Robert Bethell (Earth-200111)

Robert Bethell
Name	Robert Bethell
Affiliation and Relationships
Affiliation	CIA
Physical Characteristics
Gender	Male
Eyes	Irises: Brown
Hair	Black
Origin and Living Status
Origin	Human
Living Status	Deceased
Reality	Earth-200111
Place of Birth	Presumably within the United States
Personal Information
Identity	No Dual
Citizenship	American
Occupation	Government agent
Education	At least a Bachelor's degree from a college/university
Base of Operations	Washington, D.C.; New York City, New York
Creators and Appearances
Creators	Garth Ennis, Lewis LaRosa
First	Punisher (Vol. 7) #1 (January, 2004)
First	Punisher (Vol. 7) #1 (January, 2004)
Death	Punisher (Vol. 7) #6 (May, 2004)
Death	Punisher (Vol. 7) #6 (May, 2004)

History

Robert Bethell was a corrupt CIA officer who oversaw a black ops unit charged with assassinations. Initially, the group does not possess the funding or legal room to recruit the kind of operatives Bethell had in mind. To solve this problem, Bethell resorted to gaining his funding from drug trafficking in which he imported heroin from Afghanistan through the body bags of dead soldiers; corrupt cops from police departments all across America would then sell it on the streets. Bethell was interested in recruiting operatives of questionable character - among them that held Bethell's interest was Frank Castle, the Punisher.

Backing up Bethell was an elite team of paramilitary commandos, some of whom had previously served in the U.S. Army's highly elite Delta Force.

After the Punisher's former ally, Microchip, was approached by the CIA to assist in apprehending the vigilante, Bethell was tasked with spearheading the operation; Bethell felt that Castle's extensive combat experience coupled with his uncompromising ruthlessness made him the perfect recruit for his unit. Bethell worked behind the scenes from a penthouse in New York City and oversaw the capture of the Punisher. After apprehending him, Microchip insisted that Castle join Bethell's unit, even offering him the chance to hunt down high-priority terrorists such as Osama bin Laden. Castle flat out refused the offer, saying that fighting for those who run the world only ever gets you stabbed in the back; he cited his own personal experiences in Vietnam as a prime example of the American government turning its back on its soldiers.

Bethell was later wounded by Nicky Cavella during a attempted mob hit on the Punisher; this led to the Punisher's escape with Microchip. Bethell had Microchip's cellphone bugged and traced his and the Punisher's location, and had a helicopter ready in intervening in a battle between the Punisher and the mafioso. Bethell is then deliberately dropped from the helicopter, who were given the order from their superiors to do so, citing "Homeland Security". Bethell fell hundreds of feet to the ground. Fatally wounded from his fall, Bethell again offered the Punisher a job one more time, which he again refused. Bethell soon died from internal hemorrhaging.

Attributes

Abilities

Bethell was a highly trained CIA operative with years of experience. He was at one point attached to an Army Gray Fox unit in Afghanistan, suggesting proficiency with military-grade weapons and combat experience.

Paraphernalia

Transportation

Homeland Security helicopter, other government-grade transportation as requested.

Notes

• Bethell is stated to be from Earth-616 in Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Book of the Dead 2004 #1. This mistake was corrected in Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z Vol 1 7.

See Also

• 6 appearance(s) of Robert Bethell (Earth-200111)
• 1 mention(s) of Robert Bethell (Earth-200111)
• 1 mention(s) in handbook(s) of Robert Bethell (Earth-200111)
• 1 image(s) of Robert Bethell (Earth-200111)