El Muerto is a fictional character

Fictional character

A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...

, a wrestler in the Marvel Comics

Marvel Comics

Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...

 Universe, associated with Spider-Man

Spider-Man

Spider-Man is a fictional Marvel Comics superhero. The character was created by writer-editor Stan Lee and writer-artist Steve Ditko. He first appeared in Amazing Fantasy #15...

. He first appeared in Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #6.

Fictional character biography

A Generation ago, the self-proclaimed wrestling god known as El Dorado ("the Gilded One") bestows the mystical Mask of El Muerto upon a man named Estrada, granting him superhuman strength and endurance; however, every subsequent generation in the Estrada lineage is forced to fight El Dorado ritualistically for the right to retain the mask. One member of that lineage, young Juan-Carlos Estrada Sanchez, has been trained since childhood by his father, that era's mask bearer, for his eventual battle with El Dorado; but when the time for his test finally arrives, the frightened Juan-Carlos does not want to fight. His father dies, beheaded while attempting to prevent the god from killing Juan-Carlos for his failure. El Dorado then bestows the mask upon Juan-Carlos out of respect for his father's bravery, allowing Juan-Carlos ten years to train before requiring him to find a masked champion to humiliate and unmask publicly in order to expunge the taint of his cowardice.

Ten years later, Juan-Carlos (as El Muerto) travels to New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

 and saves the lives of Daily Bugle

Daily Bugle

The Daily Bugle is a fictional New York City newspaper that is a regular fixture in the Marvel Universe, most prominently in Spider-Man comic titles and their derivative media...

 owner J. Jonah Jameson

J. Jonah Jameson

John Jonah Jameson Junior is a supporting character of Spider-Man in the .Jameson is usually the publisher or editor-in-chief of the Daily Bugle, a fictional New York newspaper and now serves as the mayor of New York City...

and his son John Jameson

John Jameson (comics)

John Jameson is a fictional character in publications from Marvel Comics.-Publication history:...

 from a gunman. In return, Jonah Jameson organizes a televised, million-dollar-charity wrestling match between El Muerto and Spider-Man

Spider-Man

Spider-Man is a fictional Marvel Comics superhero. The character was created by writer-editor Stan Lee and writer-artist Steve Ditko. He first appeared in Amazing Fantasy #15...

. During the match, Spider-Man inadvertently wounds El Muerto. El Muerto is rushed to the hospital, where he faces El Dorado, who intends to kill him for failing to unmask Spider-Man; however, El Muerto and Spider-Man keep El Dorado occupied long enough for Spider-Man to concoct an acidic solution (aqua regia) capable of dissolving El Dorado's mystical gold armor. Now vulnerable, El Dorado disappears before El Muerto and Spider-Man can defeat him.

Powers and abilities

El Muerto's mask grants him superhuman strength (optimally lifting 30 tons) and endurance. He is a highly-skilled wrestler, extensively trained in both freestyle and shoot-style grappling. He is fluent in Spanish but speaks broken English.