Bucky Barnes <WIP>
Sargeant James Buchanan Barnes (a.k.a. Winter Soldier | Exile)
James "Bucky" Barnes is a Super-Soldier, a former assassin, and a World War II veteran. He and Steve Rogers were childhood best friends, and later began a romantic relationship.
As a sargeant in the 107th Infantry Regiment during WWII, he was captured by HYDRA and was the subect of successful experiments to replicate Dr Erskine's Super-Soldier Serum.
During a battle with the Red Skull, Barnes fell from a railway bridge, and was believed to have been killed. However, thanks to the serum, he survived the fall and was picked up by the Soviets, who released him to HYDRA custody. Over the years that followed, he was subjected to further experiments and brainwashing by both HYDRA and the Red Room. He also had a Cybernetic arm fitted to replace an arm which was lost in the fall. HYDRA used him as an assassin throughout the Cold War and beyond, under the code-name Winter Soldier. However, the Red Room's thought-control techniques proved only partially successful, and HYDRA began a programme of memory wipes to maintain control.
While under HYDRA control, he was responsible for the bombing of the Palace of Nations, which resulted in seven deaths, including that of T'Chakka, King of Wakanda. Although he initially swore vengeance against him, upon realising that Barnes was not in control of his actions, King T'Challa agreed to assist in deprogramming Barnes.
Following the disappearance of Rogers during the Korvacs War, he joined the Avengers and was one of the heroes kidnapped by the Beyonder. He later adopted the name Exile, and left this dimension with America Chavez to search for Rogers.
Physical Description
Body Features
Bucky lost his left arm during WWII, and now uses an advanced prosthetic.
Special abilities
As a recipient of a super-soldier serum, Bucky has enhanced speed, strength and endurance.
Specialized Equipment
In combat and when in public he uses a cybernetic arm developed by Tony Stark based on the HYDRA-made arm he was previously using.
Mental characteristics
Personal history
Early Life
Bucky was born in Brooklyn in 1917, the eldest of four. He and Steve Rogers met as children, when Barnes stepped in to protect Rogers from bullies, and the two became insepperable. After Steve's mother died in 1936, the two moved in together.When United States joined WWII, the two went to enlist together, but Rogers was rejected on medical grounds. Barnes was enlisted into the 107th Infantry, where he rose to the rank of Sargeant and was trained as a sniper. After spending his last night in New York at the Stark Expo on a double date with Rogers and two girls, he was shipped out, first to London and then the Italian Front.
Capture by HYDRA
While on the Front Lines, Barnes and his unit were captured by HYDRA. While prisoners, he met and bonded with the other soldiers who would become the Howling Commandos. Eventually he was deemed too sick to do hard labour, and was sent to Arnim Zola to be used as a test subject. Unbeknownst to him, Zola gave him an experimental super soldier serum.After being resuced by Rogers, Barnes and the friends he had made while a POW formed the Howling Commandos to assist Rogers in combatting HYDRA. They were irregulars, not falling within the normal lines of command, but most often took their orders from the Strategic Scientific Reserve. Over the following year, the Howlies travelled around Europe targetting HYDRA bases.
In 1945, the Howlies infiltrated a train on the trail of Zola. During a fight, Barnes was knocked out of a hole in the side of the carriage, and before Rogers could rescue him, plunged into the Danube below.
The Winter Soldier
He was picked up by Soviet troops, who passed him to Hydra. Hydra kept him inprisoned until Zola was released from SSR custody and began building the S.H.I.E.L.D branch of HYDRA. At that point, work began to turn Bucky into the Winter Soldier by amputating the remains of his left arm in order to fit the prosthetic and making a deal with the Red Room to access their expertise in brainwashing. As their techniques were designed to be first used on small children, they were only partially successful, and HYDRA made up the difference by beginning a programme of ECT in order to repeatedly wipe Barnes's memory.With the success of their mind-wipes, HYDRA began to send Barnes on missions, including several joint opperations with the Red Room during which he worked which Natasha Romanoff, although he did not remember her between missions. When not in the field, the Soldier was kept in cryo-stasis to prevent him aging.
In 1951, the Soldier was used to aid Soviet forces during the Korean War, during which time he encountered Isiah Bradley. This was one of his last Soviet missions, as growing East/West tensions during the Cold War lead to the dissolution of the alliance between HYDRA and the KGB, and HYDRA increasingly focussed on American politics. In 1963, he assassinated JFK.
In 1991, following the fall of the Berlin Wall, the newly formed SVR created a joint initiative with HYDRA to create more Winter Soldiers. Bucky was sent to assassinate Howard Stark and obtain a prototype Super-Soldier serum he had developed, as attempts by HYDRA to recreate it had been unsuccessful and the Red Room's serum was volatile and produced inconsistent results. The Stark serum was given to members of a HYDRA death squad. The Soldier was used to train them, however a riot broke out and they were placed in cryo-stasis to subdue them. Following the failure, the facility was abandonned, and eventually forgotten.
In 2009, the Soldier was sent to kill a nuclear scientist who was being escorted by Natasha Romanoff. He fired a single round through her stomach and the bullet struck the scientist, killing him. Although Romanoff recognised him, she was not able to get him to remember her during the short encounter.
In 2012, he was known to be in the United States, under the control of Alexander Pierce, who considered using him to subdue Bobbi Morse to prevent the fall of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Rescue by Rogers
Following Pierce's death, he came under the control of Richard Fisk's branch of HYDRA. In an effort to destabalise world politics, Barnes was sent to bomb the United Nations Headquarters in Vienna. Although the attack was succesful, it brought him to the attention of Steve Rogers, who had been hunting for him. Rogers, with the assistance of Romanoff, was able to capture and disable Barnes, and smuggle him back to the United States.As his memories began to return, he realised that he would never be safe as long as the HYDRA cell who controlled him was still active. He therefore allowed himself to be recaptured, knowing that Romanoff would be able to track his possition, leading her, Rogers, and King T'Challa right to them. After a battle with HYDRA forces, they succeeded in rescuing him and subduing Fisk. Barnes ultimately chose not to kill Fisk for his role in Barnes's torture and imprisonment, instead allowing T'Challa to avenge his father's death.
Although he was then a free man, HYDRA's brutal methods of thought-control had left him with brain damage that effected his memory. King T'Challa offered to take him to Wakanda, where doctors and psychologists were able to repair the worst of the damage done to his brain, and break the Red Room's conditioning.
Joining the Avengers
Barnes returned to America, living with Rogers and beginning to build a civilian life. However, after Rogers was transported to an alternate timeline by Michael Korvac, Barnes joined the Avengers, using the code-name Winter Soldier.He was one of the heroes taken by the Beholder to the Blue Area of the Moon. Following the defeat of the Beyonder, he asked America Chavez to assist him in searching for the displaced Rogers, and the two left the dimension.
Exile
<Section under construction>
Sexuality
Bisexual, though he is more often attracted to men than women.
Education
Bucky attended school until age 14, when he dropped out to begin working to support his family.
Mental Trauma
As a result of physical trauma to his brain, along with decades of brain washing, dehumanisation, and physical and verbal abuse, Bucky has complex PTSD and struggles with depersonalisation. He is also working to undo a number of unhealthy behaviours learned both in the great depression and from HYDRA/the Red Room.
Social
Family Ties
While Bucky does have living relatives, via his sisters' children and grandchildren, he has made no attempt to seek them out, and considers Rogers to be his only family.
Religious Views
Barnes was raised Catholic and continues to list this as his religion when asked, but is actually an aetheist.
Social Aptitude
Although he was well known to be charming before HYDRA, he is now withdrawn and anti-social, relaxing only around trusted friends.
Relationships
Species
Conditions
Ethnicity
Honorary & Occupational Titles
While serving during WWII, he attained the rank of Sargeant, and as per military policy he has retained this title as a formality.
Date of Birth
March 10, 1917
Year of Birth
1917 CE
101 Years old
Birthplace
Brooklyn, New York City
Spouses
Siblings
Children
Current Residence
Unknown
Pronouns
He/Him
Gender
Male
Height
5'9"
Belief/Deity
Lapsed Catholic
Aligned Organization
Other Affiliations
Related Plots
Bucky is fluent in English, Russian, German, Japanese, Chinese, and speaks a little French.
Ruled Locations
