Foggy Nelson
Encyclopedia
Franklin P. "Foggy" Nelson is a fictional character in the Marvel Comics
universe
, part of the supporting cast of Daredevil
(Matt Murdock); Foggy is Matt's best friend. The character was created by Stan Lee
and Bill Everett
.
Initially used only for comic relief
, Foggy has developed into one of the strongest supporting characters in the Marvel Universe. He shares a very deep friendship with Matt Murdock, being both his sidekick and his protector. With his down-to-earth, everyman lifestyle, he acts as a contrast to his tormented superhero colleague.
Foggy is always portrayed as a slightly fat man who obviously spends a lot of time behind a desk. However, time and again, he has proven to be almost as good a lawyer as Murdock and tried numerous cases which bear that out.
and Bill Everett
.
Foggy Nelson received an entry in the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Update '89
#5.
. Matt protects Foggy against bullies and helps him study. When Matt begins dating Elektra Natchios
, Foggy disapproves, because he thinks she is dangerous (which turns out to be a correct assessment). After Elektra leaves the university, Matt and Foggy transfer to Harvard Law School
. After graduating, Matt and Foggy open up a private law practice. They hire a secretary, Karen Page
, with whom both Matt and Foggy fall in love. Karen was in love with Matt, so the only option for Foggy was to retire from the competition. He's approached by Abner Jonas to be a candidate for District attorney
, and in a party given by Jonas, Foggy meets again an old high-school flame, Deborah Harris. As it turns out, Debbie is an agent working for The Organizer, a criminal mastermind who is later revealed to be Abner Jonas, when Daredevil and then Nelson, smell something fishy and decide to investigate. While we see that Debbie is somewhat reluctant to follow the Organizer's plans, she goes to jail all the same. Nelson is heartbroken and turns again his attentions to Karen Page.
Foggy, at that point, and for many years to come, is not aware of his partner's double life as a superhero. He wouldn't even consider the idea due to Matt's blindness, though he eventually is suspicious about Matt's sudden and unexplained absences, and his frequent bruises. To avoid those suspicions, Murdock has resorted to many deceptions to avoid Foggy's hunches, like creating his "twin brother" Mike Murdock (Matt himself in disguise), faking his death, or asking someone else to wear the costume.
By that time, there's a schism between Matt and Foggy, as due to Matt's troubled relationship with Karen, and his own troubles as Daredevil, he doesn't help Foggy in his campaign. Foggy feels abandoned and Matt isn't really able to explain without revealing his secret. However, once Foggy wins the election, the two reconcile and Foggy offers Matt an opportunity to become assistant to the DA.
Later, Foggy is blackmailed by the mysterious Mr. Kline, and is forced by him to prosecute the Black Widow, who is defended by Matt. This again severed their longtime friendship and Matt left for San Francisco with the Widow. They again reconciled when Foggy was badly wounded when he was investigating a criminal conspiracy by Black Spectre
, and Matt came back to New York to help him in his fight against crime.
It is by this time that Foggy and Debbie's long courtship ends in marriage.
Sometime later, Elektra is hired by the Kingpin
to assassinate Foggy. However, upon confronting Foggy, he recognizes her as "Matt's girl". Unable to kill Foggy after this, Elektra abandons her assignment, which leads to her (temporary) death at the hands of Bullseye
.
The Nelson and Murdock firm suffers from lack of customers. One of the reasons is that Foggy was asked by Debbie to lie in favour of Mycah Synn — or else she would leave him — and later admits his malpractice in order to denounce Synn's crimes. Another reason is the suicide of Heather Glenn, which drives to his partner Murdock — who's still brooding over the death of Elektra Natchios — to lose interest in his work and devote more and more time to his costumed career. Foggy can't fight alone against the lack of clients and the cascading of bills, and one day Matt returns to find an angry Foggy as the Nelson & Murdock premises are being closed for being unable to pay the rent.
Foggy is so depressed that he almost considers suicide, though while he is on the roof of a high building brooding about how his life's got screwed, he gets in the way of a dangerous fight between the Vulture
and Daredevil, and the immediacy of such perilous situation makes him realize that he much prefers to be alive, after all.
Shortly later, Foggy and Glorianna O'Breen (a recent ex-girlfriend of Matt) fall in love with each other as they are unsuccessfully trying to locate Murdock (who is the victim of a plot by the Kingpin to bring him down). Foggy and Glorianna are happy together for a while, but when Nelson defends a corporation for dropping toxic waste in rivers, Glorianna is disillusioned and feels he's doing something wrong, from a moral standpoint. Foggy refuses to defend his client when he learns that the company is owned by the Kingpin, but Glorianna leaves him.
When Daredevil's identity is outed to the press by an assistant of Ben Urich
, Murdock fakes his death and assumes the fake identity of "Jack Battlin", not telling about this to close friends like Foggy, Karen Page
or Ben Urich. During that time, Foggy maintains a solo career as lawyer. As the assumption of a different identity and a life without roots takes its toll in Matt's sanity, Karen gets the intuition that the "new Daredevil" that recently introduced himself to her might be Matt himself. She enlists Foggy's help "to search a man", and they end finding that Matt is still alive, as they meet him at Jack Battlin's apartment in a state of stupor, with his yellow Daredevil uniform but without the mask. It is then when Foggy finally learns about Matt's secret identity, and he's quite sore for some time about his old friend having kept such a secret from him, but they eventually reconcile and become law partners again.
Around this time, Foggy starts dating Liz Allan, remaining with her through such moments as the unexpected 'resurrection' of her father-in-law Norman Osborn
. Later, Foggy's relationship with Liz Allan is ruined when the villain Mysterio
manipulates him into having an affair with another woman, and then making it appear as if Nelson has murdered the woman after the affair (which Foggy can't remember clearly as he was drugged by Mysterio). Liz forsakes Foggy after a brief exchange in prison, where she just asks him if he cheated on her. As Foggy admits so, she leaves him without allowing any further explanation. After the machinations by Mysterio are disclosed, Foggy is set free, but he feels so bad about having failed Liz, that he doesn't have the heart to even attempt resuming the relationship.
Another outcome of the Mysterio frame, is that Sharpe fires him without even bothering to investigate the circumstances which lead to the arrest of her own son. She forsakes Foggy as she doesn't want the murder affair to bring bad publicity to the firm. When Matt Murdock starts preparing Foggy's defense, she orders him to stand down not wanting him to involve their firm in the case resulting in Matt quitting the firm out of disgust.
Around this time, Foggy personally counsels superheroes on diverse occasions, such as when he takes the case of the telekinetic superhero Vance Astrovik, who has ended up killing his abusive father in a fit of rage. Foggy loses the case, as his opposition convinces the jury that Vance could have stopped his father without killing him. Other clients he has personally represented are Carol Danvers and the Fantastic Four
, to whom he — wisely — recommended not to accept a buy offer for the FF estate by the Gideon Corporation (although Reed Richards ultimately decided to sell).
Recently, Matt is revealed to the world as Daredevil by the media and is eventually arrested. After Foggy goes to visit Matt in prison with private investigator Dakota North
, he is stabbed and seriously injured by several inmates. Matt hears his friend's heartbeat slowly cease, and Foggy is declared dead sometime after the ambulance takes him away. Murdock later attends Foggy's funeral only for Foggy's grieving mother, Rosalynd Sharpe, to blame him for her son's death.
Later it is revealed that Foggy is not dead, but was rather placed in the witness protection program, where he is recovering from his wounds and beginning to assume a new identity. He attempts to escape in an effort to reunite with Matt, only to be captured by the Mafia
, who in turn are slaughtered by ninja
s. They return him to his former captors, after informing him that they would be watching. Meanwhile, his friend Murdock — unaware of all this — goes to Europe following the track of the man who ordered Foggy's murder, and ultimately discovers that an ailing Vanessa Fisk is behind everything. Vanessa reveals to Murdock that she is about to die, and had planned all that to take revenge on what she believes the real source behind her illness: the misery that the war between Daredevil and her husband has brought to her life. She offers Murdock a deal to give him his life back, but Daredevil refuses and leaves, without allowing Vanessa to tell him that Foggy is still alive.
Matt finds out that Vanessa has carried her part of the deal anyway, as the former director of the FBI is found — apparently — having committed suicide and leaving papers which point that Murdock was framed on purpose. Matt returns to New York and declares to have been a hostage of the Punisher
since the prison break that got him free. At that point, Foggy, fleeing from his life in protected custody, reaches Matt's home and both are reunited. Along with Becky Blake, Foggy successfully clears all of Matt's troubles with the Law and the Bar
. After that, Murdock and Nelson ask Becky to join their firm as a new partner and move to new quarters, taking only referrals to avoid being easily located by Daredevil stalkers.
and Daredevil goes to her rescue, he realizes that Potter is under some kind of mind-control, and after his detention he completely loses his mind. This is all part of a plot masterminded by an old enemy of Daredevil, Mr. Fear, who is also promoting a gang war to take Hell's Kitchen by supplying lowlifes with a drug that makes them fearless.
Mr. Fear wants to destroy Murdock's life, and this could mean the end of the Nelson, Blake & Murdock firm as well. Foggy recently began to feel the pressure of dealing with Matt's life as Daredevil, as Mr Fear swore to ruin Matt's, The Hand
taken an interest in Matt, and the reemergence of the Kingpin. All these powerful players threatened Matt and his love ones. On top of that Foggy had to deal with Matt's growing irrational behavior, such as skipping court dates and his affair with Karen. The breaking point was when he found out that Matt made a deal with the Kingpin. Hurt that Matt wouldn't even talk to him before making a deal with a man who has made both their lives miserable, he then fires Matt from the law firm, effectively cutting Matt off from his normal life and making it easier for him to join The Hand. However Foggy immediately regrets his decision and is worried that Matt has gone over the edge and started killing people. He blames himself because he as a friend was supposed to help Matt and he feels that "just when he needed someone to lead him back to the path, I shoved him off a cliff... and I'm afraid he's still falling".
Foggy was later disbarred when he stood up to a judge in protest when the judge overturned the jury's verdict of not punishing the victims of police brutality, who were the only surviving people from the protest rally against Oscorp for condemning their building which Bullseye destroyed. Later when Foggy goes to visit the judge with Dakota, they use a compromising photograph to force him to tell the truth about his and Dakota's recent misfortunes, and learn that the judge is on the Kingpin's payroll. Recognizing these actions were intended to get at Matt, Dakota decides the two of them need to locate Matt.
During the Shadowland
storyline, Foggy Nelson arrives at the gates of the Shadowland Fortress and tries to reach Matt verbally, but is ignored and cannot get inside. He decides that Matt has saved him so many times, that now it is his turn to save Matt. Foggy scales the walls to reach Matt where he is intercepted by the White Tiger. She leads him to Daredevil who sits among the defeated heroes. Matt decides to kill Foggy himself, but he is 'purged' of the demon controlling him thanks to Iron Fist using his chi punch to 'heal' Daredevil.
Following Matt's departure from New York to rediscover himself, Foggy's actions are unknown. Though he has been re-instated as an attorney he has to move his office to a new location (since his previous office was burned down during the riots.) and has to run his business by himself after Becky Blake's resignation due to her inability to trust Murdock. Foggy has helped T'Challa
- Matt's temporary replacement in Hell's Kitchen, needing to re-learn his own limitations after his recent war
with Doctor Doom
- to establish a new identity for himself by providing him with false immigration papers identifying T'Challa as Mr Okonowo from the Democratic Republic of Congo, T'Challa assuring Foggy that he will ensure Foggy's role in the papers' creation can never be traced back to him. After Matt returns to Hell's Kitchen from his adventure in New Mexico, it is revealed that Foggy has lost some weight and is now slim in appearance. Matt assures Foggy that he has found a new place to re-establish Nelson and Murdock with a roof-top access point for him to use as Daredevil and that despite his problems regarding Shadowland, he should be able fix his problems and get his law license back.
, Foggy is a seaship captain who regularly ferries the Daredevil of 1602 across the English Channel
. He is suspicious of the blind minstrel, who suggests, with a smile, that he should keep his thoughts to himself.
. He has outlived Murdock, who has been murdered. (though his soul lives on in Darkdevil
.) At one point, Foggy is shown to be acting as counsel to Wilson Fisk
, but he quits as Fisk's attorney when he learns that Fisk was responsible for Murdock's death.
Foggy also outlives Liz. After his wife's death, he buries himself in his work and he blames himself when Normie goes temporarily insane, taking the mantle of the Green Goblin
again. After Normie reforms, the two finally bond.
When Normie gets engaged to the former supervillain Raptor
, Foggy does not really approve — and Foggy again feels guilty when Normie is once again temporarily transformed into a supervillain.
Darkdevil works as an intern at Nelson's law firm and is shown giving legal advice to Normie and Raptor. Foggy is unaware of Darkdevil's ties to Murdock and Spider-Man, though Normie has noticed Reilly Tyne's resemblance to Peter Parker.
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
Marvel Universe
The Marvel Universe is the shared fictional universe where most comic book titles and other media published by Marvel Entertainment take place, including those featuring Marvel's most familiar characters, such as Spider-Man, the Hulk, the X-Men, and the Avengers.The Marvel Universe is further...
, part of the supporting cast of Daredevil
Daredevil (Marvel Comics)
Daredevil is a fictional character, a superhero in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Bill Everett, with an unspecified amount of input from Jack Kirby, and first appeared in Daredevil #1 .Living in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood...
(Matt Murdock); Foggy is Matt's best friend. The character was created by Stan Lee
Stan Lee
Stan Lee is an American comic book writer, editor, actor, producer, publisher, television personality, and the former president and chairman of Marvel Comics....
and Bill Everett
Bill Everett
William Blake "Bill" Everett, also known as William Blake and Everett Blake was a comic book writer-artist best known for creating Namor the Sub-Mariner and co-creating Daredevil for Marvel Comics...
.
Initially used only for comic relief
Comic relief
Comic relief is the inclusion of a humorous character, scene or witty dialogue in an otherwise serious work, often to relieve tension.-Definition:...
, Foggy has developed into one of the strongest supporting characters in the Marvel Universe. He shares a very deep friendship with Matt Murdock, being both his sidekick and his protector. With his down-to-earth, everyman lifestyle, he acts as a contrast to his tormented superhero colleague.
Foggy is always portrayed as a slightly fat man who obviously spends a lot of time behind a desk. However, time and again, he has proven to be almost as good a lawyer as Murdock and tried numerous cases which bear that out.
Publication history
Foggy Nelson first appeared in Daredevil v1 #1 (April 1964), and was created by Stan LeeStan Lee
Stan Lee is an American comic book writer, editor, actor, producer, publisher, television personality, and the former president and chairman of Marvel Comics....
and Bill Everett
Bill Everett
William Blake "Bill" Everett, also known as William Blake and Everett Blake was a comic book writer-artist best known for creating Namor the Sub-Mariner and co-creating Daredevil for Marvel Comics...
.
Foggy Nelson received an entry in the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Update '89
Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe
The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe is an encyclopedic guide which details the fictional universe featured in Marvel Comics publications...
#5.
The Beginnings
Foggy is Matt Murdock's roommate while they study at Columbia Law SchoolColumbia Law School
Columbia Law School, founded in 1858, is one of the oldest and most prestigious law schools in the United States. A member of the Ivy League, Columbia Law School is one of the professional graduate schools of Columbia University in New York City. It offers the J.D., LL.M., and J.S.D. degrees in...
. Matt protects Foggy against bullies and helps him study. When Matt begins dating Elektra Natchios
Elektra (comics)
Elektra Natchios, usually referred to only by her first name Elektra, is a fictional character in publications from Marvel Comics.Elektra is a kunoichi – female ninja assassin – of Greek descent. She wields a pair of bladed sai as her trademark weapon. She is a love interest of the superhero...
, Foggy disapproves, because he thinks she is dangerous (which turns out to be a correct assessment). After Elektra leaves the university, Matt and Foggy transfer to Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School is one of the professional graduate schools of Harvard University. Located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, it is the oldest continually-operating law school in the United States and is home to the largest academic law library in the world. The school is routinely ranked by the U.S...
. After graduating, Matt and Foggy open up a private law practice. They hire a secretary, Karen Page
Karen Page
Karen Page is a fictional character in Marvel Comics' Daredevil series created by writer Stan Lee and artist Bill Everett. She first appeared in Daredevil #1 .-Character overview:...
, with whom both Matt and Foggy fall in love. Karen was in love with Matt, so the only option for Foggy was to retire from the competition. He's approached by Abner Jonas to be a candidate for District attorney
District attorney
In many jurisdictions in the United States, a District Attorney is an elected or appointed government official who represents the government in the prosecution of criminal offenses. The district attorney is the highest officeholder in the jurisdiction's legal department and supervises a staff of...
, and in a party given by Jonas, Foggy meets again an old high-school flame, Deborah Harris. As it turns out, Debbie is an agent working for The Organizer, a criminal mastermind who is later revealed to be Abner Jonas, when Daredevil and then Nelson, smell something fishy and decide to investigate. While we see that Debbie is somewhat reluctant to follow the Organizer's plans, she goes to jail all the same. Nelson is heartbroken and turns again his attentions to Karen Page.
Foggy, at that point, and for many years to come, is not aware of his partner's double life as a superhero. He wouldn't even consider the idea due to Matt's blindness, though he eventually is suspicious about Matt's sudden and unexplained absences, and his frequent bruises. To avoid those suspicions, Murdock has resorted to many deceptions to avoid Foggy's hunches, like creating his "twin brother" Mike Murdock (Matt himself in disguise), faking his death, or asking someone else to wear the costume.
District attorney
Nelson is again approached to be a candidate for district attorney, this time without hidden agendas: he's really fond of the idea of being able to do something to fight crime actively, and sets himself to work with enthusiasm. About this time, Debbie Harris is released from jail, and, having redeemed herself, she and Foggy start to date again, in spite of people's warnings that it would be bad for his career as a District Attorney to date an ex-con. Foggy doesn't mind and goes on with the courtship. While things seem to be on the sunny side, Debbie is ransomed to the Time Continuum by the Unholy trio, led by the Exterminator. Foggy and Daredevil investigate, each on his own side. Foggy is made a prisoner by the Exterminator and Daredevil comes to the rescue. A fight ensues and there's a final explosion, after which Foggy finds some rags of the DD uniform: it is then assumed that "Mike Murdock" has died. Debbie returns from the Time Continuum and she and Foggy resume their happy relationship.By that time, there's a schism between Matt and Foggy, as due to Matt's troubled relationship with Karen, and his own troubles as Daredevil, he doesn't help Foggy in his campaign. Foggy feels abandoned and Matt isn't really able to explain without revealing his secret. However, once Foggy wins the election, the two reconcile and Foggy offers Matt an opportunity to become assistant to the DA.
Later, Foggy is blackmailed by the mysterious Mr. Kline, and is forced by him to prosecute the Black Widow, who is defended by Matt. This again severed their longtime friendship and Matt left for San Francisco with the Widow. They again reconciled when Foggy was badly wounded when he was investigating a criminal conspiracy by Black Spectre
Black Spectre
Black Spectre is the name a fictional organization in the Marvel Universe which first appeared in Daredevil #108.It is also the name of a fictional supervillain who first appeared in Moon Knight #25.-Black Spectre :...
, and Matt came back to New York to help him in his fight against crime.
The Storefront
After losing the re-election for District Attorney to Blake Tower (and a slurring campaign against him by the Jester), Foggy resumes his career as counselor, again with Matt, in a free clinic called "The Storefront". Nelson and Murdock are partners again. During this time, Becky Blake, a Law student, is hired to work as the firm's secretary.It is by this time that Foggy and Debbie's long courtship ends in marriage.
Sometime later, Elektra is hired by the Kingpin
Kingpin (comics)
The Kingpin is a fictional character, a supervillain in the . Kingpin is one of the most feared and powerful crime lords in the Marvel Universe. The character is a major adversary of Daredevil, the Punisher, and Spider-Man...
to assassinate Foggy. However, upon confronting Foggy, he recognizes her as "Matt's girl". Unable to kill Foggy after this, Elektra abandons her assignment, which leads to her (temporary) death at the hands of Bullseye
Bullseye (comics)
Bullseye is a fictional character, a supervillain in the Marvel Comics universe.A psychopathic assassin, Bullseye uses the opportunities afforded by his line of work to exercise his homicidal tendencies and to work out his own personal vendetta against Daredevil.Although he possesses no...
.
The Decline and fall of Nelson and Murdock
Shortly after that, Foggy's marriage begins to go sour, as he is an easy going fellow whom his wife — who has become quite a snob — wants, unsuccessfully, to transform into a high socialite: the truth is that she feels she has married a "boring lawyer" and eventually falls in the arms of Mycah Synn, jungle crime lord. Even though Debbie returns to Foggy when she finds out that Synn is an abusive brute, their marriage is badly damaged and they eventually divorce.The Nelson and Murdock firm suffers from lack of customers. One of the reasons is that Foggy was asked by Debbie to lie in favour of Mycah Synn — or else she would leave him — and later admits his malpractice in order to denounce Synn's crimes. Another reason is the suicide of Heather Glenn, which drives to his partner Murdock — who's still brooding over the death of Elektra Natchios — to lose interest in his work and devote more and more time to his costumed career. Foggy can't fight alone against the lack of clients and the cascading of bills, and one day Matt returns to find an angry Foggy as the Nelson & Murdock premises are being closed for being unable to pay the rent.
Foggy is so depressed that he almost considers suicide, though while he is on the roof of a high building brooding about how his life's got screwed, he gets in the way of a dangerous fight between the Vulture
Vulture (comics)
The Vulture is the name of six comic book supervillains in the Marvel Comics universe. The best known Vulture in the Marvel Universe is Adrian Toomes, an elderly enemy of Spider-Man created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko in The Amazing Spider-Man #2 .-Golden Age Vulture:In Young Men #26, a scientist...
and Daredevil, and the immediacy of such perilous situation makes him realize that he much prefers to be alive, after all.
Shortly later, Foggy and Glorianna O'Breen (a recent ex-girlfriend of Matt) fall in love with each other as they are unsuccessfully trying to locate Murdock (who is the victim of a plot by the Kingpin to bring him down). Foggy and Glorianna are happy together for a while, but when Nelson defends a corporation for dropping toxic waste in rivers, Glorianna is disillusioned and feels he's doing something wrong, from a moral standpoint. Foggy refuses to defend his client when he learns that the company is owned by the Kingpin, but Glorianna leaves him.
When Daredevil's identity is outed to the press by an assistant of Ben Urich
Ben Urich
Ben Urich is a Marvel Comics character, usually appearing in comic books featuring Daredevil and Spider-Man. Created by Roger McKenzie and Gene Colan, he first appeared in Daredevil #153 ....
, Murdock fakes his death and assumes the fake identity of "Jack Battlin", not telling about this to close friends like Foggy, Karen Page
Karen Page
Karen Page is a fictional character in Marvel Comics' Daredevil series created by writer Stan Lee and artist Bill Everett. She first appeared in Daredevil #1 .-Character overview:...
or Ben Urich. During that time, Foggy maintains a solo career as lawyer. As the assumption of a different identity and a life without roots takes its toll in Matt's sanity, Karen gets the intuition that the "new Daredevil" that recently introduced himself to her might be Matt himself. She enlists Foggy's help "to search a man", and they end finding that Matt is still alive, as they meet him at Jack Battlin's apartment in a state of stupor, with his yellow Daredevil uniform but without the mask. It is then when Foggy finally learns about Matt's secret identity, and he's quite sore for some time about his old friend having kept such a secret from him, but they eventually reconcile and become law partners again.
"Sharpe, Nelson & Murdock"
It is then when Rosalynd Sharpe, a famous and controversial Boston attorney, offers for Nelson and Murdock to become her associates. Rosalind and Foggy seem to know each other well, which surprises Matt. It is later revealed that Rosalind Sharpe is Nelson's biological mother: she divorced her husband and abandoned her son in order to be able to pursue her career as a lawyer. It was in fact, Sharpe's career that enticed her son to become a lawyer.Around this time, Foggy starts dating Liz Allan, remaining with her through such moments as the unexpected 'resurrection' of her father-in-law Norman Osborn
Green Goblin
The Green Goblin is a fictional character, a supervillain who appears in the comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by writer Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, and first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man #14 ....
. Later, Foggy's relationship with Liz Allan is ruined when the villain Mysterio
Mysterio
Mysterio is the name of three fictional characters, all of which are supervillains and enemies of Spider-Man in the . The original Mysterio was created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko and first appears in Amazing Spider-Man #13, although it was later retconned that the aliens seen in Amazing...
manipulates him into having an affair with another woman, and then making it appear as if Nelson has murdered the woman after the affair (which Foggy can't remember clearly as he was drugged by Mysterio). Liz forsakes Foggy after a brief exchange in prison, where she just asks him if he cheated on her. As Foggy admits so, she leaves him without allowing any further explanation. After the machinations by Mysterio are disclosed, Foggy is set free, but he feels so bad about having failed Liz, that he doesn't have the heart to even attempt resuming the relationship.
Another outcome of the Mysterio frame, is that Sharpe fires him without even bothering to investigate the circumstances which lead to the arrest of her own son. She forsakes Foggy as she doesn't want the murder affair to bring bad publicity to the firm. When Matt Murdock starts preparing Foggy's defense, she orders him to stand down not wanting him to involve their firm in the case resulting in Matt quitting the firm out of disgust.
Around this time, Foggy personally counsels superheroes on diverse occasions, such as when he takes the case of the telekinetic superhero Vance Astrovik, who has ended up killing his abusive father in a fit of rage. Foggy loses the case, as his opposition convinces the jury that Vance could have stopped his father without killing him. Other clients he has personally represented are Carol Danvers and the Fantastic Four
Fantastic Four
The Fantastic Four is a fictional superhero team appearing in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The group debuted in The Fantastic Four #1 , which helped to usher in a new level of realism in the medium...
, to whom he — wisely — recommended not to accept a buy offer for the FF estate by the Gideon Corporation (although Reed Richards ultimately decided to sell).
Nelson & Murdock ride again together
In the aftermath of the gruelling attack of Mysterio to Daredevil's life, in the course of which Karen Page, Matt's longtime girlfriend, is murdered, Foggy and Matt find themselves without their women and without their jobs. Murdock then finds out that he's the sole beneficiary of Karen's wealthy life. Murdock then proposes to Nelson to resume their partnership, using the money to build the new premises where Matt's old house — blown up by the Kingpin — had once been. Nelson responds with enthusiasm and the two partners stride towards a new future. About this time, Rosalynd Sharpe tries to contact Foggy to offer him work again, without success, as Nelson knows now where his real family is.Recently, Matt is revealed to the world as Daredevil by the media and is eventually arrested. After Foggy goes to visit Matt in prison with private investigator Dakota North
Dakota North
Dakota North is a fictional character that has appeared in various comic book series published by Marvel Comics. Originally the star of her own limited series and later a part of the supporting cast of Daredevil, the character exists in Marvel's main shared universe, known as the Marvel...
, he is stabbed and seriously injured by several inmates. Matt hears his friend's heartbeat slowly cease, and Foggy is declared dead sometime after the ambulance takes him away. Murdock later attends Foggy's funeral only for Foggy's grieving mother, Rosalynd Sharpe, to blame him for her son's death.
Later it is revealed that Foggy is not dead, but was rather placed in the witness protection program, where he is recovering from his wounds and beginning to assume a new identity. He attempts to escape in an effort to reunite with Matt, only to be captured by the Mafia
Mafia
The Mafia is a criminal syndicate that emerged in the mid-nineteenth century in Sicily, Italy. It is a loose association of criminal groups that share a common organizational structure and code of conduct, and whose common enterprise is protection racketeering...
, who in turn are slaughtered by ninja
Ninja
A or was a covert agent or mercenary of feudal Japan specializing in unorthodox arts of war. The functions of the ninja included espionage, sabotage, infiltration, and assassination, as well as open combat in certain situations...
s. They return him to his former captors, after informing him that they would be watching. Meanwhile, his friend Murdock — unaware of all this — goes to Europe following the track of the man who ordered Foggy's murder, and ultimately discovers that an ailing Vanessa Fisk is behind everything. Vanessa reveals to Murdock that she is about to die, and had planned all that to take revenge on what she believes the real source behind her illness: the misery that the war between Daredevil and her husband has brought to her life. She offers Murdock a deal to give him his life back, but Daredevil refuses and leaves, without allowing Vanessa to tell him that Foggy is still alive.
Matt finds out that Vanessa has carried her part of the deal anyway, as the former director of the FBI is found — apparently — having committed suicide and leaving papers which point that Murdock was framed on purpose. Matt returns to New York and declares to have been a hostage of the Punisher
Punisher
The Punisher is a fictional character, an anti-hero appearing in comic books based in the . Created by writer Gerry Conway and artists John Romita, Sr., and Ross Andru, the character made its first appearance in The Amazing Spider-Man #129 .The Punisher is a vigilante who employs murder,...
since the prison break that got him free. At that point, Foggy, fleeing from his life in protected custody, reaches Matt's home and both are reunited. Along with Becky Blake, Foggy successfully clears all of Matt's troubles with the Law and the Bar
Bar association
A bar association is a professional body of lawyers. Some bar associations are responsible for the regulation of the legal profession in their jurisdiction; others are professional organizations dedicated to serving their members; in many cases, they are both...
. After that, Murdock and Nelson ask Becky to join their firm as a new partner and move to new quarters, taking only referrals to avoid being easily located by Daredevil stalkers.
Nelson, Blake and Murdock
Melvin Potter, a.k.a. The Gladiator is accused of committing murder in the Mental institution where he is enclosed. Becky Blake takes his defense, with the opposition of Murdock, who thinks it wise not to have the firm associated with a supervillain case. After Becky gets Foggy's support and successfully argues with Murdock, They visit Potter, where Matt realizes that Potter is not lying. Yet Potter commits another murder and escapes the institution, re-appearing in the streets with his Gladiator costume and going on a killing spree. When Potter ransoms Matt's wife Milla DonovanMilla Donovan
Milla Donovan is a supporting character in the Marvel Comics comic-book series Daredevil. She was created by Brian Michael Bendis and Alex Maleev and first appeared in Daredevil vol. 2 #41...
and Daredevil goes to her rescue, he realizes that Potter is under some kind of mind-control, and after his detention he completely loses his mind. This is all part of a plot masterminded by an old enemy of Daredevil, Mr. Fear, who is also promoting a gang war to take Hell's Kitchen by supplying lowlifes with a drug that makes them fearless.
Mr. Fear wants to destroy Murdock's life, and this could mean the end of the Nelson, Blake & Murdock firm as well. Foggy recently began to feel the pressure of dealing with Matt's life as Daredevil, as Mr Fear swore to ruin Matt's, The Hand
Hand (comics)
The Hand is a fictional supervillainous organization in the Marvel Comics universe.The Hand is an order of evil mystical ninja who are heavily involved in organized crime and mercenary activities such as assassination plots. The Hand covets power above all other objectives. They are primarily based...
taken an interest in Matt, and the reemergence of the Kingpin. All these powerful players threatened Matt and his love ones. On top of that Foggy had to deal with Matt's growing irrational behavior, such as skipping court dates and his affair with Karen. The breaking point was when he found out that Matt made a deal with the Kingpin. Hurt that Matt wouldn't even talk to him before making a deal with a man who has made both their lives miserable, he then fires Matt from the law firm, effectively cutting Matt off from his normal life and making it easier for him to join The Hand. However Foggy immediately regrets his decision and is worried that Matt has gone over the edge and started killing people. He blames himself because he as a friend was supposed to help Matt and he feels that "just when he needed someone to lead him back to the path, I shoved him off a cliff... and I'm afraid he's still falling".
Foggy was later disbarred when he stood up to a judge in protest when the judge overturned the jury's verdict of not punishing the victims of police brutality, who were the only surviving people from the protest rally against Oscorp for condemning their building which Bullseye destroyed. Later when Foggy goes to visit the judge with Dakota, they use a compromising photograph to force him to tell the truth about his and Dakota's recent misfortunes, and learn that the judge is on the Kingpin's payroll. Recognizing these actions were intended to get at Matt, Dakota decides the two of them need to locate Matt.
During the Shadowland
Shadowland (comics)
"Shadowland" is a 2010 Marvel Comics storyline centering around Daredevil and other "street level" superheroes in the Marvel Universe.-Publication history:The storyline included a number of tie-in limited series and one shots...
storyline, Foggy Nelson arrives at the gates of the Shadowland Fortress and tries to reach Matt verbally, but is ignored and cannot get inside. He decides that Matt has saved him so many times, that now it is his turn to save Matt. Foggy scales the walls to reach Matt where he is intercepted by the White Tiger. She leads him to Daredevil who sits among the defeated heroes. Matt decides to kill Foggy himself, but he is 'purged' of the demon controlling him thanks to Iron Fist using his chi punch to 'heal' Daredevil.
Following Matt's departure from New York to rediscover himself, Foggy's actions are unknown. Though he has been re-instated as an attorney he has to move his office to a new location (since his previous office was burned down during the riots.) and has to run his business by himself after Becky Blake's resignation due to her inability to trust Murdock. Foggy has helped T'Challa
Black Panther (comics)
The Black Panther is a fictional character in the Marvel Comics universe. Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and penciller-co-plotter Jack Kirby, he first appeared in Fantastic Four #52...
- Matt's temporary replacement in Hell's Kitchen, needing to re-learn his own limitations after his recent war
Doomwar
"Doomwar" is a 2010 event storyline published by Marvel Comics. It deals with Doctor Doom's covert overthrow of the royal family of Wakanda and the following clash with various members of the superhuman community.-Part 1:...
with Doctor Doom
Doctor Doom
Victor von Doom is a fictional character who appears in Marvel Comics publications . Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in Fantastic Four #5 wearing his trademark metal mask and green cloak...
- to establish a new identity for himself by providing him with false immigration papers identifying T'Challa as Mr Okonowo from the Democratic Republic of Congo, T'Challa assuring Foggy that he will ensure Foggy's role in the papers' creation can never be traced back to him. After Matt returns to Hell's Kitchen from his adventure in New Mexico, it is revealed that Foggy has lost some weight and is now slim in appearance. Matt assures Foggy that he has found a new place to re-establish Nelson and Murdock with a roof-top access point for him to use as Daredevil and that despite his problems regarding Shadowland, he should be able fix his problems and get his law license back.
The New Nelson and Murdock
While Foggy and Matt succeed in starting up their private business again, problems arise when due to Matt's previous allegations of being Daredevil are brought up in the first case they are representing it leads to disaster, so instead they have to change their business strategy to training their clients on how they can represent themselves in court .1602
In Marvel 1602Marvel 1602
Marvel 1602 is an eight-issue comic book limited series published in 2003 by Marvel Comics. The limited series was written by Neil Gaiman, penciled by Andy Kubert, and digitally painted by Richard Isanove; Scott McKowen illustrated the distinctive scratchboard covers...
, Foggy is a seaship captain who regularly ferries the Daredevil of 1602 across the English Channel
English Channel
The English Channel , often referred to simply as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates southern England from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest to in the Strait of Dover...
. He is suspicious of the blind minstrel, who suggests, with a smile, that he should keep his thoughts to himself.
MC2
In the alternate future known as MC2, Foggy Nelson marries Liz Allan and is the stepfather to Norman "Normie" Osborn IIINormie Osborn
Normie Osborn is the grandson of Norman Osborn and the son of Harry Osborn, the first and second Green Goblin, respectively. As Harry Osborn and Peter Parker were best friends, he is also Spider-Man's godson.-Fictional character biography:...
. He has outlived Murdock, who has been murdered. (though his soul lives on in Darkdevil
Darkdevil
Darkdevil is a fictional character, a superhero in the "MC2" future of the Marvel Comics universe. He was created by Tom DeFalco and Pat Olliffe and first appeared in Spider-Girl #2. -Fictional character biography:...
.) At one point, Foggy is shown to be acting as counsel to Wilson Fisk
Kingpin (comics)
The Kingpin is a fictional character, a supervillain in the . Kingpin is one of the most feared and powerful crime lords in the Marvel Universe. The character is a major adversary of Daredevil, the Punisher, and Spider-Man...
, but he quits as Fisk's attorney when he learns that Fisk was responsible for Murdock's death.
Foggy also outlives Liz. After his wife's death, he buries himself in his work and he blames himself when Normie goes temporarily insane, taking the mantle of the Green Goblin
Green Goblin
The Green Goblin is a fictional character, a supervillain who appears in the comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by writer Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, and first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man #14 ....
again. After Normie reforms, the two finally bond.
When Normie gets engaged to the former supervillain Raptor
Raptor (comics)
Raptor is the name of two fictional characters in the Marvel Comics' universe.The first Raptor appeared in the Spider-Girl series in the alternative future MC2 universe. She is the daughter of the criminal Blackie Drago .The second Raptor appears in the The Amazing Spider-Man...
, Foggy does not really approve — and Foggy again feels guilty when Normie is once again temporarily transformed into a supervillain.
Darkdevil works as an intern at Nelson's law firm and is shown giving legal advice to Normie and Raptor. Foggy is unaware of Darkdevil's ties to Murdock and Spider-Man, though Normie has noticed Reilly Tyne's resemblance to Peter Parker.
Ultimate Foggy
In the Marvel Ultimate universe, Foggy is Matthew Murdock's college roommate. Recently, in Ultimate Spider-Man Annual #2, an adult Foggy Nelson talks with Spider-Man. He made a brief appearance in Ultimates 2 as part of a legal team, with Murdock, representing Bruce Banner in a case against him for his actions as the Hulk.Film
- Foggy Nelson appears in the 2003 film adaptation of DaredevilDaredevil (film)Daredevil is a 2003 American superhero film written and directed by Mark Steven Johnson. Based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name, the film stars Ben Affleck as Matt Murdock, a blind lawyer who fights for justice in the courtroom and out of the courtroom as the masked vigilante Daredevil...
played by Jon FavreauJon FavreauJonathan Kolia "Jon" Favreau is an American actor, screenwriter, film director and comedian. As an actor, he is best known for his roles in Rudy, Swingers , Very Bad Things, and The Break-Up. His notable directorial efforts include Elf, Iron Man and its sequel, and Cowboys & Aliens...
. The character's background and relationship with Matt Murdock are faithful to the comics, but differ in relation to the other chief characters. The Director's CutDirector's cutA director's cut is a specially edited version of a film, and less often TV series, music video, commercials, comic book or video games, that is supposed to represent the director's own approved edit...
DVD version includes many additional scenes rounding out the two characters and their friendship.
External links
- Foggy Nelson at Marvel.com