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This page covers the Marvel comicbook hero Punisher also known as Frank Castle , Frank Rook , Charles Fort , Mr. Smith , Francias Stronghold , Johnny Tower , allen , hyphus . If this is not the page you were looking for check here.
The definition of vigilante, Frank Castle is determined to eradicate crime by using any means necessary. He punishes the guilty, therefore he calls himself the Punisher.
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Origin
Frank Castle was born Francis Castiglione in Queens, New York. He has Sicilian Ancestry. He was married to his wife Maria and they were expecting their first child before he enlisted with the United States Marine Corps. He completed Basic Training and then trained in Infantry, Reconnaissance, Force Reconnaissance and Sniper School. Castiglione was able to attain dockets to permit him to go through U.S. Army Airborne Training and U.S. Navy Underwater Demolition Team training to be qualified as a Navy SEAL.
During his first tour of duty in Vietnam, Castiglione found out that his Commanding Officer, Mikuta, was taking money from soldiers for a promise of getting them out of the war. What he was actually doing is killing the soldiers so they would be declared Missing In Action and keeping the money for himself. Frank ended up killing Mikuta with no remorse. A Colonel with no name found out what happened and promised Frank that he would look into it further. Instead of looking into it further, he pushed Castiglione’s tour in dangerous territories. This is when Frank figured out that Colonel No-Name was in on it with Mikuta. When Frank’s tour of duty was up, the Colonel was there to see him off, happy to get rid of him. Castiglione then told him that he was re-upping… coming back for another tour of duty. Castiglione served 3 tours of duty, and then changed his last name to Castle to illegally serve a 4th tour in Vietnam.
Origin of the Skull
During Castle’s last tour of duty he was serving as a sniper. He was asked to hunt down a Viet Cong sniper known as “The Monkey”. The VC sniper wore a monkey’s skull around his neck for good luck. Castle ended up being captured, but during his escape he tied a dead Viet Cong to a tree and painted a white skull on his chest as a message to “The Monkey” that he was coming for him. He would use the white skull as his calling card during his hunt, and even painted one on his own chest. He ended up killing “The Monkey” in a sniper duel in the jungle.
What drove him over the edge
Frank, Maria and they’re two children Lisa and Frank Jr. went for a picnic in New York’s Central Park when they accidentally witnessed the execution of a Mafia informant who was hung by a tree. Without a second thought the Costa crime family enforcers gunned down Frank and his family for witnessing the murder. Frank was the only one to survive. Even though Castle could identify all the shooters, the police did nothing because of the corruption and ties to the Costa crime family.
Castle decided to take matters into his own hands and hunt down the people who brutally murdered his entire family. After avenging his family, Castle continued his quest against organized crime, and all criminals in general. He would soon start using the white skull symbol he used in Vietnam again as his symbol, and he started using the name “The Punisher”.
Thus began the one man war on crime that has since dominated his waking hours and every thought. Although the authorities label him a dangerous vigilante and mass-murderer, many in the police force view him as a hero, bringing criminals to justice in ways unattainable by law enforcement.
Of course most criminals consider him a lunatic and react with a mixture of complete disdain and/or utter fear.
Castle's methods often bring him into conflict with various Marvel Superheroes who disagree with him acting as a judge, jury, and executioner.
The 80s
During the eighties the Punisher was at the height of his popularity. So much so that Marvel had three ongoing titles and a large amount of spin-offs, specials, and one-shots. During the time the Punisher was much more of a superhero than he would be later. He also had a sidekick, computer genius Linus Lieberman a.k.a. Microchip. He also had hundreds of weapon stashes, hideouts, and advanced battlevans stationed throughout the country.
The Final Days
Earlier in his career the Punisher crossed the Kingpin one too many times. Kingpin's frustration plus the deteriorating security around Micro and Frank led to a huge problem. Kingpin eventually found not only Frank's current location, but also the identity of Microchip. Kingpin captured Micro and used Frank to take down some of his competition. This turned out to be a trick and Punisher ended up arrested and locked up in Riker's island prison for the third time. On the inside he was widely feared and hated. He eventually came into contact with his old archnemesis, Jigsaw, who planned to return the favor to Frank's face. On the inside a prisoner called Cannibal befriended Frank and gave him a shiv to defend himself. However, Jigsaw eventually caught up with him and tore up his face. When Frank was in the medical station he was almost attacked until Cannibal's friends broke him out. On the outside Frank caught up with Microchip who escaped Kingpin and changed his appearance. Micro set up an appointment with a former surgeon with a drug addiction. Frank was weary but accepted. Before the procedure began he told her to make him look entirely different. The surgery went fine and when Frank woke from his five day rest he was shocked to see a black man in the mirror. After a brief team-up with Luke Cage Frank's face returned pigmentation and eventually found micro to take on the Kingpin.
Characteristics
Gender--Male
Height--6' 3"
Weight--260 lbs (118 kg)
Eyes--Blue
Hair--Black
Unusual Features--scars over the majority of his body
Powers
Frank does not possess any super powers, but has an extensive background with weapons and hand-to-hand combat. He has a keen military mind and can make any situation work to his advantage. The Punisher also has a very high threshold for pain, often undergoing surgery without any type of medication or anesthesia.
However, in The Punisher: Born, it is revealed that The Punisher made some sort of pact with a death-related deity (Such as the Grim Reaper) to save his own life. Could this be the origin of his will to kill, and his tolerance for pain?
Gear
The Punisher mostly uses conventional firearms which would include, but not be limited to: handguns, rifles, shotguns and machine guns. He is also known to be very effective with knives and explosives. He also has his own mobile command station which he constructed out of a van. Most of these weapons are confiscated from criminals of various types and also from various military contacts.
Thus began the one man war on crime that has since dominated his waking hours and every thought. Although the authorities label him a dangerous vigilante and mass-murderer, many in the police force view him as a hero, bringing criminals to justice in ways unattainable by law enforcement.
Of course most criminals consider him a lunatic and react with a mixture of complete disdain and/or utter fear.
Castle's methods often bring him into conflict with various Marvel Superheroes who disagree with him acting as a judge, jury, and executioner.
While The Punisher is constantly changing his gear depending on the mission, he uses a large arsenal of firearms, from handguns to rifles to rocket launchers. One of his more notable items is a spring-loaded knife that allows the blade to be launched at an enemy. He tends to customize his weapons so they can all use identical calibers and prefers to use weapons of military origin like the Colt 1911 or pistols based on its design.
Alternate Realities
Earth-295
In the Age of Apocalypse reality Frank Castle was separated from his family during one of the first American sweeps, where Apocalypse searched out humans for purposes of killing them. He fled from certain death until he came across a hidden monastery. Castle became a monk, searching for inner peace, until the monastery was finally discovered by Apocalypse's agents. All the monks were killed, as were many of the humans and mutants that they had offered refuge. Frank Castle was once again able to escape, though his location is unknown.
Earth-2149
In the Marvel Zombies universe Frank is still a vigilante with a skull on his chest. In Marvel Zombies Vs. Army Of Darkness #2 he meets Ash. Ash and the Punisher partner up to beat down some Zombie, but first The Punisher guns down The Kingpin, The Owl, and Hammerhead after they offer to ally with him. Sadly Zombies overwhelm him because his bullets aren't harming them, while Ash runs away. Punisher is turned and later seen eating Scarlet Witch in Latveria later in the series.
Earth-1610
Ultimate Punisher is an ex-NYPD cop whose family was killed by corrupt cop that was gonna be exposed by Frank. He was the one that killed the corrupt cop and informant to the Kingpin, Jean DeWolff.
Earth-928
There are 2 Punishers in the year 2099, a man and woman.
Jake Gallows is the first Punisher. He was a cop in the Public Eye, the police force of the future. After the murder of his mother, brother and sister-in-law, Jake came across the war journal of the original Punisher, Frank Castle, in the archives of the Public Eye. From then on, he took the mantle of the Punisher.
The second Punisher is a laboratory-bred humanoid named Polly. when she released herself from her mental limiters, she gained free will, intelligence and superhuman strength, but she also became psychotic. she called herself Vendetta, and though of replacing Jake Gallows because she deemed him as obs elite. Although in the end, they became partners.
Earth-2301
In the Marvel Mangaverse, a female named Sosumi Brown is the Punisher and is fighting the Skang Khee Ho yakuza crime family. The family summoned an Oni, a japanese demon, to eliminate Sosumi. When her sister, Hashi, find out her secret, In the final confrontation, Sosumi used a cursed sword to kill the Oni and save her sister.
Earth-58163
In the House of M, Frank's family survived the mafia attack and is still the Punisher. But now he is apprehended and recruited by Thunderbird to be with a human strike force called the Brotherhood. Disgusted about mutant's disregard of humans, he later joined Luke Cage's version of the Avengers to fight Magneto's mutant supremacy over humans.
Earth-8311
Frank Castle and his alter ego are turned into a shark named Frank Carple and is also known as the Punfisher.
Earth-9939
In this reality, he is an adventurer who is also a member of the Avengers. He was on a mission to retrieve a time traveling device, but was killed by Charnel.
Punisher MAX
In this continuity, the Punisher lives in what is essentially the real-world, a place free from any sort of superhero (the only other member fo the mainstream Marvel universe to appear is Nick Fury).
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