Line #93 ComicBook/BornAgain


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7	-> ''"'''Six hours'''. Spent '''sweating ''' and '''straining''', seeking the '''limits''' of his own inhuman strength. Seeking the place '''past''' the thought. There is no '''corpse'''. What is it '''about''' Murdock? He was a '''minor''' concern - - a promising '''talent''' to be '''observed''' and '''catalogued''' and even '''flattered'''- - and perhaps one day to be turned to the Kingpin’s way - - but he is '''more''' than this. Now he is much more than this. He always was. And I - - have '''shown''' him… that a man without '''hope'''…is a [[MythologyGag man without fear]]. ''"
8	-->-- '''Wilson Fisk/The Kingpin’s monologue, the conclusion of [[Recap/DaredevilBornAgainPartThree Part Three: Pariah]]'''
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10	'''[[TropeCodifier The]]''' ''ComicBook/{{Daredevil}}'' story.
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12	1986 was a big year for Creator/FrankMiller. In between the [[ComicBook/BatmanTheDarkKnightReturns other]] [[ComicBook/BatmanYearOne stuff]], he also happened to write this: an instant classic and swan-song to his hugely influential 1979-83 stint on the character. The story goes like this: Karen Page, the love of Matt Murdock's life, now a [[BrokenPedestal washed-up and coked-out adult film star]], sells his secret identity for a fix. Said information, as good as gold, makes its way to no less than the Kingpin of Crime, Wilson Fisk. Who proceeds to "test" the information -- by [[ForTheEvulz completely ruining Matt's life.]]
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14	Matt loses his house, job, friends, and even sanity. But as Matt, exhausted and enraged, fights the Kingpin -- and survives, however destitute -- Fisk notices something. [[TheDeterminator Matt]] won't quit. Kingpin finally has found the man he cannot break.
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16	The story is considered one of the best of the era and one of the three eminent [[DeconstructedTrope superhero deconstructions]] -- among them ''ComicBook/BatmanTheDarkKnightReturns'' and ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}'' -- though less famous than they are (and notably the only one to be set in its publisher's main continuity rather than a standalone miniseries). This is somewhat ironic in itself, given that of the three, ''Born Again'' probably remains closest to the traditional superhero story, without going into SociopathicHero territory. More than the other two, Matt is portrayed as a fundamentally decent guy with genuine heroic impulses while still very much a human being, and the central story is an old-fashioned battle between the hero and the villain. Notable for featuring perhaps the first time a superhero comic issue in which the hero is not once in his costume.
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18	A live-action adaptation of ''Born Again'' --intended as a sequel to the 2003 ''Film/{{Daredevil}}'' film-- was in development at one point but never made, while a later pitch for a (separate) film adapting the story was rejected by Creator/TwentiethCenturyFox in 2012. However, elements of the story were adapted into the third season of ''Series/{{Daredevil\|2015}}'', released in October 2018. In 2022, it was announced that a revival of the 2015 series would be titled ''Series/DaredevilBornAgain'', and is scheduled to premiere in early 2025.
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21	!! ''Born Again'' provides examples of the following tropes:
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23	* AllForNothing: NYPD officer Nick Manolis is bribed into falsely testifying that he witnessed Matt bribing a witness in order to get Kingpin to pay for the best treatment money can buy for his terminally ill (but not hopelessly so) son. His son dies anyway and Manolis decides to come clean to Ben Urich.
24	* AxCrazy: Nuke is the end result of a military project designed to create a super soldier. The procedure twisted his mind and reduced him to a delusional maniac who would unhesitatingly kill anyone whom he perceived to be a threat to him or his home country.
25	* BadSanta: Matt is stabbed by a thug dressed as Santa.
26	* BattleaxeNurse: Nurse Lois is a gruff, intimidating nurse who supervises Nick Manolis' recovery. She's also a mob enforcer for the Kingpin who breaks Ben Urich's fingers and kills Manolis.
27	* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: Kingpin sets out to destroy Matt's life and succeeds. He just didn't count on him becoming more ruthless as he has nothing left to lose.
28	* BerserkButton: For a crime lord, Fisk is actually a pretty reasonable guy. He listens to his subordinates and considers their advice. But ''don't'' mention his wife, or he will personally strangle you to death.[[note]]Years prior, near the beginning of Miller's DD run, Vanessa became collateral damage in a gang war (literally, that was the title) between Fisk and his rivals. Miller's contemporaneous GN ''Love and War'' details Fisk's efforts to rehabilitate her mind. It's implied that his failure to help her is still getting to him.[[/note]]
29	* {{BFG}}: Nuke carries a massive gun, "Betsy," which he uses to blow away a large portion of Hell's Kitchen.
30	* BigBad: Wilson Fisk, a.k.a. The Kingpin, who is determined to destroy Matt's life and pulls every string he has to do it.
31	* BigDamnHeroes: Between a bloodthirsty psychopath in a Daredevil costume and a murderous drug dealer coming for them pretty much ''at the same time,'' it looks like Karen and Foggy are screwed. Enter a reinvigorated Matt who manages to lay out both threats without breaking a sweat.
32	* BittersweetEnding: Matt's been disbarred and still hasn't reconciled with Foggy, but he's recovered from the trauma inflicted on him throughout the story and is shown to be happy together with Karen. On the flip side, the Kingpin manages to escape legal consequences for his actions, but the ''Daily Bugle'''s exposé ruins his attempts at creating a legitimate public image for himself and undermines control of his criminal empire.
33	* BlessedWithSuck: During Matt's rehabilitation in the Catholic mission, he relives the ''terrifyingly painful'' early days of acclimating to his new senses. Though he is able to hear and smell far-away objects with uncanny precision, he soon picks up unpleasant essences and suffers from deafeningly loud noises, being overwhelmed to the point he can barely sleep.
34	* BodyCountCompetition: Nuke carries an assault rifle that is somehow able to keep count of the people it kills. For each mission, he tries to break his own record.
35	* BoringButPractical: Kingpin's plan to dismantle Matt's life. He bribes Manolis to testify that Matt manipulated a witness, resulting in getting him disbarred. All his utilities are cut off as his paying his bills got "lost" in bureaucracy. His financial assets are frozen pending an IRS investigation. It only begins to go wrong for the Kingpin when he himself finds it ''too'' boring and decides to blow up Matt's brownstone and leave a Daredevil suit in the rubble to send a message to him.
36	* TheBusCameBack: This story marked the return of Karen Page after a seven-year absence, her previous appearance being in issue #138 and ''Ghost Rider'' #20.
37	* TheCameo: Thor and Iron Man show up in the final part of the story with Captain America
38	* CaptainPatriotic: Nuke is a dark version. In contrast to ComicBook/CaptainAmerica's noble patriotism, Nuke is all about crazed jingoism.
39	-->'''Nuke:''' Because of you, Americans are ASHAMED of themselves! ASHAMED OF OUR BOYS!\
40	'''Captain America:''' [[ShutUpHannibal I'm an American -- And you sure as HELL don't speak for me!]]
41	** ComicBook/CaptainAmerica plays it (mostly) straight in his guest appearance, even ''apologizing'' to the [=MPs=] sent to stop him, knowing they're just following orders. One of his most iconic quotes comes when he goes to confront a general about Nuke:
42	-->'''General:''' You know the department holds you in the highest regard. We've always valued your commitment -- and your loyalty...\
43	'''Captain America:''' I'm loyal to nothing, General... except the dream.
44	* CheapCostume: The Daredevil impostor hired by the Kingpin had such a convincing costume (made by the Gladiator), that the real Daredevil actually stole it from him and put it on himself. Of course, he had no choice as all of his other costumes had been destroyed.
45	* ChristmasEpisode: The story just happens to be taking place around the end of December. Perennial loser Turk Barrett dresses up as Santa to swindle New Yorkers and a delirious Matt tries to stop him. [[NeverBringAKnifeToAGunFight It ends poorly.]]
46	* CostumeCopycat: The maniac hired to impersonate Daredevil. Matt ends up kicking his ass and stealing his costume before going to defeat Nuke.
47	* {{Crossover}}: Matt actually appeared in an issue of ''[[ComicBook/SpiderMan The Amazing Spider-Man]]'' during the events of the story, where he makes Peter promise not to go after Fisk before he gets a chance at him. Peter ignores him and confronts Fisk as Spidey, but realizes that he can't legally barge in and attack him since he doesn't have any official proof and is forced to bow out, deciding it's best to leave things to Daredevil once he recovers.
48	* CutLexLuthorACheck: {{Deconstruction}}. Fisk is trying to expand into legitimate businesses and be a VillainWithGoodPublicity, but his vendetta against Daredevil is costing him money and putting that ambition in jeopardy. The first crony to try and point that out to him is "bought out" and later has both his legs broken off-panel; the second is murdered by Fisk then and there. Fisk is ''trying'' to turn his criminal genius into more acceptable enterprises, but his obsession with Daredevil and his violent instincts keep overriding his sense.
49	* DaydreamSurprise: There is an exceptionally depressing version when a close-to-rock-bottom Matt briefly fantasizes about an over-the-top DeusExMachina HappyEnding before realizing he hasn't even gotten up from his flophouse bed:
50	--->''"I walk out and a kind stranger gives me a ride uptown to the Kingpin's headquarters and I punch the Kingpin out and he begs for mercy and gives me my life back and surrenders to the police and everybody knows it is me who beat him and there's a parade."''
51	* DelusionsOfEloquence: Felix Manning, one of Fisk's henchmen spying on Matt Murdock.
52	-->'''Felix:''' I '''myself''' gain admittment to the very same '''subway car''' as Murdock -- there to observe him to be in a state of extreme '''aggregation'''. We proceed without '''incitement''' to the '''Pennsylvania Station''' stop, whereat '''three youths''' board, brandishing nine-millimeter '''handguns''' of the '''street''' variety, loudly '''declaiming''' their intention of depraving the '''passengers''' of their personal '''effects'''.
53	* DespairEventHorizon: Ben Urich crosses this briefly when one of Kingpin's enforcers breaks his fingers and tortures the man he is about to interview in front of him.
54	* DespairGambit: Kingpin finds out he's dying, crosses the DespairEventHorizon himself, and decides he wants a TakingYouWithMe "swan song" where he can drive Daredevil insane.
55	* {{Determinator}}: Matt loses everything, including his right to practice law, becomes a paranoid wreck, and is badly beaten and left to die by the Kingpin -- and he just keeps coming back.
56	* DirtyCop:
57	** NYPD Lieutenant Nick Manolis, who framed Matt initially, needed money to pay for an operation to save his son. He tries to set it right, but that doesn't turn out well for him.
58	** A group of dirty cops are bribed by the Kingpin and kill one of his former subordinates when she agrees to testify against him.
59	* EasilyForgiven: Matt's life is ruined as a direct result of Karen Page selling his secret identity. When they reunite, he notices her decrepit state and embraces her, never whispering a single reproach at her for it. By the end of the story, it's implied that the two will resume their relationship.
60	* EmphasizeEverything: All over the place. Just look at the quote at the top of the page for one example.
61	* EvilIsPetty: After being told that Matt is secretly Daredevil, whose actions have barely impacted the profit of his previous crimes, and even though he is unsure of this information, [[Characters/MarvelComicsTheKingpin The Kingpin]] dives headfirst into this, going above and beyond to ruin Matt's life to confirm it, and sacrificing his calmness and methodical approach (the factors that made him such an intimidating and effective villain in the first place) for his vendetta against Daredevil.
62	* {{Frameup}}: The gist of the Kingpin's initial plan -- he gets Matt Murdock disbarred from his law practice due to bogus testimony from a cop in his pocket, among other things. Later on, Kingpin attempts to frame Daredevil by killing his friends with a lunatic dressed in his costume. Unfortunately for Kingpin, Daredevil was onto him from the beginning, takes out the lunatic with no problem, and gets a new costume out of the deal.
63	* GeneticEngineeringIsTheNewNuke: Nuke is a genetically engineered SuperSoldier whose actions alone lead to the deaths of hundreds of innocents in Hell's Kitchen.
64	* GoodShepherd: Sister Maggie is a female version, who takes care of Murdock after he's injured.
65	* GoneHorriblyRight: Fisk destroys Matt's entire life in the ''very first issue'' of the story. Then Matt strolls into Fisk's office, gets his crap handed to him, and Fisk tries to kill him in the East River. When they don't find a body, Fisk realizes Matt's alive, With nothing to lose, and [[OhCrap coming for him]]. After all, a man without ''hope'' is a man without ''fear''.
66	* GrandFinale: For Creator/FrankMiller's run on ''Daredevil.''
67	* HesBack: The Kingpin, knowing that he has completely ruined Matt Murdock's life, sends the SuperSoldier lunatic Nuke to attack Hell's Kitchen. As the maniac is laying waste to the slum, he is struck with a billy club, which then ricochets back to Daredevil. There, back in costume after so long and framed by the flames, Matt is ready to show the monster that there will be the devil to pay for all the harm he caused that night!
68	* HumiliationConga: Daredevil's secret identity is sold to the Kingpin, who makes his life a living hell. Matt loses his job, gets his credit cards canceled, gets accused of criminal misconduct, gets stabbed and almost killed, and becomes homeless, among other things. He finally turns the tables and manages to start ruining Kingpin's life by revealing that Kingpin sent a madman to destroy Hell's Kitchen.
69	* ImpossibleInsurance: After Nuke's rampage through Hell's Kitchen, the owners of a diner Matt had been working at say that their insurance company refuses to pay their claim and that they don't have the money to hire a lawyer. Since Matt has been disbarred, he takes some cash from a group of criminals he beats up to help repair the diner.
70	* InvulnerableKnuckles: At the beginning of the story, Matt has injured knuckles from a fight.
71	* JammedSeatbelts: The Kingpin tries to kill Matt Murdock this way, justified in that the buckle is chemically treated to be unopenable.
72	* ManipulativeBastard: Most of the conflict originates from Kingpin's ability to influence numerous prominent figures, including higher-ups in the police, army, and the IRS, by means of bribes, threats, or even simple lies. One of the most blatant examples is his manipulation of the mentally unstable Nuke, to whom he pretends to be a loyal patriot struggling against a traitor named Daredevil.
73	* ManlyTears: Matt Murdock, after suffering deep professional and personal losses at the hands of Wilson Fisk a.k.a. ''ComicBook/TheKingpin'' for what appears to be a period of several weeks, sees his apartment blown up before his eyes and is left jobless and homeless. After discovering proof of Fisk's involvement amongst the ruins of what was once his home he finally breaks down in tears while holding what is left of his costume in his hands.
74	* MouthOfSauron: James Wesley[[note]]Although his first name wasn't officially established until the release of the Netflix show[[/note]], Fisk's personal and most trusted assistant, is introduced in this story. He is the second most feared man in Fisk's organization, considering he is responsible for carrying out Fisk's most secret orders, including when to kill people.
75	* MuggedForDisguise: In the Christmas issue, Turk and one of his criminal associates mug a pair of sidewalk Santas for their costumes as part of a plot to scam donations from wealthy shoppers. When the other crook, [[EvenEvilHasStandards feeling uneasy about beating up and robbing Santa Claus]], asks why they couldn’t just ''buy'' some costumes, Turk says they don’t have the money due to having been fired by the Kingpin.
76	* {{Mundangerous}}: The closest Matt comes to dying is from ''pneumonia'' after he takes a dip in East River and then sleeps in the streets in December.
77	* NeckSnap: The Kingpin does the one-handed version on a complaining associate.
78	* NeverFoundTheBody: The Kingpin realized immediately that Daredevil was still alive when he learned that the car he was locked in and thrown into the river didn't contain his body. Sure, he might have drowned trying to reach the surface and sunk into the mud but...
79	-->'''Kingpin:''' There is no corpse. ''There is no corpse.''
80	* NoHoldsBarredBeatdown: When Nick Manolis is about to confess to framing Matt Murdock, he is subjected to a beatdown by one of the Kingpin's minions.
81	* OhCrap: Fisk's reaction to Murdock's body not being found. He realizes that destroying Matt's life but not ensuring his death has given him a foe with nothing to lose.
82	-->'''Fisk:''' And I--I have ''shown'' him that a man without hope is a man without ''fear.''
83	* OrgyOfEvidence: This phenomenon is what finally convinces Matt that the recent misfortunes he has suffered are being caused by ComicBook/TheKingpin rather than simply a string of bad luck. Most of his difficulties were subtly engineered problems concerning his taxes, his career, and his friends -- his entire apartment building blowing up is a little more suspicious.
84	-->'''Daredevil:''' It was a nice piece of work, Kingpin. You shouldn't have signed it.
85	* PhoneyCall: Matt, at the end of his rope after having just attacked a cop, calls Foggy, begging for help because there's something wrong with his mind. On Matt's end of the conversation, we hear him being reluctantly persuaded that everyone really is working for the Kingpin, including the cop, and that Matt should go challenge the Kingpin right now. As he walks away from the phone, we hear the time recording coming from the speaker.
86	* PietaPlagiarism: The splash page where Maggie the nun is holding a badly injured Matt has them in a pietà pose. Unlike some other examples in superhero comics, the comparison to Jesus and Mary is well justified here, since Matt's "rebirth" has parallels to Jesus's resurrection, and we find out Maggie actually is his mother.
87	* PsychoForHire: The Kingpin hires ''two'' psychopaths at once to draw out Daredevil and hopefully kill him: Nuke, a SuperSoldier driven insane from years of harsh experiments and being pumped full of drugs, and a killer in a Daredevil costume. Nuke is to drop into Manhattan and just start firing his [[{{BFG}} huge gun]] [[ICallItVera Betsy]], and the other one is supposed to kill Matt's friends while dressed as Daredevil, [[FrameUp framing him for the crime]].
88	* PsychoSerum: Nuke's pills are depicted as this. Red pills were adrenaline-boosting "uppers", causing him to fly into berserk furies that granted him increased strength and resistance to pain. White pills were mood stabilizers, keeping him balanced and clear-headed. Blue pills were adrenaline-nullifying "downers", cooling him off and ending his berserker rages.
89	* RedemptionEqualsDeath: Nick Manolis, after a NoHoldsBarredBeatdown, still tries to confess to framing Matt Murdock and is murdered by one of the Kingpin's minions.
90	* RevengeBeforeReason:
91	** Early in the story Kingpin fights the temptation to land a finishing blow on Matt as his manipulations tear down his life from afar. Finally, he can't resist and has a bomb set up in Matt's house. This gives him the first and only clue he needs that Kingpin is behind everything.
92	** Later, Fisk gets called out on it, as his vendetta against Matt is a drain on resources and is jeopardizing his plans to expand into more legitimate enterprises. [[TooDumbToLive This was not the time to point this out to him.]]
93	* RousingSpeech: Played with. After Ben Urich is intimidated into silence by the Kingpin's goons, J. Jonah Jameson (of ComicBook/SpiderMan fame, displaying HiddenDepths) gives an incredible speech explaining how important it is that the Bugle expose the Kingpin for what he is despite the potential consequences. Urich is unmoved at first. He later decides to pursue the story, but the speech isn't portrayed as an important factor in his decision.
94	* SaveTheVillain: Daredevil desperately tries to save the maniacal SuperSoldier Nuke after he realizes that he isn't even aware of his surroundings and needs all the help he can get.
95	* SesquipedalianLoquaciousness: One of the Kingpin's lieutenants speaks with an excessive amount of this, which is played for laughs.
96	* ShoutOut: [[http://source.superherostuff.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Born-Again-Final-Page.gif The last page of the story]] very closely resembles the cover of early Music/BobDylan album [[http://i58.fastpic.ru/big/2013/1124/dd/8f865b991f487688da3f2da99ef780dd.jpg "The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan"]].
97	* SociopathicSoldier: Nuke is a genetically modified super soldier -- who is also completely insane and needs a steady intake of drugs just to function.
98	* SuperSoldier:
99	** Nuke is a product of an attempt at making another ComicBook/CaptainAmerica. He's a SuperSoldier with heightened reflexes, drug-fuelled rage, and hardened plastic under his skin. He's also totally off his rocker, thinks he's still fighting UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar, will slaughter anyone he thinks is threatening "our boys", has his gun keeps a count of his kills, and needs a steady intake of drugs just to function.
100	** ComicBook/CaptainAmerica. Nearly every character -- even the crazed Nuke -- practically salutes in his presence -- except Matt, who's more annoyed that Cap is interfering in his private war against Fisk.
101	* ThouShaltNotKill: Daredevil normally adheres to the "no killing" code of most superheroes. In this story, when Nuke's pilot is shooting up New York in a military helicopter, Matt picks up a rocket launcher, mutters, "Forgive me," and blows him apart.
102	* TooBrokenToBreak: The Kingpin does everything in his power to make Matt's life a living hell, and destroy everything he had. When Matt is left homeless and penniless with barely any of his sanity left, Fisk thinks he has beaten him... Only to realize that he has created a man with nothing to lose, and thus a man without fear.
103	* TheUnmasking: The Kingpin learns Daredevil's identity and tries to destroy his life, but later on does nothing about it.
104	* VillainousBreakdown: Fisk undergoes a subtle one over the course of the story after he learns that Matt is still alive. It's very clear that he's becoming quite unhinged, culminating in Fisk sending the [[PsychoForHire Nuke]] to Hell's Kitchen and making him shoot up the place to draw Matt out.
105	* WealthyEverAfter: Inverted when Matt is ruined by the Kingpin after he learns his enemy's SecretIdentity. The Kingpin is eventually defeated and disgraced but feels he at least made Matt miserable by impoverishing him while he plans to strike at him again. However, when you see the final panel of Matt and Karen being happy in their situation, you know the Kingpin has truly lost.
106	* WhatIf: ''ComicBook/WhatIf'' gives two alternate takes to this story in Vol. 2.
107	** In issue #2, "What if Daredevil killed Kingpin?", when Matt confronts the Kingpin, he blows him away with a pistol. The end result drives Matt mad with regret and causes a GangWar to erupt that ends in the deaths of Matt, Karen, and the Ned Leeds Hobgoblin. However, Richard Fisk abandons his identity as the Rose and becomes the new Daredevil in his stead.
108	** In issue #48, "What if Daredevil saved Nuke?", Matt is able to get Nuke to a hospital instead of dropping Nuke's dead body on Ben Urich's desk. He's forced to put him into hiding when some of Kingpin's goons try to finish the job, forcing Kingpin to release Bullseye to get him back. Nuke kills Bullseye before he ultimately dies, but his actions seem to be the ultimate finish for the Kingpin.

Context ComicBook / BornAgain