Punisher: Hero or villain?
By Elixir95 3 Comments
Now normally, I'm very indecisive about subjects like these, and would normally just settle for "he's an anti-hero", but since there's a prize involved, I sat down and gave it a long hard five minute thought, and started typing.
Now, to come to a conclusion, we first of all need some information about the subjects past. So here we go, and I quote from the Comic Vine archives: "Frank Castle was born Francis Castiglione in Queens, New York. He has Sicilian Ancestry. He was married to his wife Maria and they were expecting their first child before he enlisted with the United States Marine Corps. He completed Basic Training and then trained in Infantry, Reconnaissance, Force Reconnaissance and Sniper School. Castiglione was able to attain dockets to permit him to go through U.S. Army Airborne Training and U.S. Navy Underwater Demolition Team training to be qualified as a Navy SEAL." There you go. That's you first piece of evidence right there. At heart, Castle is a soldier at heart, and to quote Spider-Man from Civil War #6 in a comparison between Castle and Steve Rogers "Same guy, different war". Would you call soldiers out there today villains because they kill people to protect us? No! Well, I hope you don't otherwise your not a very nice person.
Castle is just a soldier, carrying on the war. He isn't out there with the others though, he's more concerned about the things that are going on back home. Like Captain America. But where as Captain America doesn't kill, The Punisher realises that sometimes, it is the only way to protect innocents.
Again, more history now, and so I consult the Comic Vine archives: "Jackal had tricked Frank into thinking Spider-Man was a killer." Now, in the milestone issue ASM #129, Frank Castle tried to kill Spider-Man. There's no denying that. But, the fact was that he was manipulate into this attempted assassination by a supervillain, and we all know that one point or another, every superhero has been in the claws of a supervillain, but they all wriggle free eventually, as did the Punisher.
Here we go again, to the Comic Vine archives: "Frank, Maria and they’re two children Lisa and Frank Jr. went for a picnic in New York’s Central Park when they accidentally witnessed the execution of a Mafia informant who was hung by a tree. Without a second thought the Costa crime family enforcers gunned down Frank and his family for witnessing the murder. Frank was the only one to survive." Now, we all know this tragic story. It depresses us all, but makes a good story. But I need you people out there to ask yourself, if the most dear things in the world to you were taken away and you knew they were never going to be given back, what would you do? You'd most probably go and find the S.o.Bs who did it and kill them. So, I think Frank has a fair point here.
Although, on the other hands, heroes do not kill. Now, I know he has his excuses, but, he could hand them over to the cops and made sure they were put away. Justice can be served in other ways too.
So, to conclude, I believe that Mr. Frank Castle is a hero, and does what no other hero will to make sure justice is served. And he makes sure it is.