ELEKTRA (COMICS)

'Elektra Natchios', usually known only by her first name 'Elektra', is a fictional character in the Marvel Comics universe. Created by Frank Miller, she first appeared in ''Daredevil'' #168 (January 1981).
Elektra is a ninja and assassin who wields two bladed sai as her trademark weapon. She is a love interest of the superhero Daredevil, but her violent nature and mercenary lifestyle divides the two. She is one of Frank Miller's best-loved creations for Marvel, and subsequent writers' use of her is controversial as Marvel had originally promised to not resurrect the character without Miller's permission.^[1] She has also appeared as a supporting character of the X-Men's Wolverine.
She is named after Electra, daughter of Agamemnon of Mycenae and Clytemnestra of Sparta.

Contents

Fictional character biography

Prologue: Marvel's myth known as Elektra

Family and early life

Contradictory accounts

Activities as an adult

''Wolverine: Enemy of the State''

Daredevil and the Kingpin

New Avengers

Powers and abilities

Other versions

Marvel Mangaverse

MC2

Mutant X

Ultimate Elektra

Exiles

DC Vs. Marvel

Feature series

In other media

Films

Video games

Toys

Trivia

See also

External links

Footnotes

Fictional character biography

Prologue: Marvel's myth known as Elektra

According to Marvel, Elektra is the world's most lethal woman and one of Marvel's most cold-blooded
characters. She has killed more men than just about any other Marvel character, while remaining one of the most popular heroines in the Marvel Universe.

Family and early life

Elektra was born on the Greek island of Crete in the Aegean Sea to 'Hugo Kostas Natchios' and his wife 'Christina Natchios'. She had an older brother named 'Orestez Natchios'. (In Greek language the name should be Oρέστης - i.e. Orestes with Latin alphabet).
Two contradictory accounts of her family history have been given in various issues. In ''Elektra: Root of Evil'' #1-4 (March - June, 1995), it is stated that her father was an aspiring diplomat who eventually managed to gain his first assignment as an ambassador to an unspecified country. However, Hugo and his wife had grown apart. Christina had begun a series of extramarital affairs with no apparent interest in keeping them secret, resulting in personal humiliation for her husband. Popular opinion in diplomatic circles stated that a man unable to control his wife had no business deciding on the fate of the world. When Christina became pregnant for a second time, Hugo was certain the child was not his own.
Hugo confided to his adolescent son that his mother was a whore who was shaming their family. Orestez promised his father that Christina would never again shame them. Hugo failed to understand the meaning of these words. On August 13 of that year, the couple was on holiday in the Aegean Sea. They were located by a helicopter which opened fire on them both. The assassins left them for dead. The couple was taken to a nearby hospital. Christina gave premature birth to Elektra and then died. Hugo recovered from his wounds.
Orestez had hired the assassins in order to indirectly commit matricide. He was horrified by the idea of unintentional patricide and ran away from home. Hugo was the only family left to Elektra. At first, Hugo had no intention to raise this "bastard" child. However, a paternity test confirmed the child to be his own. Hugo was not sorry for losing Christina. He was grateful, however, for her giving him a daughter. He arranged for a beautiful headstone to be placed on her grave. Images of the Erinyes on the headstone implied however that Christina was responsible for her own death.
Hugo grew to adore Elektra. He nicknamed her his "Little Amber" and showered her with gifts. Her favorite gift was a pet dog of her own, named Agamemnon, continuing the pattern of Hugo naming members of his family after the Atreidae. The dog was killed when a nine-year-old Elektra was assaulted by kidnappers. The men were all killed by Orestez, who had grown into an accomplished martial artist after leaving home. He did not explain his presence there. He briefly acquainted himself to his little sister and then left again.
But Orestez had a lasting effect in her life. He advised his father that Elektra needed to learn self-defense. Hugo hired a sensei to teach her the martial arts, beginning her acquaintance with fighting. The issues were scripted by Dan Chichester and drawn by Scott McDaniel.

Contradictory accounts

A very different account was told in ''Elektra'' (Vol. 2) #18 (May, 1998). The account was told to Wolverine by an old family retainer by the name of "Stavros." Stavros had reportedly met Hugo and Christina during World War II , at the time of Greece's occupation by Nazi Germany.
Stavros was leader to a small group of the Greek Resistance movement. A younger Hugo was a leader of a greater covert cell which operated in the same area. A 15-year-old Christina was also part of the cell and operated as a messenger. She brought a message to Stavros one day. An order to join her commandant and fight under his orders. Stavros replied to this arrogant message with laughter... until Christina drew her gun and threatened his life with cold determination in her eyes. The following day, Stavros joined a leader who was able to inspire such determination to his followers.
Christina would prove her worth many times during the resistance. She married Hugo after the war. They were not involved in the Greek Civil War. However, the later war cost Christina her life. Christina was in the eighth month of her pregnancy when Hugo had to go to Athens, Attica on "government matters." Stavros was left behind to take care of her. He accompanied her to the clinic to see the family doctor and was then dismissed for an hour. During that hour, "a man who considered himself a patriot", but wanted by the Greek Army invaded the clinic. (Given the time the man was probably a member of the Democratic Army of Greece under Markos Vafiadis). He killed the doctor and attempted to take the patient as hostages. Christina attempted to convince him to stop the unnecessary violence, but was shot in the chest. She used her old combat training to take the man down. She then had to stop the other patients from assaulting the already defeated man until his arrest. But she was mortally wounded and gave premature birth. Elektra was born in the clinic floor, painted red from the blood of her mother. Christina died before hearing the first cry of her daughter. The issue was scripted by Larry Hama and drawn by Mike Deodato, Jr.
The two versions of the nature of Christina Natchios' death cannot be reconciled. Further more ''Elektra: Assassin'' #1 (August, 1986) placed ambiguity on the relationship Elektra had with her father. The adult Elektra recalled vague memories of being raped by her father as a 5-year-old. Years of counseling and medication had convinced her this was a false memory. But the doubt remained. Another memory had the 6-year-old Elektra sitting on Hugo's lap while her teasing father compared her to a cat; likely the Cheshire Cat from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll. Elektra grew up close to her father but was plagued by dark visions and voices with no known source. She occasionally reacted to them with self-harm. Her father eventually sent her away to psychotherapy until becoming more stable. It was uncertain whether Elektra actually became more stable or merely appeared to. The issue was scripted by Frank Miller and drawn by Bill Sienkiewicz.

The account of her childhood in the 2005 film ''Elektra'' appears to blend these two contradictory versions. In the film, her father did not abuse her physically or sexually, but rather pushed and bullied her as a warped form of "training"; in an attempt to forge her into an implacable warrior, he harshly punished her for the smallest failure or show of weakness. She did indeed mature into a formidable warrior, but was crippled emotionally.

Activities as an adult

Hugo Natchios is known to have eventually served as a Greek ambassador to the United States. 19-year-old Elektra first attended Columbia University, New York City, New York. There Elektra met Matt Murdock, the man who would become Daredevil, who became her boyfriend.
A year later, 20-year-old Elektra and her father were kidnapped by terrorists. Matt wore a mask for the first time and started a rescue attempt. Elektra used the distraction to strike down some of the terrorists. However, one of the defeated men fell out of a window. The police assumed the terrorists had started throwing their hostages off the window. They opened fire and killed the man closest to the window: Hugo Natchios, right in front of his daughter's eyes.
Elektra lost faith and hope. She quit Columbia and returned to the study of martial arts. Stick, a member of the benevolent organization called the Chaste, recognized the darkness in her soul and attempted to train her himself, but she ultimately sided with the Hand, a sect of mystical ninja, who trained her as an assassin. She later broke away from them and became an independent agent, and in this role she again encountered Matt Murdock, who was now active as Daredevil. She soon learned of his double identity, and although the pair worked together to fight the Hand, they also came into conflict frequently.

She soon became the chief assassin in the employ of New York City's premier crimelord, the Kingpin, who assigned her to kill Matt Murdock's partner, Franklin "Foggy" Nelson. When Nelson recognized Elektra as Matt's college girlfriend, she was unable to kill him.
Elektra was fatally stabbed by Bullseye with one of her own sais in a battle over which of them would be the Kingpin's assassin (in Daredevil #181). Elektra managed to crawl over to Daredevil's house before dying in his arms as Bullseye watched the two, hidden among a crowd that had gathered to see what was going on. Later (in Daredevil #190), members of the Hand stole her body and attempted to resurrect her. Daredevil, with the assistance of Stone, a member of Stick's order, intervened, defeating the Hand ninja. Daredevil then tried to revive Elektra himself. Although his attempt failed, it did have the effect of purifying Elektra's soul. Elektra's body subsequently disappeared with Stone.
Years later, Stick would send her to aid the X-Man Wolverine, at a time when he had been physically and mentally regressed to a bestial form. She helped retrain him to the point where he could think and vocalize as a human once more, and spent time with him thereafter as he returned to his normal form, including taking him with her on a return to her ancestral home.
Some time after her partnership with Wolverine ended, it was revealed that when Elektra was resurrected by Stone, Elektra's evil aspect had been physically split apart from her in its own body as a consequence of the ritual performed by Daredevil. Her darker half, calling itself Erynys, fought Elektra and was killed by her, thus returning the dark side to Elektra's soul.

''Wolverine: Enemy of the State''

Elektra was recently one of the 'good guys' when she worked with S.H.I.E.L.D.
Hydra and The Hand joined forces, killing off various heroes and resurrecting them into their possessed warriors, including the X-Man Wolverine, who became their killing machine. Based on her relationship with Logan and her ties to the Hand, Nick Fury hired Elektra to lead the mission, paying her in excess of $200,000, more money in one day than the (then) yearly salary of the President of the United States. She worked to stop Wolverine from killing others as well as to try and turn him back to his normal self. During a fight with The Hand, Elektra was killed and resurrected as a Hand warrior, eventually becoming their leader. Along with Northstar, another hero killed and resurrected by the Hand, Elektra attacked Nick Fury, injuring him badly.

Thanks to S.H.I.E.L.D, Wolverine eventually came to his senses and wanted revenge. During a fight with Elektra, she mentally spoke to him, using new abilities given to her by the Hand, which were similar to the Kimaguri abilities she had in the Elektra movie. She explained it was all part of a plan she had from the beginning. She explained that she had been resurrected by The Hand and worked for them. She told him that they would take The Hand and Hydra down together. They fought off many ninjas and were victorious. Gorgon, however, attacked Elektra and threw off her mental blocks, enabling him to read her thoughts and see where Fury was being treated for his injuries (he also discovered that the Vatican also hired her, to kill him). Gorgon teleported, with Elektra, to kill Fury. When they arrived, Elektra ordered the S.H.I.E.L.D. soldiers to attack. Gorgon used his power on her neck and she collapsed. Wolverine eventually used Gorgon's own powers against him, defeating him.
In an e-mail to Kitty Pryde, Nick Fury told her that Elektra had survived, but was missing and was probably in Eastern Europe, creating her own militia group, which she intended to be her own version of The Hand. He also told Kitty that Elektra was no threat... so far. It was unknown where Elektra really was or what her plans were. (Wolverine v3 #31)

Daredevil and the Kingpin

She has recently re-surfaced to help Daredevil with his current situation with the Kingpin, in which the crimelord, in exchange for his freedom, is offering the FBI evidence that Daredevil and Matt Murdock are indeed one and the same.
It was revealed that Elektra actually helped Kingpin gain all the needed information back when she was Daredevil's enemy, and she returned because she felt an obligation to help Matt out of the trouble for which she felt responsible. It was also revealed by the Black Widow that Elektra is now the leader of The Hand.
Daredevil meets up with Elektra, the Black Widow and the new White Tiger in front of the building that holds the "Murdock Papers" (the evidence Kingpin was talking about). They intended to retrieve the papers before the FBI could get there, but were suddenly attacked by Bullseye. Daredevil and Elektra fought the villain and, after a lengthy and bloody battle, won against him. However, Daredevil was suddenly shot by Paladin (who was working for FBI operatives) and was left bleeding profusely in Elektra's arms.
Elektra then takes Matt to the Night Nurse, and is questioned about her job and who she is leading her to make a mysterious call. Moments later, Black Widow suddenly appearing in the doorway only to be surrounded by The Hand. Elektra and Black Widow have a little fight, while The Hand heals Matt Murdock.
Outside the Night Nurse's medical office, reporters and police gather. Elektra then jumps out the side of the window, along with The Hand. She gets in a quarrel with Luke Cage, and quickly exits the scene.

New Avengers

Elektra ostensibly appeared recently in ''New Avengers'' where she killed (then resurrected) and imprisoned Maya Lopez, who in the guise of Ronin had been trying to destroy the Hand. It seems that Elektra had become corrupted by the Hand's influence, as she had planned to torture Lopez and use her as a weapon. However, the New Avengers showed up to stop her and rescue their team-mate. Once the Avengers had gone, Elektra, having suffered a severe kick to the groin from Luke Cage, furiously sent the Hand to track them.
The Avengers retreat to the ancestral home of the Silver Samurai, but are soon followed by Elektra and the Hand. After a brief conversation, the parties erupt in battle. Elektra fights Luke Cage, but is stabbed to death by Maya Lopez.
This Elektra, however, was found out to be a Skrull in disguise after being killed; its death is symbolic of a major revelation, in that the Skrulls have managed to become undetectable to even the heightened senses of New Avengers members Spider-Man, Wolverine, and Dr. Strange.
The real Elektra's whereabouts, and the amount of time the imposter Skrull was posing as her, are currently unknown.

Powers and abilities

Elektra's primary abilities are a strong knowledge of martial arts and weaponry. She is a master combatant with the Japanese Sai, her usual weapon of choice. She is also highly skilled with the katana, daggers, 3-sectional staff and throwing stars. She is a master of many Japanese combat forms including Ninjitsu. Elektra is an Olympic-level athlete, strong in gymnastics and swimming, with a high level in athleticism in human strength, speed, agility, reflexes. Resistant to pain and extreme cold, she can freely go barefoot into the winter snow. She is also able to keep to the shadows and move with such speed that she can remain unseen even in daylight, thus explaining why she is Marvel's top killer.
Elektra has demonstrated on occasion the ability to mesmerize others, and as such make them see illusions or other phenomena.
Elektra's strangest (and perhaps most obscure) gift is her ability to "throw" her mind into those of others. For instance, she was able to track down her enemy, Ken Wind, by temporarily "borrowing" people's minds and acting through them while she hunted around for her prey. This temporal mind control enables her to literally sniff out the psyche, or intent, of her targets. It saw extensive use during '', in which she was heavily reliant on only her ninja powers. It is unknown how long the effect lasts, but Elektra has gone a full two days or more in someone else's mind while they zoned out in hers.
Elektra has occasionally demonstrated low-level telekinesis, though it is possible that this may be an illusion which victims of her mesmerism are led to see. She can communicate telepathically with individuals possessing similar levels of mental discipline, such as the Chaste.
It is unclear what the limitations on her psychic ability are. She may be limited by touching distance or to minds easily affected by persuasion; the last time Elektra tried this trick, it was with S.H.I.E.L.D. Elektra was not born with this interesting gift: she mastered it through training and refinement with The Hand. Their fighters share similar powers, which means each of them -- including Elektra -- are mentally linked to The Beast, the relentless demigod of The Hand who has haunted her since she broke rank.
Nick Fury can attest to the usage of this eerie mind control in person. In the 90's, he conducted scientific experiments on the captured assassin and found strange morphology in her brain that explained her phenomenal reflexes, yet sane rationale. Elektra moves with heightened primal instincts but the more evolved parts of her brain remain intact, preserving her intelligence. In other words, she thinks like a woman and strikes like a cobra.
This "mind jump" ability might explain why Elektra is always a step ahead of her competition, or seems to know where her target is at all times. An extreme example would be the time she murdered an ambassador in South America. The man was sitting against the wall when Elektra sought out his mind and trusted her katana to enter his heart in the perfect spot. Unerringly, it did: the sword pierced through thick walling and the politician was slain where he sat. The unusual addition of her telepathic skills makes Elektra an omnipresent assassin, to say the least.
In the spin-off movie ''Elektra'', the character Elektra possesses a similar power, which is referred to as "Kimagure". This ability allows her to perceive time, the future, and life and death.

Other versions

Marvel Mangaverse

In the Marvel Mangaverse, Elektra is evil and works for the Hand. When she is first introduced she encounters Daredevil who at first refuses to believe that she was working for the enemy. After a tearful reunion they kiss and she says to him "You tried to save my soul once. Unfortunately there was nothing there worth saving" and then proceeds to cut him in half. Later, during her fight with Carol Danvers, she shows remorse for having killed him. Elektra thanks Carol when Carol cuts her in half with Daredevil's blades.

MC2

In the MC2 Universe (an alternate future primarily focused on the children of current Marvel superheroes), Elektra married Wolverine and the two had a daughter named Rina Logan, aka Wild Thing. Very little is said about the future of Elektra, although we do see that she is actively involved in parenting Rina. Additionally, it is shown that she is wealthy enough to have an "extradimensional" credit rating.
Elektra also has a cameo in Spider-girl where she is hired by the Black Tarantula to be Spider-girl's martial arts instructor.

Mutant X

In the Mutant X Universe—an alternate world which was visited by the Earth-616 (mainstream Marvel Universe) Havok—Elektra (surname: Stavros), while still equally trained as a martial artist and assassin, was the nanny and bodyguard of Scott Summers. Scott was the son of that reality's Alex Summers and Madelyne Pryor. She came to accept that Scott believed a different man was inhabiting the body of his father. Elektra stuck with Alex, protecting Scott from repeated assaults by his his mother, the Goblin Queen, and her brainwashed allies. She seemingly dies near the end of the series, though Scott reassures Alex that she will come back.

Ultimate Elektra

In the Ultimate Marvel universe, Elektra Natchios is a student at Columbia University who has a knack for martial arts and is a great fan of Bruce Lee. Her mother died of breast cancer when she was 6, and her father is trying to make money with a laundromat.
In this universe, she starts out as a sweet, innocent girl who cares deeply for her loved ones - so deeply that she is willing to go over dead bodies to help them. This trait starts her descent into becoming one of the most deadly assassins.
Remarkably, there is a gap between the Elektra featured in ''Ultimate Daredevil and Elektra'' and ''Ultimate Elektra'' and the one shown in ''Ultimate Spider-Man''. In the first two arcs, she is a normal college student, but in the last arc - which is set a few years later - she has become the Kingpin's right hand and is a villain. She is shown in this universe as a highly dangerous and skilled killer, and was able to take down the likes of Hammerhead, Black Cat, Moon Knight, and Spider-Man easily. Recently, though, she was put into a coma when Moon Knight threw one of his crescent blades at her, hitting her in the head when she was about to kill Black Cat.

Exiles

In one of the universes visited by the Exiles, Elektra was one of the few remaining survivors in a world ravaged by H.Y.D.R.A. and their leader, Sue Storm. Elektra is shown to be the lover of Reed Richards, and is a key player in the revival of the inhabitants of that earth. Her abilities are identical to that of her mainstream version.

DC Vs. Marvel

In the ''DC Vs. Marvel'' miniseries, Elektra fought Catwoman and won. Stating that she has no problem with killing people, but this was not really 'their' fight, she instead cuts Catwoman's whip in a way that causes the DC character to fall into a truck filled with sand. But still states that she is a spectacular martial artist and can, most likely, beat other heroines.

Feature series

Elektra has received her own comic series twice; the second series was published under the Marvel Knights imprint, it was labeled Mature/Violent content, but despite that was never actually a Max book.

★ ''Elektra Saga'' (1983) #1-4 (fix-up drawn from previously published material)

★ '' (1986) #1-8

★ ''Elektra Lives Again'' (1990) #1 (Epic Comics graphic novel)

★ ''Elektra: Root of Evil'' (1995) #1-4

★ ''Elektra Megazine'' (1996) #1-2 (reprint series)

★ ''Elektra'' (1996 series) #1-19

★ ''Elektra'' (2001 series) #1-35 (Marvel Knights)(Elektra proves to be the ultimate assassin in whole marvel universe)

★ ''Wolverine & Elektra: The Redeemer'' (2002) #1-3 (here Elektra defeat Wolverine for second time in marvel comics)

★ ''Ultimate Daredevil and Elektra'' (2002) #1-4

★ ''Elektra: Glimpse & Echo'' (2002) #1-4

★ ''Elektra: The Hand'' (2004) #1-5

★ ''Ultimate Elektra'' (2004) #1-5

★ ''the classic marvel figurine collection #17:Elektra'' (2006)

In other media

Films

★ In the 2003 ''Daredevil'' film, Elektra (portrayed by Jennifer Garner) was Daredevil's love interest. Her father was killed by Bullseye and she blamed Daredevil for his death. Elektra trained herself in karate and held sais that she would use to kill Daredevil. When she finally confronted the vigilante, she impaled him by his shoulder but before she would kill him, she wanted to know who she would be actually killing. She unmasked him and was surprised to find Matt Murdock. Elektra then learned that it was Bullseye who murdered her father. Ironically, however, when she confronted him, Bullseye beat her in battle: slitting half of her throat and impaling her in the stomach. When Bullseye left, she was able to say goodbye to Daredevil before dying in his arms.

★ In the ''Elektra'' spin-off sequel to ''Daredevil'', it was revealed that after Elektra died, an old man named Stick resurrected her and trained her in martial arts in the Way of Kimagure (the ability to control time, the future and life and death), a benevolent dichotomy of The Hand. On expulsion from Stick's school — a life lesson for her heart of anger and hate — Elektra became an assassin for hire. She soon became acquainted with a single father and his daughter, Abby. She discovered the two were being hunted down by the organization known as the Hand. Elektra, with the help of Stick and his assistants, protected Abby and her father. Abby was then revealed to be a great warrior known as the Treasure: a powerful weapon that could tip the scales of the Hand's power. Elektra had a final showdown with the leader of the Hand. If Elektra won, Abby would go free; if the leader of the Hand won, then Abby would belong to the Hand. In the battle, Elektra was nearly beaten — then, realizing that the Hand leader was her mother's killer, Elektra fatally impaled him through the heart with one of her sai's, and flipped him down a well where he disintegrated. A final scene shows Elektra resurrecting Abby the same way Stick resurrected Elektra.

Video games

★ She appears as a playable character in EA's '', along with other well known Marvel characters (Elektra and Storm are the only Marvel heroines). In this video game, she fights against Daredevil who has been altered by an imperfect chip and wins, but then she is defeated by the magician Imperfect: The Wink.

★ Elektra is also a playable character in Activision RPG, '' voiced by Gabrielle Carteris. She is the fastest character in the game and her sai attacks are very deadly. She has special dialogue with Bullseye and is one of the few characters who appear during all game's briefings (Elektra and Storm being the only heroines). A simulation disk involved Dardevil protecting Elektra from Bullseye and another simulation disk has her fighting Bullseye on the S.H.I.E.L.D. Omega Base. Her costumes include her classic, Ultimate, Assassin, and Stealth.

★ Elektra also has a cameo appearance in the game ''Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter''. She is locked in a container along with several other Marvel and Street Fighter characters who are locked in containers in Apocalypse's stage.

★ Elektra was also supposed to have a game based on the movie but it was never released as publishers felt it would not be popular enough. There is a petition online by a publisher, who said the only way they would make it is if enough people signed up for "Elektra: The Game"; see the petition for more details.

Toys

★ Elektra has appeared in the Marvel Legends toy line, in series 4 and in the Urban legends box set (repaint white outfit).

★ Elektra appears in Hasbro's Marvel Super Hero Squad toy line for children ages 3 and older, sharing a two-pack with Daredevil.

Trivia

★ Elektra is 5'9" and 130 lbs with blue-black eyes and black hair. ^[2]

★ Her religious affiliation is Greek Orthodox^[3]

See also

★

External links

★ Daredevil & Elektra screenplay Based upon DD #181

★ Architectural Grounding in Miller's Elektra: Temporality and Spatiality in the Graphic Novel Article on Elektra: Assassin

Footnotes

1. Comic Book Urban Legends Revealed #109 Brian Cronin
2. http://www.manwithoutfear.com/characters/character.cgi?id=Elektra
3. http://www.adherents.com/lit/comics/Elektra.html