Melvin Potter
Melvin Potter, better known as the Gladiator, is an American villain and owner of a costume shop in New York City. Disgusted and enraged by costumed heroes and villains, Potter ironically decided to match their power with simply the right equipment. His suit consists of a strong metallic helmet equipped with an oxygen regenerator; nylon boots with tungsten alloy blades; and rapidly rotating blades on his wrist that act as shields and grant him superior leaping ability, powered by small transistorized engines inspired by Iron Man.
Biography
In 1966, Foggy Nelson bought a Daredevil costume from Potter, hoping to disguise himself as the hero and impress Karen Page. Melvin convinced him to stage a performative fight at the docks that night. Potter had no such intention, instead suiting up for the first time in order to fully test his suit's capabilities against Nelson. The showdown occurred that night, and Foggy got into his Daredevil costume in full view of Karen, but the Gladiator quickly knocked him out with a single blow, disappointing himself somewhat with the ease of the battle. Gladiator saw Karen and went after her, but the true Daredevil intervened and fought him himself. Karen fled to the police before she could see any of the true Daredevil in action. Matt soon defeated the competent Gladiator after finding an opening in his armor and knocking him out. The police returned as Daredevil left the scene, leaving Foggy and Gladiator to come to—the dizzy Gladiator believed that Foggy really was Daredevil, and he was taken into custody. Foggy in turn was confused as to whether he'd blacked out and fought him.[1]
Gladiator's wrist shields were damaged beyond use in the fight. From jail, he gave an interview with the Daily Bugle in which he claimed that Nelson was Daredevil, and it was published the following morning. He was sprung from jail by a group of criminals in a tear-gas attack, and they led him to their leader and fellow Daredevil foe, the Masked Marauder. Marauder meant to use Gladiator as a lackey, but Gladiator's ego matched his own—Marauder used an opti-blast to try to keep him in line. He sent his goons off to Nelson's apartment to take him down, with the caveat that Marauder would have the honor of the finishing blow. Gladiator soon recovered and fought back, but their clash was interrupted when one of the criminals returned. Upon arriving at Nelson's apartment, Marauder's goons were attacked by the real Daredevil. With the hero's identity again obfuscated, Marauder and Gladiator were back to square one—but now encouraged to well and truly combine their efforts against their nemesis.[2]