It's taken longer than I would've liked, but I'm finally presenting the final (at least for now) entry in my alternate Captain America mini-series with an entry on the Cap of the 1950's, William Burnside.
One quick note on his Strength score: It's set as high as it is in relation to the Captain America/Steve Rogers write-up on this very website, which rates the original Cap as having Remarkable Strength. I assume that Burnside's version of the Super-Soldier Serum is a stronger variation on the original formula, hence his own strength as being ranked (slightly) stronger than Rogers. Feel free to round it down as you see fit. (If you prefer the TSR-approved stats for Cap Rogers, then adjust Burnside's Strength score to Excellent as well as the corresponding damage his shield does by -1 C.S.)
Captain America IV
F: Incredible (40)
A: Remarkable (30)
S: Remarkable (35)
E: Incredible (40)
R: Good (10)
I: Incredible (40)
P: Poor (04)
Health: 145
Karma: 60
Resources: Typical (Excellent when backed by the U.S. government)
Popularity: 6 (100 when believed by the populace to be the original Cap)
Real Name: William Burnside, legally changed to Steve Rogers
Occupation: former history teacher, former professional super-hero/government operative
Legal Status: Citizen of the United States with no criminal record
Identity: Secret (known to government officials)
Other Known Aliases: Grand Director
Place of Birth: Unrevealed
Marital Status: Single
Known Relatives: Unrevealed
Base of Operations: Mobile
Past Group Affiliations: former leader of the National Force, former pawn of Dr. Faustus and the Red Skull
Present Group Affiliations: None
Known Powers:
None
Equipment:
Shield: Constructed from an unknown alloy, this 2.5 foot diameter circular shield possesses Monstrous (75) material strength, providing Burnside with Monstrous (75) protection versus physical and energy attacks directed against him. Burnside is still subject to Stuns or Slams while defending himself with the shield. Due to its disk-shaped design, the shield may be thrown up to four areas and bounced off of multiple targets and return to its wielder’s hand on a successful Yellow feat. It can do up to Incredible (40) blunt damage or Excellent (20) edged damage, depending on how Burnside chooses to throw it.
Body Armor: Burnside’s uniform is a chain-mail mesh armor and integrated cowl that provides him with Good (10) protection against edged attacks and Typical (06) protection against blunt and piercing attacks.
Talents: Martial Arts A, B, C & E; Military, Weapon Specialist: Shield
Contacts: Captain America (Steve Rogers)
Roleplaying Notes: Before the combination of the Super-Soldier serum and Doctor Faustus’ brainwashing ate away his sanity, William Burnside was a deeply patriotic American with an unhealthy fixation on his hero, Captain America. Afterwards, Burnside became a paranoid and violent fascist. Regardless of his mental state, Burnside is a man out of time just as Steve Rogers was when he was revived. But unlike Rogers, who sought to adapt to modern times, Burnside tries to make the world adjust to him.
Appearance: William Burnside is the spitting image of Steve Rogers, either in uniform or out. The only change between Burnside’s Captain America costume and Rogers’ classic uniform is the lack of red and white stripes on the former’s back torso.
History:
Born circa 1929, William Burnside idolized the original Captain America (Steve Rogers) as a teenager, and he avidly followed all reports of Cap’s adventures alongside his partner Bucky (James Barnes) as well as joining Cap’s fan club, the Sentinels of Liberty. Following the reported deaths of Captain America and Bucky in 1945, the young Burnside dedicated his life to the study of Captain America, and graduated from college with a Ph.D. in American history in 1952 with a thesis on the legendary hero.
Early in 1953, Burnside traveled to Germany to conduct research on wartime Axis files on Captain America. In the process, he discovered files revealing the true identity of the original Captain America as well as the lost Super Soldier serum formula. Returning to the United States, Burnside reported his findings to the government, but refused to divulge the serum’s secrets unless allowed to become the new Captain America himself. Unlike previous successors to the identity, Burnside fanatically sought to become not only Captain America but also Steve Rogers, undergoing surgery to change his face and vocal cords and legally changing his name accordingly. However, when the Korean War ended, the government withdrew its plans for a national hero, and Burnside kept the serum for himself. Burnside eventually became a history teacher at Connecticut’s Lee School, where he befriended student and fellow Cap aficionado Jack Monroe.
In late 1953, the new communist Red Skull (Albert Malik), seeking the supposed secrets of Adolf Hitler’s strongbox, took hostages at the United Nations building, where he believed the strongbox hidden. Learning of the incident, Burnside injected himself and Monroe with the Super-Soldier serum. Gaining superhuman strength and peak human endurance, they took the Captain America and Bucky identities as their own, thwarting the Skull in a high-profile battle. The patriotic duo defeated many other menaces over the next two years, many of whom were Communists agents or sympathizers.
However, Burnside’s version of the Super-Soldier serum was incomplete; neither Burnside or Monroe had received the vita-rays necessary to stabilize the serum’s effects on their physiology. The sanity of both men took a turn for the worse. The duo’s already zealous anti-communist vigilance devolved into paranoid racism, and they attacked several innocent people over a series of months.
Finally, in late 1955, government officials, unable to persuade Rogers and Monroe to undergo psychiactric treatment, captured them and placed them in suspended animation at a government facility in the South. Under the top-secret “Deep Freeze” program, the effects of cryogenic suspension upon the duo were studied, but the scientists were unable to treat their madness. Eventually, the duo were all but forgotten by the US government.
Many decades later, a disgruntled government employee released Burnside and Monroe from suspended animation. Unfortunately, both men were still insane and upon being told that Steve Rogers was once again active as Captain America, presumed Rogers to instead be a would-be sucessor/communist spy. The duo captured Cap and his associates, Falcon and S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Sharon Carter, which led to a one-on-one battle with Burnside and Cap. Belatedly realizing his opponent was the true Captain America, Burnside suffered a nervous breakdown. Burnside and Monroe were both defeated and turned over to the authorities.
The government later sent Burnside and Monroe to a Catskills mental institution for treatment, which was secretly managed by Doctor Faustus on behalf of the criminal endeavor The Corporation. After several Corporation setbacks, Faustus developed a mind-control gas with which he sought to control New York City via the home-grown fascist group National Force. Faustus tested the gas on Burnside and Monroe, then sadistically ordered Burnside to shoot Monroe. Unable to resist, Burnside did so unhesitatingly, believing he had killed his sidekick. (Unknown to Burnside, Monroe actually survived. He would later be taken into SHIELD custody and ultimately became the costumed hero Nomad.)
Faustus established Burnside as “Grand Director” of the National Force, who instructed the group to spread Faustus’ mind-gas during pre-arranged confrontations intended as prelude to infecting all of New York City. Aided by Daredevil , Captain America defeated Burnside, Faustus, and the National Force. During that confrontation, Faustus boasts about Monroe’s death destroyed the last threads of Burnside’s sanity, and Burnside apparently committed suicide via an incineration device in his uniform, his thoughts on a betrayal he had never actually perpetrated.
Several years later, just after the “Civil War” which destabilized America’s superhuman community and after the apparent assassination of Steve Rogers, S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Sharon Carter learned that Faustus (under orders from the original Red Skull) had recovered Burnside’s body just after his suicide, placing him back in suspended animation. Faustus injected a brain implant into Burnside and kept him in a catatonic state, awaiting orders to deploy Burnside so long as he could be successfully controlled after the murder of Rogers. That moment came when, as part of the Skull's long-range plan to use Sharon Carter's baby with Rogers, Burnside was released to attack and kill Bucky Barnes, the formerly brainwashed Winter Soldier who had taken on the role of Captain America in Rogers stead.
Faustus informed Burnside that Barnes (as the Winter Soldier) had killed Jack Monroe, and at the conditioning of Dr. Faustus, sought to kill Barnes in retribution for the murder of Monroe. Barnes tried to reason with Burnside, and almost succeeded as he admitted his genuine sorrow in actually killing Monroe, but Burnside couldn’t overcome the brain implant and he was enraged to continue to seek Barnes' death rather than trying to come to some acceptance on the past misdeed Barnes had committed.
He then briefly escaped from the Skull but was unfortunately captured by the Skull’s operatives. The Skull ordered that Burnside be secured so that Faustus could recondition him. However, unknown to the Skull, Faustus had secretly betrayed the Red Skull to S.H.I.E.L.D. During S.H.I.E.L.D.’s attack on the Red Skull's base, Burnside escaped his bonds and destroyed the robotic host body of Arnim Zole before escaping in the confusion.
Burnside spent some time on the run, exploring the present-day United States. He was not impressed with what he saw. Burnside became convinced that the country had turned away from its core ideals that he remembered from his own childhood and, wanting to make America “right” again, he returned to his hometown of Boise, Idaho. It was there that Burnside decided that if the current government had failed its citizens, then it was up to him to overthrow it and restart a new government that would reflect the “right” values. Joining with the Watchdogs, a militant group of militiamen, Burnside began his rebellion.
Burnside’s actions were observed by S.H.I.E.L.D. Director Nick Fury who asked Captain America (still Bucky Barnes) and the Falcon to go to Boise and put down Burnside’s revolution, which was to start with an open attack on the Hoover Dam.
Both heroes were captured upon arriving at the Watchdogs’ camp. Burnside forced Barnes to wear his old Bucky uniform and become Burnside's sidekick, threatening the Falcon’s life if Barnes refused.
Failing to convince Barnes of his twisted ideaology, the two Captain Americas once again came to blows. Barnes was able to catch Burnside's shield in flight and use it to disable the bomb on Hoover Dam. However, Burnside decided to directly arm the bomb in order to force Barnes into submission. Barnes shot Burnside with an assault rifle in order to stop the madman. Burnside tumbled off the dam into the waters below, but his body wasn’t recovered.
Burnside survived his wounds, and “Captain America” turned up as a crimefighting vigilante, his insanity reigning unchecked. This time, Steve Rogers was once again active as Captain America, and took it upon himself to get Burnside some help. During their last battle, Burnside was accidentally hit by a semi-truck.
Visiting a recovering Burnside at the hospital, Rogers said that Burnside did a lot of good as Captain America before the Super-Solder serum destroyed his mind, and that he did not hold Burnside responsible. Rogers also explains that “officially” William Burnside was killed in action and given a military funeral with honors and that, formally relieved of his duty to his country, he would be taken to a facility to repair his damaged mind and give him a new identity. Whether or not William Burnside will ever recover enough of his sanity to become a decent American citizen again -let alone a true hero- remains to be seen.