REAL NAME: James Buchanan Barnes
KNOWN ALIASES: Formerly Bucky
IDENTITY: Known to top-level K.G.B. and S.H.I.E.L.D. authorities
OCCUPATION: Adventurer; former assassin, army mascot
CITIZENSHIP: American citizen, no criminal record
PLACE OF BIRTH: Shelbyville, IN
MARITAL STATUS: Single
KNOWN RELATIVES: George M. Barnes (father, deceased), Winnifred C. Barnes (mother, deceased), Ida (aunt, presumed deceased), Rebecca P. Barnes Proctor (sister), Proctor (first name unrevealed, brother-in-law), unnamed nephew and niece-in-law, Scott Proctor (grandnephew), Kimberly Proctor (grandniece)
GROUP AFFILIATION: (as Bucky) Invaders, Kid Commandos, Liberty Legion, Young Allies, Grandmaster's Legion of the Unliving, partner of Captain America (I)
EDUCATION: High school dropout
FIRST APPEARANCE: Captain America Comics #1 (1941)

HISTORY: Separated from his sister following their parents' deaths, James Barnes became a teenage ward of the state assigned to Camp Lehigh in Virginia, where he served as camp mascot and set up a profitable endeavor providing soldiers with various non-requisition supplies. His mother had died when he was a young child; his father had died in an accident while in basic training at Camp Lehigh. He befriended a seemingly naive young private, Steve Rogers, who had recently become the government operative Captain America. One night, Barnes discovered Rogers changing into his costumed identity; sworn to secrecy, Barnes assisted Captain America on a mission against the Red Skull and was given government approval to undergo intensive training to serve as Cap's partner Bucky, in part to counter Germany's Hitler Youth movement. Not long after this, Bucky joined forces with the mutant hero Toro and four young adventurers as the Young Allies. Bucky divided his time between missions with Cap and less formal adventures with his fellow teens.

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 costumes freedom fighters. Captain America and Bucky allied with Toro, his partner the android Human Torch, and Namor the Sub-Mariner to form the team of superhuman freedom fighters called the Invaders; in early 1942, Bucky was also instrumental in organizing the super-teams known as the Liberty Legion and the Kid Commandos. In addition to their work with the Invaders, Cap and Bucky continued to both share missions and embark on solo adventures.

In late 1945, as the war neared its end, Captain America and Bucky were in London, England, trailing Nazi scientist Baron Zemo; they discovered him stealing an experimental drone plane and confronted him, but were incapacitated by Zemo's android. Zemo strapped the pair to the drone plane, intending to fly them to Germany, but they escaped just before Zemo activated the plane, which departed without them. Pursuing on a motorcycle, the pair leaped for the plane as it flew out of range. Bucky caught hold of the plane's wing and discovered a bomb placed upon it as a booby trap; ignoring Cap's warnings, Bucky attempted to defuse the bomb, but the plane exploded, apparently killing him. Bucky's remains were never recovered, and Captain America was subsequently thrown into suspended animation, reviving decades later to avenge Bucky's death and ensure that his sacrifice received the recognition it deserved.

After the disappearance of Captain America and the apparent death of Bucky towards the end of World War II in Europe, the costumed adventurer called the Spirit of '76 assumed the role of Captain America. A boy named Fred Davis, who had once aided the original Bucky, became the second Bucky and the partner of this new Captain America. Both the second Bucky and the second Captain America served as members of the postwar All-Winners Squad. Davis's subsequent history is as yet unrecovered. Jack Monroe became the third Bucky, who was the partner of the fourth Captain America in the 1950s. The latest Bucky is the costumed adventurer called Nomad.

When Bucky fell into the water he was preserved by the freezing waters, Bucky was retrieved by Vasily Karpov's submarine and taken to Soviet authorities in May 1945. Barnes was thawed out and pronounced legally deceased, but doctors revived him with cardiopulmonary resuscitation and adrenaline injections to his heart, although Barnes suffered considerable brain damage and had no knowledge of his previous life besides reflex memories. When the Soviets determined he had no super-soldier formula in his system, Barnes was placed in stasis. In June 1954, a K.G.B. spy within Britain's MI-6 obtained schematics for a robotic appendage that was reproduced and used to replace Barnes's missing left arm. Planning to turn Barnes back on the Americans, the Soviet government cleared Department X to begin Project: Winter Soldier. Barnes was reprogrammed with mental implantation during sensory deprivation; sent out to conduct several strategic assassinations for the K.G.B. throughout the mid-20th century including assassinating James Howlett's (later Wolverine) wife Itsu (who was carrying Howlett's unborn child); and placed in stasis between missions to slow his aging.

Upon Karpov's death nearly 20 years ago, Barnes remained in stasis due to mental instability and was placed in a storage facility inherited by Karpov's protégé General Aleksander Lukin, who went rogue after the Soviet Union's fall and formed the Kronas Oil Corporation. Coveting the Red Skull's Cosmic Cube, Lukin reactivated Barnes and had him assassinate the Skull, although Barnes did not realize that the Skull had simultaneously used the Cube to transfer his consciousness into Lukin's body. Barnes next assassinated Jack Munroe (Nomad, the former 1950’s "Bucky") and framed him for the Skull's assassination. Barnes then detonated a fire bomb in Philadelphia that helped Lukin power the Cosmic Cube; but when Lukin discovered the Cube's negative side-effects, he sent Barnes to take it to a nuclear-safe vault in West Virginia, causing Barnes to question his orders for the first time. Learning the Winter Soldier's true identity, Captain America used the Cosmic Cube to restore his memories, causing Barnes to turn against Lukin and go underground.

Barnes next resurfaced in Belgrade, Serbia where he was confronted by Wolverine, who had recently regained the memories of his wife's assassination. Barnes then appeared in London, England, where Lukin unleashed Red Skull's Sleeper robot. Barnes teamed with Captain America to defeat the robot, which vaporized his cybernetic arm in the process. After the battle, Barnes disappeared, headed toward France and making arrangements with Nick Fury to obtain a new arm. Barnes has most recently resurfaced in America working with Nick Fury as an undercover operative.

HEIGHT: (Bucky) 5 ft. 7 in. (Winter Soldier) 5 ft. 9 in.
WEIGHT: (Bucky) 150 lbs. (Winter Soldier) 260 lbs.
EYES: (Both) Brown
HAIR: (Both) Brown

ABILITIES/ACCESSORIES: Bucky was an Olympic-class athlete and an exceptional acrobat, trained in the unique combat style of Captain America. The Winter Soldier is an Olympic class athlete and exceptional acrobat highly skilled in both armed and unarmed combat. He is fluent in four languages, including German and Russian, and a proficient marksman. His robotic left arm grants him a degree of superhuman strength.

PARAPHERNALIA: Bucky occasionally carried conventional firearms into combat. His costume was woven of a bulletproof fabric.

NOTE: Updated using The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Book of the Dead 2004