BOROUGHS, CHARLES

Real Name: Charles "Charlie" Boroughs

Identity/Class: Human

Occupation: Psychopath, serial killer; Former policeman

Group Membership: None

Affiliations: Mr. Fear (Lawrence Cranston), unnamed former warden at Ryker's Island

Enemies: Candace Nelson, Daredevil, Marissa Dwyer, Kathy Malper, Karen Page, X-Man (Nate Grey)

Known Relatives: Judge Bryant Chalmers (father)

Aliases: Triple Threat Killer

Base of Operations: New York City, New York;
    formerly Ryker's Island Prison

First Appearance: (Behind the Scenes) Daredevil I#367 (September, 1997)
    (Fully seen) Daredevil I#371 (January, 1998)

Powers/Abilities: Boroughs is violently insane and is a strong and savage combatant. He uses a knife and has had training in armed in unarmed combat (in the police academy). He enjoys quoting his own disjointed poetry.

He had some degree of mental power that caused psychic interference in nearby telepaths (or at least in Nate Grey). His voice was such that Daredevil was unable to get a "fix" on it for later identification. Daredevil's radar sense gave him a triple outline of Boroughs' body.

Distinguishing Features: Boroughs possesses numerous tattoos of symbols representing the number three on his body. He also has a number three marked on his left middle incisor.

History: Boroughs origins and the nature of his psychic abilities are unclear.

(Daredevil I#373/375 (fb) - BTS) - Boroughs was the illegitimate son of judge Chalmers and an officer in the New York Police Department. His record was "spotted," and he often faded out of sight for months at time with no explanation, during which time he secretly slew a number of women. Learning of his son's actions, Chalmers arranged to have him secretly arrested and locked away in a hidden chamber at Ryker's Island Prison, where he was kept without any record of his existence. Police officer friends of Boroughs, unaware of the full extent of his crimes, were willing to cooperate with Chalmers.

(Daredevil I#367 - BTS) - Mr. Fear used a new Gladiator in an assault against Daredevil, as well as causing a riot at Ryker's Island, which partially served as a cover to breaking Boroughs out of prison.

(Daredevil I#371) - Boroughs confronted Marissa Dwyer, a friend of Candace Nelson who had just been thrown out of Franklin "Foggy" Nelson's apartment. She was looking for another party and he offered to show her one. After leaving a club called the Limelight, Charles and Marissa passed by the mutant Nate Grey, and Charles caused psychic interference in Grey. As they headed back to Marissa's apartment, Charles promised her a killer of a time.

(Daredevil I#373 (fb)) - Assistant District Attorney Kathy Malper received a tip from a Ryker's employee telling her that the riot at Ryker's was a cover to break out a prisoner who didn't exist on any records.

(Daredevil I#372 (fb) - BTS) - Boroughs assaulted Marissa Dwyer in her apartment in the Village.

(Daredevil I#375 (fb) - BTS) - Boroughs abducted and tortured Dwyer.

(Daredevil I#372) -  Malper investigated the previously hidden cell of Boroughs at Ryker's which was covered in blood, some of which was smeared into the shape of the number three. She founf forensic evidence of two murders in the cell. Meanwhile, Boroughs, still in Dwyer's apartment, licked his knife clean while he called Mr. Fear, informed him of his completion of the mission, and received further orders.

    Later, Judge Chalmers denied Malper's petition to interview the warden of Ryker's, telling Malper that no one had escaped Ryker's and that no one had died (as there were no bodies). Boroughs was in Chalmers' chambers, and he mocked the judge after he had hung up the phone. Malpher continued to get the runaround as she tried to investigate the occurrence at Ryker's. She convinced Daredevil to investigate the Warden, but as they arrived, they found him being punished by Ghost Rider (Ketch). In the subsequent struggle, the warden was killed (or his brain fried) before he could disclose any information.

    Boroughs called Karen Page on her talk radio show (as Paige Angel), making vague threats.

(Daredevil I#373 (fb) - BTS) - In an effort to cleanse the crime, Ghost Rider allegedly incinerated all evidence in the warden's office.

(Daredevil I#373) - While Boroughs recited  his own poetry at an apartment in Alphabet City (2099 Ave D), Mr. Fear met with him to discuss their plans, promising he'd have his chance to get close to Karen Page. Boroughs was then present in Chalmers' chambers while Chalmers continued to deny Malper latitude to investigate the event at Ryker's. Fear then contacted them, revealing that Boroughs had begun "dating" again. Daredevil listened in on this conversation, but Boroughs slipped away before he could confront him, and Chalmers refused to offer any information to Daredevil.

    Later, however, Chalmers, his guilt weighing heavily upon him, passed on a Badge Number to Malper. Boroughs deluged Karen Page's talk show's phone lines, somehow occupying every one of them simultaneously. Across town, in a police officer's uniform, Boroughs confronted Candy Nelson while she waited for Marissa. He told her to accompany him to answer a few questions.

(Daredevil I#374) - Candace realized that the "cop" was off when he began quoting his disjointed poetry to her in the middle of his questions. However, when another cop recognized and greeted him, she figured he must be a real officer. He had her wait outside while he changed in his apartment (which appeared to have a dead body laying on his bed), during which time he contacted Fear and asked if he could have some fun with Candace before "throwing her away."  Under the guise of going undercover to gain information, Boroughs took Candace to the club Webster Hall, while at the same time Karen Page received a package he had sent her, a Valentine's Day card and a real heart with an arrow stuck through it.

    Matt Murdock and Foggy Nelson tracked Candace to Webster Hall, but Boroughs fled, using his knife (and the threat of killing Marissa) to force Candace to go with him. Daredevil confronted him outside the bar, separating the two before Boroughs could kill her. However, a group of cops then arrived, some of whom recognized Boroughs, and they forced him to release Boroughs, who fled. Meanwhile, Fear stood over Chalmers, whom he had literally scared to death, and then planted a drug on him to make it appear as a suicide.

    Karen Page returned home to find her landlady, Mrs. Banks, dead, with a knife stuck in her back.

(Daredevil I#375 (fb) - BTS) - Boroughs went after Karen Page with a knife, at which point Fear apparently incapacitated them both, shot and killed Boroughs, and then placed the smoking gun in Page's had.

(Daredevil I#375) - Karen Page was taken to trial for the murder of Officer Boroughs, where she was framed for killing the policeman who was allegedly trying to protect her from the real killer. They also alleged that Page might have staged her own stalking, and Fear hurled Marissa Dwyer through the courtroom roof during the trial, making it appear that the real killer was still on the loose. Eventually, Daredevil was able to disclose Fear's involvement in the affair. Murdock uncovered the journal of judge Chalmers, making the frame seem apparent. Fear managed to manipulate one of the jurors, but the man had a heart attack. The Kingpin actually helped Murdock out on this, disclosing Fear's involvement with the jury, apparently because he didn't want anyone to break Murdock but himself. the charges against Karen were dropped.

    However, an unidentified man and woman dug up Boroughs, who came to the surface, alive and well.

Comments: Created by Joe Kelly, Ariel Olivetti, and Pier Britto.

    This is one of those profiles I did to figure out what the frick was going on myself. I still have no idea. Sorry if it's lengthy, but I was just trying to make sense of it all. Anyone want to ask Joe Kelly what the deal with Boroughs was supposed to be?
    I do know that Fear orchestrated the whole thing to make Murdock lose his faith in the criminal justice system, breaking his spirit. At the same time, he tried to have Karen Page killed in prison, but she was defended by Elektra.

Though some pictures showed him as blond, Boroughs actually had grey hair.
Similarly, Malper is often spelled Malpher, and Ryker's is often spelled Riker's (which IS the correct spelling in the real world, I believe).
I had his name spelled Burroughs, but it appears that his name is spelled Burroughs. I'll correct mistakes as I find them, though the filename for this one reflects the error.

Profile by Snood.

CLARIFICATIONS:
No known connection to:

• other "Burr" characters

images:
Daredevil I#372, p6, panel 5
    last page, last panel
Daredevil I#375, last page, last panel

Appearances:
Daredevil I#367 (September, 1997) - Joe Kelly (writer), Gene Colan (penciler), Bud LaRosa, Harry Candelario (inkers), Jaye Gardner (editor)
Daredevil I#371-372 (January-February, 1998) - Joe Kelly (writer), Ariel Olivetti (penciler), Pier Brito (inker), Jaye Gardner (editor)
Daredevil I#373 (March, 1998) - Joe Kelly, Ben Raab (writers), Richie Acosta (penciler), Bud Larosa (inker), Jaye Gardner (editor)
Daredevil I#374 (April, 1998) - Joe Kelly, Jonathan Barron (writers), Ariel Olivetti (penciler), Pier Brito (inker), Jaye Gardner (editor)
Daredevil I#375 (May, 1998) - Joe Kelly, Chris Claremont (writers), Cary Nord, Ariel Olivetti, John Paul Leon, Tom Lyle, Brian Denham, Rick Leonardi (pencilers), Mark Lipka, Pier Brito, John Paul Leon, Robert Jones, Chris Carlson, Scott Hanna (inkers), Jaye Gardner (editor)

First Posted: 06/06/2004
Last updated: 06/06/2004

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

Non-Marvel Copyright info
All other characters mentioned or pictured are ™  and © 1941-2099 Marvel Characters, Inc. All Rights Reserved. If you like this stuff, you should check out the real thing!
Please visit The Marvel Official Site at: http://www.marvel.com

Special Thanks to www.g-mart.com for hosting the Appendix, Master List, etc.!

Back to Characters