History YMMV / ThePunisher

** Rawlins dumped a crewman (killed) and his wife O'Brien overboard to be raped by the Taliban so that his helicopter would be able to stay airborne with him and the drug shipment, activates a terrorist group to hijack an airliner and fly it at the Kremlin ''as a diversion'' for another operation, and when he murders Zakharov's right-hand man (who seemed, along with Zakharov, to recognize the sniveling Jerkass underneath the SmugSnake exterior), he taunts the dying bodyguard by vowing to rape his son to death. A similar kill attempt doesn't work against the Punisher [[spoiler: soon after O'Brien's death]], and Rawlins meets a well-deserved end in a Kabul airport restroom.
** There needs to be a nod to the Bulats, father and son Tiberiu and Cristu and their associate Vera. Tiberiu and Cristu were part of an Eastern European militia responsible for ethnic cleansing, slaughtering entire villages until Cristu got the idea to take young women captive. They forced them into sexual slavery and went to the United States to export the business. Tiberiu is a trigger-happy madman who'll kill anyone at the slightest provocation while Cristu and Vera are calculating business types who routinely have the girls raped, with Vera coming up with the strategy of 'rape them to break them.' What Frank does to these three? Some of the most brutal acts he's ever committed. And it's never been more satisfying.

* CompleteMonster:
** In the 2004 film, Howard Saint wanted Castle dead for the death of his son. Some would call that fair. His wife on the other hand wanted Castle's ENTIRE family dead. It's pretty clear Howard Saint isn't nearly as evil as his wife.

* MagnificentBastard: General Zakharov of the Mother Russia and Man of Stone story arcs. He was sent to investigate the attempted theft of a bioweapon, and when the Punisher goes in to steal it he keeps his identity secret, to the point of letting Moscow think an American trained terrorist group who hijacked a plane for a suicide bombing on Moscow were Al Qaeda. He reasoned that Russia would be too scared to fight Arab terrorists, but were prepared for nuclear war with America, and watched as Castle hid inside a nuclear missile and faked a missile attack to escape. [[CompleteMonster Then there was how he fought in Afghanistan...]]

* CompleteMonster:

** In this continuity, Wilson Fisk begins as a mob boss's bodyguard with a scheme to manipulate the mob and The Punisher to make himself the Kingpin of New York. Fisk is steadily revealed as a callous monster who paralyzed his abusive father and let rats eat his face. After he was raped in prison, he tracked down the perpetrator's innocent wife, allowing the filthiest bums and crackheads he could find rape her before he murdered her, and sent the photos to her husband. When Fisk's schemes unravel, his innocent child is held at knifepoint by Fisk's former boss. Fisk coldly allows his son's throat to be slit and icily informs his wife they can simply have another, admitting he never truly loved his son. As the Kingpin, Fisk is brutal, killing lieutenants and foes alike, and exiling his grieving wife. In his final battle with Castle, Fisk reveals himself as a self-center egomaniac who believes he owns the city and has the right to do what he wishes with it.

** Nicky Cavella, among other things, thought that his shooting up of a rival gangster's staff, shooting two of his sons right in front of him, and then revealing that the dinner Kai was eating was his diced-up preteen son ''was Nicky being reasonable''.
*** If one starts his criminal career by [[spoiler: executing all his immediate family at the age of eight]] he's more or less bound to be this trope. At the end of the comic that centers on him, he counts off everyone he ever knew, knew of, everyone in the whole world and heaven one by one and tells them, "fuck you."
** MAX Kingpin manages to hit this trope in record time in his second appearance by [[spoiler: torturing his abusive father to death by paralyzing him and allowing Rats to tear him to shreds, murdering the wife of a man who raped him in prison, and shooting two of his own partners on the orders of a mob boss. Finally, he is faced with the choice of having his main rival slit the throat of his young son, or letting his enemies get away. Guess which option he chooses?]]
** And then there's MAX Bullseye, [[UpToEleven who manages to be]] ''even worse'' and incredibly disturbing, even more than his mainstream counterpart. [[spoiler: Hired by Wilson Fisk to kill the Punisher, he employs his MO of getting inside his target's head; he murders a man and takes his wife and children hostage and is shown cheerfully talking with them at the kitchen table whilst they're all bound, gagged, and crying (and it's hinted he raped the wife too). He then takes them out for a day at the park and has them gunned down by a group of gunmen, then says that now he'll have to find another family. He later explains to Fisk that he's trying to get inside Castle's head by experiencing the rage and sense of loss that the murder of his family provoked in him... but the problem is, to his own confusion, "I didn't feel a thing", and at this point, he's gone through ''four families'' this way in the space of a ''week''. Even Fisk, who willingly sacrificed the life of his own young son in order to get ahead, [[EvenEvilHasStandards is sickened by this.]] ]]
** As far as non-MAX examples go, there was a {{Psychopathic Manchild}} who paid money for the homeless to bring him corpses so that he could sleep naked between their rotting bodies.
*** This sickens a former {{Actual Pacifist}} next to Frank so much that she [[{{Eye Scream}} ''punches out his eye'']] while screaming expletives at him. Said person was such a {{Wide Eyed Idealist}} that she actually convinced Frank not to blow the brains out of the hobos who were providing him with corpses.
*** Said pacifist shows up later in the Slavers arc, containing ''three'' Complete Monsters, each worse than the last, as the stupid social worker thanks to whom [[spoiler: the girl's baby is murdered]].

*** If one starts his criminal career by [[spoiler: executing all his immediate family at the age of eight]] he's more or less bound to be this trope. At the end of the comic that centers on him, he counts off everyone he ever knew, knew of, everyone in the whole world and heaven one by one and tells them, "fuck you." Not even [[NeonGenesisEvangelion Asuka]] held that much hate.

* CompleteMonster: Some versions of the Punisher would be this, but are aimed at targets that are even more extreme (similar to the premise of {{Dexter}}). Read ''The Slavers'' for probably the best example. Or, really, almost any MAX issue at random.

*** If one starts his criminal career by [[spoiler: executing all his immediate family at the age of eight]] he's more or less bound to be this trope.

** Frank himself feels this when, [[spFoiler:injured in a gunfight and handcuffed to a bed so he can't stop it from happening, he watches Jenny complete her RoaringRampageOfRevenge: First by beating her sister to death with a baseball bat ''while naked'' for marrying her off to an abusive mobster. Then screwing him to see if she can find any meaning in life now that the last of her tormentors is dead. And finally, the answer being a resounding "no", she shoots herself in the head with Frank's sidearm.]]

* AlternateCharacterInterpretation: Frank is usually treated as a [[KnightTemplar absolute moralist]] who just happens to be fighting a neverending 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.

** MAX Kingpin has one of the worst in the entire series. [[spoiler: Faced with his old enemies holding his son at knifepoint, and forced to choose between saving his little boy's life and killing the last people standing in his way, he coldly shoots them, not showing a hint of emotion as his rival cuts the boy's throat. He then embraces his wife and tells her "We can have another."]]

** Frank himself feels this when, [[spoiler:injured in a gunfight and handcuffed to a bed so he can't stop it from happening, he watches Jenny complete her RoaringRampageOfRevenge: first by beating her sister to death with a baseball bat ''while naked'' for marrying her off to an abusive mobster. Then screwing him to see if she can find any meaning in life now that the last of her tormentors is dead. And finally, the answer being a resounding "no", she shoots herself in the head with Frank's sidearm.]]

** ''The Slavers'', probobly the bleakest, most visceral Punisher story ever written, was based on Ennis's opinion of human traffickers. Hint: He doesn't like them

*** He didn't suspect. He ''knew''. He was told outright by a man who had been part of their cabal. As for the innocence of the support staff, the fact that they were hand-selected by these horrible people and let in on the secret haven certainly casts doubt on their purity. Overall, whether or not this was a MoralEventHorizon is [[YourMileageMayVary up to the reader.]]

** And then there's MAX Bullseye, who manages to be ''even worse'' and incredibly disturbing, even more than [[BeyondtheImpossible his mainstream counterpart.]] [[spoiler: Hired by Wilson Fisk to kill the Punisher, he employs his MO of getting inside his target's head; he murders a man and takes his wife and children hostage and is shown cheerfully talking with them at the kitchen table whilst they're all bound, gagged, and crying (and it's hinted he raped the wife too). He then takes them out for a day at the park and has them gunned down by a group of gunmen, then says that now he'll have to find another family. He later explains to Fisk that he's trying to get inside Castle's head by experiencing the rage and sense of loss that the murder of his family provoked in him... but the problem is, to his own confusion, "I didn't feel a thing", and at this point, he's gone through ''four families'' this way in the space of a ''week''. Even Fisk, who willingly sacrificed the life of his own young son in order to get ahead, [[EvenEvilHasStandards is sickened by this.]] ]]

* AdaptationalAttractiveness: Joan was cute in the comic, but she's played by Rebecca Romijn in the 2004 movie. Also, Bumpo is much less {{Gonk}}ish when played by John Pinette.

* BetterOnDVD: The 2004 film, if you're watching the "Extended Cut"; several scenes are added in that actually improve upon the film's theatrical cut and flesh out a few plot holes - most specifically, scenes with Frank's former partner, who is revealed to have sold Frank out to Howard Saint, which leads to the Castle family being massacred. (The "Extended Cut" of the film is also the one shown when the film plays on the FX network.)

* CrossesTheLineTwice: In the 'War Zone' film, Jigsaw gives an uncomfortably hilarious patriotic speech to several groups of blatant national stereotypes. It's done in such a way it's ''impossible'' to get offended.
* MyRealDaddy: He's had a few writers over the years who have done well with the character, but in recent years the one that most readers will think of is {{Garth Ennis}}.
* [[TheyChangedItNowItSucks They Ruined It Now It Sucks]]: Which is what a lot of fans said of Angelic Punisher. 
** Many people feared the worst at the announcement of [[FrankensteinsMonster FrankenCastle]]. Surprisingly, the change has been immensely popular. So much so that his ongoing series is being renamed Franken-Castle.
* VillainDecay: Nicky Cavella, who is first set up as a {{Magnificent Bastard}} master of {{Xanatos Speed Chess}} is hit by this trope ''hard'' in Up Is Down, Black Is White, revealing him to be little more than a whimpering coward who loses the respect of his own {{Mooks}}.
* FridgeBrilliance: Kicks in when you read the one-shot ''The Tiger'', which reveals that when Frank was a boy, a girl he liked was raped by the son of the local mafia don, who made a habit of doing this to local girls because no-one would touch him due to their fear of his father.

* CompleteMonster: The Punisher would be this, but is aimed at targets that are even more extreme (similar to the premise of {{Dexter}}). Read ''The Slavers'' for probably the best example. Or, really, almost any MAX issue at random.

* HoYay: Franken-Castle's fight with Daken was filled with homoerotic banter (presumably to enrage Frank further and for laughs).

** Frank himself feels this when, injured in a gunfight and handcuffed to a bed so he can't stop it from happening, he watches Jenny go into full Punisher mode as she beats her sister to death, naked, with a baseball bat.

* TheStoic: Frank is either calm, detached, and homicidal, or (much more rarely) [[TranquilFury pissed off and homicidal]]. That's it. To quote the videogame (written by Garth Ennis):
--> ''* after blasting Bushwacker through a wall* '' I don't smile much. Don't smile ever. But if I did, [[SlasherSmile this would be one.]]

* MyRealDaddy: Most readers will instantly say {{Garth Ennis}} although {{Your Mileage May Vary}}.

*** Said pacifist shows up later in the Slavers arc, containing ''three'' Complete Monsters, each worse than the last, as the stupid social worker thanks to who [[spoiler: the girl's baby is murdered]].

* AcceptableTargets: Garth Ennis REALLY has something against the Irish. He has several characters call out in "Kitchen Irish" how stupid and cowardly they are. Really odd, as every other nationality gets a chance to be badass.
** Garth Ennis ''is'' Irish, and the characters in "Kitchen Irish" are rather specifically talking about the Irish-Republican Army.
** Except for Yorkie and Napper denigrating the Irish (or at least the more thuggish types) in general during their respective {{Hannibal Lecture}}s.

** ''The Slavers'', probobly the bleakest, most visceral Punisher story ever written, was based on Ennis's opinion of human traffickers. Hint: He doesn't like them.
*** Wait... ''who'' would admit to liking them?

* NightmareFuel: The MAX series does a decent job at this, but if you're after high octane may I recommend "The End".
** Good god, "The Slavers" is ''full'' of {{High Octane Nightmare Fuel}}. Viorica's backstory. What Frank does to the three ringleaders of the slaving gang. The sickening image [[spoiler:of Viorica's ''murdered baby''.]] Jen Cooke's accounts of what happened to other girls/women, which are {{Truth In Television}}.
** ''Punisher POV'' towards the end.
** MAX Bulleye's attempts to get inside Frank's head. See {{Complete Monster}} spoilers above.
* {{Squick}}: Mainly in the MAX series; since it's geared towards a more adult audience, the series shows off deaths in the most graphic ways imaginable.
** Frank himself feels this when, injured in a gunfight and handcuffed to a bed so he can't stop it from happening, he watches Jenny go into full Punisher mode as she beats her sister to death, naked, with a baseball bat.