2. Red Skull - Captain America: The First Avenger
The Red Skull (Johann Schmidt) is a Marvel comic creation who has appeared in comics, animation, video games and movies. He first appeared in comics in 1941 as an evil Nazi agent - battling Captain America and he has remained a popular villainous Nazi ever since. Johann Schmidt did not have the best start in life. His mother died and his father tried to drown him. He accidentally killed a girl he fancied as a youth and had to flee to the city. As a bellhop in a hotel, he engineered circumstances so that he would run into Hitler and impress him. He was successful in this endeavour and Hitler trained him as his right hand man. Johann was given a distinctive uniform and a red skull mask - becoming known as Roter Totenkopf or Red Skull. Johann was the embodiment of Nazi intimidation. Hitler was the Head of State but the Red Skull took over all Nazi terrorist and espionage forces. He wrought havoc all over Europe, spreading propaganda, liquidating communities and overseeing the Nazi military invasions. Hitler constructed secret bases all over the world for the Red Skull to research weaponry and devices - Red Skull was very into technology. Hitler grew wary of his protege, thinking he had too much power. Red Skull murdered his way through the Nazi hierarchy until he was number 2 to Hitler. He built five machines called The Sleepers which were intended to blast the world into oblivion if the Allies won. He also created his own personal army that he sent to safety called The Exiles. Skull had many skirmishes with Captain America during the war. This culminated with Red Skull falling into suspended animation. The Red Skull would survive to have many more encounters with Captain America over the coming decades - still pursuing an agenda of Nazism. He does not have superhuman abilities but he is fiercely intelligent, endlessly inventive and a master strategist and planner. The Red Skull also has martial arts ability and his trademark move is a trick cigarette that fires poison gas - "The Dust of Death' - a red substance that kills upon contact with human skin - horribly deforming his victims before they die. For his megalomania that even eclipsed his boss Hitler's thirst for power, and his ruthless drive to pursue an evil Nazi agenda all across the world, Red Skull is one of the best and most prolific evil fictional Nazis. He is an enduring character - my mother always said you can't kill a bad thing - and one of the most memorable creations from Marvel Comics.