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Why does he dress like a devil?

 
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theunrealstudios
Playing to the Camera


Joined: 14 Sep 2010
Posts: 137
Location: Toronto

PostPosted: Thu Oct 21, 2010 9:18 am    Post subject: Why does he dress like a devil? Reply with quote

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

idk, maybe it's a "simply put" answer and i'm over thinking it, i just like to know the motivation behind the actions of these characters i mean he could have given up the identity, took on the Ronin image and would get less heat on his murdock life so it MUST mean something, any thoughts from well educated, long time readers? Smile
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baker
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Joined: 24 May 2010
Posts: 43

PostPosted: Thu Oct 21, 2010 1:37 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

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

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

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


Joined: 08 Jul 2010
Posts: 55

PostPosted: Thu Oct 21, 2010 2:13 pm    Post subject: Re: Why does he dress like a devil? Reply with quote

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

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


He wears red because it makes sense. When people think of devils they think red, not yellow with a bit of red. It never made sense to have someone with devil horns wearing yellow. The change was made because Marvel got some complaints from artists and fans alike about the costume and Stan said "How about red!" From the creators standpoint, that's all there was to it. Simple as that. I certainly don't believe he thinks he is "as bad as the devil" or that he had this deep fear of the devil as a child. I think that's over thinking it.

These days, the argument could be made that the costume represents the darker side of him but I don't think that's true. I don't think Matt hides behind the mask like Spidey or sees his costumed identity as the true version of himself like Batman. Matt doesn't change much when he puts on the tights, other than not having to keep up the blind man routine.

Bottom line, he picked Daredevil because the kids called him that to make fun of him so it motivated him. From Daredevil, the obvious costume would involve a devil and devils are red so there you have it. Where they got yellow I’ll never know. Maybe they were going for a contradiction since calling someone yellow means you’re calling them a coward and since he’s “The Man Without Fear”….. yeah, stupid. Stan was reaching a bit there. The lawyer-vigilante and the blind-man-that-can-“see” contradictions are more than enough contradictions!
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theunrealstudios
Playing to the Camera


Joined: 14 Sep 2010
Posts: 137
Location: Toronto

PostPosted: Thu Oct 21, 2010 5:54 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

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

not from a design standpoint (yellow or red) but just from a writers point i'd like to know what motivates him not to fight crime (that's obvious) but to dress up like a devil as "daredevil" could refer to a vigilante who's acrobatic (as he is) in his stunts. eh can't really see it in MWF when he looks at the poster besides the point being it's not cannon (in the majority of fans). To me it's just a subject that isn't given enough detail compared to other heroes as there's too much ambiguity to readers. but none the less, i appreciate the insight guys, both certainly know the character Smile
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JoeBullseye
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Joined: 23 Sep 2012
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Location: Huntington NY

PostPosted: Tue Sep 25, 2012 9:10 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Damn, you guys are way over thinking this. In the first few issues, way back in 64, Daredevil wore yellow because he made his costume from his fathers boxing robe. Not because he was chicken. As for the switch to red, the color artist made a mistake and colored to much of the costume red and they let it go completely red to fix it with out a redrawing of the page. It was a mistake that actually improved the comic. As for why he wears a devil costume it was simply to scare the criminals he was fighting. The way Batman represented a giant bat to scare criminals. This is the stuff you find out reading the first issues of DD. NOW if you're talking motivation AFTER the Frank Miller years you have a whole new set of challenges. Frank made a very complex DD. Which we all know. Which I assume the Devil costume is part of his catholic upbringing. But why over think it. It would scare anybody if a guy on a wire came smashing in to beat you up dressed like Satan, wouldn't it?
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SK47DD
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Joined: 24 Jul 2012
Posts: 25
Location: Toronto

PostPosted: Tue Nov 27, 2012 1:25 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

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


That is exaclty the way I see it.
In many religions, the Devil, Demons, Satan, Hell is represented in some form. It is an entity of fear. As stated above, if someguy dressed as a Devil comes after you that would be quite scary.
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