12. Daredevil
Daredevil (Matthew Murdock) is a fictional character, a superhero in the Marvel Comics Universe. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist Bill Everett[1] in Daredevil vol. 1, #1 (April 1964), he is notable as being among the few superheroes with a disability. Blinded during his youth, his other four senses developed to compensate, and he obtained a sonar-like ability to perceive objects.
An Irish-American raised by single father and fading boxer "Battling Jack" Murdock moved in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood of New York City. Jack instills in Matt the importance of education and non-violence with the aim of seeing his son become a better man than himself. Though Jack's intentions were noble, Matt was left unprepared to handle the bullying he received at school, and was branded with the sarcastic nickname, "Daredevil". Matt vented his frustration and anger by training in secret.
In the course of saving a blind man from the path of an oncoming truck, Matt is blinded by a radioactive substance that falls from the vehicle. Though the act of heroism robs him of sight, the radioactive exposure heightens his remaining senses beyond normal human thresholds, enabling him to detect the shape and location of objects around him. A mysterious man, Stick, becomes his mentor, and teaches him to control his new abilities while honing his natural aptitude in acrobatics and martial arts. Stick, also blind, teaches Matt how to form a mental image of the objects around him, and Matt develops a "radar sense" to make up for his sight. Still in school, Matt continues to honor his father's wishes by excelling in his studies, and ultimately enrolled in the Columbia School of Law.
In College, Matt meets and falls in love with Elektra Natchios, the daughter of a Greek diplomat. When Elektra and her father are kidnapped by terrorists, Matt dons a mask for the first time and fights to save the two. In the mayhem that follows, Elektra's father is killed. Overcome with grief, Elektra breaks Murdock's heart by leaving Columbia behind and returning to the study of martial arts.Back in Hell's Kitchen, Jack struggles and becomes an enforcer for small-time crook and boxing manager, the Fixer. In exchange for his services, the Fixer rigs a series of matches and provides "Battling Jack" a late-life boxing renaissance, resulting in the once near-destitute fighter becoming a title contender. On the night of the title fight, with his son in the crowd, Jack ignores the Fixer's demands to take a dive and wins by knockout. For his disobedience, the Fixer has him murdered.
Matt is devastated by the loss of his father and the judicial system's failure to convict the men responsible. Mindful of the childhood promise he made to his father not to lead a violent life, Matt dons a new identity for providing justice. Adorned in a yellow and black costume made from his father's boxing robes, renamed with the moniker of his childhood derision, and using his superhuman abilities, Matt confronts the killers and avenged his father as the superhero Daredevil.
