History ComicBook / ThePunisher

* JokerImmunity: 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]].

** GregRucka indicated, when starting his 2011 series, it was all a matter of viewpoint. The other superheroes are far better equipped to deal with major threats like [[FantasticFour Galactus]], [[SpiderMan Norman Osborn]] and [[Comicbook/DoctorStrange Dormammu]], but ''someone'' has to pay attention to the drug pushers and mobsters.

There were also several Punisher video games with the most notable being a BeatEmUp by {{Capcom}} also featuring NickFury, and a ''VideoGame/ThePunisher'' third-person action game, which is rife with TheJoysOfTorturingMooks.

* BlackAndGreyMorality: The Punisher is a [[HeroicSociopath sociopathic,]] cruel, KnightTemplar, BloodKnight, [[OneManArmy mass-murderering]], VigilanteMan, but is recurrently put against UpToEleven versions of the worst sorts of {{CompleteMonster}}s reality has to offer. Most Punisher villains don't seem to even ''have'' any character traits besides malice, greed, sadism, and selfishness. GarthEnnis writes the character as 100% aware of this, often repeatedly stating that his only reason to continue living is to punish those worse than himself.

* ButForMeItWasTuesday: Frank's usual reaction when he runs into somebody attempting to [[AvengingTheVillain Avenge The Villain]]. However, this also applies to people that Frank accidentally ''helps''. In the penultimate issue of GarthEnnis' [[ThePunisher Punisher Max]] "Widowmaker" arc, Castle is rescued by a woman who explains that she did it because Castle [[spoiler:killed her [[CompleteMonster brutal mobster husband who beat and raped her and let his friends beat and rape her]]... Let's just say that she was really grateful for that slaughter in the first issue, as she knew for a fact she didn't have a chance in hell of pulling it off herself.]]
** And in the final issue of Ennis' run, Castle is outmaneuvered and captured by a Special Forces unit. Turns out that its commander, [[FictionalCounterpart Colonel]] [[MorganFreeman Howe]], [[spoiler:''owes Frank his life'' - he rescued a teenage Howe from a Viet Cong camp during the war. To Castle, it was just another of his countless deniable operations. To Howe, it was the most important moment in his life - the reason he joined Special Forces in the first place.]] This is why he volunteered to take Castle [[spoiler:alive, and upon discovering that the generals who ordered him captured were {{Complete Monster}}s, he freed Castle and let him kill them all.]]

* DangerouslyGenreSavvy: General Zahrakov, again. He uses MookChivalry ''twice'' to catch Frank unprepared. He's the only one in Russian intel to guess that the Americans would attempt a MoralEventHorizon for their FalseFlagOperation (though it takes a CompleteMonster to know one). Finally, he anticipates a DefensiveFeintTrap the Punisher had planned for him and even when warned by Rawlins and Dolnovich that he was heading into a trap, outwits all three of them and captures the Punisher. His only mistake really was taking SmugSnake Rawlins at his word when he said that he searched The Punisher properly. And we have this gem:

--> '''Castle''': You won't shoot him. You're a coward. ...[[CompleteMonster Psycho rep only takes you so far]]. After that, you've nothing. Hurt the boy and you die bad. You know that. But there's a part of you that still thinks that if you let him go, you've got a chance. And that part of you just won't shut up.

* GoryDiscretionShot: Unsurprisingly averted in the Max comics, in many, many glorious ways.

** [[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 three gallons of blood. He probably would still be fighting him as a disembodied head!]]
*** [[Film/MontyPythonAndTheHolyGrail 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.]]
*** What, no mention of The Menonite from Aaron's Punisher MAx? My god, the amount of stuff it took to bring this guy down, it's uncalled of, he even [[spoiler: took a knife boot right to his crouch]] and still kept coming, he might have even ''killed'' Frank if it wasn't for the [[spoiler: the electrified security system and a falling safe to kill him.]] Repeat, a fucking ''AMISH'' guy almost killed The Punisher.
* MenAreTheExpendableGender: Its stated in the MAX series that the first time he killed a woman he lost a lot of his supporters.
** That she was already tried and imprisoned and no threat to anybody may have had something to do with it. It's not specified.

The character himself often suffers from inconsistent writing. Many writers have portrayed him as a good man at heart who sincerely does want to help people and keep them from suffering the same way he did, while other writers have portrayed him as a psychopath with no pity for anyone and no motivation beyond killing criminals. There are two notably different Punisher series: the main Marvel Universe series and a second series created for Marvel's adults-only MAX imprint (originally titled ''The Punisher'' and referred to as ''Punisher MAX'', before changing to ''The Punisher: Frank Castle'' and then [=PunisherMAX=]). This latter version, written almost exclusively by GarthEnnis for four years, features no superheroes and is deeply rooted in "mundane" crime -- TheMafia, Irish terrorist cells, Eastern European sex slavers, gangsters and real-life wars are prominent. It is also considerably less funny than the mainstream Marvel series, though there are touches of black humor here and there. The MAX series is written much more consistently than the mainstream version, due to being almost entirely shaped by Garth Ennis' vision of the character; this series is also notorious for its moral absolutism. The Marvel Universe version may be willing to excuse himself for [[spoiler:killing Stuart Clarke's girlfriend while under the influence of a "hate ray"]], but the first post-Ennis MAX issue sees Frank on the edge of killing himself after believing that his instinctive shooting had led to an innocent girl's death, declaring to himself that "I must be punished."[[hottip:*: Realizing the possibility of a setup is the only thing that lets him live long enough to exhume the body, which he finds was slain with a bullet of a different caliber from what he had been carrying. Turned out that [[DrivenToSuicide it was a setup]] to get him out of the way of a local crime syndicate.]]

There were also several Punisher video games with the most notable being a BeatEmUp by {{Capcom}} also featuring NickFury, and a ''VideoGame/ThePunisher'' third-person action game, which is rife with TheJoysOfTorturingMooks

--> "[[OhCrap By way of the SAS, by way of the parachutist regiment]]. Feel free to start screaming your head off."

* {{Determinator}}: Frank, of course. As he once said "A man who doesn't have anything to lose, can't help but win."

** [[spoiler:Frank gets one in "Dark Reign", when Daken quite literally tears him apart piece by piece. Then Morbius the Living Vampire brings him back as a pachtwork monster (Frankencastle?).]]

* SpoilerTitle: There's an AlternateContinuity comic which asks the question "What would happen if the Castle's had been caught in the middle of a Superhero battle instead of a gangland shooting?" It's called [[spoiler: Punisher Kills the Marvel Universe]].
* SquashedFlat: One of the stories has Wolverine coming after Frank, mistaking that recent mutilations are his doing. Due to Wolverine's HealingFactor, Frank uses a steamroller to get him off his tracks.

** Another special mention goes to the Westies/Maginty/River Rats/Cooley for actually believing that their RetiredMonster boss actually wanted to give them his fortune. Frank and Yorkie couldn't help but think that this was odd and they didn't even know him.

* BoisterousBruiser: [[ZeroContextExample The Russian. Just... the Russian.]]
** And Barracuda.
* BrainwashedAndCrazy: Has happened a couple of times to Frank. He ended up killing jaywalkers and his second sidekick's girlfriend.
** He actually ended up missing the jaywalkers (unless we're thinking of different incidents).

*** What, no mention of The Menonite from Aaron's Punisher MAx? My god, the amount of stuff it took to bring this guy down, it's uncalled of, he even [[spoiler: took a knife boot right to his crouch]] and still kept coming, he might have even ''killed'' Frank if it wasn't for the [[spoiler: the electrified security system and a falling safe to kill him.]] Repeat, a fucking ''AMISH' guy almost killed The Punisher.

* DeathByNewberryMedal: Frank's old guard dog, Max, which was killed off in the same arc it was introduced in. It's shot by a gangster trying to raid one of Frank's hideouts. When Frank sees that he's dying, he [[ShootTheDog puts him down]] with a knife. Frank's ''crying'' when he does this.

* ExiledFromContinuity: First MAX series. Second is completely in AlternateUniverse with it's own versions of Kingpin and Bullseye.
** BroadStrokes: While the second MAX series is set in a different continuity from the first, it often references characters and events present in the first one, up to and including the appearance of GarthEnnis' version of NickFury. These are often treated as BackStory for Frank, and will certainly seem that way to fans who follow the second series but not the first.
---> '''MarvelCivilWar Handbook On Punisher:''' Although recently Castle has escalated his war on crime even further, with record-breaking body counts, he is paradoxically now rarely encountered in the field by any super hero save Daredevil.(...)It’s almost like he inhabits two worlds, one where heroes can capture him and one where they can’t, and he can slip from one to the other with ease.

** GregRucka indicated, when starting his 2011 series, it was all a matter of viewpoint. The other superheroes are far better equipped to deal with [[FantasticFour Galactus]], [[SpiderMan Osborn]] and [[DrStrange Dormammu]], but if they're not going to bother then ''someone'' has to pay attention to the drug pushers and mobsters.

-->'''Cop''': You think you're hot stuff, big guy? You wanna go for another round?

--> '''Christu Bulat''': Father, everyone who goes up against this man ''dies''.

--->'''Frank's monologue''': ''I saw from the start it was a mistake. They weren't gutter trash, thugs who ran at the first sign of a fire-fight. They were soldiers ... ''[splash page of Frank being hit]'' It was over even sooner than I expected.''

The tone of the stories vary from violent pitch-black comedy to intensively grim-and-gritty noir tales to attempts to make him a full-on SuperHero...who just so happens to kill people. His enemies have ranged from sex slavery rings (the MAX arc "The Slavers" being possibly one of the single darkest stories in comics history) to gigantic Russian hitmen augmented with cyborg body parts and enormous breasts...both of them written by Ennis.

* MugglesdoitBetter: He has fought many super powered heros and villains, often beating them or at least fighting to a draw, with nothing more than his wits, aim, and guns.

The character himself often suffers from inconsistent writing. Many writers have portrayed him as a good man at heart who sincerely does want to help people and keep them from suffering the same way he did, while other writers have portrayed him as a psychopath with no pity for anyone and no motivation beyond killing criminals. There are two notably different Punisher series: the main Marvel Universe series and a second series created for Marvel's adults-only MAX imprint (originally titled ''The Punisher'' and referred to as ''Punisher MAX'', before changing to ''The Punisher: Frank Castle'' and then [=PunisherMAX=]). This latter version, written almost exclusively by GarthEnnis for four years, features no superheroes and is deeply rooted in "mundane" crime -- TheMafia, Irish terrorist cells, Eastern European sex slavers, gangsters and real-life wars are prominent. It is also considerably less funny than the mainstream Marvel series, though there are touches of black humour here and there. The MAX series is written much more consistently than the mainstream version, due to being almost entirely shaped by Garth Ennis' vision of the character; this series is also notorious for its moral absolutism. The Marvel Universe version may be willing to excuse himself for [[spoiler:killing Stuart Clarke's girlfriend while under the influence of a "hate ray"]], but the first post-Ennis MAX issue sees Frank on the edge of killing himself after believing that his instinctive shooting had led to an innocent girl's death, declaring to himself that "I must be punished."[[hottip:*: Realizing the possibility of a setup is the only thing that lets him live long enough to exhume the body, which he finds was slain with a bullet of a different caliber from what he had been carrying. Turned out that [[DrivenToSuicide it was a setup]] to get him out of the way of a local crime syndicate.]]

* TheAtoner: Frank's mission against criminals is partially motivated by his failure to protect his family from being gunned down. [[spoiler:Frank feels that he sacrificed his family, as the voice he heard in Vietnam (the devil?) kept hounding him about a neverending war, which when the Vietcong overran his base he accepted to save his life, only to be told his family would be payment.]] This trope shows up under Ennis's authorship. Prior to that, though it was rarely brought up, Frank did what he did in part to punish himself, for being unable to save his family.

* BadassLongcoat: Frank's often depicted wearing a black trenchcoat, especially in more modern stories where it replaces his more traditional comic costume. Typically, towards the end of the story, when he starts to mean business [[TheCoatsAreOff he just stops wearing it]]. In War Zone, he trades up the longcoat for [[AwesomeYetPractical a more mobile outfit, replacing the longcoat with body armor.]]

** Also slept with Mr.Carbone's daughter when he went undercover in the mob as Johnny Tower.

-->'''Frank Castle''': When you're on your own, behind enemy lines, no artillery, no airstrikes, no hope of an evac, you don't fight dirty. You do things that make dirty look good.

** He actually had a 10-issue series titled "Armory" dedicated to showing off his guns and other equipment.

* DeathByNewberryMedal: Frank's old guard dog, Max, which was killed off in the same arc it was introduced in. It's shot by a gangster trying to raid one of Frank's hidehouts. When Frank sees that he's dying, he [[ShootTheDog puts him down]] with a knife. Frank's ''crying'' when he does this.

* GenreBlind: The numerous gansters, mobsters and other crooks who think that ''they'' [[AttackAttackAttack will be the one to finally bring Frank down]]. A few are GenreSavvy enough to know that the best course of action is to just try to avoid him like the plague.

* HollywoodSilencer: 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.
* ILoveThisTown: Officer Soap, who was promoted to Chief Inspector at the end of the ''Welcome Back Frank'' series, proudly looks out of his office to the Golden Sunset of New York..... only to have a passing pidgeon defecate on his head. Nevertheless, he warmly quotes this trope, for compared to all the hardships he endured trying to catch The Punisher, he was not going to let something as trivial as bird poop rain on his parade.

** Averted in the case of "The Slavers", when [[spoiler:Frank loses his self-discipline and breaks his cover by attacking a 'straggling' gunman, alerting his fellows]]...who ''are'' infantry veterans, aim down their weapons' sights, and use small unit tactics such as (effective) suppressing fire and flanking. End result: although he's able to swim away, non-powered gunmen ''actually defeat Frank Castle in combat and force '''him''' to flee for his life''.

* ImprovisedWeaponUser: Oh, so much. He uses pirahna, giant snakes, rhinos, [[GroinAttack 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 [[ThePenIsMightier pens and pencils]], worked his way up to computer monitors as blunt instruments, [[EyeScream staplers to the eyes]], smashing a man's head to pulp in a copier machine....

* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: 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''.

** [[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!]]

* MerryChristmasInGotham: 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.

** Special mention goes to Nicky Cavella, a jackass of a mob dude who got the astoundingly ''bright'' idea to dig up the remains of Frank's family and ''urinates on them''. And then release the footage to the news media in the hopes of getting Castle [[AWorldwidePunomenon pissed off]] and go berserk. Yeah. It's been nice knowing you, Nicky.