F Rm 30

A Ex 20

S Gd 10

E Ex 20

R Ty 6

I Gd 10

P Ex 20

Res Ex 20

Pop Mn +75*

Health: Karma:

110 36

* James does not enjoy this rating as the Winter Soldier; in this identity, his Popularity is Shift 0. However, should he reveal his presence to the world, he would likely resume his former rating of Monstrous +75.

Origin:

James Buchanan Barnes, known to the world in general as just Bucky, was the partner of the original Captain America. Though originally an ordinary human with superior fighting skills, James has been augmented with a bionic arm to replace the one he lost back in '45.

Known Powers:

Cybernetic Arm: after his body was recovered from the Arctic, Soviet scientists gained the schematics for an artificial arm and grafted it on to James to replace his lost appendage. This arm is built from Incredible (40) m.s. items and possesses like Strength (for purposes of melee damage).

A recent upgrade by Nick Fury has added a few additional traits. For one thing, it is self-ambulatory, and has the ability to fight when detached from James' body, at his Fighting rank -1 CS; whether this happens remotely or in an automated fashion, however, remains to be seen.

Furthermore, it has a powerful anti-tamper system in place, to prevent anyone from dismantling it or otherwise breaking down its technology, as at least one unfortunate S.H.I.E.L.D. technician found. This device will inflict Remarkable (30) Stunning Energy damage to whoever triggers it.

Equipment:

Body Armor: while not the patriotic costume he used to wear, James nonetheless has a dark uniform with similar properties to his original; in other words it is bullet resistant. It provides him Typical (6) protection from physical attacks, whether they be Blunt or Edged or Shooting in nature.

Hand Gun: a back up for his small arsenal, James carries a more modern piece than his original M1911A1 from back in the War. He can fire this semi-automatic hand cannon to inflict Typical (6) Shooting damage to his targets in a single shot, +1 CS in a semi-auto burst of leaden doom.

Knife: in the event that his guns fail him, James always has his trusty knife. This weapon is made from Incredible (40) m.s. materials, and can be used to either cut through materials of like m.s. or to inflict Edged Attack damage in melee (with either his normal or cybernetic arm).

Rifles: James wields a variety of rifles in the field. These range from sniper rifles, which inflict Good (10) Shooting damage in a single shot, and have a scope for a +1 CS to hit in ambush, to automatics which inflict Good (10) Shooting damage in a semi-auto burst, +1 CS rock and roll.

Quirks:

(none)

Talents:

Acrobatics: as Captain America's partner in 'crime', James used a similar fighting style, which involved training his body to be highly nimble and limber - the better to avoid enemy assault. James may attempt any Dodge, Escape or Evade maneuvers at his Agility score +1 CS.

Guns: an essential portion of his military training, James is well versed in the use of most firearms. He can fire most standard, semi-automatic or fully automatic rifles or pistols, or even odd weapons like shot guns, as though his Agility score was +1 CS in rank.

Languages / English, German and Russian: James is known to be proficient in at least four languages, three of which are those presented here. While good at the first two before the war, it's likely he picked up the others during the time he was subjected to Soviet brain washing.

Martial Arts Types A, B, and E: James is a highly competent hand to hand combatant. He can attempt unarmed melee strikes at his Fighting score +1 CS, gains a +1 to initiative in unarmed melee, and may Slam or Stun a foe regardless of his comparative Strength or Endurance.

Military / United States: an Army brat, James grew up on various Army bases. Easily falling into the Army way of life, James knows military protocols and procedures like the back of his hand, and can lead a body of fighting men and/or women into battle should he be given such responsibility.

Pilot / Motorcycle: while James can operate most vehicles with competence, he truly shines when riding his hog. He can attempt driving maneuvers (offensive or defensive) on a motorcycle at a +1 CS, and usually pushes this talent to the limit alongside his cohort, Captain America.

Politics: supplementing most of his other skills, this talent describes a knack James has for talking to people and getting what he wants. He is at a +1 CS to all Popularity FEAT rolls when attempting to convince someone to do him a favor, and is quite an effective scam artist.

Survival: left to his own devices at a very early age in various Army bases, James has learned how to get by all by himself. He can easily scrounge up enough food, water or shelter to not only get by but to thrive, regardless of the environment he finds himself stuck in.

Thrown Weapons: in addition to being proficient with most firearms, James can throw objects at people with deadly effect. Whenever he's flinging a weapon designed to be thrown (daggers, grenades, etc...), James may do so as though his Agility score was +1 CS in rank.

Tumbling: complementing his acrobatics skill, this talent denotes James' ability to recover from most sensible falls without injury. If James finds himself falling, he may attempt an Agility FEAT roll to land feet first on any descent that does not inflict damage upon landing.

Contacts:

James was Captain America's partner for several years during World War II. During this time, James gained innumerable contacts in heroic circles including his fellow Invaders, the Liberty Legion, the Kid Commandos, and the Young Allies. He also has several Army contacts he can rely on. Assuming they survive.

However, in his identity as the Winter Soldier, James has very few people he can rely on - most folks believe he is deceased, after all. In his current situation, James can likely rely on Captain America for aid should he need it, as well as Nick Fury (who he seems to be working for at the moment).

Costume:

James' Bucky costume consisted of a blue button-up tunic with a red collar and red buttons, red flared gloves, red leggings under blue shorts, a black leather belt with a 'flag' belt buckle, blue cavalier-style boots, and a black domino mask covering his eyes. This, of course, when James isn't working under cover.

As the Winter Soldier, James wears a more subdued costume. It includes a black leather vest with a star on the left breast over a deep blue, sleeveless T-shirt, blue stretch pants, black leather boots, various black leather straps to hold his gear, a black domino mask, and a star etched onto his robotic arm.

Personality:

A true hero at heart, James is horrified by the things he was forced to do by the Soviet government. His former, upbeat sensibilities seem utterly gone, replaced by a despondent guilt about the various assassinations he has perpetrated, even if he wasn't responsible for them at the time.

How he will reconcile his past and present self has yet to be determined.

Real Name: James Buchanan Barnes
Occupation: adventurer, former Army mascot, former Soviet assassin
Legal Status: American citizen with a criminal record
Marital Status: single
Alias(es), if any: none
Group Affiliation: the Invaders, the Kid Commandos, the Young Allies

Height: 5' 9"
Hair: auburn
Eyes: brown
Weight: 260 lbs. (cybernetics and all that)
Other Distinguishing Characteristics: none

Story:

James Buchanan Barnes was born in 1927 to a military family. His mother died at a very early age, while his father was killed in an accident during his basic training. James was then separated from his sister and became a ward of the state, and remained on at Camp LeHigh as a sort of base mascot.

In this curious 'home' environment, James picked up a variety of skills, both savory and otherwise, that would prove to serve him well in the future. A consummate con man, James had a tendency to help his friends get non-requisition supplies, or swindling others out of the same.

One night he discovered Steve Rogers donning the uniform of Captain America, rumors of which had been circulating around the area of late, and James saw his golden opportunity. Half blackmailing and half sweet-talking Rogers, James got the man to agree to let him be his 'partner in crime'.

Once this arrangement had been reached, James received lots of formal training, not just the sort of slap-dash 'jack of all trades' business he'd been collecting over the last few years. Properly skilled in military combat and intelligence techniques, James became very dangerous.

This skill set proved more than useful as Captain America's partner, and the duo inflicted a serious amount of damage to the forces of Evil - whether they were Nazis or independent - for quite some time. While Cap was the duo's 'public face', James took care of various 'wet works'.

An efficient trouble shooter (and trouble maker), James was proficient enough in battle that Captain America brought him along when he joined up with Namor, the Human Torch and Toro to form the Invaders, a group of super-humans dedicated to stamping out the scourge of Nazi evil.

This wasn't the only team James would get involved with, though. A member of the Young Allies and the Kid Commandos, James was a driving force in both of these groups, and he even formed the Liberty Legion when the Invaders were captured and mind controlled by the Red Skull once.

This basic arrangement continued during the war, with James facilitating missions for other heroes, either Captain America alone or the Invaders as a whole. And this was just fine with James, as he had no problem getting his hands dirty in order to stymie Nazis and their co-conspirators.

Things changed in late 1945, however, when James and Captain America had to act fast to prevent Baron Zemo from using a stolen drone, armed with an explosive device - against America. Catching up with it as it launched on their motorcycles, the duo attempted to disarm it while in flight.

This did not go well, and the drone plane exploded over the Arctic Circle. While Captain America was put in suspended animation thanks to his super soldier serum, James was killed by the extreme cold - not to mention blood loss caused by the loss of his arm in the explosion above.

While he was in fact deceased, this was not to be the end of James. This is because James' body was recovered by Vasily Karpov's submarine, and taken to Soviet authorities shortly thereafter. They then resuscitated James' body, though he suffered severe brain damage from his ordeal.

Inspecting his body, the Soviets could not find any trace of the super soldier serum in his body, so they simply put James on ice for a time. Though James could not remember his former life, he still retained most of his reflexive skills. As such, the Soviets decided to wield James as a weapon.

Subjecting him to intense brain washing in a sensory deprivation tank, the Soviets turned James into a potent assassin for the K.G.B., made even more dangerous with the cybernetic arm he'd been given to replace the limb he'd lost back in '45. And James was frighteningly good at the task he was given.

Placed in stasis when not needed, as his Soviet controllers could tell James was trying to remember his past life despite his conditioning, James was eventually forgotten when Kaprov died, only to be found decades later by Kaprov's protege, General Alexander Lukin, who went rogue when the U.S.S.R. fell.

Knowing that the Red Skull possessed the Cosmic Cube, Lukin reactivated James and sent him after the villain. Killing the Skull and taking the Cube for Lukin, James engaged in further activities for his Russian boss until his true identity was discovered by Captain America himself.

Eventually gaining control of the Cube, Captain America used it to restore James' memories in full, at which point he was immediately overcome with grief and remorse regarding his many heinous actions since the Soviets got ahold of him. Turning against Lukin, James then went underground.

After a few conflicts with other super humans, including Wolverine, James resurfaced as the right hand of Nick Fury, who himself was in hiding after involvement in some 'Secret War' that he had engineered recently. Since Fury himself is on the outs with S.H.I.E.L.D. at the moment, this is obviously 'unofficial'.

All of this changed, however, with the death of Captain America. When his former partner was assassinated in the fallout of the so-called super hero Civil War, James became bent on bringing the true killer to justice. As such, he began seeking out the Red Skull, knowing that villain was behind it all.

At the same time, he blamed Tony Stark for the Captain's demise, and had a special place on his 'list' for the man as well. When S.H.I.E.L.D. captured him in the wake of his latest operation against the Skull, James broke out and went after the man on his own heli-carrier, and the two had quite a fight.

Though he seemed ready to take Tony Stark out, James nonetheless listened to reason when the man mentioned a letter he'd receieved from Captain America shortly after his demise, a sort of 'just in case' kind of deal. Reading it, he and Tony started discussing the future, and the Captain's legacy...