Red Skull (Comics)/Bio & Battles

"Allow me to introduce myself, Herr Kapitän. My name is der Rote Schädel"

- Red Skull

Johann Schmidt, best known under the criminal alias of the Red Skull, was the child of a horribly abusive father who attempted to murder him the day he was born, accusing him of murdering his wife when she died in childbirth. Johann was saved by the doctor who delivered him, and when his father committed suicide the next day, the doctor delivered him to a local orphanage. His time in the orphanage was lonely and miserable, and he left to live on the streets of Germany at only seven years old. As he grew up on the streets, Schmidt spent most of his life serving time for various minor offences ranging from vagrancy to theft. When he was rejected by his first love, a Jewish woman named Esther, Johann flew into a rage and murdered her- discovering the thrill of violence and murder for the first time. When the Nazis came into power, Schmidt was working as a bellhop for a local hotel, where he first met Adolf Hitler. The Führer was enraged and yelling at the chief of the Gestapo, and during the exchange Hitler claimed that "I could teach that bellboy to do a better job than you!" When the two looked into each others eyes, Hitler could see that Schmidt was filled with the same hate and rage that he himself was, and Johaan knew that Hitler was a man he could see as a role model, and shape himself after.

Inspired, Hitler decided that he would make the boy the perfect Nazi, and took Schmidt under his wing. Hitler gave Schmidt a special face mask, and the Red Skull was born. An expert soldier and fighter, the Red Skull engaged in numerous missions for the Nazis during World War 2, constantly battling his nemesis and American equivalent, Captain America. Eventually, Red Skull renounced Hitler, considering him weak and undeserving to be the leader of the Nazi Regime. He continued to haunt Captain America and the Avengers with his super villain schemes, and every time he has died, he has returned, even more powerful and angered. During one of these revivals, he returned in a cloned body of Captain America, giving him the superhuman benefits of the Super Soldier Serum. Even when he remains dead, his legacy runs deep. His daughter, normally known as Sin, has previously taken up his title as the Red Skull, and she nearly brought about the end of all things when her quest to gain power lead to the release of Odin's brother, The Serpent. Most recently, the Red Skull has taken the brain of the recently deceased Professor X, gaining telepathic powers, as part of his plan to wipe out Mutants after witnessing them nearly destroy the world under the reign of Cyclops and the Phoenix Five.

Battle vs. Joker (DC Comics) (by Drayco90)
The Joker couldn’t help but laugh at the image before him- This “New-Gotham” had proven far easier to take control of than his old home. A map lay out in front of him, with small pieces to represent the various players, all vying for control of New-Gotham. The Penguin and Two-Face didn’t make it a week in here; they couldn’t adapt fast enough, but this Parker Robbins fellow had proven himself surprisingly tenacious, and his powerful resistance had left the Joker essentially locked out of the entire York Towers district, but despite this, the Joker had control of the criminal underworld in most of the rest of the city, and a large portion of the second island was completely in his pocket. Never had his control been so absolute. And never had he been so…bored. He certainly hoped ol’ Bats hadn’t kicked the bucket yet. He took a look around his room, his eyes catching the strange cube that Harley had salvaged for him as a trophy when the locked down control of Yancy Street. Sure, he didn’t know what it was… but it made one hell of a lamp for the dark, dingy warehouse that he had converted into his little “palace”- “Emperor Joker” he laughed to himself. The concept elated him. “Soon.” He thought, before turning his attention to his security cameras. It had become his hobby, watching his idiotic goons, hoping for his Bat to appear and break them for his amusement.

Today, his perseverance would pay off. At the south entrance, there of his guards were quickly obliterated by a man- no BATman, but no normal man for sure. His head was the twisted image of a crimson skull, and his guards were dead within seconds. Joker smiled, howling with laughter- maybe this new enemy would put up enough of a fight to help fill the emptiness the Joker felt. “Ah well.” He sighed to himself “If he doesn’t, I’ll just cut open his throat, bleed him out, and leave him in a body back in some vermin-ridden gutter.”

The Red Skull decided to take the south entrance because it was the one with the lightest guards. No point in letting the Clown know he was here, and ruin the surprise. Only three men stood in his way- one unarmed, one with a pipe and the other with a shotgun. Red Skull took a deep breath- he always loved this part. He never felt more alive than when his blood howled with the rush of combat. His fist collided with the unarmed man’s face first, before they even had time to react to his presence. The Skull felt the man’s face as it seemed to crumple around his fist, blood spraying everywhere like a violent geyser. He grinned- these clowns may as well be moving in slow motion. Sidestepping a blow from the pipe, the Skull delivered a quick jab to the side of the shotgun in the hands of the other man, just enough, as the clown-painted henchman pulled the trigger. The blast rang out, but it also rang hollow, as the shotgun had been knocked far enough off course that the blast didn’t even touch the Skull, allowing him to seize the moment and head butt the guard so hard, it snapped his neck, causing him to stagger backwards and crumple, dead. The last two tried to take him at the same time, but the Skull batted away the blow of the pipe-wielding clown with the back of his hand while simultaneously catching the unarmed man’s punch, snapping his arm. Grabbing the man’s Ulna, the Red Skull snapped the bone, tearing a large piece of the arm bone free, allowing him to drive the fractured bone into the pipe-wielding man’s throat. The man gasped for air as blood drained from the wound, but his struggle ceased with a sharp twist of the bone, and he too dropped dead. The final clown was howling with pain, tears forming in his eyes. There was already a crimson puddle forming beneath him, and his entire arm was drenched in blood. In one motion, the Skull picked up the pipe and delivered a powerful kick to his knee, shattering it as well. As the final guard stumbled backwards, the Red Skull swung the pipe downwards, crushing in the clown’s head.

The Red Skull paused for a moment, observing his work. “Undisciplined.” He scoffed. “But what can you expect…from clowns.” He waved a signal for his HYDRA back-up to move in- the first three, armed with assault rifles, gave the two-armed salute with a shout of “Hail, HYDRA!” before moving to secure the doors. Before they could, a shrill, mocking voice rang out across the warehouse-base.

“Well, well boys- looks like we’ve got some visitors at the back doors, and you all know how much I just HATE uninvited guests. One of you be a dear, and get the door…and then put those Christmas colored bastards down.”

“Scheiße!” Red Skull cursed under his breath in his native German as he kicked down the door, blind firing his luger into the darkness ahead. A bullet found its mark, sending blood up into the air as the man fell down, chunks of his head following suite. The room they entered into was huge, with two sets of stairs leading to various corridors and rooms filled with god-only-knows how many traps and lethal jokes. His other two men followed up the rear, carrying his beloved MG-42 machine gun, which they layed out on the railing on the stairs, overlooking the entire room.

“Hold this position.” Red Skull growled in his thick German accent. “I will deal with the clown…personally.”

With that he was off. Finding the Joker’s personal room was not a difficult task- it was the one with a faint blue glow illuminating it, and being pointed to with neon arrows and green spray-painted “Ha”s. Slowly opening the door, he leveled his Luger at the figure inside. The Joker was sitting in his chair, facing the wall, and a map that lay before it. He fired, twice through the back of the chair, once through the shoulder, but the Joker just sat there- making no sound. No final laugh. The Joker’s last laugh, it seemed, was not so humored after all. He stepped into the cluttered room, his boots echoing with each step. As he turned the chair, however, the Joker’s head fell off with a hollow thud- and the purple suit fell back, revealing his chest- a large silver container with a smiley face crudely painted on it.

The Joker smiled as he watched the Red Skull’s reaction to the old Fake-Joker trick. He leveled one of his revolvers and carefully planned a shot…but then, careful was never exactly his modus operandi. He took the shot, piercing the shoulder of the Red Skull’s uniform. The German grunted with pain, as he turned to face the Clown Prince of Crime. He charged at the Joker, just as the second shot from the Revolver pierced the container. It began making a shrill shrieking noise, just as the Skull’s shoulder made contact with the Joker’s stomach. With a loud crack, the container exploded in a green poison mist.

Sprawled out in the hallway, but safe from the Joker Venom for now, the Red Skull barely had time to draw his Trench Knife before he felt another blow knock him backwards. This clown looked lanky and weak, but he had some surprising strength behind his punches, the Skull had to give him that much. But as he recovered, he saw only an empty hallway. His adversary was gone…

Another Clown fell to his death in a hail of bullets as the Hydra troops rained death from their position at the top of the stairs. They had a massive advantage- the room was funneling in these witless idiots by the dozens, and none of the Clowns even had a chance of dealing any damage to them. The Hydra guards were almost getting bored of this “fish in a barrel” mission. At least until the doors cracked open, and a massive one-armed man with a sledgehammer walked in. The MG-42 blazed to life, but the bullets bounced harmlessly off the man’s massive frame. “Meet Mister Hammer.” A woman’s voice mocked behind the Hydra troops. “He’s going to teach ya’ some manners!” One of the troops turned to face the woman, his assault rifle raised high, but a crack to the head sent him flying from atop the stairs to the ground below. Harley Quinn, a massive mallet in-hand, leapt into the crowd of Hydra troop with a laugh, while Mr. Hammer placed one of his feet on top of the fallen soldier, pinning him. The man squirmed for a few seconds, but when he realized the struggle was useless, he growled. “Cut off one head- two more shall rise to take its place. HAIL HYDRA!” His final words were punctuated as a massive hammer crushed in his skull.

The Joker had to stifle another laugh as the Red Skull walked into the hall of mirrors. He knew that the Skull couldn’t place his location from the sound of his voice, not in this room, at least. “Y’know- I think you guys should be paying me royalties for all of this!” He called out, laughing again as the Red Skull looked about, confused as he sought out the direction of the Joker’s words. “First, Batman’s little rat who just wouldn’t stay dead took my old identity, and now you- but when I was the Red Hood, I brought a sense of class to the character.”

“My name is Johann Schmidt- but I am known as the Red Skull. I seek only what is mine, clown.”

“What is yours? Herr Skully-“ the Joker mocked. “I’m not sure if you’ve noticed this, but EVERYTHING here belongs to me! And soon, this whole city’ll burn, and whatever it is you own with it!”

The Red Skull paused for a moment. “You don’t even know what it is? You idiot. You absolute, blabbering idiot. You literally hold the powers of a god in your very hands, and you don’t even realize it!” Now it was the Skull’s turn to laugh. And the Joker did not like that- not one bit. “Of course, it makes so much more sense, why you haven’t already curb-stomped Robbin and Taskmaster’s little bands of criminals out of ‘your city’ yet.” The Red Skull listened for a response- he was at least satisfied he had shut up that horrid laugh. He raised his Pulse Cannon high into the air, the weapon was a prototype back during the second world war, when he last had possession of the Cosmic Cube. A hold over, from an era that would soon be coming again, once this little pr- His thoughts were cut off as the Joker leapt from the ceiling, crowbar in hand, landing on the Skull’s back. The clown was laughing hysterically as he clubbed Schmidt with the crowbar, striking multiple places on his back and ribs before the German slammed him into the wall behind him. The glass mirror burst into pieces that rained, mostly harmlessly, down upon them, shaking the Joker off. Crouched on one knee, the Joker took a second to get ahold of his laughter again. “You know – that’s a pretty good one, Herr Skully. That’s actually really funny. I guess once you’re bleeding out in a gutter somewhere, I’ll have to give a closer look to my new desk-lamp.” “You think it will be that easy to kill me? I have been doing this little game since the second World War- If the great ‘Captain America’ himself could not kill me, I doubt some clown with delusions of grandeur will put a damper on my return to power.”

Red Skull grimaced. The Hall of Mirrors made it hard to see where The Joker really was. Fortunately, the Clown Prince of Crime charged with his crowbar raised high- just as the Red Skull predicted, as he fired a blast from the Pulse Cannon. The blue blast rippled across the hallway, shattering dozens of the mirrors, and sending the real Joker crashing into the wall again. Quickly slinging the rifle behind his back, the Skull pulled out his Trench-Knife and took a swinging punch that slammed into the Joker’s cheek. He felt bones crack- the brass knuckles built into the knife and the Skull’s natural enhanced strength were powerful, and while the Joker was quite resilient, he was still a normal man- and there is only so much a normal man can possibly take before reaching a breaking point.

The Joker coughed up blood, laughing as he did so- this really was a thrill for him. Hell, even Batman never tried to hit him THAT hard! He almost regretted the fact that he had to kill the Skull- after all, this German bastard could provide DECADES of fun. He leapt up, and spit his blood in the Skull’s eyes, temporarily blinding him. While the Red Skull jabbed forward with his knife, while the Joker grabbed for the Skull’s throat. They both hit true, with the Trench Knife digging all the way to the hilt into the Joker’s side, while the Joker’s hand wrapped around the Skull’s throat.

“You’re going to try and choke me to death? You must have a death wish, clown.” Johann sneered. “Yeah, yeah- I like to think it’s part of my charms. But really, Herr Skully, I’m disappointed in you.” With that, a shocking blast coursed through the Skull’s entire body. Try as he might, the Red Skull could not move- but silently, he cursed himself for not spotting the Joker’s Electric Joy Buzzer before now. “But then I shouldn’t be SHOCKED. After all, we’ve only known each other for a few minutes now.” He drew a razor-sharp playing card. “But then, I’ve always said that in their last moments- a person will show you just who they really are. In a way, Herr Skully, I’m going to know you better than all your friends ever have.” He made a slow, deliberate cut across the Red Skull’s throat- just enough to draw blood. The Red Skull glared at him- but there was no resignation in those eyes. They almost reminded him of Batman’s, but only for a brief moment, before the Red Skull suddenly slammed his head into the Joker’s face, knocking him backwards. “I. Will. Not. Be. Toyed with!” he growled as he punched the Joker so hard, the clown went flying across the hallway. Drawing his Luger, he aimed it for a direct headshot, but before he could pull the trigger, the Joker whipped out a small detonator and pressed the button. All the Red Skull heard before the explosions rocked the hallway was “Why so serious?” and then the floor collapsed. And all he could see was darkness.

The Hydra troops scrambled from their positions as Harley Quinn’s assault pushed them back. Two of them broke off to engage Mister Hammer, while the other two remained to fight Harley. One of the troops drew a long knife from his belt and took a stab at Quinn, but she was too fast, ducking under the blow and swinging her mallet at the man’s knee- shattering his leg. The other troop behind her took advantage of this to take his handgun a fire a shot into her back. She screamed as the bullet struck her between the shoulder blades, and she collapsed.

“Ah, bitch broke my leg, I think.” The knife-wielding Hydra troop moaned as he struggled to get back up, but was failing miserably. “Arnold? Arnold- give me a hand here.”

The other Hydra agent gave his injured friend a sympathetic look, but his response lacked any such weakness. “Sorry, Ron- you’ve become a liability.”

“Dammit Brown! You can’t just leave me here!”

“I have no intention of doing that, Takimoto.”

“…I’ll see you in hell, Arnold Brown. Do you hear me!”

“It won’t be the first time I’ve been there, Ron.” The uninjured Hydra troop fired his gun into the wounded soldier’s head, killing him.

Meanwhile, the other two agents were struggling with Mister Hammer. Their bullets had no effect as they bounced off harmlessly. One of the two threw his rifle to the ground and drew his knife, sidestepping the hammer as it hit the ground next to him. He tried to saw Mister Hammer’s wrist, hoping that he could wound the monster of a man enough to make his hammer useless. Instead, the man’s hand slid off with almost no resistance. There was no blood. The Hydra agent took a step back, surprised and confused, but Mister Hammer only laughed.

“Well, well- I guess the cat’s out of the bag, then.” He said, as his body seemed to dissolve into a formless mass. A formless mass that suddenly began to expand and grow larger, towering over the two Hydra agents. Clayface roared as his hand morphed into a mace head, and he slammed it down on the knife-wielding Agent. The man’s bones shattered on the impact, and clay filled his throat and blinded him. He couldn’t see, couldn’t hear- he felt everything hurt…until nothing ever hurt again. Clayface turned his attention to the other agent and laughed. “I wasn’t sure about working long time with these clowns…but the look on your faces, truly there is no better measure of a man’s acting talent, and that makes this all worthwhile!” and with that, he seemed to devolve into a shapeless mass that rushed into the Hydra agent, catching bullets without care…

The Red Skull struggled to stand up. The collapsed floor’s rubble had him pinned in the dark basement level of the Joker’s little “palace”. He reached for his Dust of Death pistol and decided to find the Clown and end this little game.

Not far away, the Joker watched. A normal man would probably be on their deathbeds from the injuries he had sustained so far- a gaping stab wound in his stomach, a couple broken ribs, massive damage to his face and shards of glass embedded in his back. But the Joker hardly felt anything but joy. He aimed his heavily customized TAR-21, the smiley-face shaped laser sight shot through the darkness as obviously as a lantern. The Red Skull was sure to see it, but at this point, the Joker didn’t care.

The green light shone from across the room. Skull knew he didn’t have a lot of time before the Joker saw him, but he did take the time to observe the environment. The ‘walls’ and ‘floor’ of this room were all large grey cylinders, bound together by some kind of rope. Joker Venom. Skull ran toward Joker just as the smiley face was drawn to his forehead. Grabbing the gun by its extended barrel, he pulled the Clown forward and on to his feet to receive another punch to the face. Ripping the TAR-21 from the Joker’s hands and snapping it in two with ease, the Red Skull grabbed the Clown by the front of his jacket, spraying him in the face with the Dust of Death handgun.

Fire. That’s all the was running through the Joker’s mind- it felt like his entire face was on fire. He had never met a poison he couldn’t take from a shot glass, but whatever this was, it was enough to still bring him to his knees. He hardly felt as the Red Skull jumped on his shoulders, leaping out of the hole in the ceiling that had been left from the explosion that brought them down to his Joker Venom storage room to begin with.

“Well, Clown, like I told you- I only seek what is mine. Fortunately, it is easier to search the rubble of your little warehouse for my Cosmic Cube than to deal with you. Tschüss, Joker.” The Red Skull mocked as he dropped a lighter into the room. The flame ignited around Joker’s face where the Dust had been most prevalent, and quickly spread, igniting the entire supply of Joker Venom. Quickly clearing the warehouse by leaping from a window, the blast still sent the Red Skull flying as the entire Warehouse went up in flames.

Dragging himself upwards, the Red Skull stifled a laugh- most unusual behavior for him. He could see across the rubble, the bright blue glow of his Cosmic Cube, but as he began to make his way there, the Joker burst out of the rubble. His face was scarred and he had a nasty cough, but there were two revolvers in his hands. The Red Skull spun around to face the Harlequin of Hate, one last time.

A bullet struck him in the gut, but it did nothing to slow the Red Skull down as he grabbed the Joker’s arm and gave a forceful push forward, dislocating his shoulder. With another punch to the face, the Joker was knocked the ground, his revolvers falling from his hands.

“You know Joker, you’re a persistent little bastard. I could use a man of your talents in my employ.”

The Joker laughed, convulsing blood with each sharp movement of the body. “Sorry, Herr Skully- I may be a psychopathic, mass-murdering, child-killing terrorist…but I’m an AMERICAN psychopathic, mass-murdering, child-killing terrorist. You nazis…you didn’t have any style. Holocaust camps? Boooring! I could never work with someone with so little creative vision!”

“A shame.” The Red Skull drew his luger and leveled it at the Joker’s head. “Very well, Joker- I may lack your ‘creative vision’, but only one of us is walking away from this.” The Joker made a desperate dive, grabbing the revolver nearest to him. He wasn’t sure which one it was, but with hope- it would work. He raised it and fired, with a loud crack.

…

And a flag popped out of the gun, reading ‘BANG!’. The Red Skull shook his head. “Joker, this is simply bad comedy. But if you wish this to be your final joke, then I- AGH!” he growled, as the Joker pulled the trigger again, firing the sharpened flag into the Red Skull’s eye. The nazi stumbled backwards as the Joker picked up a sharp piece of glass from the explosion. Burying it deep into the Red Skull’s throat, the Joker finally watched as the Red Skull’s eyes, filled with hate, anger and acceptance, faded into death.

“It’s been a blast Herr Skully, but if you excuse me…”he looked over towards the Cosmic cube “I have a universe to burn.”

- Aftermath -

The Joker sat in his chair, in the place his office had once been, looking out over the ruins that were once his palace. The Cosmic Cube sat in his hands. He still wasn’t sure what it was, really, or what it could do. But now? He was going to find out. Out of the rubble, a figure seeped out- Clayface. Inside his shifting mass was Harley Quinn, whom he had covered to protect from the blast.

“Did those Nazi goons slap around my Harley? That’s MY profession!” the Joker half-joked when Clayface layed her still unmoving body at his feet.

“One of those Hydra mooks shot her in the back. Fortunately, she was wearing that leather vest thing you like so much under that costume, or it would’ve killed her. She’ll be fine.” Clayface answered. “So…what now, boss?”

The Joker pondered this for a moment- his base was in ruins, a large number of his gang just died- recruitment in occupied territory would be down and Parker Robbins was sure to take advantage of this weakness- but he had the most powerful weapon in the universe in his hand, he just needed someone with the brains and the tech to check it out and get it working for him. “Get in contact with Calculator- I gots a little present for him.”

Hydra Agent Arnold Brown stood up in the rubble. How he survived the blast was beyond him, but he knew what needed to be done. Scooping up the body of his fallen leader, Brown vowed to ensure Hydra would become even stronger. There was certain to be a secret to bring the Red Skull back again- this was only the fourth time he could recall the Skull dying, after all- if there was anyone who could shrug this off it was him.

“Madam Hydra- bring I need an evac.” He spoke into the comm on his web-gear. “The Red Skull has fallen. Take me back to the Terror-Carrier…the Imperial Hydra has a new mission. Cut off one head…”

The woman on the other end paused for a few moments, allowing the information to sink in, before replying. “…and two more shall take its place.” Behind her, he could hear as every Hydra soldier in the Terror-Carrier snapped to attention, raising the two-armed salute as the they all shouted at the same time-

“HAIL HYDRA!”

WINNER- THE JOKER

Expert's Opinion
Many voters believed that Joker and his gifted intelligence, creativity, and unpredictable style gave him a vital edge. Red Skull had professional training and great physical strength, but he wasn't as unpredictable or creative as his opponent. While Joker was easily the less mentally healthy warrior, there is an old saying; "There is a method to your madness." This gave Joker the edge that allowed him triumph against the Nazi, albeit just barely.

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Battle vs. Edward Richtofen (by Thundrtri, BeastMan14, and Goddess of Despair)
TBW

Expert's Opinion
TBD

Battle vs. Cobra Commander (by Thundrtri)
No battle will be written

Winner: Cobra Commander

Expert's Opinion
Cobra Commander won because his weaponry and tactics were more advanced. The HISS tanks also proved more efficient in combat than the HYDRA tank.

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Battle vs. Karl Ruprecht Kroenen (by Samurai234)
No battle written

WINNER: RED SKULL

Expert's Opinion
Please consider a contribution by writing an expert's opinion as to why the Red Skull won.

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Battle vs. Black Mask (by Godkombat21)
TBW

Winner: Red Skull

Expert's Opinion
TBW

To see the original battle, weapons and votes, click here.

Battle vs. Shredder (by CaveJohnson)
TBW

Winner: The Shredder

Expert's Opinion
TBW

To see the original battle, weapons and votes, click here.