The Secret Defenders (Hybrid 70)
Matthew Murdock/The Adversary[edit]
“Matthew Murdock for the defense, Dishonor.” Matt looked at his client, whose barely restrained anger was not helping their standing in this case. Not that this particular judge took much pity on those who showed contrition, but a modicum of respect for the proceedings never hurt. “Dishonor, my client was forced to sign under duress. It is an accepted principle of interdimensional law that external pressures are a viable influence on contractual dealings. However, Cytorrak v Faust clearly establishes that one contracting party may not exercises direct physical or overt magical influence in order to…”
When Matt Murdock was ten years old, his father Jack made an ill-considered bargain. He was hardly the first boxer to sign a contract without reading it fully, or to consequently end up little better than chattel to his promoter. He did have the singular misfortune to sign his soul away to a demon literally, rather than in the more common figurative sense. In return, Jack Murdock got to be heavyweight champion of the world for three years. His son was given the opportunity to learn at the best prep school in New York, then Cornell and Harvard Law.
While Matt was an undergrad, they came for Battlin’ Jack. The black forces lacked even the decency to come in the dead of night, instead taking the elder Murdock at the dinner table, in front of his son. And so it was that Matt Murdock added sorcery and demonology to his pre-law courseload. He thought at first to storm the very gates of Hell to win his father’s release. But his study suggested that, really, most demonic dealings were, at heart, contract law. Simple contract law. Astoundingly carelessly written contract law. After he passed the bar, Murdock skipped the usual PD and corporate law career tracks and, using his father’s money, opened the only interdimensional law firm on Earth.
His clients call him an angel. Some called him “blind justice” after he sacrificed his sight for deeper magical knowledge and mastery over his own fear. Amongst his colleagues, he is known simply as The Adversary.
Jennifer Walters/She-Devil[edit]
"You want to sue for what?" Jennifer Walters tried very hard not to shriek. High powered attorneys did not shriek. Nor did seven foot tall blue demons. Devils. Whatever.
It was unseemly. That's the point.
"My cut." The scrawny goblin wrung his hands nervously. "Look, getting cut up, burned, and tossed around? Dat's part of da gig. We all knows dat goin' in. Henchin' ain't easy. But I did da job, and I deserves my cut. Ya cain't just stiff a goblin. Ain't right."
Jen sighed. The disgusting little runt had a point. And she'd just read something about a "Devil's Due Principle" in Scratch v Faustus. Maybe...
"Alright, Mr. -"
"No names. We're careful with names. Just Mister's good."
"Of course. Mister. We'll take your case. About our fee..."
"Contingency? I'm a little tapped, on account of I ain't..."
"...got your cut. Of course. Forty percent of whatever we win."
"Forty! Dat's! Dat's! Dat's robbery!"
"That's contingency law in Hell, Mister. You don't like it, find another attorney."
"But no one else will touch dis case!"
"Hence forty. Keep whining, it can be forty five."
Jen Walters was on her way to being an exclusive corporate attorney at one of the most prestigious firms in New York, until a car accident left her on the brink of death. A heart transplant saved her life. Unbeknownst to Walters, the organ came from a soul who'd made a rather unfortunate pact with a greater devil, promising "my heart and soul for all time" in exchange for a life of worldly pleasures. Post-transplant, Jen hence shares her form with a being of unpronounceable name everyone simply calls She-Devil. Fortunately, the regular conflict and double dealing inherent in interdimensional law keeps She-Devil sufficiently entertained that the two have managed to avoid conflict, and the diabolic form lets Walters survive her more inhospitable courtrooms.
John Constantine/Wendigo[edit]
John Constantine grew up a grifter, a hustler, and a charlatan. He made a living knowing how to recognize a sucker. Unfortunately for John, you can't con cancer. Lungs, throat, tongue... the Big C got Johnny good. So Johnny did what Johnny does - he looked for a loophole. And he found one. Turns out a man can beat any disease known if he makes the right deal. Doesn't even cost him his soul. At least not all of it...
Constantine's deal made him a Wendigo. Now he feeds on mortal blood and flesh to survive. For spending money - even a wendigo needs a roof over his head - he does background investigations for Murdock and Associates.
Damon M Hellstrom[edit]
Damon M Hellstrom was Murdock's best friend in law school. Among other things, they bonded over issues with their fathers - Murdock's having recently passed under odd circumstances, and Damon's being... well, Damon's being the devil. A devil, anyway. When it came out that Hellstrom's father was not only a creature of the nether realms, but in fact the very creature with whom the elder Murdock had dealt, the men's relationship fractured. Murdock pursued his crusade, while Hellstrom entered the corporate world. A few years in entertainment law and the right people learned the right things about his background. Now he's a technical consultant for Law & Order: DVU and Faust and Bash. But Hellstrom's path is due to intersect with Murdock's again soon...
Katherine Pryde/The Ghost Rider[edit]
Katherine Pryde... eternally trapped between worlds, able to see everything and yet touch nothing. Ever present yet insubstantial. She lacks even the coherence to haunt the mortal realms of her own accord, and must leach off the energies of other spirits. They call her The Ghost Rider
Mary Jane Watson/The Scarlet Witch[edit]
This world is just... wrong. She knows it, in her bones and in her soul. Her memories are faint and distant and indistinct, her dreams terrifying and chaotic and forgotten in the morning light. But Mary Jane Watson knows this is not her life. She was married to a photographer, a hero. Now he doesn't know her. Nor do any of the fantastic men and women she met through him. She had a child, but now the doctors tell her she never did, and never will. She had a promising modelling and acting career, but there is no record or her work. Every new job went wrong in strange and terrible ways until no one would hire her, despite her talent. In the business, she became known as The Scarlet Witch. She was on the verge of collapse, finally beginning to believe everyone was right and she was going mad, when she saw the billboard ad - "Murdock and Associates - You're Not Crazy, You're Our Client"
Matt Murdock was intrigued, and intriguing. He was the man she'd known, though his circumstances had changed in many ways. He believed her, though he could not explain why, even to himself. He agreed to take her case, to find out why and how her life had been taken away, and to get it back.
Harvey Dent/The Witness[edit]
Harvey Dent has seen too much. Too much crime. Too much pain. Too much injustice. As a Chicago DA, he tried to fight street crime and then, when it became apparent that the low level thugs were a symptom, not the disease, he moved up the food chain. Mob leaders. Crooked politicians. Malignant CEOs. Even his own office. He was obsessed. A crusader. In his own way, a hero.
And a target.
It was inevitable someone would come for him. He was too good. Too efficient. Intra-office politics didn't seem to work; he had just enough of the right friends to seal off that line of attack. When his investigations were defunded or stonewalled, he went to the press. "Sunlight is the best disinfectant," he'd say. No secrets were sacred. Nothing hidden was ever safe. He found it. Laundered money, stashed drugs, hidden recordings, suppressed testimony - he always found it.
And even when they came for him, he knew. A couple hitters. Pros. He knew they were coming, but Dent would not run. He fought. Bravely. But, ultimately, not well enough. Harvey Dent died in a "home invasion" a year ago. And that, his enemies thought, was the end of him.
Of course not. Even in the afterlife, Dent sees injustice. He can't not see it. That is his power, and his curse. Harvey Dent is The Witness to all the evil done in the universe. A lesser man would be driven mad by so much knowledge, and some would say he has been. But if so, that madness drives him and fuels his crusade to help those who feel powerless.
The Secret Defenders[edit]
no write-up found.
Mephisto, The Prince of Lies[edit]
...the one that took Jack Murdock's soul...
...that took Mary Jane Watson's life...
...that fathered Damon Hellstrom...
Mephisto, the Prince of Lies
Neron[edit]
One of the more common infernal respondents Matt and the crew deal with.
Satannish[edit]
One of the more common infernal respondents Matt and the crew deal with.
Shuma-Gorath[edit]
One of the more common infernal respondents Matt and the crew deal with.
Belasco[edit]
a sort of... infernal prosecutor. Frequent opposing counsel. Not really "evil" so much as a guy (err... demon) doing his job.
Patricia Walker[edit]
aka Melodius Bash, star of HBO's Franklin and Bash. Might have a little thing for Hellstrom, though I couldn't possibly comment on that.