James Buchanan Barnes

## Character

"*I'm with you until the end of the line, pal.*"
—James Barnes to Steve Rogers[src]

Sergeant **James Buchanan Barnes**, better known as **Bucky Barnes**, is a character on Marvel's *Captain America: The First Avenger*, *Captain America: The Winter Soldier* & *Ant-Man*. He first appears in *Captain America: The First Avenger*. He is portrayed by star Sebastian Stan.

## Biography

### Early Life

James Buchanan Barnes was born on March 10, 1917, as the oldest child of four, growing up to become an excellent athlete who also excelled in the classroom.

During his childhood, he met Steve Rogers. The two became best friends and stuck together for years.

In 1940, Steve's mother, Sarah Rogers, died of tuberculosis. After her funeral, Barnes tried to help Rogers, but he refused, saying he could get by on his own. He told him he did not have to because he was with him "'til the end of the line", something Rogers would keep to heart for a long time.

### World War II

#### Training Rogers

A year later, during an art class, Barnes and Rogers found out that America had joined the Second World War. Over the next two weeks he trained Rogers at Goldie's Boxing Gym. They visited the US Recruiting and Induction Center in New York City where Rogers was classified as 4F and rejected from service. Barnes was later drafted in the Army.

#### Sergeant Barnes

Barnes, along with the rest of the 107th Infantry, was trained during the winter at Camp McCoy, Wisconsin. Eventually, Barnes rose to the rank of Sergeant. The day before his shipment out to England, Bucky found Steve Rogers being beaten up by a bully, Barnes came to the defense of his friend and quickly sent the bully running away. Barnes learned that Rogers had been attempting to enlist in the army again, using false documents to try and get deployed. Barnes informed Rogers that he had received his orders and would be going to war the next day, at first Rogers seemed upset as he was not shipping out to war with his best friend, but Barnes was determined to cheer his friend up.

Barnes and Rogers then went to the Stark Expo together, with Barnes determined to enjoy his last day in the city before shipping out. What Barnes did not tell Rogers, however, was that it was in fact a double date with Connie and Bonnie; when Rogers asked what Barnes had told his date about him, Barnes simply replied "only the good stuff". While exploring the Expo, the group watched Howard Stark demonstrate his prototype flying car, which greatly impressed Barnes, until it malfunctioned and fell to the ground. When Barnes turned around to suggest the group go dancing, he saw that Rogers had walked away from the group.

Though Barnes was having fun, Rogers was interested in attempting to enlist for the fifth time. Barnes found him trying to enlist and first tried to persuade him to rejoin him on the double date, when that did not work he reminded him that he wasn't going to be fighting in a back alley but in a war. Despite Barnes' protests, Rogers went through with it but said a heartfelt goodbye to Bucky before doing so, Rogers told him not to win the war until he got there and Bucky left with Connie and Bonnie. Barnes and his unit the 107th then shipped out to England the next day.

#### Prisoner of War

On the battlefields of Europe, Barnes and his unit, including Dum Dum Dugan and Gabe Jones, were ambushed by the Nazis at Azzano. Though the battle seemed hopeless as they were outgunned with no reinforcements on the way, the battle turned when another German unit appeared and used an extremely powerful tank to kill the Nazis. The tank then turned to Barnes' unit and they were soon captured by HYDRA. They were sent to work at the HYDRA weapons facility in the Austrian Alps, halfway between Kitzbühel and Klagenfurt.

In October 1943, he met other Allied POWs: including Jacques Dernier and James Montgomery Falsworth. During his stay in the facility, he was viciously beaten by the commander of the compound, Colonel Lohmer. However, other prisoners organized "an accident" which resulted in Lohmer's death. Barnes and his friends worked on parts of the *Valkyrie*, the giant super bomber. When Barnes became too weak to continue he was taken to an isolation clinic, there he was forced to undergo experiments conducted by Arnim Zola.

In November 1943, the facility was infiltrated by Steve Rogers, who had undergone an experiment which had given him enhanced strength. Rogers made his way through the base and freed the prisoners, including Barnes. As the freed POW's battled against the HYDRA forces, Rogers and Barnes became trapped inside the base as it began to self destruct. During the escape Barnes and Rogers encountered Johann Schmidt and Arnim Zola, after a brief fight, Schmidt revealed to them his true demonic face before escaping. Rogers and Barnes began working out an escape route in which they used a support beam to move to a safe section of the facility. They were able to escape moments before the entire facility was destroyed.

Barnes and Rogers regrouped with the rest of the escaped POW's and together they walked with the other freed soldiers all the way back to Colonel Chester Phillips' base in Italy, 30 miles out. Once they arrived along with the weapons and vehicles they had stolen from HYDRA, they were greeted warmly by the other soldiers and Phillips chose not to punish Rogers for undertaking the rescue mission against Phillip's strict orders. As the entire unit gathered together, Barnes called for all the soldiers to cheer for their savior Captain America. They POW's were then given medical attention before being given some time away from the battlefield to recover.

### Howling Commando

After their escape from the HYDRA prison, Barnes, Dum Dum Dugan, Jacques Dernier, Gabe Jones, Jim Morita, and James Montgomery Falsworth were given a break from duty. Steve Rogers joined them in a pub and convinced them to join his crusade against the Nazis and HYDRA, forming an elite group of fighters that would eventually be known as the Howling Commandos. Barnes told Rogers that he would not follow Captain America, but he would follow his friend. When Peggy Carter also arrived at the pub, Barnes had to deal with the realization that Rogers was now the one who gets flirted with, not him.

Eventually Barnes and the newly formed Howling Commandos, joined Captain America on the battlefield once again. Over the following months, Barnes, Rogers, and the Commandos progressively destroyed most major HYDRA operations, preventing Johann Schmidt and Arnim Zola any real ability to work on their scientific projects and plans, all while destroying HYDRA's army units, tanks and facilities. Barnes would often work as the sniper of the group, protecting his team of Commandos from the HYDRA enemy.

#### "Death"

In the winter of 1945, Barnes and Captain America prepared for a mission in which they would board a HYDRA train carrying Arnim Zola, with the aim of capturing the HYDRA scientist. Looking at the danger of the mission, Barnes joked that Rogers was getting payback for a time Barnes caused Rogers to throw up on a roller coaster. When Jim Morita intercepted a radio signal from HYDRA confirming that Zola was on the train, Barnes, Rogers and Gabe Jones used a zip wire to board the train as it traveled through the mountains.

While Gabe Jones stayed on the roof of the train, Barnes and Steve Rogers entered and began exploring the carriages. Moments after their arrival, they were split up and ambushed by a team of HYDRA soldiers. While Rogers was forced to fight a heavily armed HYDRA guard, Barnes became pinned down by three soldiers; although he was able to kill two, he quickly ran out of ammunition and feared he would soon be killed. Rogers however was able to open the door and throw him a new gun which he used to kill the final soldier when Rogers distracted him. Barnes claimed that he had him on the ropes and Rogers assured him that he believed him.

Before they could relax, another HYDRA soldier appeared behind them and fired at them with a HYDRA Assault Rifle, blowing a hole through the side of the train. Barnes picked up Captain America's Shield and fired at the soldier, but he was shot again with the assault rifle, the power of the blast throwing him off the train. Rogers was able to dispatch the soldier and attempted to rescue Barnes as he hung off a rail on the side of the train. However the rail snapped before Rogers was able to save him, which resulted in Barnes falling into an icy river below.

### Found by HYDRA

Due to his slightly enhanced strength provided to him by HYDRA's experiments, Barnes was just able to survive the fall from Arnim Zola's train, although he lost an arm. His nearly lifeless body was discovered by a Soviet soldier and eventually was handed over to HYDRA. He was kept their prisoner for many years, until Arnim Zola was released from the SSR's custody and continued his experiments.

In the care of the newly recreated HYDRA now working underneath S.H.I.E.L.D.'s nose, Barnes underwent further experimentation at the hands of Arnim Zola and various other doctors. Removing the remnants of his severed arm, the doctors replaced the missing limb with a prosthetic one. Bucky was also subjected to multiple mind control methods to keep him under their command. Over time Bucky would lose all memory of his former life and became nothing more than a weapon for his greatest enemy.

With his body at the peak of physical perfection and his arm at the highest level of weaponized technology, HYDRA put their intention on using Barnes as their personal weapon for many years, they had him frozen in suspended animation to prevent him from aging after every mission. Whenever Barnes completed a mission, HYDRA would have his mind wiped to ensure he remained emotionless towards those he killed.

### HYDRA's Operative

#### The Winter Soldier

Receiving vast training from HYDRA, Barnes became a formidable fighter and an even more ruthless killer. His experiences with the KGB would earn him the name of the "Winter Soldier".

The Winter Soldier would remain frozen for long periods of time until HYDRA saw fit to unfreeze him for certain missions. Over the next 50 years, the Winter Soldier would be responsible for countless assassinations, killing all sorts of targets, from scientific minds to political figures. Due to his expertise on the field and the shadowy nature of his existence, the Winter Soldier became something of a ghost story, with intelligence agencies doubting he even existed.

#### Encounter with the Black Widow

In 2009, the Winter Soldier was sent to kill a nuclear scientist. He found his target being escorted by S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent Natasha Romanoff. Without hesitation, he attacked his target, sending him and Romanoff over a cliff. Finding Romanoff saved the target from falling to his death, the Winter Soldier fired a single round through Romanoff's stomach. The bullet struck the scientist, effectively killing him. He then made his getaway without pursuit.

#### Bucky's Legacy

Almost seventy years after the end of World War II, Steve Rogers, awakened in the 21st century, studied S.H.I.E.L.D.'s files about the Commandos. In Bucky's file, he was reported as "Missing In Action", as his corpse was never found and therefore he was never officially classified as deceased. In the Smithsonian Institution, a part of the Captain America Exhibit is dedicated to Barnes' memory and shows a short biography of his life. Before 2014, "Bucky" Barnes' name was listed in the Wall of Valor of the S.H.I.E.L.D. Academy of Science and Technology.

#### Attack on Nick Fury

In 2014, the Winter Soldier was activated to kill Nick Fury after he began to unravel HYDRA's secret existence. When Fury managed to escape death at the hands of over a dozen HYDRA agents in Washington, D.C., Barnes arrived and disabled Fury's car using a special grenade. However, when he made his way to the vehicle to finish Fury, he found his target had used a laser to escape his car and into the sewers.

Barnes later located Fury at Steve Rogers' apartment, where he was attempting to give Rogers vital information about his attack. Before Fury could reveal his information however, Barnes shot him in the chest multiple times through the wall from another building, seemingly killing him. While making his escape, Rogers gave chase and attempted to subdue Barnes by throwing his shield at him. However, Barnes stopped running and simply caught the shield with his bionic arm, throwing it back with incredible force after looking at Rogers for a moment. As Rogers stood frozen in shock at the assassin's strength and reflexes, Barnes leaped off the roof and escaped before Rogers could see where he went.

#### Hunting Captain America

Instead of being returned to cryo-sleep, the Winter Soldier was later sent to Alexander Pierce's house for his next orders. He was informed that his next targets were Steve Rogers and Natasha Romanoff, who were attempting to reveal HYDRA's Project Insight plan which involved wiping out over a million targets using S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Helicarriers.

#### Battle of Washington, D.C.

The next day he attacked Rogers, Romanoff, and Sam Wilson on the freeway while they were kidnapping HYDRA sleeper agent, Jasper Sitwell. Throwing Sitwell from the car into an incoming truck, the Winter Soldier destroyed the car and forced it off the road. When he fired a grenade at his targets, Rogers deflected it and went flying off the bridge into a bus below.

Instead of engaging Romanoff, Barnes began pursuing her through the streets of Washington, D.C., as the civilians ran for cover. Barnes soon believed he had Romanoff cornered when he heard her voice from behind a parked car, in an attempt to kill her, Barnes dropped a grenade but soon discovered it was a trick and was ambushed, having his Prosthetic Arm damaged with a Taser Disk. After shooting Romanoff through the shoulder, the Winter Soldier was attacked by Rogers before he could assassinate her.

The two engaged in a brutal one-on-one fight, both rivaling each other with every move. Determined to kill his target, the Winter Soldier fired every round in his gun at Captain America, only for the to be blocked with his shield. Barnes resorted to using his knife, attempting to plunge it into Rogers' throat, but was soon disarmed. Barnes briefly got a hold of Rogers' shield and attempted to throw it at Rogers with such force, but it missed Rogers and cut through a nearby van. The pair were forced to resort to hand to hand combat and in the midst of the fight, Rogers ripped the Soldier's mask off and stared in disbelief as Barnes turned and revealed his face.

Recognizing him as Bucky Barnes, Rogers brought the Soldier to a stand still. The Soldier briefly questioned who Bucky was, but soon remembered his mission and swiftly raised his gun to take a shot, but the Winter Soldier was suddenly knocked to the ground by Falcon. He attempted to shoot him again, but he was then shot at by Natasha Romanoff with the grenade launcher he dropped while fighting Rogers. He dodged the grenade and was forced to flee while HYDRA agents captured Rogers, Romanoff and Wilson.

#### Forgotten Memories

Having regrouped with HYDRA, Barnes was taken back to a HYDRA Base where he became erratic and violent towards the doctors. After they repaired his arm, he began to remember fragments from his past. These fragments included his fall from the train, as well as the operations performed on him by Arnim Zola which threw him into a rage.

Alexander Pierce arrived at the Base to obtain Barnes' mission report, only to find Barnes in a state of disarray and would not listen, even when Pierce hit him across the face. Barnes claimed that he knew Steve Rogers somehow, Pierce claimed that he remembered him because he had meet him a week ago when he had killed Nick Fury, but Barnes insisted that he knew him. Seeing that Barnes was not mentally fit to continue with his mission, Pierce ordered Barnes to undergo further mind alterations to force his cooperation.

### Battle at the Triskelion

The following day, before HYDRA could complete their goal and activate the Helicarriers, Rogers and his friends infiltrated the Triskelion and revealed HYDRA's presence to his fellow agents who actively engaged in battle with HYDRA's undercover agents.
In the ensuing chaos, Bucky slew a path through the open airfield, murdering pilots and destroying Quinjets. He flew a Quinjet to the third Helicarrier, where he ambushed Rogers and Sam Wilson. He shoved Rogers off the Helicarrier, destroyed Wilson's flight suit and threw him off the Helicarrier. Seeing that Rogers did not die and was still on the Helicarrier, he ran ahead to meet him at the Target System.

#### Confronting Rogers

The Winter Soldier went to confront Captain America himself before he could reboot the Helicarrier's Target System. As the two stood opposite one another, Rogers pleaded with his former best friend for him to remember him. Barnes remained silent and ignored these pleas, seeing no other choice, Rogers engaged Barnes in combat once again. The two fought in a lengthy hand-to-hand fight, during which the Winter Soldier got the Targeting Chip.

Trying to obtain the Targeting Chip from Barnes, Rogers broke Barnes' arm, and injured his leg before subduing him. The Winter Soldier, however, regained consciousness before Rogers could reach the System Override, shooting him multiple times. Despite this, Rogers managed to swap the Data Chips and had S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent Maria Hill have the three Helicarriers target each other, even with himself aboard one.

As the Carrier began to fall apart in mid-air, the Winter Soldier became trapped under debris. A badly injured Rogers leaped to his friend's aid and freed him. Begging for Bucky to remember him, Rogers told him his true name and informed him that they had been friends their whole lives. Rogers let his shield drop to the Earth, refusing to fight his friend. Barnes refused to listen, violently beating Rogers to a pulp as their surroundings began to deteriorate.

### Remembering

As the Winter Soldier claimed Rogers to be his mission, Steve quoted something Bucky said to him more than 70 years prior after his mother's funeral. Memories flooded to the surface, as Barnes relented, unwilling to throw another punch. The surface beneath them fell away, and Rogers plummeted into the river below.

Barnes quickly grabbed on to a metal beam, which allowed him to stay on the Helicarrier. Realizing that Rogers truly was his friend, Barnes let go of the beam and leaped in after Rogers and pulled him ashore, saving his old friend's life. After saving him, Barnes quickly checked to see if Rogers was still breathing. After he discovered he was, he began slowly walking off into the nearby woods, going on a mission to discover his true identity.

Some time after the battle, Barnes went into hiding and visited the Smithsonian Institution's Captain America Exhibit. While there, he found a memorial for a Howling Commando named James Buchanan "Bucky" Barnes who had seemingly been killed during World War II while fighting HYDRA. As he stared intensely at his own memorial and biography, Barnes accepted that Steve Rogers was telling the truth and finally began to remember who he was.

### Found by Captain America

Realizing his sins when he was brainwashed by HYDRA, Barnes was on the run from the government. Later, Steve Rogers and Sam Wilson eventually managed to track Barnes down to a remote location and successfully trapped his cybernetic arm in a vice, leaving him defenseless and unable to continue fighting. As Barnes accepted defeat and sat silently, awaiting his fate, Rogers asked if Barnes knew who he was; Barnes replied that Steve's mother was Sarah Rogers. Rogers and Wilson discussed recruiting him, noting that they would not inform Tony Stark of Barnes' capture and that Wilson knew a guy who could assist them.

## Personality

Bucky Barnes was extremely devoted, loyal, headstrong, patriotic and had a strong moral center. He was a good and close friend to Steve Rogers during their youth; he helped him when he got into fights and tried to cheer him up when Rogers' mother died. Best friends since childhood, they went through many trials and tribulations together. He was also protective of Rogers as when he planned to enlist in the United States Army. Barnes knew he would die because of his physical condition and poor health.

Out of the two, Barnes would be considered the more attractive and the more flirtatious; however, when Rogers transformed into Captain America, Barnes was a bit jealous of the attention now bestowed to his once sickly friend.

After his apparent death from falling off a train, Bucky returned as the Winter Soldier, an elusive, dangerous and amnesiac assassin. He was apathetic, ruthless, enigmatic, cold, brutal and blindly loyal to HYDRA. He lost all of his honor and became a downright cold-blooded murderer, able to kill a person with his bare hands only to complete his mission. After Captain America reminded him of his past, Barnes became more honorable and saved his former foe from drowning.

As the Winter Soldier and Bucky, Barnes showed a massive amount of physical strength and was a hardened combatant, able to hold his own against Captain America. Using his metal prosthetic arm, he had the strength to rip off a door car and throw a grown man. He also is very durable, as when Alexander Pierce experimented on his memories; while he was in clear agony, he did not pass out.

## Powers and Abilities

"*He's fast. Strong. Had a metal arm.*"
—Captain America[src]

After Bucky Barnes fell into a trench in an ice mountain, he was saved and given a metal arm, along with other enhanced abilities from a serum that had a similar effect to the human body like the Super Soldier Serum given to Steve Rogers.

### Powers

* **Superhuman Strength**: Winter Soldier has strength that is equal to that of Captain America. Barnes's physical strength is enhanced to the early levels of superhuman potential by a series of treatments performed on him by HYDRA scientists. He has used his legs and flesh arm to kick and punch others with a display of strength that far surpasses normal humans and closely resembles Captain America's own abilities.
	+ **Bionic Arm**: HYDRA also removed the remnants of his severed left arm and replaced the missing limb with a cybernetic one. The bionic arm gives him superhuman strength superior to that of Captain America. Winter Soldier was able to rip open a S.H.I.E.L.D. armor SUV, rip apart Falcon's EXO-7 suit, and smash concrete by punching it. With his bionic arm supporting his already enhanced natural strength, the Winter Soldier was shown to overpower Captain America in a fight.
* **Enhanced Speed**: Winter Soldier's speed is comparable to that of Captain America's. It should be noted that Captain America can run at 26 miles per hour with relative ease, and still had trouble keeping up with Barnes.
* **Enhanced Durability**: Winter Soldier's bones and muscles are denser and harder than a normal human's. Arnim Zola's experiments fortified his form to the extent that he routinely leaps from significant heights onto hard surfaces and lands without any apparent injury.
* **Enhanced Stamina**: Winter Soldier's musculature produces far less fatigue toxins during physical activity than the musculature of an ordinary human.
* **Enhanced Agility**: Winter Soldier's agility is superior to that of an ordinary human. He has demonstrated the ability to leap on top of midsize cars in a single bound and do acrobatic flips into cover.
* **Enhanced Reflexes**: Winter Soldier's reflexes are enhanced to extraordinary levels. His reflexes are responsive enough to catch Captain America's shield being thrown at him at a high velocity. He was also able to catch enemy grenades thrown at him, dodge fire from Falcon's Steyr SPPs, and leap on top of a moving car accelerating towards him with pinpoint accuracy.

### Abilities

Template:Expand

* **Master Martial Artist**: Winter Soldier is a highly trained martial artist and excels at improvisation and weapons handling. Receiving vast training from HYDRA, as well as the United States Armed Forces, Barnes became a master assassin that can slaughter dozens of enemies alone, take on extremely skilled combatants such as Falcon and Black Widow with relative ease, and go toe to toe with Captain America. The two engaged in a brutal one-on-one fight, both rivaling each other with every move, though Rogers was ultimately able to defeat him in their second duel. Barnes also single-handedly killed up to a dozen well-armed Quinjet pilots in a single encounter, and escaped uninjured.
* **Master Marksman**: Barnes was a remarkably precise shot, even prior to being turned into the Winter Soldier. During World War II, he shot a HYDRA operative that even Captain America did not see until he was down. As the Winter Soldier, he became an even deadlier marksman. He fired a single round through Black Widow's stomach and into a nuclear scientist that she was protecting, killing him. Winter Soldier is also capable of making long range shots without the use of a rifle, for example, shooting Nick Fury multiple times through the wall of Steve Rogers's apartment and from the top of another building.
* **Master Assassin**: Winter Soldier is a master assassin. Ever since he's been brainwashed, Winter Soldier has lived in anonymity with most of the intelligence community not even believing he exists. He's been credited with over two dozen of HYDRA's most crucial assassinations in the last 50 years. He was even able to shoot Nick Fury and shoot through Black Widow to take out his target.
* **Weapons Master**: Barnes has access to high level weaponry and is skilled in the use of knives and specialty weapons. As the Winter Soldier, Barnes has caught and handled Captain America's Shield on two occasions and showed impressive ability in doing so.
* **Expert Pilot**: Winter Soldier was able to hijack a Quinjet after killing the pilot.
* **Multilingual**: Barnes speaks both English and Russian fluently.
* **Knife Mastery**: Winter Soldier excels in knife fighting and usually resorts to his combat knife in close quarters combat. He usually holds the knife in his natural hand and uses his bionic arm for support should he need more force to overpower a downward stab or toss it between hands to advance his assault.

## Appearances

* *Captain America: First Vengeance* (flashbacks)
* *Captain America: The Winter Soldier* (flashbacks)
* *Captain America: The First Avenger*
* *The Avengers Adaptation* (flashbacks)
* *Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.*
	+ *Season One*
		- *Seeds* (mentioned)
* *Captain America: The Winter Soldier*
* *Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.*
	+ Season Two
		- *Aftershocks* (photograph)
* *Avengers: Age of Ultron* (mentioned)
* *Ant-Man*
* *Captain America: Civil War* (unreleased)

## Trivia

### Comic Notes

* In the comics, James Buchanan "Bucky" Barnes, named after the 15th President of the United States of America, James Buchanan, had a complicated romantic relationship with Black Widow, and took over the mantle of Captain America after Steve Rogers was assassinated.

### Character Notes

* It was highly likely before being confirmed in *Captain America: The Winter Soldier*, that while Bucky was captured, Arnim Zola was experimenting with an alternative to the Super Soldier Serum, thus granting Bucky the ability to survive his fall from the train.
* Winter Soldier proved untrue Howard Stark's quote that HYDRA would not attack Captain America with a pocket knife.

### Behind the Scenes

* Winter Soldier co-creator, Ed Brubaker appears in *Captain America: The Winter Soldier*, as a HYDRA doctor who helps repair the Winter Soldier's mechanical arm.
* Sebastian Stan was uncredited for his appearance in *Ant-Man*.

## References

1. ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 *Captain America: The Winter Soldier*
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 *Captain America: The First Avenger*
3. ↑ *Captain America: First Vengeance*, Volume 1
4. ↑ *Captain America: The First Avenger* Deleted Scene
5. ↑ *Captain America: First Vengeance*, Volume 7
6. ↑ *The Avengers* Deleted Scene
7. ↑ *Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: 1.12: Seeds*
8. ↑ *Captain America: The Winter Soldier* Post-credits Scene
9. ↑ *Ant-Man* Post-credits Scene
10. ↑ *Captain America: Civil War*