Baron Zemo is a
supervillain who first appeared in
Marvel Comics The Avengers #4. His son, Baron Zemo the Second, first appeared in
Marvel Comics Captain America #276.
When you're talking
villainy, you're still hard pressed to beat a
Nazi. When you're creating a villain that is responsible of putting
Captain America on ice for a few
decades, you have to go with a
Nazi scientist who was creating ultimate vengeance weapons on the eve of Nazi Germany's defeat. That scientist would be Baron Heinrich Zemo. Founder of the
Masters of Evil, the good
Baron was consumed by his quest for revenge against Captain America. During one of his first
run-ins with the
Sentinel of Liberty, Zemo was trapped in his villainous mask, forever scarred by one of his own inventions,
Adhesive X. Long after his father's death, Helmut Zemo would take up his
father's quest, meeting a strangely familiar
fate. Brilliant and dangerous, both father and son were consumed and scarred by their
hatreds.
The greatest mind serves the greatest evil
Born into
German aristocracy, Baron Heinrich Zemo was one of the greatest minds in the service of
Nazi Germany. Living the good life, married happily to his love Hilda, mother to his loving son Helmut, Zemo was
on top of the world. He used his formidable mind to further the German
war effort, a firm believer in the
Aryan cause. Working in hand with the likes of
Arnim Zola and the
Red Skull, Zemo worked to protect Germany from the Allied superhero team
The Invaders, lead by
Captain America.
Zemo's most
notorious early invention was his hideous
Death Ray which disintegrated its targets, living or inanimate. Sgt.
Nick Fury and his squad of Howlin' Commandos were sent deep into enemy territory to destroy the
superweapon. To keep the weapon from
Allied hands, Zemo destroyed his own castle in an attempt on Fury's life. Threat destroyed, the Howlin' Commandos escaped. After the mission, word of the hideous weapon leaked to newspapers. Zemo was
demonized, feared and hated even by the German people.
Fearing for his
safety and the
welfare of both his family and his work for the Fuhrer, Zemo slipped into hiding, working in
secret and hiding his face under a
magenta mask.
Hitler was especially interested in Zemo's latest work, "
Adhesive X", and he spared no expense in providing for the Baron. Adhesive X was a
glue so strong that once applied, it was
impossible to remove by any means. Envisioned as an
offensive weapon capable of untold
mayhem when used against Allied armies, the Baron worked
feverishly on his invention.
Having been
vilified across the free world, Zemo's profile as a target increased. Slaving away at perfecting his latest creation, Zemo was confronted by Captain America. In the ensuing battle, Captain America threw his
shield at the only perfected sample of Adhesive X in existence to keep it from Nazi hands. Zemo was
doused in his own invention before fleeing to safety. Celebrating his escape, Zemo attempted to remove his
mask only to find it
permanently bonded to his head. Unable to disrupt the bonds created by his own invention, Zemo was even forced to feed himself intravenously. This
trauma drove Zemo
insane.
Consumed by his
hatred of Captain America, the Allies and anyone he felt was below his
station in life, Zemo was a changed man. His
idyllic family life was shattered and he began abusing his wife and child. Driven by his quest for revenge, he
redoubled his fanatical devotion to his work, teaming with
Arnim Zola to create powerful
androids, a pistol sized
death ray and other fantastic
engines of destruction. No longer satisfied with simply inventing, Zemo turned to seeking out those he hated.
Sabotage,
espionage and
terror became the Baron's life. During one of these missions, Zemo killed a costumed
Polish freedom fighter called
Citizen V. Germany's primary superpowered
agent, the
Red Skull, became increasingly aware of the rivalry for Hitler's attention Zemo represented. The two Nazi agents grew to
hate each other as the competition grew.
In the closing days of
World War II, both men knew Germany was on her knees. With
Berlin under siege, the Red Skull hatched his last ditch plan for revenge against his nemesis Captain America. Ordering Zemo to
London to capture an
experimental drone plane from the Allies, the Red Skull plotted his own attack on Captain America. Sending Zemo to soften him up would buy valuable time for the Skull's preparations for a
Fourth Reich. Zemo knew it was a
fool's errand, but agree for another chance at killing the man who scarred him. To ensure a delay, the Skull leaked the details of Zemo's mission to
Allied spies. If his rival was killed or captured,
so much the better. Zemo made plans of his own. After taking care of Captain America, Zemo planned to fly to
South America where he had prepared a
secret base. Escape and revenge would be his.
As
fate would have it, Captain America was already in
Berlin when this plan was hatched. As Zemo prepared for his revenge, Cap confronted the
Red Skull in their final wartime
showdown. Learning of Zemo's mission, Cap and his sidekick Bucky raced back to
London. Arriving moments after Zemo, the
duo fell victim to a well planned
ambush. Lashing the subdued heroes to the outside of the drone where they would die in the unprotected flight to Berlin, Zemo planned to show up the Red Skull by not only killing the heroes, but also delivering the useless drone to Germany as a final
slap in the face to both the Skull and the Allies.
However, Zemo's plan was not without
hitches. A team of
Avengers from the
future arrived via a time machine created by
Dr. Doom to
witness the event. The time machine rendered the heroes
intangible to prevent them from ruining the
timeline. As fate would have it, an accident allowed a future Captain America to
secretly free his 1945 counterpart and his sidekick Bucky. Zemo adapted quickly to the situation. Discovering that the drone was, in fact,
booby-trapped to prevent its
theft, Zemo announced that it would serve the
Third Reich well and launched it, knowing the heroes would try desperately to stop it. Captain America and Bucky raced after the drone on a
motorcycle and
leapt towards it. Cap couldn't reach it, but Bucky did. Warning Bucky to let go as he fell towards the icy
Atlantic, Cap saw the bomb-loaded drone explode,
killing his sidekick. Blasted deep into the freezing water, Captain America was thought
killed. In reality the "
Super-Soldier"
serum in his body sent Cap into
suspended animation for decades. The triumphant Zemo flew to his hidden South American base, abandoning his family.
Celebrating his
revenge against the man who
maimed him, Zemo set his sights on his new goal: a worldwide
Fourth Reich with him in
control. Zemo kept much of his youthful strength and vitality using
Compound X, a life prolonging
chemical of his own
invention. Returning to science, Zemo developed the means to fulfill his new plan. Over the next few decades he worked on what would become his
superweapon masterpiece: a gigantic
satellite space mirror that would convert
solar energy into a giant city destroying
Death Ray. Zemo dreamed that ransoming countries into submission would be easy with that kind of power at his command.
An old foe, back from the dead
News of a
revived Captain America soon reached Zemo. Raging that he was cheated of his
revenge after all these years, Baron Zemo formed a new plan to kill him. Captain America joined a superhero team called
the Avengers soon after his recovery from suspended animation. In order to counter Cap's new
friends, Zemo formed the
Masters of Evil. Recruiting the
Black Knight, the
Melter, and the
Radioactive Man to help him deal with the Avengers, Zemo and the Masters of Evil attacked. Defeat soon followed. Adding the
Enchantress and
Executioner to the roster, and creating
Wonder Man did little to improve the Master's luck. Even the help of the mighty
Immortus did little to improve the results. Time and time again the group was beaten by the Avengers.
In what would be his
final attempt on Captain America's life, Zemo had Cap's friend
Rick Jones kidnapped and brought to his base. The Masters of Evil were sent to tie up the Avengers, leaving only Cap to save Jones. In the ensuing battle on a
rocky mountainside, Zemo finally cornered his hated foe. Taking aim with his death ray, Zemo was
blinded by
sunlight that Cap reflected into his eyes with his shield. Stunned, Zemo
fired wildly, causing a massive landslide that
crushed him to death. But this was not the end of the Zemo
threat...
The sins of the father
News of Heinrich Zemo's
death unhinged his son Helmut. Abandoned by his father and left to fend for himself in
war torn Europe, young Helmut Zemo and his mother suffered because of his father's
infamy. Struggling to reclaim his
aristocratic place is society, the arrogant and bitter Helmut strangely
idolized his absent father. Hearing that Captain America was present at his father's demise made Zemo
insane with rage. Vowing
vengeance on the hero how had caused his family so much
grief, Helmut followed in his father's footsteps, feverishly recreating many of his inventions and
reclaiming his father's vast fortune. Obsessed with
revenge, Helmut created a costumed identity called the
Phoenix, and set his plans for killing Captain America into action.
Zemo's twisted mind planned the
perfect revenge. The Adhesive X that scarred his father for life would be in the instrument of his foes destruction. Kidnapping both Captain America and his partner
the Falcon, Zemo hung the
duo above a vast boiling tank of Adhesive X, gloating about his victory and his revenge would finally be had.
As heroes usually do, Cap escaped the
deathtrap and fought Zemo to save the Falcon from certain death. Losing his grip on The Phoenix, Cap watched in
horror as the young Zemo fell into the boiling
vat, sinking out of sight, apparently to his
death. The heroes left, assuming Zemo dead.
Surprisingly, Helmut survived the
ordeal, but not without paying the price. Crawling from a pipe at the bottom of the vat, Zemo found that he had been
horribly scarred by the scalding liquid. Hiding his face behind his father's trademark
magenta mask, Helmut assumed the role of Baron Zemo. The
vain Zemo was devastated by the horrible
scars that covered his face. The incident
cemented Zemo's hatred for Captain America as his only reason for living. Regrouping in Southern
Mexico, and building a
base like his father before him, Zemo plotted his next move.
Eventually joining forces with likes of
Arnim Zola and the
Red Skull, the young Zemo constantly tried to exact his revenge, but to no avail. Taking a more
psychological approach than his father, Zemo tried to break Cap's
mind rather than his body. From using
old childhood friends as
pawns against him to the
mental torture of psychically reliving Bucky's death at the hands at the original Zemo, Cap endured all of Helmut's
assaults. Even a new generation of
The Masters of Evil got repeatedly thrashed by Cap's friends,
The Avengers. Unfortunately for Helmut, his obsession had many of the same
consequences as his father's. The
rabidness of Zemo's
madness helped him make many of his fellow
supervillains his enemies. Retiring to
obscurity to plan his revenge and
fume at his failures, Zemo would hatch his most
ambitious plot yet...
Justice Like Lightning?
When the
supervillain Onslaught launched his massive assault on
New York City, many of the Earth's superhero teams rushed to stop him. Seemingly killed in the
final battle with the monstrous villain,
the Avengers and the
Fantastic Four were sucked into a
pocket universe. To the world at large, the
majority of the heroes that had protected them were lost, most likely
dead. For
out of nowhere, a new superhero team stepped up to fill the enormous
power vacuum. The
Thunderbolts quickly made a name for themselves in the post Avengers world. Adopted and loved by the
citizens they fought to protect, few knew of the
dark secret that the team hid.
Zemo had found himself
without a purpose when Captain America seemed to
meet his fate at the hands of Onslaught. Like his crafty father before him, he hatched a new plan. The public was
desperate for heroes to protect them. Zemo knew that they would be easy marks for his
deception. Gathering together many of his old Masters of Evil cronies and
redressing them in new identities, Zemo created the Thunderbolts. By using his team to gather together a
base of power, popularity and influence by opposing many of the villains he
slighted when he was after Captain America, Zemo plotted his ultimate
takeover of the world. As he suspected, the public was easily duped. Zemo himself adopted the persona of
Citizen V, a costumed Polish freedom fighter his father had murdered during the war. The
irony was not lost on the
cruel Zemo.
During the months that the Thunderbolts lived and fought as heroes, they faced many of their former
allies. Zemo was particularly incensed when they faced a new Masters of Evil
lineup. Slowly, the Thunderbolts began to question their ultimate goal. Zemo himself began to
soften, but never
strayed far from his convictions. The
leisurely pace of his plans would soon be
ratcheted up.
The supposedly dead
Avengers and
Fantastic Four escaped from their
imprisonment and returned to a
jubilant public. Knowing his deception won't stand much
scrutiny from the heroes they used to fight, Zemo began a desperate
gambit. Exposing the Thunderbolts to SHIELD to ensure their loyalty to him, Zemo tried to
seize power. Many of his own teammates turned against him and foiled his plan. Living the
lives of heroes had changed them. His plot exposed, his team shattered and his
nemesis back from the dead, Zemo escaped to plan his next move against the heroes of the
Marvel Universe. Where and when he will return is not known, but his lifelong
obsessions remain
unfulfilled.