Characters / MCU: Criminals & Terrorists – Fisk Crime Ring

aka: MCU Benjamin Poindexter

Main Character Index > Villainous Organizations > Criminals & Terrorists | Criminal & Terrorist Organizations (The Power Broker | Ulysses Klaue's Gang | Disciples of Ammit) > New York-Based Criminals (Fisk Criminal Empire | Stokes–Dillard Crime Ring | Vulture's Gang)

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Spoilers for all works set prior to the end of Avengers: Endgame are unmarked.

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Fisk Criminal Empire

Leadership

Wilson Fisk/The Kingpin

Wilson Grant Fisk / The Kingpin

"A city crumbles and fades. It needs to die before it can be reborn."

Species: Human

Citizenship: American

Affiliation(s): Tracksuit Mafia, Union Allied Constructions (formerly), Confederated Global Investments (formerly), Vancorp (formerly), Red Lion National Bank (formerly), Sloan Limited

Portrayed By: Vincent D'Onofrio, Cole Jensen (young)

Appearances: Daredevil | Hawkeye | Echo | Daredevil Born Again

"It's funny, isn't it? How even the best of men can be... deceived by their true nature. [...] It means that I’m not the Samaritan, that I’m not the priest or the Levite. That I am the ill intent, who set upon the traveler, on a road that he should not have been on."

A powerful businessman with interests in the future of Hell's Kitchen and New York City. He's also a mob boss who has been building a major illegal enterprise in Hell's Kitchen.

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• Abusive Parents:
  • Bill Fisk was psychologically abusive toward Wilson, and coerced him into carrying out beatings. He also brutally beat Wilson's mother, forcing the boy to stare at the wall as he did so, leaving him with lingering trauma. Eventually, Wilson fought back, killing Bill with a hammer at the age of twelve.
  • In Echo, he himself turns out to be this to his surrogate daughter Maya Lopez. Despite him seeming to have a genuine soft spot for her, he doesn't hesitate to kill her birth father and shape her into a tool for his organization in similar fashion to how he used Dex.
• Accent Upon The Wrong Syllable:
  • Fisk has a noticeable stutter, which is part of the reason he dislikes being in public. It becomes even more pronounced when he speaks to Madame Gao in Mandarin. When he appears in Hawkeye, this trait of his is also kept, and in some respects, sounds much more frustrated.
  • The deep voice he uses to seem powerful, especially in his one-on-one confrontation with Punisher, is very pointed and affected, like a child trying to act like a big adult or even an animal making itself look larger to ward off predators — something that also fits perfectly with his history of abuse and his desire for control over others.
• Acrofatic: There's a muscularity to his immense weight that means he's able to dominate in most of the fights he partakes in, and he repeatedly beats people to death with his bare hands. He could keep up with a fully-suited Daredevil at the end of the first season of Daredevil, while in the second season, he quickly defeats the very capable Frank Castle in a one-on-one. In the Season 1 finale of Hawkeye, he's even more powerful, easily able to keep up with Kate Bishop, and very nearly kills her, only getting defeated due to some quick thinking from Kate.
• Adaptation Personality Change: Unlike the comics, Fisk acts as a socially awkward Psychopathic Manchild in public, and is a Visionary Villain. He does, however, share his comic book counterpart's traits of being a romantic, as well as very intelligent and cultured.
• Adaptational Curves: For practical reasons, Fisk's physique isn't as exaggeratedly rotund as it is in the comics and animation. He is still a reasonably large man, wearing bulletproof vests and suits to further amplify this, and in Hawkeye, he briefly wears an overcoat to make him appear larger, he's just not the egg-shaped giant he usually is.
• Adaptational Dye-Job: He has blue eyes in the comics, but has his actor's dark brown eyes in this iteration.
• Adaptational Wimp:
  • Played With. Comics Fisk has Stout Strength that, especially in his time as a Spider-Man villain, was basically Super-Strength sufficient to let him crush a man's skull in his fist, throw people through brick walls, and go blow-for-blow with Captain America and a holding-back Spider-Man. Here, due to the more realistic tone of the MCU as a whole when compared to the comics, Fisk is just a really big and strong human, although this does match up with how the Daredevil and later Spider-Man comics depict him. In general, the MCU version and comics both depict Fisk as a very, very strong human; the difference being that the MCU depicts him as what a very strong normal human can realistically do (while meeting Castle, he bench presses a solid 300 kg), whereas the comics depict him to the norm of Charles Atlas Superpower. He's definitely not dead-lifting a small car like Captain America any time soon. This is later Played With in Hawkeye, where Fisk is shown to be much stronger than before. While shrugging off arrows to the chest could just be attributed to his suits still being bulletproof like they were in Daredevil, his resistance to explosions, as well as direct punches to the face are something he wouldn't have been so blasé about. He was also is capable of ripping a door off a car's hinges, something he definitely couldn't do in Daredevil.
  • In the comics, Fisk is a master of several martial arts and is built like a sumo wrestler. This version is just a brute who relies on his natural size and strength as well as his psychotic temper to deliver unskilled but savage beatings which are noticeably less controlled and disciplined than Matt's fighting style. Daredevil season 2 shows that he does work out, however, and his battles with Castle and his three-way with Dex and Matt show him using some proper fighting form.
  • Also in the comics, Fisk is a confident, domineering Control Freak who rules through force of personality as well as terror. Here, he is much more shy, neurotic and visibly insecure, and while he terrifies his underlings he commands far less respect from his cohorts and relies more on mediation, with even Wesley accusing him of letting the others walk all over him (on the flip side, though, this does encourage others to fatally underestimate him, so it is still his true personality as much as it is a ruse). As Character Development kicks in, his ability to scheme and manipulate start to more closely approach his comic book counterpart's, and Daredevil season 3 has him outplay all other parties at every turn until the series finale.
• Affably Evil: Fisk has a girlfriend, a surrogate niece, would do anything for his mother, is respectful of his enemies, and wants to make his community a better place. He's also a brutal mob boss behind heroin and human trafficking, racketeering, money laundering, extortion, and murder. In the end though even if he shows a genuinely honorable and polite side, whatever you do, don't piss him off.
• Ambiguously Bi: He's unambiguously in love with Vanessa, but his interactions with James Wesley throughout season 1, suggest they might be more than just friends. Fisk's reaction to his murder certainly adds a few more layers of ambiguity to the situation too.
• And Your Little Dog, Too!: In the Echo season finale, Fisk clearly takes pleasure in the thought of "[killing] the rest of [Maya's] family" and fully admits to killing her father once it's clear the two are on opposite sides.
• Anger Born of Worry: He has a moment of this early in Daredevil season 3 when Vanessa is unable to be reached following the Albanians' attack on him while he's being moved from jail to his secret penthouse lair, worrying that the Albanians got to her. Fortunately, it turns out to be a false alarm as Vanessa's bodyguards were unreachable due to relocating her.
• Anti-Villain: Deconstructed. Fisk is evil, which he knows and admits to those closest to him, but he also deeply loves his mother and Vanessa, clearly cares for right-hand man Wesley (who reciprocates), and he believes that all the evil he does is in service of saving New York/Hell's Kitchen and ushering it into a brighter future. However, as his capacity for empathy drains and his crimes become increasingly heinous, he becomes less sympathetic. By Daredevil season 3, he's become a straight-up villain, resigned himself to being evil and given up on maintaining any kind of moral guidelines to achieve his goals. The only features that saves him from being utterly monstrous are his (very rare) Pet the Dog moments, his love and loyalty towards Vanessa, and his final deal with Matt for the safety of his beloved Vanessa with an honorable handshake.
• Appropriated Appellation: Seemingly adopts his name as the Kingpin after he manipulates Frank Castle to take out the former ringleader of the prison they were at, who used the name before Fisk did.
• Arch-Enemy:
  • Funnily enough, due to not knowing that they are one and the same person until Daredevil season 3, he considers both Daredevil and Matt Murdock this, as he lost everything thanks to them/him. So naturally, when he does learn that Matt is Daredevil, he fully considers him this, and works actively to ruin Matt's life in both of his personas.
  • He's also this to Karen Page. He merely sees her as a roadblock and someone he can threaten to come after to have leverage on Matt, but the animosity becomes mutual when he finds out that she murdered Wesley, and he becomes even more determined to have her killed after finding out. He doesn't succeed, fortunately.
  • In Hawkeye, he's very much this to Maya Lopez and Kate Bishop. Fisk was indirectly responsible for the death of Maya's father, and he later groomed her into joining the Tracksuit Mafia to commit crimes on his behalf as a co-leader of the group. He also earns Kate's animosity by forcing her mother into pulling favors and working for him with the threat of her husband's unpaid debt keeping her from acting out. However, his nemesis-ship with Maya appears more one-sided, as Fisk still cares for Maya like a daughter, even if she shot his eye out when she learned the truth.
• Armored Villains, Unarmored Heroes: The majority of the first season has Matt wearing minimal protection as Daredevil and Fisk wearing body armor that can protect him against knives and other blunt force attacks. Matt later evens the odds in the finale when he has Melvin Potter, the tailor who designs Fisk's suits, make him an armored costume that provides him even more protection than Fisk's along with a pair of billy clubs, enabling him to fight Fisk on more even footing.
• Ax-Crazy: Downplayed, but it's still there. He's just very good at hiding it. Fisk possesses a very dangerous temper and is rampantly homicidal when things don't go his way.
• Bad Boss: Fisk relies very heavily on manipulation, blackmail and threats to corrupt and control his subordinates. This ultimately means that the henchmen most responsible for protecting him or doing his dirty work are the ones who most despise him and want him defeated, worrying only about how they might save their own necks in the process. In Daredevil season 3, Mrs. Shelby (who runs Fisk's secret "war room") is positively relieved when she sees Matt sneak into his building planning to kick his ass and bring him down and is fully willing to help him, and he is largely undone by Nadeem's video confession, as well as Matt turning Dex against him by telling Dex how Fisk murdered Julie. This mostly stems from how self-absorbed he is, as outside a handful of people he genuinely cares for, he is unwilling and unable to invest in loyalty when obedience and fear seem to do the trick. Only James Wesley, Felix Manning, and Vanessa show any sort of loyalty to him that comes from a place of respect/admiration, and Owlsley was only with him for the money.
• Bad Guys Do the Dirty Work: Matt is actually not able to fully defeat Dex at any point in Daredevil season 3; Fisk is the one who ultimately takes him down during a Mêlée à Trois with the three of them, slamming Dex's back into a brick wall and snapping his spine.
• Badass in a Nice Suit: Perhaps invoked. He's always invariably clad in a sharp suit and the series explains his suits are tailored by Melvin Potter to be lined with knife resistant material. When we see his closet, it's composed entirely of suits, blacks in Daredevil season 1 and white in season 3.
• Badass Longcoat: Sports one during the Daredevil season 1 finale.
• Baddie Flattery: Fisk compliments Matt's decision to wage a one man war to change Hell's Kitchen.
  Wilson Fisk: I respect your... conviction; the lone man who thinks he can make a difference.
• Bald Head of Toughness: He's a three hundred pound crime lord who has low-level superhuman strength and lacks a single hair on his head.
• Bald of Evil: Fisk, as usual, has no hair as an adult, but he used to have it as a kid.
• Benevolent Boss: While he's a Bad Boss towards people he hardly knows, he's surprisingly kind, friendly and loyal to some of his most competent subordinates such as Wesley and Felix.
• Berserk Button: He notably flies into a violent rage whenever anyone threatens Vanessa. Or suggests that they're threatening Vanessa. Or does anything to compromise Fisk's time with Vanessa. These violent rages tend to always result in murder, most notably when Fisk beheaded a man simply for interrupting his date with Vanessa.
• Big Bad: Whenever Fisk shows up, he's usually at the center of the conflict of whatever show he appears in. He's notable for being one of the few recurring Big Bads of the MCU.
  • He's the overall main antagonist of Daredevil, serving as Matt's Arch-Enemy who seeks to impose his own vision of reform on Hell's Kitchen, New York. He's the leader of the crime ring Daredevil opposes in the first season, manipulates events from prison in the second, and returns in the third fully embracing his role as the Kingpin.
  • In Hawkeye, he's the true boss of the Maya and the Tracksuit Mafia, as well as the one who hired Yelena to hunt down Clint. He's much more hands-off in this show, however, as his involvement isn't revealed until the penultimate episode and he only physically appears in the finale.
  • In Echo, he survives his apparent death and is the main obstacle Maya is trying to break away from.
• Book Ends: Fisk's life of crime in Daredevil season 1 begins with him staring at a wall, thinking of the man he will become. It ends with him in prison, staring a blank wall, clearly thinking what man he will become once he leaves prison.
• Boxing Battler: His general fighting style is to simply use his fists to deliver exceptionally quick and devastating blows to opponents and overwhelm them with sheer brute force.
• Broken Pedestal: By the first season finale of Daredevil, the destruction of his empire has left Fisk bitter and resentful to the very city he was once trying to save.
  Wilson Fisk: This city doesn't deserve a better tomorrow! It deserves to drown in its filth! It deserves people like my father! People like you!
• Brooklyn Rage: He's a born and bred New Yorker and played by Brooklyn native Vincent D'Onofrio and is a simmering powder keg of rage, ready to go at a moment's notice.
• The Bus Came Back:
  • After being absent for a large portion of Daredevil season 2, he makes a return for three episodes, allowing us to catch up with him. He then returns to being the main antagonist for season 3.
  • Three years after he was last seen in Daredevil, he returns as the Big Bad of Hawkeye.
• Card-Carrying Villain: A rather complex one, since he's not your typical self-aware villain. As a firm believer that the end justifies the means, Fisk knows how evil he is, and admits to those closest to him, but he also sees himself as Necessarily Evil for a better future of the city.
• Character Development:
  • He starts Daredevil barely able to articulate, and is almost cripplingly shy. Wesley runs the day-to-day operations of his business while he gives the orders from the shadows, but as the series goes on he is forced more and more to deal with things himself, and by the end you can start to see the man who would become the Kingpin. By Season 2 he has made a full transition into his ruthless, cunning comic book counterpart.
  • He seems to have gone through some between Daredevil and Hawkeye as while he's still a violent criminal who intends to have Eleanor and Kate killed, he's much more calm and reasonable. Compare his reaction to Eleanor threatening to blackmail him versus Leland. Time seems to have dulled his infamous temper. However, Leland also commits the more egregious betrayal of poisoning Fisk's love, Vanessa Marianna, so this is a Downplayed Trope.
• Charles Atlas Superpower:
  • Though falling short of superhuman levels, Fisk is still a pretty strong and unstoppable fighter. Because of this, he's one of the strongest and deadliest enemies Matt has ever faced. Pretty much every fight he's been in has been a Curb-Stomp Battle, at least until Matt comes along in a new suit crafted by Melvin. And even then it took great difficulty from Matt and Dex to bring him down because he's that damn strong.
  • Even more so in Hawkeye — he's now strong enough to rip car doors off of their hinges, throw Kate around like a ragdoll and survive being hit by a car and thrown through a wall without so much as a scratch without any indication he's anything more than a human.
• The Chessmaster: While Fisk is regularly sabotaged by his Hair-Trigger Temper, he still possesses a very sharp mind for tactics, outmaneuvering his foes and making sure that whatever happens, he wins. Perhaps the finest example is when he orchestrates the downfall of the Russians by engineering a war between them and Matt, and then striking them down while they're busy dealing with Matt, and absorbing their business. Daredevil season 2 shows that he hasn't lost his touch. While in prison, he's able to take control of the contraband trade from a rival kingpin, while using Frank Castle to boot, and ruining Nelson & Murdock as an extra bonus. In Season 3, he sets up an extortion racket that taxes other prominent gangsters while under house arrest, and effectively turns the FBI detail that was supposed to guard him into his enforcers. As the season continues, it becomes apparent this had been a plan long in motion, meaning it was something that was being set up before he even went to jail.
• Classy Cane: When he returns in Hawkeye, he's using one like in the comics.
• Combat Pragmatist: When Fisk deigns to get his hands dirty, he simply does not stop until his target is dead or incapacitated. He uses his massive size and strength as well as any object he can gets his hands on in order to get the upper hand in a fight.
• Comic-Book Movies Don't Use Codenames: Slowly averted. While he doesn't go by "The Kingpin" at first, just like with Daredevil, he slowly grows into the moniker, earning it fully over the course of several seasons.
  • In Daredevil season 1, he's only referred to as Wilson Fisk, although his "The Kingpin" name is given visual references: Ben Urich uses the King of Diamonds playing card to represent him on a chart (tacked on by a white pushpin). His father tells him he's going to be a king. Detective Blake refers to him as "King Freakin' Kong".
  • By Season 2, Fisk seems to consider taking on the moniker from Dutton after orchestrating his murder, becoming the "kingpin of this bitch" (Rikers).
  • In Season 3, Fisk just goes by his legal name, and Matt, Karen, Foggy, Brett, Tower, and Nadeem only ever address him as such. On the other hand, the corrupt FBI agents he's blackmailed into working for him use the codename "Kingpin" for any dirty work Fisk orders them to do.
  • By Hawkeye he has fully earned it, where his first appearance in the show has Clint refer to him as "Kingpin".
• Complexity Addiction: On occasion he plays complex manipulations with people he's planning to just kill anyway.
• Cool Old Guy: He puts on this persona, coming off to most people as a well-spoken, community-focused man in his late fifties/early sixties.
• Cop Killer: He isn't above ordering the deaths of cops on his payroll who have become liabilities, generally having other corrupt officers be the ones to carry out the deed.
• Corrupt Corporate Executive: He is a rich businessman with a lot of companies. Actually, many of his companies acted as façades for the illicit activities and money laundering operations of Fisk himself. This makes sense, he is The Don, after all.
• The Corrupter: Fisk is very good at turning otherwise good people, or maybe just vulnerable people, into accomplices and killers. While Dex was already a psychopath and a killer, he was trying to hold his life together in a largely law-abiding way. Fisk learns all his dirty secrets, manipulates him with ease, takes him under his wing and grooms him into becoming a top assassin. He also corrupts the entire FBI task force handling him into becoming his muscle.
• Crazy-Prepared: Fisk's back-up plans have back-up plans. His suits have a special armored lining, he tends to have secondary assassins in place in case the first killer fails and he has juries tampered with well ahead of time. Even his stay in prison effectively helps to increase his power base, as he manages to turn the FBI into his personal enforcers. Given that his base of operations was inside a penthouse that he had renovated specifically for the purpose of running things from the shadows, it shows that he had long planned for this eventuality.
• Curb-Stomp Battle: His brutal murder of Anatoly certainly qualifies. He later inflicted one on Matt, albeit after he'd just fought Nobu and was seriously wounded and weakened. His fight with Kate Bishop is similarly one-sided as well.
• Deadpan Snarker: Very, very subdued, but he does have somewhat of a sense of humor, such as when he compares Eleanor's arrogance of thinking working for him is no different than working for Goldman Sachs. Most typically, though, his snark is reserved for his Arch-Enemy Matt Murdock as a form of seething contempt.
• Deal with the Devil: Any dealings one may have with Fisk almost invariably end with their death. A literal example occurs by the end of Daredevil season 3, with Matt being on the bargaining end. Fisk is forced to sacrifice any chance of a happy life with Vanessa as well as any chance at revenge against Matt by willingly going to prison and taking the fall for his crimes; Matt, in turn, won't go after Vanessa or prove her involvement with the death of Nadeem, absolving her of her crimes.
• Demoted to Extra/Commuting on a Bus: After being the main villain of Daredevil season 1, Fisk only appears in three episodes in Season 2. However, the impact of his removal from the streets is shown in great detail throughout the first part of season 2. What limited time Fisk appears onscreen is responsible for setting up the entire third act of Season 2, as well as set up Fisk for his return to being the main villain in season 3.
• Deuteragonist: The antagonistic variety for Daredevil season 1. Season 1 is just as much his story as it is Matt Murdock's. The story is heavily centered around him even in episodes that don't showcase his war with Matt, explaining his origins, his motivations, and his personal life.
• Diabolical Mastermind: He's at the top of the criminal empire Matt is trying to dismantle.
• Disproportionate Retribution:
  • Simply speaking his name is considered sufficient for Fisk to brutally murder his own personnel and then wipe out everyone they've ever known or cared about.
  • He beats Anatoly to death with his bare hands, then purges Anatoly's brother and entire gang, because he embarrassed Fisk during his dinner with Vanessa.
  • He kills Ben Urich for merely speaking to his mother, though he was under the impression that he somehow directly or indirectly caused the death of Wesley.
  • He nearly beats Francis to death for not accompanying Wesley, thus possibly preventing his death, even though the ever-loyal Wesley ordered him to stay and guard Fisk. However, he still places his trust in this guy afterwards simply because Wesley trusted him.
  • Matt threatening him in prison is enough to get him to declare war on the members of Nelson & Murdock, and set up a multi-tiered attempt to kill Matt when Matt visits the prison in season 3.
  • He beats one of his FBI agents to death simply because he tells him that Karen escaped Dex's assassination attempt with Nadeem's help.
  • Maya Lopez rejecting his offer to return to his organization is enough for him to kidnap her remaining family and explicitly tell her he knows how much it'll hurt her watching them die. He even plans to have his men slaughter a Choctaw powwow, just because they're her tribe.
• The Don: He is the mastermind of an immensely powerful criminal enterprise that straddles the line between legality and illegality. His influence is so extensive that he has both the police and the media in his pocket.
• The Dreaded:
  • In Daredevil Season 1, Fisk's associates are afraid to say his name under penalty of death, and Healy immediately impales himself on a metal spike out of fear of Fisk's retribution the moment that he gives it up to Matt. When he discovers that Leland and Gao were responsible for the assault on Vanessa's life, even the latter seems to prefer skipping town for a bit.
  • In Season 3, it turns out that he's managed to control FBI agents for years and manipulated Ray Nadeem for the longest time without Nadeem ever knowing it.
  • He's feared by both Clint (the Avenger who has fought killer robots and aliens and had been The Dreaded himself during his time as Ronin) and Kazi as someone who they don't want finding out about the current problems between the Hawkeyes and the Tracksuits. Of course, it seems that Fisk himself is a bit unnerved that an Avenger is involved, meaning the feeling might be mutual.
• Establishing Character Music: The Wham Shot and subsequent cut to credits in his reveal in Hawkeye is accompanied by "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch."
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones:
  • Fisk is in love with Vanessa Marianna, a woman who works at an art gallery he frequents. You mess with her at your own risk.
  • Also his mother, who he's willing to do absolutely anything for. Including murder. Especially murder.
  • His love for Wesley also starts to become clear as the show goes on. In Daredevil season 3, he admits to Dex that he'd even come to see Wesley like a son by the time the latter died.
  • Fisk is effective as a crime boss because he'll go out of his way to take care of the families of those who work for him and have proven themselves very loyal and competent. And if you fall out of his favor or piss Fisk off, those families become a highly effective tool for leverage, or who will pay the penalty for your failure.
  • Although he expresses disappointment in the trail she leaves while hunting Ronin and her subsequent betrayal later on, Fisk genuinely cares for Maya Lopez and pleads with her that they're family, even as she's holding a gun to him.
• Even Evil Has Standards: Despite the fact that he's a ruthless mob boss, he has some firm morals.
  • He states that he's not cruel for the sake of being cruel, since he knows perfectly well that all his actions serve a purpose. Despite his highly reprehensible acts, he's far more aware than other mob bosses.
  • After killing Anatoly, Fisk sincerely admits that sooner or later he still would've cut the Ranskahovs off, on the grounds that their inability to deal with Matt has made them "too unpredictable" to have them in business. Given the nature of Anatoly's death, Leland is a bit skeptical.
  • Fisk finds the most important painting for his collection in the hands of a Holocaust survivor, whose relative was the actual painter. Her story is so sad that Fisk realizes this is a line he won't cross. He's somewhat annoyed and appalled to learn that Dex doesn't have the same standards, going behind Fisk's back and murdering Mrs. Falb to get the painting anyway, and is more so offended when Dex tries to endear himself to Vanessa by calling himself "the new James Wesley".
  • During his appearance in Hawkeye, when Eleanor Bishop tries to get out of the business, Fisk gives her a chance to reconsider her decision "in the spirit of the holidays".
  • In Episode 4 of Echo, Fisk becomes utterly enraged when he sees an ice cream vendor bully and shun a young Maya Lopez for her deafness and attempts to communicate through ASL, to the point where he gets out of the car he's in and beats the man to a bloody pulp. As evil as Fisk is, it seems that mocking disabled people is a bridge too far even for him.
• Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: Happens in the climax of Hawkeye. When Kate Bishop confronts him to protect her mother Eleanor from his wrath, Fisk seems rather confused as to why a girl with a bow and arrow is trying so valiantly to stop him, and outright tells her to "mind [her] own business". Apparently he doesn't realize that threatening her mother very much makes what's happening Kate's business.
• Evil Counterpart:
  • To Matt Murdock. Both have the desire to "make their city a better place" and don't hesitate to use brutality if needed. However, Matt generally stops shy of lethal force and tries to direct his brutality towards criminals while Fisk's ambitions often impact everyone including innocent lives. Fisk started off as a meek child who abhorred violence and gradually became murderous. The Murdocks' familial dark side is a penchant for brutality, yet Matt keeps it in check despite being trained as a warrior. Fisk's father was abusive and coerced him into violence, while Matt's father was very loving and never wanted him to fight. Both men were shown to be offered alcohol as kids. Matt's case was one of father-son bonding; Fisk's case was one of peer pressure. Matt's faith is a major reason he stays on the side of angels. Fisk claims he's never had the mind for prayer or religion, and in the Season 1 finale invokes a bible passage in his Then Let Me Be Evil speech.
  • To Frank Castle, aka The Punisher, to the point that both men are complete opposites. While both believe that the end justifies the means, their methods in achieving their goals could not be more different. Frank Castle is a tactical genius and a brutal vigilante who kills only criminals, while Fisk is a cunning manipulator and mob boss, willing to kill criminals and civilians alike, including innocents. Castle wears combat clothing, while Fisk is always impeccably dressed in a suit. Castle is sullen, while Fisk is polite and courteous. And finally, while Castle is a One-Man Army, Fisk (usually) prefers others to do the dirty work for him, though he is more than capable of handling himself in a one-on-one fight.
• Evil Is Bigger: He's a ruthless mob boss who absolutely towers over everybody in the main cast.
• Evil Is Hammy: There is no shadow of a doubt that Vincent D'Onofrio is having the time of his life when he is in character.
• Evil Is Petty: While in prison, he's threatened by a powerful inmate named Dutton. After arranging for Frank Castle to fatally wound the man, Fisk visits Dutton in his hospital room and enjoys a meal in front of him as he dies.
• Evil Laugh: Gives off a particularly sinister chuckle when he playfully pinches a young Maya's cheek.
• Evil Is Not a Toy: His plan to further destabilize Dex's mental state, and make him more dependent on him, backfires spectacularly once Dex learns Fisk had Julie killed. Not only did he have an extremely vengeful Matt Murdock to deal with, he now also made a mortal enemy out of an utterly unhinged psychopath looking to kill them both.
• Evil Old Folks: He's at least in his early fifties (D'Onofrio was fifty-five when the first season of Daredevil aired) and the main threat of the show. He's in his early sixties by the time of Hawkeye and just as dangerous as ever, both as a crime boss and a physical threat.
• Evil Power Vacuum: After he's beaten and imprisoned in the end of Season One, several criminal gangs are fighting over the territories left open due to his incarceration and collapse of his criminal empire and some are even trying to completely take over Hell's Kitchen. Unfortunately, not only do they have to deal with the devil who bought Fisk to prison in the first place, but also another vigilante who has no qualms brutally murdering criminals.
• Evil Sounds Raspy: Speaks in harsh, quiet whispers.
• Evil Versus Evil: The conflicts between him, Dutton, the Russians and the Albanians. Although, considering his charisma and the fact that he's an Affably Evil Wicked Cultured mob boss, viewers prefer that he wins over them.
• Evil Wears Black: In Daredevil season 1, Fisk wears stylish suits with dark colors. In season 3, his black dress shirts clash with the white suits he now wears.
• Eye Scream: In the finale of Hawkeye, Maya shoots him in the eye for his betrayal of her trust. When we see the aftermath five months later in Echo, despite the wound being nearly healed, he still sports some significant scarring around the wound.
• Eyes Always Averted: Fisk has a tendency to not look directly at people when talking to them and seems to have trouble maintaining eye contact in general.
• Eyepatch of Power: Throughout Echo, following Maya Lopez shooting him in the face in Hawkeye, Fisk is shown wearing an eyepatch. It appears to be some form of high tech healing, as his wound is nearly healed, and a distinct blue glow is seen from it when he takes it off.
• False Flag Operation:
  • He pays Jasper Evans to shank him non-fatally, so the FBI will be prompted to move him into his penthouse base of operations.
  • He directs Dex to carry out these sorts of operations while impersonating Daredevil.
• Faster Than They Look: Despite being massive in size, Fisk is surprisingly fast and when he gets his hands on whoever he wants to hurt, he will dish out a ton of damage in just a few seconds.
• Fat Bastard: He admits to Vanessa in an unguarded moment that he may have enjoyed zuppa inglese "a little too much" as a kid. However, he demonstrates that he is far from being out of shape.
• Fatal Flaw: His Hair-Trigger Temper. Acting rashly out of sheer wrath is something that ends up sabotaging his The Chessmaster tendencies. One specific instance is his murder of Owlsley because he tried to kill Vanessa. Murdering Owlsley directly causes Hoffman to spill information to the FBI. More subtly, despite his skill as a manipulator with a criminal empire, he has a pronounced habit of falsely assuming everything is in place and beyond disruption, then being surprised by unexpected challenges both relatively minor and immediately dangerous — for himself, and people he actually cares about.
• Final Boss: He's one of the last enemies Matt must defeat in the climactic showdown of Daredevil season 3, along with Dex. He later serves as this for Kate Bishop in Hawkeye.
• Flipping the Table: He does this to his own penthouse table after he gets embarrassed and threatened by Madame Gao in his own penthouse.
• Foil:
  • To Nobu. Nobu has a very foul mouth and doesn't demonstrate much in the way of manipulation, but has a strict code of honor and shows respect towards his opponents. Fisk can be quite charming and is firmly Affably Evil, but excels at planning due to being an accomplished The Chessmaster. There is also a huge contrast between their fighting styles, with Nobu being a master martial artist who is able to butcher Matt, while Fisk has no formal training and is primarily a brawler who relies on Stout Strength to overwhelm his opponents.
  • To Dutton in Season 2. Both are ruthless mob bosses, but while Fisk is reserved, cultured, Affably Evil, doesn't boast of his achievements and is The Chessmaster, Dutton is just a nasty Smug Snake who gloats his position as "the kingpin". Unfortunately for him, his arrogance gets in the way of him giving Fisk as much credit as he should. Ironically, Fisk takes his position as the real kingpin.
• Foreign Culture Fetish: He seems to have a passion for Asian culture, particularly that of Japan and China, due to his time living abroad. He wears a kimono while preparing breakfast, and has a decent knowledge of Japanese culture due to working with Nobu, and enjoys Chinese tea. He's also decently fluent in both languages, enough to understand Nobu and Gao even if his own responses aren't as fluid.
• Freudian Excuse: A very powerful one. In his childhood, he was a nonviolent kid who grew up in a violent place, with a Domestic Abuser of a father who taught him violence and brutality. He is undoubtedly pushed to the limits when he ends up killing his father. Maya using her newfound powers to enter his mind shows that his father still has a vice grip on his psyche long after his death.
• From Nobody to Nightmare: He went from being a bullied and abused kid and son of a failed politician to one of the most feared crime bosses in New York City.
• Fury-Fueled Foolishness: Fisk is a very meticulous Chessmaster, able to trick his enemies into making fatal decisions or walk into traps he orchestrated. However, once he loses his temper and lets his emotions get the best of him, he starts making rash decisions that sabotage his well-constructed plans and gives his enemies opportunities to take him down. His eventual defeats in Seasons 1 and 3 both begin with him being consumed by his own anger and making a reckless decision that fails and comes back to bite him in the ass.
• Genius Bruiser: A huge guy who spends most of his time masterfully building and overseeing a massive criminal enterprise, is a terrifyingly skilled manipulator and strategist and frequently discusses matters of art and philosophy.
• Genocide Survivor: Hawkeye reveals that he survived the Snap and managed to build his criminal empire back up again after it was toppled in the third season of Daredevil.
• Gone Horribly Right: When Julie threatens his hold over Dex by being the latter’s Morality Chain, Fisk has her killed so he can keep Dex as his loyal assassin. Then when Fisk spares a Holocaust survivor who refuses his money for a painting her family owned, Dex kills her and takes the painting, undoing one of Fisk's few moments of kindness. Why did Dex do this? Because he’s a psychopath who thought that it would impress Fisk. He was being a loyal weapon just like Fisk wanted.
• Grand Romantic Gesture: Fisk tries to do this with Vanessa to various degrees of success.
  • The first time he asks Vanessa out, she says she has to close up shop, and he just politely leaves. She's surprised that he didn't offer to buy the place so she could leave early; he quietly says that "Any woman who can be bought isn't worth having."
  • On their second date, he does buy out the entire restaurant, but this was a pragmatic move, not a romantic one. He's not good in public and doesn't want to be interrupted (like that fatal mistake Anatoly made last time), so buying the restaurant was the simplest solution.
  • In season 3, we see Fisk going to great lengths to regain "Rabbit in a Snowstorm" in time for Vanessa's return to New York, but ultimately chooses to give it up after learning of the sentimental value the painting for its owner.
• Greater-Scope Villain: For Hawkeye. He's the one in charge of the Tracksuit Mafia, but he's very much The Ghost and mostly uninvolved with the show's events. Maya Lopez and Kazi are the ones actually commanding the group.
• Heel Realization: He comes to the realization that he isn't a Good Samaritan, but the ill intent in the Daredevil season 1 finale.
• Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow: He had a full head of hair as a kid.
• Hair-Trigger Temper: He hides it better than most, but Fisk has a very low patience threshold and will brutally murder people with his bare hands if he detects the slightest disrespect. As Anatoly sadly discovered.
• Hated by All: Zig-Zagged. His downfall, repeatedly, is that he works hard to maintain an image of a well meaning philanthropist falsely accused of horrible crimes, yet he invariably alienates those who actually work for or with him through his behavior (with the notable exception of Wesley, who dies early on anyway) to the point that some of his closest underlings are only there because he's bullied, blackmailed or manipulated them. This is especially notable in Daredevil season 3 where he gets his entire FBI detail in his pocket by digging up dirt on them and/or threatening their families, leading to them testifying against him once he is actually arrested anyway, and especially with Dex who turns on him the moment he learns that Fisk had Julie killed just to undermine his sanity further. The public at large alternates between loving him and loathing him depending on what they think about him is true, and at the end of the day he's just plain unable and unwilling to invest in genuine loyalty rather than mere obedience, basically giving members of his own organization every reason to want him to somehow fail, even if they end up going down with him.
• Hidden Villain: Fisk renders himself very insulated from his illegal activities to the point he's like the boogeyman. He has Leland Owlsley (and later Red Lion) handling all his money, while having James Wesley (and later Felix Manning) serving as his mouthpiece, and the few criminals who do take direct orders from him are intimidated into silence by the threat that they and their loved ones will be killed if they so much as whisper his name. Before he goes public, Ben Urich has to mark him with a King of Diamonds with a big question-mark on it to represent him. He isn't even heard until the very end of the first episode, and his face isn't shown until the end of the third episode.
• Hoist Hero over Head: Does this to Daredevil in their climactic showdown and slams him to the ground afterwards. It's not enough to beat him though as he finds his second wind and beats Fisk to a pulp and knocks him out.
• Honorary Uncle: Maya Lopez's father refers to him as her "Uncle" in a flashback to her childhood.
• Hypocrite:
  • He does not welcome intrusions on his privacy or people using his loved ones against him, yet is perfectly willing to do those sorts of things himself to underlings or innocent pawns.
  • When held at gunpoint by Maya Lopez at the end of Hawkeye, Fisk pleads with her not to shoot him, citing their familial connection as a reason for her not to pull the trigger. This is moments after Fisk complained about Kate trying to save her mother from his wrath, claiming that it was none of her business to do so.
  • He rages against a local New Yorker for not understanding a young Maya and mocking her ASL. As she calls out, even several decades later, Fisk himself never bothered to learn ASL, and either relied on a translator or technology to understand his own adopted child.
• How the Mighty Have Fallen: The story of Wilson Fisk is ultimately a fall from grace. He has spent his entire life accumulating wealth and power, and by the start of the first season of Daredevil, he is at his absolute most powerful, having control of virtually every criminal faction in New York, and even has the upper hand in his business dealings the Gao's and Murakami's factions of The Hand. Repeated defeats and humiliations at Matt Murdock's hands have left his authority into barely a shell of what they were.
• I Am Not Left-Handed: Fisk openly lets an already-injured masked Matt (who's out for blood that night) take a shot at him — with an armed Wesley and Francis at his side — soaks up a few blows and then starts whaling on him... but when Matt uses the shoge hook lying on the floor from the fight that tore him up, which is only repelled by hidden body armor, Fisk visibly realizes that that's all that saved him, and starts giving it his all.
• I Am Not My Father: He despises his father and everything he stood for, and he admits to Vanessa that the only reason why he still wears his old man's cuff-links is to remind himself that he doesn't want to become like him.
• I Did What I Had to Do: Fisk genuinely feels some regret when innocent people get hurt for the needs of his vision, as Matt observes when Fisk mourns Elena Cardenas' death on TV, though he's perfectly willing to sacrifice innocent people for the sake of his pawns, like Karen's Bulletin colleagues or Julie.
• Idiot Ball: In order to further tighten his control over Dex, he has Julie killed and has Felix Manning use her phone to block Dex to make it seem like she cut him out of her life. However, instead of cremating her corpse or burying it somewhere no one will find it, he leaves it in a freezer along with the hitmen he hired to assassinate her. Matt uses this to his advantage when he informs Dex about where her corpse is located in order to turn him against Fisk and use him as a pawn to take out the FBI agents while Matt confronts Fisk himself and defeats him for good.
• I'll Kill You!: He tells Daredevil that he's gonna kill him for ruining his plans to change the city in the Season 1 finale. He doesn't succeed and is arrested and taken to prison afterwards.
• Intergenerational Rivalry: He's visibly much older than Matt Murdock.
• It's All About Me: Evident in his philosophy, especially as we learn more about it. All that matters to Fisk are his vision and the things he wants, and to him the horrible things he does to obtain either of those are justified because he doesn't see himself as cruel. This ultimately drives a rift between himself and his associates when he wants to have his cake and eat it too, and becomes really obvious after his defeat and subsequent Heel Realization, where he rants to Matt about how the city deserves to fall into squalor because it denied him his vision of change.
• It's Personal:
  • Matt/Daredevil exposing his criminal activities and ruining his plans to rebuild Hell's Kitchen as a result makes Fisk intent on killing him.
  • At first, he sees Karen Page as just another someone that he needs to silence so that nothing and no one can get in the way of his plans and as someone that he can use as leverage against Matt/Daredevil. Then she tells him that she murdered his best friend Wesley, which pisses Fisk off so much that he sends Dex to go and assassinate her to avenge Wesley. Unfortunately for Fisk, this attempt fails and leads to his next defeat.
  • After her attempted revenge in Hawkeye, and her further disabling his operations in Echo has him decide to handle Maya Lopez personally. Despite her being captured by the Black Knives, he calls them off and works to set up an arrangement with his surrogate daughter, and when that fails, kill her and her family personally.
• Joker Immunity: Maya Lopez shot him through they eye. He made a full recovery with nothing but some superficial scarring.
• Kill the Parent, Raise the Child: He has William Lopez and the Tracksuits working under his branch killed by Ronin so he could take full control of their activities and fully take his daughter Maya under his wing.
• Kingpin in His Gym: Fisk spends lots of his time in prison bench-pressing weights to keep his strength up. He also arranges for Jasper Evans to shank him in the rec room as part of his gambit to manipulate the FBI.
• Kneel Before Zod: On sneaking out of the hotel to go to a sitdown with crimelords he wants to extort into paying him, Fisk demands that Ray Nadeem be the one to remove his ankle tracker. Fisk refuses to simply take the key to the bracelet, making Nadeem unlock it himself, which requires him to kneel before the Kingpin.
• Know When to Fold 'Em: He's willing to swallow insult and threats from Nobu that he would never tolerate from most other criminals and associates, save for Madame Gao, and while he manipulates Nobu into confronting Daredevil with the hope that the two would take each other out, he never does anything to mess with him and his organisation. It's unclear if he knew about the Hand, but he visibly knew that Nobu and the organisation he belongs to weren't people he could afford to antagonize. He's also visibly afraid of and intimidated by Madame Gao.
• Large and in Charge: Fisk is unquestionably the boss and probably weighs around 300 pounds. Not to mention at 6'4", Vincent D'Onofrio towers over 5'10" Charlie Cox in their scenes together. He also looms over his subordinates (though this effect is achieved through copious use of Scully boxes and trenches).
• Legacy Character: Technically, Dutton was the first person to have the moniker of "Kingpin". Fisk takes it for himself after setting Dutton up to be killed by Frank Castle.
• Let's You and Him Fight: If Fisk can't get rid of an enemy or inconvenient ally directly, he'll manipulate someone else into taking that person out for him.
  • He escalates the conflict between Matt and the Russians so that the Russians will be preoccupied and not notice Fisk orchestrating their downfall. Then he has a waiter at the restaurant where he's having his second date with Vanessa tip off Vladimir to his location, so Vladimir will assemble his forces in specific locations where they are promptly taken out by suicide bombers loaned to Fisk by Madame Gao. Then the corrupt cops in his pocket are sent in to kill the survivors.
  • When Nobu gets too insistent that Fisk immediately fulfill his part of the Hand's deal to acquire Elena's property for Midland Circle, Fisk has Elena killed to bait Matt into an ambush by Nobu, in the hope that they kill each other.
    Wilson Fisk: [as Nobu burns] Thank you. Nobu was becoming an issue. I appreciate you removing him from concern.
    Matt Murdock: You wanted me to do this.
    Wilson Fisk: In a perfect world, you would have taken each other out, but it isn't a perfect world, is it?
  • When Dutton tries to intimidate him in prison, Fisk makes arrangements for Frank Castle to be delivered to him and then manipulates Frank into killing Dutton and his entire gang, allowing Fisk to take over the prison's underground economy and gain a new revenue source.
  • He helps Frank escape from prison, believing that Frank would cripple any crime syndicate with the ability to rival his own by the time his plan to be released legally came to fruition.
  • Set Ronin on the path to killing William Lopez.
• Light Is Not Good: He wears his comic book counterpart's iconic white suit in Daredevil season 3, and again in Hawkeye.
• Lightning Bruiser: He can be incredibly quick, belying his size. He can take on a younger and fitter opponent in a fight and mete out a No-Holds-Barred Beatdown (see below) with little trouble.
• Like Father, Like Son: As much as he would never admit it, Wilson is not terribly different from his own father. Bill Fisk taught his son to deal with every little problem with violence when he was a child, and much in that same way, Wilson taught Maya the exact same lesson when he beat up the ice cream vendor half to death in front of her when she was also little. And much like how Bill Fisk got a hammer in the brain from his son, Wilson got a bullet in the eye from his "niece." The only difference is that Wilson lived through it.
• Limited Wardrobe: In Daredevil season 1, his wardrobe is limited to an assortment of black suits, plus his late father's cuff-links. Vanessa influences him to wear a lighter shade of black and different cuff-links. In season 2 and the beginning of season 3, he only has his prison uniform, and for the rest of Season 3, again wears an assortment of similar-looking suits (which are white this time instead of black).
• Love Makes You Dumb:
  • He is incapable of keeping his emotions in check when it comes to his Morality Pets. Leland uses this against him, giving Fisk an ultimatum to either let Leland part with half his money and out of the organization, or he'll have Carl Hoffman reveal all of Fisk's criminal activities to the FBI. Fisk kills him regardless because he poisoned Vanessa. Even though he does send his corrupt cops out to kill Hoffman afterwards, Matt just barely manages to get to Hoffman first. The fact that Fisk has to personally see to Vanessa getting out of the country due to Wesley being dead also prevents him from getting away himself.
  • In season 3, despite initially planning to deal with Nadeem by discrediting him rather than killing him, his desire to please Vanessa allows her to convince him otherwise. It then turns out that Nadeem recorded a confession video, and his death renders the contents of said recorded testimony admissible against Fisk in court. What's more, allowing Vanessa to give the assassination order herself gives Matt leverage against Fisk, as he threatens to expose Vanessa to prosecution if Fisk causes any more trouble.
• Love Makes You Evil: Fisk's protectiveness towards his mother drives him to murder his father at the age of 12, then the assassination attempt on him that nearly kills Vanessa drives him over the edge. This eventually leads to him murdering Ben Urich for simply talking to his mother.
• Luxury Prison Suite:
  • Averted in Daredevil season 2. While Fisk's situation would be idyllic for most incarcerated crime bosses, given Fisk's unique mental state, he absolutely detests being in prison despite all the comparative freedom he has in it and he's desperate to leave it so he can take revenge on everybody that helped put him there.
  • Of course, he is just biding his time until his plans in season 3 are ready, which upgrade him to a penthouse suite when he's under FBI house arrest, which also contains a secret room from which he can give orders to his henchmen. Eventually he's able to have nice furniture and art moved in to the point that it's as much a luxury apartment as his season 1 penthouse, and the only thing keeping it from losing the status of being a "prison" altogether is the cameras...but even he has control over when they're recording. Karen lampshades it when visiting him:
    Wilson Fisk: Miss Page. I must admit, I'm surprised you're here.
    Karen Page: I suppose this qualifies as hard time?
    Wilson Fisk: Yes, I'm sure all of this is offensive to you, given our personal history.
    Karen Page: You mean the times you tried to have me killed.
    Wilson Fisk: Crimes for which I'm still paying.
• Made of Iron:
  • Even after surviving his getaway truck overturning and bleeding from the head, Fisk is still lucid enough to make a run for it when he realizes Matt/Daredevil is after him. In the subsequent fight with Matt, he takes countless blows to the head from clubs, fists and feet and still keeps coming. Matt has to completely wear him out to put Fisk down for good.
  • In Hawkeye he's shot with an arrow, hit with a car and thrown through a display window, beaten up by Kate and caught in an explosion and he's still in good enough shape to outrun the police.
  • At the end of Hawkeye, Maya shoots him in the face at point-blank range^note even if the bullet missed, the pistol's muzzle blast would have been lethal to a normal human yet he returns in Echo, seemingly none the worse for wear. Aside from scarring on his face, his eye is shown to be intact beneath its bandage and implied to still be functional.
• Manipulative Bastard: Overlapping with his skill at being The Chessmaster, Fisk is just as good at manipulating people as he is at manipulating events. To family man Ray Nadeem, he appears as a contrite man pained by the loss of his true love. With Dex, he hits at very specific emotional beats while pulling strings that Dex can't see. It says something that at the start of Daredevil season 3, Dex is bullying Fisk and treating him with disdain. But five episodes later, when Fisk orders Dex to kill Karen to avenge Wesley's murder, Dex pledges to carry out the order like Fisk is a father he fears disappointing. Later down the road, he even manipulates an Avenger into doing his bidding, all the while remaining largely hidden behind the scenes.
• Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: During the Netflix run, he's an unbelievably strong but still normal man. Come Hawkeye, he's capable of ripping the doors off of cars and walking away from explosions. He may have had some kind of upgrade, but we don't yet know.
• Might as Well Not Be in Prison at All: Even while imprisoned, Fisk still has people working for him, inside and out. Once Frank Castle is imprisoned as well, Fisk manages to play events so that Frank kills his competition, allowing Fisk to run Riker's with an iron fist. A lot of Daredevil season 3 is also the result of long-term manipulations that Fisk began before or while he was in prison.
• Momma's Boy: Due to his father was being an abusive monster, he's incredibly close with his mother growing up and anyone who dares compromise his mother's safety will personally face his wrath.
• Moral Myopia: Is perfectly willing to kill anyone who crosses him along with everyone they care about. However, whenever someone close to him, be it his mother or Vanessa, is hurt or threatened, he treats it as though it is completely unforgivable.
• Never Got to Say Goodbye: Invoked. When Fisk begs to say goodbye to Vanessa one last time before being detained at the end of Season 3, his crimes up to that point (including Nadeem's death) have been so atrocious that Brett Mahoney denies his final request.
• Never My Fault: Fisk rants to Matt in the Daredevil season 1 finale, during his Villainous Breakdown, that it's his fault that Fisk lost his empire. While it is true that Matt is the driving force, both as Nelson & Murdock and as the Devil of Hell's Kitchen, that leads to Fisk getting arrested, this is ignoring that the major factors that put Fisk in that situation are his own temper tantrums (his murdering Leland being the tipping point as it leads to Hoffman being rescued, causing Hoffman to testify against Fisk).
• Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: Daredevil season 3 could have very easily ended with Fisk the absolute and complete winner. But his blind vendetta and petty grudge against Matt Murdock, and repeated attempts to manipulate and control Dex, a severely mentally unstable and extremely dangerous psychopath, both result in an Epic Fail of biblical proportions that ends with him back in prison and Matt forcing him to forfeit his vendetta against Karen and Foggy in the name of Vanessa's freedom. He quite literally orchestrated his own downfall when he was in peak control.
• Nice to the Waiter: Fisk gives a heavy tip to the maitre'd who accommodates his second date with Vanessa, knows the first name of the head of his security detail (Francis), and is always respectful to James Wesley and Felix Manning.
• No Historical Figures Were Harmed:
  • As this article explains, season 1 Fisk is partially based on Robert Moses. ^note Moses even died in the "Good Samaritan" hospital in New York.
  • Maybe intentionally, maybe not, but several people have noticed similarities between him and several real-life criminals who were as powerful, cunning, and ruthless as he was, such as Al Capone and Pablo Escobar.
• No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: After Anatoly embarrasses him during his date with Vanessa, he savagely beats him to death and keeps going until he decapitates him using his car door. He also gives one to Matt after he is weakened from the fight against Nobu. He gives one again to the restrained Frank in the prison, though Frank is tough enough to remain conscious after the thrashing.
• Non-Action Big Bad: Zig-Zagged. Fisk is very hands-off, and generally has others do his dirty work for him, unless he's in a really bad mood and it's for very personal reasons. At which point he's more than willing to dirty his own hands. The only five times he's personally killed someone rather than have someone else do it, they've all been for personal reasons: his father (for beating his mother with a belt), Anatoly Ranskahov (for crashing his date with Vanessa), Ben Urich (for visiting Fisk's mother), Leland Owlsley (for poisoning Vanessa), and Agent Weller (for being the unfortunate agent to inform him that Dex has failed at killing Karen to avenge Wesley).
  • In Daredevil season 3, Fisk is under house arrest and it's gambits he's been planning while behind bars that are the main hurdle for Matt and friends to tackle, with Dex as his main enforcer. The only fight scenes he ends up having are his staged shanking by Jasper Evans, and the three-way at the end with Matt and Dex.
• "Not So Different" Remark: Fisk claims this about himself and Daredevil, though Matt aggressively denies it.
  Wilson Fisk: You and I have a lot in common.
  Matt Murdock: We're nothing alike.
• Obfuscating Stupidity: Downplayed. Fisk pretends to not understand Chinese or Japanese for several episodes before Madame Gao, who herself is revealed to be fluent in English, breaks the illusion to prove she knows the value of seeming simple.
• Offscreen Moment of Awesome: A villainous one. Whereas Daredevil ended with Fisk getting arrested and having his empire dissolved, Hawkeye shows that after seven In-Universe years, he has managed to claw his way back to power once more.
• Old Master: He's in his sixties by the time of Hawkeye and still incredibly dangerous, capable of terrifying feats of strength and able to effortlessly overpower the decades younger Kate in a fight, nearly killing her.
• Omniglot: Fisk understands several languages very well, but his own vocabulary is somewhat limited and his diction poor, even with his stutter.
• One Head Taller: His towering figure is pretty obvious when he stands up after Karen provokes him with the details of Wesley's death.
• Out of Focus: During Daredevil season 2, while he's in prison.
• Papa Wolf: Echo shows he's genuinely protective of Maya and he savagely beats up the street vendor who mocked Maya using ASL for some food.
• Parental Substitute: Fisk assisted single father William in raising a young Maya Lopez, going as far to pick her up from school and protecting her from bullies, as well as taking care of her after her father's death. He was however a much more sinister and manipulative figure for her; where her father wanted a better, non-criminal life for her, Fisk was seeking to mold her into his successor. Not to mention Fisk being ultimately responsible for William's death.
• Pay Evil unto Evil:
  • While Anatoly's death at the hands of Fisk is incredibly brutal, the man was in life a human trafficker who willingly kidnapped women and young children, so...
  • At the age of 12, Fisk beat his own father to death with a hammer. But said father was a smug, selfish and violent Jerkass who physically and verbally abused his wife and son over petty slights and/or problems that were his own fault to begin with. So it's hard to feel much sympathy for Bill.
  • When Fisk finds out that Leland is stealing from him and poisoned Vanessa, Fisk responds by throwing him down an elevator shaft.
  • In general, Fisk gets people to do things for him through blackmail and threatening their loved ones. That's how Matt defeats him: by threatening to have Vanessa sent to prison for ordering the murder of Ray Nadeem if he ever hurts anyone again.
  • In Echo, Fisk is shown brutalizing an ice cream stand owner for mocking Maya's attempt to use ASL to communicate with him.
• Pet the Dog:
  • In Daredevil season 3, after listening to Mrs. Falb's Dark and Troubled Past, he allows her to keep the painting he was obsessed to get back. Too bad Dex later undoes this by going behind his back and killing her for it anyways, and Fisk is not impressed when he learns about what happened.
  • During the events of Hawkeye, Fisk is nothing but courteous to Maya Lopez, having helped raise her as her "uncle" ever since she was a child. He even learns some American Sign Language to better communicate with her, and spends his final moments in the series genuinely pleading with her not to shoot him. This is, however, Zig-Zagged in Echo, which shows a more manipulative, borderline abusive side to their relationship and exposes the lack of respect Fisk has for Maya.
• Please Kill Me if It Satisfies You: Offers this ultimatum to Maya nearing the climax of Echo. Beat him to death to perpetuate the cycle of Kingpin and prove she will have what it takes to run his operation, or leave him be and join him once more.
• Pragmatic Villainy: Fisk knows when to push ahead (like when he finally takes up a public persona when Matt is about to expose him as a criminal mastermind) and when to fall back to best benefit him; for example, he has Karen Page spared once the Union Allied pension laundering goes public, rather than have her killed like McClintock, Rance and Farnum, on the grounds that what she knows is already in the papers, so there's no point in killing her and leaving a possible trail back to him. He's also very apt in manipulating his enemies against each other to avoid having to tie up loose ends himself. If relationships with an ally are on the rocks, Fisk generally tries to handle things through diplomacy and offers of support, only escalating to physical violence when those don't work out.
• Psychopathic Manchild: Vincent D'Onofrio himself describes Fisk as "a child and a monster". It's implied that in many ways, Fisk is still stuck at the age of twelve when he killed his father. Much like his archnemesis Matt Murdock, he's very childish in terms of his vision to improve Hell's Kitchen and New York City, especially considering that having the mob on his side is not the best way to improve the city.
  Wilson Fisk: I wanted to make this city something better than it is, something beautiful. YOU TOOK THAT AWAY FROM ME! YOU TOOK EVERYTHING! I'M GONNA KILL YOU!!!
• Psychotic Smirk: He sports one while watching a wall of TV monitors all tuned to news stations covering Dex's attack on the Bulletin.
• Rank Scales with Asskicking: He's both the head of a criminal empire and shown personally kicking crap out of his enemies on occasion.
• Resignations Not Accepted: Once you work for Fisk, you're in his employ for life until he decides he has no further need for you.
  • Fisk murdered one of Hattley's kids, and the threat of killing the other is how he keeps her from turning against him.
    Ray Nadeem: You could've gone to Homeland Security or the NYPD. Not take me down with you. Not murder an agent. You make a report. You get your family somewhere safe.
    Tammy Hattley: That's not an option with Fisk. I used to have two children, Ray. They made it look like a hit-and-run. I got a divorce. Maybe that keeps him a little safer. But there's still Allie, so think about Seema and Sami. And do what Fisk tells you.
  • In the season finale of Hawkeye, Eleanor Bishop tries getting out, and the minute she does Fisk sends people to murder her in public.
  • Likewise, Kazi tells Maya that he can't get out, much as he might want to.
  • In Echo, Maya's uncle Henry notes that he tried to quit working for Fisk as well after William died, but that he was threatened with death if he went through with it.
• Returning Big Bad: He was the Big Bad for much of Daredevil's run, and suffered a rather brutal defeat at the end of the series, which ended with him being exposed and locked up for a long time. But, Fisk returns as the main antagonist in Hawkeye after spending 5 years rebuilding his criminal empire.
• Rogues' Gallery Transplant:
  • Downplayed. Fisk is naturally well-known for being Daredevil's arch-nemesis like he is here, but the comics character is equally well-known, and was even originally introduced as a Spider-Man villain. However, this version of Fisk has never encountered Peter Parker in any way.
  • Played straight in Hawkeye, where Fisk's revealed to be the Big Bad of the show, making him an enemy of both Clint Barton and Kate Bishop, two people the Kingpin has never really faced in the comics.
• Same Character, But Different: In Hawkeye, Fisk personality-wise has grown closer to how he is in the comics, being calmer and more of a public speaker. His physical strength is also a lot closer to superhuman, and he has a Classy Cane.
• Sharp-Dressed Man: He has a walk-in closet full of stylish suits, shirts, and accessories.
• Shrinking Violet: Fisk is extremely shy and introverted, to the point of struggling with even basic conversation, and is deeply uncomfortable with crowds and strangers.
• Single-Target Sexuality: Vanessa is the only person he ever expresses any sexual/romantic interest in.
• Signature Move: A devastating headbutt.
• A Sinister Clue: Fisk is, much like his actor, left-handed. ^note This can be seen in Daredevil season 1 when he eats an omelette with the knife in his left hand and the fork in his right, and likewise with a steak in season 2.
• Small Role, Big Impact:
  • Within Daredevil season 2, Fisk only appears in two full episodes, but he also plays a major role in the breakup of Nelson & Murdock by manipulating Frank Castle into throwing his trial, and is responsible for the Blacksmith's death due to arranging Castle's escape.
  • For Hawkeye, he only appears in the final episode of the first season, but as the Greater-Scope Villain is responsible for the show's entire plot.
• The Sociopath: By the start of Daredevil season 3, prison has hardened Fisk into a callous, ruthless, greedy, power-hungry, Machiavellian, remorseless, cold, sociopath. Having given up on his old ambitions, he cares solely about attaining money and power, getting revenge upon the people who had wronged him, and being reunited with Vanessa. While in season 1 he shows reluctance and remorse about having innocent cops shot alongside Detective Blake, and in having Elena Cardenas killed as part of Nobu's trap for Matt, in season 3, Fisk is perfectly willing to have innocent people be murdered if it benefits him, as shown with Karen's colleagues and with Julie Barnes. In short, his capacity for empathy has drained away, feels no remorse for any of his murders, and manipulates people like pawns, eventually proving that, by the end of the day, there's no place for emotions in his ambitions. Bear in mind, he's already quite violent and homicidal in Season 1, seeing as he decapitates Anatoly for merely interrupting his dinner with Vanessa, and kills Ben Urich with his bare hands for speaking to his mother Marlene.
• Socially Awkward Hero: A villainous inversion. Mentally, Fisk is a meticulous, efficient, and sophisticated long-term planner and manipulator, who understands how to make his criminal operation run smoothly. In a physical confrontation, he is a force to be reckoned with, despite having no superpowers, as he tanks damages like a brick wall and hits like a freight train. In social situations, however, he shows overt signs of anxiety and always appears notably awkward and nervous.
• Soft-Spoken Sadist: Fisk always speaks quietly, sometimes even awkwardly, and can come across as a man not used to speaking publicly. Which makes any moment where he does erupt like a volcano more terrifying.
• The Spook: When he first arrives on the scene in Daredevil, no one knows a thing about him or can find any record of him and even those who work for him avoid using his name in dealings and Fisk makes a point of keeping details about his private life, such as his home address, secret and he scrubbed all traces of his father's existence from records. It takes some intense digging from Ben Urich to find out about Bill and a chance conversation with his mother to gain any real information.
• Star-Crossed Lovers: With Vanessa. Both he and Vanessa love each other dearly, but are constantly separated thanks to Fisk's actions jeopardizing his standing with the law. By the end of Season 3, Fisk is forced to sacrifice any chance of a happy life with Vanessa, as well as any chance of revenge on Matt, lest Matt go after Vanessa and incriminate her in Ray Nadeem's murder. In the end, Fisk begs for one last chance to say goodbye to his wife as Brett is taking him back into custody, but his crimes up to that point have robbed him of any sympathy the NYPD may have for him. His villainy robs him of even the chance to say goodbye.
• Start of Darkness: As a child, Fisk killed his own father in response to his acts of domestic abuse. It certainly doesn't help the fact that his father is the main reason for what he is today: a ruthless mob boss with anger issues and internal conflicts.
  • Taken even further after his imprisonment during Season 3: He has taken even more extreme measures to ensure control over the city, no longer deluding himself into believing it's for a noble cause. He manages to take control of the FBI, convince a psychopathic Dex to work for him, and even after his second arrest, his shadow looms over NYC and finds a way to break free again.
• The Stool Pigeon: When introduced in Daredevil season 3, Fisk learns that Vanessa will face criminal charges as an accessory to his crimes in Season 1, which prompts him to turn state’s witness against other criminals and cut a deal with Agent Nadeem of the FBI, who becomes his handler. Of course, the reality of this arrangement is that Fisk has all the power here, as he uses the FBI to apprehend criminal gangs that refuse to pay a protection tax to him.
• Stout Strength: When he kills people himself, as opposed to having his henchmen do it, he prefers to use his own bare hands instead of a weapon, and very few people prove capable of escaping once he decides to do this. He doesn't have a bodybuilder's physique; indeed, he looks like a larger version of the pudgy boy he was. However, the second season of Daredevil shows him bench pressing roughly five hundred pounds. Kate Bishop, being only a wiry young woman, gets literally tossed around by Fisk when they throw down, and she merely bounces off of him when she tries to directly attack him.
• Strike Me Down with All of Your Hatred!: In the season 3 finale, tries to goad Matt into killing him by swearing to come after Karen and Foggy as long as he lives, but he vehemently refuses and instead gives Fisk an ultimatum: he will keep his identity a secret and he won't harm anyone, or else he'll come after Vanessa for Nadeem's murder. Fisk accepts the ultimatum to protect Vanessa.
• Super-Strength:
  • Downplayed. While he falls short of what passes as superhuman by Marvel standards, Fisk is evidently still far far stronger than the average human, being able to decapitate a man using a car door, lift a grown man above his head with ease, pull handcuffs apart, and his punches leave holes in a brick wall (though it caused him visible pain).
  • As of Hawkeye he has firmly been pushed to superhuman levels. He is able to rip car doors off with little effort and throw full-sized people around just by lightly shoving them.
• Targeted to Hurt the Hero: His primary way of getting people to do his dirty work is to find out who that person's loved ones are, then use them as leverage. And since he never makes idle threats, the person in question almost always obeys.
  • He gets Clyde Farnum to carry out a hit on Karen by having Wesley threaten the man's daughter.
  • He gets Jasper Evans to shank him as part of plan to manipulate the FBI by threatening Evans' son.
  • He tricks Foggy's family into committing fraud, so that when Foggy is on the verge of publicly exposing him, he can threaten to have them all thrown in prison if Foggy doesn't recant.
  • He kills one of Tammy Hattley's kids and threatens to kill the other one to get her to work for him.
• Then Let Me Be Evil: When his empire crumbles and the city that hailed him as a philanthropist turns on him, he undergoes a Heel Realization and declares that he will not be held back by noble intentions any longer. "I am the ill intent."
• Time-Shifted Actor: Cole Jensen plays him as a kid during flashbacks while Vincent D'Onofrio plays him as an adult for the rest of his appearances.
• To the Pain: When Matt threatens to separate Fisk from Vanessa, he snaps his handcuffs, then proceeds to beat and throttle him while threatening in turn to destroy everything and everyone Matt cares about.
• Took a Level in Badass:
  • Come Daredevil Season 2, prison has made Fisk more dangerous, and ruthless, even while imprisoned and almost bankrupt, as shown with his interaction with Frank Castle. Season 3 continues this, showing that he has fully grown into the Crazy-Prepared Manipulative Bastard that his comic book counterpart is known for being.
  • By the time of his appearance on Hawkeye he has become a big enough of a threat that an Avenger considers him The Dreaded. His Stout Strength also appears to have increased dramatically, bordering on Super-Strength, as he's now capable of ripping a door off its hinges with his bare hands, which he takes advantage of to get at Eleanor Bishop.
• Took a Level in Kindness: Downplayed in Hawkeye. While he's still a dangerous and formidable crime lord, he's much calmer and more in control of his temper than he did before. He also tries to reason with Eleanor Bishop and gives her chances to reconsider his decision to leave, which is a level of mercy he's never demonstrated before.
• Trademark Favorite Food: Fisk's favorite dessert is zuppa inglese, an Italian custard which his mother made all the time. He jokes that liking it a little too much probably resulted in his weight. He also begins every morning with an omelette for breakfast.
• Tragic Keepsake:
  • He wears his father's cuff-links, specifically the ones he wore the night Wilson killed him, as a reminder that he is not his father, and not cruel for the sake of cruelty. Vanessa encourages him to consider alternative pairs of cuff-links.
  • Echo reveals he hung onto the hammer he killed Bill Fisk with as well, keeping it in an intricate box and personally offering it to Maya, as he compares their situation to he and his own fathers.
• Tragic Villain:
  • Despite being a hardened mob boss, Fisk has an internal conflict, as Madame Gao notices, and despite his awful actions, he's aware of this and is not something that makes him proud. It certainly doesn't help that he is vulnerable, childish, and has had a violent upbringing from his horrible father. Actually, he wants to be a better person than his father, and is willing to take Vanessa away from the mob. Furthermore, his opposition to Daredevil comes from both having different ideas of how to improve Hell's Kitchen. Fisk does monstrous things, but ultimately believes he is working for the greater good, with this belief inspiring several fiercely loyal associates. Introspective and emotionally complicated, his success as Matt's nemesis is due in large part to the fact that both of them are working to fix the city, but both also worry that they might be monsters.
  • Echo (2024) also further emphasises this in the finale, where rather than fight Kingpin, Maya chooses to try and help him heal his pain by peering into his mind. In it, he is trapped in that same white room, the walls shaking and the sounds of his father beating his mother ringing so loudly the walls are cracking. Though he despairingly rejects her offer of peace, he is so affected by the experience he leaves Tamaha with his men and leaves Maya and everyone else unharmed, desperate to escape, proving that at his core, Fisk is still that traumatized twelve-year-old who was never able to overcome his own grief and pain.
• Tranquil Fury: By Daredevil season 3, Fisk has almost conquered his notoriously uncontrollable temper, turning his moments of rage into this. When Karen taunts him about killing Wesley, it's almost shocking to see that he manages to keep a lid on his homicidal fury for even a few seconds whereas before he would have lunged at her immediately. Of course, in that case he might have been simply too paralyzed by rage to do anything. It's played straighter three episodes later, when he receives news from Agent Waller that Nadeem has aided in helping Karen escape Dex's assassination attempt in the church and is now in the wind; Fisk absorbs this and then calmly, even casually, asks Waller for his jacket. He waits patiently as Waller removes the jacket and hands it over. Fisk proceeds to wrap said jacket around Waller's head and beats him to death.
• Uncertain Doom: In Hawkeye, Maya points a gun towards his chest and we hear her fire it, although we don't definitively see where she shot him. Echo shows that he was shot in the eye, but survived.
• Unskilled, but Strong: Unlike his comic book counterpart, Fisk has zero formal martial arts training and his climactic fight against Matt consists of throws, charges, and wild hay-makers. He's still a huge Lightning Bruiser, but he struggles to even land a punch on his opponent at the beginning of the fight. But once he gets his hands on you... SNAP!
• Unstoppable Rage: While it actually either takes a lot of aggravation or the right triggers to set him off, once made angry he won't stop until the person who pissed him off is brutally killed, often by his own hand.
• Use Your Head: Headbutting seems to be one of his favorite moves.
• Use Their Own Weapon Against Them: During their final fight in season 1, he picks up Matt's billy clubs and hits him repeatedly with it before Matt turns the tide of battle and takes him down.
• Used to Be a Sweet Kid: He was a shy kid who hated violence until his father's abuse of him and his mother drove him to commit patricide.
• Utopia Justifies the Means: He wants to make Hell's Kitchen a beautiful, modern place. Unfortunately, his way to achieve that goal is not the cleanest way. Fisk believes his vision for the city is a good one, even though it displaces lots of poor people and he's making allies with powerful criminal organizations such as the Hand.
• Villain in a White Suit:
  • He wears a white jumpsuit as a newcomer upon his arrival in prison, as new arrivals get.
  • Midway through Daredevil season 3, after some heavy negotiating between his lawyers and the FBI to get his possessions returned, he starts wearing his trademark white business suits from the comics.
• Villain with Good Publicity:
  • After spending half the season in the shadows, Fisk stops the heroes' attempts to expose him with the press by simply going public as a generous philanthropist. This ruins their attempts to expose him, since now he has a sparkling image that's stronger than the secrets they were planning to tell. It lasts until the first season finale when Hoffman confesses and rats everyone out, exposing him and his crime organization.
  • In Season 3, after using Dex to orchestrate a successful smear campaign against Daredevil, Fisk is able to get himself back into the public's good graces by pretending that everything that happened to him was a mere Frame-Up by the corrupt vigilante. It works so well that even the throngs of protesters who spend days outside his hotel demanding him to be send back to jail end up being swayed to his side. Fortunately, his stint as a beloved celebrity doesn't last long before he is exposed again and ends up back in jail.
  • Averted in Hawkeye and Echo, where virtually everyone in New York is fully aware of his criminal activities to the point he's considered The Dreaded, and even Maya Lopez's community in Oklahoma can tell rather quickly that Fisk and his forces are bad news the minute they show up. While Echo shows that he still had power over the authorities during the five-year Snap period, he appears to no longer have them on his payroll by 2024, having to make a run for it when the police arrive at the end of Hawkeye.
• Villainous Breakdown:
  • The cool, collected mask starts to crack after he manipulates Matt into taking care of Nobu, and Owlsley and Gao start questioning his conviction. Breaks even further as in the span of a day, Vanessa is poisoned, Wesley is killed, and he discovers his associates were behind the poisoning. By the time Nelson & Murdock succeed in exposing him, he's reduced to a raging, ranting mess striking out at anything and everything — though no less dangerous for the loss of control.
  • When he allows Karen into his penthouse to speak to him, the conversation starts very civil, but he quickly loses his composure as she reveals to him that she murdered Wesley.
• Villainous Friendship:
  • He and James Wesley seem to be genuine friends who care about each other just as Matt and Foggy do, enough that Fisk is willing to put out a hit on Karen as revenge when she taunts him with the details of how she killed him.
  • He and Madame Gao seem to have some sort of friendship as well, albeit one laced with ruthlessness and threats, though that ends on his end when he discovers she and Owlsley betrayed him — ostensibly for his own good.
  • While somewhat downplayed when compared to the above examples given the fact that he was in-debt to him, Fisk was also fond of Derek Bishop, and in a delete scene expresses genuine condolences of his passing after the Battle of New York.
• Villainous Gentrification: His goal is to turn the blocks of Hell's Kitchen he acquires (except for the building given over to the Hand) into luxury condos, which the original tenants can never hope to afford.
• Villain in a White Suit: He adapts his white suits from the comics as his new wardrobe midway through Daredevil season 3. He wears this in "Hawkeye" too.
• Villains Out Shopping: In his spare time he's in his own penthouse cooking omelette for breakfast or touring art galleries.
• Visionary Villain: Fisk has grand plans for a new Hell's Kitchen once he and his partners take ownership. He believes he will save the city. Even after he briefly regresses back to simple well-organized crime in Hawkeye and Echo, he is soon inspired to run for mayor of New York.
• Vocal Dissonance: He's a hulking mob boss who kills with his bare hands, but his voice is a lot more higher than one would expect, especially when he shouts.
• Well-Intentioned Extremist: Fisk honestly and truly believes that him being in control of crime in Hell's Kitchen will ultimately help with its recovery and that he can use his criminal enterprise to help make the city a better place in the long term despite immense damage in the short term. Deconstructed, in that while genuine he eventually loses faith in himself and embraces being a villain (see Tragic Villain).
• White-Collar Crime: Fisk is no stranger to this, as Karen discovers that he has shell companies.
• Wicked Cultured: Played with. Fisk certainly has an eye for the finer things (suits, abstract expressionist art), unlike his comic book counterpart, he's much less of a gourmet; due to his reclusive and orderly nature, he ends up constantly eating the same food rather than developing a more sophisticated palate, and Wesley has to help him before his dinner dates with Vanessa by recommending certain vintages of wine.
• Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds: He may be a brutal crime lord, but when you learn his backstory and how he became the way he is, you can't help but pity the poor bastard. In every scene where he isn't angry, Fisk looks perpetually sad as if he's filled with extreme remorse over the monster he's become. Although he definitely errs more towards "destroyer of worlds" in season 3.
• Worthy Opponent: Tells both Matt and Ben Urich that he respects the kind of men they are, admires their conviction and goals, and that he regrets having to take action against them. Though the actions he does take are no less ruthless for the respect he gives.
• Would Harm a Senior: He has Elena Cardenas killed for refusing to give up her home that he wanted to gentrify, in order to lure Matt into an ambush.
• Would Hit a Girl:
  • Fisk has ordered hits on Karen, Elena, and Julie when they posed threats to him or his goals. When Karen rubs the details of Wesley's death in his face, he stands up and looks prepared to beat her up, but the FBI intervene due to Foggy showing up. As a result, Fisk resorts to hiring Dex to kill her.
  • A hands-on approach happens when he effortlessly slaps and tosses Kate Bishop around. And he'd clearly do something worse to Eleanor if Kate hadn't arrived to save her mom.
• Would Hurt a Child: He's more than willing to threaten peoples' families to get their cooperation. He has one of Tammy Hattley's kids murdered and the death staged to look like a hit-and-run, then blackmails Hattley into working for him by threatening to kill her other daughter. He similarly threatens this on Nadeem's wife and son, sending men to kill them after Nadeem goes rogue. And that's not even getting into his No-Holds-Barred Beatdown on Kate Bishop, who's still in college.
• Xanatos Speed Chess: When Frank Castle is imprisoned, Fisk gives him an offer to kill Dutton, only to betray Castle and have all the man's thugs attack him. When Frank survives that, Fisk decides to change his plans, and actually arranges for Frank to be smuggled out of the prison disguised as a guard; figuring Castle will drive away the competition until Fisk inevitably leaves prison.
• You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: It is his standard procedure to discard of people once they serve no further purpose, although he draws lines for it. Small loose ends and associates he thinks are scum are free game after their business is concluded (Rance, Farnum, McClintock, Jasper Evans, etc.), whereas people he actually respects tend to be safe unless they betray him (Owlsley). Even associates as small as an ASL translator for Maya is executed to make sure she will not run to the cops with the information she transferred between Maya and Fisk.

Vanessa Marianna

Vanessa Marianna

"We've been sitting here talking for hours and you're going to insult me like I have no idea what you really do?"

Species: Human

Citizenship: American

Affiliation(s): Scene Contempo Gallery (formerly)

Portrayed By: Ayelet Zurer

Appearances: Daredevil | Daredevil Born Again

"People always ask me how can we charge so much for what amounts to gradations of white. I tell them it's not about the artist's name or the skill required, not even about the art itself. All that matters is 'How does it make you feel?'"

An art gallery owner who becomes romantically involved with Fisk.

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• Adaptational Villainy: In the comics, she has always been against Fisk's criminal activities, but here, she encourages him, and orders Ray Nadeem's murder.
• All Girls Want Bad Boys: She decides that the fact that Fisk is dangerous is actually a plus. If nothing else, it means he will definitely keep her safe.
• Ambiguously Evil: She doesn't do anything particularly evil by herself, but she's not against encouraging Fisk to fulfill his vision to gentrify Hell's Kitchen by any means necessary. By season 3, the ambiguity falls away as she is the one to order Ray Nadeem's death.
• Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: She seems perfectly nice and sane, but some of her suggestions and encouragement of Fisk's criminal behavior certainly don't fit a sheep.
• Dissonant Serenity: Borderlined Unusually Uninteresting Sight, she reunites with Fisk, who has taken over Manhattan's organized crime and a chunk of the FBI (while a "prisoner"), in part, to get her back. Their reunion is surprisingly unemotional. Its even implied, once she leaves the room, they don’t have contact again for the rest of the night, though this is somewhat justified on account of her being jet-lagged and needing to rest.
• Karma Houdini: As part of Matt's deal with Fisk, she is allowed to skate for Nadeem's murder, as long as Fisk stays in custody.
• Lady Macbeth: Shows aspirations of becoming one. While Fisk's inner circle believes she makes him weak, this is only partially the case: Fisk neglects his business when her safety is threatened, but is otherwise spurred on by her. She fully becomes this by season 3, where she insists that Wilson allow her to fully be part of his life (including the criminal side), and one of the first things she does is order the assassination of Ray Nadeem.
• Love Interest: To Wilson Fisk.
• Morality Pet: Subverted, it initially seems like she's going to humanize Fisk, but if anything, their relationship and his desire to protect her from his criminal activities lead him to committing even more violent acts, which she encourages. Made clearer in Season 3, when Fisk, upon learning that Vanessa is going to be facing criminal charges as an accessory to his crimes, becomes an informant to Agent Nadeem, and agrees to rat out other criminals in exchange for her protection. However this is later revealed to be a long-term gambit by Fisk to rebuild his power base, and when they are reunited, she calls for the assassination of Nadeem to show she is fully committed to becoming Fisk's partner in crime.
• Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: She fancies herself Fisk's partner, and to her credit, Fisk considers her as such, but whereas he's a lifelong criminal mastermind she's merely a particularly savvy art dealer. Her first action as part of Fisk's criminal empire is to order that Ray Nadeem be killed. The fallout from Nadeem's death (his confession video going viral, and Matt indirectly finding out both Vanessa's role in the murder by torturing Felix Manning, as well as information that allows him to turn Dex against Fisk) dismantles Fisk's entire operation within a matter of days. Had she not been so bloodthirsty or eager to prove herself, Fisk would have gone ahead with his original plan to discredit Nadeem, a tactic which was working...but killing Nadeem meant that his dying confession video became admissible evidence in court.
• Put on a Bus: Fisk arranges for Francis and some of his bodyguards to safely get Vanessa out of the country as he's being arrested. During season 2, she's hiding out overseas, living off a special protection fund Fisk has set up for her with what assets of his weren't seized.
  • The Bus Came Back: She comes back towards the end of Season 3 as soon as Fisk's conviction is overturned.
• Satellite Love Interest: Her character is mainly a way to humanize Fisk or to be his biggest weakness. Besides she is Out of Focus.
• Small Role, Big Impact: She's only in the last two episodes of season 3, yet she's also the biggest motivation for Fisk's actions throughout the entire season. And her decision to order Ray Nadeem's murder ends up undoing Fisk's criminal empire.
• Yoko Oh No: Leland Owlsley strongly dislikes the distracting effect she has on Fisk and tries to have her killed for it. invoked

Lieutenants

James Wesley

James Wesley

"I'm curious about your...clientele. Do they all end up working for you after you get them off for murder or just the pretty ones?"

Species: Human

Citizenship: American

Portrayed By: Toby Leonard Moore

Appearances: Daredevil

"I mean, if he had an iron suit or a magic hammer, maybe that would explain why you keep getting your asses handed to you."

Fisk's right hand man during season 1. He is very much the face of the organization for a long time, but never lets anyone forget that he's not actually in charge.

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• Affably Evil: Wesley is even-headed, calm and soft-spoken and he doesn't hurt people unless he has to.
• Aloof Leader, Affable Subordinate: Wesley is much more approachable than his boss. This is both because of how socially awkward Fisk is, but also because it allows Wesley to act as a buffer insulating Fisk from the grunts who carry out the dirty work on the street.
• Ambiguously Gay: His interactions with Fisk can come across like this. He speaks very highly of his employer, goes out of his way to please him, and even gets personally involved after finding out Karen Page spoke with Fisk's mother. He's never explicitly shown to be into women either.
• And Your Little Dog, Too!: He regularly threatens peoples' loved ones to get their cooperation.
• Artistic License – Gun Safety: He leaves a loaded gun unattended and within arm's reach of Karen as an Implied Death Threat. This ends up causing his death instead.
• Ascended Extra: His comic counterpart is a rather minor character from the "Born Again" story. Here, Wesley is practically the beating heart of Fisk's entire operation.
• Book Ends: Wesley is introduced intimidating a guard who owes money to Fisk into carrying out a hit on Karen Page by threatening to have the guard's daughter killed. In his last scene, Karen Page kills him after he threatens to have her friends killed.
• The Chessmaster: He might not be the guy at the top, but he largely serves as the brains behind Fisk's operations and is heavily responsible in orchestrating events and manipulating other characters.
• Completely Unnecessary Translator: He's always present to act as translator during meetings of the heads of the crime ring. Fisk speaks both Japanese and Mandarin fluently while Nobu and Madame Gao can both speak English, Wesley's "translating" is really just for show. He looks very annoyed when Gao calls Fisk out on the deception in "Shadows in the Glass".
• Composite Character: He also carries role of Oswald Silkworth, also known as the Arranger, who would arrange Wilson Fisk's day in order to give Fisk free time.
• The Consigliere: Besides serving as Fisk's mouthpiece, Wesley also handles Fisk's personal affairs, like his scheduling.
• Deadpan Snarker: Wesley could fill a whole book.
  • He dryly jokes to Vladimir and Anatoly that their issues would be more understandable if some guy in an iron suit or magic hammer was beating the shit out of their goons, instead of some guy in a mask.
  • When ordering Hoffman to kill Blake:
    Carl Hoffman: Out of turn? You shot him.
    James Wesley: Technically, we paid someone else to shoot him.
• Didn't Think This Through: Wesley has Karen sedated and threatens her with a loaded gun he leaves on a table between them. While he keeps the pistol closer to him than to her, he focuses on her friends and family rather than the immediate risk of him killing her. He is overly reliant on her partial sedation and her fear keeping her still, and never considers that she would attempt to grab the gun and shoot him.
• Dissonant Serenity: He's completely calm and composed even while Fisk beats Anatoly to death. Leland finds him unsettling half the time.
• The Dragon: He organizes Fisk's criminal empire, meeting with business partners, and even doing dirty work without being asked to. He and Felix Manning are also Fisk's only actual friends (outside of Vanessa), as Fisk takes it really hard when Karen kills him.
• Equal-Opportunity Evil: When Wesley pretends not to know where Anatoly is, he asks Vladimir whether his brother might have "a girl - or a boy - he might be celebrating with" without any apparent prejudice. Of course, in the same conversation he also pretends with a smile on his face that he didn't just watch his boss murder Anatoly with his bare fists and a car door, so whether his words have anything to do with his convictions is another question.
• Establishing Character Moment: Wesley is introduced by walking up to Clyde Farnum, who owes money to a boss recently "retired" by Fisk. He sits down, casually rattles off the amount of money Farnum owes them, shows him a live feed of his daughter on a tablet and the assassin sitting not ten yards from her, and gets Farnum to carry out a hit on Karen Page in exchange for his debts being forgiven. Not once does his voice raise above casual talk and he stays very polite about the entire affair.
• The Face: He's the one who specifically goes out and does Fisk's dirty work for him. Up until Fisk comes out of the shadows, it's likely most of those in Fisk's organization have only spoken to him and not Fisk.
• Face Death with Dignity: He doesn't even raise his voice or break into a nervous sweat when Karen gets ahold of his gun.
• Foil: To his boss Fisk. Fisk is fat, bald and has a Hair-Trigger Temper. Wesley is slim, has a head full of hair and keeps a calm demeanor at all times.
• Four Eyes, Zero Soul: His flat tone of voice, his flat expressions, and his glasses, are used to great effect. Leland even comments that he finds Wesley unsettling half the time.
• The Heavy: In the first three episodes, Wesley is the more present antagonist than Fisk. While he makes very clear from the onset that he's only Fisk's mouthpiece, he is the one setting most of the story's plot points in motion. Many things are, in fact, a result of Wesley's own individual decision-making.
• Honest Advisor: At times. Fisk trusts him to tell it like it is and even do what's best for his organization in situations where he cannot.
• Hyper-Competent Sidekick: Played with. Fisk is by no means incompetent, but Wesley is typically the one who runs his business being exceptional at taking charge and manipulating people. While Fisk is quite cunning and tactical in his own right, he isn't as good with people as Wesley is and has a habit of losing his temper, while Wesley keeps his cool at all times.
• Insistent Terminology: He's very insistent on only ever referring to Fisk as "my employer" in conversations with underlings so they don't know who the real shotcaller in charge is. It's such an engrained habit he even finds himself needlessly using this terminology well after Fisk has gone public.
• Jerkass: Admittedly, it takes quite a bit of poking and prodding to get him to drop his Affably Evil faux politeness. But, eventually, when he reaches his limit of uncomfortable questions, he almost instantly turns into a seething asshole. It's abrupt, and off-putting enough, to immediately catch everyone in the conversation off-guard. Well, except Matt Murdock.
• Karmic Death: He's introduced threatening Farnum into trying to kill Karen in her jail cell. It's Karen who kills him in the end.
• Large and in Charge: Not as much as Fisk, but he's 6'2" and has a fairly muscular build.
• Last-Name Basis: People primarily address him by his last name.
• Like a Son to Me: Fisk drops the trope name word-for-word when revealing to Dex that this is how he felt about Wesley, before dispatching Dex to kill Karen and avenge him.
• Mouth of Sauron: He transmits orders from Fisk early on, and most people have only ever spoken to him, never meeting Fisk at all.
• Multiple Gunshot Death: Karen shoots him seven times, killing him.
• Named by the Adaptation: Only his last name was known in the comics. In the 2003 film, Wesley was his first name rather than his last (the full name being Wesley Owen Welch, which actually was a plot point).
• Nerves of Steel: Credit where it's due, even after Karen gets ahold of his gun, he doesn't even blink. He calmly tries to bluff her into thinking it's not loaded. It doesn't save him.
• Noble Top Enforcer: He's Fisk's closest, if not only friend.
• Non-Action Guy: He speaks several languages, can do accounting as well as handle criminal affairs, break people by talking to them and he serves as a very capable personal assistant. He also can fire a gun, as he and Francis do when Matt is escaping from them after his bouts with Nobu and with Fisk. But he makes the mistake of lowering himself to grunt work by abducting and subsequently threatening Karen without taking guards with him. Leaving a loaded gun on the table within her reach is a mistake few of his more battle-hardened subordinates would have made and she kills him as a result of this.
• Not So Stoic: Actually looks shocked when Karen shoots him.
• One-Steve Limit: He shares the same given name as Rhodey and Bucky.
• Only Friend: From what we see, Wesley is the only genuine friend Fisk has. Enough that Fisk is willing to order a revenge hit on Karen when he learns from her that she was responsible.
• Only Sane Man: Everyone in Fisk's organization has some vendetta or shade of insanity; even Fisk gets caught up in romance more than business. But Wesley? Pragmatic to a tee. It helps that he's very savvy.
• Pre-Asskicking One-Liner: On behalf of Fisk, to Anatoly-
  "He'd like a word with you."
• Sacrificial Lion: His death signals the point Fisk is truly desperate and is resorting to increasingly brutal methods as a result.
• Scary Shiny Glasses: On and off, especially when he threatens Karen from the shadows.
• Shipper on Deck: Encourages Fisk's relationship with Vanessa, such as recommending good wines to impress her and bringing her to Fisk when Fisk is in a bad mood after being threatened by Madame Gao. He is noticeably the only other person in Fisk's organization who approves of it.
• The Sociopath: While Wesley does have people he cares about, such as Fisk, he has a very cold detachment that makes it chillingly easy for him to do terrible things.
• The Stoic: While Wesley can come across as even-tempered and friendly in a business-like way, in reality, there's a disquieting lack of emotion to him. Scenes where he's watching graphic violence or even when he's threatened with death, are met with a calm unemotive demeanor.
• Tactful Translation: Quite often with Nobu and Gao such as "he does not like the accommodations" after a long and angry sounding rant. Nobu eventually threatens to cut his tongue out the next time he tries to water something down.
• Two First Names: James and Wesley are both employed as first names.
• Verbal Tic: He has such a habit of insisting that Wilson Fisk is referred to as his "employer" rather than by name that he finds himself doing it in needless situations, long after everyone knows who he is.
• Undying Loyalty: Wesley's loyal to a fault to Fisk, and won't admit betrayal.
• Villain Ball: Leaves a loaded gun within hand's reach of Karen, and is surprised when she ends up grabbing it when he's distracted by an incoming phone call and shooting him with it after he makes death threats towards Matt and Foggy.
• Villainous Friendship: He legitimately cares about Fisk's well being on a friendly level, to the point of playing Shipper on Deck because he knows Vanessa makes him happy.
• Wicked Cultured: Fisk leans on him to recommend wines that might impress Vanessa. Also sports a fancy Cartier wristwatch.
• Would Hit a Girl: Is introduced strong-arming Farnum into carrying out a hit on Karen, and later kidnaps Karen trying to intimidate her.
• Wrong Genre Savvy: He trips up when dealing with Karen. He believes that she's someone who can be cowed with threats and promises. Having been framed up, attacked, and almost killed (the latter two on Wesley's orders), Karen grabs his gun and shoots him to death.
• You Have GOT to Be Kidding Me!: Wesley's reaction when both Fisk and Gao reveal that they speak Chinese, Japanese and English, making his job as a translator pointless.

Stewart Finney

Stewart Finney

Species: Human

Citizenship: American

Portrayed By: Korey Jackson

Appearances: Daredevil

A former accountant who was arrested and housed with violent offenders after pissing off the wrong person. He helps Fisk get the lay of the land and assists him in consolidating power on the inside.

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• Commonality Connection: He connects with Fisk by appealing to him as a businessman and their shared belief that they are superior to the violent criminals they're incarcerated with.
• Corrupt Corporate Executive: He was a mortgage analyst on the outside who skimmed from his clients.
• The Dragon: Becomes one for Fisk in jail, keeping tabs on the other inmates and providing him with information.
• Four Eyes, Zero Soul: Sports glasses and is rather quick to help Fisk building back his empire, introducing him to killers and giving him info to take over the racket in prison.
• Mugging the Monster: He ended up locked in with hardened murderers like Fisk and Dutton because he double-crossed the brother of a very influential Justice Department official.
• Put on a Bus: Or rather, left behind on the bus. He isn't seen at all during Season 3 despite being Fisk's prison Number Two; it seems Fisk left him behind.
• Replacement Goldfish: Given what he used to be on the outside, he is more or less a replacement for Owlsley.

Felix Manning

Felix Manning

"Answer my question, please. Do you understand your situation?"

Species: Human

Citizenship: American

Portrayed by: Joe Jones

Appearances: Daredevil

“Off the record, you are incorrect. About what I do for a living. I don't fix problems. I make them disappear.”

Fisk's outside fixer in Season 3.

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• Ascended Extra: Like James Wesley before him, Felix Manning was a very minor character in the "Born Again" story, who stood out for his overly eloquent pattern of speaking, and both were killed in a shootout with Karen's pimp Paolo outside Foggy's apartment. Here, Felix is a high-ranking member of Fisk's empire.
• Adaptational Nationality: Felix in the original comics was American. Felix in the show is British.
• Affably Evil: Felix is rarely anything other than perfectly polite.
• Dirty Coward: Subverted, he tries his best to remain uncooperative when Matt hunts him down after Nadeem's death, but finally cracks once Matt subjects him to the extreme torture of a High-Altitude Interrogation.
• Evil Brit: He's a Brit with the looks of an elderly Daniel Craig, and he works for Fisk.
• Evil Old Folks: A visibly old man who loyally carries out Fisk's orders like assassination and blackmail.
• The Fixer: He works as one for Fisk, but Felix doesn't seem to like the term all that much. He says that he doesn't fix Fisk's problems; he makes them disappear.
• The Handler: Among the many jobs that Fisk assigns Felix to do, he serves as Dex's handler. He picks Dex up from his apartment to take him to Melvin Potter's for outfitting and is also the one to brief Fisk about Dex's activities when Fisk is unable to directly speak to Dex.
• High-Altitude Interrogation: Matt dangles him from a roof to get him to admit that it was Vanessa who ordered Nadeem's assassination.
• Morally Bankrupt Banker: He moves Fisk's money through Red Lion National Bank.
• Remember the New Guy?: Dialogue between Fisk and Felix implies that Felix had been working for Fisk before he was arrested, and had been looking after Vanessa while Fisk was in prison, though had not been so much as mentioned in seasons 1 or 2.
• Replacement Goldfish: Serves Fisk as one to both Wesley and Owlsley, having taken up Wesley's duties of relaying orders to Fisk's underlings and threatening people to get their cooperation, as well as laundering Fisk's money through Red Lion Bank, which used to be Owlsley's job.
• Sharp-Dressed Man: He dresses in crisp three-piece suits, as befitting a man of such a high position in Fisk's organization.
• Undying Loyalty: He's one of the few people in season 3 who are loyal to Fisk out of respect and not thanks to intimidation or bribery. In turn, he's also one of only a few people Fisk in turn considers to be a friend, as evidenced by Fisk's gratitude to him for taking care of Vanessa.

Benjamin Poindexter

Special Agent Benjamin "Dex" Poindexter / Daredevil

"If I were wearing a mask, the press would be calling me a hero. Instead, I'm sitting in here with you trying to justify protecting myself!"

^{Click here to see him in his Daredevil costume}
"Hello Karen! It's nice to see you again."

Species: Enhanced human

Citizenship: American

Affiliation(s): Lyndhurst Home for Boys (formerly), Riviera Psychiatric Institute (formerly), US Army (formerly), Brooklyn Suicide Prevention Center (formerly), FBI (formerly)

Portrayed By: Wilson Bethel, Conor Proft (teen), Cameron Mann (young)

Appearances: Daredevil | Daredevil Born Again

"FBI and the army before that, they helped keep me on the straight and narrow path. But now... without that it's all... I'm drowning in deep water and I don't know whether I'm swimming for the surface or the bottom."

An FBI agent with exceptional marksmanship skills on the detail protecting Wilson Fisk during his house arrest.

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• Abusive Parents: It's heavily implied his parents were this. Then again, from his point of view, the coach he killed was also abusive. Due to his disorder, his perception is skewed, to say the least.
• Accidental Murder: He accidentally kills Father Lantom with a Billy Club he threw at Karen because the priest stood in the way to protect her. This enrages Matt as he starts attacking Dex with increased ferocity.
• Adaptational Attractiveness: Unlike his comic counterpart, he doesn't have a bullseye logo carved on his forehead and has a full set of teeth.
• Adaptational Curves: Inverted. He's a bit slimmer than his comic counterpart.
• Adaptational Dumbass: He isn't the Pragmatic Villain or Genius Bruiser his comics counterpart is known to be and is a lot easier to manipulate.
• Adaptational Dye-Job: Comics Bullseye is actually blonde but it's not really paid attention to because he's bald. In the show, Dex is brown-haired. Also, while his comic counterpart's eyes are colored blue, Dex has hazel brown eyes.
• Adaptational Hairstyle Change: From being completely bald to having a full head of hair.
• Adaptational Heroism: In the comics, Bullseye was a Psycho for Hire from the off, never had any sort of career in law enforcement (though he potentially was an NSA contractor), and showed zero inner conflict, knowing precisely what an evil bastard he was and absolutely loving it. Here, Dex is an FBI agent (albeit a Cowboy Cop) and while he's most certainly still psychotic, he has a desire to fix it and takes steps to deal with his disorder, which causes him no shortage of pain, and is capable of genuine love and friendship, even if his version of them is twisted. And even when he does snap, he still shows restraint and is capable of mercy, even sparing some of his fellow FBI agents which his comics counterpart would never have done.
• Adaptational Job Change: Bullseye might have been a contractor for the National Security Agency in the comics assuming if he isn't lying about his past. The MCU version is instead an FBI agent.
• Adaptational Sympathy: Bullseye in the comics was simply an Ax-Crazy Psycho for Hire whose childhood ambition was "to be the bad guy" and no clearly defined past aside from a few confirmed details. The show gives him a tragic backstory of losing his parents and being sent to an orphanage, not to mention that he tries to deal with his insanity by meeting with a psychologist.
• Adapted Out: Unlike his comics counterpart, his skeleton is not laced with Adamantium due to those rights being with Fox's X-Men Film Series at the time that Daredevil season 3 was filmed. Nevertheless The Stinger in the final episode shows him getting Cogmium steel reinforcements for his broken vertebrae.
• Adaptation Expansion: In the comics, Bullseye's past is shrouded in mystery and the truth behind most of the details that were revealed are questionable. Here, his backstory is told and expanded upon in the fourth episode he appears in.
• Adaptation Name Change: Comics Bullseye has no known real name; the closest we ever get is "Lester". And "Benjamin Poindexter" is just one of his preferred aliases, not his legal name. In the show, he uses the latter name, which was also the legal name in the Ultimate comics.
• Adaptational Nice Guy: While he's also sadistic, unstable, and sociopathic like in the comics, he is clearly tortured by his nature while his comics counterpart fully embraced and enjoyed it. He's also capable of genuine kindness and loving others, however unhealthy, and even at his worst, he's able to show mercy and restraint by sparing people rather than killing them, all things he would never be able to do in the comics.
• And I Must Scream: By the end of the season, he's had his spine broken and he's been left in the care of an unknown party that performs a surgical experiment on him. While he's conscious.
• Apologetic Attacker: While he doesn't go as far as apologizing, Dex empathizes with Ray's position and is reluctant to kill one of his only friends. Ray tries to appeal to him to turn on Fisk as they have both been manipulated by him, but unfortunately Dex feels he is better off under Fisk's thumb than he was before. Even once it becomes clear Dex isn't backing down, Ray still has to pull his own gun to force Dex to kill him.
• Arch-Enemy: Dex becomes this for Matt when Dex murders Father Lantom in front of him.
• Assassin Outclassin': Fisk sends him out to assassinate Karen Page for the murder of James Wesley, but he fails because not only does Matt arrives at the nick of time to stop him but Karen is the one who manages to take him out of the fight by swinging a large cross out of him that sends him flying.
• Armored Villains, Unarmored Heroes: Dex wears a replica of Matt's Daredevil costume which offers a lot of protection while Matt has to reuse his old outfit that offers minimal protection. It's the sole reason why his fights with Matt last as long as they do.
• Ax-Crazy: Not only does he have severe mental issues, but he also doesn't need much incentive to kill. Early on as a child, he was diagnosed with borderline personality disorder with psychopathic tendencies, which is just about the most professional and clinical way of describing "batshit crazy."
• Badass Normal: He is a well-trained FBI Agent and expert marksman, but otherwise possesses no superpowers aside from his meticulous aim. Still, even though the Daredevil suit of armor accounts for most of it, going toe-to-toe with Matt many times shows he's slightly above average in this aspect.
• Bad Date: He gets a chance to have a date with Julie but screws it up by revealing he knows things about her that she never told him about, scaring her away.
• Bad Guys Do the Dirty Work: After finding out from Matt that Fisk had Julie killed, he takes out the corrupt FBI agents protecting Fisk in his wedding on his way to kill Fisk himself, unintentionally allowing Matt to get to Fisk without much effort. Of course, this is exactly what Matt wanted him to do all along. He knows that Dex is skilled enough to take out every FBI agent guarding Fisk. All he needs is to give him a reason to do so and it came in the form of learning that Fisk had Julie killed.
• Bad People Abuse Animals: He used to torture and kill animals as a kid.
• Bait the Dog: We get to see a seemingly likable side to him when he tells his FBI psychologist that he has a girlfriend named Julie with whom he opens up about his problems. Later, it's revealed that Julie's not his girlfriend, but a former co-worker he's been stalking ever since he fell in love with her while working at a suicide hotline center.
• Batman Gambit: On the receiving end of one. Matt reveals to him that Fisk had Julie killed, knowing that this will drive Dex angry enough to come after Fisk himself and take out everyone who gets in his way, giving Matt the opportunity to get to Fisk while Dex is busy fighting every FBI agent protecting Fisk. The plan almost fails when Dex successfully takes down every FBI agent and manages to arrive in the final battle to fight both Matt and Fisk himself, but gets taken out during the fight thanks to Fisk breaking his back.
• Because You Were Nice to Me: During the final showdown, he gives Lim a chance to walk away because he's been a good friend to him and isn't a corrupt agent like most of his colleagues. Even when Lim still decides to try and take him down, Dex subdues him non-lethally, which is a stark contrast to him killing or trying to kill every other FBI agent who get in his way to trying to kill Fisk and Vanessa.
• Being Evil Sucks: In contrast to the comics where he revels in his evil and sadism, Dex absolutely hates his sociopathic nature and takes active steps to overcome it, albeit sadly to no avail.
• Berserk Button:
  • Failing to carry out his job. Whether it be assassinating or simply finding someone, he has to carry it out successfully otherwise he becomes increasingly agitated and unhinged, and very quickly at that.
  • He takes being lied to very personally. Matt uses this to his advantage in the finale when he reveals to him that Fisk secretly had Julie killed and made it look like she cut him out of his life, leading Dex to turn on Fisk.
• Big Bad Ensemble: While he serves as The Dragon to Fisk throughout season three, once Dex finds out Fisk had Julie murdered he completely snaps and turns on him, becoming an independent threat for the finale. While Fisk and Matt's rivalry still has the spotlight, Matt is equally focused on stopping Dex from enacting his revenge.
• Boom, Headshot!: If he has a gun in his hands, chances are he'll do this to whoever he wants to shoot. Just ask Jasper Evans and Ray Nadeem.
• The Brute: Fisk corrupted him into his personal attack dog, which came back to bite Fisk in the ass in the season finale.
• Blasting It Out of Their Hands: During his first fight with Matt, he throws a projectile at Matt's hand when he picks up a ball-pen to try and use it on Dex. He later disarms Karen of her own handgun by throwing a projectile at it and later picks it up to shoot Jasper Evans in the head.
• Blood Knight: It's clear that when worked up, he loves a good fight when the opportunity arises.
• Blue-and-Orange Morality: He has little or no empathy and doesn't follow regular morals, being driven by an intense need for personal relationships instead. As such, his therapist tells him to get a job that gives him a rigid structure to keep him in line and a person with a good moral compass to hold him to it.
• Broken Ace: He's one of the best marksmen and hand-to-hand combatants the FBI has to offer, being able to take down a whole group of other FBI agents with his marksmanship during the final battle and in close-quarters combat during the Bulletin attack, but he's also an incredibly unstable man who's struggling to control his severe mental issues.
• Broken Pedestal: Fisk becomes this to him when he finds out from Matt that he had Julie killed to replace her as his North Star. Needless to say, he is livid and sets out to kill Fisk. He fails but Fisk does get arrested.
• Bulletproof Vest: Wears one when he's in the field with his fellow agents. His Daredevil outfit also has this.
• The Bully: Dex gets his kicks where he can get them, and that means lording whatever power he has over whoever has less. He even pettily torments Fisk while he's under house arrest by taking a bite out of Fisk's burger.
• The Bus Came Back: Six years after the cancellation of Daredevil, Dex makes his return in its revival show Daredevil: Born Again.
• Catchphrase: "That's hard. Really hard" is his go-to response whenever he's told about someone suffering, simply because he genuinely doesn't understand how he should react, but on the advice of his therapist has found a phrase that will let him (just about) function in society.
• Cathartic Scream: Fisk encourages him to belt out a "scream of primal rage" so he can let out all the anger he keeps inside of him, which he does. He lets another one out when he fails to assassinate Karen Page like Fisk ordered him to.
• Charles Atlas Superpower: His throwing power comes from an obsessive amount of practice since he was young. He fervently believed that if he could perfectly throw a baseball his parents would come back.
• Clothes Make the Superman: The fact that Dex wears an armored Daredevil suit when acting as Fisk's assassin, while Matt has gone back to his original off-the-shelf ski mask and black long sleeve shirt, significantly helps level the playing field between the two of them.
• Cold Sniper: He's an FBI sniper, although the only time he actually does any sniping for Fisk is when he attaches a scope to his handgun to try and kill Matt and Nadeem after they break into his apartment.
• Composite Character: Fisk manipulates Dex in ways that seem akin to how he manipulates Nuke in the "Born Again" story, especially with the speeches he gives about how Dex “sacrifices for his country” and “nobody appreciates him for it”. He also takes the role of the Daredevil imposter from the story.
• Comic-Book Movies Don't Use Codenames: While official Netflix promotional materials do refer to him as "Bullseye" now and again, Dex never goes by that alias in the series proper, but we do see it alluded to twice: his baseball cap had a bullseye monogrammed on it when he was a child, and we see a "bullseye" in Dex's iris when he is being experimented on at the very end of the series.
• Contrasting Sequel Antagonist:
  • When finally joining Fisk, Dex becomes a complete contrast to James Wesley. Both served as chief enforcers to Fisk, with Dex even telling Vanessa to consider him "the new James Wesley" when they meet. However, Fisk and Wesley's friendship was entirely genuine on both sides, to the point that Fisk beat Francis to within an inch of his life for not being there to protect Wesley, and ordering a hit on Karen when he finds out, while Dex is merely a tool he is perfectly willing to manipulate and later discard like he would any other henchman. While Wesley is no physical threat and has others do Fisk's brute work, he is more mentally stable and competent in enforcing Fisk's demands, while Dex is more impulsive and becomes increasingly desperate and accident-prone as he struggles to gain Fisk's approval and avoid his wrath, which further leads to his downfall.
  • He's also unlike the other villains in the first two seasons, in that he has no background in organized crime prior to crossing paths with Fisk. Fisk himself was a powerful crime lord, Nobu and Madame Gao were part of an ancient criminal organization in which the former took part in human trafficking while the latter made and distributed heroin, and Colonel Schoonover was a powerful drug lord who killed people or had people killed to cover his tracks. Even some of his fellow FBI agents including his boss Tammy Hattley were forcibly under Fisk's thumb even before the season began.
• The Corruptible: Wilson Fisk exploits his need for recognition and a North Star to turn him into his crazed assassin.
• Costume Copycat: Fisk gives him a replica of the Daredevil suit and wear it while committing crimes to discredit the real Daredevil, Matt Murdock.
• Cowboy Cop: Dex is a bloodthirsty and sadistic man, and his badge gives him license to indulge in his violent tendencies. His appointed FBI therapist remarks that he's used lethal force before, but Dex is agitated that cops like him get condemned by the press for using self-defense whereas vigilantes like Daredevil get cheered on for doing the same.
  Dex: If I were wearing a mask, the press would be calling me a hero. Instead, I'm sitting in here with you trying to justify protecting myself!
• Creepy Child: He was a very unsettling little boy. He ultimately kills the one adult in his life who encouraged and mentored him, for essentially no reason... and subsequently showed zero remorse.
• Crippling Overspecialization: Dex's marksman skills are superb, as he can make any object, regardless of how harmless it is, into a lethal—or at the very least, painful—thrown weapon. However, while he is also pretty decent when it comes to his close-range hand to hand fighting skills, and his durability is impressive enough to enable him to survive hits from Matt and later Fisk, his actual moveset is limited and he has to resort to either finding a surrounding object to throw or wield or he can use or block the barrage of blows thrown his way.
• Crowbar Combatant: During the FBI's arrest of multiple crime lords, he picks up and throws a crowbar at one of the criminals resisting arrest, knocking him out.
• Curtains Match the Window: He has brown hair and brown eyes.
• Dark and Troubled Past: His parents died at a young age, and according to him, they were "always mad" before they died. He was then sent to an orphanage, spending much of his time entirely alone.
• Deadly Disc: He throws a collection plate at Matt during the church fight and during the final battle, he throws a plate at one of the FBI agents firing at him.
• Deadpan Snarker: To go along with his frequent bullying, Dex has one hell of snark storage capacity.
• Death from Above: During the final fight with Matt and Fisk, he tosses a metal stick at a chandelier to drop it on the two but Matt manages to kick Fisk out of the way and evade it himself.
• Death by Secret Identity: After the church fight, he kills two civilians who walk in on him wearing the Daredevil costume without his mask on.
• Decomposite Character: While Dex fulfills the role of Fisk's The Dragon and assassin and has the name Benjamin Poindexter (one of Bullseye's aliases in the comics), Bullseye's trademark ace of spades playing card, one of his calling cards in the comics, is given to the NYPD ESU sniper that attempts to assassinate Detective Blake in season 1.
• Despair Event Horizon: He crosses this when he's put on administrative leave by the FBI and he scared his North Star Julie away beforehand. He planned to commit suicide until Fisk calls him and gives him a new purpose.
• Desperately Craves Affection: As a result of being an orphan and losing his therapist, who was like a mother to him, in his teenage years, Dex has an unhealthy desire for love and belonging and will cling himself to anyone who gives him that. Fisk takes advantage of this by showering him with it and getting rid of anyone who gives him this and could serve as a positive role model to him like Julie.
• Destination Defenestration: During the final battle, Matt hits him with a glass stick so hard, he goes through a window out of the penthouse. Dex returns the favor by tossing him back into the penthouse through another window.
• Disproportionate Retribution: He killed his baseball coach for benching him, along with telling him a harsh truth that no amount of skill at the game would bring his parents back. He also wanted to kill his therapist for dying of cancer, as he saw it as her abandoning him.
• Do Not Call Me "Paul": The written recordings of his therapy sessions with Eileen Mercer show that he doesn't like being called Benjamin and insists on being called Dex. He also lets Ray call him Ben, signifying that he was his closest friend in the FBI.
• The Dragon: Fisk crafts him into his personal enforcer and hitman, and he spends most of the season posing as Daredevil to tarnish Matt's reputation.
• Dramatic Ammo Depletion: During the final fight, he picks up a pistol from one of the agents he took down to shoot his boss Tammy Hattley. The first shot manages to hit her in the stomach, but when he's about to shoot her in the head, it turns out that the pistol is out of bullets. He then throws the gun at her while leaving the wedding hall, knocking her out but not killing her.
• The Dreaded: After his first real fight with him at the Bulletin, Matt dreads the idea of having to face him again, even openly panicking to Sister Maggie about how deadly he is. For the most part...Dex lives up to the dread in every subsequent encounter. It's telling that Matt never actually beats him. Karen takes him out in the church attack, while Fisk exploits a cheap opening and breaks his back in the final battle.
• Driven to Suicide: He's on the verge of doing this after he is made a scapegoat by the FBI when their investigation into his conduct in killing the Albanian hit squad after Fisk is leaked to the press (by Fisk) and he is put on administrative leave. Feeling betrayed, he plans on shooting himself on his kitchen table, only to get a phone call from Fisk, who has orchestrated Dex's suspension and has Felix Manning waiting outside Dex's apartment to take him to Melvin Potter's shop to be outfitted for a Daredevil costume, so he can carry out a job.
• Dude, Where's My Respect?: Fisk is able to get inside Dex's head because he's the first person who's actually shown admiration for Dex's talents, as he's been driven to be a very bitter and jaded person by the various mentors, institutions, and other figures that he has trusted who have all abandoned him for one reason or another.
• Empowered Badass Normal: He's on his way to becoming one as the doctors in charge of helping him walk again are reinforcing his spine with cogmium steel.
• Enemy Eats Your Lunch: Takes a bite out of Fisk's burger to annoy him. It doesn't work as Fisk just cuts around the bite instead.
• Enfant Terrible: Had his first kill when he was a little boy when he killed his coach with a baseball because he got benched by him.
• Enter Stage Window: After the Bulletin massacre, he enters his apartment through the window because entering through the front door in a Daredevil costume would have alerted people.
• Establishing Character Moment: When Fisk's armored convoy transporting him to a safe house is ambushed by an Albanian hit squad that incapacitates and/or kills the rest of the FBI agents in the transport, Dex manages to singlehandedly dispatch every assassin with quick and meticulous accuracy, ricocheting bullets off of various surfaces to take out targets hiding behind corners. Then when two gunmen try to throw down their weapons and surrender to him, he simply shoots both of them in the head without hesitation. Then when his gun runs out of bullets, he hurls the gun and empty magazine at the last two gunmen hard enough that the latter impales its target in the throat.
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones:
  • He is genuinely deeply attached to his therapist and is utterly heartbroken by her death. While he expresses this in violent ways (saying he wants to kill her to punish her for leaving him, even when he intellectually knows it's not her fault), his pain is genuine.
  • He tries this again with Julie, and even though he proves completely incapable of a personal relationship with her, he truly recognizes and respects her goodness, and however messed-up his feelings for her are, they are certainly genuine, to the point that Fisk has her killed because she's too positive an influence on Dex.
• Even Evil Has Standards:
  • Subverted, and in direct contrast to Fisk. Fisk clearly won’t take a painting from a family affected by the Holocaust. Dex has no problems killing the remaining family members for it. He does this without Fisk’s knowledge, and Fisk is understandably disturbed to find the painting in his living room. This pretty much draws a line of separation between Fisk’s ambitions, and Dex’s complete lack of morals.
  • While taking down all of the FBI agents protecting Fisk, he doesn't kill any of the non-corrupt agents and only subdues them non-lethally. He even offers one of them a chance to walk away because said agent was a good friend to him.
• Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: Averted. Dex is fully aware that there is something seriously wrong with him and takes active steps to deal with and he is capable of recognizing kindness in others such as his therapist and Julie, even if it often leads him to unhealthy behavior, as well as able to recognize and genuinely appreciate when it's shown to him.
• Evil Counterpart:
  • To Matt Murdock. Both lost their parents at a young age albeit, through different circumstances, both of them work for law enforcement, and they constantly suffer life crises. However, Matt found other parental figures in Father Lantom and Stick, who while none of them were perfect, did care for Matt in their own ways. Whereas Dex lost both his parents, killed his own mentor in a fit of rage, and everyone else he cared about died off, none of whom were nearly as sketchy as Matt's familial ties. Matt is also a respected lawyer and despite defending a few questionable clients, stays true to his morals, is mostly well-liked by the authorities, and does the right thing for the most part. Dex however is an FBI agent who is constantly looked down upon by his superiors for his brutality until they are all either killed off or turned dirty by Fisk and expresses fierce jealousy towards vigilantes, which ultimately turns him dirty and corrupts him into Fisk's personal hitman. However, their fighting styles are completely different: Matt focuses on his fists, specializes in close-quarters combat and uses boxing just like his late father, and even though he does show that he has some long-range skills, it's more of an improvised backup and even then, it's limited and he's only decent at it. Dex meanwhile is more of a marksman and unlike Matt, can use pretty much anything he grabs his hands on as a weapon, and while he is more than capable of holding his own during a brawl, he is at a significant disadvantage and has to resort to more defensive measures via constant blocking or find something he can throw. In many ways, Dex is what Matt Murdock would have become if he wasn't able to control his bloodlust and became a sociopathic killer instead of a fighter for justice.
  • He's also an evil version of Hawkeye. Works for the government (originally), fights bad guys, skilled marksmen. Clint, like Dex, can turn anything he gets his hands on into an accurate projectile weapon. But Clint is also extremely perceptive, and The Everyman moral center of the Avengers, while Dex is a psychopath desperately trying to act normal while indulging his sadistic urges. Their bosses are a black spymaster in black clothing, and a white criminal in white suits, both with shaved heads. Dex even claims his behavior would be lauded if he were wearing a mask, and in the comics Bullseye doubled for Hawkeye on the Thunderbolts and outright posed as him when he was a member of the Dark Avengers.
• Evil Is Not a Toy: Fisk learns just how bad an idea it is to have a violent, unstable man like Dex working on your behalf. Then further destabilize him just to make him dependent on you.
• Evil Is Petty: Dex takes a lot of pleasure in bullying others, including Fisk. He takes a bite out of the big man's burger just so he can watch how he reacts. He's openly disappointed when Fisk just cuts away the bite and eats the burger without an emotional response.
• Evil Knockoff: Fisk gives him a Daredevil costume to act as his dragon and to discredit the real one.
• Evil Orphan: As a child, he lived in an orphanage because his parents died, and was already mentally unstable, killing animals such as cats and birds and eventually killing his coach after he benched him during a baseball game.
• Evil Wears Black: Likely a reference to his comics costume, but Dex is always wearing black.
• Expy: He has a job in law enforcement, is explicitly identified as a sociopath mimicking human empathy, and his name even has "Dexter" in it.
• False Flag Operation: Fisk directs him to commit crimes in a replica of the Daredevil armor to turn public opinion against Matt.
• Fan Disservice: We get to see him shirtless in "The Perfect Game" but it's while he's having a mental breakdown from his failed date with Julie.
• Faux Affably Evil: A variant in which his rather flimsy attempts at being polite and sociable (relying on stock phrases like "that's really hard") are reflective of a desire to mask his nature because he hates it rather than as a way to mislead people. He is capable of genuine kindness and affection but mostly relies on his stock phrases in everyday life to try and seem something close to normal.
• Final Boss: He's one of the final enemies Matt must defeat in the final showdown, along with Wilson Fisk.
• Finishing Stomp: Does this to Matt at the end of their first fight.
• Flechette Storm: Is capable of doing this, as seen when he picks up a bunch of knives and sharp utensils to kill other FBI agents during the final battle.
• Foil: To Wilson Fisk. Dex and Fisk each have some mental issues, but Fisk is absolutely a loving member of his family and devoted to the idea of helping his community while Dex is The Sociopath who enjoys bullying people and has no qualms about killing people, even doing so for the pettiest reasons. However, Fisk has embraced his role as the villain and declared Then Let Me Be Evil, while Dex has spent his life desperately trying to find a Morality Pet to help him be a good person. Hell, Dex's apartment is entirely decked out in black, white, and gray, just like Fisk's.
• Friendship Moment: Despite his utter lack of empathy and sadism, Dex genuinely seems to appreciate people who are there for him. He's moved when his fellow FBI agents have his back in the face of the agency throwing him under the bus and gets visibly choked up when Nadeem hires a lawyer to help him get his suspension overturned. He's devastated upon finding out it was all a manipulation by Nadeem to keep him out of the way while he and Matt broke into his apartment, and doesn't take it very well to say the least.
• From Camouflage to Criminal: He served in the U.S. Army before he became a corrupt FBI agent serving as Fisk's personal assassin.
• Glass Cannon: Downplayed. Dex is, by all means, a skilled hand-to-hand fighter who can hold his own against Matt in close quarters combat, but it's clear his specialty lies in ranged weaponry.
• Grayscale of Evil: The walls of his apartment and most of his clothes are shades of contrasting black and white, referencing the costume of his comicbook counterpart.
• Grievous Bottley Harm: After failing to assassinate Karen Page, he kills two bystanders using two glass bottles as projectiles after they walk in on him wearing his fake Daredevil suit unmasked.
• Hair-Trigger Temper: It really doesn't take much to piss Dex off. Not unexpected of course, since he has BPD.
• The Heavy: Dex is responsible for both major character deaths (Father Lantom and Ray Nadeem) in season 3, as well as a large number of minor character killings or hospitalizations (Ellison, Jasper Evans, etc).
• Hell Is That Noise: His head is literally like a buzzing hornet's nest, becoming louder and louder the more unstable he becomes, even appearing to cause him actual physical pain. Doubtless an effect of him no longer taking his medication around the same time he starts acting as Fisk's assassin. ^note There's very, very good reason stuff like olanzapine has to be carefully, gradually weaned off instead of abruptly stopped.
• Hero Killer: He kills both Father Lantom and Ray Nadeem. He also tries to kill Matt several times and comes close but fails because he gets stopped by someone or something else or Matt successfully escapes.
• Horns of Villainy: Whenever he's wearing the Daredevil costume.
• Human Shield: Does this to one of his FBI colleagues to prevent Ray from shooting him during his escape from the Bulletin. He tries to do this during his second fight with Matt but Matt easily removes the hostage from him and kicks him. He also tries to do this again during the final battle with an FBI agent so the other agents don't open fire on him, only for Matt to sneak up behind him, wrap his head with a table cloth, and knock him down with a punch to the head.
• Hypocrite: He tells Nadeem how cold it was for him to hire a lawyer to help him get reinstated into the FBI while secretly investigating him. That's very rich coming from a sociopath who stalks people and secretly enjoys killing but hides it behind a nice guy facade.
• I Can't Feel My Legs!: When Fisk slams him against the edge of a wall, the first thing he says after regaining consciousness is that he can't move. The doctors who are in charge of his paralysis are trying to help him regain his mobility.
• If You Ever Do Anything to Hurt Her...: When Matt calls him using Felix Manning's phone, Dex brushes off any of Matt's attempts to intimidate him until Matt brings up Julie, to which Dex gets angered and threatens to come after him if he hurts her. Matt turns this threat around by telling him that Fisk had her killed and gives him the location where he hid her corpse at.
• I Just Want to Be Loved: At his core, Dex is truly desperate for any kind of affection and love and clings desperately to anyone who makes him feel cared for but his unstable nature often ends up driving them away or leads him to do serious damage.
• Improbable Aiming Skills: Dex is a very skilled sharpshooter, and is downright uncanny with thrown weapons, two very different skills. He can hurl pencils with such force that they impact with the strength of thrown daggers, and is able to bounce bullets and other objects off of items that deflect them into their intended targets. His first fight with Matt at the Bulletin sees him also turn practically anything that isn't tied down to the floor into a weapon. When going after Karen and Matt at the church, he turns rosary beads into projectiles and collection plates into deadly boomerangs.
• Improbable Weapon User: Pencils, scissors, snow globes, light ornaments, and rosary beads to name a few. If it's not tied to the floor, and can be thrown with one hand, he will use it with lethal accuracy.
• Improvised Weapon: If it can be thrown, anything is a deadly weapon in his hands.
• Informed Ability: After their first fight, Matt states he is as fast, strong, and dangerous as him and that he couldn't beat him. While Matt did indeed lose the fight it was only thanks to Dex's superhuman accuracy and the Daredevil suit's great durability, that aside Matt is clearly the better fighter out of the two and outclasses him anytime they fight hand-to-hand.
• In Love with Love: He makes it clear he has no real physical attraction to Julie, he just wants her as a "North Star". He can fake the idea that they are a couple but the truth is that he just wants a good person to praise him when he tries doing good.
• The Insomniac: He tends to have trouble sleeping due to the voices in his head.
• Interrupted Suicide: He attempts to commit suicide after being put on administrative leave by the FBI and unintentionally scaring off Julie Barnes during their conversation at the hotel, but is stopped at the last second by a phone call from Fisk, who wants to give him a Daredevil suit so he can wear it while committing murders in order to discredit the real Daredevil.
• Irony: Early on in the season, Nadeem thanks him for saving his life during the convoy ambush by the Albanians, citing him as the reason why Sami still has a father. By the end of the season, Dex becomes the reason as to why Sami doesn't have a father anymore.
• It's All About Me: Much of his instability seems to stem from being so narcissistic, even as a child, that he becomes violent to the point of homicidal if the world cannot live up to his self-centered expectations of it.
• It's Personal with the Dragon: Played with. Matt and Fisk are genuine Arch Enemies dating back to Season 1. But Dex makes the conflict between him and Matt very personal after murdering Father Lantom.
• Jerkass: Aside from being a remorseless psychopath, Dex is a huge scumbag. He frequently bullies and belittles other people, is very smug around people he dislikes and is incredibly abrasive towards people who threaten him or get in his way.
• Jerkass Has a Point: His assertion that he would have be called a hero if he was wearing a mask while gunning down the Albanian gangsters who killed multiple FBI agents and tried to assassinate Fisk isn't far off the mark considering how much praise and adulation the likes of Daredevil and Spider-Man get from New Yorkers until they were framed for things they didn't do.
• Kick the Dog: As a kid he used to torture and kill animals; it required a lot of therapy sessions for him to stop.
• Kick Them While They Are Down: Does this to one of the criminals he and the FBI are arresting after he just threw a crowbar at him.
• Lack of Empathy: He has so little empathy for others that he has to be taught how to fake it.
• Lean and Mean: He has a slender (but muscular) build, and is as dangerous as they come.
• Leave No Witnesses: After fleeing the church and hiding in an alleyway following his failed Assassination Attempt on Karen Page, Dex suffers a Villainous Breakdown and kills two more men who walk in on him dressed as Daredevil with his mask off.
• Lightning Bruiser: Matt was surprised by how fast (and how skilled) he was in combat and rightfully so, as Dex can fight dozens of enemies and take each of them down very quickly.
• Long-Range Fighter: Dex can hold his own mostly, but even when not in top shape Matt still has the edge over him in hand-to-hand combat. However, Dex absolutely dominates at long range, whether with firearms or improvised weaponry.
• Malevolent Masked Men: He's this as Daredevil, willing to kill or hurt anyone he comes across while making his way to whoever he's trying to assassinate.
• Meaningful Name: "Poindexter" in popular culture has come to mean "a boring nerd". Its original Old French meaning was "poing destre" - "right fist". Dex is both a socially awkward and obsessive individual and Fisk's carefully cultivated right-hand hitman.
• The Mentally Disturbed: Dex is severely unstable with his violent tendencies, attachment issues, and constant noises in his head which even seem to cause him physical pain. His childhood therapist diagnosed him with Borderline Personality Disorder (which causes him to invest far too heavily in individual relationships) and psychopathic tendencies (such that he has little to no empathy for others).
• Minion Manipulated into Villainy: He already has a number of issues that he at least tries to control with structure and guidance from his old therapist, but Fisk's machinations put a stop to that and exacerbate his psychopathy. Finding out that Fisk has been manipulating him since they met enrages him and he goes on a warpath to get his revenge.
• Morality Chain: Dr. Mercer told him that he needed a constant "North Star" to keep him morally on balance and guide him. After her death, he spends much of his adulthood fixating on finding another north star, which leads to him stalking an old work acquaintance. It almost seems to work, such that Fisk views Julie as a threat to his control over Dex and has her killed.
• Moral Sociopathy: Dex is a sociopath with sadistic tendencies and violent impulses who enjoys killing. But he has enough awareness to know his impulses are wrong and do everything he can to control them, often by trying to find and focus on his "north star". He is also capable of restraint, even at his worst, and in recognizing and responding to kindness when shown to him and is capable of genuinely caring about others and showing them the same.
• Multi-Ranged Master: In his hands, anything that can be fired or thrown is a deadly weapon. Firearms, knives, utensils, writing implements, office supplies, glass shards, anything.
• Mummies at the Dinner Table: He brings Julie's frozen corpse with him on his way to get revenge on Fisk for having her killed, showing just how unhinged he has become due to Fisk's manipulations.
• Mundane Made Awesome: One of his common attacks is picking up everyday objects and throwing them at people. In his first fight with Matt, he uses random objects with terrifying effectiveness. Matt is knocked out of the air and hit in the face multiple times, even while behind cover.
• Mythology Gag:
  • His assumption of the Daredevil identity (and Matt's renewed use of the Bullseye-like plain black costume) calls back a brief era at the end of the Ann Nocenti run where he impersonated Daredevil of his own accord and Matt had to snap him out of it by dressing as Bullseye.
  • His apartment number is 131, a reference to the issue of his first appearance in Daredevil comics.
  • As a kid, his ball cap had a target similar to Bullseye's insignia stitched onto it.
  • In the very last scene of the series, during his back surgery his eyes open to reveal a bullseye pattern.
• Neck Snap: He does this to one of the New York Bulletin employees during his massacre.
• Never My Fault: Refuses to admit to doing anything wrong during the convoy ambush, even though two of them had their hands behind their heads, obviously having surrendered. He'd rather blame the vigilantes for getting away with what he can't. Fisk exploits this for his own purposes.
• No Celebrities Were Harmed: His backstory (working at a suicide hotline and shadowing Julie) gives him shades of Serial Killer Ted Bundy.
• No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: He delivers a vicious one to Matt during the end of their battle at the Clinton Church. However, Karen manages to stop him from dealing the killing blow in the nick of time.
• No-Sell: Foggy punches him in the face twice during the Bulletin attack, but it does nothing and Dex just gets him out of the way very quickly.
• No Social Skills: Due to his sociopathic nature, Dex has immense trouble socializing, relying on stock phrases and displays of empathy and pretty much everyone can sense something...off about him.
• Not So Similar: While listening to his tapes with his therapist, Matt notes that while he and Dex have similar backgrounds when it came to their childhood, at the end of the day he's nothing like him because Dex is a psychopath at heart while Matt is not.
• Nothing Is Scarier: We don't see him kill Esther Falb to return her painting back to Fisk, but Fisk does notice some blood on the side of the painting, making it clear that whatever method he used to kill her was not pretty in the slightest.
• Not Wearing Tights: He never wears his iconic comics costume, only wearing civilian clothes throughout the show and only donning a costume when Fisk has him impersonate Daredevil.
• Obsessively Organized: The first episode to focus on him, "The Perfect Game", opens with him eating breakfast. The scene varies between a very subtle Undercrank to make his movements seem alien, and showing him perfectly stacking his finished newspapers, making sure his cleaned coffee cup is parallel to its neighbor, and going back into his apartment to fix a photo thrown off-kilter by him closing his front door.
• Offhand Backhand: He can throw projectiles on people with his back turned on them. When two people walk in on him wearing his Daredevil suit while unmasked, he kills the second witness by throwing a glass bottle at his face while walking away. During the final fight, he throws a pistol at his boss Tammy Hattley while leaving the reception, knocking her out.
• Offscreen Villainy: In between the episodes "Reunion" and "One Last Shot", he murders Esther Falb to get the Rabbit in a Snowstorm painting back to Fisk in an attempt to appease him. Ironically, Fisk was horrified when he found out about this as he actually chose to let Esther keep the painting after hearing her backstory.
• One-Man Army: Dex takes down a dozen well-armed Albanian gangsters with advanced weaponry and body armour, entirely by himself. This is after the Albanians just murdered most of the FBI envoys transporting Fisk. If he has a gun, or office supplies handy, he's basically unstoppable. Knowing how formidable Dex is, Matt exploits this trope on the finale by telling him that Fisk had Julie killed so that Dex will take out every FBI agent guarding Fisk so that he (Matt) can get to Fisk unmolested.
• One-Steve Limit: He's the show's third Benjamin, with the first being Ben Urich and the second being Big Ben Donovan.
• Parental Abandonment: He lost his parents at a young age which caused him to look for substitute figures elsewhere, to get the affection he never had growing up.
• The Paranoiac: He has several symptoms, such as refusing to accept blame for the murders he committed and even reframing his supportive coach as a jerk to justify his killing of him, a penchant for murderous revenge over even minor slights, controlling tendencies manifesting in needing everything in his home to be in perfect order, a suspicious outlook and self-fulfilling belief that others are out to get him, a tendency to see himself in a self-important light (such as preferring to see his actions as heroic, or not caring as a child if other kids didn't get to pitch at baseball to the point of murdering over it), and an irritable temperament and general Jerkass attitude overall. He also has stalking tendencies and a habit of growing dangerously attached to particular people for fear of abandonment, to the point he would rather kill them than allow them to abandon him in any way.
• Pay Evil unto Evil: He shoots a couple of surrendering gunmen... who had just gunned down five of his fellow agents in cold blood. It's difficult to feel bad for them.
• The Pen Is Mightier: He uses office supplies during his fight with Matt in the Bulletin, and uses a pencil to wound Mitchell Ellison.
• Pet the Dog:
  • Even while obviously threatening Nadeem upon turning up at his house, he acts very polite and cordial in the presence of Nadeem's wife and kids and has a sweet moment with Ray's son where he gives him tips on how to throw a baseball. He later seems reluctant to assassinate Nadeem, enough that Ray has to go for his gun to get Dex to go through with it.
  • He worked for a time at a suicide prevention hotline and made a genuine effort to help people. Unfortunately, this just led to him stalking Julie and didn't solve his mental issues at all.
  • When he arrives at Fisk's hotel with Julie's frozen corpse, he encounters his former surveillance room partner Agent Lim, who declares him one of the "good ones" and spares his life by telling him to leave the building immediately.
  • Even though his Roaring Rampage of Revenge involves Revenge by Proxy, he pulls his punches when taking out the honest FBI agents, and we know at least Hattley survives when he could have very easily killed her. It seems like trying to make the frozen corpse of Julie, the "north star" to his moral compass, has had at least some positive effect on him.
  • He's genuinely moved when he sees how his colleagues have gone to bat for him after the shooting with the Albanians and when Ray tells him how Dex's actions mean Ray's son still has a father.
• Pinball Projectile: Because his marksmanship is that uncanny. He killed his baseball coach by ricocheting a baseball off a steel pole and into Bradley's head, he later picks up a baseball during his first fight with Matt and bounces it off a wall to hit Matt while he was hiding behind a cubicle wall, and later ricochets his gunshots when Matt and Nadeem are taking cover after they broke into his apartment.
• Pre-Mortem One-Liner: He tries this by giving a one-liner before trying to kill Vanessa as payback for Fisk's murder of Julie by throwing a microphone aimed at her rib cage. Unfortunately, Matt intercepts him in the nick of time.
  Dex: I'd like to make a toast. Julie and I wish you the absolute best!
• Psycho for Hire: He's diagnosed as having borderline personality disorder with psychopathic tendencies and is hired by Fisk to impersonate Daredevil.
• Psychopathic Manchild: He was already a psychopathic child after murdering his baseball coach purely out of spite. He's no better as an adult, being very insecure, frequently bullying others, and still seeing nothing wrong with killing people. Kingpin even acts as his father figure when Dex becomes his new mercenary.
• Psychotic Smirk: Frequently when he's wearing Daredevil's costume.
• Punch a Wall: After getting home from his failed date with Julie, he punches a hole in the wall out of anger.
• Red and Black and Evil All Over: Whenever he's wearing the Daredevil costume.
• Red Eyes, Take Warning: Invoked. It's part of the Daredevil suit and it makes him look more intimidating.
• Red Is Violent: His sadism and psychopathy are most present when he's wearing the Daredevil costume.
• Replacement Goldfish: Fisk tells him that he reminds him of James Wesley quite a bit due to him dutifully following Fisk's orders like Wesley did. Given how Fisk had a genuine bond with Wesley while Dex is just another pawn in his plans, the honesty behind this statement is questionable.
• Reluctant Psycho: Dex is aware of how messed up he is and does everything he can to overcome or at least live with his violent impulses before the combination of his own behavior and Fisk's manipulations push him fully off the deep end.
• Revenge by Proxy: After finding out that Fisk had Julie assassinated, Dex tries to kill Vanessa as payback. During the final fight, Dex makes several attempts to kill Vanessa only to be intercepted by Matt every time.
• Roaring Rampage of Revenge: When Matt tips him off that Fisk had Julie murdered, he dons the Daredevil armor and makes a one-man assault on Fisk's heavily defended hotel, with the intent to kill him and Vanessa at their wedding.
• Rogue Agent: In the finale, he is fully willing to take down an FBI agent who gets in his way to kill Fisk, though he at least doesn't kill any of the honest FBI agents, even giving one of them (Agent Lim) a chance to walk away because he was good friends with him.
• Sadist: He openly takes pleasure in hurting others (both people and animals), and sees little difference between innocent civilians and armed combatants. For what it's worth, he's genuinely tried to stave this off with help from his psychiatrist, medication, and a strict structure, but he's ultimately too far gone for any of it to stick.
• Sanity Slippage: Over the course of Season 3, he becomes more and more unhinged as Fisk's influence corrupts him. By the finale, he seems to have completely gone off the deep end, talking to the corpse of Julie, bent on making his enemies suffer as much as him, and engaging in Revenge by Proxy regardless of the cost.
• Saying Too Much: He screws up his date with Julie and scares her away when he tells her things that he knows that she never told him like her former aspirations of being a ballet dancer or the fact that she worked at the suicide hotline for 3 years.
• Scarily Competent Tracker: One of the most terrifying and dangerous things about Dex is that if he wants to find someone, he will.
  • He's completely figured out Julie's daily routine, like what restaurant she usually goes to and what her jogging routes are, and uses this to stalk her regularly.
  • When Dex organizes a sweep of the church to look for Matt and Karen, he almost catches them hiding in a coffin in the basement, only not doing so because of Sister Maggie's timely intervention.
• Second Episode Introduction: He makes his first appearance in the second episode of the third season.
• Secret Identity: He maintains one when Fisk has him impersonate Daredevil to discredit the real one - Matt Murdock. Nadeem's dying declaration exposes him as a fake, restoring the real one's reputation.
• Shadow Archetype: To Matt Murdock. See Evil Counterpart for more details.
• Shear Menace: One of the things he throws at Matt is a pair of small scissors.
• Single Woman Seeks Good Man: Gender Inverted. He falls in love with Julie because of her kindness.
• Slasher Smile: When he completely gives in to his urges and embraces the darkness inside him, he begins to frequently flash these. It's especially terrifying when he's wearing the Daredevil outfit.
• The Sociopath: One of the most comprehensive clinical examples on the show. He's diagnosed at an early age with borderline personality disorder with psychopathic tendencies, which is the textbook definition of a sociopath (this begs the question of exactly how he got a job with the FBI in the first place, as his background check and psych evaluation should have thrown up more red flags than a Soviet parade). He needs to fake empathy when confronted with the feelings of others, repeatedly falling back on "It's hard, real hard." as a mundane platitude because he doesn't know what else to say. He shows no remorse for killing people, always finding a way to shift the blame to them for angering him, getting in his way, or simply inconveniencing him. Once Fisk corrupts him and he embraces his role as Fisk's executioner, he relishes any chance to flaunt his power over others with impunity, killing and maiming almost at will, and with no regrets. However, he's not a complete monster. He's capable of forming attachments (such as with his therapist, Julie, and Nadeem), even if they're twisted, and he's reluctant to kill sometimes (as when he has to be pushed to kill Nadeem at his home). Even at his worst, he's still capable of restraint and showing mercy.
• Soft-Spoken Sadist: When he's in the Daredevil costume, he has a rather calm, gentle voice that makes him more unnerving. He's more prone to primal rage when he's not in costume.
• Sore Loser: Dex does not take failing or losing very well, with it becoming his Berserk Button. When he fails to kill Karen Page, he starts hitting boxes and kills two people who walk in on him wearing the Daredevil suit unmasked and when Foggy, Nadeem and Brett thwart his attempt to have her arrested, he screams in rage in the back of a van.
• Stalker with a Crush: He tells his FBI therapist that he has a girlfriend, Julie. He doesn't, but Julie Barnes is indeed real. He worked with her at a suicide hotline for a year and has been stalking her ever since. When he finally gets the chance for a real date with her, he's far too excited, easily insulted, and unhinged to keep things together. He winds up ruining any actual chance with her, falling deeper into his insanity as a result. Although he is able later to win her over a bit, convince her to try to help him with his issues. Before she can, Fisk has her killed and pretends that she has rejected him again in order to make Dex reliant upon him. When Matt reveals the truth to him, he goes on the warpath against Fisk.
• Start of Darkness: He's been a murderous psychopath since he was a child. He tortured and killed animals. He killed his baseball coach and showed no remorse for it because the man benched him so other kids could play.
• Surrender Backfire: During the assassination attempt on Fisk by the Albanians, two Albanians try to surrender after seeing Poindexter slaughter most of them but he guns them both down without hesitating.
• Talking Down the Suicidal: A dark example. While working at a suicide hotline, he talks down a suicidal man who was being abused by his stepfather by suggesting that he use the gun he's planning to commit suicide with to kill his stepfather instead.
• Tall, Dark, and Snarky: 6-feet-tall, brown-haired, and incredibly snarky.
• Tantrum Throwing: He does this when things don't go his way and his uncanny accuracy just makes it way worse because he will hit something or someone.
• Then Let Me Be Evil: After his attempts at improving are undermined and sabotaged, by circumstance or Fisk's manipulations, he finally decides to embrace his murderous nature although he does maintain some small semblance of restraint, sparing a few of his fellow agents. After he learns of Fisk's betrayal and manipulation, he embraces this even further, though makes a point to direct it exclusively towards Fisk and all those who work for him.
• There Are No Therapists: Averted. He had a therapist since he was a kid who died of cancer when he was a teenager. She tried to recommend a list of therapists she knows that can help him but he vehemently refused because he was too attached to her.
• Throwing Your Gun at the Enemy: Naturally he can get away with it. He can even turn clips into daggers.
• Throw the Book at Them: During the church fight with Matt, he tries to throw scriptures at him, but they're easily blocked due to being heavier and slower than any of the other projectiles he throws at Matt.
• Time-Shifted Actor: Wilson Bethel plays him as an adult for the majority of his appearances, while in flashbacks to his childhood he's played by Cameron Mann as a child and Conor Proft as a teenager.
• Token Evil Teammate: Out of all the corrupt FBI agents working for Fisk, he's the only one who isn't being blackmailed into doing so and actually enjoys working for Fisk. This changes after Matt reveals to him that Fisk was manipulating him from the start, leading Dex to turning on Fisk. Dex may not have been coerced like the other agents but he was manipulated like many of them too.
• Tragic Villain: Ultimately, and unfortunately, Dex's issues are not his fault; he was dealt a shit biological hand and he knows it. His apathy and utter lack of morals breed an intense self-loathing. He began working at a suicide hotline to try and foster some empathy and do some good, to no success, and later joined the army and the FBI to at least only target bad people to satisfy his violent urges and establish some structure in his life, but Wilson Fisk's influence causes him to snap, transforming him into a fully insane killer willing to target innocent and guilty alike.
• Tranquil Fury: When he sets out to kill Fisk because he had Julie murdered, he remains eerily calm and personable despite being hellbent on vengeance.
• Troll: He takes a bite out of Fisk's burger in an attempt to vex him. To his disappointment, Fisk just uses his utensils to cut around the bite instead.
• Troubling Unchildlike Behavior: He was a really unsettling kid, torturing animals and even committing his first murder as a young boy.
• Undying Loyalty: To whoever he considers his North Star.
• Unwitting Pawn: Fisk pulls several strings and makes multiple arrangements to dismantle Dex's rigid structure and make sure that he has no one else to turn to but him so that Dex can become his personal hitman and enforcer. Matt later reveals Fisk's manipulations to Dex in order to make him his pawn that he can use to take out the FBI agents guarding Fisk so that he can get to Fisk himself.
• Villainous Breakdown: When he fails to kill Karen Page. He even kills two people watching him breaking down. He has another one when Ray gives Karen up to the NYPD instead of the FBI.
• Weapon Specialization: While he's willing to use any object that can hurt his targets when thrown, he has a preference for handguns and will use it whenever he gets the chance to.
  • He mentions how he took a liking to the M11 pistol during his time in the U.S. Army.
  • His service weapon as an FBI agent is a Glock 17, which he uses to kill multiple Albanians during their attempt to assassinate Fisk. He also uses this gun to kill Nadeem.
  • In the Bulletin attack, he disarms Karen of her own .380, then uses it to kill Jasper Evans.
  • At home, he owns an FNS pistol that he uses to shoot at Matt and Nadeem with when they break into his apartment.
  • During the final battle, he picks up a Glock 19 from one of the fallen FBI agents to shoot Tammy Hattley when she tries to reach for her gun.
• We Can Rebuild Him: After his spine is broken during a three-way battle with Matt and Fisk, he undergoes experimental surgery to upgrade his body.
• Wham Shot: (turns to the passenger seat) "That's Agent Lim. He’s one of the good ones." to Julie. By this point, Julie is a corpse that's been sitting in one of Fisk's freezers for most of the season. Now, Dex is driving around NYC with her thawing corpse in the passenger’s seat. Also, Dex is in his Daredevil costume. Even Matt, who is aware of Dex's sociopathy, has to do a double-take on that one.
• Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds: Dex is a psychopath with limited empathy for others, but not no empathy. He wants to be loved and build a connection and has absolutely no ability to find it. He wanted to be part of the baseball team and couldn't. He wanted his therapist to stay with him, but she couldn't. He fixated on Julie not out of any weird sexual thing as would normally be portrayed, but because he recognized her as a good and beloved person and wanted her to keep him good. He knows he's broken and takes active steps to try and fix it. Fisk manages to undo all of his efforts and push him beyond his breaking point.
• Would Harm a Senior: As expected from a psychopathic hitman, Dex doesn't pull his punches on old people.
  • He kills crime boss Everett Starr by throwing a billy club in his face, cracking his skull, after he declines Fisk's offer of protection in exchange for 20% of their business earnings.
  • He murders Esther Falb offscreen and stole her Rabbit in a Snowstorm painting to appease Fisk. This does not sit right with Fisk, who had allowed her to keep the painting after hearing of her tragic backstory.
• Would Hit a Girl: He has no problem harming and killing women like he would men. When Fisk orders him to assassinate Karen Page, he takes the order with no hesitation and only fails because of Matt helping her take him down.

Big Ben Donovan

• Big Ben Donovan

Henchmen

Law Enforcement

For Tammy Hattley, see the United States Government page under Federal Bureau of Investigation

For Detectives Blake & Hoffman and Officers Corbin & Farnum, see the New York City Police page under 15th Precinct.

For Officer Olsky, see the New York City page under New York City Department of Correction

Criminals

Turk Barrett

See the New York Criminals and Terrorists page

John Healy

John Healy

"I had issues. I'm better now."

Species: Human

Citizenship: American

Portrayed By: Alex Morf

Appearances: Daredevil

"That's not a client. It's a shark in a skin suit."

— Foggy Nelson

A contract killer hired by Fisk to kill Prohashka.

---

• Adaptation Name Change: Seems to be the MCU version of Alvin Healy aka Tenpin, a juggler who used bowling pins as blunt weapons.
• Badass Normal: He has no powers, but he's such a damn good assassin that he gives Matt a hell of a fight and comes dangerously close to killing him. Of course Matt manages to avoid this fate and turns the tables on him not long after, but you got to give the Healy some credit for nearly killing the man without fear.
• Bald of Evil: Not quite, but he's got a clearly receding hairline.
• Beard of Evil: He's a bearded assassin with a long career.
• Better to Die than Be Killed: He commits suicide after revealing Fisk's name to spare his loved ones from the retaliation.
• Comic-Book Movies Don't Use Codenames: If the assumption under Adaptation Name Change is true. The only thing related to bowling pins he does is deliver his finishing blow at the start of the episode with a bowling ball.
• Composite Character: Of the two villainous Healy brothers, Tenpin and Oddball. The assassination he is hired for occurs in a bowling alley and he finishes the job with a ball.
• Convicted by Public Opinion: Though Healy gets away on self-defense, Matt certainly makes sure to word his closing statement in a way that makes it entirely clear that regardless of the jury's ruling, he intends for this to occur. He winds up killing himself for unrelated reasons.
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones: To judge from his reaction after revealing Fisk's name to Daredevil.
• Evil Redhead: He's a ruthless assassin with red hair.
• Eye Scream: He rams his eye into a broken piece of metal to kill himself.
• Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: After he tells Matt about Fisk, he points out that Fisk will have his family killed, and he subsequently impales his head on a fence spike to cover the thing up.
• Improbable Weapon User: After his gun jams, he resorts to bashing the target's head in with a bowling ball.
• Pragmatic Adaptation: Instead of using bowling balls or pins as a modus operandi like his comic book counterparts, he simply used a bowling ball as a weapon out of convenience when his gun failed to fire.
• Professional Killer: He commits murders for money.
• Psycho for Hire: It is clear he enjoys his job.
• Revolvers Are Just Better: Believes in this because they don't jam up, unlike the gun his arms dealer sells him.
• Rogues' Gallery Transplant: The Healey brothers are enemies of Hawkeye and Captain America in the comics.
• Small Role, Big Impact: He only appears in one episode and isn't missed by anyone after biting it, but he's responsible for giving Fisk's name to Matt under torture, and establishes how feared Fisk is.
• Wake-Up Call Boss: Though Matt has had his ass handed to him at least once before this point, it was because he was greatly outnumbered and led into a trap. Healy is the first individual to give him a hard time on equal terms.

Oscar

Oscar

Species: Human

Citizenship: American

Portrayed By: Devin Harjes

Appearances: Daredevil

A thug operating in Hell's Kitchen on behalf of Fisk.

---

• The Brute: He's a thug used to intimidate those who may interfere in Fisk's plans.
• An Offer You Can't Refuse: He blackmails one of the juror's in Healy's trial with a video she made when she was 19.
• You Have Failed Me: He's subject to this if he fails in the jobs he's charged with.

Rance

Rance

Species: Human

Citizenship: American

Portrayed By: Craig Henningsen

Appearances: Daredevil

An assassin in the employ of Wilson Fisk.

---

• Death by Irony: Farnum tried to kill Karen and make it looked like she hanged herself in her jail cell, a crime Rance participated in by threatening Farnum's daughter. He later meets the very same fate for failing to kill Karen.
• He Knows Too Much: Is killed for being subdued by the man in the mask.
• Killed Offscreen: He's murdered and made to look like he killed himself, but we never find out about it until we see his corpse.
• Never Suicide: Allegedly hangs himself in his cell. Karen quickly sees through it.
  Karen Page: [to Ben] What about Rance? Do you really believe that he just—just up and hung himself in jail? I mean that guard tried to do the same thing to me. Why don't you ask him?
• Starter Villain: The first of Fisk's guys that Matt engages in a fight.
• Would Hit a Girl: The threat of using his knife on Farnum's daughter is used by Wesley to get Farnum to carry out that first hit on Karen. When this fails he is sent to take out Karen in her apartment.

The Valdez Brothers

The Valdez Brothers

Species: Humans

Citizenship: American

Portrayed By: Lawrence Bingham (Miguel); Jose Guns Alves (unnamed brother)

Appearances: Daredevil

Two brothers that become Fisk's top muscle at Rikers Island.

---

• Bald of Evil: Two bald and dangerous criminals.
• Beard of Evil: The two are dangerous criminals and sport close-shaved beards.
• The Brute: The two become Fisk's main goons behind bars
• Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas: Fisk buys their support by ensuring their mother's financial wellbeing.
• Tattooed Crook: The nameless brother has a teardrop tattooed on his face.

Jasper Evans

Jasper Evans

Species: Human

Citizenship: American

Portrayed By: Matt DeAngelis

Appearances: Daredevil

A lifer who Fisk hires in season 3 as part of his plans to get out of prison.

---

• Accidental Murder: He accidentally killed a clerk and an old woman by shooting them in 1991, which lead to him facing life in prison.
• Boom, Headshot!: Dex shoots him in the head with Karen's gun.
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Fisk has threatened his son's life to ensure his cooperation.
• False Flag Operation: Fisk pays him to shank him and make it look like the Albanians retaliating for Fisk snitching on them, so the FBI will move him to the Presidential Hotel. He is killed as the end goal of a different false flag operation when Fisk sends Dex to kill him at the Bulletin.
• He Knows Too Much: Matt, Foggy, and Karen get him to tell them all he knows about Fisk arranging his own shanking in prison, and do get to tell other people like Ellison and Nadeem about this; however, Dex attacks the Bulletin and kills him before he's able to officially say anything more than his own name on tape.
• I Have Your Wife: Fisk is threatening his son's life.
• Small Role, Big Impact: Despite only being in three scenes, Jasper's death is what finally convinces Nadeem to realize that Fisk is manipulating the FBI.
• You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: After being integral to Fisk's plan to get himself out of prison, Fisk is quick to have him disposed of by Dex.

The Cleaning Crew

Cleaning Crew

Species: Humans

Citizenship: American

Appearances: Daredevil

Two assassins recruited by Felix Manning to carry out hits on Kingpin's behalf.

---

• Bald of Evil/Beard of Evil: One of the two is a bald man with a goatee.
• Killed Offscreen: Manning had both of them killed (or possibly killed them himself) after they assassinate Julie.
• No Name Given: Their names are never revealed.
• Psycho for Hire: They are not an actual Cleanup Crew but hitmen.
• Would Hit a Girl: They murdered Julie Barnes on Fisk's orders.
• You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: After killing Julie Barnes' on Fisk's orders, Manning has them both killed to keep them from ratting on him or Fisk.

The Tracksuit Mafia

In General

The Tracksuit Mafia

Appearances: Hawkeye | Ms. Marvel^note Closing credits | Echo

A primarily Russian gang working for Fisk, known for their gimmick of all their members wearing (mostly) red tracksuits.

---

• AM/FM Characterization: The Tracksuit Mafia are fairly simple henchgoons, and as such tend to listen to rather mainstream music to reflect that. In the fifth episode, two members of the Mafia are listening to Run–D.M.C. and chatting about the band as they drive their Trust-a-Bro truck. Another guy also talks to Kate Bishop about his enjoyment of Imagine Dragons and Maroon Five.
• Beware the Skull Base: Hilariously averted. Though Fisk operates out of a car repair/chop shop, the Tracksuits' main base of operations is a creepy condemned toy store, something Clint makes fun of them over. As Tomas notes, all of the good spots are quickly being snapped up and renovated for condos.
• The Cameo: Their Trust-a-Bro front company makes a blink-and-you'll-miss-it appearance during Ms. Marvel's Closing Credits.
• Equal-Opportunity Evil: While most of the gang is comprised of Slavic men, they also include the Lopez family (who are Native American), Enrique (who seems Hispanic), as well as a few Mook women.
• Goldfish Poop Gang: These guys do present a threat....to Kate. To Clint, though, they're nothing. He tears through all of them with ease, with the exception of Maya and Kazi, who slow him down a little. In the final episode of Hawkeye, they're a Redshirt Army and Kate joins Clint in being able to mow them down with ease.
• Husky Russkie: An organized crime group that has primarily Russian members, led by Maya Lopez.
• Hypocritical Humor: One of the brutes of the Tracksuit Mafia complains that Kate Bishop talks too much while they have her captured in their headquarters. He doesn't exactly have much room to talk, since the group he's part of is practically incapable of shutting up.
• Iconic Outfit: Their red tracksuits with yellow markings.
• Inverse Ninja Law: In earlier episodes a half-dozen or so of them pose a fairly significant threat to Clint and Kate. In the season finale, an entire army of them show up to be trick arrow fodder.
• Laughably Evil: With their incessant motor mouths and constant usage of the word "bro", the Tracksuit Mafia are probably the least deft criminal groups seen in the MCU thus far, with Clint himself looking more exasperated at having to see them again than worried. Even Laura Barton is dismissive of them to the point of calling them idiots.
• The Mafiya: One of New York's most notorious gangs in the criminal underworld... albeit for comedic reasons.
• The Man Behind the Man: They're one of Fisk's new partners in the wake of his second arrest and the Snap.
• Mook Horror Show: They're subjected to this by Ronin during the Snap. And again in Episode 6 by Clint and Kate who unleash some disturbing trick arrows upon them.
• Motor Mouth: Once the gang confronts one of their victims, they constantly start trying to talk tough and fast to intimidate them.
• Noodle Incident: Apparently Clint had encountered the group during his tenure as Ronin, which is why they recognize his costume in Hawkeye. It's implied that Clint's had run-ins with them even before that, as Laura shares his exasperation with them. A flashback in Episode 3 elaborates such encounter with Clint killing a handful number of them, including William Lopez, the father of Maya Lopez.
• Not-So-Harmless Villain: Downplayed. While the Tracksuit Mafia isn't exactly a group that inspires fear in the hearts of men, they are still a criminal organization, and act as such. Some of their acts include breaking into and stealing things from an underground auction, and trying to kill Kate Bishop to the point of burning her apartment down. Their real strength comes in the form of their significant numbers over the protagonists, although it does take quite a bit of them to make an impact.
• The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything: Though they're supposedly a mafia group, we rarely see them actually do much in the way of crime committing.
• Verbal Tic: They're known to have one of these, bro.
• Zerg Rush: The Tracksuit Mafia uses their numbers to try overwhelm Clint and Kate during their final battle. The two archers defeat them quite effortlessly.

Lieutenants

Maya Lopez

See the Other Superheroes page

Kazi

Kazimierz "Kazi" Kazimierczak

"We got 90 seconds to find the watch. Everything else is secondary."

Species: Human

Citizenship: Polish, American

Portrayed By: Fra Fee, Phoenix Crepin (young)

Appearances: Hawkeye | Echo^note Archive footage from Hawkeye

"This is my life, Maya. My life! It was never supposed to be yours!"

A high-ranking member of the Tracksuit Mafia.

---

• Adaptation Personality Change: Appears perfectly normal, as far as hardened criminals go, going as far as restraining Maya when she goes too far. His comic counterpart was a hired assassin who went around killing people while dressed as a clown.
• Adaptational Dye-Job: A blonde in the comics, but a brunette in the MCU.
• Adaptational Wimp: In the comics, he was a dangerous hitman who deafened and almost killed Clint, as well as paralyzed his brother. While competent on the show, he's nowhere near as dangerous and gets bested by an inexperienced Kate more than once. Clint later calls him a doormat.
• Alliterative Name: Kazimierz Kazimierczak.
• Arrow Catch: He successfully catches one of Clint's arrows that is aimed at him in the Hawkeye season finale.
• Beard of Evil: A Tracksuit Mafia lieutenant with a light beard.
• Co-Dragons: Played With. While he's subservient to Maya, he's high-ranking and trustworthy enough that Fisk assigned him to the orchestration of her father's murder, and he takes over as the Tracksuits' field leader after Maya betrays them.
• Comic-Book Movies Don't Use Codenames: He never takes on his comic book persona, the Clown. Instead, he's just another Tracksuit who acts as Maya's right hand.
• Commander Contrarian: Challenges Maya after her vendetta against the Ronin gets several Tracksuits hurt or killed. However, he remains loyal to her until Fisk tells him otherwise.
• The Dragon: To Maya Lopez. He clearly holds a leadership position of some kind in the Tracksuit Mafia, seemingly being the highest-ranking member in the group's pecking order to appear outside of Maya herself.
• Extreme Doormat: Clint's opinion of him, though it's more of an Informed Flaw. Kazi is willing to challenge Maya, though only in private. However, he's a genuine doormat to the Kingpin.
• Heterosexual Life-Partners: With Maya, as shown in the photo showing Kazi with Maya and William, with Kazi in the middle.
• Hyper-Competent Sidekick: Far more composed than Maya, frequently reining her in when she gets too focused on revenge.
• In Name Only: Borders on this, having next to nothing in common with his comic book counterpart aside from being called Kazi and working with the Tracksuit Mafia.
• Only Sane Man: The most serious member of the Tracksuit Mafia, in contrast to the others' buffoonery. When being "interrogated," Clint notices Kazi quietly observing him in the background and remarks that he's the most likely to be in charge.
• Redemption Rejection: Kazi refuses to run away with Maya to start a new life, mostly out of fear of Fisk, and attacks his Only Friend. Maya stabs him mostly out of self-defense and he warns her that Fisk will be coming for her.
• Repetitive Name: Kazimierz Kazimierczak.
• Suspiciously Similar Substitute: His status as a translator, being one of Fisk's most reliable and dependable underlings, and one of his few trusted confidants brings to mind James Wesley.
• Tattooed Crook: Has Russian mob-style tattoos on his neck and the back of one hand.
• Translator Buddy: He acts as Maya's translator because apparently none of the other Tracksuit Mafia have learned American Sign Language yet.
• Uncertain Doom: We never see Kazi directly die, with the last time we see him being wounded on the ground after being stabbed with a tiny knife by Maya and warning her about Fisk. We never see a body either.

William Lopez

William Lopez

"I'm already gone. Fly away from here, little dragon."

Species: Human

Citizenship: American

Portrayed By: Zahn McClarnon

Appearances: Hawkeye | Echo

A high-ranking member of the Tracksuit Mafia and Maya Lopez's father.

---

• Adaptation Name Change: In the comics, Maya Lopez's father is Willie "Crazy Horse" Lincoln.
• Anti-Villain: We don't really see him doing anything evil. He just so happened to work for a criminal organization in order to provide for his daughter. Echo implies though that after an enemy of his cut his car's brakes and caused the death of his wife, William found the perpetrators and took them out himself. Furthermore, it's implied that he was a very unscrupulous man even back in his youth, much to his mother-in-law's displeasure.
• Black Sheep: The Lopez boys weren't kindly looked upon in Tamaha due to their criminal pasts, specifically Henry's association with Fisk. After the death of William's wife - strongly hinted to be a hit from a rival gang, upon which William quickly took revenge for, he's all but exiled from the Choctaw community, forcing him and Maya to move to New York and work for Fisk directly.
• Evil Parents Want Good Kids: In Echo, William tells Maya that he wants her to have a better life than he did. Unfortunately, his death resulted in her joining the very organization he did.
• Died in Your Arms Tonight: Dies in Maya's arms during her origin flashback after being mortally wounded by Clint as Ronin.
• Dies Differently in Adaptation: Killed by Clint as Ronin, rather than the Kingpin. Although it's all but implied that the Kingpin arranged for William to be killed.
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones: "Evil" is stretching it, but he was a criminal, and nevertheless a doting father to Maya.
• A Father to His Men: Kazi says as much when he tries to invoke Will's focus on his men's wellbeing to get Maya to stop going after Ronin.
• Good Parents: He dotes on Maya and clearly loves her very much.
• Justified Criminal: It's implied that he only worked for the Tracksuit Mafia because it was the only way he could financially support Maya.
• Punch-Clock Villain: Working for the Tracksuit Mafia was just a job he took to provide for Maya.

Underlings

Ivan Banionis

Ivan Banionis

Species: Human

Citizenship: American

Portrayed By: Aleks Paunovic

Appearances: Hawkeye | Echo^note Archive footage from Hawkeye

A member of the Tracksuit Mafia.

---

• The Brute: At 6'5, he's the biggest member of the Tracksuit Mafia.
• Captain Obvious: His only response to Kate, their current target, crashing through the Tracksuits' warehouse is a deadpan "Bro, I found her."
• Only Sane Man: Acts significantly more on the ball compared to the other rank-and-file Tracksuits.
• Uniformity Exception: He is the only member of the Mafia whose Tracksuit is black.

Tomas

Tomas

Species: Human

Citizenship: Polish

Portrayed By: Piotr Adamczyk

Appearances: Hawkeye | Echo^note Archive footage from Hawkeye

A member of the Tracksuit Mafia.

---

• Affably Evil: He's a bombastic thug, but he genuinely loves his girl and is never less than appreciative of Kate's relationship advice - even in the middle of a fight!
• Friendly Enemy: Asks Kate for relationship advice, and is receptive when Kate points out he is to blame. When they meet again, he openly thanks her for helping him with his relationship.
• Gift-Giving Gaffe: Bought his girlfriend tickets to see Imagine Dragons as a Christmas present even though he knows she doesn't like them. Kate tells him to apologize for getting her a present that was really for him. In the season finale he tells Kate that he took her advice and bought his girlfriend tickets to Maroon 5 who she does like.
• I Take Offense to That Last One: Say whatever you want to him, just don't criticize the Tracksuit Mafia's headquarters. With post-Blip economical and real-estate climate, it's quite difficult for organized crime organizations to find an adequate base!
• Is That the Best You Can Do?: He challenged Clint Barton and Kate Bishop to throw more things at him even after Clint tossed one of the Tracksuit Mafia's Molotov cocktails back at them and after Kate accidentally launched a fire extinguisher towards their faces.

Enrique

Enrique

Species: Human

Citizenship: American

Portrayed By: Carlos Navarro

Appearances: Hawkeye

A member of the Tracksuit Mafia.

---

• Bullying a Dragon: Enrique has a habit of mocking Clint Barton and Kate Bishop with his words when they are captured. Fortunately for them, he is more bark than bite.

The Black Knife Cartel

In General

The Black Knife Cartel

Appearances: Echo

One of the many criminal syndicates working under Fisk, known for the crossed black knives tattoos they have.

---

• Tattooed Crook: Their insignia is two black knives crossed in an X shape that they have tattooed on them.

Members

Zane

Zane

Species: Human

Citizenship: Welsh

Portrayed By: Andrew Howard

Appearances: Echo

The head of the Black Knife Cartel working for Fisk.

---

• The Dragon: He's one of Fisk's chief lieutenants.
• Politically Incorrect Villain: He makes back-handed comments about the Choctaw people.
• Remember the New Guy?: Maya and the other characters seem to already be acquainted with him, but Echo is his first appearance for the audience.
• Rewarded as a Traitor Deserves: He kills Vickie instead of paying him for his information on and capture of Maya.

Other Henchmen

Francis

Francis

Species: Human

Citizenship: American

Portrayed By: Tom Walk

Appearances: Daredevil

The head of Wilson Fisk's security detail.

---

• Mook Lieutenant: Is the highest placed of Fisk's bodyguards, and is given more responsibility when Wesley is killed.
• Undying Loyalty: Even after Fisk savagely beats him after Wesley's death, he is kept on and remains dedicated to Fisk's every order. Owlsley ask why Fisk still trusts him, and it's because Wesley did, to the point that Fisk trusts him enough with getting Vanessa out of the city after Fisk's escape attempt is thwarted.

Mrs. Shelby

Mrs. Shelby

Species: Human

Citizenship: American

Portrayed By: Kelly McAndrew

Appearances: Daredevil

A computer technician forced into working for Wilson Fisk.

---

• Forced In To Evil: She was coerced into collaborating with Fisk by Felix Manning.

Allies and Associates

Randolph Cherryh

See the United States Government page

Silver & Brent

Leland Owlsley

Leland Owlsley

"Heroes and their consequences are why we have our current opportunities."

Species: Human

Citizenship: American

Portrayed By: Bob Gunton

Appearances: Daredevil

"What, you think I'm a doddering pencil pusher who moves enormous amounts of money with no clue as to what it's connected to? The numbers are like tea leaves. Nobody reads them like I can."

A ruthless financier and associate of Wilson Fisk who laundered money for Fisk and his associates in their crusade to remake Hell's Kitchen.

---

• Adaptational Wimp: His comic-book counterpart is a crime lord called The Owl, who has low-level superpowers and is a dangerous fighter; this guy is just a regular old human man with no fighting ability at all. A Downplayed example mind since before becoming a ruthless superhuman crime lord the character really was just a ruthless businessman with no special powers, so he is actually a mostly faithful (if somewhat older) adaptation of Leland Owlsley before he became The Owl.
• Action Survivor: Despite the dangerous, younger people that surround him, Leland remains unfazed, even holding his own with a sneak attack and a taser when Matt tries to jump him. His luck eventually runs out when he tries to blackmail Wilson Fisk, however.
• Age Lift: In the comics, the Owl is middled aged at the oldest, instead of elderly.
• Badass Bureaucrat: He might not be the Owl but he is the one able to put Fisk in the ropes by stashing Detective Hoffman, and his reaction to Matt attacking him is to use a taser while he is distracted by the arrival of Stick, then call him an asshole as he walks away.
• Bullying a Dragon: Thinks that he can essentially push around Fisk, even demaning half of his money before disappearing even after making an attempt of Vanessa's life. This goes very, very badly for him...
• The Chessmaster: Moving money is not the full extent of his Machiavellian methods, as exemplified by his dealings with Madame Gao.
• Comic-Book Movies Don't Use Codenames: Because he doesn't don a costume, he isn't called "the Owl".
• Dead Man's Switch: He blackmails Fisk by stashing Hoffman away, checking in every 24 hours. If he fails to do so, Hoffman will rat Fisk out. That doesn't stop Fisk from killing him, though.
• Deadpan Snarker: He has a very sardonic sense of humor. Every other line is a sharp quip at the expense of someone or a dark commentary on how wrong things have been going.
• Death by Adaptation: His comics counterpart is alive and well.
• Did Not See That Coming: Thought that by securing a witness against Fisk's operation, he'd be able to walk away free and clear after almost killing Vanessa and with half of Fisk's money. He had no clue that Fisk would rather burn everything to the ground that give up taking vengeance upon those who tried to kill the woman he loved.
• Did Not Think This Through: Thinks that he can deal with Fisk as he does with any other businessman, devoid of emotion and simply offering a deal that will benefit both of them, forgetting that Fisk is far different than any type of criminal who came before.
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones: He has a son named Lee who he clearly cares for. He's very pissed off that he has to postpone a visit with him. It is thought that his son will eventually become the Owl in a future season, as Daredevil season one showrunner Steven DeKnight said his inspiration for the character of Leland Sr. was that he knew in the comics The Owl's father worked in finances.
  Leland Owlsley: I'm afraid to go anywhere with that masked psychopath running around. My son was coming to visit. I had to tell him, "Nope, stay out of New York, Lee. Shit's going on". I'm seventy three years old. You know how many times I have left to see him?
• The Evil Genius: With the exception of Wilson Fisk himself, he's the smartest criminal about with a head for numbers.
• Evil Old Folks: 73 years old, and age hasn't impeded his greed or his ruthlessness.
• False Friend: Starts working with Madame Gao to undermine Fisk and steal his money. Played with inasmuch as he only does so to try to get his boss's head "back in the game" after his dalliances with Vanessa start negatively impacting his business.
• Four Eyes, Zero Soul: His thick glasses mask the eyes of a white collar sociopath.
• Foreshadowing: Sets up his son multiple times, who has been all but stated by showrunner Steven S. DeKnight to be the one who will become The Owl, possibly in revenge for Fisk taking his father's life, which would make sense due to the history between the two characters in the comics.
• Grumpy Old Man: Spends most of his time on screen bitching about things.
• Hypocrite: Leland calls Fisk out on his relationship with Vanessa, thinking Vanessa is a distraction to Fisk. Fisk eventually reminds Leland that he has a son too (who he's mentioned on several occasions), which means, Leland found a woman in his life too.
• Jerkass: Every single line out of his mouth is a scathing jab on some level. At his absolute best behavior he's merely insensitive and self-centered.
• Laser-Guided Karma: Tries to make off with a large chunk of Fisk's money and murder Vanessa, then has the bright idea of gloating to Fisk's face about it. Fisk beats the crap out of him, then throws him down an elevator shaft.
• Murder Is the Best Solution: He's quick to call for Healy to be hanged in jail rather than go through the rigors of a rigged trial. Wesley has to talk him out by reminding him that they can't afford more dead bodies what with the number of people they had killed to cover up the Union Allied matter. He also is against using Nelson & Murdock to defend Healy and would rather use one of the shady attorneys he knows.
• Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: He takes in Hoffman and hides him out in the city as a precaution so if Fisk were to ever figure out that both he and Gao were conspiring against him, he won't retaliate against him and let him walk with half of Fisk's money. It doesn't work out well for him but it does work out for Matt, Foggy and Karen to expose and take down Fisk and his entire criminal organization.
• Pet the Dog: He sticks up for Francis when Fisk beats him up for allowing Wesley to do whatever he wanted to do that got him killed, stating that Francis was being loyal to him.
• Politically Incorrect Villain: The pilot shows he believes in Interchangeable Asian Cultures, though he's hesitant to flat out say that.
• Screw Politeness, I'm a Senior!: Not to Stick's level, but he's 73, and is sarcastic and insulting to everyone around him, including the other crime bosses.
• Wicked Cultured: He seems very fond of the finer things, aside from paintings; he thinks that "Art" was a guy Fisk was meeting.
• Wrong Genre Savvy: He's an experienced and accomplished white-collar criminal surrounded by supervillains, and completely unaware of it. He's in charge of their money, and spends the entire first season convinced that this makes him protected and indispensable. Fisk kills him when he puts him in a no-win situation after admitting to trying to kill Vanessa. Leland knows that a businessman would take the deal... but Fisk is a gangster, not a businessman.

The "Triads" and the "Yakuza" (The Hand)

Madame Gao

See the Hand page for Madame Gao

Nobu Yoshioka

See the Hand page for Nobu Yoshioka

Landman & Zack

Parish Landman

Parish Landman

Species: Human

Citizenship: American

Portrayed By: Richard Bekins

Appearances: Daredevil

One of the senior partners at Landman & Zack. His firm represents Fisk and is part of its criminal activities.

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• Amoral Attorney: Demonstrated when his firm sues a poor, old man who became severely sick for working for Roxxon Oil, a company represented by Landman & Zack. They sue for "damages" after the man told his doctor about his work to find out what had made him sick. Landman invokes that the man had violated confidentiality agreements by sharing this info with his doctor.
• Canon Foreigner: While Fisk has a number of lawyers in the comics, none of them are named Parish Landman.
• Evil Old Folks: Not as old as Owlsley but he's over sixty and protects the interest of powerful white-collared criminals and corporations regardless of crushing the poor and humble.
• Foil: A wealthy, older corporate Amoral Attorney? He's the opposite of Foggy and Matt.
• Sharp-Dressed Man: As befits a wealthy lawyer and head of a powerful firm.

Ranskahov crime syndicate

In General

A The Mafiya gang lead by a pair of brothers, trying to make a name for themselves in America.

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• All Your Base Are Belong to Us: After Prohashka is killed they take over his taxi company.
• Big Bad Wannabe: While undoubtedly a dangerous threat, they make the mistake of inadvertently angering Fisk.
• Canon Foreigner: They are completely original characters.
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones: They're very close to each other.
• Evil Virtues: Love, Loyalty, Determination and Valor. Vladimir, especially, for all his many faults, displays admirable traits for such a scumbag, leading to a temporary alliance with Matt Murdock.
• Human Resources: They escape from their Siberian prison using weapons crafted from the bones of their dead cellmate.
• The Mafiya: Used to be 'Princes of Moscow' before being imprisoned in Siberia, and escaped from there to the United States where they carry on their criminal activities.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: Anatoly's diplomatic blue to Vladimir's volatile red.
• Russian Guy Suffers Most: From having to fashion shivs out of a dead cellmate's bones to escape torture in a Russian prison, all the way to their grisly deaths, the brothers do not get a break.
• Siblings in Crime: They're brothers, and Vladimir takes it hard when Anatoly is killed.
• Starter Villain: They serve as Matt's main opposition for the first half of season 1, until Fisk takes them out.
• Thicker Than Water: Despite being ruthless criminals and murderers, they clearly love and worry about each other.
• The Worf Effect: Collectively, they are the first real threat that Matt has to deal with. But despite the ambushes and kidnappings that Matt has dealt with, they don't match up to Fisk's threat level. Fisk not only kills Anatoly with his bare hands, he sets in motion the machinations to eliminate the rest of the Russians, including Vladimir.
• Would Hurt a Child: Have no problem kidnapping a random child from the streets just to lure Matt into a deadly trap and then sell the kid off to slave traders.
• You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Fisk believes this, and the rest of the group don't take much convincing, thus both brothers and practically all of their underlings are dead just shy of the halfway point.

Vladimir Ranskahov

Vladimir Ranskahov

Species: Human

Citizenship: Russian

Portrayed By: Nikolai Nikolaeff

Appearances: Daredevil

The younger of the two Ranskahov brothers, and a former member of the Ten Rings.

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• Celebrity Paradox: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. reveals Power Rangers series exist In-Universe. Nikolai Nikolaeff portrayed Rhino Ranger (Dominic) in Power Rangers Jungle Fury.
• Deadpan Snarker: Vladimir has his moments.
  Vladimir: [seeing Matt discard Officer Corbin's gun] We could have used that.
  Matt Murdock: Not big on guns. [picks up his staves]
  Vladimir: Great, little stick, much better.
• Determinator: Vladimir is a solid badass capable of fighting through intense amounts of agony.
  Vladimir: This is not how I die. This is not how it happens.
• Enemy Mine: Matt and Vladimir are forced to work together to escape the corrupt cops surrounding the warehouse.
• Good Scars, Evil Scars: A drug dealer, child kidnapper and human trafficker with a nasty scar across his right eye.
• Heroic Sacrifice: Vladimir gives Matt enough time to escape while he faces Fisk's corrupt ESU team alone while bleeding heavily.
• Right for the Wrong Reasons: Vladimir is perfectly justified on being angry at Wilson Fisk killing off Anatoly, but assumes that Fisk did so by hiring the Man in the Mask as a mercenary to eliminate Anatoly, rather than doing it personally with his own bare hands.
• Sinister Shiv: Vladimir makes two out of their dead cellmate's rib bones.
• Sir Swears-a-Lot: Vladimir's dialog is utterly obscene in both English and Russian.
• Tattooed Crook: As befits a "thief-in-law", his body sports a number of Russian Mafia tattoos, as well as a tattoo of the Ten Rings you can spot as a Freeze-Frame Bonus.
• Worst Aid: Under guidance by Claire, Matt cauterizes Vladimir's wound using a road flare. It REALLY hurts.

Anatoly Ranskahov

Anatoly Ranskahov

Species: Human

Citizenship: Russian

Portrayed By: Gideon Emery

Appearances: Daredevil

The older of the Ranskahov brothers.

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• Affably Evil: Anatoly is far calmer and more polite than his brother, and often acts as the diplomat of the pair. When they realize they do need Fisk after all, Anatoly is the one who goes to accept his offer.
  Vladimir: I will not bend my knee to that man!
  Anatoly: Then I will go and bend my knee for the both of us.
• Alas, Poor Villain: They're drug dealers, kidnappers, human traffickers, and overall terrible human beings, but Anatoly's death is nasty, even for this show, and his brother's grief is uncomfortably pitiful.
• Ambiguously Bi: When Wesley pretends not to know about Anatoly's death while talking to Vladimir, he asks whether Anatoly has "a girl - or a boy - he might be celebrating with". Since Wesley is unfailingly polite and would probably not risk insulting a Russian's beloved brother by insinuating him to be bisexual without cause and Vladimir lets it slide without comment, there may be some truth to it.
• Cruel and Unusual Death: Fisk massacres him with both his bare hands and a car door.
• Off with His Head!: Fisk kills Anatoly by beating him unconscious then decapitating him with a car door.
• Shoot the Messenger: Anatoly wants to tell Fisk in person that he and Vladimir are accepting of Fisk's new terms, but makes the mistake of interrupting Fisk's date in the process. He loses his head for it.
• Too Dumb to Live: When Anatoly decides to accept Fisk's help, rather than just call Wesley to say they accept the offer, he decides to do so in public by forcing a meeting with Fisk, despite knowing that Fisk values his privacy, ruining his date with Vanessa in the process. Fisk does not take the lack of respect well.

Sergei

Sergei

Species: Human

Citizenship: Russian

Portrayed By: David Vadim

Appearances: Daredevil

A high ranking mobster working under the Ranskahov brothers.

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• Boom, Headshot!: He's found by corrupt officers who are eliminating witnesses, and Officer Corbin shoots him in the head.
• The Dragon: He's the Ranskahov brothers' second in command, as he's seen accepting orders directly, relaying them to the rest of the gang, and leading them when the brothers are absent.
• Hope Spot: He's one of the only mobsters to survive the bombings, and escapes with Vladimir. They're attacked by Matt, and then cornered by corrupt cops. While Matt and Vladimir escape, Officer Corbin shoots Sergei in the head.
• The Mafiya: He's a Russian gangster.
• Nothing Personal: He says to Claire that they need information, and though he's causing her pain, it's not just for the sake of it.
  Sergei: This gives me no pleasure, it really doesn't... But I have been given a job to do. So please, answer the questions that I was told to ask, or I will begin breaking you, a piece at a time.
• Undying Loyalty: He, like the rest of the Russian gang, is very loyal to his leader. After Fisk blows them up he's seen limping, and supporting Vladimir to help him escape.
• Would Hit a Girl: As he says to Claire, talk, or get hurt.

Semyon

Semyon

Species: Human

Citizenship: Russian

Portrayed By: Alex Falberg

Appearances: Daredevil

A henchman for the Ranskahovs.

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• Eye Scream: Matt tortures him, with Claire's guidance, by putting a sharp object through his eye socket, without touching the actual eye itself, and started cutting the soft, tender parts protecting his brain. One step short of a transorbital lobotomy.
• Fake American: In-Universe, he sports an American accent while posing as an NYPD detective to search Claire's building.
• Impersonating an Officer: Poses as a police detective looking for a robbery suspect while looking for Matt in Claire's building
• Small Role, Big Impact: His telling Anatoly and Vladimir about Claire starts a chain of events that ends with Wilson Fisk killing Anatoly, and in the long run, Fisk's own downfall.
• Uncertain Doom: Vladimir and Anatoly wake him up with epinephrine to get him to report on what happened but they also mention that this might be lethal or put him in a coma. He's never seen afterwards but it's never mentioned where he's still alive or not.

Piotr

Piotr

Species: Human

Citizenship: Russian

Portrayed By: Paul Mann

Appearances: Daredevil

Another henchman for the Ranskahovs.

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• Boom, Headshot!: Detective Blake shoots him in the head.
• He Knows Too Much: Blake and Hoffman kill him because he knows Fisk's name.
• Oh, Crap!: His reaction when he realizes that the police detectives he just told Wilson Fisk's name to are also on Fisk's payroll, and are about to kill him.
• Police Brutality: Executed in cold blood by Detective Blake for speaking Wilson Fisk's name.
• Small Role, Big Impact:
  • He is partially responsible for Anatoly's death, due to telling him and Vladimir about the restaurant where Fisk was on a date with Vanessa.
  • His death ends up indirectly leading to Fisk's downfall, as Matt's interrogation of Blake over Piotr's murder leads to Blake getting shot, Hoffman being forced to kill Blake in the hospital when the shooting fails to do the job, and Hoffman turning on Fisk.
  • From overhearing Blake and Hoffman's interrogation of Piotr, Matt is able to uncover the connection between Fisk and Madame Gao.
• Too Dumb to Live: He tries to give up Fisk as a plea bargain when facing a 20-30 year jail sentence, even though Fisk's name is quite taboo. The detectives questioning him turn out to be on Fisk's payroll and have orders to kill anyone who speaks his name.

Union Allied Construction

McClintock

McClintock

Species: Human

Citizenship: American

Portrayed By: N/A

Appearances: Daredevil ^note  Mentioned only

Karen Page's former boss at Union Allied.

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• Corrupt Corporate Executive: He's responsible for managing Fisk's money laundering through Union Allied.
• The Ghost: Never appears onscreen, but is mentioned repeatedly by Karen and other characters.
• He Knows Too Much: After Karen leaks the pension file, Fisk has him killed.
• Never Suicide: His death by overdose.
• The Scapegoat: He's used by Wesley and Fisk to take the fall for the Union Allied scandal.

Westmeyer-Holt Contracting

Armand Tully

Armand Tully

Species: Human

Citizenship: American

Portrayed By: N/A

Appearances: Daredevil ^note  Mentioned only

The owner of a number of buildings in Hell's Kitchen. He seeks to force his tenants out to sell his properties to Fisk to turn it into luxury condos.

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• Fat Bastard: If what Elena says is any indication, Tully is both fat and a pretty deplorable person as well.
• Jerkass: Foggy describes him as a sleazebag, while Mahoney labels him a total scumbag.
• The Ghost: He's never seen and flees the United States after selling his property to Fisk.
• Karma Houdini: He's one the few of Fisk's associates that manages to escape without answering to justice. He purchases a small island in a country without an extradition agreement with the United States.
• Unwitting Pawn: Of a rare Karma Houdini variety. Tully was under the impression that Fisk will be aiding him in forcing the tenants of Ms. Cardenas's apartment building out to relocate, then remodel the building into a condo. In truth, Fisk already made a deal with the Hand to have the building turned over to Nobu, for what will eventually become Midland Circle. Fortunately for Tully, he got out of dodge and used Fisk's money to buy himself an island in a non-extradition country the moment his men got violent with the tenants. If he had stayed in New York City to oversee the remodeling, it's doubtless that Fisk or Nobu would've had him assassinated in due time once they had no further use for him.
• Villainous Gentrification: His plot is to buyout his tenants with $10,000 or force them out, and then sell the property to Fisk to turn them into luxury condos.

Joseph Pike and Stewart Schmidt

Joseph Pike and Stewart Schmidt

Species: Humans

Citizenship: American

Portrayed By: Kevin McCormick (Joseph Pike), Bryant Carroll (Stewart Schmidt)

Appearances: Daredevil

Two of Tully's "handymen" who are sent to damage Elena Cardenas' building as part of Tully's efforts to intimidate his tenants into leaving their homes and later to harass and intimidate Karen Page.

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• Adaptational Villainy: In the comics, they are a pair of low-level crooks. In the MCU, they are thugs for their criminal employer and much more intimidating.
• Ax-Crazy: Some of the things Schmidt says to Karen suggests that he's...not entirely stable and seems pretty eager to harm her in rather painful ways.
• Bald of Evil: Pike has a shaved head that accentuates how menacing he looks.
• No Name Given: They are not named in the episode they appeared. A later episode has their names as a Freeze-Frame Bonus on their contractor's licenses.
• Tattooed Crook: Schmidt's defining feature is his body tattoos that are visible on his arms and neck, and he's a hulking brute of a man that works for a landlord that is aligned with Fisk, making him a crook by default.

Others

Henry Lopez

See MCU: United States Citizens

Vickie Tyson

Victor "Vickie" Tyson

Species: Humans

Citizenship: American

Portrayed By: Thomas E. Sullivan

Appearances: Echo

A worker for Henry Lopez.

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• Comically Missing the Point: He yells for Maya even though she can’t hear.
• Rewarded as a Traitor Deserves: He is killed by Zane instead of being paid for his information on and capture of Maya.

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