History Characters / MarvelComicsFrankCastle

** There was a brief period of time in the [[UsefulNotes/TheDarkAgeofComicBooks late nineties]] when Castle was given a supernatural bent for two miniseries (''[[ComicBook/ThePunisherPurgatory Purgatory]]'' and ''Revelation''). He became a divine assassin on behalf of God, using angelic firearms to smite demons in return for a chance to be reunited with his family in heaven. Predictably, this didn't turn out to be a popular development. When Ennis began his run in ''Welcome Back Frank'', he pays lip service to it by acknowledging it before declaring: "''Tried it. Didn't like it. Told them where to stick it.''."

* SociopathicHero: The comic book mascot of this trope. He was, by far, the most popular costumed "superhero" to kill his enemies rather than putting them to jail. And he's been doing it way before UsefulNotes/TheDarkAgeOfComicBooks

** Criminals that are currently being processed by the system (e.g. in court or custody) he leaves alone. He also doesn't go after defendants who have been legitimately cleared by a court of law. Now, if they get off when they're clearly guilty, then they become fair game once more. Though at times, he has killed prisoners he deemed deserving while they were were held in custody.
** As much as he has a beef with New York's other costumed heroes (most of them really aren't into the whole "killing without trial" thing), any time he goes fisticuffs with them, he will never kill them, only seek to disable them. As much as he thinks they don't do ''enough'' about crime, he respects that they're doing ''something''.

** Despite his vigilantism, Frank is not a racist or bigot and absolutely abhors vigilantes who use him as a symbol for their hateful rhetoric or as inspiration to commit racially motivated attacks.

* NormalFishInATinyPond: Frank is a very skilled Marine and formidable to other soldiers. But against untrained civilians and small-time criminals, his combat and tactical skills make him borderline unstoppable. However, this trope as also come back to bite him as he is still just a human going up against super powered beings, meaning he struggles outside his small pond. He's also been blindsided when facing criminals who also have military training or experience or are just more intelligent and capable than his normal opponents.

* HeroicSacrifice: Frank doesn't say much but he isn't a dumb brute. He's actually extremely complex ([[DependingOnTheWriter when written well]]). Deep down he is a decent and good man but also has to contend with the blood lust that was awakened inside of him when he went to war. When his family died the good man inside lost the strength to keep the demons at bay, all he could do was choose the target. While he does have DeathSeeker tendences and when it comes to his past self believes ThatManIsDead, Frank has expressed ([[ComicBook/WarOfTheRealms to a goddess no less!]]) that he does what he does and becomes the monster so that the right things get done. He's willing to be the monster all of the other heroes despise ([[ShadowArchetype and are secretly terrified of]]) and do terrible things so long as people are saved and bad guys can't get away with the evil they've done. Frank is willing to damn himself if it will help other people in the end.
--> '''Punisher:''' So I thought "it's fine". It doesn't matter what you have to do or what you have to become. So long as you do the right thing and the right thing gets done. Be a monster if you have to. It's fine.

* CoolGuns:
** Even though the Punisher uses a lot of different types of guns, as a Vietnam veteran, he shows a strong preference for weapons from that era such as the [=M16A1=] assault rifle, the [=M3A1=] and IMI Uzi submachine guns, the M60 machine gun, the Remington 700 sniper rifle or the [=M1911A1=] pistol.
** He actually had a ten-issue series titled "Armory" dedicated to showing off his guns and other equipment.
** And from ''Punisher: War Journal'' (vol. 2) - [[http://comicallycool.tumblr.com/post/5153227797/justchien-a-gun-that-shoots-swords-hell-yeah a gun that shoots swords.]]

* EveryoneHasStandards: Believe it or not, there ARE some lines he will not cross, though note that some of these are DependingOnTheWriter:

** While Frank Castle is eager to kill criminals quickly and without a trial, he does genuinely want to make certain that they are guilty and not innocent and being framed for the crimes, so he often doesn't go after people he isn't sure are guilty.

** Frank only uses lethal force against criminals guilty of very serious crimes like murder, rape or assault and the like. He won't bother with people doing stuff that's illegal but harmless and mid-level stuff like drug dealing or petty theft will usually just get a stern warning from him.

* FriendToAllChildren: While not necessarily good with kids, Frank nonetheless is shown to have a soft spot for them and they are generally the ones to bring out his kinder side. The flip side is that harming kids is a good way to ''really'' [[BerserkButton get on his bad side]].
* GeniusBruiser: In addition to his combat skills, Frank is a very skilled investigator and an excellent tactician and planner. He is also extremely adept at intelligence gathering, getting in to secure locations undetected and sneaking up on enemies, capturing people and sizing up opponents quickly to know how best to defeat them and using psychological warfare, both in combat and in interrogations. He is also skilled with just about every weapon and knows how to maintain them properly and is an adept pilot who can fly planes and helicopters.

* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: He may be a violent, deranged borderline sociopath and a jerk to almost everyone he meets but it's shown that Frank does genuinely care about the people he saves and his few friends.

* StrongAndSkilled: Frank is in excellent shape and a highly skilled Marine who is trained in numerous forms of combat such as Krav Maga, Karate, Ninjitsu, Boxing, Wrestling, Chin Na, Jujitsu, Taekwondo, Muay Thai and Kickboxing.