Falcon And Winter Soldier - Everything You Need To Know About Zemo

Helmut Zemo's father, Heinrich, was humiliated so many times during his battles with Captain America, he regularly beat his son to vent his rage. This trauma convinced Helmut he had to defeat his nemesis so he could succeed where his father failed.

So, when Zemo came into contact with resurrecting artefact called the Bloodstone in Captain America #362, the masked mercenary intended to revive Heinrich and kill Steve Rogers before him.

Unfortunately, the resurrection spell corrupted Heinrich, causing his mind to become unhinged (more so than usual). Even though Zemo pleaded for validation from his father, Heinrich saw his son as insignificant.

After Cap forced Heinrich's reanimated corpse into a chasm, Zemo leapt down to rescue him. Cap grabbed on to Zemo's hand, warning him not to throw his life away to appease someone who made him miserable. Zemo was too mentally unstable to see the value in Cap's words and so, leapt down the chasm, seemingly to his death.

Of course, this is comics we're talking about so we know falling hundreds of feet down a cliff is only gonna cause a sprained ankle, so it wasn't long before Cap was battling Zemo yet again.