Heartwarming / The Punisher

• Frank helping out Daredevil in The Devil, Inside And Out counts (see the CMOA page for more details). Especially this exchange:
  Matt: "I never thought I'd say these words but... Thanks, Frank."
  Frank: "Not necessary. You're hurtin' a lot right now, Murdock, with good reason. But you don't want to be me. You needed to remember that"
  • This is especially notable since Daredevil is the superhero who is the most determined to put a stop to the Punisher.
  • That arc deserves special mention. Upon seeing a newspaper article that Murdock is getting into fights in prison, Frank immediately walks up to a a pimp beating a prostitute near a policeman. Frank casually cracks the pimp's neck, tells the prostitute to clean up and get out of the business, and turns himself into the police. All so that he can go to prison and help protect Daredevil.
• In one issue, Punisher and Spider-Man team up to rescue several persons at the Daily Bugle (Mary Jane among them) from a hostage situation; however, their differing views on Thou Shalt Not Kill result in the two acting separately. At the end of the story, the hostages are rescued, the bad guys are caught, and Frank happens to stumble across an unmasked Spidey (who he only sees from behind) having a tender moment with Mary Jane. Seeing this, Frank leaves quietly.
• Thomas Jane and Ron Perlman made a fan video during work on The Punisher film. They, as much as Garth Ennis, gave Frank his balls back. The kicker is the ending, the girl who was assaulted was left the lighter and the kid being picked on gets to keep the t shirt that was dropped, only to open it up to see the skull. His reaction says it all, "Holy shit that was the fucking Punisher."
• The three part graphic novel series Punisher and Captain America: Blood & Glory features the two teaming up against a criminal conspiracy that tricked Frank into trying to assassinate Captain America. This happens before Frank becomes an admirer, and he actually seems resentful of the WWII veteran. The series explores the dynamic between the two, highlighting that they're two very different soldiers from two very different wars. At the end when the two are about to go their separate ways, Frank gives Steve a Vietnam Combat Infantry Badge, something given only to people who served in the conflict. Frank tells him that he should've been there with them—because they needed good men like him watching their backs. As Frank walks away, Steve calls out after him, addressing him as "Captain Castle". Frank turns around to see Steve giving him a salute, which Frank returns.
  In that silent moment, there are no "super heroes". No sanctioned patriot and hunted vigilante. We are only soldiers fighting the same fight for the country we both hold so dear. Each of us but one among equals.
  • Even better, in the climax, Cap has finally gotten hold of the military commander who was manipulating the situation - Steve Rogers proceeds to show the traitor exactly why you should Beware the Nice Ones. But when he is on the verge of killing the guy, Frank actually talks him down, telling him, as with Matt in an earlier example, that he shouldn't take the route Frank did. Looks like, despite all his disdain of the 'softer' superheroes, Frank doesn't actually want any of them to adopt his methods. He knows where that will lead, and it is not something that should happen to people like Steve Rogers or Matt Murdock.
• Frank's hero worship of Captain America count as heartwarming almost every time it is mentioned. Frank himself maybe mostly insane, but he is sane enough to recognise people need a true hero as.their role model and the one best suited for the role is Cap.
• In Civil War, Punisher joins Captain America's Anti-Registration side, and is an accepted member right until he guns down in cold blood two supervillains who try to join them. Cap is predictably enraged and proceeds to attack the Punisher - only, Frank just takes the beatdown. When a furious Cap demands Frank to fight back (enraged he might be, but Steve Rogers is not going to be able to keep beating up a guy who refuses to hit back) the Punisher's response is : Not against you."◊
  • He also found a badly wounded Spider-Man and carried him back to the anti-registration base to get him medical attention. Frank may be stone cold but he won't let innocent people die if he can help it.
  • Sometime after Cap's "death", Frank finds out about the most recent Hate-Monger, who has co-opted the Captain America identity to victimize Mexican immigrants in the South, and immediatly swears to hunt the bastard down.
  • In an Alternate Universe where the heroes are being driven insane and cannibalistic by a virus, Frank teams up with Cap to hold off the infected horde - and then Cap starts showing symptoms of the infection. He holds onto sanity long enough to ask for a Mercy Kill from Frank, who agrees. The Punisher even says "You were always my hero" before he shoots him, making sure the last thing Cap heard was an endorsement of what he was, not what he is being turned into.
• In The new Punisher (2016) After killing a drug cooker who was going to use his own daughter to kill Frank by putting a bomb jacket on her. Frank takes the girl with him where he is nothing but sweet and kind to her talking to her about dinosaurs. After helping Frank fight off more goons Frank takes her for ice cream and safely drops her off at a gas station.
• Almost anytime Punisher interacts with any child as it reminds us that for the cold ruthless vigilante serial killer he has become he was still a good father and family man. It is also occasionally hilariously awkward.
• During War of the Realms, Frank counsels and comforts the Goddess Feyja while always respectfully calling her Lady Freyja. She fears what is to come if they are to wrest control of the Black Bifrost from Malakith. Frank gives her understanding and tells her a story about how he rescued a little girl. Even though the little girl was terrified of him, he said it didn't matter so long as she was safe. He finishes by saying that what matters most is stopping the bad guy and saving everyone and personal concerns are secondary. Freyja thanks him for his advice and tells him he has "earned the respect of Asgard". Frank is actually flattered by this.
• The infamous Marvel Knights story where Punisher calls in a favor with SHIELD to help him travel back in time and cut off organized crime at the roots by wiping out the mob in the 20's, finishing with Al Capone. Knowing that even if he succeeds, he might never return, Frank asks Nick Fury to look after his family if his actions in the past meant they were still alive in the future. Fury had already anticipated that and was more than willing. It was All Just a Dream but still
• Frank's interactions with his three neighbors, especially Joan, in the first Garth Ennis series. By the end, he leaves all three enough money to build a better life somewhere else. While Spacker Dave and Mr Bumpo stay in New York, Joan finally gets the little farmhouse she always wanted.
• In the Marvel What-If issue "What if the Punisher became Captain America?", Frank reluctantly agrees to become the new Captain America after Rogers is crippled in a battle with a villain, after several other candidates don't work out. Doing so initially out of a hope of finding purpose, the address stress of being a symbol and a weakened version of the Super Soldier serum spurs him to nearly crack psychologically and go on a vengeance fueled killing spree as The Punisher. Upon rampaging into a villain base, a cyborg Steve Rogers confronts him with orders to bring him in. Steve instead chooses to confer to Castle that his successor has to learn killing is not always the answer, and that the mantle of "Captain America" must be held by a mortal man. It's a job he can't do now with what he was rebuilt as, and it takes a normal person can comprehend mortality in the eyes of the people like a superhuman or machine can't. Frank almost guns down the villain leader, but has an epiphany about Roger's words; concluding Captain America has to be held to a high standard and that he'd want to be someone his late family could be proud of. He puts the gun down and arrests the villain alive, finding Rogers had been standing by the whole time to give Castle the chance to choose.
  Castle: "Huh? You've been standing there the whole time haven't you? And you didn't step in?"
  Rogers: *As he hands Castle the shield* "Take it, it's yours."

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