Application | Folkmore

[dadguardian]

❥ Character Information

Character Name: Alexei Shostakov, aka the Red Guardian
Character Age: Somewhere in his fifties (rough estimate, since canon never states when he was born, but implies he was already Super Soldiering in 1983)
Character Species: Human (super soldier)
Current Health: A little banged up, but he'll bounce back
Outfit: The Red Guardian suit, minus a shield

Character Canon: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Link to History: Wikia link!
Canon Point: Post-Black Widow (2016 on the MCU timeline)
Canon Iteration: Original canon

❥ Folkmore Roles & Attributes

Skills:
- Hand to hand combat: Alexei is the muscle of the team, the big tank. He was trained by the Soviet forces, and they trained him well. Very little is known about the Red Guardian's prime, but even with twenty years in prison, he still manages to hold out his own against Taskmaster (a perfect mimic who was trained to copy Big Name Avengers) without even having a weapon.
- Close-range Weapons Mastery: Red Guardian's main weapon is a shield, much like Captain America, which means he fights best in close range. It can be assumed other objects/weapons could be used to replace the shield.
- Master Marksman: During his time in the Soviet Armed Forces, Alexei was presumably trained to use an assortment of fire arms. This shows when he manages to land some perfect shots with a rifle while lying on the wing of a moving airplane. Granted, that was in 1995, but presumably he's still got it.
- Expert spy: Alexei spent three years undercover in America, with a fake family, pretending to be a meek data analyst. That's about as far as you can get from his real self, but he made it work! Presumably, that also means he had to learn the trade of data analytics, or he couldn't possibly have pulled the infiltration off.
- Bilingualism: Despite the thick-accented, tropey way in which he usually speaks, Alexei can actually speak impeccable American English, as shown off in the first ten minutes of the movie.

Canon Abilities:
- Artificially Enhanced Physiology: Alexei was given a recreation of the super soldier serum responsible for creating super-abled individuals like Captain America. So far, no side-effects are noted and it seems to have worked just as well as the original serum. This means Alexei got the following: Enhanced strength, durability, speed, stamina, reflexes... And quite likely a regenerative healing factor, where his injuries heal faster. That last one is hard to say for certain, since his appearance in Black Widow lasts about a day in canon, but he sure does take a lot of blows and shakes them off in the movie. It takes like fifteen tranquilizer darts to knock him out cold, and even then he's shown regaining consciousness before anyone else.

Role: Legend
Role Qualities/Attributes: Eye color changing to reflect his mood, a halo which shows when he does particularly good deeds, and wings which are hidden by default. He needs to summon them. They look very metallic; light grey with a sheen and dark red adornments.
Role Reasoning: Legend is the obvious choice here, because the Red Guardian was created to be the Soviet Union's response to Captain America. He was meant to be the hero of the people, and while he did buy into the Soviet mindset for a very long time, it's revealed he was later thrown into prison for criticizing the Russian government. It's clear he wanted to do more for the people, but wasn't allowed. Alexei considers Captain America, the 'great hero', his arch-nemesis and he's proud of Natasha for becoming an Avenger. Clearly, this man wanted nothing more than to become a legendary hero himself. With his current canon point, he's just been released from prison and this is his opportunity to actually live up to that potential. Unfortunately, he's also kind of lazy, so let's see how far he'll go in terms of active heroics! He's going to be a protective dad figure for sure.

❥ Personality

Option 2. Choose FOUR-FIVE of the following questions to answer and expand upon. Each answer has a 100-300 word requirement.
Option 2 questions (4-5). 100-300 word limit each:

❥ What is the most important and defining relationship(s) in your character's life and why?
That's the relationship with his family- no contest. While he originally didn't want to go on the Ohio mission and felt it was a waste of his skills, he now considers it the most important time of his life, looking back. Even if it was all just staged by their superiors, those years as a family felt real to him. He considers himself the father of Natasha and Yelena. Despite being in prison, he somehow managed to keep tabs on the two as they grew, proud of their achievements. He later tells them that he loved them, and only ever wanted what was best for them. It's clear that he still cares very deeply for Melina too, and tries to get together with her again on several occasions.

❥ What is your character's moral code? Do they have one? Why or why not?
This one is tricky, in part because Marvel itself doesn't seem to have figured it out. In Black Widow, he states that he's proud of Yelena and Natasha for how many people they've killed. "Your ledgers must be dripping red", he says. But in an episode of What If...?, a younger alternate universe version of Alexei is actually thoroughly opposed to killing and tries to stop Winter Soldier from taking lives at every turn. The easiest explanation lies in 'indoctrination'. Red Guardian was meant to be a hero, which means protecting life, but it's possible that the longer he was under Soviet control, the more he grew to believe that taking out opponents is something to be proud of. Being surrounded by vicious inmates doesn't help any where that's concerned. But Natasha left the Black Widow program to become an Avenger, of which he's also proud, which implies he cares far more about true heroism than he does about underhanded killing.

❥ What are your characters dreams and nightmares? Do you believe they are more likely to obtain one rather than the other?
The upcoming Thunderbolts* movie is bound to delve into this more, but for now, let's go by a scene from the trailer, which I think is very relevant to the question. It seems that after Black Widow's events (and the Snap), Alexei couldn't get any sort of hero work, and instead had to start a limo service. He has a messy little house and lives off DoorDash meals. He pretends to still have 'many irons in the fire' and was just on an important classified call, and when Yelena asks him whether he's fulfilled, he says that he is. He's very clearly lying. Alexei's nightmare is what it's always been: to not be relevant. To be stashed away somewhere, gathering dust, instead of thriving as the hero was always meant to be. An episode of What If...? also echoes this notion, where a younger version of Alexei says that he came from 'a family of nobodies' and was given the chance to be somebody. He considers himself 'Mother Russia's great protector, her Red Guardian- pretty good for a boy from nowhere'. His dream is to validate himself by protecting others, as most heroes do.

❥ What does your character feel like they struggle with still? Where could they improve? This could be physically, mentally, emotionally, or otherwise.
Alexei has a lot of heart to him, but doesn't know how to communicate these things and often just cracks jokes in poor taste- which is typical Dad behavior. He's not very good with heartfelt words. He does his best, but often sees his attempts to connect explode in his face. He fails at explaining why he's so proud of his faux daughters when he first tries it and ultimately just wraps it up by pulling them into a hug (which also doesn't go appreciated). When Yelena becomes upset over their family not being seen as 'real', Alexei is the one to go speak with her, but once again messes it up by sharing an uncomfortable anecdote about his own father. It's not until he sings Yelena's favorite childhood song that he can get the sentiment across: he does remember those days fondly, and considers himself her father. It's a learning curve that he's going to have to continue with, because while actions do sometimes speak louder than words... The words do help clarify things a lot better.

❥ Is your character capable of forgiveness or will they hold a grudge until they die? Would anything ever make them change their mind?
Alexei is shown to be a pretty petty man. This shines most during the scenes that take place in the Russian prison. He continuously taunts and intimidates his fellow inmates- even breaks a guy's wrist after being called a liar. Once it's clear that Natasha is about to come break him out, and he's told not to make a scene, he ignores that command in favor of attacking the prison guards who were mocking him earlier. As they fly off in the helicopter, he watches the compound get buried in an avalanche and gleefully shouts "farewell, douchebags!" So... Yeah. He doesn't really forgive, nor does he hold grudges forever. Instead, he acts on the grudge as soon as there's an opportunity, and that clears the air for him. You punch him, he punches back, it's all good!

❥ Permissions

OOC opt-outs: None.
IC opt-outs: None.
Content warnings related to the character: Communism, propaganda, human experimentation, arguably shitty parenting, probably committed plenty of murders during his time as Red Guardian. Black Widow (the movie, not the character) specifically addresses further dark content in the form of human trafficking, brainwashing (psychological and chemical) and involuntary hysterectomies. Alexei's Russian accent can also be seen as very tropey and culturally insensitive.
Sensitive subjects related to the character: Apart from learning that Natasha's dead in his future, probably nothing.

❥ Player Information

Player Name: Meowzy
Pronouns: Any
Are you over 18?: Yes
Contact(s): Meowzy or Meowzy on Discord
Link to invitation: Current Player
Current Characters: Marc Spector
Permissions: Here
Writing Samples: TDM top-level and an additional TFLN top-level