The Punisher: Difference between revisions

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{{quote|''"It's Omaha Beach. Wounded Knee. Rorke's Drift, The Killing Fields, the first day on The Somme. World War Three in North Jersey. And only now, pouring automatic fire into a human wall -- do I feel something like peace."''|'''Punisher (MAX) #1'''}}

Possibly the most enduring [[Darker and Edgier]] [[Anti-Hero]] ever to appear in a comic, the Punisher is one of [[Marvel Universe|Marvel's]] most reliable [[Cash Cow Franchise|cash cows]], a [[Vigilante Man]] whose only passion is finding and executing criminals in the most brutal (and sometimes [[Cruel and Unusual Death|imaginative]]) ways possible. The Punisher first appeared in ''Amazing Spider-Man'' #129 (February, 1974), created by writer Gerry Conway, along with artists John Romita, Sr. and Ross Andru.

For a while the Punisher appeared mostly in titles starring [[Spider-Man (Comic Book)|Spider-Man]]. He received his first origin story in ''Marvel Preview'' #2 (April, 1975), again written by Conway. He received another solo story in ''Marvel Super Action'' #1 (January, 1976), a one-shot publication. After that Punisher returned to making appearances in titles featuring Spider-Man, [[Captain America]], and [[Daredevil]]. In the [[The Eighties|1980s]], Steven Grant and Mike Zeck campaigned for a Punisher mini-series. But Marvel editors were reportedly reluctant. The series eventually did materialize: ''Punisher'' vol. 1 (January-May, 1986). It sold well and consequently Punisher gained his first ongoing series in 1987. The Punisher has since starred in various magazines over the years.

For a while the Punisher appeared mostly in titles starring [[Spider-Man (Comic Book)|Spider-Man]]. He received his first origin story in ''Marvel Preview'' #2 (April, 1975), again written by Conway. He received another solo story in ''Marvel Super Action'' #1 (January, 1976), a one-shot publication. After that Punisher returned to making appearances in titles featuring Spider-Man, [[Captain America (comics)]], and [[Daredevil]]. In the [[The Eighties|1980s]], Steven Grant and Mike Zeck campaigned for a Punisher mini-series. But Marvel editors were reportedly reluctant. The series eventually did materialize: ''Punisher'' vol. 1 (January-May, 1986). It sold well and consequently Punisher gained his first ongoing series in 1987. The Punisher has since starred in various magazines over the years.

Frank Castle is a [[The Vietnam War|Vietnam War veteran]] who saw his wife, son and daughter slaughtered in a Mafia hit gone wrong. So he got himself a black shirt with a scary white skull on the front and a whole [[More Dakka|lot of guns]], and started a one-man war on crime.

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There have been three Punisher movies: 1989's ''The Punisher'' (starring [[Dolph Lundgren]]), 2004's ''The Punisher'' (starring Thomas Jane), and 2008's ''Punisher: War Zone'' (starring Ray Stevenson); [[Your Mileage May Vary]] with all three. (It should be noted that ''War Zone'' is not a direct sequel to the 2004 ''Punisher'' film.)

There were also several Punisher video games with the most notable being a [[Beat'Em Up]] by [[Capcom]] also featuring [[Nick Fury]], and a ''[[The Punisher (2005 video game)|The Punisher]]'' third-person action game, which is rife with [[The Joys of Torturing Mooks]]

The character has the ignoble distinction of ranking highly in various [[Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny]] debates, thanks to a combination of [[Popularity Power]] and the comic entitled "The Punisher Kills the Marvel Universe" (coincidentally written by Ennis years before his more regular work with the character). He also has the distinction of being one of the two title stars of what is undoubtedly [[Story-Breaker Team-Up|The Single Weirdest]] [[Intercontinuity Crossover|Comics Crossover Known to Humankind]]: ''[[wikipedia:Archie Meets the Punisher|Archie Meets the Punisher]]''.

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** Barracuda, despite being a treacherous [[Psycho for Hire]] and even a self-admitted cannibal, managed to reach status through being the ever-optimistic, constantly cheerful source of [[Black Comedy]]. He not only {{spoiler|got better after being iced by Punisher at the end of his first arc,}} but even starred in his own mini-series, which was unprecedented for MAX villains.

** The Russian is another example: murderous, violent and psychopathic. He is, nonetheless, incredibly friendly to his enemies, actively complimenting and joking with them mid-fight.

* [[Alternate Company Equivalent]]: The Punisher is modeled very closely on the character of Mack Bolan, who also lost his family to mob violence and becomes a vigilante with the nickname "[[The Executioner]]". Mack Bolan was featured in a series of books that were first published in 1968, and new books in the series [[Print Long Runners|still come out today]].

* [[And Call Him George]]: The Russian puts his arm around the shoulder of one of the guys assigned to escort him for reassurance, and ''it kills him.''

* [[Androcles' Lion]]: {{spoiler|The Delta commander}} in "Valley Forge, Valley Forge", or at least what his hapless "minder" ends up thinking happened. When {{spoiler|the colonel}} was a regular soldier in Vietnam, {{spoiler|he was rescued by a Special Forces raid that inspired him to enter Special Forces himself}}; the lieutenant realizes at the end that one of the participants was none other than Frank Castle.

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** Some of his enemies - particularly The Russian - are similarly empowered.

* [[Chest Insignia]]: The Punisher's iconic skull. Like Batman, it serves as a heavily armored target and in the earlier issues the teeth were spare ammo magazines.

* [[Chronically Crashed Car]]: The Battle Van tended to get wrecked every time Frank brought it out.

* [[Christmas Special]]: He's dressed as Santa whilst gunning down mobsters ''multiple times''.

* [[Coincidental Broadcast]]: All three new vigilantes watch the same broadcast about them and the Punisher, and say "This gives me an idea!" at the same time.

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* [[Criminal Doppelganger]]: In the [[Crossover]] ''[[Archie Comics|Archie]] Meets The Punisher'', a criminal the Punisher has tracked to Riverdale looks very similar to Archie.

* [[Crisis Crossover]]: He tends to be left out of these big events, partly because they don't fit his "realistic" tone, and partly because, as mentioned above, most of the spandex set ''really'' don't like him, and would rather he was in jail. Two notable exceptions:

** In the [[Marvel Civil War]], [[Captain America]] recruited him for the anti-registration side. Most of Cap's allies hated this -- especially when Cap tried to recruit some low-level villains, who the Punisher promptly ''shot dead in front of everyone.''

** In the [[Marvel Civil War]], [[Captain America (comics)]] recruited him for the anti-registration side. Most of Cap's allies hated this -- especially when Cap tried to recruit some low-level villains, who the Punisher promptly ''shot dead in front of everyone.''

** Frank appears very briefly in the [[Justice League]]-Avengers company crossover series. Batman sees him in action, and swiftly kicks the tar out of him.

* [[Crusading Widower]]

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* [[Don't Make Me Destroy You]]: Inverted in Mother Russia. Frank catches his partner doing something he shouldn't be doing. His partner shouts "Back off! Don't make me fuck you up!" Frank just kicks him in the face and knocks half his teeth out.

* [[Double Standard Rape (Female on Male)]]: Averted: {{spoiler|Nicky Cavella was raped by his aunt when he was very young.}}

* [[The Dreaded]]: Frank himself. The white skull on his chest has become such a terrifying icon of death that just the sight of it can make men from EASTERN EUROPEAN DEATH SQUADS fall to their knees and sob for mercy.

* [[Driven to Suicide]]: {{spoiler|Frank at the end of "Punisher Kills The Marvel Universe"}}

** Also, {{spoiler|criminal profiler Buddy Plugg.}}

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* [[He Who Fights Monsters]]: BIGTIME

* [[Hidden in Plain Sight]]: Despite being a fugitive for 30+ years and having his mugshot on the news semi-regularly the only time he is ever recognized is when he opens his coat and reveals the skull on his chest. Either people recognize him but pretend they don't or they don't watch a lot of news.

* [[High Altitude Interrogation]]: Frank uses this among other interrogation techniques. Like most typical [[Anti-Hero|Anti-Heroes]], he often does go through with the threat of letting them plummet to death.

** Dolnovich used this trope on Rawlins to give him a last-minute attempt to come up with the [[Batman Gambit]] of his life. Notably he didn't even want to let Rawlins live in the first place and even tried to shoot down the latter's attempt to save his life.

* [[Hollywood Silencer]]: Averted in Punisher: War Zone. During Castle's attack on Jigsaw's hideout, Castle uses an M4 variant with a supressor. The gunshots sound more like muffled cracks than a "fwip". Also, the Smith and Wesson model 500 he uses is fitted with a supressor which makes the shots sound like loud thuds.

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** Frank himself qualifies.

* [[Improvised Weapon User]]: Oh, so much. He uses pirahna, giant snakes, rhinos, [[Groin Attack|table saws]], nail guns, fuses, meat packing equipment, a shark, the list goes on and on. The keeper would have to be punching out a polar bear to anger it into taking out a mob boss, and using a pizza and the morbidly obese Mr Bumpo on The Russian.

** One issue involved Castle assaulting an office building that was being used for snuff films. Security was ultra-tight, so he couldn't bring guns inside. Instead, he ended up killing the guards one by one with increasingly bizarre and brutal uses of office equipment. He started with [[The Pen Is Mightier|pens and pencils]], worked his way up to computer monitors as blunt instruments, [[Eye Scream|staplers to the eyes]], smashing a man's head to pulp in a copier machine....

** And don't forget he used the freakin' Hulk against Daredevil, Spidey and Wolverine to get them off his back.

* [[Instant Death Bullet]]: Played straight or subverted depending on the comic.

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* [[Jack Bauer Interrogation Technique]]: Frank is a big fan of it.

* [[Jerkass]]: Kevin the bartender

* [[Jerk with a Heart of Gold]]: Frank is homicidal towards criminals and is very cold to innocents he comes across, but he does geniunely show concern for innocents. He does have a softer side that comes out on ''very'' rare occasions, too-he was notably a perfect gentleman towards Miss Grundy in ''Archie Meets The Punisher''.

* [[Joker Immunity]]: Most notably, the Kingpin. The biggest gang boss in New York, but it's been explained that Frank can't kill him because if he does, New York will be devastated by gangs trying to take his place. Also Jigsaw, who Frank has let live numerous times {{spoiler|except in the 2008 movie, where Frank impales him with a metal rod, then pushes him onto a large torch}}.

** Lampshaded in his crossover with Batman. Frank has cornered the [[Trope Namer]] himself, who immediately starts cracking jokes about going to Arkham. Frank just coldly cocks his handgun and prepares to blow off the Joker's head, until Batman intervenes.

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** After rescuing a not-so-corrupt corporate executive from retaliatory gang rape for threatening to blow the whistle on a scheme, Frank shows an alarming amount of callousness towards the victim, telling him 'I bought you eggs and bacon--two days is more than enough to get over this'; unusual since [[Double Standard|he's usually more sympathetic to female rape victims]]. His indifference comes back to bite him in the ass later.

** Dolnovich, who was otherwise portrayed as a loyal, level-headed hardass kills a reporter who wrote an unflattering book about his boss. Even then, he probably didn't deserve to die believing that his only son was going to be raped to death his his [[Smug Snake]] killer.

* [[Knight Templar]]: The question is not "How far?" The question is "How fast will he get there?"

** {{spoiler|[[Knight Templar Parent]]}}: In the MAX series, Barracuda {{spoiler|kidnaps the daughter Frank had with O'Brien.}} He reacts...''violently.''

*** Specifically, he has flashbacks to his children's deaths. He wakes up in the hospital with no idea what happened, but the skin doctors found under his fingernails and the flesh between his teeth jog his memory.

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** {{spoiler|In "The List", he continues trying to stab Daken after - in less than a half hour - having being shot, hit with grenades, punched around, cut across the chest by Daken, broke a leg, getting his throat slashed, lost (and I do mean LOST) an arm and about 3 gallons of blood. He probably would still be fighting him as a disembodied head!}}

*** [[Monty Python and ~~The~~ Holy Grail|Black Knight? Is that you?]]

*** [[Monty Python and the Holy Grail|Black Knight? Is that you?]]

*** The Russian, Barracuda, and oh god, Pittsy.

**** {{spoiler|In the finale to Punisher MAX Frank gets stabbed, shot, and beaten half to death by Electra (to the point where his face is described as looking like "a swollen wad of hamburger" by Nick Fury), shot multiple times by The Kingpin's goons, and endures a savage beating by Fisk himself, ''and still'' manages to kill him in the end. Only succumbing to his wounds much later.}}

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* [[Merry Christmas in Gotham]]: There's a story where Frank is about to snipe a druglord, when suddenly there's a little girl pulling on his coat telling him she's lost her dad. Frank stares at her and puts the gun away. When they find her dad, he starts to thank him before recognizing his chest emblem and starting to panic. Frank tells him to calm down, that he should really teach his daughter not to talk to strangers, and then leaves.

* [[Mook Chivalry]]: Obviously used quite a lot. What makes this extra-hilarious is that the smarter bosses (Cavella, Zakharov, Maginty) actually take the failings of their Mooks into account and use it to engineer [[Batman Gambit|Batman Gambits]]; Zakharov got his [[Magnificent Bastard]] status cemented by blindsiding Frank with this trope ''twice''.

* [[Mook Horror Show]]: Happens a lot.

* [[More Dakka]]: Frank's solution to most problems.

* [[Morality Chain]]: Frank's family was this to him. In his origin story set in 'Nam he says to a fellow soldier that they might be his "last chance" to be something other than a [[Blood Knight]].

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* [[Serial Killer]]: Arguably so, with vigilante tendencies. He tries to present himself as the Mission-Based type, but in later stories, he's shown to be more of the Hedonistic type; subconsciously obsessed with the idea of a never-ending war to sate [[Colonel Kilgore|the bloodlust he developed in Vietnam]].

** In the Young Masters arc of [[Young Avengers]], Hawkeye (Kate Bishop) notes that the superhero community of the [[Marvel Universe]] only sees the Punisher as a serial killer and any real hero would bring him down as hard as any villain if nessessary.

* [[Serial Killer Killer]]: Frank's more of a Mass Murderer Murderer but he still fits.

* [[Series Continuity Error]]: Oddly, Frank's daughter has had at least three different names, while the name of his son (Frank Jr) is always consistent. Also Microchip's real name was originally "Bartholomew", but was changed to "Linus" later.

* [[Shell-Shocked Veteran]]: Frank definitely fits the bill. After three brutal tours of duty in [[The Vietnam War]], Frank Castle lost his wife and children to Mafia thugs and now wages a one-man war on crime. Various authors have toyed with Frank's mental state, and Garth Ennis has suggested that in Vietnam, Frank started to [[Blood Knight|love combat and killing people]], with the death of his family possibly being only the final straw that caused his killing sprees.

* [[Shotgun Wedding]]: ''Welcome to the Bayou'' has an absolutely psychotic woman suggesting this as Frank's fate. He thinks he'd prefer being eaten by cannibals.

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* [[The Vietnam War]]: Frank served in Vietnam, and certain actions he did during the war are brought up in his appearances occasionally.

** In the 2004 movie, this is changed to Operation Desert Storm / the first war with Iraq.

** Frank will often bring up and compare his experiences in conversations with veterans of other wars, like [[Captain America]].

** Frank will often bring up and compare his experiences in conversations with veterans of other wars, like [[Captain America (comics)]].

** The comics rarely miss an opportunity to show Frank talking to other vets as well. Frank loses respect for his pal Iceman after the latter is revealed to be a [[Sour Supporter]]/[[Knight in Sour Armor]] who (misjudging Frank's motives) tells him to 'we all got messed up in the war: get over it'. Yorkie (actually British S.A.S.) has changed into a [[Hannibal Lecture]]-spewing [[Blood Knight]] who despite bouncing from that to patrols against the IRA to fighting in Afghanistan shows no signs of stopping. [[The Woobie|And poor, poor Walter]]...

* [[Vigilante Execution]]: With a fire truck, no less.

* [[Vigilante Man]]: He's actually been ''called'' "Vigilante Man" a couple of times.