Full story
Matt Murdock went blind as a boy in a chemical accident and, in exchange, gained senses far beyond normal. As an adult, he opens a law office with his best friend, Foggy Nelson, in Hell's Kitchen, a New York neighborhood still rebuilding after the Battle of New York. By day he defends clients. By night, dressed in black with a makeshift mask, he beats up criminals.
Their first client is Karen Page, framed for a murder after she found money laundering at the company where she worked, Union Allied. She becomes the firm's secretary and won't let the case go. Behind it all is a man whose name nobody dares say: Wilson Fisk. He ties together the Russian mob, Madame Gao's heroin, the business of Nobu Yoshioka of the Hand, and the interests of accountant Leland Owlsley. James Wesley is Fisk's loyal right hand. At the same time, Fisk falls for Vanessa, a gallery owner, and shows a fragile, human side.
Matt takes brutal beatings. The one who patches him up is nurse Claire Temple. He gets a visit from Stick, the old blind master who trained him, and learns Stick is fighting an ancient war and doesn't care about innocent lives. When Fisk goes public as the city's benefactor, he turns the police and the press against the masked man. Karen teams up with reporter Ben Urich to dig into Fisk. After a fight, Foggy finds Matt hurt and unmasked and learns the secret. Their friendship nearly ends.
The losses pile up. Wesley kidnaps Karen, and she shoots him dead. Vanessa is poisoned in an attack meant for Fisk. Ben Urich learns that Fisk killed his own father as a child, and before he can publish, Fisk strangles him in his home. Fisk also kills Leland.
In the home stretch, Detective Hoffman, who worked for Fisk, decides to testify against him. The FBI arrests Fisk and most of the operation falls. Fisk escapes during transport, but Matt, now wearing a red armored suit made by Melvin Potter, takes him down in the streets. Fisk goes to prison. Matt, Foggy, and Karen get back to work together, and the papers name the hero Daredevil. Still hanging are Madame Gao, who vanishes without a trace, and Vanessa, who leaves the country.