Abandoned by his mother, Matt Murdock was raised by his father, boxer "Battling Jack" Murdock, in Hell's Kitchen. Realizing that rules were needed to prevent people from behaving badly, young Matt decided to study law; however, when he saved a man from an oncoming truck, it spilled a radioactive cargo that rendered Matt blind while enhancing his remaining senses. Under the harsh tutelage of blind martial arts master Stick, Matt mastered his heightened senses and became a formidable fighter. He also attended Columbia University Law School alongside his best friend, Franklin "Foggy" Nelson; but before Matt earned his Juris Doctorate degree, his father was murdered by agents of the Fixer (Roscoe Sweeny) for refusing to throw a fight. Enraged when the legal system failed to bring the Fixer to justice, Matt donned a costume made from his father's boxing robe and went into action as "Daredevil," savagely beating his father's killers and frightening the Fixer himself to death.

Establishing a small New York law firm with Foggy, Matt vowed to serve the law as Matt Murdock and to fight evils beyond the law's reach as Daredevil. Over the years, he has fought many super-criminals, including Mister Fear, Stilt-Man, Gladiator, Purple Man and Jester (Jonathan Powers), as well as crime lords such as the Kingpin and the Owl. He has loved and fought alongside both the Black Widow and Elektra.

Although Daredevil and the Punisher both fight crime, they often clash over the Punisher's lethal tactics. During an early encounter, Daredevil shot the Punisher to prevent him from killing drug-dealer Peter "Hogman" Grunter. Since then, Daredevil has worked with the Punisher when necessary, but has also attempted to bring him to justice. Daredevil formed the "Marvel Knights" to apprehend the Punisher, who escaped police custody thereafter. Later, Daredevil teamed with Spider-Man and Wolverine in a failed attempt to take down the Punisher, who told Daredevil that the only way to stop him was to kill him.

Recently, Daredevil's secret identity was exposed by a tabloid and he definitively defeated the Kingpin in public, declaring himself New York's new kingpin. To avoid disbarment, Murdock has been forced to publicly and legally deny his dual identity, though the public remains unconvinced. He was incarcerated by the FBI which had been publicly embarrassed by Murdock and placed in a population comprised of many of his enemies in the hope that Murdock would be killed while in prison. Murdock, aided by the Punisher, escaped shortly thereafter.

Daredevil

Abandoned by his mother, Matt Murdock was raised by his father, boxer "Battling Jack" Murdock, in Hell's Kitchen. Realizing that rules were needed to prevent people from behaving badly, young Matt decided to study law; however, when he saved a man from an oncoming truck, it spilled a radioactive cargo that rendered Matt blind while enhancing his remaining senses. Under the harsh tutelage of blind martial arts master Stick, Matt mastered his heightened senses and became a formidable fighter.

Powers

In compensation for his lost sight, Daredevil’s other four senses have been preternaturally enhanced.

Abilities

Daredevil possesses the strength, speed, agility, and endurance, not to mention acrobatic and gymnastic skills, of an Olympic-level athlete. Through a combination of the tutelage of Stick and self-training, Daredevil is a master of a unique martial art form, which is a hybridized form of American boxing and the Japanese arts of ninjutsu, judo and aiki-jujutsu. Martial arts training has given him an immense degree of concentration and personal control over his body and energy, or Ki. Daredevil is also an accomplished criminal trial lawyer.

Weapons

Daredevil carries a billy club, disguised as a cane in civilian garb. It is a versatile, multi-purpose weapon, stronger than any fist. It contains thirty feet of aircraft control cable, which is connected to a case-hardened steel grapnel. Internal mechanisms allow the cable to be neatly wound and unwound, while a powerful spring launches the grapnel. Daredevil usually carries two fighting batons.

Significant Issues

First donned red costume (Daredevil #7, 1965); established "Mike Murdock" identity (Daredevil #25, 1967); faked death of "Mike Murdock" (Daredevil #41, 1968); revealed secret identity and proposed to Karen Page (Daredevil #56-57, 1969); began relationship with Black Widow (Daredevil #81, 1971); moved to San Francisco with Black Widow (Daredevil #87, 1972); first battled Bullseye (Daredevil #131, 1976); secret identity discovered by reporter Ben Urich (Daredevil #163-164, 1980); first encountered Kingpin (Daredevil #170-171, 1981); unable to prevent Bullseye from killing Elektra (Daredevil #181, 1982); allied with Kingpin to take down Micah Synn (Daredevil #212-214, 1984-1985); life nearly destroyed by Kingpin after secret identity revealed by Karen Page (Daredevil #227-233, 1986); plagued by Typhoid Mary, left New York City (Daredevil #260-266, 1988); instrumental in the fall of the Kingpin, got law license back (Daredevil #297-300, 1991-1992); faked death, adopted new costume and alias of Jack Batlin (Daredevil #325, 1994); adopted multiple alter egos while battling inner demons (Daredevil #344-347, 1995); revealed secret identity to Foggy Nelson (Daredevil #348, 1995); unabled to prevent Bullseye from killing Karen Page (Daredevil #5, 1999); secret identity exposed by tabloid (Daredevil #32, 2002); suffered nervous breakdown, replaced Wilson Fisk as New York's new kingpin (Daredevil #50, 2003)

All data from the awesome folks at Marvel.

Daredevil Appears In