The Punisher Skull, really scare away evil spirits?

I don’t know about the skull precisely, but I know that it was and probably still is a common practice to scare away evil spirits/demons/monsters with depictions of scarier spirits/demons/monsters. Ancient Babylonians would often place small statues of Pazuzu in their doorway to scare away lesser demons, and in China and many other countries in Asia you’ll find the Guardian Lions or Fu dogs which serve a similar purpose.

Some people really believe stuff like that, but a lot of times things are made up for the movies. While human skulls have been considered to have certain powers, the Punisher skull was designed by an artist.

For some reason, authors tend to check their facts (sometimes if only because their editor demands it) but movies are often made by people with more power and money than knowledge and who consistently underestimate the intelligence of the American public. You should watch some of those Mythbuster episodes where they test various movie stunts and effects to see if they could really happen (usually the answer is nope).

In any case, folks do a lot of things to scare away demons ranging from the things @MrMeltedCrayon cites to placing statues of the two “Diva Kings”, Indra and Brahma, at the door, banging drums, gongs or cymbals, hanging garlic over or around doors and windows, having a priest bless your house, or even putting a horseshoe up over the door.

I rather like the assumption that the Chinese make, that demons can only go in straight lines so a wall just inside the front door will keep them out.

I guarantee that if you wear that shirt you will not encounter any evil spirits ;)

wow, I could have sworn I answered this question already….. deja vu…..

Haha you did.. My fault, I explained in the original question.

“Shortly after a tour in Vietnam, Castle, his wife, Maria and their children were in New York’s Central Park for an afternoon picnic when they witnessed a Mafia gangland execution; an informant had been hanged from a tree. Seeking to eliminate all witnesses, the Costa crime family murdered them on the spot. However, Castle survived. Even though Frank was able to identify all of the shooters the police were unable to help Castle in his quest for justice; they were tied in too deeply to the powerful Costa family. He decided that the only punishment criminals might receive is that of physical destruction. Shortly thereafter, he emblazoned his body armor with a symbol of a death’s head, and exacted his revenge. Since then he has waged a one-man war upon crime, taking the name Punisher.”
Ref: http://www.thepunishercomics.com/fun_stuff/punisher/origin.htm