Vanessa Fisk
Encyclopedia
Vanessa Fisk is a Marvel Comics
character. She is the wife of Wilson Fisk, the so-called Kingpin of crime
, and mother of Richard Fisk
.
became involved in a plot to overthrow his father's criminal syndicate in order to punish his absentee father.
The revelation led to Vanessa and Wilson becoming estranged and ultimately her forcing an ultimatum towards her husband, after she caught him engaging in hand-to-hand combat with Spider-Man
: his criminal empire or their marriage. Fisk chose his wife and spared Spider-Man as a result.
The two went into retirement in Japan. Kingpin prepared to settle his remaining business with his fellow mobsters by cooperating with the authorities and leave the world of crime forever. This infuriated one of Kingpin's closest advisors, Lynch, who believed that Vanessa was a liability and had turned the once mighty Kingpin into a henpecked husband. When Fisk's former lieutenants in New York caught wind of the his plans to sell them out in exchange for immunity, they kidnapped Vanessa, who was in town to secure the legal services of Matt Murdock and Foggy Nelson
.
Fisk fell back to his old ways and started a gang war against the mob in New York. The mob bosses attempted to ransom Vanessa off in exchange for the evidence against them Fisk had intended to turn over to the authorities, but during the exchange, Lynch fired an explosive at Vanessa, in an attempt to deprive Fisk of the thing that kept him retired and bring him back as the Kingpin of Crime. However, Vanessa didn't die. Instead, she was buried alive in the rubble and presumed dead. As planned, this drove Kingpin back into the world of crime, although he found out Lynch was behind the explosion and took revenge by murdering his traitorous advisor. He then forced the remaining mob leaders to confess to hiring the assassin Bullseye
to kill several of Fisk's men.
Weeks later, Matt Murdock's alter ego, Daredevil
, found Vanessa in the sewers. Being buried alive had left Vanessa amnesiac and mentally unstable, and she ended up taken in by a grotesque mutant who lived in the sewers. Daredevil ultimately used her as leverage to force Kingpin to order his puppet Randolph Cherryh, newly elected to the office of mayor, to resign and to confirm to the media that he was indeed a mob puppet. After reuniting with her, Kingpin had his now catatonic wife shipped off to a sanitarium in Europe in order to have her regain her sanity. This would take years, as Vanessa's husband's organized crime empire would fall and be rebuilt during the period that Vanessa was institutionalized.
Ultimately Vanessa would recover, and she would remain in Europe. But when her husband was the victim of an assassination attempt orchestrated by her son, Vanessa arranged for her husband to be shipped out of the country to recover from his injuries, and to cut a deal with his fellow mob bosses to divide up Fisk's recently rebuilt crime syndicate in exchange for a truce. Vanessa then took the final, brutal step of personally murdering her own devoted son, who admitted to Vanessa that his motivation was to rid the family of his father, who he blamed for his family's troubles.
The act of murdering her own beloved son caused a horrific physical toll on Vanessa, causing her to slowly lose the will to live, which along with the injuries she sustained when she was buried alive, culminated in her body undergoing terminal organ failure. Blaming both her husband and Matt Murdock, who had recently been revealed to be Daredevil, for the endless cycle of violence that had consumed her family, Vanessa faked the death of Foggy Nelson in an attempt to provoke Murdock into killing Fisk while they were both in prison. When that failed, she manipulated the super-hero Iron Fist into posing as Daredevil, which ultimately drove Matt to break out of prison to find Foggy's murderer and the identity of the man impersonating him, culminating in her confronting Matt with an offer to clear his name in exchange for him clearing Kingpin, so that the two would be free to try and kill each other anew.
Though Daredevil refused this deal, Vanessa went ahead and arranged for the murder of Leland Drummond, the corrupt FBI director who outed Matt in order to advance his own career within the FBI. To discredit his outing of Daredevil, the murder was made to look like a suicide and a false and highly damning suicide note was planted at the scene, claiming that Drummond took his own life after it became apparent that his scheme to frame Matt Murdock was about to be exposed. Shortly afterwards, Vanessa died and Murdock found himself morally guilted into serving as the Kingpin's lawyer, getting the charges dropped on the grounds that the evidence was too tainted to bring him to court. But Daredevil would exact his own form of Faustian bargain with Kingpin, as he forced the crime boss to renounce his American citizenship and leave the country forever in exchange for his nemesis's legal services, stating that any attempt to continue their vendetta would be an insult to the memory of the good woman Vanessa had once been. Wilson Fisk was later seen at her grave where he emotionally brokedown. She has since been talking to Wilson as a ghost taunting him about that he'll never regain his former power. However this is all in the Kingpin's head, showing the death of his wife is still greatly affecting him.
, who offers the Kingpin the cure for it in exchange for his help in a plot that will destroy New York. Disgruntled under Ra's, the Kingpin forms an alliance with Spider-Man and Batman
and succeeds in defeating Ra's, only to be denied the cure for his wife's cancer by the beaten eco-terrorist. Vanessa is cured near the end of issue by Ra's Al Ghul's daughter Talia Al Ghul
, who recognizes Vanessa as a kindred spirit, as both of them loved a man that society would regard as a monster.
, who is zombiefied, has kept her alive as a secret kept from other zombies. She goes on to say that he manages to hold back the hunger when she is around. The Kingpin also has other Marvel Zombies search for food (sometimes pet food), medical supplies or whatever a non zombie needs by telling they are an offering to him so they could eat from a factory for human clones. She meets Machine Man
and Jocosta. They ask for a sample of her blood, explaining it is a matter of life and death for other humans. She readily complies. The two androids ask if she wishes to leave with them, but she chooses to stay. Later, Machine Man decides to destroy the clone pens and kill many of the zombies. In his distress, Kingpin eats Vanessa.
, but she is nonetheless important to Kingpin's character.
The Kingpin sought the Tablet of Time
, but was stolen by the Black Cat, who wanted revenge on Fisk for putting her father in jail, and leaving him to die. She threw it in the Atlantic Ocean
before being impaled by Elektra's sai. Kingpin wanted the Tablet for his wife Vanessa, who was in a coma. Although he didn't believe in its alleged powers, she did, and he would do anything to wake her up.
Later, after Kingpin torched his law office, a crazed Daredevil broke into Fisk's home and threatened to murder the comatose Vanessa by snapping her neck, but was stopped by Spider-Man. Fisk ordered Vanessa to be taken out of the country before he was arrested himself over the attempted murder of Moon Knight.
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
character. She is the wife of Wilson Fisk, the so-called Kingpin of crime
Kingpin (comics)
The Kingpin is a fictional character, a supervillain in the . Kingpin is one of the most feared and powerful crime lords in the Marvel Universe. The character is a major adversary of Daredevil, the Punisher, and Spider-Man...
, and mother of Richard Fisk
Richard Fisk
Richard Fisk is a fictional character, a criminal in the , featured in the comic books published by Marvel Comics. He is the son of the Kingpin and his wife Vanessa Fisk...
.
Fictional character biography
Little is known about Vanessa Fisk's personal life and early years. As the wife of Wilson Fisk, the "Kingpin" of New York's criminal underworld, Vanessa was largely kept in the dark about her husband's criminal activities until her son Richard FiskRichard Fisk
Richard Fisk is a fictional character, a criminal in the , featured in the comic books published by Marvel Comics. He is the son of the Kingpin and his wife Vanessa Fisk...
became involved in a plot to overthrow his father's criminal syndicate in order to punish his absentee father.
The revelation led to Vanessa and Wilson becoming estranged and ultimately her forcing an ultimatum towards her husband, after she caught him engaging in hand-to-hand combat with Spider-Man
Spider-Man
Spider-Man is a fictional Marvel Comics superhero. The character was created by writer-editor Stan Lee and writer-artist Steve Ditko. He first appeared in Amazing Fantasy #15...
: his criminal empire or their marriage. Fisk chose his wife and spared Spider-Man as a result.
The two went into retirement in Japan. Kingpin prepared to settle his remaining business with his fellow mobsters by cooperating with the authorities and leave the world of crime forever. This infuriated one of Kingpin's closest advisors, Lynch, who believed that Vanessa was a liability and had turned the once mighty Kingpin into a henpecked husband. When Fisk's former lieutenants in New York caught wind of the his plans to sell them out in exchange for immunity, they kidnapped Vanessa, who was in town to secure the legal services of Matt Murdock and Foggy Nelson
Foggy Nelson
Franklin P. "Foggy" Nelson is a fictional character in the Marvel Comics universe, part of the supporting cast of Daredevil ; Foggy is Matt's best friend. The character was created by Stan Lee and Bill Everett....
.
Fisk fell back to his old ways and started a gang war against the mob in New York. The mob bosses attempted to ransom Vanessa off in exchange for the evidence against them Fisk had intended to turn over to the authorities, but during the exchange, Lynch fired an explosive at Vanessa, in an attempt to deprive Fisk of the thing that kept him retired and bring him back as the Kingpin of Crime. However, Vanessa didn't die. Instead, she was buried alive in the rubble and presumed dead. As planned, this drove Kingpin back into the world of crime, although he found out Lynch was behind the explosion and took revenge by murdering his traitorous advisor. He then forced the remaining mob leaders to confess to hiring the assassin Bullseye
Bullseye (comics)
Bullseye is a fictional character, a supervillain in the Marvel Comics universe.A psychopathic assassin, Bullseye uses the opportunities afforded by his line of work to exercise his homicidal tendencies and to work out his own personal vendetta against Daredevil.Although he possesses no...
to kill several of Fisk's men.
Weeks later, Matt Murdock's alter ego, Daredevil
Daredevil (Marvel Comics)
Daredevil is a fictional character, a superhero in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Bill Everett, with an unspecified amount of input from Jack Kirby, and first appeared in Daredevil #1 .Living in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood...
, found Vanessa in the sewers. Being buried alive had left Vanessa amnesiac and mentally unstable, and she ended up taken in by a grotesque mutant who lived in the sewers. Daredevil ultimately used her as leverage to force Kingpin to order his puppet Randolph Cherryh, newly elected to the office of mayor, to resign and to confirm to the media that he was indeed a mob puppet. After reuniting with her, Kingpin had his now catatonic wife shipped off to a sanitarium in Europe in order to have her regain her sanity. This would take years, as Vanessa's husband's organized crime empire would fall and be rebuilt during the period that Vanessa was institutionalized.
Ultimately Vanessa would recover, and she would remain in Europe. But when her husband was the victim of an assassination attempt orchestrated by her son, Vanessa arranged for her husband to be shipped out of the country to recover from his injuries, and to cut a deal with his fellow mob bosses to divide up Fisk's recently rebuilt crime syndicate in exchange for a truce. Vanessa then took the final, brutal step of personally murdering her own devoted son, who admitted to Vanessa that his motivation was to rid the family of his father, who he blamed for his family's troubles.
The act of murdering her own beloved son caused a horrific physical toll on Vanessa, causing her to slowly lose the will to live, which along with the injuries she sustained when she was buried alive, culminated in her body undergoing terminal organ failure. Blaming both her husband and Matt Murdock, who had recently been revealed to be Daredevil, for the endless cycle of violence that had consumed her family, Vanessa faked the death of Foggy Nelson in an attempt to provoke Murdock into killing Fisk while they were both in prison. When that failed, she manipulated the super-hero Iron Fist into posing as Daredevil, which ultimately drove Matt to break out of prison to find Foggy's murderer and the identity of the man impersonating him, culminating in her confronting Matt with an offer to clear his name in exchange for him clearing Kingpin, so that the two would be free to try and kill each other anew.
Though Daredevil refused this deal, Vanessa went ahead and arranged for the murder of Leland Drummond, the corrupt FBI director who outed Matt in order to advance his own career within the FBI. To discredit his outing of Daredevil, the murder was made to look like a suicide and a false and highly damning suicide note was planted at the scene, claiming that Drummond took his own life after it became apparent that his scheme to frame Matt Murdock was about to be exposed. Shortly afterwards, Vanessa died and Murdock found himself morally guilted into serving as the Kingpin's lawyer, getting the charges dropped on the grounds that the evidence was too tainted to bring him to court. But Daredevil would exact his own form of Faustian bargain with Kingpin, as he forced the crime boss to renounce his American citizenship and leave the country forever in exchange for his nemesis's legal services, stating that any attempt to continue their vendetta would be an insult to the memory of the good woman Vanessa had once been. Wilson Fisk was later seen at her grave where he emotionally brokedown. She has since been talking to Wilson as a ghost taunting him about that he'll never regain his former power. However this is all in the Kingpin's head, showing the death of his wife is still greatly affecting him.
Intercompany Crossovers
In Batman & Spider-Man #1, Vanessa is infected with terminal cancer by Ra's Al GhulRa's al Ghul
Ra's al Ghul is a DC Comics supervillain and is one of Batman's greatest enemies. His name in Arabic has been translated in the comics as "The Demon's Head" and references the name of the star Algol. Created by writer Dennis O'Neil and artist Neal Adams, he was introduced in Batman #232's...
, who offers the Kingpin the cure for it in exchange for his help in a plot that will destroy New York. Disgruntled under Ra's, the Kingpin forms an alliance with Spider-Man and Batman
Batman
Batman is a fictional character created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger. A comic book superhero, Batman first appeared in Detective Comics #27 , and since then has appeared primarily in publications by DC Comics...
and succeeds in defeating Ra's, only to be denied the cure for his wife's cancer by the beaten eco-terrorist. Vanessa is cured near the end of issue by Ra's Al Ghul's daughter Talia Al Ghul
Talia al Ghul
Talia al Ghul is a fictional character in the DC Comics universe, the now-estranged daughter of the supervillain Ra's al Ghul, a love interest of Batman, and the mother of his son Damian Wayne, the fifth Robin...
, who recognizes Vanessa as a kindred spirit, as both of them loved a man that society would regard as a monster.
Marvel Zombies 3
It's revealed that she wasn't infected or eaten when the zombies took over this world. In fact her husband, the KingpinKingpin (comics)
The Kingpin is a fictional character, a supervillain in the . Kingpin is one of the most feared and powerful crime lords in the Marvel Universe. The character is a major adversary of Daredevil, the Punisher, and Spider-Man...
, who is zombiefied, has kept her alive as a secret kept from other zombies. She goes on to say that he manages to hold back the hunger when she is around. The Kingpin also has other Marvel Zombies search for food (sometimes pet food), medical supplies or whatever a non zombie needs by telling they are an offering to him so they could eat from a factory for human clones. She meets Machine Man
Machine Man
Machine Man is a fictional character, an android superhero in the Marvel Comics Universe. The character was created by Jack Kirby for 2001: A Space Odyssey #8 , a comic written and drawn by Kirby featuring concepts based on the eponymous Stanley Kubrick film and Arthur C. Clarke novel...
and Jocosta. They ask for a sample of her blood, explaining it is a matter of life and death for other humans. She readily complies. The two androids ask if she wishes to leave with them, but she chooses to stay. Later, Machine Man decides to destroy the clone pens and kill many of the zombies. In his distress, Kingpin eats Vanessa.
Ultimate Universe
Vanessa Fisk has had only a cameo in Ultimate Spider-ManUltimate Spider-Man
Ultimate Spider-Man was a superhero comic book series that was published by Marvel Comics from 2000 to 2009. The series is a modernized re-imagining of Marvel's long-running Spider-Man comic book franchise as part of its Ultimate Marvel imprint...
, but she is nonetheless important to Kingpin's character.
The Kingpin sought the Tablet of Time
Tablet of Time
Tablet of Time is a season two episode of the Spider-Man animated series.-Plot:This episode begins with three men, dressed in explorer's clothing, staring at the pyramid before them. They explain that it is ten centuries old, and that inside it is the Tablet of Time. A news segment describes the...
, but was stolen by the Black Cat, who wanted revenge on Fisk for putting her father in jail, and leaving him to die. She threw it in the Atlantic Ocean
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...
before being impaled by Elektra's sai. Kingpin wanted the Tablet for his wife Vanessa, who was in a coma. Although he didn't believe in its alleged powers, she did, and he would do anything to wake her up.
Later, after Kingpin torched his law office, a crazed Daredevil broke into Fisk's home and threatened to murder the comatose Vanessa by snapping her neck, but was stopped by Spider-Man. Fisk ordered Vanessa to be taken out of the country before he was arrested himself over the attempted murder of Moon Knight.
PunisherMax
Vanessa Fisk is married to The Kingpin, but the marriage with south when The Kingpin on his rise to power, stood idle as their eight year old son Richard's neck was slit. Vanessa attempts to kill him while they are having sex. The Kingpin kicks her out of their tower. Kingpin hires Elektra as a bodyguard to protect him from The Punisher, but it's revealed that she was really hired by Vanessa to eliminate The Kingpin for vengeance. She is also involved in a lesbian relationship with her.Television
- Vanessa Fisk has appeared in Spider-Man: The Animated SeriesSpider-Man (1994 TV series)Spider-Man, also known as Spider-Man: The Animated Series, is an American animated series starring the Marvel Comics superhero, Spider-Man. The show ran on Fox Kids from November 19, 1994, to January 31, 1998. The producer/story editor was John Semper, Jr. and production company was Marvel Films...
voiced by Caroline GoodallCaroline GoodallCaroline Cruice Goodall is a British actress and screenwriter.-Biography:Goodall was born in London, England to a journalist mother and a publisher father...
. In the episodes "Tablet of Time" and "Ravages of Time," she is one of the few characters who are aware that Wilson Fisk is the Kingpin. In the end of "Ravages of Time," Vanessa decides to leave New York and Wilson for good, unable to deal with being the wife of a criminal.
Video Games
- Though Vanessa Fisk does not appear in the video game Spider-Man: Web of ShadowsSpider-Man: Web of ShadowsSpider-Man: Web of Shadows is a video game title encompassing three versions: a full-3D action game for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, Wii, and Xbox 360; a 2.5D sidescrolling beat em up action game for the PlayStation Portable and PlayStation 2 , and a 2.5D side-scrolling brawler/platformer for...
, she is referenced. Near the Fisk Industries building (where Wilson Fisk is located), there is a dock with a lone yachtYachtA yacht is a recreational boat or ship. The term originated from the Dutch Jacht meaning "hunt". It was originally defined as a light fast sailing vessel used by the Dutch navy to pursue pirates and other transgressors around and into the shallow waters of the Low Countries...
. The yacht's name is Vanessa.