Editing Captain America (section)

==Powers, abilities, and equipment==
{{See also|Captain America's shield}}

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 |quote  = "Cap is one of the hardest hero characters to write, because the writer cannot use some exotic super-power to make his episodes seem colorful. [...] All he has to serve him are his extraordinary combat skills, his shield, and his unquenchable love for freedom and justice."
 |author = – [[Stan Lee]]<ref>{{cite book |last1=Lee |first1=Stan |last2=Heck |first2=Don |author1-link=Stan Lee |author2-link=Don Heck |title=The Avengers, Vol 3. (Marvel Masterworks) |date=2011 |publisher=Marvel Comics |isbn=9780785150565 |page=6 |chapter=Introduction by Stan Lee|oclc=666234797}}</ref>
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The Super-Soldier Serum has enhanced Captain America's strength, speed, agility, endurance, intelligence, reflexes, reaction time, and natural [[self-healing]] ability to the peak of human physical perfection. His physical conditioning surpasses that of any Olympic athlete in history, including even the most highly trained elite competitors. Additionally, he is a master tactician and field commander, and a master of numerous forms of hand-to-hand combat. His primary fighting styles include [[boxing]] and [[judo]], though he is not limited to these.<ref name="Handbook"/>  The precise parameters of Captain America's physical prowess vary across stories due to editorial dictates and artistic license taken by authors; Steve Englehart was given an editorial order to give the character [[superhuman strength]] in the 1970s, but the change did not remain permanent and was soon forgotten.<ref name="Englehart"/> Steve Rogers is also a skilled visual artist, having worked as a commercial illustrator prior to joining the military, and several storylines have depicted the character working as a freelance artist.<ref name="SteveArtist"/>

The basic design of Captain America's costume has remained largely consistent from its original incarnation in the 1940s. Designed by Joe Simon, the costume is based on the [[United States flag]], with Simon likening the character's appearance to that of "a modern-day crusader": chain mail armor, and  a helmet adorned with wings in reference to the Roman god [[Mercury (mythology)|Mercury]].{{sfn|Steranko|1970|p=53}} Steve Rogers has worn other costumes when he has adopted alternate superhero alter egos: as Nomad he wears a [[domino mask]] and a black and gold suit that is cut to expose his bare chest and stomach,<ref name="NomadCostume"/> and as The Captain he wears a modified version of the Captain America suit with a red, white, and black design.<ref name="TheCaptainCostume"/>

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   | footer    = Variants of [[Captain America's shield]]
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[[Captain America's shield]] is the character's primary piece of equipment. It is a [[round shield]] with a design featuring a white star on a blue circle surrounded by red and white rings. First appearing in ''Captain America Comics'' #1 as a triangular [[heater shield]], beginning in ''Captain America Comics'' #2 it was changed to its current circular design due to a complaint from [[Archie Comics|MLJ Comics]] that the original design too closely resembled the chest symbol of their superhero [[The Shield (Archie)|The Shield]].{{sfn|Cronin|2009|p=134}} The shield is depicted as constructed from an alloy of [[vibranium]] and [[adamantium]], two highly resilient [[List of fictional elements, materials, isotopes and subatomic particles|fictional metals]] appearing in Marvel comic books. It is portrayed as both a virtually indestructible defensive object and a highly aerodynamic offensive weapon: when thrown, it is capable of ricocheting off multiple surfaces and returning to the original thrower.<ref name="Handbook"/>