Elle Facts

Are you a fan of Elektra Natchios? Well, here are One Dozen Elektra Facts!

1. Elektra was born on a Greek Island near the Aegean Sea, her mother has two accounts of death. The first claimed Elektra's brother hired an assassin to kill their mother, the second established their mother died during The Greek Civil War.

2. Elektra's mental status has always been in question. From her time serving The Hand, her time training under Daredevil's former trainer Stick, and her several revivals from death. However, the earliest account of psychological damage was due to her father taking advantage of her when she was a child. He then told her that never happened and sent her to a psychotherapist.

3. Elektra was created by Frank Miller, currently a controversial comic book writer/artist who's work began to increase in lunacy and his own personal/political opinions as time went on. Elektra was created, killed, and revived by Frank Miller before he let other writers take the reigns.

4. Elektra's first death was an iconic moment in 80's comics, as she was stabbed in the heart by Bullseye using her own sai. This death scene was recreated in the 2003 "Daredevil" film, the 2015-2016 "Daredevil" Netflix series where she was stabbed by the character Nobu. During a time when Elektra was replaced by a Skrull, she was stabbed to death in the same way by the character Echo in the pages of "Secret Invasion". In "Shadowland", Daredevil stabs Bullseye in the same way. During "Dark Reign", Bullseye had taken the mantle of Hawkeye and attempted to kill Elektra with her sai again, only to be stabbed in the back by Elektra using one of his arrows. A zombie version of Wolverine kills another version of Elektra with his claws in the same way.

5. Elektra once defeated a hired assassin known as Paladin by spitting her own tooth down his throat, causing him to choke.

6. Along with the usual organizations she's been involved with-The Chaste, The Hand, HYDRA, and SHIELD-Elektra has been on a few superhero teams. Mainly The Heroes For Hire, and Red Hulk's Thunderbolts along with Deadpool, Venom, The Punisher, and Ghost Rider.

7. While usually portrayed as one of Daredevil's love interests, Elektra also has a working relationship with Wolverine. The two have battled The Hand together, but during a time when Wolverine was under HYDRA and The Hand's mind control, Elektra was paid $200,000 to stop him. In the "MC2" future, she and Wolverine have a daughter.

8. During "Avengers: Standoff", Elektra was one of many characters held in "Pleasant Hill" which was a mind-altering prison for dangerous individuals. Kind of like "The Matrix". She believed herself to be Sheriff Eva, protector of Pleasant Hill's residents. She had also fallen in love with Crusher Creel/The Absorbing Man as his new identity was a friendly ice cream vendor. When the illusion was coming down and Creel threatened to kill people, Elektra talked him out of it.

9. Due to her training with The Hand, Elektra can use a handful of supernatural powers by connecting to The Hand's demigod "The Beast". She can create illusions to mesmerize foes, enhance her strength and/or speed, use telepathy on other well-trained warriors, and endure incredible pain. She can also temporarily take over the minds of other people. When tracking down a target, Elektra once focused herself and sent her mind into the minds of people around the vicinity. By jumping from person to person she eventually found someone close to her target and went from there.

10. In Frank Miller's "What If Elektra Didn't Die", Elektra and Daredevil escape the country and live a peaceful life together. In one of the universes from "Exiles" she is the lover of Reed Richards. In "Punisher MAX" she is a Japanese bodyguard sold to The Kingpin by The Hand. She ends up becoming The Kingpin's lover and slowly orchestrating his demise as she was hired by his ex-wife Vanessa to kill him for letting their son die. Vanessa and Elektra also share a sexual relationship. After The Punisher defeats Elektra and kills The Kingpin, his ashes are flushed down the toilet by Vanessa.

11. Elektra has died three times: Once by Bullseye, the second by Wolverine, and third by Echo, however the third death was actually a Skrull disguised as Elektra. When The Hand attempted to revive her the first time, Daredevil interrupted the ceremony and absolved Elektra of all her sins which brought her back as a white-clad "pure good" Elektra. However, by doing this Daredevil allowed another organization called The Snakeroot to bring Elektra's "pure evil" side back to life as it's own being called Erynys. The two eventually refused so that Elektra could regain the portion of strength that was split away from her, causing her alignment to become grayed once more. After Wolverine killed her and The Hand revived her, it was revealed she planned on this and used it to get close to The Hand, showing that while The Hand's method of reviving people to become their slaves works, it cannot work twice.

12. Frank Miller based Elektra off of Lisa Lyon, a female bodybuilder from the late 70's. It has been said she pioneered female bodybuilding. She apparently took up weight lifting because she wanted to learn the Japanese art of Kendo, but lacked the muscle mass. She could dead-lift 225 pounds, bench 120 pounds, and squat 265 pounds. She only weighed 120 pounds.

Thanks for reading!