Captain America (comics): Difference between revisions

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{{quote| ''"[[Badass Boast|I'm loyal to nothing, General...]] [[American Dream|except the Dream.]]"''}}

 

 

 

As a skinny orphan artist who grew up in [[The Great Depression]], Steve Rogers [[Jumped At the Call]], but the US Army declared him 4-F (unfit for service), and handed him over to Operation: Rebirth, an Allied Powers project to create a [[Super Soldier]] for the war effort. Injected with [[Super Serum]], bombarded with radiation, appropriately trained and given a [[Exotic Weapon Supremacy|signature shield]], Cap fought the Axis, [http://www.coverbrowser.com/image/captain-america/1-2.jpg memorably punching] [[Adolf Hitler]] [[Establishing Character Moment|in the face on the cover of his first comic]]. An Axis spy killed the project's director, who [[No Plans, No Prototype, No Backup|had it all in his head]], shortly after Cap's creation.

=== Adaptations to other media ===

* ''Captain America'' (1944) a movie serial which incorporated practically nothing of the character except the basic costume.

* Two TV movies starring [[Reb Brown]], built upon a completely revamped origin and backstory:

** ''Captain America'' (1979)

** ''Captain America II: Death Too Soon'' (1979)

* A clearly Ultimate-inspired Cap appeared in the ''[[Ultimate Avengers]]'' animated films (2006) <ref>Well, sort of. While Cap does wear costumes that are directly lifted from The Ultimates, his personality seems to be more in line with his Earth 616 counterpart, so he's a [[Composite Character]], if anything.</ref>.

* There have also been a couple of Captain America novels.

 

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=== Captain America also provides examples of: ===

 

** Sharon's great aunt Peggy was also one, being a member of the French resistance.

*** Also Rikki Barnes, formerly the Bucky from ''[[Heroes Reborn]]'', who crossed over into the 616 reality and now goes by Nomad.

* [[All-American Face]]: Oh ''yeah.''

* [[Alternate Company Equivalent]]: Agent America and Fighting American (Awesome Entertainment). AA was so thinly-veiled that Marvel sued, and told [[Rob Liefeld]] that FA couldn't throw his shield.

* [[America Saves the Day]]: Of COURSE he does!!!

* [[Animal-Themed Superbeing]]: Cap obviously isn't but he has had several villains who were: Cobra, the Serpent Society, Porcupine, Armadillo, Man-Ape, Rhino, Scorpion, etc.

* [[The Artifact]]: Steve's secret identity rarely ever served much purpose, as he had no consistent civilian supporting cast; he had one pretty much because it was assumed all superheroes should have one. Done away with in 2002, and it hasn't really impacted the comics much at all.

** Also, the presence of Bucky, a [[Kid Sidekick]] in [[World War II]], is becoming more and more awkward to explain why the US Military would tolerate a child going into combat with Cap. Currently, they have had to shoehorn his presence as a kind of [[Older Than He Looks|youngish]] agent who is actually of borderline legal age.

* [[Authority Equals Asskicking]]: Not for nothing is Cap considered the leader of the Marvel Superhero community. When he speaks, [[The Mighty Thor|Gods]] [[The Incredible Hercules|listen]].

** In fact, it's not just the Marvel Universe. A crossover with the [[Justice League of America]] had him lead [[JLA-Avengers|the combined teams]] during the final assault upon the [[Big Bad]].

* [[Awesome McCoolname]]: A bit understated, but '''Steve Rogers'''. Does that sound like a character [[John Wayne]] would play, or does that sound like a character [[John Wayne]] would pay?

* [[Back From the Dead]]: Cap himself, naturally, but also Bucky, as [[Brainwashed and Crazy|The Winter Soldier]], his archnemesis, the Red Skull, and his first girlfriend, Sharon Carter.

** That said, he's also the first person to admit that his era was far from perfect.

* [[Badass Abnormal]]: [[Bucky Barnes|James "Bucky" Barnes]] since getting a cyborg arm. He was [[Badass Normal]] before that.

* [[Badass Normal]]: Some people claim it but it's not true, there's a reason his serum was so sought after. Supposedly his Super Serum doesn't push any of his abilities to a "superhuman" level, but he's still able to do many things no athlete is able to get away with at the same time. He does hold his own with people who have more impressive superpowers though.

** Some of his villains fall under this as well. Like Batroc the Leaper.

* [[Battle Couple]]: Steve and Sharon, Steve and Rachel/Diamondback, Bucky and Black Widow.

* [[Battle Cry]]: [[Avengers Assemble]]! Technically it's for anyone on the Avengers, but Cap's usually saying it.

*** Actually, it was revealed that Bucky himself had always had a more sinister purpose: handling the covert killings that Captain America himself couldn't do from the front lines. Why else would Cap bring around a little kid on the battlegrounds?

* [[Break the Cutie]]: John "USAgent" Walker's entire tenure as Captain America was one of these.

* [[Captain Geographic]]

* [[Captain Patriotic]]: Probably not the [[Ur Example]] though.

* [[Charlie Brown From Outta Town]]: His stints as Nomad and as The Captain.

* [[Chemistry Can Do Anything]]

* [[Clothes Make the Legend]]

* [[Coattail-Riding Relative]]: How the first, male Viper tried to get into the supervillain business. His brother was the original Eel.

* [[Dead Sidekick]]: Bucky was a textbook example of this (emphasis on "was"). {{spoiler|He would've fit this trope again, if it weren't for [[Nick Fury]] using the last vial of Infinity Formula to save him.}}

* [[Death Is Cheap]]: Sure, Captain America was shot by a sniper. But the gun didn't shoot ordinary bullets, it just... ''shifted Steve through space and time''?

* [[Did Not Do the Research]]: Robert Morales decided to do a - pretty good, actually - [http://marvel.com/comic_books/issue/645/captain_america_2002_26 issue devoted to Bucky Barnes]. and the fact he was an underage soldier. What he forgot to do was find out Bucky's ''actual name''. Apparently Morales was under the impression that James Buchanan Barnes was named Michael.

* [[Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?]]: Basically his day-job as leader of the Avengers. In his spare time, he has faced villains holding [[A God Am I|the Cosmic Cube]], and defeated them. '''More than once.'''

** The Fixer did one during "No Exit", but managed to avoid getting caught.

* [[Faking the Dead]]: John Walker, when turning the title of Captain America back to Steve Rogers in a public press conference, is assassinated by a member of the Watchdogs, presumably in retribution for Walker's violent campaign against them. The Watchdog was a fake, however, and the assassination staged so as to rehabilitate Walker's image, and allow the government to resurrect him as USAgent.

* [[The Fettered]]

* [[Fictional Political Party]]: Once featured a Presidential Candidate who started the Third Wing Party. It turned out to all be part of Red Skull's latest evil scheme.

* [[He's Back]]: The appropriately-titled ''Captain America: Reborn'', dealing with {{spoiler|Steve's return to the land of the living.}}

* [[Honor Before Reason]]: Even as the world becomes more hateful, dark, and cynical, Steve Rogers refuses to lower himself to the standards of "normality."

* [[Human Popsicle]]: One of the [[Trope Codifier|Trope Codifiers]]; any use of this trope in comics is almost always a reference to him.

* [[I Call It Vera]]: Some stories indicate that, in Cap's head, the shield is actually named "Shield".

** This is a bit of a [[Retcon]] since Batroc originally practised Savate, a different French martial art. He uses both these days.

* [[Luckily, My Shield Will Protect Me]] (one of the best-known examples)

* [[Machete Mayhem]] (The villain Machete, who oddly enough bears a striking resemblance to [[Danny Trejo]].)

* [[Mad Love]]: Red Skull and Mother Night. God only knows what she saw in him.

* [[Matzo Fever]]: In the 1980s, Steve Rogers was engaged to Bernie Rosenthal (whose parents would have preferred her looking for a [[Nice Jewish Boy]], like her ex-husband).

* [[Military Superhero]]: Emphasis on BOTH words. Cap started out as a [[Super Soldier]] (and actually ranked officer, the Captain is both his moniker and actual army rank) for the United States Army. He actually did the jump in D-Day with the 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions, and fought the frontlines against the Nazis. Yet back then, he was already a paragon of virtue and heroism. Being unfrozen in the present only confirmed that honest and selfless asskicking is NEVER out of style.

* [[Miraculous Malfunction]]: The material that became his shield was created accidentally during an experiment to merge vibranium and an iron alloy. An unknown catalyst entered the mixture while the scientist overseeing it was asleep.

* [[Rogues Gallery]]: [[Red Skull]], [[Manipulative Bastard|Doctor Faustus]], [[Mad Scientist|Baron Zemo]], [[The Baroness|Madame Hydra]], [[Psycho for Hire|Crossbones]], [[Daddy's Little Villain|Sin]], [[Reptiles Are Abhorrent|Serpent Society]], [[Cybernetics Eat Your Soul|Arnim Zola]]...

* [[Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right]]: Cap has given up his identity numerous times whenever a government's ruling clashed with his own ideals, as well as the American ideal. The incidents involving the Secret Empire and the Commission on Superhuman Activities are two notable examples of this. This trope is also the driving force for Cap rejecting the [[Civil War (Comic Book)|Superhuman Registration Act]], as he leads a contingent of heroes who don't approve of the Act.

* [[Shadow Archetype]]: Red Skull.

* [[Shield-Bash]]

* [[Sidekick Graduations Stick]]: And has even triumphed over Steve Rogers' [[Death Is Cheap|return from the dead]].

* [[Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism]]: The strongest appeal of the ''[[Captain America]]'' franchise is its stalwart refusal to stop believing in love, kindness, faith and fundamental human decency. Which in turn is why so many Captain America fans hate Ultimate Captain Amerca, as Mark Millar designed that alternate version of the character as a parody of jingoistic Bush-era conservatism.

* [[The Spymaster]]: Steve's recent stint as Commander of S.H.I.E.L.D.

* [[Take Up My Sword]]: After Steve's seeming death in 1945, William Naslund and then Jeffrey Mace took his place in order to keep up troop morale; when he seemingly died again in the 21st century, his former sidekick Bucky took up the shield.

* [[Technical Pacifist]]: Some writers have gone out of their way to say that Captain America has never taken a life, even during World War II. This would ultimately be debunked by Mark Gruenwald, who had Captain America kill an agent of ULTIMATIUM in order to stop the goon from killing innocent hostages. It has also been stated that he had killed during WW2. That said, Steve prefers not to and would like to avoid it if possible.

* [[Theme Naming]]: John "Johnny" Walker; after his [[Faking the Dead|public assassination]], he's brought back as USAgent with the new civilian identity of ''Jack Daniels''.

* [[Think Nothing of It]]