JIGSAW (Billy "The Brute" Russo)
Created By: Len Wein & Ross Andru
First Appearance: The Amazing Spider-Man #162 (Nov. 1976)
Role: The Punisher's Own Personal Punching Bag, Crimeboss
Group Affiliations: N/A
PL 9 (130)
STRENGTH 3
STAMINA 4
AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 12
DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 2
AWARENESS 3
PRESENCE 3
Skills:
Athletics 5 (+7)
Deception 5 (+8)
Expertise (Criminal) 11 (+13)
Insight 3 (+6)
Intimidation 5 (+8)
Investigation 4 (+7)
Perception 5 (+8)
Stealth 2 (+6)
Vehicles 2 (+6)
Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Benefit 2 (Wealth), Chokehold, Daze (Intimidation), Diehard, Equipment 5 (Arsenal), Improved Aim, Improved Critical (Knife), Improved Critical (Firearms), Improved Initiative, Power Attack, Quick Draw, Ranged Attack 7, Second Chance (Being Shot to Death), Second Chance (Falling to His Death), Startle
Equipment:
"Arsenal"
"Automatic Rifle" Blast 7 (Extras: Multiattack) (Inaccurate -1) (20) -- (25)
- AE: "Rifle Shot" Blast 7 (14)
- AE: "Grenades" Blast 7 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst) (Diminished Range -1) (20)
- AE: "Knife" Strength-Damage +1 (Feats: Improved Critical) (2)
- AE: "Shotgun" Damage 7 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Cone +1/2) (10.5)
Offense:
Unarmed +12 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Knife +12 (+4 Damage, DC 19)
Rifle +11 (+7 Ranged Damage, DC 22)
Automatic Rifle +9 (+7 Ranged Damage, DC 22)
Shotgun & Grenades +7 Area (+7 Damage, DC 22)
Initiative +8
Defenses:
Dodge +13 (DC 23), Parry +13 (DC 23), Toughness +4, Fortitude +6, Will +7
Complications:
Motivation (Greed)
Enemy (The Punisher)- Ever since Frank Castle threw Billy Russo through a plate glass window, the once-handsome killer has been obsessed with revenge.
Total: Abilities: 70 / Skills: 42--21 / Advantages: 23 / Powers: 0 / Defenses: 16 (130)
-Last posted when I did the "J" builds, it'd been a LONG while before that when I last statted him. Jigsaw is basically The Punisher's only TRUE recurring nemesis, especially once The Kingpin moved permanently to Daredevil's Rogues Gallery. Given a Batman-esque origin story (he was pretty, but became ugly), he's about the only guy Frank HASN'T killed permanently over the years. Well, he died ONCE, but was resurrected, because it's comics. It's a little funny to think that THE PUNISHER of all people has a recurring nemesis, but hell, the guy's gotta have SOMEBODY to fight again and again. Lord knows the lack of a recurring Rogues Gallery is one of the key problems with the "Kill Your Opponents" type of super-hero- he either kills all of his opponents or he looks totally incompetent.
-Jigsaw has a pretty "Metal" origin- he was a handsome hitman named "The Beaut" for his good looks, known for brutalizing his family (once forcing his son to drown newborn kittens!). He went against the Punisher, who threw the pretty boy through a plate-glass window, ruining his face for all time- this gave him a "jigsaw-puzzle"-like expression that gave him a new name. A vengeful "Jigsaw" then tries to frame the Punisher for a murder (why FRAME him? The man
routinely commits murders on a daily basis! You gotta MAKE ONE UP?), but Spider-Man & Nightcrawler saved the day. Yes, oddly enough, the Punisher's main recurring nemesis debuted only a couple of years after Frank did, TEN YEARS before the Punisher got a solo book.
-Jigsaw went on to become one of Frank's only recurring nemeses, always plotting things from behind the scenes. He once drugged Frank into killing people for things as minor as littering in the first Limited Series, and later joined up with Rev. He had his face healed by the faith-healing-demon-worshipper, but was promptly shot and killed. Rev resurrected him thanks to the Demon Lord Belasco, but Jigsaw is brutally attacked and re-scarred by the Punisher by story's end. He and Frank encounter each other in prison, but the Punisher escapes after getting scarred himself.
-At one point, Jigsaw grew furious when the Punisher was sentenced to death, but was overjoyed at Frank's reappearance. Then tried to kill him. In modern times, he showed up on The Raft during a super-villain break-out, and filmed his and the Hood's torture of Tigra after she dealt him a humiliating defeat following a robbery. He was actually one of the Hood's top goons during this time, and appears a fair bit after that, once brainwashing a guy into being a Mini-Punisher, then teaming with a similarly-disfigured guy as "The Jigsaw Brothers". He later killed the guy after hiring Lady Gorgon to disguise herself as one of Castle's family members. Despite numerous attempts by Frank to kill his enemy, Jigsaw has reappeared time and time again, being seemingly impossible to kill. He gets a fair bit of play as a recurring nemesis, but is used sparingly (every handful of years) in
The Punisher, likely to keep Frank looking credible and not make it too weird that Jigsaw keeps surviving. Also, Jigsaw isn't really a great thinker or a schemer- he's just a violent thug that Frank can beat on.
-Jigsaw is a PL 9 Gunfighter type of dude, excelling in All-Out Attacks and scaring people, though he's not quite at Frank's level overall (better with a Knife, though). Like most good Villains, he wears Frank down with tons of Mooks, THEN goes and tries to kill him. Or he just escapes. He's a streetwise sort of fellow as well. His penchant for being unkillable is enough that I actually threw it into his "Second Chance" Advantages- a dude who is a recurring villain of the hero who specializes in executing all of his foes had better have SOMETHING.