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This article, James Buchanan Barnes (Earth-61620), is property of CureKurogane. |
(born John Reinholdt Aurick Krieger)
Avengers (currently)
Klaus Krieger (ancestor)
Johanna Krieger (mother; deceased)
Frederick Krieger (father; deceased)
Unborn siblings (deceased)
Andrew Black (ex-lover; deceased)
Miles Morales (Black Spider; lover and fiancé)
Hell's Kitchen, New York (currently)
HYDRA soldier (formerly)
Vigilante superhero (currently)
Member of the Avengers (currently)
Captain America #5 1
Backstory
Those years of being that monster HYDRA has turned me into, I couldn't shake that feeling out of me. I didn't know who I was. Now, I've become a new man and I will continue to live on through the future, for Steve's sake.
- — Captain America (formerly Winter Soldier)
- — Captain America (formerly Winter Soldier)
Early Life
The life of Bucky Barnes started in Brooklyn, New York. He was born John Reinholdt Aurick Krieger in the early 20th Century to Johanna and Frederick Krieger, being of German descent with Scottish ancestry (on his maternal side). Unfortunately, his parents didn't get the chance to see Bucky grow for they passed away when he was only a year old, leaving him to be taken to an orphanage where he grew up most of his life. One day, when he was only 10 years old, Bucky began to notice a young frail boy who was picked on by a group of older boys, beating him up due to him being weak. Bucky confronts the bullies, taking punches from them before beating them down despite them being taller than him. After the confrontation, the young boy introduced himself as Steve Rogers and the two started off as best friends, leading to Bucky protecting him from other bullies. Unfortunately, Bucky and Steve would go their separate ways as they were adopted by different families and Bucky would give Steve an iridescent marble as a token of their friendship and to remember him as the years pass for them.
World War II
8 years later, at the tender age of 18, Bucky graduated high school and decides to enlist in the United States Army. At the time, Bucky had been informed that the United States of America had joined World War II. Bucky bumps into Steve once again after years of being apart from each other and they both visited the US Recruiting and Induction Center to get enlisted in the Army. While Steve was rejected due to his frail structure, Bucky was enlisted due to his athletic nature and earned the rank Sergeant and underwent sniper training. He along with the 107 Infantry Regiment were put to train at Camp McCoy in Wisconsin where he had spent the cold winter training for the war, rising to the rank of Sergeant. Before the day where he is shipped to England, he encounters Steve getting picked on by a thug, and he comes to his rescue, knocking him out cold. He tells Steve that he was leaving for England in the next day and wanted to spend some time with him that day. During that time, he discovers that Steve has tried to enlist in the army with false paper and persuades him not to which upsets Steve for he wanted to fight for the country. Bucky tries to cheer him up, but the latter shook it off and leaves Bucky all alone without saying goodbye to him, which left him a little hurt.
The next day, Bucky was shipped to England and as the fight against the Nazis began, Bucky was put in the front lines along with British soldiers, shooting and killing every Nazi soldier in the battlefield. He soon becomes outnumbered along with fellow soldiers, Dum Dum Dugan and Gabe Jones, but when a HYDRA tank approached the battlefield and took him along with his fellow soldiers hostage. He was forced to work at a weapons facility in Austria where the remaining members of the Regiment were working on building HYDRA weaponry and was given corporal punishment if he refused to follow orders which he took it the worst. During his imprisonment, he met British soldier Andrew Black who was also captured by the HYDRA and forced into labor and were working on a bomber plane called the Valkyrie. Bucky became too weak to work and he was taken in by the HYDRA soldiers to work on an experiment on him under the command of Arnim Zola.
However, in November 1943, the facility was raided by Steve who had undergone the Super-Soldier project, transforming him into Captain America As Steve broke in and freed the prisoners, including Bucky while chasing down Zola, Bucky was left shocked by Steve's new physique for he remembers him being shorter than he was. But as the other soldiers went to battle the HYDRA, both he and Steve were trapped inside of the facility as its self-destruct sequence was activated. As they try to find their escape, they encounter Johann Schmidt where a brief fight between him and Steve ensued. Schmidt eventually separated himself from Steve and revealed his true face: a red disfigured face resembling a skull caused by a Super-Soldier serum test before he escaped as the facility started to fall apart. Thankfully, Steve and Bucky managed to get out before the facility exploded. Once Bucky and the soldiers were reunited, he gave praise to Steve for his heroic rescue and all of the soldiers showed their respect to him while Steve and Bucky patched up their friendship while the Super Soldier remained in the Army.
As the soldiers took a break, Bucky and Andrew fell in love with each other after growing closer, leading to a sexual and romantic relationship but kept it from the public due to homosexual relationships not being acknowledged at the time. Outside of their secret rendezvous, Bucky was offered to join Steve in forming a team called the Howling Commandos along with other soldiers who also fought in the war. He accepted the offer, but he lets Steve know that he's following Captain America but he is following Steve, taking down many HYDRA soldiers with the help of Bucky's advanced sniping skills.
After Bucky discovers that Zola was attempting to escape by train, he and Steve made their way to the speeding train where they are encountered by HYDRA soldiers when they thought the were going to find Zola in the train. Thanks to Steve's enhanced build and strength, he was able to take out the troops while Bucky was left struggling for his life. One of the soldiers was armed with a Arnimhilation 99L Assault Weapon charged by a mysterious artifact called the Tesseract and blew a hole in the the train car. Due to the train going in fast speed, Bucky lost his balance and clings onto the side of the car. Steve tried to grab Bucky's hand but he ended up falling from the train and hits the cold Danube river, meeting his demise. This left Steve devastated and to make things worse, Zola had escaped. Returning to camp, Steve informed the soldiers about Bucky's death and it left Andrew completely heartbroken while the Super-Soldier chose to not let his death be in vain.
The Winter Solider
Bucky Barnes aka Winter Soldier
Days passed since the fall, Bucky was eventually found barely conscious by some Soviet Union soldiers and he had lost his left arm from the impact of his supposed "death" but thanks to some of the enhancements from the attempted procedure at the facility in Germany, Bucky managed to survive the fall. The soldiers were brought to HYDRA Soviet's custody until Zola released him and continued on with his experiments. He remained under the HYDRA's care who took undercover as agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.. Zola continued the experiment on Bucky under the Winter Soldier Program where he began to reshape him to his own liking. Removing the remains of Bucky's severed arm, he was given a cybernetic prosthetic arm and was put under a memory erasing machine inflicting harmful brain damage in order to complete the procedure. Once the procedure was finish, Bucky became HYDRA's lethal weapon under the name Winter Soldier and he was sent on missions to take out historical figures around the world including John F. Kennedy in 1963. Between missions, he was put in suspended animation by HYDRA which eliminated his aging completely and permanently. When Zola was eventually captured and imprisoned (later dies in prison), his protégé Alexander Pierce took over HYDRA and he began training with Bucky to become on of their best assassins in all of HYDRA.
In the modern era, Bucky was given the mission to located S.H.I.E.L.D. director Nick Fury by Pierce. Although he failed the first attempt thanks to Fury using a Mouse Hole to escape him, Bucky almost succeeded in his mission in killing Fury but it was interfered when Steve showed up as Captain America and fights him off before being ordered to retreat by Pierce, sparing Fury from meeting his demise.
Bucky Barnes unmasked
Later on, Bucky was given another mission: to kill Captain America. Due to his memories now obsolete, Bucky carries on with the mission. He discovered that Steve has allied with skilled spy, Natasha Romanosff under the moniker Black Widow and they had captured Jasper Sitwell, who had been working at S.H.I.E.L.D. as an undercover HYDRA agent. He makes his surprise attack on Steve and Romanoff, igniting a fight with two against one. Steve eventually triumphs Bucky and he rips off his mask, revealing his true face, causing him to say "Bucky?" in shock. In response, the Winter Soldier responded "Who the hell is Bucky?" and counterattacks the Super Soldier. Eventually, Bucky escapes and Steve tries to go after him but he was stopped by Romanoff, informing him that he should report the assassin to Fury. Meanwhile, Bucky was once again put under mind treatment under the order of Pierce once he discovered that his "weapon" began to recall his memories.
At that time, HYDRA began to start their world attack after Red Skull made his return to HYDRA and their attacks started off in England where the E.D.I. fought against the troops. HYDRA called their attack Project Insight to bring in new world order by stealing the Helicarriers from S.H.I.E.L.D. to start their insurrection. Bucky was soon sent back to take on Steven and the rest of the agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. who arrived to put an end to HYDRA's invasion. The fight between Steve and Bucky was intense as the Super Soldier didn't want to fight him after discovering who Bucky was but the HYDRA soldier didn't back down. Steve tried to have Bucky remember who he was as he chose not to fight him anymore, making him open and Bucky nearly beats him to death before the Helicarrier began to fall apart. However, Bucky soon started to remember the things they had done together and he backed away from Steve. Soon, Steve falls into the river, triggering Bucky's time when he fell to the Danube river years ago, and the Winter Soldier leaps out of the carrier and into the river, saving Steve from drowning before saying to him, "We'll see each other again," before disappearing into the distance as he began to start a mission to find out who he really is.
Old Memories, New Beginnings
Since his freedom from HYDRA, Bucky tracks down HYDRA scientists at Ideal Federal Savings Bank and beats them down until he remembers the memories of him killing innocent people and he spares them. Since then, he kept himself under low-profile as the government began to warrant for his arrest, and went under the name James Buchanan Barnes. One day he went to the Smithsonian Institution where he finds an exhibit in dedication to Captain America and the Howling Commandos. There, he saw a panel where it showed memorabilia dedicated to himself, he looked closer to one of the pictures, confirming that it was really him under his real name -- Krieger, John Krieger. Knowing that he couldn't stay any longer, Bucky leaves the United States and seeks refuge in Romania where he discovers that he was a wanted man and had fears that someone might know who he is. However, one man discovered Bucky and manages to take him to a safehouse where he would stay safe until the government tosses out the search. The man was revealed to be a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent named Vladimir Andrei who tells him about the history of his affiliation with HYDRA but it wasn't in his free will. Bucky was skeptical but gains his trust to Vladimir. He remained in Romania until he was visited by Steve under the permission of S.H.I.E.L.D. and the two began to have a heart-to-heart with one another. Bucky tells him that he had remembered his past with the Howling Commandos and his romantic involvement with Andrew Black before the feeling of guilt taking over his mind. Steve has told him that the HYDRA made him a monster and they were to blame. But their reunion was cut short when a team of the GSG 9 agents broke into the safehouse to capture Bucky, accusing him of bombing the Vienna International Centre.
Both Bucky and Steve made their escape, little do they know... T'Challa, prince of Wakanda under the moniker, Black Panther was after Bucky, wanting to kill as revenge for "killing" his father, King of Wakanda, T'Chaka and the original Black Panther. T'Challa tried to kills Barnes but Steve used his Shield to knock him away before the GSG 9 agents opened fire at the three from their helicopters. The chase led through the busy roads where they were eventually captured and taken into custody. However, Bucky and Steve were freed by Fury and takes him to the headquarters where he informs them about the attack and did an investigation and revealed that the person had been impersonating Bucky and it was none other than Hemlut Zemo. As they went to find Zemo and confront him about the attack in the Vienna International Centre, Zemo shamelessly admitted to executing the attack due to his loyalty to HYDRA. But before he could confront them, he was attacked by T'Challa, leading to an all out war as Zemo made his escape. Bucky tried to reason with T'Challa but the Wakandan prince wouldn't hear of it and he beats him, destroying his arm. Before he could make his attack, Natasha shows up on time, using her Widow's Bite to subdue T'Challa as Bucky escapes with Steve.
Bucky was left injured and was put under care while Steve and Natasha locate Zemo at the Winter Soldier laboratory located in Siberia. As he was put in care, he felt the memories coming back to him, showing that the brainwashing was wearing off and he remembered how he and Steve met and an image of giving Steve the marble as a token of their friendship and when Steve returned from his fight against Zemo, he asked Steve if he still had the iridescent marble he had given him. Steve smiled and nodded to Bucky, as he had kept it for a long time. Realizing that the brainwashing was weakening, Steve wanted to help Bucky eliminate the Winter Soldier programming and much to his shock, T'Challa offers to help as well after finally knowing that Bucky was innocent. He was taken to Wakanda by T'Challa where his sister, Princess Shuri stepped in to help in curing Bucky from HYDRA's control. Worried about the government coming after him, Bucky talked to T'Challa who jokingly said they can try to attack Wakanda. As Bucky prepares himself for be refrozen, he bids his farewell to Steve who promises that he will come for him once the procedure was finished.
Infinity War
Three years had passed and the brainwashing was successfully removed by Shuri, followed by being imbued by a special Super Soldier serum to improve his stamina and agility, Bucky was brought out of his cryostasis. Since his stay, Bucky made himself at home in Wakanda, developing a family bond with the native Wakandans who dubbed him "White Wolf", opposite to the moniker of T'Challa who had been crowned king after the passing of his father. He worked as a farmer while finally getting the peace he had deserved after all of the physical and mental baggage from being the Winter Soldier and began to know more of his past life before the HYDRA procedure. However, two months later, Bucky's peaceful life came to an end when he was approached by T'Challa, alerting him that Thanos had come to Earth to claim the Infinity Stones. The king's subordinate was skeptical in having Bucky join the battle but the former Winter Soldier accepted the offer to join. He was given a new prosthetic arm created from a special metal alloy called Vibranium which was far more stronger than average metal. He asked T'Challa where was the battle located at and the king informed him that Thanos was on his way to the country.
Following in accepting the mission, Bucky, along with T'Challa and the Dora Milaje met up with the rest of the Avengers and reunion between him and Steve ensued but it didn't last for too long. He was told that Thanos was after the Mind Stone which was embedded in recent Avenger Vision who was created by Hank Pym and awakened by S.H.I.E.L.D. Bucky watched the dome that protect Wakanada shatter as Thanos' dropship make their way inside, beginning the Battle of Wakanda. Large groups of mindless creatures called the Outriders made their way through the battle and Bucky led the Wakandans to rid them from the land. With the help of Thor, Rocket Raccoon and Groot, Bucky was given the advantage to hold the creatures back until each one of them were destroyed.
As the battle went quiet, Bucky encounters Thanos as he approached Vision to take the Mind Stone. He, along with Black Widow and Scarlet Witch battled the Mad Titan but he blasted them away with the Power Stone before successfully removing the Mind Stone from Vision's head, killing him, completing the Infinity Gauntlet. With one snap, Thanos wiped out half of the the universe's population, including half of the Avengers. Bucky realized that he was dying and he called out to Steve as he turns into dust, leaving the Super-Soldier shocked and horrified when he watched his best friend fade away along with T'Challa, Wanda, and the entire Wakandan population, leading to the Mad Titan's victory.
Five years later following the Snap, the Avengers had went back in time to retrieve all of the six Infinity Stones where Bruce Banner created the Nano Infinity Gauntlet and used it to undo the Snap, restoring the population of the world that had been affected by the Snap. With the aid of the Inter-Dimensional Portals created by the Master of the Mystic Arts, Bucky arrived on Titan along with the Wakandan Army, followed by the X-Men and the X-Strike, who also fell victim to the Snap, to take on Thanos and his army. He and Steve teamed up together to battle the Mad Titan until he obtained the Nano Infinity Gauntlet but Steve had taken the Infinity Stones, its power creating a sole Gauntlet for him and he uses it to defeat Thanos and his army. However, it cost him his life as he peacefully dies in front of Bucky, leaving him completely heartbroken. He along with the rest of the Avengers and S.H.I.E.L.D. held Steve's funeral and buried him alongside his parents while the heroes kept his Shield as a token of his sacrifice.
Becoming Captain America
Following the funeral of Steve, Bucky returned to New York as he was gained citizenship to Wakanda through T'Challa although he had gotten citizenship in Germany due to his parents originating from there. He visited Steve's grave on his birthday, telling him what was going on with him. Unbeknownst to him, Fury was watching him from afar and he could tell that the Winter Soldier wasn't over the loss of his best friend and he understood his grief. The man dubbed Captain America had put his life on the line to save the universe and brought grief within the United States. Bucky was approached by the S.H.I.E.L.D. director and tells him that he shouldn't be out in the cold. Bucky wanted to refuse because he wanted to visit Steve's grave but he was hauled away from the cemetery and decided to take him out for lunch in hopes of cheering him up.
There, Fury had a talk with Bucky, informing him that he too misses Steve and the Avengers hadn't been the same without him but his legacy was still alive. As a result, Bucky was believed to be the perfect person to take on the Captain America mantle as Fury brings in Steve's shield. Surprised by what Fury wanted him to do, Bucky tried to decline it, believing that there was only one Captain America and he was gone. He knew he couldn't replace Steve and he refused to but soon he began to think as people around him wanted to see someone live through the Avenger's legacy. He didn't want Steve's death to be in vain and he didn't want to keep mourning over his death. Instead, he wanted to celebrate his life and how he became an inspiration to the United States. He turned to Fury and accepts the Captain America mantle, thus being given the Shield and a new suit to keep Steve's memory alive.
Meeting the Black Spider
Coming soon...
Powers & Abilities
Powers
Seemingly to those to Bucky Barnes of Earth-616
Abilities
Seemingly to those to Bucky Barnes of Earth-616
Strength level
Unknown.
Weaknesses
None known.
Arsenal
Equipment: Seemingly to those to Bucky Barnes of Earth-616
Transportation: Seemingly to those to Bucky Barnes of Earth-616
Weapons: Seemingly to those to Bucky Barnes of Earth-616
Notes
- No special notes.
Trivia
- No trivia.
See Also
- Appearances of James Buchanan Barnes (Earth-61620)
- Character Gallery: James Buchanan Barnes (Earth-61620)
- Quotations by James Buchanan Barnes (Earth-61620)
Discover and Discuss
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(born John Reinholdt Aurick Krieger) · James Buchanan Barnes (Earth-61620)
Links and References
- None.