Detailed explanation of powers/abilities:
V:
V's background and his identity are largely unknown. He was an inmate at the infamous "Larkhill Resettlement Camp", which was actually one of many concentration camps where political prisoners, homosexuals, Jews, blacks, Pakistanis, Muslims and probably all non-Europeans were exterminated by Britain's new fascist regime, Norsefire. While there, he was part of a group of prisoners who were subjected to horrific medical experiments conducted by Dr. Delia Surridge, which involved artificially designed hormone experiments (possibly research into creating super-soldiers). A pedophile priest, Lilliman, was at the camp to lend "spiritual support". The dozens of prisoners injected with the serum all died horribly, all except for one man: the man in room five ("V" in Roman numerals). Physically, there was nothing wrong with him, but Surridge felt that his mind had been warped by the experimentation. Still, his actions seemed to maintain a twisted logic to them. The experiments actually yielded some beneficial results: he developed Olympic-level reflexes, increased strength, and incredibly expanded mental capacity (as demonstrated consistently throughout the novel, V is a genius in the fields of explosives, martial arts, philosophy, literature, politics, computer hacking, chemistry and many more).
Over time, the man is allowed to grow roses (violet carsons) and is discovered to be a gardening expert and ends up raising crops for camp officials, i.e. Prothero. The man eventually started taking surplus ammonia-based fertilizer back to his cell, arranged it in bizarre, intricate patterns on the floor, and soon after a large amount of grease solvent from the gardens also went missing. In secret, the man was using the fertilizer and solvent to make mustard gas and napalm. On a stormy night (Nov. 5th), he detonated his homemade bomb and escaped his cell. Much of the camp was set ablaze, and many of the guards that rushed in to see what happened and were killed by the mustard gas. The camp was evacuated and closed down. He adopted the new identity, "V", and donned a Guy Fawkes mask and costume. V then spent the next five years (twenty in the film adaptation) planning his revenge on the Norsefire government, building his secret base, which he called the "Shadow Gallery", and killing off most of the over 40 surviving personnel from Larkhill, making each killing look like an accident. However, he saved Prothero, Surridge, and Lilliman for last, showing only Surridge a bit of mercy by using a painless poison and when contacting Prothero, he did not kill him but left him incurably insane by destroying his priceless doll collection with which Prothero was obsessed (whereas in the film adaptation, he simply kills off Prothero and Prothero does not seem to have any obsession with dolls.)
The Punisher:
The Punisher possesses the normal human strength of a man, who engages in rigorous regular physical exercise. Frank engages in a brutal regimen of calisthenics, katas and firing range practice daily, maintaining his combat skills.
The Punisher is a seasoned combat veteran of exceptional skills. A former U.S. Marine Captain with a distinguished combat record, Castle underwent sniper (his second tour in Vietnam was served as a sniper, as implied in "In the Beginning") and reconnaissance training while in the Corps. He also received a U.S. Navy SEAL, UDT (Underwater Demolition Team), LRRP (Long Range Recon Patrol) training and airborne training with the U.S. Army and U.S. Navy Special Forces. It has also been revealed in both the Marvel Knights and MAX imprints of The Punisher that Castle did receive training, skills and expertise from the Australian Army's Special Air Service Regiment when he was on exchange with Australian military forces operating in South Vietnam during the Vietnam War (It is also noted that while Castle was on exchange with the Australian SAS in Vietnam, he met Yorkie Mitchell, a British SAS soldier who was on exchange with the Australians at the same time. Mitchell would later become an agent for the British intelligence agency, MI6 and he would cross paths and work with Castle on a number of occasions during the Marvel Knights and MAX runs of The Punisher).
Castle is well-versed in the arts of warfare and hand-to-hand combat. His styles of choice being Nash Ryu Ju Jitsu (the four-style martial art founded by his Sensei Adam Nash and the Marine Corps LINE combat system). He is an exceptional knife fighter who carries up to 3 or 4 different types of edged weapons, preferring the knife he learned to fight with in the USMC: the Ka-bar (in the movie he killed Harry Heck with a ballistic knife).
Armed solely with conventional weapons and motivated by a fanatical hatred for criminals like those who murdered his family, the Punisher has single-handedly incapacitated up to a dozen well-armed and experienced opponents in a single encounter and escaped almost uninjured. It is his military training and his attention to detail that allows him to achieve this. He is an exceptional marksman who is sometimes depicted as being ambidextrous in this respect. The Punisher Armory series illustrates some of his thinking and training.
[edit] Weapons
The Punisher employs a vast array of conventional firearms including machine guns, rifles, shotguns, handguns, knives, explosives and other weapons culled from common and organized criminals and military sources during his operations. A vast majority of his weapons have roots in military forces around the world, and typically employs weapons and accessories limited to military operations. He maintains and stores all his weapons and supplies in various warehouses and safehouses throughout New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and various other states. He employs this exhaustive arsenal in his war on criminals on a regular basis.
The Punisher often customizes his weapons for greater effectiveness with both standard and custom items including magnified optics, reflex sights, night vision scopes, flashlights, grenade launchers, sound and flash suppressors, bipods, high-capacity magazines and drums and various ammunition including hollow point or armor piercing bullets.
Throughout the Punisher's crusade against criminals, he occasionally used a number of high-tech transportations. During his early series, he used "battle vans" specially built and customized by his then-partner, Microchip. These vans were heavily armored, loaded with high-powered ammunitions with advanced telecommunication capabilities. Castle used these vans for surveillance and weapons transportation. He has also used motorcycles, helicopters, speed boats, or whatever he can find and use. In the Marvel MAX series, Castle resorts to basic equipment to track down his targets such as SUVs and Humvee vehicles.
