Meeting up with Brett Mahoney, who refused to tell them anything, Murdock used his superhuman hearing to listen in on the cops who revealed that the gangsters were wearing body armor. Mahoney relented and told the lawyers that this wasn’t the first huge gang hit, and that the police thought a paramilitary outfit of some sort was behind the attacks. Mahoney then warned them to keep their witness away. Murdock decided to investigate further, as Daredevil.
Confronting Turk Barrett
- The Irish had a whole squad massacred tonight."
"That's a damn shame cause I'm fresh outta sympathy cards."
"There's talk about an army in town, military grade firepower, high volume, whose the supplier Turk?"
"You think I know? Shit like that's so high above my pay grade. I'm telling you the truth. That tin in my trunk couldn't kill a rabbit.
- —Daredevil and Turk Barrett
Daredevil disrupted the deal going on between Turk Barrett involving firearms. After defeating the thugs and Barrett, Daredevil interrogated Barrett, asking about who had supplied the weapons that had caused the Massacre at the Burren Club. When Daredevil literally twisted his arm, Barrett told Daredevil that the Mexican Cartel might be behind the the attack before he was then knocked out by Daredevil and left for the police to arrive and arrest him once again.
Daredevil then went to the location given to him by Barrett where the Mexican Cartel were hiding out, only to discover most of them dead and hung on meat hooks. As he sensed over the scene, Daredevil discovered that only one person was still being alive, clinging to life despite being injured horrifically and left to die on the hook. Daredevil carefully took the man off the meat hook and then asked what had happened. As the tried to stay alive while slowly bleeding to death from his injuries, the gang member eventually revealed that it was not a whole army targeting the gangs, but only one man.
Finding the Punisher
- Blood is being shed, Foggy."
"And you've donated more than your fair share to the cause.
- —Matt Murdock and Foggy Nelson
Daredevil located the culprit who was about to kill Grotto with a sniper rifle outside Metro-General Hospital. The two engaged in a brutal fight where Daredevil found himself suprised by the man's brutal savagery and strength. Daredevil eventually seemed to finally gain the upper hand, only for the shooter to take out a pistol and shoot Daredevil in the head, knocking him off the building.
The gunshot knocked Murdock unconscious, but did not penetrate his helmet, which was damaged. Murdock remained unconscious until the following morning, when Foggy Nelson found him. Nelson managed to get back to Murdock's home without being noticed. Nelson once again expressed anger and exasperation at Murdock's vigilanteism, but Murdock made it clear that he did not trust the New York City Police Department to handle the shooter. Although he was suffering from a headache and clearly still recovering from the gunshot wound, Murdock wanted to join Nelson and Karen Page at the 15th Precinct to help get a witness protection agreement for Grotto. However, Nelson insisted that Murdock stay home and recover, and asked him to trust him to do his job.
Some time later, Murdock attempted to get a glass of water from his sink when his hearing became distorted. Sounds were so loud that they were painful. The sound of an aspirin hitting the tabletop disturbed him so much that he dropped his glass of water. To his shock, he realized that the glass made no sound when it shattered on the floor. He panicked, realizing that he now could no longer hear nor see. After some time, he meditated, and his hearing returned in time for him to hear someone knocking at the door.
He opened the door to let in Karen Page, who was still shaky after fleeing the shooter the night before. Seeing the broken glass on the floor, she assumed that Murdock had been drinking. When she questioned him about his injuries, he jokingly reminded her that he was blind. She sarcastically replied that she was not an idiot. Backing off, she told him that she would be there for him whenever he felt comfortable telling her what is going on.
She then changed the subject, filling him in about Grotto's case, including the fact that Reyes personally met them at the Precinct. She also told him that the shooter was being called "The Punisher" and mused if the people of the city had helped create him by cheering on Daredevil. Murdock quickly pointed out that Daredevil had never killed anyone, but she replied that they simply never heard about him killing anyone. Before leaving, she told Murdock that she and Nelson cared about him and that he was worth keeping around.
As soon as Page left, Murdock brought the damaged helmet to Melvin Potter in his workshop and asked him if he could repair it. Potter was not optimistic, saying that it would be best if he could construct an entire new helmet, as the damage was severe. Murdock convinced him to repair the damaged helmet as best he could so he could go after The Punisher as soon as possible, and then create a new one later.
Wearing a black hoodie, Murdock clandestinely inspected the Burren Club where the Kitchen Irish had been massacred. Outside the club, he found a dog's chain and picked up the scent of the dog, who had been injured. He was able to track the dog's movements until he came across a stretch of pavement that was being washed, eliminating the scent. Standing on the street, he picked up the sound of a police radio, and traced the sound back to a small apartment, where a chained dog began barking at him. Murdock calmed the dog with a handful of nearby dog food and listened to the police radio. He overheard plans to draw out The Punisher using Grotto as bait.
Round Two with Punisher
Murdock returned to Melvin Potter's Workshop and donned his newly repaired helmet and suit. He went to the location where the New York City Police Department had set their trap for The Punisher. However, Punisher discovered the trap and atempted to kill several Dogs of Hell members so as to distract the Police Department, he then aim at Grotto in order to kill him. Fortuately, Daredevil found him on the nearby roof and attacked him; the two brawled while the police shot at The Punisher. After a lenghty fight between the two combatants, they crashed through a skylight into the building below. Arising, Daredevil's hearing began to fail him again and he became disoriented. The Punisher used this to his advantage, knocking Daredevil unconscious.
Debating with Punisher
- I'm guessing you've done this, what ten, maybe 20 times? How long's it been? Six months, a year or your whole life? Something tells me you don't take breaks. You know, no one else has to die. You could stop now. Walk away."
"Walk away? Could you do that? Could you walk away?
- —Daredevil and Punisher
Daredevil awoke from a dream in which a nun was tending to him while he was a boy. Upon awakening, he discovered that he was chained to a chimney on a rooftop. As he struggled against the chains and tried to free himself, Punisher wished him a good morning. When Daredevil asked him why he didn't remove his mask, he responded that he didn't care about his identity. Daredevil deduced that the man was a soldier and tried to get him to reveal information about himself, asking if he was a Catholic and if he was from New York City but the man warned him not to dig.
Daredevil heard someone approaching the roof from inside the building, and asked The Punisher not to hurt him. The Punisher warned Daredevil that if he called attention to himself again, the person approaching the roof was going to get hurt. Daredevil overheard the Punisher speaking to an older man, introducing himself as Frank. The old man and Frank bonded over being veterans in the United States Armed Forces, with Frank revealing he had served as a marine in both Iraq and Afghanistan, while the older man served in Vietnam War years earlier.
During the conversation, Daredevil strained against his chains, attracting the veteran's attention, but Frank simply told the old man the noise was a rat and pressed a gun to the door leading inside the building in a way that the old man couldn't see it. Satisfied that Frank was just on the roof to have a smoke, the old man left and returned to his apartment, sharing one last joke with Frank as he walked away. Alone with the man who called himself Frank, Daredevil accused him of threatening an innocent man, but Frank replied that the gun was for Daredevil's benefit.
The two began to argue about their differing methods of justice. Daredevil argued that all human beings had a spark of goodness in them, and that there was always hope they would find redemption and change their ways to become better people, while Frank argued that the criminals Daredevil put away always got out of prison again, and continued to hurt innocents, therefore Daredevil's methods were worthless. Frank claimed that the only way to stop the cycle was to kill them. Daredevil then told Frank that he would never stop coming after him, because he was insane and needed to be stopped, so Frank knocked Daredevil unconscious by hitting him with his gun.
A Fatal Test
- You don't do it, his death's on you. Either way, you're a killer."
"What kind of choice is that?"
"The kind I make every time I pull the trigger.
- —Punisher and Daredevil
When Daredevil regained consciousness, he was horrified to find that the Punisher had duct taped a gun to his hand. Frank informed him that there was only one round in the chamber, and that he was wearing body armor, so the only way to stop him was to shoot him in the head. Frank then dragged Grotto into Daredevil's view, explaining that he was going to kill him, and the only way Daredevil could stop him was to shoot Frank.
Frank coerced Grotto into telling Daredevil that he had performed hits for the Kitchen Irish mob while he was working for their leader Nesbitt, while being beaten, Grotto finally admitted to killing an old woman who had witnessed one of the hits. Despite hearing all this, Daredevil refused to shoot Grotto. Frank said that he would do it himself, and the only way for Daredevil to stop that from happening would be for him to shoot Frank. Murdock, however, found another way - he used the one bullet in the gun to shoot through his chains and free himself.
Now free, Daredevil charged forward and attacked Frank, but was unable to stop him from fatally shooting Grotto. As Daredevil tried to comfort the dying Grotto, Frank took aim at motorcycles parked outside the Dogs of Hell headquarters. With Grotto now dead having bled out from his fatal wound, Daredevil launched himself at Frank, but Frank was still able to take the shot, causing a large explosion, alerting Jimmy the Bear and his men. Daredevil fought and eventually subdued Frank, taking him inside the building and placing him in a freight elevator to make their escape quickly.
Fighting the Dogs of Hell
- Get in your apartment, lock the door."
"What about you?"
"I'm good.
- —Daredevil and Jerry
Just as Daredevil was about to leave the building in the elevator with the still unconscious Punisher, bikers from the Dogs of Hell arrived led by their leader Jimmy the Bear, angry at the destruction of their bikes. The old man from the rooftop emerged from his apartment. Daredevil, knowing the man was in danger, left Frank inside the elevator and grabbed Jimmy, threatening him with the empty gun. Once the man was safe, Daredevil pulled the trigger and chuckled before beginning the fight.
This began a long, protracted fight between Daredevil and the Dogs of Hell, in which Murdock used his superior fighting skills along with the chain he was still trailing to defeat them, smashing out the ceiling lights to force the bikers to fight in the darkness where he had the clear advantage over them as Daredevil did not require light to see. Going down the stairway, Daredevil fought seemingly endless waves of the bikers, but kept using his chain as a long range weapon while he fought hand to hand while always ensuring that he never fatally wounded anybody during his brutal takedowns of the bikers.
Despite the seemingly endless wave of Dogs of Hell fighters attacking him with whatever weapons they had in their hands, Daredevil eventually made it down the stairs having knocked out almost all of his attackers. As he entered the ground floor lobby, Daredevil discovered only three bikers remained, keeping him from freedom. As he was so exhausted, Daredevil was unable to dodge one punch to the head which dazed him and allowed his enemies to gang up and beat him repeatedly in the chest and head, but he quickly recovered and knocked out all but one of the bikers remaining.
In the end, one final biker remained, the largest of the group, who used his strength to throw Daredevil across the long hallway and attempted to strange him to death and even came close to breaking the exhausted Daredevil's back, but he was able to free himself and knocked him out by slamming his head repeatedly against the hard concrete floor before performing a flip and landing one final hard kick against his skull. However, once he returned to the freight elevator, he noticed that Frank had escaped into New York City during the chaos of the fight without Daredevil noticing.
Grotto's Funeral
- I did everything I could to protect my client."
"That work is done Matthew."
"Because I failed."
"At least you tried.
- —Matt Murdock and Lantom
Back at his apartment, Murdock put on his suit and got ready for the funeral for Grotto. He was visited by Karen Page who helped him with his tie and asked if he was better after taking days off sick, while he had actually been out as Daredevil. They flirted with each other and Page revealed that she had a brother who she had never mentioned before. Once he was ready, Murdock and Page left for the funeral.
Meeting Foggy Nelson, the group went to Saint Patrick's Cathedral and listened as Father Lantom explained that was Grotto was a deeply flawed person who had made many mistakes throughout his life while working for the Kitchen Irish. Lantom also revealed however that Grotto had spent his every Sunday coming to the Cathedral and praying while on his own before handing over all of his money, and once a rolex watch, into the donation plate in the hopes of finding redemption for his many sins, despite knowing redemption would never come for him, with Lantom pointing out that there was nobody to mourn his death but the three of them who sat alone.
As they left, Murdock noted that Grotto had not in fact died alone, with Nelson adding that he was surrounded by the Dogs of Hell. Murdock let everybody leave while he spoke alone with Lantom, complimenting him on his service. Murdock insisted that Grotto's death was not his fault, explaining about the Punisher's violent actions and asked for forgiveness for not saving him, asking why he felt such guilt for failing Grotto. Lantom explained however that guilt could be a good thing as it could bring him to action, noting that while he likely could not have done more, the guilt meant his work was not finished.
Back at Nelson and Murdock Law Office, Murdock and Nelson listened as Page explained that she had found evidence that Frank Castle had been shot in the head during the Massacre at Central Park and that Samantha Reyes had this evidence that Blake Tower had given to Page, explaining that they should try and find Castle. As Nelson left to answer the phone, Page then asked Murdock if she was insane while Murdock was distracted considering this new information before Murdock asked her if she really cared about what happened to Castle.
Murdock teased Page, claiming that she was insane before laughing and noting that he loved her compassion which he told her was a great quality to have. However Murdock was pulled away by Nelson who reminded him that Nelson and Murdock still had clients they had to deal with, noting DiPesta was being sued by his landlord for damaging an elevator and advised that they take the case. When they called out to Page they discovered she had left and taken the Punisher files, Murdock left to look for her while Nelson told him to find Castle first.
Hunting the Punisher
- Was this the Punisher?"
"Jesus, the Irish okay, to find the Punisher. They put a bounty on his head now all over the Kitchen people are getting hurt. It's the goddamn Wild West out there."
"Have the Irish found him?
- —Daredevil and Brett Mahoney
Donning his Daredevil's Suit, Murdock traveled to Melvin Potter's Workshop and requested his new helmet, which Melvin Potter noted was basically indestructible and would easily withstand a bullet to the head. Potter noted that he had been getting requests from criminals for new body armor ever since the Punisher had begun his massacres, which he had refused to provide as he was only protecting Betsy Beatty, Daredevil and himself from now onwards.
Daredevil traveled to the Burren Club where he caught the attention of Officer Brett Mahoney who was gathering evidence from the massacre. Daredevil questioned what had happened there, but Mahoney refused to help, noting that although he had helped them catch Wilson Fisk they were not allies, although he eventually admitted that it involved the Kitchen Irish. Mahoney then accused Daredevil of causing them problems with the police's respect in New York City before getting a call about a shootout in Central Park, so Daredevil quietly left the club to investigate on his own.
Daredevil traveled to Central Park where he found several members of the Kitchen Irish had been shot and killed, with the exception of Rory, who was attempting to cruel away despite several bullet wounds. Rory attempted to shoot Daredevil but missed and had his arm twisted the wrong way as Daredevil demanded to know what had happened. As he was in agony and slowly bleeding out due to his wounds, Rory finally revealed that Finn Cooley had taken found and kidnapped the Punisher and, upon hearing police cars coming his way, eventually gave up where they had taken him.
Saving the Punisher
- Sometimes I think you just might really be the devil."
"Sometimes I think I might be, too.
- —Punisher and Daredevil
Travelling to the Kitchen Irish's hideout, Daredevil ambushed several of the thugs sent by Finn Cooley. Using the darkness and his own speed to his advantage, Daredevil knocked out one guard and used the moment of confusion to take out the second. When more thugs were called to investigate, Daredevil attacked and easily subdued them all using his body armor and billy club before continuing his search.
Daredevil soon found Frank Castle engaged in a shoot out with the Irish having killed Cooley and survived being tortured. Daredevil saved Castle and promised that the Irish would pay, although he insisted that they not kill anyone. As they fought more thugs, Daredevil constantly had to ensure that Castle did not use any weapons to kill the Irish, knocking a gun and a hammer out of his hands, with Castle insulting him for this. Once all the thugs were defeated and knocked unconscious, Daredevil helped Castle to his feet and they escaped the hideout.
They soon made it to Saint Michael's Cemetery, however Castle found himself unable to keep walking due to his many injuries and sat down by a grave. Although Castle insisted he was dying, Daredevil stayed by his side and listened as Castle explained his time with the United States Armed Forces and his incredible joy at finally being reunited with his beloved family upon returning to New York City. However Castle also explained the emotional agony he had felt on the day that his family were brutally murdered at the hands of criminals during a gunfight.
Eventually members of the New York City Police Department arrived to arrest Castle, with Officer Brett Mahoney aiming his gun at Daredevil while his partner put Castle in handcuffs. As he was being arrested, Daredevil recommended to Mahoney that he take the credit for Castle's capture in order to give the people of New York faith in the police department again. Mahoney reluctantly accepted this idea as his best move and let Daredevil go free, with Daredevil later watching from a safe distance as Castle was loaded into an ambulance to recover from his wounds in hospital.
Night with Karen Page
- Can I take you to dinner?"
"Yes."
"Tomorrow?"
"Yes.
- —Matt Murdock and Karen Page
Murdock joined Foggy Nelson and Karen Page for a drink at Josie's Bar as they watched a news report on the capture of the Punisher, celebrating the fact that Officer Brett Mahoney was getting all of the credit for the arrest. Page noted that now Castle was in custody, Samantha Reyes would find it easy to use him for her gain. Nelson went to get more drinks to distract them while Murdock and Page discussed her brother.
As they left Josie's Bar, Nelson teased Murdock that if he continued with Page then he might end up actually being happy which he joked would be terrible for someone Catholic like him. While Nelson left to get a taxi, Murdock offered to walk Page home in the rain. Once the rain died down, Murdock stopped and used his finger to gently wipe away a single drop of water from Page's arm. The pair then kissed each other before Murdock offered to take Page to dinner the next day. She eagerly agreed before Murdock wished her good night and let her catch a taxi while he then walked home.
Elektra's Return
The Surprise Visit
Once Murdock stepped into his apartment, he got himself a drink and smiled thinking about his kiss with Karen Page. However just as he relaxed, Murdock heard a noise which alerted him that somebody else was there. Drawing a knife, Murdock realized the other person was Elektra, who greeted him with an amused smile.
Murdock scolded her, asking her what she was doing in his apartment. At first, she stated that she missed him. She apologized for leaving him all those years ago, but told him she was in New York to be at a meeting. She revealed that her late father invested a lot of money in the Roxxon Oil Corporation and requested that Murdock represent her for an upcoming meeting with the board of directors. Murdock mocked her and refused the offer, even when she went as far as to pay him. He, then, ordered her to leave.
The next day, Murdock went to his office and Nelson offered him a piece of peach pie, calling it their last payment. Murdock apologized, blaming himself for the firm doing poorly and being too distracted as Daredevil. Nelson stated that he was just glad to be safe and was relieved that Castle was behind bars. When Page arrived, she began to talk about The Punisher. She showed them newspaper articles which did not report on Castle's military service nor the tragic death of his family. Murdock asked how she knew all this, and she confessed that she broke into Castle's house, much to Murdock and Nelson's disapproval.
After Nelson suggested forgetting about Castle and finding actual clients, Page apologized to Murdock about not letting go of the Punisher case and Murdock reassured her that he just wanted her safe. Page began to talk about the night after Josie's Bar, but Murdock joked that he didn't remember anything happening. He confirmed that they were still on for a dinner date, later. Then, Nelson came out of his office, informing them that they received a huge deposit in their account. Murdock knew it was from Elektra, but stated that it was from a potential client, then he left.
Suspecting Elektra
Murdock went to the Yakatomi Building as Elektra entered and met with the Roxxon Oil Corporation's board of Directors. He snuck up on the rooftops and began to listen. However, he was unaware that Elektra saw him during her meeting.
While Elektra talked to the board, she pulled out a pen, placing it on the table. Murdock, however, heard a low sound emanating from it. Suddenly, the phones began to ring and a few members of Roxxon claimed that the servers were hacked. As the members began to reschedule their meeting with Elektra, Murdock left.
Later, Murdock joined Page at a restaurant for their date. He was trying to decide what kind of wine to get and and tried to ask how her day went. When Page had to excuse herself from the table, the waiter approached him stating that he had a phone call. When he picked up, he found out it was Elektra, revealing that she knew he was at the Yakatomi Building. She told him that he was fired; she then hung up.
Later, Page returned, wondering why Murdock had left their table, but he claimed that he didn't like the restaurant. They went to a more low-budget Indian restaurant instead, toasting to "the cheap stuff". They started talking about what they loved about New York. Then, Murdock and Page walked to her home, where they began to kiss. She invited him inside, but he declined the offer, telling her that he wanted to keep the night perfect. They said goodnight and Murdock left.
Later in the evening, Murdock went to Elektra's penthouse, wondering why she took him to Sweeney's house when they were in college. She stated that she saw inside of him a "glorious darkness" and she wanted to see if he could kill Sweeney.
Then, Murdock heard someone's footsteps, Elektra stated that it was the Yakuza as she went into another room and changed clothes. Murdock realized that she tricked him into fighting with her, telling her that she didn't know him. In response she opened a bag which contained his Daredevil's Suit inside. Elektra then pulled up her cowl, getting ready to fight.
Murdock suited up, then hid. Later, the assassins broke in, looking for Elektra. Later, Daredevil and Elektra revealed themselves and then began to fight. After a long battle, they easily knocked out all the supposed Yakuza soldiers. As Elektra caught her breath, she pulled down her cowl and asked if Murdock was hungry, but Murdock was still furious.
The next morning, Murdock and Elektra began to eat at a diner. He demanded to know why the Yakuza was after her and she told him that she hacked into Roxxon's servers, and they had connections to the Yakuza organization. She stated that even though he took down Fisk, the Yakuza merely hid and bid their time. He then asked her how she knew he was Daredevil. She answered that she recognized his ass on the news, even with the costume on.
Elektra asked Murdock to help her figure out the connection between the Yakuza and the Roxxon Oil Corporation. He reluctantly agreed to help, on the condition that she not kill anyone and that she leave New York as soon as they were finished. He then told Elektra that he was dating someone else, and had no desire to rekindle their past relationship.
Representing the Punisher
Murdock arrived the office late, in time to hear Castle's public defender, Christopher Roth, explain to Nelson and Page that Reyes was trying to extradite Castle into Delaware, a state which had the death sentence. After that, Roth left the office, leaving Page and Murdock trying to convince Nelson to take on Castle as their client.
Furiously, Page informed both Nelson and Murdock how frustrated she was with how Reyes was handling Castle's case. Murdock told Nelson that they didn't have to defend his actions, but merely negotiate a plea bargain that took extradition off the table. Nelson refused. When Page left so that Nelson and Murdock could talk in private, Nelson made it known that he was surprised that Murdock would want to help Castle after he held him hostage. Murdock told Nelson that he felt his actions were not worth the death penalty. Reluctantly, Nelson finally agreed, telling Page to pack her things as the three left to meet Castle in the hospital.
When they entered Metro-General Hospital, they found the entire place filled with security guards and police. Having shown their IDs, they were allowed to pass through. Brett Mahoney, now appointed as Detective Sergeant for his actions, informed them that Castle already got a lawyer and was against them from speaking to Castle, knowing it would be against Reyes' wishes. Murdock, Page and Nelson convinced him that they had a right to interview a prospective client, and he sent them in to Castle's room. When they entered, Mahoney warned them to not cross the tape that surrounded his bed.
Murdock was the first to confront Castle, introducing himself, but Castle stated that he knew who they were, and criticized how they defended scumbags that deserved to die. Murdock talked to Castle about possibly negotiating a plea, but Castle rejected his offer. Then, Page, ignoring Mahoney's rule about the tape, stormed towards Castle and showed him the photo of his family, telling him that if he got the death penalty, then he would be unable to find answers to his family's murder.
Then, Reyes arrived in Castle's room, angry that Nelson and Murdock were talking to Castle without Roth, accusing them of a breaching of ethics. However, Murdock chimed in, stating that they had a right to find potential clients. Reyes found it odd, noting that they represented Grotto before, causing a conflict of interest. Then, Mahoney came out of Castle's room and delivered the news that that Castle had asked to have Nelson and Murdock represent him in court.
The three entered an empty room and began to strategize the case, feeling the need to use all their files on Castle, until a chauffeur arrived, asking for Murdock. Murdock knew that the chauffeur had been sent by Elektra, but told Nelson and Page that he had scheduled a meeting with a wealthy client and, with that, he left.
Spying on the Yakuza
Murdock entered a car with Elektra, who presented him with a tuxedo, much to his annoyance. As he put on the tuxedo, she revealed that they were heading to a gala being held by the Roxxon Oil Corporation in order to steal a key card from a man named Stan Gibson and enter a secret room that should contain a ledger that describes the Yakuza's activities with Roxxon.
As they entered the gala, Murdock took note that Elektra was turning many heads and raising many heartbeats. They were met by a mysterious man named Hirochi, who greeted them both. They finally located Gibson, but when Elektra was about to steal the key, Murdock stopped her, noting that Gibson was being watched.
Instead, Murdock spilled red wine on Gibson's white suit, which caused Gibson to be angry. Gibson calmed down when he saw that Murdock was blind. He walked to the men's room to clean up. Murdock followed him, attacking both Gibson and his bodyguards, knocking them out and stealing his key card. He went back to Elektra and they both went to the thirteenth floor.
Murdock and Elektra went past security and got to the secure room. Murdock used his enhanced senses to crack a safe, however, the ledger was not inside. Then, Murdock used his senses to locate a secret room and Elektra found a way to open it. Finally they found the ledger. However, the building went on lockdown. As they left, they fought the security that got in their way.
Once they hit a room on the 11th floor, they pretended to be a couple looking for private room. The security guards saw that Murdock was blind and allowed the both of them to leave. Murdock and Elektra got back into the car and began to read the ledger. However, Elektra became confused, stating that part of the ledger was written in code, making it impossible to read. Murdock, being glad that it was over, left the vehicle and went to his apartment.
The People vs The Punisher
As Murdock settled in, Nelson stopped by, annoyed that he missed his calls. He informed Murdock that Castle had plead not guilty, with Reyes requesting a fast track for the trial. Murdock thought it best if they filed for an extension, however, Nelson told him that Castle agreed to the fast tracked trial. With that, Nelson told Murdock to clear his calendar, because the trial of the People versus Frank Castle would begin the following week.
Back at the office, Murdock strategized with Page and Nelson about Castle's defense. Nelson believed the best way to go about the case was to plea that Castle had Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, causing him to commit the crimes. Murdock stated that as long as Castle agreed, he would make an opening statement based on PTSD. Page decided to visit Castle to see if he would agree.
Later, in his office, Murdock started practicing his opening statement, but then he received a call from Elektra. She informed Murdock that she found out who decrypted the ledger of the Yakuza, but he informed her that he was too busy with the trial on Castle. Then, Nelson came into his office and asked Murdock to look up witnesses from the Dogs of Hell. Murdock informed him that he would as soon as he was done with his call. After that, he reluctantly agreed to help Elektra.
Reconnecting with Elektra
Daredevil and Elektra entered the apartment of Philip Cabroni, who was dealing with two Korean prostitutes. After they left his room, Elektra and Daredevil revealed themselves, shocking Cabroni. They demanded that he decipher the codes in the Yakuza ledger, which, after a few threats, he agreed to. He revealed that the ledger detailed a list of shipments coming into Hell's Kitchen. One in particular was arriving later in the evening. Daredevil threatened Cabroni, telling him to end his dealings with the Yakuza, and Elektra mocked his decorator, then knocked him out. After that, they left.
Daredevil and Elektra arrived at a railroad station, where they found the railcar that Cabroni mentioned in the ledger. They opened the door and dirt rushed out of it, confusing the both of them. Then, the Yakuza attacked them both.
Daredevil and Elektra fought together in a warehouse, but they eventually split up. Daredevil and Elektra both managed to fight off the Yakuza easily and eventually, they found each other. Once they finished of the Yakuza, Daredevil saw that Elektra was injured and took her to get stitched.
They went to Matt Murdock's Apartment, where he stitched up Elektra's neck. Elektra, looking at Murdock's scars, asked him people said about them, considering that he has seen a bunch of women. He joked that the women would be too busy enjoying themselves.
As they began to show each other their scars, he pointed out one given to him by a man named Nobu. Elektra pointed out that his name was Nobu Yoshioka. Murdock asked Elektra what happened to her the night after they went to Roscoe Sweeney's house, she stated that she went as far away from him as possible, stating that he deserved better. They both, then, went to sleep in the living room.
Testing Friendships
The next morning, Murdock started to panic, noting that he overslept and had to be at Castle's case. As he was getting dressed, Elektra told him that she would figure out why the rail car was full of dirt, wishing him good luck in court as he left. Murdock finally arrived at the court, just in time to hear the middle of Nelson's opening statement.
Murdock caught up with Nelson and Page in the hallway and apologized to both of them. They were both frustrated that he was so late, but he complimented Nelson on his opening statement. To make it up to them both, he agreed to question Dr. Tepper about the autopsy the next day. Nelson reluctantly agreed to this. Murdock requested that Page get him caught up on everything he's missed in court, later that night.
Later that evening, Murdock and Page went to his apartment, looking through the autopsy files from Tepper, trying to figure out a way to get Tepper to confess that the reports were false. While they did that, they began to talk about the first time they met, talking about Page being saved by Daredevil that one night. However, she began to connect Daredevil's vigilante activity to the actions of Castle's. Then, Page confessed that she felt that Castle was doing the right thing, causing silence between the both of them. Murdock decided to end the session and promised Page a real date, as she left.
Murdock went upstairs, where Elektra was, and scolded her for eavesdropping on their conversation. He told her how much Page and his job meant to him. She explained that she complied a list of construction sites in Hell's Kitchen that could account for the mysterious rail car full of dirt. Murdock remembered one of the sites as the one which Yoshioka had blueprints for. He assumed that Yoshioka used that site for Fisk's personal use, but now realized that Yoshioka might have an alternative motive. However, Murdock told Elektra that he had to be in court for the Castle trial the following morning, then she left.
Later, during the court case, Dr. Gregory Tepper was questioned about the autopsies of the victims that Castle killed. During cross-examination, Murdock asked him how many autopsies he has filled out in the past. Tepper, then, asked if he could make a statement about something he did in the past. Judge Batzer asked the jury and spectators to clear the room.
Once all was clear, Tepper confessed that the autopsy of Castle's family and the John Doe were false. He revealed that he was coerced into falsifying the reports. He then revealed that the previous night, a woman with a foreign accent and a mask threatened to kill him if he didn't tell them the truth, which shocked Murdock. The prosecution and the defense accused one another for threatening the witness. With that, the judge ordered Tepper's testimony stricken from the record.
Murdock followed Nelson into the bathroom. Nelson was angry, filled with disbelief that Reyes would threaten a witness like that. Murdock confessed that it wasn't Reyes and that Elektra was the culprit. Nelson didn't understand, who remembered Elektra as a debutante. Murdock told Nelson that she came back to Hell's Kitchen and had become dangerous.
Murdock, then, confessed that he and Elektra were spying on the Yakuza and trying to figure out why they were back, confessing that she was the wealthy client that he was talking about and that she was the one who deposited money into their account. Before he could tell Nelson more about what was going on, Nelson lashed out angrily at Murdock, pointing out that he has lied to him again. He angrily claimed that he would no longer trust him, telling Murdock to tell Page about Elektra, and left.
Page, curious about the yelling, asked Nelson what was going on. He ignored her and then she asked Murdock, but he told her that he has to leave. However, he promised to talk to her the next day, although she muttered under her breath that she doubted it.
Stick Returns
Daredevil met Elektra outside of the Midland Circle construction site and let her know that she ruined Castle's case by threatening Tepper. She responded that she was following his own rules: you don't get what you want by day, you take it by force at night. Furious, he warned her to stay out of his normal life and, stating that the Matt Murdock life was boring, she agreed. Daredevil fought guards at the entry site, then she arrived after the battle, sarcastically remarking that he didn't want her help.
They went inside the construction site, where he confirmed that they were alone. However, he was shocked to find a large hole. He took her flashlight and dropped it down the hole. After a long pause, she asked if it had hit the bottom. When he responded that it hadn't, she asked him to tell her when it did.
After another long pause, Daredevil heard the flashlight hit the bottom and told this to Elektra. They were then ambushed by mysterious ninjas. Daredevil tried to find them, but discovered that he couldn't, because they were somehow hiding their heartbeats. Elektra warned Daredevil that they were using swords, and he found he could track the sounds of their weapons.
The two of them fought off the ninjas and during the battle, Elektra was badly injured. Before one of the ninjas could attack, they were saved by Stick, who finished off the others, telling Murdock that they should get out. They got in a car driven by a man named Quinn. They were followed and attacked by the ninjas, with Stick using a crossbow to take them out. Murdock claimed that he could sense Elektra dying. Stick ordered Quinn to drive them to Murdock's apartment.
Learning of The Hand
When they finally arrived, Stick asked for a few items to use to heal Elektra. Murdock does as he is is instructed, gathering the items and praying for Elektra to heal, as Stick combines the items. Finally, Murdock begins to hear a heartbeat from Elektra, relieved by her speedy recovery.
Later, in the living room, Murdock and Stick discussed Elektra as she is recovering in the bedroom. Stick casually mentioned that he's known her to recover from worse things. This surprised Murdock, and he demanded that Stick explain how he knew her.
Stick talked about an organization of ninja warriors called the Hand, whom he described as an ancient evil. He explained that they were plotting their evil work in New York City. Then, he described their enemy organization called the Chaste, of which Stick and Elektra were both members. Murdock, annoyed, was ashamed that Stick would bring up a ridiculous fairy tale. Stick told him that this was all really happening, warning that the Hand would bring chaos to New York.
Late, Murdock checked on Elektra while she recovered in bed, and she confirmed everything that Stick had said. When he asked her if the two of them meeting was planned by Stick, she admitted it was. Although, she said regardless of her orders, she really did fall in love with Murdock. Murdock admitted that he feared losing her while she was dying, and suggested she leave Stick and fight the Hand with him instead.
Then, Murdock realized that someone came into his apartment, and Stick came in and told him that he had a visitor. Page came in and was shocked to see Elektra in Murdock's bed. Murdock told Page that he could explain everything, but she became distant from him as she told Murdock that Nelson needed his help for the Castle case. Although Murdock suggested they go somewhere to talk, she left quickly, with Stick sardonically calling after her that it was nice to meet her.
Murdock Discusses Heroes
- This cities been sick and the cops, they can't fix it alone, they need, we all need men and women who are willing to take the fight themselves, the kind of people who risk their lives so we can walk safe at night in our own neighborhoods, the ones our esteemed district attorney here is trying so hard to destroy. New York needs these people, we need heroes.
- —Matt Murdock
Murdock went to the courtroom as Karen Page had requested. He tried speaking to Page, but she ignored him. He spoke to Foggy Nelson, who, still angry and demanded that Murdock get Frank Castle to retell his story. Castle came to the stand and Murdock heard a guard whisper to him, asking him to think about what he wanted. Murdock tried to get Castle to describe the day his family was killed, but Castle did not respond. Murdock asked Cynthia Batzer for permission to treat Castle as hostile.
Murdock claimed that Castle was just the kind of man his city needed in the wake of Wilson Fisk and then went to the jury and told them about heroes and how New York City needed more men and woman like Castle who were willing to find justice themselves; describing how Castle took it too far by murdering the crooks, noting that Samantha Reyes was trying to stop heroes from taking action. He argued that Castle needed help and not punishment. Despite that, Castle asked to speak and told everyone that he knew what he did and was glad, embracing his title as the Punisher as he was dragged away.
Outside the courtroom, Murdock claimed that someone influenced Castle, but both Page and Nelson ignored Murdock. Nelson angrily exclaimed that he was glad that they lost the case, and Page told Murdock that while she agreed with Murdock about heroes, he was not one of them. She told him she was done with him before storming off.
Choosing Elektra
Murdock returned to his apartment, noticing that Stick had left, but was relieved to find Elektra Elektra in bed, and that she had decided to fight the Hand by his side. She guessed correctly that he lost the case and Page, but he told Elektra that he was glad he did not lose her, making his decision to spend his life with her. As Murdock left to give Elektra some rest, he was attacked by a Hand ninja.
The fight was long and Murdock was, later, hit by a poisoned arrow. Murdock was able to subdue and confront the ninja. He took off his hood and realized that he was young, hearing his heartbeat. Elektra came behind the ninja and slit his throat with a kitchen knife, much to Murdock's horror. He shuddered as Elektra told him that this was who she was, asking if he still wanted her. Murdock began to shake from the poison, and Elektra embraced him as she prepares to save him.
A Change of Heart
Later, Elektra tended to Murdock's wounds. When Murdock recovered, he looked around and found no evidence of the fight from the previous night. He asked Elektra what she did to the boy's corpse Elektra responded that she took care of everything, implying that she disposed of the body.
Murdock, still in shock from Elektra's kill, noted that her adrenaline spiked when she killed him, just like at Roscoe Sweeney's house those many years ago. She told Murdock about the first person she killed when she was 12, not for self defense, but through pure enjoyment. He told Elektra that there was a time when he was in love with her, but he would have no more of her killings. He demanded that she leave, stating that he would fight the Hand by himself. With that, she left.
Later that day, Nelson arrived to visit Murdock, taking note of his injuries. He thought it best that Nelson and Murdock shut down, to which Murdock reluctantly agreed. However, Nelson begged Murdock to quit being a hero, but Murdock told Nelson that he would no longer apologize for who he was and that he would resume the mantle of Daredevil. With that, Nelson left him.
Fighting the Hand
The Return of Nobu
- Wait...you're dead!"
"There is no such thing.
- —Daredevil and Nobu Yoshioka
Later in the Yakatomi Building parking lot, Daredevil located Stan Gibson, taking out his bodyguards. Having knocked out and subdued his guards with ease, Daredevil revealed to Gibson that he found out that the Hand had infiltrated the Roxxon Oil Corporation and told Gibson to tell him what they are doing. Gibson revealed that the Hand was keeping his son, Daniel Gibson, hostage. Gibson revealed that the Hand had a heavily guarded facility that they called The Farm. Daredevil then demanded that the clearly terrified Gibson take him to that place.
Gibson took Daredevil to the Farm, leaving him outside. Daredevil knocked out the guards and found Hirochi. Daredevil could hear blood dripping in another room and he demanded Hirochi take him to the source.
When Hirochi showed him the inner workings of the farm, Daredevil was horrified to find young kids caged like animals and being drained of their blood through a tube. The tubes went into a huge stone sarcophagus. Daredevil went to free the children and Hirochi escaped. Gibson entered the Farm and was horrified to see his son in one of the cages. Then, one of the ninjas ambushed Daredevil, letting him know that the draining wasn't complete, as he took out an all too familiar chain and knife.
Daredevil fought the ninja as long as he could, but the ninja became victorious. The ninja pushed the sarcophagus into an elevator; then, Daredevil figured out who the ninja was: Nobu Yoshioka. Daredevil was shocked, stating that he should be dead, however, Yoshioka took off his mask and replied that there was no such thing.
Daredevil went outside of the building and called Mahoney. As soon as he arrived, he told him about the caged children and that they needed medical attention, warning him about the Hand trying to get them. Daredevil told him to take them to Metro-General Hospital and to put them under the care of Temple.
As soon as Mahoney took the kids to Metro General, Murdock met Temple in the hallway. He warned her that their blood was drained by a ninja named Nobu Yoshioka, who, somehow, came back to life after he burned to death. He warns her that she may be in trouble from the Hand ninjas, but promised to protect her and the hospital from them. Suddenly, using his enhanced hearing, Murdock listened to a police radio warning that Castle escaped from prison.
The Punisher Escapes
- I have to find him, Foggy. I know where to start."
"You always know where to start. You just never know when to stop, Matt."
"I'm not asking for your permission.
- —Matt Murdock and Foggy Nelson
Following Frank Castle's escape from Ryker's Island, Murdock was summoned to meet Samantha Reyes along with Karen Page and Foggy Nelson. Upon arriving at the courthouse, Murdock was soon greeted by Page who commented on the amount of security now present there, as Murdock apologised for ever getting Nelson and Murdock involved with the case in the first place. While Murdock attempted to make small talk with Page, she was called away for security reasons, leaving just standing Murdock alone outside.
They were taken through security and then entered Reyes' office. While they walked in they discussed Castle's escape from Ryker's with Murdock asking Page if he had said anything at all to her, but Page insisted he had not mentioned any escape plan. Nelson took note that Castle escaped Cell Block D. Murdock remembered this as the same cell block in which Wilson Fisk was incarcerated, noting that he liked to track of anyone who may want them dead. He then soberly told Page and Nelson that this was not a coincidence, telling them that he believed Fisk orchestrated Castle's escape.
As they sat down in Reyes' office, she and Blake Tower requested their help in locating Castle. Murdock told her that they would only help if she told them what happened between her and Castle. Reyes confessed that the Massacre at Central Park that killed Castle's family was a sting operation that went south. The District Attorney's office had been trying to convict a mysterious drug dealer known as the Blacksmith. Reyes and Tower explained that while they were tracking him they learned of a deal involving the Blacksmith, Dogs of Hell, Kitchen Irish and Mexican Cartel and decided to act.
Reyes then revealed that she chose to not clear the park of civilians to make it look less suspicious and risk the Blacksmith getting away, but it resulted in multiple civilian deaths, due to a shootout that broke out between the gangs, with victims including Castle's own wife and children. Then, Reyes showed them an X-ray of a skull that she took from her daughter's backpack, worried Castle had now chosen her own daughter as his next victim. She informed them that although her daughter was safe in a secret location in upstate New York, the Punisher must be found before he could harm anyone else.
While Reyes begged them to tell her if Castle ever contacted them, Murdock heard a gun being cocked from across the street, in an instant Murdock then demanded that everyone got down, covering Page with his own body as an unknown assassin began shooting at them. The bullets destroyed everything in sight, wounding Nelson in the arm. Once the bullets stopped hitting the room, everyone slowly raised to their feet. Although almost everyone had survived, they discovered that Reyes had been hit multiple times in the back and was killed, much to Tower's utter shock and horror.
As a result, the New York City Police Department and the FBI all then swarmed the courthouse, desperately searching for the Punisher who they blamed for the murder. Murdock, Nelson, Page and Tower left the courthouse; as Nelson was being treated by an Emergency Medical Technician, Murdock let him know that he would go after the Punisher and get to the bottom of all this, although Nelson was still skeptical that he would ever be able to find him. Murdock however insisted he knew where to start looking, before Nelson noted he may know where to start, but not how to ever stop.
Kingpin's Threat
- I can break you without breaking a single law. You may have expensive lawyers, but with one envelope and $6 postage I can make sure Vanessa never sets foot on American soil again. One letter to the right office and I get her visa pulled. I can prove she was an accomplice to every one of your crimes.
- —Matt Murdock to Kingpin
Seeking answer directly from his chief suspect, Murdock visited Ryker's Island, where he was greeted by Benjamin Donovan who gave him a contract written in out Braille for Murdock's convenience, stating the terms of the meeting between him and Wilson Fisk. Donovan warned that if Murdock came into physical contact with Fisk or discussed their meeting with the media then he would be sued, Murdock signed the contract and was brought to Fisk.
Fisk noted how he and Murdock had met once before at the Scene Contempo Gallery before they went to court, but Murdock ignored this and commented on the shooting at the New York State Supreme Court Building which had killed Samantha Reyes. Murdock accused Fisk of setting up Frank Castle's escape, but Fisk told him that it never happened while Murdock argued that Fisk's seeming lack of motive kept the suspicion away from him and allowed him to unleash Castle upon New York City to cause chaos. Fisk decided that enough was enough and called over Donovan to end their meeting.
Instead of back down, Murdock threatened to make sure that Fisk's beloved fiancée, Vanessa Marianna, could never come back to New York City, for acting as his accomplice, ensuring Fisk would never see her again, apart from the odd trip to Morocco but he would never be able to live with her again. Upon hearing that, the now enraged Fisk released himself from his chains attacked Murdock, slamming him into the table. Defending himself, Murdock managed to punch Fisk's mouth, but the still furious Fisk kept ahold of his suit and remembered how Murdock was the son of a boxer.
Murdock realized that Fisk had taken control of Ryker's Island and had indeed orchestrated the escape of the Punisher, which Fisk then confessed to but noted that nobody would back up Murdock's story. Fisk threatened to get revenge on Nelson and Murdock by destroying the lives and loved ones of Murdock and Foggy Nelson, as soon as he got out. Fisk threw Murdock back onto his seat and promised that his wrath would be worse than anything the Punisher was going to do to the city. Murdock was escorted out of the prison by Donovan, horrified and shaken from what just transpired.
The Invasion of Metro-General
Murdock went to the rooftop of Metro-General Hospital. Claire Temple met up with him, wondering why he wasn't visiting Foggy Nelson. Murdock said that he sensed Nelson and that he was fine, blaming himself for getting Nelson shot in the arm. Temple updated Murdock about the patients, noting that a mysterious organic substance was coursing through their bloodstream, which led her to believe that the Hand were incubating a substance that was then drained.
Murdock, forlorn, told Temple that he felt everything he did got undone. He told her he was quitting the law and his friends. He let her know that he felt that they were a distraction and that he would put them in harm's way. Temple tried to make him change his mind, but he ignored her and still refused to visit Nelson. After she left, Hand ninjas began to scale the side of the hospital. Murdock heard this and put on his helmet.
Just after the ninjas killed Louisa Delgado, Daredevil arrived, saving Temple and fighting the ninjas. The battle was long, as the ninjas tried to reclaim their victims. Temple tried her best to fight, but one of the ninjas knocked her out of a window. Daredevil jumped out and saved her, using one of the ropes from the Hand had used to scale the building. The Hand, unfortunately, escaped with Daniel Gibson and the others.
Afterwards, Murdock got changed into his street clothes and explained to Temple about the Hand and what they wanted. Temple was against Murdock going after the Hand alone, saying this might be his downfall, but he he stated that he had it handled. Then, Brett Mahoney called Murdock, explaining that Karen Page was attacked and was at the 15th Precinct Police Station.
Figuring Out the Blacksmith
Murdock, outside the 15th Precinct Police Station, waited for Karen Page. When she saw him, she revealed that Frank Castle saved her when someone shot up her apartment. She revealed that she may be the Blacksmith's target, because she was researching the Massacre at Central Park. Murdock wanted to follow her when she was about to leave, but she told him, coldly, that she was not his to protect.
Later in the evening, Daredevil confronted Blake Tower, who was trying to leave town. Daredevil demanded that Tower tell him all that he knows about the Blacksmith, but Tower revealed that he had very little information, except a code name. Tower then suggested that the one person who might know more would be the Blacksmith's rival: a drug dealer in Chinatown.
Daredevil infiltrated a dry cleaner that was serving as the drug lord's lair. He fought and knocked out the guards before going to the basement. There he found Madame Gao, who was busy painting. Daredevil warner her to call off her men or he would break their legs, and she she stated that once he was satisfied that they were alone, they would talk.
Daredevil demanded information about the Blacksmith. She told him that his identity and very nature was a mystery. However, she knew that he sold pure heroin that was brought in by ship.
Daredevil arrived at the pier and stopped Castle from killing a man whom Castle thought was the Blacksmith. After that, the two began to fight. Castle was furious at Daredevil, blaming him for ruining his moment of peace. However, Daredevil warned him that killing the wrong man would mean his revenge would be false and that, on some level, he knew that.
Again, Castle stated that Daredevil's way of justice didn't help end crime and killing the Blacksmith was the best solution. Daredevil admitted that his way wasn't working and suggested that just this once, they do things Castle's way. Castle then stated that once someone kills another person, they can never go back from what they did. Daredevil warned Castle about men he heard approaching. He told Castle they needed to get off the ship, and in response, Castle pushed Daredevil into the water. The men shot at the boat, which exploded from the gunpowder held below decks. Daredevil, later that evening, went back to dry land, hearing both Brett Mahoney and Karen Page arrive on the scene with the police.
Murdock went back into his apartment and heard a car screeching out of control. He walked outside, noticing a car crashed into the side of the street. He found out that the driver was one of Stick's soldiers of the Chaste, who informed Murdock that Elektra planned to kill Stick.
The New Black Sky
Daredevil found Stick's hiding place, and before the fight between him and Elektra continued, Daredevil steps in and breaks it up. Then, Hand ninjas ambush the three, who fight Daredevil and Elektra, vanish and take Stick with them. Daredevil is confused, not being able to locate a trail, but still plans on saving Stick. Elektra chimed in that she will kill Stick, and threatens to kill him if he stands in her way. With that, she kissed him and left.
Later, Murdock entered his office, reading a Braille subway map. Foggy Nelson was inside, as well, packing his things from his office. Murdock told Nelson that he thinks the Hand are using subway tunnels to secretly move throughout Hell's Kitchen without being detected. Nelson had an idea, referring to his bootlegging grandfather during Prohibition, that it may be abandoned railway tunnels, encouraging Murdock to look through them. Nelson and Murdock pause in there office for the last time, feeling a sense of sadness and relief that Nelson and Murdock was over.
Later, Daredevil went inside the abandoned railway tunnel and, no sooner as he enters, is ambushed by Hand ninjas. He is easily able to fight them off, listening to the metal of their swords weapons, but the ninjas caught on and sheathed their weapons, while attacking him with their fists. Daredevil became helpless, Not being able to defend himself from the ninjas.
Then, suddenly, Daredevil heard the soft whispering voice of Stick, being tortured by Hirochi, instructing him to listen to the ninjas' exhalations. Daredevil does as instructed and, as a result, is able to knock out all of them. After that, he continued down the tunnel for Stick.
Daredevil finally finds him and is attacked by Hand ninjas, who were guarding Hirochi. Hirochi thought he was safe, but Stick bites Hirochi on the neck. Daredevil freed him, then Stick told him how proud he is. However, Elektra arrived, wanting to kill Stick. Then, Nobu Yoshioka appeared, demanding that Stick tell them why they are all here.
Daredevil demanded that Yoshioka take him instead of Stick and Elektra, but Yoshioka states that he just wants Elektra, revealing that she is the Black Sky, the weapon of the Hand. Stick is aggravated that she found out about the truth, but Daredevil denies it as true, pleading with Elektra she must be the one to define herself. Yoshioka and the Hand knelt down and offers his sword to her; she accepts and demands Daredevil to leave.
She continued to recall how she fought her violence nature her entire life, but now as the Black Sky, she she can embrace it. Then, heartbroken, Daredevil tells her that it would mean killing him, for he is the Hand's enemy. She puts her sword to his neck, but she hesitates. He, then, grabbed Elektra's sword and held it up to her neck, giving her one last chance to fight off the Hand with him and Stick. He releases her and they both fight them off.
In the middle of the battle, Elektra stops fighting and grabs Stick so they can both escape. He states he still wants her dead, but he won't for Murdock's sake, revealing that Murdock was trying to save Elektra from a line that she'd never come back from. Daredevil, then, fought with Yoshioka for a while and then escapes with Elektra and Stick while the ninjas watched.
Back at his apartment, Matt Murdock tied Stick to a chair, stating that he and Elektra will be the only ones fighting the Hand, stating that he still doesn't have a plan. Before Stick could make a snarky comment, Murdock taped his mouth. Then, he met Elektra on the rooftops. The both of them decided the best course of action was to expose Nobu as a fraud to his followers.
Then, he took Elektra to Melvin Potter, where he fitted her in special body armor. He, then, gave Daredevil a new billy club made of a special design. Murdock couldn't thank him enough, but Potter simply stated that he is glad that there are some people in Hell's Kitchen who is looking out for them.
He and Elektra went back to his apartment, as they began to look for the whereabouts of Yoshioka. Then, Nelson called him from the police department. He told him that Mahoney has been forced to give men information about Daredevil. He hung up and left.
Murdock met up with Mahoney near the fire escape at the precinct, as he was quick to joke that, at this point, he can only trust the vigilante. He informed him that he was forced to give mysterious people the files on Daredevil's actions or they would kill his mother. Mahoney told him that the files had the names of all the people he has saved, Murdock put the pieces together and left for Page's apartment, only to find it completely empty.
Daredevil was on the rooftop, trying really hard to hear the location of the Hand's hostages, but becomes incredibly frustrated. Daredevil informs Elektra that he unable to listen through all the other noises going on. Elektra suggested blocking all other noises and to listen for the hostages. Murdock does just that and, finally, hears the bus that is transporting them.
Murdock and Elektra finally arrives at the Hand's hideout. They are about to enter, but Elektra thought it was best to stay behind, thinking it a trap and stating that it would be best that the Hand did not retrieve the Black Sky, especially if it meant complete destruction to thousands, compared to a few. With that, Daredevil descends to the hideout.
Before the Hand could cut off Barrett's ankle, Daredevil crashes inside and knocks them out. He frees all the hostages and asks Page if she is all right. After Page answered, he freed her.
Then, More Hand ninjas appeared and began to fight him. As one was about to attack, Elektra stabs the ninja in the back, claiming she got bored waiting for him. They found out that the only way out was on the roof, as they head upstairs. They stopped near a door, where Murdock claimed that he could sense an army of Hand ninjas; they both took a moment, acknowledging that this might be their last fight.
Elektra states that she is ready to meet her fate, but Murdock removed his helmet, stating if they get out alive, he wants to leave New York with her. She states that he belongs in New York, but he responds by saying she made him feel more alive than the city.
Daredevil and Elektra finally make it to the top and battle Hand ninjas. A lot of the Ninjas were easily defeated, but Yoshioka was much more a superior fighter, able to knock Murdock's helmet off. Yoshioka was about to stab Murdock, but Elektra attacked him, which caused Yoshioka to stabs her by accident. She gave her final farewell to Murdock and died in his arms, claiming that this was not the end.
Yoshioka was enraged that he lost the Black Sky and he ordered his men to finish him off. Murdock, filled with anger, fights then, but finds out that the ninjas were being shot down. He senses the Punisher, who was sniping the Ninjas down for him.
Murdock walked away, letting the Punisher finish off the rest of the ninjas, and battles Yoshioka. After a bit of a struggle, he used his new billy club to fling him off the roof and win the battle. The Punisher looked at Daredevil and said "see you around, red," then left. Now alone, Daredevil could only walk over to Elektra's lifeless body, take her hand and mourn her demise.
Truth Revealed
Confession to Karen Page
- I have... I have something..."
"No, I don't want it."
"I have something that I need you to see... I'm Daredevil.
- —Matt Murdock and Karen Page
With the threat of the Hand seemingly dealt with for the time being, Murdock and Stick visited Elektra's grave. Filled with too much grief, Murdock could not find any words to say, so Stick wondered if Murdock thought it worth it to love her, to which Murdock said that even though Stick opposed it, it was. Stick smiled and called Murdock the toughest person he knew, then they left, with Stick returning to the Chaste while Murdock remained in New York City to continue his own fight.
Making his mind up about what was best for the people around him, Murdock asked Karen Page to meet him at the old Nelson and Murdock Law Office, which she reluctantly agreed to. As Murdock walked down the streets of New York and entered the building, he found Page waiting there for him. Murdock nervously told her that he had something to show her, though Page told him that she did not want whatever it was. Murdock however insisted and eventually pulled out his Daredevil helmet. Page looked at the new revelation in shock and Murdock revealed that he is Daredevil.
Personality
- Lawyer by day, vigilante by night. How does that work?
Matt Murdock, for lack of a better term, is complicated. As a child, he felt immense guilt and loss; blaming himself for the death of his father as well as feeling lost after losing his sight. He was both heroic and selfless even as a child, shown best when he saved an elderly man from being hit by a truck, at the cost of his own vision.
Murdock has "daddy issues" with both his actual father Jack and his subsequent father figure Stick, having lost both either to death or from being abandoned. Stick tried to raise him to be coldblooded but suddenly abandoned him when Matt started expressing filial affection; this abandonment and rejection has left Matt with difficulty forging real emotional connections, despite his determination to not let Stick define him.
Matt has a high desire for justice and doing the right thing. He convinced his friend Foggy to quit their work for a firm and work for the common man. During the start of their firm he aimed to help only innocent people.
Unable to allow injustice, he got frustrated when the police or judge failed to help. He decided to work as a vigilante to save people and help where the justice system could not. During this he demonstrated extreme selflessness as he kept risking his life for others, even after he barely made it out of dangerous situations and ended up badly wounded multiple times.
While fighting crime he can be very brutal and heavily injures criminals. However he has avoided killing anyone so far and limits himself to hand to hand combat and sticks to not inflict lethal injuries, even if this results in himself getting injured during fights. He usually attempts to avoid killing anyone, however on occasion (when sufficiently infuriated) he has thrown away his concern for the well-being of his opponents, such as when he threw Semyon off of a rooftop and only checked to see if he was still alive after being asked by Claire Temple. He has also threatened to kill Kingpin, and has acknowledged that he meant it at the time. So far he has been lucky that during these lapses in his sense of morality he has failed to follow through on his intent, however even his temporary willingness to kill still feeds his sense of guilt when he reflects on it.
As a Catholic, Murdock experiences a lot of guilt and soul-searching over his actions when he allows his anger and contempt for violent criminals to cause him to enjoy beating them bloody, and he frequently wonders whether he is doing the right thing in the eyes of God or whether he is allowing evil into his heart. When he feels this way, he approaches his local priest, Father Lantom, for spiritual guidance and advice, however he asks his questions in a roundabout way to conceal his identity as Daredevil, though Lantom has managed to figure out the truth. Either way, Lantom is bound by the seal of confession not to divulge what they discuss.
As Matt met his mentor Stick again he started to doubt his ways and even considered killing Kingpin as he doubted he could stop him any other way. This created an internal struggle as his best friend and others did not want him to act as a vigilante. In the final confrontation against Fisk, he kept true to his vow and ultimately did not kill Fisk.
Powers and Abilities
Powers
- There are other ways to see.
- —Matt Murdock
- Superhuman Senses: Murdock possesses four senses (besides sight) on a superhuman level. He claims to constantly feel numerous things, including balance, direction, minuscule changes in air density, vibrations, and blankets of temperature variations. That, combined with his acute hearing and olfactory senses, allows Murdock to see what he describes as an "Impressionistic painting" of the world around him, which, according to him, looks like "the world on fire."
- Superhuman Hearing: Murdock's hearing is so acute, that he can clearly hear people converse at great distances away, hear people's heartbeats, and hear Claire's bones shifting as she breathed. Murdock can focus on what he hears; in a crowded courtroom with the judge speaking, Murdock heard a juror's heartbeat accelerate when James Wesley entered the room. Hearing the changes in people's heartbeats allows Murdock to predict how they feel and what actions they'll take, such as attack or run. He was also able to memorize the pattern of Wesley's watch so he could follow the latter.
- Lie Detection: Murdock's hearing is so acute, that he can tell whether people are lying or not, based on the rate of their heartbeats.
- Superhuman Smell: His olfactory senses are so good, that he can smell a man's scent of stale cigarettes and cheap cologne three floors above him and through several walls. When he was a boy, his sense was already so acute, that he could smell that an old man sitting at a bench across from him had cancer. By smelling an old cigarette, Murdock could tell that whoever smoked it previously had rotten teeth. He was even able to smell that Foggy Nelson had onions in his lunch, at the time, two days ago.
- Superhuman Taste: Murdock was able to tell that Claire Temple had ripped open some of the stitches on her back, due to tasting copper in the air from the blood of her open wound. Stick taught him how to train this sense, allowing him to pick out every individual ingredient of the ice cream he was eating, including that the milk used came from three different dairy farms, and that the man who served him used a certain type of soil in his garden.
- Superhuman Touch: Murdock can feel the presence of those around him through vibrations, air currents and body temperatures. He can dodge attacks and even bullets by feeling them cut through the air, creating ripples of currents only detectable by him. He locates enemies through walls and from different floors by feeling the vibrations they make from moving, such as their footsteps. Murdock could even feel the heat generated from the blood spilling from the gunshot wound on Vladimir Ranskahov; to one-half of a degree, he was able to distinguish the difference in temperature.
- Superhuman Balance: Murdock's sense of balance is superhuman, giving him perfect equilibrium, greatly increasing his agility and refining his movements.
- Superhuman Hearing: Murdock's hearing is so acute, that he can clearly hear people converse at great distances away, hear people's heartbeats, and hear Claire's bones shifting as she breathed. Murdock can focus on what he hears; in a crowded courtroom with the judge speaking, Murdock heard a juror's heartbeat accelerate when James Wesley entered the room. Hearing the changes in people's heartbeats allows Murdock to predict how they feel and what actions they'll take, such as attack or run. He was also able to memorize the pattern of Wesley's watch so he could follow the latter.
Abilities
- Master Martial Artist: Despite being blind, Murdock was trained in martial arts by Stick at a young age, and excelled in it. He continued training himself, despite Stick giving up on him, and Murdock eventually used his skills to fight crime as the vigilante Daredevil. By the time he met Stick again, Murdock rivalled his former mentor in skill, managing to keep up with him in an intense one-on-one duel and ultimately overpowering him, earning Stick's praise. Even Nobu acknowledged Daredevil as a worthy opponent, and was only able to gain the upper hand against the latter by repeatedly cutting him with his shoge hook. Though with some difficulty, Murdock was ultimately able to also overpower Wilson Fisk, a man of immense brute strength. Daredevil's fight style incorporates boxing, Muay Thai, grounding-and-pounding, Kung Fu, Judo, Aikido, Capoeira, Taekwondo, tricking, and pro-wrestling.
- Master Acrobat: Murdock incorporates gymnastics and acrobatics into his fighting style as he battles opponents, and could already do several agile flips as a child. He is able to quickly move over rooftops and climb buildings, managing to keep up with a car this way.
- Expert Marksman: Because of his enhanced senses, Murdock has an increased awareness of where objects are, allowing him impressive marksmanship with both firearms and throwing weapons.
- Staff Mastery: Taught by Stick, Murdock is highly skilled in using both a pair of eskrima sticks, or a single staff in combat.
- That sounds pretty bad, but I don't speak asshole.
- —Daredevil
- Multilingualism: Murdock speaks fluent English and Spanish, having studied the latter at college. However, he cannot speak or understand Russian.
- Master Lawyer: Murdock is a persuasive and trained lawyer, having graduated summa cum laude from Columbia University.
- Meditation: Murdock uses meditating to improve his abilities and heal his injuries faster. This greatly impressed Claire Temple with the immense amount of punishment that he could take and recover quickly from.
Strength level
For a "normal" human, Matt has demonstrated remarkable physical strength. Daredevil is an Olympic-level weightlifter and possesses the normal human strength of a man of his age, height, and build that exercises intensively and regularly. Matt has demonstrated that he can lift and handle a 400 lbs. barbell as though it were fifty pounds, has overturned a limo full of people, and has picked up and used a mail drop-box as a blunt instrument. At his peak, Daredevil possesses sufficient strength to press lift approximately 450 lbs.
Weaknesses
Blindness: Daredevil is conventionally 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.
- Sense Precision: Daredevil's extent to discern pictures or video images are limited, and he can only guess at colors based on the amount of heat they are absorbing or reflecting. If nothing is being emitted (By a person or thing) that would trigger his heightened senses Daredevil wouldn't be able to detect it, like when a sniper bullet fired outside the range of his sense of hearing was able to badly injure him.
- Sound and/or Smell Peak: Daredevil's superhuman senses render him extraordinarily vulnerable to odors and/or excessive noise, which can temporarily weaken his Radar Sense. Under extreme circumstances he can be easily immobilized, suffer great pain and/or left disorientated. Once the disruptive effects wear off, Daredevil's Radar Sense is able to return to its normal calibration.
Radar Sense Disruption: Though uncommon-- in unique situations (where multiple objects, sounds, temperatures, and smells, are in close proximity) Daredevil's Radar has been known to fail leaving him to rely on his other senses.
Non-Superhuman Physical Conditioning: As Daredevil's powers do not give him any kind of superhuman physical ability, Daredevil is as susceptible to physical injury and disease as any other normal human, often having to rely more on strategy than strength when up against a superhuman opponent.
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.
Paraphernalia
Equipment:
- What do you want me to make?"
"A symbol.
- —Melvin Potter and Matt Murdock
- Armored Suit: In their first fight, after being severely injured by Nobu, Murdock noticed Kingpin's impermeable armored suit and decided to take Claire Temple's advice to get some body armor of his own. He located Melvin Potter, who made Fisk's suit, and persuaded him to make a red and black suit with a facemark and helmet resembling a devil, leading to his new name.
- Thing about red, they can't tell how much you're bleeding.
- —Matt Murdock
- Vigilante Suit: Murdock bought a black suit with red stiching online to wear in his vigilante activities. He also wore a black mask over his head, eyes and nose, leaving only his mouth uncovered. He also had padding which he wore underneath the suit, so that the beatings would not hurt as much, but they did not stop him from being seriously injured.
Transportation:
- Daredevil usually travels by foot across city rooftops through the art of parkour (the art of movement), and by the grappling hook and cable in his billy club.
Weapons:
- Billy Club: When Murdock asked Melvin Potter to create an armored suit for him, Potter also created a special Billy Club. It can be used as a short staff and be split in two individual short sticks for close quarters combat joined by a high tensile wire for grappling. It is kept in a holster on the suit's left thigh.
- Wooden Sticks: At young age, Murdock was trained to be an expert stick fighter by Stick, but he stopped using the weapons after Stick left, preferring to fight unarmed. He began using them again at Stick's insistence when the mentor returned to New York City.
Notes
- No special notes.
Trivia
- No trivia.
See Also
- Appearances of Matthew Murdock (Earth-1010)
- Character Gallery: Matthew Murdock (Earth-1010)
- Quotations by Matthew Murdock (Earth-1010)
Discover and Discuss
- Search News for: Daredevil · Matthew Michael Murdock · Matthew Murdock (Earth-1010)
Links and References
- None.