It takes a lot to win a super fight. Whether it's a hero or a villain, every costumed character in comics has to get used to punches, kicks, and repulsor rays to the face if they want to have any hope of making it to the big time. They also need to dish it just as well as they can take it, and unless the character in question happens to be Galactus or Hulk, they probably need to train. For a number of these heroes and villains, that training has to include marksmanship.
From arrows and bullets to playing cards and webs, there are a seemingly endless number of ways for the heroes and villains to shoot their enemies, but which characters are the best marksmen of the universe? Who are the ones who are most likely to hit ten out of ten times? These are the 10 greatest marksmen in the Marvel universe, ranked...
10 Punisher
Trained by the military and driven by a determination to rid the world of crime, whenever the Punisher isn't hunting down the scum of New York, he's busy training to hunt down the scum of New York. With his love for guns, you can be sure that Punisher spends a whole lot of time working on his marksmanship. And while he's certainly a great shot - one of the best in Marvel Comics - he also tends to be liberal with his bullets, firing all over the place and hitting as many crooks as he can. After all, the Punisher is about punishing, not subtlety.
9 Spider-Man
While he isn't known for his aiming skills, there's little doubt that Spider-Man is a great marksman. With his web-shooters, everyone's favorite wall-crawler has shown the ability to not only swing through New York City at amazing speeds, but that he can also cover a person's mouth, web their hand, or even grab the edge of a knife and pull it away.
Unlike some of the others on this list, Spider-Man doesn't need to practice his aim all that much. His enhanced dexterity and his spider-sense do most of the work for him. Perhaps if Spider-Man did spend more time perfecting his marksmanship, Gwen Stacy would still be alive, but that is a burden Spider-Man must live with.
8 Gambit
Gambit has the power to fill any inanimate object with kinetic energy, making that object into a dangerous explosive. His favorite thing to charge up is playing cards, which he can expertly toss at anyone that gets in his way. While his mutant powers make the playing cards dangerous, the ability to throw them, and have them hit the intended target, is all training and skill.
Gambit became a great marksman while training with the Thieves Guild, and this ability has gotten him, and the X-Men, out of a fair number of scrapes over the years. It also makes him a blast at parties because who doesn't love card tricks?
7 Domino
Since her mutant ability is basically having good luck, there's a question how much of Domino's marksmanship is from training and how much is from her power. Domino can subconsciously create telekinetic bursts that will make something that is highly improbable, like shooting straight up in the air and having the bullet ricochet off the ceiling and killing the two men who were about to kill her, become very possible. Still, there's no arguing that Domino is a trained shooter, which helps make the improbable more probable.
6 Daredevil
The protector of Hells Kitchen, Daredevil is a skilled ninja who, while blind, has extrasensory abilities that make him pretty hard to beat. With his radar sense and his specially built baton of his own design, the Man Without Fear has shown himself to be an amazing marksman time and time again. With a quick but carefully planned toss, Daredevil can send his baton bouncing around a room, knocking out mobsters, ninjas, or whomever else wants to try and take him on, and he can do it all with his eyes closed.
5 Taskmaster
After injecting himself with SS-Hauptsturmführer Horst Gorscht's special serum, Taskmaster found himself with the ability to absorb knowledge instantly. Instead of using this to become the longest-running champion on Jeopardy, Taskmaster chose to instead become a c-list villain. Because of his ability, Taskmaster can instantly become an expert in any fighting technique just by watching someone. He quickly learns the fighting styles of his enemies and can begin to anticipate their moves before they even know which moves they're going to use.
All of this also makes Taskmaster an amazing marksman with any ranged weapon, as long as he can witness an expert use it first. Again, this is probably something he could have used to become wealthy without having to get knocked out by Black Widow all the time, but he made his choice.
4 Captain America
Everyone's favorite patriot, Captain America is such a great soldier, he's super. Given advanced abilities thanks to Abraham Erskine's formula, puny Steve Rogers became one of the greatest heroes in the Marvel universe, and part of being that hero is his amazing physics-denying shield. Thanks to the shield's makeup of adamantium and vibranium and Cap's own enhanced dexterity, this Super Soldier can toss his shield and hit pretty much any target he wants.
With his skills, Captain America can make the shield bounce around like a rather dangerous ball, or he can make it curve around corners and take out some Hydra agents before they even know he's in their base.
3 Hawkeye (Kate Bishop)
Growing up rich can open a lot of doors for a person, and for Kate Bishop, the second Hawkeye, those doors included being taught archery by some of the best archers in the world. But a teacher can only teach someone who is willing to learn, and Kate's determination to be the best has made her a force to be reckoned with.
A member of the Young Avengers, Kate more than proved herself when she went one on one against her superhero namesake and held her own. So impressed with Kate's ability was the original Hawkeye that he took her under his wing. In time, she will likely surpass her mentor, but that time hasn't come yet.
2 Hawkeye (Clint Barton)
A one-time circus performer turned villain turned hero, Clint Barton, the original Hawkeye, is one of the few Marvel heroes who doesn't have superpowers or a technologically advanced suit of armor who gets to call himself an Avenger. With nothing more than a bow and a quiver filled with trick arrows, Clint has proven himself to be one of the most important members of the Avengers time and again, even leading the West Coast team for a long period.
To be considered as great a hero has the likes of not only Captain America, but also Thor and Iron Man is no small feat, and this skilled archer pulled it off without even a hint of special abilities. Hawkeye clearly knows how to make - and hit - his mark.
1 Bullseye
When you call yourself Bullseye, you better have some amazing aim, and this assassin has lived up to the name countless times. One of Daredevil's greatest foes, Bullseye can take pretty much any object and make it a dangerous projectile. Some of Bullseye's greatest hits include sliting a man's throat with a playing card, spitting out his own tooth a driving it through another person's skull, and killing a person with a toothpick thrown through a window from three hundred feet.
This is a man who can make a paper airplane a deadly weapon, all with the flick of his wrist, and he does it all without any known superpowers. He isn't just the greatest marksman in the Marvel universe, he's also the most dangerous.