Kick-Ass

Origin

Dave Lizewski led a typical high school life. He wasn't popular or a geek or class clown. He was just another average student at his high school. Nothing special about him really.. just a kid who fantasized about becoming a real life superhero. Certain things stood in the way of his ambition though, like not having the confidence to talk to a girl he liked, nor the strength to defend himself in a fight. His mother died of an aneurysm when he was fourteen and he lived with his dad, who was still having problems coping with her death. As an escape, Dave played with video games, himself, and read a lot of comic books. He became so obsessed with super heroics that he decided that was the career he wanted for himself, even though superheroes didn't really exist in the world for good reason.

One night he decided to put on a costume. He spent the first few weeks walking around on rooftops getting used to the costume and enjoying the thrill of wearing it underneath his clothes. He spent time working out in his high school gym during lunch and also ate high protein foods to try and pack on lean muscle all the while trying to come up with a name.

Mayor Story Arcs

"The Greatest Superhero of All Time"

One day he decided to go into action. Seeing some kids spray painting a wall, he felt this was his time. Gaining courage from wearing a mask and costume, he approached and insulted the three kids. After an exchanging of words, a fight began with a costumed Dave throwing the first attack that came in the form of a improvised miniature bat. He used bottles as well as his own weapon to fight off the thugs but their numbers (three) overwhelmed him. Things didn't go so well as Dave ended up getting stabbed by the first man that he attacked upon arriving on the scene.

The thugs rushed off and Dave struggled to walk home. Crossing the road, he ends up getting hit by a car and became a victim of a hit and run as the ones responsible fled the area. He was left with two broken legs and a crushed spine yet in his horrendous state he was able to take off his costume and hide it before the paramedics arrived.

After months of counseling and therapy, Dave burned most of his comic books and promised himself to never partake in heroics ever again. A promise he immediately broke.

Donning his costume once again, he roams the streets only to find a man getting mugged by three "Puerto Ricans". This time Dave was armed with not one but two of the improvised mini-bats which he kept strapped to his back. In an act of bravery or stupidity he decided to take on the three men. The fight instantly became bloody and again Dave became overwhelmed by the number of attackers. This time though, he was able to fight himself out of the beating reaching a point where the Puerto Ricans left saying that he was "f***ing nuts". The crowd, that had gathered to watch the battle, cheered Dave on, while a young man takes out his cellphone and records the fight, putting it on youtube for all to see. Dave becomes a local celebrity and his costumed persona finally has a name, given to him by the masses: Kick-Ass.

In his regular life, he gains confidence and even gets the courage to talk to the hottest girl in school and she reciprocates. By now Dave is on cloud nine only to be brought down by his best friend Toddy Haynes when he tells him that everyone thinks he is gay because he was found naked when he first donned the costume. Being the opportunist, Dave played the role of the supposed "gay best friend" just so he could be close to the girl that he had a crush on. He also received a can of mace from his father who showed concern from all of Dave's new cuts and bruises.

As Kick-Ass he sets up a My space page to come into contact with victims or people who need his assistance. On his first mission he went to a hotel building looking to deal with a man named Eddie Lomas. The call came from Eddies ex-girlfriend saying that he was making crank calls to her and she asked Kick-Ass to go have a little "talk" with him. After a few condescending jokes about Dave's costume made by Eddie and his crew, a fight breaks out between Kick-ass and Lomas's posse. He used the can of mace that his father gave him on Eddie but was quickly stuck from behind. It looked evident that Kick-Ass was about to be severely beaten. again when suddenly a mysterious young girl in costume carrying a pair of katana swords appears. She uses the sword first on Eddie, driving it through his back. Then she uses it on one of the crew members, cutting half of his head off. With two men now dead, she makes an open challenge to the rest of the people in the room,as she began to pull out a second katana sword.

Unlike Dave, the young girl was well trained and ruthless in her form of justice. He watched as she one by one killed the people in the room thinking "she handled those knives like a f***ing surgeon". When it was over she assured him that they were on the same side and took off so that cops would not find her at the scene. Kick-Ass followed only to see her go to a large costumed man. Through their interaction, Kick-Ass found out that the girl's name was Hit-Girl and the man was known as Big Daddy. As they fled, Kick-Ass was impressed at how they carried themselves and the tactics they used and called them "the real deal".

The murder of the people in the Lomas house made Dave extremely uneasy. Thinking that it could all be pinned back to him, he vowed to never again put on the costume again in fear of going to jail. His meeting with Hit-Girl and Big Daddy left him wondering and he began to search the internet, where he had become popular but could find nothing on them. After a conversation with Eddie Lomas' ex-girlfriend, Dave feels more comfortable about his name staying clear but still is convinced that he will never become Kick-Ass again.

Super Hero Once Again

For a few weeks Dave had laid low, not doing any type of vigilante hero work but that was all it took for him to be replaced. In that time span a new hero had emerged and in Dave's eyes had become an attention-whore. After checking out some forums Dave decided that for a few nights it was time to hit the streets again donning the costume one more time as Kick-Ass but found that the city was calmer then ever. Dave then found himself once again playing the gay best friend role with his long time crush Katie Deauxma. She could sense that something was not right and after thinking quickly his response to her in an attempt to cover his true feeling were that he was afraid to tell his father about the gay stuff. After some soothing words by Katie, Dave reiterated the fact that he was not a homosexual by concealing the fact that he had an erection as she laid her head on his chest to comfort him. After news reports that gave the new hero that called himself The Red Mist credit for Kick-Ass's accomplishments, Dave had had enough. By using MySpace which was dubbed the twenty-first century version of the Bat-Signal, Kick-Ass arranged a meeting with The Red Mist to get some answers. To Kick-Ass' surprise when they met The Red Mist claimed to be his biggest fan.

After a small talk Red Mist asked Kick-Ass to do a team-up for the night and introduced him to the Mist Mobile. The two seemed to hit it off and became good friends while they patrolled the city. When the night seemed to be winding down they ran into something that neither of them expected, a burning down building. At first glance, The Red Mist was reluctant to go in but after some persuasion by Kick-Ass they both ran into the building looking for a woman's baby that was named Charlie. The whole time Red Mist complained saying that Kick-Ass was nuts and when they finally found the "baby" it turned out to be a cat. The fire had then became too overwhelming and the building came down on them but they were rescued by the firefighters that had shown up later.

When the two left the scene they were received as heroes making such an impact that they brought people to tears. When Dave returned home he jumped on the web and noticed that he had regained his "rockstar" status. Little did he know that Hit-Girl and Big Daddy were in his room. After getting his attention they showed that they were not impressed with what he had done. But wanted to see how he would do against the mob.

The Betrayal

While Big-Daddy held him down, the pair of vigilantes offered Kick-Ass a chance to team up with them. They were going after the mob's "Boss of Bosses" and needed the help of Kick-Ass and The Red Mist. At first Big-Daddy opposed but after speaking to his daughter Hit-Girl he agreed that a team-up needed to be done. After releasing his grip on him, Big-Daddy orders Hit-Girl to tell Kick-Ass their origin. She begins to speak and reveals that Big-Daddy is her father and a former police officer that "couldn't be paid off". Also she said that the mob killed his wife, her mother and that is why they were on a quest for revenge. At first Dave was reluctant claiming that he did not want to kill but was left with no choice when Big-Daddy blackmailed him say that if he and The Red Mist did not work with them he would leak his identity on the internet. Dave eventually tells Katie Deuxma he is not gay, and was using it as an excuse to be close to her. She says some choice words to him and basically tells him to get lost.

By this point Dave was changed. The things that mattered to him before seemed irrelevant. It was becoming harder for him to relate to non "superheroes". He soon met up with The Red Mist to decide on what they would do. Red Mist seemed reluctant but after a conversation with Kick-Ass decided to meet at Big-Daddy's hideout. The two then parted and Dave had a rush of adrenaline that he said came from second-hand contact from The Red Mist's weed . He went to Katie Deauxma's house and shouted at her window "I've been Kick-Ass all along and I'm not gay" but as soon as she opened the window he cowered and ran away. Later he meets up with Red Mist again this time heading to the hideout of Big-Daddy and Hit-Girl. They make their way inside to find Big-Daddy severely beaten up and Hit-Girl crying by his side. Big-Daddy notices Kick-Ass at the door and asks for his help but before he could act, The Red Mist pulls a gun and points it to the back of Dave's head showing his allegiance to the mob. Dave is beaten, Big Daddy is gunned down and Hitgirl is wounded, but Dave refuses to talk. Hitgirl returns and kills some of the mobsters.

The two vigilantes strategise an assault on Genovese, and Hitgirl manages to kill him. Dave beats Red Mist into submission and leaves him defeated. Afterwards, Dave helps Hitgirl return to normal, going home to her mother and her stepfather. He discovers his father has got his sexlife back on track, and instead of being shocked, he is happy for him. One day at school, Dave approaches Katie Deuxma and confesses that he was never gay and he had been lying to her all that time. Engraged, she gets her boyfriend Carl to punch him, giving him a bloody nose. That night, after walking in on his Dad and a woman he met on a grieving forum, Dave is texted a picture of Katie and Carl having oral sex.

Hit Girl

For more information see Hit-Girl.

Sometime after the events of Kick Ass, Mindy and David make a deal she'll teach him to be a Super hero and he will teach her to fit in at school. Mindy has David take an oath of Justice and teaches him how to crash through windows and beat up thugs. Then one night the pair go to take down a Russian gang. Everything is going well but David breaks his hand on a thugs face and Mindy is "forced" to use lethal means to get David out safely. The broken hand leaves David on the injure list for at least two months. Meanwhile Mindy takes down the Genovese family. When David's hand is better, Mindy finds him and though she gave up the cape and promised her step-father not to be Hit Girl, she has decided to train David to be a great crime fighter.

Balls to the Wall

In the comic series sequel, Kick-Ass is now being trained by a reformed Hit Girl. He also is affiliated with the new superhero team called Justice Forever, being led by Colonel Stars, and his new crime-fighting ally, Doctor Gravity. He now works frequently on gang-busting with his new found team, as well as his long-time friend Marty as Battle Guy, sharing inside crime-fighting jokes with him during his school life. He and his team have currently broken into a bar, beaten down, and apprehended a gang.

Sometime after apprehending the gang, Dave comes home to see that his Dad found his Kick Ass costume and isn't happy about it. They argue about him being hero and Dave storms out of the house.

At the Justice Forever hideout, Colonel Stars is setting up the team's table with its own logo. After not hearing his dog a moment later, he is immediately concerned. Formerly Red Mist, now the Motherfucker, and his gang bust in and trash the place while they beat up the Colonel to the point of death. Wanting to send a message, the gang cut off the Colonel's dog's head and put it on the Colonel's body. They also wrote the Motherfucker's name on the wall. Dave and the rest of Justice Forever mourn the death of their great leader.

The MotherFucker's gang go to the street where Kate lives (Dave's crush) and start killing people there. They raid her house, kill her parents and then rape her. All the while, Mother Russia is outside killing the police that arrive. The police issue a ban on all people wearing costumes across New York and track all of the ip addresses of the costumed people including Dave. While Dave visits Kate in the hospital the police show up at Dave's house but his Dad takes the fall for being Kick Ass so Dave won't have to go to jail. Dave shows up while his Dad is being apprehended and tells him not to go but he can't stop him. Dave's friends Marty and Todd take him in while his Dad is in jail. Dave gets a text from the Motherfucker with a picture of his Dad hanged in jail with a noose. Dave is overwhelmed with sadness.

Dave goes to the funeral to mourn the loss and the Motherfucker says that they will have a ceasefire to celebrate Kick Ass's loss and they won't interrupt the funeral. Justice Forever show up dressed in funeral clothing to pay their respects and tell Dave that they wish they could help get revenge but the police won't allow it. Dave doesn't want revenge but he is just sad. Mindy (Hit Girl) is also at the wedding and asks Dave if he is mad at her for not getting involved. Dave says that he wasn't mad at her at all. At this time, the villains break their promise by bombing the funeral. They kidnap Dave with intent of bringing him the Motherfucker's hideout.

Other Media

Kick-Ass Live Action Film

In the 2010 film Kick-Ass, Kick-Ass is portrayed by Aaron Johnson. The film had a much lighter plot than the comic series, particularly in the relationship between Katie and Kick-Ass. In the film, Katie is fine when he tells her that he isn't gay, and he also reveals that he is Kick-Ass. The two end up dating, and are still a couple at the end of the film.

Kick-Ass Video Game

Kick-Ass appears as a playable character in the Kick-Ass video game, which is based off of the events in the movie.

Kick-Ass 2 Live Action Film

The film sequel to Kick-Ass is entitled Kick-Ass 2: Balls to the Wall and it is to be release on August 16, 2013.