Kick-Ass (character)

Kick-Ass (real name David "Dave" Lizewski) is a title character and the protagonist of the Kick-Ass series, published by Marvel Comics under the company’s imprint Icon Comics. The character was created by artist John Romita, Jr. and writer Mark Millar. Prior to the series, Dave Lizewski is a high school student and comic book fan whose dreams inspire him to become a real life superhero, going by the name "Kick-Ass", with no superpowers or training of any kind. He is portrayed by Aaron Taylor-Johnson in the feature film adaptations Kick-Ass and Kick-Ass 2.

Comics
He has appeared in the comics Kick-Ass, Hit-Girl, Kick-Ass 2, and Kick-Ass 3.

In Hit-Girl, he is Hit-Girl's crime-fighting partner. She also gets him to teach her how to be a normal kid, and get along with girls somewhat older than herself.

Films
The character appears in the 2010 film adaptation Kick-Ass, and the 2013 sequel Kick-Ass 2.

Aaron Johnson, who plays the character, says that Kick-Ass is a "sensitive guy" who lost his mother and is a "nobody" at school, so he creates his superhero identity "as this whole different persona." Johnson said that Dave is "a kid who’s got the guts to go out there and do something different." In preparation for the role, Johnson received fitness and stunt training, and did a couple of weeks of doing fight choreography. He also requires a dialect coach for the American accent to suit the character.

Skills and abilities
After his first unsuccessful attempt at superheroics ends in being beaten, mugged and hit by a moving car, he has several metal plates and braces surgically implanted within his body during the course of his hospitalization and recovery. This, along with the nerve damage he suffers during the event, provides him with the ability to be almost immune to pain, giving him an edge while fighting. His only weapons are his twin batons that are wrapped in green electrical tape. In the sixth issue of Kick-Ass 2, he upgraded his twin batons by adding barbed wire around them. In the film version of Kick-Ass, he becomes adept at handling firearms. Due to not having fighting experiences in his life, he receives hand-to-hand combat training from Hit-Girl.

Comics
At the start of the first comic series, Dave’s mother, Alice Lizewski, died of a brain aneurysm when Dave was 14. Dave lives with his father, James Lizewski, after his mother died. Dave and his father had a very strong, yet close relationship. He is fully aware of his secret in Kick-Ass 2. He is beaten to death and hanged by Chris Genovese (a.k.a. The Motherfucker, formerly Red Mist) while in prison after he tells the police that he was Kick-Ass.

Films
At the start of the first film, Dave's mother, Alice Lizewski, died of a brain aneurysm, like in the comic, when Dave was about 15. Dave's father is beaten to death and hanged by Chris D'Amico while in prison.