MariFrank

"She knew what I was. She loved me anyway."

- Frank to Dinah Madani about Maria.

MariFrank is the het ship between Maria Castle and Frank Castle from the Punisher fandom.

The Punisher
While at the park with her friends, Maria hears Frank trying to play a song on his guitar. She smiles at Frank and teases him, saying that he should play something else because he was butchering this one. Frank described to David Lieberman that he was already smitten when she had smiled at him, and flirtatiously responded that he didn't do requests. From then on began their relationship.

"It was at a park on a sunny day, you know? I was there with my guitar. I'm sitting under the tree like a derelict, you know? Trying to learn this this new song. I'm struggling, you know? Struggling away with it. I'm singing out loud like an asshole, you know? And then I see her. She smiled at me. I was done, man. She had me. She says to me, "Hey, buddy, you know anything else? Because we're sick of hearing you butcher this one." That's what she said, you know? I go beet red, you know? And I look up, and I see this gang of her friends. And they're all laughing their asses off."

- Frank to David about his first time meeting Maria.

Three months into their relationship, Maria got pregnant with Frank's daughter, Lisa. She told Frank that she would not give up their child, but if he wanted to walk away, he could. Maria understood if Frank didn't want to be in the child's life, however she herself could not give up. Upon hearing Maria's words, Frank asked Maria on that day to marry him. Much to the dissapointment of some of his friends. Eventually, the two got married and had another child, Frank Jr.

"I was with Maria for three months when she got pregnant with Lisa. She said that she was not giving her up. Didn't wanna raise her alone, but she understood if I didn't wanna hang around. I asked her to marry me that day. Now I had friends who said I was crazy, that I'd lost my mind. But we were together ever since. Yeah sure, we had problems, but I never wanted to be with anyone else."

- Frank to David Lieberman about Maria.

When Frank returned home from war, he took Maria and their children to Central Park with Billy Russo to have a picnic together. While at the picnic, Maria looked at Lisa riding the carousel horse and said that the kids were growing up fast, and were soon going to be too old to be going out in the park. Frank leans in and kisses Maria, which she returns, before getting called over by Billy and Frank Jr. to get the food.

Billy entartains the children, and says that he got his name after the most famous outlaw that ever lived, Billy the Kid. Lisa asks Russo on how he knew he was named after Billy the Kid if he was an orphan. Maria and Frank chuckle at the question; while Russo jokes that Lisa was too smart to be Frank's daughter, and tells her he didn't know the answer. Maria smiles and gives Russo a friendly kiss on the cheek, assuring him they were all the family he needed.

Unbenkownst to Frank, his family was set up to get killed by William Rawlins. However, William arranged a shoot-out between the Kitchen Irish, the Mexican Cartel, and the Dogs of Hell to make it look like it was the criminal gangs who killed them. Maria and the children were brutally killed, however Frank survived the gunshot wound to the head. When Frank was taken into the Metro-General Hospital, after flatlining for a full minute, he revived. Frank grabbed onto his nurse, Bach, and told him to take him home.

From then on, Frank chose to hunt down the criminal organization's and put an end to his family's killers. Becoming an assasin with an alias, The Punisher.

"Any scumbag, any.. any maggot piece of shit that I put down, I did it, because I LIKED IT!"

- Frank in court.

Daredevil
When Frank was in the Hospital, he got visited by Karen Page, Matthew Murdock and Foggy Nelson. Page rushes at him, showing him the photo of his family she had taken from his house. Frank, suprised that she had been in his home, later told Page to stay and talk to him about what she'd seen, since he never went back after his family's death. Frank thanks Page for helping him remember his wife and children, and the two become at ease with each other. Frank's desire to wipe out the criminal organization's came from the death of his wife and children. At first, Frank's goal was to wipe out the scum who had slain his family. Once he'd thought he'd accomplished that goal, he lived a quiet life in hiding as Pete Castiglione. Frank lived in a small apartment where he frequently had dreams and visions of Maria.

Nightmares
After Maria's death, Frank started to have nightmares about her. Often waking up screaming or shaking in his sleep. Maria would wake Frank up with a kiss, smiling at him, before getting shot in the head by a masked soldier. In one of his nightmares, the masked soldier takes off his mask to reveal Frank himself. Symbolizing that Frank blames himself for her death.

"Welcome home, Frank."

- Maria to Frank.

During one of Frank's nightmares, he dreams of having a Thanksgiving Dinner with the Lieberman family. Maria lovingly smiles at Frank and welcomes him home, however the dream turns into a nightmare. Frank feels himself tied to the chair, unable to move, as he watches masked soldiers enter the room with weapons in their hands. Frank's face twists in anguish and he panics, screaming at them to wait— biding his time, however he is unable to do anything as he witnesses his family get killed yet again.

Frank Castle's Torture
Amidst his torture, Frank sees visions of his time with Maria. The two making love, their wedding, and finally, what really happened before their day at Central Park. This time the memory with his wife is not a happy one. She tears up as she asks him where his home is, in Afghanistan or with their family. Frank assures her that his home will always be with her, kissing her forehead. When Rawlins hits him again, he sees Maria holding his hand and asking him to come home. Frank's hand tightens around hers.. before releasing. Frank tells Maria that he is home, before killing William. Frank's choice to let go of Maria was not because he wanted to live, but rather he had already made his home another war. Billy, Curtis, and Maria had said that the more time he spent out on a battlefield, more and more of himself did he leave there.

The Punisher Comics (What If...?)
In one of the "What If..?" alternate universe comics for The Punisher, Maria survives alongside her children. Instead of Frank becoming a vigilante after Maria's death, in the alternate universe, it is Frank who dies and Maria who becomes The Punisher. Together with Lisa and Frankie, they become "The Punisher Family" and avenge Frank's death. Maria takes cares of her children and is shown to be a skilled fighter. When she comes back from missions, she frequently visits Frank's gravestone, leaving him roses.

Quotes
"Maria..."

- Frank mumbling Maria's name as he gets tortured. "I'm not going back. I'm not. I'm gonna stay here, I'm done. Yeah. Yeah, I wanna stay with you. I'm gonna stay home."

- Frank promising Maria to stay with her. "We were far from perfect, but when I remember her, it's like all the shitty stuff— it just fades away."

- Frank to David Lieberman about Maria.

"I would chop my arm off right here, in this restaurant, just to feel that one more time for my wife. My old lady, she didn't just break my heart. She...she'd rip it out, she'd tear it apart, she'd step on that shit, feed it to a dog. I mean she was ruthless. She brought the pain. But she'll never hurt me again."

- Frank to Karen.

"You know if you asked me once, I would’ve told you I was pretty much just like anyone else. And all I really gave a shit about was that my family was healthy or happy. But I lost them. Everything changed. I thought… I thought I became something different. But last night… I had a little chat with my wife. I sat by her grave, and I realized something. This is always who I was. And Maria… she knew. She knew what I was. She loved me anyway."

- Frank talking about Maria.

"My wife bled out later on the operating table. Her heart a gaping hole, her life drained through. Whenever I get careless, that yearning in her eyes creeps up and brings me to my knees."

- (The Punisher Comics) Frank about Maria.

"Hey, sleepyhead."

- Maria to Frank before she kisses him. "M-Maria? MARIA! Out of the way!"

- Frank seeing an illusion of Maria, and trying to get to her. "If I close my eyes right now I could.. I can see her. I mean, like I see her. It's always somethin' simple, you know? like.. standin' in the kitchen talking on the phone. And uh.. if there was any music- like it could be coming from anywhere- she'd.. she'd just start moving to it, you know? Like.. boy she could dance. Sometimes she would.. uh.. she would catch me looking at her I was.. whew.. I was done."

- Frank to David about Maria. "Oh, I love my wife. I love my wife!"

- Frank about Maria when she bought him the tickets.

Behind The Scenes
"Castle misses his family because all he has of them are memories. It's really saddening."

- Screenrant on Frank.

"Though Barrett's character, Maria, isn't alive in the present day, her role is still pretty big and she's listed as appearing in seven of the 13 episodes on IMDB. Though fans learned about the deaths of Frank's family on Daredevil, this season will take a deeper look at Frank's life before the murders, and show a softer side of him that viewers haven't really had a chance to witness."

- Romped on Maria Castle.

"After completing his first tour of duty, Frank married his lover Maria and they soon became pregnant with their first child Lisa Barbara Castle. Subsequently, after his second tour of duty and leading the Third Marine Company, Castle proceeded to serve in the Special Forces. Sometime during his third tour, Frank took a leave, resulting in Maria becoming pregnant with their second child, Frank Jr. Finally, after his fourth tour, Frank began focusing on his family and became a Special Forces instructor in New York. Before leaving to Washington, DC to receive the Presidential Freedom Award, the Castles had a picnic in Manhattan’s Central Park, a day that Frank would never forget."

- Frank's official page on Marvel. "The backstory of Maria is a tragic one and it is through her that we realize the immense hurt that shaped The Punisher’s evolution. As Maria, Kelli is as always glowing, being the cornerstone of Frank’s threadbare humanity."

- GORNOBLOND on [Kelli Barrett] and Maria Castle. "Maria was Frank's loving wife."

- Maria Castle's description. "Rawlins hits him harder, and Frank goes to his happy place, back with his wife. Castle goes to his happy place again, but it’s not so happy to start with. His wife cries, not sure if he would rather be back in Afghanistan or home with her. Frank assures her he won’t deploy again, and his home is with her."

- DAYOFTHEHUMAN on Frank and Maria. "To say that the Punisher got lucky with Maria Castle is an understatement; they had two kids together. But beyond that, she was the love of Frank Castle's life. It's interesting to note that of all the ladies that the Punisher has gotten lucky with, Maria was the only one to know him as the real Frank Castle, before the vengeance. All of the other women may have known his identity, (or not, in the cases where he used one of his many aliases) but he wouldn’t have let them in emotionally to any real extent."

- CBR on MariFrank. "I could never have played this part if I weren’t a husband or a father. Until you really understand what it’s like to love somebody more than yourself and to willingly give your life for them, only then can you understand what it would mean if they were taken from you ..."

- Jon Bernthal on playing Frank Castle, and how Frank feels about Maria.

Fanon
MariFrank is Maria's most popular ship and Frank's third most popular. Despite not knowing much about Maria and Frank's relationship, fans find the immense love they had for each other endearing. Fans also believe that had Maria not died, the two would have lived the happiest life together. In The Punisher universe, there isn't anyone who Frank loved, and still loves, more than Maria. Some MariFrank shippers also tend to ship Kastle, and vice versa. The rival ship of MariFrank and Kastle is the ship between Matt Murdock and Frank Castle, Fratt.

Though there isn't much on the two and their history, fans love the connection and bond between Frank and Maria. Frank himself said that when he was with Maria, he never wanted to be with anyone else. Many believe had Rawlins never made the move to kill Maria and the kids, Frank truly would have stayed home with his family.

MariFrank is the most written ship for Maria on AO3, and the fourth most written for Frank. It is the 7th most written ship in The Punisher (Comics) tag, and the fourth most (romantic) written ship in The Punisher (TV) tag.

Fandom
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Trivia

 * In The Punisher comics, despite having slept with multiple women, Frank has never loved anyone as much as he loved (and still loves) Maria.
 * Frank tells David in The Punisher that Maria "had him" the moment she smiled at him.
 * In The Punisher Season 2, Frank wears his wedding ring around his neck.
 * Maria Castle's actor, Kelli Barrett, liked a MariFrank fan art on Twitter.
 * Kelli Barrett is a big fan of The Punisher.
 * Both in the comics, movies, and series, Frank often makes remarks about how much he loves his wife.
 * Frank tells David Lieberman (Micro) that despite knowing who Frank is, Maria still loved him anyway.