PUNISHER

Real Name: Punisher

Identity/Class: Extraterrestrial unknown semi-organic cyborgs (?)

Occupation: Bodyguards, enforcers, watchdogs

Group Membership: One of a legion of Punishers; formerly the Frightful Four (She-Thing/Sharon Ventura, Trapster/Peter Petruski, Wizard)

Affiliations: Ted Castleand his robot army (Arsenal robots, Awesome Androids, Dreadnoughts, Humanoids, Killer Robots, Mek-Men, Murder Machine, Sentinels, Tomazooma, others), Colonizers of Rigel, Galactus (Galan), Nova (Frankie Raye), the Wizard (Bentley Wittman)

Enemies: Avro-X (Colin Richard), Fantastic Force of Earth-807128 (Robert Bruce Banner Jr., Hooded Man/James Howlett, Lightwave, Natalie X, Psionics/Cindy, Alex Ultron), Fantastic Four (Human Torch, Invisible Girl/Woman, Mr. Fantastic, Thing), Guardians of the Galaxy (Drax, Groot, Rocket Raccoon, Star-Lord/Peter Quill), In-Betweener, Iron Man (Tony Stark), Jack of Hearts, Madame Masque, Miek, Pip the Troll, Ravagers (Kraglin, Yondu Udonta, others), unidentified Rigellian Recorder, Silver Surfer (Norrin Radd), Thanos, Ultimates (Blue Marvel/Adam Brashear, Captain Marvel/Carol Danvers), Adam Warlock, countless Negative Zone prison ("42") escapees

Known Relatives: Inapplicable

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: Galactus's ship;
    formerly Earth;
    formerly the ship of the Colonizers of Rigel

First Appearance: Fantastic Four I#49 (April, 1966)

Powers/Abilities: The Punisher has superhuman strength (Class 100) and durability, combined with the ability to move at tremendous speeds, delivering a barrage of punches that few beings can withstand. It can fly through both air and space at great speeds. Its bird-like feet are able to dig into the surface on which it stands, making it very difficult to knock from its feet. It is composed of an unknown material, described by Iron Man as not metal, but metalized living tissue. It is capable or rapid repairs of its own form, and it can analyze threats of others and determine the most efficient means by which they can be defeated.
    It can form force fields around itself and others, and can use these fields to immobilize others or transport them through the air and deposit them in a location of its choosing.

    At some point, Galactus replicated the Punisher into a small army of Punishers, each apparently possessing a similar power level to the original. They can duplicate themselves and vary in size.

Height: 4' 6" (variable)
Weight: 500 lbs. (variable)
Eyes: Black
Hair: None

History:
(Iron Man I#109 (fb)/Silver Surfer III#17 (fb) - BTS) - The exact origins of the Punisher are unknown, as it is partially composed of living tissue. It has been described by differing sources as an alien and/or a robot.

(All-New Guardians of the Galaxy Annual#1 (fb)) - Over the years scientists gathered machinery and weapons left behind by Galactus after the destruction of planets, including Punishers. Everything was stored and examined on a planet in the Jojola Nebula.

(Silver Surfer III#17 (fb) - BTS) - The Punisher was collected by Galactus centuries ago.

(Fantastic Four I#49) - Galactus dispatched the Punisher from his ship to stop the Fantastic Four from interfering with his efforts to consume the energies of Earth. It plowed through the FF, easily overpowering them. Sue put up a force field to block it, but Galactus eventually recalled the Punisher, as it had done its job.

(Fantastic Four I#74) - Galactus returned to Earth, hoping to reclaim the Silver Surfer as his herald, and he dispatched the Punisher to capture him. The Surfer formed a compact shell of atoms to delay the Punisher, and Ben and Johnny then fought it. They occupied the Punisher, but were unable to do it any damage, even when joined by Reed. However, when Galactus pursued the Surfer into the Microverse, he transported the Punisher with him, causing it to vanish in mid-battle.

 

 

(Fantastic Four I#175 - BTS) - With the seeming death of Galactus (after consuming the world of Poppup), the Punisher was left aboard his abandoned vessel, circling the Earth's sun.

(Iron Man I#110 (fb) - BTS) - The Colonizers of Rigel found the Punisher aboard the abandoned ship, confiscated it and reprogrammed it.

(Iron Man I#110) - The Colonizers inadvertently transported Iron Man and the Jack of Hearts aboard their vessel when they activated their teleportation unit from Star Sector Five. The Rigellians' weapons were insufficient to halt the human warriors, so they sent the Punisher against them. It made short work of the pair, and fleet Commander Arcturus stopped the Punisher before it might have slain them.

 

(Iron Man I#112) - When Iron Man and Jack of Hearts opposed Arcturus' efforts to colonize Wundagore II, Arcturus sent the Punisher to wreak havoc on Earth. Iron Man magnetized himself to the Punisher's armor, so that he traveled with it to Earth. As the two approached Earth, Madame Masque -- left at Stark International to direct a Tony Stark Life Model Decoy -- assumed it to be a pair of missiles aimed at them, and so had Stark's Super-Missile fired at them. Iron Man detected this and maneuvered the Punisher so that it took virtually the entire impact itself.
    The Punisher and Iron Man crashed to Earth, and though damaged, the Punisher began its rampage as programmed. Iron Man used a piece of material broken off of the Punisher to analyze for weaknesses. Iron Man then boosted his own power past its normal safety margins, so that he could focus on the damaged portions of the Punisher and finish it off before it could discover and repair its own damages or its missing bio-chip.

BTS - Galactus apparently recalled and repaired the Punisher some point after reforming himself.

(Silver Surfer III#17) - Galactus was incapacitated after attempting to consume the life energies of several of the Elders of the Universe. The remaining Elders (Astronomer, Possessor, Trader), along with the In-Betweener, assaulted Galactus' ship, and Nova dispatched the Punisher to stop them. The Punisher savagely battered the In-Betweener, but only until he could analyze the force which animated the Punisher and then summon its polar opposite. Its power neutralized, the Punisher was left floating in space.

BTS - Galactus apparently restored the Punisher upon his own recovery.

(Silver Surfer III#109) - The Punisher attacked the Silver Surfer to prevent him from interfering with Galactus' battle with Tyrant (or perhaps it was just serving a watchdog function and attacked anyone that approached Galactus' worldship). Unable to damage the Punisher, the Surfer instead managed to slightly alter its programming such that it recognized itself as an intruder. Immediately, the Punisher began battering its own form at super-speed, and the Surfer left it behind.
    With Galactus seemingly destroyed as a result of the Ultimate Nullifier, the Punisher was left adrift once again.

(Fantastic Four III#29 (fb) - BTS) - The Wizard discovered the Punisher and reprogrammed it to serve him as one of his Frightful Four, alongside the Trapster and the She-Thing.

(Fantastic Four III#29) - The Wizard unleashed the Punisher against the Fantastic Four. It attacked Reed, who at the time had adopted the armor of the MIA Dr. Doom. However, the Invisible Woman formed a network of tubes that redirected the Trapster's paste into the inner workings of the Punisher, immobilizing it.

(Thanos#4) - Galactus unleashed a small army of Punishers on Thanos' ship, Sanctuary. While the Punishers were much less powerful than Thanos, who made short work of those he encountered, they did accomplish the twin goals of stealing the Soul Gem from Adam Warlock (and thus incapacitating him) and destroying Sanctuary.

(Thanos#5) - When Thanos assaulted Galactus directly, Galactus sent the Punishers against him, merely to delay him until Galactus could confront him himself.

(Fantastic Force II#1) - While trying to arrest the time-traveling Fantastic Force, Ted Castle used Punisher robots as part of his own army of robots.

(Chaos War#4) - Galactus sent a Punisher robot against Miek and the escapees from the Negative Zone prison to aid Amadeus Cho against them. The robot was quickly ripped apart by the prisoners.

SECRET WARS III HAPPENED

(Ultimates III#1) - Galactus sent Punishers against Blue Marvel and Captain Marvel when they approached his ship. The Punishers ripped through the hull of their ship with ease, but where destroyed by Captain Marvel after she absorbed some of Blue Marvel's energy blasts. After the Punishers' destruction, Blue Marvel and Captain Marvel surprised Galactus by actually offering their aid.

(All-New Guardians of the Galaxy Annual#1 (fb) - BTS) - The Punishers self-repaired and replicated until they overran the planet in the Jojola Nebula where scientists were trying to examine them and other Galactus technology.

   For unknown reasons the Punishers built a Galactus statue.

(All-New Guardians of the Galaxy Annual#1) - The Punishers were in the process of finishing the Galactus statue when the Guardians of the Galaxy, in search for Galactus' Transluminal Tuning Fork, arrived on the planet with the help of Ravager Yondu Udonta. The Guardians saw the Punishers place the Transluminal Tuning Fork atop the statue's head.

   The Ravagers, who had secretly followed the Guardians to the planet, transported the Transluminal Tuning Fork on to their ship, but some of the Punishers made it aboard as well. The Punishers crashed the ship and the Ravagers fled with the Guardians to the planet's lab complex. They were nearly overrun by the Punishers until Gamora used the Transluminal Tuning Fork to take down the Punishers.

(Iron Man VI#12) - A Punisher was released as part of Taa II's security measures when Iron Man and Avro-X intruded the ship. The Punisher went after Iron Man and duplicated when Avro-X attacked it from behind. Iron Man destroyed one Punisher and saved Avro-X from the second. The second Punisher activated its self-destruct defense and blew up. Iron Man and Avro-X barely escaped the explosion alive.

Comments: Created by Stan "The Man" Lee and Jack "King" Kirby.

    Based on Thanos#4, it is more than likely that when a Punisher has been destroyed, a new one has just been chosen to replace it, rather than rebuilding the original.

    The origins of the Punisher remain a mystery. It/they has/have been referred to as cyborgs. It/They is/are apparently a living, metallic being, much like Torgo of the Mekkans. Whether this is its natural form or if it was transformed into such a state by Galactus is unknown. There has got to be a cool story in there somewhere.
    Centuries ago, Galactus was opposed by a powerful being that nearly destroyed him. Overcoming this foe, Galactus transformed him into his servant. Perhaps some fragment of this being's mind exists, tortured by its inability to overcome its programming and servitude...
    That's how I'd write it anyway. C'mon, Kurt Busiek! You can do it!

Stan Lee describes the Punisher in his first appearance:
    "A strange, heavily-armed being...half-robot...half-alive!! This then, is the Punisher, a compact, supremely merciless, hard-core mass of mayhem, from the very outer rim of the known universe."

    Though he is often seen much larger, the original Punisher was initially only like 4'6" tall.

The battle between the Fantastic Four and the Punisher from Fantastic Four I#49 can also be seen in Marvels I#3 (March, 1994).

The Punishers received an entry in the All-New Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Update#2.

Thanks to Ron Fredricks for cleaning up the main image.

Profile by Snood. Updates by Markus Raymond & Ron Fredricks.

CLARIFICATIONS:
no known connection to:


images: (without ads)
Iron Man VI#12, p4, pan5 (main)
Iron Man I#112, p11, pan5 (head shot)
Fantastic Four I#74, p5, pan5 (here he comes)
Iron Man I#110, p6, pan4 (vs Iron Man and Jack of Hearts)
Iron Man VI#12, p5, pan5 (duplicating)


Appearances:
Fantastic Four I#49 (April, 1966) - Stan Lee (writer/editor), Jack Kirby (pencils), Joe Sinnott (inks)
Fantastic Four I#74 (May, 1968) - Stan Lee (writer), Jack Kirby (pencils), Joe Sinnott (inks), Stan Lee (editor)
Iron Man I#109-110 (April-May, 1978) - Bill Mantlo (writer), Carmine Infantino (#109) & Keith Pollard (#110) (pencils), Fred Kida (inks), Archie Goodwin (editor)
Iron Man I#112 (July, 1978) - Bill Mantlo (writer), Keith Pollard (pencils), Alfredo Alcala (inks), Jim Shooter (editor)
Silver Surfer III#17 (November, 1988) - Steve Englehart (writer), Ron Lim (pencils), Joe Rubinstein (inks), Craig Anderson (editor)
Silver Surfer III#109 (October, 1995) - Mike Lackey (writer), Tom Grindberg (pencils), Bill Anderson (inks), Mark Gruenwald (editor)
Fantastic Four III#29 (May, 2000) - Chris Claremont (writer), Salvador Larroca (pencils), Art Thibert (inks), Bobbie Chase (editor)
Thanos#4-5 (March, 2004) - Jim Starlin (writer/pencils), Al Milgrom (inks), Tom Brevoort (editor)
Fantastic Force II#1 (June, 2009) - Joe Ahearne (writer), Steve Kurth (pencils), Serge LaPointe (inks), Chris Sotomayor (colors), Rus Wooton (letters), Jeanine Schaefer (editor)
Chaos War#4 (February, 2011) - Greg Pak & Fred Van Lente (writers), Khoi Pham (pencils), Thomas Palmer (inks), Mark Paniccia (editor)
Ultimates III#1 (January, 2016) - Al Ewing (writer), Kenneth Rocafort (artist), Wil Moss (editor)
All-New Guardians of the Galaxy Annual#1 (August, 2017) - Chad Bowers & Chris Sims (writer), Danilo S. Beyruth (artist), Darren Shan (editor)
Iron Man VI#12 (November, 2021) - Christopher Cantwell (writer), Angel Unzueta (artist), Tom Brevoort (editor)


First Posted: 10/04/2003
Last updated: 11/20/2023

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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