A Native American of the Cheyenne Nation, Maya Lopez was born deaf. She was initially placed in special education, but after using her skill to duplicate a song from a recital, she was placed in the gifted section. She particularly enjoyed art and dance. Maya's father was secretly a mob enforcer working for the Kingpin. One day he was murdered under the Kingpin's orders. He reached out to Maya, leaving a bloody handprint on her face. She was taken in by Fisk, who was impressed with her talents and had sent her to the best schools money could buy. As a result, she became very talented in many artistic fields.
Fisk used her in one of his plots to destroy Daredevil. First, he arranged for Matt to meet her, knowing Matt was lonely after the recent death of Karen Page. Then he tricked Maya, by convincing her that Daredevil killed her father. Having watched videos of Bullseye and Daredevil fighting, she proved more than a match for Daredevil. Maya created the identity of Echo (based on her ability to copy motion she sees) and fought Daredevil. He did not know why she was suddenly attacking him, and she was shocked to learn it was Matt she was targeting. Matt was able to explain himself. Angry at the deliberate deception, Maya then brutally shot the Kingpin which left him blind for a time.
Maya eventually returned to New York to reconcile with Matt, only to find he was already with another woman. She then left New York to go to her father's reservation and visited the Chief who is the old medicine man that she and her father would visit when she was younger. After listening to his stories about her father, Maya decided to follow his suggestion and went on a "vision quest". She went to the woods to fast and meditate to receive visions which she hoped would provide her with some answers on what to do next with her life. On the fourth day of her "vision quest" during a thunderstorm she was startled by what she believed to be an animal spirit and briefly fought him. Once she realized her mistake they talked and she shared some of the visions she received. When she got to her final vision about "two dogs fighting", he ended up telling her a story about it. This ultimately motivated her to start telling stories just like her father did. She went back to New York and began to perform in the theater using sign language, dance, and music. She spoke with Matt again who said that he attended her first performance titled "Parts of a Hole" and that he would see "The Echo Story" with a friend. He made no attempt to stop her from kissing him because he knew it was a goodbye kiss.
Maya assisted the New Avengers after being recommended and referred by Daredevil to Captain America, using the ninja identity of Ronin. Murdock provided her with the necessary information on the Hand, Yakuza, and Silver Samurai before meeting with Captain America in a cafe to receive further instructions. It was in Japan that she infiltrated the Yashida Fortress, only to learn that the Hand and Hydra were now in a partnership, and were trying to influence Harada to join and lead them. Maya, however, was unsuccessful in trying to leave the fortress undetected, and was pursued by many of the Hand's ninjas. She respected Captain America's wishes by attempting to kill fewer of them, but in the end she was left with little choice. Upon returning to the Avengers penthouse in Japan where she had met earlier with Captain America, she quickly explained to him and the New Avengers what she had learned. The Hand, however, had followed her and once they had finally caught up, attacked her and her teammates. She fought alongside the New Avengers against them and arrested Madame Hydra. Maya then arranged with Captain America for her to stay in Japan and watch the Hand's activities, hoping to resolve the conflict between them and the Yakuza, and because she had discovered rumors that Elektra might currently be in power as the leader of the Hand.
When the cosmic force known as the Phoenix Force returned to Earth, it staged a contest to determine its next host, and Echo was one of many individuals summoned to the White Hot Room for it. The Phoenix empowered the assembled champions and had them fight each other in trials by combat. In one of the earliest bouts of the tournament, Echo was pitted against Namor in the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean. Due to the favored battle conditions, Namor overpowered Echo and left her for dead in the ocean floor.
The Phoenix was drawn to Maya's suffering, as well as her ability to adapt and wield its power in different ways. It resurrected Echo and chose her as its host. During the final round of the tournament, Echo resurfaced from the bottom of the ocean and proceeded to intercept all the different fights taking place across the globe. Absorbing the portions of the Phoenix from each of the remaining contestants, Maya fully became the Phoenix. Afterward, she relocated to the Avengers Mountain so that the Avengers could study her new condition.
Current Version:
Echo (Phoenix Force)
Former Versions:
Echo
Ronin
