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Other criminals and psychopathic thugs.

Warning: Unmarked spoilers abound!

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Frank Castle's major foes

    Barracuda 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/3111908_punisherv503423.jpg
Run. Run while your legs are still attached.

Debut: The Punisher Vol. 7, #31

"I'm Barracuda. Thing most muthafuker's find out a little too late.

A psychopathic mercenary hired by corrupt businessman Ebbing to eliminate the Punisher and stop him from interfering in his criminal plans.

Very little is known about Barracuda's early life. Even his real name remains a mystery. What is known is that he was raised in Boca Raton, Florida, as the eldest of his siblings. His father, who happened to be a violent alcoholic, would often abuse the young Barracuda, at one point going as far as to hold his hand over a burning stove while telling him to "be as hard as the motherfucking world itself".

Some time afterward, a young 'Cuda got into a fight at his elementary school during which he gouged the eyes out of his opponent; as a result, he was sent to a juvenile detention center. There, he castrated a would-be rapist. His actions caused him to be noticed by an Army Special Forces Colonel, who was impressed by the young man's ruthlessness and lack of morality and recruited him as part of a special program to recruit troubled youths at a young age for military purposes. It was here that Barracuda was given full Special Forces training, as well as an excellent education. This, combined with his combat experience in Latin America, groomed him to become the monster that he is today.


  • Abusive Parents: His mother is never mentioned, but we get the audio version of a flashback while he's passed out in Frank's trunk, where we find out that Barracuda's dad was insanely abusive, and Barracuda spent most of his life looking for the bastard. He failed, and has spent his life ever since taking out his anger at the world.
  • Alternate Self: Before he became a Canon Immigrant in 2020, alternate versions of Barracuda appeared in Punisher Noir, Space Punisher, and Eminem/The Punisher.
  • Arch-Enemy: His one of the fiercest and durable enemies that the Punisher has ever come across. Proving extremely resilient to whatever punishment Frank dishes out to him. He's almost like an evil mirror version of Frank in a way.
  • Asshole Victim: Granted he's not much better than many of the other criminals on the list, but he has maimed other people that are even worse than him such as a schoolyard bully, a lecherous juvenile delinquent, and two inmates planning on raping Harry Ebbing.
  • Ax-Crazy: The epitome of this trope. He thoroughly enjoys his acts of extreme, sadistic bloodshed and slaughter, to the point that he makes other members on this page look fairly well off by comparison.
  • Bait the Dog: His friendship with Fifty seemed genuine, but when Fifty is out of earshot, Cuda refers to him as a "dumbass." Similarly, he appeared saddened by Hemo's death, but got over it almost immediately.
  • BFG: His preferred firearm of choice is a Vietnam-era M60 light machine gun. Which happens to be another similarity he shares with Frank
  • Badass in a Nice Suit: In "Long Cold Dark", sporting an M60, Slasher Smile, and a snazzy looking suit.
  • Bald of Evil: He's completely bald, and he's completely without morals or restraint.
  • Bald Head of Toughness: He's bald and is easily one of toughest foes the Punisher ever faces.
  • Big Bad: Of Long, Cold Dark.
  • Big Bad Duumvirate: With Harry Ebbing in his arc, "Barracuda".
  • Boisterous Bruiser: Always optimistic and cheerful even when killing people. His response after Frank smashes the fingers off his right hand and sticks a knife in his eye?
    Barracuda: (grinning) Oh, it is on now, motherfucker. It is on.
  • Black Eyes of Crazy: During his Establishing Character Moment when he fires away with his M60 to take out some petty crooks you can see the whites in his eyes have gone entirely black.
  • Blood Knight: He's far crazier about bloodshed and warfare than Frank ever was. And unlike Frank he makes no effort to hide his sadistic tendencies.
  • Bond Villain Stupidity: Despite outwitting and incapacitating Frank no less than three different times, he never simply kills him and feels the need to thoroughly destroy his spirit beforehand. Naturally, it backfires every time.
  • Breakout Character: Much like the rest of The Punisher's foes, he was meant to die in the arc he debuted in, but proved to be so goshdarn charming (and provided some much-needed levity in an otherwise bleak series), he kept surviving his encounters with Castle, and was eventually even featured in the 616 Universe.
  • Breakout Villain: Survived multiple encounters with the Punisher and had his own spin-off miniseries.
  • Canon Immigrant: Planned, anyway. He was finally planned get to a 616 Marvel Universe counterpart in 2020's Punisher vs Barracuda miniseries, but as of January 2021, that's still among a number of series that's yet to see the light of day even after Marvel returned from its COVID-19 Pandemic-induced hiatus.
  • Catchphrase: "I'm Barracuda. Thing most muthafuckas find out a little too late."
  • Card-Carrying Villain: One of the more extreme examples in the series. Which is saying something.
  • Chainsaw Good: In Fury: My War Gone By, it is revealed that during his time doing wet-work in Nicaragua, one of his favorite methods of executing members of the government was via chainsaw.
  • Charles Atlas Superpower: An even greater example than Frank Castle. He possess freakish amounts of strength, is able to withstand ungodly amounts of punishment, and has overpowered the Punisher on more than one occasion. Suffice it to say, thanks to his near-superhuman levels of strength, he wouldn't seem out of place in a superhero story.
  • Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: He will betray anyone if he thinks it will benefit him.
  • Cool Car: He drives a badass Ford Mustang in "Long Cold Dark".
  • Dark and Troubled Past: As it's made very clear above on his character bio page, Barracuda had a horrible childhood having to constantly put up abuse from his father who made him into the vicious, sadistic gangster we know today.
  • Depraved Bisexual: Barracuda has an affinity for various women but as shown in his mini-series he is also not afraid to sexually assault men as well when he gets the urge.
  • Double Standard: Rape, Male on Male: In his miniseries, his sexual dominance over a male inmate is played entirely for Black Comedy.
    • Averted in his final appearance in the main series where the reader is treated to a flashback of him raping an imploring inmate. This scene concludes a series of events that showcased his descent into depravity, including instances of Barracuda gouging out the eyes of a bully at school, murdering an innocent family, and slaughtering a bar full of people for fun, it's clear that the reader is expected to see it at another proof of said depravity.
  • The Dragon: The role he played during his employment with Harry Ebbing. That is until his wife gave him a better offer.
  • The Dreaded: At one point he simply walks up to a gangsta and asks him nicely for his car. The gangsta immediately pisses himself and hands over the keys.
  • Elites Are More Glamorous: He cut his teeth with the Green Berets in Latin America and held the rank of Sergeant Major in the U.S. Army.
  • Enemy Mine: Very briefly at the end of his first story when he reattaches Frank's bomb so he can kill the Dynaco execs who've screwed them both. He then tries to invoke it on the boat but Frank just shoots him.
  • Even Evil Has Loved Ones: He endured his father's abuse for the sake of his siblings, who he claims to have raised on his own. He doesn't seem to think much of them in the present, however, remarking rather flippantly that one is dead while the other is a crack whore.
  • Evil Counterpart: Ennis wrote him specifically to be a sadistic and depraved version of the Punisher. Like Frank, Barracuda was trained as an elite commando, honed his skills on the battlefield, and lost a great deal of his humanity there. Once they returned home, they found that they couldn't re-adjust to civilian life. But where Castle lost his family and found his war on crime, Barracuda signed on for another tour of duty, this time in Nicaragua, where the corruption gave him the chance to go completely wild; Frank hides his basic human decency and warmth behind a cold and humorless exterior, while Barracuda hides his psychopathy behind a humorous grin.
    George Hatherly: Hey, if you can make money from narcotics and use your war for cover-why not use that to pay for your war? And you know what you get then? You get Barracuda.
  • Evil Is Bigger: While Frank is far from a small person at 6'2"/188cm, Barracuda stands eight inches taller than him.
  • Evil Is Hammy: Easily the most flamboyant and over the top of all the villains.
  • Expy:
    • Word of God says he was inspired by the folk character Stack O' Lee, specifically the version in Nick Cave's "Stagger Lee". 'Cuda sings a few verses of it in #55.
    • He has a lot in common with The Joker as well. See Practically Joker for more details.
  • Eye Scream: Loses an eye in the first few minutes of his first skirmish with Frank. It doesn't even slow him down. In a flashback, we see him deal with a schoolyard bully by gouging out the young man's eyes. This results in him being sent off to a juvenile detention center.
  • Fatal Flaw: his gigantic ego and his incessant blabbering always makes him overplay his hand.
    • Most notably in his first appearance, when he bluntly says to Alice that he knows that she will dispose of Dermot as soon as he will not be useful any more. This makes her immediately realize that he is not just a Dumb Muscle and that he will be very difficult to manipulate, so she decides on the spot to murder him. Something that Barracuda completely fails to foresee, so sure he is that she will conclude that he is indispensable instead.
    • In his next encounter with Frank he lets slip that he has tracked him down because he cannot accept that somebody have outfighted him and that he does not just want to beat him, but to completely destroy him. This makes Frank realize how he can set up a trap for him later on.
  • Faux Affably Evil: He's friendly, optimistic, and happy 99% of the time. But will also kill you without blinking.
  • Fingore: During a heated battle with the Punisher, he gets his fingers chopped off with an axe. To which he responds with amused excitement.
  • Foil: To Tiberiu Bulat, Frank Castle's previous enemy. Both are sadistic, twisted war veterans turned gangsters. However, the most important difference is that Tiberiu is a dark, humorless monster while Barracuda is over-the-top, hilarious and bombastic, but still a monster to be sure.
    • As previously mentioned, he is the opposite to Frank himself, only fully psychopathic and without conscience.
  • Freudian Excuse: His father was horrifically cruel, all in an attempt to "toughen up" his son and teach him that the world was cold and hard before abandoning him. It's made clear in his final appearance that a big part of Cuda's motivation is that he's pissed off that he was never able to get back at his abusive father and is taking this out on everyone.
  • From Camouflage to Criminal: Went from being a trained Green Beret to a full time mercenary.
  • Funetik Aksent: He speaks with a very thick Ebonics accent in his speech bubbles.
  • Gag Penis: In keeping with his image, Barracuda apparently has an absurdly large penis. Mercifully its never shown, but he's able to sexually satisfy Wanda Lube, who is a sexually jaded pornstar who doesn't even enjoy sex anymore and even when flaccid its still large enough that he's able to hit Danby in the face with it. Otherwise deconstructed, as despite his endowment Barracuda is such a rough and demanding lover with the many prostitutes he solicits that sex with him is less satisfying then you'd think.
  • Genius Bruiser: He has shown exceptional cunning and intelligence several times. He's basically a smarter version of the Russian. It's shown in Fury: My War Gone By that he led a CIA drug operation during his time in the military and managed to make Fury powerless to do anything about it.
  • Gone Horribly Right: As a boy, he was repeatedly abused by his sadistic father in an effort to "toughen him up". The most extreme example came when he forcibly put his hand on a grill while telling him to be " as hard as the motherfucking Earth itself". Lo and behold, it came true.
  • Glass Eye: He gets one after losing it to Frank.
  • Groin Attack: In Long Cold Dark, Frank's clamps battery cables to his testicles and turns the ignition of the car they're attached to until he's pissed and shit himself into revealing where he's stashed Frank's infant daughter.
  • Handicapped Badass: Losing all the fingers on his right hand in no way impairs his combat ability.
  • Hawaiian-Shirted Tourist: He wears a jaunty looking yellow one on his trip to kill Yorkie and his wife in England.
  • Hero Killer: He ends up killing Frank's longtime ally Yorkie, at the very beginning of "Long Cold Dark". Further cementing his villainy.
  • I'm a Humanitarian:
    • At one point, he recounts a tale of a mission in Africa where he engaged in cannibalism to prove his masculinity to a warlord.
    Barracuda: After we took down his brother for him, on accounta some ol' family bullshit, chiefy had the muthafucka cooked for dinner... Turned him into a kinda jambalaya-looking thing, all of the rice an' shit. Whole tribe had to take a taste.
    • The miniseries ends with him and Wanda stuck in a life raft, and implies he's going to cannibalize her to survive.
  • It's Personal: Originally he took a very business savvy approach to his job, that is until Frank blasted him in the face with a shotgun and fed him to a pool of sharks. From that point on, it became personal.
  • It's Raining Men: Along with his Special Forces training, he was also given HALO and LALO jump training.
  • Kick the Dog: You already know he's a piece of work, but when his second arc opens with him killing Yorkie, Frank's old SAS war buddy, it rather reaffirms the point. Then of course the rest of the arc revolves around him kidnapping Frank's hitherto-unknown daughter so he can torture her to death in front of her father.
  • Laughably Evil: He has no moral standards whatsoever, but his unfailing friendliness and his hilarious pattern of speaking make him a joy to see.
  • Loves the Sound of Screaming: This is the main reason behind why he kidnapped Frank Castle's daughter. He wanted to hear Frank cry out in agony, but knew that a hardcore individual like him wouldn't be fazed by torture. So he went for an alternative method. Kidnap his daughter and force him to watch as he tortures her.
    Barracuda: So you go ahead an' scream, homes. You beg. You plead. Screaming is music to my muthafuckin' ears.
  • Made of Iron: Holy shit YES. Let's see, loses an eye and most of his fingers during his first fight with Frank, which barely phases him. Has his head bashed in with a metal pipe, thrown to the sharks and shot point blank range, and ends up surviving. Shot several times in the chest, had his nose crushed with a pair of pliers, tortured for 45 minutes with electric shocks to his testicles, has AN ENTIRE ARM CHOPPED OFF WITH AN AXE and Frank still has to blow his head apart with an AK-47 and burn the remains to put him down for good.
  • Major Injury Underreaction: He takes Frank chopping off his fingers and stabbing his eye in stride. Which is not to say that he's not sore about it. Later, when Frank tells him that by icing them incorrectly he has no chance of reattaching them, his only response is to laugh at his own carelessness.
  • More Dakka: His weapon of choice is an M60 machine gun he calls "the pig."
  • Names to Run Away from Really Fast / Meaningful Name: Barracudas are large, predatory fish that are ferocious and dangerous. 'Cuda himself is a violent psycho who preys upon his victims.
  • Neck Lift: In "Long Cold Dark", while receiving some first aid from a talkative associate, his associate makes the mistake of dropping some callous remarks that strike a little to close to home for Barracuda. Prompting 'Cuda to violently lift him up by the neck with such force that he accidentally snaps the poor guy's neck.
  • No Kill like Overkill: Frank finally overcomes him by working on him with a fire-ax, burying it in his chest, then unloading an AK-47 into his head, practically disintegrating it.
    Frank: Barracuda was dead when you shot him to bits and shot the bits and burned them. Anything less just left that nagging doubt.
  • Noodle Incident: His past military operations, specifically his time spent doing wet-work in Nicaragua is treated as such. It isn't until Fury: My War Gone By that we finally get to see what he was up to.
  • Odd Friendship: With one of his old army buddies... who's a Klansman.
  • Only in It for the Money: To a large degree, but revenge is also a huge motivator for him. But most of the time, it's money and he'll do just about anything for it. He will also do just about anything to you if you don't pay him. "I kill a motherfucker, I expect to get paid. I kill a whole buncha of motherfuckers, I expect to get paid on time, not still be waiting for my money a week later.'' The person he was speaking to ending up getting fed to a Great White Shark.
  • Only Known by Their Nickname: To the point that the government's files on him just call him "Barracuda", with no indication that it's an alias.
  • O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Most of the time. Barracuda is chipper, upbeat, and genuinely friendly. Even while he's committing repulsive acts of sadism. Its those moments where he stops smiling that you should be afraid.
  • Pants-Positive Safety: In "Long Cold Dark", he holds his Glock in his trousers. Considering that he's a Green Beret vet, he really should know better.
  • Pet the Dog: Subverted. In The Punisher Presents Barracuda, 'Cuda seems to display a genuine fondness and concern for Oswald, the hemophiliac son of the mob boss who hires him. He nicknames the kid "Hemo", enjoys talking to him and spending time with him, encourages him to be more assertive and outgoing, and does not hesitate to risk his life to save Oswald during a gunfight. However, after he accidentally kills Oswald, he seems upset... for like a second, before getting annoyed that he won't get the money.
  • Plot Armor: The only reason why he survives the end of his first arc; Frank has him dead to rights and inexplicably shoots him in the chest, instead of in the head like he usually does.
  • Practically Joker: With his deranged and highly unpredictable behavior, including a sadistic, Ax-Crazy streak, a Slasher Smile, an obsession with his arch-nemesis who serves as his absolute Foil and Good Counterpart, a seemingly jovial and comedic demeanor, a cheerful disposition towards random violence, and his penchant for improbable survivability, Barracuda is practically the African American version to The Joker.
  • Pragmatic Villainy: During the Fury: My War Gone By story arc featuring him, he lets Fury live because his death would bring more attention to their CIA-sponsored drug operation.
  • Pride: This is the main reason he decides to get payback on the Punisher. He could have easily gone his separate way after he survived a shotgun slug to the face. But his pride just couldn't let it go.
  • Prison Rape: His miniseries makes it very explicitly clear he was the aggressor. What's worse is that this is entirely Played for Laughs. Though not in his last appearance in the main series, where we can see some of his most brutal crimes, including a scene with one his victims kneeling in his cell, crying and begging him for mercy before being savagely raped and likely killed.
  • Psycho for Hire: And how. Even when he was still in the army, he was little more than a glorified killer who took delight in slaughter.
  • Rap Is Crap: He of all people hates rap and would rather listen to slow love songs. He proves it when he catches up with another gangster who owes him money. Said gangster is cruising the streets with his crew, rap music blaring out of the car stereo. Barracuda kills his crew with an M-60, then directs his attention to his target. Before getting down to business, Barracuda has a request:
    Barracuda:Motherfucker, turn off that bullshit.
  • Rasputinian Death: Over the course of several fights, Frank stabs him, gouges his eye out, knocks out his teeth four times, cuts off the fingertips of his right hand, strangles him with barbed wire, shoots him point blank in the groin, chest, and face with a shotgun, tosses him into shark infested waters, blows him up with a Claymore, fractures his skull with a wrench, bites off another one of his fingers, breaks his arm, bites a chunk out of his face, stabs him again, hooks up a car battery to his testicles for an hour and a half, shoots him with an M60, breaks his nose, tears off said nose with pliers, cuts off his arm with an ax, shoots him in the throat and finally shoots his head to bits with an AK-47, then lights the bits on fire just to be sure.
  • Real Men Wear Pink: He'd much rather listen to sappy love songs than gangster rap. On one occasion where he massacres a gang for not paying for his services, he is noticeably irritated by the extremely vulgar rap music blaring loudly from their vehicle.
  • Sanity Slippage: He was already nuts but the massive amount of torture and physical punishment dealt to him by Frank causes him to lose all rationality.
  • Scary Black Man: Barracuda fits this trope to a T. He's 7 feet tall. He's a former Special Forces soldier. He's incredibly violent, sadistic and an all around sociopath. Yeah, he's pretty scary. What's more he appears to be aware of his reputation and uses it to scare the crap out of Dermot & Si.
    Barracuda: Yeah I could use some white boy pussy. They do.
    Dermot & Si: O_O
  • "Shaggy Dog" Story: In his spin-off miniseries, after all the trouble to get rid of both Luna and Big Chris, Barracuda momentarily forgets about Oswald's hemophilia and thoughtlessly slaps his back, causing him to bleed to death in seconds.
  • Slasher Smile: His default expression. In fact he rarely if ever goes a single panel without breaking out one of these at least once. Heck just look at the image above!
  • Sleeves Are for Wimps: His casual attire consist of a sleeveless black tank top.
  • The Sociopath: Barracuda, taken to disturbingly unsettling levels that could only rival The Joker, is a brutal and twisted psychopath totally devoid of any kind of morality, ethics, or conscience. Highly open to the idea of random violence, he consistently commits crimes for amusement. Like your typical psychopath who can be charming and even entertaining, he's always ready for a humorous joke, but not even that conceals the sadistic monster he truly is.
  • Sociopathic Soldier: Used to be a Type 2 as shown in Fury: My War Gone By.
  • Threatening Shark: One of his favorite methods of disposing of his victims is throwing them in a pool of sharks and watching them get eaten alive. Of course this comes back to bite him in the ass when the Punisher returns the favor.
  • Trading Bars for Stripes: The Army recruited him from juvenile detention (possibly with a moral waiver), and he joined Special Forces shortly after.
  • Unstoppable Rage: During his climactic battle with Frank, he completely loses all sense and rationale, going into a blind unstoppable fury.
    Frank: Something had snapped. It might have been all those kicks to the head — or the burns — or just the torture — but he'd gone somewhere else, the kind of place you don't come back from. This time — he was the one with the madness on his side.
  • Unwitting Pawn: Averted. In "Long Cold Dark", he mentions that he learned of Yorkie's whereabouts from an email he received from an unknown source. At which point Frank mentions that he's being used. To which 'Cuda retorts with; Haw! Fool, I been used since I walked into a recruiting office in seventy five!". 'Cuda could care less about serving someone else's agenda as long as his own interests coincide.
  • Villainous Breakdown: As the Hannibal Lecture and Freudian Excuse catch up to him at the worst possible moment, Barracuda completely loses his wits and sense of fear, turning into a blood-crazed lunatic.
  • Villainous Gold Tooth: He has a row of four gold teeth in his upper gums and a row of three in his lower gums, which collectively have the words "FUCK YOU" engraved on them. He's a sadistic mercenary hired to eliminate the Punisher.
  • Worthy Opponent: Barracuda's ego never lets him see the Punisher as this, being determined to prove he was never beaten by him, but in his dying moments seems to finally realize he was his better.
  • Would Hurt a Child:
    • This is ultimately what pushes him beyond the Moral Event Horizon. In "Long Cold Dark" he kidnaps Frank's infant daughter with the intention of torturing her to death in front of him.
    • But it gets even worse. We later learn in Fury: My War Gone By, that he kicked a decapitated child at Nick Fury just to prove how little the US uniform meant to him.

    The Heavy/Jigsaw 
Click here to see his true identity

AKA: Billy Russo
Debut: The Punisher: Frank Castle Max Vol. 1, #61

"Just him and me. We got a lot of lost time to make up for."


  • Arch-Enemy: It's implied that he and the Punisher have a history similar to their mainstream counterparts; Frank pauses when he is told who the head of the cartel is, and later he and the Heavy give each other Death Glares from afar before their showdown.
  • Bad Boss: When he finds out a drug dealer has led Frank to his hideout, he immediately slugs the guy in the throat with a roll of change. His associates gun down a meth-head who did the same.
  • Big Bad: Of Girls in White Dresses. And unlike the other villains in the MAX imprint, he's not just any Big Bad but THE Big Bad, by far one of the most dangerous and intelligent adversaries that Frank encounters throughout the MAX imprint, enough to be among the few villains who almost mentally breaks Castle.
  • Brick Joke: He repeatedly brings up his hatred of change, which he finds incredibly annoying to roll and store. In the end, he's beaten when Frank smashes his face in with a roll of coins that he had earlier dropped.
  • Canon Character All Along: He's the MAX version of Jigsaw.
  • Contrasting Sequel Antagonist: Like the Kingpin before him, Jigsaw manages to be more sane, more calculating, more strategic, and more intelligent than the vast majority of the villains that Frank Castle encounters in the MAX imprint. However, that doesn't make him any less depraved and monstrous than the rest.
  • The Faceless: Wears a gas mask that conceals his face before his identity is revealed.
  • Facial Horror: He's Jigsaw, after all.
  • Genre Savvy: He seems to have a good understanding that Frank Castle only kills criminals, so he tries to break him mentally with the murder of a girl. It doesn't work very well for him, however.
  • Good Scars, Evil Scars: This is Jigsaw we're talking about.
  • Hate Sink: Easily the most despicable version of Jigsaw. He's rude, foul-mouthed, unpleasant, a terrible boss, and a racist, misogynistic monster who enslaves innocent women and children in inhumane conditions.
  • Jerkass: Big time. His drug dealing and use of slave labor aside, he's also surly and foul-mouthed to his partners-in-crime.
  • Politically Incorrect Villain: Very racist and misogynistic, referring to Mexican women as "spic bitches," "coozes," and "whores" nearly every time he opens his mouth.
  • Sir Swears-a-Lot: Even more so than most MAX characters, which is saying something.
  • The Sociopath: What would you call someone who has killed and maimed women and girls when they die, has killed a considerable number of people, and attempts to murder and rape some of his own workers?
  • Uncertain Doom: He falls out a window and onto the back of a moving train. It's unknown if the fall killed him, but if it didn't it would make him the comic's only major Karma Houdini.
  • Walking Spoiler: He's the only MAX villain who isn't really at the forefront of his story, and for good reason.
  • Would Hit a Girl: Kidnaps women/girls and works them to death in his meth lab.
  • Would Hurt a Child: Some of the girls are only fifteen.

The Slavers

    In General 
A vicious Romanian gang who run a number of brothels throughout New York where Eastern European abductees are forced into prostitution.
  • Balkan Bastard: Tiberiu actually fought in The Yugoslav Wars.
  • Greater-Scope Villain: The Slavers are just the representatives in New York to international sex traders. Frank knows he can't do much other than killing the Slavers and scaring their suppliers out of New York.
  • A House Divided: Cristu and Vera are totally against Tiberiu's bloodthirsty tendencies, which threatens to jeopardize their slave ring. Tiberiu in turn doesn't give a shit about repercussions. Cristu eventually decided to kill his father. However, Tiberiu survive an attempt on his life and quickly catches on to his son and Vera's betrayal.
  • Karmic Death: All three ringleaders die horrible and extremely painful deaths, courtesy of Frank. They're such repulsive human beings it's impossible to feel any pity for them.
  • Rape Is a Special Kind of Evil / Slavery Is a Special Kind of Evil: This is the main reason why Frank gave them such brutal (and well-deserved) deaths.
  • Red Oni, Blue Oni: Cristu is levelheaded and at one point described as unemotional, his major concerns being profit margins and getting things done in the most efficient and least complicated way possible (why gouge someone's eyes out and break their neck when you can just shoot them?) Conversely, Tiberiu is a gleefully sadistic maniac for whom money is clearly only a bonus when it comes to the slave ring. Vera is somewhere in-between, as while it was clear that the business was her primary concern, at a few points it's implied that she does in fact take some perverse enjoyment out of fucking with the girls.
  • Ruthless Foreign Gangsters: They're a group of ex-military war criminals from Eastern Europe who bring a human trafficking ring into New York, and fall under Frank Castle's personal attention.
  • Terrible Trio: The Punisher notes that Christu is the businessman, Tiberiu is the soldier, and Vera is "the one who makes it work."

    Tiberiu Bulat 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/2063904_thepunisher27_20.jpg
That's the message, that's the lesson. Learn it well!

Debut: The Punisher Vol. 7, #26

"Want our streets you got to fight for them. You know how to fight? Where we come from we fight forever. Nazis. Communists. Go to Bosnia to fight beside the Serbs. Who do you fight, little picaninny?"

Father of Cristu Bulat, and a veteran of the Yugoslav Wars. A brutal and vicious war criminal turned human trafficker.


  • Assassin Outclassin': When Cristu finally had enough of Tiberiu's bloodthirsty insanity, he tips off a trio of vengeful crooks to his apartment. Tiberiu easily kills all of them.
  • Ax-Crazy: By far the most deranged and bloodthirsty out of all of the Slavers. His folder image is of him gunning down a group of captured civilians, and as you can see, he's loving every minute of it.
  • Berserk Button: Exploited by Frank, when the latter calls him a "coward" in Romanian. Tiberiu predictably flips out and charges at Frank in a blind rage. Which is exactly what Frank wanted.
  • Big Bad: Of The Slavers Arc.
  • Big "NO!": His last words just as he is about to be burned alive by the Punisher.
  • Blood Knight: Unlike his two associates who take a business only approach to their slavery ring. He genuinely enjoys deriving sadistic pleasure from tormenting his captives.
  • Card-Carrying Villain: He's an evil sadistic old fuck and very proud of flaunting that fact. Showing no shame in his cruel ways.
  • Churchgoing Villain: Implied. He has a crucifix and an icon of the Virgin Mary in his apartment.
  • Dirty Coward: In his debut, Tiberiu gleefully kills a tied-up punk who couldn’t defend himself. When Punisher catches up to him, Tiberiu takes a girl hostage to make him stand down, then Punisher simply calls him out on this in his native tongue, pushing him over the edge. Once Tiberiu gets captured and bound, he angrily demands Frank to release him and fight fairly. Naturally, Frank denies him before setting him on fire.
  • Even Evil Has Loved Ones: When a newscast brings up the Punisher killing dozens of criminals after his family's bones were dug up and pissed on, Tiberiu opines that Frank's actions sound like "evidence of sanity" and further muses that he would personally "slaughter thousands" if his own wife's remains were ever desecrated in such a way. There's no love lost between him and Christu, however, as the two annoy each other to the point that it escalates to mutual attempted murder.
  • Evil Counterpart: To the Punisher. At one point Frank even refers to him as a "twisted old fuck who still thought he was a soldier". Amusingly Frank doesn't appear to realize the irony in this statement.
  • Evil Old Folks: A very old and very evil and twisted human trafficker who has a past as a war criminal who fought in the Yugoslav Wars.
  • Fatal Flaw: Wrath, even in a good mood he commits pointless violence but when angered he just charges in like a rabid animal.
  • For the Evulz: What he is all about.
  • From Camouflage to Criminal: Before becoming an immoral human trafficker he was an immoral war criminal who fought alongside the Serbs in the Yugoslav Wars.
  • Hate Sink: Easily the most despicable of the already nasty trio of slavers.
  • Karmic Death: In his introduction, he tortures and kills a tied up crook who had no hope of fighting back despite the man demanding to be freed for a fair fight. Later on, when Frank puts Tiberiu in the same situation, he demands to be released for a fair fight but Frank flatly refuses and burns him alive.
  • Offing the Offspring: After surviving a hit orchestrated by his son, he gathers a gang of his followers to kill him. However, Tiberiu was too late as Frank already got to him first.
  • Politically Incorrect Villain: In his introduction, he calls a chained-up gangster a "little black boy", and continues to insult him with various other racial slurs. It doesn't get much better from that point on. He did take part in Bosnian genocide after all.
  • Prefers Rocks to Pillows: He lives in a dumpy apartment despite his son giving him a more luxurious apartment a while ago, as Tiberiu doesn't like comfort and by Frank's words "still thinks he is at war."
  • Retired Monster: Though not by choice. While Tiberiu may have been instrumental in setting up the slavery ring, by the events of the story he's become little more than a liability who doesn't do much other than watch the girls be broken and stew in his apartment, which is why he's so excited to have rival criminals and someone like the Punisher around to alleviate his boredom.
  • Revolvers Are Just Better: When a pair of hoods sneak into his home at night, intending to kill him. He surprises them by turning the tables on em' and blowing their brains out with a revolver.
  • Sociopathic Soldier: When we see the flashbacks to his time in the Yugoslav Wars, we get a first hand view of just how much of an evil bastard he was back then.
  • Villainous Breakdown: He suffers a massive one near the end of "The Slavers" arc. The beginning of the end for Tiberiu was when Castle set up an ambush that resulted in him being injured. This is followed by him desperately trying to distance himself from Frank while the latter kills all of his men in the brothel that he's hiding in. He then takes a hostage in order to try and get Castle to stand down only for Frank to hit Tiberiu's Berserk Button by calling the old bastard a coward in Tiberiu's native tongue, leading to Tiberiu being disarmed and captured by Frank. As he's about to be set on fire by Frank, he tries one last time to goad Frank into a fair fight by telling him to fight like a man. Frank refuses and prepares to set Tiberiu on fire. Tiberiu can only muster a Big "NO!" and an Oh, Crap! expression when Castle immolates him alive.
  • Worthy Opponent: He sees Frank as one.

    Cristu Bulat 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/cristu_bulat_earth_200111_punisher_vol_6_26.jpg

Debut: The Punisher Vol. 7, #25

A Romanian criminal who specializes in brothels where Eastern European abductees are forced into prostitution. He is the son of notorious crime boss Tiberiu Bulat. However, he lacks his father's penchant for sadism and extreme violence. Instead, preferring to run his operation more like a legitimate business, eschewing Tiberiu's more ruthless tactics. This difference in business management causes no shortage of tension between he and his father.


  • The Corruptor: Very downplayed. Tiberu's war crimes in the backstory have already solidified him as a villain with no redeeming qualities, but Christu was the one who convinced him to add human trafficking to the list of transgressions.
  • Defiant to the End: According to Frank he spent his last moment calling the Punisher a coward repeatedly. Downplayed in that he still gave up his info.
  • Dirty Coward: His father enjoys teasing him of being this with his utter refusal to engage the Punisher, even though this is the smart move.
  • Even Evil Has Standards: Downplayed, but he is visibly annoyed when his father brutally tortures and kills a transgressing gangbanger than simply shooting him in the head. When Tiberiu intended to massacre the crook's captured accomplices, Cristu implored letting them go to send a warning to similar gangs, but Tiberiu insults him and murders them all.
  • Fat Bastard: He is a corpulent human trafficker, it doesn't get much worse than that.
  • From Camouflage to Criminal: He took part in the Yugoslav Wars alongside his father. However, unlike his old man, he discovered that there was far more money to be made in slavery than there was in genocide. And thus promptly switched careers.
  • Genre Savvy: He's fully aware anyone that who tries to fight the Punisher dies and does everything he can to personally avoid him.
  • Gutted Like a Fish: Cristu is drugged from eating his food by the Punisher and wakes up to find his guts cut open from his stomach.
  • Informed Ability: Frank occasionally narrates Cristu is a badass soldier like his father, the kind that would be unlikely to break with torture. However, he's shown to disdain unnecessary violence, evades the Punisher (to his father's mockery), and easily breaks from Frank's torture techniques (although Frank upped his game for the occasion).
  • Karmic Death: See above and below.
  • Killed Offscreen: Cristu is last seen looking in horror at his belly that had been gutted by the Punisher. According to Frank, he died from blood loss.
  • Not So Stoic: When he wakes up to find his intestines wrapped around a tree. The last we see of him he's wearing an expression of pure horror.
  • Nothing Personal: His entire MO. He doesn't drug up prostitutes and force them into slaver for shits and giggles. It's just a business thing is all. No hard feelings.
  • Only in It for the Money: See Nothing Personal above.
  • Patricide: When he realizes that his father couldn't control or care about his Blood Knight tendencies that would only jeopardize their prostitution ring, Cristu decide to kill him by tipping off some gangsters. However, Tiberiu is too much of a badass to die that easily.
  • Pragmatic Villainy: He visibly disapproves of and is in constant opposition to the violent methods that his father uses. Not because he considers it immoral mind you, but because of how much it needlessly threatens their business.
    Tiberiu: Business, business, business. That is your battle cry now, Cristu.
  • The Sociopath: Of the unfeeling kind. He shows zero remorse about the whole slavery thing, considering it to just be a source of revenue for him. Viorca even notes that he isn't a sadist like his father.

    Vera Konstantin 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/4026685_verakonstantin.jpg

Debut: The Punisher Vol. 7, #25

One of the three ring leaders behind the human trafficking operation, who uses her job as a corporate executive as cover for her real mode of business. Every bit as callous and cruel as her associates, she specializes in breaking the new abductees in a process she likes to call, "rape them to break them".


  • Ain't Too Proud to Beg: When Frank comes calling. Doesn't save her.
  • Big "NO!": Her last word.
  • Destination Defenestration: Her death in which Frank methodically throws Vera face first into reinforced glass until the window breaks.
  • Dirty Coward: Oversees the enslavement, rape, and psychological destruction of maybe dozens of young girls and possibly the murder of an infant. When Frank comes for her she quickly breaks down sniveling and pleading for her life. She is also afraid of Tiberiu when he pays her a visit.
  • Facial Horror: After Frank throws her face-first against reinforced glass her face it's a bloody mess; torn lips, broken nose, missing teeth, one eye swelled shut...
  • Karmic Death: Her part in the operation was to break the captives using a method she liked to call: Rape them to break them. Which involved having the girls gang-raped for twenty-four hours straight. In order to let them know that they were powerless to prevent anything from being done to them. When Frank finally gets a hold of her he doesn't rape her, instead what he does is throw her face first into the shatterproof window multiple times until the window panel finally breaks, causing her to fall to her death. Frank even Lampshades this trope which doubles as an Ironic Echo seeing as he's throwing Vera's words back at her.
    Frank: All that counts is that you can't stop me. I'm stronger than you, so I can do anything I want. Isn't that the way it works?
  • Pragmatic Villainy: Just like Cristu, the whole slavery thing is just a means to gain revenue. Nothing more. Of course that does not make it any less evil.
  • Rape Is a Special Kind of Evil: Part of why she's so vile is that this is her standard business practice with the women she's selling into slavery.
  • Ship Tease: According to Viorca she seems really close to Cristu. She's also his confident about how sick he is of his dad.
  • Would Hurt a Child: She is the one that has the escaped Viorca's baby killed.

    Stu Westin 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/stu_westin_earth_200111_from_punisher_vol_7_29_001.jpg

The Slavers' Dirty Cop, he is tasked with keeping the Punisher under police heat so they can run business as usual.


  • An Offer You Can't Refuse: Frank blackmails him by threatening to inform the police of his connections with the Slavers unless he personally delivers a film of Tiberiu's murder to their European connections. Not only does Frank inform them anyway the moment Stu leaves for Europe, the filmed implications of Westin betraying the Slavers leads to his "disappearance."
  • Contempt Crossfire: The Romanians refer to him as "the little shit" to his face.
  • Dirty Cop: On the Slavers payroll on top of being blackmailed by them.
  • Mr. Exposition: He informs the readers and the slavers about Nicky's fate at the end of the last arc and why the Punisher is dangerous.
  • Never Found the Body: He disappeared after delivering Frank's package to the international sex traders. According to the Punisher they won't leave even fingerprints of him.
  • Wounded Gazelle Gambit: Tries to make the cops the Punisher disarmed look in worst shape than they are (he just pushed them on each other and locked their guns in their car) so they can justify a manhunt.

Dynaco Incorporated

    In General 
A once third rate energy company turned overnight success thanks to the efforts of mysterious philanthropist Harry Ebbing. A shady, amoral organization run by equally amoral corporate tycoons.
  • Evil, Inc.: Originally they just started off as a sleazy corporation who repeatedly abused a loophole in the system to improve their net gain. What pushes them into this territory is their plan to black out all of Florida with the intent of profiting off of it. Not caring about all of the ensuing casualties that will likely happen.
  • Expy: Of Enron, complete with a "let's blackout a state for fun and profit" evil plot.
  • Fed to the Beast: Almost all the shareholders were on the same boat that got capsized by Frank... in shark infested waters.
  • Greed: They make it clear that they don't give a shit about whoever gets affected by their schemes. All that matters to them is their end net gain.

    Harry Ebbing 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/harry_ebbing_earth_200111_from_punisher_vol_6_32_0001.jpg
Debut: The Punisher Vol. 7, #31

"Trouble with doing the right thing, Si: what you end with is the satisfaction of knowing you did the right thing. As opposed to what you were giving up, which was anything you wanted being just a phone call away."

CEO of Dynaco Incorporated


  • Big Bad Duumvirate: With Barracuda in his Arc.
  • Condescending Compassion: Really enjoys the whole fatherly Benevolent Boss image he projects to his employees and investors, even though it's as fake as a three-dollar bill. As long as you don't break his number one rule, always take a problem to him first, almost any screw up or betrayal is forgivable. Si nearly sold out the whole company to the FBI, but since he came back literally begging on his knees, Harry is fine with it, since he can pat Si on the head and treat him like the prodigal son. He's really just a Control Freak who flips between fatherly and a vicious, corrupt businessman at the drop of a hat.
  • Corrupt Corporate Executive: Ebbing was first convicted for insider trading. But after being released and taking control of Dynaco, he plotted to blackout Florida's energy grid, allowing Dynaco to supply the power and inflating its profits—while endangering hospitals, people on life support, and airport traffic.
  • Driven to Suicide: He is betrayed by Dermot and Alice, who publicly pinned the aforementioned corporate conspiracy entirely on him while taking over the company. With his life in ruins after hearing his treacherous wife having sex with Dermot through the phone, Ebbing steps out of a a flying helicopter.
  • Hitler Ate Sugar: His wife Alice mentions that Ebbing doesn't have sex with her, he just likes staring up her ass and masturbating, then "thanks her for a pleasant evening", something Adolf Hitler allegedly did.
  • Make an Example of Them: He was convicted of insider trading in the past, and had the misfortune of landing in front of a judge with leftist political views, who openly stated that he was making an example of Ebbing, and promptly sentenced him to a maximum security prison, which is usually reserved for killers and rapists. This is where Ebbing met Barracuda.
  • Mysterious Past: His life and career before he joined Dynaco is largely unknown to his fellow peers. Si theorizes that he must have had some sort of track record impressive enough that he was brought in to run Dynaco.

    Alice Ebbing 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/alice_ebbing_earth_200111_from_punisher_vol_7_31_001.jpg
Debut: The Punisher Vol. 7, #31

Wife of Harry Ebbing.


  • Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: She betrays nearly everyone within a foot reach of her. Including her husband and Barracuda. The latter of which proves to be a huge mistake on her part.
  • Evil Redhead: It may not be obvious at first. But she's far more cunning and wicked than she lets on.
  • Hidden Depths: There's perhaps a little more to her than her husband might assume, what with her ultimately masterminding his overthrow through his protege, whom she has seduced.
  • Honey Trap: Gets Barracuda off his guard by literally getting him off.
  • Karmic Death: She gets bitten in half by a shark.
  • Trophy Wife: A very prideful and vain one. Although it appears there's more than that.

    Dermot O'Leary 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dermot_leary_earth_200111_from_punisher_vol_7_31_001.jpg
Debut: The Punisher Vol. 7, #31

Second-in command at Dynaco, and Harry's personal protege.


  • Driven by Envy: He hates Harry for giving attention to other employees and plan to overthrow him.
  • Karmic Death: Spent most of his professional life as a "career shark" who preyed off of others. At the climax, he gets devoured by sharks. Talk about dramatic irony.
  • Politically Incorrect Villain: He frequently expresses his contempt toward Si by referring to him as a "faggot" and, when confronted by the Punisher, tells him to "leave him the fuck alone and go kill some nigger drug dealers."
  • Teeny Weenie: "I'm gonna give you the whole four inches!"

    Si Stephens 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/si_stephens_earth_200111_from_punisher_vol_7_32_001.jpg
Debut: The Punisher Vol. 7, #31

Former Dynaco employee who decided to blow the whistle on one of their scheme's after he felt they went too far.


  • Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Butt-Monkey status aside, his returning to Dynaco rats out Frank’s targeting of the company, leading to Barracuda nearly killing him, and Frank spending the rest of the arc severely injured and close-to—death.
  • Butt-Monkey: Si first appears tied up naked by drug dealers, who think he is "worth keeping around". Dermot even points out he is such a victim as he strangles him to death.
  • Everyone Has Standards: Amoral corporate goon he may be the moment he hears of his bosses scheme to cut all the power in Miami he immediately backs out. However, after all the trauma he suffers after backing out, not helped by the Punisher's unsympathetic treatment, he comes crawling back to Ebbing.
  • No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: The man was the sole member of his entire corporation with a conscience. And when he threatened to blow the whistle all he gets for his troubles is an endless series of grievous humiliations.
  • Token Good Teammate: The sole member of Dynaco with a conscience, and tragically he suffers the worst fate out of all of them.

    Enrique 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/enrique_earth_200111_from_punisher_vol_7_31_001.jpg
Debut: The Punisher Vol. 7, #31

Leary's drug dealer, assigned to get rid of Stephens


  • Rape Is a Special Kind of Evil: Kept Stephens prisoner and raped him, planning to only kill him later.
  • Small Role, Big Impact: His keeping Stephens alive longer than necessary directly puts Punisher on Dynaco's trail, and leads to his run-ins with Barracuda, which prove to be highly significant later on.
  • We Hardly Knew Ye: Quickly and easily gunned down by Punisher.

    Billy La Carda 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/billy_lacarda_earth_200111_from_punisher_vol_7_31_001.jpg
Debut: The Punisher Vol. 7, #31
A man sent by Dynaco to kill Si Stephens after Enrique botched it.

The Harlem Mob

    John James Toomey 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/john_james_toomey_earth_200111_from_punisher_vol_7_37_0001.jpg
Debut: Punisher Max Vol. 1, #37
An African-American drug lord and associate of the Italian Mob.
  • Batman Gambit: Its implied that Frank was counting on Toomey valuing his anonymity too much to kill Frank straight away, knowing that killing the Punisher would draw way too much attention to himself. It works and Toomey elects to turn Frank over to The Mafya instead.
  • Bond Villain Stupidity: Mr. Toomey should've just killed Frank while he was at his mercy instead of mocking and hitting him with his gun.
  • Cool Shades: He wears a pair of impressive shades.
  • Genre Savvy: He's stated at being good at smelling and avoiding traps, although eventually he falls into one and is killed.
  • Scary Black Man: He controls Harlem's drug trade and has an intimidating vibe when he shows up hoping to personally kill Punisher.
  • Small Role, Big Impact: Despite his brief onscreen time, he lasts long enough to inadvertently tip Frank off about the Rastovich Family’s bounty on his head, leading to the events of Man of Stone, and his business dealings with Annabella Gorrini’s husband Dominic leads to his widow Shauna playing a major role in the Widowmaker arc.
  • Too Dumb to Live: John James wanted to go and see the captured Punisher, but Shauna knew it was a dumb idea. She begged and told him not to go (she even gave him a blowjob), but he went anyways.
  • Why Don't You Just Shoot Him?: Lampshaded. As he bleeds to death, John James bitterly admits he should've shot Frank while he was still tied up.

    Dingo 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dingo_2528earth_2001112529_from_punisher_vol_7_37_001.jpg

Debut: Punisher Max Vol. 1, #37
One of John James Toomey's drug dealers, who is blackmailed into setting a trap for him.
  • Dreadlock Rasta: Has the hairstyle, although his dreads are pretty short.
  • Dude, Where's My Respect?: Dingo is a longtime gangbanger who is happy to set up his boss to be killed due to bitterness over how the man treats him like a gofer and is always sending him to fetch drive-thru chicken.
  • Flipping the Bird: Dingo lifts both of his middle fingers and points them at Toomey's corpse.
  • Last Disrespects: After Frank kills his boss, Dingo gives double middle fingers and kicks his body.
  • Miles Gloriosus: Dingo is quite descriptive in bragging about his nonexistent ambush of The Punisher (although, to be fair, he'd been ordered to make up a story like that).
    Dingo: An' no way am I gonna let him take John James' Toomey product, fuck that —I grab the frying' pan, I let him stick his fool head inna window, BAM! I fuck him UP!
  • Oh, Crap!: After ranting about how he'll take over his late boss' drug trafficking, Dingo realizes he said that in front of the same angry vigilante that killed his boss.
  • Saying Too Much: Dingo should've kept his mouth shut. After The Punisher shoots up his boss, he starts raving about how he'll take over his drug rackets, only to backpedal when Dingo realizes he said that in front of a murderous vigilante that kills people like him on a daily. You can already guess what Frank does to him.
  • Sleeping with the Boss's Wife: Blackmailed over having had an affair with another, more dangerous drug dealers girlfriend.
  • Too Dumb to Live: Dingo thought it was a good idea to brag about taking over his dead boss' drug business in front of the same vigilante that killed him. He tries to backpedal and say he'll turn over a new leaf, but Frank won't have any of it.
  • Verbal Backspace: Dingo goes from gloating to his employer's corpse about how he'll take over Toomey's drug racket to desperately saying that he'll actually get an honest job and leave town after he realizes that he's just been gloating about his future drug-running plans in front of a drug-hating Knight Templar Vigilante Man. Said backspace doesn't save him.

    Curtis Pinner 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/curtis_pinner_earth_200111_from_punisher_vol_7_47_001.jpg
Debut: Punisher Max Vol. 1, #47

One of John James Toomey's enforcers.


    Horace "Spoonie" Moore 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/horace_moore_earth_200111_from_punisher_vol_7_19_001.jpg
Debut: Punisher Max Vol. 1, # 19
A gang leader targeted by the Punisher shortly before the reemergence of Nicky Cavella.
  • A-Team Firing: He and his men don't score one hit on the Punisher.
  • Cooperation Gambit: He and his homeboys have taken to running drugs with the Aryan Brotherhood in order to consolidate power fast, with Punisher observing what strange allies they make. That being said, all it takes is one supposed insult from the Aryan leader for the homeboys to go attacking them, guns blazing.
  • Evil Power Vacuum: He and the Aryans moved up after Punisher brought down the Italian mafia, and the Italians get a brief shot at the top again after Frank wipes out Moore and his gang.
  • Gangbangers: He and his men are described as gangbangers.
  • Gangsta Style: He and his men shoot this way, providing the reason for their A-Team Firing.
  • Leeroy Jenkins: Gathers up his entire gang and goes charging to kill an associate with no reconnaissance or attempt at mediation just because the man (who Punisher was holding at gunpoint at the time) told him to go fuck himself in a phone call.
  • One-Steve Limit: The following arc features another black gangster named Horace, an enemy of Barracuda.
  • Zerg Rush: Sends all of his men at Frank in one charge in a failed attempt to kill him.

Santa Morricone

    Leopoldo Luna 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/leopoldo_luna_2528earth_2001112529_from_punisher_presents_barracuda_max_vol_1_2_001.jpg

The president of Santa Morricone, a cocaine-producing Banana Republic who replaced the former socialist president with the CIA's help.


  • Armored Closet Gay: Hates homosexuals, but can only get it up with his porn star wife if she dresses like Che Guevara.
  • Dirty Coward: Panics and hides under the bed when a rebel army attacks his mansion, then tries to act all tough and in control once they're defeated.
  • Failed a Spot Check: Entirely failed to notice Fifty's real gender, even while they were having sex.
  • Hoist by His Own Petard: Likes executing people by dropping them from a helicopter into an active volcano. Fifty's Unsettling Gender-Reveal was enough for him to jump out of the chopper into the same doom in panic.
  • Villainous Breakdown: Once he finds out that Fifty is a man, after they've had sex several times. it causes him to accidentally jump out of his helicopter and fall into a volcano.
  • Your Approval Fills Me with Shame: An indirect version: he built a huge statue of Ronald Reagan in thanks for making him president of the country. It's implied he was part of the Contra scandal as well.

    Jonathan Digby 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/jonathan_digby_2528earth_2001112529_from_punisher_presents_barracuda_max_vol_1_2_001.jpg

A Suit with Vested Interests in Santa Morricone who knows Barracuda from prison.


  • Butt-Monkey: Goes through a lot of indignities and misfortune, and by his final appearance he turns into The Chew Toy.
  • Corrupt Corporate Executive: He's been this with various companies for some time.
  • Covert Pervert: Recognizes Wanda from her porno films and is falling over himself saying hi to her.
  • Dirty Coward: Once the bullets start flying he desperately tries to surrender.
  • Prison Rape: Apparently experienced this at Barracuda's hands (when Barracuda recognizes him, a flashback shows a miserable-looking Digby in a cell, dressed up like a woman).
  • Punch-Clock Villain: Doesn't come across as cruel or terribly callous, just doing a job which happens to involve a bunch of drug dealers and psychopaths.
  • Suit with Vested Interests: Sent to Santa Morricone by Luna's corporate backers, and after interacting with Luna for a while agrees with Barracuda that it might be better if someone else replaced him.

    General Ortiz 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/general_ortiz_earth_200111_from_punisher_presents_barracuda_max_vol_1_4_001.jpg
The head of Leopoldo Luna's private army
  • Card-Carrying Villain: Admits freely, and cheerfully, that he and his men aren't so much soldiers as glorified cartel enforcers good for little besides raping nuns and murdering political dissidents.
  • Faux Affably Evil: Makes a show of being polite and gracious with Chris Angeleone even as he casually talks about all the atrocities his army has committed and discusses Chris's plans for the drug trade once Luna is gone.
  • Sociopathic Soldier: Ortiz leads a whole army of uniformed drug-trafficking cold-blooded killers.
  • The Starscream: Betrays Luna in exchange for being offered Luna's job, as well as a lucrative cash bribe, by Chris Angeleone.
  • Tank Goodness: Attacks Luna's mansion in a tank after taking his bribe.

    Father Flannery 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/father_flannery_earth_200111_from_punisher_presents_barracuda_max_vol_1_2_001.jpg
Luna's "spiritual" advisor and a defrocked priest.

    Josef Monterra 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/josef_monterra_2528earth_2001112529_from_punisher_presents_barracuda_max_vol_1_3_001.jpg
An enemy of Leopolda Luna who Chris Angeleone allies with in an attempt to overthrow him.
  • Ambiguously Evil: His father and Angeleone's father ran drugs together, and while it's unclear if Monterra became a criminal himself in America, he is quick to accept support from Angeleone (who wants to reestablish his hold on the country drug trade), and able to field his own army of mercenaries.
  • Ambiguous Situation: It's unclear if he personally led the attack on Luna's mansion (the leader of it had a smilier mustache to him but was never referred to by name, and Monterra's face isn't too distinctive overall) and is killed in the process, or if he just financed the assualt. Either way, after it fails Angeleone writes off Monterra as a viable replacement for Luna and approaches General Ortiz.
  • Cigar Chomper: Is puffing away on one when he meets Chris Angeleone.
  • Former Regime Personnel: Introduced as the sole surviving son of Santa Morricone's former President, living in Florida.

The Geautreauxs

    In General 
A deranged hillbilly Cannibal Clan who prey off of unsuspecting passengers, usually drunken college kids.
  • Arc Villain: The "Welcome to the Bayou" arc is their sole appearance.
  • Ax-Crazy: All of them.
  • Bond Villain Stupidity: They had Frank at their mercy. Instead of just killing him they decided to tie him up and throw a party. Three guesses how it ended for them. As a point in their favor, they were wholly unaware of who he was, thinking that he was just another hapless motorist (albeit one who had a gun on him).
  • Cannibal Clan: Their whole schtick.
  • Eat the Evidence: One of their favorite methods of disposing of "evidence" is to feed some of their victims to their pet alligators.
  • Expy: Their basically the Sawyer family meets the rednecks from Deliverance.
  • Hillbilly Horrors: Their other shtick.
  • Villainous Valor: When Frank begins to mow them down, he is surprised to find out they don't run away from gunfire. They are too crazy for that.
    Frank: You can usually count on normal people to run from gunfire. These aren't normal people.

    Big Daddy 

Debut: The Punisher: Frank Castle Max Vol. 1, #71

"You don't say when we're done asshole. You in Geautreauxs county. And around here, daddy call the shots."

The patriarch of the insane hillbilly clan.


  • Ax-Crazy: Just like the rest of his flock.
  • Big Bad: Of the story arc.
  • Picky People Eater: He decides against eating a black mobster because it 'turns my guts sour'.
  • Politically Incorrect Villain: He very openly expresses a racist attitude. Referring to Nigel as "boy" and pointing out that he doesn't eat black victims because they turn his guts "sour".
  • Villains Want Mercy: Whatever hint of machismo he had goes out the window the moment he is at the mercy of the Punisher.

    Little Sister 

Debut: The Punisher: Frank Castle Max Vol. 1, #71

"Hey, stranger."

Big Daddy's youngest daughter and sole female member of the clan.


  • Ax-Crazy: Frank quickly sees past her innocent facade. Correctly deducing that she's "crazy as a shit-house rat".
  • Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: She may look like a sweet, sexy, innocent Southern Belle, but she's actually a psychopathic cannibal with a Yandere complex. Luckily Frank sees her true colors immediately.
  • Dark Action Girl: A very psychopathic and unorthodox one.
  • Expy: She's basically an Ax-Crazy version of Daisy Duke.
  • Farmer's Daughter: Invoked. She deliberately tries milking this trope for all its worth in order to have unsuspecting victims lower their guard.
  • Has a Type: According to her, scars and muscles are her "catnip". Which is bad news for Frank.
  • Neck Snap: How the Punisher ultimately finishes her off.
  • No Name Given: Her real name is never revealed. She is only ever referred to as "Little Sis".
  • Prefers Going Barefoot: In keeping with her Farmer's Daughter image, she's barefoot in every scene she appears. In fact, the first panel in which she's fully seen has her sitting on her front porch with her bare feet propped up on the railing, displaying very dirty and callused soles, indicating she rarely if ever wears shoes.
  • Stripperific: The gal wears a tube top and some very revealing short shorts. Justified, as it's all apart of her Honey Trap act.
  • Too Dumb to Live: She really should have known better than to try and take on the Punisher in a one on one fight.
  • Villainous Crush: Towards Frank. Much to his dismay.
  • Yandere: She quickly develops this attitude towards Frank. Going so far as to attack him for threatening to leave her.

    Earl Geautreauxs 

Debut: The Punisher: Frank Castle Max Vol. 1, #72

A massive redneck who act as the muscle of the clan.


  • The Brute: The hulking powerhouse of the Geautreauxs.
  • Charles Atlas Superpower: While other villains in this series are merely abnormally stronger than the average person, Earl wrestles alligators for fun.
  • Covered in Scars: His entire torso is covered in scars. Which he likely received from wrestling gators.
  • Dumb Muscle: He's big, muscular, and likes to wrestle gators for shits and giggles. Sadly that's about all he's good for. If he were a Genius Bruiser than he could easily give Barracuda a run for his money. As he is, he's just a freakishly strong redneck. Not that this means you should take him lightly mind you.
  • The Dragon: Big Daddy's right hand man and easily the second strongest (the strongest being Junior) hillbilly in the clan.
  • Good Scars, Evil Scars: Aside form the scars around his body, he sports a very noticeable scar across his eye and it most definitely fits the whole "evil look".
  • Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: In a one-on-one rematch with Frank, he gets pissed him off enough to the point that he abandons all common sense and lunges towards Frank. Unfortunately Frank, was expecting this and catches him with the tip of a spear. Killing him instantly.
  • Implacable Man: He soundly trashes Frank in hand-to-hand fight. Later he wrestles a gigantic alligator for fun.
  • Rape as Drama: In a seriously dark turn of events. He forcibly drags one of the imprisoned college girls off to an isolated shack where he is strongly implied to rape her to death. This is ultimately what pushes him beyond the Moral Event Horizon.
  • Sleeves Are for Wimps: He wears a sleeveless alligator vest meant to further emphasize his gigantic muscles.

    Junior 

Debut: The Punisher: Frank Castle Max Vol. 1, #74

A hulking asocial man-child banished to the edge of the community, living alone in his swamp shack.


  • Expy: Junior is more or less Jason Voorhees meets Leatherface.
  • Overalls and Gingham: His default attire consist of a pair of overalls and what appears to be a potato stack over his head. Not unlike the one worn by another famous movie villain.
  • Sympathy for the Devil: Notable for being the ONLY person Frank ever felt sorry for, kinda-sorta blaming himself for pissing the poor bastard off.
  • Psychopathic Manchild: Lives by himself in a shack out in the swamps, and has a stuffed toy rabbit for company. Big Daddy mentions that "Junior aint social like us normal folk".

    Roy Jr. 
Debut: The Punisher: Frank Castle Max Vol. 1, #72
A Geautreaux who helps capture tourists.

Daedalus

    In General 

Debut: Punisher MAX: Naked Kill

A top of the line American security firm that has offices all over the Earth. It also secretly buys women from impoverished countries, for use in extreme pornography, as well as Snuff Films in which the women are literally fucked to death by Eleventhree, the massive-membered nephew of the company's CEO, Mickey Fane. The smut is directed by Mickey's partner and lover, Polly Hu. The company is headquartered in Daedalus Tower in New York City, which the Punisher infiltrates with the help of a custodian named Dennis "Dirtbox" Tafoya in the one-shot Naked Kill.


  • Crazy-Prepared: Mickey spared no expense in ensuring that Daedalus Tower would be nigh-impenetrable; anyone who enters is it subject to metal detectors, nitrate sniffers that spew toxic gas at the slightest whiff of anything incendiary, X-ray machines, cavity searches, and retina and geometry hand-scanners. Guards patrol all of the soundproofed floors, none of which have the same design in order to sow confusion, 24/7, and tail all employees, while their weapons (tasers on the lower floors, and firearms on the upper ones) will immediately send out an alert signal when used; they also do random pat downs and scans, to ensure that no one has managed to craft an Improvised Weapon, which is difficult, since there is almost no metal anywhere except in small objects like office supplies. The doorways are all scanner-locked, and will spray nerve gas in response to any unauthorized attempt at entry, and, if an alarm is triggered, a response team of nearly a hundred strong is on-call at all hours to swarm the building and wipe out anyone in it who has not taken refuge in a safety pod.
  • Evil, Inc.: It appears to be a legitimate security firm, but it secretly works for criminals and corrupt governments, and produces Snuff Films.
  • Evil Tower of Ominousness: Even the Punisher admits that Daedalus Tower, despite being shorter than the neighboring skyscrapers, has a "grim look" and is "imposing looking."
  • Flat Character: While a lot of the guards do get names, they are otherwise totally interchangeable, receiving no characterization beyond being crude Jerkasses.
  • I Lied: They tell the women that their families will be compensated for their participation in the pornographic films, and that they are free to go if they manage to win an Involuntary Battle to the Death. In reality the winner is killed in a Snuff Film by Eleventhree.
  • Involuntary Battle to the Death: According to Dirtbox, every month usually ends with the surviving women being forced to torture, mutilate, and kill each other, with the last one standing winning their freedom... which is a lie, as they instead just get fucked to death by Eleventhree.
  • Monster Misogyny: Only women are used for the films, and even then only teenage and adult ones.
  • Parallel Porn Titles: Their films have names like Cock-It Man, Hard Cock Cafe, and Old Time Cock N Hole.
  • Rape Is a Special Kind of Evil: The Punisher is as disgusted with Daedalus as he was with the Slavers, if not more, and spends the entire story lamenting the fact that he has to be quick and careful instead of getting the chance to really Pay Evil unto Evil.
  • Snuff Film: The "winner" of their Involuntary Battle to the Death gets to star in a film with Eleventhree, who rapes them to death on-camera.
  • The Sociopath: Being one is apparently a requisite for employment, as Dirtbox notes that he is a diagnosed one and that he "did real well on the psych profile."
  • Terrible Trio: Mickey, Polly, and Eleventhree, of the Beauty, Brains, and Brawn variety (Polly, Mickey, and Eleventhree, respectively).
  • Torture Porn: The Punisher refers to their films as this, while reiterating that it is "real torture" and that there is "nothing Hollywood about it."

    Mickey Fane 

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mickpmax.jpg

"Hey, sweet cheeks. Yeah, I'm done. Got those two fucking towelheads on the hook for a gold star package. Discount? Hell no. With all the fucking Petro dollars they have, they can suck my dick. I don't care if they're a couple of your best customers. They want my system they got to pay my price. Offering discounts is a sign of weakness. Means you don't have full faith in your product."

The CEO of Daedalus.


  • Corrupt Corporate Executive: A security firm CEO who has a side-hustle in the form of producing extreme pornography and Snuff Films. That said, he does care about his legitimate business and sees it as more than just a front, at one point explaining that the reason why he does not give discounts is because he thinks that they are a sign of weakness, and an indication that a vendor does not have total faith in their product.
  • Dirty Coward: He runs away rather than try to help either Eleventhree or Polly against the Punisher.
  • Even Evil Has Loved Ones: While he did abandon Polly to die during the Punisher's siege of Daedalus Tower, his final scene makes it clear that he did care about her and that he regretted having to leave her behind, as he is shown forlornly telling the framed picture of Polly that he now keeps on his desk, "Sorry, baby... I miss you..." He then gets mad when his secretary interrupts his mourning, yelling, "Dammit, I told you I didn't want any calls."
  • Faux Affably Evil: He puts on an affable façade while dealing with customers, but behind closed doors he is very crude, calling a pair of clients "fucking towelheads" who can "suck my dick."
  • Karma Houdini Warranty: He escapes from the Punisher... for a while; the story ends with him in his new office in Asia, where his secretary informs him about the arrival of the new "cleaning guy."
  • Pet the Dog: He left Polly behind to be killed by the Punisher, but felt genuinely bad about it, as evidenced by the scene of him apologizing to the framed photograph of her that he keeps on his new desk in Asia.
  • Politically Incorrect Villain: He refers to two clients as "fucking towelheads."
  • Precious Photo: At the end of the story, he is shown to now have one of Polly.
  • Run for the Border: After the Punisher rampages through Daedalus Tower, Mickey flees to Asia.
  • Serial Rapist: He sometimes rapes women himself, as evidenced by the scene where Polly is shown presenting him with a young virgin from the Ukraine.

    Polly Hu 

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/pollypmax.jpg

"Oh, dear one... you really have no head for business. You have to seduce the customer. Enchant him... entice him with a little sugar. And then when you've given him a little taste... you strap him down, empty his bank account, and fuck him to death."

Mickey Fane's partner and lover, and the one in charge of creating Daedalus's videos.


  • The Baroness: A sophisticated, sexpot businesswoman, as well as a cruel and coldhearted Snuff Filmmaker.
  • Blown Across the Room: The force of the Punisher's rifle blast sends her across the room and into a shatterproof window, which then shatters from the impact.
  • Dark Action Girl: She attempts to be this, at least, pulling a handgun and managing to non-fatally shoot the Punisher before he blasts her, which is actually more than any of the other Daedalus employees managed. She also survives being Blown Across the Room by a high-powered rifle shot that was strong enough to shatter allegedly shatterproof glass.
  • Dark Mistress: For Mickey.
  • Dragon Lady: While her ethnicity is never brought up, she appeared to be Asian, and while not stereotypical-looking, she had the personality down pat.
  • Eye Scream: She is killed by being stabbed in the eye with her own riding crop.
  • Mad Artist: After watching one of Eleventhree's performances, she gushes about how they are "making magic here" and how "they'll be talking about this video for years." Later on, she calls the Punisher an "artless piece of shit" while ranting about how "we're making art here."
  • More Despicable Minion: While Mickey is vile, running Daedalus and occasionally raping women himself, he appears to be entirely hands-off when it comes to creating the company's films, leaving it all up to Polly, who positively relishes in it, loving it for the "artistry" as well as the money, which is all Mickey appeared to care about.
  • Nightmare Fetishist: She considers the rape, torture, mutilation, and murder of women to be art, and repeatedly expresses giddy delight over it.
  • Not Quite Dead: After the Punisher blows Polly away, he and the women add her to the "corpse ladder" that they built to escape from Daedalus. As everyone is scurrying down the ladder, Polly suddenly springs back to life ("fucking bitch cunt whore") only to be stabbed in the eye by her own riding crop.
  • Only a Flesh Wound: She survives being shot in the abdomen at point-blank range with a high-powered rifle, and has to be finished off by being stabbed in the eye.
  • Pink Means Feminine: She wears bright pink lipstick, with a matching pink blouse.
  • Prim and Proper Bun: Her hair is styled this way, to add to her whole "high-class businesswoman" schtick.
  • You Wouldn't Like Me When I'm Angry!: When a woman expresses reluctance over doing pornography, Polly snaps, "You're going to anger Aunt Polly. No one wants that to happen. You don't want me to make you do what the other girl had to do. Did that look fun to you?"

    Eleventhree 

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/113pmax.jpg

"I'm the fucking man!"

Mickey Fane's nephew and the star of Daedalus's videos, his nickname refers to the measurements of his penis... while flaccid.


  • Artistic License – Biology: Even assuming that human genitals of his size were naturally possible, they would probably be largely useless due to their size rendering them incapable of becoming truly erect due to how strenuous on the body it would be.
  • Deer in the Headlights: While the Punisher is mowing down everyone around him, Eleventhree just stands there, muttering, "What... the... fuck?"
  • The Faceless: He is never shown without his gimp mask.
  • Flat Character: He is Mickey's nephew, and he has gigantic genitals. That is really all there is to him.
  • Gag Penis: Played for horror. His penis is so big that it can kill people by splitting them in half.
  • Inexplicably Awesome: No explanation (like a genetic anomaly or surgical enhancement) is given for why his genitals are so massive. They simply are.
  • Karmic Death: He is swarmed and torn asunder by his would-be victims.
  • Knee Capping: The Punisher shoots him the knees, and then leaves him to be Torn Apart by the Mob.
  • Malevolent Masked Men: A gimp mask, in this case.
  • Only Known by Their Nickname: Though his surname might be Fane.
  • Paper Tiger: A mountain of a man who is capable of killing people with just his penis, he does absolutely nothing and just stands there, stupefied, during the Punisher's rampage before having his legs blown out from under him, at which point he is ripped to shreds by angry women.
  • Serial Rapist: He rapes women, frequently to death (technically making him a Serial Killer as well) for his uncle's company's Snuff Films.
  • Tattooed Crook: "DANGER ZONE" is tattooed across his lower abdomen, along with lightning bolts pointed at his groin
  • Torn Apart by the Mob: After the Punisher shoots out his knees, Eleventhree is set upon and ripped apart by a bunch of angry women.
  • Walking Shirtless Scene: We see him in underwear, but never any kind of shirt.

Other criminals

    The Mennonite 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/1226071_mennonite.jpg

Debut: Punisher Max Vol. 1, #3


  • Alas, Poor Villain: Quite possibly the only antagonist in the series to illicit this response from the reader. In his final moments he begs his sickly wife for forgiveness while shedding a tear.
  • Anti-Villain: By far the least evil of all the antagonist that Frank has faced.
  • Charles Atlas Superpower: Not only is the man big and amazingly strong, but he's also extremely durable. See Made of Iron down below.
  • Doesn't Like Guns: Ever since converting to Christianity he refuses to use firearms. Instead, he uses the "tools" that his religion allows
  • Idiot Ball: He refuses to use guns on Frank... up until the moment he's beaten him, and then he inexplicably reaches for a gun to finish him off with, getting shocked by Frank's electric gun rack. If he hadn't done that, he would have won.
  • Implacable Man: He comes damn near close to actually killing Frank by virtue of being extremely durable.
  • Made of Iron: For an Amish farmer the man is one seriously tough S.O.B. In his fight with Frank, he takes a boot knife to the knee, face, and family jewels, gets tased, hit with a chain wrapped fist, and he still keeps coming after Frank. Even after getting blown up by a Claymore the guy is still alive. It took getting electrified by a security system, and having his face crushed by a metal safe, to finally kill him.
  • Only Known by Their Nickname: When he returns to do one last job for Don Rigoletto, he insist that he only be referred to as "the Mennonite". As he refuses to let anyone soil his Christian born name.
  • Real Men Love Jesus: An important character trait (though it's implied he only converted because of his wife and is not a believer himself).
  • Religious Bruiser: A man of the cloth and a vicious bruiser. Though dialogue with the other Amish folk implies he doesn't care much about religion, and only joined to be with his wife.
  • Retired Badass: Before settling down as a simple Amish farmer, he was once a ruthless hitman for the mob, revered in the underworld for his brutality.
  • Rock Beats Laser: In his battle with the Punisher, he eschews firearms in favor of more "unconventional weaponry". Namely, a sledgehammer, an ax, and his chariot of horses. True to this trope, both men appear to be evenly matched, and on more than one occasion Mennonite was able to gain the upper hand in battle.
  • That Man Is Dead: When confronting his old boss Rigoletto, he insist that: "you ain't hiring the man I used to be. 'Cause I ain't that man anymore".
  • We Hardly Knew Ye: He's a curious example. He shows up fairly late in the first arc, yet is given a fairly deep backstory, complete with a compelling reason to go after the Punisher (i.e: he decides to do one last job for the mob because he needs the money to pay for a good doctor who can treat his dying wife). Yet despite all this setup he appears in only three issues before being killed by the Punisher.

    "Fifty" 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/2065453_barracuda_03_02_9.jpg
Don't Ask, and please don't tell

A truly unique officer in the United States Army, and an exceptionally skilled soldier with a love for violence and complete lack of morality. During the Cold War he served in the same unit as Barracuda and took part in countless black ops missions all throughout Latin America to battle the spread of Communism.

Lately he's been called upon by his old war buddy 'Cuda to help him out in Santa Morricone.


  • Affably Evil: For a deranged cross dresser with a hard on for murder, he's awfully friendly and quite sociable around ordinary people.
  • Agent Peacock: His flamboyance belies his combat prowess.
  • Ax-Crazy: He's every bit as blood thirsty and psychopathic as his buddy Barracuda.
  • Blood Knight: Just like his "pal", he loves the thrill of combat. In fact, he decided to help out Barracuda because he knew that there would be plenty of violence involved.
  • Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: Don't let his unorthodox appearance fool you, the man is an elite trained Special Forces soldier with the skills and tenacity that one would expect from an highly trained commando. Most notably demonstrated when a pair of rebels attempt to raid Leopoldo Luna's mansion. During said raid, Fifty shows an amazing amount of cool headedness and proceeds to grab hold of a rifle and fire back at the rebels while Luna cowers under his bed. He then rally's up Luna's troops and helps them defeat the rebels.
  • Drag Queen: An extremely Ax-Crazy and badass one at that.
  • Elites Are More Glamorous: Eccentric drag queen he may be, that doesn't change the fact that he's still a highly skilled Special Forces commando.
  • Four-Star Badass: Holds the rank of General, and has the combat and leadership skills worthy of the rank.
  • Heroic Sacrifice: In the story's climax, he stays behind to fight off the rebels giving Barracuda enough time to escape via helicopter.
  • Noodle Incident: His past mission to help overthrow the socialist government of Santa Morricone and install the dictator Leopoldo Luna is treated as such.
  • Older Than They Look: Seeing as how he took part in countless operations during the Cold War, we can assume that he must be in his mid to late forties. However he still has the appearance of a man in his twenties.
  • Only Known by Their Nickname: Like many of Garth Ennis's creations, his real name is never revealed. Throughout the mini-series he is only ever addressed by his nickname.
  • Scary Black Man: Well... initially he was a lot closer to this trope before he began dressing in drag, but you get the point.
    Fifty: I use to be a badass motherfucker, but now I'm a badass bitch.
  • Undying Loyalty: As blatantly amoral as he may be, his loyalty to Barracuda is unquestionable. Beautifully demonstrated in the climax, where as he is running towards the helicopter he is shot repeatedly. Bleeding to death, he tells Barracuda that he'll cover him and stays behind fighting tooth and nail so his friend 'Cuda can escape. 'Cuda gives him a nod of respect, but calls him a "dumbass" as soon as his back is turned.
  • Unsettling Gender-Reveal: As Luna holds both him and Barracuda at gunpoint above a volcano, Barracuda tells Fifty to show his dick to him. Luna, who up to this moment had thought Fifty was a woman (and even had sex with him), freaks out at the sight so strongly that he leaps out from the helicopter that they are in, falling down to the lava below.
  • Twofer Token Minority: A black crossdresser.
  • Vitriolic Best Buds: With Barracuda. Special emphasis on the vitriolic part.

    Nigel 

Debut: The Punisher: Frank Castle Max Vol. 1, #72

'"I've seen a lot of hard shit in my old neighborhood. Motherfuckers executed with a .22 at the base of the skull. Seen a boy bleed out from a switchblade across the throat, trying to talk and spitting blood and all. Seen a pimp trade a woman for a '72 Camaro. But nothing like this."

A hapless criminal who happens to get mixed in with Frank Castle's current predicament.


  • Boom Head Shot: He finishes off one of the hillbillies this way.
  • Eye Scream: He ends up getting one of his eyes gouged by the massive Psychopathic Manchild Junior.
  • Gangbangers: His entire motif.
  • Only One Name: His last name is never revealed.
  • Punk in the Trunk: How he's introduced.
  • Revolvers Are Just Better: When he finally frees himself from the Punisher's trunk, he finds one of these in the glove compartment of the car and sets out to "shoot that skull wearing motherfucker".
  • Sawed-Off Shotgun: During a brief alliance with the Punisher, he uses one of these as a means to defend himself.
  • Villainous Rescue: Had he not gone back for Frank with a knife, then Castle surely would have been swimming with the gators. Ironically, he intended to disembowel Frank. Yet Castle caught him with his legs and forced him to untie him with the knife.
  • What Happened to the Mouse?: The last we see of him he's suffered a mental breakdown from all the horror he has seen (not that you could blame him) and decided to return home on foot. The Punisher, believing that he's suffered enough, allows him to go without protest. We never learn if he made it home or not. He's possibly the only criminal in the entire series that Frank actually spares.
    Frank: Maybe he makes it. Maybe not. It's up to him now.

    Sheriff Danby 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/sheriff_danby_earth_200111_from_punisher_presents_barracuda_max_vol_1_1_001.jpg

A former Green Beret confederate of Barracuda who became a Dirty Cop afterwards.


  • Dirty Cop: Acts as a handler of sorts for Barracuda, sending clients his way.
  • Fat Bastard: Hefty and utterly unpleasant. How the hell he managed to get into the army, nevermind pass Special Forces selection, is a total mystery.
  • Odd Friendship: Despite being a racist asshole he gets along surprisingly well with Barracuda in a Vitriolic Best Buds kind of way.
  • Politically Incorrect Villain: He's a Ku Klux Klansman (possibly a Grand Wizard) who constantly throws around vulgar racial slurs with sincerity and conviction, and has a Confederate flag painted on his police car. That said he and Barracuda DO genuinely seem to get along.
  • Sociopathic Soldier: Committed the same war crimes in Nicaragua as Barracuda and Fifty.
  • Vitriolic Best Buds: Has this relationship with Barracuda.

    David Kai 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/david_kai_2528earth_2001112529_from_punisher_vol_7_20_001.jpg
Debut: Punisher Max Vol. 1, #20

An Asian gangster who clashed with Nicky Cavella prior to the main story.


    The Rastovich Family 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/leon_rastovich_2528earth_2001112529_from_punisher_vol_7_13_001.jpg
Leon Rastovich
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/alex_rastovich_2528earth_2001112529_from_punisher_vol_7_37_001.jpg
Alex Rastovich
Debut: Punisher Max Vol. 1, #13

A Russian mob outfit. Originally run by Leon Rastovich, and later briefly resurrected by his Cousin Alex.


  • Bald of Evil: Leon has no hair on the top of his head and forces refugee children to become prostitutes.
  • Big Bad Wannabe: Alex Rastovich puts out a hit on the Punisher after arriving in town but is quickly made to call it off by General Zakharov and his connections (who need Punisher alive) and then is easily found and probably killed by Frank, all in his first issue.
  • Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas: Leon dotes on his mother and refused a deal to testify against her.
  • Evil Matriarch: Mama Rastovich, who gets refugee children for Leon to pimp out.
  • Friendly Neighborhood Gangster: Utterly averted, Leon was a tyrant of his neighborhood, and his goons were prepared to beat up an old WWII veteran for badmouthing him.
  • Genre Savvy: Some time ago, Leon survived an assassination attempt by the Punisher due to a large number of bodyguards, and turned himself into the police to make himself less accessible and out of the hope it would get Frank to leave him alone.
  • Get into Jail Free: In the past, Leon turned himself into the police to escape being killed by Frank.
  • "Get Out of Jail Free" Card: Three years later, Leon was let out of jail and returns to the rackets without showing proper concern for the Punisher.
  • Hidden in Plain Sight: After his release Leon decided to go into hiding just in case Frank is looking for him. At least that's what Frank thinks, in truth Leon just stayed at his mom's and called the shots from there.
  • Human Traffickers: Leon Rastovich's racket (with very young children), and it makes him the target of the Punisher.
  • Sibling Yin-Yang: Or rather, cousin Yin-Yang. Leon Rastovich pimped out children but displays a decent amount of savvy when up against the Punisher and is always surrounded by bodyguards. Alex is still a gangster, but seems to be uninvolved in human-trafifkcing and expresses shock at the idea that Frank would shoot him near an amusement park, where there are children playing, and displays practically no savvy in facing the Punisher (such as by not having any bodyguards).
  • Uncertain Doom: Alex, who is last seen being held at gunpoint by Frank, who indicates not really having a good reason to let him go, but isn't seen pulling the trigger.
  • Unwitting Pawn: Leon was released from jail just so Punisher would go after him and Nick Fury would be able to approach him with a job offer.
  • You Killed My aunt and cousin: Leon's cousin Alex hires hitmen to go after Punisher as soon as he arrives in America.

    Carl and Ann Larsen 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/carl_larsen_2528earth_2001112529_from_punisher_vol_7_44_001.jpg
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ann_larsen_2528earth_2001112529_from_punisher_vol_7_44_001.jpg
Debut: Punisher Max Vol. 1, #44
A pair of pornographers who preyed upon their own children.
  • Abusive Parents: They made pornographic films with their own children.
  • The Corruptor: Possibly. Given the psychological damage their actions inflicted on their kids, as Frank watches child services taking them away from a distance, while their daughter looks normal enough, he sees something in their two sons eyes that makes him afraid that they might perpetuate The Chain of Harm, and end up on his radar in twenty years or so.
  • Cruel and Unusual Death: Averted with Ann who is killed instantly, but Carl is shot through the mouth and Frank lets him linger both physically and psychologically before killing him with another shot.
  • Oh, Crap!: When Frank shows up at their door, first when they think he's just a cop, and they when they realize he's there to kill them.
  • Pretty Little Headshots: Downplayed with Ann. Frank shoots her in the head and while the front looks like a small wound, the back of her head is blown open.
  • Rape Is a Special Kind of Evil: Are portrayed as utterly irredeemable and despicable.
  • They Look Like Everyone Else: Unlike most criminals and villains, they look disarmingly like any normal suburban parents.

    John 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/doctor_john_2528earth_2001112529_from_punisher_vol_7_51_001.jpg
Debut: Punisher Max Vol. 1, #51
Patches up Barracuda after one of his fights with the Punisher.

    Horace 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/horace_2528earth_2001112529_from_punisher_vol_7_32_001.jpg
A Miami drug dealer who made he mistake of hiring Barracuda to kill someone and stiffing him on his payment.
  • Oh, Crap!: When he realizes that a fellow prisoner who he's depending on to save him from being eaten by sharks (and who he just told how he's a drug dealer) is the Punisher.
  • Too Dumb to Live: By not paying Barracuda.

    Powder Joe Perona 
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/joe_perona_2528earth_2001112529_from_punisher_vol_7_50_001.jpg
Debut: Punisher Max Vol. 1, #50

A minor mob boss who attempts to step into the void left by the final collapse of the local Italian mob.


  • Evil Power Vacuum: A low-level boss seeking to become a bigger one after the really big outfits finally collapse against Frank.
  • Motor Mouth: Likes to make speeches.
  • Oh, Crap!: He and the other bosses have one when they realize none of them called the meeting, right before coming under attack by both the Punisher and Barracuda.
  • Sharp-Dressed Man: Dressed in a sleek blue suit.

    Oksen and Arnag Chalikian 
Debut: Punisher Max Vol. 1, #56

Armenian gangsters, who have the dubious honor of being among Frank's final targets during the Garth Ennis run.


  • Dirty Coward: Arnag fled out the back while Frank killed his men.
  • Evil Power Vacuum: A fairly small and minor faction that wasn't even important enough to be invited to the same meeting as Powder Joe Perona to discuss the previous Evil Power Vacuum. It ends just as badly for them as it does for everyone else.
  • The Ghost: Neither of them appears onscreen (with Arnag being a Posthumous Character as the Delta Force troops observe the aftermath of Frank's assassination of him).
  • Not Enough to Bury: Arnag was utterly splattered across the wall by a mine Frank had left to take care of him.
  • Number Two: Arnag serves as this to Oksen, his cousin.
  • What Happened to the Mouse?: Frank gets distracted from going after Oksen due to the generals attempt to capture him, and it's never revealed whether he got back to that afterwards.


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