Daredevil’s ‘Human Lie Detector’ Power Has a Surprisingly Simple Weakness – TheFantasyTimes

Among the street-level heroes of Marvel, Daredevil stands out as one of the best and strongest. His hyper-senses make it nearly impossible to land a hit on him and even more difficult to deceive him. However, it turns out that his built-in lie detector has one easily exploitable weakness.

Despite being a street-level hero, Daredevil possesses exceptional abilities. He has a version of Spider-Sense that enables him to avoid any incoming attack. Additionally, his heightened sense of hearing and smell allows him to detect the number of people in a room across the street or track someone’s scent. One of his most significant powers is his ability to identify liars through the rate of their heartbeats, making it useful not only as a defense attorney but also as a vigilante. However, this ability is not without flaws.

Not Even Daredevil is Above Being Fooled

In the comic book series Daredevil #184 by Frank Miller, Roger McKenzie, and Klaus Janson, Daredevil has to prove that a child did not murder a drug dealer who got his sister addicted to crack. Despite his exceptional senses, Daredevil is unable to tell if the child is lying when he claims he did not shoot the drug dealer, despite having a motive and being present at the crime scene. Daredevil manages to prove the child’s innocence and attempts to pin the crime on local mob boss Hogman. However, Daredevil is shocked when Hogman claims innocence and passes Daredevil’s lie detector test, suggesting that he is not lying.

Daredevil uses his legal skills to defend Hogman and proves his innocence. Once Hogman is exonerated, he asks Matt if there could be a retrial. Matt tells him that there is no chance of a retrial, and so Hogman confesses to killing the drug dealer. Matt is surprised since his superpowers earlier indicated that Hogman was not lying. The answer to how Hogman tricked Daredevil is simple. Hogman has a pacemaker that regulates his heart rate, and thus, lying would not make it spike. This shows that despite Daredevil’s exceptional powers, he is not infallible. If Hogman did not commit the crime, he would have walked free. This plot point raises questions about Matt’s entire view of the law. Matt tells the young boy who lost his sister that the legal system is effective and catches the bad guys. However, since Matt himself is tricked into helping a criminal escape the law, this may not always be the case.

Out of all the street-level heroes Marvel has to offer, Daredevil is one of the best and strongest; with his hyper-senses, it’s almost impossible to land a hit on him and even harder to lie to him. However, it turns out his built-in lie detector has one very easy to exploit weakness.

Despite being a street-level hero who rarely goes up against cosmic threats, Daredevil is stronger than most people think. Not only does he have essentially a version of Spider-Sense, allowing him to evade any attack coming his way, but he also has hyper hearing and a heightened sense of smell. This enables him to do all kinds of things, like detect how many people are in a room across the street, or follow someone by the scent of their perfume or cologne. But one of the biggest powers Daredevil has is his ability to detect whether someone is lying due to the rate their heart is beating at. This power is unbelievably useful, not just as a defense attorney but also as a vigilante. But despite how powerful this ability is, it is not flawless.

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Not Even Daredevil is Above Being Fooled

The secret to fooling Daredevil’s abilities can be seen in Daredevil #184 by Frank Miller, Roger McKenzie, and Klaus Janson. In this storyline, Daredevil has to prove that a kid did not murder a drug dealer who got his sister hooked on crack. Daredevil, using his hyper senses, is able to tell that the child isn’t lying when he says he wasn’t the one to shoot the drug dealer, despite having ample motive and being at the scene of the crime. Daredevil is successfully able to prove the kid’s innocence, and aims to pin the crime on local mob boss Hogman. However, Matt is shocked when Hogman claims innocence as well and also isn’t lying.

Daredevil uses his lawyer skills to get Hogman proven not guilty as well. Once Hogman is exonerated, he asks Matt if there’s any chance of a retrial. Matt tells him that he’s good to go, there’s no chance of a retrial at all. So Hogman takes the opportunity to tell Daredevil that he is 100 percent guilty. He absolutely killed that man. Matt is shocked since his superpowers told him Hogman wasn’t lying earlier. So how did Hogman, a petty gangster, beat one of the strongest superpowers in comics? Well, the answer is actually pretty simple.

How to Fool Daredevil’s Lie Detector

Eventually, Daredevil is able to chase Hogman down and realizes Hogman has a pacemaker. That’s how he was able to avoid Daredevil being able to tell that he was lying. A pacemaker is used to regulate the user’s heartbeat, so doing things like lying wouldn’t make it jump. There isn’t any supernatural explanation, Hogman isn’t some stone-cold killer who can lie easily. He is just a man with a bad heart, so he needed a pacemaker. This goes to show that as powerful as Daredevil is, he’s not infallible. If Hogman didn’t to the crime, he likely would get to walk free. This plot point also brings into question Matt’s entire view on the law. Matt explains to the young boy who lost his sister, that the law works and that given time, it’ll catch the bad people. But considering Matt himself is tricked into helping a bad person escape the law, that might not necessarily be true.

While Hogman is eventually brought to justice, it’s really only due to the fact that he admits guilt himself. While Daredevil is a great hero, he might rely on his powers a bit too much to judge whether someone is deserving of justice.