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Quote1 My name is Maya Lopez. I'm not sure if I'm still that person. The newspapers called me Echo. That's what I feel like. An Echo. This is my story. Quote2
Echo[src]

Maya Lopez, better known as Echo, embodies a life defined by tragedy, transformation, and unparalleled resilience. Born deaf, her remarkable lip-reading ability delayed her diagnosis for a significant period.[12] Her father, William Lincoln, a member of the Cheyenne Nation and secretly employed as a mob enforcer by the notorious Kingpin, met a tragic end at the hands of his employer. In his dying moments, Lincoln implored Kingpin to care for Maya, leaving a haunting handprint on her face.[13]

Under Kingpin's care, Maya was initially placed in a special needs school before her exceptional talents prompted her enrolment in a school for the gifted. Passionate about art and dance, she thrived in these disciplines. However, Kingpin manipulated her for his own vendetta and convinced her that Daredevil was responsible for her father's demise.[14] Driven by a thirst for revenge, Maya engaged in a fierce battle with Daredevil, demonstrating her unparalleled combat skills. Misguided in her pursuit, she eventually learned the truth, shifting her focus to confront Kingpin, blinding him in a consequential altercation.[15]

Embracing a journey of self-discovery, Maya embarked on a global quest, seeking solace in art museums and undertaking a vision quest per the advice of an elder from her father's reservation.[16] Adopting the mantle of Ronin, Maya aided the New Avengers, infiltrating and confronting the Hand and their collaborations with Hydra. However, her life took a tragic turn as she fell victim to Elektra's schemes, seemingly perishing after being manipulated and subsequently revived by the Hand's dark magic.[17]

Resurrected, Maya continued her heroic endeavors alongside the New Avengers, proving her mettle during World War Hulk[18] and the Secret Invasion, where her combat prowess and bravery were instrumental in thwarting threats.[19] Her life also intertwined with Moon Knight's, wherein she formed a deep bond while investigating criminal activities in LA. Though seemingly meeting her demise at the hands of Count Nefaria.[20] Maya later re-emerged alive, aiding Daredevil against Klaw.[21]

History

Early Life[]

Maya was born deaf, but due to her incredible lip reading abilities, she wasn't diagnosed for a long time.[22] Her father, William Lincoln, was a Native American of the Cheyenne Nation and secretly a mob enforcer working for the Kingpin. They were good friends, but, at one point, he outlived his purpose and Kingpin decided to gun him down. As Kingpin was about to shoot him, he used his last words to ask that he take care of Maya. When she found her dying father, he reached out to her, leaving a bloody handprint on her face.[5]

Maya Lopez (Earth-616) from Daredevil Vol 2 10 002

Maya with a bloody handprint

Maya was then taken in by Fisk and placed in a school for kids with special needs, but after using her skill to duplicate a song from a piano recital, Kingpin enrolled her in school for the the gifted instead. She particularly enjoyed art and dance.[23]

Echo[]

Fisk used her in one of his plots to destroy Matt Murdock, who he knew was the vigilante called Daredevil. First, he arranged for Matt to meet her, knowing Matt was lonely after the recent death of Karen Page, and then he tricked Maya, by convincing her that Daredevil was her father's killer.[23]

Maya Lopez (Earth-616) and Matthew Murdock (Earth-616) from Daredevil Vol 2 15 001

Learning Daredevil's identity

Focused on getting revenge, Maya watched videos of Bullseye and Daredevil fighting and faced him in combat, proving herself to be more than a match for the devil. Matt recognized her scent and tried to pull his punches, not understanding why she was attacking him, but she was merciless. She managed to subdue him and pulled a gun to end him, revealing her reasons in the process.[24] Luckily there were a few kids watching the whole scene and she left, leading the children to believe it was all a play.[25] They faced each other two more times, before Matt was finally able to explain himself, leading Maya to brutally shoot the Kingpin, blinding him in the process.[26]

Vision Quest[]

Maya left the country to travel the world and rediscover herself, visiting the art museums wherever she went.[22] After months away, she returned to New York to reconcile with Matt, only to find he was already with another woman.[27] She then left New York to go to her father's reservation and visited the Chief who was the old medicine man that she and her father would visit when she was younger. After listening to his stories about her father, Maya decided to follow his suggestion and went on a "vision quest". She went to the woods to fast and meditate to receive visions which she hoped would provide her with some answers on what to do next with her life.[28] On the fourth day of her "vision quest" during a thunderstorm she was startled by what she believed to be an animal spirit and briefly fought him. Once she realized her mistake they talked and she shared some of the visions she received.[29] When she got to her final vision about "two dogs fighting", he ended up telling her a story about it. This ultimately motivated her to start telling stories just like her father did. She went back to New York and began to perform in the theater using sign language, dance, and music. She spoke with Matt again who said that he attended her first performance titled "Parts of a Hole" and that he would see "The Echo Story" with a friend. He made no attempt to stop her from kissing him because he knew it was a goodbye kiss.[30]

Ronin and the New Avengers[]

Maya assisted the New Avengers after being recommended and referred by Daredevil to Captain America, using the ninja identity of Ronin. Murdock provided her with the necessary information on the Hand, Yakuza, and Silver Samurai before meeting with Captain America in a café to receive further instructions. It was in Japan that she infiltrated the Yashida Fortress, only to learn that the Hand and Hydra were now in a partnership, and were trying to influence Harada to join and lead them. Maya, however, was unsuccessful in trying to leave the fortress undetected, and was pursued by many of the Hand's ninjas. She respected Captain America's wishes by attempting to kill fewer of them, but in the end she was left with little choice. Upon returning to the Avengers penthouse in Japan where she had met earlier with Captain America, she quickly explained to him and the New Avengers what she had learned. The Hand, however, had followed her and once they had finally caught up, attacked her and her teammates. She fought alongside the New Avengers against them and arrested Madame Hydra. Maya then arranged with Captain America for her to stay in Japan and watch the Hand's activities, hoping to resolve the conflict between them and the Yakuza, and because she had discovered rumors that Elektra might currently be in power as the leader of the Hand.[31]

New Avengers Vol 1 11 Textless

As Ronin

Maya was not heard of again until after the the passage of the Superhuman Registration Act and the consequent Superhero Civil War, and was listed as a potential recruit for the Initiative.[32] Though it was not discovered until later, she had been murdered in a fight with Elektra, who was indeed leading the Hand. A package which had been prepared to be delivered was then sent from Japan to the U.S.[citation needed]

Pagon (Earth-616) and Maya Lopez (Earth-616) from New Avengers Vol 1 27 001

Maya killed by Skrull Elektra

Though it was meant for for Matt Murdock, he had Dakota North deliver the package to Daniel Rand (the Iron Fist), explaining that he was too far away to be able to do anything about it. It contained a letter summarizing Maya's past activities stating that she was likely dead along with a duplicate of her Ronin armor and weapons; she wanted Matt to avenge her.[citation needed]

Maya was revived by Elektra and the Hand with their dark magic, to undergo a drug treatment which would influence her join their cause. It was interrupted, however, by Luke Cage and his New Avengers, which included a new stranger wearing the Ronin armor, who fought off the Hand and Elektra and rescued Maya from their grasp. Although she had been rescued, she had inhaled enough of the drug for it to continue to greatly affect her. The New Avengers took her to the Harada Fortress to regroup, much to the Silver Samurai's disgust, but the Hand managed to track them down and confronted them, along with the Silver Samurai, in the Harada Fortress. Once the drug had completed its course, Maya turned against her teammates and assisted the Hand against them. Iron Fist and Doctor Strange managed to eliminate the drug from her system, and in retaliation against the Hand, killed their leader, Elektra. She was revealed to be a female Skrull in disguise, who reverted back to her original form, and the Hand immediately fled from the scene.[citation needed]

New Avengers Vol 1 31 page 15

New Avengers come to Japan to rescue Maya

Echo remained with the New Avengers after the incident in Japan. With nowhere else to go, she resided in Doctor Strange's Sanctum Sanctorum along with Luke Cage, Jessica Jones, their baby girl, and Clint Barton (Hawkeye), who was revealed to be the new Ronin. He returned the armor to Maya, but she gave it to him as a gift for coming to her rescue along with the others.[citation needed]

World War Hulk[]

During the events of World War Hulk, Maya attempted to defend Rick Jones from Hirorim and Elloe of the Hulk's Warbound when they invaded the Sanctum Sanctorum to capture Dr. Strange. She, along with Ronin and Iron Fist, were defeated and imprisoned along with various other defeated heroes. She and the other heroes were released by the the Hulk's Warbound however, after the Hulk and Sentry's final battle.[33]

After these events, she continued to prove herself a valuable ally as she accompanied the New Avengers on many missions. This including attempting to aid the Mighty Avengers against a symbiote-transformed population in New York (although she and many of her teammates were transformed as well). She helped her teammates in organizing the streets afterward, calming many of post symbiote mutated human population after they had been transformed back to normal. She also helped in fighting against the Hood and his criminal empire, once in the streets and a second time at the Sanctum. Although she had been with the New Avengers for a while, Maya was somewhat of a stranger to everybody with the exception of Wolverine, and was still curious to why Daredevil sent Captain America to her in the first place.[citation needed]

Secret Invasion[]

After the final battle against the Hood's criminal empire, Doctor Strange's Sanctum Sanctorum was destroyed and leveled, forcing the remaining New Avengers to relocate to one of Iron Fist's leased apartments, and continue operating without Doctor Strange. Despite her teammates' suspicions and paranoia, Maya did not believe the idea that a potential invasion had already been set in motion by the Skrulls. She simply viewed it as a conspiracy and an excuse to why their lives were so miserable, due to their fugitive status at the time. This changed, however, when she was attacked by a Skrull disguised as Daredevil. With the help of Wolverine, who had followed her without her knowledge, she was able to fend off the Skrull.[34]

The next morning she was approached by Clint Barton, who comforted her after hearing about her attack. He recalled his own experience when first joining the Avengers, and assured her that although she felt out of place on the team at the time, it would all work out one day. Maya began a relationship with Barton.[citation needed]

Maya Lopez (Earth-616) from Secret Invasion Vol 1 3 001

Maya fights the Skrull Queen in the Savage Land

During the Skrull Invasion, Maya and her teammates went to the Savage Land to investigate a Skrull ship which had crash landed there. They and the Mighty Avengers were attacked by 1970s versions of themselves which emerged from the ship, and were under the impression that they were the Skrulls. Maya was the first person to discover that Spider-Woman was a Skrull and helping with the invasion. She was attacked and rendered unconscious by Veranke. Upon recovering, she reunited with the rest of her teammates to travel back to New York and fight the invasion.[35]

Moon Knight[]

Sometime after the Skrull Invasion, Maya made her way to Los Angeles where she went undercover as a stripper. Moon Knight attacked a meeting she was in, forcing her to break her cover to rescue him.[11] Echo accepted the offer to help Marc find out who was the Kingpin of L.A. and started a relationship. While Moon Knight was fighting the revealed Kingpin, Count Nefaria, Echo recorded it on a video camera to bring to the police. Days later, she and Moon Knight were cleaning up some criminal hideouts until Nefaria confronted them. During the fight, although fighting very well, Echo was seemingly killed by Nefaria's optic blast; submitting to his Wolverine personality, Moon Knight then brutally attacked Nefaria in revenge.[36]

Echo (Earth-616) Moon Knight Vol 6 2

Echo breaks her cover to save Moon Knight

Klaw[]

Maya resurfaced years later alive and well. She witnessed the beginning of an attempt by Klaw to take over New York City, turning its citizens into sound constructs, and alerted Daredevil about it. Together, they stopped the villain and reverted the effects of his infection.[37]

Enter the Phoenix[]

When the cosmic force known as the Phoenix Force returned to Earth, it staged a contest to determine its next host, and Echo was one of many individuals summoned to the White Hot Room for it. The Phoenix empowered the assembled champions and had them fight each other in trials by combat.[38] In one of the earliest bouts of the tournament, Echo was pitted against Namor at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean.[39] Due to the favored battle conditions, Namor overpowered Echo and left her for dead in the ocean floor.[40]

The Phoenix was drawn to Maya's suffering, as well as her ability to adapt and wield its power in different ways. It resurrected Echo and chose her as its host. During the final round of the tournament, Echo resurfaced from the bottom of the ocean and proceeded to intercept all the different fights taking place across the globe. Absorbing the portions of the Phoenix from each of the remaining contestants, Maya fully became the Phoenix.[41] Afterward, she relocated to the Avengers Mountain so that the Avengers could study her new condition.[1]

Heroes Reborn[]

Echo one day found herself in a different universe and was an inmate at Ravencroft Institute. She chose not to escape. Instead, she used the powers of the Phoenix to keep Ravencroft's inmates in check. She was eventually approached by Blade the Vampire Hunter, who was also transported to that reality, and that reality's version of Captain America and told her that they planned to form the Avengers to restore reality to its proper place.[10]

While Blade and Captain America recruited Black Panther, Echo recruited Thor, who had regained his powers and memories. With Wakanda helping find the Star Brand bearer Brandy Selby in the depths of space, the Avengers team was complete and confronted the Squadron Supreme when they came to Wakanda to investigate the Avengers.[42]

Echo fought Power Princess but was unable to defeat her until she was aided by Brandy, and they used their combined power to knock Power Princess out. The duo then worked to destroy the source of the reality warp, President Coulson's Pandemonium Cube. With the Pandemonium Cube's destruction, reality was returned to normal, and Echo was returned to Earth-616.[43]

Avenger Once More[]

On Avengers Mountain, Echo and Brandy passed every test they took, but Captain America was still hesitant about allowing them to join the Avengers.[9] As Jennifer Walters (the Hulk) quit the team[44] and dire situations appeared, she accompanied the team on several occasions,[45][46] officially joining after the attack of the Multiversal Masters of Evil and aided them to face the Council of Red.[47] They followed the Council of Red through time with their Celestial teleporter,[48] eventually making their way to 1,000,000 B.C. to meet the prehistoric Avengers and teamed up to take down the Masters of Evil.[49][50] When they were summoned to the God Quarry by Avenger Prime,[51] Echo used up the Phoenix power in defending the Quarry and the Multiverse.[52] Phoenix no more, she left the Avengers.[53]

Attributes

Power Grid[58]
:Category:Power Grid/Fighting Skills/Master: All Forms of Combat:Category:Power Grid/Fighting Skills/Master: Several Forms of Combat:Category:Power Grid/Energy Projection/None:Category:Power Grid/Durability/Normal:Category:Power Grid/Speed/Normal:Category:Power Grid/Strength/Normal:Category:Power Grid/Intelligence/Gifted

Powers

  • Photographic Reflexes: Echo possesses photographic reflexes, an ability also possessed by the mercenary known as the Taskmaster. As a result, Echo is capable of perfectly duplicating any physical movement or action she sees with perfection after watching it only once.[41]

Abilities

  • Concert-Level Pianist: Due to viewing many talented pianists perform, she is an extraordinary pianist.[3]
  • Graceful Dancer: Due to watching many dances and ballets, Echo is an excellent dancer.[5]
  • Master Martial Artist: Echo is an expert in various forms of martial arts, including those practiced by Daredevil and Bullseye. She learned various different techniques and methods from studying different martial artists in action/martial arts movies such as Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan, and Jet Li.[24]
  • Master Acrobat: Due to watching tapes of Daredevil's performance, Maya is proficient in the field gymnastics and acrobatics.[55]
  • Expert Marksman: Due to watching tapes of Bullseye's performances, She is an expert marksman capable of throwing objects of almost any sort with phenomenal accuracy and sharpshooting.[55]
  • Weapons Proficiency: Due to fighting and watching tapes of various different martial artists such as Daredevil, she is skilled with both single, and double billy clubs used in an Eskrima-like fashion, an excellent swordsman with both single and double katana, and is a master at using both single and double nunchaku, and possibly other weapons.[citation needed]

Weaknesses

  • Human Limitations: Echo still has all of the natural limitations and vulnerabilities of an ordinary human. While she can perform great physical and intellectual feats, she is incapable of duplicating an ability or skill that requires superhuman effort or capacity.[3]

Additional Attributes

  • Deafness: Being deaf poses a significant challenge for Echo in combat situations. While her photographic reflexes allow her to replicate physical movements flawlessly, her inability to hear leaves her susceptible to attacks or movements that rely on sound cues. Sneak attacks, distractions through noise, or strategies dependent on auditory signals can catch her off guard, giving her opponents an advantage.[3]

Paraphernalia

Equipment

Formerly the Ronin armor.

Weapons

As Echo: Billy clubs similar to those Daredevil carries, handguns, poisoned darts and shuriken.[55]

As Ronin: She has two nunchaku and a katana.[2]

Notes

Trivia

  • The outfit of Ronin was originally conceived by Marvel editor-in-chief Joe Quesada as a redesign for his co-creation, the Valiant Comics character Ninjak, at Valiant's request in preparation for a relaunch. After Valiant declined to use that design, Quesada repurposed it for Ronin.[56]

See Also

Links and References

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 Avengers (Vol. 8) #45
  2. 2.0 2.1 New Avengers #11
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Daredevil (Vol. 2) #9
  4. Daredevil & Echo #1
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Daredevil (Vol. 2) #10
  6. 6.0 6.1 New Avengers #27
  7. A.X.E.: Judgment Day #5
  8. A.X.E.: Judgment Day #6
  9. 9.0 9.1 Avengers (Vol. 8) #46
  10. 10.0 10.1 10.2 Heroes Reborn (Vol. 2) #3
  11. 11.0 11.1 Moon Knight (Vol. 6) #2
  12. Daredevil (Vol. 2) #51
  13. Daredevil (Vol. 2) #10
  14. Daredevil (Vol. 2) #910
  15. Daredevil (Vol. 2) #1115
  16. Daredevil (Vol. 2) #5155
  17. New Avengers #1113
  18. World War Hulk #23
  19. Secret Invasion #18
  20. Moon Knight (Vol. 6) #29
  21. Daredevil Annual (Vol. 4) #1
  22. 22.0 22.1 Daredevil (Vol. 2) #51
  23. 23.0 23.1 Daredevil (Vol. 2) #910
  24. 24.0 24.1 Daredevil (Vol. 2) #11
  25. Daredevil (Vol. 2) #13
  26. Daredevil (Vol. 2) #15
  27. Daredevil (Vol. 2) #52
  28. Daredevil (Vol. 2) #53
  29. Daredevil (Vol. 2) #54
  30. Daredevil (Vol. 2) #55
  31. New Avengers #1113
  32. Civil War: Battle Damage Report #1
  33. World War Hulk #23
  34. New Avengers #39
  35. Secret Invasion #18
  36. Moon Knight (Vol. 6) #9
  37. Daredevil Annual (Vol. 4) #1
  38. Avengers (Vol. 8) #40
  39. Avengers (Vol. 8) #41
  40. Avengers (Vol. 8) #42
  41. 41.00 41.01 41.02 41.03 41.04 41.05 41.06 41.07 41.08 41.09 41.10 Avengers (Vol. 8) #44
  42. Heroes Reborn (Vol. 2) #47
  43. Heroes Return #1
  44. Avengers (Vol. 8) #50
  45. Iron Man (Vol. 6) #16
  46. Eternals (Vol. 5) #11
  47. Avengers (Vol. 8) #5455
  48. Avengers (Vol. 8) #61
  49. Avengers Assemble Alpha #1
  50. Avengers (Vol. 8) #6364
  51. Avengers (Vol. 8) #65
  52. Avengers Assemble Omega #1
  53. Avengers (Vol. 9) #1
  54. 54.0 54.1 54.2 54.3 Avengers (Vol. 8) #4142
  55. 55.0 55.1 55.2 Daredevil (Vol. 2) #1115
  56. Jennings, Collier (23 April 2020) Marvel's Ronin Is Based on a Never-Used Ninjak Design by Joe Quesada CBR.com. Retrieved on 24 April 2020.
  57. Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z #3
  58. Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z Vol 1 3
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