The "Anti-Cap"
The main supporting character around which most of the storylines in Captain America and the Falcon revolved was known as the "Anti-Cap." The name "Anti-Cap" for this character comes from a line in issue #2:
| “ | ..its not just that the guy looks like you. He outran a humvee and put twelve marines in the hospital. Sit room's calling him the "Anti-Cap."
S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Ali Morales to Captain America |
” |
No official in-universe real name or code name was ever revealed and this nickname became the character's de facto name.
The "Anti-Cap" is a Navy SEAL operative of the Office of Naval Intelligence. He first attempted to join the United States armed forces after his girlfriend was killed in the Oklahoma City bombing, but was rejected for health reasons. After this failure he was recruited by the O.N.I. in order to take part in a black op program designed to create a secret super operative to be used exclusively by the O.N.I.
His superhuman strength and endurance comes from a drug named acetovaxidol which is regulated in his system via a computer grafted to his spine. Acetovaxidol is a drug that had appeared previously in the Marvel Universe, as the source of Luke Cage's powers. Unlike Cage's constant internal supply, the "Anti-Cap" gets his acetovaxidol via skin patches. Without the fixes these patches give him, the "Anti-Cap" would lapse in possibly fatal withdrawal symptoms.
Read more about this topic: Captain America And The Falcon