With a career beginning in the 1940s, Captain America has had decades to accrue a laundry list of colorful villains. Nazis, communists, anarchists, dictators, terrorists of various stripes, and regular costumed crooks, Cap's rogues' gallery has them all.
With such an extensive and varied list of enemies, the bad guys Cap goes up against range from the deadliest of the deadly to ones who are just a little bit lame. Here, we'll go through some of them from the lamest to the most serious fiends Captain America has battled in his career.
10 Blue Streak
Without a doubt, out of Captain America's rogues' gallery, Blue Streak is the least threatening. His gimmick was a power-suit with a built-in set of roller skates that allowed him to move at super-speed. Enhanced speed and strength aside, does Captain freaking America have that much to worry about from a bad guy in heelies?
Originally a SHIELD agent named Don Thomas, the Blue Streak was revealed by Cap to be a spy for the villainous syndicate known as the Corporation. After getting out of prison he began a crime spree in the midwest, only to end up as one of the many victims of the Scourge of the Underworld.
9 Death-Throws
While they get some extra points for their clever name, the Death-Throws aren't close to being a top-tier menace for the Star-Spangled Man With a Plan. Making their first appearance in Captain America #317, they were a group of villainous jugglers and acrobats who committed crimes utilizing deadly circus props.
While their acrobatic fighting style would provide an opportunity for some really fun fight scenes, they never pose much of a problem for Cap. One can imagine that battling them would be an excellent warmup for the hero before he'd go up against one of his more powerful foes.
8 Vermin
Introduced in Captain America #272, Vermin is like a more depressing version of long-time Spider-Man villain The Lizard. He was a geneticist working for Baron Zemo, who was subjected to multiple experiments that transformed him into a feral, rodent-like humanoid.
He has enhanced strength and agility along with the ability to control rats, but his history of mental illness (stemming from childhood abuse) makes him more of a tragic nuisance than a genuine menace.
7 Batroc The Leaper
Zut Alors! Batroc the Leaper (or "Batroc zee Leepair") gets a bad rap because of his outrageous mustache and comically exaggerated accent, but his gymnastic abilities and proficiency in French kickboxing style of savate allow him to keep up with Captain America, arguably one of the most accomplished hand-to-hand combatants in the Marvel Universe.
Despite his sometimes laughable swagger, Batroc has a noble edge to his criminal endeavors. In one of his first appearances, he had been hired by HYDRA to take out Captain America. After HYDRA's agents intervened in their fight, Batroc turned on his employers for their dishonorable methods. Sometimes, the guy can be très magnifique!
6 Dr. Faustus
Most of Dr. Faustus' infamy comes from his involvement in Captain America's assassination in the climax of the "Civil War" event. It was Faustus that psychologically manipulated Sharon Carter into fatally shooting Cap while he was in SHIELD custody.
While his gift for psychological warfare and mental manipulation is inarguable, it's an intricate and precise method of villainy that takes an extended amount of time to pay off. When dealing with someone like Captain America, a bad guy needs to either match him physically or have enough firepower or tech to subdue him. As we frequently see whenever Faustus shows up in Cap's adventures, when it comes to an actual physical confrontation, he is hopelessly outmatched.
5 The Swordsman
One of the earliest Silver Age villains to face Captain America was the Swordsman, who attempted to con his way on to the Avengers roster in order to exploit the benefits that came with being a member. While he was an untrustworthy and cynical criminal, it was revealed over time that the idealism of his youth had been buried under years of world-weariness. He would eventually overcome his demons, properly join the Avengers, and begin a relationship with his teammate Mantis.
What makes him dangerous to Cap? He's an extremely skilled combatant, one who gained experience conducting guerrilla combat in war-torn Sian-Cong. Also, keep in mind that he was the one who taught Hawkeye hand-to-hand combat.
4 Arnim Zola
The Nazi biochemist turned cyborg Arnim Zola has been one of Captain America's most persistent foes over the years. His prowess in genetic engineering has allowed him to create literal armies of horrifying henchmen to go after Cap and his allies.
His genius and inability to be destroyed, since he can just upload his consciousness into another body, make him a considerable threat. That being said, Zola has always been something of a pawn for stronger willed and more ambitious villains, who are more than happy to utilize the mad scientist's expertise to further their plans of domination.
3 Crossbones
A completely amoral assassin, Crossbones is a rare villain who can rival Captain America both physically and tactically. He spent years being trained by Taskmaster at his school of combat and excelled so greatly in his studies that he was actually made an instructor. He then worked for an extended period as a mercenary fighting in various small wars over the globe before working with HYDRA.
Hulking and brutal, Crossbones can match Cap's fighting skills, and his years of mercenary experience have allowed him to pick up some strategic skills that his villainous colleagues lack. He's definitely an enemy to be taken with the utmost seriousness.
2 Baron Zemo
Baron Helmut Zemo, the thirteenth Baron Zemo, has all of the combat skills of a villain like Crossbones (minus the strength) but coupled with the brain of an evil genius. Even worse? Captain America was responsible for his father's death.
So why isn't he number one on Cap's list of most dangerous foes? Well... He's not exactly wrapped so tight (having a father who's a Nazi war criminal will do that to you,) and his criminal intellect and ruthlessness are curbed by his mercurial emotional and moral shifts. While that makes him an interesting character, it places him firmly as a runner-up.
1 Red Skull
Hitler was afraid of him. That dubious qualification makes Red Skull into one of the most ruthless and frightening villains in the Marvel Universe. Driven by nothing other than his quest for ultimate power and his pure contempt for humanity, he has been Captain America's arch-enemy since he was first introduced in the 1940s.
While not able to match his enemy in terms of strength, the Red Skull's evil genius, strategic mastery, and his political skills make him an ideological threat to Cap in addition to any physical harm he could orchestrate. Captain America is always able to win in the end, but against the Red Skull, it's always a long road to justice.