Line #23 Monster/ThePunisher


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5	%% NOTE: Due to the controversial nature of this trope, any changes (additions, removals, edits) should be discussed [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=16706336400A42573900 here]] or [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=16738556630A78599000 here]].
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7	%% Please read the discussion page first to see if your example or removal has already been brought up.
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11	[[quoteright:350:[[ComicBook/FuryMyWarGoneBy https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/844daafd66a40ecf3219f2e074ee1a85.jpg]]]]
12	[[caption-width-right:350:"[[ComicBook/ThePunisherMAX So you go ahead an' scream, homes. You beg. You plead.]]" Screaming is "[[LovesTheSoundOfScreaming music to [Barracuda's] muthafuckin' ears.]]"]]
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14	->''"Arrogant, greedy, self-serving! Willing to sacrifice so many for petty profit, built on the bones of innocent kids dying in the street! Turning America into an exporter of death instead of ideals!"''
15	-->-- '''[[Characters/CaptainAmericaTitleCharacter Captain America]]''' on '''Roger Mollech''', ''[[ThePunisherCaptainAmericaBloodAndGlory Blood & Glory]]'' issue #3
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17	''Franchise/ThePunisher'' is DarkerAndEdgier than many comics, and [[Characters/MarvelComicsFrankCastle Frank Castle]] has no qualms over [[PayEvilUntoEvil killing his foes]]. [[CompleteMonster Several of said foes are vile enough to warrant this fate]].
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19	* ''Creator/MarvelKnights'' Vol. 2 (Earth-616); ''ComicBook/ThePunisher2099''; ''ComicBook/PunisherNoir''; & ''ComicBook/FuryMax'' can be found [[Monster/MarvelComics here]].
20	* ''Anime/AvengersConfidentialBlackWidowAndPunisher '' can be found [[Monster/MarvelAnimation here]].
21	* The [[Series/ThePunisher2017 Netflix series]] can be found [[Monster/MarvelCinematicUniverse here]].
22	* The [[Film/ThePunisher1989 1989 film]] can be found [[Monster/MarvelFilms here]].
23	* The [[VideoGame/ThePunisherTHQ 2005 video game]] can be found [[Monster/MarvelVideoGames here]].
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25	![[Administrivia/SpoilersOff All spoilers are unmarked]]. Administrivia/YouHaveBeenWarned!
26	----
27	[[foldercontrol]]
28
29	!![[ComicBook/ThePunisher Earth-616 Punisher]]
30	[[folder:Examples]]
31	* [[AxCrazy Billy "The Beaut" Russo]] was a sociopathic hitman who helped arrange the deaths of the Castles and thought nothing of bombing a city block to get at a target. After [[NightmareFace his face was mutilated]], Russo took the name Jigsaw, murdering innocents to [[FrameUp frame the Punisher]] many times, leaving a massive trail of corpses behind him. Assisting Samuel Smith in trying to wipe out most of humanity, Jigsaw thinks nothing of murdering women and children, even [[AbusiveParents abandoning his own son to die]] when it becomes a choice between his life and a few extra seconds to murder [[ArchEnemy Frank Castle]].
32	* [[ComicBook/ThePunisher1987 Vol. 2]]:
33	** Issues #4-5 & #35-40: [[SinisterMinister Reverend Samuel "Sammy" Smith]], aka "The Rev", was a UsefulNotes/JimJones-style figure who started his own cult called the "Church of the Saved". Preaching that America is a racist and fascist nation, Smith managed to recruit several disfranchised people to join his church. However, Smith runs his church as a fiefdom, killing members who defy him or try to leave the church and making the women of his church join his harem, while forcing everyone else in the church to be celibate. Punisher tries to kill Smith after he reveals he [[TamperingWithFoodAndDrink intends to feed poisoned food to his church membership]], killing all 1,000 of his loyal followers. After his initial defeat, Smith decides evil is more powerful than good and begins to worship the demon Belasco, believing him to be Satan. Smith decides to use a [[SterilityPlague drug that causes sterility to destroy the human race]]. After the Punisher destroys a shipment of his sterility drug, Smith take out his frustration by murdering a suburban family, [[WouldHurtAChild including the children]]. Near the end of the story, Smith was trying to dump his sterility drug into the Gulf of Venezuela.
34	** Issue #42--"St. Paradine's": [[WouldHurtAChild Colonel Herbert Fedenia]] carves a uniquely depraved niche for himself even in spite of his status as a [[VillainOfTheWeek minor, one-shot villain]]. A [[VillainWithGoodPublicity seemingly-upstanding man]] who runs St. Paradine's, a MilitaryAcademy for children, Fedenia's true nature is revealed when Frank discovers Fedenia is a child pornographer who uses his unwilling cadets as his subjects, drugging them and having them brutalized on top of routinely having them raped. When one of the young cadets refuses to shoot Frank when he's ordered to, Fedenia simply attempts to murder the child himself.
35	* ''ComicBook/PunisherSummerSpecial'' issue #1's "Bombs 'R' Us" & issue #2's "Rough Cut": [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Colonel De Sade]] is a [[FromCamouflageToCriminal former military official]] who served with Frank in [[UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar Vietnam]]. After bumping into De Sade at a military hardware expo, Punisher follows him and finds him robbing a bank. De Sade is about to use a knife on one of the customers, when the arriving police force him to flee. Punisher tries to stop De Sade but is captured in the process. De Sade tortures Punisher, but Punisher defeats De Sade and his men. Months later, De Sade escapes from prison, murdering a guard in the process. De Sade starts a new vile business venture producing {{snuff film}}s. De Sade sends Punisher a video of his work, showing De Sade brutally murdering a young woman with a knife. De Sade's assistant Allison sets up fake auditions to lure in victims with promises of a dance show touring South America. After Punisher kills De Sade's men and saves the women at this fake audition, Allison flees to De Sade's studio, where De Sade [[BadBoss forces Allison to be in one of his films]] when he runs low on extras. Punisher confronts De Sade, who tries to distract him by putting some of the women he captured into {{death trap}}s, even threatening to kill Allison if Punisher does not back off.
36	* ''Punisher[=/=]ComicBook/CaptainAmerica: [[ThePunisherCaptainAmericaBloodAndGlory Blood & Glory]]'': [[CorruptPolitician US Attorney General Roger Mollech and his aide Angela Stone]] scheme to turn Medisuela into their [[PuppetState puppet regime]] for profit. Helping the ruthless [[TheGeneralissimo General Miguel Alfredo "Tony" Navatilas]] turn Medisuela into a dictatorship, Mollech and Stone funnel lethal drugs from his country into America and flood the streets with it, uncaring of the countless lives lost. Arming Navatilas's military with powerful guns, Mollech and Stone coach him to invade multiple nearby countries; they actually have sabotaged the weapons so that they will wipe out Navatilas's own army and pave the way for the US to invade Medisuela. To further along the invasion, Mollech and Stone order a {{PMC}} group to use army helicopters to slaughter streets of Medisuelan citizens. [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness Having Navatilas assassinated]], Mollech and Stone torture and kill anyone in their way to power.
37	* ''[=Punisher=]/ComicBook/BlackWidow: [[ComicBook/PunisherBlackWidowSpinningDoomsdaysWeb Spinning Doomsday's Web]]'', written by D. G. Chichester: [[BigBad Peter "Doc" Malum]] was a US government scientist who invented a weapon system, the Pluto Project, where jets with supersonic engines can deliver H-bombs to any target on the planet at the speed of sound. Malum, however, was secretly a SerialKiller who murdered people in his spare time. When the government finds out, Project Pluto is mothballed and Malum goes on the lam. Years later, Malum is captured by the FBI, but his gang breaks him free, with Malum brutally murdering several FBI agents. When Black Widow tries to stop Malum, Malum beats her up and spits on her to humiliate her. Malum plans to create his own version of Project Pluto, murdering government officials while stealing the parts he needs. When Malum's assistant Cassady states that he thought they are just going to use Project Pluto to blackmail the world, Malum [[NeckSnap murders him]], intending to use Project Pluto to devastate the world, just [[ForTheEvulz for kicks]].
38	* ''[[ComicBook/ThePunisherWarZone War Zone]]'' Vol. 1 issues #38-40--"Dark Judgment" arc: Judge [=DuPrey=], is a respected federal judge who is secretly the "[[SerialKiller Full Moon Killer]]", who has a double-digit body count. A smug ControlFreak who gets off on having power over others, [=DuPrey=] butchers women and [[WouldHurtAChild girls]]--in one instance killing a victim's dog alongside her--with a SwordCane on nights with a full moon. A blackmailed mobster named Brazo, who is [[EvenEvilHasStandards disgusted]] by [=DuPrey=], reluctantly provides him with lookouts, and when Brazo is killed and replaced by a rival, [=DuPrey=] murders the man because he is not as sycophantic as Brazo was. Going on the run after this, [=DuPrey=] guns down two innocent bystanders while fleeing from an FBI agent and the Punisher. While fighting the latter, [=DuPrey=] waxes on about how much he enjoyed killing males for a change, and sneers that the Punisher sickens him and deserves to die because of how "mundane" and "unimaginative" his methods are.
39	* Vol. 4--''[[ComicBook/ThePunisherPurgatory Purgatory]]'': [[BigBad Lord Olivier]] is a [[DemonLordsAndArchdevils Hell-Lord]] banished for his {{ambition\|IsEvil}} and treachery even among his devilish compatriots. Growing up into a two-bit hood known as Frank Costa and regaining his memory of his demonic life upon his first murder, Olivier reinvents himself as a feared crime boss with a legacy of murder behind him. Desiring to get back at his fellow Hell-Lords, Olivier initiates Frank Castle's fall into the Punisher by having his family murdered, foreseeing that Frank reinvents himself as a brutal, murderous AntiHero so Olivier may enslave the souls of every criminal he kills for his army. Along the way, Olivier has angels hunted down by the hundreds and torturously kills many himself, [[BloodBath bathing in their blood]] to rejuvenate himself; tortures his loyal minions for failure; and ravages and conquers the realms of the other Hell-Lords one after another, not intent on stopping until Heaven and Hell are put under his tyrannical reign.
40	* [[ComicBook/ThePunisher2001 Vol. 6]] issues #1-5--"Army of One" arc: [[InsaneAdmiral General Kreigkopf]] ("[[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Warhead]]") was a former officer in the US Army who was kicked out due to his sadistic behavior. Kreigkopf fled to Grand Nixon Island, an island in the South Pacific, and turned it into a [[WretchedHive hub for criminals and mercenaries]]. Kreigkopf resurrects the Punisher's old enemy, [[HuskyRusskie the Russian]], and sends him after the Punisher. After the Punisher defeats the Russian again, he goes to Grand Nixon Island to deal with Kreigkopf. When Punisher foils some of Kreigkopf's operations, he becomes enraged. There is a French military official on the island, using the island as a fueling depot before going to test a nuclear bomb in the Pacific Ocean. Kreigkopf steals the bomb and [[NukeEm plans to drop it]] on Brussels, Belgium, feeling that no one would mess with Grand Nixon Island after that and he will get several new clients for his services after such a demonstration of power.
41	* [[ComicBook/ThePunisher2014 Vol. 10]] issues #2-6--"Black and White" arc: Guillermo Del Sol is a leader in the [[TheCartel Dos Soles drug cartel]], running most of the drug trade in Los Angeles. Guillermo is hired by elements of the U.S. government, who want to enact MartialLaw, to commit a terrorist attack in Los Angles. U.S. government officials provide Guillermo with [[DeadlyGas chemical weapons]], which he tests on a small Mexican village, killing everyone there. Guillermo begins to mass produce the chemical weapons, planning to create enough to kill everyone in L.A. Guillermo also hired Electro to black out L.A., so emergency services will be busy when he releases the chemical weapons. Guillermo and Electro manage to capture Punisher, with Guillermo having Electro torture Punisher and eventually planning to sell Punisher to the highest bidder. When Punisher escapes, Guillermo flees, shooting one of his men for [[YouHaveFailedMe failing to stop the Punisher]] and blows up his HQ to cover his tracks, [[BadBoss killing all of his men]] in that building.
42	* [[ComicBook/ThePunisher2016 Vol. 11]]: [[AxCrazy Face]] is a [[PsychoForHire psychopathic mercenary]] working for [[PrivateMilitaryContractors Condor Private Military Company]]. Face is in charge of Condor's operation to distribute [[FantasticDrug EMC]], an experimental drug that gives people superhuman reflexes but also burns them out over time. Face has set up an office at a local insane asylum, [[PlayingWithSyringes where he is testing EMC on the inmates]]. Face also likes to [[TearOffYourFace remove the faces of his victims]] and place them on his office wall. Face is tasked with killing Punisher after Punisher attacks Condor's operations. Face kidnaps a DEA agent named Henderson and removes his face. When Punisher and another DEA agent named Ortiz confront Face at the asylum, he reveals he pumped Henderson and the asylum inmates full of EMC and sics them on Punisher and Ortiz. While escaping from the asylum, Face flags down a bus, murders all the passengers inside and hijacks it. After murdering some patients in an ambulance, Face kidnaps Ortiz and [[ImAHumanitarian plans to cook and eat her]], but seemingly overdoses on EMC. Face goes into a coma and awakens some months later, wanting revenge on the Punisher. Face goes to a local movie theater and takes hostages, threatening to murder a hostage every minute until Punisher faces him. Face has murdered half the theater's audience when Punisher confronts him.
43	* ''Webcomic/DoctorStrangePunisherMagicBullets'': [[PoliticallyIncorrectVillain Prentice Mangrove]] is an EvilSorcerer hired by the Fussilli crime siblings to superempower them, but is secretly using them for his own twisted schemes. Mangrove controls even the innocent demons of New York and uses them to cut a path of death and destruction across the city. Mangrove has been using the corpses of their victims to create a massive FleshGolem monster which he intends to unleash on the city. Betraying the Fussillis, Mangrove reveals that his true aim is to use this magical army and monster to [[FantasticRacism wipe the land of all magical creatures]] and "inferior races" in an act of horrific genocide. Mangrove initiates an attack on the poor non-white areas of New York, with [[Characters/MarvelComicsStephenStrange Strange]] even noting his [[{{Hypocrite}} hypocrisy]] in using a magical creature to try and wipe them out.
44	* [[ComicBook/Punisher2022 Vol. 13]]: [[SinisterMinister The Archpriestess]] is the religious leader of [[Characters/MarvelComicsTheHand the Hand]] and a [[PsychoSupporter zealous worshiper]] of the Beast. Determined to find a new High Slayer, she massacres countless members of the Hand when they refute her claims that a next High Slayer will be born in America. The Archpriestess [[TrainingFromHell trains]] children to be nothing more than [[TykeBomb killers]] fully devoted to the Hand and sets her sights on young Frank Castle. She brings Frank's wife Maria back to life and manipulates him into accepting the position of High Slayer by promising to resurrect his children. The Archpriestess mentors Frank in order to awaken the power of the Beast within him and turn him into a mindless killer who will bring about the slaughter of millions upon the world. When a group of agents return from their mission in failure, the Archpriestess [[YouHaveFailedMe has their families murdered before their eyes]]. When Frank fails to fully unlock the Beast's power, the Archpriestess tries to kill him in order to resurrect him and begin anew, promising to kill Maria. After Frank rejects her one last time, the Archpriestess sets her sights on a mentally unstable teenager as her next candidate.
45	* [[ComicBook/Punisher2023 Vol. 14]]: [[NotSoWellIntentionedExtremist The Director of Jigsaw]] is the mysterious leader of a [[TerroristsWithoutACause terrorist organisation]] which plans to destroy society and bring humanity under its rule. When the warring countries of Symkaria and Bagalia enter peace negotiations, threatening Jigsaw's profits, the Director plans to stop it and [[WarForFunAndProfit reignite the fires of war]]. He finances the Fearmaster to create a formula to be used in a plot by using many people in her [[PlayingWithSyringes deadly experiments]]. When Stephanie Garrison learns that money from the company she works for is being used to finance those experiments, the Director orders a hit on her, resulting in her and her children's death. When [[Characters/ThePunisherTheCharacter Joe Garrison]], Stephanie's widower, learns of Jigsaw's operations in his quest for revenge, the Director kidnaps his ally Triple-A and threatens to kill her unless Joe backs down. The Director has his people infiltrate the peace conference and kill security there before unleashing the Fearmaster's [[HatePlague formula]] and watching as delegates tear each other apart, throwing Symkaria and Bagalia back into war.
46	[[/folder]]
47
48	!!Other [[Franchise/MarvelUniverse Earth-616]] Characters
49	* ''Anti-ComicBook/{{Venom}}--[[ComicBook/AntiVenomNewWaysToLive New Ways to Live]]'', written by Creator/ZebWells: Jorge Valdez is a nasty [[TheCartel cartel]] leader with a personal harem of [[SexSlave drugged-up teenage prostitutes]]. Completely unhinged, [[BadBoss Jorge]] has his own minions massacred for losing him money and forces [[Characters/MarvelComicsEddieBrock Eddie Brock]]'s recovered addict friend Jenna Cole to fall OffTheWagon by injecting her with heroin. Jorge later inducts Jenna into his harem, spites Eddie over the phone by calling him to taunt Eddie how he'll be raping Jenna, and goes as far as to order his henchman to shoot every one of his girls rather than let them run away.
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51	!!''ComicBook/ThePunisherMAX'' (Earth-200111 [[Characters/ThePunisherMAXThePunisher Frank Castle]])
52
53	[[AC:Creator/GarthEnnis's run]]
54	[[folder:Examples]]
55	* [[ScaryBlackMan Barracuda]], one of Frank Castle's most resilient and persistent enemies, is always ready with a [[FauxAffablyEvil laugh or a joke]] to conceal the [[PsychoForHire black-hearted, soulless monster]] he truly is. Showing his sadism by trying to feed Castle and a gangster indebted to him to a great white shark, 'Cuda [[ComicBook/ThePunisherPresentsBarracuda later]] betrayed a man who had worked with him for years simply because [[OnlyInItForTheMoney he got a better offer]]. After being defeated by Frank once, Barracuda, hungry for revenge, hunted down an ally of Frank's and murdered him and the man's wife for information before kidnapping Frank's infant daughter to torture her to death in front of Frank, with him booby trapping the baby's seat with a mine to kill both her and Frank. In ''ComicBook/FuryMyWarGoneBy'', Barracuda is revealed to [[FromCamouflageToCriminal have once been a Green Beret]] in UsefulNotes/{{Nicaragua}} with a penchant for [[SociopathicSoldier executing members of the government by chainsaw after trying to psychologically torture them]]. Perhaps his worst act is the revelation that he assisted in the atrocities of the Contras, entailing the wholesale rape, torture, and slaughter of several defenseless villages, adults and children alike butchered; to show how little the US uniform meant to him, 'Cuda kicked a decapitated child at Nick Fury. 'Cuda is also shown to be a rapist, and even strongly implied to [[ImAHumanitarian indulge in cannibalism]]. Defined by selfishness, cruelty and [[ChronicBackstabbingDisorder his willingness to betray anyone]] for a buck, not even the "Barracuda charm" can disguise what a savage Barracuda truly is.
56	* "Mother Russia", "Up is Down and Black is White", & "Man of Stone" arcs: [[SmugSnake William Rawlins]] was a sociopathic, greedy UsefulNotes/{{CIA}} operative who made his living as a leech in war zones. [[ChronicBackstabbingDisorder Betraying any ally]] for a quick buck, Rawlins once even threw his wife overboard to the Taliban rather than give up a shipment of heroin, resulting in her being repeatedly raped, something he later taunts her about. Going deep undercover in Saudi Arabia at the behest of a group of corrupt generals, Rawlins created a terrorist cell and used them to hijack a civilian airliner for a suicide attack on Moscow to create the illusion of a terrorist attack. When he later heads to Afghanistan on business, he has no compunction committing more betrayals and trying to see his vengeful ex-wife dead with Frank Castle. Betraying his benefactor, Rawlins [[SlashedThroat slits the man's loyal second in command's throat]] and promises to find the man's young son and rape him to death in Moscow. Described as a parasite who lives only to make the world a hellish place he could profit from, Rawlins thought nothing of murder, betrayal or any other crime as long as [[{{Greed}} he could earn more from it]].
57	* "The Slavers" arc: [[AxCrazy Tiberiu Bulat]] is one of the titular [[HumanTrafficking slavers]], and lacks his son Cristu or their associate and Cristu's lover Vera's [[UnholyMatrimony redeeming qualities]]. [[BalkanBastard Tiberiu led an Eastern European militia]] during UsefulNotes/TheYugoslavWars responsible for ethnic cleansing, [[SociopathicSoldier slaughtering several entire villages]] until Cristu got the idea to take young women captive, an idea that Tiberiu approved of. The countless women were forced into sexual slavery and sent to the United States to export the business, where they were further tortured and raped on a daily basis. Tiberiu is a sadistic, trigger-happy madman who'll kill anyone at the slightest provocation, introducing himself in the present horribly torturing and killing an entire gang of rivals just to send a message that he "isn't an old woman". When Cristu tries to assassinate him for being too volatile, Tiberiu eagerly tries to kill his own son, and holds an innocent at knifepoint in an attempt to ward off the Punisher.
58	[[/folder]]
59
60	[[AC:Others]]
61	[[folder:Examples]]
62	* "Girls in White Dresses" arc, written by Gregg Hurwitz: "The Heavy"--Jigsaw--is the [[PoliticallyIncorrectVillain racist, misogynistic]] co-leader of a [[TheCartel large drug cartel]]. He and his associates have been terrorizing a Mexican border town by kidnapping [[WouldHitAGirl women]] and girls--as young as [[WouldHurtAChild twelve]]--and having them work literally to death as slave labor under terrible conditions in his drug lab. Frank notes that the number of crosses in a cemetery indicates the massive scale of the cartel. The Heavy tries to drive Frank away by placing an already-dead little kid at the scene of the shootout to make Frank believe he shot her. Aside from being a very BadBoss, The Heavy plans to sexually assault one of the workers, and, when Punisher's closing in, orders his men to kill the remaining workers before they can talk to the police.
63	* ''Naked Kill'', written by Jonathan Maberry: Polly Hu and Mickey Fane's nephew Eleventhree [[HumanTraffickers run a horrific human trafficking operation]], and [[EvenEvilHasLovedOnes unlike Mickey himself]], have no redeeming features. Taking monthly shipments of women and making rough pornography with them, they eventually force the women to kill one another until one can go free, only to make her film a [[SnuffFilm video]] with [[SerialRapist Eleventhree]], named for his massive size, to the point where Eleventhree simply rapes his victim to death. Polly also regularly brings Mickey girls to rape while filming Eleventhree in his movies. When the Punisher arrives, Eleventhree is in the middle of another rape-murder while Polly watches on with smug satisfaction.
64	[[/folder]]
65
66	!!Other Continuities
67	* ''[[ComicBook/ThePunisherAManNamedFrank A Man Named Frank]]'', written by Creator/ChuckDixon: Tuck "Swede" Jurgenson is a bandit leader who becomes Frank Castle's [[ArchEnemy most hated enemy]]. Tuck leads his gang in an attack the Castle farm, [[WouldHurtAChild murdering Frank's kids]] in [[ForcedToWatch front of him]] before Tuck [[RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil rapes]] and kills the man's wife. Tuck then orders his men to leave Frank alive with his family's bodies strewn about him, tying Frank to a cart wheel and leaving him to slowly die from the exposure of the desert land. Later allying with Angus [=MacCauley=], Tuck takes a lethal approach to handling mere crooks who cross his path while selling cattle off to enemies of America's military before trying to murder a surviving Frank.

Context Monster / ThePunisher