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

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