BIOGRAPHY -- Page 55
Elektra went on ahead to prepare their new base of operations in accordance with the Book of the Fist, while Daredevil resolved his outstanding business. Matt put one last scare into the New York underworld with Spider-Man and revealed his secret identity to Spidey again as a show of faith. He prepared to meet Kirsten McDuffie before her train left, but he was delayed by a random shooter. As he watched the train pull away, Daredevil was surprisingly approached by his former prosecutor and Matt’s law school friend, Robert “Goldy” Goldman. Goldy was talking obliquely at 
first, but it was a shock when he called Daredevil “Matt.” Goldy had a bizarre story to share where he claimed to be Matt’s guardian angel, sent by God to influence the path of his life. He said God whispered to him to take small actions which cascaded into larger changes to the world around him. Daredevil couldn’t write Goldman off as completely mad because he started to glow, producing a light which even Matt could visibly see.
If true, Goldy’s story was horrible, because he also claimed responsibility for the death of Elektra’s father. Years ago at Columbia, it was God who gave Robert Goldman the impulse to shout “They’re killing the hostages!” provoking a trigger-happy SWAT member to open fire and hit Ambassador Natchios through the window. Goldy genuinely believed that pain and loss seemed to harden Matt into a better hero, and his actions were what made Daredevil possible from the beginning. In the present, Goldy claimed credit for Kirsten’s train blowing up down the tracks as Matt tried to process what he was saying. He taunted Matt a little more that it was all for the 
greater good, but soon turned himself in to the police, taking credit for the bombing. Even after it turned out Kirsten missed the train and was still alive, it seemed Goldman did have an effect. Matt intended on the way there to tell Kirsten the truth about his identity, but this brush with death convinced him to send her on out of his life and focus on building the Fist together with Elektra. The Beast of the Fist needed a king and queen, after all, and so Matt would soon be married. [Daredevil (7th series) #1-2]
Still haunted by Goldy’s suggestion that God actively guided his life, Daredevil made the rounds trying to recruit for the Fist. He convinced Cole North that the system was too broken to fix from the inside, but Luke Cage was committed to his new role as mayor and refused. Matt eavesdropped on the Stromwyns failing utterly to influence Mayor Cage, and accepted Luke was where he belonged. Daredevil was also accosted by Aka, Elektra’s old tutor from the Hand, who revealed they had made their own deal with the Stromwyns. She taunted him that the Hand had a competing set of prophecies to those found in the Book of the Fist. While the Beast of the Fist might soon rise, the Hand now had their Fist of the Beast. Frank Castle had joined the Hand, and now the Punisher punished the world as the king of killers. With Aka’s parting threat to cause him unbelievable loss, Matt rushed to Foggy’s apartment. He decided he needed Foggy close by his side to protect him among the new soldiers of the Fist. [Daredevil (7th series) #3]
Daredevil, Nelson, and North soon arrived at Makanrushi Island, one of the contested islands between Japan and Russia where the Book of the Fist said their order first formed. Elektra built their headquarters there with Stick using what remained of the stolen Stromwyn money and began 
gathering their army with ex-Hand and other mercenaries. Still, Stick believed the Book of the Fist put responsibility for ending the Hand on Matt and Elektra specifically. His years training them as Adepts put them on the path towards becoming the Beast of the Fist together. Daredevil and Elektra traveled to a special cave on the island which contained the souls of the Hand’s dead. By defeating these spirits, they forged a bond with one another that completed a ceremony which reawakened the power of the Fist and bound them as husband and wife. [Daredevil (7th series) #4]
The power of the Fist was immediately felt by all who served under its banner. Enhanced strength, agility, power… even Foggy Nelson showed superhuman physical prowess now. The Book of the Fist came alive with new prophecies after the ceremony, guiding its Beast against the Beast of the Hand and the Fist of the Beast. Through the Book’s prophecies, Daredevil, Elektra and Stick learned of the Lunate Talisman. This newly recovered artifact in the Hand’s possession enhanced their old magic for resurrection and corruption. The Hand could now bring back the dead as complete puppets, condemning the soul to the Beast’s Hell, but leaving the body and mind under dominion of the Hand. By killing and replacing the leaders of the world’s governments with undetectable loyalists, they earned the Stromwyn’s support and domination over the planet.
While Stick and Elektra were focused on the fight against the Hand, though, Daredevil had longer-term goals for the Fist. His time in prison and within the broken justice system still haunted Matthew, and he wanted to build something which would actually rehabilitate and redeem criminals. This started with recruiting Doc Samson for the Fist, an on-site psychiatrist with a 
specialty in superhuman psyches, but next he needed criminals. The Fist assaulted the Myrmidon, a prison for super-villains, and recruited those willing to try a new path. Bullet, Fancy Dan, Stegron, Agony, Wrecker, Stilt-Man, Speed Demon… the Fist soon had an eclectic batch of new soldiers. And, despite his better judgment, Daredevil also freed Robert Goldman. Matthew didn’t know if he or Goldy were truly fulfilling God’s plan for them, but he needed to confront the fear that Goldy inspired in him. Goldman, out of all the Fist’s recruits, would not have his power inhibiting collar removed. [Daredevil (7th series) #5]
The rise of the Fist would not be unimpeded, and Daredevil soon saw for himself what the Hand had become under Frank Castle. The Hand restored Maria Castle to life and offered the Punisher the army he needed to finally end his war on crime by murdering every criminal on Earth. Murdock thought he knew the power of the Beast from his own time ruling the Hand and hosting the demon. As the Fist of the Beast, however, the Punisher was something more. When they fought 
outside the temple of the Hand, Daredevil attempted an exorcism taught him by Doctor Strange to force the Beast from Castle’s soul. Instead, the murderous rage it unleashed only brought Frank more in touch with the Gifts of the Beast. Daredevil was forced to retreat and regroup before facing the Lord High Slayer of the Hand again. [Punisher (13th series) #6-7]
Daredevil and Doc Samson began their efforts to heal and redeem the criminals of Myrmidon, and both of them agreed the island itself radiated some form of peace in the air. Not everyone felt that peace equally, though, and Bullet in particular proved to be a defiant and questioning member of Daredevil’s Fist. Elektra returned from the outside world with dire news. While investigating the spread of the Lunate Talisman’s puppets, she confirmed the President of the United States had already been turned. However, the puppet then jumped to his death, perfectly framing the assassin Elektra for murdering the most powerful man in the world. Aka and the high priestess of the Hand made the Fist international fugitives and gave the unsuspecting Fist of the Beast an excuse… for punishment. [Daredevil (7th series) #6]
The Book of the Fist continued to evolve, and it started to emit the same golden light that Robert Goldman had, allowing Matt to read it. Daredevil brought the Fist into the world to do good, defending a tenement from exploitation by the CEO of Castlemax and his developers. Bullet just wasn’t interested in Daredevil’s new methods, though, and wanted to leave to reunite with his son. 
Murdock couldn’t justify keeping his Fist against their will, so he let Bullet go with the understanding he was welcome back at any time. They soon heard from Bullet, as the Hand captured him and his son, Lance. It was obviously a trap, and the Fist weren’t ready to be used for violence yet, but Daredevil saw no choice if they were to rescue Lance. He ignored Samson’s concerns and asked for volunteers, deploying the Fist against the Hand. [Daredevil (7th series) #7]
Daredevil and the Punisher fought each other at Yusuhara as their twin armies battled around them. Frank took one of Matt’s eyes with his blade before the Fist retreated, but they were successful. Cole North rescued Lance Cashman and Elektra managed to steal the Lunate Talisman from around Aka’s neck. As Elektra prepared a sacred flame to destroy the talisman, however, Matt found his soldiers questioning his crusade. Doc Samson and Cole North would no 
longer be pawns in an ancient war and took off. Also, by leaving Makanrushi, the Fist had lost the island’s natural cloaking and could be followed home. Daredevil received a mocking warning from Quinn Stromwyn from a phone air dropped onto Makanrushi. Minutes before the Avengers would arrive to avenge the President, Stromwyn bombarded the Fist’s compound with Re-Cid gas to turn the escaped criminals into exactly the aggressive animals the Avengers expected to find.
As Matt tried to restore order in the Fist, prepare for attack, avoid the gas and keep Foggy safe, he was finally struck by just how he had been betrayed. Elektra finished the ceremony to destroy the Lunate Talisman, and with it, undoing the magical puppets it created. As the Talisman died, so did Stick and Foggy Nelson. They had been the Hand’s puppets all along. It was the Hand’s Stick who sent Elektra down the path of finding the Book of the Fist in the first place, its “competing 
prophecies” manipulating Daredevil and Elektra for weeks. Wilson Fisk’s men viciously murdered Foggy Nelson during the re-election campaign. Ever since the hospital, Foggy had been the Hand’s secret agent, reporting back on the Fist’s movements. Matt had only moments to process that his mission was a lie and his mentor and best friend were dead and in Hell before the Avengers landed to bring him to justice. [Daredevil (7th series) #8-9]
The battle that followed was awful and unnecessary. The Avengers blamed the Fist for the prison break and assassinating the President, while the Fist were suffering from Re-Cid and unable to de-escalate the situation. Daredevil and Elektra still believed the Book of the Fist would show them the way to “God’s plan,” forcing Matt and Spider-Man into a fight neither of them wanted. 
After evading Spider-Man, Daredevil discovered that Robert Goldman already secured the Book and believed his powers were linked to it. Taking a leap of faith, Matt removed Goldy’s inhibitor collar to find the path he needed to fulfill his destiny. Goldy set off an avalanche, forcing the Avengers to end the battle and take the Fist into custody before the island’s mountain fell down around them. [Daredevil (7th series) #10]
Matt barely survived the chaos, returning to civilization only thanks to Samson and North coming 
back for him. After recovering for a few weeks, he learned the Stromwyns had Elektra and the Fist in one of their for-profit prisons. He still had the Book of the Fist and could read its magical writing, seeing the future laid out for him by God’s plan. Matt infiltrated the Stromwyn’s office and played to their egos, claiming they had destroyed him utterly. In exchange for Elektra and the Fist being released, their records expunged, he would serve as the Stromwyn’s man. To prove his loyalty, Matt stabbed out his own eyes in front of them. Happy with their new acquisition, the Stromwyns made the call. They underestimated what a Man Without Fear would do to inflict it. Daredevil leapt on Quinn Stromwyn and gouged out his eye, forcing one of Murdock’s own extracted eyes in his place. He made these rich, untouchable siblings feel fear more holy than any they had ever known and left them with an absolutely clear vision of what would happen if they ever interfered with him or his people again. [Daredevil (7th series) #11]
Following the Book of the Fist, Daredevil made his way to Japan again to find the Siege Infernal. After Daredevil slew the Beast of the Hand in New York, it returned to Hell but would one day come back to Earth through the Siege. Matt found Blindspot standing guard over the Siege, and relieved him of his burden. Daredevil intended to enter the Beast’s Hell, free the spirits of Foggy, Stick, and the world leaders, and execute God’s plan to end the Beast for good. He was ready to commit ritual suicide and enter that Hell, but Elektra arrived to stop him. She knew from the 
beginning that to become the Beast of the Fist meant that only one of them would survive. However, she had changed during her time as Daredevil, and was no longer willing to sacrifice either of them. Matt fought Elektra for the right to die and drew her blade into his chest. He went forward to fight the Devil in Hell, trusting Elektra Natchios would be the hero the world needed in his absence. [Daredevil (7th series) #12]
Matt Murdock walked into the Beast’s Hell as the Hand of God, guided by the prophecies of the Fist. The presence of God Himself appeared to Matthew in the form of his father, Jack Murdock, shadowing him through the pitfalls and traps of Hell. He found Foggy and the other Lunate captives just as the Beast came upon him. The Beast struck down “Jack Murdock” and revealed his true form, that of the Beast’s demonic sister. As the Hand served the Beast, the Fist served the Wild. Goldy’s manipulations, the Book of the Fist, all were in service to a demon’s vendetta, not the will of God. Matt almost cracked as the Beast and the Wild squared off, but he remained confident in God’s faith even through all this. He focused on saving the victims, freeing them from 
their imprisonment and directing them on the path out through the Siege Infernal. While Foggy and Stick led the world leaders back to the corporeal world, Daredevil stepped up as the Beast of the Fist. He focused his own spiritual strength and used it to cut down the Beast and the Wild. As the demons died, their realm collapsed, and Daredevil did not make it out of the Siege Infernal. Foggy and Stick were alive, the President and other world leaders would clear Daredevil and the Fist of any wrongdoing, but Matt Murdock was dead. [Daredevil (7th series) #13]
But then, Matt Murdock lived. Perhaps through the will of God, perhaps not, he returned from Hell to walk the Earth once more. This Matt Murdock attended seminary and received a masters in divinity, not law. He took responsibility for troubled and abandoned children at the St. Nicholas Youth Home in Hell's Kitchen. As Father Matthew, he now lived a life totally separate from the memory of Daredevil. That memory returned, however, and with it the vicious circle of violence in Matthew's life began anew. [Daredevil (7th series) #14, Daredevil (8th series) #1]
Matt Murdock is a true Catholic, defined by guilt and regret. He is ever torn by his faith and his reality, his vows and his desires, his trust in the law and the Lord...and his devotion to enforcing his own justice as the Guardian Devil of Hell's Kitchen.