Captain America (comics)/Characters

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Captain America (Steve Rogers)

Rejected by the army during World War II but still intent on serving his country, Steve Rogers volunteered for a Super Soldier project that would give him increased physical capabilities greater than those of all but the mightiest human athletes. It worked, and once given a uniform and shield, he became a patriotic symbol in his fight against the Axis powers before disappearing mysteriously. Flash forward many decades, and a new generation of superheroes found him frozen in suspended animation. Once thawed he became a member, and later leader, of the Avengers.

  • Achievements in Ignorance: Cap's shield was, in-universe, created entirely by accident. A metallurgist named Myron MacLain was experimenting with a vibranium alloy, attempting to fuse it with an experimental steel alloy (later called adamantium); he was working late, fell asleep, and when he woke up, found the resulting alloy had set in a tank hatch mold, resulting in a disk-shaped piece of metal that was later painted and made into Cap's shield. He - and others - have tried many times to rediscover it, but to no avail, meaning the secret of this indestructible metal has been lost forever.
  • All-American Face: Hell yes!
  • America Saves the Day: All. The. Friggin'. Time. It's hard to imagine a character in Marvel(hell, in COMICS) who's saved the Earth as many times as Cap has. The only one that comes close in DC is Superman, and Cap does it without superpowers beyond his human perfection physique, his developed tactical mind and his complete unwillingness to give up.
  • Awesome McCoolname
  • Badass Abnormal: The Super Soldier serum enhances Cap's physical abilities to the greatest possible for an ordinary human, but it doesn't actually elevate him to superhuman levels in any particular physical category. However this only applies to individual categories of physical performance. Steve has been genetically perfected to be the pinnacle of humanity. Unlike normal athletes who cannot naturally excel in every physical ability, Steve is just above the best humans are capable of in every physical trait which makes him superhuman by default (he is capable of things normal humans aren't). The Project Rebirth also enhanced his healing and recovery abilities, made him more resistant to drugs and poisons, and slowed his aging drastically. These attribute allowed him to stay alive in a state of suspended on ice for decades.
  • Badass Normal: See above.
  • Beware the Nice Ones: Cap is one of the friendliest, most easygoing guys you'll ever meet. Granted, once you piss him off...
  • Big Good: Pretty much every other hero in Marvel looks up to him.
  • Brought to You by the Letter "A": Which stands for America (and not for France).
  • Cannot Talk to Women: Sometimes...
  • The Cape (trope)
  • Captain Patriotic: Though he's a man of the American Dream, rather than the American government.
  • Captain Superhero: Not the Trope Namer (that would be Captain Action) but definitely the Trope Codifier, and one of the few who has actually earned the title of Captain.
  • Cool Motorcycle: His most recognizable vehicle is a Harley Davidson Custom Special with a paint job that matches his costume. Exactly how cool depends on the time period and continuity.
  • Crazy Prepared: Captain America has spent a lot of time analyzing the data files the Avengers have compiled on all the major supervillains. No matter who he faces, chances are Cap already has a good idea of their strengths and weaknesses.
  • Dating Catwoman: Diamondback, who reformed in part because of his influence.
  • Determinator: If anything Cap has can be likened to an actual super power, it's his absolute refusal to give up. Even friggin' Thanos has seen this firsthand.
  • Eagleland: Steve is the embodiment of Type 1. He believes in the ideals of America of being a place that should stand for freedom, equality, and the promise that you can make a better life for yourself regardless of your past.

I am loyal to nothing, General -- except the Dream.

  • Early Installment Weirdness: In the earliest comics, Cap had a heater-style shield that he couldn't throw; after Timely Comics' rival MLJ (what Archie Comics was called back then) complained it was too similar to a shield used by one of their characters, Cap was given the familiar disk-shaped one.

<-- * Empowered Badass Normal: Steve isn't superhuman in any particular category but is superhuman overall as it is not physically possible to excel in every single aspect of physical performance. Athletes make trade-offs to specialize in their respective sport. A long distance runner cannot perform as well as a sprinter. A weightlifter cannot perform as well as a shot-putter. Steve is good at ALL of these things to just above an Olympic level which makes him "barely" superhuman as his physical abilities aren't something humans are naturally capable of. MOD: This is not a trope at ATT. -->

  • Genetic Engineering Is the New Nuke: In the Ultimate Marvel Universe, most of the superpeople in that universe are the result of people trying to recreate the Super-Soldier Serum that made Cap.
    • In the regular Marvel verse, Weapon X is really Roman Numerals and is actually Weapon 10, and the Super Solider Serum that made Cap was actually Weapon 1.
  • Fights Like a Normal: Many people make the mistake of assuming Cap is just a well trained guy who is really good at fighting because he can't hurl tanks like the Hulk or shrug off cannon fire like Thor. However, while Steve does primarily use hand to hand along with his shield, he is NOT a normal. His physical abilities are not something humans can gain through training and he is technically superhuman. See Badass Abnormal above.
  • From Nobody to Nightmare: Steve was originally a skinny kid who sold newspapers, and when WWII started, recruiters initially told him he was too frail and sickly to serve. But Steve's desire to serve his country knew no bounds, and one recruiter knew of a government project that was looking for volunteers... The rest, as they say, is history.
  • Genius Bruiser: Part of what makes Cap so formidable: he backs up his physique and fighting ability with a sharp tactical mind and leadership skills. There's a reason he's been the Avengers' leader pretty much since the day he joined.
  • Honor Before Reason: If he had a flaw - assuming he does - it's that he can be too honest and too forgiving.
  • Human Popsicle: Fortunately, Rogers' enhancements from Project Rebirth are a great rationale to make that still seem believable.
  • Improbable Aiming Skills -- Cap can pretty much do anything with his shield besides make it stand up and bark.
  • Incorruptible Pure Pureness: There is a reason why Steve's the moral center of the Marvel Universe.
  • Living MacGuffin: Steve sometimes serves as this due to being the only success from Erskine's project rebirth procedure. The only samples of the complete super-soldier formula and treatment are contained in his tissues. Since Erskine's completed formula can enhance anyone to the peak of human perfection while also removing any congenital defects/flaws and granting enhanced longevity and recover, there's a reason so many have sought to capture Steve to recreate the Project Rebirth process. Variants of the Super Soldier serum have been used to create the likes of Luke Cage and The Sentry who are straight up demi-god and god level powerful though for various reasons their cases were flukes or the original process was destroyed.
  • Luckily, My Shield Will Protect Me -- Cap's shield is pretty much unbreakable and invincible. It also serves for both offense and defense, since Cap can throw it to attack his enemies from long range or beat them with it in close combat. Its unique alloy even makes it able to damage enemies that might otherwise be immune to physical harm-the iron in it is harmful to demons, the vibranium causes pain to energy-based creatures, etc.
  • Military Superhero: Formerly, during World War II.
  • One-Man Army: If he had a dollar for every time he heard a villain yell to a bunch of henchmen "Stop him you fools, he's just one man!" he'd be in Tony Stark's tax bracket.
  • Precision Guided Shield -- Needs no explanation.
  • Nice Guy: Almost too a fault.
  • No Plans, No Prototype, No Backup -- Abraham Erskine, the scientist who enhanced him, was killed by a Nazi spy just as he completed the process. He had memorized the formula and never wrote it down, knowing someone might try to steal it. The secret of creating super-soldiers died with him. Steve's first mission as Captain America was tracking down the assassin who killed him.
  • The Paragon: As proof of this, he is one of the few mortal beings able to lift Thor's hammer. You know, the one that says, "Whosoever holds this hammer, if he be worthy"? Cap qualifies as "worthy" via divine law.
  • Sixth Ranger: Cap famously joined The Avengers in the fourth issue of the team's eponymous comic.
  • Super Soldier
  • The Spymaster -- Served as one in the Nick Fury mold after coming back from his death following Civil War, as "head of National Security". He operated without the shield and his iconic costume, and under his real name, as Bucky was already serving as Cap. It didn't stick.
  • Super Reflexes: Not only can Cap always position his shield to block attacks, but even when he is chemically mindcontrolled, nothing can prevent him from reflexively moving his shield arm to block attacks with his shield.
  • Throwing Your Shield Always Works: Oh yeah, Steve is the guy who made this Trope work.
  • Transhuman: Steve has been enhanced by Project Rebirth to go beyond normal human limits. His physical abilities are not something humans can gain through training and are not natural. Humans have to make trade-offs in training and cannot naturally excel in every single physical category but Steve is just above human in every category. He can match the best long distance runners, sprinters, weight lifters, throwers and martial artists physically in every way. This makes him barely superhuman and Project Rebirth also enhanced his healing and slowed down his aging allowing him to survive suspended animation.
  • Unstuck in Time -- Was forced to go through this by the Red Skull in Reborn, following his apparent death after Civil War, to prepare his body for an eventual Grand Theft Me. It didn't work.
  • Weapon of Choice -- His "mighty shield"

Allies

James Buchanan Barnes

Formerly Steve Rogers' Kid Sidekick during World War II, when he was known as 'Bucky'. He was apparently killed shortly before Steve was frozen in suspended animation, but was recently revealed to have been captured, near death, by the Soviets. Equipped with a cybernetic arm and Brainwashed into becoming the assassin known as the Winter Soldier, he played the role of a villain until Steve brought him back to his senses and had him reform. With the apparent death of Steve, Bucky took the mantle of Captain America with the blessing of Tony Stark.

Nick Fury

The Howling Commando. The SHIELD Ramrod. A 90-year-old soldier/CIA agent/spymaster/fugitive. Considered to be one of the good guys by pretty much every hero on the planet, partly because the idea of not being on his side is kind of terrifying.

Sharon Carter

The sister/niece of Steve's World War II love interest Peggy Carter, who works alongside Steve as an agent of SHIELD. The two have an on-again, off-again love affair, which is currently on.

The Falcon (Sam "Snap" Wilson)

Sam Wilson was a social worker before he was a super hero. After witnessing unspeakable acts of gang violence, he took up the codename 'The Falcon' and fights to keep the streets safe.

Demolition Man (Dennis Dunphy)

U.S. Agent (John Walker)

Villains

The Red Skull (Johann Schmidt)

One of Captain America (comics)'s oldest villains. Right-hand man of Adolf Hitler in the Marvel Universe, HYDRA brought him Back from the Dead to plague the world once again. He has since abandoned Nazism as "outdated", but still plots World Domination and carries out his old vendetta against Captain America.

For an expanded list of Tropes that relate to the Red Skull, see his own page.

  • Abusive Parents: His mother died in childbirth, and his alcohlic father tried to drown him for it. Someone rescued him, but things just went downhill from there....
    • He's an aboslutely horrible parent to his own daughter, as well. When she was born he originally planned on killing her, because she wasn't a boy.
  • Arch Enemy: One of the oldest in comics.
  • Artifact of Doom: Cosmic Cubes, in his hands anyway.
  • Back from the Dead
  • Badass Normal
  • Bastard Understudy: To Hitler.
  • Big Bad
  • Card-Carrying Villain
  • Classic Villain
  • Complete Monster: And how! Probably the worst in the MU, and that's saying a lot. There literally is nothing he hasn't done or tried to do somewhere down the line.
  • Daddy's Little Villain: His daughter, Syn.
  • Dark Messiah: There's an Aryan brotherhood gang called "The Skulls" and they worship the Skull as the second coming. Oddly enough the gang and their leader are mainly Wolverine villains. You could also say Crossbones sees the Skull this way.
  • Diabolical Mastermind
  • The Dreaded: Just mentioning his name is a good way to end villain deals, and you'll have to look pretty damn hard if you want to find someone who would willingly work with him.
  • Evil Counterpart: To Cap, obviously. In fact, one story suggests the Skull's identity was created specifically as a response to America's living symbol.
  • Evil Mentor: His was Hitler
  • Evil Redhead: Back when he had his original body, though it's now in a literal sense.
  • Even Evil Has Standards -- Not for the Skull himself, but for the rest of the major villains of the Marvel Universe, most of whom are too disgusted by the Skull to willingly work with him.
    • In a crossover, even The Joker was disgusted by the idea of working with him. You know you're bad if you disgust him.
    • In-universe, Magneto attacked the Red Skull near the conclusion of Acts of Vengance, and buried him alive inside an iron crypt, presumably expecting him to die. This, of course, because Magneto is a Holocaust survivor who has ample reasons to hate the Skull -- the Skull is both a Nazi and a anti-mutant supremacist.
  • From Nobody to Nightmare: He was just a bitter, angry, psychotic street kid who had somehow managed to get a job as a bellhop at a posh hotel. Then Hitler noticed him, and took him under his wing.
  • Gone Horribly Right: He was Hitler's attempt to show that he could create the ultimate Nazi Ubermensch. He was such a success that even Hitler started becoming scared of him.
  • Joker Immunity
  • Legacy Character: There have been 4 Red Skulls. Technically, Johan Schmidt is actually the second; the original Red Skull was a Nazi spy who was retconned into being one of Schmidt's agent. The third was a Dirty Communist, and the 4th is the Skull's own daughter.
  • Skull for a Head: Used to be a mask, now is a deformity.
  • The Social Darwinist: He has abandoned Nazism (it was "out of date"), but he still believes in a world where the strong rule and bully the weak.
  • The Sociopath
  • The Spymaster: This was basically his job under the Third Reich.
  • Torture Technician
  • Those Wacky Nazis
  • The Ubermensch
  • Unholy Matrimony: When he was with Mother Night. Though Skull was always abusive to her, even if she was completely loyal to him.
  • Wicked Cultured: His theme tune is Chopins Funeral March. He used to play it whenever he dosed someone with his Dust of Death poisoned gas.
  • World Domination

Crossbones

Brock Rumlow was a petty thug and hit man, the lowest trash imaginable. Then he was recruited by the Red Skull, and became even worse. A frequent enemy of Captain America, he was the man that shot Steve Rogers at the end of Civil War. A frequent underling of the Red Skull, Crossbones is just as sick and twisted as his master.

  • Ascended Fanboy: A particularly ghoulish version of this trope, Crossbones was in fact a huge fan of the Red Skull before his idol offered him a job.
  • Axe Crazy
  • Badass Normal: A good enough fighter to keep up with Captain America.
  • The Dragon: To the Red Skull.
  • Evil Counterpart: Thematically, one could argue that Crossbones is similar to Bucky or Nomad in that they're both devoted sidekicks to the Skull and Captain America, respectively.
  • Patrick Stewart Speech: Horrifically inverted when the Red Skull is feeling depressed and Crossbones tries to cheer him up by reminding him of all his evil accomplishments.
  • Post-Rape Taunt: Poor Diamondback.
  • Skeletons in the Coat Closet
  • Unholy Matrimony: They aren't married, but Crossbones and Sin have a thing for each other.

Madame Hydra / Viper

One of the leading figures in the terrorist organization HYDRA and a notorious international terrorist, Madame Hydra, alias Viper, is an Ax Crazy psychopath and a nihilistic lunatic who frequently engages in attempted mass murder schemes that have no obvious benefit. She is associated with the Serpent Squad.

Syn / Red Skull IV

The daughter of the Red Skull and a washerwoman who died in childbirth, Synthia Schmidt was raised by one of his loyal henchmen(Mother Night, The Skull's occasional lover) after he was persuaded not to kill her for being a girl. She is just as demented as her dad, and is usually a member of the Serpent Squad.

Serpent Squad

A group of Snake-themed mercenaries led and founded by the first Viper, until he was murdered and replaced by Madame Hydra, who took over the group. Since then the leadership has changed hands from time to time, but she is still associated with the team. The most notable sometime member is Sin.

Machinesmith (Samuel "Starr" Saxon)

Flag-Smasher

The son of a Swiss diplomat who was murdered by xenophobic Latverians. He becomes an anarchist who hates the idea of nations, believing that they cause hatred and violence.

Baron Zemo

Cap's archenemy from the Silver Age, created in a retcon. Heinrich Zemo was a Nazi scientist who created an adhesive that was nearly impossible to dissolve. In a tussle with Captain America, his purple hood was glued to his face by his invention and he swore vengeance, eventually being the cause of Bucky's "death." Zemo survived the war and became active when he learned that Cap was back, coming into conflict with the Avengers and even forming the first Masters of Evil. Heinrich was eventually killed in battle, with his son Helmut succeeding him as Baron Zemo.

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