Punisher

Le Punisher (Francis « Frank » Castle, né Castiglione) est un personnage de fiction apparaissant dans les comics américains publiés par Marvel Comics. Le personnage a été créé par le scénariste Gerry Conway et les dessinateurs John Romita Sr. et Ross Andru, l'éditeur Stan Lee ayant validé le nom. Le Punisher fit sa première apparition dans The Amazing Spider-Man #129 (daté de février 1974).

Ce personnage est un justicier italo-américain qui utilise le meurtre, l'enlèvement, l'extorsion, la coercition, les menaces de violence et la torture dans sa lutte contre le crime. Poussé par la mort de sa femme et de ses deux enfants, tués par la mafia pour avoir été témoins d'un meurtre à Central Park, à New York, le Punisher mène une guerre solitaire contre la mafia et tous les criminels, et utilise diverses armes à feu. Les assassins de sa famille furent les premiers à être tués par le Punisher. Ancien combattant et tireur d'élite scout du corps des Marines des États-Unis, Castle maîtrise le combat au corps à corps, la guérilla et le tir de précision.

La nature brutale du Punisher et sa volonté de tuer en firent un personnage inédit dans les comics américains grand public lors de ses débuts en 1974. À la fin des années 1980, le Punisher faisait partie d'une vague d'antihéros aux troubles psychologiques. À l'apogée de sa popularité, le personnage était présent dans quatre publications mensuelles, dont The Punisher, The Punisher War Journal, The Punisher War Zone et The Punisher Armory. Malgré ses actes violents et sa nature sombre, le Punisher a connu un certain succès grand public à la télévision, en faisant des apparitions dans Spider-Man: The Animated Series et The Super Hero Squad Show, où la représentation de sa violence était adoucie pour un public familial. Au cinéma, Dolph Lundgren l'a incarné en 1989, Thomas Jane en 2004 et Ray Stevenson en 2008. Jon Bernthal interprète le personnage dans la deuxième saison de Marvel's Daredevil, dans le cadre du Marvel Cinematic Universe. Bernthal a repris le rôle dans The Punisher, sa propre série éponyme.

Aptitudes : The Punisher is the recipient of multi-disciplinary military training from the United States Marine Corps, United States Marine Corps Force Reconnaissance. While a Marine, he also received training from the Airborne School and U.S. Navy SEALs as well as cross-training with the Australian Special Air Service Regiment during the Vietnam War. In addition, since beginning his work as the Punisher, Castle has used his military discipline and training techniques to update and expand his skills in areas that aid in his mission (disguise, acting, use of non-military weapons, etc.). From this training, Punisher is proficient in not only basic infantry skills, but in special operations, which includes the use and maintenance of specialized firearms and explosive ordnance. He is highly trained in infiltration into heavily guarded enemy territories and structures for the purpose of assassination, capture, and military intelligence. Also, he is trained in various forms of camouflage and stealth. He is also highly adept at hand-to-hand combat, and has been trained in multiple forms of martial arts such as Nash Ryu Jujutsu, Ninjutsu, Shorin-ryu Karate, Hwa Rang Do, and Chin Na. Both Nick Fury and Tony Stark have commented on how extraordinarily high his pain tolerance is. He does not take painkillers, as he feels that their benefit of dulling pain is not worth the side effects of drowsiness and slowed reflexes. He maintains multiple safehouses and vehicles around the greater New York City area as well as multiple forged identities and bank accounts (most of the funds and equipment aiding him in his work being taken from the criminals he hunts). The Punisher has a Kevlar uniform which protects him from most gunfire, though he can still suffer concussive injury or penetration from sufficient or repeated impacts. The white skull emblem on his chest is used both to intimidate his enemies and to lure their fire to the more heavily protected area of his armor. The design was supposedly taken from either a Vietcong sniper, or the demon Olivier. The Punisher has been using technology derived from super-villains and other costumed characters, such as the Green Goblin's pumpkin bombs, a modified Goblin Glider, and a Doctor Octopus tentacle that he can shrink down for easy storage via Pym Particles. Aside from his physical prowess, the Punisher also has complete control of his mind and consciousness, providing a strong resistance against psychic and telepathic powers that are used against him. When Letha and Lascivious try to control Punisher's mind, Punisher scoffs at their attempt, saying "It doesn't feel different from any other day".

Équipe : United States Marine Corps, Force Reconnaissance, Code Red, Heroes for Hire, Secret Defenders, Thunderbolts, Hydra

Race : Human