knightsofgotham application - irrelevant now
Previously Played Character Application
Player Info
Player Name: Ali
Player LJ: aliccolo
Player Instant Messenger Type and Handle: AIM- aliccolo
Player Email: aliccolo@gmail.com
Are you 18 years of age or older? yes
Character Info
Character Name: Matt Murdock/Daredevil
Fandom: Marvel 616
Timeline: Through Daredevil Vol. 2 #93 (The Devil Takes A Ride arc) & stuff from the Divide thrown in.
Previously Played Info
Previous Game: The Divide, an Marvel Civil War AU centered around a rift in the multi-verse that randomly pulls in characters from different versions of canon and different comics universes. Matt's info from that game can be found here.
Length of Time There: Since the game opened in August 2009
RP History: When the game started, Matt had just been released from Ryker's Island prison, having been arrested a few months prior on obstruction of justice charges stemming from his duel life as an attorney and as a masked vigilante. His prison stay was interrupted by an escape, aided by Frank Castle (the Punisher), during which time he traveled to Spain and France, seeking revenge for the murder of his law partner and best friend, Foggy Nelson. Long and complicated story short, the FBI dropped their charges against Matt Murdock, allowing his release from prison. He was reunited with Foggy, who turned out to have been in the witness protection program, and with his estranged wife Milla. All the while, the Superhuman Civil War was raging, and less than one month after Matt's release from prison, the rift in the universe opened.
Matt was quickly recruited by Peter Parker (Spider-Man) and Johnny Storm (The Human Torch) and joined their Secret Avengers squad, making use of an old secret SHIELD base as their headquarters. They welcomed newcomers to the universe into their ranks, and Matt made contact with the mysterious Batman, became well acquainted with Bart Allen (Kid Flash) and Mia Dearden (Speedy), and found himself declared an honorary Bird of Prey by Barbara Gordon (Oracle). In the wake of the universe-split, he found himself once again estranged from his wife, and he rekindled a romantic relationship with Natasha Romanova (Black Widow), one that would be carried on in secret due to her standing as an agent of SHIELD and his status as an unregistered superhuman. He had several memorable team-up's with the Punisher before finding a more stable partner in Speedy. The two of them paired off to patrol Hell's Kitchen at night even as their rebellion began to crumble all around them. He also made contact with Deathstroke the Terminator, with the two declaring a sort of uneasy truce before parting ways.
Matt's life was turned upside down yet again by the resurrection of his long-dead fiancee, Karen Page, and though this version of Karen had no memory of their relationship, he set her up in her own apartment and temporarily took up residence of her sofa. This of course further complicated things with Natasha, though they sort of came to an agreement. Life got especially worse for Daredevil when the entirety of their rebellion either jumped ship or was sucked up by the rift, leaving only himself, Speedy, and Nico Minoru behind.
At Natasha's request, Matt and Speedy took part in a battle to destroy the rogue nanites that were infecting the people of New York. However, this resulted in Black Widow being unable to postpone arresting him any longer, and Daredevil was arrested for violating the Superhuman Registration Act. With the threat of a lengthy prison sentence looming over him (along with the offer of Black Widow's protection) Matt Murdock complied with the act and registered with the government.
I'm pulling Matt from that point in the game, which is several months later on in the game than where Stacey and Rose pulled Maria and Tony. And for simplicity and fairness, I'm wiping all knowledge of DC's character's secret identities from Matt's memory. This way, he would be acquainted with versions of Speedy, Oracle, Kid Flash, etc., but he doesn't know their real names.
Game Specific Info
Why do you want to play this character here? Matt is my favorite character to play, probably ever. I've played him in a few different settings, but never outside of his own home universe. I like the idea of Matt being out of his comfort zone. He is very much a creature of habit, and he relies quite heavily on the familiar. It would be a lot of fun to have him in a setting that makes him incredibly uncomfortable. In addition, the characters he knows/knows of from the Divide world (Maria and Tony) are from a different point in time than he is. He's been their "enemy" in that game, and I think it would be interesting to have him be forced to cooperate with them. Then of course, there are all those strangers to encounter...Gotham is just a whole new brand of chaos for Matt to deal with, and I think it would be a lot of fun to let him loose in a world he knows absolutely nothing about. I'm looking forward to Matt being able to develop different relationships with characters, relationships that aren't necessarily based to the existing knowledge of who he is and what he can do. In Gotham, he would be just a nameless face in the crowd, an anonymous soul, and I find that very appealing.
Why do you believe this character fits into this game’s setting? This setting is really his element. Daredevil is parallel to Batman in a lot of ways, and Gotham is a lot like Hell's Kitchen, in enough ways that it might drive Matt a little bit crazy. That's where I think things could get interesting. He's used to facing villains, he's used to holding his own against unknown and often insane odds. And while he's not an idiot, he's a smart man, he is very much driven by his emotions, and the stronger the emotion, the more intense his reaction. He could easily fit into life in Gotham, it's not so incredibly different after all, if it weren't for his arrogance and stubborn-streak. Matt would survive in this setting, he might even thrive, if he's able to get over himself and not have a break down first.
What are your plans for your character in this game? Matt has a history of mental instability and identity issues, and Hell's Kitchen is his life blood. He's said that he feels dead when he's away from it, and he treats the neighborhood like it's alive, like it is something with a soul. I want to see how Matt's sense of self and sense of purpose changes when he is in a world that doesn't know who he is and doesn't have a Hell's Kitchen to feed off of. I'd also like to have him get back to kicking more ass (ala the Miller-run) and being less moody (ala the Bendis-run.) This is an opportunity to relive his heyday, in a way. I'd like Matt to gradually return to what he used to be, before he went to prison, before he married Milla, before the tabloids published his name. He's called the Man Without Fear, but honestly, for the last stretch of comics, he's been a bit of a chicken. Matt has had the threat of prison and/or being outed by the press looming over him for so long that it's really morphed who he is and what he allows himself to do as Daredevil. Those threats are now gone, and this will give him the opportunity to get back into the swing of things.
The element of the hallucinations is really exciting as well. Since Matt is blind, I am looking forward to writing out some truly terrifying hallucination scenes, hallucinations that could possibly allow him to see in a way, or perhaps mimicking the sensation of sight for the duration of the episode. I'm completely open to discussing this with the powers that be, but I think it would be really upsetting for him, and therefore entertaining for me.
I'd generally like to play a more gritty, less sophisticated version of Matt here. Of course, he has his education and his skills as a lawyer to fall back on, but I'd like for him to initially keep a low profile and work his way around the city from the ground up. He used to do a lot of undercover detective work, during Volume 1 of the comics, and I'd like to explore that some. I'd like for Matt to be able to take advantage of no one knowing who he is, not just no one knowing Daredevil, but no one knowing Matt Murdock, high-profile lawyer.
Writing Samples
Log/Third Person Sample:
He knew nothing about Gotham. Not a damn thing. Sure, he'd heard it mentioned in passing. People from the other side of the Rift had mentioned the city, mentioned that it was the home of mysterious villains and heroes, but he hadn't heard any real details that made the city come to life in his mind. For him, Gotham was as real as Wonderland or Oz, or any other made-up fairytale place. It didn't exist on his plane of reality, therefore he didn't give it very much thought.
So naturally, Gotham wasn't even on his radar when he somehow found himself thrust into a different city, aimlessly wandering through some near-empty alleyway, half tripping over a passed out hobo and a few overturned trash cans. Nothing about this place was familiar. The sounds, the smells, the way the air tasted every time he inhaled. It was all different and foreign. The only thing Matt could even put a name to was the overwhelming sense of confusion and the instinctive need to get as far away from this section of wherever he was as possible.
This was a bad part of town, even a blind stranger could see that. Everything reeked, of mildew, sewage, gunpowder. And blood, so thick he could taste it. There was that distinct alkaline scent in the air, the scent that told him quite plainly that something very bad had happened in this alley not very long ago.
If Daredevil had a Spider-Sense, it wouldn't be tingling, it would have been convulsing and screaming at the top of its lungs for him to get the hell out of there.
Someone was sobbing, a few blocks away, someone was begging for their life and their wallet. Hearts were pounding. Matt was too far away to hear their hearts, but he was sure that they were, even more sure once the screaming started, high and frantic and cutting over every other sound. Sirens in the distance only furthered his sense of dread. The sirens were headed in the opposite direction.
Well, that was his cue, wasn't it? Here comes Daredevil, the Man Without Fear? Time for some witty retort about law and order, time to scold the bad guys while delivering a left hook that would make his old man proud?
Yes. Of course. That was his thing, that's what he did. When someone needed him, Daredevil was always there to step in and play savior. It was the role he played in the world, or at least in Hell's Kitchen. Someone gets hurt or roughed up on ol' Hornhead's turf, there's hell to pay. He'll be there, he'll take care of it, and it will all end up okay.
Matt hesitated though. He stopped dead in his tracks, and he listened, and he let reality set in. This wasn't Hell's Kitchen. This was... Well, at this point, it really could have been Wonderland or Oz. For all he knew, this was some dreamland nightmare, spiraling and splaying out before him, waiting for him to misstep and send the chaos into effect. It had to be a nightmare, a vivid, lucid nightmare. He'd had some bad cheese maybe, or he'd mixed up some medication. All he had to do was survive the night. If memory of children's fables served him correctly, the best course of action would be to blend in with the crowd, to proceed unnoticed and unseen. No need to attract the attentions of a wicked witch or an evil queen, or a violence-crazy mugger for that matter. So long as he kept his head down and his mouth shut, no one would notice that there was an out of place blind guy walking silently down the street. If he kept quiet and kept to himself, eventually he would wake up.
Because in the end, the hero always wakes up.
Journal Entry/First Person Sample:
[voice]
[At first there isn't any sound at all. For several seconds, there is nothing being broadcast, just silence and a little bit of static. Followed momentarily by the sounds of traffic in the background and sirens screaming through. There is commotion, and it is loud. But it is thankfully brief, cut off by a muffled thud and the sound of someone messing with the transmission device, pressing buttons, scrolling through settings, etc. This continues for a few seconds before someone speaks.]
...the hell does this thing even do?
[His voice is spiked a little louder than necessary, and the speaker is obviously confused, growling indignantly as further buttons are mashed and options on the device are selected.]
Is it a phone, or--? Hello? Hello? Is this thing working? How do I tell if I'm calling someone? Hello?
[Evidently he is becoming more agitated, as cased by the overly dramatic sigh and the muttering that follows it.]
Alright. I can deal with this stupid techno-junk. You'd think they'd make something like this more accessible to the handicap. Sheesh.
[He clears his throat.]
Hey. Hi. Listen, if anyone can hear this, if anyone is listening, I could really use some assistance here. Some directions, maybe a taxi, I dunno.
[His voice has taken a distinctively less frustrated tone, though there is a hint of something desperate just under the surface.]
I'd tell you where I am, but honestly, I have no idea. And I can't exactly describe my surroundings or list off the cross streets, so...yeah, if you can hear me, it would be great if you could say something back and help me out here.
[A pause. A loooooong pause.]
Hello...anyone? Okay. And there's no one there. You're talking to ghosts again, Murdock.
[There is rattling and an exasperated groan.]
Oh hell, I think I broke it.