Punisher is a violent vigilante that kills criminals to right the wrongs that they have caused in society.
History[]
Early life[]
Years ago Frank Castle was a family man. He had a wife named Maria Castle and two children, Frank Castle Jr. and Lisa Castle.
One day while at the park two rival gangs showed up and they had a shootout. While Frank Castle survived Maria, Frank Jr., and Lisa were accidentally caught in the crossfire and were killed. After this Frank Castle became a vigilante and started to hunt down and kill criminals in New York City.
Eventually, Frank, or the Punisher as he was now called, met a man named Microchip. Punisher and Microchip then started to work together and became firends. Microchip would also build new high-tech weapons for Punisher to use in his war on crime.
A video game company called Marbles learned of the Punisher and created a video game based off of him. However, the creators of the game were unaware that his name was the Punisher so they called the game Assassin.
Later life[]
Mojo[]
When an interdimensional being named Mojo was losing ratings for his television shows he abducted the X-Men and forced them to fight for their lives while other alien beings watched from their homes. Mojo then sent Wolverine and Jean Grey to a holographic replica of New York City and had a robotic duplicate of Punisher attack them. Wolverine attempted to help Jean. However, Mojo sent in robots of the Shi'ar Imperial Guard to attack him. However, Jean realized that Punisher was just an image created by a computer and used her telepathic powers to disrupt the computers and shut down the Punisher robot.
Hunting Spider-Man[]
After Michael Morbius escaped the hospital after turning into a vampire, Spider-Man was blamed for his disappearance. Microchip learned of this and relayed this information to Punisher who had just finished rescuing a hostage who was being held by some criminals for ransom. However, Microchip was able to convince Punisher to use non-lethal weapons only so that he could turn Spider-Man over to the authorities.
Shortly after a battle with Michael Morbius, Spider-Man was spotted by Punisher. As Punisher flew over Spider-Man with his jetpack he landed on a rooftop and began to fire his weapons at Spider-Man. Spider-Man was able to trap Punisher in his web and was able to escape. However, Punisher got free and followed him. Punisher was able to track Spider-Man to a warehouse. However, when Punisher entered the warehouse, he discovered that Spider-Man had transformed into a humanoid spider monster which attacked him.
Punisher attempted to fight Spider-Man. However, the creature was far too powerful. Punisher was able to control the Battle Van to come to his location and as it arrived Punisher jumped in and drove off. Man-Spider attached himself to the side of the van. However, Punisher was able to knock him off as he drove away.
As Punisher returned to his base, he grabbed his heavy artillery. Microchip warned Punisher that he did not become a vigilante to hunt monsters. However, Punisher replied that is the exact reason that he became a vigilante in the first place.
Punisher later managed to track down Spider-Man (or Man-Spider as the media was now calling him) and attempted to kill him. However, Kraven the Hunter arrived and stopped Punisher from shooting Man-Spider. After a brief fight Punisher was able to trap Kraven in a net and warned him to stay out of his way.
As Punisher continued to track Man-Spider, the creature knew Punisher was following him and attacked the Battle Van. This causes Punisher to crash the Battle Van and as he crawled out of the van, he tried to kill Man-Spider. However, Man-Spider grabbed Punisher and held him above his head. As Man-Spider did this he covered Punisher's entire body in webbing and took him to his lair.
When Kraven managed to track down Man-Spider he freed Punisher from Man-Spider's web and suggested that work together. Punisher agreed and as they searched for Man-Spider. As they searched Punisher saw a camera hanging from some web. Kraven warned Punisher not to grab it. However, Punisher did not listen to Kraven and when Punisher vibrated the webbing it alerted Man-Spider to their presence. After a brief fight Punisher placed Man-Spider in an electric field and threatened to blow him up with a grenade. Seconds later Mariah Crawford arrived and told Punisher that she had found a cure for Spider-Man's mutation. Punisher was intent on killing Spider-Man until Dr. Crawford brought up Punisher's family. Mariah told Punisher that she knew that he hunted criminals to avenge the death of his family. However, she also told Punisher that nothing he can do will bring them back. As Dr. Crawford continued to talk, she said that despite Spider-Man's current appearance Punisher was the only monster there. After hearing this he felt guilt over what he was trying to do and helped Kraven hold down Man-Spider while Mariah injected him with the cure. After Spider-Man was cured Punisher left to continue his war on crime.
Xodus, the Forgotten[]
Non-canon history[]
In Adventures of Spider-Man #1, Punisher was hunting down a criminal cartel in New York City that was responsible for dealing drugs and various murders. Spider-Man eventually crossed paths with the cartel and was nearly killed. However, Spider-Man was saved by Punisher.
Spider-Man later found Punisher in a shootout with the cartel. Punisher's lethal methods put him at odds with Spider-Man who tried to convince him not to kill. However, Punisher believed that Spider-Man's method of fighting crime allowed criminals to endlessly rotate in and out of prison.
Punisher and Spider-Man were later lured into a trap by the cartel that Punisher had been tracking. Spider-Man and Punisher fought the cartel, and they were badly injured. Punisher refused to kill the cartel members because of how badly they were injured. However, Punisher also said that when the cartel members got out of prison, he would be waiting for them. Before Punisher left, Spider-Man said that he would always be there to stop him.
Equipment and abilities[]
Equipment[]
Punisher is an expert using all types of small arms and large caliber guns, he has extensive training using explosives and tactical weapons.
- See Punisher's arsenal.
Abilities[]
Punisher is a seasoned combat veteran of exceptional skill. He is a superior martial artist and hand-to-hand combatant.
In the comics[]
In the comics his name was Francis Castiglione.
He was a Marine and fought in the Vietnam War.
Francis Castiglione was discharged from the military but illegally re-enlisted using the name Frank Castle.
While on leave Castle took his family to Central Park where they saw a mob killing. Fearing witnesses, the gangsters murdered Castle's wife (Maria Castle), and two children (Frank Castle Jr. and Lisa Castle) in cold blood and escaped.
Wanting revenge Castle became a vigilante called the Punisher.
In movies[]
In the 1989 Punisher movie, Frank Castle started out as a police officer. The mob placed a hit on Castle and had a hitman place a bomb in his car. However, when the bomb exploded Frank Castle's family was in the vehicle and not him. The death of his wife (Julie Castle) and two daughters (Felice and Annie Castle) caused Frank Castle to become the vigilante called Punisher and began to kill criminals.
In the 2004 Punisher movie, Frank Castle was a former Delta Force operative turned F.B.I. agent. During an undercover mission Castle accidentally kills a man named Bobby Saint. Bobby was the son of a ruthless mob boss named Howard Saint. When Howard learns that his son is dead he orders his men to kill Castle and his family as revenge. Saint's men arrive at Frank Castle's family reunion and kill his son, Will Castle, and his wife, Maria Elizabeth Castle, as well as Frank's parents and other relatives at the reunion. Frank then becomes the Punisher and takes his revenge on Howard Saint.
Appearances[]
X-Men: The Animated Series[]
- Days of Future Past, Part I (As a photograph)
- Mojovision (Robot duplicate)
Spider-Man: The Animated Series[]
- Enter the Punisher
- Duel of the Hunters
- Blade, the Vampire Hunter (Indirectly mentioned)
X-Men '92[]
Trivia[]
- Punisher was planned to appear in a Daredevil cartoon that Fox Kids was going to produce. However, the series ended up never being made.