The Red Guardian (Russian: Красный страж, Krasnyy Strazh) is the name of several fictional characters appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics: Aleksey Lebedev, Alexei Shostakov, Tania Belinsky, Josef Petkus, Krassno Granitsky, Anton Ivanov, and Nikolai Kyrylenko, as well as a villainous Life Model Decoy of Shostakov.

In the continuity of Ultimate Marvel, the Red Guardian is adapted as two separate characters: Captain Russia and Colonel Abdul al-Rahma.

[3] Alexei Andreevich Shostakov was the first version of the Red Guardian, and was created by Roy Thomas and John Buscema, first appearing in Avengers #43 (January 1967).

The Soviet state controlled news media greatly publicized this and certain other missions of his such as his aerial battles against the U.S. Air Force over MiG Alley during the Korean War.

While the Black Widow became disillusioned with KGB masters and defected to the United States, the Red Guardian remained loyal and became more ruthless and vindictive.

[5] Alexei resurfaces as the new Ronin and joins forces with the Dark Ocean Society to instigate a war between Japan and Russia to restore the latter's former glory.

[7] Shostakov is approached by a cadre of several of Black Widow's enemies, who implanted her with fake memories force her to live out a peaceful, simulated life as a married architect in San Francisco.

When Black Widow regains her memories and the cadre decides to have her killed, Alexei saves Nat by taking a bullet meant for her.

Josef Petkus is the fourth version of the Red Guardian, first appearing in Captain America #352 (April 1989), and was created by writer Mark Gruenwald and artist Kieron Dwyer.

[14] Krassno Granitsky, a fifth version of the Red Guardian, appeared in Maverick #10 (June 1998), and was created by writer Jorge Gonzales and artist Leo Fernandez.

[15] Anton, the sixth version of the Red Guardian,[16] made his first appearance in the first issue of Jeph Loeb's Hulk series (co-created with Ed McGuinness) as a member of the Winter Guard.

[17] Anton claims to be an engineer and a former pilot of the Crimson Dynamo armor, and was later revealed to be (at least partially) a Life Model Decoy (LMD).

[19] Created by Bill Mantlo and Carmine Infantino for Iron Man #109 (April 1978), he was redeveloped as the Red Guardian by David Gallaher and Steve Ellis from Darkstar and the Winter Guard #2 (July 2010) onward.

Alexei and Tania used a "belt-buckle" disc, a hurling weapon which magnetically returned to the wearer's hand when thrown, and was a part of their costume's belt buckle.

His falsified backstory was that he was an expert engineer and former Crimson Dynamo pilot; his real strength lies in his moderate degree of enhanced cybernetic physicality.

Nikolai wears a more advanced suit than previous Red Guardians, which is lined with circuitry that works in conjunction with the compact computer on his shield, not only enabling the guided flight and return through their digital connection, but the amplification of the effects of his own energy field.

Meant to be the Russian counterpart of Captain America, this version is certifiably insane and uses a makeshift shield created partially from human remains, and possesses superhuman strength and durability.

A parallel to Captain America, he was transformed into a super-soldier by Russian scientists, sporting a predominantly red costume and wielding a lightsaber-like weapon.

He battles Captain America in front of the White House but is defeated when the Hulk throws the shield to sever his hands and Rogers kills him with his own weapon.