History NightmareFuel / ThePunisherMAX

[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/leandro4_1024x796.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''Don't worry. It's all just a dream. It's all just one'' '''''bad''''' ''dream''...]]

This being a DarkerAndEdgier alternative continuity based off of what was ''already'' one of Marvel's most violent and edgiest [[ComicBook/ThePunisher characters]]. It should come as no surprise that this series has no shortage of material that will keep you up at night.

* Napper French from is a curious case. Would you ever guess that at one time this crusty feeble old man was once a legendary mob "cleaner". Legendary for his ability to pull a "Houdini" on a body, meaning he made it disappear ''completely''. The fact that he looks like just any other old man adds to the terror.

Near the end of the arc we finally get a glimpse of Barracuda's childhood and the sights are... ''unsettling to say the least...

* ''Every. Single. Thing.'' about this arc is NightmareFuel material [[UpToEleven turned way the hell up to eleven]]. From what Viorica tells Frank about her baby to what the horrific things the titular slavers did to their prisoners to - most disturbing of all - the apathetic response to what happened, it is ''all'' horrifying and disturbing. This is not to mention the [[PayEvilUntoEvil extreme lengths Frank Castle goes to]] in order to destroy the slavers in question. And, as far as the human-trafficking goes, it's all TruthInTelevision.

* The massive damage that is likely to be brought upon by Dynaco's scheme to black out all of Florida. Apparently the sheer scale of the destruction was enough to scare the shit out of one Dynaco employee enough for him to try and blow the whistle on the whole operation. And the callous attitude shown by his compatriots towards the ensuing collateral damage makes it that much worse.

* The biochemical flesh eating super virus being secretly created by the Russians in ''Mother Russia'' is terrifying not only because of the capabilities of the virus and what the Russians plan on doing with it. But also in the way that the Russians manage to create such a weapon. For example. How did the Russians know the virus would be effective? Simple! By testing it out on some Chechen prisoners of course!

* Also by Creator/GarthEnnis, the arc "''Up Is Down and Black Is White''", has Frank [[BerserkButton driven off the deep end]] by a [[AxCrazy vicious mob boss]]. After a night of him going ''[[UnstoppableRage ballistic]]'' on the New York underworld, the next issue opens on Frank sitting silently on a Police car...''surrounded'' by the corpses of civilians, hoods and cops (picture above). He starts to hear a ghostly voice calling to him...

* ''Every. Single. Thing.'' About "The Slavers" arc. From what Viorica tells Frank about her baby to what the horrific things the titular slavers did to their prisoners to - most disturbing of all - the apathetic response to what happened, it is ''all'' horrifying and disturbing. This is not to mention the [[PayEvilUntoEvil extreme lengths Frank Castle goes to]] in order to destroy the slavers in question. And, as far as the human-trafficking goes, it's all TruthInTelevision.

** In ''Long Cold Dark'' we get a series of brief scattershot flashbacks, that gives us our first glimpse into 'Cuda's backstory. The scenes are all quite... ''unnerving''.

* Napper French from ''Kitchen Irish'' is a curious case. Would you ever guess that at one time this crusty feeble old man was once a legendary mob "cleaner". Legendary for his ability to pull a "Houdini" on a body, meaning he made it disappear ''completely''. The fact that he looks like just any other old man adds to the terror.

** Castle's actions in the arc are also uncharacteristically brutal (''even for him''). As we see Frank doing certain things that he would normally be against. Such as killing guards and other civil servants who were only doing there jobs. Best demonstrated in the scene where he and Vanheim infiltrate a nuclear missile base and ''kill every living thing down there''. '''Including the unarmed scientist'''.

* Napper French from ''Kitchen Irish'' is a curious case. Would you ever guess that at one time this crusty feeble old man was once a legendary mob "cleaner". Notorious for his ability to carve up his victims body parts to the point that the police never found any of the pieces. The fact that he looks like just any other old man adds to the terror.

* The biochemical flesh eating super virus being secretly created by the Russians in ''Mother Russia'' is terrifying not only because of the capabilities of the virus and what the Russians plan on doing with it. But also in the way that the Russians manage to create such a weapon. For example. how did they know the virus would be effective? Simple! By testing it out on some Chechen prisoners of course!

* The story about how "The Man of Stone" rounded a whole village and forced them to march down a cliff, one by one. Children, women, elderly... Every single one. A woman asked him to kill her and spare her baby. He takes the baby from her hands, walks to the cliff [[WouldHarmAChild and throws it down the cliff]] without a second thought. AND HE DID THIS TO ANOTHER SIX VILLAGES!

* Barracuda may as well be this trope personified. Every thing he does is nightmare inducing. From his
troubled upbringing to his time spent in the military to his psychopathic mannerisms.

* The biochemical flesh eating super virus being secretly created by the Russians in ''Mother Russia'' is terrifying in not only because of the capabilities of the virus and what the Russians plan on doing with it. But also in the way that the Russians manage to create such a weapon. For example. how did they know the virus would be effective? Simple! By testing it out on some Chechen prisoners of course!

* The biochemical flesh eating super virus being secretly created by the Russians in ''Mother Russia'' is terrifying in not only because of the capabilities of the virus and what the Russian plan on doing with it. But also in the way that the Russians manage to create such a weapon. For example, how did they know the virus would be effective? Simple! By testing it out on some Chechen prisoners of course!

* Also by Creator/GarthEnnis, the arc "''Up Is Down and Black Is White''", has Frank [[BerserkButton driven off the deep end]] by a [[AxCrazy vicious mob boss]]. After a night of him going ''[[UnstoppableRage ballistic]]'' on the New York underworld, the next issue opens on Frank sitting silently on a Police car...''surrounded'' by the corpses of civilians, hoods and cops. He starts to hear a ghostly voice calling to him...

* ''Every. Single. Thing.'' About "The Slavers" arc. From what Viorca tells Frank about her baby to what the horrific things the titular slavers did to their prisoners to - most disturbing of all - the apathetic response to what happened, it is ''all'' horrifying and disturbing. This is not to mention the [[PayEvilUntoEvil extreme lengths Frank Castle goes to]] in order to destroy the slavers in question. And, as far as the human-trafficking goes, it's all TruthInTelevision.

* Also by Creator/GarthEnnis, the arc "Up Is Down and Black Is White", has Frank [[BerserkButton driven off the deep end]] by a [[AxCrazy vicious mob boss]]. After a night of him going ''[[UnstoppableRage ballistic]]'' on the New York underworld, the next issue opens on Frank sitting silently on a Police car...''surrounded'' by the corpses of civilians, hoods and cops. He starts to hear a ghostly voice calling to him...

* The Valley Forge Massacre. The N.V.A. launched an assault on Firebase Valley Forge where Frank was the top dog. Due to bad weather and other problems they couldn't receive reinforcements. After the battle ended and the smoke cleared 700 men were dead, including 200 US troops. Frank was the only survivor; he was found still standing, surrounded by twenty enemy soldiers with their heads smashed in, holding a broken rifle and riddled with bullet holes. The story arc ''Valley Forge, Valley Forge'' has typed interludes that are excerpts from the book of the brother of one of the men who died, featuring interviews with those involved (the sister of his brother's friend, the man on the radio and one of the men who first arrived at the aftermath). All three of them combined paint a picture of the events surrounding the massacre and its effect on Frank Castle, and its a very scary picture. The massacre itself is detailed in the ''Born'' miniseries and reveals why Frank survived: he made a deal with either The Devil or Death.

* ''[[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin The End]]''. It begins with Castle in Sing Sing after a [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt horrific nuclear war]]. A year later Frank and another prisoner escape, heading to UsefulNotes/NewYorkCity through the irradiated wasteland. Past burning skies, assisted suicides and Terminator style mountains of skulls, we learn that the other prisoners were cannibalistic and the nukes were detonated in mid air to kill more people. As they reach New York, Frank collapses and wakes up in the care of [[AncientConspiracy the Coven]], who were responsible for what happened. He escapes and kills everyone, knowingly condemning the human race to extinction. The comic ends with Castle burning from radiation and fire as he walks to Central Park to, in his mind, be with his family.
** And his fellow prisoner? Frank [[spoiler: strangled him for accidentally causing the death of kids. Guy had about an hour to live anyway, due to radiation and Frank took it from him]].
* Also by Creator/GarthEnnis, the arc ''Up Is Down and Black Is White'', has Frank [[BerserkButton driven off the deep end]] by a [[AxCrazy vicious mob boss]]. After a night of him going ''[[UnstoppableRage ballistic]]'' on the New York underworld, the next issue opens on Frank sitting silently on a Police car...''surrounded'' by the corpses of civilians, hoods and cops. He starts to hear a ghostly voice calling to him...

* The story about how "The Man of Stone" rounded a whole village and forced them to march down a cliff, one by one. Children, women, elderly... Every single one. A woman asked him to kill her and spare her baby. He takes the baby from her hands, walks to the cliff [[WouldHarmAChild and throws it down the cliff]] without a second thought. [[CompleteMonster AND HE DID THIS TO ANOTHER SIX VILLAGES!]]

* ''[[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin The End]]''. It begins with Castle in Sing Sing after a [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt horrific nuclear war]]. A year later Frank and another prisoner escape, heading to NewYorkCity through the irradiated wasteland. Past burning skies, assisted suicides and Terminator style mountains of skulls, we learn that the other prisoners were cannibalistic and the nukes were detonated in mid air to kill more people. As they reach New York, Frank collapses and wakes up in the care of [[AncientConspiracy the Coven]], who were responsible for what happened. He escapes and kills everyone, knowingly condemning the human race to extinction. The comic ends with Castle burning from radiation and fire as he walks to Central Park to, in his mind, be with his family.

* Also by Creator/GarthEnnis, the arc ''Up Is Down and Black Is White'', has Frank [[BerserkButton driven off the deep end]] by a [[AxCrazy vicious mob boss]]. After a night of him going ''ballistic'' on the New York underworld, the next issue opens on Frank sitting silently on a Police car...''surrounded'' by the corpses of civilians, hoods and cops. He starts to hear a ghostly voice calling to him...