Captain America

"All right, listen up! Until we can close that portal up there, what we need is containment. Barton, I want you on that roof, eyes on everything. Call out patterns and strays. Stark, you've got the perimeter. Anything gets more than three blocks out, you turn it back or you turn it to ash. Thor, you've gotta try and bottleneck that portal, slow them down. You've got the lightning - light the bastards up! You and me, we stay here on the ground, keep the fighting here. And Hulk... Smash!"

- Captain America

Steve Rogers, better known as Captain America, was a World War II veteran. He was the only successful test subject of Super Soldier Serum. After he was titled Captain America, he was frozen for nearly 70 years which then he joins The Avengers.

Early life
Steven Grant Rogers was born on Thursday, July 4, 1918, to Sarah and Joseph Rogers. Despite his cheery attitude at the time, his father was confirmed KIA and his mother soon died of pneumonia shortly after. Immediately, Steve was transferred to an orphanage where he was beaten up by the bullies on a regular basis. But it was there that he met his best friend and savior, Bucky.

Project Rebirth
"Do you want to kill Nazis?" "I don't want to kill anyone, but I don't like bullies."

- Abraham Erskine and Steve Rogers

When the United States entered World War II, Rogers wanted to join the US Army to fight in Europe against the Nazis. In New York City, March 1941, Steve Rogers was rejected for military duty due to various health and physical issues that he had. While attending an exhibition of future technologies with his friend James "Bucky" Barnes, Rogers attempted to again enlist. Having overheard Rogers' conversation with Barnes about wanting to help in the war, Dr. Abraham Erskine allowed Rogers to enlist. Rogers was recruited into "Project: Rebirth" as part of a "super-soldier" experiment under Erskine, Colonel Chester Phillips and Agent Peggy Carter. Colonel Phillips was unconvinced of Erskine's claims that Rogers was the right person for the procedure but relented after seeing Rogers commit an act of self-sacrificing bravery. The night before the treatment, Erskine revealed to Rogers that his first test subject, the Nazi officer Johann Schmidt, underwent an imperfect version of the treatment; becoming super-human but suffering side-effects. Schmidt, having discovered Erskine's location, dispatched an assassin to kill him. In America, Erskine subjected Rogers to the super-soldier treatment, injecting him with a special serum and dosing him with "vita-rays". Rogers emerged from the experiment taller and muscular. After the experiment, one of the attendees shot and killed Erskine, revealing himself as Schmidt's assassin Heinz Kruger. Rogers pursued and captured Kruger but the assassin commited suicide via cyanide capsule before he could be interrogated.

Captain America
With Erskine's death the super-soldier formula was lost. Rogers chose to tour the nation in a colorful costume as "Captain America" to promote war bonds rather than be confined to a lab while scientists attempted to rediscover Erskine's formula. In Italy 1943, while touring to active servicemen, Rogers learned that Barnes' unit was lost in battle against Schmidt's forces. Refusing to believe Barnes is dead, Rogers mounted a solo-rescue attempt with Peggy and Howard Stark flying him behind enemy lines. Rogers infiltrated the fortress belonging to Schmidt's HYDRA division, freeing Barnes and the other captured soldiers. Rogers confronted Schmidt, who revealed his face to be a mask, removing it to display the red-colored, skull-like face that earned him the nickname "The Red Skull". Schmidt escaped and Rogers returned to base with the freed soldiers.

Rogers recruited Barnes, Dum Dum Dugan, Gabe Jones, Jim Morita, James Falsworth, and Jacques Dernier to attack the other known bases belonging to HYDRA. Stark provided Rogers with a new outfit and a new, circular shield made of Vibranium, capable of negating large amounts of damage.

1944
In command of his own personal team of soldiers, the Howling Commandos, Captain America embarked on a quest to sabotage and destroy HYDRA's efforts to rule the world.

He invaded Arnim Zola's castle in Bavaria, where he was captured by HYDRA troops led by Madame Hydra. Using Cap's blood, Zola synthesized the upgraded Super Soldier Serum. Captain America managed to escape and destroyed the sample, enraging Johann Schmidt who ordered Iron Cross to kill him. When Captain America defeated Iron Cross, Schmidt escaped and activated the giant robot called the Sleeper. Cap destroyed the Sleeper, which also led to the destruction of the castle.

In April 1944, Cap infiltrated a HYDRA castle on an island in the Nazi occupied Danish Straits. Cap managed to destroy one of Zola's exo-skeleton suits and an armored vehicle.

Cap and his Howling Commandos progressively managed to destroy most major HYDRA operations, slowing HYDRA's efforts in building an army for global conquest. Finally, Captain America and Bucky boarded Zola's armored train. In the ensuing battle, Bucky was killed but Zola was captured and handed over to Allied forces.

The final battle
"What makes you so special?" "Nothing. I'm just a kid from Brooklyn."

- Red Skull and Steve Rogers

A final battle with HYDRA in the Alps saw Captain America's final struggle with his nemesis, who essentially disappeared when grasping hold of the Tesseract, a mysterious powerful artifact allegedly forged by the Asgardians. Rogers crash-landed the Red Skull's jet into Antarctica before it could destroy cities around the world, leaving him preserved in the ice for almost seventy years.

Awakening
After seventy years, Rogers was defrosted and kept in a simulated 1940s environment to try and ease him into what was happening. When he awoke he quickly realized it wasn't real and escaped into the streets of a 2010's modern day Manhattan New York. In Time Square, Rogers encounters Nick Fury who tells him that he's been "asleep" for nearly 70 years.

The new mission
A week after being defrosted, Steve Rogers found himself lost in a world that has moved on without him and found it very difficult to adjust to this modern world. While working out in a boxing gym in the middle of the night, hitting a punching bag, Steve recounts various events that took place during his era in the war including his fight against HYDRA with his allies the Howling Commandos, Bucky's death, his last fight with Red Skull, his sacrifice, his last conversation with Peggy, and being defrosted. These memories infuriated Rogers to the point he used all of his super strength to break the punching bag. At that moment Nick Fury approached him with a mission to save the world.

Fury informed him that a being known as Loki had stolen the Tessaract and intended to use it to conquer and rule the Earth. Rogers wasn't thrilled to learn that HYDRA's secret weapon and power source had found its way into this era. Rogers accepted the assignment and Fury asks him to reveal any more useful information regarding the cube that he might be aware of, to which Rogers claimed "that they should've left it buried in the ocean".

Meeting Coulson
On his way to the main S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters, while aboard the Quinjet, Rogers was debriefed by Agent Coulsen about a selected group of people that were chosen to be apart of the Avengers Initiative. One member in particular that intrigued Rogers was Bruce Banner aka: The Hulk. Coulson revealed to him that Banner attempted to recreate Erskine's Super Soldier Serum believing low levels of Gamma Radiation was a key ingredient in the formula's properties. However when he was exposed to high levels of Gamma Radiation he transformed into the 8 foot tall powerhouse behemoth known as the Hulk. Coulson and Rogers shared an awkward moment when he revealed that he watched Rogers being defrosted and expressed with great enthusiasm how much of an honor it was to have Rogers on board to lead this team. Rogers was some what skeptical of himself being the right candidate to lead but Coulson reassured him that he is and that he's personally overseen the development of a newly constructed uniform for him with some design input from himself.

Rogers was surprised that he would be wearing his trademark stars an stripes since in this modern era it would appear to be outdated and old fashioned. Coulson reassured him that with the enormous threat they were about to face, people would need an old-fashioned symbol to inspire them with hope.

Once arriving on the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier, Rogers meets Natasha Romanoff and Bruce Banner. Inside the Helicarrier, Fury informs Rogers that Loki had been located in Stuttgart, Germany. Roger's immediately suits up into his new uniform and heads off to Germany with Natasha aboard the Quinjet.

Capturing Loki
"You know, the last time I was in Germany and saw a man standing above everybody else, we ended up disagreeing."

- Steve Rogers to Loki

Upon arriving in Germany at a Gala, Rogers uses his shield to deflect an incoming blast from Loki's staff weapon upon an elderly man who refused to kneel before Loki who was trying to enslave a crowd of citizens. Rogers then engages in a fierce battle with Loki and despite his disadvantage against the "God of Mischief" manages to hold his own against him long enough just as Iron Man arrives on the scene. Loki seemingly surrenders easily.

On routh, back to the Helicarrier aboard the Quinjet. Rogers reveals to Stark that he's very uneasy with Loki's surrender as he doesn't remember it ever being that easy. Stark openly mocks Rogers. Suddenly a mysterious thunder and lighting storm appears in the Quinjet's path which Rogers sees that it has frighten Loki. Without warning Thor appears and promptly grabs Loki before he flies away. Stark immediately pursues them and despite Black Widow advising him to sit it out as its way too dangerous for him. Rogers proceeds to sky-dive after both of them.

Fight with Thor
Rogers arrived in the forest area to witness Thor and Iron Man engaged in a fearsome battle against each other. Using his shield, he intervened, and attempted to reason with Thor pointing out that they shouldn't be fighting with each other, he asks Thor to put his Hammer down. In response, Thor leapt towards Captain America with all his might bringing Mjolnir down upon his shield which absorbed the impact and created a massive shock-wave throughout the surrounding woodland sending Thor hurtling backwards. Afterwards, the three of them stood up and once they saw the damage done, they agreed to stop fighting.

Back on the Helicarrier
"Is everything a joke to you?" "Funny things are."

- Cap and Tony Stark

Loki was escorted to the Helicarrier and placed into an impenetrable glass and steel caged cell specifically designed to hold and dispose of the Hulk if necessary. Rogers and his other teammates watched a holographic video of Fury interrogating Loki from the main conference room on the bridge of the Helicarrier.

After watching Fury's meeting with Loki. Rogers was convinced that Loki had a hidden agenda that he allowed himself to be willingly captured and brought to the Helicarrier. Thor revealed to Rogers that Loki had allied himself with an alien race known as the Chitauri who will enable him to conquer and rule over Earth in exchange for the Tesseract. As the group tried to figure out Loki's primary objective, Stark arrived on the bridge and explained from a highly scientific perspective that Loki needed a stable power supply to harness the cube's energy to then open and stabilize the portal. Stark's scientific explanation confused Rogers and the others, with the exception of Dr. Banner. Upon Fury's request, Banner teamed up with Stark to locate the cube using the computer database in the Wishbone lab. While present, Rogers witnessed Stark attempting to provoke Banner into "Hulking out". Rogers confronted Stark about the potential danger he could cause and asked him to resume the task of finding the location of the cube. Stark and Banner revealed their misgivings about S.H.I.E.L.D.'s motives behind researching the cube in the first place. Which in turn caused Rogers to investigate the matter further by sneaking into a storage room where he discovered HYDRA weaponry and learned that S.H.I.E.L.D. is attempting to harness the Tesseract's powers to manufacture weapons of mass destruction.

An intense argument broke out between the team with Fury, Romanoff, Banner, Thor, but mainly between Rogers and Stark on the ethic of Heroism. Rogers argued that Stark was not the type of man who would make the sacrifice play "lay down on the wire and let the other guy crawl over him." Stark argued that the only reason Rogers was so special because of the serum. As it looked like it could come to a head, the Helicarrier came under attack by Clint Barton. Which forced Rogers and Stark to put aside their differences and work together to help save the damaged Helicarrier. While Stark repaired the turbine, Rogers had to fend off some of Loki's brainwashed agents from doing any further damage. Although successful, it was not without cost. Coulson was killed by Loki in the incident.

The Avengers
"How do we do this?" "As a team!"

- Black Widow and Steve Rogers

Coulson's death was what would finally bring the team together. Regardless of all he had been through thus far, Rogers found the strength again to do what needed to be done and take command of The Avengers. Joined by Stark, Romanoff and Barton, now freed of Loki's control, they proceeded to New York when the Chitauri began their attack on the city. Eventually joined by Thor and Banner who transformed into the Hulk, the Avengers assembled for the first time. Rogers proved why he is the legend that he is, first giving each member their assignment: Barton to stake out from a building to call out patterns and any strays, Stark to provide air support and superiority, Thor to bottleneck the portal preventing any reinforcements from coming through, he and Romanoff to keep the fighting on the ground and for Hulk to simply do what he does best: smash. Rogers proved that his best days were not behind him, as he was able to take on countless numbers of Chitauri troops that came his way, in effect be the supersoldier he was made to be. Eventually, the Avengers fought back the Chitauri and were able to close the portal, thus saving the city and the world from conquest and capturing Loki. Sometime after the battle, they gathered in Central Park to see Thor return home to Asgard with the Tessaract and Loki, now bound and muzzled. After this, the Avengers went their separate ways until the next time the Earth needed its Mightiest Heroes to defend it from whatever threat would come. Rogers rode off on his motorcycle to see what awaits him in this brave new world he was now a part of.

Personality and traits
Steve Rogers has always had a noble and honest spirit, intolerant towards injustice and abuses of power. Since he's always been weak and small, he has learnt on his own skin what true strength is, and vowed to protect defenseless people at the risk of his own life. Despite being transformed into a perfect human by the Super Soldier Serum, he maintained his original spirit and character, often resulting goofy and shy, even in his new shape. Since his reawakening, Rogers seems to change a bit, becoming somewhat weary of this new time but still seems to be the same man as he was in the 1940s. Due to his exploits of the past, Rogers seems to naturally have a certain amount of respect given to him, even he doesn't look for it. It is evident in Coulson who is arguably his greatest fan. Even Romanoff seems to show a great deal of respect to him and is even friendly with him. It is also evident in Fury, Banner, Barton and even Hill.

Equipment and skills
As a Super Soldier, Steve Rogers possesses peak human abilities, such as formidable strength, speed, agility, stamina, dexterity and reflexes, as well as a healing factor that prevents him from being drunk. He's a highly trained soldier, expert in combat. As a weapon of choice, he uses a Vibranium special shield, round shaped, which can become a throwing weapon and is able to absorb any kind of impact; in war, Rogers uses also canon weapons like guns and other firearms.

Relationships

 * Peggy Carter - Love Interest
 * Bucky Barnes - Friend and Teammate
 * Abraham Erskine - Friend and Creator
 * Chester Phillips - Former Army Commander
 * Nick Fury - Current Commander
 * Dum Dum Dugan - Ally
 * Montgomery Falsworth - Ally
 * Jim Morita - Ally
 * Gabe Jones - Ally
 * Howard Stark - Weapons Producer
 * Iron Man - Teammate
 * Thor - Teammate
 * Hulk - Teammate
 * Hawkeye - Teammate
 * Black Widow - Teammate
 * Maria Hill - Ally
 * Phil Coulson - Ally and Fan
 * Red Skull - Enemy
 * Arnim Zola - Enemy
 * Heinz Kruger - Enemy
 * Loki - Enemy
 * Chitauri - Enemy

Trivia

 * Before Chris Evans was cast as Captain America, Sam Worthington and Will Smith were in early talks for the role of Captain America. Later on Garrett Hedlund, Channing Tatum, Scott Porter, Mike Vogel, Sebastian Stan, Wilson Bethel, John Krasinski, Michael Cassidy, Chace Crawford and Jensen Ackles were on the final shortlist for the role. Kellan Lutz, Ryan Phillippe and Alexander Skarsgård carried out auditions in case Evans wasn't going to do the role. Stan would later be cast as Bucky in the film.


 * Chris Evans almost turned down the role.


 * In Iron Man, a prototype of Captain America's Shield is visible in the background in the scene where Pepper Potts discovers Tony Stark is Iron Man.


 * In an alternate opening to The Incredible Hulk, which can be found on the DVD, Bruce Banner can be seen attempting to commit suicide on top of a glacier, instead transforming into The Hulk before he can do it, smashing the Glacier. A freeze frame shot of the crumbling glacier shows Captain America in the ice.


 * The Super Soldier Serum is a main plot element in The Incredible Hulk, giving Emil Blonsky his powers. The 'one successful test subject' (Captain America) is also referenced in the film.


 * In Iron Man 2, Phil Coulson finds another prototype of Captain America's Shield in Tony's House.


 * In the movie, the government doesn't want Steve to be in the field, instead wanting him to be a performer to inspire the soldiers. But when he hears that his good friend Bucky and many other soldiers had been captured and were being held by Hydra, he breaks out with the help of Howard Stark to go rescue the captured troops.


 * In the film, before Rogers gets his signature trademark circular Shield, he is seen using three different shields. The first time he uses a garbage can lid as a shield when he's getting beat up by a bully in the ally. The second time he uses a cab door as a protective shield when Heinz Kruger fires a gun at him. The third time he uses a triangular shield during a musical tour and later ends up using it as a weapon on his first mission.


 * In The Incredible Hulk, General Ross refers to the Super Soldier formula.


 * Due to the Super Soldier Serum, his metabolism burns four times faster than the average person. Therefore, he can not get drunk.


 * Steve Rogers originally drinks the Super Soldier formula, while in the movie Steve is transformed into Captain America with a whole special equipment, designed by Abraham Erskine and Howard Stark.


 * Steve Rogers was an artist before becoming Captain America; Adolf Hitler was also an artist before he became Führer of the Third Reich. This is ironic, as Captain America was fighting Nazis.


 * In The Incredible Hulk, when Tony Stark is talking to General Ross, Stark says the Super Soldier program was "put on ice," referring to Captain America's frozen body.


 * In the movie, many kids and a soldier are seen reading Captain America Comics #1, the first Captain America comic ever published.


 * When Bucky takes Steve to the World's Fair near the beginning of the film he says, "We're going to the future" - a foreshadowing that Steve Rogers will actually go to the future at the end of the film.


 * According to Steve's WWII enlistment form, his birth date is July 4th 1918, making him twenty-five in 1943. Decades later in 2011, when he wakes up after almost seventy years, he is ninety-three (in Earth years). However, due to being frozen for so long and his fast metabolism, he still appears young.


 * When Steve wakes up for the first time in almost seventy years in the '40's-style 'recovery room,' he hears the archive remains of a vintage Ebbets Field game from May 1941 on an old-fashioned radio and knows because he was there. This is actually a reference to a real baseball game played at Ebbets Field on May 25th '41, where Pete Reiser of the Brooklyn Dodgers hit the park grand slam. Sportscaster, Red Barber, is believed to have been the game's announcer (as heard by Steve on the radio) because he was with Ebbets Field at the time. Also, since Steve's birth date is July 4th 1918, he was twenty-two at the time of the game since he turned twenty-three on July 4th '41. All together, this is two years behind '43 when Steve became Cap at twenty-five.