The Bucky Years

Bucky and Cap.

After losing his father, a soldier, at a young age during World War II, James Buchanan "Bucky" Barnes was adopted as the mascot for Camp Lehigh and nicknamed "Bucky." There he stumbled upon the secret identity of Captain America and quickly became Cap's sidekick, undergoing rigorous training. Bucky certainly got his hands dirty, doing all the brutal jobs that needed to be done. He'd sneak into enemy territory undetected, swiftly clearing a path for the U.S. soldiers and Captain America to come in and clean house. He sooned joined Cap as a member of the Invaders, fighting alongside such other heroes as Namor, the Sub-Mariner, Human Torch and Toro. But in the closing days of World War II, during a mission overseas to take down Baron Heinrich Zemo, Cap and Bucky hopped on a plane hoping to disarm it. Cap couldn't reach it, but Bucky hung on. It was booby trapped and the bomb detonated. Bucky found himself too close to the explosion, which presumably killed him and dropped Captain America into the waters below. While Captain America's body was frozen in a state of suspended animation for years, Bucky's body was never found... Or was it?

The chill of the Winter Soldier

The Winter Soldier

Fitting him with a cybernetic arm, the Soviets began work on the Winter Soldier Project. They began mental implantation to reprogram his mind and make him loyal to no one but the Soviets. With the codename Winter Soldier, the former Bucky was sent out on spy missions to blend in with his surroundings and assassinate various Cold War power-players. After acting oddly on a few missions, the Soviets decided to store the Winter Soldier away in a suspended state until needed again, keeping his mind from learning the truth.

Recently, after killing a number of subjects including Red Skull and Nomad under the direction of Karpov's protege, Aleksander Lukin, the Winter Soldier came face to face with Captain America, still not remembering his past at all. After a close battle resulting in Captain America obtaining the all-powerful Cosmic Cube, Cap held the Cube and made one short statement to the Winter Soldier: "Remember who you are." As the memories flooded back to him, the Winter Soldier couldn't take it and destroyed the Cube, vanishing with it.

He found an ally in Nick Fury, another WWII legend who has also gone 'off the map'. Fury has equipped Bucky with the intel and equipment (including an improved cybernetic arm) needed to remain a key player behind the scenes of the Marvel Universe.

Confused and angry, still reeling from shock of Steve's death, Bucky looked for a way to strike back. He stole Cap's shield during a transfer between two S.H.I.E.L.D. holding areas, and ambushed the Red Skull, who is currently sharing a mind with Lukin, only to be temporarily taken prisoner.

The New Captain America?

Steve Rogers left instructions for Tony Stark in a letter written before his death to "save" Bucky and that the mantle of Captain America should go on.

Looks like Bucky's grown up.

When the Winter Soldier (Bucky) was brought into S.H.I.E.L.D. custody, he managed to escape. His cybernetic arm had been removed and was being examined by S.H.I.E.L.D. scientists. They were surprised at how much of their own design was in place. Either the Russians had a mole in S.H.I.E.L.D. or the Winter Soldier was working for Nick Fury. The arm sent out an electrical shock to one scientist, rose up and knocked out the other two. It then crawled up the wall and into a ventilation shaft to seek out it's owner. When the Winter Soldier was free his only goal was to attack Iron Man.

The two fought to a standstill until Stark mentioned the letter from Steve. Bucky wasn't sure that Cap had meant for him to actually become Captain America. Tony said that there's no way Bucky would let anyone else fill those boots and asked if he wanted to be the one to let Steve down. Bucky said he'd do it under two conditions. The first was that his mind was completely probed to ensure there was no trace of brainwashing or failsafe code-words left over from when he was under control was the Winter Soldier. The second condition is that he doesn't have to answer to S.H.I.E.L.D. or to Stark, just as Steve didn't. Tony thought about it and agreed.

Powers and Abilities

Bucky was trained by Captain America (Steve Rogers) in hand-to-hand fighting techniques as well as being skilled in the use of military weapons such as firearms and grenades. As Bucky he used throwing knives on occasion and was a gifted advance scout. 

As the Winter Soldier he has super strength and reaction time and the ability to produce EMPs, as well as jammers for metal detectors and x-ray machines, due to his cyborg left arm. Even when this arm is removed, Winter Soldier can mentally control it from a remote location.

Now as Captain America he uses Steve Rogers' indestructible vibranium shield and carries some conventional weapons including a gun, a knife and grenades.