Daredevil Message Board

theunrealstudios · Posted: Thu Oct 21, 2010 9:18 am Post subject: Why does he dress like a devil?

simply put why does a catholic man dress up like that? i've always wondered and tried before in the past to come up with logical explanations to this double standard but i'd like other peoples thoughts. The name "Daredevil" we all know how he got that from the bullies and the red and yellow costume was jacks boxing robe but the symbolic red costume what's it's rationilization? it's origin? does the costume represent the monster inside of him as in he thinks he's as bad as the devil? was it a fear of the devil he had as a child when he listened to the preaching of devil talk in church? or something else entirely different?

idk, maybe it's a "simply put" answer and i'm over thinking it, i just like to know the motivation behind the actions of these characters i mean he could have given up the identity, took on the Ronin image and would get less heat on his murdock life so it MUST mean something, any thoughts from well educated, long time readers? Smile

baker · Flying Blind Joined: 24 May 2010 Posts: 43

There's a couple possible explanations. For one, he's a lapsed Catholic. From what I can tell in Guardian Devil, Elektra Lives Again, and Born Again, he has no faith in God or the church. So his devil costume might just be an image of his rebelliousness, like a Machiavellian slap in the face to his Christian upbringing.

Another reason is found in Man Without Fear, where he was bullied as a kid in the playground. The bullies would push him around calling him Daredevil. Later, he fuels his anger to defeat some muggers at this thought. It's been a while since I read it, but I think in the same comic Matt looks back in shame at when his dad had to dress up as a devil in a boxing match. So his costume could just be an act of humility.

I think he specifically talks about why he dresses up as a devil in some issue, but I can't remember where.

AP · Flying Blind Joined: 08 Jul 2010 Posts: 55

theunrealstudios · Posted: Thu Oct 21, 2010 5:54 pm Post subject:

okay cool (on both explanations) thanks. The name is easy to understand from Matt's point of view. i figured it came down to ironic fear or a religious sense of known evil inside of him. well (off topic) IMO he does believe because the idea is that matt murdock when broken has no faith but when he glues himself back together he gets his faith back (other wise there wouldn't be so many religious statements from him in his inner thoughts in volume 2 as well as having the occassional confession). he just needs to put himself back together but i can see your point on rebellion ( not to the point of satanic however Smile

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not from a design standpoint (yellow or red) but just from a writers point i'd like to know what motivates him not to fight crime (that's obvious) but to dress up like a devil as "daredevil" could refer to a vigilante who's acrobatic (as he is) in his stunts. eh can't really see it in MWF when he looks at the poster besides the point being it's not cannon (in the majority of fans). To me it's just a subject that isn't given enough detail compared to other heroes as there's too much ambiguity to readers. but none the less, i appreciate the insight guys, both certainly know the character Smile

JoeBullseye · Posted: Tue Sep 25, 2012 9:10 pm Post subject:

Damn, you guys are way over thinking this. In the first few issues, way back in 64, Daredevil wore yellow because he made his costume from his fathers boxing robe. Not because he was chicken. As for the switch to red, the color artist made a mistake and colored to much of the costume red and they let it go completely red to fix it with out a redrawing of the page. It was a mistake that actually improved the comic. As for why he wears a devil costume it was simply to scare the criminals he was fighting. The way Batman represented a giant bat to scare criminals. This is the stuff you find out reading the first issues of DD. NOW if you're talking motivation AFTER the Frank Miller years you have a whole new set of challenges. Frank made a very complex DD. Which we all know. Which I assume the Devil costume is part of his catholic upbringing. But why over think it. It would scare anybody if a guy on a wire came smashing in to beat you up dressed like Satan, wouldn't it?

SK47DD · Posted: Tue Nov 27, 2012 1:25 pm Post subject:

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