Characters / Captain America: Skeleton Crew

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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.
• "Well Done, Son" Guy: Later appearances depict him as being highly concerned with making his intransigent father proud of him. He tried to demonstrate how he could lead the Silvermane mob to even greater heights than Silvio did.

Crossbones (Brock Rumlow)

First Appearance: Captain America #359 (October, 1989)^note Shadow; Captain America #360 (October, 1989)^note Full appearance; unnamed; Captain America #362 (November, 1989)^note Named

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.

Cutthroat (Daniel Leighton)

First Appearance: Marvel Team-Up #89 (October, 1979)

Jack O'Lantern

See Venom: Rogues Gallery

Machinesmith (Samuel "Starr" Saxon)

First Appearance: Daredevil #49 (December, 1968)^note As Starr Saxon; Daredevil #54 (July, 1969)^note As Mister Fear; Marvel Two-In-One #47 (October, 1978)^note As Machinesmith

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 (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 (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.

Sleepers

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 fourth Sleeper could alter its density from its natural tempered steel form to total intangibility.

The Voice (Jason Cragg)

First Appearance: Tales to Astonish #42 (January, 1963)

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.