As a regular guy with no powers in a world of gods and super soldiers, the Punisher handles himself with impressive skill. He's taken on street level thugs as well as some of the most powerful people in the Marvel Universe.
There are plenty of reasons why he's managed to do so well in his one-man crusade against the criminal underworld. Frank Castle has first-class military training and experience. He also is willing to fight ruthlessly, employing military tactics without abiding by the rules of engagement. Beyond this, he is entirely focused on his mission, committing every waking moment of to his crusade. Here are the Punisher's top ten fights, ranked:
10 Birthday Massacre
The popular Punisher MAX series by Garth Ennis started strong with its first story "In The Beginning." The book opened with Frank standing at the graves of his family, reliving the agonizing memory of when they were gunned down. He then left the cemetery and set out to perform a hit on the elderly don of a mafia family at the man's birthday party.
The initial execution was straightforward, but Frank's military genius was on full display as he calmly walked out, knowing just how long it would take for the gathered mafiosos to rally and give chase. As they charged after him, they ran straight into a wall of bullets as he unleashed "World War III in North Jersey."
9 The Russian
To call Frank Castle tough as nails is to do him a disservice, since he can take twice the hammering of any iron nail and still not get bent even worse out of shape than he was before. But the Russian was just the sort of human hammer who makes a man like the Punisher look weak by comparison.
The two clashed in the story "Welcome Back, Frank" by Garth Ennis and artist Steve Dillon. Their fight was a messy close-quarters brawl that took place in Frank's apartment as the Russian tried to kill him in his own home. He barely survived.
8 The Zoo
This is one of the Punisher's most famous fights, also happening during the events of "Welcome Back, Frank." When the crime lord Ma Gnucci sent her goons to hunt Frank, they thought they had him cornered when he entered the zoo.
Frank Castle can turn just about anything into a lethal weapon but there is something special about watching him weaponize a polar bear. Him punching the docile mammal until it became so enraged that it attacked his foes, ripping the limbs from them. He also sent another enemy for a swim in the piranha tank, giving the fanged fish a late-night snack. Frank may not be a people person, but at least he showed his ability to get along with animals.
7 Overthrowing Bagalia
Bagalia is one of several fictional countries in the Marvel Universe, an island nation ruled over by criminals with strong ties to Hydra and the Shadow Council. In short, it is a nation of super-criminals.
After going to war with Hydra, the Punisher was jailed by Baron Zemo in a Bagalian prison, where he was brutally tortured. It did not take him long to escape, using the other prisoners to help him. Moments after his jailbreak, he somehow managed to hot-wire a tank, which he rolled right up to the capital city as he overthrew the government of the entire evil country.
6 Spider-Man In A Parking Garage
Spider-Man and Punisher have a lot of history. The Punisher even made his comic book debut in an issue of Amazing Spider-Man. When Punisher used one of Spidey's web-shooters to kill someone, years of resentment came boiling to the forefront as Peter Parker ambushed Frank in a parking garage.
The wall-crawler used his enhanced speed to outmaneuver Frank and hit him time and again with all the superstrength he could pack into his onslaught of punches. Swinging from the walls and ceiling, Parker came at him from every angle. That was when Frank started to fight back, unleashing his arsenal of explosives and proving that even without powers, Frank's the better combatant.
5 War Machine
Like Bagalia, Chernaya is a fictional country in the Marvel Universe, one apparently loosely inspired by the political struggles and ethnic tensions that plagued several Balkans states after the dissolution of the Soviet Union.
Nick Fury recruited Frank to help stop a genocide in the region that began when Fury's own operatives went rogue and supported a new dictator. To do the job, Fury told Frank how to access War Machine's old mech suit. Using nothing but stolen battle armor and his wits, the Punisher took on the whole country of Chernaya.
4 Barracuda
The Punisher may be the product of abuse, trauma, and military training, be he's not the only tough brawler with a dark past. The villain Barracuda was kept on retainer by a corrupt corporation for when they needed to use lethal force to get rid of their problems. Punisher became one such problem.
Barracuda and Punisher clashed numerous times in Garth Ennis Punisher MAX run, attacking each other with everything at their disposal. Frank hacked Barracuda's fingers off with an ax, while Barracuda tried feeding Frank to a shark--and that was just in their first encounter.
3 Avengers Assembled
The Avengers are a team of Earth's mightiest superheroes; while the Punisher is many things, "heroic" is not on that list. During the miniseries, Punisher: War Zone by Greg Rucka, the Avengers worked to take down the Punisher.
Though hopelessly outmatched, Frank Castle held his own. He boobytrapped Tony Stark's mech suit, managed to lose Black Widow as she followed him through the jungle, convinced Thor to take out his enemies for him, and blew up Wolverine (though admittedly, this last one was entirely Wolverine's fault). Only when the whole team assembled against him did he finally succumb to defeat.
2 Kill Krew
Earth is just one of Ten Realms in the Marvel Universe's interpretation of Norse cosmology. During The War of the Realms, the dark elf Malekith the Acursed led an invasion of giants, trolls, angels, and other dark elves against the people of Earth, killing people beyond count.
Frank Castle took it upon himself to avenge those orphaned during the attack. Using part of the Black Bifrost and a stolen Asgardian ram, he traveled across the realms, hacking and shooting a bloody swathe of carnage from world to world. Along the way, he teamed up with the Juggernaut, the Black Knight, and Daredevil's best friend Foggy Nelson.
1 Valley Forge
This is the battle where Frank Castle became the Punisher. While the deaths of his family were the inciting incident that prompted Frank to unleash himself against the criminal underworld, it was his time in Vietnam that made him a soldier and taught him to love killing.
The Battle of Valley Forge was a massacre. The Viet Cong swarmed an American military outpost, completely overrunning it. Flamethrowers blazed in the night. As guns clicked empty, their owners used them as clubs to fend off bayonets. When the long night of fighting ended, the sun rose on a corpse-strewn killing ground. Standing over the piled dead was a sole survivor: Frank Castle.