I have to comment on the fact that when it comes to the serum, Bucky is souped UP on that stuff. Steve probably tones back how much heâs hitting normal humans, but GOOD LANDS. Buckyâs not just knocking someone down, heâs getting them air borne. With a kick. We know the cyborg arm is really strong, but BUCKY is insanely strong. Reminds me of the comic where he throws an arrow through someoneâs face with his good arm, not even the cyborg one. Bucky is scary ramped up in the strength department.
This is why when people talk about Bucky having received an âinferiorâ version of the serum, I kind of raise my eyebrows. The overall effects of Zolaâs serum might have differed from Erskineâs, but it certainly doesnât seem to have left Bucky physically weaker. There are a lot of fics that assume Bucky would not be a match for Steve if Steve were actually willing to fight him, but Bucky more than proves his strength in Winter Soldier.
This should also make people realize that he isnât some lost puppy. He can take care of hisself, even if he doesnât have memories. He got the Smithsonian by himself right? He got those clothes himself right? He can take care of himself.
He was manipulated to be a predator. He is strong enough, swift enough to take down prey. He is intuitive enough to find who or what he wants. Even before The Soldier, Bucky was smart as a whip and could hold his own in a fight. But now? Now he is the perfect weapon, whether or not he wishes to be. He adapts, he fights, he wins.
You know what else bugs me? When people act in fics like heâs just going to snap and kill everyone around him.  Bucky is not a violent person.  I donât think the Winter Soldier is a violent person either.  He killed because he was ordered to, but if he wasnât ordered to?  TBH I think the Winter Soldier would probably be pretty chill and quiet.  Like, you wouldnât want to startle him or whatever, because yeah, scary ninja personification of death, but if you were just, like, sharing a train car?  Or sitting in a waiting room?  Not a randomly violent guy.  No homicidal urges.  Probably largely just wants to be left the fuck alone to, like, contemplate Dostoevsky or something.
Probably largely just wants to be left the fuck alone to, like, contemplate Dostoevsky or something.
