The initial published version of Baron Zemo was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby and was first seen in a flashback in The Avengers #4 (March 1964).

Zemo was retroactively added into the history of Captain America upon the hero's reintroduction to the Silver Age two issues prior.

According to Wendell Volker's notes, Harbin had other children before Hademar who did not survive to adulthood; Herbert had two sons who died of illness prior to Helmuth.

Harbin slew the entire horde and so impressed the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire that he was elevated to nobility and awarded Zeulniz.

Helmut witnessed his grandfather employ his own concoction of mustard gas against the British troops and watched as they died in agony (Union Jack had fled the battle by this time).

In an attempt to regain a level of anonymity, Zemo began wearing a reddish-pink hood over his face as he continued to build weapons for the Nazis.

To ensure that the Nazis could not use Adhesive X against Allied troops, Captain America confronted Zemo in an attempt to destroy the limited supply.

[10] Believing that he had killed his rival at long last, Zemo fled to South America as Hitler and the Nazis fell and World War II ended, abandoning his long-suffering wife and toddler son, toward whom he had become physically and emotionally abusive.

With an army of mercenaries loyal to him, Zemo enslaved a tribe of natives and lived as a king, as he tried desperately to find a solvent that would remove his mask.

Among his attempts included sending agents to take the place of participants of a hand-to-hand combat demonstration with Captain America to capture him.

He tried to have Adhesive X spread over New York, but the Teen Brigade seized Zemo's pilot, preventing him from speaking, then tied him up to stop him causing trouble.

His ray gun's shot hit a rock, starting an avalanche that killed him, and Captain America felt that Bucky's death had finally been avenged.

[18] This version is later revealed to be Howard Stark, who Strucker chemically brainwashed through a combination of zolpidem, ethanol, methyl chloride, and "ophentonyl" to become the latest bearer of the Zemo mantle.

[20][21] Baron Helmut Zemo appears in Deadpool MAX as a white supremacist and conspiracy theorist attempting to create a segregated community for Caucasians in America.

[22] Baron Helmut Zemo appears in Avengers Confidential: Black Widow & Punisher, voiced by Eric Bauza.

[citation needed] Daniel Brühl portrays a modified version of Helmut Zemo in media set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).