Originally posted by psycho gundam
imo there is a difference:mercs are usually a private enterprise soldier who is well versed in all combat situations (almost always armed to the teeth) and is usually hired to protect (political reasons) or assault. killing is optional.
assassins are professional murderers usually hired to get rid of someone(s) with the assumption of complete success and without the murder(s) being tied to the person who hired the assassin. killing is virtually their only goal.
deadshot, bullseye, etc = assassin
punisher, 90's cable, etc = mercinaries
Neither Cable nor Punisher were ever mercenaries, but domino and deadpool would be good examples. The distinction between mercenary and assassin for hire is blurry anyway, they're both hired guns. Mercenary is a less specific term that only means soldire for rent, while an assassin is a dude specialized in killing specific targets.
Originally posted by Survivor19
WUT
hehe didn't you read umbrella academy? it's pretty fun.
Rumor was a girl who had the power to make anything she said in the form of a lie or a rumor immedialty became true. In order to fix the timeline and keep john kennedy dead, she killed him by saying: 'mr president I heard a rumour your head was about to explode' and it did. She killed a huge animated statue of lincoln by saying she heard a rumour he was assassinated at the theatre, a huge animated statue of the guy that killed lincoln shows up out of nowhere and shoots marble lincoln in the back of the head killing him.
She can essentially kill anyone by creating a rumour they had died.
nº 5 from the same story is a ten year old boy who jumps ahead in time going to where he wants to be in the future and aparrently moving faster than anyone can react to, he is the greatest assassin in his universe
Originally posted by 753sure they were. punisher used the money of the criminals and mafia families he killed to keep his operation afloat, and cable didn't make money per say cause of the dire state of the time he was from, but he was part of a clan that were rebels against apocalypse's tyranny, basically a throwback to the classic sense of the term.
Neither Cable nor Punisher were ever mercenaries
Originally posted by psycho gundam
sure they were. punisher used the money of the criminals and mafia families he killed to keep his operation afloat, and cable didn't make money per say cause of the dire state of the time he was from. he was part of a clan that were rebels against apocalypse, basically a throwback to the classic sense of the term.
But that doesnt' make them mercenaries, they didn't fight for money and never hired themselves out. They are motivated to fight by ideological beliefs, thirst for vengeance and a somewhat morbid apreciation of warfare, the punisher is also bat shit crazy.
so if there is nobody to actually pay you or money to be paid with, you aren't a mercenary even though you clearly fihgt an opposing force of many, and do so usually on your lonesome just getting by from the spoils of your victories?
bishop and his whole futuristic xse or whatever it was called were a band of mercenaries, don't remember them getting paid.
Originally posted by psycho gundam
so if there is nobody to actually pay you or money to be paid with, you aren't a mercenary even though you clearly fihgt an opposing force of many, and do so usually on your lonesome just getting by from the spoils of your victories?bishop and his whole futuristic xse or whatever it was called were a band of mercenaries, don't remember them getting paid.
I think you're confusing guerilla fighters with mercenaries. Mercenaries, by definition, are professional soldiers who fight for money, hiring their services out and not for allegiance to a particular nation, ideology or group. Bishop's people were a renegade militia, cable and the askani were mystical revolutionaries and punisher is a crazy war junkie. None of them are in it for the money or selfish gains.
From wikipedia:
A mercenary is a professional soldier hired by a foreign army, as opposed to a soldier enlisted in the armed forces of the sovereign state of which he is a citizen. He takes part in armed conflict on many different scales, and is "motivated to take part in the hostilities essentially by the desire for private gain and, in fact, is promised, by or on behalf of a party to the conflict, material compensation substantially in excess of that promised or paid to combatants of similar ranks and functions in the armed forces of that Party" (Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Convention of August 1949).[1][2] A non-conscript professional member of a regular army is not considered to be a mercenary, even though he gets remuneration for his service.
Using the loot from his jobs to pay for more just makes Punisher a self-funded psycho (or self-funded independent operator if you prefer).
And Cable? Heck no. Hm.. he might've done a little merc work after time travelling to the modern day, but against Apoc he wasn't some unrelated soldier who joined in for the cash, that was his cause.
A merc is someone who fights for a side or sides not their own for a paycheck. Punisher may work with others sometimes, but he'd never get in a conflict unrelated to his war on crime or other ideals just for funding. Cable may in order to get something else he needs, but most of the time it's not what he does.
Originally posted by psycho gundam
"citation needed"
christ...
here: http://www.askoxford.com/concise_oed/mercenary?view=uk
oxford dictionary
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mercenary
merriam webster. these two are the most prestigious dictionaries among native english speakers arent they?
http://www.icrc.org/ihl.nsf/7c4d08d9b287a42141256739003e636b/f6c8b9fee14a77fdc125641e0052b079
geneva convention, article 47
is this enough?
