Captain America (comics)/Characters: Difference between revisions

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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.

 

* [[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 [[The DCU|DC]] is ''[[Superman]]'', and Cap does it [[Badass Normal|without superpowers]] beyond his human perfection physique, [[Genius Bruiser|his developed tactical mind]] and [[Determinator|his complete unwillingness to give up]].

* [[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...

* [[Cannot Talk to Women]]: Sometimes...

* [[Captain Patriotic]]: Though he's a man of the American Dream, rather than the American government.

* [[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 [http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3841/751/1600/Cap02.jpg firsthand].

* [[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, [[Wolverine|Weapon X]] is really Roman Numerals and is actually Weapon '''10''', and the Super Solider Serum that made Cap was actually Weapon '''1'''.

* [[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.

* [[Incorruptible Pure Pureness]]: There is a reason why Steve's the moral center of the [[Marvel Universe]].

* [[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 (Comic Book)|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. {{spoiler|[[Status Quo Is God|It didn't stick]]}}.

* [[Super Reflexes]]: Not only can Cap always position his shield to block attacks, but even when he is [[Brainwashed and Crazy|chemically mindcontrolled]], nothing can prevent him from reflexively moving his shield arm to block attacks with his shield.

* [[Unstuck in Time]] -- Was forced to go through this by the Red Skull in ''Reborn'', following his apparent death after [[Civil War (Comic Book)|Civil War]], to prepare his body for an eventual [[Grand Theft Me]]. {{spoiler|[[Comic Book Death|It didn't work.]]}}

* [[Weapon of Choice]] -- His "mighty shield"

 

=== 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.

 

* [[Badass Abnormal]] -- He was a [[Badass Normal]] during [[World War 2]], but after losing his arm at the end of the war, the Soviets gave him a [[Artificial Limbs|cybernetic one]] with all sorts of handy abilities up to and including an [[EMP]].

* [[Brainwashed and Crazy]]

* [[Combat Pragmatist]]

* [[Dark and Troubled Past]]

* [[Heel Face Revolving Door]]

* [[Indy Ploy]] -- In contrast with Steve's [[Crazy Prepared]]-ness, his tactical sensibilities often manifested as this when he became Cap.

* [[Kid Sidekick]] Kinda subverted; he fit the mould in the 40's, but Ed Brubaker's [[Retcon]] introduced the idea that this was just a cover story, and that he was really the advance scout and go-to guy for the dirty jobs that Cap couldn't/''wouldn't'' be seen doing.

* [[Shrouded in Myth]] -- As the Winter Soldier.

* [[Superhero Packing Heat]]: He notably had a gun during his tenure as Cap.

 

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.

 

* [[Badass Grandpa]] -- Ninety years old, and he'll still kick your ass.

* [[Dating Catwoman]] -- The Contessa, a long on again, off again foe.

* [[Eyepatch of Power]]

* [[Really Seven Hundred Years Old]] -- a milder case. He looks about 50 or so, and can fight like a man one third of his real age. Due to the Infinity Formula, though, he is pushing a century.

 

=== 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.

 

* [[Unresolved Sexual Tension]]: With Steve, at times.

 

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.

 

* [[Black Best Friend]]

* [[I Believe I Can Fly]]

* [[The Prankster]]

* [[Psychic Link]]: He has it with birds.

=== Demolition Man (Dennis Dunphy) ===

* [[Alliterative Name]]: His real name as well as Demolition Dunphy

* [[Drugs Are Bad]]: They gave him his powers, but messed him up bad.

* [[Hollywood Heart Attack]]

* [[Jerkass]]: He became less of this in Force Works.

* [[Legacy Character]]: To Captain America, before his [[Divergent Character Evolution]].

* [[Smug Super]]: As Super-Patriot.

* [[Super Soldier]]

 

=== The [[Red Skull]] (Johann Schmidt) ===

 

 

* [[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....

* [[Arch Enemy]]: One of the oldest in comics.

* [[Artifact of Doom]]: Cosmic Cubes, in his hands anyway.

* [[Badass Normal]]

* [[Bastard Understudy]]: To Hitler.

* [[Big Bad]]

* [[Classic Villain]]

* [[Complete Monster]]: And how! Probably the worst in the MU, and that's saying a ''[[Crapsack World|lot]]''. There literally is nothing he hasn't done or tried to do somewhere down the line.

* [[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 Mentor]]: His was [[Adolf Hitler|Hitler]]

* [[Evil Redhead]]: Back when he had his original body, though it's now in a literal sense.

* [[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.

* [[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 Spymaster]]: This was basically his job under the Third Reich.

* [[Torture Technician]]

* [[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.

* [[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.

 

* [[Axe Crazy]]

* [[The Dragon]]: To the Red Skull.

* [[Unholy Matrimony]]: They aren't married, but Crossbones and Sin have a thing for each other.

 

=== Madame Hydra / Viper ===

 

* [[Badass Normal]]

* [[Really Seven Hundred Years Old]]: She may [[Aborted Arc|or may not]] have been granted a supernatural lifespan by the demon Chthon, and have originally been a woman who died in 1931.

* [[Rogues Gallery Transplant]]: If she's not fighting Cap she's probably fighting [[Wolverine]], though she's tangled with most of Marvel's other heroes by now, and once believed she was the mother of the first [[Spider Woman]].

 

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.

 

* [[Dragon Ascendant]]: {{spoiler|She has become the new Red Skull.}}

* [[Evil Redhead]]

* [[Names to Run Away From Really Fast]]

* [[Unholy Matrimony]]: Sin and Crossbones. Not married, though.

* [[Younger Than They Look]]: She was aged to adulthood when she was a girl, which also gave her psychic powers. She was aged further to an old woman, then de-aged again to a young adult, losing her powers in the process.

 

=== 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) ===

* [[Heel Face Revolving Door]]: He became Tony Stark's assistant for a while, but returned to his villanous ways shortly after ''[[The Avengers (Comic Book)|The Crossing]]''.

* [[Rogues Gallery Transplant]]: As Mister Fear, he was an enemy of Daredevil, but after turning into Machinesmith, he became mostly a Captain America foe.

 

=== Flag-Smasher ===

 

* [[Even Evil Has Standards]]: Stopped one of his own plans when he discovered it was being funded by the Red Skull.

 

=== 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.

 

* [[Avenging the Villain]]: Helmut's original motive was to kill Captain America because he killed his father.

* [[Nazi Nobleman]]: Heinrich Zemo.

 

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