Cpt Steve Rogers ~ Cpt America
Name: Steven 'Steve' Rogers
Identity: Public
Height: 6'2"
Weight: 220 lbs
Hair: Blond
Eyes: Blue
Distinguishing Characteristics: None
Date of Birth: July 4th, 1922
Marital Status: Single
Known Relatives: Sarah Rogers [Mother, deceased], Joseph Rogers [Father, Deceased]
Occupation: Avengers, Adventurer, Freelance Artist
Legal Status: US Citizen, no criminal record | Captain, United States Army, retired
SHIELD Clearance: High
Personality Profile: Steven Rogers, known as 'Steve' to almost everyone who knows him (and in truth, this is how Steven introduces himself), is a sincere and earnest young man trying desperately to fit in with a world that he continuously feels has past him by.
A natural leader, Rogers possesses a positive, upbeat attitude and exudes confidence. He is charismatic, likeable, and stubborn to a fault. While not opposed to tactical retreats as battle conditions may necessitate, Rogers has a reputation of 'never backing down', an attitude that some have considered arrogant and conceited. In truth, Rogers does not hold this attitude out of a belief that he is better, or more properly equipped/skilled/etc, than another - it is simply a belief that every man and woman should stand up for what they believe and do their very best.
He possesses a strong sense of duty, honor, and, despite the accolades other give him, humility.
Powers and Abilities: Due to the experimental serum and radiation bombardments that were administered as part of the Super Soldier Serum, Rogers's physical body was altered on a cellular level.
He was turned from a frail young man, barely five-foot-four and weighing in at just under a hundred pounds in a six-foot-two, muscular and well-built specimen of human perfection, with the treatment affecting nearly every aspect of his physical body. It has been theorized that the results of the unknown chemical compound of both the serum and the vita-rays Rogers' body exposed to affected the marrow in his bones, meaning he perpetually produces more of the serum as his body produces more blood.
The majority of the effects of the serum have pushed Rogers' body to the absolute 'peak' of human potential, at least as it is understood, with some notable exceptions.
The following is a list of known effects of Project Rebirth:
- Enhanced Strength: Rogers is capable of lifting approximately two (short) ton, or roughly 1814 kg.
- Enhanced Stamina: Rogers' body eliminates fatigue producing chemicals several times more efficiently than a normal humans. He is also more resistant to the effects of frigid temperatures and extreme heat.
- Enhanced Speed: Rogers is capable of moving at accelerated speeds, able to maintain a 'comfortable' running pace of approximately forty to forty-five miles per hour (an average distance of one mile per minute) for extremely extended durations. He has been shown to be able to sprint much faster, showing the ability to catch up with quickly moving cars on highways. This speed, however, is taxing even to his body and he is not able to maintain it indefinitely.
- Peak Human Durability: Rogers' body is capable of withstanding far more punishment than the average human, allowing him to fight through injuries that would cripple and debilitate others.
- Peak Human Agility: Rogers' agility is augmented to the peak of human potential.
- Peak Human Reflexes: Rogers' reflexes and hand-eye coordination are at a peak of human potential. He is able to react to multiple opponents at the same time, able to perform feats such as snagging arrows from the air or managing to dodge (or block) gunfire from multiple opponents.
- Peak Human Recovery: While not possessing anything close to a 'regenerative factor' Rogers' healing and metabolic efficiency allow him to recover from injuries at an accelerated rate. The serum-infused white-blood cells are capable of fighting off most microbes, foreign bodies, and other pathogens. Alcohol has no effect on his body, as he processes it too quickly. He possesses a high resistance to most/all other known poisons and diseases.
- Peak Human Senses: Rogers' five bases senses (sight, sound, touch, smell, and taste) are enhanced to the peak of human potential.
- Peak Human Mental Processing: While Rogers was a frail and sickly young man before becoming a part of Project Rebirth, he possessed a razor sharp mind and a photographic memory. This has been enhanced by the effects of the serum, allowing him to study and learn skills quickly. This accounts for the natural way he picked up several different languages during the war, as well as his tactical skills and combat prowess. He has been seen to study new styles and weapons and master them quickly.
Notable Skills:
Rogers possesses many skills both on and off the battlefield. He is an exceptionally skilled artist, something he learned as a boy and has practiced with through his adult life. He is also a master strategist and tactician, having devoured books on these topics even before his time in Project Rebirth. He is a master gymnast, able to compete at Olympic levels.
His time in the military refined his tactical acumen. He is trained in all forms of modern military grade equipment and hardware. He is an expert marksman and a skilled driver and pilot. His time in the military (and the influence of his more modern teammates) have also given him access to less-conventional skills, such as those used in breaking and entering, security systems, and hotwiring vehicles. He is competent with computers but finds them, in his own words 'A little bit frustrating'.
A native English speaker, Rogers is also fluent in German, Russian, Italian, and French. It is competent in Spanish and Japanese.
Beyond this, Rogers is possibly best known for his combat prowess. He actively studies various forms of martial arts from the more traditional styles taught world-wide to the modern mixed martial arts styles. He is most comfortable, however, fighting with his shield - and has developed a unique style which pulls from various sources and inspirations, all while incorporating his preferred 'weapon'.
Rogers is also known for his indomitable will. Possibly enhanced by the way the serum affected his neural pathways, Rogers has always been considered 'stubborn' and 'hardheaded', showing a natural affinity for resisting mental influences of even the strongest willed minds.
Notable Equipment:
- Captain America's Shield: A symbol of both Captain America and of the United States, the twenty-four inch across shield he carries is recognized far and wide.
There are many stories about the composition of the shield (or shields, as few known the truth of the item). It was an experimental creation fusing steel, vibranium, and an unknown catalyst together in an attempt to make impenetrable armor for tanks for the US military. The result was a near-indestructible alloy that was shaped into a disk and turned into a 'weapon' for America's symbol during the war.
The shield's shape has great aerodynamic properties. It is capable of slicing through the air with minimal wind resistance and deflection of path. The metallurgical properties, compounded with the shape of the shield itself, allows it to rebound from solid objects (sometimes several in quick succession) with little loss of momentum.
The shield is considered 'virtually indestructible'. It has withstood the full might of a swing from Thor's hammer, cannot be penetrated by adamantium, and is unaffected by temperature extremes and the entire electromagnetic spectrum of radiation. It also possesses many, if not all, of the properties of vibranium: it is immune to sound waves (and capable of 'distorting' beings made of sound) and vibration. Rogers has successfully landed from extreme heights, using the shield as a 'cushion' with minimal harm to his body.
The particular metallurgical properties have never managed to be duplicated. However, study of both the shield and it's creation, are believed to be the basis for the creation of adamantium.
- Uniform: Rogers' 'Costume' is fitted for both maneuverability and protection, offering the very finest in resiliency.
- Utility Belt: While not as flashy as some used in the super-hero world, Rogers is rarely without mission critical gear, including communications equipment, one or more multi-tools, first aid supplies, lock picks, cable/rope, and the like. Much of this has been designed for efficiency and size by Stark.
Physical Description: A tall man with the body of a professional athlete, Rogers appears to be in his mid-twenties - a side-effect of the serum he was given as a part of Project Rebirth. He has an easy smile and thoughtful eyes that many have described as 'soulful'. There's an earnest sincerity in his features - a trademark that make people want to believe him.
Background: The frail and sickly youth known as Steven Rogers was born to poor Irish immigrants in Brooklyn during the Great Depression. He lost his father at a young age and his mother to pneumonia when he was eighteen. The only other person in his life was his best friend and constant companion in those days James Buchanan 'Bucky' Barnes, a fellow kid from Brooklyn. Despite their physical and social differences (James was athletic, considered handsome, charming, and outgoing, where Rogers was smaller and considered 'frail') Bucky admired Steve's courage and outlook on life and Steve admired Bucky's way with people and the way he always looked out for others. The two were inseparable, considering one another brothers from a young age.
The boys found themselves horrified at the news from Europe and the war. Even before the bombing of Pearl Harbor and the US's official entrance, the boys had applied for the army. Bucky was taken immediately where Steve found himself classified as 4-F. His desire to help, however, was so great that he broke the law multiple times, attempting to enlist under different names from different cities.
By time Bucky returned from basic, the war was on full-swing. Steve found himself frustrated by watching his best friend, his brother, go off to fight while he had to stay at home.
During a particularly heated (but good natured) argument outside of a recruitment office at the World Fair in Queens in late July of 41 (during Bucky's leave, the slightly older man having missed Rogers' 18th birthday), where Steve kept insisting that he had 'no right to do any less' than anyone else, the pair were overheard by Abraham Erskine - the scientist in charge of the US's Project Rebirth, who was at the fair both overseeing the candidate selection and conferring with colleagues attending the fair.
Erskine saw something in Rogers, a spark of something great. Not a young man looking to go to war to kill, or for glory, but someone who wanted to make a difference.
So, after multiple rejections, Rogers was given a chance - one that would change the course of the world.
After going through rigorous psychological and physical tests (including a full stint of military boot camp), Rogers was given a series of painful injections of an unknown serum into the deep muscle tissue and bone. Afterwards, he was placed into a special chamber and bombarded with Vita-Rays to encourage cellular growth and alteration.
The results? The perfect specimen of humanity - pushed just past the peak of pure human performance; stronger, faster, and more agile than any man who had ever lived.
Sadly, at the moment of Rogers' triumph, disaster struck. A spy for the Johann Schmidt, the Red Skull, was in attendance. Shooting Erskine, the man grabbed the last remaining vial of the serum Rogers had been injected with and tried to flee. The man was stopped by Rogers himself, but it was too late for Erskine.
The man passed in Rogers' arms, and with him the hope of an army of super-soldiers.
Much of the rest of the story has been recounted through various media. Rogers toured the US, as he put it, as a 'performing monkey', helping boost the sale of war bonds to boost the military economy. The US did not want to risk the life of the one man the serum had worked on (at least as far as Rogers knows). He found himself touring Europe, working to boost the morale of the soldiers over there. He found himself working with the remnants of the 107th after a particularly harrowing battle.
And the loss of one James Buchanan Barnes.
Distraught, Rogers mounted a solo rescue that freed not only Barnes but nearly four-hundred other allied prisoners of war, earning himself a medal of honor and the official title of 'Captain' in the US Army.
After that, Steve went on to help lead the allied forces in the Europe, both as a member of the Invaders, leader of the Howling Commandos (which were led by Colonel Nicholas Fury when Rogers was not around), and with the SSR - the allied Strategic Science Reserve.
He was at the forefront of the landings at Normandy in 42. He suffered losses (such as the loss of Bucky Barnes) and gained life experiences. He earned the respect and love of others he fought alongside.
In 45, shortly before the end of the war, Rogers found himself in battle with the Red Skull aboard a hi-tech bomber heading towards the US. The fight was short and brutal, and ended with the Skull's apparent death.
Knowing the armament on the ship, and understanding the devastation it could cause should it hit land, much less a populated city, Rogers steered the ship towards the frozen waters of the northern Atlantic ocean. He briefly considered grabbing one of the chutes and leaving the bird, but fear over-rode self-preservation: fear that should the locked controls somehow give that the jet would still cause untold destruction.
So he downed the ship in the water - sacrificing himself to ensure others were safe.
Some five years ago, an expedition found the downed craft frozen in the ice. On board? The living legend himself. By some miracle of the Super Soldier serum running through his blood, the frigged arctic waters of the north Atlantic, and perhaps a touch of the energies of the Skull's mad science experiments, Captain Steven Rogers' body was perfectly preserved in a form of suspended animation.
Needless to say, waking up nearly seventy years in the future was quite the culture shock.
Rogers has managed to adapt admirably, however. He has found himself working both alongside the SHIELD, born from the remnants of the SSR he had been a member of. He also found himself working alongside other notable heroes in the Avengers, often leading the group in one capacity or another - especially in the realms of tactics and strategy.
NOTE: The above utilizes a mixture of Marvel 616 and MCU history.