Blind Characters in Movies, TV, Anime and Comics

The best-known blind characters are Daredevil (Matt Murdock), Toph Beifong from Avatar: The Last Airbender, the swordsman Zatoichi and Marie-Laure from All the Light We Cannot See. Only a few of these roles went to blind actors: Aria Mia Loberti, who is legally blind, plays Marie-Laure in Netflix's series (NPR), and Apple TV+'s See cast many blind and low-vision actors (Apple). On screen, Matt Murdock in Netflix's Daredevil and Marie-Laure both read braille.

Key points

• Blind superheroes: Daredevil is the most famous. DC's Doctor Mid-Nite is another.
• Anime and animation: Toph Beifong, Kaname Tosen (Bleach) and Gyomei Himejima (Demon Slayer).
• Played by blind actors: Marie-Laure (Aria Mia Loberti and Nell Sutton), the cast of See, and the adult Jack in This Is Us (Blake Stadnik).
• Reads braille on screen: Matt Murdock in Netflix's Daredevil and Marie-Laure.
• Still rare: a study of the 2015-16 TV season found only 5% of TV characters with disabilities were played by actors with disabilities.

Blind characters at a glance

Blind superheroes

Daredevil (Matt Murdock) is Marvel's blind hero: "Blinded in a childhood accident", the lawyer Matt Murdock protects Hell's Kitchen as the masked vigilante Daredevil (Marvel). In the comics, the accident leaves his other senses "enhanced to extraordinary levels", plus a "radar sense" that lets him perceive the objects around him (Marvel).

In Netflix's Daredevil, Charlie Cox plays a Matt who lives as a blind man in daily life: "with the cane, reading braille", in Cox's words (VODzilla). Cox is sighted. He learned those skills from blindness consultant Joe Strechay, who said Cox was the first person "who was not blind or visually impaired" he had taught them to (AFB). For the 2003 movie, the blind actor Tom Sullivan helped prepare Ben Affleck (The Hollywood Reporter).

Doctor Mid-Nite is a DC hero: "a renowned doctor who lost his sight in an explosion" (CBR).

Blind anime and cartoon characters

• Toph Beifong (Avatar: The Last Airbender): "a blind earthbending master who becomes Aang's teacher" (Netflix). "Toph can technically see through vibration and through her earthbending," as Miya Cech puts it. For Netflix's live-action series, Cech wore vision-obscuring contact lenses and trained for six weeks with Joe Strechay (Netflix).
• Kaname Tosen (Bleach): "Though blind, Kaname is a formidable fighter who can sense the presence of others" (CBR).
• Gyomei Himejima (Demon Slayer): born blind, he sharpened his other senses and is one of the strongest Hashira, the demon-hunting elite (CBR).
• Zatoichi: the blind swordsman of Japanese film, "a blind traveling masseur and gambler who doubles as a lethal swordsman", as Variety described him in Takeshi Kitano's 2003 version (Variety).

Like Daredevil, most of these characters fight thanks to a near-supernatural sense. That makes for good action, but it's not how blindness works. Real blind people use a white cane or a guide dog, screen readers and braille.

Blind characters played by blind actors

Marie-Laure in All the Light We Cannot See (Netflix, 2023). Netflix wanted blind actresses for both ages of the character: it cast Nell Sutton, a legally blind 7-year-old, as the young Marie, and that inspired the casting of Aria Mia Loberti as the older one (Netflix). NPR noted that Loberti, "like the young woman she plays, is legally blind", and that it was her first professional role (NPR). Marie-Laure reads braille in the series, her "fingers trailing braille pages" as she reads on the radio (Today). Loberti said Marie-Laure's braille technique "would have some flaws", so she added "a few of my own bad habits" in the close-ups (Netflix).

See (Apple TV+, 2019) imagines a future where humanity has lost its sight. Apple said its cast and crew included many people "who are blind or have low vision" (Apple). Joe Strechay was its blindness consultant too (East Carolina University).

Jack Damon in This Is Us. Jack is blind, and "the actor who plays him in the future, Blake Stadnik, is also blind" (AFB).

Classic movies with blind characters

• Wait Until Dark: Audrey Hepburn plays "a woman recently blinded in an accident". To prepare, she trained at the Lighthouse for the Blind in New York and "took lessons in Braille and how to walk with a stick" (TCM).
• Scent of a Woman: Al Pacino won the Oscar "for his lead role as a blind man" (Biography).
• Ray: Jamie Foxx won Best Actor as Ray Charles (The Hollywood Reporter). The real Ray Charles went to a Florida school for the deaf and blind, "where he learned to read braille" (NPR).
• The Miracle Worker: Patty Duke won an Academy Award for playing "the 6-year-old deaf and blind Helen Keller" (AFB). Keller went on to read French, German, Greek and Latin in braille (AFB). More real people in famous blind people.

Why blind actors are still rare

Most characters with disabilities are played by actors without them. A white paper from the Ruderman Family Foundation found that "only 5%" of TV characters with disabilities in the 2015-16 season were played by actors with disabilities (Ruderman Family Foundation). A newer report covered by Disability Scoop put it at 21% for shows from 2016 to 2023 (Disability Scoop). Those figures cover all disabilities, not only blindness.

Watching any of these with audio description makes them accessible to blind viewers: here's what audio description is and how to turn it on.

Where Braillito fits

When Matt Murdock or Marie-Laure run their fingers over a page, they're reading braille: six dots per cell. If a character made you curious, you can learn it yourself (how to read braille). Braillito, our app, teaches the braille cells in lessons with exercises you play, with lives, levels and a daily streak: 59 lessons in 8 worlds in English. It also has a translator, a dictionary and a cell builder.

Braillito is a subscription with no free version; depending on the plan, it starts with a free trial or a discounted first period, if it's your first subscription (is Braillito free?). Get Braillito.

Frequently asked questions

Who is the most famous blind superhero?

Daredevil, Marvel's Matt Murdock, a lawyer blinded in a childhood accident whose other senses became extraordinary, plus a "radar sense".

Does Daredevil read braille?

In Netflix's Daredevil, yes: Charlie Cox's Matt uses a cane and reads braille in his daily life.

Who are the most famous blind anime characters?

Kaname Tosen from Bleach and Gyomei Himejima from Demon Slayer. Toph Beifong from Avatar: The Last Airbender is also on most lists, though Avatar is an American cartoon.

Is Toph from Avatar blind?

Yes. Toph Beifong is a blind earthbending master; she "sees" through vibration and her earthbending.

Which blind characters are played by blind actors?

Marie-Laure in Netflix's All the Light We Cannot See (Aria Mia Loberti and Nell Sutton, both legally blind), the adult Jack in This Is Us (Blake Stadnik) and many of the cast of Apple TV+'s See.

Is Charlie Cox blind?

No. Charlie Cox is sighted; he learned to move and read as a blind person with consultant Joe Strechay.