Of all the heroes in marvel comics, none are quite as brutal as The Punisher. He leaves no quarter to his villains, always looking for the permanent solution rather than settling for the half measure of going through the courts. In a sea of do-gooders in the world of comics, it's part of what makes him such an entertaining character to read.
He's always willing to go that extra mile that no one else is willing to. This uncompromising approach brings him into conflict with many heroes and, at times, has him straddle the line of even being an anti-hero, or worse.
10 Running Over Wolverine With A Steamroller
Punisher and Wolverine have tangled on more than one occasion in some heated conflicts. Despite Wolverine coming to blows with just about every Marvel hero, none are nearly as brutal as when he faces off with Frank Castle, and this battle is proof of that.
Punisher shoots Wolverine in the face and crotch before putting the cherry on top of it by running him over with a steamroller. It's a testament to how ridiculous Wolverine's healing factor is and shows that Frank is sometimes just as psychotic as the criminals that he rids the street of.
9 Nuking The X-Men
The canon universe of Marvel tends to handicap Frank to a certain degree, rarely letting his brutality branch out to the heroes. That's not the case in alternate universe storylines like Punisher Kills The Marvel Universe.
He meticulously hunts down villains and heroes alike here, but none is as flashy or brutal as how he deals with the X-men. He gets both sides to meet on the moon, containing them there and then nuking them. That's right: Frank Castle nuked the moon.
8 Turning Hulk To Dust
Someone like The Punisher gaining superpowers is a frightening thought, especially when it's Doctor Strange's skill set he gains.
Frank is the last person you'd ever expect to see as the Sorcerer Supreme, but that's exactly what happens in Secret Wars: Battleworld, where Frank possesses the powers to turn Hulk into nothing more than dust— and it's far from the only awful thing he does in the series. His power influx makes him extra focused on violently pushing his will onto others.
7 Using Mr. Bumpo To Kill The Russian
The fight itself was great, as was the entire run, and it even managed to get translated fairly well in the forgettable live-action film. Frank taking crooks out in brutal ways is far from abnormal, but what makes this instance so bad is that he made Bumpo complicit with it. Frank should never drive civilians into his war with criminals, no matter the situation, let alone using their overweight frame as a means of killing someone.
6 Shooting Potential Allies In Civil War
When a war is as drawn out and brutal as Civil War ended up being, you have to be willing to put your morals aside and side with folks who don't carry your same ideals. That was the case when Captain America was willing to hear out two C-list villains, Goldbug and Plunder.
Cap's side was running low on members and were nearing the point of breaking under Tony Stark's superior forces. Cap never got the chance to decide as Punisher took matters into his own hands, mowing both villains down. It's an example of Punisher having far too one track a mind.
5 Taking Out Villains During The End Of The World
Secret Wars was built around the end of the world as Marvel knew it as the various universes were crashing into one another, eventually leading to something new. With that premise, writers took advantage and let Frank off his leash. He took advantage of the situation and hunted down many of the A-list street-level villains like Kingpin and Bullseye.
It's not so much that he killed the villains that's wrong, it's that he chose not to help save the world and only tried to quench his bloodlust.
4 Holding Archie At Gunpoint
There are times comics do a crossover that makes no sense, and that's the case when The Punisher showed up in Riverdale. The president commissioned him in finding a drug dealer named Red who was supplying high-end narcotics to locals, and it leads to Punisher kidnapping and holding Archie at gunpoint due to their similarly colored hair.
The whole story is as ridiculous as it sounds and is yet another reason why you can never trust Frank to not fly off the handle, even in a crossover like this.
3 Punching A Polar Bear
What did this polar bear ever do to Frank? He was just trying to mind his own business and protect his pack when Frank decided to use the zoo as the staging ground for his battle with Ma Gnucci in Welcome Back Frank. The book is such a great mix of the craziness and brutality of The Punisher, and this scene sums it up perfectly.
After a right cross, Frank manages to sway the bears to his side, getting them to chow down on more than a few mobsters. Even if it was a funny moment in how absurd it was, Frank should be above what was essentially animal cruelty.
2 Killing Kingpin In Marvel Zombies
Yet another example of Frank's one-track mind when it comes to criminals. At the height of the zombie outbreak spreading across the globe, Frank decided to gun down Kingpin and his lackeys rather than trying to get them to help Ash and him find The Necronomicon.
Even with the world ending right before his eyes, Punisher could only see blood and a hail of bullets, ending with him becoming a zombie. If that weren't enough, he also ended up turning Scarlet Witch later in the comic.
1 Shooting At A Litterbug
Thankfully this moment in Spectacular Spider-Man #81 ended up getting turned non-canon as it was utterly awful. Bill Mantlo decided to have Punisher snap, going after anyone who broke the law, be it minor or large. In just a few panels, he tries to kill someone just for littering but also a cabbie who happened to run through a red light.
It's an awful way to have Frank go off the deep end as it doesn't even fit his character. He may get consumed by his goal, but he very rarely took his anger out on civilians.