Captain America is one of the primary leaders of the Avengers and considered the gold standard of superheroism in the Marvel Universe. He's kind, patient, compassionate, and dedicated. He was one of the first public superheroes in the Marvel Universe and fought in World War II along with the Bucky Barnes and the superteam, the Invaders.

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However, at the end of the day, Steve Rogers is still just a human being, prone to anger and general human frailty. He doesn't always make the right decisions. Sometimes, these mistakes lead to minor conflict in his personal life. Other times, the mistakes of Captain America have dire global consequences.

10 Every Time He Has Given Up Being Captain America (Except Once)

John Walker as Captain America

Looking throughout the history of Captain America, almost every time Steve Rogers has given up the name "Captain America" has led to someone else suffering greatly. When the activities of the Secret Empire pushed Cap into giving up the shield and becoming Nomad, a young man named Roscoe Simons took up the mantle and was publicly tortured and crucified by the Red Skull.

The second time Cap gave up the shield and became the Captain, John Walker took up the mantle of Captain America and became an authoritarian jackboot until Steve put him in his place. Even dying and allowing Bucky Barnes to be Captain America ended with Bucky almost dying from an Asgardian hammer being shoved into his chest thanks to Sinthea Schmidt, daughter of the Red Skull. The only time Cap giving up the shield wasn't a complete catastrophe was when Sam Wilson became Captain America--and the most recent Secret Empire event put an end to that.

9 Allowing Marcus, "Son Of Immortus," To Take Carol Danvers

Ms Marvel and Marcus Immortus Holding each other in front of the Avengers

At one point during her Avengers career, Carol Danvers became suddenly pregnant. The pregnancy was swift and ended in the birth of "Marcus." Marcus rapidly grew into an adult, revealing himself to be a "son of Immortus." Immortus is another incarnation of Kang the Conquerer. Marcus said he needed to be born into our dimension this way because it was the only way he could come to Earth. Carol claimed to be in love with Immortus and traveled with him to Limbo. Cap and the rest of the Avengers gave Marcus their blessing for some reason.

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Later, Carol returned in a fury. She couldn't believe the Avengers allowed their teammate to be taken by a powerful and mysterious entity who was obviously manipulating her. This led her to abandon the Avengers, and the X-Men thankfully took Carol in.

8 Not Trying To Make An Alliance Between The Avengers And X-Men Sooner

The Uncanny Avengers, with Thor, , Captain America, Scarlet Witch, Wolverine in Marvel Comics

This is a vaguer mistake, but it is one that had long-lasting consequences. Captain America, being a leader of the Avengers, could have pushed the team to be more mutant-friendly.

While they showed compassion and concern for the mutant plight, the escapades of the Masters of Evil, Thanos, Ultron, Kang, and others usually kept them from paying too much attention to how the United States government treated mutants.

7 Not Paying Attention To The Growing Power And Decaying Mental Health Of Wanda

scarlet witch's body breaking up into small pixel like pieces

The Scarlet Witch's rapidly developing powers and obvious mental deterioration (reaching their peak when her conjured children, Billy and Tommy, ceased to exist) never seemed to concern the rest of the Avengers too much.

This proved to a mistake, as Wanda eventually had a complete breakdown which culminated in Avengers Disassembled, wherein Ant-Man, the Vision, and Hawkeye all died. From there, Quicksilver manipulated her sister into creating the House of M, which ended in the infamous M-Day, where the mutant race almost went extinct. While a lot of people are at fault for these catastrophes, Steve Rogers and the rest of Wanda's Avengers peers are highly culpable.

6 Partaking In Nick Fury's Secret War In Latveria

Secret War Nick Fury In His Chair

Nick Fury Sr. was at one point tracking high-tech weaponry being sold to American supervillains from Latveria. At the time, Doctor Doom was missing, and Latveria was being led by a woman named Lucia von Bardas. Nick knew that von Bardas must be involved, and he led a covert team of superheroes to wage his Secret War. Captain America was among their number.

The mission ended with Castle Doomstadt being destroyed with von Bardas inside, and she retaliated by attacking New York City, now in a cyborg form created by the Tinkerer. This led to much chaos and destruction and the superheroes being blamed for Fury's antics. Fury was ousted from S.H.I.E.L.D., and this was one of the catalysts for the Super Hero Registration Act.

5 Waging Open War Against The United States Government During Civil War

Ben urich on the frontlines of Civil War

When the SHRA was passed, Cap openly rejected it and became a fugitive from the government. He led an army of other superhero fugitives and waged open war on S.H.I.E.L.D, Iron Man, and the United States government. This ended.

The ensuing Superhuman Civil War caused much destruction and chaos, and it even ended in the death of Bill Foster, aka Goliath, at the hands of a cybernetic Thor clone called Ragnarok (created by Iron Man, Mister Fantastic, and Yellowjacket). In the end, the endless destruction and threatening of innocent lives caused Cap to surrender to the government, and he was assassinated shortly afterward by the Red Skull and Crossbones.

4 Invading Utopia With The Rest Of The Avengers

Avengers battle the X-Men

Neglect of the mutant plight ultimately led to the mutants getting desperate. Cyclops became convinced that the approaching Phoenix Force was the only way to save mutant-kind. The Avengers wanted to stop the Phoenix, as they remembered the destruction the entity can cause.

Cap rather unsympathetically went to the mutant island of Utopia to confront Cyclops. When Scott proved unwilling to listen, Cap revealed a helicarrier full of Avengers parked over Utopia, and the war between the Avengers and the X-Men ensued.

3 Joining Up With The Illimunati After Discovering Their Existence

Captain America Illuminati

After discovering the existence of the Illuminati, Cap decided they needed his personal oversight, and he took a seat and one of their Infinity Gems to hold onto. Eventually, the Illuminati had to reconvene in the face of the Incursion crisis--wherein parallel Earths were colliding with one another and destroying their native realities.

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This led to the Illuminati considering the option of destroying other Earths to save their own. Cap wouldn't have it, so Iron Man had Doctor Strange wipe Cap's memory of the Illuminati and eject him from the group.

2 Fighting The Illuminati Instead Of Dealing With The Incursion Crisis

iron-man-and-captain-america-fight-in-time-runs-out

When Steve had these memories restored (in an unrelated story involving the Orb and the Eyes of Uatu the Watcher), he began attacking the Illuminati. He used the full resources of S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Avengers to hunt the Illuminati across the world.

Meanwhile, the Incursions continued, and the end of all things grew nearer. However, Steve was so furious at Tony Stark that they just let this apocalypse happen. During the Final Incursion, Cap and Iron Man fought as the Multiverse ended around them.

1 Challenging Sam Wilson During His Career As Captain America

Sam Wilson: Captain America

After Sam Wilson became Captain America, Sam made a contentious and politically charged speech on national television and began openly working with the fugitive hacker known as the Whisperer (who was later revealed to be Rick Jones).

This infuriated Steve, and he began openly challenging Sam and interfering with his missions as Captain America.

NEXT: FATWS: 10 Saddest Things About Bucky Barnes