Captain America: The First Avenger/Characters

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For the characters in the comic book series the movie was based on see: Captain America.

Steve Rogers (Captain America)

Played by: Chris Evans

A relatively unremarkable man, Steve was a patriotic American who wants to serve his country in World War II but was declined due to his poor health. All this changed when he was given the opportunity to take part in a super-soldier experiment.

• Adorkable: So very much, even after his lab procedure.
• All-American Face
• Badass Adorable: Captain Rogers is a sweet-tempered, well-mannered and kind-hearted boy-next-door who just happens to also possess a body at the pinnacle of human perfection.
  • Badass Bookworm -> Genius Bruiser: When he arrived to the military camp (prior to his transformation) he's with a few war tactic books and we see him to be more clever than the muscled recruits. His knowledge proved to be a good factor to his leadership when he became Captain America.
    • Genius Bruiser even more so when it's revealed that he has what appears to be a photographic memory, able to recall perfectly the locations of map points after a brief look.
• Bully Hunter: "I don't want to kill anybody. I don't like bullies. Don't care where they are from."
• Cheap Costume: Rogers is initially put into USO shows to boost morale and war bonds, wearing a costume that is more reminiscent of the spandex/tights of earlier live action versions of the character. He looks ridiculous, but both the look of the costume and the shield he was given serves as the inspiration for his official "hero" costume.
• Chaste Hero: See A Man Is Not a Virgin below.
• Chronic Hero Syndrome
• Cursed with Awesome: His metabolism is four times faster than the average human, so he can't drown his sorrows in the bottle when Bucky dies.
• Determinator: Despite the fact that he was consistently rejected, he continues to apply for military service.
• Doomed by Canon: Not necessarily doomed to die, but anyone familiar with the mythos know that Steve is doomed to be frozen alive.
• Dork Knight
• Mr. Fanservice
• Fish Out of Temporal Water: In the ending, thanks to Human Popsicle.
• Gentle Giant: Post lab procedure.
• Heroic Build: Yes, Chris Evans really did achieve a real-life Heroic Build.
• Heterosexual Life Partners: Cap and Bucky.
• Honor Before Reason
• Hope Bringer: Perhaps his only and greatest superpower: the ability to inspire bravery and nobility through courageous conduct.
• Ideal Hero
• Impossibly Cool Weapon: His shield, which is made of Unobtanium.
• Jumping on a Grenade: Does this when Phillips throws a dud grenade. Avengers spoiler!: It later serves as the central theme of a "The Reason You Suck" Speech to Tony Stark (who counters that he would just disarm the grenade) and later in the final battle he does it for real to save some civilians (he survives due to his shield).
• Luckily, My Shield Will Protect Me
  • Shield-Bash
  • Throwing Your Shield Always Works
  • A symbolic weapon for him, since he's more about defending the weak than defeating the strong.
• A Man Is Not a Virgin: Averted hard. Pre-Transformation Steve Rogers is terribly intimidated by women (owing to his small stature), even afraid to ask girls to dance with him. His apprehension remains after receiving the Super Soldier serum, even when women throw themselves at him. His brief macking with the secretary may very well be his first kiss.
• The Messiah
• Muscle Angst
• Nerves of Steel: The word "fear" is not crossed-out in Steve Rogers' dictionary, it's not even there.
• Nice Guy
• No One Gets Left Behind: When he rescues the men from HYDRA.
• One-Man Army: He's Captain America!
• Personality Powers: The Super Soldier Serum "...amplifies everything inside. Good becomes great. Bad becomes worse." Thus, a sweet-natured and doggedly determined ninety pound asthmatic from Brooklyn turns into the man all women want and all men want to be.
• Real Men Wear Tights: In his initial costume.
• Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right: The reason he moves out for his first real mission, and succeeds.
• Shirtless Scene: Several.
• Socially Awkward Hero: Even after he gets serum'ed. He has no idea what "fondue" is and thinks it's a sex metaphor.
• Super Soldier
  • Super Strength
• Took a Level in Badass: Steve Rogers goes from nice guy to Captain Freakin' America.
  • And STILL a Nice Guy by the end of it.
• Vitriolic Best Buds: With Bucky.
• Wide-Eyed Idealist: Both before his transformation and after.

Johann Schmidt (Red Skull)

Played by: Hugo Weaving

Adolf Hitler's head of advanced weaponry and Captain America's arch-nemesis. Though supposedly aligned with Hitler, Schmidt has his own plans for world domination with his own organization, HYDRA.

• A God Am I
• Ax Crazy: By the end of the film, any sanity he might have had is definitely gone, as evidenced by his attempt to kill Captain America onboard the Valkyrie despite the fact that many of his shots from his tesseract gun would severely damage the plane.
• Big Bad
• Evil Counterpart: Much like Cap, he also had been injected with the serum. Unlike Cap, he betrays his own country and is pretty much hell-bent on world domination.
• Ghostapo: Mixed in with Stupid Jetpack Hitler.
• Known Only By Their Nickname: Inverted. Throughout the film, he is only referred to by the name "Red Skull" once (by some Nazi officials chewing him out shortly before he decides to show them his weaponry), and even then from the context they could have easily just been referring to HYDRA, not his deformity. Every other instance the characters referred to him by his real name, Johann Schmidt.
• Never Found the Body: It's been noted that his death is very similar to the Bifrost transportation.
• The Noseless
• Personality Powers: The Super Soldier Serum "amplifies everything inside. Good becomes great. Bad becomes worse." Thus, a psychopathic Nazi who gave Adolph Hitler the creeps essentially becomes the Grim Reaper and even crazier than ever, with power to match his madness.
• Reassigned to Antarctica: After Schmidt's transformation, Hitler "gives" him a secret base in the Alps. The Red Skull knows that he's really being exiled. However, it gives Schmidt enough privacy to turn HYDRA into his personal army.
• Renegade German.
• Skull for a Head: Somewhat obvious. It's strongly implied in the film that his... Skull-face... is the result of the then-imperfect serum that he injected himself with, not to mention his dark inner nature.
• Super Soldier
  • Psycho Prototype
  • Super Strength
• The Starscream: Even has his minions chanting "Heil Hydra".

Chester Philips

Played by: Tommy Lee Jones

A US Army Colonel who commands the SSR and dislikes Rogers until he proves his worth.

• Colonel Badass
• Commander Contrarian: An approach that leaves him with egg on his face no less than twice, including the grenade scene below.
• Deadpan Snarker: It's Tommy Lee Jones, you're pretty much guaranteed this trope.
• Did Not See That Coming: When he throws a dud grenade, he expects Hodge to jump on it. Hodge hides while Rogers jumps on the grenade.
• The Neidermeyer: Subverted. He turns out to be awesome.
• Sour Supporter: "He's still skinny."

Peggy Carter

Played by: Hayley Atwell

A British secret agent seconded to the US Military.

• Action Girl
• Badass: Doing a pretty good job of Drill Sergeant Nasty to US Army recruits. Standing in front of a moving car to shoot down a Nazi spy. Going into battle with Captain America at a time in history when women were not typically allowed in front-line combat.
• First Love
• Hello, Nurse!
• Improbable Aiming Skills
• Lady in Red: When she comes to see Rogers in the bar.
• Lady of War

Dum-Dum Dugan

Played by: Neal McDonough

A US Army Corporal and prisoner of war who goes on to become a member of Steve Rogers' Howling Commandos.

• Badass Moustache
• Boisterous Bruiser: "I'll always fight."
• Cool Bowler Hat

Jim Morita

A Japanese American soldier from Fresno serving in Steve Rogers' Elite Guard, The Howling Commandos.

• Token Enemy Minority
• The Communications Officer

James Buchanan "Bucky" Barnes

Played by: Sebastian Stan

A US Army Sergeant, prisoner of war and Steve Rogers' lifelong friend who becomes a member of Steve's Howling Commandos.

• Dude in Distress: A couple of POWs out of hundreds are taken away to be tortured and experimented on. Only one survives. Guess who.
• Darker and Edgier
• Friendly Sniper
• Good-Looking Privates
• Heterosexual Life Partners: With Steve.
• Legally Dead: Twice.
• Never Found the Body
• Strapped to An Operating Table: Zola's operating table, to be exact.
• Troubled but Cute: Especially after the Hydra Factory rescue.
• Trapped Behind Enemy Lines
• Vitriolic Best Buds: With Steve.

Bucky: Don't do anything stupid until I get back. Steve: How can I? You're taking all the stupid with you.

J. Montgomery Falsworth

Played by: JJ Field

A Second Lieutenant in the British Paras and POW who joins Captain America's elite squad.

• The Chessmaster
• Nice Maroon Beret
• Officer and a Gentleman
• Royals Who Actually Do Something: Is a British Lord, though this isn't unusual - British officers were once drawn largely from the aristocracy.

Howard Stark

Played by Dominic Cooper

A genius inventor, rich playboy and excellent pilot who helped develop both the super soldier serum and Cap's shield.

• Ace Pilot
• Chivalrous Pervert: Subverted. He plays one on stage to maintain the image, but he's actually Strictly Professional.
• Deadpan Snarker
• Expy: Of his son, Tony.
• It Runs in The Family
• Large Ham
• Screw the Rules, I Have Connections: Howard develops weapons for the military, which is why he wasn't punished for helping Steve with his Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right.
• Screw the Rules, I Have Money: Another reason.
• Waistcoat of Style

Abraham Erskine

Played by Stanly Tucci

• All Germans Are Nazis: Notably Averted, as Erskine notes; "many people forget" the first country the Nazis invaded was, in fact, Germany.
• Death by Origin Story
• Herr Doktor: A good example.
• My Greatest Failure: Allowing Schmidt to take the Super Soldier serum.
• The Obi-Wan: To Steve.

Arnim Zola

Played by Toby Jones

• Evil Counterpart: To Howard Stark.
• Evil Genius
• Herr Doktor: A villainous example.
• For Science!: He isn't here for Schmidt's goals of world conquest; he just wants to build his machines.
• The Starscream: Double Subverted Trope. While he does seem alarmed by Red Skull's Sanity Slippage, he maintains a firm belief in his ideals. Despite that, he still isn't willing to throw his life away for the cause, and sells Red Skull out for his own safety.