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This article, Zotique Katopodis (Earth-61615), is property of MarvelousMarty. |
Daredevil Vol 1 1
Defenders Vol 2 16
History
You know... I may be a blind man myself, but I know a lying dumb@$$ or an immoral scumbag when I hear one...
- — Stick
- — Stick
Early Years
Prior to being raised by the organization of warriors known as the Chaste, Stick couldn't care less about his true origin in the past. However, he was not secretive about it either, as according to him, all someone had to do was ask and only he'd tell them where he originally came from. Born on Greece with the name Zotique Katopodis around late 1938, he was blind from birth, yet he was nurtured by his middle-class parents, who have gotten married and subsequently immigrated from their home in France shortly after World War I. That was until tragedy came later on during World War II when the Axis occupation of Greece took place by 1941, wherein a young and innocent Zotique had to hear the screams, sufferings, and artillery of his surroundings for a while, until his family were caught by the invading forces and were sent into a concentration camp after finding out and exposing that his parents were members of a secret anti-Nazi propaganda movement.
When his parents met their demises at the hands of Nazis, the orphaned boy just happened to be one of the lost youngsters across the city who were miraculously rescued by mysterious men, masters of the martial arts enclave Chaste, who took them in as one of their own as warriors as they traveled to the eastern regions on the globe, away from western affairs. Growing up in their ways and the arcane teachings of K'un-Lun under the simplified, anglicized name of Stick, masters of the Chaste helped and trained him developed the acuteness of his other senses to levels far beyond those experienced by most human beings. The heightened and "proximity" senses he gained further compensated for his inability to see. As a member of the Chaste, Stick was able to overcome his disability which molded him into becoming a powerful and dangerous warrior, tasked in fighting a threat which lurks in the shadows of both the Allied and Axis powers, disguising themselves as mere soldiers serving nations when they have a sinister agenda on their own; a cult-like organization of immortality-seekers and powermongers only known as the Hand.
However, despite his natural excellence in the arts of combat and warfare, Stick initially wanted to follow his intuitions to live a normal life with his fellow warrior, Amara, whom he had started a secret relationship due to such instance becoming a taboo to a warrior of the Chaste, at least only when it comes to romantic bond which the two were feeling for each other. Stick began having doubts on his purpose, while Amara tried her best to be optimistic about their future once the Chaste brings down the Hand, which Stick wholeheartedly trusted. Unfortunate for the Stick, he never got to live his ideal future with Amara when their base in the Himalayas were attacked by the Hand, initiated by its leader, someone who would be known by the name Alexandra Reid in the present day. The attack costed massive losses on the side of the Chaste, including his beloved Amara.
Knowing how his life had turned out to be deadly and dangerous after witnessing the deaths of Amara and his other comrades at the hands of the Hand, Stick renounced to forming any form of attachment to anyone ever again as he became more cold-blooded towards the enemy by valiantly and ruthlessly fighting in the global war against the Hand for decades, focusing much of his efforts on recruiting and training new soldiers into the Chaste's armies in various bases across the globe to hunt and counteract the Hand from causing more deaths and destruction in their centuries old quest for eternal life and power from the shadows.
Young Protégés
As the war between Chaste and Hand still rages once the modernization of society shrouded their conflict, Stick raised and recruited a young girl named Elektra, only to send her off to a normal life seeing how she had proven too dangerous for both the Chaste and the Hand, and it was not long after that he chose to train the blind yet special and gifted Matt Murdock instead once Stick traveled to New York City. For years, Stick and a grown-up Elektra had attempted to recruit Murdock, now working as the vigilante Daredevil, but Murdock still refused as he instead convinced Elektra to change sides. This caused Stick to then order Elektra's death, leading to him being captured and tortured by the Hand. Stick was saved by his former pupils, and later witnessed Elektra's death by Nobu Yoshioka, whom Stick had avenged by decapitating him the moment Yoshioka was vulnerable.
The War for New York
In the final days of the war around present day, Stick had witnessed the Chaste mostly being eradicated by Alexandra Reid's amassed forces, since they finally made their ultimate move of using the last known samples of the resurrection substance to bring back the lifeless Elektra among other individuals to serve their will, in order to serve the Hand as their new, prophesied Black Sky, the host for their demon god known as the Beast. In order to find more of this mysterious substance, the five fingers (leaders) of the Hand had gathered once more in New York City and tried to catch the modern day Iron Fist, Danny Rand, so he would open the gates for the immortality substance, revealing to be the bones of deceased mystical creatures, with the one below New York City belonging to a dragon.
When Stick tried to kill Danny Rand to stop the assurance of the Hand's success, Daredevil and the Defenders intervened his attempt in time to bring some alternatives when they couldn't let any life in New York be endangered by the enemy's destructive agenda. Once Stick was beaten after a duel with Daredevil to save Rand, Stick was arrested by the authorities after being caught killing members of the Hand since some of his victims were identified to be young American citizens, while his former student and his team arrived at Midland Circle just in time. The Defenders were able to confront and stop the Hand from chaotically destroying the city, by destroying and burying the Hand's base of operations along with the site of the resurrection substance in the process.
Hunting the New Hand
Seeing how Elektra was finally freed from the coercion of the Hand and Beast's delusions as the Black Sky, Stick eventually escaped prison and went on a one-man journey to find and meet any surviving Chaste in his pursuit to restore the secret organization, wherein they have eventually discovered the Hand's surviving fragments. Despite gathering only a few of his fellow warriors, Stick's efficient and effective leadership helped the Chaste wipe out and prevented them from rising in power, just as how Alexandra and her fellow fingers had secretly maintained influence and power over parts of the world for countless of centuries. The Chaste's new mission almost ensured the defeat of the Hand worldwide, right until he crossed paths with a sinister familiar face named Tomi Shishido, an exiled commander of the Hand known as Gorgon who claimed to have brought the organization into a greater and unstoppable path, now that the powerful yet senile fingers were out of the picture, out of his grand vision for the Hand in a new world.
After a one-on-one confrontation, Stick eventually figured out that Shishido was looking for Elektra when the commander claimed the former Black Sky was someone he considered to be precious until Stick was able to deduce the fact that Shishido was his former student's long lost father. Knowing where she exactly may be, the Chaste took their last stand against Shishido's Hand, promising to Gorgon that he would never find out, even if it costed him and the Chaste. Stick had Shishido's neck by the edge of his katana in duel after using most of his chi, only for the Hand's cavalry to arrive in time bearing the form of Typhoid Mary. Mary swiftly outmatched the old Stick in combat, resulting in the death of most of his comrades and her fatally wounding him.
In his final moments, Stick was reminded of the time when he lost Amara, but deep inside he was now realistically confident that the situation would change with Elektra, remembering that she would not be handling with them all by herself, especially since she got Murdock and his allies. With his final breath, he chuckled at himself as he realized how becoming "soft" had only ensured his students' survival, contrary to the Chaste's arcane ideology of disavowing attachments to their warriors. In the end, Stick died with no regrets as Shishido plunged his own katana right through his heart.
Powers and Abilities
Powers
Enhanced Senses: Despite being born blind, Stick gained his incredible abilities through lifelong training under the guidance and teachings of the Chaste, which also granted him the power to channel into his inner chi for various effects in order to momentarily amplify his remaining senses beyond the normal capabilities. He is able to use his other senses to create a picture of the world around him. He taught most of his methods to his students and protégés Elektra Natchios and Matt Murdock.
- Enhanced Hearing
- Enhanced Smell
- Enhanced Taste
- Enhanced Touch
- Enhanced Balance
- Chi Manipulation
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Abilities
- Master Martial Artist
- Master Swordsman
- Master Stickfighter
- Master Marksman
- Master Bowman
- Master in Meditation
- Experienced Physician
- Multilingualism
Strength level
Class 10+
Weaknesses
- Blind
Paraphernalia
Equipment:
- Incense
Transportation: None known.
Weapons:
- Katana
- Bo Stick
- Bow and Arrow
- Crossbow
Notes
- No special notes.
- ↑ Modern Comics: Defenders Vol 2 1
Trivia
- Stick's real name, Zotique (derived from Zoticus), translates in English to "full of life". Ironically enough, Stick lived his life with countless of deaths surrounding him, along with his dedication of mercilessly killing his enemies in order to make the world, according to his words (based the Chaste's ideology), "a less shitty place than it already was."
See Also
- Appearances of Zotique Katopodis (Earth-61615)
- Character Gallery: Zotique Katopodis (Earth-61615)
- Quotations by Zotique Katopodis (Earth-61615)
Discover and Discuss
- Search News for: Stick · Zotique Katopodis · Zotique Katopodis (Earth-61615)
Links and References
- None.