- "What I am is a soldier in a war. You are too, you just don't want to admit it."
- – Frank to Sara. [src]
Frank Castle, better known as the Punisher is a vigilante crime fighter appearing in Top Cow and Marvel crossover, Witchblade/The Punisher.
Biography[]
Background[]
After his family was murdered, Frank embarked on a war of crime as the vigilante Punisher. As Punisher, he broke crimelord Jigsaw's face and partners with a man called Micro Chip.
Witchblade/The Punisher[]
After finding out that a criminal known as Brunt is being transferred, Frank intercepted the prison transfer truck. By creating a roadblock, he forces the two drivers to get out the car and he proceeds to knock them out. He then puts on their uniforms, replaces the driver and brings both Brunt and Sara Pezzini with Patrick Gleason, who were guarding the prisoner to a remote barn in the woods. The Punisher at gunpoint orders Gleason and Sara to give him his gun, but Pezzini explains that she isn't carrying one. Holding Sara and Gleason at gunpoint, he forces them to handcuff one another and brings them inside a nearby barn. He then also brings Brunt too and prepares to kill him.
Sara tries to talk Frank out of this, telling that Brunt is much more valuable alive. Frank refuses to listen to Sara, revealing that Brunt is linked to at least one hundred and nine murders. Sara tells that she took an oath to uphold the law and proceeds to call upon the power of the Witchblade to free herself and Gleason out of cuffs and attack the Punisher. Frank then smacks Sara over the face, but before he can shoot her, he's stop by Gleason. As Gleason orders Frank to drop the gun, Brunt breaks his cuffs and attacks Sara.
Seeing Gleason to be distracted, Frank attacks him. Meanwhile, Witchblade stops and incapacitates Brunt. As it begins to strangle him, Sara manages to call off the Witchblade. Brunt then pins Sara down to the ground and begins choking her. Frank then come behind him and empties a shotgun into Brunt's head. Sara isn't happy with what Frank did, but he suggests instead to check on Gleason. She quickly rushes to him and finds Gleason heavily beat up, but alive. She then argues with Frank about their respective missions, but ultimately they each go their separate ways.
Personality[]
The Punisher has most often been defined best over the years as a loner and someone who other characters don't often align themselves with. He is the true definition of an antihero, operating outside the moral codes of most superheroes, but with a strict code of his own that is to protect the innocent and to deal with notorious criminals permanently. With no superpowers, he relies on strict discipline and a punishing regime of learning the hard way from his mistakes, and as a result, he is a masterful combatant and strategist.
Abilities[]
- Maximum Human Conditioning: The Punisher is in peak physical condition, through his rigorous training & exercise regimes, he developed strength, speed, endurance, stamina, longevity, reflexes and agility near the limits of a super-soldier’s inhuman capabilities.
- Peak Human Endurance: Castle has high pain tolerance enabling him to have surgery performed on him without pain medication.
- Master Martial Artist: Castle is a very thoroughly seasoned veteran in multiple forms of armed and unarmed combat. Becoming highly adept in Nash Ryu Jujutsu, Ninjutsu, Shorin-ryu Karate, Hwa Rang Do, and Chin Na. His styles of choice being Nash Ryu Jujutsu.
- Weapons Master: As an authority on modern warfare the Punisher is recipient of multi-disciplinary military knowledge from the United States Armed Forces. Thanks to this and continued training the Punisher is a master of many weapons, favoring daggers and long-range shooting weapons. The Punisher's ever-changing arsenal of weaponry includes various automatic and semiautomatic rifles, and an array of handguns, fragmentation and tear gas grenades, other explosives, and combat knives. A personal favorite is his ballistic knife, which can launch its blade with lethal force. He commonly uses M16 .223 caliber automatic rifles, Sterling Mark 6 9 mm, semiautomatic rifles, 9 mm Browning Llama automatic pistols, .45 caliber automatic frame rechambered for 9 mm ammunition, .223 caliber Derringers, and Gerber Mark 2 combat knives.
- Interrogation Master: Castle uses his skills at interrogation to get information from people linked to criminals through creative use of torture as well such as water boarding, electrocution, suffocation, sleep deprivation, starvation etc.
- Extensive Special Operations Training: As part of his Marine Force Recon training, Castle completed U.S. Navy SEAL (SEa Air Land), UDT (Underwater Demolition Team) and LRPA (Long Range Patrol) training, EOD (explosive ordnance disposal) training, graduated the Army's Ranger School, completed the U.S. Army Airborne School (AKA "jump school"), graduated the U.S. Army Special Forces Qualification Course, and LRRP (Long Range Recon Patrol) training. He also took part in cross-training with the Australian Special Air Service Regiment. He's also a qualified HALO (High Altitude Low Opening) jumper.
- Master Tactician: Armed solely with conventional weapons and motivated by a fanatical hatred for criminals like those who murdered his family, the Punisher has single-handedly incapacitated up to a dozen well-armed and experienced opponents in a single encounter and escaped uninjured. It is his military training and his attention to detail that allows him to achieve this.
Gallery[]
