Group created by The Red Skull to preform missions for him. Lead at one time by Crossbones the crew was composed of other Red skull operatives. Ultimately they were defeated by Captain America.
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In General
Members
Blackwing
Blackwing (Joseph Manfredi)
First Appearance: Daredevil #118 (November, 1974)
Blackwing is the son of the crime lord Silvermane and member of the Circus of Crime, Masters of Evil, Skeleton Crew and many others criminal organizations.
- Badass Normal: Has no actual superpowers but takes on superpowered opponents, and holds his own in the Masters of Evil.
- Bat Out of Hell: Blackwing is an expert trainer of bats, with which he has a highly developed empathic rapport. He has a number of specially mutated bats bred for abnormal strength, size, and intelligence.
- The Beastmaster: He's a former animal trainer but mainly uses bats in his crimes.
- Bond Creatures: The bats themselves.
- Clothes Make the Superman: His gives him armor and short-term flight.
- Color Character: Despite his costume not being all that black.
- Expy: When Blackwing joined the Masters of Evil, Kurt Busiek seemingly noticed his similitude to Batman and ran with it.
- Heterosexual Life-Partners: With the second Jack O'Lantern.
- Not Quite Flight: Devices in his costume give him the power of flight for short distances, via directed motion hovering.
- One-Steve Limit: At least three other characters in the Marvel Universe have used the alias 'Blackwing'.
- Overlord Jr.: His father is the minor Spider-Man villain Silvermane.
- Rogues' Gallery Transplant: Originally appeared fighting Daredevil.
Crossbones
Crossbones (Brock Rumlow)
First Appearance: Captain America #359 (October, 1989)note ; Captain America #360 (October, 1989)note ; Captain America #362 (November, 1989)note
" I consider myself an artist—-a true craftsman who specializes in murder, destruction, and terror!"
Brock Rumlow was a petty thug and hit man, the lowest trash imaginable. Then he was recruited by the Red Skull, and became even worse. A frequent enemy of Captain America, he was the man that shot Steve Rogers at the end of Civil War. A huge fan of the Red Skull, Crossbones is nearly as bad as his boss, and is utterly devoted to whatever Neo-Nazi cause the Skull and his daughter are embracing this week.
- Ascended Fanboy: A particularly ghoulish version of this trope, Crossbones was in fact a huge fan of the Red Skull before his idol offered him a job.
- Ax-Crazy: Crossbones is a threat to everyone around him, and takes joy in hurting others.
- Badass Normal: A good enough fighter to keep up with Captain America, despite his lack of superhuman powers. Averted for a bit while he was a member of the Thunderbolts, gaining some sort of energy beam power from inhaling corrupted Terrigen Mists. It appears to have been only temporary, however.
- Bald of Evil: Sometimes.
- Cool Mask: Crossbones' skull mask apes his employer's face.
- The Dragon: To the Red Skull. The Skull is the brains, while Crossbones acts as the physical threat.
- Dystopia Justifies the Means: Wants a fascist dystopia ruled by Sin and The Red Skull.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Clearly cares about Sin, going to great lengths to keep her safe. There's also his obsessive loyalty to the Skull to take into consideration.
- Even Evil Has Standards: Possibly. It's hard to tell, due to the fact that it's written, not spoken, but Crossbones seems to have some issues with the way the Red Skull raised Sin.
- Evil Counterpart: Thematically, one could argue that Crossbones is similar to Bucky or Nomad in that they're both devoted sidekicks to the Skull and Captain America, respectively.
- Evil Versus Oblivion: He helps the heroes defeat Sin upon learning she is planning to use the the Serpent's hammers to destroy the world instead of only terrorizing it.
- From Nobody to Nightmare: Just another angry street kid who ended up enrolling in Taskmaster's school for supervillains. He got a job with the fake Red Skull, who sent him to attack Arnim Zola and the real Red Skull. He impressed the latter, and the rest, as the cliche goes, is history.
- Guns Akimbo: Regularly.
- Hand Blast: After being exposed to the Terrigen Mist, Crossbones could expel energy from his hands with destructive force. However, this was only temporary and the effects wore off over time.
- Heel–Face Turn: A forced one as a member of the Thunderbolts. He went back to being evil as soon as possible.
- Hero Killer: For the Badass Normal set. If Crossbones shows up it's time for you to start running. Taken to an unusually literal level when he fired the shot that killed Captain America.
- Hero-Worshipper: Towards The Red Skull. He initially worked for Albert Malik, the Communist Red Skull, only to defect to the original when he found out he was following a fake.
- Hair-Trigger Temper: Crossbones doesn't have much of a rein on his temper. Though compared to his girlfriend he's downright stable.
- Hate Sink: At one point he was recruited into the Thunderbolts to be an in universe example so that the rest of the team could have someone they all agreed on to hate as a means to bring them together.
- Huge Guy, Tiny Girl: The huge guy to Sin's tiny girl.
- Lightning Bruiser: As big and as fast as you can get without superhuman powers.
- Misanthrope Supreme: Expresses the sentiment that Humans Are Bastards and deserve to be oppressed on account of that.
- Muscles Are Meaningful: Crossbones is every bit as strong as his huge physique and heavily muscled frame would indicate.
- Obviously Evil: Just look at his costume.
- Patrick Stewart Speech: Horrifically inverted when the Red Skull is feeling depressed and Crossbones tries to cheer him up by reminding him of all his evil accomplishments.
- Professional Killer: Became a hitman after graduating from Taskmaster's academy.
- Rape Is a Special Kind of Evil: What he did to Diamondback back in his gang leader days, when she wanted to join him.
- Sadist: Like Sin and The Red Skull himself, Crossbones derives far too much pleasure from killing and hurting others.
- Skeleton Motif: Wears a skull mask and bone patterns on his costume.
- The Social Darwinist: Shares his boss' belief that the strong have a right to prey on the weak.
- Teens Are Monsters: Got his start as a street gang leader.
- Those Wacky Nazis: A Neo-Nazi skinhead before he met up with The Red Skull.
- Torture Technician: He has some experience with torture and brainwashing, having effectively "reprogrammed" Sin and nearly so with Diamondback.
- Undying Loyalty: To the Red Skull.
- Unholy Matrimony: They aren't married, but Crossbones and Sin have a thing for each other.
- Villainous Friendship: Type III with The Red Skull. The Skull might not see Crossbones as anything other than useful muscle, but Crossbones worships the ground The Skull walks on, and has a full blown Freak Out when he dies.
- Villainous Valour: Has twice stood his ground in fights with Wolverine, who outclasses him in just about every respect.
- Walking Armoury: Tends to carry at least several guns in additions to grenades and knives to compensate for his lack of superpower.
Cutthroat
Cutthroat (Daniel Leighton)
First Appearance: Marvel Team-Up #89 (October, 1979)
- Beard of Evil: Has a goatee.
- Blade Enthusiast: He uses various knives and carries an adamantium edged blade as his weapon of choice.
- Green and Mean: His hood is green and he's a villain.
- In the Hood: Wears a green hood, and he was also a member of the Hood's Gang.
- Rogues' Gallery Transplant: First appeared fighting Spider-Man and Nightcrawler before becoming a member of the Skeleton Crew.
- Sibling Yin-Yang: While his sister Rachel has turned a new leaf and is no longer a villain, Daniel continues being a thug.
- Swiss-Army Gun: Carries a pistol that fires a variety of rockets, including "sonic screamers" and magnesium flares.
- Trick Bullet: Carries a pistol that fires a variety of rockets, including "sonic screamers" and magnesium flares.
Jack O'Lantern
Machinesmith
Machinesmith (Samuel "Starr" Saxon)
First Appearance: Daredevil #49 (December, 1968)note ; Daredevil #54 (July, 1969)note ; Marvel Two-In-One #47 (October, 1978)note
"Call me a born again visionary, but I'm just so happy to be a robot! Machine life is so much more beautiful and full of possibilities than human life."
A former criminal who became a cyborg after his death.
- Alliterative Name: Samuel "Starr" Saxon
- Bald of Evil: Completely bald.
- Big Ol' Eyebrows: Which remain even after becoming more machine than man.
- Camp Gay: The guy sure is flamboyant and confirmed to be gay. Why he works for literal Nazis (or why they'd even employ him) is anyone's guess.
- Cyborg
- Emergency Transformation: Back when he fought Daredevil, Saxon accidentally fell from a great height, and was only saved by his robots, who program-recorded his brain into a computer. Saxon wasn't happy about this development, going so far as to work around his self-preservation protocols through Suicide by Cop at the hands of Captain America.
- Gadgeteer Genius
- Heel–Face Revolving Door: He became Tony Stark's assistant for a while, but returned to his villainous ways shortly after The Crossing.
- I Cannot Self-Terminate: At one point, Machinesmith wanted to end his cybernetic existence, but found that he'd installed safeguards against it. So he devised an elaborate Suicide by Cop plan to have Captain America do it instead. It didn't stick.
- Robot Hair: He had Big Ol' Eyebrows and mutton chops that both basically are spikes on his robotic body.
- Robot Master: Robots are his specialty, especially Ridiculously Human ones that resemble other characters. They're advanced enough to copy his brain into a computer on their own accord.
- Rogues' Gallery Transplant: As Mister Fear, he was an enemy of Daredevil, but after turning into Machinesmith, he became mostly a Captain America foe.
- Virtual Ghost: As a living program, Machinesmith is able to transmit himself along an infrared laser beam into virtually any electronics system at will, allowing him to transfer from one robotic body to another.
- We Can Rebuild Him
Minister Blood
Minister Blood (Melvin Scarbo)
First Appearance: Captain America #123 (March, 1970)
Minister Blood is the brother of Mother Night and he was also the instructor for the Sisters of Sin.
- Bald of Evil: Bald headed and just as amoral as his sister.
- Beard of Evil: A fitting goatee.
- Brother–Sister Team: With his sister Susan.
- Hypnotic Eyes: As a hypnotist Melvin could control the mind and actions of others.
- Sinister Minister: Quite literally. His title is minister and he's loyal to the Red Skull.
Mother Night
Mother Night (Susan Scarbo)
First Appearance: Captain America #123 (March, 1970)
Originally a hypnotist, Susan Scarbo quickly became involved with the Red Skull, both professionally and romantically. Unfortunately, this often meant she was on the receiving end of Red Skull's abuse.
- Alliterative Name: Susan Scarbo
- Dark Mistress: Many stories with her revolve around her being Red Skull's abused lover.
- Extreme Doormat: Red Skull once gave her a severe beating after she failed a mission for him and Mother Night begged him to kill her. Red Skull decided it would be more fun to keep her alive, so he could continue to humiliate and abuse her.
- Mad Love: Is completely in love with the Red Skull, despite his horrible abusive attitude towards her.
- Master of Illusion: Her abilities as a hypnotist allow her to project illusions to confuse her enemies with.
- Mind Control: Her main ability as a hypnotist.
- Parental Substitute: After convincing the Red Skull not to kill his own infant daughter, Red Skull tasked Mother Night with raising her as a suitable heir. Its safe to say Mother Night had more of a hand in raising Sin then Red Skull ever did.
- Shoe Phone: Mother Night utilized certain devices hidden in her jewelry, including a necklace designed by the Tinkerer that releases a gas that helps her subvert others' wills, and can project "dark light" to camouflage herself in shadows, or to temporarily blind an opponent.
Sleeper
Sleeper
First Appearance: Tales of Suspense #72 (September, 1965)
The Sleepers are a series of five destructive robots created by the Red Skull.
- Eye Beams: The Sleepers have repulsor-ray blasters mounted in their eye sockets.
- Head Blast: The Sleeper originally could also generate "volcanic" thermal energy and project it through its face-place.
- Intangibility: Originally the Forth Sleeper could alter its density from its natural tempered steel form to total intangibility.
The Voice
The Voice (Jason Cragg)
First Appearance: Tales to Astonish #42 (January, 1963)
" Gather to me! Hear my words! I, Jason Cragg, speak truth! Truth!"
Jason Cragg acquired his abilities when he accidentally breathed ionized atoms and gained the power to make anyone do anything he commanded. He would eventually become a member of the Skeleton Crew.
- Beard of Evil: A full beard and mustache.
- Compelling Voice: Cragg was able to use his voice to make anyone who heard him believe anything he said. He was even able to make someone freeze on the spot just by ordering them to.
- Fat Bastard: Heavy set and a mind-controlling ass.
- Green and Mean: Wore a green suit and he wanted to become the most powerful person in the world.
- Rogues' Gallery Transplant: Introduced as an enemy of Hank Pym/Ant-Man, his association with the Skeleton crew brought him into conflict with Captain America.
