Character Red Skull: biography, abilities, photos

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

The Red Skull in the Marvel Universe is the nickname of three characters at once, two of which were Nazis and one was a communist. They all hate the USA, appear mainly in the Captain America comics, invariably opposing Cap. The most famous of the "trinity" is Johann Schmidt, who in the created narrative is the head of the HYDRA organization, he is close to the Fuhrer himself. In different versions of the universe, the Red Skull is one of the protagonists, as well as a key villain. Regardless of the chosen scenario, the character seeks to destroy the USA and Captain America, which he often succeeds in.

First appearance and key features

The Red Skull was first talked about after the release of Camptain America Comics in March 1941. At that time, the character was not conceived as a serious long-term construction, playing the role of only an episodic opponent of Cap. The history of the Red Skull, although it was thought outmore or less, but only gained its fullness much later. The viewer first sees in this role George Maxon, Schmidt's spy, who only pretends to be an antagonist, in fact, being an ordinary person. The hero turned out to be entertaining, charismatic and very "villainous", his motivation was traced to extreme cruelty and malice, ambition, but there was no moral connotation, so he was considered superficial.

The Red Skull is a soldier of the Reich who was the first to use the serum of the scientist Abraham Ekskin on himself, later applied to Cap. Since Schmidt injected himself with only a prototype, its consequences were unpredictable. The skin on the Red Skull's face was warped and peeled off, exposing muscle and tissue. So Schmidt got his nickname.

In one version of the Marvel universe, the antagonist is a descendant of Cap, and he acquires his name himself by simply cutting off the skin on his own face. The Red Skull has superhuman strength, reflexes, and regeneration. In addition, Johann Schmidt proved to be a brilliant scientist who was ahead of his time and understood the value of the Tesseract.

Early years

In the film, the Red Skull is shown in isolation from his motivation and past. The picture "The First Avenger" paid considerable attention to Cap, but not to his opponent. In fact, it goes much deeper.

Johann Schmidt was born in a remote village in northern Germany, there is no exact date of birth. His mother died during childbirth, the father, distraught with grief, tried to kill the child, butrescued by the doctor. Despite the fact that he was extremely young, Schmidt remembers those events well. The father soon committed suicide, and little Johann ends up in an orphanage. However, with the rest of the orphans, the future head of HYDRA did not live long, going to the streets and earning a living by theft. Once he tripled into a Jewish shop, fell in love with his daughter, but when she refused, he fell into a violent rage and killed the girl with a mop, after which he fled.

Meet Hitler

There are two key stories describing the Red Skull's introduction to the Fuhrer. This was due to the difference in the script subtext of the comics about Captain America, on which several people worked at different times. According to the first version, Schmidt got a job as a bellhop in Munich, and when Hitler visited the hotel, he had the honor to follow the Fuhrer's number. One day, Johann caught the head of the Nazi Party scolding an officer. Pointing at Schmidt, Hitler declared that he could make a worthy Aryan even out of this boy.

According to the second version, the Red Skull himself found the Fuhrer in a theater in Berlin. There he outlined to him his ideas about the Northern gods and magic, urged him to start searching for the tomb of Odin. The environment considered him a madman, while the Fuhrer himself ordered to take a closer look. Heinrich Himmler took Schmidt under his wing, and in June 34, Johann seized control of one of the armed units of the "black shirts", taking an active part in the "Night of the Long Knives".

First development, serum

In September 1935, the Red Skull captured the base of one ofclose associates of Hitler. There he killed everyone except the scientist Arnim Zol, who was developing an exoskeleton for the soldiers of the Reich. Inviting the researcher to continue his developments, the Red Skull literally began to scour in search of new minds to create weapons. Abraham Ekskin, a biochemist and a Jew by nationality, came under his attention. Taking his family hostage and placing his wife and daughter in the Dachau concentration camp, Schmidt forced the scientist to continue developing the serum.

Two years later, the scientist's family died, but the Red Skull kept silent about it. In 1940, the serum was ready for testing. Having taken it away by force, Schmidt became the first test subject. Unfortunately, the prototype turned out to be unstable, due to which the appearance of the Gestapo officer was distorted: the skin peeled off the face, the muscles were exposed, the eyelids disappeared. At the same time, the Red Skull also received strength, stamina, speed, and accelerated regeneration.

World War II, HYDRA

Shortly after testing the serum, Hitler sent Schmidt to a secret military base in the Alps. There, the Red Skull continued his search for the Darkhold, contemplating using the Tesseract, which was to be buried on Earth in Odin's tomb. In addition, the head of HYDRA has not forgiven his exile, holding a grudge and making plans for how to remove the Fuhrer.

In March 1942, he arrives in Norway, in the city of Teisberg. According to him, the artifact was kept in a local church. Threatening the custodian with the destruction of his fellow villagers, Schmidt finds out the secret of the real Tesseract, which was hidden behind a wall depicting nineworlds, after which he nevertheless destroys the village and kills the guard.

Fighting Cap

During the ensuing time, he clashes with Captain America, which eventually leads him to a semblance of death. During the escape shown in Captain America: The First Avenger, the Red Skull grabbed the Tesseract with his bare hands and disappeared. In fact, he was transported to Vormir, where he became the keeper of the Soul Stone, as shown in Infinity War.

The character in the picture is only glimpsed, he was played by Ross Marquand, an American actor. The Red Skull tests Thanos and then gives him the Soul Stone.

Personality and traits

The Red Skull is incredibly cruel. In the movie, this is explained by his being insane by the serum, in the comics, by childhood and a birth defect. However, in his actions he is consistent, striving for power and strength. Ambitious, moreover, demonstrates good leadership qualities, as he keeps HYDRA in check. Charismatic, sociopath.

When creating the Red Skull, considerable attention was paid to the propaganda of the fight against Nazism, which is evident. Over time, the prototype of the hero changed, he became power-hungry and even more cruel. Despite this, he is considered one of the more memorable villains, ranking 14th in IGN's 100 Most Popular Comic Book Antagonists.

Who plays the Red Skull in "The First Avenger"? This is Weaving Hugo, familiar to everyone from the role of Elrond from The Lord of the Rings. Rolehe succeeded to glory, and the hero received another memorable appearance. A photo of the Red Skull can be seen in the article.