Red Skull (Johann Shmidt)

 

"Allow me to introduce myself, Herr Kapitän. My name is der Rote Schädel... "

               —Red Skull

Portrait 

Early life

Johann Shmidt, the Red Skull, was the son of a coarse, drunken German villager named Hermann Shmidt and his reportedly saintly, long-suffering wife Martha, who for years endured abuse and beatings from her husband. 

Martha died giving birth to Johann, their only child. 

Driven to madness by the death of the woman he both loved and hated, Hermann Shmidt tried to drown the newborn infant, accusing him of murdering Martha. 

The doctor who had just delivered the baby saved Johann from his abused father, and the next morning Hermann Shmidt committed suicide.

The doctor then took Johann to an orphanage, where the child led a lonely existence.

Johann ran away from the orphanage when he was seven years old and lived on the streets as a beggar and a thief.

As he grew older he worked at various menial jobs but spent most of his time in prison for crimes ranging from vagrancy to theft.

As a young man, Shmidt was from time to time employed by a Jewish shopkeeper, whose daughter, Esther, was the only person who had treated Shmidt kindly up to that point. 

Seized with lust for Esther, Shmidt tried to force himself upon her, only to be rejected by her. In unthinking fury, Shmidt murdered her. Shmidt fled the scene in terror, but also felt ecstatic joy in committing his first murder.

In killing Esther, he had given vent to the rage at the world that had been building up in him throughout his young life.

Powers and Abilities

Powers

Immortality Through Cloning:

His psionic mind transference grants the Red Skull immortality. The Red Skull's mind has survived his physical bodies' death several times by being transferred through differing means to new bodies.

Abilities

Genius Intelligence: 

Despite having little formal education, Shmidt has a genius intellect allowing him to become an expert in multiple fields of study including engineering, military tactics and history, politics, counter intelligence, psychology, philosophy, chemistry and physics .

Strategic Genius: 

Shmidt is a master of political, military, and subversive strategy, as well as a brilliant planner and organizer.

Hand-to-Hand Combat: 

In his original body, the Red Skull was a fine hand-to-hand combatant, although not to the level of Captain America. He was also a brilliant fencer and skilled marksman.

• In his cloned body, he was an exact match of Steve Rogers.
• In his robot body, he had superhuman combat abilities.
• "Peak Physical Condition": Shmidt is in excellent shape due to a regular exercise routine. His strength, speed, agility, durability, reflexes and endurance are all at the pinnacle for a man his age, height and weight.

Physical Strength

In his original body, the Red Skull possessed the normal human strength of a man his physical age, height, and build who engaged in intensive regular exercise. 

In his cloned body, Red Skull can lift 800 lbs with supreme effort, and had the strength of matching or nearly matching Rogers' strength as he did not exercise as intensely and regularly as Rogers does.

In his robot body, Red Skull possesses superhuman strength.