The Punisher

Frank Castle, The Punisher, is a fictional character of Marvel comic books. As a lead character, his unusual in that he has no super powers and actually uses lethal force. He is generally considered an anti-hero rather than a real hero.

Frank Castle was a U.S. Marine who served in Vietnam in a special forces unit. After his tour of duty was over he came back to the States and started a family. His family was killed in a gangland cross-fire and ever since that time Frank Castle has devoted his life to destroying organized crime, and using whatever resources and means necessary to do so.

The first appearance of the Punisher was in Amazing Spider-Man #129 (1974). The story was written by Gerry Conway, who originally conceived the character as a one-off antagonist (the story involved the Punisher stalking Spider-Man, who he mistakenly believed to be a murderer). The character was immediately popular, and made appearances in other series (usually clashing with the hero of the piece over his methods) and eventually gaining a series of his own in the mid-1980s.