# What motivates Marvel criminals in light of how often they’re killed, beaten or arrested by heroes and villains? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** comic-books-manga\ **Created:** [February 9, 2026, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-motivates-marvel-criminals-in-light-of-how-often-they-re-killed-beaten-or-arrested-by-heroes-and-villains/1027529 "2026-02-09T22:35:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2026, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-motivates-marvel-criminals-in-light-of-how-often-they-re-killed-beaten-or-arrested-by-heroes-and-villains/1027529/61 "2026-02-15T11:46:17Z")
> [@Ranchoth](#): > > the Punisher is estimated to have killed over _50,000_ people whose estimate? ---
**Author:** ![Cmyers1980](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyers1980/32/11814_2.png) [@Cmyers1980](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cmyers1980)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2026, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-motivates-marvel-criminals-in-light-of-how-often-they-re-killed-beaten-or-arrested-by-heroes-and-villains/1027529/62 "2026-02-15T12:04:40Z")
A Marvel editor made the estimate in the 2000s. It was 48,000 people. Whether he actually took the time to go through every issue and count or if he was just being hyperbolic is another matter. I can say with certainty that 616 Punisher did drop a nuclear weapon on an island with 2,000 mercenaries on it and blew up a prison with 400 inmates before. He also blew up a skyscraper and killed 100 criminals in it during the Suicide Run arc. There are some issues where he kills a single person and others where he kills dozens. As a point of reference Wolverine once killed 1,800 people in almost 11 weeks at the end of the Agent of SHIELD arc. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2026, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-motivates-marvel-criminals-in-light-of-how-often-they-re-killed-beaten-or-arrested-by-heroes-and-villains/1027529/63 "2026-02-15T12:13:08Z")
Now that’s sad. Especially for an officer who has enough disposable income that buying SGLI isn’t an economic hardship. Getting E-1s & E-2s to sign up is a much larger sacrifice for them and their meager pay. I _think_ at least the initial tranche was free and therefore effectively mandatory when I was a newbie in the early 1980s. For sure the extra tranches cost extra money then. I recall making that changing tradeoff when I was solo vs. later when I had a GF then wife. My parent’s certainly didn’t need an SGLI payout if I got killed. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2026, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-motivates-marvel-criminals-in-light-of-how-often-they-re-killed-beaten-or-arrested-by-heroes-and-villains/1027529/64 "2026-02-15T12:14:11Z")
Yeah, I’ve read the one with the island and the one with the prison. I’ve seen him sink a couple of ships with many crew members. I’ve seen him blow up crack dens with a couple of dozen dealers and users inside. Even so, that’s a long way from 50,000. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2026, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-motivates-marvel-criminals-in-light-of-how-often-they-re-killed-beaten-or-arrested-by-heroes-and-villains/1027529/65 "2026-02-15T15:14:16Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > The problem is the Punisher can only be in one place at a time so, if he is in, say, New York City, the rest of the country and world had nothing to fear. Heck, even most criminals in NYC were probably ok. Just bad luck (for them) if they ran across him. Same with Batman. Both use Fear a a weapon. This has a vaster impact then one man. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2026, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-motivates-marvel-criminals-in-light-of-how-often-they-re-killed-beaten-or-arrested-by-heroes-and-villains/1027529/66 "2026-02-15T15:24:15Z")
> [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](#): > > Both use Fear a a weapon. This has a vaster impact then one man. Eh…if I were a bad guy in Tokyo I really am not fussed about Punisher in NYC. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2026, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-motivates-marvel-criminals-in-light-of-how-often-they-re-killed-beaten-or-arrested-by-heroes-and-villains/1027529/67 "2026-02-15T16:29:13Z")
Yep. The same thing is true of IRL police. My suburban town of ~100K people has a couple hundred police. They can’t all be everywhere all the time. It’s the fear they might be around the corner that deters crime. Or doesn’t. But a heck of a lot of crime can happen without police intervention precisely because there’s more city than there are police. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-motivates-marvel-criminals-in-light-of-how-often-they-re-killed-beaten-or-arrested-by-heroes-and-villains/1027529.md?page=3)