Has the Punisher Ever Killed an Innocent Person?

[JudicatorPrime]

The American criminal justice system arrests and convicts innocent people all of the time. Some of them spend decades behind bars and are only freed after either new technology, recanted testimony, or new evidence surfaces to clear their name. I wonder if Frank has ever made a similarly ruinous mistake in his vigilante campaign?

[Iron Maiden]

The American criminal justice system arrests and convicts innocent people all of the time. Some of them spend decades behind bars and are only freed after either new technology, recanted testimony, or new evidence surfaces to clear their name. I wonder if Frank has ever made a similarly ruinous mistake in his vigilante campaign?

My guess would be no....I think he has this character shield of infallibility and writers tend to give him open and shut cases of really awful people. Still his vigilantism should have gotten him in legal hot water, like the current Rittenhouse trial. I don't read much Punisher to know whether or not that has happened.

[inisideguy]

The American criminal justice system arrests and convicts innocent people all of the time. Some of them spend decades behind bars and are only freed after either new technology, recanted testimony, or new evidence surfaces to clear their name. I wonder if Frank has ever made a similarly ruinous mistake in his vigilante campaign?

I mean the whole concept is innocent until proven guilty. So if one buys into that concept then he's killed a lot of innocent people.

[Lukmendes]

I remember reading something about how Punisher isn't even allowed to kill people by accident via a rocochet bullets, and if so, I'd say it's unlikely he killed innocents.

But I don't read Punisher's stuff, so I wouldn't know.

[babyblob]

Im going to say yes. There was a Punisher Max story arc where this electric company was doing shady illegal crap. And there was a party on this boat for the company excs and such and the 2nd in command of the company was on that boat and he was doing bad things. But the boat also had the wives of the employees as well as the crew of the boat and there was food and drink so I am guessing there was a waitstaff. So unless the crew of the boat, the wives/girlfriends, and waitstaff knew about the illegal things the company was doing and took part in them then the Punisher killed a whole load of innocent people when he blew the boat up and killed everyone on board.

[Tendrin]

The core fantasy of the character is swift, effective, and accurate punishment. Having him be responsible for innocent deaths would cut against the fantasy in a way that would let him fall apart and make him even more unusable.

[JudicatorPrime]

Im going to say yes. There was a Punisher Max story arc where this electric company was doing shady illegal crap. And there was a party on this boat for the company excs and such and the 2nd in command of the company was on that boat and he was doing bad things. But the boat also had the wives of the employees as well as the crew of the boat and there was food and drink so I am guessing there was a waitstaff. So unless the crew of the boat, the wives/girlfriends, and waitstaff knew about the illegal things the company was doing and took part in them then the Punisher killed a whole load of innocent people when he blew the boat up and killed everyone on board.

Nice. And yes, collateral damage counts for the purposes of this thread. Excellent.

[JudicatorPrime]

The core fantasy of the character is swift, effective, and accurate punishment. Having him be responsible for innocent deaths would cut against the fantasy in a way that would let him fall apart and make him even more unusable.

Well, yes. Exactly.

I have in mind a story where the Punisher kills an innocent figure. A person who has some degree of celebrity, be it as a media mogul, political figure, industry leader or whatnot. A person unknowingly set up by a very powerful cabal to appear to be the perpetrator, but who is in fact quite innocent. This murder proves to be the cataclysmic spark that leads to the end of all costumed champions in a massive government-sponsored campaign called the Oblation. (As in something presented to God; as in, Caedite eos. Novit enim Dominus qui sunt eius; as in, "Kill them all and let God sort them out.") But, in typical 12 Monkeys fashion, a future version of Frank lies, cheats, maims (some actual bad guys this time) and steals the components for an esoteric device that enables him to travel back into time to stop himself from killing that innocent figure.


Frank the fantasy vs. Frank the reality. Who wins? Not sure yet.

[Spiderfan001]

The core fantasy of the character is swift, effective, and accurate punishment. Having him be responsible for innocent deaths would cut against the fantasy in a way that would let him fall apart and make him even more unusable.

I'd like that, Spidey killing a good women(can't say innocent) cuts against his fantasy and rules and is one of the best stories ever.

[The_Last_Czarnian]

There WAS a fake out in one of the post-Ennis Punisher MAX stories where Frank BELIEVES he has killed a child. His response is to consider suicide until he digs a little deeper.

[Chubistian]

I don't think he has killed bystanders by accident in main continuity, but he has a lot of shaddy stuff in his record.

-In Frank Miller's Daredevil he kills a kid that was working in drug trafficking.



-Before he got his own limited series, Circle of Blood, he was aiming at any infractor of the law, even for littering. This was retconned in said limited series as Punisher being drugged



How far Punisher might go against criminals depends a lot in the writer. I like the character, but he certainly is no hero

[Ichijinijisanji]

nope, he has superhuman precision
He has attempted to kill innocents like spider-man or the runaways but they come out on top.

In fact editorial specifically forbids him from killing an innocent, like having a pile of scripts from various writers where he actually kills an innocent person all rejected.

https://www.cbr.com/punisher-ultimate-story-never-told/

That's because once he does he offs himself. No do overs, he comes back to life, he offs himself again. It would be the end of punisher

[JudicatorPrime]

Thanks everyone for all of replies and scans. I'd forgotten some of these stories, even though I used to own some of the comics at one point.

[K7P5V]

I don't think he has killed bystanders by accident in main continuity, but he has a lot of shaddy stuff in his record.

-In Frank Miller's Daredevil he kills a kid that was working in drug trafficking.

https://qph.fs.quoracdn.net/main-qim...8d91e4e41ff4eb

-Before he got his own limited series, Circle of Blood, he was aiming at any infractor of the law, even for littering. This was retconned in said limited series as Punisher being drugged



How far Punisher might go against criminals depends a lot in the writer. I like the character, but he certainly is no hero

https://qph.fs.quoracdn.net/main-qim...b2723e0faa5-lq

Excellent list! Just to add to that littering infraction, there's also witnessing domestic abuse...





And then later on, opens fire on a cabbie for running a red light!

[Punjabi_Hitman]

Didn't he kill an innocent then end up committing suicide. Then went on to become an Angel of Vengeance or something before being brought back by Ennis?