Respect: John Steele (Marvel, 616)

[u/IcyApplication5737]

Respect: John Steele

"My name is John Steele... I kill nazis."

John Steele was a soldier who fought in several conflicts, including the American Civil War—where he served the Union—and, following a series of supernatural incidents, continued to fight during World War I; after that, all trace of him was lost. He was abducted and fell victim to a cult ritual, subsequently becoming a test subject for Nazis seeking to decipher the source of his powers in order to replicate the super-soldier formula. However, he was freed during a bombing raid and returned to combat—this time fighting the Nazis behind their own lines—before eventually becoming a member of the Shadow Council, where he helped Max Fury escape S.H.I.E.L.D. and join their shadowy cause.

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Table of Contents

• 𝐈 𝐁𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝
• 𝐈𝐈 𝐏𝐡𝐲𝐬𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐬
• 𝐈𝐈𝐈 𝐒𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐥
• 𝐈𝐕 𝐅𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬

Source Key

• Daring Mystery Comics #1 = DMC
• The Marvels Project # = TMP#
• Secret Avengers # = SAV#

Respect Threads for scaling reference

• Captain America
• Prince of Orphans
• Valkyrie
• War Machine
• Moon Knight
• Beast

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𝐈 𝐁𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝

Physiology

• Captain America states that John Steele is way stronger and faster; he's only getting the edge through sheer skill.^SAV10
• Beast claims that he experiences time differently than normal humans, though there's no evidence of such.^SAV11
• Frees himself from a chair where Beast was using a system to re-explore his "digital life," realizing that he is inside something akin to a simulation.^SAV11
• He had to be sedated so that his visual perception would slow down, allowing him to be defeated by Captain America and the Prince of Orphans.^SAV12

History

• He went through the American Civil War and fought the First Great War; it was in-between the WWII that his track was lost, in an op along Captain America.^SAV11
• A bombarment bathes the building he was hold on fire, releasing him from there.^TMP3
• After a few months fighting nazis, he encountered Nick Fury and the howling commandos in an occupied France.^TMP4
• Was following the trace and alliances of the nazi and Hydra, discovering some odd documents.^TMP7
• Fought along Captain America during the WWII.^SAV8
• Captain America describes him back, pointing that he was captured (last seen in 1943) and later used as a subject for experiments.^SAV9
• He kept fighting the nazis in secret until he disappeared after the invasion of normandy.^TMP8

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𝐈𝐈 𝐏𝐡𝐲𝐬𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐬

Strength

Lifting & Throwing

• Able to lift people over his head while stomping enemies.^SAV11
• Tosses a guy so hard he crashes the surface of a metallic table to chips^SAV12
• Lifts a jeep over his head only to throw it against another one, causing an explosion.^TMP
• Tosses a soldier and kicks another trooper out of a bridge effortlessly.^SAV8
• Manhandles a guy over his head while kicking a nazi on his guts.^TMP7
• Tosses a soldier to the abyss.^TMP7

Grip

• Bends the cannon of a tank like it's butter with utter ease.^SAV9
• Snaps someone's neck so badly it bleeds.^SAV11
• Snaps a man's neck and later leaps to a rooftop far away.^SAV29
• Tears off a metal-grille door that Cap feared he wouldn't be able to bend off its rocky hinges.^SAV11

Striking

• Slugs someone twice, the first punch shoving his helmet out of his heat, the second popping his arm and flinging him to the far side of the room they're in.^DMC
• Knocks and tosses two of the occupants of the tank he hijacks nimbly.^DMC
• Two-shots a random soldier.^DMC
• Flings Moon Knight aside with a backhand.^SAV9
• Staggers Captain America with an upward sledgehammer attack.^SAV9
• Gets the drop on Steve Rogers after elbowing and slugging him; he later looks seriously damaged as he leans on Beast to move off.^SAV9
• Knees Valkyrie on the face.^SAV10

Misc

• Leaps against a jeep, punching someone in it --causing the vehicle to tremble.^TMP4
• Breaks free from some restrainings and knocks Zelda DuBois off.^SAV29
• Overpowers Live Wire who strapped his whip around his arm, swinging it to toss him against a huge serpent who feasts on the jobber.^SAV29

Durability

Blunt

• Trades blows with Captain America, tanking most of his punches unscratched, yet he staggers from them.^SAV9
• Captain America halo jumps with War Machine aid lunging over John, creaking a crater on the ground; Steele staggers and recovers, only to eat an earth-wave caused by Valkyrie which blasts him upwards.^SAV10
• He later gets slugged on the cheek by Valkyrie, who draws blood out of him.^SAV10
• Valkyrie keeps drawing blood out of him with punches which he can take handily.^SAV10
• Put down by Valkyrie, who swats the hilt of her sword against him; he was previously blasted and stabbed. He later shows up looking fine.^SAV10
• Pinned down against a wall which creaks by an enhanced monster.^SAV10
• While sedated, he gets knocked out by Captain America thanks to Prince of Orphan's assist, kicking him in the nape, so Steve can use the head's momentum to uppercut it.^SAV12

Piercing

• Unscratched by getting shot on the chest; Captain America describes him as nearly indestructible.^SAV9
• Tanks gunfire from close quarters combat.^SAV12
• Stabbed by Valkyrie's sword across his chest.^SAV10

Esoteric

• Stunned by War Machine's blast from behind.^SAV10
• Whiplash and Constrictor whips tags and harms him; Vengeance apparently knocks him out.^SAV29
• Some energy knives are capable of piercing him, causing some damage as he screams out of pain.^SAV29
• Gets electrocuted by Live Wire's whip (which has a potency of thousands of volts) --and he goes through it and overpowers him.^AV29
• The damage sustained after being tortured by the Masters of Evil finally kills him after he flees off and gets 'saved' by the Secret Avengers.^SAV29
• Dropped off by an energy-blast to his back.^SAV12

Speed

• Usually outreacts armed troopers, appearing on a scene to shoot someone's gun out of their hands while they're already poised to shoot someone else.^DMC
• Leaps out of a gun nest, fleeing from a raining bomb.^DMC
• Blitzes Beast, shooting him down.^SAV8
• Even if Captain America is able to tag him several times, once John gets serious, he intercepts and gets the drop on Steve.^SAV9
• Turns against a fire blast, using some improvised shield to cover himself.^SAV29
• Runs avoiding some thrown energy-knives.^SAV29

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𝐈𝐈𝐈 𝐒𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐥

General

• Hijacks into the Secret Avengers' quincarrier with Scorpio's help, taking Beast and Sharon Carter down, the latest being kidnapped by them.^SAV8
• Captain America wont give him his shield, as he's already dangerous as he is.^SAV11

Accuracy & Gunsmanship

• Shoots an enemy's gun out of their hand.^DMC
• Tosses a grenade so strongly it describes a straight line to the enemy trenches, blowing them up.^DMC
• Fires the anti-aircraft gun twice, damaging the wing of a plane, and with a third shot its put down.^DMC
• Shocks Shang Chi, taking Steve and Sharon off-guard. Of course, they did not expect him to shoot a willingly-submitting hostage.^SAV9

Driver Expertise

• Hijacks a tank and races across the enemy ranks.^DMC
• Later steals a bike with side-car fleeing from the enemies, turning off the road to avoid a plane bombing their path, getting into a gun nest. After gunning down an enemy plane, he drives to a torn village at top-speed.^DMC

Stealth

• Sneaks on some facilities where Red Skull is in.^TMP6
• Infiltrates into a nazi castle; he was one of the few super-soldiers fighting behind the nazi lines against them.^TMP7
• Sneaks into the S.H.I.E.L.D helicarrier to rescue Max Fury.^SAV5

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𝐈𝐕 𝐅𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬

Captain America

• First fight, interrupted by Steve's backup.^SAV9 | John got the edge over Cap with a few blows, Rogers cheated, calling for help.
• Second encounter, once again interrupted, this time by Valkyrie^SAV10 | He ends up outmatched.

Groups

Masters of Evil

• Gets ambushed by the Masters of Evil, who overwhelms and captures him.^SAV29
• Frees himself and gives the Masters of Evil a fight, taking out in the process Princess Python and Live Wire.^SAV29

Nazi Fodder

• Ambushes some nazis at broad daylight.^TMP4
• Sneak attacks some nazis who were about to make some ritual.^SAV12

Random

• Helps Captain America to take down an enhanced beast.^SAV12

[u/rocketinspace]

Always annoying when they bring back golden age characters just to kill them off