History YMMV / ThePunisher

*** Left-wing EatTheRich vigilante Mr. Payback and axe-wielding disillusioned priest the Holy, two of the copycat vigilantes from ''ComicBook/WelcomeBackFrank'', have a lot of people who view them as fascinating and underused characters (even if they are officially considered antagonists) who make the most of what page time they do get.

* SequelDisplacement: While Frank was one of Marvel's cash cows back in the early nineties (alongside Comicbook/SpiderMan and Comicbook/{{Wolverine}}), many of his modern fans know nothing about his stories before Ennis. Sadly this means that a lot of his gentler characterizations are overlooked, as well as the fact that he actually did have something of a supporting cast.

* UnpopularPopularCharacter: He doesn't exactly win popularity contests in the Marvel Universe. [[ContemptCrossfire Villains hate him since he spends all his time slaughtering them, while other heroes hate him for how much of a ruthless, violent psycho he is, and the few times they do work with him it's going to be strained at best.]] But for readers he's a fan favorite, due to him slaughtering creeps who have it coming, his status as one of the most Badass Normal characters in Marvel history, and how even when he's written at his most sociopathic he [[PetTheDog isn't above some acts of compassion]] (he doesn't kill innocents, and will ''never'' kill animals for example).

** Frank is usually treated as an [[KnightTemplar absolute moralist]] who just happens to be fighting a never ending war on crime. Other interpretations imply [[HeWhoFightsMonsters he's just as bad as the monsters he fights]] and is little different from a serial killer. The only thing that stays the same is the reason why he became the Punisher.

* DoNotDoThisCoolThing: Punisher comics are often accused of tacitly endorsing murderous vigilantism, especially since the mid-2010's as various social and political developments made people increasingly uncomfortable with the idea of an armed man roaming the streets as self-appointed JudgeJuryAndExecutioner, and more importantly learned how actual law enforcement respond to Frank and his brutal methods. Marvel have tried to defend themselves from this by claiming that Frank is depicted as a deeply flawed man who should not be admired or emulated, with the character stating InUniverse that nobody should follow his example and rejects anyone inspired by him. However, even in his most morally dubious incarnations, Frank is a badass ActionHero with a SympatheticPOV killing the most vile people imaginable, so it's a little hard to argue that readers aren't supposed to think he's awesome and wish they could be like him.

* DracoInLeatherPants: While many comic books make clear that Frank Castle being an extreme [[VigilanteMan Vigilante]] AntiHero isn't something to be desired as he often crosses the line to being a VillainProtagonist, some fans (not only, but also fangirls) love Frank Castle for his darker and more lethal take on criminals, believing Frank does "what has to be done" and isn't as [[ThouShallNotKill afraid to take lives]] like other popular superheroes like ComicBook/SpiderMan. This even leads to real-life cops and military members to embrace the Punisher Skull as a symbol (see also MisaimedFandom below).

** Many of the copycat Punisher heroes, especially the ones from the nineties, are decently remembered even though their total number of combined appearances is less than 10% of all the Punisher stories. Put it down to a combination of their cool costumes, developed personalities, how they are mostly LighterAndSofter than Frank himself (although by no means pacifistic) and several of them manage to leave the KnightTemplar vigilante life behind them.

*** Left-wing EatTheRich vigilante Mr. Payback and axe-wielding disillusioned priest the Holy, two of the copycat vigilantes from ''ComicBook/WelcomeBackFrank'', have a lot of people who view them as fascinating and underused characters who make the most of what page time they do get.

** Rosalie Carbone, TheQueenpin, only stuck around for a few years in the nineties but has a decent number of fans for being LaughablyEvil at times but having some BewareTheSillyOnes moments, sometimes coming across as a ALighterShadeOfBlack in comparison to Frank's other rogues, and being the source of frequent EvilIsSexy moments. Being (loosely) adapted into the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse has also raised her profile.

* EvilIsSexy:
** Angela, a member of a KnightTemplar group that spends a lot of time manipulating Punisher, has some SexyShirtSwitch and ToplessnessFromTheBack scenes.
** MafiaPrincess Rosalie Carbone, who's often shown in a bikini or her underwear.
** Stephanie Gerard, the leader of the Exchange syndicate, is an antagonist ChessMaster (albeit a pragmatic one) whose makeup and striking features are sometimes emphasized, DependingOnTheArtist.

** An in-universe version happens when Frank meets a group of fanboy cops who actually did put his skull on their car. Frank rips it up, and tells them that ''nobody'' should be like him and if they want a role model, Captain America is always around.

* DracoInLeatherPants: While many comic books make clear that Frank Castly being an extreme [[VigilanteMan Vigilante]] AntiHero isn't something to be desired as he often crosses the line to being a VillainProtagonist, some fans (not only, but also fangirls) love Frank Castle for his darker and more lethal take on criminals, believing Frank does "what has to be done" and isn't as [[ThouShallNotKill afraid to take lives]] like other popular superheroes like ComicBook/SpiderMan. This even leads to real-life cops and military members to embrace the Punisher Skull as a symbol (see also MisaimedFandom below).

** Discussion amongst comic professionals and fandom is also starting to highlight the use of the Punisher skull amongst some factions of politically violent militias in the United States, even though Frank himself has never expressed sympathies with any of those ideologies. Garth Ennis, who wrote the very violent ''ComicBook/ThePunisherMax'' amongst other Punisher series, [[https://www.cbr.com/garth-ennis-calls-rioters-using-punishers-symbol-irrelevant/ condemned the misuse of the skull quite harshly]], but there have been requests aimed at Marvel to redesign the skull, reaffirm Frank's condemnation of militia violence, or just retire the Punisher entirely. For a while, Marvel used the character and the logo nonetheless; however, it was revealed in [[https://www.creativebloq.com/news/punisher-logo-replaced late 2021]] that the Punisher's skull was changed, likely to distance the comic from these groups and would later seemingly give in to his critics' demands, retiring the character [[spoiler:by leaving Frank stranded in Weirdworld]] after the end of the run. (Much to his fans' and some general Marvel fans' contention)

** Discussion amongst comic professionals and fandom is also starting to highlight the use of the Punisher skull amongst some factions of politically violent militias in the United States, even though Frank himself has never expressed sympathies with any of those ideologies. Garth Ennis, who wrote the very violent ''ComicBook/ThePunisherMax'' amongst other Punisher series, [[https://www.cbr.com/garth-ennis-calls-rioters-using-punishers-symbol-irrelevant/ condemned the misuse of the skull quite harshly]], but there have been requests aimed at Marvel to redesign the skull, reaffirm Frank's condemnation of militia violence, or just retire the Punisher entirely. For a while, Marvel used the character and the logo nonetheless; however, it was revealed in [[https://insidethemagic.net/2021/12/marvel-changes-punisher-logo-rwb1/ late 2021]] that the Punisher's skull was changed, likely to distance the comic from these groups and would later seemingly give in to his critics' demands, retiring the character [[spoiler:by leaving Frank stranded in Weirdworld]] after the end of the run. (Much to his fans' and some general Marvel fans' contention)

** Discussion amongst comic professionals and fandom is also starting to highlight the use of the Punisher skull amongst some factions of politically violent militias in the United States, even though Frank himself has never expressed sympathies with any of those ideologies. Garth Ennis, who wrote the very violent ''ComicBook/ThePunisherMax'' amongst other Punisher series, [[https://www.cbr.com/garth-ennis-calls-rioters-using-punishers-symbol-irrelevant/ condemned the misuse of the skull quite harshly]], but there have been requests aimed at Marvel to redesign the skull, reaffirm Frank's condemnation of militia violence, or just retire the Punisher entirely. For a while, Marvel used the character and the logo nonetheless; however, it was revealed in [[https://insidethemagic.net/2021/12/marvel-changes-punisher-logo-rwb1/ late 2021]] that the Punisher's skull was changed, likely to distance the comic from these groups.

* UnpopularPopularCharacter: He doesn't exactly win popularity contests in the Marvel Universe. [[ContemptCrossfire Villains hate him since he spends all his time slaughtering them, while other heroes hate him for how much of a ruthless, violent psycho he is, and the few times they do work with him it's going to be strained at best.]] But for readers he's a fan favorite, due to him slaughtering creeps who have it coming, his status as one of the most Badass Normal characters in Marvel history, and how even when he's written at his most sociopathic he [[PetTheDog isn't above some acts of compassion.]]

* AcceptableTargets: Criminals, of course. Namely, organized career criminals (such as mobsters, gang-bangers etc.) and those that harm women and children.

** Rosalie Carbone, during the Jon Ostrander run. A somewhat long-running, decently layered villainess who still wants Frank dead at a time when he's in a position of unprecedented strength and is also revealed to have some history with the Punisher's erstwhile allies the Geraci's, this could have been expanded as a notable subplot but is only in one issue of that arc.
** Stuart Clarke's job as Microchip's replacement and a former super villain feels like it could have been explored for a lot longer and given both him and the Punisher positive development under the right circumstances.

* FanonDiscontinuity: Issues 15-18 of the 1987 series can be tempting to disregard due to Frank behaving out of character in some big ways. First, he recruits a teenager, who he had [[ShooTheDog politely refused the help of during an earlier issue]], for his new VigilanteMilitia (the boy dies). Second, he decides not to kill Kingpin at the end of the arc (rendering everything a ShaggyDogStory) to prevent a destructive EvilPowerVacuum despite specifically rejecting that as a reason not to kill criminals on other occasions.

* AuthorsSavingThrow:
** In an early appearance, he tried to kill people [[DisproportionateRetribution for running stop signs and littering]]. This was {{Hand Wave}}d by his next appearance in ''ComicBook/ThePunisherCircleOfBlood'' by saying he had been drugged by Jigsaw to make him more violent and hardline.
** Most notoriously, ''ComicBook/ThePunisherPurgatory'' turned the gritty, mafia-killing VigilanteMan into an EmpoweredBadassNormal with divine abilities, which literally ended up more or less killing the Punisher as both a character and a series... at least, until Creator/GarthEnnis [[ComicBook/ThePunisherWelcomeBackFrank brought him back]].

** GadgeteerGenius TragicVillain and VanHelsingHateCrimes practitioner Robert Hellsgaard is still remembered fairly positively despite the alienating nature of the ''Franken-Castle'' arc he debuted in.

** Carlos Cruz only appears in a handful of nineties issues where Microchip tries to get him to replace Frank, but his costume, fighting skills, and nuanced character get him a fair amount of fans.

%%** Stephanie Gerard, leader of the Exchange.%%

* AudienceAlienatingEra: See [[AudienceAlienatingEra/MarvelUniverse AudienceAlienatingEra/MarvelUniverse]].

** MafiaPrincess Rosalie Carbone, whose often shown in a bikini or her underwear.

* AudienceAlienatingEra:
** In ''ComicBook/ThePunisherPurgatory'', Frank was turned from a mafia-hunting anti-hero into a supernatural force of vengeance on a path to redemption to be able to rejoin his family in heaven. This was undone with a {{Handwave}} by later writer Garth Ennis in his ''ComicBook/ThePunisherWelcomeBackFrank'' storyline. Despite the handwave, a subtle nod to the Heavenly Enforcer period appeared in a volume two ''ComicBook/{{Thunderbolts}}'' issue, after Deadpool acquires an angel feather while in Mephisto's hell it heals Punisher from fatal injuries he'd received while he was still on Earth. Deadpool asks how someone so non-Heavenly as Punisher could possibly have anyone in Heaven interested in him (to paraphrase) only for the Punisher to blow him off with a "don't want to talk about it".
** Likewise Franken-Castle will be remembered fondly as a brief period of lunacy in Frank's life. There's no way the powers that be intended for a magic/SCIENCE half-robot Frankenstein's Monster Punisher to be a new cutting edge status quo. Even in the Heroic Age. These days Franken-Castle exists only as an AU Punisher from a MonsterMash universe. He is part of the Avengers there (which also include monster forms of other heroes who had them in the mainstream 'verse in the past, like werewolf Captain America - see below - and vampire Wolverine). They only appeared briefly to tangle with the regular New Avengers and were offed unceremoniously.
** John Ostrander's oft-forgotten run had Frank become the head of a Mafia family before things turned into an ''X-Men'' story that happened to star the Punisher, with Frank being roped into helping X-Cutioner and S.H.I.E.L.D. rescue an activist from the latest incarnation of the Mutant Liberation Front (here a false flag group backed by Humanity's Last Stand). The final issue had Frank incur amnesia, leading to the aforementioned ''Purgatory''. Ostrander killing off some well-liked characters doesn't help.
** Frank Castle inexplicably joining ComicBook/{{Hydra}} in ''ComicBook/SecretEmpire'' has been met with nothing but scorn by Punisher fans. Some believe that Nick Spencer only did this to anger Punisher fans.

* CommonKnowledge: No, Jigsaw was not in any way responsible for what happened to the Punisher's family. The only time that was said to be the case was in the Ostrander run, where it was very clearly just a SeriesContinuityError that is completely nonsensical under any amount of scrutiny, but the belief that Jigsaw somehow killed the Castles persists due that story, and possible conflation with Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse.

* MyRealDaddy: He's had a few writers over the years who have done well with the character, though the ones that most readers will think of are [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven_Grant Steven Grant]], Creator/ChuckDixon, and Creator/GarthEnnis.

* DorkAge:
** In ''ComicBook/ThePunisherPurgatory'', Frank was turned from a mafia-hunting anti-hero into a supernatural force of vengeance on a path to redemption to be able to rejoin his family in heaven. This was undone with a {{Handwave}} by later writer Garth Ennis in his ''ComicBook/ThePunisherWelcomeBackFrank'' storyline. Despite the handwave, a subtle nod to the Heavenly Enforcer period appeared in a volume two ''ComicBook/{{Thunderbolts}}'' issue, after Deadpool acquires an angel feather while in Mephisto's hell it heals Punisher from fatal injuries he'd received while he was still on Earth. Deadpool asks how someone so non-Heavenly as Punisher could possibly have anyone in Heaven interested in him (to paraphrase) only for the Punisher to blow him off with a "don't want to talk about it".
** Likewise Franken-Castle will be remembered fondly as a brief period of lunacy in Frank's life. There's no way the powers that be intended for a magic/SCIENCE half-robot Frankenstein's Monster Punisher to be a new cutting edge status quo. Even in the Heroic Age. These days Franken-Castle exists only as an AU Punisher from a MonsterMash universe. He is part of the Avengers there (which also include monster forms of other heroes who had them in the mainstream 'verse in the past, like werewolf Captain America - see below - and vampire Wolverine). They only appeared briefly to tangle with the regular New Avengers and were offed unceremoniously.
** John Ostrander's oft-forgotten run had Frank become the head of a Mafia family before things turned into an ''X-Men'' story that happened to star the Punisher, with Frank being roped into helping X-Cutioner and S.H.I.E.L.D. rescue an activist from the latest incarnation of the Mutant Liberation Front (here a false flag group backed by Humanity's Last Stand). The final issue had Frank incur amnesia, leading to the aforementioned ''Purgatory''. Ostrander killing off some well-liked characters doesn't help.
** Frank Castle inexplicably joining ComicBook/{{Hydra}} in ''ComicBook/SecretEmpire'' has been met with nothing but scorn by Punisher fans. Some believe that Nick Spencer only did this to anger Punisher fans.

* FanonDiscontinuity: The various DorkAge's for some.