History Characters / MarvelComicsRedSkull

* CardCarryingVillain: In the most {{Anvilicious}} version of his backstory, he joined the Nazis for the thrill of killing and refers to himself as the "Prince of Villainy".

* BadBoss: He frequently kills all but his most loyal or competent underlings--and sometimes even them--either [[YouHaveFailedMe for failure]] or for [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness outliving their usefulness]], but just as often ForTheEvulz. He once killed his ''accountant'', for pete's sake, because "she was a bad accountant". And he usually uses his "Dust of Death" poison, one of the most agonising and horrible weapons in his arsenal, when he feels like doing the deed. [[MyMasterRightOrWrong Bizarrely]], he can still count on the fervent loyalty of most of his followers. Though this [[DependingOnTheWriter depends somewhat on the writing]], also, making the enthusiasm of his subordinates less inexplicable. In many stories, he's more "harsh but fair" like a stereotypical German military martinet, and tends to lead by example. Notably, the specific examples listed above come from when he was at his all-time worst, in the [[UsefulNotes/TheDarkAgeOfComicBooks Comics Dark Age]].

* BreakoutVillain: The original [[UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks Golden Age]] Red Skull was intended as a single-issue villain, a native-born American Nazi spy who died in the first story he appeared in. However, the character was popular enough to return, and in the [[UsefulNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks Silver Age]] revamp of the ''Captain America'' title, he got his more familiar backstory (as recounted above) and his status as Cap's ArchNemesis. The first Skull was then [[ActuallyADoombot retconned as an agent]] of the real one.

* DarkAndTroubledPast: The young Johann Schmidt grew up as a homeless orphan in [[CrapsackWorld Weimar Germany]], and survived off odd jobs, begging and petty crime. Apart from insecurity, he also suffered horrible abuse from criminals and Communists; even the original [[UsefulNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks Silver Age]] origin story showed him being savagely beaten by a street gang as a small boy, and later versions have only gotten progressively [[DarkerAndEdgier more]] violent and disturbing.

* {{Deconstruction}}: Of hammy supervillains in general, and fictional Nazis in particular. Even the original [[UsefulNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks Silver Age]] origin story gave a surprisingly sympathetic and to some extent [[FairForItsDay "realistic"]] explanation for why a non-psychopath would want to be a Nazi supervillain, and why he would likely be a LargeHam if he became one. Many early stories nevertheless portrayed him as a more or less generic ranting villain, [[CardCarryingVillain who knew he was evil]]. But later writers [[DependingOnTheWriter (or at least some of them)]] realized that such villainy is unrealistic, so instead they tend to give him a coherent Nazi worldview. The result makes him ''more'' terrifying, since the best stories really manage to show how he can be a genocidal Nazi and still be morally upright [[DeliberateValuesDissonance by the standards of his own culture]].

* DomesticAbuse: The villainess Mother Night is a truly terrible human being... but read [[UsefulNotes/TheDarkAgeOfComicBooks the stories]] where she and the Skull were an item, and cringe. It was one of the most hideously abusive relationships in comics; the Skull beat her savagely, yelled and screamed at her for no reason, humiliated her in front of his subordinates, and refused to let her kill herself (which she requested because she thought, if he was beating her so much, [[LoveMartyr clearly she is failing him somehow]]) because "you'd like that, wouldn't you?", whereupon he promised to ''beat her some more''.

* EvilerThanThou: When suffering from bad writing during UsefulNotes/TheDarkAgeOfComicBooks. In one such story, he called himself the "God of Madness" and the "Beating Heart of Evil," among other similar self-styled titles, while competing with other villains over who was the most evil of all. Otherwise usually averted, since he [[DeliberateValuesDissonance sees himself and the Nazis as the good guys]], [[WhatIsEvil and the heroes as evil]].

* EvilIsPetty: However, this is initially averted in UsefulNotes/{{the Silver Age|of Comic Books}} UsefulNotes/WorldWarII period stories with the Skull being professional enough to hear about at least one scheme failing by shrugging and moving on to new business.

* FatalFlaw: In older stories, roughly the same ones as most [[UsefulNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks Silver Age]] supervillains: overconfidence, excessive wrath, etc. But his most fatal flaw is his adherence to Nazi ideology, which can sometimes overrule even his legendary PragmaticVillainy. Hard as it might be to believe, some of his major schemes have actually failed because [[PrinciplesZealot he wouldn't compromise on his principles]].

* IncorruptiblePurePureness: Emphatically ''not'' in the conventional sense. But in a much more disturbing sense, true. Like Heinrich Himmler's ideal Waffen-SS soldiers, Red Skull is ''personally'' incorruptible: he leads a Spartan life, spends his spare time in training and study to become an even better Nazi, is NotDistractedByTheSexy and doesn't care about money, fame or the fact that most of the world hates him. His one desire and purpose in life is to serve the Nazi ideal and bring about the [[FalseUtopia perfect world]] Hitler dreamed of, and in his own way he's ''totally unselfish'' about it. Though as with much else, this [[DependingOnTheWriter varies with the writing]]. Notably, in the [[UsefulNotes/TheDarkAgeOfComicBooks '90s Dark Age]] his insane clone was just a cackling villain with no ideals whatever who spent much of his time [[EvilIsPetty selling drugs and beating up random people]].

* LatexPerfection: To the point that he can convincingly wear another mask ''over'' his Skull mask, in some stories. ([[UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks Mainly older ones.]])

* ProfessionalKiller: The original (i.e., [[UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks Golden Age]]) Red Skull is introduced as one, a German spy and assassin. The more familiar Skull also has shades of it, as a former intelligence operative with experience in wetwork and black operations.

* WilliamTelling: Done occasionally to demonstrate both his coolness under fire and his [[ImprobableAimingSkills marksmanship]]. One variation (in a surprisingly serious context, not at all played for laughs) occurs in his [[UsefulNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks Silver Age]] origin story.

* ArchEnemy: One of the oldest in comics.

* CombatPragmatist: The guy who, unlike the heroes, will bring a gun to the fight. Growing up in the streets taught him the folly of fighting "fair".

However, as the war dragged on the Skull started to see that Germany was not going to win, and [[KnowWhenToFoldEm instead made plans to escape]] and build a new power base elsewhere to [[TheRemnant continue the struggle]]. In the meantime he assigned rival Nazi [[ComicBook/BaronZemo Baron Heinrich Zemo]] to a secret mission to assassinate Captain America, hoping the two would kill each other off. In the event, Zemo was defeated and Roger's sidekick ComicBook/BuckyBarnes was (seemingly) killed, but not before Captain America tracked the Skull to his secret bunker and engaged him in battle. Cap won and apparently killed the Skull, but in reality he was merely a HumanPopsicle, a fate that Cap would shortly suffer too after his battle with Zemo.

* IKnowKarate: Red Skull is a master of martial arts (and has specifically been mentioned to know several styles of karate). He still loses many of his unarmed battles, but that's because his opponent is frequently [[SuperWeight Captain America]].

** The Red Skull is without question one of the most reviled, despised, detested, and flat-out hated villains in the entire Marvel Universe, loathed by both heroes and villains alike. And it's not just limited to just the ''Marvel'' Universe: When even ComicBook/TheJoker [[EvenEvilHasStandards of all people wants nothing to do with you]], you know you're a vile, irredeemable piece of trash.

* NumberTwo: To Hitler, before he becam

* NumberTwo: To Hitler, before he became Number One after the war.
* OffingTheOffspring: His father tried to drown him after his mother died in childbirth.
* OffscreenVillainDarkMatter: [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] as the Skull is not only having access to hidden Nazi caches, but also frequently running organizations like HYDRA and various factions of AIM from whom he takes resources.
* OlderThanTheyLook: Depending on [[MultipleChoicePast which version of the backstory]] you go by, he was born either in 1889 or 1914, so either way he's over a hundred by now. Various species of [[AppliedPhlebotinum technobabble]] keep him in shape -- much as is also the case with his roughly equivalently old archnemesis, Cap. However, even in a perfect twentyish body, he feels [[FishOutOfTemporalWater very alienated]] from the modern world, with all its [[ValuesDissonance decadence and insanity]].
* OneManArmy: Doesn't show it off very often, since as a high-ranking officer he rarely does the super-agent stuff himself anymore. But when he does, it's time for the {{Mook}} SHIELD agents (and etc) to be ''very'' afraid.
* OneWingedAngel: When Magneto kills the second Red Skull, ComicBook/{{Onslaught}} is reborn due to the Skull possessing Charles Xavier's brain.
* OnlySaneMan: ''Thinks'' he is this (or nearly, at any rate) as a survivor of better times in an age of [[PoliticalOvercorrectness universal madness]].
* OpposedMentors: The ''Sentinel of Liberty'' miniseries gives Franklin Roosevelt an expanded role as a mentor of sorts, and certainly inspiration, for Captain America. The Skull's mentor and everlasting inspiration, of course, is Hitler.
* OppressiveStatesOfAmerica: The RepressiveButEfficient dictatorship he planned to set up together with his collaborators/puppets in the Third Wing Party. The transition into full-blown fascism was to be gradual, going from a modern-style national security state through a more explicitly nationalist one. Also, the Skull himself [[DeliberateValuesDissonance considers the present-day US to be this]], due to affirmative action and various other government-enforced liberal policies.
* OrderReborn: A villainous example. The Exiles were essentially the reconstituted Waffen-SS.
* OrderVersusChaos: Ultimately, order. The Skull ''creates'' chaos in order to bring down what he sees as [[EagleLand corrupt, plutocratic America]], but this chaos is only a means towards the end of a [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans new, better and more orderly society]]. Subordinates who cannot grasp this (such as [[ForTheEvulz Viper]]) are shown to the door in short order.
* OurClonesAreDifferent: He's returned in '' ComicBook/UncannyAvengers '' thanks to Arnim Zola having cloned him.
* OurFounder: In an AlternateUniverse where he ruled America, he replaced the Statue of Liberty with an even larger statue of Hitler.
* TheParagon: A villainous, fascist example. A mainstay of his rhetoric is that things will only keep getting worse as long as people submit to the [[CapitalismIsBad corrupt]] [[DemocracyIsBad system]]. It is the people alone who can change the world for the better, by being willing to stand up and risk their safety; he will lead them, if they will follow him, but every man must do his part. And because he usually practices what he preaches, he does succeed in inspiring his followers.
* ParentalSubstitute:
** Pretends to be a loving father figure to [[spoiler:Kobik the Cosmic Cube girl]] while teaching her that Hydra is the best thing since sliced bread.
** Hitler is sometimes depicted as a kind of father figure for the Skull.
* PatrioticFervor: Willing to die for Fascist Europe, and leads a MultinationalTeam of fascists and Nazis fighting for their countries against the Allies.
* PayEvilUntoEvil: And make sure it's paid with interest, too.
* ThePerfectionist: Everything he does is to be done right.
* ThePhilosopher: Often alludes to various philosophers the real-life Nazis liked, like Spengler and Nietzsche. Surprisingly, and amusingly, the [[PokeThePoodle Disney-villainous]] Silver Age version often does it ''better'' than many [[WordSaladPhilosophy more pretentious]] modern writers manage.
* PhotographicMemory: Whether it is truly eidetic or not, his memory is extraordinary; for example, he has been shown to recall conversations verbatim decades after they took place. This is yet another way he mirrors the real-life Hitler, who often embarrassed his minions by quoting their own words from months or years previously back at them when they failed to adhere to them.
* PoisonIsEvil: He has used a concoction called "Dust of Death" over his career. Similar to Joker's Venom, it kills a victim and causes the skin on the victim's head to shrivel and turn red, making it look like the victim [[SkullForAHead has a "red skull" for a head]]. The Skull himself became a victim of his Dust, and while he survived due to an antidote, still suffered the secondary effect, making his head a [[RedRightHand living red skull]].
* PoliticallyIncorrectVillain: Aside from the fact that he's a friggin' ''Nazi'', he's also pretty sexist, though he has expressed a certain level of respect for certain supervillainesses like Madame Hydra, and Syn when she grew up. Doesn't make up for his treatment of Mother Night, though, which was outright and frequent [[DomesticAbuse physical abuse]], and he loved every minute of it too.
** This is surprisingly averted in the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse. The prequel comic to the first ''Captain America'' movie establishes that the Skull finds Hitler's racism to be stupid, as he believes {{Ubermensch}}es can only be created by the SuperSerum, and would likely be a new race unto themselves. Thus, he dismisses the idea that blonde, blue-eyed Europeans are genetically superior to everyone else as quackery.
** The comics Skull also denied the Holocaust, and seemed to actually believe it when he said it was all just lies and frame-up.
* ThePowerOfFriendship: A villainous version. When the Cosmic Cube caught the Skull in a nightmarish [[LotusEaterMachine mind prison]], it was his devotion to Hitler for giving him a chance at succcess that finally brought him back to real life with new powers to boot.
* ThePowerOfHate: Hatred is the one thing that fuels him above all else and has carried him through the decades with an indomitable will to infinitely hate his enemies, even after death. When Magneto locked him away to die, he survived and avoided being DrivenToSuicide by clinging to his hatred of Captain America, and re-gained the will to live again after seeing Cap in person once more. Skull also once escaped a torturous Cosmic Cube Prison by clinging to his hatred and gained new powers to boot. Cap's fear of Skull's maddening hate is reflected in the page quote.
* PragmaticHero: The way he views himself, when not written as a CardCarryingVillain.
* PragmaticVillainy: He has one standard: pragmatism -- if you are killing people and breaking things on his dime, you'd ''better'' have something to show for it besides craters (even if it's just that he now ''owns'' those craters and they're full of gold or something). He notably kicked Viper out for wasting his money and resources on acts of terrorism with no strategic benefit, violence for its own sake.
* PresidentEvil: In those continuities where he succeeded Hitler as ruler of Nazi Germany, or otherwise acquired a position of formal political power. He's even become U.S. President in a BadFuture.
* PrivateMilitaryContractors: Kane-Meyer Security, which tangentially becomes a GovernmentConspiracy when Senator Wright, the would-be PresidentEvil, persuades the administration to hire them for maintaining order in the wake of a Depression-related nationwide squall of riots and disorders. They're actually a neo-fascist legion trained and bankrolled by the Skull.
* ProfessionalKiller: The original (i.e., [[UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks Golden Age]]) Red Skull is introduced as one, a German spy and assassin. The more familiar Skull also has shades of it, as a former intelligence operative with experience in wetwork and black operations.
* PsychoPrototype: In both ''Film/CaptainAmerica1990'' and ''Film/CaptainAmericaTheFirstAvenger'', he is the first test subject for the SuperSerum that eventually creates Captain America.
* PsychicPowers: He now has this ability after using Xavier's brain in Uncanny Avengers.
* PsychopathicManchild: Type C with some Type B traits. Very few of his goals are [[PragmaticVillainy pragmatic]] like those of an evil politician or a CorruptCorporateExecutive should be, profit for him is [[ForTheEvulz a means to doing more evil]], not an end. From a certain point of view, since the moment he met [[UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler the Führer]], ''the Skull never grew up''. Which is even more chilling when one sees how well it matches his below-quoted RealLife counterparts from the [[UsefulNotes/NaziGermany Reich]].
* PunishedForSympathy:
** When he was still a fresh Nazi (long before he became anyone powerful) he felt sorry for a Communist girl who was being harassed by Nazi militiamen. They noticed, and beat him up for it.
** He tried to help a homeless dog as a child, for which he was punished by the manager of the orphanage he lived at.
* PutTheLaughterInSlaughter: While he is usually a serious and often pretty angry villain, when he is doing what he loves- [[UnwittingPawn outplaying his enemies]], [[ChronicBackstabbingDisorder screwing over his minions and allies]], ColdBloodedTorture, mass murder- he'll at least be sporting a good SlasherSmile, and on occasion laugh like a maniac when he is doing something ''really'' evil.
* RacialRemnant: The Exiles, a Skull-led enterprise of unrepentant survivors of the Waffen-SS who secretly moved to an uncharted island to raise families and uphold a Nazi society in miniature.
* RagtagBunchOfMisfits: His men used to be immaculate Waffen-SS commandos, but since most of them are now long dead (and [[BreakingTheFourthWall comics editors want more toy-friendly supervillains]]) those who remain are more like this.
* RankScalesWithAsskicking: By circa 1942, he was one of the most powerful men in the Third Reich, being a sort of plenipotentiary agent-at-large for Hitler as well as [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveConnections the omnipotent dictator's best friend]]. Also one of the few Axis agents who could credibly take on Allied heroes like ComicBook/CaptainAmerica hand to hand.
* RapidAging: This happened to him once, due to the gas that kept him young wearing off.
* ARealManIsAKiller: Surprisingly, averted; when the Skull is called upon to kill a man as part of his training as a Nazi agent, he manages to avoid it, [[TakeAThirdOption in a way]] that still establishes respect for him with his handlers. However, he does believe that a man should be prepared, not just to die, but to kill [[PatrioticFervor for his country]] in times of war.
* RealityIsUnrealistic: Although none of his creators, Joe Simon and France Herron, could have known in early 1941, and they imagined him as a purely fictional and cartoonish incarnation of evil, the Skull's espionage exploits match those of both [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reinhard_Heydrich SS-Obergruppenführer Reinhard Heydrich]] and his close colleague [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Schellenberg SS-Brigadeführer Walther Schellenberg]], while his cruelty, sadism, ruthlessness [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking and physical appearance]] match the lesser known [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dirlewanger SS-Oberführer Oskar Dirlewanger]]. [[FreakierThanFiction It can be said the reality of the Reich surpassed the imagination of Marvel Comics writers]].
* {{Realpolitik}}: Like Hitler, the Skull has clearly set ideological goals in mind (roughly the sames ones as Hitler's, though usually more grandiose), but can be [[PragmaticVillainy very flexible]] about how to best serve those long-view goals in the short term. He has entered alliances with various unexpected partners over the years, from White Power militias to Arab terrorists -- not because he necessarily endorses or approves of them, but because they share the same common enemies in the [[ConspiracyTheorist Globalist banker conspiracy]]. How pragmatic is he? [[AndThatsTerrible He even allied with Captain America once against a neo-Nazi group he disagreed with]]!
* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Many, of varying sophistication, usually addressed to Captain America. The generally recurring theme is that Cap's american ideals are either empirically wrong, flat-out ''[[WhatIsEvil evil]],'' or both.
* RebelliousSpirit: Subverted. He is actually a quite extreme "law and order" advocate who wants his ideal utopia to be strictly regular and regulated, with "[[RepressiveButEfficient a place for everyone and everyone in his place]]" -- including himself. However, his hatred and contempt for what he sees as decadent, permissive and deeply immoral present-day democratic society sometimes makes him act like this: he deliberately flaunts ''"modern"'' social conventions, for example by acting extremely "politically incorrectly," not because he is rebellious by temperament, but because he despises ''this'' society and takes pleasure in shocking its sensibilities. Also, the Dark Age version of the Skull was this very much, to the point of being quite the {{Troll}}, since he was a [[CardCarryingVillain Card-Carrying]] [[StrawNihilist Straw Anarchist]].
* RecurringDreams:
** Of his traumatic failures, which continue to haunt him.
** When he was exiled to an IronicHell where he was stripped of his conscious memories, recurring dreams of Hitler and his struggle for the Nazi vision remained with him, and eventually brought back his full personality.
* RecruitedFromTheGutter: Almost; he wasn't ''quite'' in the literal gutter when Hitler recruited him (though he came from there), but his station was still very lowly.
* RedAndBlackAndEvilAllOver: Especially when wearing a black SS uniform, or even a black suit when in civvies. Probably deliberately symbolic, as it fits with the Skull being [[CaptainGeographic Captain America's]] antithesis: Red, white and black are the traditional colors of Germany, and also of Nazism's swastika banner, just as red, white and blue are those of America. So, like Cap, he is sort of wearing his flag, only a little less obviously.
* RedBaron: His real name is Johann Schmidt, but it's very rarely that anyone calls him anything other than the Red Skull.
* RedScare: Played straight with the Communist Skull in the 1950s. However, most versions (but ''especially'' the original, Golden Age one) rather represent the anti-Nazi "Brown Scare" mentioned on the page, which by 1941 had the US up in arms about supposed Nazi spies, saboteurs and fifth columnists. The Skull and his various henchmen led various fantastic schemes to subvert America, frequently aided by disloyal German-Americans; and indeed, the comic [[{{Anvilicious}} encouraged the children who read it to report suspicious activities to the authorities.]]
* RelatedInTheAdaptation:
** In ''WesternAnimation/SpiderManTheAnimatedSeries'', he is the father of [[spoiler:Electro.]]
** His ComicBook/UltimateMarvel incarnation is [[spoiler:the BastardBastard son of Captain America.]]
* TheRemnant: Leads the hard core of fascist diehards who, in the Marvel universe, refused to surrender when Germany was destroyed. To them, the war never ended.
* RenaissanceMan: Historian, musician, martial artist, strategist, occultist, engineer, art-lover, master rhetorician...
* RepressiveButEfficient: His idea of utopia, [[DependingOnTheWriter at least on a good day]]. A high-tech, ultra-totalitarian civilization patterned on Nazi Germany, free of [[PoliticallyIncorrectVillain deviants and inferior races]]. Interestingly, one early comic suggested that he wanted to unify the world in order to end wars and use humanity's pooled resources to colonize space, thereby securing infinite ''Lebensraum'' for the race.
* RetroUniverse: The AlternateUniverse where the Skull took over, a [[RepressiveButEfficient high-tech dictatorship]] where it's reasonably nice to live if you fit in, [[TallPoppySyndrome but not if you don't.]] For example, there are maglev trains and flat screen TV, but people still wear hats.
* RightWingMilitiaFanatic: The Skull isn't one himself, but sometimes sponsors them because they share many of the same goals and ideals. For example, he bankrolled the Watchdogs, a Christian conservative militia who [[FamilyValuesVillain attacked pornography and immorality]].
* RiskingTheKing: As a senior officer, Red Skull should ideally be far way from the battlefield, but is somewhat often found leading the operations he has planned in a very hands-on fashion. Obviously this is a dramatic conceit, but it may also be justified in many cases. Post-war, he simply might not have all that many men to spare on short notice, if his neo-fascist cells have recently taken a major beating, and during the war he might be fighting as a propaganda stunt, or possibly because the mission requires a SuperSoldier of his caliber, even if this also means risking a high-ranking staff officer.
* TheRival: In some stories, has traits of this with Cap. A straighter example would be fellow Nazi supervillain Baron Zemo. They are [[MirrorCharacter similar in many ways]], including wearing face-concealing red masks, but while the Skull is a SelfMadeMan and villainous WorkingClassHero from the humblest of backgrounds, Zemo is ''[[MorallyAmbiguousDoctorate Doctor]]'' Heinrich Zemo, ''[[BlueBlood 12th Baron Zemo]]'', a well-educated GentlemanAndAScholar from a long line of wealthy titled nobility. While they share the same national and ideological loyalties and aims, their differing backgrounds (and methods, to some degree) make them natural rivals: To the Skull, Zemo is a ShelteredAristocrat who does not truly understand the world, while Zemo thinks the Skull still has far too much of his LowerClassLout origins in him. Consequently, each wants to show the other up and demonstrate himself the better. However, both are man enough to [[WorthyOpponent grudgingly respect]] the other's abilities and accomplishment.
* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: When he got ahold (again!) of the Cosmic Cube back in the 1990s. This time, his first priority was revenge against America. In the nightmarish BadFuture which showed how it worked out, he made the US suffer everything the Allies did to Germany in World War II and starved the people, destroyed the cities, dynamited the monuments, put the military-age men in prison camps and had the superheroes executed like the Nazi leaders in the Nuremberg Trials.
* RobotMaster: While it isn't really his hat, the Skull has been shown occasionally to tinker with robots. For example, he once built an [[EvilKnockoff android replica]] of Bucky, and is said to have had a hand in the design of the original [[DoomsdayDevice Sleepers]].
* RogueAgent: In the movie and some other adaptations, where he leads the RenegadeSplinterFaction HYDRA rather than the Nazis. Averted in the comics, where his loyalty to Nazism is his defining character trait, except for a period in the 1980s, when he was acting out of character for both [[CameBackWrong in-universe]] and [[NoSwastikas out-of-universe]] reasons. Indeed, in the comics he sometimes ''fights'' renegade Nazis, who seek to usurp the Nazi dream of which he considers himself the protector.
* RomanticismVersusEnlightenment: Like the real-life Nazis, an odd mixture. Like the Nazis, he values order, appreciates modern technology and tends toward utilitarianism, but his ideals are largely nostalgic and "heroic" (in the Carlyle/Nietzsche sense, not as in "heroic" as opposed to "villainous").
* RousingSpeech: As a fascist villain, Red Skull naturally delivers a number of villainous ones. A recent example is from ''Uncanny Avengers'':
-->'''Red Skull''': All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing! ''We'' will do something -- right now! We will protect ourselves and take back our future!
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Tropes S to Z]]
* {{Sadist}}: Surprisingly, usually averted, as Red Skull leans more toward [[VisionaryVillain ideologically motivated]] villainy and its [[PragmaticVillainy coldly rational]] execution. However, some writers portray him like this, particularly when DarkerAndEdgier is in style. Also seems to be [[PsychoSupporter Sin]]'s default characterization.
* ScaryDogmaticAliens: In ''Spider-Man: The Animated Series'', the Skull was sent by [[PhysicalGod Beyonder]] to a planet of [[RubberForeheadAlien humanoid aliens]]. In a couple of years, he somehow [[GloriousLeader made himself dictator]] of one of its powerful nations and turned it into a [[PuttingOnTheReich carbon copy]] of Nazi Germany, making its citizens this.
* ScienceIsBad: Generally averted, as the Skull is not a true conservative or reactionary, but a Nazi, with the appropriate enthusiasm for science and technology as a means of improving human life. However, his views are sometimes ambivalent on specific technologies and lines of scientific inquiry.
* SealedRoomInTheMiddleOfNowhere: Magneto once imprisoned him in an abandoned and long-forgotten fallout shelter with no provisions other than ten gallons of water. His time down there nearly broke him.
* SelfMadeMan: Subverted a little, in that he owes his one chance in life to the Nazis, and specifically Hitler personally. However, this was precisely the one favor he got in life; everything else he has managed, including his meteoric rise from junior officer to Nazi oligarch, is due entirely to his own effort. He is equal parts proud of that and grateful to his mentor, whose encouragement and course in life (a RagsToRiches story vaguely similar to his own) ''inspired'' him to believe in himself and make the effort.
* ShadesOfConflict: The Skull has obviously never been portrayed as a good guy, but just how repulsively evil he is varies a lot between [[DependingOnTheWriter different depictions]]. At his "nicest" he's basically just a Nazi general who believes in his cause and is prepared to do whatever it takes to win the war. This version is [[KnightTemplar fanatical and totally ruthless]], but not personally sadistic or murderous. On the other hand, some versions are ''nothing but'' sadistic and murderous and believe in no principles or ideals, Nazi or otherwise. Similarly, his enemies can be portrayed as [[KnightInShiningArmor all-American, "apple pie" crusaders]] or more cynical government agents. Or the writer can have him fight [[EvilVersusEvil the Commies or the evil mutants]] for a change.
* ShadowArchetype: The Red Skull is the Nazi counterpart of Captain America, and has the rank to fit.
* ShellShockedVeteran: It doesn't come across in the most exaggeratedly crazy versions, but many of the Skull's depictions display a lot of the symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder: vivid memories and nightmares of traumatic episodes, avoidance symptoms, sudden outbursts of irrational anger... Probably caused ''both'' by his [[DarkAndTroubledPast horrible childhood]] and what he's been through since as a soldier.
* ShiningCity: New York, in the AlternateUniverse where it's his capital as Governor of America. It has lots of impressive Nazi monuments, architecture and high-tech conveniences, there's law and order, people dress like in the 1950s, and TheTrainsRunOnTime. However, Cap and the other heroes consider it a FalseUtopia, since it depends on [[FelonyMisdemeanor Draconian laws]] and is [[UrbanSegregation racially segregated]].
* ShowBusiness: Ran a Hollywood studio in one story. Though [[FridgeLogic you'd expect a Nazi to feel kind of weird in Hollywood ...]]
* ShrinkingViolet: Young, socially awkward Johann Schmidt. ''Not'' the Red Skull, however.
* ShroudedInMyth: Between the hagiographic pro-Skull Nazi propaganda and the Allied hate propaganda against him, it's hard for in-story characters to sift out the truth about his career. (Much like with Hitler in real life.) Also applies meta-fictionally, with various writers giving him different backstories, motivations and general characteristics over the decades (and [[ArmedWithCanon retconning each other]]), throwing considerable confusion over many aspects of what he's "really" like and has "really" done.
* SinkTheLifeboats: Surprisingly, averted; when his wolfpack sink an Allied convoy, he orders the commodore to rescue the survivors. Possibly justified, since they might provide valuable intelligence.
* SkullForAHead: Used to be a mask, now is a deformity.
* SlidingScaleOfFreeWillVsFate: The Skull believes in fate, and, like Machiavelli, that one should try to work with it rather than against it. But if fate is ''wrong'' (as he sees it), he'll fight it [[ScrewDestiny every step of the way]] -- Even if he ''knows'' it's hopeless.
* SlobsVersusSnobs:
** Despite (or maybe ''because'' of) his own poor background, Red Skull ''hates'' lower-class slobs almost as much as he does the [[UpperClassTwit wealthy elite]]. May be psychologically justified, in that he has worked ''[[HadToBeSharp very]] [[TrainingFromHell hard]]'' to better himself in spite of his humble origins, and is disgusted with people who won't even try.
** Stories set in World War II sometimes give him this dynamic with Baron Heinrich Zemo. Skull was a working-class man who used one of the few lucky breaks he got to make a meteoric rise through the ranks, while Zemo was an elitist NaziNobleman with one of the best educations one could ask for.
* SmugSnake: Generally averted with the Skull himself, as his villainy is on too grand a scale. Sin plays it very straight, however.
-->'''Sin:''' Sorry, Sharon. Looks like you lose -- ''[[AlphaBitch Again ...]] ''
* SocialClimber: An interesting case, possibly even a subversion. Essentially, he is the darkest imaginable example of the Idealist type: he wants power in order to promote Hitler's Nazi vision as effectively as possible. To that end, he also engages in a fair amount of politicking and backstabbing, both in the pre-1945 Nazi hierarchy and later in other context, but he doesn't ''like'' it one bit, indeed thinking it sad he should have to resort to this among nominal allies. [[DependingOnTheWriter In some stories, however,]] he's just a generic power-hungry villain who plays the trope totally straight.
* TheSocialDarwinist: Either in boorish, brute-force terms or with relatively sophisticated philosophical justifications, depending on the story. Also averted or subverted in some versions, where he champions a more collectivist racialist ideology. Notably, in one comic he even called Social Darwinism "hogwash" in so many words.
* TheSocialExpert: When he wants to be. His characterization would indicate that he doesn't ''like'' social niceties, and doesn't bother with them when there's no need, but he ''can'' be both very perceptive and even charming in social interactions when he makes the effort. Presumably this is something he has learned by painful effort since becoming a Nazi power player, as the young Johann Schmidt had absolutely NoSocialSkills and was portrayed as a borderline autist in some stories.
* SocietyIsToBlame: A supervillain who might actually claim this and have a legitimate point, at least in [[DependingOnTheWriter most versions]] of his backstory. Young Johann Schmidt by all appearances wasn't particularly evil, much less psychotic; and as his subsequent career demonstrates, he's actually a highly intelligent, capable and often even ''[[NotSoWellIntentionedExtremist idealistic]]'' man. If he had grown up with caring parents, or even just in a moderately functional society, he might have been a successful ''benevolent'' politician or academic, or, given that he inhabits a comics shared universe, perhaps even some kind of superhero. Unfortunately, he spent his childhood and youth as a persecuted orphan in the [[CrapsackWorld economically and politically dysfunctional]] Weimar Republic. It seemed to him that only the Nazis could bring back any semblance of order and prosperity to society, and they were also the only group who treated him, personally, with any sympathy or respect, so he joined them and, as Hitler's personal friend, became their most devoted follower. Though Captain America defies the trope, with relation to the Skull's past, pointing out that while he's maybe had it tough, ''he'' is still responsible for his ''own'' choices. Averted in the DarkerAndEdgier De Matteis rewrite, where the Skull was [[AxeCrazy psychotic and murderous]] even as a ''[[CreepyChild baby]]''.
* TheSociopath: Good ''God'', yes. He's got all the symptoms (no regard for other life, manipulates often, has a god complex and has insane risky plots), all of which quite extreme compared to most examples.
* SoldierVsWarrior: Interestingly, Red Skull comes across as more of a soldier to Captain America's warrior, with his military uniforms, regimentation and devotion to the state, as against Cap's colorful costume, individualism and devotion to the abstract ideal of liberty.
* SophisticatedAsHell: Varies between sophisticated eloquence and quite vulgar language, sometimes in the same comic. Probably accidental, but fits the character's background as a former LowerClassLout who has acquired his cultured sophistication as an adult: When he's [[VillainousBreakdown thrown off balance,]] his old dockworker manners slip through.
* SpeciesLoyalty: For a Nazi, always.
* SpellMyNameWithAnS: The correct spelling of his name is "Johann Schmidt" (two letters ''n'' in the first name, a ''c'' between the ''s'' and ''h'' in the second, ending with a ''d'' followed by a ''t''), both officially and according to all ordinary rules and standards of German orthography. For whatever reason, many people appear to find this extremely difficult to remember, including some official writers and proofreaders. Especially the variant "Johann Schmidt" (which looks quite ridiculous to native German-speakers) is fairly common.
* TheSpymaster: This was basically his job under the Third Reich.
* StartOfDarkness: The Red Skull miniseries by Greg Pak has shown most of how the Skull spent his childhood in Germany and how he began his path to ruthlessness.
* StayInTheKitchen: He was disappointed that his child was a daughter, because he desired a male heir who could carry on his crusade if he should die before he could complete it. But Synthia has proved herself enough by now to earn at least some grudging respect from him.
* StiffUpperLip: He's not British, but otherwise he fits the stereotype to a tee, at least in many stories. In the most extreme depictions, he'll be shown casually smoking or having a drink in the middle of an active battlefield; even when not taken that far, he'll more often than not show himself remarkably cool under fire. Perhaps justified to some extent by his HyperAwareness, which gives him a much better grasp of the situation than most combatants, and so should counteract stress.
* StillFightingTheCivilWar: Or rather World War II, in his case. He believes that the war never ended, and that his side was not completely defeated, until and unless he and his followers are destroyed. To him, it really is the same war he is still fighting, even though the main action took place a literal lifetime ago. Most of his neo-Nazi followers, these days, are people born long after the war. They have never seen the Nazi utopia they are fighting for, only heard him describe it.
* StormingTheCastle: On that occasion when he briefly allied with Cap and Sharon Carter, they stormed a heavily defended military complex in the Nevada desert while chasing the Cosmic Cube. It was guarded by a regiment of US Army troops, but of course, they had [[OneManArmy three armies]] attacking them...
* TheStraightAndArrowPath: As deadly with a bow as with modern firearms, as part of his polymathic combat training. Believe it or not, but when he bothers with it, he can do much the same style of trick archery as ComicBook/{{Hawkeye}}.
* StraightEdgeEvil: The Skull leads a very temperate and austere private life, avoiding alcohol, frivolous sex and other similar vices (occasional smoking seems to be the one exception, despite the Nazis historically being against that sort of thing). He also submits to a grueling regimen of studies and physical training to preserve and improve body and mind. Justified by his Social Darwinist philosophy that personal worth depends on ability: He ''must'' "be all he can be" or become unworthy of his station.
* StrategyVersusTactics: Presents an aversion of the regular stereotype that Germans are good at operations but bad at grand strategy. Red Skull is good at both grand-scale, long-term strategic planning and tactical improvisation, but weak on the intermediate level of operations; this is where most of his schemes tend to fail. Interestingly, this is also how military professionals tend to judge Hitler's conduct of World War II, though this is probably pure coincidence.
%%* StrawNihilist: Some depictions, big time.
* StrawmanPolitical: For the pro-Trump crowd, the Red Skull (a Nazi) gives out an [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything unscripted populist speech]] against the GOP establishment and illegal immigration in a recent comic:
--> '''Red Skull''': Your entire culture is under siege. The principles your country was founded upon lost in the name of "tolerance." Your religion, your beliefs, your sense of community -- all tossed aside like trash. And you cannot even speak out against it, lest you be called a '''[[PoliticalOvercorrectness bigot!]]'''
* StreetUrchin: His childhood and youth.
* StrongFamilyResemblance: With Sin. They are both lightly built, of average height or slightly below, and redheads with [[IcyBlueEyes piercing blue eyes]] and somewhat thin, attractive faces. Though given the medium, this [[DependingOnTheArtist varies somewhat with the portrayal]].
* StupidJetpackHitler: Turns out the Skull financed the research into a lot of sci-fi technology in the 1940s.
* SuperIntelligence: Not outright stated, but pretty much a [[RequiredSecondaryPowers requirement]] for explaining how an ex-street urchin could pick up [[CunningLinguist several foreign languages]] and learn how to [[SmartPeopleBuildRobots design and program autonomous military drones]] in a few years' time.
* SuperSoldier: Basically, the Nazi version of Captain America. The original Red Skull has no ''overt'' superhuman powers (just CharlesAtlasSuperPower and TrainingFromHell), but some versions (including the movie adaptation) use something similar to Cap's SuperSerum.
* SuperheroTrophyShelf: Rather, super-''villain'' trophy shelf, but otherwise it fits. When depicted, usually doubles as ContinuityPorn by showcasing mementos from obscure adventures.
* SuperiorSuccessor: To Hitler, to some extent (he's smarter, strong and longer lived, but Hitler was far and away more significant and influential). Certainly a ''worthy'' successor in any case.
* SurvivorGuilt: The original Skull [[DeathIsCheap "died"]] in Berlin in 1945, shortly before Hitler's death. Thanks to [[AppliedPhlebotinum technobabble]], it turned out he was merely a HumanPopsicle for two decades. In at least one comic, he curses fate which left him alive and let the Fuehrer die.
* SympathyForTheDevil: Averted; despite his tragic origin story, Captain America [[QuitYourWhining cuts him no slack]]. Presumably justified, given his villainy.
* SympathyForTheHero: He can relate to many of Captain America's troubles, since in at least some ways the two of them are similar. Notably, both miss the good old days and [[FishOutOfTemporalWater feel out of place in the modern world.]]
* TakeOverTheWorld: His goal, and in one alternate universe, he succeeds.
* TakingUpTheMantle: He considers himself the executor of Hitler's legacy, who will fulfil the dead Fuehrer's dream.
%%* TakingYouWithMe: ''' ''Always.'' '''
* TautologicalTemplar: The Skull is at least [[DependingOnTheWriter usually]] a Nazi true believer, who thinks democracy is evil and [[ConspiracyTheorist a front for Jewish Power]], and Nazism the [[WindmillCrusader last best hope of humanity]]. In his own moral universe, he is fighting to save the world, and his hatred of Captain America and his other enemies comes in large part from his belief that ''[[ObliviouslyEvil he's trying to save them, too]]'' from the Capitalist-Bolshevik-Multicultural conspiracy. They ought to join him, but instead everyone hates him, even though he's only trying to do what's right. [[MartyrWithoutACause In some comics, he even views himself as a kind of martyr because of this.]]
* TechnologicallyBlindElders: Averted; by now he's over a hundred, but like the real Hitler he remains a technology enthusiast and still keeps abreast of the latest tech.
* TheTeetotaler: Well, not quite, but almost. In his youth, depressed over the fate of Germany and his own failures, he would often get drunk to dull the pain. Since he sobered up, he never has anything stronger than an occasional glass of wine.
* TheyLookJustLikeEveryoneElse: When his face is a mask rather than a disfigurement, he's generally depicted as looking normal and even fairly handsome underneath it.
* ThickerThanWater: To an extent. He doesn't really go very easy on [[DaddysLittleVillain Sin]], but then again, he doesn't on himself, either. He certainly puts up with more from her (both in the way of failure and insolence) than he would from pretty much anyone else.
* ThisIsSomethingHesGotToDoHimself: Sometimes averted, sometimes played straight. As he's typically the leader of his operations, he often stays out of the fights, but when ItsPersonal (for example, often when facing Captain America) he'll make an exception.
* ThoseWackyNazis: One of the most horrific examples in comic book history.
* TokenTrio: The main villains in the Brubaker run, with a little humor: An immigrant (the Skull), a lower-class white man (Crossbones) and a girl (Sin).
* TomTheDarkLord: The Red Skull's real name is Johann Schmidt, the German cognate of [[MrSmith John Smith]]. In German it makes him sound like a bit of a country bumpkin -- Which is [[BilingualBonus precisely what his family were!]]
* TookALevelInBadass: The [[DeliberatevaluesDissonance heroic]] example of Hitler inspired young Johann Schmidt to get a grip on himself and make something out of his hitherto miserably failed life. He succeeded, and indeed, [[GoneHorriblyRight surpassed]] his mentor, going from pathetic LowerClassLout to RenaissanceMan with CharlesAtlasSuperPower.
* TortureTechnician: His hobby, apparently. At least on one occasion he even had his own TortureCellar, which he said was for "recreation".
* TotalitarianUtilitarian: The "nicest" interpretation of the Skull. One of his stated motivations for his villainy is a wish to [[OneWorldOrder unify the world]], [[RepressiveButEfficient end wars, waste and inefficiency]] and instead use the freed-up resources to colonize space.
* ToughLove: His treatment of Sin; some of it shades over into outright abusive territory. He has a sort of FreudianExcuse for it, since he's always HadToBeSharp himself, and consequently resents "weakness" in all its forms. Also, he knows she'll be a target for everyone who hates ''him'' just by virtue of being his child, so better make sure she can defend herself if (or when) need be.
* TragicVillain: Usually averted, as he's written as too unsympathetic. Some stories play up aspects of his character that point in this direction, however; for example, ''Captain America'' #14. There's never any question of him being anything but a Nazi, but his background is truly tragic. After a lifetime of [[FriendlessBackground loneliness and failure]] he met his one friend (Hitler), who helped him pull together and make something of his life. Then he came to believe in a cause, helped rebuild his country and became successful and respected. And then he lost everything again, and all he cared about was destroyed. Now his motivations are a mixture of trying to regain what he lost and taking revenge on the enemies who destroyed it. Perhaps most notably tragic in ComicBook/EarthX, where Captain America essentially eulogizes him to his mind-controlling successor. But then, all Earth X villains but the Celestials are tragic.
* TrainingFromHell: One Skull-centric story (originally in one of the last issues of ''Super-Villain Team-Up'') depicts some of his ordinary, everyday routine in between the world-conquests. He rises early in the morning, and begins the day with a tough run of [[TrainingMontage calisthenics, gymnastics, target shooting and other training]]; once done, he turns to planning and studying. His thoughts: He must be tougher than all his myriad enemies, or else [[TheSocialDarwinist be found wanting by Nature]]. Note that the training isn't sadistic or over-the-top, so much as simply [[BoringButPractical mind-numbingly boring and exhausting]], and about the equivalent of a full-time job in terms of the time he spends on it. Keeping up with the superheroes requires ''effort'' when you don't have the benefit of [[ComicBook/CaptainAmerica super-serums]]...
* TruthInTelevision: Hitler sometimes did hand out the chevrons and Golden Badge to late-enlisting but exceptionally worthy followers, which could explain why the Red Skull often has an Honor Chevron for the Old Guard and a Golden Party Badge.
* {{Ubermensch}}: Nazi-style, too. Red Skull doesn't really give a toss about what other people think of him. He is wholly and completely dedicated to his ideals and will stop at nothing to achieve them.
* UnderdogsNeverLose: Averted, and/or subverted. Like the real-life Nazis in World War II, Red Skull has only a fraction of the resources his enemies can bring to bear, which means he has to be a lot smarter and more audacious to keep up. Even so, with rare exceptions he still [[TheGoodGuysAlwaysWin usually loses]] in the end.
* UndyingLoyalty: To Hitler and Nazism, at least most versions. He has devoted his entire life to avenging Hitler's death and making his dream of a reborn Nazism come true.
* TheUnfettered: There are absolutely no limits in his evilness.
* UngratefulBastard: He once claimed to have searched for years for the physician who pulled him out of the womb... so he could kill him for dragging him out of the darkness and into the light, and for saving him from his father's attempts to murder him.
* UnholyMatrimony:
** When he was with Mother Night. Though Skull was always abusive to her, even if she was completely loyal to him.
** He tried it briefly with Madame HYDRA/the Viper and their romance was mutual, but she turned out to be too crazy for ''him''.
* UnreliableNarrator: The Skull's own version of his life story includes the claim that he remembers every detail of his birth, knows in-depth what his parents were like despite never really meeting them (he claimed to "feel the hatred" of his father for him - yes, when he was just born) and some other stuff like being thirty years old when he committed his first murder and met Hitler, despite subsequent versions portraying him as a teenager, not to mention his claim of having completed his Red Skull training in weeks, whilst simultaneously being an uneducated failure at everything in life up to that point. Obviously a lot of these changes are {{Retcon}}, but it actually makes sense that they are different because if you read between the lines, the Skull could be taken as just a [[BlatantLies blatant liar,]] trying to make his transformation sound more remarkable than it was.\\\
There's also the point that the Skull who told this version of the story was ancient and [[SanitySlippage rather obviously senile]]. When he first related his origins to ComicBook/CaptainAmerica some forty years earlier, the tale was very similar in outline, but notably free of all the extravagant and shocking details. The miniseries ''Red Skull: Incarnate'' shows the [[RetCon actual truth]] to be different, but no less spectacular (Johann orchestrated his "chance" meeting with Hitler).
* VengeanceFeelsEmpty: When he used the Cosmic Cube to crush Captain America and the other superheroes.
* VicariouslyAmbitious: Varies with the writing. The main motivation for his villainy in most stories is honoring Hitler (or after World War II, his memory) and furthering [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans his great design]], for the good of all (or at least [[MoralMyopia the races that matter]]) but also to restore Hitler's good reputation. Whether he's also interested in power for himself for its own sake varies; he often is, as his experience of helplessness and societal chaos as a child has turned him into something of a ControlFreak, but even so it usually appears a distinctly secondary consideration.
* VillainByDefault: Even when written at his "nicest" he's an obvious villain, simply by virtue of being a Nazi patriot and Hitler admirer. Sort of tragic, in the sense that nothing in his background (at least in the original version) ''necessarily'' predisposed him to supervillainy; if it had been some group ''other'' than the Nazis that turned out to care about his life and give him new hope and purpose as a young loner, he might've been a Batman- or Captain America-like figure himself.
* VillainExitStageLeft: The Red Skull is really slippery when he is making his getaway, with escape routes carefully designed to discourage pursuit.
* VillainHasAPoint:
** Less megalomaniacal takes on Red Skull have been known to give criticisms of modern society that hold at least some water. Of course, his thoughts on what's ''causing'' these problems and how to solve them are generally a lot less valid.
** In ''Captain America'' #367, he points out that he and Magneto have fundamentally similar motives, and both are willing to use extremely ruthless means to achieve their goals. While Mags is understandably furious at the tone he takes, and at his gall in offering to "let the past rest" (as Skull intended for him to be), he has no rebuttal to Skull's claims, probably because ''he himself'' has come to similar conclusions in the past.
* VillainousBreakdown: When he was locked up in a shelter by ComicBook/{{Magneto}}.
* VillainousCrush: Only hinted at, but for a while he seemed to develop an attraction to Sharon Carter, Captain America's on-and-off girlfriend. It was a rather subtle thing, and more intellectual than physical, in that he admired her abilities and determination, as well as her belief in her ideals (however contrary to his own).
* VillainousFriendship: With Hitler.
--> '''Red Skull:''' -sigh- Days like this, I wish Hitler was still alive. He always knew how to cheer me up. [[CrossesTheLineTwice God, I miss that guy every day]].
* VillainousValour: It's a major plot point in many stories that the Skull and his minions are a relatively small and hugely outnumbered band of fighters hunted by all the most powerful nations and superheroes of the world. So he needs to pick his fights ''very'' carefully in order to win them, and to be smarter than his enemies because he can't match them in brute strength. A specific example is in the 1970s story arc where he was more or less out of funds altogether, and became essentially a lone-wolf terrorist -- approximately something like a (more) villainous version of V in ''ComicBook/VForVendetta''. ''Even then'' he managed to put up a credible fight against Captain America, SHIELD and the US government.
* VillainProtagonist: In the old (and obscure) ''Super-Villain Team-Up'' comic, there were a few Skull-centric stories. Also in occasional one-shots and stray issues of ''Captain America.''
* VillainRespect: Most versions can respect and even admire the competence and determination of the more worthy among the heroes he fights, though disagreeing with their ideals. Especially [[WorthyOpponent Captain America.]]
* VillainWorld: Some alternate universes show worlds where his schemes succeeded and he took over, one way or another. Usually they look [[PuttingOnTheReich a lot like Nazi Germany.]]
* VisionaryVillain: Wishes to remake the world, and when given leeway by sufficiently fantastic technology, the universe. On the more down-to-earth level, he seeks to establish a Nazi world state, [[RepressiveButEfficient high-tech and orderly]], with a place for everyone and everyone in his place (which, however, for some people means [[FinalSolution six feet under]]). When dreaming bigger, he aims for massive space colonization and outright [[CrystalSpiresAndTogas techno-utopia]].
* VoiceChangeling: It's specifically noted that as a MasterOfDisguise, he alters his voice (along with accent, body language, etc.) to fit with the person he impersonates.
%%* WarIsGlorious: A complicated case.
* WarIsHell: His views on this are tortured and contradictory. Red Skull has seen total war, and knows it to be horrible; indeed, much of the darker side of his personality fits [[ShellShockedVeteran the long-term symptoms of combat fatigue]] quite well. He can (and does) [[BreakingLecture crush]] more naive characters by recounting the horrors of it. However, in some ways he also appreciates it, for two main reasons. First, he is ''[[ConsummateProfessional good]]'' at it, and takes a certain pride in that. Second, and more philosophically, he believes that, in spite of everything, war does sometimes show man at his finest as well as his worst: namely, in the readiness of the idealistic soldier to [[HeroicSacrifice suffer, kill and die for causes greater than himself]].
* WatchingTroyBurn: Berlin in the spring of 1945, besieged by the Soviets and firebombed by the Americans and British.
* WeakButSkilled: Not weak by human standards, but when compared to superheroes like Captain America. Thanks to TrainingFromHell and martial arts mastery, he can still credibly fight low-tier super types hand-to-hand (though he usually still loses to Cap when the odds are even).
* WeCanRebuildHim: Usually by courtesy of Arnim Zola, and before him, AIM. One version even had his mind transplanted into a clone of Captain America.
* WeCanRuleTogether: Not often, but on occasion.
** Red Skull tried to persuade Captain America that they are really fighting for the same goals: to rid their countries of present-day corruption and decadence and restore their former glory. Specifically, he played on the fact that they both grew up before World War II, and so share a common viewpoint in seeing [[PoliticalOvercorrectness a lot things]] in America having [[ValuesDissonance changed for the worse]] since the 1940s. While Cap might think Nazism is bad, isn't it still better than the [[CapitalismIsBad bankster capitalism]] and [[SoapBoxSadie lunatic identity politics]] of the 2010s? ''[[FaceHeelTurn It almost works]]'' -- Though a lot of that is due to Skull cheating and using MoreThanMindControl.
** A [[PhysicalGod Cosmic Cube-powered]] Skull tried it with Sharon Carter, implying that he [[VillainousCrush wanted her by his side]] as he assumed the authority of GodEmperor of the local galaxies. Perhaps not wholly unexpectedly, Sharon wasn't all that interested; and to his credit, in this case the Skull accepted that and showed no inclination to force her compliance, as he easily could have with the Cube's powers.
* WellDoneSonGuy: The one person whose approval he cares about (and indeed, eagerly seeks) is Hitler. Even decades after World War II, the highest praise he can give for anything goes along the lines, "The Fuehrer himself would have been proud!"
* WesternTerrorists: Of course, the Skull and his men [[YourTerroristsAreOurFreedomFighters don't view themselves]] as this.
* WhatDoTheyFearEpisode: In one story, the Skull is in worse straits than usual; it appears that all his efforts to bring about the rebirth of Nazism have finally failed, and now he's DyingAlone. As he suffers, he has vivid and exaggerated nightmares of various real and imagined traumas, but the major one is a stern ghost of Hitler expressing his disappointment in the Skull, who has betrayed his trust and failed him and the Nazi dream.
* WhatMeasureIsAMook: Since the Skull's minions tend to be Nazis, they are among the few enemies it has always been OK for Captain America to kill in action, even back in the Silver Age when he generally adhered rather firmly to the ThouShaltNotKill rule otherwise. The Skull, of course, feels the same way about the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents and assorted RedShirts on Cap's side, though that is to be expected, given that he is the villain.
* WhatMeasureIsANonHuman: As a Nazi inhabiting a comics/scifi universe, he puts his own species first. Aliens, mutants and other such creatures are NotEvenHuman to him.
* WhatWouldXDo: What would the Fuehrer do?
* WhosLaughingNow: The much-abused street urchin became a legendary Nazi supervillain, and helped crush the corrupt capitalism and democracy that (he thinks) made things so horrible for his country in general and himself in particular after World War I. Especially true in the Nazi era, when both he and the movement he joined were powerful and respected.
* WickedCultured: His theme tune is [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kyFyAqLtHq8 Chopin's Funeral March.]] He used to play it whenever he dosed someone with his Dust of Death poisoned gas.
* WilliamTelling: Done occasionally to demonstrate both his coolness under fire and his [[ImprobableAimingSkills marksmanship]]. One variation (in a surprisingly serious context, not at all played for laughs) occurs in his [[UsefulNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks Silver Age]] origin story.
* WillNotTellALie: Played with. Generally speaking, he will lie as part of a disguise, or sometimes to misdirect enemies while executing a plan, but not [[VillainsNeverLie face-to-face concerning important personal matters]].
* WorkingClassHero: An extreme ''villainous'' example.
* WorldsBestWarrior: More like AlwaysSecondBest (to Cap, usually), but certainly in the top tier. Of course, this applies to their vaguely human-like weight class only; he doesn't stand much chance against the bigger Marvel powerhouses in a fair fight, unless he has access to special equipment.
* WouldHitAGirl: DependingOnTheWriter, he either admires "strong women" or despises them. Either way, he's not inhibited in fighting them on equal terms.
* WouldHurtAChild: Tried to kill Bucky, Captain America's KidSidekick, in several stories. The ''ComicBook/UltimateMarvel'' version ''literally'' kills babies.
* WouldNotShootACivilian: Once, long ago. Averted by the time of World War II, when all sides indiscriminately bombed and killed civilians. In one really old comic he is explicitly said to have killed "thousands" when he attacked New York with a stolen American superweapon, matching a moderate-sized bombing raid.
* WrittenByTheWinners: Naturally thinks this is true of all "Western" history. Also, a [[DramaticIrony hilarious meta-example]], since ''Red Skull himself'' is written by writers who despise everything he stands for, and [[HateSink write him accordingly]].
* YouAreBetterThanYouThinkYouAre: Either played straight or very darkly subverted, depending on your point of view. The young Johann Schmidt was a miserable loner who had failed at everything he tried and felt completely worthless, to the point of considering suicide. But then he met Hitler, who saw in him a "man of worth" and persuaded him that the new Germany he was building needed men like him. It was the great turning point of his life.
* YouAreFat: One story had him pitted against ComicBook/TheKingpin for control of the New York City drug trade. He repeatedly insulted the crime boss's girth, but Kingpin got the better of him, beating him in single combat and making it clear that [[EvenEvilHasStandards he thought the Skull was a deplorable excuse of a human being]].
* YouCannotKillAnIdea: A villainous example. Paraphrasing his dialogue, as long as he and others like him keep fighting, the flame of Nazism will shine in the darkness of democracy, and not be extinguished, no matter how many of them the US forces kill.
* ZeppelinsFromAnotherWorld: His futuristic Nazi utopia in the [[VillainWorld alternate history]] where the Nazis survived and he succeeded Hitler. Justified, since [[HitlerAteSugar the Nazis were environmentalists]], and airships pollute ''much'' less than conventional aircraft. Also, they're only used for regular transports where speed isn't essential; for urgent business they use [[CoolPlane scramjet airliners]].
[[/folder]]
----

* ArmiesAreEvil: Ultimately subverted. Red Skull is often supported by more or less rogue military elements, and sort of a villainous MilitarySuperhero himself -- except that he never held an actual military commission, but is an officer of the [[StateSec Schutzstaffel]], and historically frequently at odds with the ''actual'' German Army establishment. By contrast, Captain America (who usually wears much less "military" uniforms) ''is'' an officer of the US Army.

* RankScalesWithAsskicking: By circa 1942, he was one of the most powerful men in the Third Reich, being a sort of plenipotentiary agent-at-large for Hitler as well as [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveConnections the omnipotent dictator's best friend]]. Also one of the few Axis agents who could credibly take on Allied heroes like ComicBook/CaptainAmerica hand to hand.

* CapitalismIsBad: Because it engenders [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney corruption,]] [[{{Greed}} greed]], [[BreadAndCircuses materialism,]] [[HumansAreMorons stupidity]] and "evil" generally.

** The Red Skull has returned in '' ComicBook/UncannyAvengers '' thanks to Arnim Zola having cloned him.

* DeliberateValuesDissonance: If the rest of the page doesn't tell, well... One recent example had him platonically admiring the captured [[CuteWitch Scarlet Witch's]] bravery and beauty before coolly dismissing her as [[FantasticRacism Not Even Human]].

* TheExtremistWasRight: An in-universe example. Many of the Skull's American allies are right-wingers or formerly respectable conservatives who would've crusaded (and, in the case of some longer-lived ones, did crusade) against the Nazis in World War II. However, with [[PoliticalOvercorrectness the state America is now in]], many of them have come to feel that [[JumpingOffTheslipperySlope the Nazis actually had a point]], so now they work with him. Of course, this is strictly from their point of view, which is very much a fringe minority perspective; mainstream opinion still very clearly does ''not'' approve of his politics, or theirs, whatever their thoughts on the current state of America.

* FacialHorror: When he used cloned body of Steve Rogers, he was given a [[HoistByHisOwnPetard non-lethal dose of his own Dust of Death]], permanetly leaving his face legitimately stuck in a red-skulled appearance as opposed to the mask he usuall wore.

* FamilyValuesVillain: Stretching the definition, perhaps, but his views on sexual deviants might qualify him. As a conservative German who grew up in the early 20th century, it's probably unsurprising that he should be hostile to homosexuality and miscegenation. More radically, he also contemptuously dismisses [[PluckyGirl Rogue]] as a "whore" because of her unmarried relationship with Magneto.

* GoalInLife: Depending on the in-universe period, several. [[VisionaryVillain None of them is small, exactly.]]

* GratuitousGerman: Almost mandatory for a Nazi villain; in some older works, combined with FunetikAksent. Has gradually become less badly spelled over the years. Some versions, however, notably when written by De Matteis, use outright fake and ''invented'' German words.

** Hugo Weaving clearly had fun playing him in ''Film/CaptainAmericaTheFirstAvenger''.

* OlderThanTheyLook: Depending on which version of the backstory you go by, he was born either in 1889 or 1914, so either way he's over a hundred by now. Various species of [[AppliedPhlebotinum technobabble]] keep him in shape -- much as is also the case with his roughly equivalently old archnemesis, Cap. However, even in a perfect twentyish body, he feels [[FishOutOfTemporalWater very alienated]] from the modern world, with all its [[ValuesDissonance decadence and insanity]].

* PoliticallyIncorrectVillain: Aside from the fact that he's a friggin' ''Nazi'', he's also pretty sexist, though he has expressed a certain level of respect for certain supervillainesses like Madame Hydra, and Syn when she grew up. Doesn't make up for his treatment of Mother Night, though, which was outright and frequent physical abuse, and he loved every minute of it too.

* {{Sadist}}: Surprisingly, usually averted, as Red Skull leans more toward [[VisionaryVillain ideologically motivated]] villainy and its [[PragmaticVillainy coldly rational]] execution. However, some writers portray him like this, particularly when DarkerAndEdgier is in style. Also seems to be [[PsychoSupporter Sin's]] default characterization.

** Less megalomaniacal takes on Red Skull have been known to give criticisms of modern society that hold at least some water. Of course, his thoughts on what's causing these problems and how to solve them are generally a lot less valid.

* FemaleMisogynist: Sin, who thinks [[ComicBook/Agent13 Sharon Carter]], of all people, is despicably weak and feminine. Her thoughts when Sharon is grieving over her fiancé's death:
-->Sin feels no empathy at all for Carter's anguish and loss. She despises her as a weakling who sucks up sympathy from gullible men. She is glad to be the agent of even more pain for her.

* LethallyStupid: Sin, throughout the [[Creator/EdBrubaker Brubaker]] ''Captain America'' run. Almost ''everything'' that goes wrong with the Skull's plans in this period is due to her gleefully juggling the VillainBall and the IdiotBall, and she causes a lot of unrelated havoc besides. This arc ''justifies'' everything bad he's been saying about her.

* CloningBlues: He spent quite a while between the late 1980s and the early 2000s inhabiting a cloned body of ComicBook/CaptainAmerica, albeit with a "red skull" disfigurement for most of that time.

* IncorruptiblePurePureness: Emphatically ''not'' in the conventional sense. But in a much more disturbing sense, true. Like Heinrich Himmler's ideal Waffen-SS soldiers, Red Skull is ''personally'' incorruptible: he leads a Spartan life, spends his spare time in training and study to become an even better Nazi, is NotDistractedByTheSexy and doesn't care about money, fame or the fact that most of the world hates him. His one desire and purpose in life is to serve the Nazi ideal and bring about the [[FalseUtopia perfect world]] Hitler dreamed of, and in his own way he's ''totally unselfish'' about it. Though as with much else, this [[DependingOnTheWriter varies with the writing]]. Notably, in the [[UsefulNotes/TheDarkAgeOfComicBooks '90s Dark Age]] his [[CloningBlues insane clone]] was just a cackling villain with no ideals whatever who spent much of his time [[EvilIsPetty selling drugs and beating up random people]].

* AuthorityGrantsAsskicking: By circa 1942, he was one of the most powerful men in the Third Reich, being a sort of plenipotentiary agent-at-large for Hitler as well as [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveConnections the omnipotent dictator's best friend]]. Also one of the few Axis agents who could credibly take on Allied heroes like ComicBook/CaptainAmerica hand to hand.