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"Hell's Kitchen is my neighborhood. I prowl the rooftops and alleyways at night, watching from the darkness. Forever in darkness. A guardian devil."
―Matt Murdock[src]

Matthew "Matt" Murdock is a lawyer from Hell's Kitchen who was blinded as a child and trained his remaining senses to superhuman levels, taking on the persona of Daredevil and using his superhumanly heightened senses to fight crime.

Biography[]

Daredevil[]

As a child, Matt often got into fights with the local bullies. His father, Jack, a washed-up boxer, demanded he never fight back, for fear that Matt wouldn't amount to anything, instead insisting he study and become a doctor or a lawyer. Together they lived alone, albeit happily. One day, Matt saw Jack beating up a stranger, proving that he was operating as an enforcer for the local mob boss, Fallon, despite promising Matt that he never would. A devastated Matt ran away, blindly stumbling into the path of a forklift. Swerving to avoid him at the last second, the forklift smashed into radioactive biohazard chemicals that spilled into Matt's eyes, blinding him. He cannot see, but his other four senses obtained superhuman sharpness, and he learned to perceive his surroundings by human echolocation. Blaming himself for his son's condition, Jack returned to professional boxing to regain his dignity; he was later murdered by Fallon for refusing to throw a fight. Wilson Fisk, the man who would later be the crime don known as Kingpin, gave the final death blow to Jack. Matt promised to fight evil and avenge his father.

Years later, Murdock worked as an attorney in Hell's Kitchen by day, becoming at night the vigilante known as Daredevil. As a lawyer, Matt sought to always defend those who are innocent of any crime, spurning all other clients despite the insistence of his partner Foggy that such behavior put their business at extreme financial risk. As Daredevil, Matt sought out and punished those who escaped conviction in the courtroom under false pretenses. He fought crime in solitude, until he met the martial artist Elektra Natchios. Murdock became infatuated with Elektra and courted her. She, eventually, came to reciprocate his emotions. In the meantime, reporter Ben Urich, who had been investigating Daredevil, found a clue that revealed Murdock as the vigilante.

After Elektra's father was killed by the Kingpin's assassin Bullseye, she believed the murderer to be Daredevil. Armed with two sais, she located him and attacked, beating the reluctant Daredevil by stabbing a Sai into his left shoulder. She removed Daredevil's mask, revealing his true face. Before explanations could be made, Bullseye attacked. A short battle ensued, ending when Bullseye killed Elektra with her own sai. Daredevil, severely wounded, set out for a church to recooperate. The church itself was Daredevil's sanctuary, concealed by Father Everett, who was Matthew's guide and mentor. Bullseye tracked him down and they fought, with Daredevil defeating Bullseye by throwing him through the church window, where he landed on a car.

Daredevil went to Fiskcorp to fight Kingpin, beating him in single combat. At one point in the fight, Kingpin gained the upper hand; unable to locate him, Daredevil broke a water-pipe, causing the water to drench and thereby outline his enemy because Daredevil could see Fisk via echolocation as the water made sounds as it hit his skin.

Daredevil spared the Kingpin after revealing his secret identity as Matt Murdock. The Kingpin promised him that he would be released from prison eventually and that Daredevil's secret wouldn't be safe. Matt accepted this, choosing to meet the challenge when it came. When Kingpin threatened to reveal Murdock's identity to the underworld, Murdock countered that if he did, the Kingpin would fall into disgrace for having lost a fight to a blind man.

Murdock found a good luck charm that was similar to the one Elektra showed him, suggesting that she may still be alive.

Elektra[]

In a deleted scene, in a dream Matt asked Elektra to come back and stay with him. Elektra said she would when she was ready. They gave each other a hug and Elektra then woke up, got dressed and walked out towards where Abby Miller was training.

Character traits[]

Matt is strictly faithful to his idea of justice, and he pursues it during the day, as a lawyer, as well as during the night, as Daredevil. As a Catholic, Matt is often bound by a strong remorse, which he sublimates in his vigilante activity. He's a lady's man and often has occasional lovers.

Powers and Abilities[]

Powers[]

  • Superhuman Senses: Daredevil is blind, yet the radioactive isotopes that scarred his optical nerves sharpened all his other senses; such as smell, touch, taste, hearing etc., to superhuman levels.
    • Superhuman Hearing: Daredevil can hear heartbeats, pulses, and breathing even from miles away.
      • Lie Detection: Daredevil can sense if someone is lying; via listening to his or her heartbeat.
    • Superhuman Smell: Daredevil can smell anything, even from miles away.
    • Superhuman Touch: Daredevil can "read" a book by touching the ink on the page.
    • Radar Sense: Daredevil possesses a special radar sense, superior to a bat's; which allows him to locate everything on his path better than every sighted individual.

Abilities[]

  • Master Hand-To-Hand Combatant/Martial Artist: Daredevil is an excellent hand-to-hand combatant and martial artist and is able to go head-on against terrific combatants; such as Elektra, Bullseye and Kingpin.
  • Master Stick-Fighter: Daredevil is an excellent stick-fighter and uses his billy club in combat.
  • Master Acrobat: Daredevil is an excellent acrobat and is able to perform acrobatic and gymnastic moves; such as somersaults, flips, etc., which allows him to dodge or counter almost any attack.
  • Master Lawyer: Matt is an excellent lawyer because he uses his superhuman senses to detect when people are lying giving him an advantage.

Equipment[]

  • Daredevil Suit: Matt wears a suit as his superhero alter-ego, Daredevil, to hide his identity from his enemies, when he goes out fighting crime.
  • Expandable Batons: It functions as a a multi-purpose cane with different modes; such as two short sticks, a larger staff or grappling hook.

Relationships[]

Appearances/Actors[]

Behind the scenes[]

Trivia[]

  • Throughout the various Daredevil comics and the film, Daredevil has had many different suits. The original is yellow and black with a large red D in the center. This suit featured a sheath on the right leg to store the cane/staff as well as red eyes. The second suit is similar to the one featured in the film except it has two inter-linking red D's painted on it. The third was created specially for the film. A particular suite is the one design for The Trial of the Incredible Hulk, which is not similar at all at the ones in the comics, having the shape of a black ninja suite with no horns or trademark symbols.
  • In the Daredevil movie, several scenes were taken shot-for-shot from the comic books, especially from Guardian Devil by Quesada.
  • In the Director's cut, Matt's catholic origins are deepened much more than in the movie, as well as his activity as a lawyer.
  • In a deleted scene from Elektra, Ben Affleck reprises his role as Matt Murdock, appearing in dream to Elektra asking her to come back to him.
  • In the comics, the accident that gave Matt his powers was where he helped an elderly blind man avoid getting run over by a truck, and that the canister with a radioactive isotope fell out of the truck and hit him.
  • As a fan of the character, Ben Affleck made a point of reading every single comic book that featured Daredevil as preparation for his role.
  • According to Ben Affleck, Daredevil was his favorite comic book hero.

Gallery[]

Daredevil[]

See Also[]

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