As long asDaredevil has existed, so has Foggy Nelson. When Matt Murdock made his debut inDaredevil #1, in April of 1964,Foggy Nelson debuted right alongside him. Together, Matt and Foggy found and operate the law offices of Nelson and Murdock, defending Hell’s Kitchen from evil in the courts, on a day-to-day basis.

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Although Matt Murdock has too much of his father in him, becoming the sometimes-violent vigilante Daredevil by night, Foggy keeps up the good fight daily as a lawyer. While Matt Murdock is often referred to as “The Man Without Fear,” his best friend, Foggy, has been the one who was truly fearless more than once.

10Supporting Matt As He Begins

WhenMatt Murdock first became Daredevil all the way back in 1964’sDaredevil#1, Foggy had a lot of nervousness and anxiety about what his friend could be up to. With Matt injured and only just beginning to become the vigilante Daredevil, Foggy isn’t sure what’s going on with his friend. He searches for Matt all over town, trying to find him at home or the office, worried for what’s wrong with his friend. He carries not only this, but their law firm as well, on his shoulders.

9Working With Other Heroes

Right out of the gate, Foggy Nelson needs to start working with heroes that aren’t his best friend. One of the first cases that Nelson and Murdock take on in the comics is renewing the lease onthe Fantastic Four’s headquarters, the Baxter Building.

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The Fantastic Four send The Thing, Ben Grimm, over to Nelson and Murdock’s law offices. Matt and Foggy take this case on as themselves, not as heroes, which takes a particular amount of bravery to do.

8Getting Caught In The Middle

Being the best friend of someone like Matt Murdock is always going to be dangerous, because knowing someone like Daredevilisdangerous. That’s a big part of why Matt Murdock keeps his true identity a secret. Even when Foggy’s not actively seeking out conflict, he can sometimes get caught in the middle ofthe nonsense that follows Daredevil around. Once, when Foggy went to the wax museum to see an exhibit on Daredevil, he got caught in the middle of a fight between Daredevil, Ox, and the Eel, putting Foggy in the hospital.

7Sacrifices In His Professional Life

Being a lawyer, Foggy Nelson has a lot of personal and professional goals moving forward the older he gets, as anyone would. He often seeks to get promoted & move up the chain, and this can sometimes manifest as Foggy seeking appointments to positions like district attorney. At one point, Foggy even runs for district attorney with a reform party, which he has to leave when Daredevil reveals the party founder to be a villain with a plot. After Matt closes their practice,Foggy picks up the pieces and moves on to become district attorney, adapting as well as possible every time he needs to.

6Walking In Daredevil’s Shoes

Being around Daredevil all the time can occasionally guide people to the wrong conclusions. Once, Daredevil was tracked back to the offices of Nelson and Murdock, leading villains like the Masked Marauder to believe that Foggy Nelson was Daredevil’s real alter ego.

The Masked Marauder sends his men to attack Foggy, but Foggy ends up playing into the mistake. When the story goes too far, Foggy ends up in a real fight and real danger.Being Daredevil, as it turns out, isn't easy, but Foggy still tries.

5Always A Target

It’s unfortunate, but Foggy Nelson is a target no matter what. He’s the best friend of Matt Murdock, the Daredevil, and he’s a lawyer (sometimes district attorney) in New York,which could put a target on his back at the best of times. Often, Foggy is sighted as a target for chaos, like being kidnapped as leverage to use against Daredevil, getting blackmailed for information, or getting attacked simply for his proximity to the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen.

4Taking Matters Into His Own Hands

When Matt Murdock isn’t able to don his Daredevil suit andstop bad guys from taking over the city, Foggy sometimes steps up to the plate – even towards the beginning ofDaredevil’scomic runs, when characters like the Unholy Three threatened the world’s general wellbeing and Daredevil was still nowhere to be found. At that point, when he knows it’s necessary, Foggy is more than willing to take matters into his own hands, wielding scientific & fantastical devices and helping to save the world.

3Losing What Matters Most

Sometimes the bravest people are those who stand strong in the face of adversity. Because Foggy so often stands up for what’s right, many seek to tear him down.Kingpin even goes so far as to get Foggy disbarred, taking from him one of the most valuable things in his life: his career.

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He defines himself as a lawyer, someone who helps people and defends those who need assistance, much like Matt Murdock. Even when stripped of his job, still, Foggy soldiers on.

2Fighting Against Cancer

Foggy’s battles don’t always come from the outside. When Foggy Nelson gets diagnosed with Ewing’s sarcoma, he learns that he now has tofight a battle coming from the inside. While Foggy is dying of cancer, Matt Murdock reveals his identity as Daredevil to the world, leading him to believe Foggy’s in danger, encouraging him to fake his own death and start a new life. Foggy Nelson undertakes all of this while he’s sick, proving himself to be truly brave.

1Staying True To Himself

No matter what, Foggy Nelson is a real hero.He may not be a superhero like the Marvel heroes he defends, or a vigilante hero like his best friend, but he’s the sort of hero people need: someone they canbe. When Foggy gets captured, or hurt, he has to recover. When he wants to fight back, he has to learn and train. Foggy is equipped only with his legal knowledge, his personality, and sheer force of will. With that alone, Foggy proves time and time again to be be a man who can overcome fear, much like Matt: making them both men without fear.

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