Johann Schmidt


 * Red Skull redirects here. For the character from the 1990 film, see Tadzio de Santis.

"You could have the power of the gods! Yet you wear a flag on your chest and think you fight a battle of nations! I have seen the future, Captain! There are no flags!"

- Red Skull

Johann Schmidt, also known as the Red Skull, is a German ex-SS officer and scientist who has his own branch of the Third Reich Army under his command known as HYDRA.

Captain America: First Vengeance
To be added

Captain America: The First Avenger
Johann Schmidt was an SS officer who reached the rank of Obergruppenführer (Lieutenant General) and got into Hitler's inner circle. He was the first man in centuries to be completely aware of Norse Gods having roamed the Earth and sought to harness the science behind their power. Then he created his own branch known as HYDRA, named after the mythological creature, which became Hitler's deep science division. Dr. Abraham Erkshine had been forced to test the super soldier serum on Johann Schmidt, corrupt and greedy for power. After the serum had been used on Schmidt, he not only developed a darker nature but also suffered physical side effects. After his head was severealy deformed into a skull-like form, Schmidt became dissilusioned from Hitler's ideals of Aryan supremecy and distanced himself from Naziism.

Schmidt then invade a castle in Norway searching for a mystical artifact he calls "The jewel of Odin's treasure room". The Tesseract is said to give it's finder unbelievable power and Schmidt believed it would give him power. A member of a group sworn to protect it tries to stop him from stealing it but Johann shoots and kills him without mercy. Schmidt and Nazi scientist, Arnim Zola experiment with the artifact which is really the cosmic cube and attempt to harness its power. Then they started to create their own wunderwaffe using the Tesseract´s power. Schmidt executed three Nazi officials to declare that HYDRA have become independent and will no longer aid the Third Reich. Schmidt reveals that his cause is looking beyond Hitler's plans and imagination, and that HYDRA won't grow up under Hitler´s shadow. So he becomes an enemy and traitor of the Axis powers.

While on an unauthorized rescue mission, Steve Rogers briefly confronted Schmidt. Schmidt tore away the skin on his face revealing his deformed face. The Red Skull grew frustrated as Captain America destroyed all but one of his factories, killing those who failed to stop him. After the Howling Commandos captured Zola, Rogers led an attack on the Red Skull's last fortress. The Red Skull then took off in his jet to destroy the US with the energy from the cosmic cube.

After the suicide bombers are neutralized, the Red Skull and Captain America fought within the cockpit ending in a stalemate as the battle damaged the cube power core. The Red Skull picked up the Cube, forgetting that it cannot be held by mortal hands. Thus the Cube incinerated Schmidt and his remains are transported across space toward Yggdrasil.

The Avengers
"You know, the last time I was in Germany and saw a man standing above everybody else, we ended up disagreeing."

- Steve Rogers

Years later, when Steve Rogers comes face to face with Loki in Stuttgart, Germany he refers to either Schmidt or Adolf Hitler.

Character traits
Johann Schmidt is a megalomaniac and egocentric genius who firmly believes in Nietzsche's theory of Übermensch (beoynd-human), a race of superhuman beings destined to rule the normal ones. He initially believed Hitler's ideals of an Aryan master-race and was a fully-fledged member of the Nazi Party before being segregated for his deformities. Believing himself to be such a man, he used both magic and science to obtain a central position in the Third Reich's inner-circle, until his conceit arrived to the point of believing to be greater than Hitler himself, thus starting a plan to overthrow him. Schmidt is pitiless and cruel, but also a scientific genius, who's able to see beyond appearances and managed to see the truth behind myths believed to be superstition, in reality fragments of Asgardian origin.

As a result of the formula developed by Abraham Erskine, Schmidt was horribly disfigured, but also obtained incredible attributes, such as an enormous strength, speed, stamina and reflexes, and got even his intelligence increased, becoming a war mastermind. In combat, he uses canonical firearms, but after retrieving the Tesseract, he gained access to a source of energy the like of which has never be seen, and used it to implement his weapons. Though he is disillusioned by the Fuhrer's ideals, he is still morally devoid and capable of mass murder.

Abilities

 * Schmidt was described as "a brilliant scientist" by Erskine before his transformation.
 * Schmidt was a capable pilot. He used a Focke-Wulf Triebflügel to escape his factory and later personally piloted the massive Valkyrie on its only flight.
 * The Serum severely disfigured Schmidt's appearance, but it did enhanced all of his body natural abilities to the peak of human potential.

Serum Abilites

 * Peak Human Strength: The Red Skull's physical strength can match Steve to the very peak of human potential.
 * Peak Human Speed: The Red Skull is able to run at a speed of approximately 30 miles per hour.
 * Peak Human Agility:' The Red Skull have agility superior to that of any Olympic athlete.
 * Peak Human Stamina: Schmidt's musculature produces less fatigue toxins during physical activity than the musculature of an ordinary human.
 * Peak Human Reflexes: Schmidt's reflexes are similarly enhanced and are superior to those of the finest athlete.
 * Peak Human Durability: His bones and muscles are denser and harder than normal, to the highest human potential, which makes him very durable compared to a normal human.
 * Peak Human Mental Process: His mental performance has been greatly enhanced, allowing his mind to operate in the most efficient and rapid manner possible.
 * Peak Human Healing: Schmidt's healing speed and efficiency is at the highest limits of human potential, which means he can heal faster than most humans.

Relationships

 * Steve Rogers - Archenemy.
 * Bucky Barnes - Enemy.
 * Peggy Carter - Enemy.
 * Howling Commandos - Enemies.
 * Arnim Zola - Ally.
 * Heinz Kruger - Ally.
 * HYDRA - Subordinates
 * Strategic Scientific Reserve - Enemies

Behind the Scenes

 * Hugo Weaving based the Red Skull's accent on renowned German filmmakers Werner Herzog and Klaus Maria Brandauer.
 * About the character, Weaving remarked, "I think the major difference between Skull and Cap, they've both had the serum, and the serum seems to augment certain qualities that each of them have. Cap is much more in tune with other people I think. Schmidt is in tune with himself, and his own needs, and his own ego, so I suppose it augments that. From that point of view, they're quite opposite."
 * The Red Skull searches for a powerful artifact, the Cosmic Cube. By coincidence, in the 2007 film Transformers, Hugo Weaving voiced the villain Megatron, who also searched for a similar cosmic cube-shaped relic.

Appearances/Actors

 * Marvel Cinematic Universe (1 film)


 * Captain America: The First Avenger (First appearance) - Hugo Weaving

Trivia

 * In the comics, the Red Skull was Hitler´s right hand, second in command and personal assassin. Red Skull has no relationships with HYDRA although he helped Baron von Strucker (the original HYDRA's director) to escape from Germany and to organize HYDRA in the Japanese-occupied territory in the final days of WWII.
 * In Zack Penn's draft for The Avengers movie, the Red Skull was featured as the main villain alongside Loki.