There are things from the Winter Soldier days that I'm just remembering. Weapons left in the field... Dangers I can still prevent. I think maybe that's the path... A way to the redemption I've been looking for. 
History
Preface
The history of James Buchanan Barnes spans some 70 years of publications. Below is an abridged accounting of his history. For a full unabridged version see the Unabridged history of James Barnes
Early Life
Born in 1925, James Buchanan Barnes lost both his parents early in his life; his mother had died when he was a child and his father had died in an accident while in basic training at Camp Lehigh shortly before Christmas in 1937. He was separated from his younger sister Rebecca, who was sent to boarding school while he persuaded officials into letting him remain at Camp Lehigh as a ward of the state due to sharing his father's love of the armed forces. He was eventually considered the camp mascot. During World War II, he set up a profitable endeavor providing soldiers with various non-requisition supplies. He soon began to receive select assignments as a special military operative, having received hand-to-hand combat training with British Commandos under the tutelage of William Essart Fairbairn and Colonel Rex Applegate. It was possibly linked to operations conducted by the mysterious Romulus, a figure involved in worldwide espionage. He met and befriended a young and somewhat naive private Steven Rogers, who had recently become the government operative Captain America. He was assigned to accompany Rogers, but was initially unaware of the true nature of his work. One night, Barnes happened into Rogers' tent just as he was changing to his masked identity. Sworn to secrecy, Barnes joined Captain America on his first mission against the Red Skull, freeing many Nazi prisoners. For several months afterward, Barnes underwent an intensive training program under Captain America's tutelage. When he finished, he received his own costumed identity as Bucky and was designated as a counter-example to Hitler Youth. Although he was able to work with his mentor for most of his missions, James was trained to carry out missions the government officials did not want Captain America to be openly involved in. He was cynical and slightly dubious of the idealistic Steve Rogers, but they soon became the closest of friends.[10]
As Bucky
James Barnes as Bucky, circa WWII
When America entered World War II after the bombing of Pearl Harbor in December 1941, Captain America and Bucky abandoned their military identities for most of the war to devote their full energies to serving as costumed freedom fighters. They soon found themselves allied with the Sub-Mariner, the original Human Torch, and his young mutant partner Toro, in a team that Winston Churchill dubbed the Invaders.[11] Bucky served Captain America and the Invaders capably and faithfully, leaving the team only temporarily in 1942 to organize and lead his own team of teenage soldiers, the Kid Commandos. Once, to rescue the Invaders from the Red Skull, Bucky assembled a team of costumed super-humans who operated on the home front, a group that would remain together until the end of the war and was known as the Liberty Legion.[12][13] He also worked with another group of teenagers, the Young Allies.
In late 1945, toward the end of the war, Captain America and Bucky were in London, England, on the trail of Nazi scientist Baron Heinrich Zemo. They discovered Zemo in the process of stealing an experimental drone plane built by the Allies. In the ensuing battle with Zemo's powerful humanoid robot, both Captain America and Bucky were rendered unconscious and strapped to the drone plane to be delivered to Hitler in Berlin. Unable to stand the sight of their patriotic costumes, Zemo dressed them in U.S. Army uniforms. Managing to escape before Zemo activated the plane, the two American champions saw the drone plane begin to move just as they jumped off. Quickly, Captain America and Bucky grabbed a motorcycle and tried to catch up with it. Just before it flew out of reach, the two leaped for the plane. Bucky leaped first and managed to get a grip on the plane's wing. Captain America missed, and shouted to his partner to let go in case the plane was booby-trapped. Bucky was unable to comply with his partner's commands because his uniform sleeved snagged onto the cockpit of the plane. The plane exploded, seemingly killing Bucky instantly. Captain America plunged into the English Channel to undergo the process of suspended animation, but Bucky's remains were never recovered strengthening the belief that he was killed in action.[14]
Recovery
As the Winter Soldier
Training
New Arm
In 1954, he was revived and outfitted with a replacement bionic arm which had been made after a Soviet spy had recovered schematics for cybernetic appendage. The arm was to be replaced by a newer and more advanced one every time there was an improvement in their technology. While he had no memory of his past, Barnes still had considerable physical skill. He was indoctrinated to hate the West and was provided with mental implants during sensory deprivation, molding him into the perfect assassin.[15]
Storage
Red Room
It was during this period that he met Natasha Romanoff who was part of the Black Widow Ops Program. He helped train her in combat while she was undergoing espionage training at the Red Room Academy, where he also handled the unsuccessful Wolf Spider Ops Program. They fell in love and James often snuck into her sleeping quarters just so he could see her. Although Natasha was promised to Alexi Shostakov, she loved James more. This relationship did not last. Natasha learned that when Barnes was not needed for an operation or assassination he was kept in cryostasis in order to cease his aging.[16]
Training Natasha Romanoff
Wolverine
He used to conduct many strategic assassinations across the world and would sometimes stay in one nation for extended periods. One of his targets was Itsu, the pregnant wife of his wartime ally Logan.
Then, in 1966, he was designated to catch two Nazi scientists, Peter and Mila Hitzig, creators of the Alchemy Formula, but he remembered his own identity during a fight against Drain, an Hydra agent interested in their recover. Then, with the help of S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Ran Shen, he tried to let Mila escape, before an unaware Nick Fury had killed her. Captured by Russians, the Winter Soldier received a new brainwash, in order to avoid accidents like that.[17] However, after one of his missions, in 1973, Barnes did not report back on time. He went off the grid in New York City. He was recovered at a flop house, where coincidentally his former teammate Namor was also sleeping. As both men had amnesia, neither man recognized the other.[15]
In 1983, he was assigned to accompany Vasily Karpov, an elderly general that had served in WWII, as bodyguard. He maintained the position until the general's death five years later, in 1988. Barnes had demonstrated mental instability in some of his later missions and was placed into stasis at one of Karpov's storage facilities which had been inherited by his protégé, General Aleksander Lukin. Following the USSR's collapse, Lukin went rogue and established the Kronas Oil Corporation.[18]
Reunion
In order to seize the Red Skull's new Cosmic Cube, General Lukin reactivated Barnes to assassinate the Skull, although neither of them realized the Red Skull had simultaneously transferred his consciousness into Lukin's body. After assassinating the adventurer Nomak and framing him for the Skull's assassination, Barnes detonated a fire bomb in Philadelphia which claimed many victims. Their deaths helped power the Cosmic Cube, but Lukin who had been disturbed by the Cube's effect gave it to Barnes to store in a nuclear-safe vault in West Virginia. During investigations by Nick Fury and S.H.I.E.L.D., Captain America discovered the true identity of the Lukin's assassin and confronted him at the vault. The two engaged in combat until Rogers gained possession of the Cube and used its powers to restore James' lost memories. Overcome with remorse, Barnes used the cube to teleport away and went underground to search for Lukin and the Red Skull, still unaware that they were now one and the same.[19]
After a confrontation with the now X-Man Wolverine in Serbia, Barnes managed to track Lukin to England where the Skull unleashed a sleeper robot, salvaged from the Eisendorf excavation. Barnes abandoned his initial intentions to seek and eliminate Lukin to aid Rogers in destroying the robot. This was the first time in over half a century that they worked together, but he fled afterwards unable to face his mentor. He was revealed to be an undercover operative working for Nick Fury, who had gone underground after leaving S.H.I.E.L.D. Barnes encountered the Young Avengers Patriot, Hawkeye, and Vision on one of his assignments and learned how his and Cap's adventures had inspired contemporary heroes. He also reconciled with his former Invaders teammate Namor,[20] assisted Wolverine with incapacitating his son Daken, and comforted a cynical Patriot.[21]
Following Captain America's assassination, Barnes resolved to kill the two men he held responsible: the Red Skull and current S.H.I.E.L.D. Director Tony Stark. He acquired Cap's indestructible shield after defeating Black Widow, his former lover and student, in combat when she was assigned to move it to another location. Barnes then tracked Lukin and eventually confronted him only to discover his quarry was not a lead, but the Red Skull himself. Eventually captured by the Skull's forces, he resisted brainwashing by Dr. Faustus and was rescued by Falcon with the help of Sharon Carter, who was pretending to still be under Faustus' control. Barnes was then placed into S.H.I.E.L.D. custody, but escaped and confronted Stark. He disabled his armor and fought him to a standstill only to learn his mentor's final requests of Stark: to rescue Barnes from his descent into violence and insanity, and to pass the Captain America identity to a successor. Stark felt the best way to honor both his friend's requests was for Barnes to become Captain America. Barnes agreed on the provision that his mind be cleansed of any remaining mental implants, and that he would answer to no one, not even Stark and S.H.I.E.L.D.[3]
Fighting the Skrull Invasion
As Captain America
Now residing in Steve Rogers S.H.I.E.L.D. safe house, he outfitted himself with an alternate version of Cap's costume built by Tony Stark and, carrying his indestructible shield along with other weapons, Barnes quickly reacted against the efforts by the Red Skull and his accomplices to spread panic. Although effective in battle, he had yet to win the support or respect of either the US government or the general public. A number of civilians and costumed adventurers also disapproved of his current wardrobe; especially Clint Barton. Despite the negative attention Barnes received, he continued to fight terrorism as Captain America and was often aided by Falcon, despite his initial disapproval of him. Together the two fought an A.I.M. cell headed by Arnim Zola. The Red Skull did not remain quiet for long. He responded to Barnes' meddling by sending the Grand Director, whose mind had been molded by Doctor Faustus to believe he was Steve Rogers and Captain America after him; James barely survived the confrontation, and was forced by Falcon to retreat. The two investigated the Grand Director's next course of actions after he escaped from the Skull's grasp and was becoming mentally unstable; most of it was hiding and running from detection by A.I.M. and the Red Skull. James was finally recognized by the United States government and the public as a hero after foiling an assassination attempt on both Republican and Democratic candidates for political debates by Sin, daughter of the Red Skull. He also revamped his relationship with the Black Widow, one of his few remaining friends who is consistently faithful to him. It was not long before he became involved in major conflicts such as an Invasion by extraterrestrial Skrulls along many other superheroes in New York. Wanting to continue to living his predecessor's legacy, James invited Clint Barton and the New Avengers to his safe-house, offering it as their base of operations as well as his own allegiance to their cause.[8] And, at the end of a battle that involved the Avengers, the New Avengers and the Invaders, Toro, the former Invader, was revived by James: the Cosmic Cube satisfied his wish to have his friend alive once again.[22]
Although he was reformed, there were still a few officials from both America and other foreign nations who had not all forgotten his past as the Winter Soldier. Soon, he had to face one of the crimes committed as the Winter Soldier, when he had tried to kill chinese scentist Zhang Chin in 1968, after the Invaders had already saved him from Japanese in 1942. This one wanted to use the Original Human Torch DNA as a virus to spread worldwide, but Bucky and Namor defeated the The Man with No Face and prevented his project. The Human Torch was buried honourably.[23]
Captain America: Reborn
Bucky found out from Sharon that she had not really killed the original Captain America. As explained by Doctor Zola to Osborn, Rogers was trapped in a fixed position of time and space. But since Sharon ruined the machine that was suppose to bring him back, Steve was reliving his own past. Bucky and Black Widow attempted to steal the device from H.A.M.M.E.R., but they were captured. Osborn sent Widow back to Sharon with an ultimatum: either she would turn herself in, as Osborn had implicated her as Rogers' second shooter, or he would kill Bucky. Bucky was then sent into the custody of the Thunderbolts, who told him that he would be inducted into their group once Rogers was brought back. However, Bucky was secretly freed by Ant-Man and then rescued by Falcon.[24]
After a period of reflection, Barnes decide to give up the Captain America identity in favor of the revived Rogers. Before giving up the Captain America mantle, Bucky and the Black Widow decide to fight and throw the shield one last time. Coincidentally, Rogers was suited up and ready to fight crime that night as well until he witnessed Bucky and the Black Widow depart. Rogers decides to peruse the dynamic duo and upon doing so realized that Bucky would be well off as Captain America. A quick battle ensues when Bucky and the Black Widow encounter Mr. Hyde and his henchman. After the two heroes dispense with the henchman, Mr. Hyde attempts to escape until Rogers joins the battle and defeats him. Quickly after, Rogers officially and respectfully hands the Captain America mantle over to Bucky giving Bucky his blessing.[25]
Siege and the Heroic Age
When Osborn attacked Asgard, the heroes fought against his attempt of establishing an absolute power. For the first time, two Captains America took part to the battle: James and Steve contributed to defeat Osborn's forces.[26] At the end of the war, the Superhuman Registration Act was abolished and Steve Rogers designated James Barnes as member of the new Avengers, whose first mission brought them to the future, fighting Ultron.[27]
Two Americas
James confronted against the Grand Director, who became the leader of the Watchdogs as he couldn't stood how America had changed in worse than his was. Infiltrated in their troops, Barnes was recognized and kidnapped to pose as Bucky in the video that would have showed the explosion of the Hoover Dam. But Falcon firstly prevented the massacre of a train charged of explosives, then helped Bucky to defeat the Grand Director, whose body wasn't found in the river where he had fallen.[28]
Barnes succeeding a retiring Rogers
Wolverine Weapon X
In a distant future, approximately 25 years from Marvel time, a company known as Roxxon begins to send Deathlok cyborgs into the past and assassinate all super heroes in attempt to monopolize the US and possibly the world. Their only opposing force is a group of rebels that just so happens to consist of Wolverine. Their prime directive now is to find and assassinate the rebellion group leader known as the General. After assassinating the Punisher in an unknown time, their next target happens to be the current Captain America, James Buchanan Barnes. It has been hinted that the General is possibly Bucky himself because of his refusal to attempt to save himself possibly distorting the future time line the General has fought so hard for.[29]
The Trial and Gulag
Baron Helmut Zemo accused Bucky not to be worthy to bring Cap's Shield and achieved the aim to discredit him as the new Captain America among the public opinion, by revealing his past as Bucky and, overall, as the Winter Soldier, thanks to the secret revelations of Sinthea Shmidt. A process occurred, Bucky evaded to save his friends from the new Red Skull girl and was condamned, even though the punishment resulted already extinguished.[30] A russian ambassador required James back to Russia, where he had been judged guilty for a double kill of citizens. In the Gulag, Bucky was forced to fight the other villains imprisonned, who wanted him to die, and received the help of some of them, like Niko Constantin, part of the Wolf Spider project. When Colonel Rostov recuperated the activation codes of project Zephyr, the plan revealed to be a trap and Bucky decided to escape during his third battle. He succeeded and was rescued by the Black Widow, aware of Russians' strategy: in fact, the two citizens killed in 1982 were KGB Rostov's agents.[31]
Back as Winter Soldier
Fear Itself
When Skadi led her attack on Washington, D.C. Bucky was there to oppose her; however, her power proved too great and he was beat to with-in an inch of his life. Before passing out, Bucky told Black Widow to warn people about the Serpent.[32] Barnes was rushed to Fury, who gave him the Infinity Formula, which saved his life and restored him. Bucky decided to stay underground and has returned to his Winter Soldier identity.[33] Bucky's LMD was buried at the Arlington National Cemetery.[34]
Winter Soldier again
Believed dead and seeking personal redemption, James went underground and along with Black Widow decided to provide protection to Cold War sleeper Zephyr agents. He killed two of the three super soldiers that Madame Von Bardas, to which Colonel Rostov sold the agents, had used to attempt to destroy Doctor Doom. The third, Leo Novokov, had woken up from hibernation twelve years before. Considering the Winter Soldier a betrayer of his homeland, he firstly sent him a message by killing the second Bucky, then kidnapped the Black Widow as he wanted to hit James in his personal affairs. Bucky, intentioned to save his lover, accepted the mission thet Leo prepared and attacked Daredevil; then, at the Arlington Cemetery, he defeated the soldier. However, he achieved his revenge: Natasha's memories were all recovered, except for what concerned Bucky.[35] Later, James confronted Tesla Tarasova, the daughter of Linus Tarasova, victim of the Winter Soldier in 1983. Tesla had killed Father Hammer, the leader of an island where orphans grew as weapons to sale, like she had been, and seemed to want to change her past thanks to the cosmic rays that her father invented. Reached at the space base, the girl faced James, who explained how he grew better by accepting his difficult past. The base was attacked by the S.H.I.E.L.D., James and Tesla survived and the girl eventually escaped.[36]
Eventually, the Winter Soldier reappeared as a member of the reassembled All-New Invaders, fighting the aliens Kree of Tanalth and freeing Toro, now become an Inhuman, from Kurt Dagmar, a Martian who gave him the occasion to investigate about Martians attacks during the history and their link with Killraven.[37]
Later, his amorous attention towards Natalia Romanova revealed in the fight that the spy started against the organization known as the Chaos, when Bucky recovered his beloved in several occasions.[38]
Original Sin
Bucky was one of the heroes secretly gathered by Nick Fury to supposedly investigate the death of Uatu the Watcher,[39] when those heroes were actually meant to find a trail of Fury's activities as "the Man on the Wall" (the secret first line of defense against space invaders) in order to become his replacement.[40]
When Bucky realized he had been lied to, he attacked the LMD of Nick Fury left in the Avengers Tower, and used it to find the location of the real Nick.[41] The other selected heroes made their own way to said location, a secret satellite. There, the aged Nick Fury confronted the heroes and told them what he wanted with them.[40] When Fury got an alert that the body of the LMD left with the Avengers had self-destructed because someone was trying to investigate it, he took one of the Watcher's eyes from Bucky and enclosed himself in a secure room, as he tried to activate the second eye he had all this time. When the Avengers arrived to the satellite, as Iron Man tracked down the signal from the LMD, Fury confronted the heroes, equipped with an armor while holding the two eyes of the Watcher, claiming that his eyes had been opened.[42]
Fury managed to repell the heroes and get back to the Watcher's Citadel,[43] where Doctor Midas was trying to acquire more power than he had when he attacked the citadel. Fury fought Midas' Mindless Ones, during which fight one of the Watcher's eyes was taken from him by the Orb, and was almost defeated, until the Winter Soldier and the other heroes chosen by Fury got to him, and also managed to get the confession from him that he was the one who had killed Uatu.
After Fury's apparent death in the explosion which killed Doctor Midas, the Winter Soldier took his place as the Man on the Wall.[4]
As The Man on the Wall
Bucky recruited Daisy Johnson for the space mission as "the Man on the Wall". After killing the king of Syro and stealing the sacred beast Reznor, James started to investigate about the illum, an empathogen drug that led him to Loki. Bucky reached Loki in Asgardia, even though Old Bucky had hurt him shooting an illum bullet. Loki eventually revealed that illum came from the planet Mer-Z-Bow, governed by Princess Ventolin, a new space threat according to Fury. Meanwhile, the Old Bucky secretly explained to Daisy his attempt to save James's future, as he had already done with his pasts in the other realities. James and Daisy come to Mer-Z-Bow, where they were received pacifically by the Pao'Ree. James fell in love with Ventolin, when, suddenly, a man who wore Crossbones's mask introduced in the royal palace and stabbed Daisy, then tried to kill the couple destroying the place with a bomb. The villain was a Nick Fury Jr. coming from Old Bucky's reality and intentioned to explain what hate meant to the Winter Soldier, an ally of his father, whose absence in the childhood left a mark on his life. As he could destroy Mer-Z-Bow, Loki intervened, ordering Ventolin to consign the planet, as he wanted to control illum trade. In exchange for that, he stopped stop Crossbones but, sending Daisy to his Gun-Moon Planetoid "Venter" by a trick, he gave to the the villain the possibility to face the two Winter Soldiers. Daisy had already hurt Crossbones, who was escaping through a White Hole. The Old Bucky chased him and crashed in his space shuttle, grounding to his original universe, where he found Crossbones died and could meet again his Ventolin on the reborn planet Syro. On Earth-616, a dumb Loki was put in prison by Ventolin, and the girl could finally share her love with Bucky in the Polarity Paradox Engine, the two aware of the strength of their feeling.[2]
Pleasant Hill
While still away in space, Bucky had been given info on something going on with S.H.I.E.L.D. Concerned, he began attacking various sites, looking for information. Once he had, he contacted Steve and warned him that a project that claimed to have been shut down, the Kobik Initiative, wasn't and had just changed names. He escaped before Steve was picked up by Maria Hill.[44] When Bucky finally arrived in Pleasant Hill, he found the area overran with super villains. He soon met up with Sam Wilson, who was now running the identity of Captain America, and went in search of Steve. By the time the two of them found him, the two learned that Steve had been restored to full youth.[45]
The trio made their way through Pleasant Hill before Steve finally stopped and decided to make amends with both Sam and Bucky for his recent attitude, their friendships repaired. United with the Avengers and the Avengers Unity Division, the groups went to put an end to Baron Zemo's reign of terror.[46] During the final assault, the mysterious Kobik reappeared, disillusioned by how humanity had acted. Bucky prepared to shoot her, deeming her too much of a threat, but she tossed him out a window and outside the town. As the crisis came to an end, Kobik appeared to Bucky, distraught and begging to prove she can do good. Bucky agreed to take her in and, in turn, Kobik wanted to bring in some "friends" of hers.[47] This, led to Bucky creating another incarnation of the Thunderbolts, having as main objective to be the protection of Kobik and Earth's last line of defense against alien threats, continuing his job as "the Man on the Wall".[48]
Thunderbolts
After several adventures with the Thunderbolts[49], Bucky was ambushed by a reformed Masters of Evil led by Baron Zemo. A battered Bucky was brought before Kobik so she would be forced to do Zemo's bidding. Instead, Kobik and transported herself and Bucky away after agreeing to let Kobik "fix everything" in order to save himself.[50] However, to prevent Bucky from being killed by Zemo, Kobik attempted to turn him into a follower of Hydra by letting him relive his past during World War II.[51] She first prevented him from being caught on the drone plane that led to him to end up on the bottom of the English Channel by having Heinrich Zemo get caught on the drone plane instead, leading to Heinrich's death.[52], though Bucky didn't know he did this at the time.
She then had him become captured by Helmut Zemo and strapped to another drone plane. Zemo planned to launch the plane with Bucky on it and blow it up as revenge for his father's death. Suddenly, Steve Rogers appears and told Zemo that he disapproved of this. Zemo insisted that keeping Bucky alive was a liability and wanted to avenge his father. To save Bucky's life, Steve tried to have Bucky join Hydra. Bucky refused, forcing Steve to allow Zemo to launch the drone plane with Bucky on it. The drone plane eventually landed into an Allies base camp killing many of the soldiers stationed there. Before Bucky died, Kobik saved him and told him that wasn't suppose to happen. That was when Bucky learned of Kobik's fascination with Hydra and how she turned Steve Rogers into a Hydra agent. Bucky argued with Kobik over what she had done causing Kobik to become very upset and throw a tantrum.[51]
Kobik's tantrum unfortunately caused her powers to rage out of control threatening not only the Masters of Evil and the Thunderbolts but all of existence. Fixer managed to prevent this by zapping Kobik with laser beams, but he also unintentionally shattered her into Cosmic Cube fragments, which were then scattered throughout the Arctic. Bucky tried fighting off Zemo, but he was betrayed by his fellow Thunderbolt Moonstone. After Bucky was captured, Zemo and his Masters of Evil left.[53]
Zemo decided to get rid of Bucky by strapping him to a replica of the drone plane that killed his father and launching it before having it explode. Before launching the drone, Zemo showed Bucky a holographic message left for him by Steve Rogers. In the message, Rogers apologized for what was about to happen to him but was left with no choice as he knew he could never convince Bucky to join Hydra. The message left Bucky emotionally devastated and proclaimed that wasn't Steve. Zemo then launched the drone, which later exploded over the ocean, seemingly killing Bucky.[54]
It was later revealed that he actually survived the blast, and that Namor pulled him out of the ocean, keeping him as his advisor.[55] Namor later presented Bucky to the various heroes that had assembled to fight Hydra.[56] When Sam Wilson gave the alternate Steve Rogers the last fragment of the cosmic cube that he was reassembling, Ant-Man made Bucky shrink to a sub-atomic level inside the cosmic cube, reaching Kobik's mindscape to bring her and the real Steve Rogers back to existence. Because of this, the fascist Steve Rogers was defeated by the real one.[57]Personality
Attributes
 |
Powers
- Infinity Formula: James Barnes aging has been permanently stopped by the Infinity Formula, a serum created by Dr.Berthold Sternberg.[60] He has been injected with the Infinity Formula by Nick Fury in order to save his life.[61] The formula is definite that if Barnes decide to live an unhealthy lifestyle, none of his powers would be weaken by any conventional means.
- Cybernetic Enhanced Physiology: Whether or not the limitations are of his conditions are from the unknown enhancements or the sustainable effects from Infinity serum that was injected into his physical body, some of his abilities are shown to be at the greater level like durability and reflexes. The implants from cybernetic arm is known to gave him the powers beyond greater than human limitations, and he is classified as peak human.[15]
Bucky's new arm
- Bionic Arm:[18]
- Superhuman Strength: He has some degree of superhuman strength in his bionic arm.[59] The cybernetic arm shown to easily torn underneath SHIELD Flying Car despite the resistance to physical attacks,[16] and effortlessly murdered dozens of men including scientists with a single blow.[62] [3]
- Enhanced Reaction Time: His arm's reaction time is greater than that of any Olympic athlete who has and will ever compete.[59]
- Stabilization Sensors: Bucky can detect the balance of objects (namely Captain America's shield) and throw items with pinpoint accuracy. He was able to throw Captain America's shield with perfect accuracy and cause it to return when he used his bionic arm.[63]
- Tactical Reload: Thanks to Fixer's upgrade, the arm can also reload weapons automatically.[64]
- Palm Sensors: The weapons that Barnes use have palm print sensors, which means if someone else attempts to use the scanned weapons, the weapons will self-destruct.[65]
- Sensory Array: The arm houses different sensors which allow him to map out his surroundings and identify targets,[66] such as locating Miles Morales despite of his Spider-Camouflage.[67] The arm can project holograms to appear and feel like a normal human arm,[63] as well as pass through security such as metal detectors without setting them off. It can also shield other metallic objects from detection such as firearms and knives.[68]
- Extended Reach: He can apparently either control his bionic arm even if it has been removed from his body (possibly by cybernetic implants), or his arm can be programmed to perform certain actions on its own while removed from his body.[3]
- Electrical Discharge: He can discharge bolts of electrical energy from his arm's palm,[3] as was done to the Man With No Face,[69] or one of the Cape-Killer soldiers.[70] Thanks to Fixer's upgrade, he can emit a stream of flam from his arm.[64]
- EMP: He can discharge an EMP rendering electronic devices useless. He failed to use it on a prepared Iron Man.[3]
- Cybernetic Defense: The bionic arm is resistant to bladed weapons, such as when Sinthea Shmidt tried to stabbed him with a knife, the blade broke while his arm suffered no damage.[71] It is also highly resistant to explosions, withstanding Molotov cocktails with no signs of damage,[66] and can even withstand impact from multiple high-caliber rounds simultaneously. For example, Bucky was able to use his arm to block several shots fired by Black Widow during their fight.[16]
- Metal Claws: Barnes have two retractable claws inside of his Bionic arm that he can extend and retract at will. The claws are stronger and denser than virtually any natural bladed weapons. It also allowes him to slice through almost anything except for adamantium or vibranium.[51] The cybernetic arm also possesses a retractable blade that can be used for close combat.[64]
- Without Bionic Arm:[72]
- Enhanced Conditioning: Barnes' condition is enhanced to the peak of human potential of strength, agility, stamina, speed, etc.
- Enhanced Durability: Barnes' body is highly resistant to physical injury than that of an ordinary human. He withstand blows from superhuman foes like Ursa Major,[72] and Spider-Man.[67]. He also withstood a pressure blow from Hyperion despite of him lifting exceed 100 tons.[73] He withstood electrocution [74], taking several gunshot & puncture wounds [75] as well as fall from several stories or landed on the ground from 1,000 ft [76] with little to no injury.
- Enhanced Reflexes: Barnes' reflexes is superior to that of any Olympic-level athlete that has or will compete. He is fast enough to easily dodge multiple gunshots at close-range simultaneously. [77] [78] [79] [75] [69] He even dodged bullets from multiple gunmen while underwater.[80]
- Enhanced Endurance: Barnes is able to endure extreme amounts of tolerance to pain during his career and is above superior than any finest Olympic Decathlon humans that ever compete. He was able to endure temperatures below -40 degrees when he mountaineer the mountains without any discomfort or aid supplies.[81] He can hold his breath underwater for slightly over 7 minutes,[76] and physically exert himself for several hours before any toxins began to impair him.
- Metabolism Healing: Barnes' healing is faster than normal humans. He is able to heal broken bones, torn muscles, several gunshots and knife wounds and other several injuries within several days and most lesser injuries like cuts, scrapes and burns within a few hours. At one time, when he was shot multiple times by Sin (Sinthea Shmidt), he careless stated that he was alright and that it was just his ribs that has been injured, meaning he's able to heal from it for at least a day.[75]
- Peak Human Strength: Barnes' strength is at the peak of human potential and is strong enough to break a solid wall with a single punch,[82] as well as easily lift a man over his head and throw him.[83] On one occasion, he was able to easily injure Spider-Man despite his superhuman durability,[67] and effortlessly destroyed one of Deathlok's robots with a single kick.[84]
- Peak Human Speed: On multiple occasions, he demonstrated his speed is at the peak human level, which makes him able to run at speeds of around 30 mph.[67][65]
- Peak Human Agility: Barnes's agility is at the peak of human potential. His agility feats have shown to be superior to that of even the world's finest athlete, which gives him the capability to leap from one building to another over short distances like 20-30 ft when running,[85] swing on a large flag or pole with great performance,[19] and also evade several missile explosions that targeted him in mid-air.[86] He can also leap around 10 feet without a running start.[87]
- Enhanced Balance: Barnes' balance and dexterity is at the levels superior than even the world's most trained humans that ever reached. On one occasion, the perfect example of his balance was shown during his evade movements, when he used just two fingers to stand on the very edge of a building without any slip nor hesitation.[88]
- Enhanced Conditioning: Barnes' condition is enhanced to the peak of human potential of strength, agility, stamina, speed, etc.
- Bionic Arm:[18]
Abilities
- Master Martial Artist: Barnes is a dangerously skilled martial artist and hand-to-hand combatant. He received training from World War Two hand-to-hand combat luminaries William Essart Fairbairn and Colonel Rex Applegate as well as Captain America (Steve Rogers) in multiple martial arts, and acrobatics as a teenager during WWII and was trained in more of them while being molded into an assassin by the Soviet Union. He has single-handedly beaten Crossbones,[85] a squad of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents,[81] Wolverine,[89] and the Black Widow,[16] defeated a regiment of Hydra agents alongside the Young Avengers,[88] in combat and fought Captain America (Steve Rogers) and Iron Man to a standstill.[90][21][91] On several occasions, Barnes fought against Daredevil,[92] and defeated Punisher and Gamora in a brief fight.[93] During his training, he simply defeated Hawkeye,[94] and Falcon in few technique moves.[95] On one occasion, he fought against Ares by simply using his tactician to surprisingly stimulated him.[96] His combatant skills were able to overpower foes with the equal or stronger likes of Boris Bullski,[97] Unicorn (Miles Masaryk),[98] and Ursa Major (Mikhail Ursus).[99] Bucky defeated against Georges Batroc, though their fight were unfinished.[100][101] He is considered to be one of the finest unarmed,[102] and armed fighters,[103] and one of the near undefeated assassins in Earth.
- Master Marksman: He is an extremely accurate marksman and very skilled in sharpshooting and knife throwing.[18] His perfect accuracy was shown when he shot twelve men at different locations at the same time.[104]
- Expert Shield Fighter: Barnes became rapidly proficient with his former partner's shield. He is able to throw it with near perfect aim striking multiple targets in a single throw and achieving a boomerang-like return after throwing it at single person or object.[63]
- Accelerated Development Process: Due to his training from the World War Two martial arts instructors, he possessed the learning capabilities far faster and to the greater levels than what is naturally possible. He was gifted to learned and completed so many of his fighting skills training from his instructors for a week.[15]
- Stealth: Barnes can appear from place to place without being detected. [15]
- Master Acrobat: He is an Superb Olympic level athlete and performs very excellent acrobat that is superior to any trained Olympic level athlete and is capable of accomplished many difficult acrobatic feats.[95] [105]
- Master Advanced Scout: Barnes is a very gifted scout and adept at stealth and concealment.[106]
- Survivability: Barnes demonstrated to manage the survivable of death in dangerous situations, though presumed to be formerly deceased in flashbacks like 1945,[15] destructive attack from Skadi,[107] and after the explosion from the jet that he had been tied up on,[54] he later revealed to be living.[55]
- Multilingual: He is fluent in English, Russian, German, Japanese, and a little French. He might be able to speak other languages.[108][109]
- Expert Tactician: Barnes is a very skilled strategist and has led teams such as the Thunderbolts with excellent planning to ensure victory.[110]
- Master Spy: He is an expert in the field of espionage thanks largely to World War Two hand-to-hand combat luminaries William Essart Fairbairn and Colonel Rex Applegate, his former partner, Steve Rogers, the United States military, British SAS regiment, and the Russian Government. He is skilled in stealth, demolitions, survival, deducing other persons ways of thinking and other fields.[111][108]
- Master Assassin: Barnes is an adept of his generation as Matthew Murdock and Elektra Natchios is of theirs, possibly the most lethal assassin in the Marvel Universe rivaling others such as Bullseye or Elektra. During an operation on the Russian Front with the Invaders, Barnes has from concealment thrown a 60 centimeters-long knife to penetrate the winter uniform outer garment of a German soldier with such accuracy as to pierce his heart in high arctic winds several meters. Barnes has mastered and implemented several methods to silently eliminate sentries with bladed weapons, garrotes or his bare hands, making him as lethal in his own way as his former Invader teammates, the Torches, Union Jack or Namor. He is a master at stealth and tracking and is very intelligent. He was able to render Wolverine's superhumanly acute senses such as smell completely useless by luring him to an abandoned warehouse that was completely soaked on the inside with oil and even soaking himself to make it so that Wolverine could not detect him. Barnes has made a habit out of constantly studying his surroundings and depicting what he can and cannot do in whatever situation he should fall in much like his former partner, Captain America before his death. During Barnes' visit to the Captain America exhibit that had been made to honor him after his death, he was constantly detecting potential ways to sneak in and out of the museum and the room without being detected and only taking out a small number of security to do so.[112] The Black Widow stated to Tony Stark that he was one of the most dangerous men she knew.[16]
Weaknesses
Paraphernalia
Equipment
Weapons
A modified handgun capable of penetrating even fabric of the thickness and composition of AIM uniforms, a combat knife, sniper rifles, various other automatic weapons and various other mission-special equipment.
Transportation
- Transportation Device: He had used a teleportation device to travel different locations.[116]
Notes
- Bucky Barnes was one of the characters featured in Series A of the Marvel Value Stamps issued in the 1970's.
Marvel Value Stamp #51
- The serum the Winter Soldier gave to Black Widow, which was possibly derived from the Infinity Formula, was stated by Barnes himself to give a person some level of immortality.[118]
- IGN ranked Bucky Barnes as the 53rd greatest comic book superhero in Marvel Universe.[119]
- Bucky is listed as the 8th in "The Top 50 Avengers".[120]
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Trivia
- Bucky used to be notable as one of the few comic book deaths that stuck. A frequent aphorism among comic book fans, known as the Bucky Clause, was that "No one in comics stays dead except Bucky, Jason Todd, and Uncle Ben". Ironically, both Bucky and Todd have recently been brought back to life in their respective universes.
- Bucky's death has also been used to explain why the Marvel Universe has very few kid sidekicks, as no responsible hero wanted to endanger a minor in similar fashion. Stan Lee also harbored a well-known dislike for young sidekicks in general.
- Roger Stern and John Byrne also considered bringing Bucky back, before deciding against it.[121]
- During Incredible Hulk, there was a group of immortals called the Pantheon. Their leader, Agamemnon, was rumoured by the readers to be Bucky, due to his appearance and his stories about his adventures during the World War II.
- In Dark Reign: The List - Avengers #1, Bucky stated he assassinated Hitler, although it is known that it was the original Human Torch from What If? #4 (in continuity) and Secret Avengers #23. Tom Brevoort confirmed many times it was in fact a joke from Bucky.[122]
- It was revealed in Wolverine (Vol. 3) #38 that Bucky had a hand at helping Wolverine escape from the Weapon X program.
- The name Winter Soldier derives from the writing of Thomas Paine, the American revolutionary: "These are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of his country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman" (The American Crisis, a pamphlet published in 1776).
See Also
- 774 appearance(s) of James Barnes (Earth-616)
- 24 appearance(s) in handbook(s) of James Barnes (Earth-616)
- 132 minor appearance(s) of James Barnes (Earth-616)
- 111 mention(s) of James Barnes (Earth-616)
- 11 mention(s) in handbook(s) of James Barnes (Earth-616)
- 925 image(s) of James Barnes (Earth-616)
- 72 quotation(s) by or about James Barnes (Earth-616)
- 31 victim(s) killed by James Barnes (Earth-616)
- 4 item(s) used/owned by James Barnes (Earth-616)
Links and References
- http://www.marveldirectory.com/individuals/b/buckyi.htm
- http://www.internationalhero.co.uk/b/bucky.htm
- Newsarama: Bucky Barnes
- Newsarama: "Did He, or Didn't He? Ed Brubaker on Captain America #6"
- Newsarama: "SPOILER SPORT: Ed Brubaker on the Winter Solider" and Captain America #14
- Pretty Fakes: "The Trouble With Bucky". Article on what some perceive as problems with the Winter Soldier plot-line
References
- ↑ Captain America Comics #1
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Bucky Barnes: The Winter Soldier #1
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 Captain America (Vol. 5) #33
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Original Sin #8
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Captain America: America's Avenger #1
- ↑ Thunderbolts (Vol. 3) #2
- ↑ Avengers / Invaders #4
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 New Avengers #48
- ↑ Black Widow (Vol. 4) #1
- ↑ Captain America and Bucky #620–622
- ↑ Giant-Size Invaders #1
- ↑ Invaders #5–6
- ↑ Marvel Premiere #29–30
- ↑ Avengers #4
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 15.3 15.4 15.5 15.6 Captain America (Vol. 5) #11
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 16.3 16.4 Captain America (Vol. 5) #27
- ↑ Winter Soldier: The Bitter March #5
- ↑ 18.0 18.1 18.2 18.3 Captain America (Vol. 5) #1
- ↑ 19.0 19.1 Captain America (Vol. 5) #29
- ↑ Winter Soldier: Winter Kills #1
- ↑ 21.0 21.1 Young Avengers Presents #1
- ↑ Avengers / Invaders #1
- ↑ Captain America (Vol. 5) #48
- ↑ Captain America: Reborn #1–3
- ↑ Captain America: Who Will Wield the Shield? #1
- ↑ Siege #2–4
- ↑ Avengers (Vol. 4) #1–6
- ↑ Captain America #605
- ↑ Wolverine: Weapon X #11 15
- ↑ Captain America #615
- ↑ Captain America #619
- ↑ Fear Itself #3
- ↑ Fear Itself #7.1
- ↑ Fear Itself #7
- ↑ Winter Soldier #14
- ↑ Winter Soldier #19
- ↑ All-New Invaders #1
- ↑ Black Widow (Vol. 5)
- ↑ Original Sin #1
- ↑ 40.0 40.1 Original Sin #5
- ↑ Original Sin #4
- ↑ Original Sin #6
- ↑ Original Sin #7
- ↑ Avengers Standoff: Assault On Pleasant Hill Alpha #1
- ↑ Captain America: Sam Wilson #7
- ↑ Captain America: Sam Wilson #8
- ↑ Avengers Standoff: Assault On Pleasant Hill Omega #1
- ↑ 48.0 48.1 Thunderbolts (Vol. 3) #1
- ↑ Thunderbolts (Vol. 3) #2–9
- ↑ Thunderbolts (Vol. 3) #10
- ↑ 51.0 51.1 51.2 Thunderbolts (Vol. 3) #11
- ↑ Captain America: Steve Rogers #13
- ↑ Thunderbolts (Vol. 3) #12
- ↑ 54.0 54.1 Captain America: Steve Rogers #16
- ↑ 55.0 55.1 Captain America (Vol. 8) #25
- ↑ Secret Empire #8
- ↑ Secret Empire #10
- ↑ Captain America Comics #1
- ↑ 59.0 59.1 59.2 Captain America (Vol. 5) #14
- ↑ Marvel Spotlight #31
- ↑ Fear Itself #7.1
- ↑ Captain America (Vol. 5) #26
- ↑ 63.0 63.1 63.2 Captain America (Vol. 5) #34
- ↑ 64.0 64.1 64.2 Thunderbolts (Vol. 3) #9
- ↑ 65.0 65.1 Winter Soldier #4
- ↑ 66.0 66.1 66.2 Winter Soldier #15
- ↑ 67.0 67.1 67.2 67.3 Thunderbolts (Vol. 3) #5
- ↑ Captain America (Vol. 5) #8
- ↑ 69.0 69.1 Captain America (Vol. 5) #45
- ↑ Captain America (Vol. 5) #23
- ↑ Captain America (Vol. 5) #30
- ↑ 72.0 72.1 Captain America #616
- ↑ Thunderbolts (Vol. 3) #4
- ↑ Bucky Barnes: The Winter Soldier #3
- ↑ 75.0 75.1 75.2 Captain America #615
- ↑ 76.0 76.1 Captain America #610
- ↑ Bucky Barnes: The Winter Soldier #8
- ↑ Bucky Barnes: The Winter Soldier #9
- ↑ Winter Soldier #16
- ↑ Bucky Barnes: The Winter Soldier #1
- ↑ 81.0 81.1 Winter Soldier: The Bitter March #1.NOW
- ↑ Captain America #607
- ↑ Captain America (Vol. 5) #35
- ↑ All-New Invaders #9
- ↑ 85.0 85.1 Captain America (Vol. 5) #25
- ↑ Captain America (Vol. 5) #50
- ↑ Captain America #608
- ↑ 88.0 88.1 Winter Soldier: Winter Kills #1
- ↑ Winter Soldier #12
- ↑ Captain America (Vol. 5) #14
- ↑ Captain America (Vol. 5) #33
- ↑ Winter Soldier #12–13
- ↑ Original Sin #4
- ↑ Captain America (Vol. 5) #37
- ↑ 95.0 95.1 Captain America (Vol. 5) #39
- ↑ New Avengers #58
- ↑ Captain America #618
- ↑ Captain America #619
- ↑ Captain America #617
- ↑ Captain America (Vol. 5) #43
- ↑ Captain America (Vol. 5) #44
- ↑ Captain America and Bucky #620
- ↑ New Avengers #50
- ↑ All-New Invaders #8
- ↑ Captain America #600
- ↑ Captain America (Vol. 5) #5
- ↑ Fear Itself #3
- ↑ 108.0 108.1 108.2 108.3 108.4 Captain America (Vol. 5) #11
- ↑ Captain America (Vol. 5) #45–48
- ↑ Avengers Standoff: Assault On Pleasant Hill Omega #1
- ↑ Captain America (Vol. 5) #4
- ↑ Captain America (Vol. 5) #27
- ↑ All-New Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe #12
- ↑ Captain America (Vol. 5) #18
- ↑ Captain America (Vol. 5) #32
- ↑ Avengers Standoff: Assault On Pleasant Hill Alpha #1
- ↑ Captain America (Vol. 5) #38
- ↑ Black Widow: Deadly Origin #1
- ↑ "Bucky Barnes is number 53" IGN
- ↑ "The Top 50 Avengers" IGN
- ↑ Byrne Robotics FAQ; "Did JB ever consider bringing Bucky back?"
- ↑ Tom Brevoort's statement
- ↑ Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z #2
- ↑ Marvel Avengers: The Ultimate Character Guide Vol 1 3