Debuting in 1964, Matt Murdock's Daredevil is one of Marvel's grittiest heroes, constantly putting his neck on the line against New York's deadliest villains. Co-created by Stan Lee and Bill Everett after the massive success of Spider-Man, Daredevil is a street hero with enhanced senses and extensive ninja training, constantly acting as an underdog against stronger or more heavily armed villains.

With perhaps the most underrated rogues' gallery in superhero comics, Stan Lee and his collaborators gave the Man Without Fear plenty of villains, including some truly powerful foes. Here are the 10 strongest villains that Stan Lee gave DD in the comics, ranked according to their overall power level and potential.

10 Jester, aka Jonathan Powers

Introduced in Daredevil #42 by Stan Lee and Gene Colan

A former actor who turned to villainy, the Jester is obsessed with gadgets and toys, using razor-wire yo-yos, explosive bouncing balls and a fake hand that carries a lethal electric charge. Jester is a trained fighter and acrobat, roughly equal to Daredevil in strength. While he's not seen as the biggest threat in the Marvel Universe, he has a history of playing 'tricks' on New York City by using mass disinformation to stir up panic and rioting, making him a deadlier foe than he appears.

9 Mister Fear, aka Zoltan Drago

First Seen in Daredevil #6 by Stan Lee and Wally Wood

There have been numerous versions of Mister Fear over the years, but Stan Lee and Wally Wood brought fans the original in Zoltan Drago. Drago was a chemist who developed a substance that could induce intense fear, using it to force various underworld figures into his service. He also recruited the villains Eel and Ox into the Fellowship of Fear - one of the few villain teams in Daredevil lore.

While Zoltan Drago didn't have superpowers, his successors figured out how to push his research further. Notably, Lawrence Cranston's Mister Fear worked out how to nullify his own sense of fear while making others terrified of him, advancing Drago's serum into a kind of pheromone control. This made him a superhumanly effective combatant, despite not having enhanced strength, reflexes or durability.

8 Kingpin, aka Wilson Fisk

Created in Amazing Spider-Man #50 by Stan Lee and John Romita

Daredevil's nemesis may have started out fighting Spider-Man, but today he's considered a Daredevil villain through-and-through. A genius schemer who sits at the top of New York's underworld, Wilson Fisk is a trained combatant who is all muscle. While he doesn't possess superhuman strength, he's one of the strongest powerless humans in Marvel lore, and is constantly training to be able to trade punches with Spider-Man and Daredevil. Kingpin is a huge physical and mental threat to Daredevil, especially because for many years he's been one of the few people who knows Matt Murdock's secret identity.

7 Gladiator, aka Melvin Potter

First Seen in Daredevil #18 by Stan Lee and John Romita

Easily Daredevil's most tragic villain, Melvin Potter is a costume designer who suffers from violent delusions of being a Roman gladiator. While Melvin doesn't wish to hurt anyone when in his right mind, as the Gladiator he's immensely strong, using twin spinning blades to menace Daredevil. While Gladiator doesn't have superpowers, the strength of his delusion means he holds nothing back in combat and will gladly sacrifice his own life if it leads to victory.

Due to his deadly potential, Melvin is often forced into conflict by other villains, with foes like Kingpin and Mister Fear forcing him to go up against Daredevil by threatening those close to him. However, he also acts as an important ally to Daredevil, even improving his costume on request.

6 The Owl, aka Leland Owlsley

Debuted in Daredevil #3 by Stan Lee and Joe Orlando

One of Daredevil's first villains, the Owl is a vicious gangster in New York's underworld, vying with Kingpin for dominion over the city's crime. The difference is that the Owl has actual superpowers, having consumed a serum that warped his physiology, enhancing his strength and making it possible for him to fly (especially when aided by a custom-designed flight rig.) The Owl's nails have hardened into talons, though he also uses bladed 'tiger claw' weapons similar to Wolverine's claws on some occasions. The Owl's powers include enhanced senses, a healing factor and near-unbreakable bones.

Unlike Kingpin, the Owl has no respect or care for Hell's Kitchen as a neighborhood, and is more involved in the drug trade than Wilson Fisk. Owl is particularly fond of selling Mutant Growth Hormone, which temporarily gives those who take it mutant powers.

5 Stilt-Man, aka Wilbur Day

From Daredevil #8 by Stan Lee and Wally Wood

While Stilt-Man is treated as a joke even within Daredevil lore, his actual powers don't bear out the low esteem in which he's held. Scientist Wilbur Day invented the Stilt-Man suit to carry out skyscraper heists, but has continued to upgrade it with various guns and rocket weaponry, while also massively enhancing his natural strength. Stilt-Man's modern suits are capable of smashing concrete, totaling cars with a single hit, and hurling Iron Man around like a ragdoll, while his wrist-mounted guns make him a serious threat to Daredevil.

4 The Queega

First Introduced in Daredevil #28 by Stan Lee and Gene Colan

The Queega are a classic Stan Lee concept, representing a major threat that only their hero opponent is uniquely qualified to deal with. An alien race who attempted to invade Earth, the Queega's weaponry projects a blinding energy, stealing the sight of their victims. Of course, Daredevil fights without sight anyway, however the Queega are still a strong, technologically-advanced force of warriors, putting the Man Without Fear through his paces. Their deadliest ability is to gradually freeze their foes, encasing them in ice, though this takes time.

The Queega haven't been seen much since their first appearance, and it's been implied that they were conquered and killed by the more popular Skrulls. Hopefully, however, some survivors of the Queega will return eventually, as Daredevil definitely deserves his own alien species to combat on a regular basis.

3 Death-Stalker, aka Phillip Sterling

Debuted in Daredevil #39 by Stan Lee and Gene Colan

Easily Daredevil's most underrated villain, Phillip Sterling started out as the Exterminator, commanding recurring Daredevil villains the Unholy Three. He later became Death's Head and then the Death-Stalker, devising weaponized gloves that kill anyone he touches via microwave radiation. The villain also created a gun which could dislocate his victims from reality, trapping them in a ghostly parallel dimension. During battle with Daredevil, the gun exploded, permanently banishing Death-Stalker to this death-like realm and giving him a major grudge against the Man Without Fear.

Following this accident, Death-Stalker naturally exists out of sync with Marvel reality, turning him invisible and intangible. However, through force of will, he was able to align himself with reality, carrying out crimes during a limited period of intangibility. Death-Stalker could switch between these two states, allowing him to phase through solid objects. Given his ability to kill with a touch, this makes Death-Stalker incredibly dangerous, as well as giving DD a seemingly ghostly villain who actually operates using advanced science.

Despite his intimidating aesthetic and the relevance of his ghost/death imagery to Matt Murdock's own costumed persona, Death-Stalker has appeared few times since the early days of Daredevil, and was killed in Roger McKenzie and Frank Miller's Daredevil #158 when his phasing powers caused him to be bisected by a gravestone. Usually, that's not the kind of thing that could take a Marvel villain down forever, but on the rare occasions Death-Stalker has returned since, Marvel has resisted the opportunity to actually resurrect the original.

2 ​​​​The Plastoid, Created by Starr Saxon

First Appearance in Daredevil #49 by Stan Lee and Gene Colan

A powerful android created using advanced plastics, the Plastoid possesses superhuman strength and durability. The Plastoid can absorb kinetic force, making it impossible to defeat with conventional attacks and weaponry, though it can be melted with intense heat. Daredevil has believed the Plastoid destroyed multiple times, only for the advanced robot to return and once again target him for death.

The Plastoid was created by the genius scientist Star Saxon, who later became the second Mister Fear. Saxon was a recurring antagonist of Daredevil, but eventually used his genius intellect to transfer his personality into a robotic body, becoming the Machinesmith. Since then, he's shown surprisingly little interest in facing off with the Man Without Fear, instead becoming more of a problem for Captain America and Iron Man.

1 Purple Man, aka Zebediah Killgrave

First Seen in Daredevil #4 by Stan Lee and Joe Orlando

Purple Man doesn't get the credit he deserves as a major threat, despite being considered the third most wanted terrorist on Earth after Magneto and Doctor Doom. The Purple Man exudes pheromones which give him total control over anyone in a wide radius around him. Killgrave can control their actions, thoughts and emotions, even capable of making his thralls enjoy following his commands. He's able to leave telepathic commands buried in those he targets which can activate years later or when certain conditions are met, turning anyone who has ever met him into a potential sleeper agent.

Purple Man is capable of ordering those around him not to notice him and is seemingly immortal, healing from otherwise lethal injuries and even resurrecting from apparent death. While today Purple Man is considered an enemy of Jessica Jones, for most of his comic career he was a Daredevil foe, and indeed Jones only escaped his influence after he sent her to kill Daredevil and she mistakenly attacked the Avengers instead.

Purple Man's petulance and self-involvement usually stop him from pushing the limits of his powers, but under the control of Doctor Doom he's proved capable of influencing the entire world at the same time. While a small amount of individuals including Captain America and Daredevil have been able to resist Purple Man's control in some situations, Zebediah Killgrave is easily the most powerful foe Stan Lee created to take on Daredevil.

Those are the 10 most powerful Daredevil villains created by Stan Lee - let us know in the comments who else belongs on this list, as well as who should be higher or lower in our power ranking.