A terrible long meme.
Body and Appearance
1. Describe the character's height and build. Is he heavyset, thin, short, rangy?
Bucky's pretty buff, but he's a bit on the short and lithe side for the superhero set. He's not a 6'3" broad-shouldered musclebound mini-hulk, let's put it that way. Bucky's about 5'9 and weighs 170is pounds. The handbook is full of lies.
2. How old is he?
20 and some change.
3. Describe his posture. Does he carry himself well or does he slouch?
Bucky sometimes affects and exaggerated slouch, but mostly it's stick-straight military posture.
4. How is his health? Is he fit or out of shape? Any illnesses or conditions? Any physical disabilities?
He's missing his left arm, which is...very painful, actually. Other than that, he's in really good physical condition, and he still works out despite the disability.
5. How does he move? Is he clumsy, graceful, tense, fluid?
I wouldn't call him graceful, or possessed of any special kinetic charisma, but he's very in control of his body and physical movements.
6. How attractive is this character physically? How does he perceive himself in the mirror?
He's attractive in that "I'd put him on a propaganda poster" sense, very fresh-faced and youthful. Real All-American. His actions and personality don't always line up with the wholesomeness of his appearance. The dark and brooding thing is something he'll have to grow into. He's not overly concerned with his appearance, beyond just the basics of keeping himself neat- but he wishes he could grow more of a beard.
7. Describe his complexion. Dark, light, clear, scarred?
Bucky's got darker coloring than most of the white guys in the MU, but that doesn't say much.
8. Describe his hair: color, texture, style.
Bucky's hair is a brown color that can look reddish in some lights. It's wavy, he wears it as long as regulation will allow, and likes to curl it with pomade sometimes. Terrible.
9. What color are his eyes?
They're brown. Brown, colorists, brown. They're not exactly warm, though.
10. Does the character have any other noteworthy features?
He is remarkably free of scarring despite all the injuries from bullets and grenades. Thanks, comics?
11. What are his chief tension centers?
I do not know what this means.
12. What is the character's wardrobe like? Casual, dressy, utilitarian? Bright colors, pastels, neutrals? Is it varied, or does he have six of the same suit?
Bucky tends toward neutral, boring colors, though I think every so often he sees something horribly bright and garish and buys it just to live a little. He wears clothes that might be hip if he was wearing them ironically; he's not. Lots of plain button-down shirts, pants for old men, and general crap he bought at a thrift store. He has a thing for leather jackets.
13. Do his clothes fit well? Does he seem comfortable in them?
Sure, they fit well, and he really owns them. Kate bought him a "modern clothes" outfit which never seems to quite fit right no matter what he does.
14. Does he dress the same on the job as he does in his free time? If not, what are the differences?
He has a lot of uniforms, and he treats them with the normal amount of respect. He wishes he had his fancy-dress uniform, here in the City.
15. You knew it was coming: Boxers, briefs or commando?
Briefs. Boxers are for the Navy.
Speech
1. What does this character's voice sound like? High-pitched, deep, hoarse?
He sounds younger than he is, which annoys him, but other than that, very red-blooded American boy.
2. How does he normally speak? Loud, soft, fast, evenly? Does he talk easily, or does he hesitate?
Bucky speaks quickly and doesn't pause without a reason. He's one of those people who likes to say something just to fill up the silence. He can get real mile-a-minute car salesman if he's gotta.
3. Does the character have a distinct accent or dialect? Any individual quirks of pronunciation? Any, like, you know, verbal tics?
Bucky's got a pretty straight-American accent, though I figure he might accent some words odd just due to historical peculiarities. He loves words, loves slang, loves learning new words and making up new words and generally mixing them up. BUT he's afraid of talking like someone from this century.
4. What language/s does he speak, and with how much fluency?
English, obviously. German, French, and Russian, as well. Of those, German is his best, but he's fluent enough in all of them. He knows a bit of other useful WW2 type languages- Chinese, Japanese, Italian- but by a "bit" I mean mostly the swear words.
5. Does he switch languages or dialects in certain situations?
Not unless he's making fun of the way someone else talks.
6. Is he a good impromptu speaker, or does he have to think about his words?
Nah, Bucky just talks and talks and talks. The exception to this is public speaking, speeches, that kinda thing, which trips him up but good.
7. Is he eloquent or inarticulate? Under what circumstances might this change?
He's probably not eloquent in the traditional erudite sense of the word, but he's well spoken enough. Then the commies got to him.
Mental and Emotional
1. How intelligent is this character? Is he book-smart or street-smart?
I'd say Bucky's sharp or clever more than he's intelligent. He's smart, but he does an awful lot of stupid things. He's extremely quick to pick up things and has a natural aptitude for just about everything, seems like, but he's got little formal education to speak of and a lot of his cleverness is just on the surface cleverness, not so much with the deep insight. If he'd have stayed in school, he would have done well enough and made good but not exceptional grades. His natural savvy is hampered by the timeswitch, some, as well. It's hard to be street-smart when you're sixty years out of date.
2. Does he think on his feet, or does he need time to deliberate?
Bucky does best under pressure and so winds up in terrible situations with the odds stacked against him more often than not.
3. Describe the character's thought process. Is he more logical, or more intuitive? Idealistic or practical?
He's a logical, practical type who inclines toward cynicism, naturally. He doesn't wear that like a badge of honor anymore, though.
4. What kind of education has the character had?
He attended up to 8th grade! And then dropped out. He had to memorize a lot of stuff, and he can still recite some of the poems they made him learn from memory.
5. What are his areas of expertise? What, if anything, is he interested in learning more about?
Bucky's good with laws and rules, and more specifically, loopholes and how to abuse them. He likes picking up scraps of knowledge but a real formal education doesn't have a ton of appeal.
6. Is he an introvert or an extrovert?
Extrovert.
7. Describe the character's temperament. Is he even-tempered or does he have mood swings? Cheerful or melancholy? Laid-back or driven?
Bucky's a pretty up-beat guy, and can be counted on to make a joke in just about any terrible situation. But that doesn't mean he's laid-back, he's extremely disciplined, and works hard.
8. How does he respond to new people or situations? Is he suspicious, relaxed, timid, enthusiastic?
Bucky likes meeting new people and talking to them. He's also paranoid and suspicious, thanks to Nazi spies out to get him. But he's pretty remarkable about separating the two things. He doesn't come across as the paranoid freak he secretly is.
9. Is he more likely to act, or to react?
Act.
10. Which is his default: fight or flight?
Fight, are you friggen kidding me?
11. Describe the character's sense of humor. Does he appreciate jokes? Puns? Gallows humor? Bathroom humor? Pranks?
All of the above, in proper moderation. Bucky's sense of humor has a dark bent to it that sometimes shows through, but mostly he won't get kicked out of polite conversation unless he's trying to.
12. Does the character have any diagnosable mental disorders? If yes, how does he deal with them?
No. It's a miracle.
13. What moments in this character's life have defined him as a person?
I think his father's death (when he was 12, around Christmas) is kind of the big one.
14. What does he fear?
Heights. The future. Messing up.
15. What are his hopes or aspirations?
Bucky wanted to be a forest ranger! He's seeing that as less likely, now. He doesn't really want to be Captain America, but the idea has an appeal in a kids fantasy kinda way.
16. What is something he doesn't want anyone to find out about him?
His future. Dammit, why does everyone know...
Relationships
1. Describe this character's relationship with his parents.
Bucky never knew his mom, but he really looked up to his father. He wanted to join the Army just like his dad did, etc etc. George Barnes has kind of gotten built up in his son's mind.
2. Does the character have any siblings? What is/was their relationship like?
He has a younger sister, Rebecca. I think they had a falling out after their father died, with Bucky wanting to live on the base still and Rebecca wanting to leave the army brat culture and go to a normal orphanage and all that. They reacted to their father's death differently, and wound up living in different places, so Bucky didn't see much of her after that. He wrote her letters during the war sometimes, but not a lot gets through the censors.
3. Are there other blood relatives to whom he is close? Are there ones he can't stand?
No, everyone is dead. His grandmother was apparently named Rose.
4. Are there other, unrelated people whom he considers part of his family? What are his relationships with them?
I don't think so. He and Steve are very close, but I don't know if Bucky would call them family. Brothers, maybe, but that's more because of the military comradeship thing than any real surrogate family relationship. He sort of resents people who think Steve's like his dad or something.
5. Who is/was the character's best friend? How did they meet?
Probably Steve? Possibly Tom. He'd call them both his best friend, Bucky's so popular. Anyway, the brass assigned Bucky to be Steve's partner, so they first met in that capacity. And he met Tom while fending off Nazi saboteurs or something.
6. Does he have other close friends?
There are a lot of guys he regularly fought with in WW2, which, has its own kind of closeness. He'd do a lot for them, that's for sure, even if he might not be able to finish their sentences.
7. Does he make friends easily, or does he have trouble getting along with people?
Bucky makes friends quickly, but he doesn't stay in one place enough to have real lasting friendships, so he's got trouble in that area.
8. Which does he consider more important: family or friends?
Well, his dad is important.
9. Is the character single, married, divorced, widowed? Has he been married more than once?
Single. He was planning to ask his girlfriend to marry him after the war, though.
10. Is he currently in a romantic relationship with someone other than a spouse?
He has a canon girlfriend but he's kind of- figuring out that it will probably never happen. Which he hasn't confronted yet.
11. Who was his first crush? Who is his latest?
Some girl who used to come by the dime store a bunch when he briefly worked as a clerk when he was eleven or so. Not really sure who his latest one is.
12. What does he look for in a romantic partner?
Guns and an accent. No, really, confidence, and he likes women who can challenge him and boss him around.
13. Does the character have children? Grandchildren? If yes, how does he relate to them? If no, does he want any?
Nope. He hasn't really thought about it.
14. Does he have any rivals or enemies?
Yes. Nazis.
15. What is the character's sexual orientation? Where does he fall on the Kinsey scale?
0-1. He is about as straight as you can be and still be a superhero.
16. How does he feel about sex? How important is it to him?
Well, he thinks about it a lot, but the real deal isn't a huge priority. Sex is discouraged in the military and he's mostly willing to go along with that. It's the Soviets he'll disobey to get laid.
17. What are his turn-ons? Turn-offs? Weird bedroom habits?
He's not super experienced, he doesn't really know.
Beliefs
1. Do you know your character's astrological (zodiac of choice) sign? How well does he fit type?
I decided he was Aries, which fits in some aspects (courageous, athletic, willful) but not so much in others (selfish, undisciplined.)
2. Is this character religious, spiritual, both, or neither? How important are these elements in his life?
Neither. He adheres to Christianity only in a loose, "everybody does" kind of way, he's got no profound religious beliefs. But he doesn't hate God or passionately disbelieve, either. It's just not something he thinks about.
3. Does this character have a personal code of morals or ethics? If so, how did that begin? What would it take to compromise it?
He tries to act moral, with some (fun) lapses, but he doesn't have a codified morality. He just tried so to his best to not be completely evil. He does stick by stuff like the Geneva convention.
4. How does he regard beliefs that differ from his? Is he tolerant, intolerant, curious, indifferent?
It depends how they're different. If you break the Geneva convention, he's not gonna be nice about it. But he's willing to entertain other points of view some of the time.
5. What prejudices does he hold? Are they irrational or does he have a good reason for them?
He's got strange ideas about women, mostly because he's never had the chance to be around them all that long. He never knew his mother, his sister got taken away, and then his whole life after that was the military.
Daily Life
1. What is the character's financial situation? Is he rich, poor, comfortable, in debt?
Bucky's not rich, exactly, but he's well-off enough in the City and thrifty as all get out.
2. What is his social status? Has this changed over time, and if so, how has the change affected him?
Bucky's lower-middle class, I suppose, but the military is kind of its own separate world. The transition between military and civilian life is a bit rough for him. But he
3. Where does he live? House, apartment, trailer? Is his home his castle or just a place to crash? What condition is it in? Does he share it with others?
He- well, he rents out a nice brownstone that he maybe doesn't own, but no one official's caught onto that. (The previous owner was ported out, so it's not like he stole it. He just started keeping the place up and also...collecting money.) He also lives there in a small apartment. He does a good job keeping it up, but he doesn't have a lot of things.
4. Besides the basic necessities, what does he spend his money on?
Nothing much. Bucky's really frugal, and he likes to move things around more than actually possess them for very long. Every once in a while, though, he sees something new and peculiar and strange just walking around the City and he's gotta buy it. This explains his collection of superglue.
5. What does he do for a living? Is he good at it? Does he enjoy it, or would he rather be doing something else?
He's a landlord. It's boring to him, but he's at a bit of a loss what else he can do.
6. What are his interests or hobbies? How does he spend his free time?
Bucky likes playing poker, exercising a lot, baseball, and people watching.
7. What are his eating habits? Does he skip meals, eat out, drink alcohol, avoid certain foods?
He doesn't drink a whole lot, but he definitely does drink, and sometimes with the express intention of intoxicating himself. He doesn't skip meals too often, and he makes his food himself, mostly, because he's cheap, but he's on a mission to have something new from the food carts around town every week.
END
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