Shortly after Echo was born, her mother deserted her, which prompted her father, William Lincoln — who covertly worked as a mob enforcer for Kingpin — to take care of her while participating in dangerous missions for the mob boss. Although born deaf, Echo could read lips accurately and replicate musical notes without any errors, which sparked her interest in artistic pursuits at a tender age. However, tragedy struck after her father’s death, whose final act was to leave a bloody handprint on her face in an attempt to comfort her before dying.
Taken in by Kingpin, who claimed that Daredevil was responsible for her father’s demise, Echo grew up within the crime gang and was molded into a killing machine who excelled in every kind of art form. As hatred for her father’s killer festered, Echo vowed to hunt down Daredevil but was unaware of his true identity when she met Matt Murdock, whom she grew to like romantically (a sentiment Murdock reciprocated at the time). Once she learned the truth about his identity, they engaged in an intense confrontation, but Echo soon realized that it was Kingpin who was responsible for her father’s brutal murder all along.
The truth about Kingbin’s betrayal is the turning point of Echo’s trajectory — after all, this is the man whom she had considered a father figure and remained fiercely loyal to since she lost her dad. Turning on Kingpin, she shoots him in the face and blinds him, but the mob boss manages to survive, prompting Echo to seek solace in other pursuits, such as teaming up with Wolverine to beat up bad guys and embarking on a vision quest that brings her closer to her Native American roots.