After going through the Spider-Man villains to figure out who showed up the most, let’s attempt the same with a character who famously had a terrible rogues gallery for the longest time.
Daredevil is easier to track than Spider-Man because he only has one regular series, but I still have to figure out a range of stories.
Considering how different the approach to the character was before the Frank Miller run, let’s use that as the point of reference.
But to see how things change, I’ll proceed this way:
1) I’ll analyze the series before Frank Miller starts writing (co-writing at first, but I think it still counts). This includes Daredevil #1-164 and Daredevil Annual #1 and 4 (issues 2 and 3 were reprints).
2) The I will adjust the count to include all issues up to Daredevil #165-233. That includes the first Miller run (#165-191), the O’Neil run (#192-225), and the second Miller run (#226-233), along with some issues in-between by other writers. There are no Annuals published in this era.
Finally, please take into consideration that I’m not as knowledgeable about Daredevil as I am with Spider-Man, so basing this mostly on the cover and who I know is either the main villain or the one pulling the string (as long as he shows up in the story).
Without further ado, let’s see… uhm… let’s check who showed up against Daredevil the most.
BEFORE MILLER
#13: the one-issue wonders
A whopping 23 characters are in the list only ONCE in this period.
You might be surprised to find the original Mister Fear here, but there are also other villains that are more prominent elsewhere: Chameleon, the Circus of Crime, the Eel, Man-Killer, Spymaster and the Maggia.
Nighthawk, Hawkeye and Hulk are here, as well as a character everyone (including me) always forgets actually debuted on Daredevil: Silver Samurai. Yes, the X-Men one.
The list also includes the Zodiac, a bunch of Z-tier villains (Crusher, Klaus Kruger, Mind-Wave, Mr. Kline, Smasher and Tagak) plus that one time Daredevil fought aliens.
#12: the two-issue repeat offenders
The list of adversaries who only show twice is nearly as long! NINETEEN characters are in this spot.
Those include three classic Daredevil villains: Leap-Frog, the Matador and the third Mister Fear.
But also Blackwing, Doctor Doom, Kraven, Scorpion, Torpedo, Paladin and Trapster, as well as Namor, Spider-Man and a bunch of nobodies (Brother Brimstone, Cat-Man, Copperhead, Crime-Wave, Mordecai Jones, Stunt-Master).
But surprisingly Death’s Head, who you’d expect would be mentioned more often since he’s the father of Karen Page!!!
#11: the trilogy gang (3 issues)
These are mostly confined to a single storyline: the Mandrill, Nekra, the Ox, Damon Dran and the alien Terrex.
Yeah Daredevil had truly wild adventures in the 70s.
#10: Daredevil’s least wanted (4 issues)
Hydra is technically here, but the highest profile villains in this spot are Angar The Screamer and Plunderer.
Which says something when they’re way more popular than El Jaguar, Ramrod and a trio of villains who might as well have been named by the Hulk: Ape-Man, Bird-Man and Frog-Man.
#9: the Spider-Man rejects (5 issues)
Electro isn’t the only one who thought Daredevil would be an easy target: the Beetle was also one of his villains for a while.
#8: I can’t believe he’s not the sidekick of the Matador (6 issues)
Seriously, the fact that Man-Bull doesn’t always appear with the Matador is just bulls##t.
#7: the illegal seven (7 issues)
Ironically the last remembered villain in this category is one of Daredevil’s first recurrent ones, the Masked Marauder.
I often forget that Bullseye pre-dates Miller’s run, but I also forget just how many times he shows up.
Stilt-Man is mostly treated as a joke nowadays, but he was a legitimate threat.
The second person to become Mister Fear is, up to this point, the one who used the codename the most.
Which is ironic because he’s WAY more recognizable with his later codename, once he became a Captain America villain: that’s actually Machinesmith!!!
#6: an actual good villain, and the Cobra (8 issues)
I still can’t believe it took until the 2000s before Purple Man became a big deal.
I still can’t believe anyone ever thought Cobra could become a big deal.
#5: the bird and the monster (9 issues)
He might have starred in terrible comics, but this goes to show how much Mister Hyde works better as a Daredevil villain than a Thor villain if he ties with the Owl.
#4: he’s a stalker until he dies (10 issues)
Death-Stalker is a very strange character. He looks incredibly cool AND he’s a big deal for a while, but he’s mostly forgotten. I think that’s because his backstory is needlessly complicated.
#3: are you not entertained? (11 issues)
The Gladiator is rarely thought as a true supervillain nowadays, since he has (mostly) reformed decades ago, but he showed up quite frequently.
#2: that’s not funny (13 issues)
I’ve mentioned it before, but there’s something about Jester that just annoys me.
I don’t think he’s a good character, I don’t think he fits as a Daredevil villain AT ALL, and there’s a part of the 70s where he just. Won’t. Go. Away.
#1: that’s just a regular dude (14 issues)
I’m bundling into a single entry all the issues where the villains are just regular criminals with no particular gimmick. Since there are 166 issues in this batch, that’s about 8% of issues.
I swear I didn’t do this just to kick Jester off the top one, but that’s a pleasant result.
But what about the Frank Miller and Denny O’Neil runs?
MILLER & O’NEIL
#8: the one-issue new entries & repeats
Jester, Stilt-Man and Hydra are the only returning ones.
We also have Doctor Octopus and the Vulture and three new entries: Mauler, Sunturion…
…and Trump.
There must be a reason why Marvel hasn’t been in a hurry to dust off this character, but I can’t quite put my finger on what.
#7: the ones you remember, and Crossbow (2 issues)
Gladiator shows up twice, as do new entries Nuke, Punisher and the second Death-Stalker.
As well as the incredibly forgettable Crossbow. Spent a lot of time coming up with that codename, O’Neil?
#6: do you ever stop sleeping with women who want to kill you? (3 issues)
Elektra obviously shows up WAY more often, but there are only three issues where she’s the antagonist. Which makes it one of the healthiest relationships Daredevil has ever had.
#5: I can’t believe that’s not Kraven (7 issues)
Remember Micah Synn? Me neither.
#4: ninjas? In my Daredevil comic? (8 issues)
Just for comparison: there are 69 issues in this batch (nice) and 166 in the previous one.
The Hand still manages to show up more often than Stilt-Man.
#3: when you hit the target (9 issues)
Bullseye jumps all the way from #7 to this.
#2: that’s still just a regular dude (14 issues)
Exactly just in the previous batch, there are 14 issues where Daredevil fights regular people. Which, considering there are fewer issues in this batch, makes it even more prevalent.
#1: a legitimate businessman (24 issues)
And I’m counting JUST the issues where he’s actively involved in some way!
This represents a shocking THIRTY-FIVE PERCENT of issues in this batch.
But how does combining the two eras changes the Top Ten?
COMBINED TOP TEN
#10: bull in a top ten list (6 issues)
Most of the characters move two or three spots, but the only one to reach the Top Ten (from his previous #8) is Man-Bull.
#9: one of these three is not like the others (7 issues)
Both Masked Marauder and the second Mister Fear (best known as Machinesmith) rise here from #7, as does Micah Synn (best known as “who?”).
#8: that would make for a crazy team-up (8 issues)
I don’t know what a comic starring Stilt-Man, Purple Man, the Cobra and the Hand would even look like, but I’d read it.
#7: how are they still together? (9 issues)
Still amazed by how Mister Hyde managed to share a spot with the Owl.
#6: he still stalks the list (10 issues)
Death-Stalker deserved better. Seriously, how cool is that look?
#5: are you not entertained again? (13 issues)
Gladiator drops from #3. Considering this generally marks the end of his career as a supervillain, he’s remembered less as an adversary and more as a supporting character.
#4: you’re still not funny (14 issues)
Jester didn’t deserve being #2, and even #4 is too high for him.
#3: hits the spot, doesn’t get to #1 (16 issues)
Bullseye is the most consistent supervillain in this entire list, having a similar number of appearances both before and during the Miller/O’Neil runs.
#2: you can’t prove I’m in this list (24 issues)
Considering that Kingpin doesn’t show up until the Miller run, it’s impressive that he actually manages to be the villain for ALMOST TEN PERCENT of the 235 issues I covered.
#1: a true street hero (28 issues)
Regular criminals STILL top the list!
I guess it’s very fitting for a character like Daredevil to fight regular people more often than not.
