History Comicbook / BuckyBarnes

[[redirect:Characters/MarvelComicsBuckyBarnes

[[redirect:Characters/MarvelComicsBuckyBarnes]]

!!Warning: This page contain unmarked spoilers for the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse. Read at your own risk.
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-> ''"Who the hell is Bucky?"''
-->-- '''The Winter Soldier''', ''ComicBook/CaptainAmericaWinterSoldier'' #8 (imported to ''Film/CaptainAmericaTheWinterSoldier'' verbatim)

Excellent question!

James Buchanan "Bucky" Barnes is a Creator/MarvelComics character. He first appeared in ''Captain America Comics'' #1 (March, 1941), created by Joe Simon and Creator/JackKirby. Bucky was originally the camp mascot at the base where Steve Rogers, the first ComicBook/CaptainAmerica was stationed, and when he stumbled upon Steve changing out of the costume, Steve was forced to take him on as a sidekick. Bucky's wartime adventures would come to an end when he and Captain America tried to sabotage a drone bomb bound for the US. While Captain America survived and plunged into the icy waters of the Arctic to [[HumanPopsicle be discovered decades later]] by ComicBook/TheAvengers, Bucky was thought dead when the drone bomb exploded with him on board. His death continued to haunt Captain America after the latter's revival in the present.

In 2004, Creator/EdBrubaker started writing [[ComicBook/CaptainAmericaWinterSoldier a new volume of Captain America]], and the way the world saw Bucky was changed forever. [[CerebusRetcon While once viewed as a joke of a character, he was retconned to be a 17-year-old highly-trained commando assigned by the Army to be Captain America's sidekick to counter the Hitler Youth, but also to serve as a covert assassin, performing operations that Captain America himself could never be seen doing]]; what was initially believed to be his origin was simply a cover story cooked up by the Army press. Instead of dying due to the drone, he instead lost his left arm and a fair chunk of his memory. He survived submersion in the Atlantic Ocean only to be later picked up by a Russian submarine hoping to rescue Cap for the Allies. While he'd lost memories of his life experiences, [[LaserGuidedAmnesia he retained skills honed through instinct, including his combat training and several languages]], and was thus [[BrainwashedAndCrazy molded]] into a Soviet assassin as sort of a sick joke by a humiliated Russian officer. As The Winter Soldier, he went on to become a [[ShroudedInMyth legend of]] the UsefulNotes/ColdWar, performing acts of terrorism and sabotage on US soil under Soviet orders.

Bucky eventually [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone regained his memories]], and has since spent his days trying to [[TheAtoner atone for his sins]] as the Winter Soldier; working for ComicBook/NickFury, and following [[DeathIsCheap Steve's death]], serving as ComicBook/CaptainAmerica himself and as a member of Comicbook/TheAvengers. After his death was faked by Nick Fury, he returned to his Winter Soldier role, trying to clean up any messes he left as the Winter Soldier while also protecting Earth in his own way. Sometimes this means he goes to space, other times leading other atoners, and other times still he helps whoever's Captain America at the time.

For a long time, it was fondly accepted among comic book fans that Bucky was one of the few [[DeathIsCheap comic book characters that actually stayed dead]], along with [[{{Franchise/Batman}} Jason Todd]] and [[{{Franchise/SpiderMan}} Uncle Ben]]. Since Jason ''also'' took a rain check on the Grim Reaper about the same time Bucky did, well...

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!! Bucky Barnes appears in:

[[AC:ComicBooks]]
* ''ComicBook/CaptainAmerica''
* ''ComicBook/TheInvaders''
* ''ComicBook/CaptainAmericaCorps''
* ''Young Allies''
* ''ComicBook/CaptainAmericaWinterSoldier''
* ''Winter Soldier: Winter Kills''
* ''Comicbook/AvengersInvaders''
* ''Winter Soldier''
* ''Winter Soldier: The Bitter March''
* ''Bucky Barnes: The Winter Soldier''
* ''[[{{ComicBook/Runaways2015}} Runaways]]'' -- ''ComicBook/SecretWars2015'' tie-in, featuring a teenage Bucky Barnes... with a metal arm who uses the codename Winter Soldier.
* ''Comicbook/AvengersStandoff''
* ''[[{{ComicBook/Thunderbolts}} Thunderbolts Vol. 3]]''
* ''ComicBook/TalesOfSuspenseRedLedger'' (with Hawkeye)
* ''Winter Soldier: Second Chances''
* ''ComicBook/{{Strikeforce}}''
* ''ComicBook/FalconAndWinterSoldier ''

[[AC:{{Anime}}]]
* ''Anime/MarvelDiskWarsTheAvengers'' (as Bucky, portrayed by Creator/DaisukeKishio)

[[AC: Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse]]
* Portrayed by Creator/SebastianStan:
** ''Film/CaptainAmericaTheFirstAvenger'' (2011) as Sgt. Bucky Barnes
** ''Film/CaptainAmericaTheWinterSoldier'' (2014) as the Winter Soldier
** ''Film/AntMan1'' (2015) [[note]](post-credits cameo)[[/note]] as Bucky Barnes
** ''Film/CaptainAmericaCivilWar'' (2016) as the Winter Soldier
** ''Film/{{Black Panther|2018}}'' (2018) [[note]](post-credits cameo)[[/note]] as the Winter Soldier[=/=]White Wolf
** ''Film/AvengersInfinityWar'' (2018) as the Winter Soldier[=/=]White Wolf
** ''Film/AvengersEndgame'' (2019) as the Winter Soldier
** ''Series/TheFalconAndTheWinterSoldier'' (2021) as the Winter Soldier
** ''WesternAnimation/WhatIf'' (2021) as the Winter Soldier

[[AC:VideoGames]]
* ''VideoGame/MarvelHeroes'': Playable DLC Character, as Winter Soldier, portrayed by Creator/DavidHayter)
* ''VideoGame/MarvelFutureFight'': Appears as a playable character in his Winter Soldier persona by default, with a Captain America alternate costume.
* ''VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcomInfinite'': Playable DLC Character, as Winter Soldier.
* ''VideoGame/MarvelUltimateAlliance3TheBlackOrder'': Appears as an NPC.

[[AC:WesternAnimation]]
* ''WesternAnimation/TheMarvelSuperHeroes'' (as Bucky, portrayed by Carl Banas)
* ''WesternAnimation/TheSuperheroSquadShow'' (as Bucky, portrayed by Rod Keller)
* ''WesternAnimation/TheAvengersEarthsMightiestHeroes'' (Bucky portrayed by Creator/ScottMenville, Winter Soldier by Creator/JonCurry)
* ''WesternAnimation/AvengersAssemble'' (as Winter Soldier, portrayed by Creator/BobBergen)

Over at Creator/DCComics, compare and contrast {{ComicBook/Robin}}, particularly ComicBook/{{Nightwing}}/{{ComicBook/Grayson}} and [[ComicBook/RedHoodAndTheOutlaws Red Hood]]. Also cross reference ''ComicBook/CaptainAmerica'', ''ComicBook/TheFalcon'', and ''ComicBook/BlackWidow'', for more information on Bucky in relation to his best friends and parent franchise.

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!!Bucky Barnes provides examples of:

* AffirmativeActionLegacy: Mark Gruenwald introduced an African American Bucky named Lemar Hoskins, who quickly changed his name to Battlestar after learning that [[UnfortunateImplications "Buck" used to be]] a [[ValuesDissonance derogatory term for black men]]. The female Rikki Barnes also used the Bucky identity before taking on the alias of Nomad. The future Bucky seen in ''[[ComicBook/YoungAvengers The Children's Crusade]]'' is a black teen named Steve Wilson-Bradley, the grandson of ComicBook/TheFalcon.
* AgeGapRomance: ZigZagged with Bucky and Natasha. While he was born several years, if not a couple of decades, before her, he spent all but a total of five out of sixty years in cryosleep, while she has been living them in her artificially induced ageless state. Subverts MayflyDecemberRomance after [[spoiler:Bucky got a dose of the Infinity formula to save his life.]]
* AgentsDating: He and Black Widow become this in Bucky's new ''Winter Soldier'' ongoing. Offering a deeper look into their relationship, the book contrasts Bucky's [[ClassicalAntiHero guilt and self-doubt]] with Natasha's [[LadyOfWar confidence and pragmatic demeanor]].
* AllGirlsWantBadBoys: Played with. Women will once in a while express attraction to Bucky due to his reputation as the Winter Soldier, but he is decidedly not a bad boy.
* AlternateCompanyEquivalent: He began life as Marvel's version of ComicBook/{{Robin}} -- specifically of [[ComicBook/{{Nightwing}} Dick Grayson]] as the KidSidekick, but he was a DeadSidekick by 1964, while [[ComicBook/RedHoodAndTheOutlaws Jason Todd]] didn't follow suit until 1988. Since then, this has become a ZigZaggedTrope, with Bucky having parallel story beats to both Jason (comes back to life, fights mentor, becomes brooding bad boy rogue) and Dick (takes over mentor's mantle after his death, keeps mantle with his blessing when he comes back from the dead due to overwhelming fan support, returns it later anyway) at different points. Whether or not one is copying the other is a matter of debate, but ''ComicBook/{{Nightwing}}'s'' cancellation in favor of ''Grayson,'' a series where Dick becomes a spy and is teamed up with a beautiful woman who has a spider web tattoo has been seen as [=DC=]'s attempt to replicate the Bucky and ComicBook/BlackWidow dynamic.
* AmnesiacResonance:
** In the comics, this happened to him quite a bit in the 1960s and '70s. He would break his programming to the point that he knew his Soviet handlers were his enemies and run away, but he was never able to actually recover much memory of his identity. In ''Winter Soldier: The Bitter March'', a combination of resonance (remembering Captain America teaching him to never shoot a man in the back) and a psychic opponent trying to break him causes him to break away from the Soviets and join up with S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent Ran Shen, but all he can tell Shen is that his name is James - not enough for Shen to identify him as Captain America's sidekick who died 20 years before. Eventually, the Soviets recapture him and the final page is of another, stronger, torturous brainwashing. One of the reasons they started cold storing him (besides prolonging his natural lifespan) was to take away any time he could spend thinking for himself in an attempt to prevent this kind of thing from happening.
** In the film, the Soldier experiences a series of flashbacks after Steve calls him "Bucky." Trying to parse this, he realizes that he knows Steve. Pierce tries to deflect by pointing out that they faced off against each other after he shot Fury, but Bucky remains steadfast and Pierce orders him to be wiped again. A passing remark from one of the techs indicates that being out of cryo for too long leads to this kind of resonance.
* AndNowForSomethingCompletelyDifferent: ''Bucky Barnes: The Winter Soldier'', in which Bucky ditches his military-black ops aesthetics for space adventures. The art style is also a lot more abstract and stylized than he's typically depicted.
* ArtificialLimbs: The Soviets replaced the arm he lost in UsefulNotes/WorldWarII with a cybernetic one. After he loses his Soviet one stopping the Red Skull's Sleeper, he gets a new arm from Nick Fury which has a lot of handy abilities, such as an {{EMP}}. It also allows him to handle and throw Captain America's shield properly, making him (alongside ComicBook/{{Hawkeye}}) one of the only two non-super soldier serum-embued people to be able to use it.
** The arm Fury provided also turned the red Soviet star into a white star surrounded by blue and red.
* AntiHeroSubstitute: Bucky as ComicBook/CaptainAmerica subverts this, sort of. He's a ClassicAntiHero, so he doesn't carry the same connotations this trope usually does.
* TheArtifact: Bucky as Captain America's KidSidekick in UsefulNotes/WorldWarII effectively made him a ChildSoldier with the implied knowledge of the US Miilitary, which required increasing justification from the writers over the decades.
* TheAtoner: What he decides to be after coming to terms with what he's done under Soviet brainwashing.
* BackFromTheDead: Did in fact die in that rocket explosion, but the ice cold water preserved him so that the submarine crew that found him could revive him as if he had just died. Exploited, as he was periodically frozen cryogenically by the Soviets, who kept bringing him back to assassinate particularly hard-to-kill enemies. [[spoiler:He did it again after ''Fear Itself''.]]
* BadassBoast: When Clint Barton tried to [[ComicBook/DarkReign justify killing Norman Osborn]] by pulling out the "[[HitlersTimeTravelExemptionAct If you could go back in time and kill Hitler]]" argument, Bucky simply chimes in that he ''[[SubvertedTrope did]]'' [[BeenThereShapedHistory kill Hitler]].
* BashBrothers:
** Captain America and Bucky.
** Bucky also becomes this with ComicBook/TheFalcon, Sam Wilson.
* BattleCouple: Bucky and Comicbook/BlackWidow.
* {{Bowdlerise}}: Of the three versions of the Winter Soldier storyline (the Ed Brubaker comics run, ''WesternAnimation/TheAvengersEarthsMightiestHeroes'' and ''Film/CaptainAmericaTheWinterSoldier''), ''Earth's Mightiest Heroes'' couldn't use the iconic "Who the hell is Bucky?" line as-written.
* BrainwashedAndCrazy: As the Winter Soldier.
* BreakoutCharacter: In a complete reversal of the typical ReplacementScrappy / LegacyHero reactions, fans absolutely '''loved''' Bucky as ComicBook/CaptainAmerica, to the point where some were even hoping that it'd stay that way even after Steve Roger's inevitable [[DeathIsCheap resurrection]]. And were overjoyed when for a while that's exactly what happened, with the revived Steve instead taking the role of Director of ComicBook/{{SHIELD}}.
* ChildSoldier: Bucky was the camp mascot, but he effectively became this when he entered combat as Cap's sidekick. Later justified in modern comics with him being considered a really young-looking 15-year-old at the beginning in 1941 (The US military occasionally ignored such borderline age cases then) with it becoming a non-issue by the end of the war with him being 19.
** In the modern version, it's explained as having been an army brat, taken in by the camp and trained alongside the soldiers after his dad died. As the brass realized his potential, they even had him train with the British SAS.
* ClassicAntiHero: Despite being a good person at heart and genuinely wanting to do right by his country, he is plagued by his desire to [[TheAtoner make up for the wrongs he did as the Winter Soldier]] and by doubts as to whether or not he can actually do the mantle justice.
* CombatPragmatist: Bucky is far quicker to resort to less dignified forms of fighting. Playing possum and then unloading a full clip in someone's face, pulling a woman's hair, whatever.
** {{Kneecapping}} seems to be his preferred method of dealing with enemy {{Mooks}}.
* DarkIsNotEvil: For a time, after being released from his Soviet brainwashing, he continued to wear the same black leather costume he did as the Winter Soldier while working for ComicBook/NickFury and helping Cap from the shadows. Even [[http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/36/buckycaptainamerica.jpg/ his costume]] as Captain America contains more black than red-white-and-blue, but he's every bit as nice as Steve is.
* DeadSidekick: They used to say; "No one stays dead in comics except for Jason Todd, Uncle Ben and Bucky." Now it's down to just Uncle Ben, as DC brought back Jason Todd at almost the exact same time Marvel brought back Bucky.
* DeathIsCheap: DoubleSubverted; a formerly common adage in comic book circles was "Nobody dies in comics except [[ComicBook/SpiderMan Uncle Ben]], [[Franchise/{{Batman}} Jason Todd]] and Bucky". Eventually, however, Bucky was brought back as the Winter Soldier.
* DependingOnTheArtist: Is his gun a .45 or a Luger?
** His mask. Are the eyes whited out or not? The majority of artists draw it as not whiting out his eyes, but a few don't.
** And if you can see his eyes, what color are they -- blue or brown? ''All-New Invaders'' is particularly inconsistent, he'll have blue eyes on one page and brown on the next.
* DeepCoverAgent: The Winter Soldier often served this role during the UsefulNotes/ColdWar; he could easily pass for an American, because he actually was one. Bouts of BecomingTheMask, or rather, FightingFromTheInside, in his case, while on mission, led to his superiors' decision to place him in [[SealedBadassInACan suspended animation between missions]].
* DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu: Just like his partner and the original Cap, he's no slouch in defeating foes way more powerful than himself. Of particular note is his takedown of ComicBook/{{Ares}}, Greek God of War in the pages of ''ComicBook/NewAvengers''.
* DirtyCommunists: Who he worked for as the Winter Soldier during the UsefulNotes/ColdWar. In modern times, he was awakened from cryonic storage and commissioned by RenegadeRussian [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Aleksander Lukin]], which led to the discovery of his existence by Captain America.
* DominoMask: A dark blue one as Cap's sidekick and a black one as the Winter Soldier (in the movie, it's GuyLiner, CoolShades[=/=]goggles coupled with a mask that covers his lower face).
* EmpoweredBadassNormal: While he is only an extremely well-trained soldier, his bionic arm plus unaging Infinity Formula allow for being able to hold his own against anyone up to Type 3 in SuperWeight. In the movies, he was experimented on by Dr. Zola, giving him a similar skill set to Steve.
* FakingTheDead: [[spoiler: Only [[ComicBook/CaptainAmerica Steve Rogers]], ComicBook/BlackWidow, and ComicBook/NickFury know of his survival, because if word got out that he's still alive, it's back to the gulag for him.]]
* FamilyThemeNaming: Theme nicknaming, anyhow. His sister's nickname is Becky.
* HeroWithBadPublicity: He was reviled by the public at large early in his stint as [[LegacyCharacter Captain America]], but understandably so, considering Steve Rogers [[ComicBook/CivilWar was assassinated]] not too long ago. And again after he was discovered by the public to have been a cold war assassin for the Soviets.
* HeroesWantRedheads: Bucky's love interest since he met her in the 1950s: Natasha.
* HeterosexualLifePartners: Captain America and Bucky. The original and the best.
* HumanPopsicle: When not on the job, his Soviet owners had him cryogenically frozen.
* GenerationXerox: In ''Second Chances'', Bucky runs into a child soldier working for HYDRA, who resembles himself at that age. [[spoiler:Which makes sense, as HYDRA trained him specifically to kill the Winter Soldier.]]
* ILetGwenStacyDie: Cap was haunted about his KidSidekick's death until it turned out he was NotQuiteDead. Later he got to be haunted about his KidSidekick's transformation into a BrainWashed assassin.
** And later, his failures resulting in [[spoiler:Natasha having to forget all about him]].
* ImprobableAimingSkills: [[spoiler:Former child HYDRA assassin]] RJ has these subverted, as when he shoots through [[spoiler:Spot's space-warping holes]], he manages to miss both Bucky and himself.
* IndyPloy: As Captain America, in contrast with Steve's CrazyPrepared-ness, his tactical ability was often displayed through his prodigious reliance on these.
* InternalHomage: When Cap first confronts the Winter Soldier, the Soldier says "Who the hell is Bucky?" Later, after [[spoiler:Natasha's memories of Bucky have been wiped out and he tries to speak with her, she repeats the line]].
* KidSidekick: Originally, but eventually subverted by the Creator/EdBrubaker {{Retcon}}, which revealed him to be handpicked by the Army to accompany Cap and perform wetworks missions. Due to the Marvel Universe's lack of kid sidekicks (Creator/StanLee has expressed his dislike for the trope), it's led to the interpretation that Bucky was a deconstruction of them by showing that it'd only put a minor in mortal danger. The deconstruction angle went further with Brubaker's retconning him to have been more of a child assassin.
* KindheartedCatLover: The 2018 miniseries has Bucky accompanied by a white-furred cat called Alpine. She is also present in the 2020 miniseries.
* TheLeader: He is the leader of the All New, All Different/Marvel NOW version of the Thunderbolts.
* LegacyCharacter: After the "death" of the original during the Golden Age, the Bucky identity was briefly used by Fred Davis, Jack Monroe, Rick Jones, Lemar Hoskins, and Bucky's own AlternateUniverse granddaughter Rikki Barnes. Bucky himself became this for Captain America when Steve was killed.
* MechanicalMuscles: Bucky's bionic arm is shaped to look extremely muscular to match his other arm.
* MilitaryBrat: Bucky's father was a career soldier, and he grew up on base. After his father died in a routine training exercise, Bucky's sister was sent to boarding school, but Bucky stayed.
* MilitarySuperhero: Just like Cap.
* MultiRangedMaster: As ComicBook/CaptainAmerica, but only because [[ThrowingYourShieldAlwaysWorks the shield]] is a PrecisionGuidedBoomerang. He often uses it in conjunction with his pistol, which [[DependingOnTheArtist may or may not be]] a heavily modified P08 Luger.
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: His reaction upon getting his memories back.
* MyGreatestFailure: Steve regarded Bucky's supposed death at the end of UsefulNotes/WorldWarII as this for a long time after his revival in the modern day.
* MyGreatestSecondChance: After finding out of Bucky's survival and freeing the guy from Soviet brainwashing, Steve felt that he should do everything in his power to keep Bucky alive and a good man. This apparently meant persuading [[SidekickGraduationsStick Bucky to keep the]] Captain America mantle even after his own [[BackFromTheDead return from the dead]].
* NamedAfterSomeoneFamous: UsefulNotes/JamesBuchanan, 15th President of the U.S. A strange choice, given he's considered one of the absolute worst, but probably a case of choosing the nickname first, then coming up with a full name to justify it. His father was also named James Barnes, but he had no middle name.
* NinetiesAntiHero: Subverted. Bucky had the look, some of the attitude, but was a good guy through and through.
* NoPlansNoPrototypeNoBackUp: Disregarding how unlikely it is to chance upon an amnesiac soldier well-versed in infiltration, sabotage, and assassination, the sheer amount of money put into enhancing Bucky ensured that creating more than one Winter Soldier wasn't a viable option.
* NotQuiteDead: When the Russians found Bucky after the missile exploded over the Atlantic, he was clinically dead, but because his body had been submerged in freezing cold water right at the time of death, they attempted to resuscitate him as if his heart had only just stopped. It worked, but he was partially amnesiac: he retained no memories of his life or identity, but he still spoke four languages and had all of his instinctual combat training.
** [[spoiler: Getting stabbed with Sin's hammer left him OnlyMostlyDead, and he was later revived through intensive medical care and the use of Nick Fury's Infinity Formula. His death [[FakingTheDead was faked]] by Black Widow and Fury, who planted an [[ActuallyADoombot LMD with injuries identical to his]], and left it to be buried as a hero in Arlington, absolving him of the charges set against him during his time in prison]].
* NeuroVault: In his last appearance as Captain America [[spoiler:before his supposed second death]] it was revealed that the reason why he was extradited to Russia was because he had information on how to locate and activate a team of {{Deep Cover Agent}}s much like the Winter Soldier subconsciously sealed in his mind, and [[RenegadeRussian the warden]] of his gulag had plans for this information.
* NotWearingTights: Averted when he started out as Cap's sidekick, and during his stint as ComicBook/CaptainAmerica, but played straight (sort of, he wore a DominoMask with his jumpsuit) during his time as the Winter Soldier. As the page picture shows, he's back to playing the trope straight again.
* OlderThanTheyLook: He looks barely a day over 25, but he's actually 80-plus years old.
* {{Omniglot}}: According to the Soviet file, Bucky spoke four languages by the time he was 19: English, Russian, German, and French. He's also been shown to speak Chinese.
* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: He's come down in history as "Bucky," which is half-nickname, half-superhero legacy. Originally, his girlfriend, Black Widow, was the only person who regularly called him "James," but more recent writers are having him known as such because they feel "Bucky" isn't a particularly dignified name for an adult hero. More rarely, someone will call him Jim, such as the team in ''Captain America Corps'' or Bucky Cap himself, addressing his time-traveling teenage counterpart in ''ComicBook/AvengersInvaders''.
** Similarly, Bucky is the only person to call Natasha by her real name, "Natalia."
* ParentalSubstitute: He becomes one to cosmic cube girl Kobik in ''Thunderbolts''.
* RedBaron: Nobody knew him by name when he was operating as the Winter Soldier, not even his own Soviet superiors.
* RedemptionDemotion: When Bucky was reintroduced as the Winter Soldier, he was presented as a cold, unerring, and efficient assassin who could eliminate the Red Skull without even batting an eyelash. [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone After regaining his memories]] and subsequently taking on the Captain America mantle, while he did fairly well, he showed an over-reliance on {{Indy Ploy}}s and a [[DistressedDude tendency to end up being saved by his buddies from harm]]. This makes a certain amount of sense, since the skill-sets of 'assassin' and 'superhero' aren't quite the same - putting a bullet in someone like the Red Skull is easier than taking them in alive.
* ReimaginingTheArtifact: The Creator/EdBrubaker retcon basically amounts to this, turning Bucky from a KidSidekick to a teenage assassin, bumping his age slightly (he's still too young to be a soldier, but in an era where the military needed bodies enough to overlook that), and saying that Bucky's original origin story -- camp mascot who found out Cap's secret identity and ''had'' to become his partner -- was an official story put out by the military who didn't want to let on to the fact that he was highly-trained in covert ops.
* RelatedInTheAdaptation: In keeping with his being a case of SparedByTheAdaptation in both at the time, ''Heroes Reborn'' and ''Ultimate Marvel'' depict Bucky as having settled down with ComicBook/PeggyCarter and Gail Richards from the Creator/RepublicPictures ''Captain America'' serials respectively after WWII.
* RenegadeRussian: Aleksander Lukin, CEO of [[MegaCorp Kronas]]. The discovery of the Winter Soldier's existence was due to Lukin recommissioning the Soldier after decades of being a HumanPopsicle since the end of the UsefulNotes/ColdWar to acquire the Cosmic Cube and enact a plan to use the Cube and Kronas to destroy the American economy from within. He is a protege of the Soviet officer who had Bucky brainwashed in the first place.
* RetCanon:
** A strangely recursive example is his hair. In the original "Winter Soldier" story line, Bucky has straggly, chin-length hair. After he regains his memories, however, Bucky gets a haircut, and is usually drawn with a '40s-style three-quarters part. The movie ''Film/CaptainAmericaTheWinterSoldier'' reproduces the initial character design for the Winter Soldier almost note for note, including the longer hair, and so, in order to tie in to Bucky's BreakoutCharacter status from one of the hottest movies of the year, Marvel brought back the longer hair.
** In a similar example, his arm also received something of a regression. His original mechanical arm has a red star to represent his Russian affiliation while brainwashed as the Winter Soldier, likely also as a sick joke from his creator regarding his friendship with Cap. After returning to his heroic roots, the arm is destroyed and Bucky gets a replacement from Nick Fury that looks mostly the same, except the star is now white and has blue and red circles around it, sort of a play on Cap's shield. Once the movie came out, Bucky's arm is suddenly sporting the red star again despite him having no reason to do this.
** The major departure in the movie costume is the use of a full face mask with goggles instead of the comic's domino mask. Both ''Avengers Assemble'' and ''Bucky Barnes: The Winter Soldier'' have incorporated the mask + goggles combo into Bucky's gear, though this was very brief and he's since reverted to the domino mask.
* {{Retcon}}: Creator/EdBrubaker's retooling of the Bucky character into a teen assassin, [[BrainwashedAndCrazy brainwashed]] into becoming a Soviet agent after secretly surviving UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, paving the way for his reintroduction into modern day comics is often hailed as one of the most well done Retcons in recent history. His original death in TheSixties was a retcon as well, saying that the Captain America and Bucky from TheFifties were actually impostors. According to Brubaker, it was when he learned that this oft-flashbacked-to death was just a retcon that he determined that, if he ever got to write Captain America comics, he'd undo it.
* SealedBadassInACan: The reason [[OlderThanTheyLook why he's so youthful]] is because the Soviets kept him in suspended animation while he wasn't out on missions.
* ShroudedInMyth: The Winter Soldier.
* SidekickGraduationsStick / LegacyCharacter: Despite Steve coming BackFromTheDead again, Bucky continued to serve as Captain America, with the approval of the man himself. [[spoiler: Not anymore though, Steve's Cap again.]]
* SparedByTheAdaptation: As ''ComicBook/HeroesReborn'', ''ComicBook/TheUltimates'', and ''ComicBook/{{Trouble}}'' were all written before ''ComicBook/CaptainAmericaWinterSoldier'' saw print, his depictions as having survived in those universe count as this at the time they were made.
* SpyFiction: Bucky's new ''Winter Soldier'' ongoing has shaped up to be this. Creator/EdBrubaker has played with EspionageTropes before, especially during Bucky's stint as ComicBook/CaptainAmerica, but he goes all out here. One could say the book is SpyFiction masquerading as a [[NotWearingTights Superhero story]]. It's primarily [[TuxedoAndMartini Martini-flavored]]; aside from Bucky's usual [[ActionHero hands-on approach]], he dons [[BadassInANiceSuit nice suits]] as disguises and uses some snazzy [[CloakAndDagger SHIELD]]-issue gadgets. There is a bit of [[TrenchcoatBrigade Stale Beer]] in there as well, considering the main conflict is a plot to depose a political leader (granted, said leader is Doctor Doom, but still). And then this plot is to be executed with the [[WhatDoYouMeanItWasntMadeOnDrugs liberal use of]] [[NinjaPirateZombieRobot machinegun-wielding fascist gorillas]].
* StatusQuoIsGod:
** [[spoiler: Pretty much the reason why he faked his death and went back to the Winter Soldier codename. It was all so Steve could return to his original role as ComicBook/CaptainAmerica to coincide with the [[Film/CaptainAmericaTheFirstAvenger 2011 movie]].]]
** Also the reason why his relationship with Black Widow ended with it being wiped from her memory since she had gotten a bigger public profile as an Avenger. It seems to have sort of creeped back in -- at the least, she remembers it now.
* SuperheroPackingHeat: Justified as he's a thoroughly unpowered (in the comics) -- though in good shape and well trained -- hero going against Cap's still-powered rogues gallery.
* SuperSoldier: In the MCU, thanks to HYDRA's experiments. The comics version is a borderline case following ''ComicBook/FearItself'', when the Infinity Formula was used to save his life.
* SymbolSwearing: Bucky can be ''very'' foul-mouthed.
* ThatManIsDead: Reluctantly:
---> '''Jim Hammond''': "Bucky!"
---> '''Namor''': "James!"
---> '''Bucky''': "Name's ''Winter Soldier'' now, guys, like it or not. Time we all got used to it."
* TheTeamNormal: He was this during his time in The Invaders; on a team with [[SuperSerum Captain]] [[ComicBook/CaptainAmerica America]], [[FlyingBrick Namor the]] ComicBook/SubMariner, and [[PlayingWithFire The Human Torch and Toro]], he only had his black-ops training to his credit.
* TookALevelInBadass: Thanks to Creator/EdBrubaker, he's gone a long way from being one of the most laughable examples of a KidSidekick ever. How long? He became Captain America.
* UnusableEnemyEquipment: His guns can only work if it recognizes his fingerprints. If someone else tries to use it, it self-destructs.
* VitriolicBestBuds: With Namor, the ComicBook/SubMariner. Namor is proud and Bucky constantly snarks him, but they fought side by side in UsefulNotes/WorldWarII and the kind of friendship forged there means they have a much higher tolerance for each others' crap-- Steve is openly passive-aggressive and disgusted with Namor's actions with the Illuminati, but Bucky is silent on the matter and they work together with the usual banter in the first issue of his current ongoing.
* WeakButSkilled: Aside from his cybernetic arm, Bucky doesn't have much in the way of superhuman abilities, but he still manages to hold his own quite well against powered opponents, owing to his CombatPragmatist tendencies and skill set.
** The MCU version, however, is canonically a SuperSoldier capable of going toe to toe with Captain America -- though he is still this compared to Steve, the latter being taller and bulkier than he is.
* WhamLine: Used both in the comics and in the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse to reveal his memory loss as the Winter Soldier:
-->'''Captain America''': ...Bucky?\\
'''The Winter Soldier''': ...Who the hell is Bucky?
** A less profane version of this exchange appears in ''WesternAnimation/TheAvengersEarthsMightiestHeroes'' episode "Winter Soldier". Since Winter Soldier isn't brainwashed in this scene, it feels more like his way of telling Cap, "{{That man is dead}}", than an expression of memory loss.

In 2004, Creator/EdBrubaker started writing [[ComicBook/CaptainAmericaWinterSoldier a new volume of Captain America]], and the way the world saw Bucky was changed forever. [[CerebusRetcon While once viewed as a joke of a character, he was retconned to be a 17 year-old highly-trained commando assigned by the Army to be Captain America's sidekick to counter the Hitler Youth, but also to serve as a covert assassin, performing operations that Captain America himself could never be seen doing]]; what was initially believed to be his origin was simply a cover story cooked up by the Army press. Instead of dying due to the drone, he instead lost his left arm and a fair chunk of his memory. He survived submersion in the Atlantic Ocean only to be later picked up by a Russian submarine hoping to rescue Cap for the Allies. While he'd lost memories of his life experiences, [[LaserGuidedAmnesia he retained skills honed through instinct, including his combat training and several languages]], and was thus [[BrainwashedAndCrazy molded]] into a Soviet assassin as sort of a sick joke by a humiliated Russian officer. As The Winter Soldier, he went on to become a [[ShroudedInMyth legend of]] the UsefulNotes/ColdWar, performing acts of terrorism and sabotage on US soil under Soviet orders.

Bucky eventually [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone regained his memories]], and has since spent his days trying to [[TheAtoner atone for his sins]] as the Winter Soldier; working for ComicBook/NickFury, and following [[DeathIsCheap Steve's death]], serving as ComicBook/CaptainAmerica himself and as a member of Comicbook/TheAvengers. After his death was faked by Nick Fury, he returned to his Winter Soldier roll, trying to clean up any messes he left as the Winter Soldier while also protecting Earth in his own way. Sometimes this means he goes to space, other times leading other atoners, and other times still he helps whoever's Captain America at the time.

* ArtificialLimbs: The Soviets replaced the arm he lost in UsefulNotes/WorldWarII with a cybernetic one. After he loses his Soviet one stopping the Red Skull's Sleeper, he gets a new from Nick Fury which has a lot of handy abilities, such as an {{EMP}}. It also allows him to handle and throw Captain America's shield properly, making him (alongside ComicBook/{{Hawkeye}}) one of the only two non-super soldier serum-embued person to be able to use it.

* ChildSoldier: Bucky was the camp mascot, but he effectively became this when he entered combat as Cap's sidekick. Later justified in modern comics with him being considered a really young looking 15 year old at the beginning in 1941 (The US military occasionally ignored such borderline age cases then) with it becoming a non-issue by the end of the war with him being 19.

** And if you can see his eyes, what color are they - blue or brown? ''All-New Invaders'' is particularly inconsistent, he'll have blue eyes on one page and brown on the next.

* {{Omniglot}}: According to the Soviet file, Bucky spoke four languages by the time he was 19: English, Russian, German, and French. Has also been shown to speak Chinese.

** A strangely recursive example is his hair. In the original "Winter Soldier" story line, Bucky has straggly, chin-length hair. After he regains his memories, however, Bucky gets a haircut, and is usually drawn with a '40s-style three-quarters part. The movie ''Film/CaptainAmericaTheWinterSoldier'' reproduces the initial character design for the Winter Soldier almost note for note, including the longer hair, and so, in order to tie in to Bucky's BreakoutCharacter status from one of the hottest movies of the year, Marvel brought back the the longer hair.
** In a similar example, his arm also received something of a regression. His original mechanical arm has a red star to represent his Russian affiliation while brainwashed as the Winter Soldier, likely also as a sick joke from his creator regarding friendship with Cap. After returning to his heroic roots, the arm is destroyed and Bucky gets a replacement from Nick Fury that looks mostly the same, except the star is now white and has blue and red circles around it, sort of a play on Cap's shield. Once the movie came out, Bucky's arm is suddenly sporting the red star again despite him having no reason to do this.

** [[spoiler: Pretty much the reason why he has faked his death and gone back to the Winter Soldier codename. It's all for Steve to return to his original role as ComicBook/CaptainAmerica to coincide with the [[Film/CaptainAmericaTheFirstAvenger 2011 movie]].]]
** Also the reason why his relationship with Black Widow ended with it being wiped from her memory since she had gotten a bigger public profile as a Avenger. It seems to have sort of creeped back in - at the least, she remembers it now.

** The MCU version, however, is canonically a SuperSoldier capable of going toe to toe with Captain America - though he is still this compared to Steve, the latter being taller and bulkier than he is.

** In the comics, this happened to him quite a bit in the 1960s and '70s. He would break his programming to the point that he knew his Soviet handlers were his enemies and run away, but he was never able to actually recover much memory of his identity. In ''Winter Soldier: The Bitter March'', a combination of resonance (remembering Captain America teaching him to never shoot a man in the back) and a psychic opponent trying to break him causes him to break away from the Soviets and join up with S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent Ran Shen, but all he can tell Shen is that his name is James-- not enough for Shen to identify him as Captain America's sidekick who died 20 years before. Eventually, the Soviets recapture him and the final page is of another, stronger, torturous brainwashing. One of the reasons they started cold storing him (besides prolonging his natural lifespan) was to take away any time he could spend thinking for himself in an attempt to prevent this kind of thing from happening.

* BackFromTheDead: Did in fact die in that rocket explosion, but the ice cold water preserved him so that the submarine crew that found him could revive him as if he had just died. Periodically frozen cryogenically by the Soviets, who kept bringing him back to assassinate particularly hard-to-kill enemies. [[spoiler:He did it again after ''Fear Itself''.]]

** And if you can see his eyes, what color are they-- blue or brown? ''All-New Invaders'' is particularly inconsistent, he'll have blue eyes on one page and brown on the next.

* HeroesWantRedheads: Bucky and Natasha.

* KindheartedCatLover: The 2018 miniseries has Bucky accompanied by a white-furred cat called Alpine.

* NamedAfterSomeoneFamous: UsefulNotes/JamesBuchanan, 15th President of the U.S. A strange choice, given he's considered one of the absolute worst, but probably a case of choosing the nickname first, then coming up with a full name to justify it.

** [[spoiler: Getting stabbed with Sin's hammer left him OnlyMostlyDead, and he was later revived through intensive medical care and the use of Nick Fury's Infinity Formula. His death [[FakingTheDead was faked]] by Black Widow who planted an [[ActuallyADoombot LMD with injuries identical to his]], and left it to be buried as a hero in Arlington, absolving him of the charges set against him during his time in prison]].
* NeuroVault: In his last appearance as Captain America [[spoiler: before his supposed second death]] it was revealed that the reason why he was extradited to Russia was because he had information on how to locate and activate a team of {{Deep Cover Agent}}s much like the Winter Soldier subconsciously sealed in his mind, and [[RenegadeRussian the warden]] of his gulag had plans for this information.

* {{Omniglot}}: According to the Soviet file, Bucky spoke four languages by the time he was 19, three of which we know to be English, Russian, and German. The fourth was probably French.

* SuperheroPackingHeat: Justified as he's a thoroughly unpowered (in the comics) -- though in good shape and well trained-- hero going against Cap's still-powered rogues gallery.

* ThemeNaming: Theme nicknaming, anyhow. His sister's nickname is Becky.

* AgeGapRomance: ZigZagged with Bucky and Natasha. While he was born several years, if not a couple of decades, before her, he spent all but a total of five out of sixty years in cryosleep, while she has been living them in her artificially induced ageless state. Subverts MayflyDecemberRomance after [[spoiler:Bucky got a dose of the Infinity formula serum to save his life.]]

* ''[[{{ComicBook/Runaways2015}} Runaways]]'' -- ''ComicBook/SecretWars2015'' tie-in, featuring a teenage Bucky Barnes... with a metal arm who uses the codename Winter Soldier. Huh.

* AgeGapRomance: ZigZagged with Bucky and Natasha. While he was born several years, if not a couple of decades, before her, he spent all but a total of five out of sixty years in cryosleep, while she has been living them in her artificially induced ageless state. Subverts MayflyDecemberRomance after [[spoiler:Bucky got a dose of the super-soldier serum to save his life.]]

* MechanicalMuscles: Bucky's arm is shaped to look extremely muscular.

* BackFromTheDead: After a fashion. [[spoiler: Again after ''Fear Itself''.]]

* ''ComicBook/TalesOfSuspenseRedLedger''

!!Media

!!Exhibits examples of:

* NamedAfterSomeoneFamous: UsefulNotes/JamesBuchanan, 15th President of the U.S. A strange choice, given he's considered one of the absolute worst.

* RelatedInTheAdaptation: In keeping with his being a case of SparedByTheAdaptation in both at the time, ''Heroes Reborn'' and ''Ultimate Marvel'' depcit Bucky as having settled down with ComicBook/PeggyCarter and Gail Richards from the Creator/RepublicPictures ''Captain America'' serials respectively after WWII.

Bucky eventually [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone regained his memories]], and has since spent his days trying to [[TheAtoner atone for his sins]] as the Winter Soldier; working for ComicBook/NickFury, and following [[DeathIsCheap Steve's death]], serving as ComicBook/CaptainAmerica himself and as a member of Comicbook/TheAvengers.

* DeathIsCheap: DoubleSubverted; a formerly common adage in comic book circles was "Nobody dies in comics except [[ComicBook/SpiderMan Uncle Ben]], [[Franchise/{{Batman}} Jason Todd]] and Bucky". Eventually, however, Bucky was brought back as the SuperVillain Winter Soldier.

[[AC:{{Film}}]]
* Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse, portrayed by Creator/SebastianStan
** ''Film/CaptainAmericaTheFirstAvenger'' (as Bucky Barnes)
** ''Film/CaptainAmericaTheWinterSoldier'' (as the Winter Soldier)
** ''Film/AntMan1'' (cameo, as the Winter Soldier)
** ''Film/CaptainAmericaCivilWar'' (as the Winter Soldier)
** ''Film/{{Black Panther|2018}}'' (cameo, as the Winter Soldier[=/=]White Wolf)
** ''Film/AvengersInfinityWar'' (as the Winter Soldier[=/=]White Wolf)
** ''Film/AvengersEndgame'' (as the Winter Soldier)
** ''Series/TheFalconAndTheWinterSoldier''

* Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse (portrayed by Creator/SebastianStan)

** ''The Falcon and the Winter Soldier'' Creator/DisneyPlus series

* SparedByTheAdaptation: As ''ComicBook/HeroesReborn'', ''ComicBook/TheUltimates'', and ''ComicBook/{{Trouble}}'' were all written before ''ComicBook/CaptainAmericaWinterSoldier'' saw print, his depictions as having survived there count as this as the time they were made.

** ''Film/{{Black Panther|2018}}'' (cameo, as the Winter Soldier)
** ''Film/AvengersInfinityWar'' (as the Winter Soldier)

* DominoMask: A dark blue one as Cap's sidekick and a black one as the Winter Soldier. (in the movie, it's GuyLiner, CoolShades[=/=]goggles coupled with a mask that covers his lower face).

* RetCanon: A strangely recursive example. In the original Winter Soldier story line, the Soldier has straggly, chin-length hair. After he regains his memories, however, Bucky gets a haircut, and is usually drawn with a '40s-style three-quarters part. The movie ''Film/CaptainAmericaTheWinterSoldier'' reproduces the initial character design for the Winter Soldier almost note for note, including the longer hair, and so, in order to tie in to Bucky's BreakoutCharacter status from one of the hottest movies of the year, Bucky's character design for his new ''[[Comicbook/MarvelNOW Avengers NOW]]'' ongoing shows him with the longer hair again. The major departure in the movie costume is the use of a full face mask with goggles instead of the comic's domino mask. Both ''Avengers Assemble'' and ''Bucky Barnes: The Winter Soldier'' have incorporated the mask + goggles combo into Bucky's gear.

* RelatedInTheAdaptation: In keeping with his being a case of SparedByTheAdaptation in both at the time, ''Heroes Reborn'' and ''Ultimate Marvel'' depcit Bucky as having settled down with ComicBook/PeggyCarter and Gail Richards from the Creator/RepublicFilms ''Captain America'' serials respectively after WWII.