Johann Schmidt, aka Red Skull, is a supervillain who serves as Captain America's archenemy and the main antagonist in Captain America: The First Avenger. He was the leader of HYDRA, a Nazi deep science division that was active during World War II, who wanted to take over the world by using the powers of the Space Stone in form of the Tesseract.
History[]
Captain America: The First Avenger[]
Johann Schmidt was the head of the Nazi deep-science division HYDRA. Early in his career, he encountered the scientist Abraham Erskine who had developed a formula to enhance human capabilities. Schmidt forced Erskine to give him the serum and he used it on himself. While this did increase his strength, stamina and even his intellect, the serum also left Schmidt severely deformed, altering his face into the visage of a red skull and thus earning him his moniker.
During World War II, the Red Skull sought to harness the power of the gods themselves. Researching various mythological and religious texts, the Skull was led to a village in Norway where he discovered the Tesseract, a cube-shaped object of incredible power believed to be of Asgardian origin. The Skull took the cube and learned how to harness its power, designing and building new weapons for his soldiers that utilised the Tesseract's destructive energy. No longer interested in the narrow ideals of Nazis, the Skull and HYDRA separated themselves from Hitler and his command and plotted to dominate the Earth themselves.
The Red Skull assigned his operative Heinz Kruger to infiltrate the Americans' Strategic Scientific Reserve in order to assassinate the wayward Dr. Erskine and steal his perfected Super-Soldier serum. However, Kruger had failed in his mission and the serum had been administered to an American soldier called Steve Rogers who would become known as Captain America. As the years went on, Captain America and his Howling Commandos would continually thwart HYDRA's operations, destroying their factories and seizing their assets. But the Skull had one last card to play; he had created a powerful airship called the Valkyrie that harnessed the power of the Tesseract and was equipped with atomic bombs. The Skull planned to use this ship to invade the United States and destroy all of their major cities in one fell swoop.
The Skull's final plan was thwarted by Captain America who boarded the Valkyrie just as it took off from HYDRA Headquarters. Aboard the colossal bomber, the Captain and the Skull clashed. During the fight, the device harnessing the Tesseract was damaged and the cube's energy became unstable. As the Red Skull grabbed the Tesseract, it released a burst of energy that seemed to tear a hole in the fabric of reality. As the Red Skull gazed into the portal at the universe beyond, his body was enveloped by the Tesseract's energy and he suddenly disappeared through the portal. His whereabouts and status remained a mystery, though the world believed him to be dead. Despite losing their leader, HYDRA did not disappear with him. Though they were defeated toward the end of WWII, the sinister organisation would remain in the shadows for the next seven decades, sowing chaos throughout the world until they emerged in the 21st century from within the global peacekeeping agency S.H.I.E.L.D..
Avengers: Infinity War[]
When the Tesseract energies were released, the Red Skull was transported across space, arriving on the planet Vormir. As the Skull would come to learn, this was his punishment for abusing the power of the Tesseract, which Schmidt would learn was actually a vessel for the Space Stone, one of the six Infinity Stones.
Another of the Infinity Stones, the Soul Stone, was located on Vormir. Schmidt attempted to take the stone for himself, but he could not use its power since the stone could only be acquired by someone sacrificing one they love, and Schmidt loved no one. The Skull was therefore cursed to become the Stonekeeper, an ageless, immortal guardian of the Soul Stone. Over the decades, he advised beings who sought the Soul Stone, warning them of the price that must be paid to gain its power.
In 2018, the Mad Titan Thanos arrived on Vormir along with his treacherous daughter Gamora in search of the Soul Stone. With his new abilities, Schmidt immediately detected Thanos' presence and knew who he was, greeting the alien conqueror and explaining the ritual that was needed to acquire the Soul Stone. At this, Gamora mocked her father, believing his quest to be in vain and that he was incapable of truly loving anyone. To her horror, Gamora realised she was wrong as she witnessed Thanos shed a tear for her and reluctantly threw her off a cliff to her death. With Gamora's sacrifice, Thanos obtained the Soul Stone.
Avengers: Endgame[]
Five years after the Decimation, the surviving Avengers were reassembled when Scott Lang - Ant-Man - returned from the Quantum Realm. Lang had missed the Decimation and its immediate aftermath due to being trapped in a sub-atomic state and had only returned because of a fluke accident. His work with Dr. Pym had taught him that tunneling through the Quantum Realm provided access to alternate timelines, thus it was possible for the Avengers to travel back in time to collect the Infinity Stones, bring them back to their present and use them to undo the Decimation.
While Stark, Hulk and Lang worked on constructing a device to allow them to travel through time via the Quantum Realm, Black Widow went to Japan in search of Clint Barton. Since the Decimation, Barton - who had lost his entire family to the Snap - had taken on the identity of "Ronin" and was hunting down and executing criminals. Romanoff found Barton and told him of the Avengers' plan, but Barton was hesitant to hope. He eventually decided to rejoin the team, however, and he joined Romanoff when the pair were sent to the planet Vormir in the past to acquire the Soul Stone.
On Vormir, Romanoff and Barton encountered the Red Skull, though they apparently did not recognise who he was. He informed the pair that in order to acquire the Soul Stone, one must sacrifice someone they love. This was the cruelest predicament for Romanoff and Barton as they both cared for one another deeply and both were willing to sacrifice their lives for the greater good. The situation became a contest between the two as they fought each other over which of them should die to obtain the Soul Stone. Hawkeye was paralyzed by Black Widow's taser, but was able to recover and shoot an explosive arrow towards the cliff's edge, knocking Widow to the side. He then rushed towards the cliff and jumped off, but Black Widow also jumped and grabbed Hawkeye, shooting a grapple and attaching it to him so he wouldn't fall, before trying to sacrifice herself. However, Hawkeye was able to grab onto Black Widow's arm, but could not pull her up without both of them falling.
Hawkeye got angry at Romanoff for stopping him from jumping. Black Widow asked Hawkeye to let her go, assuring him it was okay and knowing that there was no other way, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. Hawkeye desperately tried to change her mind, as he did not want his best friend to die. However, Black Widow felt the exact same and forced him to let her go by kicking off and jumping off the cliff wall. Black Widow then fell to her death as a devastated Hawkeye watched, helpless to do anything else. With the sacrifice being made, Hawkeye then obtained the Soul Stone. He would return to his own reality, leaving Red Skull alone on the desolate planet once more.
Appearance[]
Unlike his mainstream or comic book version, Johan's skull-like red face is product of a mutation gave by the effects of the unfinished super-soldier serum rather than being a simple mask. He wears a Nazi uniform and a false skin mask that resembles his original face. After his initial encounter with Captain America, he tore his mask off, revealing the grim crimson visage beneath, which he bore proudly from then onward.
Personality[]
Johan is an extreme megalomaniac, as he firmly believes that superhuman beings must rule over normal humans. He is a ruthless, intimidating, cold-hearted, and a morally devoid individual as well as also a cold-blooded murderer who would do anything to accomplish his goals, not caring about anyone else but himself and not even caring about the consequences of his actions. He is also a scientific genius who is able to see beyond appearances and managed to see the truth behind myths.
Powers and abilities[]
As a result of the incomplete Super-Soldier serum, Johan obtained incredible attributes such as superhuman strength, stamina, speed, and reflexes. However, it also left his face horribly deformed, not resembling a human anymore. His strength is enhanced to superhuman levels as he was able to move a giant stone casket without little effort and lifting a giant wardrobe over his head. He was able to quickly recover from blows received from his opponents and demonstrated to be an extremely agile hand-to-hand combatant. Johan is an incredible genius, as he possesses an extreme intelligence that allows him to organize strategies and figure out things.After becoming a Stonekeeper, Red Skull possesses ageless immortality, as he was able to live on Vormir for decades without even aging.