Howard Stark

Howard Anthony Walter Stark was an inventor, scientist, engineer, businessman and movie director. The founder of Stark Industries, Stark worked on various government projects during World War II, including the Manhattan Project and Project Rebirth, the latter of which resulted in using the Super Soldier Serum to create Captain America. Presenting Rogers with his vibranium shield, Stark aided him, as well as the United States Army and the Strategic Scientific Reserve, in the fight against HYDRA.

Following the end of World War II, Stark was framed for distributing weapons to enemies of the United States. He put his friend Peggy Carter in charge of the effort of finding proof of his innocence. Eventually, his name was cleared when it was proved that Johann Fennhoff was framing Stark in an attempt to gain revenge for the Battle of Finow. He later founded Stark Pictures while assisting Carter research and understand Zero Matter, and following the dissolution of the Strategic Scientific Reserve, co-founded S.H.I.E.L.D. along with Carter, Milly Taylor and Col. Phillips to be its successor.

He and his old war friend Milly Taylor would get married and work together on a new Super Soldier Serum. They partly succeeded, but when their lab was exploded with Taylor and the unfinished serum inside, their research was lost. Taylor ended with superhuman strength, but also a lifespan longer than average. The two became parents to Emma Taylor in 1952, but shortly after he and Peggy Carter hid Taylor from the world and let her become known as Agent 01.

Later in life, Stark re-married a woman named Maria and had a son, Tony. He also co-developed the Arc Reactor with Anton Vanko and work alongside Hank Pym during the Cold War. Eventually, Stark would push his son away, but did care for Tony and had high hopes he would change the world. After managing to recreate the Super Soldier Serum a final time, Stark and his wife were targeted by HYDRA and assassinated by the Winter Soldier.