Eric Dwayne Collins (born June 20, 1968) better known by his stage name RBX (standing for "Reality Born Unknown"), is a former rapper and R&B singer from Long Beach, California. Contrary to popular belief, Collins is not related to funk legend Bootsy Collins, although the two are close friends.^[2]

Death Row Records[link]

RBX joined Death Row Records in 1992 with his cousins Snoop Dogg and Daz Dillinger of The Dogg Pound.^[3] A former college student and retail manager, Collins wisely declined to sign blank contracts like his Death Row brethren and his tenure on the label would be brief but memorable. Having made commanding cameos on The Chronic in 1992 and Doggystyle in 1993, RBX left the label in 1994 and signed with the lesser known Premeditated Records. He released The RBX Files in 1995, his debut solo album that was produced by former Chronic production team member Greg "Gregski" Royal. The album abandoned the popular West coast G-Funk style in favor of a gritty, dungeon-like sound more associated with New York. The single "A.W.O.L." was an attack on Death Row, Suge Knight, Dre and others, with X comparing the dubious business practices there to the days of Ruthless Records, Jerry Heller, and Eazy-E.

Aftermath Entertainment[link]

In 1996 RBX visited Dr. Dre at home and apologized for his harsh words on record and in magazines, and immediately signed to Dre's new Aftermath label. He was featured on the 1996 compilation Dr. Dre Presents... The Aftermath on the solo song "Blunt Time" and the group track "East Coast/West Coast Killaz" with KRS-One and Nas, with both songs produced by Dre. Lost in the infamous 1998 reshuffle of Aftermath, RBX once again went solo and released his follow up album No Mercy, No Remorse on an independent label in 1999. He did reappear with Aftermath to cameo on Eminem's second album in 2000.

Other[link]

He is currently unsigned having been most recently signed to Snoop Dogg's Doggystyle Records, along with many fellow ex-Death Row Records artists such as Tha Dogg Pound, Bad Azz, Lady Of Rage, Warren G, Nate Dogg, Tray Dee, Kurupt, Daz Dillinger and Soopafly.

RBX was featured in the film Rhyme and Punishment a 2011 documentary that chronicles Rap artists who have done time in jail.

Discography[link]

• 1995: The RBX Files
• 1999: No Mercy, No Remorse
• 2004: Ripp Tha Game Bloody (Street Muzic)
• 2005: The Shining
• 2007: Broken Silence
• 2010: Concrete Criminal Gang (with Bigg Rocc)
• 2011: Stay Of Execution (as The N'Matez - with Lady of Rage & Tha Dogg Pound)

Appearances[link]

This section is empty. You can help by adding to it.

Filmography[link]

• Rhyme and Punishment (2011)

References[link]

Delmar Drew Arnaud^[1] (born May 25,^[2] 1973, Long Beach, California), better known by his stage name Daz Dillinger (formerly Dat Nigga Daz) is an American hip hop producer and rapper mostly known for his membership in the rap duo Tha Dogg Pound, with Kurupt, and his work with Death Row Records.

Death Row years[link]

[edit] The Chronic, Tha Dogg Pound and Dogg Food

Daz began his career on Death Row Records as a producer for co-founder Suge Knight's then-girlfriend, Paradise. He was signed to the label and subsequently began working with Dr. Dre on the breakthrough west coast album, The Chronic;^[3] during its recording, he met and grew close to Kurupt, whom he would soon work with professionally. The two formed Tha Dogg Pound for Doggystyle, the debut album of his cousin the record label's up-and-coming star Snoop Dogg. The critically acclaimed album, as well as their later single "What Would You Do?", saw Tha Dogg Pound partake in the rivalry between Dr. Dre and former N.W.A. groupmate Eazy-E, by dissing artists on Eazy's Ruthless Records.

Dillinger was more heavily involved in Doggystyle than was his groupmate; while it was produced and mixed by Dre, Arnaud was featured on one track and received co-production credit on two ("Serial Killa" and "For All My Niggaz and Bitches") he also produced tracks for Above The Rim and Murder Was the Case soundtracks. Following Daz and Kurupt put out their debut group album, Dogg Food, to rave reviews and platinum sales. While the duo dissed Ruthless act Bone Thugs-N-Harmony on the album, Dogg Food also saw the duo engage in yet another conflict, this time the beef Suge and new signee 2Pac initiated against Bad Boy Entertainment's Puff Daddy and Notorious B.I.G.; Daz and Kurupt would expand the feud to include Capone-N-Noreaga, Tragedy Khadafi and Mobb Deep with their Snoop-assisted single "New York, New York."

[edit] Head producer, All Eyez on Me & Retaliation, Revenge & Get Back

As the intercoastal rivalry escalated, and Suge Knight's increasingly intense strong-arm tactics entered the studio, head producer Dr. Dre steadily grew resentful of the label's dangerous atmosphere. Beginning with Dogg Food, which Daz produced, Dre no longer produced whole Death Row albums; in his latter days as in-house producer, he worked only with 2Pac, producing three tracks (California Love, which was originally supposed to appear on the Aftermath compilation album, California Love Remix, and Can't C Me) for the rapper's definitive album All Eyez on Me. Even before Dre left the label to found his own Aftermath Entertainment, Daz went to produce the hit songs "2 Of Amerikaz Most Wanted", "Ambitionz Az A Ridah", and "I Ain't Mad At Cha" among other tracks which solidified his status as a talented and successful producer. Arnaud effectively took over as head producer, crafting most of the double-album's first disc and providing beats for Snoop Dogg's sophomore effort, Tha Doggfather, from which Dre's production was absent. His status as head producer was made official once Dre left, and continued on even after 2Pac's murder and the artist-exodus it initiated. During his tenure heading the label's sound, Daz contributed production to the Gridlock'd soundtrack, Lady of Rage's Necessary Roughness, and Nate Dogg's G-Funk Classics, Vol. 1. His production would also pop up on the unofficial Snoop Dogg release Dead Man Walkin put out by Suge in 2001, after Daz himself had left the label.

Dillinger went on to put out his own solo album, Retaliation, Revenge and Get Back on Death Row in 1998; Nate Dogg, Kurupt and Snoop had already left the label, followed shortly thereafter by Daz himself. During this time a short-lived feud sparked between Daz and Snoop, regarding the latter's words against Suge Knight and the former's status at the label and disses inherent in the album, which Snoop Dogg later dropped out of respect for his cousin.^[4]

Off Death Row[link]

Solo career & feud with Kurupt[link]

After ending his tenure at Death Row, Arnaud would go on to produce for acts like Kurupt, Soopafly, and B-Legit; he put out the album R.A.W. in 2000, the flagship release for his own D.P.G. Recordz, which would for some time function as a vehicle for releasing solo albums. He and Kurupt united in 2001 for a second album, Dillinger & Young Gotti, which received mixed reviews, under the name D.P.G. (as Suge still owned rights to the name 'Tha Dogg Pound' at the time). The group unity was short-lived, as Kurupt would subsequently re-sign with Death Row, prompting his former groupmate to diss him several times in song and interviews.^[5][6] Daz dissed Death Row with "Catch U In The Club", "U Ain't Shit" and a skit called "A Message to Ricardo Brown". Kurupt respond with "No Vaseline Part 2." The feud carried on from 2002 to 2005, while Dillinger released several solo efforts, including a 'DPGC' album with Snoop Dogg, Soopafly and Bad Azz and Tha Dogg Pound Gangsta LP on his own.

Reconciliation & upcoming projects[link]

In 2005, Daz and Kurupt reconciled their differences at a west coast unity event hosted by Snoop Dogg;^[7] Kurupt proceeded to leave Death Row a second time, procuring rights to the name of Tha Dogg Pound and re-forming the duo with his former partner, who on his part ended his brief tenure at Jermaine Dupri's So So Def. The duo immediately commenced to releasing albums, including Dillinger & Young Gotti II: The Saga Continuez, the Let'z Ryde Tonite EP and Cali iz Active with Snoop Dogg as the DPG.^[3] Their next proper album came in the form of 2007's Dogg Chit, and then in 2009 with "That Was Then, This is Now". In the works for Daz are two Dogg Pound releases, one entitled 100 Wayz--formerly Westcoast Aftershocc, through Snoop Dogg's Doggystyle records, and one produced in conjunction with Pete Rock.^[8] August 1, 2008, Daz Dillinger offered the new owners of Death Row Records to record videos for Dogg Food; he also plans to repackage and release unreleased material.^[9]

Discography[link]

Studio albums[link]

• 1998: Retaliation, Revenge and Get Back
• 2000: R.A.W.
• 2002: This Is the Life I Lead
• 2003: DPGC: U Know What I'm Throwin' Up
• 2004: I Got Love in These Streetz
• 2005: Tha Dogg Pound Gangsta LP
• 2005: Gangsta Crunk
• 2006: So So Gangsta
• 2007: Gangsta Party
• 2008: Only on the Left Side
• 2009: Public Enemiez
• 2010: Matter of Dayz
• 2011: D.A.Z.
• TBA: When We All Get to Heaven

Compilation albums[link]

• 2001: Who Ride wit Us: Tha Compalation, Vol. 1
• 2002: To Live and Die in CA
• 2002: Who Ride wit Us: Tha Compalation, Vol. 2
• 2008: Who Ride wit Us: Tha Compalation, Vol. 3
• 2009: Who Ride wit Us: Tha Compalation, Vol. 4

Collaboration albums[link]

• 2001: Long Beach 2 Fillmoe (with JT the Bigga Figga)
• 2001: Game for Sale (with JT the Bigga Figga)
• 2003: Southwest (with Nuwine)
• 2009: Get That Paper (with Fratthouse)
• TBA: West Coast Gangsta Shit (with W.C.)
• TBA: Stay of Execution^[10] (with The N'Matez)^[11][12]

EPs[link]

• 2001: Makaveli & Dillinger Don't Go 2 Sleep (with Makaveli)
• TBA: Witit Witit^[13]

Mixtapes[link]

• 2004: DPG: Till The Day I Die Mixtape
• 2005: So So Gangsta - The Mixtape
• 2005: West Coast Gangstas - Starring: Tha Dogg Pound (Hosted by DJ Kurupt)
• 2009: Dillinger & Makaveli - Tribute: Streetz of LA Special Edition (Hosted by DJ Nik Bean)
• 2010: R.O.W. (Return Of Westcoast)

Unreleased albums[link]

• 2006: So So Gangsta Unreleased

Awards[link]

• Nominated in 1996 Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group (with Kurupt): "What Would You Do"

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• Daz Dillinger on Myspace
• Daz Dillinger at MTV
• Daz Dillinger at the Internet Movie Database
• Interview

{{Navbox musical artist | name = Tha Dogg Pound | title = Tha Dogg Pound | bodyclass = hlist | background = group_or_band | above =

• Kurupt (discography)
• Daz Dillinger (discography)

• Snoop Dogg
• {{small|Big C-Style))
• {{small|The D.O.C.))
• Nate Dogg
• Soopafly
• Bad Azz
• RBX
• Lady of Rage
• Lil' C-Style
• Tray Deee
• Warren G
• Goldie Loc
• Lil' Half Dead
• Roscoe
• Big Pimpin'
• {{small|Lil' Pimpin'))
• Butch Cassidy
• {{small|Slip Capone))
• {{small|TC))
• {{small|Mr. Malik a.k.a. Lil Hershey Loc))
• {{small|Mac Lucci))
• {{small|D-Dimes))
• {{small|Pilot))
• {{small|Big Chan))
• {{small|Coniyac))
• {{small|Kola))
• {{small|Big Doty))
• {{small|E-White))
• {{small|Tha Twinz))
• {{small|Trip Loc))
• Wayniac))

This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. It includes attribution to IMDb, which may not be a reliable source for biographical information. Please help improve this article by introducing reliable sources. Tagged since August 2010. It relies largely or entirely upon a single source. Tagged since August 2010. Its tone or style may not reflect the formal tone used on Wikipedia. Tagged since May 2011.

Robin Yvette Allen (born June 11, 1968), better known by her stage name The Lady of Rage, is an American rapper and actress best known for collaborations with several Death Row Records artists, including Dr. Dre and Snoop Doggy Dogg on the seminal albums The Chronic and Doggystyle.^[1] She has been described as "one of the most skillful female MCs" with a "mastery of flow" and "hard-core lyrics".^[2]

Musical career[link]

In the summer of 1988, the Lady of Rage met Shahkim of the Original Outlaw Brothers, an upstart rap group from Queens, New York. From the moment Shahkim heard her rap he was convinced she was the best female rapper around and after convincing her he could get her a record deal, he brought her to his group. The members of the Outlaw Brothers made Rage a member of the group and they eventually were signed to a production deal with the L.A. Posse ( who went on to produce several big hits for LL Cool J). At the time, the LA Posses had several artist in the camp. MC Breeze, The Real Roxanne, and they also had several relationships with different labels. Rage, along with all the artists in the camp worked diligently out of Chung King Studios in lower Manhattan recording, writing and more recording. In 1991, Lady of Rage met with Chubb Rock, providing vocals for his track, "Bring Em Home Safe" on his The One album, which she recorded under the name of 'Rockin’ Robin'.^[3]

Dr. Dre then discovered her after the L.A.Posse were letting him listen to some of the tracks on their album and the vocals she recorded for the L.A. Posse's They Come in All Colors in 1991.^[4] She appeared on several tracks from Dr. Dre's 1992 classic The Chronic album, and on Snoop Doggy Dogg's Doggystyle in 1993.^[5]

In 1994, she had a hit single with "Afro Puffs" (from the soundtrack to Above the Rim) which reached #5 on the Billboard Hot Rap Singles chart.^[6] She also made an appearance on Tha Dogg Pound's album Dogg Food on the track "Do What I Feel". Though she had made more than a dozen appearances on soundtracks as well as albums from her Death Row Records cohorts, the Lady of Rage didn't release an album until '97. Her debut solo album, Necessary Roughness, was released in June 1997 and peaked at #7 on the Billboard R&B Album chart and 32 on the Billboard 200 Albums chart.^[7] Her solo album was originally called Eargasm and was continually pushed back - it was meant to have been the next album on Death Row Records after The Chronic, and then after Doggystyle, before finally being released in 1997.^[8]

After the release of her album and a guest-appearance with Gang Starr alongside Kurupt ("You Know My Steez (Three Men and a Lady Remix)") in 1998,^[9] Rage left Death Row Records and the music industry generally to focus on acting, appearing in an episode of Kenan & Kel.^[10] The Lady of Rage also went on to be featured in several television sitcoms, most notably as Coretta Cox in the very well received The Steve Harvey Show on The WB from 1996 to 2002 - she also had a small part in Next Friday as Baby D, big little sister of Day Day's ex girlfriend.^[11]

In 2000, she made another rapping appearance on Snoop Dogg's "Set It Off" on his album Tha Last Meal, a solo track "Unfucwitable" on Snoop Dogg Presents...Doggy Style Allstars Vol. 1 and "Batman & Robin", which appeared on Snoop Dogg's Paid tha Cost to Be da Boss album.^[12]

In 2007 she signed to Shante Broadus' label, Boss Lady Entertainment, and recorded a street album called From VA 2 LA.^[13] She also made appearances on Bigg Snoop Dogg Presents…Welcome to tha Chuuch: Da Album and Cali Iz Active.^[14]

She is currently a part of the FEM (Females Earning Money) Movement along with fellow female rappers Babs (of Da Band), Lady Luck, and Amil.^[15] In 2008, she performed with MC Lyte, Yo-Yo, and Salt-n-Pepa at the BET Hip Hop Awards.^[16] In the summer of 2010 she joined Snoop Dogg during his headlining set at the Rock the Bells festival concert series, along with Warren G, RBX and Tha Dogg Pound for a performance of the classic Doggystyle album in its entirety.

Rapping technique[link]

Lady of Rage describes much of her rapping technique in the book How to Rap - she notes the importance of having a strong vocabulary,^[17] writing poetry,^[18] having different styles of flow,^[19] using 'rests',^[20] researching lyrics,^[21] taking your time to write lyrics,^[22] working with producers,^[23] doing guide vocals,^[24] and her compound rhymes in the track 'Unfucwitable' are broken down.^[25]

Discography[link]

1997 Necessary Roughness

• Released: 1997
• Label: Death Row / Interscope

2005 Va to La

• Released: 2005
• Label: Boss Lady Entertainment

2011 Verbal Abuse Released: 2011 TBC

• Label: TBC

Filmography[link]

• The Steve Harvey Show
• Kenan & Kel
• Next Friday
• Ride (film)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Lady of Rage at Allmusic
• The Lady of Rage at the Internet Movie Database

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (November 2009)

The Kingpin (Wilson Fisk) is a fictional character, a supervillain in the Marvel Comics Universe. 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. IGN's list of the Top 100 Comic Book Villains Of All Time List ranked The Kingpin as #10.^[1]

The name 'Kingpin', is a reference to the title crime boss in mafia slang nomenclature.

Publication history[link]

This section requires expansion.

The character first appears in The Amazing Spider-Man #50 (July 1967), and was created by writer Stan Lee and artist John Romita, Sr, who based his physical appearance on actor Sydney Greenstreet.^{[citation needed]} There the Kingpin appeared as an adversary of Spider-Man, but eventually became the archenemy of Daredevil.^[2] He continues to be a dangerous and recurring opponent of Spider-Man, Daredevil, and the Punisher.

Fictional character biography[link]

Wilson Fisk began his life as a poor child, ridiculed by his classmates, as he was an unpopular overweight child. When he was repeatedly harassed by bullies, Fisk began training himself in physical combat. Using his new-found strength, he intimidated the bullies into joining his gang, and he started on the road towards being one of the most successful criminals in New York City. His first gang was a small one with only a few thugs. He eventually was found by crime lord Don Rigoletto. Fisk became Don Rigoletto's bodyguard and right-hand man. Eventually, Fisk killed Don Rigoletto and took control of his gang, immediately becoming one of the most powerful criminals in the city.

The Kingpin remained the ruler of New York's criminal underground for a long time. However, he had made enemies with other gangs, specifically the Maggia and HYDRA, who teamed together to bring down Fisk and his gang. Fisk left for Japan, and started a spice business in order to become wealthy once more. After earning enough money, Fisk returned to New York and started gang wars, in an attempt to bring down the Maggia. With the criminal world in chaos, Fisk was able to step in and take control.

Fisk attempted a coalition of the New York mobs after hearing that Spider-Man had apparently gone out of action, and ordered the abduction of J. Jonah Jameson, but was foiled by Spider-Man in his first confrontation with the web-slinger. Frederick Foswell met the Kingpin and was captured. Spider-Man was knocked out by gas while fighting the Kingpin. He and Jameson were locked in a room which was filled with water. However Spider-Man made a web barrier filled with air, and when the door was opened he defeated the henchmen. Foswell was shot and killed while protecting Jameson.^[3]

While Fisk was a powerful crime lord, he posed as a legitimate businessman, one who made donations to charities, and seemed like a generous, wealthy man. He eventually met a woman named Vanessa, whom he married and had a son with, Richard Fisk. Vanessa did not know that Fisk was a criminal when she married him, and when she found out, she threatened to leave him if he did not give up his life of crime. He temporarily retired from crime, and the family moved back to Japan, until the existing New York gangs lured him back to New York in hopes of getting files he was known to have on the various high ranking individuals which contained "irrefutable evidence of various crimes" against them.^[4]

Richard Fisk did not find out that his father was a criminal until he was in college. After graduating, Richard told his parents he would travel through Europe. Only months after he left, they received news that Richard, who was angry after learning the truth about his father, had died in a skiing accident. However, this was not what really happened. It turned out that Richard Fisk was still alive, and was masquerading as a rival crime lord known as the Schemer, intent on toppling his father as the kingpin of crime.^[5]

Fisk contended against his rival gang-leader, the Schemer, who proved to be Richard in disguise, and battled Spider-Man in this encounter.^[5]

At his wife's behest, Fisk later divested himself of his criminal empire. He unsuccessfully attempted to kill Spider-Man once more before retiring from crime.^[6]

At one point, he became the manager and director of the Las Vegas faction of HYDRA.^[7]

Under duress, the Kingpin agreed to turn over his files to the authorities incriminating his former lieutenants. His wife Vanessa was then kidnapped by crime lords who put out a contract on his life, and he witnessed the apparent "death" of Vanessa. He then returned to a life of crime, regained control of his New York mobs, and hired Bullseye as his assassin. He set Bullseye against Daredevil. He then turned over his files as he had agreed.^[8] He then maneuvered Daredevil into battling the Hand.^[9] He secretly promoted mayoral candidate Randolph Cherryh. He then hired Elektra as his assassin. He was forced to abandon his scheme to elect Cherryh mayor when Daredevil found Vanessa alive but amnesiac and returned her to him. Fisk then sent Elektra to kill Foggy Nelson. After Bullseye killed Elektra, Fisk set Bullseye against Daredevil again.^[10]

Some time later Kingpin learned Daredevil's secret identity when Murdock's ex-girlfriend Karen Page, who had become addicted to drugs, sold the information to a drug dealer in return for a fix. The drug dealer subsequently sold the information to Fisk, who then used his influence to destroy Murdock's civilian and professional life in the Daredevil: Born Again story arc.^[11]

Kingpin also provided superpowers to the Black Cat, who at the time was dating Spider-Man, and feared her lack of powers would make her a liability to him. Kingpin hired scientists to provide her with defensive bad luck powers that would cause mishap to befall anyone that attempted to harm the Cat in combat. However unknown to the Cat, Fisk had a surprise for her as a part of plan to get revenge on Spider-Man; her new powers would also negatively affect anyone who stayed in close proximity to her for an extended time, eventually causing death. This story arc contributed to the break-up of Spider-Man and the Black Cat, and climaxed with a physical battle between Fisk and an enraged Spider-Man in Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man #100. In addition, during the course of this storyline Fisk's scientists also created the supervillains the Answer and the Spot to battle Spidey and the Cat.^{[volume & issue needed]}

Later, Fisk rehired Bullseye to investigate a New York drug war. Kingpin survived an assassination attempt by Crossbones. In retaliation, he sent Bullseye to assassinate Crossbones' employer, the Red Skull. The attempt failed, and the Kingpin then defeated the Red Skull in personal combat.^[12]

After that, Fisk began his own cable television station, partnering with an apparent Texas millionaire the Kingpin thought could be easily manipulated. However, for once, the Kingpin was the one being played as his "partners" were actually the terrorist group HYDRA. Learning of this from Nick Fury, Daredevil began to spread the word through the underworld that the Kingpin had become a HYDRA stooge, weakening his power. When the Kingpin tried to fight back, HYDRA stole the vast majority of his assets, bombed his businesses across the city and even sent a helicopter gunship to blast his skyscraper offices, telling Fisk that he was just a criminal "while we are conquerers." With his empire crumbling, the Kingpin was brought up on a federal indictment and Daredevil tricked him into getting into a fight at a bus depot. Broken and beaten, the Kingpin was given the ultimate humiliation: instead of killing him, Daredevil forgave him for what he had done.^[13]

Bailed out of jail by a rival, Fisk seemed set to be used as an errand boy by all his old employees but instead went on the run.^{[volume & issue needed]} He spent time in Japan rebuilding his empire and fighting the X-Men before he finally returned to take back New York.^{[volume & issue needed]} While there he manipulated Maya Lopez (also known as Echo) into thinking that Daredevil killed her father (although Fisk was actually responsible) to get her to kill Daredevil.^[14] However, his plan backfired when Daredevil convinced her of the truth, and she shot him in the eyes in retaliation, rendering the Kingpin blind.^[15] Fisk eventually lost his criminal empire to one of his employees, Samuel Silke, who was working with his son Richard, in a bloody Caesar-like assassination bid, using the Kingpins' new status as a blind man to rally supporters.^[16] In the aftermath, Vanessa killed Richard and fled the country with Fisk's remaining wealth while the Kingpin recuperated in an unnamed eastern-European country, broken and alone, and was given an eye transplant which restored his eyesight.^[17]

He returned, and after getting revenge on Silke by crushing his head, almost managed to regain his empire through sheer will, but was defeated by Daredevil, who declared himself the new Kingpin. Fisk was put in jail.^[18]

He later hatched a scheme to be freed and regain his wealth by giving the FBI proof in the form of the nonexistent "Murdock Papers" that Matt Murdock is Daredevil. Having made so many enemies who were in prison, Fisk was constantly under attack from the Hand, HYDRA, or any number of criminal organizations with which he had had intimate contact. The U.S. Government was hard pressed to get rid of this expensive, dangerous, legally clean master criminal, and Fisk succeeded in manipulating the FBI into gravely wounding Daredevil and providing them a sample of Daredevil's DNA.^{[volume & issue needed]} He tells Ben Urich to give the feds the location of the Night Nurse, the only medic for injured superheroes, or go to jail.^[19]

He finally succeeded in getting Matt Murdock arrested, but the FBI betrayed him at the last minute and arrested him as well, placing him in the same jail as Murdock with hopes that the two would kill each other.^{[volume & issue needed]} Ironically, the enemies were forced to team up in order to survive a prison riot which was directed at them. Finally, Murdock sacrificed the deal, refusing to let Bullseye, who was also incarcerated, leave the prison as Kingpin had planned. The fight ended with the Kingpin shot point-blank in the knee by gunfire from Bullseye intended for Murdock, while Murdock escaped.^[20]

Fisk also appeared in the Civil War War Crimes one-shot. He offered a deal to Iron Man - consideration on his sentence in exchange for information about Captain America's Resistance base. However, as his status in prison is threatened for collaborating with Stark, he betrays him; he first sets up Iron Man by revealing a gathering of supervillains by Hammerhead to create a new criminal empire, claiming it was a base of Captain America's, and gives information to the Secret Avengers instead.^{[volume & issue needed]}

He also put out a hit on Spider-Man and his loved ones after Iron Man convinced Spider-Man to unmask in public as a means of demonstrating his support for the Superhuman Registration Act. A sniper attempted to hit Spider-Man, only to hit the "secondary target" of Aunt May. Spider-Man tracked down the hit to Kingpin. He confronted the Kingpin in prison and badly beat the Kingpin in a fight in front of the prison's inmates. He decided to let the Kingpin live for a time under the humiliation of his defeat, news of which would quickly spread through the Underworld. Spider-Man vowed to return and kill the Kingpin the second his aunt died.^[21]

However, at some point later, after Matt Murdock returns to America with his name cleared, he completes Vanessa Fisk's last wish and takes on Fisk's case, getting all charges dropped in exchange for Fisk leaving the country and giving up his American citizenship. Murdock told Fisk they had to end their vendetta now as otherwise the Vanessa that the Kingpin had loved would be lost forever, as the woman she became got her last wish by having her husband and Daredevil constantly at war with each other all over again. Although the charges were dropped due to the evidence being too tainted to be brought to court, Murdock delayed the case enough so Fisk would not be able to attend his wife's funeral. Fisk is later seen visiting his wife's grave and mourning her death. Fisk later temporarily returned to New York to "[wrap] up some loose ends that he had to deal with."^[22]

In Runaways, Fisk meets with the Runaways, revealing he knew all about their parents, since they ruled Los Angeles with efficiency and vision; he never tried to take their territory nor did they invade his. He makes a deal with the Runaways to secure a mysterious object for him in exchange for protection from the government. He and his army of ninjas are defeated when the Runaways refuse to give it after they stole it, discovering that it was a device invented by the Pride. It is later revealed that Fisk was hired by an elderly woman named Lillie McGurty, who orchestrated the events so the Runaways can travel back to 1907 and ensure that she would come back to the present with them, which her past self declined.^[22]

Informed of May's survival by Mephisto as a nurse at the hospital, he decides to send a masked hitman after Anna Watson. Mary Jane goes to check on Anna, just in time to stop the hitman, who goes after her. Spider-Man saves Mary Jane and unmasks the hitman.^{[volume & issue needed]}During the course of the One More Day storyline, which ended with the removal of Peter and Mary-Jane's marriage from all memories, the situation changes so nobody (including Fisk and with the exception of Mary-Jane and Deadpool) knows Spider-Man's secret identity.^{[volume & issue needed]}

[edit] Return of the King

Kingpin returns in the Daredevil arc, "Return of the King". There, it reveals he has spent the past year living a normal life in a small Spanish fishing village. There he meets and falls in love with Marta, a young mother of two. He finds himself trying to overcome his former life as a crime boss, only to later find Marta and her kids murdered by Lady Bullseye, and the Hand, who then brutally attack him, stabbing him through the shoulders with two katanas. When he asks why, Lady Bullseye replies "The reasons are far too numerous, but if you want a specific cause, ask Daredevil."^[23] In his revenge against the Hand, Kingpin frees and recruits the Owl to help him with it. Fisk begins hallucinating visions of his dead wife Vanessa, who taunts him. It turns out that Fisk's actual plan to is to take the leadership of the Hand, after killing Hiroshi, the ninja-lord who ordered the family's assassinations. However, he is thwarted by Daredevil, who takes the leadership for himself.^[24]

[edit] Dark Reign

During the Dark Reign storyline, Kingpin later creates an alliance with Lady Bullseye to destroy Daredevil. He orders Lady Bullseye to disguise herself as a member of the Hand and kill two corrupt cops and a judge, making it seem that Daredevil ordered it and making Norman Osborn send Bullseye in retaliation. Though Daredevil survived the fight with Bullseye, The Kingpin is undeterred and states that he has Daredevil "where he wants him".^[25] The Kingpin has also targeted Daredevil's friends to frame Norman Osborn for their recent misfortunes to further his attempts on manipulating Daredevil's actions. He has Foggy Nelson disbarred as an attorney for standing up to a judge on his payroll for a unfair ruling of overturning a jury's verdict. He also causes Dakota North to lose her private investigator's license.^[26]

[edit] Shadowland

During the Shadowland storyline, Kingpin approaches Iron Fist and Luke Cage telling them that they will need to take down Daredevil soon. Kingpin and Lady Bullseye later perform a ritual that brings back Ghost Rider to attack the Hand.^[27] After Daredevil is dethroned from Shadowland, Kingpin takes both Shadowland, and the Hand, under his rule, officially taking his place back as the crime lord of New York City.^[28]

"Big Time"[link]

During the "Big Time" storyline Kingpin hires a new Hobgoblin to steal some experimental vibranium from Horizon Labs.^[29] It was revealed in Spider-Island that Fisk has gained Spider-Powers, as demonstrated by heightened reflexes, and the ability to wall crawl.^[30]

Skills, abilities and equipment[link]

The Kingpin has no superhuman powers. However, he is incredibly strong and durable, possessing remarkable strength concealed by his somewhat corpulent appearance. He has been shown to be strong enough to hurl people across a room,^{[volume & issue needed]} rip limbs from people (demonstrated under a handshake),^{[volume & issue needed]} crush a man's skull with his bare hands,^[31] leave imprints in concrete walls after punching them,^{[volume & issue needed]} and even crush one of Spider-Man's web shooters without making any great effort.^{[volume & issue needed]} Contrary to all appearances, most of his body mass is actually muscle that has been built to extraordinary size, much like a sumo wrestler and he is almost as strong as it is physically possible for an ordinary human to be. The Kingpin is a master of many forms of armed and unarmed combat, particularly sumo, jujutsu, and hapkido. He is an extraordinarily skilled martial artist, especially in sumo wrestling. His signature move is the bear hug. He once fought Captain America to a standstill in hand to hand combat.^{[volume & issue needed]} While he has been shown as being able to hold his own against Spider-Man, this is because Spider-Man has strong psychological inhibitions against using his superhuman strength against non-powered opponents, for fear of killing them. When Spider-Man went all out against Fisk after the attack on Aunt May, Fisk was easily and decisively beaten.

He typically wears Kevlar armor under his clothing. Fisk sometimes carries a walking stick that conceals a laser beam weapon capable of firing a blast of concussive force sufficient for vaporizing a handgun (or a person's head) at close range; this is also known as his "obliterator cane". He typically wears an ornamental diamond stick-pin that conceals a highly compressed chamber of sleeping gas that is effective if sprayed at close range directly into his victim's face. Due to his wealth and intellectual industry, Kingpin could use far more advanced paraphernalia, but he prefers to use such things as a last resort. As Fisk became less Spider-Man's nemesis than Daredevil's, he became more of a naturalistic mafioso than a comic-book criminal mastermind, and depended less on science fiction-like weaponry.

Aside from his remarkable physical advantages and special paraphernalia, the Kingpin is intellectually formidable and is a master tactician and a highly skilled planner and organizer. He is self-educated to the university graduate level in the field of political science. He is extremely skilled and knowledgeable in the organization and management of criminal and legal business operations. Kingpin is also a master manipulator, occasionally going so far as to lead superheroes into taking down criminal rivals that pose a threat to his position.^{[volume & issue needed]}

Other versions[link]

1602[link]

In the Marvel 1602 universe, Wilson Fisk is a pirate captain of the HMS Vanessa, known as the King's Pin, who attacks the ship taking Peter Parquarh and Sir Norman Osborne back to England.^{[volume & issue needed]} However, although his attack injures Osborne, he is unable to take the ship when Peter deflects the cannonballs by using his webbing to throw them back at the Vanessa, throwing Fisk into the sea when he confronts the captain directly, even rejecting Fisk's 'offer' to explain how he got his name.^{[volume & issue needed]}

[edit] Age of Apocalypse

In the Age of Apocalypse, Wilson Fisk is known as Dirigible, a wealthy businessman who bought his way into the Marauders, a human terrorist group serving Apocalypse that makes up for their lack of mutant powers using technology which allows them to fly and emit explosive blasts.^{[volume & issue needed]} Dirigible is clearly the leader of the group, as he is seen giving orders to his three teammates. Alongside Red (Norman Osborn), the Owl, and Arcade, he attacks the human refugee camps of Wakanda. However, Dirigible is killed by Gwen Stacy.^{[volume & issue needed]}

[edit] Old Man Logan

A future Kingpin appears in a possible future timeline in which the United States has been carved up between the various supervillains. This version is described as a "man of the people" who fought his way to the top, gaining control of the Mountain States and killing the domain's former master, Magneto. This version is an African American male, and he is eventually killed and has his territory taken over by Ashley Barton, Hawkeye's daughter and the current Spider-Girl.^[32]

Crossovers[link]

• In the second Batman/Spider-Man crossover, Kingpin is forced to partner with Ra's al Ghul in a plan that would destroy New York City, in exchange for a cure to Vanessa's cancer. As it turned out, Ra's gave Vanessa her cancer to force Kingpin to aid him, but the Kingpin actually formed an alliance with Batman and Spider-Man to save the city. Ra's attempted to get his revenge by denying Fisk the cure for Vanessa's cancer, but Talia al Ghul, Ra's' daughter, provided the cure herself, recognizing in Vanessa a kindred spirit, as both of them loved men that society would regard as monsters.

• In the second Batman/Daredevil crossover book, Kingpin almost lost his entire criminal empire to the Scarecrow, who had tried to dismantle it merely as a distraction so that he could spread his fear toxin throughout New York. In this book, Kingpin is shown to be a formidable physical match for Batman.

• The Kingpin has a small role in Marvel vs. DC, when he purchases the Daily Planet, firing Perry White and replacing him with J. Jonah Jameson. He also bullies workers, especially Lois Lane, who threatens to expose him as the Kingpin. Eventually, he is confronted by his angry staff, but is defeated when Spider-Man and Superboy arrive before he can do any significant damage.

• The Amalgam Comics character The Big Question (Enigma Fisk) is a combination of the Riddler of DC Comics and Kingpin. He appears in the Marvel/DC Comics crossover comic, Assassins #1 (April 1996).

[edit] House of M

Wilson Fisk appears in the House of M, similar to how his mainstream counterpart is represented.

[edit] Marvel Zombies

The Kingpin appears in Marvel Zombies vs. The Army of Darkness #2 with his underlings, willing to work with the Punisher to try and save humanity from the zombie attack. The Punisher kills the group instead.^[33]

Somehow, he later resurfaces as one of the undead villains in Marvel Zombies who makes an attempt to devour Galactus, but this attempt is short lived when he is eliminated by the zombified superheroes in an ensuing battle.^[34]

Despite seemingly being killed again, he appears in Marvel Zombies 3 as a leader of the zombie horde, planning to invade Earth-616. He keeps his wife in hiding, satisfying his hunger (and those of other infected characters) by cloning uninfected humans as a source of food.^{[volume & issue needed]} Eventually, he eats her when his plan is defeated.^[35]

Marvel Zombies Return[link]

An alternate version of Kingpin appears in Marvel Zombies Return, where he summons the Sinister Six to steal a sacred tablet from the college where Peter Parker attends. But when the zombified Spider-Man is transported to their world, he kills and devours five of the members. An infuriated Kingpin decides to confront Spider-Man but is quickly dispatched and devoured by Spider-Man, leaving his men to run for their lives.^[36]

PunisherMAX[link]

A more realistic version of Kingpin appears in a storyarc in PunisherMAX starting with the first issue of PunisherMAX #1. A realistic version of Bullseye is his main henchman.^[37] This version of the Kingpin is bodyguard to a one-eyed mob boss named Rigoletto and is from Hell's Kitchen. In order to finally kill the Punisher, Fisk comes up with the idea to create a kingpin of crime who would be a target for the Punisher in order to flush him out. Like the mainstream version he is incredibly strong, able to squeeze someone's head until their eyes pop out. He is a highly formidable hand to hand combatant, cunning and utterly ruthless. While employed as a bodyguard/enforcer by Rigoletto, Fisk used a Glock handgun.^{[volume & issue needed]}

Fisk was regularly beaten and abused by his father. After killing a stray dog that Fisk had adopted, Fisk drugged his father and watched him eaten alive by starving rats. At some point in his criminal career, Fisk was convicted and sent to Attica. There he was badly beaten and gang raped by five men, the leader of whom was "Big Lucky". When he was released, Fisk arranged for Big Lucky's wife to be gang-raped by a dozen drug-addicts and winos. He took photographs of the rape and mailed them to Big Lucky, who broke out of jail. When he arrived home, his wife was dead, and Fisk was waiting for him...^{[volume & issue needed]}

"It was dawn the next day when I finally let him die. The things I did to him that night, they still talk about in whispers on the Lower East Side."^{[volume & issue needed]}

Before becoming Kingpin, Fisk was referred to as a "Mick" by some Mafioso, indicating he may be of Irish ancestry.^{[volume & issue needed]}

He is also married to Vanessa and has a son, Richard, who is very young. It has been hinted that Fisk is just using Rigoletta in order to advance his own agenda. Fisk's past has been shown in several flashbacks, including his brutal murder of his abusive father, his tenure in prison, his vicious cruel streak, and other activities. This version of the Kingpin eventually kills Rigoletto and becomes the Kingpin of crime at the cost of his son's life. Because of this, Vanessa grows to hate Fisk and has vowed to kill him.^[38]

The Kingpin eventually manages to ambush and seriously wound The Punisher at a confrontation at the Punisher's old family home. During the fight, Kingpin is struck in the side of the head with the claw of a hammer, just as he's about to deliver the fatal blow. He returns to his Tower, but is told by the guard that his ex-wife ordered that he was not to be let in. Kingpin is then shot in the back of the head by the Punisher, who states: "Your city, my world." The Punisher stumbles home to recover from his injuries, before collapsing at the steps of his house.^[39] Vanessa Fisk has her ex-husband cremated. She then takes the ashes to a bathroom. Her eulogy to him was: "Goodbye, you son of a bitch." and flushes his ashes down the toilet. Nick Fury cuts power to the city soon afterwards, and shoots Vanessa in the back of the head.^[40]

MC2[link]

In the alternate future portrayed in the MC2 comics, Fisk has finally succeeded in killing Daredevil, although he made the mistake of betraying Kaine in the process. Kaine attempted to revive Daredevil with sorcery, but ended up bonding him with the demon Zarathos and Reilly Tyne (son of Ben Reilly, the Scarlet Spider), creating the superhero Darkdevil.^{[volume & issue needed]}

At some point, Fisk was sent to prison, although he is still able to manage his criminal empire from within the prison, often with the assistance of bribed guards, and lives in luxury within his cell, feasting on gourmet cooking. Fisk and his lawyer, Foggy Nelson, were on their way to court for his latest appeal when Kaine attacked Fisk. Spider-Girl intervened and saved Fisk. He continues to use costumed villains as agents and assassins including Spider-Girl foes Mr. Nobody and Crazy Eight.^{[volume & issue needed]}

When Kaine was being taken away by the police, Kaine asked Nelson why he represented the man who murdered his partner, Matt Murdock. Nelson had been unaware of this (it is not stated how much Nelson knew about Murdock's alter ego Daredevil or the circumstances of his death), and refused to represent Fisk further. This causes Fisk to lose the appeal in question.^{[volume & issue needed]}

When a gang war started, Fisk is slain by a bomb while still in prison. While dying he has a vision of his wife and son, who show the unrepentant criminal his dark past. The two spirits tell him that he can only come to the "light" if he renounces his criminal past. It is left ambiguous as to what he decided.^[41]

[edit] Spider-Man: Reign

Fisk appears in a vegetative state in the first part of Spider-Man: Reign. He is seen with Mayor Waters, who is saying that he hasn't eaten solid food in ten years. This is part of the oppressive regime imposed by the mayor's secret master, his assistant.^[42]

Ultimate Kingpin[link]

In the Ultimate Marvel continuity, Kingpin remained mostly unchanged. He is still a large, thick set bald man who usually wears a white suit and carries a cane. He is the head of New York corporate crime, a ruthless murderer and notorious for bribing his way out of any prosecution. He has a reputation for simply owning many parts of New York, such as the McDonalds in Times Square. His employees include Electro, Elektra, and the Enforcers. In the universe, his wife Vanessa Fisk also exists but is in a comatose state. The Kingpin is trying to remedy this with an ancient tablet that he had stolen. Unfortunately for the Kingpin, it was stolen and lost by the Black Cat as revenge. It is unclear why Vanessa is in a coma. He also finds competition in another crime lord called Hammerhead, and manages to play his enemy against Spider-Man, Black Cat, Moon Knight, Iron Fist, and Shang-Chi.^[43] In his first appearance, his employee Electro manages to knock out Spider-Man with electricity, and he, Kingpin, and The Enforcers manage to unmask him, revealing him to be a teenager. They then throw him out a window. From then on, The Kingpin knows Spider-Man to be a teenager, and tortures him with this knowledge many times. Captain Jeanne De Wolfe was secretly working for the crime lord before being killed by the Punisher. The Kingpin was seen mourning her death in Ultimate Spider-Man Annual #2, possibly indicating an affair. Her death came at the end of a play for territory by another crime boss, the Kangaroo, who was taken into custody.^[44]

The Kingpin purchases the holding firm GG Enterprises, which owns the company that carries the licensing rights of the Spider-Man movie franchise. By purchasing the GG, Kingpin now technically owns Spider-Man's likeness. After Iron Fist betrayed the Ultimate Knights team's intentions to him, he had Spider-Man captured. He ties him to a stool, unmasks him, and tortures and humiliates him with this information, citing it as the only reason he would allow Spider-Man to continue to roam free. At the same time, he has Moon Knight assaulted and taken away, and torches Daredevil's offices. In retaliation, a crazed Daredevil breaks into Fisk's offices and threatens to murder his comatose wife by snapping her neck. As Kingpin pleads with Daredevil not to turn something that he only saw as 'business' into something personal, Spider-Man and the rest of the Knights persuade Daredevil to let her go on the condition that Fisk leaves the country. Daredevil grudgingly agrees.^[45]

Fisk, furious that the heroes had broken into his house and threatened his wife, orders their deaths, and that Spider-Man's school to be blown up while class is in session. Unfortunately for Fisk, the Moon Knight (whose assassination Fisk had ordered) escapes death from the Kingpin's men and turns himself in, saying the Kingpin ordered his kill. As such, Fisk is finally arrested as he tries to leave the country.^[46]

Following the events of Ultimatum, evidence implicating Fisk in his crimes were lost, and Fisk's lawyers were able to clear his name. Hoping to reinstate himself as the Kingpin, Fisk returns to New York. Instead, he is attacked by Mysterio, who throws him out a window. Fisk is later declared dead by the media.^[47]

Fisk's grandfather appears in Ultimate Origins attempting to loot a house with Nick Fury and James Howlett (Wolverine), while all three are serving during World War II. Military police arrive to arrest them, and all three are subdued. Fisk is grazed by a bullet, while Fury and Howlett, despite the latter's protests that he's Canadian, are shipped off to separate unknown locations.^[48]

In other media[link]

Television[link]

• Kingpin has appeared in the 1967 animated Spider-Man episodes "King Pinned" and "The Big Brainwasher". In "King Pinned", Kingpin and his henchmen kidnap J. Jonah Jameson when his newspapers were exposing his drug counterfeiting business. Here Foswell is a spy for the Kingpin.^[49] In "The Big Brainwasher", Kingpin has opened a club that Mary Jane has gotten a job at where she takes pictures of city officials and the camera mesmerizes them to enter a room where Kingpin has them brainwashed. In both instances, Spider-Man stops him.^[50]

• Kingpin appeared in the Spider-Woman episode "The Kingpin Strikes Again". In that episode, he was first seen trying to loot a bank with a band of capable henchmen. Though initially thwarted by the timely arrival of Spider-Woman, she herself was foiled when she left herself wide open to attack by sticking to a wall, and one of Kingpin's henchmen with a jackhammer used the contraption to shake the surface the heroine was sticking on, causing Spider-Woman to fall into a cell, holding her at bay. He later finds out Jessica Drew is the Spider-Woman and shares this knowledge with the world. In the end, she uses a robot to make everybody (including the Kingpin) think he made a mistake.^{[citation needed]}

• Kingpin appeared in the 1981 Spider-Man TV series voiced by Stanley Jones. In "Wrath of the Sub-Mariner", Kingpin calls a truce with Silvermane, Hammerhead, and Caesar Cicero when his scientist Dr. Everett has developed a fluid that dissolves metal. In "Return of the Kingpin", his henchman Hal Hunter sets Spider-Man up for a heist.^{[citation needed]}

• Kingpin appeared in the Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends episode "Pawns of the Kingpin" voiced by Walker Edmiston. In that episode, he brainwashes Captain America, who then tricks Iceman so both heroes would steal a secret weapon for him. The scientist who developed the brainwashing technique betrays the Kingpin by brainwashing him but the Kingpin eventually reveals that he had already taken precautions and had just pretended to be brainwashed waiting for a chance to capture the scientist. He's eventually captured.^[51]

• His most prominent appearance is in Spider-Man: The Animated Series voiced by Roscoe Lee Browne. In this show, he is the main antagonist of the series and the most recurring. This Kingpin is fairly close to the comics version, but he is often occupied with manipulating superpowered characters to do his bidding. In addition, as opposed to just being a crime lord in New York, Kingpin has a global criminal organization; his headquarters is simply located in New York (in the Chrysler Building, which he dubs "Crime Central"). His physical abilities are generally depicted the same as his comics counterpart, except in one instance when he toppled a huge robot. His bodymass is stated in this continuity as being only "2% fat", a statement followed by the declared possession of "350 pounds of muscle". He's the mastermind behind the creation of the Spider-Slayers and is responsible for the creation of the Insidious Six, the animated equivalent of the Sinister Six. He's also involved in a power struggle with crime boss Silvermane. Initially, he operated behind the scenes until the "Framed/The Man Without Fear" two-part episode, where his identity was revealed to Spider-Man with the help of Daredevil, who was seeking revenge for his father's murder at Kingpin's hands. The Kingpin's main associate here was at first Alistair Smythe, but after Smythe nearly betrayed the Kingpin because he believed Kingpin was going to kill him for placing his son in jail during the Daredevil two-parter, Dr. Herbert Landon replaced him. Kingpin remained at large throughout the series, although an alternate dimension's version was arrested in the series finale. Another alternate version was shown to be the lawyer of that dimension's Peter Parker, though he proved just as underhanded as his counterparts. The Kingpin has proven to be more than a match for Spider-Man, eluding capture and even capturing Spider-Man on occasion. This series also described an origin for the Kingpin as seen in "The man without fear," somewhat different than the comic book version. As a boy, Wilson Fisk was influenced by his father, who sought employment as a mob criminal. When older, Fisk assisted his father in robbing banks and jewelry stores, culminating in one robbery where his father escaped but Fisk, hampered by his already-considerable weight, was captured by police. Fisk did not name his father at his trial and was sentenced to prison, where he resolved to survive. In adulthood, Fisk emulated his father's goal and climbed to a position of seniority within the mob, adopting the alias "Kingpin". He has had his police file destroyed, removing all record of his earlier arrest – effectively making his former life "cease to exist." He then exacted revenge against his father, who was implied to have been killed by the Kingpin's henchmen. It was also revealed that his real name was Wilson Moriarty. He maintained a strained relationship with his wife Vanessa, who was well-aware of his activities and wanted him to let it all go. Though he loved her, she eventually left him after being briefly kidnapped by Silvermane. His son, Richard, works for him until he was arrested at the end of the Daredevil saga and contemplates how long until his son takes his revenge on him like he did with his father. During the 'Six Forgotten Warriors' saga he reforms the Insidious Six and tries to gain access to the Doomsday Device. He is told by Silver Sable that one of his men is working against him. He finally manages to capture the Six American Warriors (save Captain America who is in statis in a vortex with the Red Skull) and Spider-Man, and recover the Six Keys needed to gain access to the Doomsday Complex from them. However the Chameleon uses sleeping gas on them, revealing himself to be working with the Red Skull's son (as he was the Red Skull's adopted son). The Kingpin is freed when the Red Skull and Captain America are released and begin fighting. The Doomsday Device turns the Red Skull's son into Electro. The Kingpin tries to attack Electro, but is easily defeated, and is then hospitalized. His final appearance is in the Spider Wars saga.

• Kingpin appears in the Spider-Man: The New Animated Series episode "Royal Scam" voiced by Michael Clarke Duncan. Here, the Kingpin manipulated Spider-Man into thinking he worked for the FBI and assigned the superhero to steal a chip from the mob (they were actually innocent scientists). Spider-Man soon realized he was scammed (evidenced when he learned that the first FBI agent he met is just a movie actor) and with the help of Harry Osborn and the real FBI, Spider-Man had the Kingpin behind bars after a confrontation in one of the Kingpin's helicopters. When the copter crashed, both of them successfully escaped and due to Kingpin's weight, he fell from Spider-Man's hand. However, the superhero saved him and had him trapped behind a crate long enough for the FBI to arrest him. In this series, the Kingpin is depicted as an African-American and uses a red diamond-studded cane capable of shooting lasers.

Film[link]

• In the live action 1989 television movie The Trial of the Incredible Hulk, the Kingpin is portrayed by John Rhys-Davies. David Banner (Bill Bixby) is unjustly arrested after interrupting an assault on a New York City subway by two thugs in the employ of Wilson Fisk, the Kingpin. Attorney Matt Murdock (Rex Smith) agrees to represent him, hoping to use information gleaned from Banner to bring down Fisk's organization. Banner and Murdock eventually learn about each other's secret lives as the Hulk and Daredevil, respectively. The pair is able to thwart Fisk's plans, but the Kingpin himself escapes.

• In the 2003 feature film Daredevil, Michael Clarke Duncan played the character. In the film, the Kingpin appears to be an overweight corporate head that takes the name Wilson Fisk, but in fact he is the sole person running organized crime. Duncan signed on for the role in January 2002, though he had been attached far earlier.^[52] When Duncan was cast, he weighed 290 pounds. He was asked to gain 40 pounds for the role in order to fit the physique of Kingpin. In order to do this, he would lift weights for 30 minutes a day, and power-lifted with one or two reps a day, as well as eating whatever he wanted. Despite this, Duncan's biggest concern was that he is an African-American, while Kingpin had always been portrayed as Caucasian in the comics.^[53] He spoke on the fans' loyalty to the source material by saying "they watch movies to say, 'Hey, that's not like the comic book.' But I want them to get past that and just see the movie for what it is and see me for what I am—an actor."^[54] In the film, the Kingpin started out as an enforcer for a mob boss named Falon, in which capacity he was hired to kill Jack "The Devil" Murdock after he refused to throw a fight, leaving a signature red rose at the scene of his crimes. Years later, Fisk became a crime boss in his own right and successfully hid his criminal activities from the public, although the media picked up on reports of a "Kingpin," running all crime in the city. He hires Bullseye to kill Nikolas Natchios after Natchios attempts to leave his organization, attempting to frame Natchios as the Kingpin in the process by leaving a fake paper trail. Though Bullseye is successful, Fisk also wants Natchios' family killed and hires Bullseye to kill Natchios' daughter Elektra, although Bullseye also states an interest in killing Daredevil for free after the hero made him miss a target. After he supposedly kills Elektra, Bullseye is defeated by Daredevil after he reveals during the fight that Fisk is really the Kingpin, unknowingly revealing his role in Murdock's father's death as well. Having learned of his assassin's failure, the Kingpin is prepared for the subsequent confrontation with Daredevil, severely beating the hero- expressing regret that Daredevil came to him injured rather than fighting him in his prime- before he unmasks him, learning that Daredevil is Matt Murdock, whom Fisk met prior to Nicholas Natchios' death. Daredevil nevertheless manages to trigger the sprinkler system in Fisk's office, thus allowing him to better 'see' his opponent. Daredevil then breaks Fisk's legs, but refuses to kill him despite having the opportunity, having realised that he is 'not the bad guy' and thus has no right to kill his foes. Daredevil leaves the Kingpin for the police and Fisk threatened to tell everyone who Daredevil really was, until the lawyer pointed out that revealing to his prison inmates that he had been beaten by a blind man was the equivalent of suicide. Nevertheless, the Kingpin swears that he will eventually get out of prison and kill Daredevil, with the hero simply responding that he will be waiting.

• In July 2006, Duncan showed interest in returning for the role of the Kingpin, but stated that he would not be willing to gain weight as he felt "comfortable" being down to 270 pounds. However, he jokingly showed willingness to change his mind if he was offered $20 million. Duncan suggested that the character is portrayed to have been training a lot in jail in order to become faster in combat against Daredevil, also working as a way to fit his weight loss into the story.^[55]

Video games[link]

This article may contain an excessive amount of intricate detail that may only interest a specific audience. Please help relocate any relevant information, and remove excessive detail that may be against Wikipedia inclusion policy. (April 2009)

• Kingpin appears as the final boss of The Punisher video game for the NES, an Operation Wolf style first-person shooter. The Game Boy adaptation of the game saw Jigsaw replacing the Kingpin as the final boss in the game.

• In Spider-Man: The Video Game, the Kingpin was one of the main villains, the last boss of stage 3, The Lair of Kingpin.^{[citation needed]}

• He is also included in the game The Amazing Spider-Man vs. The Kingpin for the Mega Drive/Genesis, Mega-CD, Sega Master System and Sega Game Gear, where is the main villain and the final boss to beat.

• In The Punisher arcade game, Kingpin was the final villain. If a player finishes the game, the Kingpin is seemingly killed, however the police never find his body.

• The Kingpin is the main villain and the final boss in the video game adaptation of the Daredevil movie for the Game Boy Advance.^[56] In the game, he puts out a warrant out for Daredevil's arrest to the criminal underworld (which is later revealed as a fraud). Daredevil interrogates the Kingpin at his penthouse, where it is revealed that Daredevil eliminated his competition when he was setting up his master plan. After Daredevil defeats him, the Kingpin tells him that although Daredevil knows his secret identity, Daredevil can't reveal Wilson Fisk's secret to the police. At the end, Fisk lies to the reporters by saying that Daredevil's arrest was a "media distortion".

• The Kingpin is a boss in Spider-Man: Battle for New York (a video game loosely based on the Ultimate Spider-Man universe) voiced by Stephen Stanton.^[57]

• The Kingpin is featured in the 2005 video game The Punisher voiced by David Sobolov. Punisher had suspected him of being behind the attempts on his life and being allied with the Gnucchi's and the Russian Mob. Following Bullseye's defeat, the Kingpin confronts Punisher and tells him that his real enemy is a Japanese Yakuza group called the Eternal Sun. In the post-credits scene, the Kingpin is plotting his revenge against the Punisher for the embarrassment he caused him.

• The Kingpin appears in Spider-Man 3 voiced by Bob Joles. He is featured in one of the games many sidequests. At a press conference, Peter (Spider-Man) sees Fisk and gets shots of him with some gang members of the Apocalypse Gang, the Arsenic Candy Gang, and the Dragon Tail Gang. Fisk then tells the gang members to break out their bosses (who are being held present at the press conference). Spider-Man then goes to the Kingpin's penthouse and after defeating the gang members and their bosses, he fights the Kingpin. His strength and aggression amplified by the Venom symbiote, Spider-Man causes Kingpin to fall to his apparent death, although no body is found and Spider-Man wonders if he survived the fall.

• Kingpin appears as one of the primary characters in Spider-Man: Web of Shadows voiced by Gregg Berger. He is shown to own a building called Wilson Fisk Industries. He establishes a crime spree by hiring Vulture to build high-tech armors and gliders for his minions and even sets up a gang war between the Rolling Sevens Gang and the Park Avenue Gang. Spider-Man encounters him and his Tech Soldiers at one of the bridges which was road blocked by S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents when the Symbiote Infection occurs. He and his Tech Soldiers retreat back to Wilson Fisk Industries. When Spider-Man freed Tinkerer from Ryker's Island, Kingpin and his Tech Soldiers arrived where Kingpin convinced Black Widow to let Tinkerer come up with a device to stop the Symbiote Invasion. Around the part where Spider-Man deactivates and reactivates the defense systems outside of Wilson Fisk Industries, Spider-Man tells Kingpin that they are transferring Tinkerer to his building. After listening to his plans, Kingpin grants the Tinkerer access to his facilities and informs him that he will make some calls to obtain a specific castle in Italy and a girl from Tinkerer's favorite tool catalog. In both Black Suit endings, Kingpin tells Black Widow that the Tinkerer is ready as Black Widow appoints a symbiote-controlled Wolverine to bring her Spider-Man dead or alive. In the PSP and PS2 version, Kingpin calls up Spider-Man to give him his missions.

• Kingpin appears in Chun-Li's ending for Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds, where Chun-Li arrests him after giving him a savage beating.

• Kingpin appears as a villain character in Marvel Super Hero Squad Online.

Theater[link]

Kingpin can be seen in Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark robbing a bank with Hammerhead before being stopped by Spider-Man.

Music[link]

• The alias of Kingpin, Wilson Fisk, has been used by English band "Wilson Fisk"^[58]

See also[link]

• Daredevil: Born Again

References[link]

External links[link]

• Kingpin at Marvel.com
• Kingpin's Profile at Spiderfan.org

The Edge
Background information
Birth name	David Howell Evans
Born	(1961-08-08) 8 August 1961 (age 50) Barking, Essex, England, United Kingdom
Origin	County Dublin, Ireland
Genres	Rock, post-punk, alternative rock
Occupations	Musician, songwriter, activist
Instruments	Guitar, vocals, keyboards, piano, bass guitar
Years active	1976–present
Labels	Island, Mercury
Associated acts	U2, Passengers
Website	www.u2.com
Notable instruments
Gibson Explorer Fender Stratocaster Gibson Les Paul Fender Telecaster Gretsch Country Gentleman Gretsch White Falcon Rickenbacker 330/12

David Howell Evans (born 8 August 1961), more widely known by his stage name The Edge (or just Edge),^[1] is a musician best known as the guitarist, backing vocalist, and keyboardist of the Irish rock band U2. A member of the group since its inception, he has recorded 12 studio albums with the band and has released one solo record. As a guitarist, The Edge has crafted a minimalistic and textural style of playing. His use of a rhythmic delay effect yields a distinctive ambient, chiming sound that has become a signature of U2's music.

The Edge was born in England to a Welsh family, but was raised in Ireland after moving there as an infant. In 1976, at Mount Temple Comprehensive School, he formed U2 with his fellow students and his older brother Dik. Inspired by the ethos of punk rock and its basic arrangements, the group began to write its own material. They eventually became one of the most popular acts in popular music, with successful albums such as 1987's The Joshua Tree and 1991's Achtung Baby. Over the years, The Edge has experimented with various guitar effects and introduced influences from several genres of music into his own style, including American roots music, industrial music, and alternative rock. With U2, The Edge has also played keyboards, co-produced their 1993 record Zooropa, and occasionally contributed lyrics. The Edge met his second and current wife, Morleigh Steinberg, through her collaborations with the band.

As a member of U2 and as an individual, The Edge has campaigned for human rights and philanthropic causes. He co-founded Music Rising, a charity to support musicians affected by Hurricane Katrina. He has collaborated with U2 bandmate Bono on several projects, including songs for Roy Orbison and Tina Turner, and the soundtracks to the musical Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark and the Royal Shakespeare Company's London stage adaptation of A Clockwork Orange. In 2011, Rolling Stone magazine placed him at number 38 on its list of "The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time".

Personal life[link]

The Edge at a U2 concert in Anaheim (2005)

David Howell Evans was born at the Barking Maternity Hospital,^[2] Essex, England to Welsh parents Garvin and Gwenda Evans.^[1] When he was one, his family moved to County Dublin, Ireland where he attended St Andrew's National School. He received piano and guitar lessons and often performed with his brother Dik Evans before they both answered an advertisement posted by Larry Mullen, Jr. at their school, Mount Temple Comprehensive School, seeking musicians to form a band.^[3] The band accepted both of them. This band went through several incarnations before emerging as U2 in March 1978 (Dik Evans left the band just before the name change).^[3] U2 began performing in various venues in Ireland and eventually began developing a following. Their debut album, Boy, was released in 1980.

In 1981, leading up to the October tour, Evans came very close to leaving U2 for religious reasons, but he decided to stay.^[3] During this period, he became involved with a group called Shalom Tigers, in which bandmates Bono and Larry Mullen Jr. were also involved.^[4] Shortly after deciding to remain with the band, he wrote a piece of music that later became "Sunday Bloody Sunday".^[3] The Edge married his high school girlfriend Aislinn O'Sullivan on 12 July 1983.^[5] The couple had three daughters together: Hollie in 1984, Arran in 1985 and Blue Angel in 1989.^[4] The couple separated in 1990, but were unable to get officially divorced because of Irish laws regarding marriage annulment; divorce was legalised in 1995 and the couple were legally divorced in 1996.^[4]

In 1993, The Edge began dating Morleigh Steinberg, a professional dancer and choreographer employed by the band as a belly dancer during the Zoo TV Tour. They had a daughter, Sian (born 1997), and a son, Levi (born 25 October 1999),^[4] before marrying on 22 June 2002.^[4] He appeared in the 2009 music documentary film It Might Get Loud.^[6] The Edge has been criticized for his efforts to build five luxury mansions on a 156 acre plot of land in Malibu, California.^[7] The California Coastal Commission voted 8-4 against the plans, with the project described by the commission's executive director, Peter Douglas, as "In 38 years...one of the three worst projects that I've seen in terms of environmental devastation...It's a contradiction in terms – you can't be serious about being an environmentalist and pick this location."^[7] The Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy agreed to remain neutral on the issue following a $1 million donation from The Edge and a commitment from The Edge to designate 100 acres of the land as open space for public footpaths.^[7]

Music style[link]

Guitar playing[link]

As a guitar player, The Edge has a sound typified by a low-key playing style, a chiming, shimmering sound (thanks in part to the sound of VOX AC-30s) that he achieves with extensive use of delay effects and reverb. The feedback delay is often set to a dotted eighth note (3/16 of a measure), and the feedback gain is adjusted until a note played repeats two or three times.^{[citation needed]}

On 1987's The Joshua Tree, The Edge often contributes just a few simple lead lines given depth and richness by an ever-present delay. For example, the introduction to "Where the Streets Have No Name" is simply a repeated six-note arpeggio, broadened by a modulated delay effect. The Edge has said that he views musical notes as "expensive", in that he prefers to play as few notes as possible. He said in 1982 of his style,

"I like a nice ringing sound on guitar, and most of my chords I find two strings and make them ring the same note, so it's almost like a 12-string sound. So for E I might play a B, E, E and B and make it ring. It works very well with the Gibson Explorer. It's funny because the bass end of the Explorer was so awful that I used to stay away from the low strings, and a lot of the chords I played were very trebly, on the first four, or even three strings. I discovered that through using this one area of the fretboard I was developing a very stylized way of doing something that someone else would play in a normal way."^[9]

Many different influences have shaped The Edge's guitar technique.^{[citation needed]} His first guitar was an old acoustic guitar that his mother bought him at a local flea market for only a few pounds; he was nine at the time. He and his brother Dik Evans both experimented with this instrument.^[9] He said in 1982 of this early experimentation, "I suppose the first link in the chain was a visit to the local jumble sale where I purchased a guitar for a pound. That was my first instrument. It was an acoustic guitar and me and my elder brother Dik both played it, plonking away, all very rudimentary stuff, open chords and all that."^[9] The Edge has stated that many of his guitar parts are based around guitar effects. This is especially true from the Achtung Baby era onwards, although much of the band's 1980s material made heavy use of echos.

Vocals[link]

The Edge in June 2005

The Edge also supplies the backing vocals for U2. U2's 1983 live album and video release, Under a Blood Red Sky and Live at Red Rocks: Under a Blood Red Sky are good reference points for his singing (as are the live DVDs from the Elevation Tour, U2 Go Home: Live from Slane Castle and Elevation 2001: Live from Boston). For example, he sings the chorus to "Sunday Bloody Sunday" (Bono harmonizes on the final 'Sunday'). U2 used this tradeoff technique later in "Bullet the Blue Sky" as well. His backing vocals are sometimes in the form of a repeated cry; examples of songs that use this approach include "Beautiful Day", "New Year's Day" and "Stay (Faraway, So Close!)". Another technique he uses in his backing vocals is the falsetto, in songs such as "Stuck in a Moment You Can't Get Out Of", "Sometimes You Can't Make It on Your Own", "A Man and a Woman", "The Wanderer", live versions of "The Fly", and "Window in the Skies".

The Edge sings the lead vocal on "Van Diemen's Land" and "Numb", the first half of the song "Seconds", dual vocals with Bono in "Discotheque", and the bridge in the song "Miracle Drug".^[4] He also sings the occasional lead vocal in live renditions of other songs (such as "Sunday Bloody Sunday" during the PopMart Tour and "Party Girl" during the Rotterdam Zoo TV show when it was Bono's birthday).^[10] He also plays a solo acoustic version of the song "Love is Blindness" that is featured in the documentary film From the Sky Down.

Other instruments[link]

He has played piano and keyboards on many of the band's songs, including "I Fall Down", "October", "So Cruel", "New Year's Day", "Running to Stand Still", "Miss Sarajevo", "The Hands that Built America", and "Original of the Species" and others. He plays the organ on "Please". In live versions of "New Year's Day", "The Unforgettable Fire", "Your Blue Room", and "Moment of Surrender", he plays both the piano and guitar parts alternately. In most live versions of "Original of the Species," piano is the only instrument played during the song. Although The Edge is the band's lead guitarist, he occasionally plays bass guitar, including the live performances of the song "40" where The Edge and bassist Adam Clayton switch instruments.

Solo recordings[link]

In addition to his regular role within U2, The Edge has also recorded with such artists as Johnny Cash, B. B. King, Tina Turner, Ronnie Wood, Jay-Z, and Rihanna. The Edge connected with Brian Eno and Lanois collaborator Michael Brook (the creator of the infinite guitar, which he regularly uses), working with him on the score to the film Captive (1986). From this soundtrack the song "Heroine", the vocal of which was sung by a young Sinéad O'Connor was released as a single.

He also created the theme song for season one and two of The Batman. He and fellow U2 member, Bono, wrote the lyrics to the theme of the 1995 James Bond film GoldenEye. The Edge, along with bandmate Bono, recently composed a musical adaptation of Spider-Man. On May 25, 2011, a single titled Rise Above 1: Reeve Carney Featuring Bono and The Edge was released digitally.^[11] The music video was released on July 28, 2011.^[12]

Musical equipment[link]

Edge's 1964 Vox AC30 on stage in Foxborough for the U2 360° Tour.

The Edge plays electric guitar, acoustic guitar, keyboards, piano, bass guitar (on "40" and "Race Against Time") and lap steel guitar. Compared to many lead guitarists, The Edge is known for using many more guitars during a show. According to his guitar tech Dallas Schoo, a typical lead guitarist uses four or five different guitars in one night, whereas The Edge takes 45 on the road, and uses 17 to 19 in one 2.5-hour concert. He is estimated to have more than 200 guitars in the studio.^{[citation needed]}

Philanthropy[link]

In 2005, The Edge along with Bob Ezrin and Henry Juszkiewicz co-founded Music Rising, a charity that helped provide replacement instruments for those that were lost in Hurricane Katrina. The instruments were originally only replaced for professional musicians but they soon realized the community churches and schools needed instruments as well. The charity's slogan is "Rebuilding the Gulf Region note by note" and has so far helped over a hundred musicians who were affected by Hurricane Katrina. The Edge also serves on the board of the Angiogenesis Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to improving global health by advancing angiogenesis-based medicine, diets, and lifestyle.^[13]

See also[link]

• Timeline of U2
• List of people on stamps of Ireland

References[link]

Footnotes

Bibliography

External links[link]

This article's use of external links may not follow Wikipedia's policies or guidelines. Please improve this article by removing excessive or inappropriate external links, and converting useful links where appropriate into footnote references. (October 2011)

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: The Edge

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: The Edge

• U2.com, official U2 site
• Music Rising
• The Edge at the Internet Movie Database
• The Edge – Album Credits
• A Study of The Edge's Guitar Delay
• The Edge: 'It's all about the vision'
• Food Bank For New York City public service announcement
• Comment on the mathematical analysis of The Edge's guitar sound